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UPSC Essentials | Key terms of past week with MCQs: March 13 to 19, 2023

International Criminal Court, McMahon line, NASA's new spacesuit, and more — here's a highlight of some of the important terms useful for UPSC CSE Prelims and Mains preparation. Don't miss solving the MCQs.

upsc, key terms of past week, upsc essentials, upsc prelims 2023, upsc mains 2023, upsc current affairs, upsc civil services exam, sarkari naukri, government jobsThe International Criminal Court said Friday, March 17, it had issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin for war crimes because of his alleged involvement in abductions of children from Ukraine. (File image)

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Subscribe to The Indian Express UPSC Key and prepare for the Civil Services and other competitive examinations with cues on how to read and understand content from the most authoritative news source in India.

Note: Catch the UPSC Weekly Quiz every Saturday evening and brush up on your current affairs knowledge.)

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Essential key terms from the last week’s news headlines or between the lines categorised as per the relevance to the UPSC-CSE syllabus along with the MCQs followed.

Generative AI

Why in news?

— Generative artificial intelligence has become a buzzword this year, capturing the public’s fancy and sparking a rush among Microsoft and Alphabet to launch products with the technology they believe will change the nature of work.
Here is everything you need to know about this technology.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Reuters Explains:

What is generative AI?

Festive offer

— Like other forms of artificial intelligence, generative AI learns how to take actions from past data. It creates brand new content – a text, an image, even computer code – based on that training, instead of simply categorizing or identifying data like other AI.

— The most famous generative AI application is ChatGPT, a chatbot that Microsoft-backed OpenAI released late last year. The AI powering it is known as a large language model because it takes in a text prompt and from that writes a human-like response.

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—  GPT-4, a newer model that OpenAI announced this week, is “multimodal” because it can perceive not only text but images as well. OpenAI’s president demonstrated on Tuesday how it could take a photo of a hand-drawn mock-up for a website he wanted to build, and from that generate a real one.

What is it good for?

— Demonstrations aside, businesses are already putting generative AI to work. The technology is helpful for creating a first draft of marketing copy, for instance, though it may require cleanup because it isn’t perfect. One example is from CarMax Inc, which has used a version of OpenAI’s technology to summarize thousands of customer reviews and help shoppers decide what used car to buy.

— Generative AI likewise can take notes during a virtual meeting. It can draft and personalize emails, and it can create slide presentations. Microsoft Corp and Alphabet Inc’s Google each demonstrated these features in product announcements this week.

What’s wrong with that?

— Nothing, although there is concern about the technology’s potential abuse. School systems have fretted about students turning in AI-drafted essays, undermining the hard work required for them to learn. Cybersecurity researchers have also expressed concern that generative AI could allow bad actors, even governments, to produce far more disinformation than before.

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— At the same time, the technology itself is prone to making mistakes. Factual inaccuracies touted confidently by AI, called “hallucinations,” and responses that seem erratic like professing love to a user are all reasons why companies have aimed to test the technology before making it widely available.

(Source: What is Generative AI, the technology behind OpenAI’s ChatGPT? by Reuters)

Point to ponder: AI foregrounds need for innovation in education, regulatory and labour codes. Gap between technology and policy needs closing. Discuss.

1. MCQ:

With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following? (2020)

(1) Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units

(2) Create meaningful short stories and songs

(3) Disease diagnosis

(4) Text-to-speech conversion

(5) Wireless transmission of electrical energy

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1, 2, 3 and 5 only

(b) 1, 3, and 4 only 

(c) 2, 4, and 5 only

(d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

International Criminal Court

Why in news?

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— The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 17, for the alleged war crime of unlawfully deporting and transferring children from occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation.

— The crimes were allegedly committed in occupied territory from February 24, 2022. Apart from Putin, an arrest warrant was also issued against Russia’s Commissioner for Child Rights, Maria Lvova-Belova, a press release on the ICC website said.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Khadija Khan Explains:

Why are the arrest warrants being issued?

— Putin and Belova are allegedly responsible for the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer of children from Russian-occupied areas of Ukraine to the Russian Federation under articles 8(2)(a)(vii) and 8(2)(b)(viii) of the Rome Statute.

— While the former relates to the “unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement”, the latter relates to the direct or indirect transfer of its own civilian population by an occupying power into the occupied territory or the deportation or transfer of the population of the occupied territory within or outside its territory.

