What is an Improvised Explosive Device (IED)? Bengaluru bomb blast, Understanding IED - UPSEWise Hub

 In News

At least 9 people got injured after an explosion at the Rameshwaram Cafe in Bengaluru on 1st March, possibly by an improvised explosive device (IED).

image of an IED 

About Improvised Explosive Device (IED)

• An IED or Improvised Explosive Device, is a homemade bomb that is used by non-state actors i.e., terrorists, insurgents as a weapon.
• The IED are not simply used to kill or injure people, but mostly used for distraction and cover fire.
• The term IED, first entered common usage during the 'United States' Iraq invasion (beginning in 2003) where such bombs were commonly used against US forces.

Example of explosives. (Source: US Department of Homeland Security)

IED Key Components and Enhancements

IED Key components flowchart

Enhancements

• IED's may be packed with additional materials/Enhancements such as glass, nail or metal fragments making it injurious to people coming in surrounding of it.

Dirty Bomb: When an IED is packed with hazardous materials such as toxic chemicals or radio-active material is known as dirty bomb.

Common materials in IED: 

fertilizers such as ammonium nitrate and urea nitrate, gun powder and hydrogen peroxide.

Related

•  passengers are not allowed to carry liquid beyond 100ml each abroad on commercial aircrafts, as the possibility of creating IED's onsite by mixing some commonly available liquids.

Why are Children getting Fatter? Exploring India's Youth on Obesity Rise, Insights from Lancet Study

Why in news?

The Lancet, found that 12.5 million children (7.3 million boys and 5.2 million girls) in the country, aged between 5 and 19 were grossly overweighted in 2022, up from 0.4 million in 1990. 

Obesity Numbers Source: IE

Basic terminology: The Lancet and Obesity

The Lancet

It is a weekly peer-reviewed general Medical Journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also one of the world's highest impact academic journals, founded in England in 1823.

Obesity

As defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), it is an abnormal or excessive accumulation of fat that presents a risk to health. A body mass index (BMI) over 25 is considered overweight and over 30 is considered as obese.

Why it's important to address obesity?

Obesity is a major risk factor and a trigger for early onset of various non-communicable diseases such as heart diseases, strokes, diabetes, especially the type 2 diabetes. And when it comes to India, India is already having a high burden of these non-communicable diseases acting as a threat to human resource.

Primary Drivers of obesity

The primary drivers of obesity are shift in diet choices away from the traditional food and physical activity. We see that people especially in India have shifted from whole food such as pulses, whole grains, fruits and vegetables to refined carbohydrates, high fat meat products, and processed food. Our traditional food was low in animal products, salt, refined oil, sugar and flour but now the shift is causing obesity among the children as well. 

How can obesity be addressed?

Obesity can be addressed via some healthy lifestyle changes and such reports that publish about health which make people conscious about their health. The lifestyle changes involve following adequate and fruitful diet plan, exercising at least 140 to 150 minutes a week, prioritizing adequate amount of sleep and stress management can lead to healthy outcomes. And such studies as published by The Lancet can be awakening for the people who forget their health in the race of life.

Conclusion 

Apart from obesity, India is also the top rankers when it comes to under-nutrition. Both obesity and under-weight are forms of malnutrition. The two divergent peaks show that India has a double burden of both thinning and obesity and tackling both forms of malnutrition is a vital which will involve significant improvement in affordability of healthy and nutritious food.

India's Non-oil Exports in January amid Red Sea Crisis | Steepest Decline in nine months

 

Merchant ships

In News

India's non-oil exports in January 2024 recorded a 9% decline compared to the previous month. As per the official data released by the Ministry of Commerce. The shipments to Europe and the United States slowed further amid the Red Sea Shipping route crisis.

This month decline in India's export is because the global shipping lines are forced to take a longer shipping route through the Cape of Good Hope leading to increase in time for the products to reach its destination, increase in shipping costs, etc. when compared to earlier shipping via the Red Sea - Suez Canal route.

Impact of Shipping route Disruption

India's export data over months

Significant impact seen on India's exports to Netherlands port of Rotton, which is the biggest port in Europe. Export of electronic goods decreased 37%, drug and pharmaceuticals decreased by 18% and engineering goods export slipped 15% when compared to December 2023.

Also, India's exports to US in electronic goods and drugs and pharma shipments slipped 6.32%.

 Impact on Oil Exports

The impact of Red Sea crisis was however limited on the oil exports of India because India's petroleum product export attracted attention from various other geographies. Petroleum exports to Europe recorded a shape decline of 22%, but its export to Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Oman, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh increased significantly.

Efforts to mitigate Red Sea crisis

UNCTAD (United Nations trade and development) had earlier raised concern over the disruption in the global trade due to chaos in the Red Sea shipping route and hurting mainly the developing nations like India.