UPSC DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS (6TH OCTOBER, 2023)

Sutlej-Yamuna Link Canal

Syllabus: GS1/ Geography, Interlinking of rivers

In News

• The Supreme Court asked the Union government to conduct a survey of the land allocated for construction of part of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal.
  • It is the focal point of a water-sharing dispute between Haryana and Punjab.

What is the Dispute over Water Sharing?

• The Punjab Cabine opined that the State has no spare water to share with Haryana, so there is no question of construction of the SYL canal and arguing that reassessment of the availability of water was required as per international norms.
  • It was also observed that Punjab’s 76.5% blocks (117 out of 153) are over-exploited where the stage of ground water extraction is more than 100%, whereas in Haryana only 61.5% (88 out of 143) are over-exploited
• Haryana Chief Minister had urged the Punjab government to ensure compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court. 
• Haryana had stated that the construction of the SYL was the rightful entitlement of the people of Haryana. 

Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal Project

• Brief: 
  • The Sutlej Yamuna Link Canal is a 211-km-long proposed canal connecting Sutlej and Yamuna, was planned in 1966 after Haryana was carved out of Punjab. While a 121 km stretch of the canal was to be constructed in Punjab, another 90 km falls in Haryana.
  • While Haryana completed the project in its territory by June 1980, the work in Punjab, though started in 1982, was shelved due to protests in the Punjab state.
• Background:
  • In 1982, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi launched the construction of the SYL Canal with a groundbreaking ceremony in Kapoori village in Patiala district.
  • The issue dates back to 1966 at the time of reorganization of Punjab and formation of Haryana.
  • Punjab was opposed to sharing the waters of the two rivers with Haryana, citing riparian principles.
  • In July 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and then Akali Dal chief signed an accord agreeing for a new tribunal to assess the water.
  • In 1996, Haryana moved the Supreme Court seeking directions to Punjab to complete the work on the SYL.
  • In 2002 and 2004, SC directed Punjab to complete the work in its territory.
  • In 2004, the Punjab State Assembly passed the Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, terminating its water-sharing agreements.
  • The President sought the Supreme Court’s opinion on the 2004 Act under Article 143 (1) of the Constitution. The court junked the 2004 law, terming it “unconstitutional”.
•  Supreme Court’s opinion on the 2004 Act:
  • The Supreme Court scrapped the Punjab Termination of Water Agreements Act, 2004 which unilaterally allowed Punjab to stop sharing Ravi, Beas waters with other States.
  • Ever Since SYL has been a bone of contention between Haryana and Punjab.

Punjab’s Arguments

• Drying of the State: As per a state government study, many areas in Punjab may go dry after 2029.
• The state has already over-exploited its groundwater for irrigation purposes as it fills granaries of the Centre by growing wheat and paddy.
• As per reports, water in about 79% of the state’s area is over-exploited.
• Out of 138 blocks, 109 blocks are “over-exploited”, two blocks are “critical” , five blocks are “semi-critical” and only 22 blocks are in the “safe” category.

Haryana’s Arguments

• Water for irrigation: Haryana has been staking claim to the Ravi-Beas waters through the SYL Canal on the plea that providing water for irrigation was a tough task for the state.
• In southern parts: where underground water had depleted up to 1700 feet, there was a problem of drinking water.
• Haryana has been citing its contribution to the central food pool and arguing that it is being denied its rightful share in the water as assessed by a tribunal.

Report on Censorship 

Syllabus: GS2/Polity and Governance

In News

• A new report titled ‘Freedom on the Net 2023: The Repressive Power of Artificial Intelligence’ has been released by Freedom House, a Washington DC-based non-profit organization.

About

• It is the 13th edition of an annual study of human rights online, covering developments between June 2022 and May 2023. 
• It evaluates Internet freedom in 70 countries, accounting for 88% of the world’s Internet users.
• The report evaluates countries on five censorship methods — Internet connectivity restrictions, blocks on social media platforms, blocks on websites, blocks on VPNs, and forced removal of content.

What is Censorship?

• Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. 
• This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or “inconvenient”. 
• Censorship can be conducted by governments, private institutions and other controlling bodies.

