17 March 2023

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – NATO: GS II – Topic International Relations:

Context:

• On March 14, Sweden’s prime minister acknowledged that it is more likely that neighbouring Finland will join NATO before his country due to Turkey’s opposition to Sweden’s application.
• Ulf Kristersson claimed that it has been obvious since the NATO summit in Madrid in June that Finland’s path to membership has been easier than Sweden’s, and that it is now more likely than ever that Finland will join NATO first. Ulf Kristersson made these remarks during a press conference in Stockholm on Tuesday.

About:

• The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was founded in 1949 as a military alliance to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. It was sometimes referred to as the Washington Treaty and was signed by the United States, Canada, and other Western European nations.
• There are now 30 member states.
• The original members of the group were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
• Greece and Turkey joined the original signatories in 1952, followed by West Germany in 1955 (renamed Germany in 1990), Spain in 1982, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland in 1999, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia in 2004, Albania and Croatia in 2009, Montenegro in 2017 and North Macedonia in 1999. (2020).
• France remained a NATO member but vacated its position in the organization’s integrated military command in 1966. 2009 saw its comeback.
• Recently, interest in joining NATO has been shown by Finland and Sweden.
• Brussels, Belgium, is the headquarters.
• The Allied Command Operations headquarters are in Mons, Belgium.

What objectives does NATO intend to fulfil?

• Protecting each member state’s freedom and security through political and military action is NATO’s primary and ongoing objective.
• Political objectives: NATO promotes democratic principles and offers members the chance to engage and cooperate on defence and security-related issues in order to resolve disagreements, build trust, and, in the long term, prevent conflict.
• Military Objectives: NATO is committed to finding peaceful solutions to conflicts. If diplomatic attempts fail, it has the military power to carry out crisis-management operations.
• According to a United Nations mandate or the collective defence clause of the Washington Treaty, Article 5, which served as the foundational agreement for NATO, they are carried out independently or in cooperation with other nations and international organisations.
• Only once, on September 12, 2001, in reaction to the 9/11 attacks on the US World Trade Center, did NATO ever use Article 5.

How is NATO set up?

• Although NATO has an integrated military command structure, the organisation only fully owns a small portion of its forces and resources.
• The majority of forces continue to be under total national command and control until member nations choose to carry out NATO-related duties.
• Its members must preserve the essential values that underpin the Alliance, such as democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law. Decisions made by the Alliance must be unanimous and consensual. In the Alliance, each of the 30 allies has an equal voice.
• NATO nations are not protected by the alliance from civil conflicts or domestic coups.
• NATO is financed by its members. The United States covers three-quarters of NATO’s budget.

Why did NATO initially form?

• Following World War II in 1945, Western Europe had a weak economy and a weak military. After the end of the war, the western Allies substantially and quickly cut back on their armies.
• In exchange for their collaboration and participation in cooperative planning to hasten their various recoveries, the countries of western and southern Europe received vast amounts of economic help under the Marshall Plan, which the United States initiated in 1948.
• Under the terms of the Brussels Treaty of 1948, the United Kingdom, France, and the Low Countries—Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg—created the Western European Union, a collective-defense agreement.
• Yet it soon became clear that in order to provide the Soviet Union with a potent military counterweight, a stronger alliance would be required.
• In March 1948, the three governments began discussing a multilateral collective-defense strategy in the wake of a communist virtual coup d’état in Czechoslovakia in February. This strategy would improve democratic values while bolstering Western security.
• These discussions eventually included France, the Low Countries, and Norway, and as a result, the North Atlantic Treaty was signed in April 1949.
• After World War 2, when ties between the US and the USSR started to deteriorate, the Cold War started.
• While the USSR wanted to use the promotion of its communist ideology to strengthen its position in Europe, the US regarded it as a danger to its way of life.
• In 1955, as the Cold War was heating up, the Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact. Socialist countries in Central and Eastern Europe were included (1955). The Pact, which was essentially a political-military alliance, was considered NATO’s main geopolitical opponent.
• It included East Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Albania (which left in 1968).
• The Pact was formally terminated in early 1991, following the fall of the Soviet Union.

