28th March 2021
Indo-Korean Friendship Park
Recently, India’s First Indo-Korean Friendship Park was jointly inaugurated at Delhi Cantonment.
Indo-Korean Friendship Park
- It is a monument to India’s contributions as part of 21 countries which participated in Korean war 1950-53, under the aegis of the United Nations.
- It has been developed in joint consultation with Ministry of Defence, Indian Army, Delhi Cantonment Board, Embassy of Korea and Korean War Veterans Association of India.
- It includes an entrance gate beautifully made in Korean style signifying the graceful culture, a jogging track, well landscaped garden and an amphitheater.
- It has an imposing handshake artifact standing tall at the entrance bearing flags of India and South Korea.
- It has a larger than life statue of General KS Thimayya, a celebrated soldier who led the Indian contingent as Chairman of Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC) in Korea headed by India.
- The five pillars raised in the backdrop of General Thimayya’s statue are embossed with details of operations carried out by 60 Parachute Field Ambulance during the Korean War.
- One pillar also encompasses Nobel Laureate Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s narration of Korea as “The Lamp of the East” which was published in Korean daily “Dong-A-llbo” in 1929.
Significance of South Korea to India
- The New Southern Policy of South Korea is aimed at elevating Korea’s strategic ties with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and with India to bring relations on par with Korea’s four major diplomatic partners: the United States, China, Japan and Russia.
- The NSP policy places Southeast Asia and India at the centre of Korea’s foreign policy agenda, so far dominated by the Korean Peninsula and the role of these four major powers.
- Seoul’s political elite are coming to view India and the ASEAN countries as new economic partners, driven by their need to reduce over-dependence on traditional trade allies like China and the United States.
- The fact that India has no sensitive issues with South Korea aids the cause of strategic cooperation between the two states.
- As India does not carry any unknown variables in its market, South Korea finds little risk of economic cooperation with India as compared to China.
- The bilateral defence industry collaboration with South Korea could help in the development of indigenous capability to fill the vital technology gap.
- The high-end and sophisticated nature of the South Korean defence electronic capabilities makes Seoul an indispensable defence partner.
- South Korea could play an important role in containing China’s presence in Indian Ocean Region (IOR) by becoming the part of a multilateral coalition.
Challenges in India-South Korea Relations
- The South Korean firms prefer local investments over FDI domestically and therefore making it difficult for India to take Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to South Korea.
- The direct cooperation and engagement between Indian and South Korean maritime forces remained limited because of the cautious approach of India on this front.
- There is reluctance from South Korea to partner with India in any initiative in South Asia that challenged other regional powers.
- In August 2019, a simmering conflict between Japan and South Korea erupted into a full diplomatic crisis, when Japan threatened to slow down exports of materials essential to South Korean industries, which might pose a problem for New Delhi.
National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
Recently, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed for 132 identified cities for implementation of city specific action plans under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
- It is a long-term, time-bound, national level strategy to tackle air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner.
- The tentative national level target of 20%–30% reduction of PM2.5 and PM10 concentration by 2024 is proposed under the NCAP.
- The expansion of ambient air quality network, source apportionment studies, public awareness, grievance redressal mechanism and sector specific action points are part of city action plans.
- Under NCAP, 122 non-attainment cities have been identified across the country based on the Air Quality data from 2014-2018.
- The air quality of cities is monitored by State Pollution Control Boards which publishes their results from time to time.
Objectives of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
- To augment and evolve effective and proficient ambient air quality monitoring network across the country for ensuring comprehensive and reliable database;
- To have efficient data dissemination and public outreach mechanism for timely measures for prevention and mitigation of air pollution and for inclusive public participation in both planning and implementation of the programmes and policies of government on air pollution; and
- To have feasible management plan for prevention, control and abatement of air pollution
Significance of National Clean Air Programme (NCAP)
- The city action plans have been prepared to control specific air pollution sources through multidimensional actions by brining several implementation agencies together.
- The implementation of the city specific action plans are regularly monitored by Committees at Central and State level namely Steering Committee, Monitoring Committee and Implementation Committee.
- It aims at a right mix with the existing policies and programmes which include the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) and other government initiatives related to climate change.
- It emphasize on increasing number of monitoring stations in the country including rural monitoring stations, technology support.
What does National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) need to be more effective?
- Need stronger mandate: It is necessary to create a firm mandate with a strong legal back up for cities and regions to implement NCAP in a time bound manner for effective reduction.
- Higher ambitions: It needs to be told with a clear rider that NCAP should not become only a top-down prescriptive approach.
- The NCAP will have to create enough room for tighter action that can be even stronger than the common minimum national programme as defined by NCAP.
- Need litmus test for effectiveness: NCAP has certainly helped kick start the much-awaited good practice of setting air pollution reduction targets.
- It is necessary to find and outline our very own regulatory and market-based solutions without being draconian.
- Need fiscal strategy: NCAP cannot be sustainable nor can it gain strength or make a difference on a longer-term basis if it does not have a clear fiscal strategy.
NISAR: Earth-Observing mission of NASA and ISRO
NASA and ISRO are collaborating on developing a satellite called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar).
What is NISAR?
- It’s an SUV-sized satellite that is being jointly developed by the space agencies of the US and India.
- The partnership agreement for NISAR was signed between NASA and ISRO in 2014.
- Under the agreement, NASA will provide one of the radars for the satellite, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers and a payload data subsystem.
- The ISRO will provide the spacecraft bus, the second type of radar (called the S-band radar), the launch vehicle and associated launch services.
- It is an all-weather satellite that’s going to give us an unprecedented ability to look at how Earth’s surface is changing.
Objectives of NISAR
- The NISAR will be equipped with the largest reflector antenna ever launched by NASA whose primary goals are:
- Tracking subtle changes in the Earth’s surface,
- Spotting warning signs of imminent volcanic eruptions,
- Helping to monitor groundwater supplies and
- Tracking the rate at which ice sheets are melting.
- The synthetic aperture radar that NASA will use to measure changes in the surface of the Earth.
- The SAR refers to a technique for producing high-resolution images.
- The radar can penetrate clouds and darkness, which means that it can collect data day and night in any weather.
Significance of NISAR
- The images will allow scientists to track changes in croplands, hazard sites and will help them to monitor crises such as volcanic eruptions.
- The images will be detailed enough to show local changes and broad enough to measure regional trends.
- The data will allow for better understanding of the causes and consequences of land surface changes, increasing our ability to manage resources and prepare for and cope with global change.
Exercise Desert Flag
Recently, the Exercise Desert Flag –VI has been successfully culminated with de-induction of the Indian contingent from UAE.
Exercise Desert Flag
- It is an annual multi-lateral large force employment exercise hosted by UAE.
- The Indian Air Force (IAF) has participated in the exercise for the first time, fielding Su-30MKI fighter aircraft.
- The six countries UAE, USA, France, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain apart from India participated with aerial assets.
- Jordan, Greece, Qatar, Egypt and South Korea participated as observer forces.
- The objectives of the exercise were to:
- Expose coalition participating forces to large force employment;
- Sharpen tactical capabilities; and
- Enhance interoperability along with fostering closer relations between the participating forces.
- The aim for the participating crew and specialist observers was to expose them to operational environment in scenarios requiring multinational forces working together.
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