Major Highlights

• The environment for human rights online has deteriorated in 29 countries, with only 20 countries registering net gains.
• Decline in Internet Freedom: The global Internet freedom has declined for the 13th consecutive year.
  • The sharpest rise in digital repression was witnessed in Iran, where authorities shut down Internet service, blocked WhatsApp and Instagram, and increased surveillance in a bid to quell anti-government protests. 
  • China, for the ninth straight year, ranked as the world’s worst environment for Internet freedom, with Myanmar the world’s second most repressive for online freedom.
• Use of AI: It has raised a red flag on the increasing use of artificial intelligence by governments for censorship and spread of disinformation.
• Legal Repercussions: People faced legal repercussions for expressing themselves online in a record 55 countries this year, and the number of countries where authorities carry out widespread arrests and impose multi-year prison terms for online activity has risen sharply over the past decade, from 18 in 2014 to 31 in 2023.
• Role played by Elections: Ahead of election periods, many leaders criminalised broad categories of speech, blocked access to independent news sites, and imposed other controls over the flow of information to sway balloting in their favour.

Indian Scenario

• On a range of 1 to 100 where ‘100’ represented highest digital freedom and ‘1’ the worst repression, India scored 50, while Iceland, with 94, emerged as the country with the best climate of Internet freedom.
• India also figured among the list of countries that blocked websites hosting political, social, or religious content, deliberately.
• The Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules require large social media platforms to use AI-based moderation tools for broadly defined types of content — such as speech that could undermine public order, decency, morality, or the country’s sovereignty, integrity, and security, or content that officials had previously ordered removed.

Uniform Anti-terrorism Structure Under NIA for All States

Syllabus: GS3/Internal Security

In News

• The Union Home Minister has said that along with a ruthless approach, an uniform anti-terrorism structure should be established under the purview of National Investigation Agency (NIA) in all the States.

Recommendations

• The hierarchy, structure, and standarating procedure of investigation of all anti-terrorism agencies in all States should be made uniform for better coordination between Central and State agencies. 
• All the agencies of the Centre and the State should make multidimensional and Artificial Intelligence-based use of the database in order to make the fight against terrorism successful.

About NIA

• The NIA was constituted in the wake of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in November 2008. The agency came into existence on December 31, 2008, and started its functioning in 2009. 
• The NIA is a central agency which investigates all offences affecting the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, friendly relations with foreign states, and the offences under the statutory laws enacted to implement international treaties.
• Terror Acts: These include terror acts and their possible links with crimes like smuggling of arms, drugs and fake Indian currency and infiltration from across the borders. 
• The agency has the power to search, seize, arrest and prosecute those involved in such offences.
• It is headquartered in Delhi.

How Wide is the NIA’s Jurisdiction?

• The law under which the agency operates extends to the whole of India and also applies to Indian citizens outside the country; persons in the service of the government wherever they are posted; persons on ships and aircraft registered in India wherever they may be; persons who commit a scheduled offence beyond India against the Indian citizen or affecting the interest of India.

How Does the NIA take up a Probe?

• As provided under Section 6 of the Act, State governments can refer the cases pertaining to the scheduled offences registered at any police station to the Central government (Union Home Ministry) for NIA investigation. 
• Where the Central government finds that a scheduled offence has been committed at any place outside India to which this Act extends, it can also direct the NIA to register the case and take up investigation. 
• While investigating any scheduled offence, the agency can also investigate any other offence which the accused is alleged to have committed if the offence is connected to the scheduled offence.

Dakar Declaration 

Syllabus: GS3/ Environmental Pollution & Degradation

In News

• Ministers from the world’s 46 least developed countries (LDC) recently issued a joint Dakar Declaration on Climate Change 2023.

More About the News

• The joint Dakar Declaration on Climate Change 2023 outlines the expectations and priorities of least developed countries for 28th Conference of Parties (COP28) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
• IPCC AR6 findings: The ministers emphasised the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Synthesis Report for the Sixth Assessment Reports cycle (IPCC AR6), which show that global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have continued to rise and that global warming is rapidly approaching 1.5°C.
• Role of Least Developed Countries in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions:
  • While LDCs account for more than 14 percent of the global population, they only account for about 1 percent of emissions from fossil fuels and industrial processes, according to the ministers. 
  • In addition, the countries bear the least historical responsibility for climate change, are forced to adapt beyond their capabilities and are at the forefront of the climate crisis. 

The Declaration

• The Dakar Declaration called for:
  • Urgent global emissions reductions, 
  • Increased climate finance, 
  • A strong outcome operationalising the new Loss and Damage Fund and 
  • An ambitious Global Stocktake to close the gaps in global climate action. 

