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Headlines

1. Tantalum - Prelims
2. Horseshoe crab - Prelims
3. Vajra Prahar 2023 - Prelims
4. Listen to the people, not the numbers - Page No.6, GS 3
5. Unheeded advice - Page No.6 , GS 2
6. Text and Context - What is the ruling against the U.K.'s Rwanda deal?

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Tantalum - Prelims

Tantalum
Context:-
• IIT-Ropar researchers discovered rare metal viz. tantalum in Sutlej which is used in electronics and semiconductors.
• Discovery: The researchers were working on an unrelated project and found the metal in samples collected from the Sutlej basin.
• The experiments were aimed at studying dynamic properties of soil and rocks and how these would have a bearing in case of an earthquake.
• Quantity: Detailed studies are likely to shed more light on the quantum of the metal in the river.
• Tantalum is a hard, lustrous transition metal that is highly corrosion resistant.
• It has the symbol Ta and atomic number 73.
• Importance: The annual report of the Union Ministry of Mines for 2020-21 identified it as one of the 12 critical and strategic minerals.
• Production: Rwanda is one of the world's largest producers of tantalum.
• Uses of Tantalum: It is widely used in electronic components, such as capacitors and high power resistors, in the production of alloys and superalloys, in making high refractive index glass, vacuum furnace parts and orthopedic material.
• It's grey, heavy, very hard, and one of the most corrosion-resistant metals in use today.
• It possesses high corrosion resistance because when exposed to air, it forms an oxide layer that is extremely difficult to remove, even when it interacts with strong and hot acid environments.
• When pure, tantalum is ductile, meaning it can be stretched, pulled, or drawn into a thin wire or thread without breaking.
• Moreover, it "is almost completely immune to chemical attack at temperatures below ting then in at ached on resuprotori dei aciding lut the us Department of Energy.
• Notably, tantalum also has an extremely high melting point, exceeded only by tungsten and rhenium.
• As tantalum has a high melting point, it is frequently used as a substitute for platinum, which is more expensive.
• The rare metal is also used to make components for chemical plants, nuclear power plants, aeroplanes and missiles.
• Tantalum does not react with bodily fluids and is used to make surgical equipment and implants, like artificial joints, according to the US Department of Energy.
• "A composite consisting of tantalum carbide (TaC) and graphite is one of the hardest materials known and is used on the cutting edges of high-speed machine tools," it added.
Sutlaj
• Origin: The Satluj originates in the Rakas lake near Mansarovar at an altitude of 4,555 m in Tibet where it is known as Langchen Khambab.
• River Course: It flows almost parallel to the Indus for about 400 km before entering India, and comes out of a gorge at Rupar.
• It passes through the Shipki La on the Himalayan ranges and enters the Punjab plains. It is an antecedent river.
• It meets the Beas River in Harike-Patan in Punjab, India and flows to Pakistan to join the Chenab River, creating the Panjnad River (Five Rivers Of Punjab).
• Length: The total length of the river is about 1550 km of which 529 km is in Pakistan.
• Tributaries: The Sutlej River has many tributaries, including Baspa, Beas, Nogli Khad, Soan and Spiti.
• Significance: It is a very important tributary of Indus and it feeds the canal system of the Bhakra Nangal project.
• There are various hydroelectric power and irrigation projects over the river like the Kol Dam, Bhakra Nangal Dam, Baspa Hydroelectric Power Project, and Nathpa Jhakri Project.

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Horseshoe crab - Prelims

Horseshoe crab Context:-
• The northeastern coast of Odisha has been home to the horseshoe crab, a globally recognised living fossil, as its basic form has remained nearly unchanged over millions of years.
• Within the state reside two of the four species worldwide: the coastal horseshoe crab (Tachypleus gigas) and the mangrove horseshoe crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda).
• The horseshoe crabs in the state are found along the northeast coast of Balasore and Kendrapara districts, with sporadic nesting grounds at several coasts.
There are four extant horseshoe crab species:

