[Mission 2023] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 3 October 2022

GS -2 and 3

Syllabus: Bilateral, regional and global groupings involving India and affecting India’s interests, Infrastructure: Energy, ports, roads etc

Source: The Hindu

Context: Four leaks were reported at different points in the Nord Stream pipelines, linking Russia and Europe.

What are the Nord Stream pipelines?

Nord Stream 1 subsea pipeline:

• Nord Stream 1 was completed in 2011 and runs from Vyborg in Leningrad (Russia) to Lubmin near Greifswald, Germany.
• Majority ownership: The Russian state-owned gas company Gazprom has a majority ownership in the pipeline
• According to Bloomberg: 40% of Europe’s pipeline gas came from Russia before the war( now 9%).

Nord Stream 2:

• This is a 1,200-km pipeline that runs from Ust-Luga in Russia to Greifswald in Germany through the Baltic Sea.
• It will carry 55 billion cubic meters of gas per year.
• The Nord Stream crosses the Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) of several countries including:
  • Russia
  • Finland
  • Sweden
  • Denmark
  • Germany
• Territorial waters of:
  • Russia
  • Denmark
  • Germany

What will be the impact of the leaks?

• The pipelines are unlikely to provide any gas to Europe: In the forthcoming winter months, even if the political will to resume supply was found.
• Gas price spike: European gas prices spiked after reports of the leaks emerged.
• Environmental impact: Releasing GHGs(methane) will have an impact on the environment.

Impact on India: It may raise the cost of natural gas (already at its peak) for India and LPG/CNG consumers in India may have to bear the brunt.

Insta Links:

Nordic Nations

Mains Links:

Q. What are Nord Stream pipelines? Discuss the recent leakage crisis around it and the environmental effects of such a leak.

Prelims Links:

• Mapping of Nordic states
• Nord stream pipelines

GS paper 2

Syllabus: Issues related to the development of the social sector involving education

Source: The Hindu

Context: The Ministry of Education constituted a high-powered committee, the Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti for the promotion of Indian languages.

Objective of the committee:

• Preparing an action plan: For the growth of Indian languages as prescribed under the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Key focus areas for promoting Indian languages:

• Bilingual: Prepare teachers to be bilingual.
• Qualification: Incorporating languages as a qualification.

Needs for the development of a language:

• Using it as a medium: For instruction or communication or entertainment or science and technology
• Developing contemporary literature or content: Such as current developments, thoughts or daily creation of knowledge globally in Indian languages
• New words generation: Need for a continuous process of generation of new words
• Technology: Languages adapt to technology as 2,000 to 3,000 languages that didn’t adapt to print technology disappeared
• Material: Teaching and learning material
• Patronage: which can be from corporates, society and governments.

How will it create Job opportunities?

• Communication in local language: Multinationals as well as corporates and governments need to communicate in local languages in order to increase their reach.
  • Only 10.4(ten points four)% know English.
• Interpreters: Need for interpreters
• Translators: In tourism, there will be a need for translators
• Technology tools: such as apps are now being developed in local languages which will open more avenues.

Power of states:

• There is flexibility given to States to choose the languages under the three-language formula.

Push for Sanskrit:

• NEP: Push through NEP
• The Central Sanskrit University: It will be developing simple, standard Sanskrit which can be used as a medium of instruction and communication.
• Sanskrit Knowledge Systems: Reservoir of knowledge in Sanskrit texts, which will be researched and published and made accessible.

Insta Links:

NEP 2020

Mains Link:

Q. National Electronic Policy 2020 is in conformity with Sustainable Development Goals-4 (2030). It intended to restructure and re-orient the education system in India. Critically examine the statement. (UPSC 2020)

Prelims Links:

• NEP
• SDG4
• Regional Languages

GS Paper 3

Syllabus: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, and robotics.

Source: Economic Times

Context: Government has launched commercial 5G Services

Key Highlights from the launch event:

• PM called the launch “a revolution”: A new India – the country is no longer just a consumer of technology but a contributor to its development too.
  • At the time of the launch of 2G, 3G and 4G services, India was dependent on other countries. But with 5G, the country is setting foot in a new historical era and is leading globally.
  • 5G technology will provide seamless coverage, high data rate, low latency, and highly reliable It will increase energy efficiency, spectrum efficiency and network efficiency.
• 5G as technology multiplier: 5G is much more than the next generation of technology. It actually unlocks the potential of other technologies like Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things, Robotics, Blockchain, and Metaverse.
• Other applications: 5G will help in real-time monitoring of disasters, precision agriculture, and minimising the role of humans in dangerous industrial operations such as in deep mines, and offshore activities, the government has underlined.
• National Digital Communications Policy 2018: Emphasis on integration of digital ecosystem (including 5G) with economic and societal growth.
• Focus area for India should be: Price of the device, digital connectivity, cost of data, and the idea of ‘digital first’

