Learn with NITISH KUMAR

Kochi-Mangaluru natural gas pipeline Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Infrastructure In news The Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the Kochi-Mangaluru Natural Gas Pipeline to the nation on January 5 at 11 am via video conferencing. Key Highlights The 450-km pipeline has been built by GAIL (India) Ltd It has transportation capacity of 12 million standard cubic metres per day It will carry natural gas from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) regassification terminal at Kochi to Mangaluru Laying of the pipeline was an engineering challenge as the route of the pipeline necessitated it to cross water bodies at more than 100 locations. This was done through a special technique called horizontal directional drilling method. The pipeline will supply environment friendly and affordable fuel to households, transportation sector and to commercial and industrial units across the districts along the pipeline. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

India's military reforms are complex, the GoI needs to seriously consider the constitution of a Parliamentary Committee, with military advisers, to oversee and guide this transformational process. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

Carrying out transformational reforms in military The article examines issues of national security like the recent creation of a Department of Military Affairs (DMA) and a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) and also some focus areas like Threatre Command. Understanding the significance of DMA and CDS Through the creation of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the management of the armed forces, so far which was assigned to the civilian Defence Secretary, was brought under a military officer, the CDS. The designation of CDS as Secretary DMA made him the first military officer to be recognised as a functionary of the Government of India (GoI). With the DMA is now a part of the GoI, it would aid the resolution of organisational, hierarchical and financial issues faced by the military. Recent steps taken by DMA The responsibility for accruing savings to fund defence expenditure has been placed on the DMA. DMA has floated two schemes aimed at reducing the defence pensions bill. One penalises officers seeking early release from service and another envisages a three-year "Tour of Duty" for jawans. Issues with these ideas: Penalising officers for early release is likely to harm morale. "Tour of Duty" will degrade the military's combat-capability in today's technology-intensive battle-space. The need here is thatDMA must focus on military matters and leave the plans of financing national defence to finance ministry or the Niti Aayog. It will better serve it's purpose. Another area of needed reform - Theatre Command Theatre Commands stands for jointness and integration in the Indian military are varying degrees of synergy and cross-service cooperation between the military wings of Indian armed forces. Objectives of the creation of theatre command should be: To hand over the military's warfighting functions to the Theatre Commanders, while retaining the support functions with service HQs. To combine India's 17 widely-dispersed, single-service Commands into four or five mission/threat-oriented, geographically contiguous "Joint" or "Theatre Commands". To place the appropriate warfighting resources of all three services directly under the command of the designated Theatre Commanders; and To achieve efficiency/economy by pooling of facilities and resources of the three services. Advantages of Theatre Commands The Theatre Commanders and their staff will be trained and groomed in jointness. With that jointness, they will be able to plan operations and to employ land, maritime and air forces, regardless of the service to which they belong. For this to happen, radical changes are required in the content of our system of professional military education. The Theatre Commander will also have the benefit of advice from commanders representing each service. Issues with Theatre Commands Two thorny issues are the chain of command of the Theatre Commanders and the relationship of the CDS (or his equivalent) with the service Chiefs. To avoid over-concentration of power in any single military functionary, the system followed by the US ensures that the chain of command runs from the President to the Secretary (Minister) of Defence and then, directly to the Theatre Commander. In India, the peacetime management of the armed forces is left to the MoD and the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC). However, during war, strategic guidance to the military, has always come from the PM. In the system of higher defence under implementation, ideally, the Defence Minister needs to be brought into the command/operational chain of the Theatre Commanders, with the CDS acting as his adviser. Due to frequency of elections and intensity of politics in India that no Defence Minister has had the time or inclination to devote his/her undivided attention to complex national security issues. Consider the question "Examine the implications of the creation of Theatre Commands. What are the challenges in its creation." Conclusion