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— The ICC said that it has reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility for the crimes of (i) having committed the acts directly, jointly with others, and/or through others under article 25(3)(a) of the Rome Statute (ii) his failure to exercise control properly over civilian & military subordinates under his effective authority, committing or allowing the commission of such acts, as per article 28(b) of the Rome Statute.

What is the ICC?

— The ICC, headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands, was established under a 1998 treaty called the “Rome Statute” . It “investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.”

— Presently, 123 countries are party to the Rome Statute, including Britain, Japan, Afghanistan, and Germany. However, the USA has kept its distance, maintaining that ICC should not exercise jurisdiction over citizens of countries that are not a party to it. Similarly, India and China have also abstained from membership.

— The ICC was established to prosecute the most heinous offenses only when a country’s own legal machinery fails to act, as was the case in former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. Unlike the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which deals with countries and inter-state disputes, the ICC prosecutes individuals. However, the ICC’s jurisdiction is limited to offences occurring after it came into effect on July 1, 2002.

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— Additionally, the offences should be committed either in a country that ratified the agreement or by a national of a ratifying country. The ICC can also practice its jurisdiction over cases referred by the UN Security Council to it.

Does the ICC have the power to prosecute Russia?

— While Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the move would lead to “historic accountability”, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russia found this “outrageous and unacceptable”. He also said that any decision of the court was “null and void” due to Russia not being an ICC member, the news agency Reuters reported.

— However, this move creates a situation where Putin risks arrest every time he travels. According to The New York Times, this move, along with the existing sanctions in the West, will further deepen his isolation and limit his overseas movements. Moreover, if he travels to a state party to the ICC, then that country must arrest him according to its obligations under international law.

— Moreover, this is the first time that the ICC has issued an arrest warrant against one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.

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— In November 2022, an ICC prosecutor sought to move ahead with charges of war crimes against Ugandan militant and founder of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony. Despite Kony turning kidnapped children into soldiers and being accused of murder, cruel treatment, slavery, rape, and kidnapping, he is still a fugitive and continues to be free.

Does Ukraine recognise ICC’s jurisdiction?

— According to the ICC’s official website, “Ukraine is not a State Party to the Rome Statute”, but it has twice exercised its options to accept ICC’s jurisdiction over alleged crimes under the Rome Statute, occurring on its territory, under Article 12(3) of the Statute.

— Article 12(3) states that if the acceptance of a state that is not a party to the statute is required, the state may accept the jurisdiction of the court for a crime concerned, by making a declaration to the Registrar and cooperating without any delay or exception.

— The alleged crimes, including the deportation of children, were detailed in a report by the “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine”, an UN-mandated investigative body that said some acts may amount to crimes against humanity.

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(Source: Arrest warrant against Vladimir Putin: What powers does the ICC have against the Russian president by Khadija Khan)

Point to ponder: India’s approach to Russia must take stock of Moscow’s imperialist history. Discuss.

2. MCQ:

Which of the following statements is not true with reference to International Criminal Court (ICC) ?

(a) Governed by an international treaty called ‘The Rome Statute’, the ICC is the world’s first permanent international criminal court.

(b) It investigates and, where warranted, tries individuals charged with the gravest crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.

(c) India is not a party to Rome Statute along with US and Britain.

(d) ICC headquarters at The Hague, the Netherlands.

McMahon line 

Why in news?

— Two United States Senators, a Republican and a Democrat, have introduced a bipartisan resolution in the upper chamber of Congress reiterating that the US recognises the McMahon Line as the international boundary between China and India in Arunachal Pradesh, PTI reported.

— The resolution reaffirms India’s well-known and established position that Arunachal Pradesh, which China calls ‘South Tibet’, is an integral part of India.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What is the McMahon Line?

— The McMahon Line serves as the de facto boundary between China and India in the Eastern Sector. It specifically represents the boundary between Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet, from Bhutan in the west to Myanmar in the east.

— China has historically disputed the boundary and claims the state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR).

Under what circumstances was it drawn?

— The McMahon Line was drawn during the Simla Convention of 1914, officially described as the Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet. China was represented at the convention by the government of the Republic of China, which was in power in the mainland from 1912 to 1949, when its leaders were driven to the island of Taiwan during the civil war that established the communists in Beijing and led to the proclamation of the People’s Republic.

— The McMahon Line delimited the respective spheres of influence of Tibet and British India in the eastern Himalayan region in what is today India’s Northeast and northern Myanmar. The border in this region was undefined prior to the signing of the convention.

— After the first Anglo-Burmese War (1824-26), the British gained almost complete control over the Assam Valley. From there, the British expanded their influence outwards in the predominantly tribal lands across the Northeast. For long, these tribal lands acted as a buffer between British India and Tibet.

