Going back to the salt pans of Mumbai                                                                                                   

Spider research yet to pick up pace in India, say experts                                                                     

India gets surveillance satellite                                                                                                                 

Seeking the next frontier [ Editorial / Opinion ]                                                                                     

Kartarpur focus [ editorial / Opinion ]                                                                                                      

Going back to the salt pans of Mumbai

GS PAPER - 01 HISTORY - Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues

Context :

• A group of enthusiasts relives history, from ShivajiMaharaj to Gandhi’s Dandi march, with a walk through Wadala.

• To mark the completion of 89 years of Salt Satyagraha led by Mahatma Gandhi, who marched 241 miles to Dandi along with 80 people to break the salt law imposed by the British,a group of enthusiasts in Mumbai relived a part of history by participating in a salt pan walk at Wadalaorganised by the Asiatic Society of Mumbai.

Historical Background :

• The Salt pans in Mumbai was also one of the major centres of Salt Satyagraha (Dandi March/ Dandi Satyagraha), 1930 which led to the mass Civil Disobedience Movement. The non-violent Dandi March was led by Mahatma Gandhi.

• To protest against the high salt taxes, Gandhi marched from Sabarmati near Ahmedabad to Dandi, a coastal village in Gujarat where he broke the salt law. The India Salt Act of 1882 allowed the British government to have a monopoly on the collection and manufacture of salt and also allowed to tax it.

• Mumbai was always known for its salt pans. From ShivajiMaharaj to the British, everyone had an interest in this region because of its salt pans.

• The British had built a narrow-gauge railway between Mahul and Wadala and from Vikhroli towards Thane to collect and transport salt.

• Remains of these tracks are visible in some places. During Gandhi’s salt satyagraha in 1930, many locations in Mumbai witnessed the civil disobedience movement, but the satyagraha at Wadala salt pan was the most prominent.

• Thousands of satyagrahis would gather at the Wadala salt pans and often face brutal lathi charge.

Salt Pan :

• Salt pans are naturally forming expanses of ground which are covered with salt and other minerals.

• Such land is formed where the large water bodies have dried up over thousands of year, leaving behind salt and other minerals as remnants.

• In Mumbai, the salt pans are spread across Ghatkopar, Wadala, Chembur, Bhandup, Trombay, Virar and Bhayandar.

• Salt pans have different species of birds and insects thriving on them.

• They have an enormous water-holding capacity that helps in flood control.

                                                                                                                                                           Source :- The Hindu

Spider research yet to pick up pace in India, say experts

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• In a recent study published by Russian peer-reviewed journal Arthropoda Selecta, a team-led by arachnologists Rajesh Sanap, Dr. John Caleb and biologist AnuradhaJoglekar announced that they had discovered a new species of jumping spiders in the city’s Aarey Milk Colony.

Jumping Spider :

• A new species of jumping spider has been discovered in Aarey Colony, Mumbai.

• It has been named Jerzegosunillimaye, in the honour Sunil Limaye, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest Wildlife East, Maharashtra forest department.

• The species was first spotted in 2016.

• Jumping spiders are a group of spiders that constitute the family Salticidae.

• It is the largest and most diverse family of spiders, consisting of 6,126 described species. These spiders are easily recognised by their lager anterior median eyes.

• In India, there are about 256 species of jumping spiders known till date.

• Jerzegosunillimaye is the fourth species under genus Jerzego in the world and the second from India. It is also the first species under the genus whose taxonomic details, mating behaviour, and egg development have been documented.

                                                                                                                                                          Source ;- The Hindu

India gets surveillance satellite

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Context :

• Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), in its 47th mission (PSLV-C45) has successfully launched EMISAT from SatishDhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

More about the Launch :

• 28 nano satellites of global customers were also launched.

• The 28 international customer satellites are from four countries, viz. Lithuania, Spain, Switzerland and USA. These satellites have been launched under commercial arrangements.

EMISAT :

• EMISAT is an advanced electronic intelligence satellite jointly developed by ISRO and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).