CPEC- The corridor of uncertainty The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has turned five. What is CPEC? China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is a collection of infrastructure projects that are under construction throughout Pakistan since 2013. It is an extension of the Belt and Road Initiative of China. It intended to upgrade Pakistan's required infrastructure and strengthen its economy by the construction of modern transportation networks, numerous energy projects, and special economic zones. On 13 November 2016, CPEC became partly operational when Chinese cargo was transported overland to Gwadar Port for onward maritime shipment to Africa and West Asia. Why in news? The viability of some of the CPEC's projects, and how they were going to be paid for in a pandemic-hit economy, had come under renewed attention in Pakistan. China had sought additional guarantees before sanctioning a $6 billion loan for the Main Line-1 (ML-1) project, which includes upgrading a 1,872 km rail line from Peshawar to Karachi. This is due to the "weakening financial position of Pakistan" and had "proposed a mix of commercial and concessional loans against Islamabad's desire to secure the cheapest lending". An overrated project The CPEC, to some degree, has been a victim of its own hype. Its economic figure may never materialise as the plan has been "considerably slimmed-down" from the scope that was first imagined. This largely due to the ever-deteriorating financial situation of Pakistan and a visible debt-trap. Pakistan had established a CPEC authority to speed up the execution of several projects that were mired in delays (and to give the military a greater role in the project). Threats of Baloch insurgency Gwadar, the heartland of CPEC certainly faces serious threats. The city is a prime target for Baloch nationalist insurgents. Hence Pakistan has decided to fence the area. This has sparked a new furore among the local residents. India's concerns with CPEC CPEC passes through Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (Gilgit-Baltistan) which is an Indian territory illicitly occupied by Pakistan. Thus CPEC undermines India's strategic interests and territorial integrity. More importantly, with CPEC, China will get access to the western Indian Ocean through Gwadar port. This will help China in controlling maritime trade and would affect the freedom of navigation and trade-energy security of India. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

South China Sea: https://youtu.be/4zPKYRvekQk

India Israel: https://youtu.be/Ap5wdxRbY_4

India Us: https://youtu.be/B7YDitrFUGM

[pib] Kochi – Mangaluru Natural Gas Pipeline PM will today dedicate the Kochi - Mangaluru Natural Gas Pipeline to the nation. Natural gas occurs in the Gondwana beds. Mica occurs in abundance in Kodarma. Dharwars are famous for petroleum. Kochi - Mangaluru Pipeline The 450 km long pipeline has been built by GAIL (India) Ltd. It has a transportation capacity of 12 Million Metric Standard Cubic Metres per day. It will carry natural gas from the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Regasification Terminal at Kochi (Kerala) to Mangaluru (Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka). It will pass through Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod districts. Its significance The event marks an important milestone towards the creation of 'One Nation One Gas Grid'. The pipeline will supply environment-friendly and affordable fuel in the form of Piped Natural Gas (PNG) to households and Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) to the transportation sector. It will also supply Natural Gas to commercial and industrial units across the districts along the pipeline. Consumption of cleaner fuel will help in improving air quality by curbing air pollution. Back2Basics: Natural Gas Natural gas is a fossil fuel source consisting primarily of methane. It is the cleanest among all the available fossil fuels. It is used as a feedstock in the manufacture of fertilizers, plastics and other commercially important organic chemicals as well as used as a fuel for electricity generation, heating purpose in industrial and commercial units. Natural gas is also used for cooking in domestic households and a transportation fuel for vehicles. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

ADB, India sign $231 million loan to enhance power generation capacity in Assam Part of: GS Prelims and GS-II – International relations & GS-III – Infrastructure; Energy In news The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Government of India signed a $231 million loan to augment electricity generation capacity in Assam through construction of a 120 megawatts (MW) hydroelectric power plant. Key takeaways This is the third tranche loan for the ongoing Assam Power Sector Investment Programme that was approved by the ADB Board in July 2014. The programme, including its two previous tranches, focuses on enhancing capacity and efficiency of the energy generation and distribution systems in Assam to improve electricity service to end users. Increased supply of affordable and clean electricity facilitated through the project will help improve living conditions, promote business expansion, and increase employment opportunities in the state beside reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The project is run-of-the-river project over Kopili river which will help increase electricity supplied from clean energy by 469 gigawatthour (GWh) by 2025 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 360,000 tons of carbon dioxide annually. A $2 million grant from Japan fund for poverty reduction (JFPR) is also associated with the project to finance equipment and consulting services. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

Foundation stone of TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad laid Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Innovation; Sci & Tech In news Union Minister of Education laid foundation stone of ‘TiHAN-IIT Hyderabad’. It is India’s first Test bed for Autonomous Navigation Systems (Terrestrial and Aerial). Key takeaways The Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, has sanctioned Rs. 135 crores to IIT Hyderabad under the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems (NM-ICPS) to set up a Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation and Data Acquisition Systems (UAVs, RoVs, etc.). The Technology Innovation Hub on Autonomous Navigation Systems for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles and Remotely Operated Vehicles at IIT Hyderabad, known as ‘TiHAN Foundation’ has been incorporated as a Section-8 company by the institute in June 2020. TiHAN Foundation is a multi-departmental initiative, including researchers from Electrical, Computer Science, Mechanical and Aerospace, Civil, Mathematics, and Design at IIT Hyderabad with collaboration and support from reputed institutions and industry. Special Features of this Facility include Test Tracks, Emulation of Real-World Scenarios, State of the Art Simulation Technologies, Road Infrastructure, V2X Communication, Drone Runways and many more. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

