National Current Affairs – UPSC/KAS Exams- 2nd March 2020

by Mentors4ias · March 2, 2020

Afghan Peace Deal

Topic: International Relations

In News: The deal signed between the U.S. and the Taliban in Doha on 29^th February sets the stage for America to wind down the longest war in its history.

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Background:

US went into Afghanistan in October 2001, a few weeks after the 9/11 terror attacks, with the goals of defeating terrorists and rebuilding and stabilising the central Asian country.
Almost 19 years later, the U.S. seeks to exit Afghanistan with assurances from the Taliban that the insurgents will not allow Afghan soil to be used by transnational terrorist groups such as al-Qaeda and that they would engage the Kabul government directly to find a lasting solution to the civil war.
The Afghan war is estimated to have cost $2-trillion, with more than 3,500 American and coalition soldiers killed.
Afghanistan lost hundreds of thousands of people, both civilians and soldiers. After all these, the Taliban is at its strongest moment since the U.S. launched the war.
The insurgents control or contest the government control in half of the country, mainly in its hinterlands. The war had entered into a stalemate long ago and the U.S. failed to turn it around despite both American Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump having sent additional troops.
Faced with no other way, the U.S. just wants to leave Afghanistan. But the problem is with the way it is getting out.

Fundamental issue with the U.S.’s Taliban engagement:

It deliberately excluded the Afghan government because the insurgents do not see the government as legitimate rulers. By giving in to the Taliban’s demand, the U.S. has practically called into question the legitimacy of the government it backs.
The U.S. has made several concessions to the Taliban in the agreement. The Taliban was not pressed enough to declare a ceasefire.
Both sides settled for a seven-day “reduction of violence” period before signing the deal. The U.S., with some 14,000 troops in Afghanistan, has committed to pull them out in a phased manner in return for the Taliban’s assurances that it would sever ties with other terrorist groups and start talks with the Kabul government.
But the Taliban, whose rule is known for strict religious laws, banishing women from public life, shutting down schools and unleashing systemic discrimination on religious and ethnic minorities, has not made any promises on whether it would respect civil liberties or accept the Afghan Constitution.
The Taliban got what it wanted the withdrawal of foreign troops without making any major concession.
The U.S. withdrawal will invariably weaken the Kabul government, altering the balance of power both on the battlefield and at the negotiating table. A weakened government will have to talk with a resurgent Taliban.
The U.S., in a desperate bid to exit the Afghan war, has practically abandoned the Kabul government and millions of Afghans who do not support the Taliban’s violent, tribal Islamism, to the mercy of insurgents.

Why India should be concerned:

The prospect of this happening should worry New Delhi for two interrelated reasons. One, India has a major stake in the stability of Afghanistan, however tenuous it may be, as it has invested considerable resources in the country’s development.
Two, India has a major stake in the continuation in power of the present dispensation, which it considers a strategic asset vis-à-vis Pakistan.
An increased political and military role for the Taliban and the expansion of its territorial control should be of great concern to India since the Taliban is widely believed to be a protégé of Islamabad.

Source: Hindu

Sanskrit

Topic: Culture

In News: If Sanskrit is not made popular among Indians, it is likely to become an endangered language in its country of birth.

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Since ancient times, Sanskrit has been an important language in India. It contains great wisdom and knowledge. Iranians and Arabs in the ancient and medieval period and Europeans in modern times showed an interest in its classical texts and translated them.
Sanskrit is an Indo-Aryan language of the ancient Indian subcontinent with a 3,500-year history. It is the primary liturgical language of Hinduism and the predominant language of most works of Hindu philosophy as well as some of the principal texts of Buddhism and Jainism.
In the early 1st millennium CE, along with Buddhism and Hinduism, Sanskrit migrated to Southeast Asia, parts of East Asia and Central Asia, emerging as a language of high culture and of local ruling elites in these regions.

Source: Hindu

Water Crisis – Himalayan Region

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: According to study published in water journal, Eight towns in the Himalayan region of Bangladesh, Nepal, India and Pakistan were nearly 20%-70% deficient in their water supply.

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The researchers surveyed 13 towns across these countries to understand the challenges of the urban denizens of these regions.
Unplanned urbanisation and climate change are the key factors responsible for the state of affairs, the study underlines.
Across the region, the encroachment and degradation of natural water bodies (springs, ponds, lakes, canals, and rivers) and the growing disappearance of traditional water systems (stone spouts, wells, and local water tanks) are evident.
The places surveyed are extremely dependent on springs (ranging between 50% and 100%) for their water, and three-fourths were in urban areas. Under current trends, the demand-supply gap may double by 2050.

Way Ahead:

Communities were coping through short-term strategies such as groundwater extraction, which is proving to be unsustainable.
A holistic water management approach that includes springshed management and planned adaptation is therefore paramount.

Springs:

Springs are natural sources of groundwater discharge and have been used extensively in the mountainous regions across the world.

Way Ahead:

A multidisciplinary, collaborative approach of managing springs involving the existing body of work on spring water management must be developed.
The programme could be designed on the concept of an action-research programme as part of a hydrogeology-based, community-support system on spring water management.

· NITI Aayog constituted a group of experts that has urged the government to set up a dedicated mission to salvage and revive spring water systems in the Himalayan States.

· This is due to their vital importance as a source of water for both drinking and irrigation for the region’s inhabitants.

· The task force moots an 8-year programme to overhaul spring water management.

