16 October 2023

• India's space economy: IN-SPACe released a decadal vision targeting an 8 per cent global market share by 2033, up from 2 per cent currently.
• Disability and disasters: a UN survey found limited global progress in including persons with disabilities in disaster risk reduction.
• White Cane Day: observed October 15 each year; India's central government marked it with new commitments under the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016.
• AI for elephant safety: an AI surveillance system using thermal imaging cameras was deployed on the Ettimadai-Walayar railway section in Tamil Nadu to prevent elephant deaths.

GS area: Science and Technology, Economy

IN-SPACe (Indian National Space Promotion and Authorization Centre) released a decadal vision document for India's space economy.

• Current position: India's space economy is about USD 8 billion domestically; exports about USD 0.3 billion. Global market share: approximately 2 per cent of a USD 546 billion space economy.
• 2033 targets: domestic market USD 33 billion; export USD 11 billion; investment Rs 17,600 crore over 10 years; global share 8 per cent.
• Private sector rank: India has 5th largest number of private space companies globally. Over USD 245 million in private investment has been raised.
• Ten focus areas: Earth observation; communication satellites; navigation; space transportation; space tourism (future); in-space manufacturing; space defence; research; talent development; and space-derived data services.
• NASA-ISRO NISAR: joint synthetic aperture radar (SAR) satellite. NISAR will monitor Earth's changing ecosystems, ice masses, and natural hazards. Expected launch 2024.
• IN-SPACe: established 2020 under the Department of Space. It is the single-window authority for licensing, promoting, and authorising private space activities in India.
• Landmark: Chandrayaan-3 and Aditya-L1 (launched September 2023) raised ISRO's global profile in 2023.

Static linkage: Science and technology, economy.

GS area: Society, Disaster Management, Governance

The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) released a global survey on persons with disabilities and disasters.

• Key finding: limited progress in disability inclusion in disaster risk reduction (DRR) despite a decade of the Sendai Framework.
• Sendai Framework: the global framework for DRR adopted in Sendai, Japan in 2015. Targets a substantial reduction in disaster mortality, affected persons, economic losses, and critical infrastructure damage by 2030. It explicitly recognises disability as a cross-cutting issue.
• Survey findings: 24 per cent of respondents displaced by crises; persons with disabilities face higher mortality, fewer evacuation options, and poor access to relief shelters.
• India's NDMA guidelines (2019): the first comprehensive disability-inclusive DRR guidelines globally. Features: sign language interpretation in emergency warnings; 24x7 helplines accessible to persons with hearing impairment; caregiver support delivery systems; State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities as a formal DRR stakeholder.
• G20 DRR Working Group: India established the first G20 Disaster Risk Reduction Working Group during its 2023 presidency. This is a new institutional mechanism at the G20 level.
• Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPWD) Act, 2016: India's principal legislation for disability rights. Expanded the categories of recognised disabilities from 7 to 21.

Static linkage: Society, governance, disaster management.

GS area: Science and Technology, Environment

The Tamil Nadu Forest Department and Southern Railway deployed an AI surveillance system on the Ettimadai-Walayar railway section to prevent elephant-train collisions.

• Infrastructure: 12 e-surveillance towers fitted with thermal imaging cameras. Cameras detect elephants at night and in dense forest at distances GPS alone cannot cover.
• Alert mechanism: the system alerts the forest department and sends a message to train drivers to reduce speed. Response time is faster than human patrolling.
• Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve: the Ettimadai-Walayar section passes through or near the Anamalai Tiger Reserve and the Palakkad gap area. This is one of the most important elephant corridors in peninsular India.
• Elephant deaths on railways: railway corridors that cut through wildlife corridors are a significant source of elephant mortality. India has over 30,000 wild Asian elephants; elephant deaths are a concern under Project Elephant (launched 1992).
• Technology in wildlife: drones, camera traps, acoustic monitoring, and AI-assisted analysis are increasingly used in India's wildlife conservation.

Static linkage: Environment, biodiversity, science and technology.

GS area: Science and Technology, Geography

ISRO received approvals to develop a second launch facility at Kulasekarapattinam in Tamil Nadu.

• Location: Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu. On the Gulf of Mannar coast.
• Purpose: dedicated to Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLVs) primarily for private sector commercial launches.
• SSLV capacity: can carry payloads up to approximately 500 kg to a 500 km low-Earth orbit.
• Timeline: expected to become operational within approximately two years.
• Why a southern coastal location: a launch site near the equator allows satellites to be launched with less fuel (the Earth's rotational speed is highest at the equator, providing a natural velocity boost). Kulasekarapattinam is at a lower latitude than Sriharikota.
• Sriharikota: the existing Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Andhra Pradesh; has two launch pads; houses the PSLV and GSLV fleets.
• Historical note: Kulasekarapattinam is an ancient port mentioned in Sangam literature, dating to at least the 1st century AD.

Static linkage: Science and technology, geography.

GS area: Economy, Governance

The government granted Navratna status to two railways-sector public sector undertakings.

• IRCON International Limited: 47 years of experience in construction of railway lines, highways, substations, and commercial projects. Operates in 26 countries.
• RITES Ltd: 50 years of experience in transport infrastructure consultancy, engineering, and export of railway rolling stock.
• Navratna status: granted by the Department of Public Enterprises under the Ministry of Finance. Allows PSUs to invest up to Rs 1,000 crore or 15 per cent of net worth (whichever is lower) in a single project without government approval.
• Categories of PSU status: Maharatna (nine companies); Navratna (around 25); Miniratna Category I and II.
• Both under: Ministry of Railways.

Static linkage: Economy, governance.

GS area: Science and Technology, Geography

Geologists reconstructed the existence of the Pontus Plate, a long-lost tectonic plate that disappeared roughly 20 million years ago.

• Pontus Plate: approximately a quarter of the size of the Pacific Ocean. Formed at least 160 million years ago. Subducted beneath the Australian and Chinese continental plates.
• Evidence: fossil remnants of the plate preserved in ophiolites (slices of oceanic crust obducted onto land) in countries bordering the ancient Tethys Sea.
• Significance: reconstructing lost plates helps geologists understand ancient ocean basins and the formation of mountain ranges. The Himalayas formed from the Indian plate's collision with the Eurasian plate roughly 50 million years ago; the Pontus Plate's subduction is an earlier chapter of the same broader story.

Static linkage: Science and technology, physical geography.

• White Cane Day (October 15): marks the right of blind and visually impaired persons to independent mobility. In India, this links to the RPWD Act, 2016 which mandates accessibility in government buildings, transport, and digital services.
• CAR-T Cell Therapy (NexCAR19): DCGI granted market authorisation to ImmunoACT's NexCAR19, developed at IIT Bombay, for relapsed-refractory B-cell lymphoma and leukaemia. This is India's first indigenously developed CAR-T cell therapy.