Daily Current Affairs : 6th & 7th February 2022

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. Sovereign Green Bonds
  2. BIMSTEC
  3. Star Campaigner
  4. Artificial Snow
  5. J&K Delimitation
  6. UDAN
  7. Imports from China
  8. Vande Bharat
  9. Facts for Prelims

1 . Sovereign Green Bonds


Context : Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget speech announced that the government proposes to issue sovereign green bonds to mobilise resources for green infrastructure. “The proceeds will be deployed in public sector projects which help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy,

What are green bonds? 

  • Green bonds are the bonds issued by any sovereign entity, inter-governmental groups or alliances, and corporates with the aim that the proceeds of the bonds are utilised for projects classified as environmentally sustainable.
  • Environmentally sustainable projects include the production of energy from renewable sources like solar, wind, biogas, etc.; clean transportation that involves lower greenhouse gas emission; energy-efficient projects like green building; waste management that includes recycling, efficient disposal, and conversion to energy, etc.
  • Categorised under debt instruments, green bonds differ from conventional fixed-income securities in one aspect that the issuer pledges to use the proceeds to finance projects meant for positive environmental or climate effects. This will also help in reducing the carbon intensity of the economy.
  • For the green bonds that are going to be issued by the Indian government, the proceeds will go towards projects in the public sector with an aim of reducing the carbon intensity of the economy. The Indian economy is the third biggest carbon emitter in the world.

 Why are they needed?

  • Financing green, environmental projects often involve a significant sum of capital investment. In order to meet these burgeoning expenses governments world over are now turning to issue these green bonds to meet the requirements of turning to greener infrastructure. 
  • The United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has estimated about $3 trillion of investment every year to 2050. A bulk of these investments are expected to come through green bonds with countries like the US already issuing hundreds of billions of dollars worth of green bonds each year. 
  • India’s green bond initiative is also being lauded by experts who welcome the move from the government towards greener investments. 

 Government Initiative So Far? 

  • In 2017, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) acknowledged the need for green bonds and issued a circular prescribing disclosure requirement for issuance and listing of ‘green debt securities.’
  • The budget proposal to issue sovereign green bonds has several benefits, principal among which is signalling the country’s seriousness in pursuing climate action. India will now join a select group of countries, primarily European, which have issued such bonds,
  • The move is seen as a major boost especially with the country making aggressive strides towards a low-carbon economy with ambitious targets like achieving a robust 175 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity by 2022.

2 . BIMSTEC


Context : Sri Lankan Foreign Minister G.L. Peiris will meet External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Monday, in his first visit to India since being appointed last August. Officials are expected to discuss Sri Lanka’s plans to hold the BIMSTEC (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) summit on March 30 as the current Chair of the regional grouping that includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also been invited to attend.

About BIMSTEC

  • The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is a regional organization comprising seven Member States lying in the littoral and adjacent areas of the Bay of Bengal constituting a contiguous regional unity.
  • This sub-regional organization came into being on 6 June 1997 through the Bangkok Declaration.
  • It constitutes seven Member States: five deriving from South Asia, including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and two from Southeast Asia, including Myanmar and Thailand.
  • Initially, the economic bloc was formed with four Member States with the acronym ‘BIST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation). Following the inclusion of Myanmar on 22 December 1997 during a special Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok, the Group was renamed ‘BIMST-EC’ (Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand Economic Cooperation).
  • With the admission of Nepal and Bhutan at the 6th Ministerial Meeting (February 2004, Thailand), the name of the grouping was changed to ‘Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation’ (BIMSTEC).
  • The regional group constitutes a bridge between South and South East Asia and represents a reinforcement of relations among these countries.

Importance of BIMSTEC

  • The objective of building such an alliance was to harness shared and accelerated growth through mutual cooperation in different areas of common interests by mitigating the onslaught of globalization and by utilizing regional resources and geographical advantages.
  • Unlike many other regional groupings, BIMSTEC is a sector-driven cooperative organization. Starting with six sectors—including trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism and fisheries—for sectoral cooperation in the late 1997, it expanded to embrace nine more sectors—including agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism, environment, culture, people to people contact and climate change—in 2008.

