07 November 2023

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – Harimau Exercise: GS II – International issues

Context:

• India has started Exercise Harimau Shakti-2023.

Important information:

• The Indian and Malaysian armies are participating in a joint bilateral training exercise.
• The Exercise’s most recent iteration took place in Malaysia in 2022.
• Its goal is to increase the military’s capacity to carry out Multi Domain Operations in non-traditional circumstances.

Source The Hindu

2 – Vehicles with Automatic Transmission: GS III – Environmental Conservation issues

Context:

• India is seeing a sharp increase in sales of cars with automatic transmissions.

What separates an automated gearbox from a manual:

• When using a manual gearbox, the driver must engage the clutch and move the stick through a number of ratios.
• By activating the clutch and changing gears according to the vehicle’s speed and rev range, an automatic gearbox handles all of this work for the driver.

Various Automatic Types

Different kinds of automatic transmissions exist:

• Continuously Variable Transmissions, or CVTs
• Dual-Clutch Transmission, or DCT
• conventional converters of torque.
• The AMT, or automated manual gearbox, and
• technology for intelligent manual transmissions (iMT).

Five general categories can be used to group the automatic transmissions that are offered in the Indian market:

• AMPs
• iMTs
• CVT s
• DCTs as well as
• Torque multipliers.
• Then there is the e-CVT option, which is being used in hybrids more and more these days.

AMPs:

• The most popular type of automatic gearbox in India is Automated Manual gearbox, particularly for lower-end models.
• The operation of an AMT is comparable to that of a manual transmission; however, sensors and actuators handle the functions of the clutch and manual gear shifters.
• This automatic gearbox variant’s actuator is controlled by an electronic controller unit.
• The gear shifts are automatically adjusted by the system based on its assessment of the dynamic driving conditions.
• In addition to not compromising on pricing, the AMT also maintains its mileage.
• The shifts are not as fluid as they are in other cars, which is a drawback.

The IMTs:

• With the clutch-less Intelligent Manual Transmission, shifting up or down still requires the driver to physically pull on the gear lever.
• Despite the automated clutch operation.
• An intention sensor, an actuator, and an electronic control unit are connected to the gear lever in an iMT.

Automatic Torque Converter

• The most widely utilised automatic gearbox in the world is a torque converter automatic because of its respectably high performance and fuel efficiency.

CVT:

• A continuously variable gearbox is essentially a single-speed auto gearbox with two drive belt-connected cone-shaped pulleys.
• When compared to traditional automatics, a CVT unit operates smoothly and with exceptional fuel efficiency, but it has an effect known as the “rubber band effect.”
• The delay between when throttle input is received and when it finally engages is known as the rubber band effect.
• Because of this, there is a noticeable discrepancy between a CVT’s skyrocketing engine revs and the car’s actual rate of acceleration under normal driving conditions, particularly when the driver has to accelerate quickly.

DCT:

• Two clutch packs are used in dual clutch gearbox technology, and they are managed by an intricate web of hydraulics and electronics.
• In contrast to a conventional automatic gearbox, a DCT has two separate clutches.
• The even gears are controlled by one clutch, and the odd gears by another.
• This arrangement permits the vehicle to change gears without impeding the engine’s ability to transfer power to the gearbox.

Source The Hindu

3 – Vision Document for India and Sri Lanka: GS II – International issues

Context:

• A “vision document” for a stronger economic collaboration was recently adopted by Sri Lanka and India.

The “vision document” for ties between Sri Lanka and India:

The five pillars of the accepted “vision document” are as follows:

• maritime communication
• aviation connections
• connection of power and energy
• commerce, financial and economic interconnectedness
• interpersonal communication.

Ship-to-ship communication:

• Regarding marine connectivity, it describes collaboration in the growth of logistics and ports at Kankesanthurai, Trincomalee, and Colombo.
• Its goal is to streamline local shipping and logistics.
• In addition to aiming for an early restart of ferry services between Rameshwaram and Talaimannar, it also discusses the return of passenger ferry services between Nagapattinam, India, and Kankesanthurai, Sri Lanka.

Extension of aviation activities:

• In addition to investigating connections between Chennai and Trincomalee, Batticaloa, and other destinations in Sri Lanka, the document also discusses the increase of flights between Chennai and Colombo.
• As a result, cooperation and investment in civil aviation will grow, encouraging the expansion of airport infrastructure.

