Indian Navy achieves historic milestone

GS Paper - 3 (Defence Technology)

The Indian Navy test pilots achieved another historic milestone when the MiG-29K made its maiden night landing on the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. The focus of the Indian Navy has been to make the new aircraft carrier fully ready for air combat before the end of 2023.

Why is this challenging?

1. The night time landing on the deck of the aircraft carrier has demonstrated the skill, professionalism and the resolve of the naval pilots and crew of the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant.
2. This has also shown the navy’s focus and journey towards achieving self reliance or ‘Atmanirbharta’.
3. Earlier this year, on 6 February 2023, the Indian Navy test pilots successfully landed the Light Combat Aircraft (naval version) and the MiG-29k on board INS Vikrant.
4. The landing of the MiG-29k during night time is an important achievement as not only does it enhances the combat readiness of the Navy but also marks the successful integration of the aircraft with the indigenous aircraft carrier.

About the INS Vikrant

1. This is the most complex warship ever built in India which was built by Cochin shipyard Limited and was designed by the Warship Design Bureau of the Indian Navy.
2. The indigenous carrier went for its first Sea Trials back in August 2021 and a year later on 2 September 2022; this was commissioned in the Indian Navy as INS Vikrant by the Prime Minister.
3. This aircraft carrier can hold up to 30 aircraft – this means around 18 fighter jets and helicopters.
4. Currently there are Advanced Light Helicopters on board and three MiG29K fighter jets.
5. Since December 2022 the new aircraft carrier has been undertaking Air Certification and Flight Integration Trials with Fixed Wing and Rotary Wing aircraft with the aim of being ‘combat ready’.

MiG 29k

1. The MiG 29 Ks were inducted in 2010 and the first squadron in the Indian Navy was commissioned in 2013. These were operating from INS Vikramaditya aircraft carrier.
2. Currently the navy has more than 40 MiG-29ks and these aircraft will operate from the two aircraft carriers the navy has – INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant. This means 18-20 aircraft are expected to operate from each carrier.
3. The Indian Navy is scouting around for around 26 more fighter jets to operate from the aircraft carrier.
4. The Navy has already submitted its report after two aircraft – the French Rafale (M) and the F-18 Super Hornet of the US completed their trials successfully.

The RBI become a net seller of US dollars

GS Paper - 3 (Economy)

In FY2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) became a net seller of the US dollar after remaining a net purchaser for three consecutive years. It sold $25.52 billion on a net basis in the spot foreign exchange market. The sale of dollars by the RBI was aimed to curb the volatility in the rupee, which came under heavy pressure due to the Russia-Ukraine conflict and interest rate hikes by the US Federal Reserve.

Why did the RBI become a net seller of US dollars?

1. The RBI’s decision to sell the greenback was to prop up the rupee, which depreciated by almost Rs 6, or 8 per cent, to 82 levels against the dollar as on 31 March 2023, from 76 as on 1 April 2022.
2. During the previous fiscal, higher import bills due to a surge in oil prices after the Ukraine war had put pressure on the domestic currency.
3. The rupee also declined as foreign investors pulled out money from the domestic market after the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates to check inflation. In FY2023, foreign portfolio investors pulled out Rs 37,632 crore from the equity market and Rs 8,937 crore from the debt market, according to NSDL data.

What was the value of dollars sold by the RBI?

1. On a gross basis, the RBI sold $212.57 billion in the spot market and, at the same time, it purchased $187.054 billion.
2. Therefore, on a net basis, the RBI sold $25.516 billion in the spot market. In July 2022, the RBI net sold $19.05 billion in the spot market — the highest during the previous fiscal.
3. In March 2023, the central bank was a net buyer of $750 million after it purchased $6.91 billion and sold $6.16 billion in the spot market, the data showed.

Countries have tampon tax

GS Paper - 3 (Economy)

Concern about “period poverty” has fuelled campaigns globally calling for the end of the so-called tampon tax, which refers to consumption levies such as value-added tax (VAT) that most countries charge on items such as sanitary pads, tampons, panty liners and menstrual cups. In some countries, period products are considered non-essential items for VAT purposes, while items including toilet paper, condoms and over-the-counter medicines are tax-free or carry a lower levy.

