Daily Current Affairs: 17th and 18th October 2021

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics covered

1. Landslides and Floods
2. India’s Ballistic Missile Defense Programme
3. Naga Peace talks
4. Vaccine for Malaria
5. International Maritime Border
6. Nuclear Capable hypersonic missiles
7. UAV
8. Facts for Prelims
9. Places in News

1. Landslides and Floods

Context: Landslips, floods devastate Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki districts of Kerala. Heavy rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms in some cases, pounded region due to a low pressure area over the south-east Arabian Sea.

About Landslides

• A landslide is defined as the movement of a mass of rock, debris, or earth down a slope.
• Landslides are a type of “mass wasting,” which denotes any down-slope movement of soil and rock under the direct influence of gravity.
• The term “landslide” encompasses five modes of slope movement: falls, topples, slides, spreads, and flows. These are further subdivided by the type of geologic material (bedrock, debris, or earth). Debris flows (commonly referred to as mudflows or mudslides) and rock falls are examples of common landslide types.

Causes

Landslides have three major causes: geology, morphology, and human activity.

• Geology refers to characteristics of the material itself. The earth or rock might be weak or fractured, or different layers may have different strengths and stiffness. 
• Morphology refers to the structure of the land. For example, slopes that lose their vegetation to fire or drought are more vulnerable to landslides. Vegetation holds soil in place, and without the root systems of trees, bushes, and other plants, the land is more likely to slide away. A classic morphological cause of landslides is erosion, or weakening of earth due to water.
• Human activity, such as agriculture and construction, can increase the risk of landslide. Irrigation, deforestation, excavation, and water leakage are some of the common activities that can help destabilize, or weaken, a slope.

Types of landslides

• Landslides are generally classified by type of movement (slides, flows, spreads, topples, or falls) and type of material (rock, debris, or earth).
• Sometimes more than one type of movement occurs within a single landslide.

Type of Movement

• Slides : Rockslides and other types of slides involve the displacement of material along one or more discrete shearing surfaces. The sliding can extend downward and outward along a broadly planar surface (a translational slide), or it can be rotational along a concave-upward set of shear surfaces (a slump). A translational slide is sometimes called a mud slide. If the overlying material moves as a single, little-deformed mass, it is called a block slide.
• Flow : A type of landslide in which the distribution of particle velocities resembles that of a viscous fluid is called a flow.
• Lateral Spread : Lateral spreads are distinctive because they usually occur on very gentle slopes or flat terrain. The dominant mode of movement is lateral extension accompanied by shear or tensile fractures. The failure is caused by liquefaction, the process whereby saturated, loose, cohesionless sediments (usually sands and silts) are transformed from a solid into a liquefied state. Failure is usually triggered by rapid ground motion, such as that experienced during an earthquake, but can also be artificially induced.
• Topples : Rotation of a mass of rock, debris, or earth outward from a steep slope face is called toppling. This type of movement can subsequently cause the mass to fall or slide.

Landslide mitigation and prevention

• Hazards are mitigated mainly through precautionary means such as
  • by restricting or even removing populations from areas with a history of landslides
  • by restricting certain types of land use where slope stability is in question
  • by installing early warning systems based on the monitoring of ground conditions such as strain in rocks and soils, slope displacement, and groundwater levels.
• There are also various direct methods of preventing landslides; these include
  • modifying slope geometry
  • using chemical agents to reinforce slope material
  • installing structures such as piles and retaining walls
  • grouting rock joints and fissures
  • diverting debris pathways
  • rerouting surface and underwater drainage.

Floods

• Flooding is an overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry.
• Floods can happen during heavy rains, when ocean waves come on shore, when snow melts quickly, or when dams or levees break.
• Damaging flooding may happen with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop.
• Floods can occur within minutes or over a long period, and may last days, weeks, or longer.
• Floods are the most common and widespread of all weather-related natural disasters.