— By the time the 20th century dawned, Chinese influence over Tibet had significantly waned and the British were wary about Tibet falling into the Russian sphere of influence. In an effort to preclude Russian influence, the British led an expedition into Tibet and signed the Convention of Lhasa in 1904.

— At the same time, alarmed at Britain’s growing influence in the region, China, at the fag end of Qing rule, also invaded, taking control of the southeastern Kham region. Notably, the Chinese campaign encroached upon the tribal regions north of the Assam Valley, pushing British officials to advocate extending British jurisdiction into the tribal territory.

What happened at the Simla Convention of 1913-14?

— The convention attempted to settle the question of Tibet’s sovereignty and avoid further territorial disputes in the region. The Tibetan government in Lhasa was represented by its plenipotentiary Paljor Dorje Shatra, and Britain by Sir Arthur Henry McMahon, foreign secretary of British India at Delhi. The Chinese plenipotentiary was Ivan Chen.

— The treaty divided the Buddhist region into “Outer Tibet” and “Inner Tibet” – the former would “remain in the hands of the Tibetan Government at Lhasa under Chinese suzerainty”, though China was not allowed to interfere in its affairs. The latter would be under the direct jurisdiction of the newly formed Republic of China. In its annexes, it also determined the border between China proper and Tibet as well as Tibet and British India.

— The latter of these newly decided boundaries would later be called the McMahon Line after McMahon, the chief British negotiator. While a draft convention was agreed upon by all three countries on April 27, 1914, China immediately repudiated it.

— The final convention was only signed by McMahon on behalf of the British government and Shatra on behalf of Lhasa. Ivan Chen did not consent to the convention, arguing that Tibet had no independent authority to enter into international agreements.

How was the border between British India and China decided?

— The 890-km border from the corner of Bhutan to the Isu Razi Pass on the Burma border was drawn largely along the crest of the Himalayas, following the “highest watershed principle”. This principle, considered to be the most logical way of drawing borders in mountainous regions by the British, basically drew the border along the highest ridge between two river plains.

— However, exceptions were made. Notably, Tawang, which would have been a part of Tibet had this principle been uniformly implemented, was included in British India due to its proximity to the Assam Valley.

— As the War of 1962 would show, capturing Tawang would give an invading Chinese army easy access to the valley in the south, affirming McMahon’s decision to include Tawang under British jurisdiction. This inclusion was contested by Tibet for years, even though the border remained porous, and Lhasa still held some sway in the region.

What has the status of the McMahon line been since 1914?

— While there were disputes regarding the McMahon line from the very beginning, after the communists took power in 1949, they pulled China out of all international agreements and the so-called “unequal treaties” that had been imposed on it during its “century of humiliation”, and demanded a renegotiation of all its borders.

— During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, China was able to quickly overpower India and make deep inroads into Indian territory across the McMahon Line. However, its forces retreated to pre-war positions after the unilateral ceasefire was announced on November 21.

(Source: US Senate resolution for underlining backing India on McMahon Line: What is the McMahon Line?)

Point to ponder: India-China — No conceivable solution, we must defend our people as much as territory. Do you agree?

3. MCQ:

Consider the following statements:

1. The McMahon Line was drawn during the Simla Convention of 1914, officially described as the Convention Between Great Britain, China, and Tibet.

2. The McMahon Line specifically represents the boundary between Arunachal Pradesh and Tibet, from Bhutan in the west to Myanmar in the east.

Which of the above statements is/are not true?

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Willow oil drilling project 

Why in news?

— The United States President Joe Biden’s administration on Monday (March 13) formally approved a controversial oil drilling project in Alaska known as Willow, drawing fierce criticism from environmentalists and climate change activists.

— The announcement was welcomed by Alaska’s lawmakers, who believe that the project would generate thousands of jobs and millions in revenue for their state. Although the US Department of the Interior, in a statement, said that it has approved a scaled-down version of the project, opponents claim it would still severely impact the climate and wildlife in the region.

— Previously, the Trump administration had sanctioned the plan to drill oil in Alaska in 2020, but “a federal judge vacated development permits, saying initial federal reviews failed to include measures to mitigate the impact on polar bears,” the NPR reported.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Alind Chauhan Explains:

What is the Willow project?

— Led by oil giant ConocoPhillips, the Willow Master Development Plan is an $8 billion proposal to drill oil and gas in Alaska’s National Petroleum Reserve — a 23 million-acre land owned by the federal government of the US.

