GS Analyst: Daily Current Affairs

A devastating landslide in Papua New Guinea’s Enga province has potentially buried over 2,000 people. This catastrophic event at Mount Mungalo highlights the destructive power of landslides and the challenges in predicting them.

Causes of Landslides

• Landslides occur when gravity's pull exceeds the strength of the materials making up a slope. These materials can include rocks, sand, silt, and clay. When a slope fails, the resulting landslide can vary greatly in size, from a few cubic meters to millions.
• Natural Triggers:
  • Earthquakes: Ground shaking from earthquakes can stress and weaken slopes.
  • Rainfall: Heavy rain can saturate the ground, adding weight to the slope and causing it to fail. Papua New Guinea is especially prone to landslides due to its active fault lines and heavy rainfall.
• Water's Role in Landslides:
  • Erosion: Constant wave action can erode coastal slopes.
  • Groundwater: Water can dissolve rocks within slopes, reducing their stability.
• Human Triggers:
  • Deforestation: Removing trees weakens slopes, as tree roots help stabilize the ground and drain water.
  • Mining Activities: Blasts from mining can create vibrations similar to small earthquakes, destabilizing nearby slopes.

Challenges in Predicting Landslides

• Multiple Factors: Effective prediction requires knowledge of potential triggers like earthquakes and rainfall, as well as the properties of the slope materials.
• Complex Geomaterials: Slopes often contain varied layers of rock and soil with different strengths. Mapping these materials in three dimensions is currently impossible with existing technology.
• Partial Information: Geologists and engineers work with limited data from a few locations and must extrapolate this to predict slope stability, often missing critical weak points.
• Runout Distance: The larger the landslide, the farther it travels. However, predicting the exact size and impact area remains uncertain.
• Timing: Predicting the precise timing of landslides is as challenging as forecasting the weather or seismic activity.

In 2023, India made significant progress by drafting the ‘National Menstrual Hygiene Policy,’ recognizing menstruation as a natural process that requires serious attention. The policy identifies prisoners as a key group with limited access to menstrual hygiene facilities, marking a positive step. However, it lacks a concrete action plan to improve menstrual hygiene management in prisons and fails to involve the Ministry of Home Affairs, a crucial stakeholder in prison management.

Need to ensure menstrual hygiene in prisons

Ensuring menstrual hygiene in prisons is not just a matter of public health; it is also a societal issue reflecting on the broader aspects of equity, dignity, and human rights.

• Gender Equality and Human Rights: Access to menstrual hygiene is a fundamental human right. Denying this access in prisons perpetuates gender inequality and violates the dignity of incarcerated women.
• Health and Well-being: Poor menstrual hygiene can lead to various health issues, including infections and mental health problems. By ensuring proper menstrual hygiene in prisons, the government can significantly improve the overall health and well-being of incarcerated women.
• Reducing Stigma: Addressing menstrual hygiene openly helps in reducing the stigma associated with menstruation. It promotes a more inclusive and understanding society where natural biological processes are recognized and respected.
• Fighting Period Poverty: Menstrual hygiene management in prisons is a critical aspect of the broader fight against period poverty.

Issues/Challenges

• The availability of sanitary napkins has been inconsistent across different prisons in the country.
• The quality of sanitary napkins has also been unsatisfactory.
• Many States have not implemented provisions (supplying adequate water and washroom facilities for female prisoners).
• Overcrowding and poor socio-economic conditions further exacerbate the struggle of incarcerated women to secure basic necessities (water, sanitary napkins, detergent, and soap).

Necessary Actions

• Adherence to Standards: The government must ensure basic menstrual hygiene standards for women in prisons. The uneven implementation of the Model Prison Manual 2016 across states needs immediate attention.
• Collaboration: Health authorities and prison administrators should work together to develop a comprehensive strategy to ensure access to adequate menstrual hygiene facilities.
• Research and Evidence: Conducting research to understand the current state of menstrual hygiene within prisons is essential for informed policy-making and implementation.

Fire safety is a critical issue in India, highlighted by recent tragic incidents such as the Delhi hospital and Rajkot gaming zone fires. These unfortunate incidents, which reveal patterns of negligence and regulatory failures, highlight the importance of stringent enforcement of safety laws and the need for proactive measures to protect human lives and property.

Reasons Behind the Tragic Incidents

• Regulatory Failures: Both the Delhi hospital and the Rajkot gaming zone operated without mandatory licences and safety measures, reflecting a systemic failure in regulatory enforcement. These institutions bypassed essential safety norms, endangering lives.
• Administrative Negligence: There was a lack of oversight from the relevant authorities. In both cases, the institutions had not been inspected or held accountable for their non-compliance with safety standards, indicating a severe lapse in administrative diligence.
• Greed and Mismanagement: Business owners prioritizing profits over safety led to inadequate safety measures. The lack of firefighting equipment and trained personnel in both establishments exemplifies a blatant disregard for human life.
• Inadequate Infrastructure: Shortage of manpower and modern equipment in fire service departments hampers effective disaster response, contributing to higher casualties and damage during incidents.

