News Analysis 16 Aug, 2022

NEWS HIGHLIGHTS

1. The Gandhian Influence.
2. 5G and Fiberization in India.
3. Butterfly Mines

 

1.  The Gandhian Influence.

Context
As per a book titled ‘Gandhi 1915-1948: A Detailed Chronology’, Published by the Gandhi Peace Foundation, On the 2nd of April in 1921, Mahatma Gandhi had set his foot on Cocanada( Kakinada)

Visits of Mahatma Gandhi 

1. Gandhi addressed a gathering of carpenters and municipality workers in Bezwada (now Vijayawada).
2. On April 3, he had addressed a meeting at Ellore and Bezwada before visiting Andhra Jateeya Kalasala at Masulipatam (now Machilipatnam)
    

Relevance of the Cocanada Visit :

1. At Cocanada (now Kakinada), Gandhi made an appeal to the people of the Andhra province on three issues —untouchability, Hindu-Muslim unity, and khadi.
2. The place where Mahatma Gandhi had addressed the gathering later turned out to be Gandhi Nagar.The National Congress had also been organized at the same place, which was designated as Gandhi Nagar.
3. The speech had played an instrumental role in the conduct of the Indian National Congress at Cocanada in December 1923.
4. Mahatma Gandhi’s call for the Khadi Movement had inspired many people to adopt ‘Charkha’ on the Cocanada coast.
5. In response to his call on untouchability, doctors and lawyers had established the East Godavari Harijan Sevak Sangh, which is now known as Gandhi Bhavan.

Major Gandhian Ideologies

1. Truth and nonviolence: They are the twin cardinal principles of Gandhian thoughts.

• For Gandhi ji, truth is the relative truth of truthfulness in word and deed, and the absolute truth - the ultimate reality. This ultimate truth is God (as God is also Truth) and morality - the moral laws and code - its basis.
• Nonviolence, far from meaning mere peacefulness or the absence of overt violence, is understood by Mahatma Gandhi to denote active love - the pole opposite of violence, in every sense. Nonviolence or love is regarded as the highest law of humankind.

2. Satyagraha: Gandhi ji called his overall method of nonviolent action Satyagraha. It means the exercise of the purest soul-force against all injustice, oppression and exploitation.

• It is a method of securing rights by personal suffering and not inflicting injury on others.
• The origin of Satyagraha can be found in the Upanishads, and in the teachings of Buddha, Mahavira and a number of other greats including Tolstoy and Ruskin.

3. Sarvodaya- Sarvodaya is a term meaning 'Universal Uplift' or 'Progress of All'. The term was first coined by Gandhi ji as the title of his translation of John Ruskin's tract on political economy, "Unto This  Last".

4. Swaraj- Although the word swaraj means self-rule, Gandhi ji gave it the content of an integral revolution that encompasses all spheres of life.

• For Gandhi ji, swaraj of people meant the sum total of the swaraj (self-rule) of individuals and so he clarified that for him swaraj meant freedom for the meanest of his countrymen. And in its fullest sense, swaraj is much more than freedom from all restraints, it is self-rule, self-restraint and could be equated with moksha or salvation.

5. Trusteeship- Trusteeship is a socio-economic philosophy that was propounded by Gandhi ji.

• It provides a means by which the wealthy people would be the trustees of trusts that looked after the welfare of the people in general.
• This principle reflects Gandhi 's spiritual development, which he owed partly to his deep involvement with and the study of theosophical literature and the Bhagavad Gita.

6.Swadeshi -The word swadeshi derives from Sanskrit and is a conjunction of two Sanskrit words. ‘Swa’ means self or own and ‘desh’ means country. So swadesh means one's own country. Swadeshi, the adjectival form, means of one’s own country, but can be loosely translated in most contexts as self-sufficiency.

• Swadeshi is the focus on acting within and from one's own community, both politically and economically.
• It is the interdependence of community and self-sufficiency.
• Gandhi ji believed this would lead to independence (swaraj), as British control of India was rooted in control of her indigenous industries. Swadeshi was the key to the independence of India, and was represented by the charkha or the spinning wheel, the “center of the solar system” of Mahatma Gandhi’s constructive program.

