SSB PATRIKA

Monday Students
21 Oct 2024 Version

India’s First Newspaper Specifically Made For Defence Aspirants

Current Affairs SSB Group Discussions Lecturette topics Vocabulary TAT + PPDT Stories

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Quad group of countries take part in back-to-back naval war
games
The Quad group of countries — India, Australia, Japan, and the U.S. — has
conducted back-to-back naval war games, deepening interoperability and
honing their anti-submarine warfare skills. “Exercise Malabar,” involving the four
nations, concluded on Friday off the coast of Visakhapatnam. Prior to this, they
participated in the multilateral “Exercise Kakadu” hosted by the Royal Australian
Navy from September 9 to 20. The Indian Navy described “Exercise Malabar,”
held from October 8 to 18, as the “most comprehensive” edition to date. The
harbor phase took place in Visakhapatnam, followed by the sea phase in the
Bay of Bengal.
According to the Indian Navy, "Malabar 2024 Sea Phase serves as a testament to the commitment of participating
nations towards enhancing understanding, collaboration, and engagement in the maritime domain as the world grapples
with increasingly complex maritime security challenges." “Exercise Malabar,” which began in 1992 as a bilateral naval drill
between India and the U.S., has since evolved into a key multilateral event aimed at “enhancing interoperability,
fostering mutual understanding, and addressing shared maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean and Indo-Pacific
region." Anti-submarine warfare and undersea domain awareness have become major focus areas among the Quad
partners, especially as all four nations express concerns over the rapid expansion of the Chinese Navy and its increasing
activity in the Indian Ocean Region. The units involved in “Exercise Malabar” participated in complex and advanced
exercises across surface, sub-surface, and air warfare domains. The exercises featured surface weapon firings, anti-
aircraft drills, air defense exercises, anti-submarine warfare operations, and extensive ship-borne helicopter operations,
according to the Navy.

U.S. looking into the leak of Israel’s Iran attack plans

The United States is currently investigating an unauthorized release
of classified documents related to Israel's plans to strike Iran,
according to three U.S. officials. A fourth official confirmed that the
documents appear to be legitimate. These documents, attributed to
the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Security
Agency, detail Israel’s ongoing military preparations in response to
Iran’s ballistic missile attack on October 1.
The classified documents, marked top secret, were leaked on the
Telegram messaging app and first reported by CNN and Axios. U.S.
officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, noted that the
investigation is examining how the leak occurred, whether it was an
internal breach or a result of hacking, and whether any additional
sensitive information was compromised. in parallel, the U.S. has
advised Israel to capitalize on the elimination of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and push for a ceasefire in Gaza, while
warning Israel against expanding military operations in Lebanon to avoid escalating into a broader regional conflict.
Despite these warnings, Israel’s leadership remains determined to retaliate for Iran’s missile attack.

Bangladesh court rules that Parliament cannot remove judges

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday reinstated the Supreme Judicial Council,
granting it the authority to investigate allegations of judicial misconduct. The
court also upheld its previous ruling that declared the 16th constitutional
amendment, which transferred the power of removing judges to parliament, as
“illegal.” The order was issued by a six-member bench of the Supreme Court's
Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, according to
Supreme Court lawyer Ruhul Kuddus. Mr. Kuddus noted that the ruling
reinforced the original constitutional provisions. The verdict effectively nullifies
the 16th constitutional amendment, which had been passed during the tenure of
former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, giving parliament the power to impeach
judges instead of the Supreme Judicial Council composed of apex court judges.

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 SSB PATRIKA
Monday Students
21 Oct 2024 Version

India’s First Newspaper Specifically Made For Defence Aspirants

Current Affairs SSB Group Discussions Lecturette topics Vocabulary TAT + PPDT Stories

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS
Kyiv launches 100 drones over Russia as missile strike on
Ukraine injures 17 people
Russian air defences shot down more than 100 Ukrainian drones
on Sunday over Russia’s western regions, Moscow officials said,
while 17 persons were injured in the Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih in
a ballistic missile attack. The Russian Defence Ministry said 110
drones were destroyed in the overnight barrage against seven
Russian regions. Many targeted Russia’s border region of Kursk,
where 43 drones were reportedly shot down. Social media
footage appeared to show air defenses at work over the city of
Dzerzhinsk in the Nizhny Novgorod region, close to a factory
producing explosives. Local Governor Gleb Nikitin said on Sunday
that four fire fighters were injured repelling a drone attack over
the city’s industrial zone, but did not give further details.
Meanwhile, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said that
it targeted Dzerzhinsk’s state-owned Sverdlov factory, which it said had been making chemical components
for artillery ammunition and aerial bombs. It also said a drone sparked a fire at a military airfield in the Lipetsk
region