Significance of BIMSTEC for India

  • As the region’s largest economy, India has a lot at stake. BIMSTEC connects not only South and Southeast Asia, but also the ecologies of the Great Himalayas and the Bay of Bengal. For India, it is a natural platform to fulfil our key foreign policy priorities of ‘Neighborhood First’ and ‘Act East
  • Connectivity. Almost 300 million people, or roughly one-quarter of India’s population, live in the four coastal states adjacent to the Bay of Bengal (Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Tamil Nadu, and West Bengal). And, about 45 million people, who live in landlocked Northeastern states, will have the opportunity to connect via the Bay of Bengal to Bangladesh, Myanmar and Thailand, opening up possibilities in terms of development.
  • Asian Trilateral Highway connecting India and Thailand through Myanmar, Kaladan Multimodal project that seeks to link India and Myanmar, the project envisages connecting Kolkata to Sittwe port in Myanmar, and then Mizoram by river and road Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) pact for movement of goods and vehicles are the projects undertaken by BIMSTEC countries which will provide connectivity especially in the North Eastern States.
  • From the strategic perspective, the Bay of Bengal, a funnel to the Malacca straits, has emerged a key theatre for an increasingly assertive China in maintaining its access route to the Indian Ocean. Beijing has undertaken massive drive to finance and develop infrastructure in South and Southeast Asia through the Belt and Road Initiative in almost all BIMSTEC countries, except Bhutan and India. As China mounts assertive activities in the Bay of Bengal region, with increased submarine movement and ship visits in the Indian Ocean, it is in India’s interest to consolidate its internal engagement among the BIMSTEC countries.

3 . Star Campaigner


Context : After Owaisi attack, EC seeks protection for star campaigners

Who is a star campaigner?

  • A recognised political party can have 40 star campaigners and an unrecognised (but registered) political party can have 20.
  • The list of star campaigners has to be communicated to the Chief Electoral Officer and Election Commission within a week from the date of notification of an election.
  • The expenditure incurred on campaigning by such campaigners is exempt from being added to the election expenditure of a candidate. However, this only applies when a star campaigner limits herself to a general campaign for the political party she represents.

What if a star campaigner campaigns specifically for one candidate?

  • If a candidate or her election agent shares the stage with a star campaigner at a rally, then the entire expenditure on that rally, other than the travel expenses of the star campaigner, is added to the candidate’s expenses.
  • Even if the candidate is not present at the star campaigner’s rally, but there are posters with her photographs or her name on display, the entire expenditure will be added to the candidate’s account.
  • This applies even if the star campaigner mentions the candidate’s name during the event. When more than one candidate shares the stage, or there are posters with their photographs, then the expenses of such rally/meeting are equally divided between all such candidates.

Does removal from the star campaigner’s list bar from campaigning?

  • Removal from the star campaigner’s list does make campaigning difficult. This is because whichever constituency they now hold their election meeting or rally at, irrespective of whether they limit themselves to general party propaganda or not, the entire expenditure of the event will be added to the account of the candidate contesting from that seat. Since candidates cannot afford to breach their expenditure limit they would not want such campaign in their constituency.

4 . Artificial Snow


Context : A combination of global warming and poor water conservation policies have cast a shadow on not just Beijing’s attempt at holding the Winter Olympics, but the event’s future in general. A report released by Sport Ecology Group at Loughborough University and Save Our Winters has stated the dangers of artificial snow on athletes’ bodies and the amount of water wastage that happens inevitably for the snow at these games to be produced.

What is artificial snow?

  • Snow that is injected with water to harden it and then treated with chemicals to keep the hardened snow in place, is a form of artificial snow that is recommended for winter competitions.
  • The Loughborough University report states that by 2050, only 10 of the 20 venues that have hosted the Winter Olympics since 1924 will be able to produce an amount of snow that is capable of holding an international-level competition like the Winter Olympics. The survival of the Winter Games is based on the production of artificial snow.

How is artificial snow produced?