· This includes: preparing a digital atlas of the country’s springsheds, training ‘para-hydrogeologists’ who could lead grassroots conservation and introduction of a ‘Spring Health Card.’

Source: Indian Express

Migratory Species: CMS Data

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: With new additions to the wildlife list put out by the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species (CMS), the total number of migratory fauna from India comes to 457 species.

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The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) had for the first time compiled the list of migratory species of India under the CMS before the Conference of Parties (COP 13) held in Gujarat recently.
It had put the number at 451. Six species were added later. They are the Asian elephant, great Indian bustard, Bengal florican, oceanic white-tip shark, urial and smooth hammerhead shark.
India has three flyways (flight paths used by birds): the Central Asian flyway, East Asian flyway and East Asian–Australasian flyway. Another group of birds that migrate in large numbers are waders or shore birds.
The estimate of 44 migratory mammal species in India has risen to 46 after COP 13.
The largest group of mammals is definitely bats belonging to the family Vespertilionidae.
Dolphins are the second highest group of mammals with nine migratory species of dolphins listed.
Fishes make up another important group of migratory species. Before COP 13, the ZSI had compiled 22 species, including 12 sharks and 10 ray fish. The oceanic white-tip shark and smooth hammerhead shark. The total number of migratory fish species from India under CMS now stands at 24.
Seven reptiles, which include five species of turtles and the Indian gharial and salt water crocodile, are among the CMS species found in India. There was no addition to the reptiles list.

Source: PIB

Fishing Cat Project-Chilika Lake

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Researchers conducting a study in Odisha’s Chilika Lake have found the presence of a viable, breeding population of a globally endangered fishing cat in the brackish water lagoon. The project was a collaborative effort between The Fishing Cat Project, Chilika Development Authority, Wild Orissa, Mahavir Pakshi Suraksha Samity and Chilika Wildlife Division, Forest Department of Odisha.

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Wild cat species usually hunt on ground. But the fishing cat hunts in water. It has specialised features like partially webbed feet and water-resistant fur that helps it to thrive in wetlands.
The flat-headed cat of south-east Asia is the only other feline that shares similar features. This makes them unique among all 39 extant cat species.
Another globally endangered species, smooth-coated otter, has also been recorded from the study’s data.
Both the species are supposed to enjoy conservation measures of the highest accord in India according to the country’s laws, much like the tiger and elephant.
The study has also recorded presence of Eurasian otter in Chilika. This discovery is significant because even though they are widely-spread common species globally, very little is known of the species distribution and abundance in India and especially along the eastern coast.

Source: Hindu

RaIDer-X- Explosive Detection Device

Topic: Science and Technology

In News: An explosive detection device, RaIDer-X, was unveiled at the National Workshop on Explosive Detection (NWED-2020) in Pune (Maharashtra). The Workshop was organized by the High Energy Materials Research Laboratory (HEMRL), Pune.

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RaIDer-X has the capability to detect 20 explosives within a distance of about 2 metres. Bulk explosive in concealed condition can also be detected by the device.
The data library can be built in the system to expand its capability to detect a number of explosives in pure form as well as with the contaminants.
The device has various applications including narcotics, for local police, for customs and other detection agencies who need to detect various elements which may be explosive or non-explosive in nature.
RaIDer-X has been co-developed by HEMRL, Pune and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

Source: Hindu

Mission Purvodaya

Topic: Government Policies

In News: A workshop on “Enabling Procedures for Increase of Steel Usage for the Growth of Economy” was organised by the Ministry of Steel in partnership with the Government of Japan and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), It extensively discussed about Mission Purvodaya.

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It was launched in 2020 for the accelerated development of eastern India through the establishment of an integrated steel hub in Kolkata, West Bengal.
The focus will be on eastern states of India (Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal) and northern part of Andhra Pradesh which collectively hold ~80% of the country’s iron ore, ~100% of coking coal and significant portion of chromite, bauxite and dolomite reserves.

The Integrated Steel Hub would focus on 3 key elements:

Capacity addition through easing the setup of Greenfield steel plants.
Development of steel clusters near integrated steel plants as well as demand centres.
Transformation of logistics and utilities infrastructure which would change the socio-economic landscape in the East.
The objective of this hub would be to enable swift capacity addition and improve overall competitiveness of steel producers both in terms of cost and quality.

Source: The Hindu

Henneguya salminicola

Topic: Environment and Ecology

In News: Researchers have discovered a non-oxygen breathing animal, which significantly changes one of science’s assumptions about the animal world that all animals use aerobic respiration and therefore, oxygen.

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It also challenges what may be generally thought of as evolution in organisms that they become more complex as they evolve.
In the case of this non-oxygen breathing organism, evolution turned it into a simpler organism that shed “unnecessary genes” responsible for aerobic respiration.
The organism Henneguya salminicola, a fewer-than-10-celled microscopic parasite that lives in salmon muscle.
According to the researchers, as the organism evolved, it gave up breathing and stopped the consumption of oxygen for the production of energy which means it relies on anaerobic respiration (through which cells extract energy without using oxygen).
Other organisms such as fungi and amoebas that are found in anaerobic environments lost the ability to breathe over time.
The new study shows that the same can happen in the case of animals, too.
Henneguya salminicola did not have a mitochondrial genome.
Mitochondria is the “powerhouse” of the cell, which captures oxygen to make energy its absence in the H. salminicola genome indicates that the parasite does not breathe oxygen.