23 October 2023

• Dussehra 2023: celebrated nationwide on October 23-24. Ram Leela events concluded; the holiday marked the end of Navratri.
• India-Middle East-Europe Corridor (IMEC): the corridor's technical working group held its inaugural session in Washington on the sidelines of the IMF-WB Annual Meetings.
• ICC World Cup 2023: India defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, in the most-watched cricket match of the year.
• Afghanistan earthquake: a 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Herat province. Earlier October quakes had already killed over 1,400 people there.

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GS area: Art and Culture, History

Dussehra (Vijayadashami) fell on October 24, 2023. The celebration was the anchor of the post-Navratri season.

• Name and meaning: Dussehra comes from "Dasha-hara" (removal of the 10 heads of Ravana, symbolising the 10 vices). Vijayadashami means "the victorious tenth day."
• Calendar: the tenth day of the shukla paksha (waxing fortnight) of Ashwina month in the Hindu lunisolar calendar. Corresponds to October or early November in the Gregorian calendar.
• Key observances:
  • Ram Leela: dramatisation of the Ramayana, culminating in the burning of effigies of Ravana, Kumbhakarna, and Meghnad. Delhi's Ram Leela at Ramlila Maidan is the most prominent national event.
  • Mysore Dasara: Karnataka's official state festival, celebrated with a grand procession of an elephant carrying the golden howdah from the Mysore Palace. One of India's most elaborate state festivals.
  • Ayudha Puja: in South India and Karnataka, the day is marked by worshipping tools, vehicles, and instruments of one's trade or profession.
  • Shami Puja: in Maharashtra and Rajasthan, the shami tree (Prosopis cineraria) is worshipped as it is associated with the Pandavas' hiding their weapons during exile.
• Historical associations: the day is associated with Durga's victory over Mahishasura (in the Shakta tradition) and Ram's victory over Ravana (in the Vaishnava tradition). Both are symbolised simultaneously.
• RSS founding: the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded on Vijayadashami, September 27, 1925 (the date sometimes varies by calendar reckoning). Vijayadashami remains the date of RSS's Vijay Utsav.

Static linkage: Art and culture, history.

GS area: International Relations, Economy

The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) Technical Working Group held its first official meeting in Washington DC in October 2023, on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank Annual Meetings.

• IMEC launch: September 9, 2023, at the G20 New Delhi Summit. Signatories: India, USA, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel, the EU, Germany, France, Italy.
• Route: India (Mundra/Kandla ports) by sea to UAE; overland through Saudi Arabia; Jordan; Israel (Haifa port); by sea to Greece or Italy (Piraeus or Trieste); onward by rail/road to Europe.
• Potential impact: studies suggested IMEC could reduce transit time between India and Europe by 40 per cent compared to the Suez Canal route.
• Competing corridor: China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the principal rival. IMEC is sometimes described as the "G7 alternative" to BRI.
• Challenge: the Israel-Hamas war (from October 7, 2023) introduced geopolitical uncertainty about the corridor's prospects, since the Israeli leg is central to the route.
• Components: a physical ship-rail corridor; a digital cable network; a clean hydrogen pipeline.

Static linkage: International relations.

GS area: Sports, International Relations

India defeated Pakistan by 7 wickets in the most-watched cricket match in history (audience estimates exceeded 300 million), played at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, on October 14.

• Narendra Modi Stadium: formerly Sardar Patel Stadium. Largest cricket stadium in the world by capacity (approximately 132,000 seats). Located in Motera, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.
• India-Pakistan cricket context: India and Pakistan do not play bilateral cricket (no Test series or bilateral ODIs) for political reasons since 2012-13. ICC events are the only opportunity for the nations to face each other.
• Match significance: Pakistan was bowled out for 191. India chased with 7 wickets to spare in 30.3 overs. Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill opened the chase.
• Diplomatic dimension: no Indian government dignitaries attended from Pakistan; Pakistani team faced visa delays. ICC World Cup is an opportunity for Track-II sports diplomacy.
• India's World Cup status: India won the match to remain unbeaten in the group stage.

Static linkage: Sports, international relations.

GS area: Disaster Management, Environment, Geography

Post-Sikkim GLOF (October 3-4, 2023), the Ministry of Earth Sciences released an advisory on GLOF risk management.

• GLOFs: a GLOF occurs when a moraine-dammed, ice-dammed, or supraglacial lake fails suddenly. The sudden release of large volumes of water causes flash floods downstream.
• India's glacial lake count: India's Himalayan region has thousands of glacial lakes. Studies show glacial lake area increased by 9 per cent in the Sikkim Himalayas and 14 per cent in the overall IHR between 2002 and 2022.
• South Lhonak Lake, Sikkim: the specific lake that failed on October 4, 2023. It is a moraine-dammed proglacial lake at high altitude in North Sikkim.
• Early warning systems:
  • GLOF early warning systems require lake-level sensors, downstream community alerts, and rapid-response protocols.
  • India established the Himalayan Glaciology division under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (2023) to centralise research.
  • National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) issued GLOF guidelines.
• Climate link: rising temperatures accelerate glacier melt, increasing glacial lake size and the probability of failure.
• River systems at risk: Teesta, Brahmaputra tributaries, Beas, Sutlej, and Chenab all originate in glaciated regions.

Static linkage: Disaster management, environment.

GS area: Disaster Management, Physical Geography, International Relations

Afghanistan's Herat province experienced multiple earthquakes in October 2023, killing over 1,400 people.

• October 7: magnitude 6.3 struck Herat.
• October 7 (aftershocks): a second 6.3 struck within hours.
• October 11: third major quake struck the same zone.
• Seismological context: the Herat fault system (Herat Fault Zone) is a seismically active zone formed at the convergence of the Arabian and Eurasian plates. The Hindu Kush region is one of the world's most seismically active zones because the Indo-Australian plate subducts under Eurasia here.
• Hindu Kush seismic zone: unique because it is a zone of intermediate-depth earthquakes (70-300 km depth). While dangerous, deep-focus earthquakes cause less surface damage than shallow earthquakes.
• Humanitarian situation: the Taliban-controlled government's capacity to respond was limited. International aid was complicated by sanctions on the Taliban.
• Indian humanitarian aid: India sent relief materials through air and land routes; India was among the first to respond after the August 2021 Taliban takeover with humanitarian aid.

Static linkage: Disaster management, physical geography.

• World Development Report 2024: the World Bank released the 2024 report focusing on the "middle-income trap" and how countries can move from middle-income to high-income status. India's per capita income (Atlas method) places it in the lower-middle-income category.
• One Health approach: PIB highlighted India's One Health mission, integrating human, animal, and environmental health surveillance. India launched the National One Health Mission in 2023.

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