Meteorological (Met) Centre at Leh (Ladakh) inaugurated Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Sci & Tech In news The Union Minister of Earth Sciences inaugurated Meteorological (Met) Centre at Leh (Ladakh). Key takeaways Located at a height of 3500 m, Meteorological Centre Leh will be the highest meteorological centre in India. The Centre will be a world class facility for high altitude meteorology. It will cater to the various kinds of weather and climate needs of the people and the administration of Ladakh. It will provide forecast for important tourist places like Nubra, Changthang, Pangong Lake, Zanskar, among others. Need for a Met Centre at Leh The Ladakh region has lofty mountains with high slopes and no vegetation and lots of loose soil and debris making the region vulnerable to various kinds of natural hazards like Cloud burst (of 2010), Flash Floods, Avalanches and Glacial Lake Outbursts, etc. To avert losses due to such weather events in future, the Government felt the need to establish a State of the Art Meteorological (Met) Centre at Leh to strengthenweather related Early Warning System in Ladakh. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

Radio wave emission detected from the direction of Proxima Centauri Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Sci & tech In news Astronomers at the $100 million Breakthrough Listen project have recently picked up radio wave emission from the direction of Proxima Centauri, the closest star to our Sun. Breakthrough Listen project was started by physicist Stephen Hawking, Key takeaways The news has sparked renewed interest in Proxima Centauri, one of whose planets is believed to revolve in the star’s habitable zone, giving rise to the possibility that it could have, or does, sustain life. Proxima Centauri is 4.2 light-years away from the Sun. Its mass is about an eighth of the Sun’s, and it is too dim to be seen with the naked eye from Earth. Important value additions Proxima b Proxima b, one of the two planets that revolve around the star, is the subject of significant curiosity. Sized 1.2 times larger than Earth, and orbiting its star every 11 days, Proxima b lies in Proxima Centauri’s Goldilocks zone. Goldilocks zone is the area around a star where it is not too hot and not too cold for liquid water to exist on the surface of surrounding planets (e.g. Earth is in the Sun’s Goldilocks zone). However, this does not mean for sure that water is present on Proxima b. It could also be hostile to life, if its atmosphere has been stripped away by solar flares from Proxima Centauri. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

100th Kisan Rail flagged off recently Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Infrastructure In news Prime Minister flagged off the 100th Kisan Rail train, which shall ply between Devlali and Danapur. It has now been extended to run between Sangola to Muzaffarpur. Important value additions The Kisan Rail train carries vegetables and fruits like grapes, oranges, pomegranate, etc. The loading and unloading of perishable commodities will be permitted at all en route stoppages and there is no minimum or maximum size of consignment. The government has extended a subsidy of 50% on transportation of fruits and vegetables. The multi-commodity train service has been popular as it also carries relatively small quantities of produce brought in by small, individual farmers. Progress So far, the Kisan Rail has run regularly on 10 routes. One route — between Yeshvantpur and Delhi — exhausted its seasonal demand a while ago. Kisan Rail trains have ferried around 27,000 tonnes of produce so far, and half of the trips made so far were by trains running between Devlali in Maharashtra and Danapur in Bihar. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

Places in news: Dibru-Saikhowa National Park Assam has asked the State's Forest and Revenue departments to permanently rehabilitate the indigenous forest dwellers of the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park. Dibru-Saikhowa National Park DSNP is a national park in Assam located in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts. It was designated a Biosphere Reserve in July 1997 with an area of 765 sq. km. The park is bounded by the Brahmaputra and Lohit Rivers in the north and Dibru river in the south. It mainly consists of moist mixed semi-evergreen forests, moist mixed deciduous forests, canebrakes and grasslands. It is the largest Salix swamp forest in north-eastern India, with a tropical monsoon climate with a hot and wet summer and cool and usually dry winter. Why in news? Rehabilitation of some 10,000 people has been hanging fire since 1999 when the Dibru-Saikhowa Wildlife Sanctuary was upgraded to a national park. The park, home to a few wild horses, had been in focus since May when a blowout at an Oil India Limited gas well in the vicinity posed an ecological threat. What is the issue? The affected people belong to the Mising community. The forest dwellers of the 425-sq. km. Dibru-Saikhowa National Park has been denied access to government schemes since 1986 though a notification. It allowed them to continue staying until their shifting to a suitable place. The organisation said the villagers' problems started when 765 sq. km. around their habitations was declared a biosphere reserve in 1997, limiting the access of the forest to the community. The hardship compounded in 1999 when the national park came into existence. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