— According to the New York Times, the project would yield more than 600 million barrels of oil over 30 years, a volume nearly 1.5 times the current supply in the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve. ConocoPhillips claims that the plan could generate up to $17 billion for the federal, state and local governments and create as many as 2,500 jobs.

— Speaking to the media, Alaska Republican US Senator Dan Sullivan said it could be “one of the biggest, most important resource development projects in our state’s history.”

How would the project impact the environment?

— Instead of approving the full project, like the President Trump administration, the current dispensation has sanctioned only a part of it. This includes three drill sites and less surface infrastructure than originally proposed. Initially, ConocoPhillips wanted to construct up to five drill sites, many kilometres of long roads, seven bridges and pipelines, Reuters said.

—  Despite a scaled-down version getting the nod, environmentalists are concerned about the health and environmental impact of the drilling plan as it would be constructed on the country’s largest swath of undisturbed, undeveloped land. They believe it would destroy the region’s natural habitat and alter the migration patterns of animals.

—  A report published by the NPR noted that the Bureau of Land Management, a US government agency, in February 2023 released a document in which it described the “proposed site as “critical” to local wildlife, supporting “thousands of migratory birds” and serving as “a primary calving area” for local caribou.”

— Moreover, the project termed a “carbon bomb”, would create about 260 million tons of greenhouse gases over its lifespan, the equivalent of developing around 70 new coal-fired power plants.

— Talking to CNN, Jeremy Lieb, an Alaska-based senior attorney at environmental law group Earthjustice, said, “This is a huge climate threat and inconsistent with this administration’s promises to take on the climate crisis”.

— Environmentalists and climate change activists claim that the approval is in conflict with President Biden’s campaign pledge of not allowing new oil, gas and coal projects and work towards fighting climate change.

So, why has the Biden Administration approved the project?

— Analysts suggest that the formal approval came due to a variety of reasons, including the global energy crisis aggravated by the Russia-Ukraine war, pressure from Alaskan lawmakers (both from the Republican and Democratic parties) who saw the project as an opportunity to usher in prosperity in the state, upcoming Presidential elections, and legal complexities.

— The NYT reported that while making the final decision, President Biden was “acutely aware” of his campaign promise regarding climate change and the possibility of facing a political backlash from activists and young voters in particular. However, his administration felt the need to reach out to working-class voters, who care about the gasoline price spikes that occurred after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

— Apart from this, President Biden wanted to avoid getting into a legal tussle with ConocoPhillips. The NYT said the company behind the project “has held leases to the prospective drilling site for more than two decades, and administration attorneys argued that refusing a permit would trigger a lawsuit that could cost the government as much as $5 billion”.

What else you should know?

— The usage of the term ‘carbon bombs’ picked up after an investigative project of The Guardian from May last year. The project reported the plans of countries and private companies all over the world to engage in 195 ‘carbon bomb’ projects. Each such project, it is believed, will release huge amounts of CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

Carbon bombs

— Defining the term in its report, The Guardian said that it is “an oil or gas project that will result in at least a billion tonnes of CO2 emissions over its lifetime.”

— Whenever coal, oil, or gas is extracted it results in pollution and environmental degradation. Further, carbon emissions take place in particularly large amounts when fuel is burned.

— In total, around 195 such projects have been identified world over, including in the US, Russia, West Asia, Australia and India. According to the report, they will collectively overshoot the limit of emissions that had been agreed to in the Paris Agreement of 2015.

— The agreement was to contain the global rise in average temperature to 2 °C and strive for the target of 1.5 °C as compared to pre-industrial levels – when the widespread use of coal for industry in the beginning in the mid-19th century led to a rapid rise in average global temperatures.

(Source: US approves Willow oil drilling project in Alaska: What is the outrage around this by Alind Chauhan)

Point to ponder: What are ‘carbon bombs’, why environmentalists want them defused?

4. MCQ:

Recently in news,  “carbon bomb” is referred to:

(a) space ignition product

(b) pollution control technology

(c) a bomb used in Ukraine Russia war

(d) an oil or gas project  

NASA’s new spacesuit 

Why in news?

— For the upcoming Artemis missions, NASA’s first attempt at landing astronauts on the moon since 1972, the spacesuit used will see a significant upgrade. Unlike the bulky – and iconic – suits in which Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin skipped around on the lunar surface, the new suit will be “more nimble, comfortable and designed to fit a broader array of body types”, The Washington Post reported.  In a demonstration on Wednesday (March 15) at the Houston Space Center, James Stein, the suit’s chief engineer, showcased not just the increased mobility provided by the suit when compared to what was previously used, but also other interesting features.

