Anti-radiation pills (GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)
Why in news?
- With fears of a nuclear disaster at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant growing, the European Union has decided to pre-emptively supply 5.5 million anti-radiation pills to be distributed among residents in the vicinity.
Those being handed out the pills are being told to only take them once a radiation leak has been confirmed.
What is a radiation emergency?
- These are unplanned or accidental events that create radio-nuclear hazard to humans and the environment.
- Such situations involve radiation exposure from a radioactive source and require prompt intervention to mitigate the threat.
- Dealing with such an emergency also involves the use of anti-radiation tablets.
What are anti-radiation pills?
- Potassium iodide (KI) tablets, or anti-radiation pills, are known to provide some protection in cases of radiation exposure.
- They contain non-radioactive iodine and can help block absorption, and subsequent concentration, of radioactive iodine in the thyroid gland.
How do these pills work?
- After a radiation leak, radioactive iodine floats through the air and then contaminates food, water and soil.
- While radioactive iodine deposited during external exposure can be removed using warm water and soap, according to the World Health Organisation, the bigger risk is inhaling it.
- The thyroid gland, which uses iodine to produce hormones to regulate the body’s metabolism, has no way of telling radioactive from non-radioactive iodine.
- Potassium iodide (KI) tablets rely on this to achieve ‘thyroid blocking’. KI pills taken a few hours before or soon after radiation exposure ensure that non-radioactive iodine in the medicine is absorbed quickly to make the thyroid “full”.
- Because KI contains so much non-radioactive iodine, the thyroid becomes full and cannot absorb any more iodine for the next 24 hours.
- But KI pills are preventive only and cannot reverse any damage done by radiation to the thyroid gland. Once thyroid gland absorbs radioactive iodine, those exposed are at a high risk of developing thyroid cancer.
Is the method fool-proof?
- Anti-radiation pills do not provide 100% protection.The effectiveness of KI also depends on how much radioactive iodine gets into the body and how quickly it is absorbed in the body.
- Also, the pills are not meant for everybody. They are recommended for people under 40 years of age. Pregnant and breastfeeding women are also advised to take them.
- While it can protect the thyroid against radioactive iodine, it cannot protect other organs against radiation contamination.
Substitutes for KI:
- The US Food and Drug Administration advises against using salt or iodine supplements as they do not contain enough iodine to trigger thyroid blocking.
Lessons India must take from China’s war games in Taiwan Strait
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Context:
- In China’s war games in the Taiwan Strait earlier in August, China may not have gone the whole hog against Taiwan, but it did hit the oceanic waters in its north, south and west. Chinese planes and missiles crossed the median line several times, something that was not done in past.
However, while these may be distant drills, India’s policy-makers may still like to draw inferences for better management of futuristic Chinese offensives like frequent transgressions across the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
How it is relevant also in case of continental conflicts?
- Critics may discard the linkage between the two theatres since continental conflicts like the one near the LAC in the Galwan Valley are different from the maritime conflicts in the Taiwan Straits.
- However, Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is undergoing planned stages of modernisation to improve upon capabilities and proficiencies across all warfare domains so that as a joint force it can conduct land, air, and maritime operations.
- Further, China is a global leader in conducting unilateral and bilateral war games. Therefore, the Taiwan Straits war games being a ‘distant issue’ is irrelevant since every war game has some lessons for participating, as well as observing armed forces.
Replications in LAC:
- In the recent war games, China displayed a quick, large, and lethal air and maritime force mobilisation, pushing the war meters up in the Taiwan Straits.
- However, at least in the near future, Taiwan Straits may not metamorphose into a war zone since China is still not assured of a decisive victory despite mobilising ‘a million men to swim’ against Taiwan. Additionally, there is a reasonable prospect of such a war spilling over into a regional war.
- Therefore, China may use the peripheries with its adversaries such as the LAC to replicate the lessons learnt in Taiwan Straits.
Derivative lessons for India:
Limited territorial targets:
- First, China may not go for full-fledged war against India. Instead, it may instigate localised wars with limited territorial targets.
- A look into China’s territorial transgressions across the entire LAC makes one thing clear: it is targeting the whole arc for nibbling small portions of land with a strategy of ‘capture some, retreat some, negotiate some, and try to retain some’.
Air power:
- Second, China has displayed effective use of its airpower in the just-concluded war games. Whether it was the Russian-built Sukhois or the domestic J Series fighter planes, the aerial performances were as per exceptional benchmarks.