Relevance of Gandhian Ideas in Modern Times:

1. Social Sphere:

• Inclusive development of India is possible only by realization of Gandhi’s idea of Sarvodaya.
• In the Indian context, the principle of Satyagraha still holds good. Example is Jessica Lal’s case. Through peaceful protest in the form of candle march almost all over the country justice was delivered.
• Gandhi’s views about sanitation are seen today in the Swachh Bharat Mission.
• Striving for upliftment of Depressed Classes is still as relevant as was during Gandhi’s times.

2. Political Sphere:

• Gandhi’s weapon of non-violence has been used by leaders from across the world.
• Some of the examples of such leaders are Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., Dalai Lama and Aung San Suu Kyi.
• There is great resonance of the historic salt march at Dandi with the way Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese leader, brought peace and reconciliation to all the darkness and loneliness against a brutal and hostile regime.
• Gandhi was a strategist, a genius and he molded his movement according to the situation. He could visualize the mood of the nation and strategically took each step in a well defined way. So our politicians can learn a lot about strategization from Gandhi.

3. Economic Sphere:

• Make in India is a manifestation of Gandhi’s ideals of self sufficiency.
• Gandhi’s philosophy of inclusive growth is fundamental to the building of a resurgent rural India.
• He believed in “production by the masses” rather than in mass production, a distinctive feature of the industrial revolution.

4. Environmentalism:

• Gandhi warned the country for unrestricted industrialism and exploitation of nature for human greed.
• Serious environmental pollution and non-sustainable nature of development are consequences of not aligning with Gandhian environmentalism.

5. Administration Sphere:  Internal affairs like insurgency issues in Kashmir, central India or in the North Eastern states could be managed in a much better way by following Gandhi’s ideals of non-violence and Satyagraha.

6. International Sphere : Even India’s foreign policy is based on peaceful co-existence and it is reflected in not indulging in aggression first though India remains prepared as the security threats accumulate.To conclude we can say that most of the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi hold relevance even in today’s world.

2. 5G and Fiberization in India.

Context
India is preparing to auction off about 72 GHz of airwaves to roll out 5G services in the country.

Fiberisation

1. The process of connecting radio towers with each other via optical fiber cables is called fiberisation. It helps provide full utilization of network capacity, and carry large amounts of data once 5G services are rolled out.
2. It will also aid in providing additional bandwidth and stronger backhaul support.The backhaul is a component of the larger transport that is responsible for carrying data across the network.
3. It represents the part of the network that connects the core of the network to the edge. As a result, fiber backhaul remains an important part of transport across all telecoms.

• A fiber optic cable is a network cable that contains strands of glass fibers inside an insulated casing. They're designed for long-distance, high-performance data networking, and telecommunications. 
• The optical fiber works on the principle of total internal reflection (TIR).

Usage

It helps to: 

• Provide full utilization of network capacity, 
• Carry large amounts of data once 5G services are rolled out. 
• Aid in providing additional bandwidth and stronger backhaul support. 

Where does India stand in terms of Fiberisation?

1. To transition into 5G, India needs at least 16 times more fiber.
2. In India, currently only 33% of the towers are fiberised, compared to the 65%-70% in South Korea and 80%-90% in the U.S., Japan and China, according to a 2021 report by India Infrastructure Research. 
3. The fiber kilometer (fkm) per capita in India is lower than other key markets. 
4. Ideally, a country needs 1.3 km of fiber per capita to ensure good fiberisation. (India’s fkm is just .09 compared to 1.35 in Japan, 1.34 in the U.S. and 1.3 in China, the report noted.)

What are the challenges?