  • The basic principle of snow-making systems was discovered by chance at the end of the 1940s: an American researcher sprayed water into a wind tunnel at low temperatures to investigate the icing of jet engines. This caused it to produce snow unexpectedly. Since then, this effective principle for snow generation has been used successfully in winter tourism.
  • The making of artificial snow is quite similar to Mother Nature’s process. However, in the man-made version, snow guns are heavily relied upon.
  • The snow gun’s core element is a large propeller, which is supplied with water and electricity and generates a strong flow of air. The water is sprayed through nozzles in front of the propeller and transported from the compressed air stream to the cold, dry winter air. Depending on the weather conditions, the size of the water droplets can be adjusted to produce the best possible artificial snow.
  • Another way to create artificial snow is through a snow lance. These devices, which look like thin lantern poles, are permanently installed at the edge of the piste. They blow out atomised water together with compressed air, creating fine snow dust that trickles onto the slope.

China’s artificial snow

  • In China, TechnoAlpin, an Italian snowmaking supplier, is responsible for making sure the slopes are Games worthy.
  • According to the firm’s officials, at the Yanqing venue alone, 170 fan-powered guns and 30 fanless stick lances work around the clock spraying water mist—sourced from a nearby reservoir and pressurised through multiple “pump stations” — that crystallises into snow on its descent through the chilly air.
  • Similarly, a large number of snow guns and lances are being used at Zhangjiakou.
  • According to the estimates, the Games will need almost 49 million gallons of water to create enough artificial snow for the winter events. In their Pre-Games Sustainability Report, organisers estimated approximately 890,000 cubic metres of water would be used in Yanqing from November 2021 to March 2022 and 1.9 million cubic metres in Zhangjiakou, with actual figures to be published in the post-Games report.

Environmental concerns

  • The issue of creating such large amounts of artificial snow has raised the hackles of environmentalists. They have raised concerns over the environmental sustainability of this process, as man-made snow requires thousands of litres of water and kilowatts of energy.
  • This more troubling for China as a 2020 study in science publication Nature warned that groundwater depletion in northern China was a “critical issue” and among the highest globally, due to intensive agricultural irrigation, rapid urbanisation, and a dry climate.
  • Environmentalists have also raised concerns about the proximity to the 4,600-hectare Songshan National Nature Reserve. Many are also concerned that the noise pollution from the artificial snow machines will disturb wildlife at the reserve.

5 . J& K Delimitation Commission


Context : The three-member J&K delimitation commission, headed by retired Supreme Court (SC) judge Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, has submitted its interim report to its five associate members, which included three Members of Parliament (MP) of the National Conference (NC) and two MPs of the BJP. This paves way for the winding up of the exercise and likely announcement of elections in J&K, directly ruled by the Centre since the BJP withdrew from the coalition Government with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2018.

About the commission

  • The commission was headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Desai.
  • It has five Lok Sabha members from Jammu and Kashmir as associate members and the chief election commissioner Sushil Chandra as an ex-officio member.
  • As per the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, the number of assembly seats in UT of J&K are to be raised from 107 to 114 through fresh delimitation, a task entrusted to the Delimitation Commission.

What is Delimitation?

  • Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and Assembly seats to represent changes in population. In this process, the number of seats allocated to a state may also change.
  • The objective is to provide equal representation for equal population segments, and a fair division of geographical areas, so that no political party has an advantage. The Delimitation Commission’s orders cannot be questioned before any court.

Delimitation Commission

  • Under Article 82 of the Constitution, the Parliament by law enacts a Delimitation Act after every census.
  • After coming into force commencement of the Act, the Central Government constitutes a Delimitation Commission.
  • This Delimitation Commission demarcates the boundaries of the Parliamentary Constituencies as per provisions of the Delimitation Act.
  • The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court.
  • These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India in this behalf.
  • The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them.
  • Interestingly, the J&K delimitation commission has not been clear to the associate members about the census report that was made as a base to carve out new constituencies in the Union Territory (UT).

How many seats have been added?