North Korea calls new sanctions monitoring

committee ‘unlawful’
North Korea’s Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui on Sunday
criticised a new sanctions monitoring team led by the U.S. as
“unlawful and illegitimate”, saying countries involved in the
entity would pay a “dear price”. The 11-member team was
named earlier this month after Russia vetoed the renewal of a
panel of UN experts monitoring international sanctions on
North Korea, that was constituted for its banned nuclear and
weapons programmes. Since the Russian veto, South Korea
and its allies have worked to apply different methods to
monitor sanctions, leading to the formation of the new group
— which includes the U.S. and Japan. Such a monitoring
mechanism is “utterly unlawful and illegitimate” Mr. Choe said
in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.
“Its existence constitutes a denial of the UN charter.

Pakistan’s Senate passes constitutional amendment Bill

The Senate on Sunday passed the controversial 26th Constitution Amendment
Bill, limiting the tenure of Pakistan’s Chief Justice to three years, despite opposition
from the jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party. The upper house of
parliament voted 65-4 in favor of the bill, surpassing the required two-thirds
majority, which needed the support of 64 members. The bill had earlier been
approved by the Cabinet with consensus among the ruling coalition partners and
was presented in the Senate by Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar. “I... wish to
introduce a Bill further to amend the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of
Pakistan, the Constitution 26th Amendment Bill, 2024,” Mr. Tarar said as he
presented the bill to the upper house. The bill includes 22 clauses of amendments,
all of which were passed by the Senate with the support of 65 senators. One key
provision of the bill is the establishment of a 12-member commission responsible for appointing the Chief Justice, who
will serve a term of three years. The bill will now move to the National Assembly, where it also requires a two-thirds
majority before finally receiving approval from the President to become part of the constitution.

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 SSB PATRIKA
Monday Students
21 Oct 2024 Version

India’s First Newspaper Specifically Made For Defence Aspirants

Current Affairs SSB Group Discussions Lecturette topics Vocabulary TAT + PPDT Stories

NATIONAL AFFAIRS
PM inaugurates 3 airports in M.P., U.P. and
Chhattisgarh
Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated three airports across the country
on Sunday, located in Surguja, Chhattisgarh; Rewa, Madhya Pradesh; and Saharanpur,
Uttar Pradesh. These airports have been developed under the Central government's
regional connectivity scheme, UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Nagrik), and flight operations
are expected to commence soon. The airport in Chhattisgarh will connect Surguja to
cities including Raipur, Jagdalpur, Jabalpur, Kolkata, and Delhi. In Madhya Pradesh, the
new airport aims to enhance connectivity in the Vindhya region and will initially operate
with 19-seater aircraft on two routes. One flight will link Rewa to Bhopal via Khajuraho,
while another will fly to Jabalpur. This is the sixth airport licensed by the Directorate
General of Civil Aviation in Madhya Pradesh, constructed by the Airports Authority of
India over approximately one and a half years at a total cost of ₹450 crore. The airport
in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, has been built adjacent to the Air Force Station, as it does
not have its own runway. The local administration has yet to receive a flight operation
schedule for Saharanpur, and no aviation company has offered to initiate services at
the airport.

Blast near CRPF school in Rohini sends shock waves

across Capital; no one hurt
Initial investigation suggests use of a crude bomb to carry out explosion as
probe agencies find a suspicious ‘white powder’ at the spot; L-G Saxena
urges people to refrain from fearmongering
An explosion ripped through the wall of a CRPF school in Rohini’s Prashant Vihar locality
on Sunday, sending the city on high alert as the authorities ordered a multiagency probe
into it. The blast left the school wall, windowpanes of near by shops, and a car damaged.
No one was reported injured. A senior Delhi Police officer said the blast could have been
caused by an improvised crude bomb. The explosion was reported around 7.50 a.m. near
the school in Sector 14 of Rohini. A bomb squad and a forensic team, along with officials
of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), National Security Guard (NSG), and the
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) rushed to the spot to ascertain the source of the
explosion. The NSG, NIA, and Delhi Police have cordoned of the entire area, said Deputy
Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Amit Goel. The NSG commandos deployed robots to
scan the area for explosive materials. According to sources, the police have not ruled out
a conspiracy angle. ‘Chemical-like odour’ A purported video of the explosion, which
surfaced on social media, showed thick white smoke emanating from the spot. Sources said there was a “chemical-
like” odour. A team of forensic experts inspected the area and found a suspicious “white powder” at the spot, which
has been sent to a laboratory for examination. Sources said it could be a mixture of ammonia and phosphate.