1. High Investment: India requires about ?2.2 lakh crore of investment to help fiberise 70% towers. About ?2.5 lakh crore will be needed to set up 15 lakh towers inthe next four years, according to estimates by the National Broadband Mission and Cellular Operator Association of India (COAI).
2. High Demand: Government programmes like BharatNet and Smart Cities will further add to the demand of fiber deployment, necessitating a complete tower fiberisation.
3. Right of Way (RoW) rules: The Indian Telegraph RoW Rules 2016 were notified by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in 2016 aim to incorporate nominal one-time compensation and uniform procedure for establishment of Overground Telegraph Line (OTL) anywhere in the country. While all States/UTs are required to implement these rules, they are not in complete alignment and several districts and local bodies have not agreed to the RoW policies as notified in those respective States.
4. Increase data capacity: These tower sites which are connected via fiber are called fiber point of presence (POP). Currently these fiber POPs at a tower site can handle data at one to five Gbps speed
5. Target: Prime Minister, in his 2020 Independence Day speech, laid out the vision to connect every village in the country with optical fiber cable (OFC) in 1,000 days. To achieve that vision, cables must be laid at a speed of 1,251 km a day, around 3.6 times the current average speed of 350 km a day.
    

Advantages of 5G

1. High speeds: 5G works faster on mobile phones and other devices when compared to 4G and 4G LTE. 
2. Low latency: 5G has low latency when compared to 4G that will support new applications such as AI, IoT, and virtual reality efficiently. It enables mobile phone users to open a web page and browse things without any hassles. 
3. Increased capacity: 5G has the capacity to deliver up to 100 times more capacity than 4G.  It allows companies to switch between cellular and Wi-Fi wireless strategies that will help a lot to experience better performance.
4. More bandwidth: It increases the bandwidth that will help transfer the data as soon as possible. Mobile phone users can ensure a faster connection with more bandwidth after choosing a 5G network. 
5. Powering innovation: 5G technology is the perfect choice for connecting with a whole range of different devices including drones and sensors. It gives ways to power the adoption of IoT allowing industries to enhance their productivity and other things. 
6. Less tower congestion: 4G cellular networks often get congested which will result in various problems while accessing important data. 5G networks allow users to avoid them due to better speed and more bandwidth. 
7. 5G places a lot of importance on energy efficiency. This will mean lower energy bills for service providers and longer battery life for mobile devices.
8. 5G technology will bring positive change in the governance of the country, ease of living, and ease of doing business. It will boost growth in agriculture, health, education, infrastructure, and logistics.
    

Way Forward :

1. In order to boost domestic manufacturing of optical fiber, the government should consider introducing a PLI scheme.
2. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has also published a consultation paper on using street furniture for small cell and aerial fiber deployment.
3. Government programmes like BharatNet and Smart Cities will further add to the demand of fiber deployment.

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3. Butterfly Mines

Context
Alarm on the possible use of PFM-1 series ‘Butterfly Mines’ by the Russian military in Donetsk and Kramatorsk, by the UK Ministry of Defense.

Findings Of The Intelligence Assessment

1. Russia might have deployed anti personnel mines to deter freedom of movement along its defensive lines in the Donbas ( Donetsk & Luhansk)
2. These mines have the potential to inflict widespread casualties amongst both the military and the local civilian population.
3. In Donetsk and Kramatorsk, Russia has likely attempted employment of PFM-1 and PFM-1S scatterable anti-personnel mines.
   The PFM-1 and PFM-1S are commonly referred to as ‘Butterfly mines’ or ‘Green Parrots’.
   These names are derived from the shape and color of the mines.

What is Butterfly Mine?

About:

1. It is a very sensitive anti-personnel landmine.
2. An applied force of 5 kg is enough to detonate the mine.
3. It is extremely dangerous, even for small children.
4. The major difference between PFM-1 & PFM-1S is that the latter one comes with a self-destruction mechanism which gets activated within one to 40 hours.

Detection:

1. These mines are difficult to detect because they are made of plastic and can evade metal detectors.

Conventions on Anti-Personnel Mines:

1. The anti-personnel mines are banned by international convention on landmines but Russia and Ukraine are not signatories to it.
2. Mines that are used against humans are called anti-personnel landmines.
3. They are different from anti-tank mines as the latter is used against tanks (vehicles.)
4. International Campaign to Ban Landmines which is a coalition of NGOs works with an objective to end the anti-personnel mines and cluster munitions. This campaign led to the Ottawa Treaty

Uses of Anti-Personnel Mines:

1. Ambush
2. Protection of the army’s base
3. Protection of the equipment while using anti-personnel mines as bait, etc.

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