07 JUNE 2023

Topic 1: Operation Bluestar

Context: 39 years of Operation Bluestar.

Operation Bluestar:

• Operation Blue Star took birth after the rise of Khalistan movement in India.
• The Khalistan movement was a political Sikh nationalist movement which aimed at creating an independent state for Sikhs.
• JARNAIL SINGH BHINDRANWALE
  • Bhindranwale was the leader of Damdami Taksal and was one of the main reasons behind Operation Blue Star.
  • As a leader, Bhindranwale had an influence on Sikh youth.
  • During Operation Blue Star, Bhindranwale and Khalistan supporters took over the Akal Takht complex in Amritsar’s Golden Temple.
  • Bhindranwale was seen as a supporter of the creation of Khalistan.
  • Operation Blue Star specifically was aimed to eliminate Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale from the Golden Temple complex and regain the control over Harmandir Sahib.
• OPERATION SUNDOWN
  • Operation Sundown was the aborted mission which was planned by the RAW agency to abduct Bhindranwale.
• OPERATION BLACK THUNDER
  • Operation Black Thunder was the second phase of Operation Blue Star.
  • The first phase was carried out on April 30, 1986, while the second Operation Black Thunder began on May 9, 1988.
  • It was carried out by Black Cat commandos of National Security Guards (NSG) to remove Sikh militants from the Golden Temple.
• Operation Blue Star was divided into two parts:
  • Operation Metal:
    • It was limited to Golden Temple but it also led to Operation Shop – the capturing of suspects from outskirts of Punjab.
  • Operation Woodrose:
    • It was launched throughout Punjab.
    • The operation was carried out by Indian Army, using tanks, artillery, helicopters and armored vehicles.
• THE AFTERMATH
  • The military assault led to tensions across members of Sikh community worldwide.
  • Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by two of her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984, for giving permission for the Operation Blue Star.

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Topic 2: Kerala Fibre Optical Network

Context: The Kerala government officially launched the Kerala Fibre Optical Network (KFON), one of its flagship projects.

Key details:

• Through KFON, Kerala, which was the first state to declare the right to internet as a basic right, aims to reduce the digital divide by ensuring high speed broadband internet access to all houses and government offices.
• It is also intended to give a fillip to e-governance and accelerate Kerala’s journey towards being a knowledge-based economy.

What is KFON?

• Basically, KFON will act as an infrastructure provider.
• It is an optical fibre cable network of 30,000 kms, with 375 Points-of-Presence across Kerala.
• The KFON infrastructure will be shared with all service providers, including cable operators.
• While KFON will do the cable work for government offices, individual beneficiaries will have to depend on private, local internet service providers.

What is fiber internet?  

• Fiber-optic internet is a broadband connection that can reach speeds of up to 940 Megabits per second (Mbps).
• Benefits:
  • Low lag time.
  • The technology uses fiber-optic cable, which can send data as fast as about 70% the speed of light.
  • In addition, fiber-optic cables are not as susceptible to severe weather conditions as other types of traditional cables, which helps minimize outages.
  • It also resists electrical interference effectively.

How does fiber-optic internet work?

• Fiber-optic internet is a complex technology that allows the transmission of information in the form of light rather than electricity.
• Optical fibers
  • Optical fibers are tiny, about 125 microns in diameter, or slightly larger than a human hair.
  • Many of these fibers are bundled together to form cables (not to be confused with coaxial cables, which are made of copper).
  • The optical fibers carry pulses of laser or LED light down the line, transmitting information in “binary” form, similar to the 0s and 1s used in electronics.
• How is fiber different from other types of internet?
  • The main difference is that fiber doesn’t utilize electric current like other types of internet connections do.
  • It uses light, delivered through the fiber glass core.

