Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Prime Minister unveiled the new Naval Ensign (flag) at Kochi which bears the seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who laid the foundations of a modern navy.

Shivaji’s navy gave his enemies sleepless nights and this was the reason that the British colonialists decided to break the back of the Indian naval enterprise.

How does the Indian Navy identify with Shivaji (reign 1674-80) and the great Maratha admiral Kanhoji Angre (1669-1729).

Written by Man Aman Singh Chhina , Edited by Explained Desk

Chandigarh | Updated: September 2, 2022 10:15:10 pm

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Indian Navy | New naval Ensign | Indian Navy’s new ensign unveiledIndian Navy’s new ensign unveiled: The flag is inspired by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled the new Naval Ensign (flag) at Kochi on Friday (September 2), which bears the seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, who laid the foundations of a modern navy.

Shivaji’s navy gave his enemies sleepless nights, the Prime Minister said, and this was the reason that the British colonialists decided to break the back of the Indian naval enterprise.

But now, the Indian Navy’s new flag, inspired by Shivaji, will fly proudly in the sky and on the seas, the Prime Minister said.

How does the Indian Navy identify with Shivaji (reign 1674-80) and the great Maratha admiral Kanhoji Angre (1669-1729), and how did they ensure Maratha supremacy of the seas?

Shivaji and the seas

• Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj put great emphasis on sea-faring prowess, and laid the foundations of a modern naval force in the 17th century. 
• The Indian Navy has always acknowledged this fact, and has named a training establishment in Lonavla as INS Shivaji and a shore based logistics and administrative hub of Western Naval Command, Mumbai, as INS Angre after Kanhoji Angre, the acclaimed Maratha naval commander.
• The use of the octagonal design of the seal of Shivaji on the new Naval Ensign is a formal stamp on the umbilical ties of the Indian Navy with the navy of the Maratha empire.

Extent of Naval Prowess

• Shivaji’s strategic thought ensured that a strong naval presence was established along the Konkan coast to protect the sea trade of the Maratha empire. 
• As per an Indian Navy document, “The navy under Shivaji was so strong that the Marathas could hold their against the British, Portuguese and Dutch. 
• Shivaji realised the importance of having a secure coastline and protecting the western Konkan coastline from the attacks of Siddis’ fleet”.
• Shivaji built ships in towns such as Kalyan, Bhivandi, and Goa, both for trade and to establish a fighting navy.
• He also built a number of sea forts and bases for repair, storage and shelter. 
• Shivaji fought many lengthy battles with Siddis of Janjira on coastline.
• The fleet grew to reportedly 160 to 700 merchant, support and fighting vessels. 
• He started trading with foreigners on his own after possession of eight or nine ports in the Deccan.

Kanhoji Angre

• Kanhoji Angre was the commander of Maratha navy, and is credited with laying a strong naval foundation which ensured that the Marathas were a sea-faring power to reckon with.
• Kanhoji is credited with holding his own against the English, Portuguese and Dutch naval forces.
• He ensured that the merchants plying their trade for the Maratha empire were protected on the seas. 
• He set up a base in Colaba with more bases at Suvarndurg and Vijaydurg near Ratnagiri.
• In the estimation of many historians, Kanhoji was the greatest naval commander in pre-modern Indian history. 
• Before the Marathas, the Cholas had a formidable sea-faring fleet of ships which, though not being strictly warships, were able to lead expeditions all around the Bay of Bengal. 

Siddis of Janjira

• Janjira State was a princely state in India during the British Raj.
• Its rulers were a Siddi dynasty of Habesha descent and the state was under the suzerainty of the Bombay Presidency.
• Janjira State was located on the Konkan coast in the present-day Raigad district of Maharashtra.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

INS Vikrant, the country’s first indigenous aircraft carrier and the most complex warship ever built.

The ship is christened after India’s first aircraft carrier Vikrant, which played a vital role in the 1971 war.