Militants gun down seven in Kashmir, say officials

Six workers from outside the Union Territory and a doctor are the victims;
gunmen alighted near the camp site of a private company in Ganderbal in
the evening and opened fire indiscriminately
Seven civilians — a local doctor and six workers from outside the Union
Territory — were killed in a militant attack at a construction site in
Ganderbal in central Kashmir on Sunday evening. Official sources said
gunmen alighted near the camp site of a private company in the
Gangangeer area in the evening and opened fire indiscriminately. The
strategic Z-Morh tunnel is being constructed and a highway widened in
the area close to the tourist destination of Sonamarg. A police spokesman
confirmed the death of three non-local workers. Official sources, however,
said the death toll touched seven by Sunday night as “four injured civilians
died of injuries in a hospital”.

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 SSB PATRIKA
Monday Students
21 Oct 2024 Version

India’s First Newspaper Specifically Made For Defence Aspirants

Current Affairs SSB Group Discussions Lecturette topics Vocabulary TAT + PPDT Stories

EDITOR OF THE DAY

India’s choices in a world becoming bipolar again

Last month, when India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval met the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the sidelines of
the BRICS National Security Advisers’ meeting in St. Petersburg, Russia, a possibility was born anew. Is our diplomatic
engagement with China, strained since the horrific June 2020 Chinese incursion into Galwan Valley that claimed the lives
of 20 Indian soldiers, about to improve? India faces this question at a time when its relations with the United States have
been thriving, with the U.S. regarding India as a useful partner to counter Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific. So, must
India again face a crucial choice in a bipolar world?

Two nations at odds but still connected

My answer would be a qualified yes. Yes, because two major powers, the U.S. and China, are again vying for global
hegemony; but qualified, because this is not the bipolarity we knew during the Cold War. After all, the U.S. and China have
multiple connections with each other that the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. did not: the U.S. is the largest investor in China’s
economy, China owns more U.S. Treasury Bonds than any other country, the U.S. sends more tourists to China than to any
other Asian country, and there are more Chinese students in the U.S. than those of any other nationality. These are two
powers at odds, but with multiple avenues of diplomatic dialogue and economic co-operation that simply did not exist
during the Cold War.
Not about ideology
In tussling with the U.S.S.R., America also aimed to establish the primacy of capitalism over communism and liberal
democracy over single-party authoritarianism. The Sino-American competition, however, is not about ideology, much
though Americans like to portray it otherwise. An ideological zeal to convert the world to communism does not galvanise
China, which is really only interested in securing global hegemony for itself. Since 2021, Washington has futilely
experimented with the Summit for Democracy, hoping to conflate its desire for subduing its foremost political and
economic rival with championing democracy. But even Europeans are not buying into U.S. President Joe Biden’s
“democracy versus autocracy” binary. America’s instinct to package all its vested interests as a crusade for democratising
the globe has proven unsuccessful. So, instead of playing this game, China is glibly choosing to deride it as “Western-style
democracy,” which, Beijing argues, serves not ordinary citizens but the forces of capitalism. What also makes the Sino-
American rivalry distinctive is that Russia, the successor state to the U.S.S.R., is never far from the action. Russia can play a
menacing role in today’s brewing bipolarity; given its size, abundant natural resources, and immense stockpile of nuclear
weapons, it outranks most middle powers. Many, therefore, argue that America’s bipolarity is not with China but the axis of
China and Russia. Professor Josef Joe, for instance, defines our world as a “Two-and-a-Half Power World”, where Russia “is
held back from full parity with the US and China by its lack of ‘usable power.’” Moscow, with an economy smaller than Italy’s
and a military budget that is only one-quarter of China’s, is far from a third pole: but it is Beijing’s junior partner, a fact
manifest in China’s support of Russia’s Ukrainian misadventure, which demonstrates President Xi Jinping’s resolve not to be
intimidated by the West. Though China has no allies, only clients, its emerging nexus with Russia, North Korea and Iran could
yet pose challenges from Taiwan to the South China Sea.

The new canvas of the Indo-Pacific

The greatest consequence of this geopolitical churn has been the creation of an entirely new canvas: the Indo-Pacifc, a
term encompassing three overlapping developments. These are China’s goal of creating a blue water navy — a formidable
naval force capable of operating and projecting power on the high seas — and becoming a transcontinental economic giant,
India’s emergence as a possible counterbalance to China, and the role that the U.S. will play in shaping the contours of the
seemingly inevitable shift in power from the west to the east: from the Atlantic to the Indian and Pacific Oceans.