India’s Model Code for Fire Safety

• National Building Code (NBC): NBC is India's central standard for fire safety, published by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) in 1970 and last updated in 2016. It provides detailed guidelines on construction, maintenance, and fire safety for buildings. Part 4 of the NBC specifically addresses fire safety, outlining measures to ensure the safety of occupants.
• Mandatory Compliance: State governments must incorporate the NBC's fire safety recommendations into their local building bylaws.

Key Fire Safety Provisions

• Building Classification and Restrictions: The NBC categorizes buildings into fire zones to prevent hazardous structures from coexisting with residential and institutional buildings.
  • Hotels are under Residential ‘Group A’
  • Hospitals are under Institutional ‘Group C’
  • Assembly buildings (marriage halls, night clubs, tents, multiplexes) are under ‘Group D’.
• Construction Materials: Non-combustible materials should be used in construction, especially for staircases and enclosures.
• Electrical Safety: Wiring should have flame-retardant properties, and separate shafts for different voltage levels are required. Emergency power systems should support critical safety features like exit signage and fire alarms.
• Exit Access and Lighting: Properly identified exits with adequate lighting are essential for safe evacuation.
• Advanced Safety Technologies: The use of automatic fire detection systems, sprinklers, fire barriers, and escape routes is recommended.

Where is the State?

• According to the XII Schedule of the Constitution under Article 243(W), the fire services in India are under the purview of the state and are listed as a municipal function.
• The 'Model Building Bye Laws 2016', issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, guide states and Union Territories in framing their building bylaws. These laws include norms for fire protection and safety.
• Additionally, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) provides guidelines for fire safety in homes, schools, and hospitals.

Challenges in Implementation

• Despite the existence of fire safety rules in all states, compliance is often lax due to the NBC being a "recommendatory document." This means its provisions are frequently ignored at the local level, even when certifications are mandatory.
• Local authorities often fail to conduct regular fire safety audits, leading to tragic outcomes.

Cyclone Remal (meaning ‘sand’ in Arabic,) made landfall between West Bengal’s Sagar Island and Bangladesh’s Khepupara. It is the first pre-monsoon tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal this year.

Cyclones in India

• The Indian subcontinent, with a coastline of 7,516 km, is one of the worst-affected regions in the world for cyclones.
• India is exposed to nearly 10% of the world's tropical cyclones, most of which originate in the Bay of Bengal.
• Cyclones are atmospheric disturbances around a low-pressure area with fast and often destructive air circulation, violent storms, and heavy rainfall.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, air circulates inward anticlockwise, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it circulates clockwise. Reason- Coriolis force
• Eye: The centre of a cyclone is called the eye of the storm (calm area). It diameter varies from 10 to 30 km.
• Inside the cyclone eye, the temperature is greater than 28°C and the dewpoint is less than 0°C. 
• Categories of Cyclones
  • Category 1: Wind speed of 120-150 km/h, minimal damage capacity.
  • Category 2: Wind speed of 150-180 km/h, moderate damage capacity.
  • Category 3: Wind speed of 180-210 km/h, extensive damage capacity.
  • Category 4: Wind speed of 210-250 km/h, extreme damage capacity.
  • Category 5: Wind speed of 250 km/h and above, catastrophic damage capacity.

Indian roads and highways often suffer from cracks and sticky surfaces during the summer heat. To address these issues and make highways smoother and safer, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) has introduced new guidelines for road construction.

Key-highlights of the Guidelines

• Temperature and Traffic-Based Materials: The surfacing material for all new road projects will be chosen based on temperature variations and axle load (traffic weight).
• Bituminous Binders: Different grades of bituminous binders will be specified based on factors such as ambient temperature, rainfall, snowfall, and speed. These binders are crucial in creating a durable and flexible road surface.
• Climate Considerations: It includes specific mixes for different climatic zones across India to ensure that the road materials used are appropriate for the local environmental conditions.
• Application: These guidelines will apply to all new road projects. Additionally, the quality of highways will be checked during the re-laying of existing roads.

Heating metals typically makes them softer and more pliable, but new research has found that under certain conditions, heating can actually make metals stronger. This unexpected phenomenon could lead to improvements in various industrial processes and the development of tougher materials for use in aircraft and other applications.