  • The Commission has, as per the mandate granted under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, added seven assembly constituencies to J&K, increasing its strength from 87 to 90.
  • The interim report proposes an increase of six seats for the Jammu province, taking the number of constituencies to 43, and an increase of one seat in the Kashmir province, taking the seat strength to 47, almost bringing the two regions at par with each other. In Kashmir, Kupwara district has been granted an additional seat and in the Jammu region Kathua district gets one additional seat, Samba gets one, Doda gets one, Rajouri gets one, Kisthwar gets one and Udhampur gets one.
  • Of six seats, three assembly segments are from the Muslim-majority Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal valley, while three are in the Hindu Jammu-Samba-Kathua belt.
  • The Commission has also proposed to reserve seven seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs) Hindus that mainly populate the Samba-Kathua-Jammu-Udhampur belt and nine seats for Schedule Tribes (STs) which will help Gujjar and Bakerwals, mostly non-Kashmiri speaking Muslims inhabiting the Rajouri-Poonch belt in the Jammu province.
  • Prior to the Centre’s move to end J&K’s special constitutional position on August 5, 2019, the erstwhile State had an 87-member assembly, with 37 constituencies in the Jammu region and 46 in the Kashmir division and four in Ladakh . Besides, 24 seats are reserved and vacant for Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Have the constituencies been reconfigured?

  • The Commission has suggested redrawing of boundaries of most of the Assembly segments in J&K. It has named and reconfigured 28 new constituencies and deleted 19 assembly segments.
  • The Commission has also proposed reframing of Lok Sabha constituencies, with J&K having five parliamentary constituencies, which included three seats from Kashmir and two from Jammu.
  • It has proposed a Lok Sabha seat, disjointed geographically, by merging three districts of south Kashmir and two districts of Rajouri and Poonch in the Pir Panjal valley. It will be named Anantnag-Rajouri seat, which will comprise a significant population of the non-Kashmiri speaking Schedule Tribe assembly segments.

6 . UDAN


Context : Only one out of four routes under the low-cost flying scheme called UDAN have survived after completing the government’s subsidy period of three years, according to information shared by the Ministry of Civil Aviation before a parliamentary panel.

About the Scheme

  • Nearly five years ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first flight under Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik (UDAN) scheme, also known as regional connectivity scheme (RCS).
  • The aim of the scheme was to take flying to the masses and improve air connectivity to tier-2 and -3 cities.
  • Under the scheme, airlines have to cap fares at ₹2,500 per seat per hour of flight for 50% of the seats in a plane for which they receive a viability gap funding (subsidy) from the government along with some other benefits. The government expected that after the expiry of the three-year subsidy period, airlines would be able to sustain the routes without outside support.
  • The scheme document says the key guiding principle is to encourage “sustainability of operations under RCS in the long term — such that the connectivity established is not dependent on VGF in perpetuity”. It also recognises that select areas may need funding support for longer periods.

Bidding rounds

  • Since 2017, there have been seven rounds of bidding for routes during which 948 have been awarded to airlines and helicopter operators. Of these 403 routes have commenced operations. Of the 154 unconnected airports (including 14 water-aerodromes and 36 heliports have been identified for operation of RCS flights) planned to be revived, 65 have resumed flights.

About the Issue

  • Of the 94 RCS-Udan routes that have completed 3-year tenure till 30.11.2021, only 22 routes are in operation,” the Ministry told the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture which tabled its report in Parliament last week.
  • The government has also told the committee that 300 routes “have been affected due to poor demand on account of COVID-19 pandemic situation”.
  • Officials of the Ministry of Civil Aviation say this means that the routes have seen demand plummet in view of which the government has allowed airlines to reduce their frequency to 60%, on the condition that the subsidy too will be cut proportionately.
  • While some airlines like the Hyderabad-based TruJet have approached the government for an extension of the subsidy period, their request has been declined but the government has offered to extend certain benefits for one year, the Ministry told the parliamentary panel.
  • It is learnt that these benefits include parking and landing charges, electricity charges, and route navigation and facilitation charges on a discounted bases.

7 . Imports from China


Context : While many countries, including India, have spoken of the need to reduce reliance on China particularly in the wake of COVID-19 and disruption to supply chains, trade figures released last month showed imports have only continued to surge in 2021, rebounding after a fall in trade in 2020 because of the pandemic.