• The ship with a displacement of 42,800 tonnes was designed by the Navy’s Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), a public sector shipyard under Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterway.
• The ship would be capable of operating an air wing of 30 aircraft comprising 
• MiG-29K fighter jets, 
• Kamov-31 early warning helicopters, and 
• MH-60R multi-role helicopters
• Indigenously manufactured Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) 
• Light Combat Aircraft (LCA-Navy). 
• Fighter aircraft are launched using the Short Take Off But Arrested Recovery (STOBAR) method.
• INS Vikrant is equipped with a ski-jump for launching aircraft, and a set of three ‘arrester wires’ for their recovery onboard.

Features

• The Vikrant stretches 262 metres in length, exceeding that of two football fields and is 62 metre wide. Around 20 aircraft can be parked in the hangar.
• It has a top speed of around 28 knots (more than 50 kmph) and a cruising speed of 18 knots with an endurance of about 7,500 nautical miles.
• Over 76 per cent of the material and equipment on board the carrier is indigenous, including 21,500 tonnes of special grade steel developed indigenously and used in Indian naval ships for the first time.
• The Made-in-India warship is a feather in the country’s cap, as only five or six nations have the capacity of building an aircraft carrier.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences (CCRAS), has taken a unique initiative to support the research efforts of bright young minds of the Country by developing the Studentship Program for Ayurveda Research Ken (SPARK) for Ayurveda (BAMS) students studying in recognised Ayurveda colleges.

• SPARK program is primarily developed to help students develop acumen for research and to further support and incentivise their research ideas.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) concluded in New York. 

• Marking 52 years of a treaty that every speaker described as the ‘cornerstone of the global nuclear order’ it was originally planned for its 50th year for 2020, but the conference was delayed due to COVID-19.
• After four weeks of debate and discussion, the delegates failed to agree on a final document.

NPT’s Success and Weakness

• It is true that since 1970, when the NPT entered into force, only four of the 10 review conferences (in 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010) have concluded with a consensus document, 
• The review years were: 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2015, 2022. 
• Ironically, even the critical 1995 Review Conference that decided to extend the NPT into perpetuity, broke down.

About NPT

The NPT was negotiated during the 1960s to reconcile three competing objectives: 

• Controlling the further spread of nuclear weapons beyond the P-5 countries (the U.S., the U.S.S.R., the U.K, France and China) that had already tested;
• Committing to negotiating reductions of nuclear arsenals leading to their elimination; and
• Sharing benefits of peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology

Progress 

• Arms control talks between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R./Russia did take place and the two countries did succeed in bringing down their collective arsenals.
• Despite apprehensions that by the 1980s, there would be close to 25 nuclear powers, in the last 50 years, only four more countries have gone on to test and develop nuclear arsenals — India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan.
• After the end of the Cold War and the break-up of the U.S.S.R. in 1991, non-proliferation remained a shared priority for the major powers and the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Weakness

Progress on the other two aspects took a back seat; 

• No meaningful discussions or negotiations on nuclear disarmament have ever taken place in the NPT framework.
• In 2019, the U.S. notified Russia of its decision to quit the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty that had obliged both countries to get rid of all ground-launched missiles with a range of 500-5,500 km. 
• The only surviving arms control treaty between Russia and the U.S. is the New START Treaty that imposes a ceiling on operational strategic nuclear weapons of 700 launchers and 1,550 warheads each.
• All that the five nuclear-weapon-states party to the NPT could manage at the conference was a reiteration of the 1985 Reagan-Gorbachev declaration that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’. 
• The statement remains valid but clearly sounded hollow in the face of growing strategic rivalry between China, Russia and the U.S., rising nuclear rhetoric, and modernisation plans for nuclear arsenals being pursued.

Nuclear modernisation

• United States administration’s Nuclear Posture Review is awaited, the U.S.’s 30-year nuclear modernisation programme, intended to provide ‘credible deterrence against regional aggression’ is already underway. This has been used to justify developing and deploying more usable low-yield nuclear weapons.

