Daily Current Capsules

30 May 2023

Theme – Bilateral Relations/Places in NEWS

Defence Minister attends the swearing-in ceremony of the President-elect of Nigeria

What’s the NEWS

• Raksha Mantri attended the swearing-in ceremony of President-elect of Nigeria Mr Bola Ahmed Tinubu in Abuja on May 29, 2023.
• In addition to senior officials of Ministry of Defence, the Raksha Mantri’s delegation to Nigeria included top executives of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL).
• These executives held a series of meetings with Nigerian military and Government representatives for identifying their requirements which can be fulfilled by the Indian Defence companies.
• B-to-B meetings were held with Nigerian companies for enhancing cooperation.

Theme – International Organisation

Indian Army Celebrates 75th International Day Of UN Peacekeepers

What’s the NEWS

• The Indian Army commemorated the 75^th International Day of UN Peacekeepers, by paying homage to the fallen comrades by laying a wreath at National War Memorial, New Delhi
• This is the day when in 1948 the first UN peacekeeping mission, “UN Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO)” began operations in Palestine.
• This year marks the 75^th Anniversary of the UN Peacekeepers Day.

India’s Contribution to UN Peacekeeping Operations

• India has a rich legacy of contribution to UN Peacekeeping operations and is one of the largest contributors of troops.
• It has contributed approximately 2,75,000 troops to peacekeeping missions so far, with around 5,900 troops currently deployed in 12 UN Missions.
• Apart from the current deployment, India has pledged one Infantry Battalion Group and Corvette with Helicopter, as hard power and an Engineer Company & Signal Company as Force enablers, to be deployed at the behest of the UN.
• In keeping with the need for women peacekeepers in conflict areas under UN mandate, India has deployed Female Engagement Teams (FETs) in MONUSCO and UNISFA (the second largest women contingent after Liberia).
• India has also deployed Women Military Police in UNDOF and women staff officers / military observers in various missions.
• The Indian Army has established a Centre for UN Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in New Delhi to impart niche training in peacekeeping operations.
• The Centre trains more than 12,000 troops every year.
• CUNPK undertakes a multitude of activities from contingent training to national and international courses for potential peacekeepers and trainers.
• It also hosts foreign delegations as part of sharing best practices.
• The Centre regularly dispatches Mobile Training Teams to Friendly Foreign Countries as part of capacity building in the field of UN peacekeeping training.
• The institute has evolved in the two decades as a Centre of Excellence and repository of experience and best practices.

Associated Organisations

The United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or MONUSCO

• It is a United Nations peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which was established by the United Nations Security Council in resolutions to monitor the peace process of the Second Congo War

The United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA)

• It is a United Nations peacekeeping force in Abyei, which is contested between the Republic of Sudan and the Republic of South Sudan.
• UNISFA was approved on 27 June 2011 by the United Nations Security Council in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1990 after a flareup in the South Kordofan conflict earlier in June 2011.
• The Ethiopian Army is the largest contributor of personnel, and as of 2018, the only contributor of individual troops.

United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF)

• The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) is a United Nations peacekeeping mission tasked with maintaining the ceasefire between Israel and Syria in the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
• The mission was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 350 on 31 May 1974, to implement Resolution 338 (1973) which called for an immediate ceasefire and implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 242.
• The resolution was passed on the same day as the Agreement on Disengagement and was signed by Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights, finally establishing a ceasefire to end the war.
• Since 1974, UNDOF has since performed its functions with the full cooperation of both sides, and its mandate has been renewed every six months.
• The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO) and UNDOF operate in a buffer zone between the two sides and continue to supervise the ceasefire.

Other related NEWS

• Following Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s proposal last year for an initiative on ‘women in United Nations Peacekeeping (UNPK) operations’ as part of expanding India-ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) defence cooperation, India is set to conduct two initiatives for women personnel from South East Asia later this year.
• One of the initiatives under the ‘India-ASEAN initiative for women in UNPK operations’ includes the conduct of tailor-made courses for women peacekeepers of ASEAN member-states at the Centre for United Nations Peacekeeping (CUNPK) in India this September.

Theme – Prelims Factoids

Novel book-sponsorship scheme

What’s the NEWS

• As part of a novel book-sponsorship scheme aimed at promoting young Goan writers, Goa Governor P.S. Sreedharan Pillai on Monday released the first round of books published under the Raj Bhavan’s ‘Nayi Pahal’ programme.
• A total five books in Konkani, Marathi and English languages were unveiled in the presence of Jnanpith Award winner Goan writer Damodar Mauzo tod
• The scheme, said to be the brainchild of Governor Pillai, was first announced by him in February this year with the objective of helping talented local writers to get their first books published, with the Raj Bhavan bearing all printing expenses.

