India launches third Arihant class submarine S4

  • According to the reports of Jane's Defense Weekly, India has secretly launched its nuclear-powered super-destroyer submarine.

  • This submersible ballistic nuclear submarine is the third submarine of the Arihant class and is being called the S4. Earlier INS Arighat and INS Arihant have been launched.

  • 82.5 MW light water reactor installed in submarine

  • Indian Navy and Russian scientists and technical staff have helped in making this submarine. India plans to induct 4 such SSBNs into the Navy. Not only this, India will have the option of two more nuclear submarines. The nuclear reactor of the S4 submarine has also been further improved. According to the report of The Wire, an 82.5 MW light water reactor has been installed in this submarine.

submarine capability

  • The S4 submarine is slightly larger than its predecessor two other submarines and weighs 7,000 tonnes. INS Arihant is of 6000 tonnes. The S4 submarine is fitted with 8 missile launch tubes, while INS Arihant had 4 missile tubes. This S4 nuclear submarine can carry 8 K-4 Submarine Launched Ballistic Missiles which have a stated range of 3500 km. At the same time, 24 K-15 missiles can be deployed on it.

Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet names announced for 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh

  • China has announced names of Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabets for 15 places in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. China claims Arunachal Pradesh as southern Tibet.

  • China's Ministry of Civil Affairs has approved Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabets for 15 place names of Arunachal. China has given the Chinese name of Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnan. It has also been said in the news that this name is in accordance with the rules issued by the Chinese cabinet regarding geographical names.

what names have been announced

  • The 15 places for which names with Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabets have been announced. It has eight residential places, four mountains, two rivers and a mountain pass. Earlier in 2017, the names of six places were kept by China.

  • China has always claimed Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet. However, the Indian government has rejected this claim of China many times. India has always considered Arunachal as an inseparable part. China has always opposed the visit of Indian politicians and officials to Arunachal to substantiate its claim. Let us tell you that there is a border about 3488 km long between India and China, which is called the Line of Actual Control.

  • According to the news of the Global Times, the eight residential places that China has named. They include Seongkejong and Daglungjong in Kona County of Shannan Region, Manigang, Duding and Migpen in Medog County of Nyingchi, Goling in Jiyu County of Nyingchi, Danga and Mejag in Lunzhe County in Shannan Region.

  • In addition there are four mountainous areas Wamori, Deu Ri, Lungzhub Ri and Kunmingxingje Fang. The two rivers that have been given Chinese names are Sheongmo and Dulan and are named after a mountain pass in Kona County.

  • The announcements are part of a national survey of place names that have existed for hundreds of years. According to China, this is a legitimate move and it is China's sovereignty to name them according to their own. More places will be named in the future.

World's longest metro line launched in Shanghai

  • The world's longest metro line was opened in China's Shanghai province on December 31, 2021.

  • With this opening, Shanghai has retained its rank as the city with the largest metro network worldwide.

  • The city opened two new metro lines – Line 14 and the first phase of Line 18.

  • With this, the total length of the metro network in Shanghai has reached 831 km. It remains the longest network in the world.

  • The opening of the two new lines has increased the total number of fully automated metro lines in Shanghai to five, with an operational length of 167 km.

  • Now Shanghai has 20 subway lines and 508 stations.

Shanghai

  • Shanghai is one of four direct-administered municipalities in China. It is located at the southern estuary of the Yangtze River. The Huangpu River also flows through it. The city is the most populous urban area in China as well as the most populous in the world. It is the only city in East Asia that has a GDP greater than that of its respective capital. The city is a global center for finance, research, business and economics, construction, education, science and technology, tourism, culture and transportation. Shanghai port is the busiest container port in the world.

New Development Bank Headquarters

  • Shanghai is the headquarters of the New Development Bank. Shanghai hosts approximately 70 foreign delegates as well as several national and international events each year, including Shanghai Fashion Week, ChinaJoy, and the Chinese Grand Prix.

Egypt included in BRICS Bank

  • BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) announced the addition of Egypt as its new member.

  • Egypt is the fourth new member to join the NDB after Bangladesh, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Uruguay.

  • The inclusion of Egypt has further expanded the global reach of BRICS Bank.

  • How will Egypt benefit from this move?

  • The NDB will provide Egypt with a new platform to promote cooperation with BRICS countries on infrastructure and sustainable development. The NDB will also help Egypt connect with other emerging economies and developing countries.

New Development Bank (NDB)

  • NDB is a multilateral development bank. It was jointly established by the BRICS countries in 2014 at the 6th BRICS Summit in Fortaleza, Brazil. But it was formally opened on July 2015. The bank was set to support infrastructure and sustainable development efforts in the BRICS group and emerging economies for rapid growth through cutting-edge technology and innovation. It is headquartered in Shanghai, China.

Observer position at UNGA

  • The NDB gained observer status at the United Nations General Assembly in 2018. Thus, it established a strong foundation for active and fruitful cooperation with the United Nations.

  • Objectives of NDB

  • The objectives of NDB are as follows:

  • Promoting development in member countries.

  • supporting economic development.

  • To promote competitiveness and facilitate employment generation.

  • To build a knowledge sharing platform in developing countries.

  • How does the bank fulfill its objectives?

  • To accomplish its objective, NDB supports public or private projects through debt, equity participation, guarantees, loans and financial instruments.

  • Developmental Projects by NDB

  • Since its inception, NDB has approved around 80 projects with a portfolio of USD 30 billion for its members. These projects include areas such as clean energy, water and sanitation, transport, social infrastructure, digital infrastructure and urban development.

AFSPA extended to Nagaland

  • The central government declared the entire Nagaland a "disturbed area" for six more months under the AFSPA Act.

  • This announcement will be effective from December 30, 2021.

  • The government has termed the situation in the state as "disturbed and dangerous".

  • The decision was taken days after the central government constituted a high-level committee to examine the possibility of withdrawing the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act from Nagaland.

  • AFSPA has been operating in Nagaland for decades.

Center's opinion

  • The Central Government is of the view that the entire region of Nagaland is in such a disturbed and dangerous condition that the use of armed forces to assist the civilian population is necessary. The Central Government exercised the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 to declare the whole of Nagaland as a 'disturbed area'.

panel recommendation

  • The decision was taken following the recommendation of a panel, which was set up to examine the possibility of withdrawing AFSPA. Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs Piyush Goyal issued a notification to increase the AFSPA. He has been nominated as Member Secretary in the panel. The panel is headed by Secretary level officer Vivek Joshi. The panel was formed to defuse the escalating tension in Nagaland due to the killing of 14 civilians.

AFSPA Act

  • The Armed Forces Special Powers Act, 1958 empowers the armed forces to maintain public order in "disturbed areas". With this act, the armed forces are authorized to use force or even fire after warning a person found to be in violation of the law.

What is a disturbed area?

  • An area where "the use of armed forces is necessary to assist civilian power" is called a disturbed area. Any area can be declared as a disturbed area under Section 3 of AFSPA.