  • EMISAT is modelled after an Israeli spy satellite called SARAL (Satellite with ARgos and ALtika)

• The satellite is intended for electromagnetic spectrum measurement. It is a first of its kind in India.

• The ministry of defence had initiated the development of this satellite under a project titled Kautilya, which was first openly acknowledged in 2013-14. However, the DRDO has since maintained secrecy about the project.

• The satellite has been placed in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO)—it has been put in an orbit about 700 km from Earth

• objective it to detect low power radar signals. Such radars are typically used to track by low-altitude air-borne vehicles, including aircraft and drones.

• According to sources in the DRDO, the satellite will allow India to intercept the radars by detecting the electromagnetic rays from “enemy radar”.

• The Ka-band frequency that EMISAT is sensitive to allows it to scan through ice, rain, coastal zones, land masses, forests and wave heights relatively easily

• EMISAT can be a valuable tool for India to carry out stealth air operations in enemy territory since the satellite can detect enemy radars. It can help Indian Air Force carry out operations similar to the Balakot surgical strikes with greater confidence.

India’s Military purpose Satellite :

• Out of the total 47 operational satellites, India currently has six to eight satellites which are used entirely for military purposes.

•  There are four Cartosat-2 series satellites (2C, 2D, 2E, 2F) and

• Gsat-29 satellite besides Besides Risat-2.

• Isro launched adefence imaging satellite, Microsat R, for DRDO in January this year.

• Besides dedicated military satellites, ISRO has also launched communication satellites Gsat-7 and Gsat-7a for navy and air force.

• Gsat-7A, launched last November, boosted drone operations as it is helping the IAF upgrade from existing ground control stations to satellite-control of military UAVs.

PSLV-C45 Mission :

• PSLV-C45 mission, the last stage of the rocket (PS4) will be used as orbital platform for satellite. It will host three payloads viz. a) Automatic Identification System (AIS) from ISRO, b) Automatic Packet Repeating System (APRS) from AMSAT (Radio Amateur Satellite Corporation) and Advanced Retarding Potential Analyzer for Ionospheric Studies (ARIS) from Indian Institute of Space Science and technology (IIST).

• AIS is intended for Maritime satellite applications which would capture messages transmitted from ships.

• AMSAT is intended to assist amateur radio operators in tracking and monitoring position data.

• ARIS would study the structural and composition studies of ionosphere.

• The PSLV-C45 mission has marked several “firsts” for ISRO. For the first time, ISRO has placed the satellites and payloads in three different orbits. ISRO used a multiple-burn technology where the engine shut down and restarted multiple times within a short period of time allowing the rocket to course to the next orbit with the payloads

• Further, a new variant of the rocket PSLV-QL with four strap-on boosters has been used for the launch. Till now, PSLV has been in either two or six strap-on configuration or without any strap-ons.

• It is also the first time that ISRO invited common people to view the launch.

                                                                                                                                                Source :- Times of India

Seeking the next frontier [ Editorial / Opinion ]

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Context :

• Though India’s ASAT test has not violated any norm it is a reminder of the need for a global regulatory regime.

India’s ASAT Test :

• on March 27, India carried out an anti-satellite (ASAT) test using an interceptor missile (as a kinetic kill vehicle) to neutralise a target satellite (possibly the Microsat-R launched in January this year) in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of around 300 km.

• While India is the fourth country (after the U.S., Russia/USSR and China) to acquire this capability, Prime Minister NarendraModi became the first leader to have announced the successful test in a national address.

• In contrast, China had quietly carried out its first successful hit-to-kill intercept in January 2007 till international reports about the consequent increase in space debris forced Beijing to acknowledge the test.

• France and Israel are believed to possess the capability.

• India’s test has not violated any norm as there is no international treaty prohibiting the testing or the development of ASATs. 

Keeping watch, Keeping Pace :

• After the Indian test, a senior U.S. Air Force Space Command official, Lt. Gen. David D. Thompson, appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee (Strategic Forces Subcommittee) and said that based on public information, the U.S. had expected a test, and that a base in Colorado had tracked it.

• U.S. systems are monitoring between 250-270 objects of space debris that were created following the test.

• The U.S. will notify satellite operators in case a threat to any is assessed.

