DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS
1 – Butler Palace: GS II – International issues
Context:
- Butler Palace in Lucknow is undergoing repair that would make it a tourist destination.
Concerning the palace:
- The Mahmudabad royal family possessed the palace, which was first constructed in 1915 as the official residence of Harcourt Butler, the Commissioner of Avadh.
- According to their own story, the family went to India in the thirteenth century, lived in what is now Lucknow, Avadh, in the sixteenth century, and were Mughal subjects.
- The king at the time of independence, Mohammed Amir Ahmad Khan, moved to Pakistan, but his son, Muhammad Amir Mohammad Khan, remained a citizen of India and engaged in legal disputes over a number of properties, including Butler Palace.
- It is the only monument in Lucknow that combines Mughal and Rajasthani architectural elements.
The palace’s state upon independence:
- The Indian government designated Butler Palace as “enemy property” following the 1965 India-Pakistan conflict.
- The later Enemy Property Act of 1968 strengthened the binding nature of the stand.
- This is one of the 361 “enemy properties” in Lucknow alone; the Mahmudabad family once owned several of these.
- Property owned by Pakistani nationals in India may be appropriated under the terms of the Enemy Property Act, 1968.
- In the wake of the 1965 Indo-Pakistani War, the statute was passed.
- The government agency Custodian of Enemy Property for India receives ownership.
- The buildings were turned over to the Uttar Pradesh government in the 1960s after being designated enemy property, and they were subsequently used as a sales tax office.
- It was donated to the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, a ministry under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development, in the 1980s.
Source The Hindu
2 – Intercontinental missile Bulava: GS II – International issues
Context:
- Bulava is an intercontinental missile launched by Russia’s last nuclear submarine test.
Important information:
- Russia’s latest nuclear-powered submarine, Imperator Alexander III, has launched the Bulava ballistic missile successfully in a test flight.
- The submarine has 16 Bulava missiles and up-to-date torpedoes installed.
- Off the northern coast of Russia, in the White Sea, the intercontinental missile was fired from an underwater station.
- With the capacity to carry up to six nuclear warheads, the Bulava missile, measuring 12 metres (40 feet) in length, is claimed to have an 8,000 km (5,000 mile) range.
An intercontinental missile: what is it?
- Anything that can carry a ballistic missile more than 5,500 kilometres (3,400 miles) is called an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
- Its main purpose is to deliver nuclear weapons, specifically thermonuclear warheads.
- With varied degrees of success, conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered.
- Nations with in-service ICBMs:
- The US
- Russia
- China
- France
- India
- United Kingdom
- Israel
- North Korea
- Iran
The Indian ICBM:
- Agni-V is an intercontinental ballistic missile with nuclear capability that was designed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for use on land.
- The rocket can travel over 7,000 kilometres at a time.
- This is an intercontinental ballistic missile with three stages, canisterized, road mobility, and solid fuel.
- India wants to strengthen its nuclear deterrence against China with Agni V.
Source The Hindu
3 – Mechanism for Carbon Border Adjustment: GS III – Environmental Conservation related issues
Context:
- India is expected to accept the EU’s default values for calculating carbon emissions during the manufacturing of certain polluting commodities, such as steel and aluminium, in the nation for export to the region during the ongoing transition period of the EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
Important information:
- The carbon tax regime will take effect in January 2026, however the CBAM transition period, which requires importers to disclose the embedded carbon content in their goods on a quarterly basis through the end of 2025, started on October 1st, 2023.
- India may currently find it challenging to determine its own carbon emissions because it does not yet have a mechanism in place for carbon verification and accreditation.
- In the short term, exporters have been advised to use the so-called CBAM default values for reporting purposes until systems are fully established and implemented.
- According to some estimates, the Indian steel and aluminium industries could face additional levies of up to 20–35 percent if compliance cannot be demonstrated, making them the industries most likely to be affected by CBAM.
- By the fourth quarter of 2024, the EU will create secondary legislation to modify CBAM and create procedures and regulations that account for the effective carbon price paid overseas.
- These modifications would include anti-circumvention measures, electricity regulations, and verifier accreditation.
About CBAM:
- A “fair” price for carbon emissions from the manufacture of carbon-intensive goods in non-EU nations that are imported into the EU is set by the Carbon Budget and Management Act (CBAM) of the European Union.