Power and energy:

• The goal of the two parties’ energy and power connectivity initiatives is to build a high capacity power grid link.
• It will make it possible for Sri Lanka and other regional nations—including those involved in the BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal) initiative—to trade electricity in both directions.
• In addition to potentially lowering electricity prices in Sri Lanka, this might also assist in developing a valuable and consistent source of foreign exchange for the country.
• The document also discusses investigating collaboration in green ammonia and green hydrogen as well as accelerating the construction of LNG infrastructure and the Sampur solar power plant.
• Additionally, a multi-product petroleum pipeline from southern India to Sri Lanka will be under construction by the two nations.
• In order to advance Sri Lanka’s upstream petroleum industry, it also discusses conducting joint hydrocarbon exploration and production in the country’s offshore basins.

Finances:

• Along with these talks, the two parties will debate the Economic and Technology Cooperation Agreement, which aims to improve bilateral trade and investments in new and targeted areas.
• Stronger and more advantageous business ties have been established between the two nations as a result of the decision to designate the Indian Rupee as the currency for trade settlements.
• According to the statement, all parties decided to operationalize UPI-based digital payments in order to improve commerce and transactions between ordinary people and enterprises.
• The two parties also decided to take advantage of India’s digital public infrastructure to efficiently and effectively provide Sri Lankan citizens with citizen-centric services.

Cultural relations:

• In order to boost tourism, the two nations also intend to raise awareness of and draw more people to Sri Lanka’s historic sites of Buddhist, Hindu, and other religious devotion as well as India’s Buddhist circuit and Ramayana trail.

The ferry service in Cheriyapani:

• The launch of the passenger ferry service Cheriyapani has breathed new life into the ancient sea route connecting India and Sri Lanka.
• The route of the service is from Kankesanthurai in Jaffna, Northern Sri Lanka, to Nagapattinam in Tamil Nadu.
• The effort aims to increase people-to-people contacts, improve tourism, and strengthen bilateral ties.
• Local traders are anticipated to gain from it on both coasts.

Maritime connection between Sri Lanka and India:

• Between Chennai and Colombo, via the port of Thoothukudi, operated the Indo-Ceylon Express, also known as the Boat Mail, from the early 1900s until 1982.
• From Dhanushkodi to Talaimannar was one of the busiest roads prior to the start of the civil war.
• It has long been anticipated that ferry services would resume, particularly after the end of the conflict in 2009.

What the ferry service means:

Promotion of religious travel:

• Travellers can reach important religious locations in Colombo and the southern regions of Sri Lanka from India.
• An increase of Sri Lankan visitors is anticipated in Indian pilgrimage sites like Nagapattinam, Nagore, Velankanni, Thirunallar, and temple towns like Thanjavur, Madurai, and Tiruchi.

Commerce and trade:

• Beyond promoting religious travel, the services would increase trade and business in the area.

Port development:

• The Tamil Nadu Maritime Board, with funding from the Union Ministry of External Affairs totaling Rs 8 crore, has refurbished the Nagapattinam port.

Source The Hindu

4 – Proactive Detention: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions

Context:

• Telangana’s strict preventative detention law is in the news as the state prepares for assembly elections that are scheduled for next month.

Preventive detention: what is it?

• Preventive detention is the state’s custody of an individual based only on suspicion, without a judicial trial or conviction.
• If not extended, the confinement might last up to a year.
• Preventive versus pre-trial detention.
• The former is an undertrial; even if a detainee has not committed a crime, he may nevertheless be placed in detention as a precaution.
• Preventive detention is used as a wartime strategy in nations including the United States, Canada, and Britain.
• Preventive detention is allowed under Part III of the Indian Constitution, which addresses fundamental rights.
• It also allows the state to revoke these rights in order to detain people for preventive measures.
• Part III, which constitutes the fundamental framework of the unamendable Constitution, emphasises individual liberty, although it also includes provisions for preventative detention under Article 22.

Which legal provisions allow the state to impose preventative detention?

Principal laws:

• Preventive detention orders can be granted under a number of central legislations, including the National Security Act and the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA).

Authority of the state:

• Except in a few significant cases, Article 22 provides protection from arrest and detention.
• Article 22(3)(b) states that no one who is arrested or held under a statute that permits preventative detention is entitled to any of those protections.
• Article 22(4)–(7), the remaining clauses, address the operationalization of preventive detention.