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Topic 3: MV Empress

Context: India’s first international cruise vessel sets sail to Sri Lanka from Chennai

Key details:

• The newly-launched cruise will sail to three ports:
  • Hambantota, India
  • Trincomalee, India
  • Kankesanturai, Sri Lanka.
• The luxury cruise ship is named Cordelia Empress

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Topic 4: NHAI’s first Sustainability Report

Context: National Highway Authority of India’s (NHAI) First ‘Sustainability Report’ captures initiatives taken for Environment Sustainability

Key findings:

• About the report:
  • NHAI’s first ‘Sustainability Report for FY 2021-22’ covers NHAI’s governance structure, stakeholders, environment and social responsibility initiatives.
  • NHAI’s Sustainability Report is not a mandated requirement as per SEBI guidelines, but this has been taken as a voluntary initiative.
  • It is prepared as per the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting guidelines.
  • The report has been externally assured by a third party adhering to International Standards on Assurance Engagements.
• Reduction in emissions:
  • From FY 2019-20 till 2021-22 direct emission reduced by 18.44% and 9.49% due to less fuel consumption.
  • NHAI continues to work towards reducing indirect emissions as well, by transiting towards clean and green energy sources.
  • Green House Gas (GHG) Emissions from energy consumption, operations, transport and travel saw a decline of 9.7% in FY 2020-21 and 2% in FY 2021-22.  
  • In operations, energy intensity reduced by 37% in FY 2020-21 and 27% in FY 2021-22.
  • With over 97 percent penetration, Electronic Toll Collection through FASTag has contributed to reduce the carbon footprint.
• Sustainable construction:
  • The kilometers constructed through the reporting period has risen steadily.
  • NHAI has been using recycled materials for National Highway construction.
  • Use of fly-ash and plastic waste in construction has increased over the last three years.
  • NHAI has  been encouraging use of Recycled Asphalt (RAP) and Recycled Aggregates (RA) in the National Highway construction.
• Initiatives for environment:
  • In order to ensure sustainable environmental growth, more than 100 Wildlife Crossings were created as a measure for wildlife protection and conservation to reduce man-animal conflict.
  • NHAI has been undertaking plantation drives to develop eco-friendly National Highways.
  • There has been a significant increase in number of saplings.
  • Saplings were planted to offset direct emissions from the vehicles.
• Work practices:
  • The report also highlights NHAI’s commitment to create inclusive and responsible work practices.
  • Over last three years, women employment and employment of marginalized communities at NHAI has increased.
  • With performance-based management system, NHAI has successfully promoted/encouraged women gender diversity and minority employees.

About NHAI:The National Highways Authority of India is an autonomous agency of the Government of India.It was set up in 1995.It is responsible for management of the network of National Highways in India.It is a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.

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Topic 5: Trouble in Kosovo

Context: In the aftermath of one of the worst escalation of tensions between Kosovo and Serbia in at least a decade, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) sent 700 more of its peacekeeping troops to Kosovo.

The conflict:

• Both Kosovo and Serbia lie in the Balkans, a region of Europe made up of countries that were once a part of the erstwhile Republic of Yugoslavia.
• Kosovo, a former province of Serbia, unilaterally declared Independence in 2008 and is recognised as a country by about 100 nations including the U.S. and a number of EU-member countries.
• Serbia, however, does not recognise Kosovo’s sovereignty and continues to consider it as a part of itself despite having no administrative control over it.

• Currently, an ethnic Serb minority of more than 50,000 resides in multiple municipalities in the northern part of Kosovo bordering Serbia, making up about 5.3% of the country’s population.
• The Kosovo Serbs do not recognise Kosovo state institutions, receive pay and benefits from Serbia’s budget, and pay no taxes either to Pristina, the capital of Kosovo or Belgrade, the Serbian Capital.
• Kosovo cannot become a member country of the UN without Serbia’s approval as it has its diplomatic allies in Russia and China who would veto such a decision.
• In 2013, the two reached the Brussels Agreement brokered by the EU.
• While the agreement was not fully implemented on the ground, the participation of Serbs in elections was facilitated.

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Topic 6: 150 Years of Arrival of Indians in Suriname

Context: The President of India and the President of Suriname attended the cultural celebration in Paramaribo to mark the 150th anniversary of Indian immigration to Suriname.

