DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

03 March 2022

. No.	Topic Name	Prelims/Mains
1.	WHAT IS WAR CRIME	Prelims & Mains
2.	DETAILS OF THE CAATSA WAIVER	Prelims & Mains
3.	1ST ARTEMIS MOON LANDING BY NASA	Prelims & Mains
4.	DETAILS OF THE IPCC REPORT	Prelims & Mains
5.	ABOUT THE PARTICIPATORY NOTES	Prelims & Mains

 

1 – WHAT IS WAR CRIME: 

GS II

Topic – International Relations

• Context:
• Following Russia’s invasion, an International Criminal Court prosecutor has opened an inquiry into the “situation in Ukraine.”
• Since 2014, there is evidence to think that both alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity have occurred in Ukraine.
• What exactly is the problem:
• The International Criminal Court (ICC) had received numerous inquiries “relating to the crime of aggression,” but could not exercise “jurisdiction over this alleged crime” because neither Russia nor Ukraine were signatories to the ICC’s founding Rome Statute.
• However, the ICC currently feels it has jurisdiction because Ukraine accepted the court’s mandate twice: once in 2014, following Russia’s invasion of Crimea, and again in 2015, when it acknowledged the court’s authority for “an indefinite term.”
• Is it possible that Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine:
• Russian Grad missiles rained death on the center of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, on the morning of February 28th.
• Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated the missiles were deliberately targeted at civilians and called the incident a war crime.
• What is a war crime, exactly:
• A war crime is a major violation of international law committed against civilians or “enemy combatants” during an international or domestic armed conflict, according to the United Nations.
• War crimes, unlike genocide and crimes against humanity, must take place in the context of an armed conflict.
• Conventions of Geneva:
• The four Geneva Conventions of 1949 refined the definition of war crimes.
• “Wilful killing, torture, or inhuman treatment, including wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to the body or health, unlawful deportation or transfer or unlawful confinement of a protected person, taking of hostages, and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly,” according to Article 147 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
• New developments at the ICC:
• The International Criminal Court’s Rome Statute increased the list of crimes that qualify as war crimes. For example, the statute defines forced pregnancy as a war crime.
• Proportionality, differentiation, and prudence are all words that come to mind while thinking about proportionality.
• The concepts of distinction, moderation, and precaution are the three major pillars of humanitarian law. It may be determined that a war crime has been committed if any or all of these principles have been violated.

• Source – The Hindu

2 – DETAILS OF THE CAATSA WAIVER:

GS II

Topic – International Relations

• Context:
• With tensions between Russia and the West over the Ukraine crisis rising, India, which has significant defense cooperation with both Moscow and Kyiv, faces uncertainty about timely deliveries in the near future, as well as the threat of US sanctions under CAATSA (Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act) over the S-400 deal.
• What is the of concern:
• Tensions between Russia and Ukraine have previously slowed the modernization of the Indian Air Force’s AN-32 cargo force (IAF).
• As a result, the latest concern is that this battle may cause delays in Russian deliveries, both due to domestic commitments and sanctions imposed by the West.
• An overview of the military trade between India and Russia:
• While Russia has long been a traditional military supplier, sharing platforms and technologies that others would not, collaboration between the two countries has grown in recent years.
• For example, the defense trade between the two countries has surpassed $15 billion since 2018, thanks to the $5.43 billion agreement for S-400 air defense systems, as well as other large-ticket deals.
• Even now, over 60% of India’s military inventory is Russian-made, particularly in the areas of fighter jets, tanks, helicopters, and submarines, with other big deals in the works.
• Separately, India and Ukraine agreed to buy eight Zorya-Mashproekt gas turbine engines for the frigates.
• Under a 2009 agreement, Ukraine is also upgrading over 100 IAF An-32 transport aircraft.
• What is the S-400 air defense missile system and what does it do? What is India’s need for it:
• The S-400 Triumf is a Russian mobile surface-to-air missile system (SAM).
• It is the world’s most hazardous operationally deployed modern long-range SAM (MLR SAM), with the US-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system trailing far behind (THAAD).

• Source – The Hindu

3 – 1^ST ARTEMIS MOON LANDING BY NASA:

GS III

Topic – Space related topics

• Context:
• The first crewed landing of NASA’s Artemis program on the moon is scheduled for 2026. Meanwhile, Artemis 1 will be launched by NASA in May 2022.
• NASA cited a need for more time to develop and test the human landing mechanism and NASA’s next-generation spacesuits as the reason for the postponement.
• What exactly is Artemis:
• Acceleration, Reconnection, Turbulence, and Electrodynamics of the Moon’s Interaction with the Sun are all terms used to describe how the Moon interacts with the Sun.
• It will be NASA’s next Moon mission.
• Objective:
• To see what occurs when the Sun’s radiation reaches our stony moon, which is unprotected by a magnetic field.
• In Greek mythology, Artemis was Apollo’s twin sister and the goddess of the Moon.
• The mission’s importance:
• By 2024, NASA’s Artemis program will have landed the first woman and the next man on the Moon.
• Details of the mission:
• The Space Launch System (SLS), NASA’s next powerful rocket, will carry astronauts onboard the Orion spacecraft roughly a quarter million miles from Earth to lunar orbit.
• For excursions to the Moon’s surface, astronauts will dock Orion at the Gateway and transfer to a human landing system.
• They’ll return to the orbital station to reboard Orion before making their way back to Earth.

• Source – NASA Website

4 – DETAILS OF THE IPCC REPORT:

GS III

Topic – Environmental Conservation related topics

• Context:
• The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report’s second half was recently released.
• Climate change impacts, hazards and vulnerabilities, and adaptation alternatives are discussed in the report’s second section.
• The report’s first section was released in August of last year. That one was about climate change’s scientific foundations.
• What exactly is the AR6 (Sixth Assessment Report):
• The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCCSixth )’s Assessment Report (AR6) is the sixth in a series of publications aimed at evaluating scientific, technological, and socioeconomic data on climate change.
• This report assesses the physical science of climate change by examining past, current, and future climates.
• It demonstrates how human-caused emissions are changing our planet and what this means for our collective future.
• The Assessment Reports, the first of which was published in 1990, are the most thorough assessments of the state of the planet’s climate.
• There have been five reports released so far (1990, 1995, 2001, 2007 and 2015).
• The following are some of the report’s highlights:
• For the first time, the current report has assessed the regional and sectoral implications of climate change.
• It has included threats to megacities all throughout the world, as well as their vulnerabilities. For example, it has stated that Mumbai is at high risk of flooding and sea-level rise, while Ahmedabad is at risk of severe heat waves.
• India-specific research:
• According to the report, India is one of the most susceptible hotspots, with multiple regions and major cities at high risk of climate disasters like flooding, sea-level rise, and heat waves. Mumbai is vulnerable to rising sea levels and flooding.

• Source – The Down To Earth Magazine

5 – ABOUT THE PARTICIPATORY NOTES:

GS III

Topic – Economy related topics

• P-Notes (PNs) are financial instruments issued by a registered foreign institutional investor (FII) to an overseas investor who intends to engage in Indian stock markets but does not wish to register with the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
• Offshore Derivative Investments (ODIs) with equity or debt instruments as underlying assets are known as P-Notes.
• They give investors liquidity by allowing them to transfer ownership via endorsement and delivery.
• While FIIs must report all such investments to SEBI every quarter, they are not required to reveal the identities of the real investors

• Source – The Hindu