Russia and China

• Russia and China is developing hypersonic delivery systems that evade missile defences as well as larger missiles that do not need to travel over the Arctic. 
• Also on the cards are nuclear torpedoes and new cruise missiles. 
• Last year, satellite imagery over China revealed that at least three new missile storage sites are being developed. 
• China on track to expand its arsenal from current levels of approximately 350 warheads to over 1,000 by 2030. 
• Such a dramatic expansion raises questions about whether this marks a shift in the Chinese nuclear doctrine that has relied on a credible minimum deterrent and a no-first-use policy for the last six decades.

Cyber Threat

• Developments in space and cyber domains are blurring the line between conventional and nuclear weapons, leading to nuclear entanglement and rendering command and control systems vulnerable. 
• This, in turn, compresses decision-making time and creates incentives for early use, raising nuclear risk.

Other Treaties

Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

• Frustrated by the absence of progress on nuclear disarmament, the nuclear have-nots successfully negotiated a Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW, also called Ban Treaty) in 2017 that entered into force in January 2021.
• All 86 signatories are nuclear have-nots and parties to the NPT.
• It is the first legally binding international agreement to comprehensively prohibit nuclear weapons, with the goal of leading towards their total elimination.

Strategy:

• For those nations that are party to it, the treaty prohibits the development, testing, production, stockpiling, stationing, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as assistance and encouragement to the prohibited activities.
• For nuclear armed states joining the treaty, it provides for a time-bound framework for negotiations leading to the verified and irreversible elimination of its nuclear weapons programme.

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT)

• The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was concluded in 1996 but has yet to formally enter into force because two major powers, the S. and China, have yet to ratify it.
• The CTBT is the Treaty banning all nuclear explosions – everywhere, by everyone.
• The Treaty will enter into force after all 44 States listed in Annex 2 to the Treaty will ratify it. These States had nuclear facilities at the time the Treaty was negotiated and adopted.
• India, North Korea and Pakistan have not yet signed the Treaty.
• While it is true that they do observe a moratorium on nuclear testing, modernisation plans could soon run up against the CTBT.

Nobody wants a breakdown of the NPT but sustaining it requires facing up to today’s political realities. The rivalries in a multipolar nuclear world create new challenges, different from what the world faced in a bipolar era of the 1960s when the NPT was concluded. Without addressing the new challenges, the NPT will weaken and with it, the taboo against nuclear weapons that has held since 1945

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

The strongest global storm of 2022 is barreling toward the East China Sea, threatening Japan’s southern islands but posing only a potential risk to Taiwan or China’s east coast.

• Super typhoon Hinnamnor, currently several hundred kilometers to the east of Okinawa, is expected to skirt the Japanese islands this weekend. 
• The storm is packing sustained winds of about 150 miles (241 kilometres) per hour and has gusts around 184 mph, according to the US Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
• Hinnamnor would be the strongest storm of 2022 based on the maximum sustained wind speed recorded at this point.

Cyclones

• Cyclones are a type of low-pressure environment with rapid inward air circulation.
• In the Northern Hemisphere, air flows counter clockwise, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it circulates clockwise.

Tropical Cyclones

• The term ‘Tropical Cyclone’ is used by the World Meteorological Organization to describe weather systems with winds greater than ‘Gale Force’ (minimum of 63 km per hour).
• Tropical cyclones are formed in the region between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer.
• They’re large-scale weather systems that form over tropical or subtropical oceans and coalesce into surface wind circulation.
• Tropical cyclones are one of the world’s most destructive natural disasters.

Conditions for formation of Cyclones

• A consistent source of heat as tropical cyclones are thermally induced low-pressure systems.
• Large sea surface with a temperature higher than 27° C which is possible only during the late summers i.e. September, October, and November
• Presence of the Coriolis force.
• Small variations in the vertical wind speed.
• A pre-existing weak low-pressure area or low-level-cyclonic circulation;
• Upper divergence above the sea level system.

