in IAS NOVA PRO 2020

500 MOST PROBABLE TOPICS – PART 2

5.8k Views

1. Dhruvastra

  • India has tested a locally developed anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system called Dhruvastra.
  • Developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the helicopter-launched Dhruvastra is designed to destroy enemy battle tanks, armoured vehicles and bunkers.
  • Dhruvastra is the helicopter version of ‘Nag Helina’ with several new features and meant to be fired from air to destroy enemy bunkers, armoured vehicles and main battle tanks.
  • HELINA (Helicopter based NAG) is a third generation fire and forget class anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system mounted on the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH). A variant of HELINA Weapon System called DHRUVASTRA is being inducted into the Indian Air Force.
  • The ATGM is guided by an infrared imaging seeker (IIS) operating in the lock-on before-launch mode and helps in further strengthening the defence capabilities of the country.

2. Dassault Rafale

3. Project Cheetah

  • Under the project, around 90 Heron drones of the services are to be upgraded with laser-guided bombs, air launched anti-tank guided missiles and air to ground anti-tank guided missiles.

  • The Indian fleet of drones mainly includes Israeli equipment including Herons.

4. Harpoons and Torpedoes

  • USA missiles being purchased by India- Torpedoes lightweight missiles and Harpoon air-launched missiles.
  •  The lightweight Torpedoes will be used to in anti-submarine warfare missions.The torpedoes is an underwater missile that can be launched below or above the water.
  • The Harpoon is an anti-ship missile used to attack an enemy boat or ship.

5. Tejas

  • The Light Combat Aircraft LCA-Tejas was designed by the Aircraft Development Agency (ADA). The ADA operates under DRDO (Defence Research Development Organization). It was manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).

6. K-4 Missiles

  • The K-4 is an intermediate-range submarine launched ballistic missile. The K-series missiles are named after former president APJ Abdul Kalam.
  • Faster than Agni missiles.
  • The K-15 missiles also known as Sagarika missiles is a replica to the land-based Shaurya missile. The only difference is that K-15 are compatible to be deployed from submarines. The K-15 missile gets help from Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
  • The other under water missile being developed by India is BO-5, whose range is 700-km.
  • India has also begun its research on K-5 whose target is 5,000 km.

7. GEMINI

Government of India has launched the Gagan Enabled Mariner’s Instrument for Navigation and Information (GEMINI) device, a satellite-based advisory service for deep-sea fishermen.

  • It has been developed to disseminate seamless and effective emergency information and communication on disaster warnings, Potential Fishing Zones (PFZ) and Ocean States Forecasts (OSF) to fishermen.
  • It has been developed by the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) and Airports Authority of India (AAI).
  • This device receives and transfers the data received from GAGAN satellites to a mobile through bluetooth communication.

8. Trends in International arms transfers 2019

  • Released by The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) .
  • According to the report, India is the second largest arms importer in the world.

  • The report says that Russia is the largest supplier to the Indian market between 2015-19.

  • The report also says that the top 5 arms importers in the world include Saudi Arabia, India, Egypt, Australia and China. 

9. Bio-briquetting(Sikkim)

  • Bio-briquetting is a process through which biomass waste can be easily converted into high-density fuel briquettes. This can serve as substitutes for fuelwood to meet household-level cooking and heating needs.

10. Project 75I

  • The Indian Navy’s Project 75I (P75I) Scorpene submarine development for six latest-generation attack boats is expected to be completed by 2022.
  • The P75I Scorpene class diesel-electric / air-independent propulsion (AIP) submarines are based on the Scorpene class submarines.
  • The new submarines are being built by Mazagon Dock in Mumbai, India, using the technology and training provided by DCNS.

  • The Indian Navy intends to use the submarines for missions such as area surveillance, intelligence gathering, anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and minelaying operations.

  • INS Kalvari, the first submarine in this class was undocked at Mazagon Dock in April 2015 .

11. P-8I Aircrafts

  • The P-8I aircrafts are mainly used for maritime surveillance purposes. India’s long-range reconnaissance, anti-submarine, electronic jamming and surveillance capabilities in the Indian Ocean Region will get a boost with the arrival of P-8I.
  • The P-8I is integrated with Harpon Block II air launched missiles and lightweight torpedoes. It is capable of carrying 129 sonobuoys that locate submarines and can also launch anti-ship missiles killing the submarine.
  • Developed by Boeing.

12. CERT-In

  • CERT-In was established in 2004 as a functional organisation of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
  • Objectives:
    • Preventing cyber attacks against the country’s cyber space.
    • Responding to cyber attacks and minimizing damage and recovery time Reducing ‘national vulnerability to cyber attacks.
    • Enhancing security awareness among common citizens.
  • Large Scale Phishing Attack using COVID-19 as Bait alerts CERT-In
  • Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive data such as personally identifiable information, banking and credit card details, and passwords.
  • Cyber security attacks and breaches in the country may have jumped by as much as 500% since the lockdown was first announced in March, according to security experts.

13. NATGRID and CCTNS

  • The National Intelligence Grid or NATGRID is the integrated intelligence grid connecting databases of core security agencies of the Government of India. It collects comprehensive patterns of intelligence that can be readily accessed by intelligence agencies.
  • The office of NATGRID is attached to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  • The combined data shall be accessible by the central agencies namely the Directorate General of Central Excise Intelligence, Central Board of Excise and Customs, Narcotics Control Bureau, Enforcement Directorate, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence , Central Board of Direct Taxes, Financial intelligence unit, Central Bureau of Investigation, the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing.
  • NATGRID is exempted from the Right to Information Act, 2005 under sub-section (2) of Section 24. 

