National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams – 5th November 2018
Water ATMs may help in bridging safe water gap
- For thousands of communities across India, the process of getting drinking water is now the same as the process of getting cash: they head to an ATM.
- With 82 crore people who still do not have access to piped water and 70% of water in the country contaminated by pollutants, the government is increasingly starting to accept small water enterprises such as water ATMs and community purification plants — as an alternative solution to the safe drinking water challenge.
- A new report by Safe Water Network (SWN) says the government needs to spend Rs. 44,000 crore on 2.2 lakh small water enterprises to provide safe drinking water to about 37 crore people, mostly in urban slums where piped water infrastructure is difficult to build, and in rural areas with contaminated water sources.
- While such enterprises cost only a fraction of piped water infrastructure, policy changes and at least a doubling of tariffs are needed to help them bridge the safe water gap, says the report released this week.
- A recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) pointed out that only 18% of the rural population has access to potable piped water, failing to meet the 2017 target of 50%.
70% contaminated
- India is ranked at 120 out of 122 countries on the Water Quality Index, said Niti Aayog, adding that 70% of the country’s water supply is contaminated.
- For those who can afford it, they can buy a household RO (reverse osmosis system) to purify your water for drinking. But for many people, that is not possible.
- The community purification plants treat water locally. The water ATM is a dispensation system, which can be automatic with a coin or smart card, or manual
- Community water purification plants have grown from less than 12,000 in 2014 to almost 50,000 in 2018, according to the SWN, as they have been incorporated into government planning. To reach the government’s Har Ghar Jal target of 100% piped water by 2030, almost Rs. 5 lakh crore of infrastructure investment will be required, says government data. SWN estimates that if the government is willing to spend less than 10% of that amount on small water enterprises, it could provide safe drinking water at a fraction of the cost.
China backs Pakistan’s ‘quest for peace’ via talks
- China backed Pakistan for trying to resolve “outstanding issues” with India through dialogue, and appeared to support Islamabad on two other key topics — the expansion of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and counterterrorism.
- In a joint statement, issued at the end of the Beijing leg of Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s visit, China stated that it appreciated “Pakistan’s quest for peace through dialogue, cooperation and negotiation, on the basis of mutual respect and equality, and supports Pakistan’s efforts for improvement of Pakistan-India relations and for settlement of outstanding disputes between the two countries.”
- The statement further said: “Pakistan supported active participation of China at the platform of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).”
- Though China is an observer at SAARC, New Delhi is unlikely to countenance a more active Beijing role in the South Asian grouping.
Role in SAARC
- The statement also veered closer to Pakistan’s position on counterterrorism and NSG, whose subtext was apparent — a UN designation of Masood Azhar, head of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammad as an international terrorist, and India’s entry into an expanded NSG.
- The two countries also said they were not yet ready to join a global counter-terror treaty, pointing out that a “consensus” should be forged on the text of the Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism (CCIT) first.
- China also supported Pakistan on nuclear non-proliferation in the statement.
About SAARC:
- The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. The Secretariat of the Association was set up in Kathmandu on 17 January 1987.
- SAARC comprises of eight Member States: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
- Important objectives of the Association as outlined in the SAARC Charter are: to promote the welfare of the peoples of South Asia and to improve their quality of life; to accelerate economic growth, social progress and cultural development in the region and to provide all individuals the opportunity to live in dignity and to realize their full potentials; to promote and strengthen collective self-reliance among the countries of South Asia.
- India’s first nuclear armed submarine INS Arihant had successfully completed its first deterrence patrol, heralding India’s entry into an exclusive club of powers with land, air and sea-based nuclear weapons delivery platforms.
- At the moment it is dubbed a technology demonstrator, showing the world that India has acquired this technology but that it will take some time before India gets a deployable fleet of such submarines.
- However, analysts said the 6,000-tonne vessel with a range of about 750km sends a powerful signal to Pakistan and China that New Delhi’s underwater nuclear deterrence is “credible”, potent and functional. This comes against the backdrop of news reports of Chinese submarines repeatedly making their presence felt in the Indian Ocean region, even as India-China ties stabilize.
- The Arihant propels India into a club so far dominated by the US, France, Britain, China and Russia, demonstrating India’s technological capability to design, build and operate nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines or SSBNs. The US leads the pack with more than 70 nuclear submarines and is followed by Russia with about 30. Britain and France have 10-12 submarines each.
- A ballistic missile submarine is a strategic asset as it can fire missiles from anywhere in the ocean and remain undetected for long. It can creep along the coast of an enemy nation and fire ballistic missiles deep into their territory, which cannot be reached by land-based short-range ballistic missiles.
- China has commissioned four Type 094 SSBNs with a Type 094A estimated to be under construction, according to reports. Pakistan only has attack submarines but there are plans to arm them with nuclear missiles, according to various reports.
- India’s hunt for a nuclear submarine began in the 1970s but it was only in the 1990s that it launched the Advanced Technology Vessel programme, under which the Arihant came into being, to build submarines capable of launching nuclear weapons.
Nuclear submarine
- A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor. The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over “conventional” (typically diesel-electric) submarines are considerable.
- Nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for conventional submarines.
- The large amount of power generated by a nuclear reactor allows nuclear submarines to operate at high speed for long periods of time; and the long interval between refuelings grants a range virtually unlimited, making the only limits on voyage times being imposed by such factors as the need to restock food or other consumables.
