Important Daily Facts of the Day

Railway Protection Force (RPF) conducted a month long nationwide Drive under Operation Narcos and Operation AAHT (GS Paper 3, Internal Security)

Why in news?

• Recently, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) conducted a month-long nationwide Pan India Drive with an objective to make a dent upon the syndicate involved in smuggling of Narcotic Products through the railway network under Operation “Narcos” and Human Trafficking under Operation AAHT.

 

Narcotics:

• Railway has been the preferred mode of trafficking of NDPS for longer distance, and therefore, Government of India, empowered RPF officers, of and above the rank of Astt. Sub-Inspector, to exercise the powers and perform the duties to conduct search, seize NDPS and arrest traffickers under the provisions of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS)Act, 1984 and further hand them over to the empowered law enforcing agencies.

 

Human Trafficking:

• Human Trafficking, especially of Women and Children, for sexual exploitation, prostitution, forced labour, forced marriage, domestic servitude, adoption, begging, organ transplant, drug peddling etc is an organised crime and the most abominable violation of human rights.
• In May 2011, Govt. of India ratified the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) and one of its three protocols includes the protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in person, especially women and children.
• RPF has been working closely with other law enforcement agencies and other stake holders to identify and rescue victims of human trafficking under Operation “AAHT”.

 

Role of RPF:

• RPF is entrusted with the responsibility of security of railway property, passenger area, passengers and matters connected therewith. In addition to the mandate, RPF has been entrusted with other responsibilities in the interest of national security.

 

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC)

• The Convention against Transnational Organized Crime or UNTOC is also known as the Palermo Convention since it was adopted in Palermo in Italy in 2000.
• The convention entered into force in 2003 after the required number of ratifications.
• The idea behind having an international convention against organized crime was that if crimes could cross borders, so must law enforcement.
• UNTOC enables cooperation between member states for tackling international organized crime.
• India ratified the UNTOC in 2011 becoming the fourth South Asian country to do so.
• The nodal agency for all dealings with UNTOC is the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

 

Operation Dost

(GS Paper 2, International Relation)

Why in news?

• The earthquake of magnitude 7.7 on the Richter ripped through Turkey and Syria on February 6, followed by a series of aftershocks that caused huge devastation, loss of lives and damage to infrastructure in the two countries.
• In an effort to help those hit by the earthquake, the Indian government is extending a hand of friendship to both countries in the form of massive humanitarian aid, with multiple jets flying off to the countries carrying relief material.

What is Operation Dost?

• In collaboration with the Indian Army, the government has sent tons of relief material to both Syria and Turkey as part of Operation Dost, which is a program by the Centre to help those in need by earthquake-hit countries.
• Under Operation Dost, India sent to Turkiye relief materials, a mobile hospital, and specialised search and rescue teams in four C-17 Globemaster military transport aircraft to support the country's rescue efforts.
• India also sent six tonnes of relief materials, including life-saving medicines and medical items, in a transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force (IAF) to Syria which was also hit by the earthquake on Monday. India became one of many countries which have extended a helping hand to Turkey and Syria after the earthquake.

 

What’s next?

• The sixth plane from India carrying rescue personnel, essentials, and medical equipment for earthquake relief efforts has reached Turkey recently.
• Hundreds still remain stuck in the debris while temporary houses have been built for those who have been left homeless.

 

Advanced drone air traffic management system 'Skye UTM' unveiled

(GS Paper 3, Science and Tech)

Why in news?

• Recently, the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways unveiled Skye UTM, touted as the most cutting-edge unmanned traffic management system in the world which is capable of handling 4,000 flights per hour and 96,000 flights per day. 

What is Skye UTM?

• Skye UTM is a Cloud-based aerial traffic management system that integrates unmanned air traffic with the manned aviation airspace.
• Skye UTM has been built towards providing situational awareness, autonomous navigation, risk assessment, and traffic management to all drone/other aerial mobility operators across the airspace.

 

Drone startup:

• The Ministry will soon invite participation from drone startups to be deployed for real-time monitoring and speed up highway constructions, and also keep a check on fatal road accidents.
• Drones are going to be used across sectors; from construction, agriculture, healthcare, defence, infrastructure, surveying, real estate, and transport.
• Drone companies will even monitor highways and road construction. There is a lot of research happening that will certainly help scale its usage

 

Advantages of Skye UTM:

• Skye UTM has supported more than 300 successful BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line of Sight) drone flights to date.
• The Skye UTM captures more than 255 parameters of UAV movements and stores them into its ‘Blackbox’ which is a published systematic description of the entire flight.
• The platform offers the first 3D view of the drone airspace, along with operations and regulations mapping servers which offer the latest airspace status, verified paths, and display real time UAV movements, said the company.

Way Forward:

• With the system's successful commercial debut in India, Skye UTM is now accessible to everyone and the traffic management system will also be introduced globally in the coming days.