Historical background:

• On June 5, 1873, the Lalla Rookh, a ship carrying 452 Indian labourers, docked in Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname.
• The majority of the labourers were from Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Important Outcomes of the Event

• India extended the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) card to the sixth generation of Indian immigrants in Suriname.
  • OCI: It is defined by the Ministry of Home Affairs as someone who:
    • Was a citizen of India on or after 26th January 1950; or
    • Was eligible to become a citizen of India on 26th January 1950; or
    • Is a child or grandchild of such a person, among other eligibility criteria.
  • A candidate is ineligible for the OCI card under Section 7A of the rules if he, his parents, or his grandparents have ever held the citizenship of Pakistan or Bangladesh.
  • The government established the category in 2005.
  • The Government of India via Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2015 merged the Person of Indian Origin (PIO) category with OCI category in 2015.
• The President of India received the “Grand Order of the Chain of the Yellow Star,” Suriname’s highest civil honour.
• The President of India visited:
  • Baba and Mai monument
    • It is a symbolic representation of the first Indian man and woman, who first set foot in Suriname.
  • Mama Sranan monument.
    • It represents Mama Sranan, the Mother of Suriname holding her five children, the five ethnicities that inhabit Suriname with care and affection.
• India organised the Voice of South Summit in January 2023, to provide developing nations and the Global South a stronger voice on problems that concern them.
  • Suriname was involved in this project.

India-Suriname relations:

• Historical connection: Since the entrance of the Indian Diaspora in Suriname 150 years ago, there have been strong cultural and interpersonal ties between India and Suriname.
  • Since the two countries’ diplomatic ties were established in 1976, there have been a number of high-level visits. The Surinamese Embassy in New Delhi opened in 2000, and the Indian Embassy in Paramaribo opened its doors in 1977.
• International cooperation: Suriname and India work closely together on a number of international fora.
  • Suriname has supported India’s candidate on a number of multilateral platforms, including the elections for several UN bodies.
• Economic: There exists only limited trade and economic ties between India and Suriname.

• Boilers, machinery, iron & steel, electrical machinery & equipment, sound recorders, textiles, automobiles, coffee, tea, and spices, rubber, paper, tobacco, organic chemicals, furniture, carpets, ceramic items, footwear, and printed books are among the exports from India to Suriname.
• India imports electrical equipment, aluminium, and wood from Suriname.

• Cultural linkages: In Suriname, the Indian Cultural Centre was established in 1978 and has since promoted classical music, yoga, Kathak, and Hindi language as well as other soft power diplomatic endeavours.
  • India provided a yearly grant worth US 29500/- for the promotion of Hindi in Suriname through Suriname Hindi Parishad until 2019.
• Indian diaspora: The Indian diaspora, which today makes up 27% of Suriname’s 5.68 lakh people (as well as 50 Sindhi families), came to Suriname 150 years ago and has never forgotten its roots. Additionally, Suriname holds the title of being the most well-known foreign nation in the world for its support of the Hindi language.
• Opportunity and relevance: The diverse and contemporary cooperation between India and Suriname is supported by strong historical and cultural links.

• The contracts made during the most recent visit would strengthen trade and economic connections.
• The signing of MoUs in the health sector will allow Indian pharmaceutical companies access to the Surinamese market.
• Future Prospects

• The two nations’ bilateral trade is much below its potential.
• There is room for more cooperation in industries including Ayurveda, agriculture, defence, and pharmaceuticals.
• Therefore, cooperation is required in order to increase bilateral trade for both parties’ benefit.
• The most recent visit will give bilateral relations between India and Suriname new life.

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Topic 7: Gandhi’s Satyagraha in Durban

Context: Indian Navy to commemorate 130 years of Gandhi’s Satyagraha in Durban

Key details:

• INS Trishul, a frontline warship of the Indian Navy is visiting Durban to commemorate the 130th anniversary of the 7th Jun 1893 incident at Pietermaritzburg, Railway Station.
• Alongside, India and South Africa are also celebrating 30 years of re-establishment of diplomatic relations.

Gandhiji and the Satyagraha

• Mahatma Gandhi arrived in Durban, South Africa, in 1893 to serve as legal counsel to the merchant Dada Abdulla.
• On 7 June 1893 while he was travelling by train to Pretoria, Gandhi, despite carrying first class ticket, was thrown out of the train by the authorities because a white man complained of an Indian sharing the space with him.
• The incident is considered to be the trigger which led to Gandhiji’s fight against racial oppression and to the birth of Satyagraha. 
• As a response, Gandhi formed the Natal Indian Congress in 1894.
  • This organisation led non-violent protests against the oppressive treatment of the white people towards the native Africans and Indians.
• The Freedom of Pietermaritzburg was conferred posthumously on Mahatma Gandhi.