Flash floods

• They are the most dangerous kind of floods, because they combine the destructive power of a flood with incredible speed.
• Flash floods occur when heavy rainfall exceeds the ability of the ground to absorb it.
• They also occur when water fills normally dry creeks or streams or enough water accumulates for streams to overtop their banks, causing rapid rises of water in a short amount of time.
• They can happen within minutes of the causative rainfall, limiting the time available to warn and protect the public.

Causes of flooding

• Heavy rainfall 
• Overflowing rivers 
• Broken dams 
•  Storm surge and tsunamis 
• Channels with steep banks 
• A lack of vegetation – Vegetation can help slow runoff and prevent flooding.
• Melting snow and ice 

Cloudbursts

• Cloudbursts are short-duration, intense rainfall events over a small area. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), it is a weather phenomenon with unexpected precipitation exceeding 100mm/h over a geographical region of approximately 20-30 square km.

2. India’s Ballistic Missile Defense Programme

Context After several delays in its modernisation process, the Army Air Defence (AD) is looking at major progress in the next few months in terms of deals and trials. These include additional indigenous Akash Surface to Air Missile (SAM) systems, the under development Medium Range Surface to Air Missile (MRSAM) and Igla-S Very Short Range Air Defence (VSHORAD) Systems from Russia, according to defence officials.

Ballistic Missile Defense Programme

• The Indian Ballistic Missile Defence Program is an initiative to develop and deploy a multi-layered ballistic missile defence system to protect India from ballistic missile attacks.
• The two-tiered shield should be able to intercept any incoming missile launched from 5,000 kilometers away.
• India’s BMD programme was launched after the 1999 Kargil war, keeping in mind Pakistan’s expanding missile arsenal. China also played a key role in supporting Pakistan’s missile programme.
• DRDO was given the responsibility to work on India’s own BMD. 
• The homegrown BMD was two-tiered
  • The first layer is the Prithvi Air Defence, which can intercept and destroy missiles at exo-atmospheric altitudes of 50–180 kilometers. Also called Pradyumna Ballistic Missile Interceptor.
  • The second layer is Advanced Air Defence (AAD) Missile/Ashwin Ballistic Missile Interceptor for lower altitude interception, which is designed to knock down hostile missiles in the endo-atmosphere at altitudes of 15-40 kilometers. Akash Surface-to-Air Missiles (SAM) is part of AAD.
• Prithvi air defence was first tested in 2006, making India the fourth nation to have anti-ballistic missile systems after the US, Russia and Israel. 
• India also conducted its first successful anti-satellite (ASAT) test, under Mission Shakti in March 2019.

Akash Surface to Air Missile (SAM) systems

• Akash is primarily a Short Range Surface to Air Missile built to provide air defence cover to the vulnerable areas. The Akash weapon system can simultaneously engage multiple targets in group mode or autonomous mode. It has built-in Electronic Counter-Counter Measures (ECCM) features, which means that it has mechanisms on-board that can counter the electronic systems that deceive the detection systems
• The advanced versions of Akash are Akash Prime and Akash NG
• The initial version of the Akash has an operational range of 27-30 km and a flight altitude of around 18 km. NG version has an extended range of up 70 km

The Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missile (MRSAM)

• It was developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in collaboration with Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI).
• It was handed over to the Indian Air Force (IAF) in August 2019.
• The missile is designed to provide the armed forces with air defence capability against a variety of aerial threats at medium ranges.

Igla-S VSHORAD

• It is developed by Russia
• It is a man-portable air defence system (MANPADS). MANPADS are surface-to-air missiles that can be fired by an individual or a small team of people against aircraft.
• It has won bid for Indian Army’s Very Short Range Air Defence deal.
• It offers superior performance over earlier supplied SA-18 missiles to India.
• It is designed for use against visible aerial targets at short range such as tactical aircraft, helicopters, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs), cruise missile, head-on or receding, in presence of natural (background) clutter and countermeasures.
• As per requirements of Indian Army, it will have maximum range of 6 km, altitude of 3 km along with all-weather capability.

