Measures for Manipur violence

GS Paper - 3 (Internal Security)

Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that a probe panel led by a retired High Court judge will investigate the recent violence in Manipur that led to the death of at least 80 people and left several injured. He said the reasons behind the month-long bout of violence and those responsible for it will be probed.

What is happening in Manipur?

1. Ethnic clashes broke out in the state nearly a month ago after a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ was organised in the hill districts to protest the Meitei community’s demand for Scheduled Tribe (ST) status.
2. The trigger for the violent clashes was a contentious order of the Manipur High Court that boosted a longstanding demand by the valley-dwelling Meiteis to be designated as a ST in order to protect their “ancestral land, traditions, culture and language”.
3. Protests by tribal groups such as the Kukis against the HC order in all the hill districts led to violence, first in Kuki-dominated Churachandpur, and then in the Imphal valley.
4. Amid ethnic tension in the state, IPS officer Rajiv Singh of the Tripura cadre (1993 batch), was given charge of the post of Director General of Police (DGP) in Manipur.

What was announced regarding the situation in Manipur?

1. Under the chairmanship of Manipur governor Anusuiya Uikey, the Indian government will form a peace committee which will have “representation of everyone – industrialists, sportspersons, political party’s representatives, elected representatives and those from civil society organisations.
2. For better coordination between security agencies in the state, security advisor Kuldiep Singh, Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force, will oversee an inter-agency unified command.
3. Of the cases of violence that have been registered, six have been selected for investigation by a special CBI team. This includes one case for the charge of general conspiracy.
4. A relief and rehabilitation package has been readied. For every person who has lost their life, Rs 10 lakhs will be given (with half of the amount by the Central government and the other by the Manipur government). Their family members will receive it via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) into their bank accounts.
5. A Joint Secretary-level officer and five Director-level officers will be present here to monitor these works.
6. Fencing of around 10 km of the Myanmar-Manipur border has been done and tendering has been done for 80 km of the border.
7. 30,000 metric-tonne of rice will be provided to Manipur for the next two months. Gas, petrol and vegetables will also be brought in.
8. From Moreh, Churachandpur and Kangpokpi, a helicopter service will help in transportation, at the cost of Rs 2,000 per person to take people to the airport. The cost will be borne by the state and central government.

Agni-1 missile successfully launched

GS Paper - 3 (Defence Technology)

India conducted a “successful launch” of the medium-range Agni-1 missile from the APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the Odisha coast, in yet another test of a nuclear-capable ballistic missile amid the continuing military confrontation with China in eastern Ladakh. The “training launch” of the Agni-1, which has a strike range of 700km, was conducted by the tri-service Strategic Forces Command (SFC).

More about the Missile

1. The missile is a proven system already inducted into the SFC, and is capable of striking targets with a very high degree of precision. The user launch successfully validated all operational and technical parameters of the missile.
2. The SFC, which was set up to handle the country’s nuclear arsenal in 2003, currently has the Prithvi-II (350 km range), Agni-1 (700-km), Agni-2 (2,000-km), Agni-3 (3,000-km) and Agni-4 (4,000-km) ballistic missiles.
3. The country’s most formidable nuclear-capable missile, the over 5,000-km Agni-5, which brings even the northernmost part of China within its strike envelope, is in the stage of being inducted into the SFC. The Agni-5 was test-fired by the SFC in October 2021 and December 2022.
4. A new-generation missile with a strike range of 1,000 to 2,000-km called ‘Agni-Prime’ was also tested for the first time in June 2021.
5. Developed with new propulsion systems and composite rocket motor casings as well as advanced navigation and guidance systems, the canister-launch Agni-Prime will gradually replace the Agni-I missiles in the SFC’s arsenal.

Rare Higgs boson decay observed in LHC

GS Paper - 3 (Science and Technology)

The European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), which hosts the Large Hadron Collider,(LHC) announced on 2 June 2023 that scientists at the organisation found the first evidence of the rare process by which the Higgs boson decays into a Z boson and a photon.

More about the observations

1. The discovery of the Higgs boson, what some call the “god particle,” in 2012 marked a major milestone in the study of particle physics.
2. Since that discovery, scientists working with the ATLAS and CMS experiments at LHC have been investigating the properties of the particle, trying to understand the ways in which it is produced and how it decays into other particles.
3. At the Large Hadron Collider Physics (LHCP) conference last month, ATLAS and CMS teams reported how they discovered evidence of the Higgs boson decaying into a Z boson and a photon.
4. The Z boson is the electrically neutral carrier of the weak force and the photon is the carrier of the electromagnetic force.

More hints beyond the standard model

1. According to CERN, this decay could provide indirect evidence of the existence of particles beyond those predicted by the Standard Model of particle physics.
2. The Standard Model is the current best theory that can explain all phenomena associated with elementary particles, or the building blocks of the universe.
3. We already know that there must be something that the standard model does not predict because we have indirect evidence of it. We cannot formulate a theory if we do not know what basic mechanism is responsible for those effects.

Decay of the Higgs boson

1. The Higgs boson particle’s decay into a Z boson and photon is similar to that of decay into two photons, according to CERN.
2. In these cases, the particle does not directly decay into these pairs of particles. Instead, it happens through, and “intermediate loop of virtual particles” that come into and out of existence but cannot be detected directly.
3. These “virtual” particles could include new and so far unknown particles that interact with the Higgs boson.

India, Nepal Sign Pacts on Energy, Transport

GS Paper - 2 (International Relations)

The border between India and Nepal should not become a barrier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as the two sides signed a series of agreements on energy and transport including the export of Nepal’s hydropower to Bangladesh through Indian Territory. 

Importance of Visit

1. PM said, the two countries should fast-track projects related to the Ramayana circuit. 
2. I said at the time that we will establish ties between India and Nepal that would overcome the presence of borders. Today we signed the Transit Agreement. It will help Nepal’s population access India’s inland waterways.”
3. India will take forward the 2022 India-Nepal vision document for cooperation in the power sector that sets an ambitious goal in India-Nepal power trade and transmission.
4. “Taking this forward, a long-term Power Trade Agreement has been signed between India and Nepal today.
5. Under this agreement, a target of importing 10,000 MW of electricity from Nepal in the coming years has been set.
6. Focusing on energy cooperation, a new pipeline will be constructed from Siliguri to Jhapa in eastern Nepal.
7. The two sides signed a number of agreements, including anMoU between NHPC and VUCL (VidyutUtpadan Company Ltd.) of Nepal, for the development of PhukotKarnali Hydroelectric Project and a Project Development Agreement for Lower Arun Hydroelectric Project between SJVN (India) and Investment Board of Nepal.
8. The two PMs agreed to “achieve tangible and time-bound progress on the Pancheshwar multipurpose project”.
9. The two Prime Ministers participated through a video link in the ground breaking ceremony of the Gorakhpur-Bhutwal Transmission Line — on the Indian side.
10. The two Prime Ministers jointlyinaugurated a cargo train from Bathnaha in India to Nepal Customs Yard.
11. They also inaugurated integrated check posts (ICPs) at Nepalgunj in Nepal and Rupaidiha on the Indian side.

Recent Issues of Parliament Mural

1. A major controversy has broken out in Nepal over a mural depicting the Indian as a map of Akhand Bharat or undivided India, which has drawn angry responses from Nepali political leaders across party lines.
2. The mural shows Lumbini, the birth place of Gautama Buddha, indicating India’s claims over the region.
3. Nepal considers Lumbini as one of the major cultural centres on the Nepalese map.