Trade with China in 2021

  • India’s trade with China in 2021 reached $125.6 billion, according to figures released in January by China’s General Administration of Customs (GAC).
  • This was the first time that trade crossed the $100 billion mark. India’s imports from China accounted for $97.5 billion, while exports reached $28.1 billion, both records. Compared to 2019 —trade declined substantially in 2020 because of the pandemic, which exaggerates the year-on-year increase —imports are up 30%
  • Exports to China, meanwhile, are up by as much as 56%. The trade deficit, a long-term source of concern for India, is up by 22% since 2019, having declined last year.

What is driving India’s imports?

  • India’s biggest imports are electrical and mechanical machinery, a range of chemicals that are intermediate imports used by industries, active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs), auto components, and since 2020, a large amount of medical supplies.
  • According to figures available with India’s Ministry of Commerce, all those key imports continued to rise in 2021.
  • The total value of the top 100 import categories —each of which accounts for more than $100 million in imports —was up by $16 billion in the last year, reaching $45 billion.
  • The top items included both finished goods such as integrated circuits (up 147%), laptops and computers (up 77%) and oxygen concentrators (up four-fold) and intermediate products such as chemicals (of these, acetic acid imports were up eight-fold).

What does the recent trend of trade figures suggest?

  • Experts say India’s dependence on China for finished goods has shown no signs of easing, which is a cause for concern.
  • The rise in intermediate imports is, however, less of a concern as it is a sign of industrial recovery and greater demand for inputs.
  • While Indian exports to China have also grown, up by more than 50% in the last two years, these are mostly raw materials such as ores, as well as cotton and seafood, and not finished products.
  • The five-year trend shows the trade deficit continues to widen. The deficit has grown from $51.8 billion in 2017 to $69.4 billion in 2021.

What are the implications for India-China relations?

  • While trade continues to boom, other aspects of economic relations have dramatically changed in the past two years.
  • In the wake of the LAC crisis starting April 2020, the message from New Delhi was that it cannot be business as usual while there are tensions along the border.
  • Investments from China in the past year have plunged amid tighter curbs. In the tech and telecom space, the once rapidly increasing Chinese investments in start-ups including from tech giants such as Alibaba and Tencent, has come to an abrupt halt, more than 200 apps remain banned, and Chinese firms have been kept out of 5G trials so far.
  • India has also tightened scrutiny on Chinese firms in India, recently conducting tax investigations into companies including smartphone manufacturer Xiaomi. Those moves last month prompted a statement from China’s Ministry of Commerce calling on India to “provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory environment for Chinese businesses”.
  • While the trade pattern is unlikely to dramatically change in the near future, even as New Delhi considers a long-term plan to reduce some of these import dependencies by either accelerating long-discussed but slow-moving plans to manufacture some of these critical goods in India or source elsewhere, the rest of the India-China economic relationship still remains somewhat in a state of freeze as talks continue to resolve the tensions along the border.

8 . Vande Bharat


Context :Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has in the Union Budget for 2022-2023 proposed the development and manufacture of 400 new Vande Bharat trains in the next three years. In her speech, Ms. Sitharaman said these would be “new generation” trains with better energy efficiency and passenger riding experience.

About Vande Bharat Express

  • The Vande Bharat train is an indigenously designed and manufactured semi high speed, self-propelled train that is touted as the next major leap for the Indian Railways in terms of speed and passenger convenience since the introduction of Rajdhani trains.
  • These trains, dubbed as Train 18 during the development phase, operate without a locomotive and are based on a propulsion system called distributed traction power technology, by which each car of the train set is powered.
  • The Vande Bharat coaches incorporate passenger amenities including on-board WiFi entertainment, GPS-based passenger information system, CCTVs, automatic doors in all coaches, rotating chairs and bio-vacuum type toilets like in aircraft.
  • The first Vande Bharat was manufactured by the Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai, in about 18 months as part of the ‘Make in India’ programme, at a cost of about ₹100 crore.
  • The current version of the train has 16 coaches with 14 ordinary chair cars and two executive class chair cars.
  • The train has a passenger carrying capacity of more than 1,100 people. It can achieve a maximum speed of 160 kmph due to faster acceleration and deceleration, reducing journey time by 25% to 45%. It also has an intelligent braking system with power regeneration for better energy efficiency thereby making it cost, energy and environment efficient.
  • The Vande Bharat was India’s first attempt at adaptation of the train set technology compared with conventional systems of passenger coaches hauled by separate locomotives. The train set configuration though complex is faster, easier to maintain, consumes less energy, and has greater flexibility in train operation, according to the Indian Railways.