• He added that the debris did not pose a threat to the International Space Station, which orbits at an altitude of around 350 km.

• An ASAT capability is normally a part of a Ballistic Missile Defence (BMD) programme. While a BMD targets an incoming ballistic missile, an ASAT interceptor targets a hostile satellite.

• Since a satellite moves in a precise orbit which is tracked, it gives greater time for target acquisition though satellites in higher orbits pose greater challenges for the kill vehicle.

Developments so far :

• While ‘Mission Shakti’ may have targeted an object in outer space, India has long developed the ability to intercept incoming missiles.

• Faced with Pakistan’s growing missile capability in the 1990s (Pakistan acquired the M-9 and the M-11 missiles from China and the No-dong from North Korea), India embarked on its BMD programme in 1999.

• A modified Prithvi was to be developed as the intercept missile. Work on a long-range tracking radar (Swordfish) that could track incoming ballistic missiles to enable target acquisition was also taken up. Testing began nearly 15 years ago followed by the integration of the various systems, including the active RF seekers, fibreoptic gyros and directional warheads.

• In 2011, an incoming Prithvi missile was destroyed by the interceptor missile over the Bay of Bengal at an altitude of around 16 km. Another half a dozen tests have been carried out since 2011, gradually expanding the parameters of the system to enable taking on targets at higher altitudes.

• Both the U.S. and USSR began to develop ASAT systems as a part and parcel of their anti-ballistic missile programmes. During the 1980s, both countries concluded their kinetic kill interceptor testing. Instead, they began to focus on co-orbital anti-satellite systems and directed energy (laser) systems which could neutralise a satellite without fragmenting it and generating space debris.

• With developments in offensive cyber capabilities, a promising new area is to disrupt communication links between the satellite and ground control by damaging the transponders or the power source.

• After the 2007 test, China too has carried out subsequent ASAT development along these lines.

A crowded space:

• Since the Sputnik was launched in 1957, more than 8,000 satellites/manmade orbiting objects have been launched, of which about 5,000 remain in orbit; more than half are non-functional.

• Currently, more than 50 countries own/operate the nearly 2,000 functional satellites in orbit.

  • The U.S. accounts for more than 800 of these, followed by China (approximately 280), Russia (approximately 150).

  • India has an estimated 50 satellites.

  • Of these 2,000 satellites, over 300 are dedicated military satellites.

  • Once again, the U.S. has the biggest share here, with nearly 140, followed by Russia with nearly 90 and China with nearly 40.

  • India has two dedicated satellites, one each for the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force.

  • Indian defence forces also use the civilian government owned satellites extensively for communications, remote sensing, and location accuracy and meteorology.

• Growing amounts of space debris pose a real risk to satellites and spacecraft.

• There are over 20,000 objects of debris which are the size of golf balls while those of smaller size run into hundreds of thousands, totalling nearly 6,000 tonnes.

• The U.S. Department of Defence routinely tracks approximately 23,000 man-made objects achieving orbit to ensure safety of its space-based assets.

• One of the reasons that the international community protested strongly about the 2007 Chinese test was that it added nearly 3,000 pieces of debris as the test was done at a higher altitude (800 km), from where it would take decades to dissipate. The debris created by the Indian test, which was undertaken at a low altitude, is expected to dissipate much faster.

Patchy international control:

• The salience of space in defence is evident from the fact that all three countries — the U.S., Russia and China — have set up ‘Space Commands’.

• This has given rise to demands to prevent the militarisation of space so that it is preserved “as the common heritage of mankind”.

• The 1967 Outer Space Treaty followed by the 1979 Moon Treaty laid the foundations of the legal regime for space beginning with the rule of law, refraining from appropriating territory, non-placement of any weapons of mass destruction in space, and prohibition of military activities on the moon and other celestial bodies.

• However, these treaties were negotiated when the technology was still in a nascent stage.

• Satellite registration was introduced in the 1970s though compliance has been patchy.

• The U.S. has been adamantly opposed to negotiating any legally binding instrument to prevent ‘militarisation of space’, questioning the very meaning of the term, given that space as a medium is increasingly used for military applications.