Demonstration of practical use of 5G services:

• Education: 5G facilitate education by bringing teachers closer to students (through effective virtual classes), obliviating the physical distance between them.
• Education: A girl from Uttar Pradesh will witness a lively and immersive education experience to learn about the solar system with the help of Virtual reality and Augmented reality.
• Safety: Safety of workers in an under-construction tunnel of Delhi Metro through the creation of a Digital Twin of the tunnel on the.

What is 5G?

• 5G is the next generation of mobile broadband that will eventually replace, or at least augment 4G LTE connection.

Features and benefits of the 5G technology:

1. Operate in the millimetre wave spectrum (30-300 GHz) which has the advantage of sending large amounts of data at very high speeds.
2. Operate in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high-frequency spectrum.
3. Reduced latency (means higher speed) will support new applications that leverage the power of 5G, the Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence.
4. Increased capacity on 5G networks can minimize the impact of load spikes, like those that take place during sporting events and news events.

What are the potential health risks of 5G?

To date, and after much research performed, no adverse health effect has been causally linked with exposure to wireless technologies.

• Tissue heating is the main mechanism of interaction between radiofrequency fields and the human body. Radiofrequency exposure levels from current technologies result in negligible temperature rise in the human body.
• As the frequency increases, there is less penetration into the body tissues and absorption of the energy becomes more confined to the surface of the body (skin and eye).

• Previously, Bollywood actor Juhi Chawla had moved the Delhi High Court seeking a scientific study on any adverse effects of radio-frequency radiation emitted by cellular telecommunications using 5G technologyon ‘health, life, organ or limb of adult or child, or to flora and fauna’ before its official rollout in the country.

Provided that the overall exposure remains below international guidelines, no consequences for public health are anticipated.

What are the international exposure guidelines?

Two international bodies produce exposure guidelines on electromagnetic fields. Many countries currently adhere to the guidelines recommended by:

1. The International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.
2. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, through the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety.

These guidelines are not technology-specific. They cover radio frequencies up to 300 GHz, including the frequencies under discussion for 5G.

International efforts- International Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) Project:

WHO established the International Electromagnetic Fields (EMF) Project in 1996. The project investigates the health impact of exposure to electric and magnetic fields in the frequency range 0-300 GHz and advises national authorities on EMF radiation protection.

InstaLinks:

Do you know what Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing is? (Read Briefly Here)

Mains Link:

Q. Discuss the significance of 5G technology.

Prelims Link:

1. What is 5G?
2. Differences between 3G, 4G and 5G.
3. Applications.
4. What is a spectrum?
5. About EMF Project.

GS Paper 4

Context: The second Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Shastri, whose birth anniversary is being observed on 2^nd October was known as a statesman par excellence. He is best remembered for his slogan, ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’.

Shastri’s leadership was laden with values and ethics.

Ethical lessons from Shastriji’s life:

• Against societal prejudice and discrimination: Shastri was born Lal Bahadur Shrivastava – being against the prevailing caste system, he decided to drop his surname.
  • The title ‘Shastri’ refers to a ‘scholar’ or a person, adept in the holy scriptures. During the adverse situations too, he came forward, made himself accountable and showed the signs of a true leader- one who leads from the front.
• Accountability: He served as the Railway Minister in Jawaharlal Nehru’s Cabinet and was so conscientious that he resigned following a train accident at Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu in 1956.
  • His gesture was hailed by all including Nehru, whom he considered his “hero”.
• Leadership Qualities: When the Opposition brought a motion of no-confidence against his government in September 1964, Shastri candidly accepted its successes and failures – thus taking it as constructive criticism.
• Practice before preaching: In 1965, India was embroiled in a war with Pakistan and the country was facing an acute food shortage. He asked his family to give up a meal a day. It is only after he was sure that his own family could survive this he announced on All India Radio, urging the public to sacrifice one meal at least once a week. 
• Moral public and private life: Shastriji had a Chevrolet Impala car for official use, which his son once used for a drive. When Shastri learned about it, he asked his driver to check the distance the car was used for and later deposited the money in the government account.
• Believed in “Sheelam Param Bhushanam”: In his maiden independence day speech, he had laid emphasis on character and moral strength – not only for personal growth but for the development of the nation.