How many Vande Bharat trains do the Railways currently operate?

  • Currently, two Vande Bharat Expresses are operational —one between New Delhi and Varanasi and the other from New Delhi to Katra.
  • Following this, the Railways had issued a more than ₹2,000 crore contract for making 44 more such trains. However, the first tender was cancelled and reissued to align it with the ‘Make in India’ policy.
  • For the first time, the tender required a minimum 75% local content requirement of the total value of the tender.
  • In August 2020, Hyderabad-based Medha Servo Drives Ltd. won the contract for designing and manufacturing the propulsion, control and other equipment needed to make the 44 train sets.
  • The rakes or train sets, the Railways had announced, would be manufactured at three of its production units— 24 rakes at ICF, Chennai and 10 rakes each at the RCF Kapurthala and at the Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli.
  • On the delivery schedule of these rakes, the Railways had said that the first two prototype rakes would be delivered in 20 months (or by March-April 2022), thereafter on successful commissioning, the firm would be delivering an average of six rakes per quarter.

What is the current status of the programme?

  • Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that designing for version 2.0 of these trains had been completed and that testing was expected to commence from April onwards, while serial production for these rakes was likely to begin by September.
  • On the 400 new trains, Mr. Vaishnaw said the announcement had given the Railways a target of coming out with an even better version. The design updates in the upcoming trains would focus on safety and comfort of the passengers, including reduced noise and vibration levels.
  • The Railways is also said to be considering the use of aluminium instead of steel in the construction of the coaches as this would help make the trains much lighter thereby improving energy efficiency, and also making the trains faster.

9 . Facts for Prelims


Havana Syndrome

  • Havana Syndrome’ is a colloquial name given to a set of symptoms such as dizziness, hearing loss, headaches, vertigo, nausea, memory loss and possible brain injuries first reported by 16 U.S. Embassy staff and their family members in Havana, Cuba, in 2016-17.
  • There have been other instances of the phenomenon, which has mostly impacted U.S. officials.
  • A staffer traveling in India with CIA Director Bill Burns complained of ‘Havana Syndrome’ like symptoms last September. Officials were reportedly very concerned, as per reports, that an adversary could have obtained a confidential CIA travel itinerary.
  • In August, Vice President Kamala Harris’s arrival in Vietnam was delayed after reports of an ‘anomalous health incident’ or AHI, in Hanoi.
  • Other countries from which American officials have reported AHIs include Colombia, Russia, China and Uzbekistan. Cases ascribed to the ‘Havana Syndrome’ have also been reported from within the U.S.
  • A panel, constituted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the CIA, said on Wednesday that some of the ‘Havana Syndrome’ cases could have been caused by pulsed electromagnetic energy in the radio frequency. The results of the investigation did not point to who may have been behind the phenomenon, nor commented on their motivations.

Seshachalam Hills

  • Seshachalam Hills are hilly ranges part of the Eastern Ghats in southern Andhra Pradesh state, in southeastern India
  • The ranges were formed during the Precambrian era (3.8 billion to 540 million years ago). Minerals contained in these hills include sandstone and shale interbedded with limestone.
  • The ranges are bounded by the Rayalaseema uplands to the west and northwest, and the Nandyal Valley to the north.

Satkosia Tiger Reserve

  • Satkosia Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve located in the Angul district of Odisha
  • To revive tiger population in the STR, India’s first inter-State tiger relocation programme was launched by way of import of a pair of tiger and tigress from Kanha Tiger Reserve and Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve in 2018. But, the programme had failed primarily due to hostility of local communities and their intensive use of the tiger reserve resources for livelihoods. While the tiger died in a poacher’s trap, villagers opposed tigress’ presence after it strayed into human habitation. The tigress was finally sent back to Madhya Pradesh.

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