Origin of Tropical Cyclones

• Tropical cyclones arise over tropical oceans in late summers and have a thermal origin (August to mid-November).
• Because of the Coriolis effect, the powerful local convectional currents take on a whirling motion at these regions.
• These cyclones form and move until they reach a weak place in the trade wind belt.

Structure of Tropical Cyclone

• The structure of a Tropical Cyclone is typically a massive cumulonimbus cloud with rapidly rising air spiraling upwards at the margins of the eye. 
• An eye is a region of calm with subsiding air. Around the eye is the Eyewall, where strong spiraling winds ascends and the height can reach up to the tropopause.

Tropical cyclones are formed by the following parts:

• Eye: The eye is the center of cyclones which is characterized by a calm area, sinking, and light wind. The eye is the calmest part of the Cyclone structure.Conservation of angular momentum and centrifugal force are the reasons behind its formation.
• Eyewall: A band around the eye of the greatest wind speed, where clouds reach the highest and precipitation is the heaviest. The heaviest wind damage occurs where a hurricane’s eyewall passes over land.
• Rain Bands: Curved bands of clouds and thunderstorms that trail away from the eyewall in a spiral fashion. These bands are capable of producing heavy bursts of rain and wind. Sometimes gaps are found between spiral rain bands, where no impact (wind or rain) of cyclones are found.

Local Names

• North Atlantic (including Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico): Hurricanes
• Eastern and Central North Pacific: Hurricanes
• Western Northern Pacific: Typhoons
• Arabian Sea/Northern Indian Ocean: Tropical Cyclones
• South Indian Ocean: Tropical Cyclones/Willy-Willy for southwest Australia
• Coral Sea/South Pacific: Tropical Cyclone.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Cervavac, India’s first indigenously developed quadrivalent human papillomavirus (qHPV) vaccine for the prevention of cervical cancer.

Despite being largely preventable, cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer among women globally, according to the WHO. In 2018, an estimated 570,00 women were diagnosed with the disease and it accounted for 311,000 deaths across the world.

How common is cervical cancer in India?

• India accounts for about a fifth of the global burden of cervical cancer, with 1.23 lakh cases and around 67,000 deaths per year.
• Almost all cervical cancer cases are linked to certain strains of human papillomavirus (HPV), a common virus that is transmitted through sexual contact. 
• While the body’s immune system usually gets rid of the HPV infection naturally within two years, in a small percentage of people the virus can linger over time and turn some normal cells into abnormal cells and then cancer.
• Cervical cancer is preventable if detected early and managed effectively, it kills one woman every 8 minutes in the country.

Who developed the new qHPV vaccine?

• Cervavac was developed by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India in coordination with the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT). 
• Cervavac received market authorisation approval from the Drug Controller General of India.

About the new vaccine

• Cervavac was developed by the Pune-based Serum Institute of India in coordination with the Government of India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
• HPV vaccines are given in two doses and the antibodies that develop after both are administered can last up to six or seven years.
• Unlike Covid vaccines, booster shots may not be required for the cervical cancer vaccine.
• Until now, the HPV vaccines available in India were produced by foreign manufacturers at an approximate cost of Rs 2,000 to Rs 3,500 per dose.
• Cervavac is likely to be significantly cheaper, slated to cost approximately Rs. 200 to 400.
• It has also demonstrated a robust antibody response that is nearly 1,000 times higher than the baseline against all targeted HPV types and in all dose and age groups.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

While granting bail to a man arrested on June 1 for possessing 29 kg of bhang and 400 g of ganja, Karnataka High Court recently observed that nowhere in the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act is bhang referred to as a prohibited drink or prohibited drug.

The single judge Bench relied on two earlier judgments, Madhukar vs the State of Maharashtra, 2002 and Arjun Singh vs State of Haryana, 2004, where the courts had ruled that bhang is not ganja, and is therefore not covered under the NDPS Act.

