16 April 2024

• Defence: India deploys Defence Attachés to seven new countries in Africa and Asia, bringing its total defence wings abroad to approximately 57.
• Consumer Protection: The government directs e-commerce platforms to remove Bournvita and similar beverages from the "health drink" category as FSSAI finds no such defined standard.
• Space: Gopi Thotakura becomes the first Indian to fly as a space tourist, aboard Blue Origin's NS-25 mission.
• Geography: India Post opens a post office at the Bharati research station in Antarctica, with PIN code MH-1718.
• Geology: Scientists confirm a "gigantic ocean" 700 km beneath Earth's surface stored in the mineral ringwoodite.

GS area: International Relations, Defence

India announced the deployment of 16 new Defence Attachés to African and other nations for the first time, expanding its defence diplomacy footprint.

Key facts:

• New postings: Ethiopia, Djibouti, Mozambique, Ivory Coast, Philippines, Armenia, and Poland.
• Scale comparison: Over 120 countries maintain Defence Attachés in India. India previously had about 50 defence wings abroad; the new appointments raise this.
• What Defence Attachés do: They promote bilateral defence cooperation, gather intelligence, facilitate arms sales, and coordinate military exercises.
• Legal status: Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, 1961 grants diplomatic status to Defence Attachés as part of a country's mission.
• India's defence cooperation scope: Defence cooperation agreements with over 50 countries. Engaged with 110 countries through cooperation activities.
• Defence production target: Rs 1,75,000 crore production target for 2024-25, with Rs 35,000 crore export target.
• Military exercises: India participates in Milan (multinational naval exercise), Malabar (India-USA-Japan-Australia), and the Indo-Pacific Armies Chiefs Conference.

Static linkage: India's foreign policy, defence industry, international relations.

GS area: Governance (Consumer Protection), Health

The central government directed e-commerce companies to move beverages like Bournvita out of the "health drink" category after FSSAI clarified that no such category exists in its standards.

Key facts:

• FSSAI: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India, established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006. Administered by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• The problem: FSSAI has standards for energy drinks, carbonated beverages, and malted beverages but no defined standard for "health drinks." Companies used the category freely on e-commerce platforms.
• Consumer concern: Products marketed as health drinks often contain high sugar levels. The move follows a broader campaign on misleading advertisements.
• Supreme Court angle: The SC had issued notices to Patanjali for misleading health claims. The broader regulatory push targets FMCG companies making unsupported nutritional claims.
• CCPA: The Central Consumer Protection Authority (under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019) issues guidelines on misleading advertisements.

Static linkage: consumer protection, FSSAI, governance.

GS area: Science and Technology

Gopi Thotakura, an entrepreneur and pilot, flew aboard Blue Origin's NS-25 mission, becoming the first Indian space tourist.

Key facts:

• Blue Origin: Founded in 2000 by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. Its New Shepard rocket carries passengers on suborbital flights beyond the Kármán Line.
• Kármán Line: The internationally recognised boundary between Earth's atmosphere and outer space, set at 100 km altitude, named after aerospace engineer Theodore von Kármán.
• NS-25: The 25th New Shepard flight. The capsule reaches about 100 km altitude, passengers experience a few minutes of weightlessness, and the capsule parachutes back.
• Types of space tourism:
  • Suborbital: Briefly crosses the Kármán Line (Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic).
  • Orbital: Sustained orbit at 400+ km altitude (SpaceX Crew Dragon missions).
  • Lunar: Planned future commercial lunar tourism.
• India's first in space: Wing Commander Rakesh Sharma flew on the Soviet Soyuz T-11 in 1984, becoming India's first person in space (as a cosmonaut, not a tourist).

Static linkage: science and technology, space, international.

GS area: Geography (India's polar research)

India Post inaugurated a post office at India's Bharati research station in Antarctica, coinciding with the 24th Foundation Day of the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR).

Key facts:

• Bharati station: India's third Antarctic research station, opened in 2012. Located near Larsemann Hills in East Antarctica.
• PIN code: MH-1718, under Goa postal division (NCPOR is headquartered in Goa).
• India's Antarctic stations:
  • Dakshin Gangotri: First Indian station, established 1984. Now operational only as a supply base.
  • Maitri: Second station, established 1990, located in Schirmacher Oasis.
  • Bharati: Third station, 2012, near Larsemann Hills.
• NCPOR: The National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research, Goa, under the Ministry of Earth Sciences. Manages India's Antarctic, Arctic, and Southern Ocean research programmes.
• Antarctic Treaty System: India is a Consultative Party to the Antarctic Treaty (1959). India acceded to the treaty in 1983 and gained Consultative Party status in 1983.

Static linkage: geography, India's polar research, science.

GS area: Physical Geography (Earth science)

Scientists confirmed the existence of a vast quantity of water stored in the mineral ringwoodite at a depth of 700 km beneath Earth's surface.

Key facts:

• Ringwoodite: A high-pressure form of olivine (a common mantle mineral) that can incorporate water molecules (hydroxyl ions) into its crystal structure.
• Volume: The water stored in ringwoodite may be three times the volume of all surface oceans combined.
• Discovery method: Seismic wave behaviour at the 660-km transition zone in Earth's mantle revealed ringwoodite's presence. The transition zone lies between the upper and lower mantle.
• Significance: Suggests Earth has a deep water cycle connecting the mantle and surface. This could explain why Earth's surface has abundant liquid water compared to other rocky planets.
• Pressure and temperature: At 700 km depth, pressure exceeds 2.3 million atmospheres and temperature exceeds 1,000 degrees Celsius.

Static linkage: physical geography, Earth structure, geology.

• Special Rupee Vostro Account (SRVA): Implemented for traders importing pulses from Myanmar via Punjab National Bank, enabling direct Rupee-Kyat settlement. A Vostro account is held by a domestic bank on behalf of a foreign bank in the domestic currency.
• Shrinkflation: FMCG brands including Frooti, Clear, and Smoodh are reducing pack sizes while maintaining prices, as rising input costs (crude, palm oil, cocoa) squeeze margins. Shrinkflation is inflation that hides in smaller quantities rather than higher prices.
• Radiation therapy centre at Lady Hardinge: New Brachytherapy facility inaugurated. Brachytherapy is internal radiation therapy where a radioactive source is placed inside or near the tumour.