Exercise MITRA SHAKTI 2023 (GS Paper 2, Defence)
Why in news?
- The ninth edition of Joint Military exercise “Exercise MITRA SHAKTI-2023” commenced recently in Aundh (Pune).
- The exercise is being conducted from 16th to 29th November 2023.
Scope:
- The aim of the exercise is to jointly rehearse conduct of Sub Conventional operations under Chapter VII of United Nations Charter.
- The scope of the exercise includes synergising joint responses during counter-terrorist operations. Both sides will practice tactical actions such as raid, search and destroy missions, heliborne operations, etc.
- In addition, Army Martial Arts Routine (AMAR), combat reflex shooting and Yoga will also form part of the exercise curriculum.
Key Highlights:
- It involve employment of Drones and Counter Unmanned Aerial Systems besides helicopters.
- Drills to secure helipads and undertake casualty evacuation during counter-terrorist operations will also be rehearsed jointly by both sides.
- Collective efforts will focus on achieving an enhanced level of interoperability amongst the troops and reduce the risk of life and property while keeping the interests and agenda of the UN at the forefront during peace keeping operations.
- Both sides will exchange views and practices of joint drills on a wide spectrum of combat skills that will facilitate the participants to mutually learn from each other.
Way Forward:
- Sharing of best practices will further enhance the level of defence cooperation between Indian Army and Sri Lankan Army.
- The exercise will also foster strong bilateral relations between the two neighbouring nations.
High rainfall afforded resilience to tropical rainforests around 50 million years ago
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Context:
- High rainfall helped the survival of equatorial rainforests at a time when Earth was globally warm and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration was a whopping more than 1000 ppmv, around 50 million years ago.
- The mechanism in which biota survives adverse conditions is still poorly known. The existing palaeoclimate data of mid- and high latitudes suggest large fluctuations in rainfall at around 50 million years ago.
- Scientists are trying to explore the palaeoclimate data to probe the mysteries of survival under adverse conditions.
Recent research:
- Scientists of Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeosciences (BSIP), have quantified the terrestrial equatorial climate of around 50 million years ago using plant proxy. They reconstructed climate data and found that a significantly high rainfall was present during that time.
- The scientists have estimated that the high rainfall, most likely, increased the plant’s water use efficiency and afforded resilience to survive and remain functional under extremely warm and elevated carbon dioxide concentration at around 50 million years ago.
- It was earlier known that the Earth was around 13°C warmer than present and carbon dioxide concentration was more than 1000 ppmv during this time.
- This drastically affected the survival of mid- and high latitude forests due to changes in the hydrological cycle, but the equatorial forests survived successfully.
Significance:
- It revealed for the first time, the mechanism of survival of equatorial forests when the Earth was much warmer than the present.
- The study has also helped focusing on developing a calibration file from the low-latitude regions which will be useful in the quantification of seasonal deep-time terrestrial climate.
Way Forward:
- Tracing the mystery of the survival of the rainforests – the biodiversity hotspots of the world is the Key to understanding climatic and biotic changes occurring at present and in the future.