Issuance of a detention order:

• When it is required to uphold “public order,” the state—that is, the district magistrate—would issue an order for someone to be detained.
• The police may also be granted this authority by the state.
• According to Article 22(4), an Advisory Board’s consent is needed if the detention ordered is longer than three months.
• States appoint these boards, which are typically composed of former judges and government employees.
• Generally speaking, a detainee cannot have legal representation before the Board.
• The detainee may file a court challenge to the detention order if the Board approves of the detention.

Notifying others of the reason for a detention:

• According to Article 22(5) of the Constitution, the state must inform the detainee of the reason(s) for his custody and provide him as much time as possible to challenge the order.
• The state cannot thereafter add new, new, or extra grounds to bolster its initial detention order; instead, the grounds for detention must be conveyed in a single installment.
• The grounds must be read to the detainee in a language they can comprehend.
• Article 22(6), which states that nothing in clause 5 shall oblige the state to reveal facts that the state considers to be against the public interest to divulge, somewhat weakens this safeguard.

How are detention orders evaluated by the courts?

• Because the Constitution prioritises the state’s subjective pleasure when authorising a detention, there are extremely few grounds for judicial review.
• Rather than the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution, this state’s subjective opinion serves as the benchmark for evaluating the order.
• It basically means that the Court is unable to verify the accuracy of the facts stated in the grounds of detention when it is unable to replace the state’s subjective satisfaction with its own satisfaction.
• The scope of a judicial review is restricted to determining if the Advisory Board exercised due diligence, took into account all relevant information, and shown clear malfeasance in imposing detention.

Due to the narrow scope of judicial review, courts frequently overturn detention decisions for procedural reasons like:

• postponement of the advisory board’s decision
• grounds being communicated to the detainee in a timely manner and in a language they can understand, etc.

Source The Hindu

5 – The selection process for Olympic cities: GS II – International issues

Context:

• At the opening ceremony of the 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it known that India would like to host the Olympic Games, ideally in 2036.

Important information:

• The Youth Olympics are currently slated for 2030, but the Prime Minister also expressed India’s goal to host the quadrennial tournament in 2029.

There have only ever been three Asian nations to host the Olympics:

• Asia
• Korea Peninsula
• China
• The games were twice held in Japan, in 1964 and 2020.
• Nine more nations are apparently at various levels of preparations and discussions both domestically and with the IOC, with India being the fifth confirmed country interested in hosting the 2036 Games.
• In the event that India outbids the tournament, it will mark the nation’s first high-profile multidisciplinary athletic event since the contentious 2010 Commonwealth Games (CWG).

How was a host nation originally chosen?

• Under the previous system of choosing an Olympic host city, communities would send a letter of interest to the IOC to begin a multi-year, multi-step evaluation process through their respective national Olympic committees.
• Before the winning bids are submitted to a vote at each IOC session, all venues must undergo a series of inspections and examination by the IOC Evaluation Commission.
• In the end, the Olympic Charter determines the host seven years in advance.
• In an attempt to get rights, bidders frequently overspent, which frequently resulted in massive debt, corruption, and scandals.

The spirit of the Olympics:

• In 2013, Thomas Bach became the new head of the IOC.
• Approved by the 2014 IOC session, he implemented Olympic Agenda 2020 as a blueprint for the Olympic Movement’s future.
• A new procedure for choosing host cities, known as the “new norm,” was covered in one section of the agenda. This procedure was formally adopted during the 2019 IOC meeting in Lausanne.

The novel strategy:

Three primary aspects were prioritised in the new process:

• adaptability
• durability as well as
• monetary efficiency

How is the procedure now more adaptable?

Relaxed seven-year rule:

• There is now more leeway in choosing the hosts and the seven-year limit has been abandoned.
• The 2036 edition may be chosen as late as after 2030, according to the IOC.

Together hosting:

• The Games can now be scheduled to take place in multiple cities or even in tandem with another nation, unlike in the past.

Allowance for ongoing communication following rejection:

• But unlike in the past, when a party would be dissuaded from bidding in the future, interested parties can now keep up a constant conversation for upcoming events.

Infrastructure sustainability:

• To mitigate any potential negative publicity and safeguard the infrastructure’s long-term viability, hosts are urged to utilise both temporary and established locations whenever feasible.
• Regardless of the Games, any new venues constructed must fit within the current development plans and have a solid long-term rationale.
• From 2030 onwards, all Summer, Winter, and Youth Olympic Games editions must also follow the IOC’s climate positive pledge.
• The IOC estimates that the bid budgets for the 2026 Winter Games have decreased by 80% when compared to the 2018 and 2022 editions due to the emphasis on using temporary and existing venues.

Source The Hindu