CCTNS

  • The Crime and Criminal Tracking Networks and Systems, abbreviated to CCTNS, is a project under Indian government for creating a comprehensive and integrated system for effective policing through e-Governance. The system includes nationwide online tracking system by integrating more than 15,000 police stations across the country. The project is implemented by National Crime Records Bureau.
  • The concept of CCTNS was first conceived in the year 2008 by the then Home Minister in the aftermath of 2008 Mumbai attacks.

National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) has signed an MoU with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to access the centralised online database on FIRs and stolen vehicles. The MoU will give NATGRID access to  the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems (CCTNS) database. 

14. Maguri Motapung Beel

  • Located less than 10 km south of Dibru-Saikhowa National Park is Maguri Motapung beel.
  • It is spread over 9.6 sq. km. It derives its name, ‘Maguri’, from the local term for an invasive catfish, and Motapung is the name of the village nearby.
  • Maguri Motapung beel was declared an important bird and biodiversity area in 1996.
  • It is host to over 110 bird species, including eight listed as threatened on the IUCN Redlist, such as the swamp grass babbler, the ferruginous duck, the white-winged wood duck and the falcated duck. Other rare and migratory birds that visit this wetland include the lesser adjutant, the swamp francolin, the lesser teal and the bar-headed goose.
  • Maguri Motapung beel is also home to 84 species of fish, including the golden mahseer. Most of the people living in the beel‘s surrounding villages fish for living, and nearly 95% of them directly depend on the wetland, which is included in the Dibru-Saikhowa Biosphere Reserve. 
  • The Maguri-Motapung Beel (wetlands, in Assamese) is 500m away from the oil well that exploded on June 9 in Assam and the oil spill had catastrophic effect on the wetlands.

15. Coastal Regulation Zone – CRZ

  • CRZ
  • The razing of the four luxury apartments in Maradu,Kerala  was ordered by the Supreme Court in May last year, for breaching Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) norms- all razed by controlled explosion this year.

16. Blue Flag Beaches

17. Locust Attacks in India

18. Commercial Coal Mining

  • Announced as part of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan
  • Commercial mining of coal allowed, with 50 blocks to be offered to the private sector.
  • Entry norms will be liberalised as it has done away with the regulation requiring power plants to use “washed” coal.
  • Coal blocks to be offered to private companies on revenue sharing basis in place of fixed cost.
  • Coal gasification/liquefaction to be incentivised through rebate in revenue share.
  • Coal bed methane (CBM) extraction rights to be auctioned from Coal India’s coal mines.

19. National Coal Index and National Minerals Index

  • National Coal Index has provided the fundamentals wherein transactions from all channels are properly captured and principals of periodic publication (every 2 months) allow all the bidders to bid judiciously with a transparent process in place clearly defining the mineral valuation, extent of revenue share and subsequent payment of Royalty and other taxes.
  • Acknowledging the nature & consumption of the Indian Coal, which is different from the Global consumption pattern, the National Coal Index has refrained from linking it to international indices.
  • Development of the National Mineral Index by including prices from captive and non-captive mines etc. as done for all the channels in Coal (Regulated & Unregulated) can provide a one stop solution to a number of concerns.
  • National Mineral Index will capture details from all price sources such as captive and non-captive mines.This methodology just as in coal will reflect the true and useful value of the minerals and will boost the attractiveness of the Indian mining sector.
  • NMI is not implemented as of now.

20. Eat Right India Campaign

  • Campaign with its new logo and tagline ‘Sahi Bhojan, Behtar Jeevan’ was released by the Union Health minister.
  • Eat Right Movement was launched in 2018 by Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to improve public health in India and combat negative nutritional trends to fight lifestyle diseases.
  • It brings together three ongoing initiatives of FSSAI- The Safe and Nutritious Food (SNF) Initiative,The Eat Healthy Campaign ,and Food fortification.

21. BBIN  Motor Vehicles Agreement

  • The sub-regional Motor Vehicle Agreement (MVA) seeks regulation of passenger, personnel and cargo vehicular traffic between the four BBIN countries- Bangladesh ,Bhutan ,India and Nepal.
  • Ratified by all except Bhutan due to environmental concerns.
  • Under South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) programme, Asian Development Bank (ADB) has been providing technical, advisory, and financial support.

22. Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project

  • It will connect the seaport of Kolkata with Sittwe seaport in Myanmar by sea.
  • It will then link Sittwe seaport to Lashio in Myanmar via Kaladan river boat route and then from Lashio on to Mizoram by roa transport.

23. Operation Sankalp

  • Launched by Indian navy in the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman for safety of  Indian flagged vessels transiting through strategic shipping lane between Strait of Hormuz, Persian/ Arabian Gulf Region .
  • INS Chennai and INS Sunayna have been deployed.

24.  Fly ash

  • It is a fine powder, which is the by-product of burning coal in thermal power plants.
  • Fly ash includes substantial amounts of oxides of silica, aluminum and calcium. Elements like Arsenic, Boron, Chromium, lead etc. are also found in trace  concentrations.
  • Uses of fly ash– improves water holding capacity and soil aeration,increasing crop yields,can be used in construction works such as making bricks,cement etc,and manufacture of absorbents.

25. FOREST PLUS 2.0

  • launched by USAID + MoEF&CC
  • 5 year programme that focuses on developing tools and techniques to bolster ecosystem management  and harnessing ecosystem services in forest  landscape management.
  • The Forest-PLUS focused on capacity building to help India participate in Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD+).
  • USAID developed an innovative decision support tool for evidence based fuelwood management called iFoReST.
Share this post:

Written by IASNOVA

DEFENCE CURRENT AFFAIRS -2020

MOST PROBABLE TOPICS – PART 3