 Source  The Hindu

2 – NIOT: GS II – Topic Government Policies and Interventions:

Context:

• Using Low Temperature Thermal Desalination (LTTD) technology, the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), located in Chennai, is expanding on its current effort to deliver drinkable water in six Lakshadweep islands.
• The desalination plants are presently powered by diesel generator sets, each of which generates at least 100,000 litres of potable water per day, because there is no other source of electricity on the islands. The 600-foot depth of the ocean has a nearly 15°C temperature difference, which is used by LTTD. Although the surface water that condenses from this cold water is warmer, vacuum pumps have decreased its pressure. Such depressurized water can evaporate even at room temperature; the resulting vapour, when condensed, is free of salts and contaminants and acceptable for human consumption.

About:

• The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) was established as a separate society in November 1993 by the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Indian government.
• NIOT is governed by a Governing Council, and the Director is in charge of it.
• To solve the complex engineering problems associated with resource exploitation in the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which makes up around two-thirds of India’s land area, NIOT was established under the Ministry of Earth Sciences.
• NIOT is the nodal organisation for the Deep Ocean Mission, which involves the creation of manned submersibles, offshore large-scale desalination, ocean thermal energy conversion, etc.

Mission:

• to develop cutting-edge tools and the applications that will make it possible to exploit ocean resources sustainably.
• to deliver cost-effective, value-added technical services and solutions to ocean-related businesses.
• to develop India’s organisational and intellectual foundations for managing the environment and marine resources.

 Source The Hindu

3 – Defence Acquisition in India: GS III – Topic Government Policies and Interventions:

Context:

• The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC), led by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, granted Acceptance of Need (AoN) on Thursday for capital acquisition bids worth a total of Rs. 70,500 crore. One of the long-term goals that some of the efforts incorporate is the development of a marine diesel engine.

What does a “Make” Category actually mean?

• The “Make” category of capital acquisition is the foundation of the Make in India project, which strives to build domestic capabilities with the aid of both the public and private sectors.
• Make-I refers to projects supported by the government, whereas Make-II refers to initiatives backed by the private sector.
• Make-I is involved in building pricey platforms that adhere to Indian security norms, like light tanks and communication devices.
• Making prototype military equipment or modifying it for import substitution without government support falls under the Make-II category.
• Among the five projects approved under the industry-funded Make-II procedure are the Apache attack helicopter and Chinook multi-mission helicopter simulators, wearable robotic equipment for aircraft maintenance, an autonomous combat vehicle, and an integrated surveillance and targeting system for mechanised forces.
• “Make-III” is another subcategory under “Make,” and it contains military hardware that wasn’t necessarily created and developed locally but could be produced domestically to replace imports. They may be produced by Indian companies working with foreign partners.

About DAP 2020:

• It enables communication with the public regarding a list of weapons or systems whose import will be restricted.
• It places a focus on FDI in defence product manufacturing and localization of manufacturing costs.
• The use of domestic software in defence equipment, the requirement for artificial intelligence to be included into platforms and systems, and the idea of “innovation” by start-ups and MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Companies) as a new category of defence acquisition are all introduced.
• Purchase (Indian), Buy and Make (Indian), Buy (Global – Manufacturing in India), and Buy (Indian – Indigenously Designed, Developed, and Manufactured) are among its procurement categories (Global).
• According to the category, it increases the earlier requirement for Indigenous Content (IC) in all projects from 40% to 50% to 50% to 60%.
• A 30% IC from Indian companies is only permissible for international vendors in the context of global procurement through Buy.

About DAC:

• The Defence Acquisition Council must approve all acquisitions for the Indian Coast Guard, the three services (Army, Navy, and Air Force), and the highest defence ministry body.
• The minister of defence serves as the council’s chairman.
• Following the Kargil War and the Group of Ministers’ recommendations for “Reforming the National Security System,” it was founded in 2001. (1999).

 Source The Hindu

4 – Mig 29 Fighter Jets: GS III – Topic Internal Security of India:

Context:

• Poland will be the first of Kyiv’s allies to provide such aircraft when it sends four MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the next days, the president announced on Thursday.
• Warsaw, one of Ukraine’s most ardent supporters, has taken the lead in persuading occasionally reticent countries to give Kiev heavy weapons. Any transfer of planes, according to it, would take place as a coalition effort.

About MIG 29 Fighter Jets:

• The Soviet Union designed the twin-engine jet fighter aircraft.
• In the 1970s, the Mikoyan design bureau created a fighter with air superiority.
• The MiG-29 was created to compete with modern American fighters like the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle and the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon, along with the bigger Sukhoi Su-27.
• In 1982, the Soviet Air Forces began using the MiG-29.
• MiG-29s served as the Ukrainian Air Force’s main fighters during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

 Source  The Hindu