- It aims to level the playing field for EU producers who are currently subject to an emission price under the EU Emission Trading System (ETS).
- In essence, it is a carbon price on goods that are heavy in carbon, including cement and some of the electricity that the EU imports.
- In order to combat carbon leakage and provide equal opportunities for European enterprises globally in the face of lower-priced goods from China and India, the European Union (EU) implemented the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM).
- Through the use of this tool, the EU is able to impose an arbitrary tax on imports from nations that fail to adhere to its environmental criteria.
Source The Hindu
4 – All Clear Operations: GS II – International Issues
Context:
- Recalling Operation All Clear, which Bhutan initiated against the rebel groups in Assam, during the Bhutan King’s visit to India
Regarding the Operation:
- In an effort to drive the extremists from its land, Bhutan was forced to launch its first military operation in 140 years.
- When the Royal Bhutan Army initiated “Operation All Clear” on December 15, 2003, it struck a fatal blow to the groups that had established camps in Bhutanese territory: the Kamatapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), the National Democratic Front of Bodoland, and the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).
Why did insurgent groups from India exist in Bhutan?
- Under duress, the Indian military and the Assam police conducted a series of crackdowns on terrorist organisations in Assam during the 1990s.
- These tribes established camps in southeast Bhutan, specifically in the Samdrup Jongkhar area that borders Assam, after Bangladesh ceased to be a destination of shelter.
Bhutan’s strategy against these extremist organisations:
- Even after starting talks with these groups in 1998, Bhutan was hesitant to use force to expel them.
- However, nothing came of the discussions.
- The militants’ presence had become a direct threat to Bhutan’s sovereignty and national security, as the Royal Bhutan Government outlined all the reasons that led it to take military action against them.
- It was believed that the rebel organisations would arm the ethnic Lhotshampas of Nepal, who were targeted by the royal government for oppressive practises, thus igniting an ethnic insurrection in southern Bhutan.
As a result of the procedure:
- With logistical and medical support from the Indian Army, the 6000-member Royal Bhutan Army simultaneously attacked the camps of all three organisations, sealing the Indo-Bhutan border to stop militants from escaping into India.
- Among the three groups, at least 650 insurgents had been slain or taken prisoner.
Source The Hindu
5 – Graded Response Action Plan: GS III – Environmental Conservation related issues
Context:
- With immediate effect, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), a governmental agency tasked with developing methods to battle pollution in the area, recently activated the Nation Capital Region’s Stage 4 of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP).
- GRAP is a series of emergency protocols that take effect in the Delhi-NCR region after air quality hits a certain threshold in order to stop further deterioration.
- The Supreme Court gave it approval in 2016 and informed people about it in 2017.
- Because GRAP is gradual in nature, the actions outlined in both sections must be taken when the air quality falls from “poor” to “very poor.”
- In the event that the AQI falls into the “poor” category (201 to 300), Stage 1 of GRAP is initiated.
- When it falls into the “Very poor” category (301-400), it is in Stage 2.
- In Stage 3, the AQI falls into the “Severe” category (401–450), and ultimately
- When it reaches the “Severe +” category (more than 450), it is in Stage 4.
What actions are included in GRAP Stage 4?
Prohibition of diesel cars that don’t comply with BS-VI:
- When the NCR AQI fell into the “severe” level, GRAP stage 4 was initiated.
- A central panel instructed officials to prevent trucks from entering Delhi and to forbid the usage of diesel four-wheelers that do not comply with BS-VI.
- The government implemented the Bharat Stage (BS) emission standards to control the amount of air pollutants produced by internal combustion engine equipment in motor vehicles.
- It was predicted that the BS-VI fuel will reduce sulphur by about 80%, from 50 parts per million to 10 ppm.
- Cars running on petrol can keep going as usual.
Construction-related tasks:
- It will also be illegal to carry out construction and demolition work on linear public projects including flyovers, highways, roads, pipelines, and power lines that were previously permitted to proceed.
Put an end to offices and educational activities:
- The state governments in the NCR have the option to switch to online instruction for classes 6 through 9 and class 11.
- Additionally, governments have the authority to determine whether to permit 50% of the workforce in public, private, and municipal workplaces to work from home while the remaining employees are employed full-time.
Other emergency measures that state governments may think about include:
- the closing of universities and other educational facilities, and
- closing of business operations that are not emergencies,
- allowing cars to operate on an odd-even schedule.
Source The Hindu