QRSAM project

• Quick Reaction Surface to Air Missile System (QRSAM) is a Short Range Surface to Air Missile system designed to protect moving armoured columns from aerial attacks.
• The entire weapon system is configured on highly mobile platforms and is capable of providing air defence on the move.
• QRSAM Weapon Systems is being inducted into the Indian Army (IA).
• Akash was the country’s first automated air defence system and QRSAM is the first indigenous on-the-move air defence system.

3. Naga Peace Talks

Context: The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland, or the NSCN (I-M), said it would not forgo the ‘Naga national flag’ and the Constitution for arriving at an honourable solution to the peace process that has consumed more than 24 years.

Background

• The British annexed Assam in 1826, and in 1881, the Naga Hills too became part of British India.
• The first sign of Naga resistance was seen in the formation of the Naga Club in 1918, which told the Simon Commission in 1929 “to leave us alone to determine for ourselves as in ancient times”.
• In 1946 came the Naga National Council (NNC), which, under the leadership of Angami Zapu Phizo, declared Nagaland an independent state on August 14, 1947.
• The NNC resolved to establish a “sovereign Naga state” and conducted a “referendum” in 1951, in which “99 per cent” supported an “independent” Nagaland.

Armed movement

• On March 22, 1952, Phizo formed the underground Naga Federal Government (NFG) and the Naga Federal Army (NFA). The Government of India sent in the Army to crush the insurgency and, in 1958, enacted the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act.

Peace efforts

• On June 29, 1947, Assam Governor Sir Akbar Hyderi signed a 9-point agreement with moderates T Sakhrie and Aliba Imti, which was almost immediately rejected by Phizo.
• The Naga Hills, a district of Assam, was upgraded to a state in 1963, by also adding the Tuensang Tract that was then part of NEFA.
• In April the next year, Jai Prakash Narain, Assam Chief Minister Bimala Prasad Chaliha and Rev. Michael Scott formed a Peace Mission, and got the government and NNC to sign an agreement to suspend operations that September.
• But the NNC/NFG/NFA continued to indulge in violence, and after six rounds of talks, the Peace Mission was abandoned in 1967, and a massive counter-insurgency operation launched.

NSCN

• On November 11, 1975, the government got a section of NNC leaders to sign the Shillong Accord, under which this section of NNC and NFG agreed to give up arms.
• A group of about 140 members led by Thuingaleng Muivah, who were at that time in China, refused to accept the Shillong Accord, and formed the National Socialist Council of Nagaland in 1980. Muivah also had Isak Chisi Swu and S S Khaplang with him.
• In 1988, the NSCN split into NSCN (IM) and NSCN (K) after a violent clash. While the NNC began to fade away, and Phizo died in London in 1991, the NSCN (IM) came to be seen as the “mother of all insurgencies” in the region.

What did the NSCN (IM) want?

• A “Greater Nagalim” comprising “all contiguous Naga-inhabited areas”, along with Nagaland. That included several districts of Assam, Arunachal and Manipur, as also a large tract of Myanmar.
• The map of “Greater Nagalim” has about 1,20,000 sq km, while the state of Nagaland consists of 16,527 sq km.
• The claims have always kept Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh wary of a peace settlement that might affect their territories.
• The Nagaland Assembly has endorsed the ‘Greater Nagalim’ demand — “Integration of all Naga-inhabited contiguous areas under one administrative umbrella” — as many as five times: in December 1964, August 1970, September 1994, December 2003 and as recently as on July 27, 2015.

When did NSCN (IM) join peace talks?

• The Government of India signed a ceasefire agreement with NSCN (IM) on July 25, 1997, which came into effect on August 1, 1997. Over 80 rounds of talks between the two sides were held subsequently.
• In 2015 with NSCN-IM, Centre signed a framework agreement(draft) on August 3, 2015

About the final Peace accord

• The signing of a draft treaty between the Government of India (GoI) and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muivah) in 2015 has created a fresh possibility to bring to an end the oldest insurgency in India.
• It was signed in the presence of both the prime minister and the home minister and the top NSCN (IM) leaders led by its general secretary Thuingaleng Muivah.
• The draft treaty is defined as a “framework of agreement” that includes the broad parameters under which a final accord would be written and signed
• While both the government and Naga groups said the talks successfully concluded on the government’s deadline of October 31, 2019, no accord was signed. Relations between Ravi and the NSCN(IM) unravelled after the talks concluded.
• In January 2020, the government had IB special director Akshay Mishra step in and continue the engagement.