Other activities of Gandhi in South Africa:

• In 1896, he came to India for a short time and gathered 800 Indians to serve along with him in South Africa.
• During the outbreak of the Boer War in 1899, Gandhi gathered around 1,100 Indians and organised the Indian Ambulance Corps for the British but the ethnic discrimination and torture continued on Indians.
• English artist John Ruskin’s book Unto This Last inspired Gandhi and he set up Phoenix Farm near Durban.
  • Here, Gandhi would train his cadres on non-violent Satyagraha for peaceful restraint.
  • Phoenix Farm is considered as the birthplace of Satyagraha.
  • However, it was at the Tolstoy Farm, Gandhi’s second camp in South Africa, where Satyagraha was molded into a weapon of protest.
• In September 1906, Gandhi organised the first Satyagraha campaign to protest against the Transvaal Asiatic ordinance that was constituted against the local Indians.
• In June 1907, he held Satyagraha against the Black Act.
• He also fought against the nullification of non-Christian marriages in 1913.
• Gandhi organised another peaceful resistance campaign in Transvaal against the oppression that Indian minors were suffering from.

INS Trishul

• INS Trishul is the second frigate of the Talwar class of the Indian Navy.
• Trishul, the guided missile frigate, joined the arsenal of Indian Navy in 2003.

India – South Africa Relations

• Political:
  • India’s relations with South Africa were restored after a gap of over four decades with the opening of a Cultural Centre in Johannesburg in 1993.
  • The Indian High Commission in Pretoria was opened in 1994.
  • South Africa established its High Commission in Delhi and opened a Consulate General in Mumbai in 1994.
  • India and South Africa established a strategic partnership in March 1997.
• DefenceCooperation
  • The Defence Cooperation between India and South Africa officially commenced in 1996.
  • Exercises:
    • IBSA Maritime Exercise (IBSAMAR).
    • Navika Sagar Parikrama.
    • Multinational Field Training Exercise
• Trade:
  • Exports to SA:
    • Vehicles and components, transport equipment, drugs and pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, footwear, dyes and intermediates, chemicals, textiles, rice, and gems and jewellery, etc.
  • Imports to India:
    • Gold, steam coal, copper ores & concentrates, phosphoric acid, manganese ore, aluminium ingots & other minerals.
• Indian Community
  • The South African Indian origin community numbers around 1 million and constitutes about 3% of South Africa’s total population.
  • About 80% of the Indian community lives in the province of KwaZulu Natal, about 15% in the Gauteng (previously Transvaal) area and the remaining 5% in Cape Town.
  • 2014 marked 100 years of Gandhiji’s final departure to India from South Africa;
  • He reached India on 9th Jan 1915 – this date is now commemorated annually as Pravasi Bhartiya Divas.

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Topic 8: Varunastra

Context: Indigenous heavyweight torpedo successfully tested

Key details:

• The Navy test-fired an indigenously designed and developed heavyweight torpedo, Varunastra.
• It will replace the older torpedoes on all naval ships that can fire a heavyweight torpedo.
• About varunastra:
  • Varunastra is a ship-launched anti-submarine torpedo.
  • It was designed and developed by the Naval Science and Technological Laboratory in Visakhapatnam under the Defence Research and Development Organisation.

What is  a torpedo?

• A torpedo is essentially a guided missile that happens to “fly” underwater.
• A torpedo has a propulsion system, a guidance system and some sort of explosive device.
• Most missiles that fly through the air use either rocket engines or jet engines, but neither of these work very well underwater.
• Torpedoes use one of­ two techniques for propulsion:
  • Batteries and an electric motor:
    • This is the same technique that any non-nuclear submarine must use when running underwater.
  • Engines that use special fuel:
    • The torpedo uses a fuel that either does not need an oxidizer, or it carries the oxidizer inside the torpedo.
      • OTTO fuel has its own oxidizer mixed with the fuel.
      • Hydrogen Peroxide does not need an oxidizer.