• Urgent global emissions reductions:
  • Members urged all Parties, particularly major emitters, to reduce GHG emissions urgently and significantly. 
  • Parties must also revisit and strengthen the 2030 targets in their NDCs in order to align them with their fair share of the global effort required to limit warming to 1.5°C, they added.
• Adaptation finance:
  • According to the declaration, developed countries must present a clear road map for at least doubling adaptation finance delivered by 2025 through public, grant-based financing. 
  • A New Collective Quantified Goal on Climate Finance should provide new and additional resources and should be many times greater than the current $100 billion per year floor, they demanded. 
• Centralised carbon market mechanism:
  • According to the declaration, the UNFCCC centralised carbon market mechanism must also be operationalised by 2024, including
    • The recognition of the specific needs and special circumstances of LDCs and 
    • The implementation of Article 6 of the Paris Agreement’s capacity building programme.

Conference of Parties (COP): 

• About: Every year, the United Nations (UN) organises climate summits where the main agenda of the parties is to limit global temperature rises.
  • These summits are called the Conference of Parties (COP).
• Participants: The participants come from 197 countries that have signed the 1992 UN climate agreement.
• Aim: It aims to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere to prevent dangerous interference from human activity on the climate system.
  • The agreement seeks to limit global warming to well below 2°C, preferably to 1.5°C, compared to pre-industry levels.
• Summits: It was signed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  • Since 1994, COPs have been organised every year. This year (2023) marks the 28th such summit, called the COP28 summit. One year was skipped because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • 2015 Paris Agreement: 
    • Here all the countries agreed to limit the temperature rise to 1.5-degree Celsius.
• COP27: It was concluded in 2022 in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Shaikh.
  • COP27 was labelled as an “implementation” conference, in the sense that countries were determined to solve outstanding questions on climate finance.
    • This refers to money that developed countries had committed to developing countries to help them turn their economies away from fossil fuels, build infrastructure resilient to climate shocks and access technologies to enable widespread use of renewable energy.
• COP 28: The 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC, more commonly referred to as COP28, will be the 28th United Nations Climate Change conference, held from November 30th until December 12th, 2023 at the Expo City, Dubai.

Way Ahead

• COP28 UAE will be a milestone moment when the world will take stock of its progress on the Paris Agreement.
• A successful COP28 will require all countries coming together to commit to deep global emissions reductions, massively scaling up renewable energy and ensuring no one is left behind to address this crisis on their own.

Facts In News

Drone (Amendment) Rules, 2023

Syllabus: GS-3/Science and Technology

Context

Recently, the Ministry of Aviation has notified the Drone (Amendment) Rules, 2023 for drone pilots.

• The new rules have been introduced under the authority granted by the Aircraft Act, of 1934.

About: 

• Aim: 
  • To promote and facilitate drone operations across India.
  • To make India a global Drone Hub by 2030.
  • To encourage more individuals especially in Rural areas and in the Agricultural Sector, to embrace drone technology and its benefits.
• Need for the New Rules:
  • Earlier having a passport to obtain a Remote Pilot Certificate caused difficulties for many individuals, especially in the Agricultural sector in rural areas.
    • To address the issue and liberalize drone operations, government-issued identity proof like Voter ID, Ration Card, or Driving License, and address proof can be used instead of a passport.
• Eligibility for Remote Pilot Certificate:
  • Individuals should be between 18 to 65 years of age.
  • They should have passed class 10 or its equivalent from a recognized board.
  • They should have completed training as specified by the DGCA from any authorized remote pilot training organization.
  • The certificate will be valid for ten years.
• Exception: No Remote Pilot Certificate is required when the drone is of size up to 2kg for non-commercial drone use.

Drone Categories

• Nano: Less than or equal to 250 grams.
• Micro: Greater than 250 grams and less than or equal to 2 kg. 
• Small: Greater than 2 kg and less than or equal to 25 kg.
• Medium: Greater than 25 kg and less than or equal to 150 kg.
• Large: Greater than 150 kg.

Drone Market in India

• India’s potential: Drones and allied component industries can boost India’s manufacturing potential by approximately $23 billion by 2030.
• Market size: India’s drone manufacturing industry crossed annual sales of Rs 60 crore in FY 2021 and is expected to grow to Rs 900 crore by FY 2024. 