4. Vaccine for Malaria

Context: On October 6, the World Health Organization made a historic announcement, endorsing the first-ever malaria vaccine, RTS,S, among children in sub-Saharan Africa, and in other regions with moderate-to-high Plasmodium falciparum malaria transmission. It made its recommendations based on the results from a pilot programme administering the vaccine to children in Ghana, Kenya and Malawi.

About Malaria

• Malaria is caused by Plasmodium parasites.
• The parasites are spread to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes, called “malaria vectors.”
• There are 5 parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and 2 of these species – P. falciparum and P. vivax – pose the greatest threat.
• In 2018, P. falciparum accounted for 99.7% of estimated malaria cases in the WHO African Region 50% of cases in the WHO South-East Asia Region, 71% of cases in the Eastern Mediterranean and 65% in the Western Pacific.
• P. vivax is the predominant parasite in the WHO Region of the Americas, representing 75% of malaria cases.

About RTS,S

• RTS,S/AS01 (RTS,S) trade name Mosquirix is the first and, to date, the only vaccine to show that it can significantly reduce malaria, and life-threatening severe malaria, in young African children.
• RTS,S was created in 1987 by scientists working in GSK laboratories. In early 2001, GSK and PATH—with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation—entered into a partnership to develop the vaccine for infants and young children living in malaria endemic regions in sub-Saharan Africa.
• It acts against P. falciparum, the most deadly malaria parasite globally and the most prevalent in Africa.
• RTS,S aims to trigger the immune system to defend against the first stages of malaria when the Plasmodium falciparum parasite enters the human host’s bloodstream through a mosquito bite and infects liver cells. The vaccine is designed to prevent the parasite from infecting the liver, where it can mature, multiply, reenter the bloodstream, and infect red blood cells, which can lead to disease symptoms.
• Among children who received 4 doses in large-scale clinical trials, the vaccine prevented approximately 4 in 10 cases of malaria over a 4-year period.
• Financing for the vaccine programme has been mobilized through a collaboration between 3 major global health funding bodies: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and Unitaid.

Importance

• In 2019, nearly half of the world’s population was at risk of malaria. Most malaria cases and deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa. However, the WHO regions of South-East Asia, Eastern Mediterranean, Western Pacific, and the Americas are also at risk.

5. International Maritime Boundary Line

Context: The Tamil Nadu police have issued an alert on the possibility of an attack on fishermen crossing the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) for fishing in Sri Lankan waters.

About the Dispute

• In the 1960s, the government of India decided to promote seafood exports, offering huge subsidies to fishermen. As a result of this move, the fishermen of Tamil Nadu capitalised on the world’s rising seafood demand. At that time, there were no clearly demarcated maritime borders between India and Sri Lanka.
• In the 1970s, India and Sri Lanka concluded the maritime boundary agreements of 1974 and 1976, delimiting international boundaries in the Palk Bay, the Gulf of Mannar, and the Bay of Bengal, respectively.
• This demarcation of ‘Fisheries Line’ vis-à-vis the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) made it illegal for fishermen from either side to cross over into each other’s waters to fish.
• Katchatheevu, an uninhibited off-shore island in the Palk Strait, is administered by Sri Lanka. Though the island was jointly managed by India and Sri Lanka allowing the fishermen of both countries to dry their nets there, it was ceded to Sri Lanka in 1974. Since then, Katchatheevu has remained an issue with some political parties in Tamil Nadu demanding that the island be returned to benefit the fishermen of India.
• With the advent of the civil war, the Sri Lankan government, taking a security precaution, prevented its fishermen of northern region from fishing in the sea. As a result of the this, the catch of the Sri Lankan fishermen declined during the war, which ended in 2009. But, Indian fishermen, during that time, allegedly kept fishing even in Sri Lanka’s territory.
• As Sri Lankan fishermen returned to their side of the bay, they faced the consequences posed by decade-long Indian trawling in the area. Due to their smaller boats, Sri Lankan fishermen could never compete with the high speeding motorboats, which was the major issue which initiated the conflict.
• Sri Lanka also raises the environmental protection bogie against India. Sri Lanka often complains that trawlers used by the Indian fishermen also damage the fragile ecosystem of the sea. They allege that heavy nets used by the Indian fishermen badly affect the region’s marine life.

