22 April 2024

• International: Israel's limited military response to Iran on 19 April appears to de-escalate the exchange. World leaders urge restraint.
• Disaster: Mount Ruang volcano in Indonesia erupts, triggering a tsunami warning and evacuations.
• Tribal rights: The Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar Island casts votes in Phase 1 for the first time in a Lok Sabha election.
• Health: WHO approves Euvichol-S, a simplified oral cholera vaccine, for stockpiling in the international emergency reserve.
• Defence: India delivers the first batch of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines, marking India's largest defence export deal.

GS area: International Relations

Iran's "Operation True Promise" (13-14 April 2024) and Israel's limited response on 19 April represent the first direct exchange of attacks between the two countries.

Key facts:

• Trigger: Israel struck Iran's consulate in Damascus, Syria on 1 April 2024, killing senior Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officers.
• Iran's response: Over 300 drones, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles launched directly from Iranian territory toward Israel. Over 99 per cent were intercepted by Israel with support from the US, UK, France, and Jordan.
• Israeli response (19 April): A limited strike on an air defence radar near Isfahan, Iran. Israel did not claim the attack. The restrained scale was a signal of capability, not full retaliation.
• Significance: First-ever direct mutual military strikes between Iran and Israel. Previous exchanges occurred through proxies (Hezbollah, Hamas, Houthis).
• India's stakes:
  • India imports oil from both Iran and the Gulf Arab states.
  • Indian community in the Gulf: over 9 million people, remittances of over $38 billion annually.
  • Chabahar Port project links India to Afghanistan and Central Asia through Iran.
• India's stated position: Called for immediate de-escalation and restraint from all parties.

Static linkage: India's foreign policy, energy security, Middle East.

GS area: Physical Geography (volcanology), Disaster Management

Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano on Sulawesi Island erupted in April 2024, triggering tsunami warnings and mass evacuations.

Key facts:

• Location: Mount Ruang is in the Sangihe Islands, North Sulawesi province, Indonesia. Indonesia sits on the Pacific Ring of Fire.
• Pacific Ring of Fire: A horseshoe-shaped zone of seismic and volcanic activity encircling the Pacific Ocean. About 75 per cent of the world's active volcanoes are located here.
• Eruption type: Ruang produces pyroclastic flows (fast-moving clouds of volcanic gas and material) and lava. Eruptions also trigger lahars (volcanic mudflows) and tsunamis when volcanic material enters the sea.
• Indonesia's volcanic record: Home to 127 active volcanoes, the most of any country. Historic eruptions include Krakatau (1883), Mount Tambora (1815, largest in recorded history by volume), and Mount Pinatubo (Philippines, 1991).
• Tsunami risk: Volcanic-triggered tsunamis result from flank collapse or pyroclastic density currents entering the sea. The 2018 Krakatau eruption caused a similar event.

Static linkage: physical geography, disaster management, Indonesia.

GS area: Polity (tribal rights, elections), Society

Members of the Shompen tribe of Great Nicobar Island voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha election for the first time.

Key facts:

• Shompen: A Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG). Population: 229 (Census 2011). Semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers inhabiting the rainforest interior of Great Nicobar Island.
• Previous exclusion from elections: The Shompen had not participated in earlier Lok Sabha elections. The ECI's outreach programme facilitated their inclusion.
• PVTGs: Scheduled Tribes classified as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs. Criteria: pre-agricultural level of technology, stagnant or declining population, extremely low literacy, and subsistence economy. There are 75 PVTGs across 18 states and one UT.
• Great Nicobar Development Plan: A separately controversial plan by NITI Aayog proposes a transshipment port, airport, township, and military base on Great Nicobar Island. Environmentalists and tribal rights activists have raised concerns about the Shompen's habitat and the island's biodiversity.
• Fifth Schedule: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands are governed by the Fifth Schedule to the Constitution (Scheduled Areas and Scheduled Tribes).

Static linkage: tribal rights, elections, polity.

GS area: International Relations, Defence

India delivered the first tranche of BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles to the Philippines in April 2024, fulfilling the $375 million deal signed in January 2022.

Key facts:

• BrahMos: A supersonic cruise missile developed jointly by India's DRDO and Russia's NPO Mashinostroyenia (Mashinostroyeniya). The name combines "Brahmaputra" (India) and "Moskva" (Moscow river).
• Speed: Mach 2.8-3.0. Considered one of the fastest cruise missiles in operation.
• Variants: Ship-launched, ground-launched, air-launched, and submarine-launched.
• Philippines deal: The first foreign sale of BrahMos. The Philippines procured three shore-based anti-ship missile batteries.
• Geopolitical context: The Philippines faces territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. The BrahMos acquisition enhances the Philippines' coastal defence capability.
• India's defence exports: India has set a target of Rs 50,000 crore ($6 billion) in annual defence exports by FY 2028-29. BrahMos to the Philippines is the largest single defence export deal by value.
• Export significance: India had historically been a net arms importer. Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliance) in defence aims to shift this balance.

Static linkage: India's foreign policy, defence, South China Sea.

GS area: Science and Technology (Space)

NASA's Dragonfly rotorcraft lander mission to Saturn's moon Titan received updated mission details in April 2024 ahead of its planned 2028 launch.

Key facts:

• Titan: Saturn's largest moon. The only moon in the solar system with a dense atmosphere (mostly nitrogen) and stable liquid bodies on its surface. The liquid is methane and ethane, not water.
• Dragonfly: A nuclear-powered, drone-like rotorcraft that will fly from site to site on Titan's surface, covering distances unachievable by a wheeled rover.
• Scientific goal: Search for prebiotic chemistry. Titan's chemistry may mirror early Earth, offering clues about the origin of life.
• Launch: Planned for 2028, with arrival at Titan around 2034.
• Saturn's moon system: Titan is one of 146 known moons of Saturn. Enceladus (another Saturn moon) has a subsurface ocean of liquid water and active geysers, making it also a high-priority astrobiology target.

Static linkage: science and technology, space.

• WHO approves Euvichol-S: The World Health Organisation approved Euvichol-S, a simplified single-vial oral cholera vaccine requiring no cold-chain mixing, for the International Coordinating Group (ICG) emergency stockpile. Cholera outbreaks have intensified globally, with 30 countries affected in 2023.
• World Earth Day (22 April): Observed since 1970. The 2024 theme is "Planet vs Plastics," calling for a 60 per cent reduction in plastic production by 2040. The UN is negotiating a Global Plastics Treaty.
• Forests as national asset: The Supreme Court reiterated, while hearing a case, that forests are a "national asset" and cannot be treated as land available for commercial exploitation.