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IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-02

Completion of Coastal Defence Exercise Sea Vigil 21.

Source: PIB INDIA

News

• Exercise Sea Vigil, the two day coastal defence exercise was conducted on 12 and 13 January 2021.

Sea Vigil Exercise

• The conceptual and geographical expanse of Sea Vigil included the entire coastline and EEZ of the country and contingencies from Peace to War-time were exercised.
• In addition, mitigation measures, on shore, in case of any breach in coastal security were also validated.
• The exercise involved deployment of the entire coastal security apparatus and more than 110 surface assets of Indian Navy (IN) and Coast Guard (CG) participated in the exercise. In addition, a large number of Marine Police and Customs assets were also deployed.
• The entire coastline was kept under surveillance by the IN and CG aircraft, and helicopters were also pressed into service to reinforce Special Operations personnel operating onboard offshore platforms.
• As ports form the nerve centre of sea borne trade, security mechanism of ports was also validated during the exercise and the crisis management plans of all ports were assessed for their effectiveness to tackle emergencies.
• The State Police teams, Indian Navy Marine Commandos and Commandos from National Security Guard were exercised to tackle acts of maritime terrorism.
• This exercise also validated the technical surveillance infrastructure called the National Command, Control, Communication and Intelligence (NC3I) Network.
• The envisaged objectives of the exercise were met by the whole-hearted participation of all stakeholders.

The cooperation and coordination amongst various agencies involved is a reassuring sign of progress made in the realm of Coastal defence and the exercise would go a long way in enhancing coastal defence and national security in the maritime domain.

SC initiates process to clean rivers polluted by untreated sewage.

Source: Indian Express.

News

• The hearing of a plea highlighting pollution in Yamuna led the Supreme Court to initiate a legal process against pollution of water bodies by untreated sewage, with the court registering a suo motu writ petition with regard to “Remediation of polluted rivers”.

Legal process against pollution of water bodies

• The court directed CPCB to submit a report identifying municipalities along the river Yamuna, which have not installed total treatment plants for sewage as per the requirement or have gaps in ensuring that the sewage is not discharged untreated into the river.
• It also asked CPCB to highlight any other source of prominent contamination within the limits of Municipalities and to submit priority-wise list of Municipalities, river stretches adjacent to which have been found to be most polluted.
• The court pointed out that Article 243W of the Constitution vests municipalities and local authorities with the performance of functions and implementation of schemes as may be entrusted to them, including those in relation to the matters listed in Twelfth Schedule — Item 6 of the Schedule includes “public health, sanitation conservancy and solid waste management”.

Republic Day: No foreign head of state as chief guest, first in 55 years.

Source: LiveMint.

News

• Due to the prevailing Covid-19 situation, the Centre has decided against having any foreign head of state or government as the chief guest for this year’s Republic Day event on January 26.
• This is the first time in 55 years that India is not going to have any chief guest for the Republic Day parade.

No foreign head of state

• The last time India did not send an invitation to any head of state was in 1966 due to the untimely demise of then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri.
• The new government headed by Indira Gandhi was sworn in on January 24, 1966 – only two days ahead of the Republic Day parade.
• The Republic Day celebrations have been truncated this year on account of the pandemic. Last year’s Independence Day celebrations had also been scaled down.
• An invitation to be chief guest at India’s Republic Day is a special honour for the visiting foreign dignitary.
• New Delhi has been weaving strategy with hospitality while deciding on the chief guest. The choice is dictated by a number of factors strategic and diplomatic, business interests, and geo-politics.

IASTODAY DAILY CAPSULES -General Studies-03

India’s First Indigenously Developed 9mm Machine Pistol

Source: PIB INDIA

News

• India’s first indigenous 9mm Machine Pistol has been jointly developed by DRDO and Indian Army.
• Infantry School, Mhow and DRDO’s Armament Research & Development Establishment (ARDE), Pune have designed and developed this weapon using their respective expertise in the complementary areas.

Asmi

• The weapon is aptly named “Asmi” meaning “Pride”, “Self-Respect” & “Hard Work”.
• The weapon has been developed in a record time of four months.
• The Machine Pistol fires the in-service 9mm ammunition and sports an upper receiver made from aircraft grade Aluminium and lower receiver from carbon fibre.
• 3D Printing process has been used in designing and prototyping of various parts including trigger components made by metal 3D printing.
• The weapon has huge potential in Armed forces as personal weapon for heavy weapon detachments, commanders, tank and aircraft crews, drivers/dispatch riders, radio/radar operators, Closed Quarter Battle, counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations etc.
• This is also likely to find huge employability with the central and state police organizations as well as VIP protection duties and Policing.
• The Machine Pistol is likely to have production cost under rupees 50000 each and has potential for exports. 

Make-in-India mega deal: 83 Tejas fighters cleared for Air Force

Source: Indian Express

News

• Approving the largest indigenous defence procurement as part of measures to strengthen the armed forces amid a standoff with China on the Line of Actual Control and tensions with Pakistan over its terror infrastructure, the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) cleared a deal worth nearly Rs 48,000 crore for the acquisition of 83 Tejas Light Combat Aircraft for the Indian Air Force.

Make-in-India mega deal

• Designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency under the Department of Defence Research and Development, the Tejas Mk-1A multirole light fighters will be manufactured by state-owned Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL).
• It will be an improvement over the Mk-1 version. The IAF acquired 40 of the earlier variant in two deals 20 were Initial Operational Clearance standard aircraft (16 fighters and four trainers) while the next 20 were Final Operational Clearance standard aircraft.
• The Tejas Mk-1A order, cleared by the Defence Acquisition Council, was approved by the CCS at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister.
• The CCS approved procurement of 73 LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 trainer aircraft at a cost of Rs 45,696 crore along with design and development of infrastructure sanctions worth Rs 1,202 crore.
• The 73 Mk-1A variant will form four IAF squadrons, along with reserves and additional aircraft.
• The Mk-1A variant is an indigenously designed, developed and manufactured state-of-the-art modern 4+ generation fighter aircraft which is equipped with critical components like an Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar, Beyond Visual Range (BVR) missiles, Electronic Warfare (EW) suite and air-to-air refuelling (AAR) capability.
• Apart from the 36 Rafale being flown from France in batches, the IAF has also got government clearance for the purchase of new fighter aircraft, including 21 MiG-29 and 12 Su-30MKI, and upgradation of the existing 59 MIG-29 aircraft.

Tejas LCA Mk-1A

• Will increase IAF squadron strength; improved version of older Mk-1 variant
• Active Electronically Scanned Array radar; Beyond Visual Range air-to-air missiles
• Advanced Electronic Warfare suite; air-to-air refuelling capability.

BSF discovers 150-m cross-border tunnel in J&K’s Kathua

News

• The Border Security Force said it had discovered a 150 m-long cross-border tunnel near the Border with Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district.

Cross-border tunnel

• The tunnel, found at Hiranagar sector’s Bobbiyan village, had a 3 ft diameter opening and was nearly 25-30 ft deep. The tunnel originates in Pakistan and opens nearly 20-30 m inside the barbed wire fence on the Indian side.
• This is the third cross-border tunnel detected by the BSF in Samba and Kathua districts during the past six months. In September, the force had found a tunnel in Arnia sector.
• With the latest discovery, a BSF source claimed they had foiled a “major terror plot” in the Union Territory.