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 SSB PATRIKA
Monday Students
21 Oct 2024 Version

India’s First Newspaper Specifically Made For Defence Aspirants

Current Affairs SSB Group Discussions Lecturette topics Vocabulary TAT + PPDT Stories

Think You Know?

1. What is the primary focus of the Quad's "Exercise Malabar" in recent years?
a) Enhancing trade relations among Quad countries
b) Conducting joint anti-submarine warfare exercises
c) Developing nuclear deterrence capabilities
d) Expanding space exploration programs

Correct Answer:b) Conducting joint anti-submarine warfare exercises

2. Which country has vetoed the renewal of the UN panel monitoring sanctions on North
Korea, leading to the creation of a new group?
a) United States
b) China
c) Russia
d) South Korea

Correct Answer:c) Russia

3. What is a significant consequence of the current geopolitical rivalry between the U.S. and
China, according to the document?
a) The return to a Cold War-era ideological conflict
b) A rise in diplomatic disengagement between the U.S. and China
c) A shift in global power dynamics from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific
d) A unified global stance against autocratic regimes

Correct Answer:c) A shift in global power dynamics from the Atlantic to the Indo-Pacific

4. According to the article, why is the current U.S.-China rivalry different from the Cold War
between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R.?
a) The rivalry is primarily based on economic interdependence, not ideology
b) China seeks to promote communism globally
c) The U.S. has no direct economic ties with China
d) Russia remains neutral in the U.S.-China rivalry

Correct Answer:a) The rivalry is primarily based on economic interdependence, not ideology

5. What key provision was included in Pakistan's 26th Constitutional Amendment Bill, passed
by the Senate?
a) Increasing the tenure of the Chief Justice to five years
b) Limiting the tenure of the Chief Justice to three years
c) Allowing the President to appoint the Chief Justice
d) Granting the military the power to appoint judges

Correct Answer: b) Limiting the tenure of the Chief Justice to three years
6.How are civilian security measures evolving in response to increasing bomb threats and local
terrorism, as seen in the Rohini explosion case?
a) By increasing police presence without changing technology or intelligence strategies.
b) By deploying robots and using advanced forensic techniques to identify explosive materials.
c) By avoiding any investigation and focusing on public awareness programs.
d) By reducing security in high-risk areas to avoid public panic.

Correct Answer: b) By deploying robots and using advanced forensic techniques to identify explosive materials.

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 SSB PATRIKA
Monday Students
21 Oct 2024 Version

India’s First Newspaper Specifically Made For Defence Aspirants

Current Affairs SSB Group Discussions Lecturette topics Vocabulary TAT + PPDT Stories

Trending Vocabulary
Interoperability (संपर्क -योग्यता) Provisions (प्रावधान)
Synonyms: Compatibility, Cooperation, Coordination Synonyms: Supply, Provisioning, Stock

Comprehensive (समग्र) Conflate (मिश्रित करना)

Synonyms: Complete, All-inclusive, Thorough Synonyms: Merge, Combine, Fuse

Testament (गवाही) Galvanise (प्रेरित करना)

Synonyms: Evidence, Proof, Witness Synonyms: Stimulate, Energize, Excite

Incursion (आक्रमण) Bipolarity (द्विध्रुवीयता)

Synonyms: Invasion, Raid, Attack Synonyms: Duality, Oppositeness, Contrariety

Retaliate (प्रतिकार करना) Formidable (दुर्जेय)

Synonyms: Revenge, Reprisal, Strike back Synonyms: Intimidating, Impressive, Powerful

Impeach (महाभियोग चलाना) Autocracy (स्वेच्छाचारिता)

Synonyms: Accuse, Charge, Indict Synonyms: Dictatorship, Tyranny, Absolutism

Indiscriminately (अंधाधुंध तरीके से) Legitimate (वैध)

Synonyms: Randomly, Arbitrarily, Unsystematically Synonyms: Lawful, Legal, Valid

Zeal (उत्साह) Illegitimate (अवैध)

Synonyms: Enthusiasm, Passion, Eagerness Synonyms: Unlawful, Illegal, Invalid

Hegemony (प्रभुत्व) Constitutional (संविधानिक)

Synonyms: Dominance, Leadership, Control Synonyms: Legal, Lawful, Statutory

Misadventure (दुर्घटना) Amendment (संशोधन)

Synonyms: Mishap, Accident, Misfortune Synonyms: Revision, Modification, Alteration

PYQ of The Day

Playlist

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