Theme – Polity and Governance

Srivastava sworn in as Central Vigilance Commissioner

What’s the NEWS

• Vigilance Commissioner Praveen Kumar Srivastava was sworn in by President Droupadi Murmu as the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC)

Know! about Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)

• CVC is an apex Indian governmental body created in 1964 to address governmental corruption.
• In 2003, the Parliament enacted a law conferring statutory status on the CVC.
• It has the status of an autonomous body, free of control from any executive authority, charged with monitoring all vigilance activity under the Central Government of India, advising various authorities in central Government organizations in planning, executing, reviewing and reforming their vigilance work.
• It was set up by the Government of India Resolution on 11 February 1964, on the recommendations of the Committee on Prevention of Corruption, headed by K. Santhanam, to advise and guide Central Government agencies in the field of vigilance.
• The CVC is not an investigating agency: the only investigation carried out by the CVC is that of examining the Civil Works of the Government.
• Corruption investigations against government officials can proceed only after the government permits an order.

Theme – Space Awareness

ISRO’s GSLV rocket takes navigation satellite into transfer orbit successfully

What’s the NEWS

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed the NVS-01 navigation satellite, weighing about 2,232 kg, into Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
• The Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), which placed the satellite, lifted off from the second launch pad at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre SHAR, Sriharikota.
• After a flight of about 19 minutes, the NVS-01 satellite was injected precisely into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit.
• Subsequent orbit-raising manoeuvres will take NVS-01 into the intended Geosynchronous orbit
• This mission happened after the debacle during the F10 mission where there was an issue in the cryogenic stage.

Mission details

• NVS-01 is a second-generation satellite with additional capabilities.
• The signals will be more secure and a civilian frequency band has been introduced
• The launch of the NVS-01 is significant as it would ensure the continuity of NavIC (Navigation with Indian Constellation) services — an Indian regional satellite navigation system, similar to GPS, providing accurate and real-time navigation.
• Signals from NavIC are designed to provide user position accurate to better than 20 metres and timing accuracy better than 50 nanoseconds.
• NVS-01 is the first in the series of five satellites.
• GSLV-F12 is the 15th flight of India’s GSLV and the 9th flight with an indigenous cyro stage.
• This is the 6th operational flight of a GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic stage.
• The NVS-01 carried navigation payloads of L1, L5 and S bands.
• The second generation satellite also has onboard an indigenously developed rubidium atomic clock to determine date and location.
• It is for the first time that an indigenously developed rubidium atomic clock was used in a mission.
• The Ahmedabad-based Space Applications Centre developed the clock, which ISRO said was significant as only a handful of countries possessed this important technology.
• The mission life of NVS-01 is expected to be better than 12 years

Know! about NavIC

• NavIC was earlier known as the Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
• The L1 navigation band is popular for providing position, navigation and timing services for civilian users and for interoperability with other GNSS (global navigation satellite system) signals
• Some of the applications of NavIC include terrestrial, aerial and maritime navigation, precision agriculture, location-based services in mobile devices and marine fisheries, among many others.
• NavIC offers two services — Standard Position Service (SPS) for civilian users and Restricted Service for strategic users.
• NavIC SPS signals are interoperable with the US global navigation satellite system signals, GPS, Glonass from Russia, Galileo (European Union) and BeiDou, China.
• ISRO has already launched similar navigation satellites–IRNSS-1A,IRNSS-1B,IRNSS-1C, IRNSS-1D, IRNSS-1E,IRNSS-1F,IRNSS-1G, IRNSS-1H and IRNSS-1I.
• Of these missions, IRNSS-1H was not successful as the satellite could not be placed into orbit. It was replaced by IRNSS-1I which was successfully launched on April 12, 2018.

Upcoming Launch

• The space agency is planning to launch weather satellite INSAT-3DS on the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV).
• ISRO will have to complete the navigation satellite constellation by launching four more NVS series satellites.
• ISRO is also working on designing a new rocket that can carry much higher luggage and also upgrading the LVM3 rocket to lift up to 5.5 ton from the current 4-ton capacity.
• In July ISRO will test the crew escape systems for the Gaganyaan project rocket.

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