What is bhang?

• Bhang is the edible preparation made from the leaves of the cannabis plant, often incorporated into drinks such as thandai and lassi, along with various foods. 
• Bhang has been consumed in the Indian subcontinent for centuries, and is frequently consumed during the festivals of Holi and Mahashivratri. 
• Its widespread use caught the attention of Europeans, with Garcia da Orta, a Portuguese physician who arrived in Goa in the 16th century, noting that, “[Bhang] is so generally used and by such a number of people that there is no mystery about it”.

Bhang and the law

• Enacted in 1985, the NDPS Act is the main legislation that deals with drugs and their trafficking. 
• Various provisions of the act punish production, manufacture, sale, possession, consumption, purchase, transport, and use of banned drugs, except for medical and scientific purposes.
• The NDPS Act defines cannabis (hemp) as a narcotic drug based on the parts of the plant that come under its purview. 
• (a) Charas: “The separated resin, in whatever form, whether crude or purified, obtained from the cannabis plant and also includes concentrated preparation and resin known as hashish oil or liquid hashish.”
• (b) Ganja: “The flowering or fruiting tops of the cannabis plant (excluding the seeds and leaves when not accompanied by the tops), by whatever name they be known or designated.”
• (c) “Any mixture, with or without any neutral material, of any of the above forms of cannabis or any drink prepared therefrom.”

• The Act, in its definition, excludes seeds and leaves “when not accompanied by the tops”. Bhang, which is made with the leaves of the plant, is not mentioned in the NDPS Act.

Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act

• Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act was passed in 1985 to tackle the problem of illegal drugs in India. 
• The Act establishes Narcotics Control Bureau as the apex drug law enforcement agency and empowers it to oversee the implementation of the NDPS Act and also the other International conventions related to it.
• It prohibits the production, sale, purchase, transport and consumption of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances. The act extends to the whole of India and also in aircraft and ships that are registered in India.
• The NDPS Act has been amended thrice – in 1988, 2001 and 2014.
• The original Act provided no immunity to drug addicts, and there was no real difference in treatment of the user and the dealer.
• The Act was amended in 2001. After the amendment, the act became more tolerant and provided a distinction between a drug user and a drug dealer. 
• The amendment was undertaken to focus on bigger fish: Those who smuggled the drugs and facilitated its trade. 
• The objective of the amendment was to stop thinking of and treating drug users as hardened criminals, which they rarely are.
• Also, no relief can be sought by the drug convicts by termination, remission, and commutation of sentences passed.
• The bail provision under NDPS requires the court to have “reasonable grounds” to believe that the accused is not guilty and that he is unlikely to commit another offence while on bail.

Punishment and Rehabilitation: 

• The Act prescribes quantity-based punishment. The Act differentiates between small and commercial quantities of various drugs.
• NDPS Act provides harsh sentences for those convicted of offences involves smuggling. It even provides for the death penalty in some cases where a person is a repeat offender.
• But the same act also provides for immunity from prosecution to those who are dependent on drugs. It also provides the setting up of treatment facilities for addicts.
• The penalties under this Act are severe considering the consequences of drug abuse and its trafficking.
• The offences under the Act attract jail terms ranging from one year to 20 years and fine depending on the crime.
• Under the Act, abetment, criminal conspiracy and even attempts to commit an offence attract the same punishment as the offence itself.
• Preparation to commit an offence attracts half the penalty.

Narcotics Control Bureau

• NCB is the nodal drug law enforcement and intelligence agency of India responsible for fighting drug trafficking and the abuse of illegal substance.
• It functions under Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
• It is headquartered in New Delhi.
• It was established in March 1986 to enable full implementation of Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1985 and fight its violation through Prevention of Illicit Trafficking in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988.
• Its mandate is to fight drug trafficking on an all-India level.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The US Army has grounded its fleet of CH-47 Chinook helicopters after finding the helicopter to be at risk of engine fires. The Indian Air Force (IAF) also operates a fleet of Chinook Helicopters.

