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In what could be the crisis in the Red Sea spilling close to Indian waters, a Liberia-flagged merchant vessel, Chem Pluto, was hit by a suspected drone just outside the Indian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
The Coast Guard and the Navy swung into action to assist the vessel that suffered significant damage, though the crew were reported safe. The vessel is now heading towards Mumbai.
The ship with 21 crew members — 20 Indians and one Vietnamese national — was located around 217 nautical miles from the Porbandar coast in the Arabian Sea when it was hit.
“The vessel has started making its way towards Mumbai post undertaking damage assessment and repairs on its power generation systems.
The vessel is likely to enter Mumbai and has sought escort assistance due to steering issues. ICGS Vikram will be escorting the ship during its passage,” Commandant Niranjan Pratap Singh, PRO, Indian Coast Guard, said in a statement.
News
Tribunals cannot direct govt. to frame policy: SC judgment (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court has clarified that tribunals functioning under the strict parameters of their governing legislation cannot direct the government to make policy.
The Tribunal is also a quasi-judicial body, functioning within the parameters set out in the governing legislation. It cannot direct those responsible for making policy, to make a policy in a particular manner.
The Bench was dealing with a question of whether the Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) could have directed the government to make a policy to fill up the post of the Judge Advocate General (Air).
It has been observed time and again that a court cannot direct the government for legislation or a policy to be made.
Justice Karol, who authored the judgment, noted that the AFT was vested with the powers of a civil court. The Tribunal did not have the powers of the Supreme Court or the High Courts.
World
Iran threatens to shut down Mediterranean Sea if there is no let-up in Gaza attacks (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander said the Mediterranean Sea could be closed if the U.S. and its allies continued to commit “crimes” in Gaza, Iranian media reported, without explaining how that would happen.
Iran backs Hamas against Israel and it accuses the U.S. of backing what it calls Israeli crimes in Gaza.
They shall soon await the closure of the Mediterranean Sea, (the Strait of) Gibraltar and other waterways, coordinating commander of the Guards, as saying.
Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi group has over the past month attacked merchant vessels sailing through the Red Sea in retaliation for Israel’s assault on Gaza, leading some shipping companies to switch routes.
Science
Predicting extreme rainfall using probabilistic forecasts (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
While Tamil Nadu was recovering from the devastation caused by the tropical cyclone Michaung, another catastrophic event occurred on December 18, this time over the southernmost parts of the State.
The southern districts of Tamil Nadu—Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Tenkasi and Kanyakumari—experienced unprecedented and extremely heavy rainfall on December 17 and December 18.
At least nine rain gauge stations in these districts reported heavy rainfall of more than 50 cm. The Kayalpattinam station in Thoothukudi recorded 95 cm of rainfall in just 24 hours. In terms of probability, this event could be termed as a once in a hundred-year event.
These heavy rains led to massive and widespread flooding, caused extensive damage, and claimed a few lives. The heavy downpour was reminiscent of the heavy rains (94.4 cm) in Mumbai on July 26, 2005, in terms of the quantum of rainfall.
FAQ
Will new telecom Bill streamline the sector? (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, was passed in Parliament this week. When it receives the assent of the President, the Bill will replace three archaic laws such as the Telegraph Act of 1885, the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1933 and The Telegraph Wires (Unlawful Possession) Act, 1950.
It aims to consolidate the law for wireless networks and Internet service providers, and simplify the process of application for licences and permits for telecom operators.
The Bill governs authorisation of telecommunication networks and services, provides for auctioning as well as administrative allocation of spectrum, defines the mechanism for exercising the right of way for laying telecom infrastructure such as cables in public as well as private property.
It also spells out emergency measures the government can take in the interest of national security and public safety such as intercept messages, suspend telecommunication services as well as take temporary possession of any telecommunication service or network.
The Bill also states that rules will be framed to protect consumers with the setting up of a ‘Do Not Disturb’ register to ensure they don’t receive a specified class of messages without prior consent.
What’s the latest blip in India-Maldives ties? (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Earlier this month, the Maldives Cabinet decided against renewing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India for cooperation in hydrography.
The agreement, which was signed in 2019, is due to expire in 2024. Coming soon after newly elected President Mohamed Muizzu’s pledge to send back Indian troops currently stationed in the Indian Ocean archipelago, the move was yet another indication of his government’s intention to reverse the former Ibrahim Mohamed Solih administration’s ‘India first’ policy.
It is the science of studying oceans, seas, and other water bodies, by compiling and analysing data, maps, and charts. Branching off from applied sciences, it looks at measuring and describing the physical attributes of water bodies and predicting how they might change over time.
While it is said to be undertaken primarily for safety of navigation, it also supports other activities, such as economic development, security and defence, scientific research, and environmental protection. Hydrographical measurements include tidal, current and wave information.
Profiles
A strategic choke point (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
When the Israel-Hamas war broke out on October 7, many feared Hezbollah, the powerful Shia militia in Lebanon, would escalate the war by opening a second front.
The Lebanese-Israeli border has remained tense since then with occasional flare-ups, but both Hezbollah and Israel have been careful not to trigger an all-out war.
While Israel stayed focused on Gaza, with one of the most intense aerial and ground campaigns in recent history, hundreds of kilometres from Israel border, another non-state actor widened the conflict, turning the Red Sea into a battlefield.
Ansar Allah of Yemen, better known as the Houthis, after their late leaders Badr al-Din al-Houthi and Hussein al-Houthi, first declared war against Israel, in solidarity with the Palestinians.
They fired drones and ballistic missiles towards Israel, all of them shot down either by U.S. war ships or Israeli defence missiles.
In late November, the Houthis, who are directly backed by Iran, changed their tactics from targeting Israel to attacking commercial ships passing through the Red Sea. Initially they said they would attack only Israel-flagged ships, but later they said all ships would be targeted.
Business
India’s $60 billion man-made textile sector reels from Chinese imports glut (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
For almost a year now, India’s major textile hubs of Ludhiana, Surat, and Erode have been fighting an almost insurmountable challenge: rising imports, or arguably large-scale dumping, of man-made fibre (MMF) fabrics that is affecting a sector valued at about $60 billion.
Rajesh Bansal, a fabric processor in Ludhiana, took his friends from Nagpur recently to a retail outlet to buy fleece. Of the six pieces shown to us, four were from China.
China dumps fabric and this creates problems,” asserts Ashok Jirawala, president of the Federation of Gujarat Weavers Association. We ran our weaving units to full capacity and now we have unsold stocks. So, we plan to cut production by 20%.
C. Jaganathan, who weaves fabrics in Erode, imports viscose yarn from China. “When the prices were ₹180 a kg for Indian yarn, I got it for ₹125 a kg from China. Only for the last one month Chinese prices are higher. The Chinese sellers are now offering the current price for a year,” he observes.