Key Findings

• This research provides experimental evidence for the "hotter is stronger" effect
• Copper Strength Increase: When the temperature of copper was raised by 157°C, its strength increased by about 30%. At 177°C (350°F), copper, usually a soft metal, became as strong as some types of steel.
• Bond Behavior: Normally, heating softens metals because it weakens the bonds between atoms, making them slide around more easily under pressure. However, the high-speed impacts in this experiment happened too quickly for this sliding to occur.
• Heat Waves: At higher temperatures, more heat or sound waves passed through the metal, preventing bond-breaking from spreading and making the metal stronger.

Implications

This phenomenon might also occur unnoticed in various real-world industrial processes. For example:

• Manufacturing Processes: Cutting and smoothing materials often involve blasting them with fast particles of sand or jets of water. These processes might inadvertently increase the strength of the materials.
• 3D Printing: Some types of 3D printing involve particles moving very quickly, which could also benefit from this strengthening effect.

North India is experiencing a severe heatwave along with high temperatures and humidity. This has also brought the wet bulb temperature concept into mainstream conversation. 

Measuring Humidity

• Humidity levels are often determined using three main temperature readings:
  • Dry bulb
  • Wet bulb
  • Dew point
• The Wet bulb temperature, in particular, plays a crucial role in understanding humidity levels.
• It is the lowest temperature that can be achieved by evaporating water into the air at constant pressure.
• This temperature is measured by covering a thermometer bulb with a wet cloth, allowing the water to evaporate and cool the thermometer, thus indicating the Wet bulb temperature.
• This information is vital for various sectors, including comfort assessment, agriculture, and weather prediction.
• In simpler terms, wet bulb temperature tells at what level human bodies will be unable to cool themselves down by sweating. In this case, the threat of a heat stroke rises dramatically.
• Wet bulb temperature combines heat and humidity to indicate how much evaporation can be absorbed into the air.
• It measures the lowest temperatures that our bodies can reach when we are in hotter environments, by sweating.

Dry bulb and Wet bulb temperatures

• The difference between the Dry bulb and Wet bulb temperatures depends on humidity levels.
• Higher humidity results in less evaporation and a smaller temperature difference.
• When the air is fully saturated (100% humidity), the Wet bulb and Dry bulb temperatures are identical.

Africa is facing severe impacts from climate change, including extreme weather events and natural disasters. These challenges exacerbate existing vulnerabilities and demand urgent global financial and policy responses.

Climate Change Ravaging Africa:

1. Unprecedented Extreme Weather:Africa is experiencing extreme weather and natural disasters at an unprecedented scale due to climate change. Kenya recently suffered its longest drought on record, followed by devastating floods affecting over 800,000 people.
2. Jeopardizing Water Supplies:Climate change is driving droughts in Africa, jeopardizing water supplies, ruining lives and livelihoods, crippling food production, and destroying homes and infrastructure.
3. Forced Migration:Climate change affects migration patterns and exacerbates conflicts, forcing entire populations to flee in search of alternative livelihoods for survival.

African Countries’ Financial Struggles:

1. High Interest Rates:African countries pay interest rates up to eight times higher than those attached to the typical World Bank loan, leaving them less equipped to deal with climate-related challenges.
2. Perpetual Debt Cycle:Many African nations are trapped in a perpetual cycle of debt, with little or no fiscal space for development and investments in climate-change mitigation or adaptation.
3. Plummeting Financial Transfers:Net financial transfers to developing countries plummeted from a peak of $225 billion in 2014 to $51 billion in 2022; and in 2023, $74 billion in interest payments left International Development Association (IDA) countries for wealthier donor countries.

Call for Global Financial Architecture Reforms:

1. Urgent Reforms:Africa and the rest of the developing world have been calling for urgent reforms to the global financial architecture.
2. Role of G7 and G20:The G7 and G20 are urged to take necessary steps in this direction. As a major shareholder in the multilateral development banks, the United States can help lead the way.
3. Equal Access to Equity:A fair financial system would grant all countries equal access to equity. One readily available way to do this would be to reallocate Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) to the African Development Bank.

UPSC Mains Questions:

Q. Discuss the impact of climate change on the socio-economic stability of African countries. How can global financial reforms assist in mitigating these impacts?

The contract between India and Iran for the investment and operation of the Shahid-Behesti terminal at Chabahar Port for the next ten years highlights the strategic and economic significance of this project amidst ongoing regional tensions.

Chabahar Port and Its Significance:

1. Strategic Importance:The Chabahar project is an important endeavour for both economic and strategic reasons. It represents India’s thinking from the perspective of an extended neighbourhood, and not necessarily as part of its West Asia outlook.
2. Link to Central Asia and Russia:The port is a fulcrum of the International North–South Transport Corridor, a project looking towards seamlessly linking India with Central Asia and Russia, bypassing Pakistan.
3. Ties with Afghanistan:Chabahar is also astutely tuned into the ‘new’ realities of Afghanistan. The Taliban-led interim government in Kabul has also thrown its weight behind the port, offering an investment of $35 million as it looks to secure alternatives and not be economically reliant on Pakistani ports such as Karachi or the China-backed Gwadar.