Why has the US Army grounded Chinooks?

• The US Army operates around 400 Chinook helicopters which are medium-lift, multi-role helicopters manufactured by Boeing who perform a variety of tasks in support of Army operations. 
• As per the news broken by The Wall Street Journal, the Chinook fleet has been grounded by the US Army as it is suspected that some engine fires broke out on an unspecified number of helicopters. 
• There have been no casualties because of these fires, yet a decision was taken to ground the helicopters as a precautionary measure.

About Chinook

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

With fears of a nuclear disaster at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant growing, the European Union has decided to pre-emptively supply 5.5 million anti-radiation pills to be distributed among residents in the vicinity.

What is a radiation emergency?

• These are unplanned or accidental events that create radio-nuclear hazard to humans and the environment. 
• Such situations involve radiation exposure from a radioactive source and require prompt intervention to mitigate the threat. 
• Dealing with such an emergency also involves the use of anti-radiation tablets.

What are anti-radiation pills?

• Potassium iodide (KI) tablets, or anti-radiation pills, are known to provide some protection in cases of radiation exposure. 
• They contain non-radioactive iodine and can help block absorption, and subsequent concentration, of radioactive iodine in the thyroid gland.

How do these pills work?

• After a radiation leak, radioactive iodine floats through the air and then contaminates food, water and soil.
• While radioactive iodine deposited during external exposure can be removed using warm water and soap, according to the World Health Organisation, the bigger risk is inhaling it.
• “Internal exposure, or irradiation, occurs when radioactive iodine enters the body and accumulates in the thyroid gland.
• The thyroid gland, which uses iodine to produce hormones to regulate the body’s metabolism, has no way of telling radioactive from non-radioactive iodine.
• Potassium iodide (KI) tablets rely on this to achieve ‘thyroid blocking’. KI pills taken a few hours before or soon after radiation exposure ensure that non-radioactive iodine in the medicine is absorbed quickly to make the thyroid “full”.
• “Because KI contains so much non-radioactive iodine, the thyroid becomes full and cannot absorb any more iodine – either stable or radioactive – for the next 24 hours.
• But KI pills are preventive only and cannot reverse any damage done by radiation to the thyroid gland. 
• Once thyroid gland absorbs radioactive iodine, those exposed are at a high risk of developing thyroid cancer.

Is the method fool-proof?

• Anti-radiation pills do not provide 100% protection. “The effectiveness of KI also depends on how much radioactive iodine gets into the body and how quickly it is absorbed in the body.
• Also, the pills are not meant for everybody. They are recommended for people under 40 years of age. 
• Pregnant and breastfeeding women are also advised to take them. While it can protect the thyroid against radioactive iodine, it cannot protect other organs against radiation contamination.

Substitutes for KI?

The US Food and Drug Administration advises against using salt or iodine supplements as they do not contain enough iodine to trigger thyroid blocking.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station has been under Russian control since early March, but an escalation of the conflict in the town this month, including shelling and mortar attacks, some of which damaged parts of the nuclear station, has raised the spectre of nuclear disaster.

A team of officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Ukraine to assess the condition of the plant, after Russia agreed to their visit.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

• The International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA) is widely known as the world’s Atoms for Peace and Development.It was established as an autonomous organization in 1957.
• It seems to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
• It is headquartered in Vienna,Austria.
• Though established as an autonomous organisation,the IAEA reports to both the United Nations General Assembly and the UN Security Council.
• The IAEA and its former Director General, Mohamed ElBaradei were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005.The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology.

Objectives and Function

• The Agency works with its Member States and multiple partners worldwide to promote safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technologies.

• IAEA seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons.
• It reports annually to the United Nation General Assembly.
• When necessary, the IAEA also reports to the UN Security Council in regards to instances of members’ non-compliance with safeguards and security obligations.
• In 2005, it was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work for a safe and peaceful world.