- Current generations of nuclear submarines never need to be refueled throughout their 25-year lifespans.
- Conversely, the limited power stored in electric batteries means that even the most advanced conventional submarine can only remain submerged for a few days at slow speed, and only a few hours at top speed, though recent advances in air-independent propulsion have somewhat ameliorated this disadvantage.
- The high cost of nuclear technology means that relatively few states have fielded nuclear submarines. Some of the most serious nuclear and radiation accidents ever to occur have involved Soviet nuclear submarine mishaps
Difference between conventional submarines and nuclear submarines
- The main difference between conventional submarines and nuclear submarines is the power generation system.
- Nuclear submarines employ nuclear reactors for this task. They either generate electricity that powers electric motors connected to the propeller shaft or rely on the reactor heat to produce steam that drives steam turbines (cf. nuclear marine propulsion).
- Reactors used in submarines typically use highly enriched fuel (often greater than 20%) to enable them to deliver a large amount of power from a smaller reactor and operate longer between refuelings – which are difficult due to the reactor’s position within the submarine’s pressure hull.
- The nuclear reactor also supplies power to the submarine’s other subsystems, such as for maintenance of air quality, fresh water production by distilling salt water from the ocean, temperature regulation, etc. All naval nuclear reactors currently in use are operated with diesel generators as a backup power system. These engines are able to provide emergency electrical power for reactor decay heat removal, as well as enough electric power to supply an emergency propulsion mechanism. Submarines may carry nuclear fuel for up to 30 years of operation. The only resource that limits the time underwater is the food supply for the crew and maintenance of the vessel.
- The stealth technology weakness of nuclear submarines is the need to cool the reactor even when the submarine is not moving; about 70% of the reactor output heat is dissipated into the sea water. This leaves a “thermal wake”, a plume of warm water of lower density which ascends to the sea surface and creates a “thermal scar” that is observable by thermal imaging systems, e.g., FLIR
- Another problem is that the reactor is always running, creating steam noise, which can be heard on SONAR, and the reactor pump (used to circulate reactor coolant), also creates noise, as opposed to a conventional submarine, which can move about on almost silent electric motors.
Avni killing: NTCA seeks report
- The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has commissioned a report from the Maharashtra Forest Department on how tigress Avni (T1) was killed.
- If they are not satisfied [with the description of events] on whether the animal was executed following established procedure, we will conduct our own investigation,” Arup Nayak, Director, NTCA
- The NTCA is the apex statutory body tasked with providing funding support to the States for tiger conservation.
- The report is expected by 12th Nov
Background
- Avni, the tigress believed to be responsible for the deaths of 13 people over the last two years, was shot dead in Maharashtra’s Yavatmal on 2nd Nov night, nearly three months after forest officials launched a massive search operation.
- In September, the Supreme Court said that Avni or T1, as she is known officially, could be shot on sight, prompting a flurry of online petitions.
- Avni was shot dead by sharp-shooter Asgar Ali, son of famous sharp-shooter Nawab Shafat Ali, at compartment number 149 of Borati forest under the jurisdiction of the Ralegaon police station
- For nearly three months, a team of 150 people equipped with the latest technology, elephants and so-called expert trackers and shooters were on a quest to find Avni.
- The hunt for the tigress was on, with the help of trap cameras, drones, a pack of trained sniffer dogs and a hang-glider along with a team of Forest Department officials in the vicinity of the Tippeshwar Tiger Sanctuary.The forest department had also hired the services of controversial private marksman Shafat Ali Khan.
- Avni was first spotted in the forests of Yavatmal in 2012. DNA evidence links her to 5 of the 13 bodies found in the thickets she inhabits. Biologists and the Forest Department officials who have surveyed the area over the past few years say that there is only one other tiger there, a male tiger. His DNA was found on one of the bodies.
- Last month, the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur Bench admitted a petition that sought a stay on plans to kill the tigress and instead capture her alive. Wildlife activist Jerryl A Banait contended that instead of killing her, which will orphan her cubs, the Forest Department should capture her alive, as per the Supreme Court orders on September 11. He described the shooting as “cold-blooded murder”.
Why in controversy?
- The big questions are numerous. Why was Avni shot at night? It is a well understood fact that all tranquilising is meant to stop after dark as chances of losing an animal once tranquilised in the dark are quite high.
- The Forest Department has said that a patrolling jeep was in the area where the tigress had been spotted that evening by several people and one villager on his machhan had panicked as she wandered through his field.
- This might be entirely true as it is where she was shot, but then the question is what was a hunter doing with the patrolling team? It only makes sense for him to have been there if the decision had been taken to shoot her if tranquilisation failed – and since this was in the dark and late at night , it is almost certain there was no real plan to tranquilise, but only to shoot. The hunter in question is Asghar, the son of the famed sharpshooter Shafath Ali Khan, incited from Hyderabad. Did his son have a formal invite too?
- The Forest Department has said that the tigress was first shot with a tranquilising dart and then shot only when she charged the open jeep. Again the questions are: why, if patrolling the area for a known aggressive tiger, was the team in an open Gypsy and why shoot her when she charged as the tranquiliser would have taken effect in minutes? However a source speaking off the record said to me that there was absolutely no attempt made at tranquilising. That the dart was placed after the fact and that she was not charging when shot. If proved
- This was then a direct violation of the order that stated all attempts would be made to tranquilise before shooting.