Drone Pilot Training Institutes in India

• Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi
  • Tamil Nadu signed a memorandum of understanding with the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi (IGRUA), De Drone World Solutions aimed at producing 2,500 drone pilots a year.
• Government Aviation Training Institute
• The Bombay Flying Club
• Sangam City’s Naini Aerospace Limited (NAeL) in Prayagraj
• NAeL tied up with a Prayagraj start-up Empyrean Robotics Technologies 

PUSA-44 

Syllabus: GS3/Major crops-cropping patterns in various parts of the country

News 

• Punjab Chief Minister recently announced that the state will ban the cultivation of the PUSA-44 paddy variety from next year onwards.

About

• PUSA-44 is a Paddy Variety developed in 1993 by the Delhi-based Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). 
• By the end of 2010s, it had gained widespread popularity among farmers across the Punjab, covering approximately 70 to 80% of the area under paddy cultivation.
• But by 2018, the Punjab government reduced the area under PUSA-44 to 18 percent of the total area under paddy, but it rebounded to 22 per cent last year. 
• Yield: Farmers claim that PUSA-44 yields nearly 85 to 100 mann (34 to 40 quintals) per acre, while other varieties’ yield average is 28 to 30 quintals per acre. 

Why has the Punjab Agriculture Department Discouraged its Cultivation?

• PUSA-44 is a long-duration variety, taking around 160 days to mature. This is around 35 to 40 days more than other varieties, requiring 5-6 extra cycles of irrigation. 
• With Punjab facing severe groundwater depletion and the availability of short-duration paddy varieties, the government aims to conserve one month of irrigation water by banning the variety.
• Additionally, the area under paddy, a water-intensive crop to begin with, continues to grow in the state. 
• As many as 102 of the state’s 141 agricultural development blocks were declared ‘dark zones’, in which the rate of groundwater depletion exceeded the rate of recharge.

• Moreover, this variety is also known to exacerbate the long-running issue of stubble burning in the state which, in combination with a variety of factors, contributes to the severe levels of air pollution in most parts of north India during the winter.
• Additionally, PUSA varieties generate around 2 per cent more stubble than short varieties, which becomes a significant concern when cultivated on a large scale.

Project Veer Gatha 3.0

Syllabus: GS-1/Art and Culture

Context

• The Ministry of Defence (MoD) in collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MoE) has now decided to launch Project Veer Gatha 3.0.

About Project Veer Gatha 3.0

• Being a part of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, it has been launched in schools to raise awareness about the Gallantry Awards.

• Aim: To raise awareness about the brave acts and sacrifices of the Gallantry Award winners among school students.
• Activities conducted:
  • The projects can be interdisciplinary and in various formats like poems, paintings, essays, videos, etc. 
  • Schools have conducted various projects/activities and have uploaded a total of four best entries from each school on the MyGov portal.
  • Virtual/ face-to-face awareness programs/sessions for schools across the country.
• Two editions of the Veer  Gatha Project 1.0 and 2.0 have been conducted in 2021 and 2022 respectively. 
• The best project is rewarded nationally by the Ministry of Defence on the forthcoming Republic Day.
• During the earlier two editions, 25 winners (Super 25) were selected. However, in the Veer Gatha Project (3.0), 100 winners (Super 100) will be selected.
• Each winner will be awarded a cash prize of Rs.10,000.

Nobel Prize for Literature 2023

Syllabus: Prelims/Current Events of national importance

News

• The Nobel Prize for Literature 2023 has been awarded to Norwegian author Jon Olav Fosse, for his “innovative plays and prose which give voice to the unsayable”.

About

• Jon Fosse presented everyday situations that are instantly recognisable in our own lives. 
• His radical reduction of language and dramatic action expresses the most powerful human emotions of anxiety and powerlessness in the simplest terms.
• Fosse writes in Norwegian Nynorsk, the least common of the two official versions of Norwegian language. 
• Fosse has written around 40 plays, apart from novels, short stories, children’s books, poetry and essays.
• His “A New Name: Septology VI-VII”, about two painters, both named Asle but with different lives and demons and preoccupations, was a finalist for the International Booker Prize last year.
• Other notable works by Fosse include I Am the Wind, Melancholy, Boathouse, and The Dead Dogs.

JKDFP Declared  “Unlawful Association” Under UAPA

Syllabus: GS-2/Polity

Context

• The Centre has declared the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party (JKDFP) as an “unlawful association” under theUnlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
  • The organization has been involved in raising funds for organizations that support unlawful activities, including terrorist activities, and disrespect towards the constitutional authority.

Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) Act

• UAPA presents an alternate criminal law framework where the general principles of criminal law are reversed. By relaxing timelines for the state to file chargesheets and its stringent conditions for bail, the UAPA gives the state more powers compared with the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
• Enactment: It was enacted in 1967.
• Mandate: It is aimed at “more effective prevention of certain unlawful activities of individuals and associations for dealing with terrorist activities”.
• Unlawful activity: Unlawful activity means any conduct which constitutes a crime or which contravenes any law whether such conduct occurred before or after the commencement of this Act and whether such conduct occurred in the Republic or elsewhere.
• Terrorist act: Section 15 of the Act defines “terrorist act” and is punishable with imprisonment for a term of at least five years to life. 
• Power to central government: The Act assigns absolute power to the central government, by way of which if the Centre deems an activity as unlawful then it may, by way of an Official Gazette, declare it so.
• Applicability: The provisions of this Act apply also to:
  • citizens of India and  outside India; 
  • persons in the service of the Government, wherever they may be; and 
  • persons on ships and aircraft, registered in India, wherever they may be.

Bekal Fort 

Syllabus: GS3/Economy

In News

• The first public sector caravan park in Kerala to come up at Bekal Fort.

About

• The Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) will develop the caravan park and camp shelter at Bekal, which has also been selected by the Tourism department to be developed under cinema tourism.
  • It is a project that seeks to showcase prime locations in the State featured in hit films, to attract tourists.
• The KTDC has also submitted proposals to set up caravan parks at Ponmudi in Thiruvananthapuram and Bolgatty Palace in Kochi.

Bekal Fort

• It is shaped like a giant keyhole; the historic Bekal Fort was built in the 17th century. 
• Originally constructed by the rulers of the ancient Kadampa Dynasty, the Fort changed hands over the years to the Kolathiri Rajas, the Vijayanagara Empire, Tipu Sultan and finally, the British East India Company.
• Near the Fort is an old Mosque that is said to have been built by Tipu Sultan of Mysore. 
• Today, the Bekal Fort and its scenic surroundings are fast becoming an international tourist destination and a favourite shooting locale for filmmakers.

Wagh Nakh

Syllabus: Prelims/History of India

News: 

• Maharashtra government recently signed a MoU with the Victoria and Albert Museum in London to bring back Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s legendary wagh nakh to the state.

About:

• The MoU states that the antique weapon will be handed over to the Government of Maharashtra on a loan basis for a period of three years, during which it will be displayed in museums across the state.

What is the Wagh Nakh?

• Literally ‘tiger claws’, the wagh nakh is a medieval claw-like dagger which was used across the Indian subcontinent.
• Designed to either fit over the knuckles or be concealed under the palm, the weapon consisted of four or five curved blades affixed to a glove or a bar of some kind. 
• It was a weapon used for personal defence or stealth attack, and could easily slice through skin and flesh.

Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Legend:

• The most famous use of the wagh nakh in history comes from the story of Afzal Khan’s killing by Shivaji. Khan was a general of Bijapur’s Adil Shahi Sultanate. 
• Shivaji used to be a former vassal of the Adil Shahis but by the 1650s, he had become increasingly assertive, taking forts across the Konkan, and bringing under control large swathes of Adil Shahi territory. 
• Given Afzal Khan’s success in the south, he was sent by the Sultan, with a mighty army, to subdue the Maratha icon.
• Khan marched into the Konkan and demanded a meeting with Shivaji. But Shivaji smelled treachery and went prepared to the meeting, wearing a chainmail under his robes and hiding a wagh nakh in his sleeve.
• In the meeting, Khan, in the guise of embracing him, attempted to stab the Maratha leader. But Shivaji was protected by his armour and retaliated: the wagh nakh ripped out Khan’s guts. Khan would eventually be beheaded by one of Shivaji’s men and in the battle that followed, Shivaji’s army came out as victor.

How did Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s wagh nakh reach London?

• According to the Victoria and Albert Museum’s website, the weapon was brought to Britain by East India Company officer James Grant Duff (1789- 1858). Duff was the Company Resident (political agent) of the Satara State from 1818-22. 
• This was given to Mr. James Grant-Duff of Eden When he was Resident at Satara By the Prime Minister of the Peshwa of the Marathas.