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS)

• It is an international agreement.
• It was officially formulated at the third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which took place between 1973 and 1982.
• In general, the UNCLOS defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans.
• It establishes guidelines for businesses, the environment and the management of marine natural resources.
• The UNCLOS came into force in 1994.

Maritime Boundaries

• The UNCLOS defines various maritime boundaries.
• A maritime boundary is a conceptual division of the Earth’s water surface areas using physiographic or geopolitical criteria.
• As such, it usually bounds areas of exclusive national rights over mineral and biological resources encompassing maritime features, limits and zones. 
• Generally, a maritime boundary is delineated at a particular distance from a jurisdiction’s coastline. Although in some countries the term maritime boundary represents borders of a maritime nation that are recognized by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, maritime borders usually serve to identify the edge of international waters.
• Maritime boundaries exist in the context of territorial waters, contiguous zones, and exclusive economic zones; however, the terminology does not encompass lake or river boundaries, which are considered within the context of land boundaries.

• Some maritime boundaries have remained indeterminate despite efforts to clarify them. This is explained by an array of factors, some of which involve regional problems.
• The delineation of maritime boundaries has strategic, economic and environmental implications.

Zones

The zones of maritime boundaries are expressed in concentric limits surrounding coastal and feature baselines.

• Inland waters—the zone inside the baseline.
• Territorial sea—the zone extending 12 nm. from the baseline.
• Contiguous zone—the area extending 24 nm. from the baseline.
• Exclusive Economic Zone—the area extending 200 nm. from the baseline except when the space between two countries is less than 400 nm.

In the case of overlapping zones, the boundary is presumed to conform to the equidistance principle or it is explicitly described in a multilateral treaty.

6. Nuclear Capable Hypersonic Missile

Context: China tested a nuclear-capable hypersonic missile in August, demonstrating an advanced space capability

About Hypersonic Missiles

• Hypersonic missiles, like traditional ballistic missiles which can deliver nuclear weapons, can fly more than five times the speed of sound.
• Ballistic missiles fly high into space in an arc to reach their target, while a hypersonic flies on a trajectory low in the atmosphere, potentially reaching a target more quickly.
• A hypersonic missile is maneuverable (like the much slower, often subsonic cruise missile), making it harder to track and defend against.
• While countries like the United States have developed systems designed to defend against cruise and ballistic missiles, the ability to track and take down a hypersonic missile remains a question.
• Hypersonic missiles can be used to deliver conventional warheads, more rapidly and precisely than other missiles.
• Their capacity to deliver nuclear weapons could add to a country’s threat, increasing the danger of a nuclear conflict.
• Russia, China, the United States and North Korea have all test-launched hypersonic missiles.
• France, Germany, Australia, India and Japan are working on hypersonics, and Iran, Israel and South Korea have conducted basic research on the technology, according to a recent report by the US Congressional Research Service (CRS).

7 . Unmanned Ariel Vehicle

Context : The Army Aviation has recently got control of Heron-I unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the eastern sector — these were earlier with the Artillery — bringing all aviation assets under one roof and augmenting its ability to keep an eye on Chinese activities across the border.

About UAV

• Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) are a class of aircrafts that can fly without the onboard presence of pilots. 
• Unmanned aircraft systems consist of the aircraft component, sensor payloads and a ground control station. They can be controlled by onboard electronic equipments or via control equipment from the ground.
• When it is remotely controlled from ground it is called RPV (Remotely Piloted Vehicle) and requires reliable wireless communication for control. 