— The suit comes from Axiom Space, a private company based out of Houston, Texas, though it incorporates design elements used in previous suits by NASA. It will be worn during the Artemis III mission, the program’s first moon landing, which is scheduled for 2025. It is called the AxEMU (Axiom Extravehicular Mobility Unit).

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What does a spacesuit do?

— Without a spacesuit, humans will not survive for long in the harsh conditions of outer space or the lunar surface.

First, spacesuits protect the human body from the extreme temperature fluctuations of space. In absence of an atmosphere, areas which receive direct sunlight become extremely hot whereas areas in the dark are frigid. The first job of a space suit is to insulate the astronaut inside from the extreme temperatures.

Second, spacesuits also provide astronauts with a constant supply of air and optimum air pressure around their body. They are pressurised to this effect, making them more like human shaped space vehicles than a piece of clothing.

Third, spacesuits protect astronauts from space radiation which can be extremely harmful, as well as micrometeorites and other particles moving across space, often at incredible speeds.

— On the lunar surface, suits also protect astronauts from lunar dust, considered by NASA experts as the “number one environmental problem on the moon”. Much more abrasive than dust on earth, it tends to corrode everything it comes into contact with and can potentially cause lung diseases.

— By helping astronauts survive even in the harshest conditions of space, spacesuits allow them to perform tasks in space, carry out experiments and fulfill the objectives of their mission.

What are some issues with older space suits?

— The Apollo missions (1961-72) were a landmark achievement in space exploration. The spacesuits worn in the mission were also revolutionary for the time. Unlike rudimentary spacesuits used for previous space missions, the Apollo suits had their own life support systems and did not balloon when exposed to the vacuum of space. They also incorporated boots ideal for walking on the lunar surface. Technological tweaks aside, little has changed in the fundamentals of suits for spacewalking that are used in the International Space Station.

— However, these suits are rigid and uncomfortable to be in. While rubberised bellows at the shoulders, elbows, hips and knees allowed a degree of flexibility, astronauts struggle against the stiffness. This is why Armstrong and Aldrin soon discovered that “skipping” was easier than “walking” on the lunar surface, as it did not require bending knees.

— Long handles were used in various tools as bending the waist was nearly impossible, though even holding things is difficult due to the gloves worn. Astronaut Kathy Thornton told Engineering and Technology that working in a space suit is “like trying to adjust the carburettor on your truck while wearing baseball mittens”.

What are the improvements made in the new spacesuit?

— During the demonstration on Wednesday, the most noticeable upgrade was in the mobility offered by the new spacesuits. Stein jumped, squatted and performed a variety of different movements to show off the AxEMU’s nimbleness. Stein performed a range of movements that would be impossible in the previous space suits.

— Furthermore, the large clear bubble around the head provides a much wider range of visibility as well as lighting, which will be important when astronauts step into shadowed craters near the lunar south pole, where NASA hopes to study water ice. The headpiece also has a mount for a high-definition camera.

— Another important feature of the suit is its design which fits a broader range of body types comfortably, with provisions to make more specific adjustments in fit. “An increased sizing and adjustability accommodates a wider range of the general population, providing a superior fit for astronauts while increasing their comfort and ability to perform tasks,” Axiom’s website says.

— As far as protection goes, the increased mobility has not come at its cost. The AxEMU has been specifically designed to better deal with lunar dust.

— However, while a lot has changed, some things remain as they were, back in the day. Russell Ralston, deputy program manager for extravehicular activity at Axiom Space, told DW, “We’re still using diapers in the spacesuits. They’re just honestly a very effective solution.”

(Source: NASA unveils a new spacesuit for its upcoming moon missions: How is it different from older ones)

Point to ponder: NASA’s Artemis mission is the beginning of a new age of human exploration of the Moon. How?

5. MCQ:

Which one of the following statements best reflects the idea behind the “Fractional Orbital Bombardment System” often talked about in media? (2022)

(a) A hypersonic missile is launched into space to counter the asteroid approaching the Earth and explode it in space.

(b) A spacecraft lands on another planet after making several orbital motions.

(c) A missile is put into a stable orbit around the Earth and deorbits over a target on the Earth.

(d) A spacecraft moves along a comet with the same speed and places a probe on its surface.

ANSWERS TO MCQs: 1 (d), 2 (c), 3 (d), 4 (d), 5 (c)

Share your views, answers and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com

First uploaded on: 20-03-2023 at 13:56 IST
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