Russia’s Withdrawal From Kherson
Context:
Ukraine’s defence and intelligence unit has reported on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Kherson but predicts it to be a delusion for a retreat.
Relevance:
GS II: International Relations
Dimensions of the Article:
- Where is Kherson and why is it important?
- How did Kherson come under Russia’s control?
- Why has Moscow announced its withdrawal from Kherson?
Where is Kherson and why is it important?
- Geographically, Kherson is a strategic location for Russia and Ukraine.
- It is situated in the northwest of the Dnipro River, the province shares borders with Donetsk, Crimea and the Black Sea.
- With Moscow capturing Crimea in 2014, the occupation of Kherson in March 2022 has benefited Russia in transferring its military from Crimea to counter Ukraine.
- It provides access to Odesa and Black Sea ports in the west and serves as the main route to secure southern Ukraine.
- For Ukraine, regaining Kherson is significant to protect its population in Kalanchak and Chaplynka districts and also to recapture Crimea.
- Kherson is also an important region for its agricultural produce, with irrigation channels.
How did Kherson come under Russia’s control?
- In early March 2022, Kherson was captured by Russia through intense fighting.
- The battle of Kherson proved to be the starting point to capturing and occupying the southern part of Ukraine while the battles for Kharkiv and Kyiv in the north progressed.
- Russia’s hold over Kherson since March 2022 enabled Moscow to capture the key port cities — Mariupol in the Sea Azov, and Odesa, thus expanding control.
- Kherson’s irrigation canals were used as defence positions, creating a strong line preventing Ukraine’s counter-attacks. Russia also had positioned its soldiers in Kherson and stockpiled the ammunition.
Why has Moscow announced its withdrawal from Kherson?
The mobilisation failure:
- When Russia was advancing rapidly in capturing the southern and northern cities of Ukraine, its military personnel and weapon systems started to run thin.
- Russia then pursued a partial mobilisation as the next strategy to circumvent its on-ground limitations.
- The failure of new recruits added an additional challenge to Russia to keep its hold against the Ukraine counter-offensive in Kherson.
The inability of Russia to govern Kherson:
- Despite imposing martial law, Russia could not effectively rule Kherson; the three-level security in the occupied areas could not enforce Russia’s control on the ground.
Ukraine’s expanding counter-offensive:
- Until August, Ukraine was supplied only with short-range and low-grade weapons by the West.
- Later, Ukrainian soldiers received military training; as Moscow continued its onslaught, the West upgraded its support with medium to high-range weapons systems such as the Howitzers, HIMARS, air defence systems, battle tanks and drone technologies.
- It came from the U.S., the U.K. and Germany, whereas Russia’s procurement was slow and limited to Shahed drones. This helped Ukraine recapture Russian-occupied areas including Izyum, northeast, southeast of Kharkiv, Izyum-Slovyansk, Kupiansk in Eastern Ukraine, and northwest Kherson in the south.
- On the other hand, Russia has been facing challenges in augmenting its military hardware on the battleground.
Mangrove Alliance For Climate
Context:
At the 27th Session of Conference of Parties (COP27), this year’s UN climate summit, the Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC) was launched with India as a partner.
Relevance:
GS III: Environment and Ecology
Dimensions of the Article:
- About Mangrove Alliance for Climate (MAC)
- Mangrove Forests: Presence and Significance
- The current state of the mangroves
New TV Broadcast Guidelines
Context:
Satellite TV channels in India are required to broadcast at least 30 minutes of content daily on “themes of national importance and of social relevance”.
- This is part of the ‘Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Satellite Television Channels in India, 2022’, which were approved by the Union Cabinet.
Relevance:
GS II: Government Policies and Intervention
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is the requirement for public service broadcasting?
- What is the rationale behind this?
- What else do the guidelines say?
What is the requirement for public service broadcasting?
- It is obligatory under the guidelines for all TV channels, including private channels, to “undertake public service broadcasting for a minimum period of 30 minutes in a day on themes of national importance and of social relevance”.
- While the guidelines are already in force, Ministry officials said the channels will be given some time to conceptualise and create such content.
- The Ministry will soon issue a specific advisory on the date it comes into effect, and on the time slots for the telecast of this content, the officials said.
Definition of national interest for this purpose:
The guidelines have identified eight “themes of national importance and of social relevance”: “education and spread of literacy; agriculture and rural development; health and family welfare; science and technology; welfare of women; welfare of the weaker sections of the society; protection of environment and of cultural heritage; and national integration”.
What is the rationale behind this?
- The government has argued that since “airwaves/ frequencies are public property” they “need to be used in the best interest of the society”.
- Representatives of several broadcasters, speaking on condition of anonymity, however, pointed out that while airwaves may be public property, they had paid hefty fees for their use — any binding guidelines that adversely impact their commercial interests may not, therefore, be fair.
What else do the guidelines say?
- The guidelines span a range of subjects including uplinking and downlinking, hiring and purchase of broadcast equipment, changes in name and logo, etc.
- The policy mandates that channels uplinking in frequency bands other than C-band must encrypt their signals.
- Uplinking and downlinking “shall be subject to clearance and approval by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and wherever considered necessary, of other authorities”.
- The new guidelines allow a news agency to get permission for five years instead of the current one year.
- The penalty clauses have been rationalised, and separate sets of penalties have been proposed for different types of contraventions as against the uniform penalty that is applicable currently.
- The new policy eases compliance for TV channels in various areas.
- Broadcast companies will be allowed to uplink foreign channels from Indian teleports, which would create employment opportunities and make India a teleport hub for other countries.
- Singapore is considered the hub of teleport uplinking, but after the new guidelines come into effect, foreign channels are expected to show greater interest in using Indian teleports, the officials said.
Current Account Deficit
Context:
State Bank of India has pencilled in a lower current account deficit for India at 3% for this fiscal as against the minimum consensus of 3.5%, citing rising software exports, remittances and a likely $5-billion jump in forex reserves via swap deals.
Relevance:
GS III- Indian Economy (Growth and Development)
Dimensions of the Article:
- What is the Current Account Deficit?
- What is Balance of Payments?
- What has been the recent trend?
- What are the reasons for the current account deficit?
Nadaprabhu Kempegowda
Context:
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday (November 11) arrived in Bengaluru to unveil the 108-feet tall bronze statue of ‘Nadaprabhu’ Kempegowda, credited to be the city’s founder, and inaugurate Terminal 2 of the International Airport, which was built at a cost of around Rs 5,000 crore.
Relevance:
GS I: History