- So was the case with the multiple range of missiles. In the process, it did emerge that China may bank heavily on superior air power for futuristic transgressions across the LAC.
Vulnerable soft spots:
- Third, China displayed the capabilities to enforce an air and sea blockade to Taiwan. Taiwan’s air traffic was badly affected by the Chinese military drills.
- The international commercial cargo in the adjacent waters was also affected.
- It would be prudent to proliferate the lessons by contextualising the same near LAC where the Chinese are looking for vulnerable soft spots like the Siliguri Corridor or the Chicken’s Neck in West Bengal.
Bilateral Issue:
- Unlike the Taiwan crisis, the LAC is a bilateral problem, and external players are not likely to support beyond hollow statements. Also, there has been a definite shift in Chinese strategic objectives under President Xi Jinping.
- China is no more a satisfied party vis-à-vis India and would, in all probability, continue to play the teasing game of regular transgressions across the LAC. Unfortunately, unlike the Taiwan Straits, where enough academic research has been conducted along with simulated wars between China and Taiwan, the Sino-Indian conflict remains grossly under-researched.
- There are no simulated war models being iterated in different conditions to generate original data about war probabilities, and outcomes.
Way Forward:
- Handling China’s increasing military prowess has always been a policy challenge for India. While commendable domestic efforts have enhanced India’s combat resilience vis-à-vis the PLA, supplementary tactical threads from distant war games would be helpful.
- The ongoing digital explosion on a very wide level can fetch healthy details about the combat performance of many weapons, and combat platforms.
- These data can facilitate combat sizing and simulated war exercises on the China front. Probably, there lies some space for better deterrence against the PLA’s frequent LAC intrusions.
The grounding of the Chinook helicopter & implications for India
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Why in news?
- Recently, the United States Army grounded its entire fleet of Chinook helicopters, its battlefield workhorse since the 1960s, after finding the helicopter to be at risk of engine fires.
- The move has implications for India, as it operates a fleet of 15 Boeing-made Chinook helicopters acquired from the US and inducted into service in March 2019.
About the Chinook:
- The Chinook helicopter, manufactured by Boeing, is a heavy-lift helicopter that is among the heaviest lifting Western helicopters. Its name, Chinook, is from the Native American Chinookpeople of Oregon and Washington state.
- The Chinook helicopter has been in use in the US Army since the 1960s and it is also used by the armed forces of more than 19 countries.
- The helicopter was originally deployed in the Vietnam War and since then been a familiar sight during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The Chinook is designed to carry around 36 passengers, but during the last days of the Vietnam War it carried 147 refugees in a single lift.
- It is considered the world’s fastest military helicopter with a maximum speed of 315 kilometres per hour. It has been deployed by the US across many countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and others. The US and UK remains the largest operators.
Why has the US grounded the Chinook?
- The US Army had grounded its Chinook fleet as it is suspected that some engine fires broke out on an unspecified number of helicopters.
- The move was taken “out of an abundance of caution”, and more than 70 aircraft were being examined as they “contained a part that is suspected to be connected” to the fires.
- The grounding could “pose logistical challenges” for US soldiers.
India’s Chinooks:
- In September 2015, India had placed a $3.1 billion order for 15 Chinooks and 22 Apache helicopters to scale up capabilities.
- In 2019, India received the first batch of Chinook helicopters and Boeing completed the delivery of the helicopters to the Indian Air Force in 2020.
- The big factor behind the purchase of the choppers was that they’re capable of slinging the M777 lightweight howitzers from one location to the other, especially in mountainous terrain like along the borders with China.
- Since then, they have emerged as one of the major military tools for airlift operations in places like Ladakh and Siachen glaciers to assist Indian forces deployed in these regions.
What happens to India’s Chinooks?
- After the US grounded its fleet of the workhorse helicopter, the IAF sought details on the matter.
- The fact that the IAF is continuing to fly its Chinooks implies that the technical issue affecting the American fleet is not relevant to IAF’s fleet. However, what is certain is that the IAF would be in close touch with the manufacturer and keeping a close watch on the progress of the rectification.
Even if later the Chinook had to be checked out of India’s arsenal, its non-availability wouldn’t be an issue as the Indian Air Force has a large and capable fleet of Mi-17s that would take over the task.