Bilateral Challenges between India and Iran:

1. Legacy Project:Chabahar is a legacy project, which has its foundations going back to 2003. This was an era when India was opening to developing economic assets abroad. Chabahar in Iran was one, Sakhalin-I in Russia, was another.
2. Limited Economic Cooperation:Instead of expanding projects and economic cooperation beyond Chabahar, many older ones, such as the gas field Farzad-B, which was discovered by Indian state-owned enterprise ONGC Videsh, have now been written off.
3. Geopolitical Interests:The reasons are multifaceted and tied to both country’s views of their national, regional, and geopolitical interests.

Reflection of Diplomacy:

1. Balancing Act:The geopolitics today that surrounds India’s play in Chabahar, and Iran’s leverages, make for an interesting study. This latest iteration of the deal was signed not too long after both Israel and Iran exchanged missile fire and came critically close to a full-scale conflict.
2. US Factor:Recent remarks from the U.S. over potential sanctions against Chabahar stand out as myopic. India’s relations with Iran and the continuity of Chabahar’s development, which offers access to difficult political terrain such as Central Asia, and even Afghanistan, could bring in a significant level of integration and help in building alternatives to China-backed projects.
3. Iran’s Geopolitics:Despite public discourse, China’s heavy financial might and the 2021 strategic deal with Iran, does not automatically make Tehran subservient to Beijing. Iran is a quintessential survivalist state and plays a diverse set of cards in its playbook of geopolitics.

UPSC Mains Questions:

Q. Evaluate the challenges and opportunities in the bilateral relationship between India and Iran, with a special focus on the Chabahar Port.

The issue of abandoned cattle, also known as "chutta jaanwar," in Uttar Pradesh (UP) has significant implications for both agriculture and wildlife. These cattle, a result of disrupted livestock policies, are decimating harvests and posing threats to wildlife in the biodiverse Terai region of UP.

Impact of Stray Cattle on Wildlife and Agriculture:

1. Stray Cattle Menace:With more than a million abandoned cattle decimating harvests and farm-based livelihoods, stray cattle have become a serious menace in Uttar Pradesh. These cattle were born out of the disruptions wrought on a functioning livestock economy by state policies and state-empowered vigilantes.
2. Toll on Wildlife:The impacts of stray cattle on wildlife populations in the biodiverse Terai areas of U.P., spanning the districts of Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri, and Bahraich, are significant. The presence of large numbers of cattle within farmlands and along forest boundaries is creating a large prey base that potentially facilitates the residence of tigers within farmlands, which creates fertile grounds for more conflicts.
3. Disease Transmission:The potential for large populations of unvaccinated free-ranging cattle to transmit diseases such as bovine tuberculosis and lumpy skin diseases to wild populations also remains underappreciated.

Farmers’ Dilemma and Innovative Solutions:

1. Farmers’ Beliefs:Farmers recognise stray cattle as a serious menace, even as they wrestle with their beliefs in the divinity of cows. Some of their newer convictions about the extra-ordinariness of cows rest uneasily alongside the recognition that in terms of utility, they are outmatched by buffaloes.
2. Changing Livelihoods:The ubiquitousness of tractors, the loss of grazing commons, changing aspirations, and rising input costs have made cattle rearing an increasingly impractical activity. Communities that were once pastoral have over the decades become largely agrarian, with livestock rearing primarily supporting their household needs.
3. Building Cow Shelters:Farmers are propounding innovative ideas to solve the issue. Popular among these is the suggestion that the government needs to build cow shelters, including within protected areas, to allow cattle to enjoy the forest air and readily available fodder.

Government’s Role and Challenges:

1. Government Property Perception:Like many landscapes with protected areas, communities in the Terai view the tiger reserves and wildlife as exclusive government property. They wish to see the stray cattle, which they refer to as “Yogi-Modi ki gay (Yogi-Modi’s cows)”, be cared for within the government’s protected area.
2. Environmental Change:Protected areas in the U.P. Terai are small, fragmented, and their most productive grasslands are declining due to environmental change. The future of several imperilled species depends on sustaining and enhancing these grassland areas.
3. Feasibility of Cow Shelters:Creating cow shelters within protected areas does not serve this end. While this has not yet been mooted as a possibility by the government, given recent trends, and the fact that the U.P. government spends more on feeding stray cattle than on pensions for widows and the elderly, it is not implausible.

UPSC Mains Questions:

Q. Discuss the socio-economic and environmental impacts of abandoned cattle on agricultural and wildlife sectors in India.