Internet usage in Indian states The recent National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) survey helps us gain an idea about the spread of awarenessregarding the internet among people. This newscard provides a picture of gendered as well as regional differentiation of internet usage in India. Statewise Internet Usage (1) Gendered data A very high differential is also seen among the female and male population who have ever used the internet. In every state, it is seen that the percentage of male users exceeds the female ones. The states and Union territories with the highest percentage of internet users amongmen areGoa (82.9 %), Lakshadweep (80.3 %) and Mizoram (79.7 %). Also, states like Sikkim (76.7 %), Goa (73.7 %) and Mizoram (67.6 %) have the highest percentage of female internet users.The lowest internet usage among men is seen in Meghalaya (42.1 %), Assam (42.3 %) and Bihar (43.6 %). In some states like Bihar, Tripura, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, there is almost double the number of male internet users than female ones. Among women,it is seen in Bihar (20.6 %), Andhra Pradesh (21 %) and Tripura (22.9 %). (2) Urban-Rural divide Except for West Bengal, there is no other state which shows a lower percentage of urban male internet users compared to rural ones. States like Goa, Kerala and Lakshadweep don't show a huge variation in internet accessibility in the urban and rural areas. But in every other state, there is an approximate difference of 10-15 % between the two regions, with urban areas staying ahead. Why it matters? The internet today has a very huge range and a big impact on the lifestyle and empowerment of people. Female empowerment and gender equality have been one of the UN-mandated Sustainable Development Goals that our country is trying to achieve. Good and affordable internet availability to women will be a big step towards fulfilling this goal. Significance of the data Gender differentiation that is seen in the offline world also affects the variations that we have seen in the online world, which includes differences in education, employment and income. Sexual harassment and trolling are other reasons whypeople prefer to keep their female relatives away from the internet. Just like phone ownership was used as an indicator to understand the women empowerment situation in the country, this too can be an indicator for the same. Conclusion The results from the NFHS-5 survey are still partial, but they have shown a great variation in the access to the internet among the states, between men and women and also between the rural and urban regions of each state. When we look at the differentials in the usage of the internet by women across the rural and urban regions, a huge gap is seen between the urban and rural women's use of the internet. The variations are very high, with the percentage of women users of the internet in rural areas being just half of that in urban areas. These disparities paint a sad picture. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

USA’s plan to have Nuclear Reactor On Moon Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Sci & tech In news USA’s plan to have the first nuclear reactor on the moon by the end of 2026 got a new push with a recent White House directive. USA President issued the “National Strategy for Space Nuclear Power and Propulsion. US Department of Energy in collaboration with NASA also intends to solicit industry design proposals in early 2021 for the same purpose. Key takeaways Under the directive, NASA was asked to initiate fission surface power project for lunar surface demonstration by 2027 with scalability to a power range of 40 kilowatt-electric and higher to support a sustained lunar presence and exploration of Mars”. NASA aims to establish a flight hardware system that is ready for integrating with the lunar lander by 2026-end. The fission power system — as the nuclear reactor is called — will benefit future robotic and human exploration missions to the moon as well as Mars. The availability of safe, efficient, and readily available power is critical to these missions and a fission surface power system meets those requirements. The fission surface power system will be fully manufactured and assembled on earth and integrated on a lander as a payload. The system consists of four major subsystems including a nuclear reactor, an electric power conversion unit, heat rejection array, and power management and distribution subsystem. It will be designed to operate for up to 10 years. 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom

Indus Valley Civilization https://youtu.be/YlzEf6o8pxs

[pib] International Blue Flag hoisted at 8 beaches across the Country The Environment Minister has virtually hoisted the international blue flags in 8 beaches across the country. About Blue Flag Certification This Certification is accorded by an international agency "Foundation for Environment Education, Denmark" based on 33 stringent criteria in four major heads i.e. Environmental Education and Information, Bathing Water Quality, Environment Management and Conservation and Safety and Services on the beaches. It started in France in 1985 and has been implemented in Europe since 1987, and in areas outside Europe since 2001 when South Africa joined. Japan and South Korea are the only countries in South and southeastern Asia to have Blue Flag beaches. Spain tops the list with 566 such beaches; Greece and France follow with 515 and 395, respectively. Which are the 8 beaches? The beaches where the International Blue Flags were hoisted are: Kappad (Kerala) Shivrajpur (Gujarat) Ghoghla (Diu) Kasarkod and Padubidri (Karnataka) Rushikonda (Andhra Pradesh) Golden (Odisha) and Radhanagar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands) 🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁🍁 Join >> @dailynewscom