• The American horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus) along the eastern coast of the USA and in the Gulf of Mexico,
• The tri-spine horseshoe crab (Tachypleus tridentatus),
• The coastal horseshoe crab (Tachypleus gigas)
• The mangrove horseshoe crab (Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda)
• The last three are Indo-Pacific species found mainly in the coastal waters of India, Southeast Asia, China and Japan.
• Odisha is the largest habitat of horseshoe crabs in India. Conservation status in India
• Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule IV
IUCN Status

• American horseshoe crab: Vulnerable
• Tri-spine horseshoe crab: Endangered
• The two other species are not listed yet

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Vajra Prahar 2023 - Prelims

Vajra Prahar 2023 Context:-
• A joint exercise of the special forces of India and the United States commenced in Meghalaya's Umroi Cantonment on Tuesday.
• Titled 'Vajra Prahar 2023', it is the 14th such exercise aimed at sharing the best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics, a Defence spokesperson said.
• The first edition of the joint exercise was conducted in 2010 and the 13th was held at the Special Forces Training School in Himachal Pradesh's Bakloh.

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Listen to the people, not the numbers - Page No.6, GS 3

• Incomes are not growing sufficiently or sustainably for very large numbers of people. Even though overall GDP growth is good, there is increasing pressure for reservations of jobs for all "economically weaker" sections regardless of caste or religion.
• The overall problem of incomes in India, according to economists, is that insufficient numbers have moved out of agriculture into manufacturing.
• This has been the historical pattern for sustainable growth in all countries, including the U.S. a hundred years ago, and China more recently.
• India's policymakers thought they had found a short-cut 1990s, directly from agriculture to services, with the boost in the growth of exportable information Technology services.
• There is very little room in high-end services to absorb the large numbers of young Indians in need of jobs. Moreover, these jobs require levels of education that people in rural areas do not have.
• The problem is that the jobs they have, irrespective of the sector, are not "good" jobs: they do not pay enough, they are temporary or on short contracts, and they do not provide social security or assistance to develop further skills.

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Unheeded advice - Page No.6 , GS 2

• Ongoing proceedings before the Supreme Court raise concerns about the conduct of some Governors.
• The key issue that has forced State governments to approach the court for redress is the perverse manner in which incumbents in Raj Bhavan have used the absence of a time-frame for granting assent to Bills to harass and frustrate elected regimes.
• When the court raised the question, "What was the Governor doing for three years?" with respect to the Tamil Nadu Governor, R.N. Ravi, it was underscoring the fact that he disposed of pending Bills only after the court's observations about the delay in an earlier hearing.
• The larger issue requires a clear enunciation of the law.

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Text and Context - What is the ruling against the U.K.'s Rwanda deal?

• The government policy of the U.K., of creating a mechanism for the transfer of asylum seekers not considered by the U.K. to Rwanda, has been ruled as unlawful by the U.K. Supreme Court.
• The Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) was announced in April 2022 by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
• The objective of the deal is to "create a mechanism" for the transfer of asylum seekers not considered by the UK into Rwanda. The inadmissibility clause of the UK's asylum system plays a key role in categorising people who enter the U.K. through "irregular journeys" such as the English Channel.
• According to the Memorandum of Understanding between the two nations, the U.K. will screen asylum seeker applications and arrange for safe transport to Rwanda. On arrival of the refugees, Rwanda is obliged to provide accommodation for every individual and protect them from ill-treatment and refoulement.
• Rwanda offers three solutions for those sent out by the U.K.. It facilitates returning them to their country of origin; helps in moving them to a third country; or helps them settle in Rwanda with decent housing, access to universal health insurance and the right to work. The U.K. will bear the accommodation and transit costs.
• The UNHCR clearly states that once a refugee enters a territory via land or sea it becomes the responsibility of the respective country to ensure the safety of the refugee. In this case, the U.K. cannot be relieved from this duty even after the transfer of the refugee to Rwanda.
• While the U.K. government argues over simultaneous investment in refugees and Rwanda's economy for development, the doubts over refoulement and the implications to other EU countries do not seem to end.
• This might trigger other EU nations to consider such deportation schemes leading to a decline in humanitarian standards and creating risks for refugees in third-party countries.

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