12 February 2023

• Operation Dost: India's seventh humanitarian flight delivered supplies to both Turkey and Syria. India had now deployed over 150 NDRF personnel, an Army Field Hospital, and more than Rs 7 crore worth of relief materials.
• Turkey rescue: Indian search-and-rescue teams with heartbeat-detection radar were active in Hatay province. The death toll in Turkey crossed 33,000.
• Lithium follow-up: analysts noted that the 5.9 million tonne inferred resource is an early estimate. Actual extraction in the Reasi district of J&K would require infrastructure, technology and environmental clearances that are years away.
• SSLV success: ISRO's SSLV-D2 success opened conversations about India's commercial small satellite launch market prospects.

GS area: International Relations, Disaster Management

By 12 February, one week after the earthquake, India's Operation Dost had become one of India's largest post-disaster humanitarian deployments abroad:

• Seven IAF flights: India dispatched seven C-17 Globemaster aircraft to Turkey and Syria. The seventh flight (12 February) carried 23 tonnes of aid including medical supplies, protective gear and generators.
• Personnel deployed: 47 NDRF personnel in the initial batch, growing to over 150 search-and-rescue personnel across three self-sustaining teams.
• Army Field Hospital: the 89-member medical team in Iskenderun had treated hundreds of patients by mid-February. The 30-bed mobile hospital operated around the clock.
• Aid to Syria: India sent supplies to Syria despite having no diplomatic relations with the Assad government at the time. The aid was channelled through UN agencies.
• Garuda Aerospace drones: deployed for identifying survivors in collapsed structures and delivering small supply packages to inaccessible zones.
• SANCHAR system: a coordination and communication system used by the Army teams to maintain real-time contact across dispersed rescue zones.
• Total value: relief materials valued at approximately Rs 7 crore (USD 845,590).
• Return: all Indian teams returned by 20 February.

Static linkage: India and the world (humanitarian assistance, disaster diplomacy, NDRF).

GS area: Disaster Management, Governance

Operation Dost provides an occasion to revise India's disaster response institutional framework:

• NDRF (National Disaster Response Force): established under the Disaster Management Act 2005. Specialised force for disaster response, equipped for search, rescue and medical assistance. Under the Ministry of Home Affairs. Currently has 16 battalions.
• SDRF (State Disaster Response Force): each state maintains its own SDRF for state-level disasters. Funded partly through the State Disaster Relief Fund.
• NDMA (National Disaster Management Authority): the apex body chaired by the Prime Minister. Formulates policies, lays down guidelines, and coordinates the implementation of disaster management.
• Disaster Management Act 2005: the foundational legislation. Enacted after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. Creates a three-tier structure (NDMA at national, SDMA at state, DDMA at district level).
• International deployment: NDRF can be deployed internationally. Past deployments include Nepal earthquake (2015), Japan earthquake (2011) and Sri Lanka floods (2017).

Static linkage: Disaster Management (NDRF, Disaster Management Act, institutional framework).

GS area: Economy, Science and Technology

The J&K lithium discovery prompted a week of analysis on India's critical minerals strategy:

• The supply chain problem: mining lithium is only step one. Processing lithium ore into battery-grade lithium carbonate or lithium hydroxide is where China dominates. China processes approximately 60 per cent of the world's lithium.
• India's dependency: India imported lithium-ion cells and battery packs worth billions of dollars in 2022-23. Domestic mining reduces ore import dependency but not processing dependency.
• Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for Advanced Chemistry Cell: announced earlier to incentivise domestic battery manufacturing. Reduces the "mining to vehicle" gap by building processing and manufacturing capacity in India.
• Other critical minerals: cobalt (Congo), nickel (Indonesia, Philippines), rare earths (China). Securing supply chains for these is as important as lithium.
• KABIL: Khanij Bidesh India Ltd, a joint venture of NALCO, HCL and MECL, tasked with acquiring critical mineral assets overseas. Active in Argentina (lithium brines) and Australia.

Static linkage: Economy (critical minerals, PLI, clean energy transition).

GS area: Economy, Science and Technology

Budget 2023-24 proposed hydrogen-fuelled trains for heritage rail routes such as the Kalka-Shimla and Darjeeling Himalayan Railway:

• Hydrogen trains: use fuel cells that combine hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity, emitting only water. Suitable for routes where electrification is difficult due to terrain.
• Heritage routes: the Kalka-Shimla Railway and Darjeeling Himalayan Railway are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Their narrow gauge and steep gradients make conventional electric traction difficult.
• Green hydrogen: the Budget also supported the National Green Hydrogen Mission. Green hydrogen is produced by electrolysis using renewable energy, with zero carbon emissions.
• Amrit Bharat Station scheme: separate from hydrogen trains, this scheme targets redevelopment of 1,275 railway stations with modern amenities.
• Semi-high-speed metro trains: Budget proposed locally manufactured semi-high-speed metro trains, reducing dependence on imports for urban rail.

Static linkage: Economy (railways, green hydrogen, infrastructure).

GS area: Social Issues, Science and Technology

A new social media trend called "deinfluencing" gained attention:

• What it is: a social media practice where creators discourage followers from buying products or consuming content that the creator judges as unnecessary, wasteful or deceptive.
• Contrast with influencing: traditional social media influencers promote products for payment. Deinfluencers push back against overconsumption.
• Relevance to sustainability: deinfluencing connects to concepts of mindful consumption, reducing carbon footprints, and the degrowth economics argument.
• Prelims relevance: digital consumption, social media regulation, and the ethics of influencer marketing appear in GS Paper 4 and essay questions.

Static linkage: Society (digital media, consumption ethics, sustainable development).

• Formula E, Hyderabad: the race on 11 February was India's first Formula E event. Electric racing vehicles. Net-zero event certification. Relevant to EV technology, sports infrastructure and India's climate commitments.
• ISRO SSLV commercial potential: SSLV-D2 success positioned the vehicle as a competitive option for launching small commercial satellites (under 500 kg) globally. SSLV can be assembled in 72 hours versus weeks for PSLV.
• Khalistan designation (upcoming context): Amritpal Singh's movement in Punjab was being tracked by security agencies. The Khalistan movement and Operation Blue Star (1984) are recurring UPSC topics on internal security.