Important UAVs used by India

• Searcher – Developed by Israel, this UAV can attain a speed of 200km/hour and can fly up to 18 hours. Indian Navy and Air Force are the users in Indian armed forces. It performs the role of reconnaissance in the armed forces.
• Nishant – Made for Indian Army, this UAV was developed by DRDO’s branch, Aeronautical Development Establishment. The Nishant UAV is primarily tasked with intelligence gathering over enemy territory and also for reconnaissance, training, surveillance, target designation, artillery fire correction, damage assessment, ELINT and SIGINT. The Indian army has cancelled further orders of this UAV and decided to retire it
• Heron – It is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAV, which is used by Indian Air Force. Developed by Israel, it has a flight time of 52 hours, but its actual time of flight depends on weight it carries and flight profile. It has some advanced features like artillery adjustment, surveillance and intelligence tasks.
• Harpy – Another product of Israel, it is used by Indian armed forces. It can carry explosive as well as can destroy radar system. It can also carry out actions of suppression of enemy air defence to control and overcome air defence systems, including surface to air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery. It has a maximum speed of 185 km/hr and 500 km range of flight.
• Netra Quadcopter UAV:-Indian Army along with other paramilitary officers uses Netra quadcopter UAV to provide surveillance and accurate identification , tracking , localisation of targets on-ground and is primarily used by Security Forces in Kashmir.
• Rustom-2 –  DRDO Rustom-2 is a Medium Altitude Long Endurance unmanned air vehicle (UAV) being developed by Defence Research and Development Organisation for the three services of Indian armed forces. . It is an indigenously developed drone for surveillance, reconnaissance, intelligence gathering and attack.It can fly for 24 hours at a stretch.

8 . Facts for Prelims

Ex Yudh Abhyas 2021

• The 17th Indo-US Joint Military Exercise “Ex Yudh Abhyas 2021” kicked off recently at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska (USA).
• This is the only India-U.S. service exercise continuing in bilateral format.

Henley Passport Index 2021

• Prepared by Henley and Partners, a London-based global citizenship and residence advisory firm, the Henley Passport Index claims to be the “original ranking of all the world’s passports”. The index covers 227 destinations and 199 passports.
• The index ranks the passports of countries according to the number of destinations their holders can visit without a prior visa. The rankings are based on the analysis of data provided by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
• Japan and Singapore hold the first rank on the passport index, while the second position is shared by South Korea and Germany.
• India’s rank has slipped by six places from last year to 90 on the Henley Passport Index, which lists the world’s most travel-friendly passports. India shares the rank with Tajikistan and Burkina Faso.
• Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, and Yemen are among the least powerful.

Zeolites

• Zeolites are highly porous, 3-D meshes of silica and alumina.
• In nature, they occur where volcanic outflows have met water.

Climate Finance

• Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing—drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing—that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change.
• The Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement call for financial assistance from Parties with more financial resources to those that are less endowed and more vulnerable. This recognizes that the contribution of countries to climate change and their capacity to prevent it and cope with its consequences vary enormously.
• Climate finance is needed for mitigation, because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions. Climate finance is equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.
• Through the Cancun Agreements in 2010 developed country Parties committed, in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation, to a goal of mobilizing jointly USD 100 billion per year by 2020 to address the needs of developing countries. When adopting the Paris Agreement Parties confirmed this goal, called for a concrete road map to achieve the goal by 2020, and agreed that prior to 2025 the

9 . Places in News

Katchatheevu island

• Katchatheevu is a controversial uninhabited 285-acre (1.15 km) island situated on the Sri Lankan side of the maritime boundary.
• It has a Catholic shrine and has been declared as a sacred area by the government of Sri Lanka.
• The shrine attracts devotees from both the countries.

Gandhamardan Iron Ore Mines 

• Gandhamardan Iron Ore Mines is situated in Banspal Tahasil of Keonjhar District Odisha