Which countries have abolished the tampon tax?

1. Since Kenya became the first country to scrap VAT on sanitary pads and tampons in 2004, at least 17 countries have followed suit, according to research by the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
2. Among the latest countries to pass laws to abolish the tampon tax are Mexico, Britain and Namibia. Another 10 countries have designated sanitary products as tax-exempt goods or have exempted the tax on imported raw materials used to make them.
3. Mainly in Europe, 17 countries have reduced the VAT on sanitary products, with Italy the latest to do so this year.
4. The European Union last year revised a directive that previously only allowed member states to reduce VAT on sanitary products by 5%. The change means nations can now apply lower tax rates to some goods.
5. In tampon tax pioneer Kenya, free distribution of period products in schools is included in the annual budget, though campaigners say the supply is patchy. Elsewhere in Africa, free pads are provided to schoolgirls in South Africa, Botswana and Zambia.

Why are some countries unwilling to scrap tampon taxes?

1. VAT is an important source of revenue for governments – and the reason why many countries still have a tampon tax.
2. In countries belonging to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), VAT revenue represented 6.7% of their gross domestic product (GDP) in 2020.
3. VAT rates vary widely from country to country – from 5% in Canada to up to 27% in Hungary – and governments often have different definitions of what is considered an essential good that is exempted from the levy.

World’s largest lakes have shrunk

GS Paper 3 (Environment)

More than 50 per cent of the world’s largest lakes and reservoirs have shrunk over the past three decades primarily due to climate change and human activities, according to a new study. From these water bodies, approximately 600 cubic km of water was lost between 1992 and 2020 — an amount equivalent to the total water used in the United States for the entire year of 2015.

More about the news:

1. It also noted that more than half of the reservoirs located in peninsular India have witnessed substantial water storage decline, mainly due to sedimentation. Moreover, among the worst affected natural lakes in the country is Ladakh’s Tso Moriri.
2. It has led to a decline in freshwater supply, environment degradation and deterioration of water quality for humans and livestock.
3. Meanwhile, water shortage beyond a certain level in reservoirs of hydroelectric dams could adversely impact the generation of hydroelectricity.

Findings of the study:

1. The researchers found that out of the 1,052 natural lakes that were examined, 457 had significant water losses in the past three decades.
2. Meanwhile, 234 natural lakes gained water and 360 of such water bodies didn’t show any notable trend.
3. They attributed 57 per cent of the net decline in the water quantity in natural lakes to human activities, such as unsustainable consumption of water, and increasing temperature and potential evapotranspiration (PET) — loss of water due to both evaporation and transpiration — with the latter two indicating the role of climate change.
4. The study also pointed out the worst affected largest lakes across the world and why they are shrinking in size.
5. For instance, the Aral Sea in Central Asia, Lake Mar Chiquita in Argentina, the Dead Sea in the Middle East, and the Salton Sea in California have mainly dried due to unsustainable water consumption.
6. Whereas, increasing temperature and PET caused the complete disappearance of Lake Gowd-e-Zareh in Afghanistan, Toshka lakes in Egypt, and marked drying of Lake Kara-Bogaz-Gol in Turkmenistan, Lake Khyargas in Mongolia, and Lake Zonag in China.
7. The Arctic lakes have shrunk as a result of a “combination of changes in precipitation, runoff, temperature, and PET, which are likely a concurrent result of natural variability and climate change

Consequences of shrinking lakes

1. According to the study, nearly two billion people, one-quarter of the global population in 2023, will be affected as they live in basins with large water bodies that have witnessed a significant drop in their water levels in the past three decades.
2. The reduced size of these lakes not only results in freshwater decline and environmental degradation but also disrupts the water and carbon cycles.
3. Widespread water shortage in these water bodies, “particularly accompanied by rising lake temperatures, could reduce the amount of absorbed carbon dioxide and increase carbon emissions to the atmosphere given that lakes are hotspots of carbon cycling.”