• In 2008, Russia and China had proposed a draft to kick off negotiations on the Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space and of the Threat or Use of Force Against Outer Space Objects.

• The European Union, mindful of U.S. allergy to any negotiations on this issue, began to develop an international code of conduct based on transparency and confidence-building measures.

• The UN General Assembly has called for a declaration of political commitment by all countries that they shall not be the first to place weapons in space. This initiative too has floundered as norm building cannot take place in a political vacuum.

• At present, the U.S. is the dominant presence in space, which reflects its technological lead as well its dependence on space-based assets. It therefore perceives any negotiations as a constraint on its technological lead.

• While countries have developed and tested ASATs, they are not known to have stockpiled ASAT weapons.

Conclusion :

• Effective use of an ASAT also requires space situational awareness capability, which works best if it is a cooperative effort.

• India’s successful ASAT test is, therefore, a technology marker.

• Further development of interceptor technology and long-range tracking radars is necessary for a robust BMD and the Defence Research and Development Organisation also needs to move on to newer technologies to enhance its ASAT capability in the coming years.

                                                                                                                                      Source :- The Hindu

Kartarpur focus [ editorial / Opinion ]

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - India and its neighborhood- relations.

Context :

• India and Pakistan announced in November they would operationalise a corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Punjab to Kartarpur SahibGurdwara in Pakistan’s Punjab.

Background :

• The Kartarpur Corridor was first proposed in early 1999 by the prime ministers of Pakistan and India, Nawaz Sharif and AtalBihari Vajpayee, respectively, as part of the Delhi–Lahore Bus diplomacy.

• In 2018, the foundation stone for the Kartarpur corridor was laid down on the Indian side. Two days later the foundation stone for the corridor was laid down on the Pakistani side. The corridor was initially intended to be completed before the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev in November 2019.

• The prime minister of India, NarendraModi, compared the decision to go ahead with the corridor by the two countries to the fall of the Berlin Wall, saying that the project may help in easing tensions between the two countries.

Challenges in the formulation of the corridor:

• There has been round upon round of wrangling between the two governments over every detail like

  •  The number of pilgrims to be accommodated,

  • The security restrictions.

  • The documentation and mode of transport to be used by pilgrims.

Deep distrust between the two governments:

• A chasm that has deepened in the aftermath of the Pulwama attack and the Balakot strike.

• Pakistan Prime Ministers administration feels it should be given more credit for having cleared the Kartarpur proposal

• For its part, New Delhi refuses to acknowledge Pakistan’s overture, and has made it clear the corridor will have no connection with furthering bilateral talks on other issues.

• Meanwhile, security agencies have voiced concerns about a possible attempt by Pakistan’s military establishment to use the corridor to fuel separatist Khalistani sentiment.

KhalistanConcerns :

• India has fresh concerns about the safety and security of pilgrims and misuse of the corridor for anti-India activities.

• The government’s decision now to postpone the next round of technical talks, which were scheduled for April 2, is driven mainly by those concerns, in particular the inclusion of some known Khalistan activists in a gurdwara committee that would interact with pilgrims from India.

• Last week, the Ministry of External Affairs summoned Pakistan’s Deputy High Commissioner and sought clarifications on the “controversial elements” on the committee, and said the next meeting would only be held after it receives Pakistan’s response.

Way forward :

• While none of the government’s concerns is inappropriate, it could not have been unprepared when it agreed to the corridor proposal.

• Pakistan’s support to separatist Sikh groups goes back several decades, and India must work to secure its border from the threat even as it opens the gates for thousands of pilgrims to travel to Pakistan.

• National security must get priority. But for this, there must be an effort by all stakeholders in India — the Centre, the State government and the leadership of the BJP, the Akalis and the Congress — to resist scoring political points against one another.

• Modalities and technical issues, such as on the numbers, eligibility and identity proof required for the trip to Kartarpur Sahib, should be ironed out by both governments.

• Putting off meetings is not a constructive solution, given the proposed opening of the corridor by November to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak.

                                                                                                                                                              Source :- The Hindu

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------