Context:
United states accuses Russia of employing the chemical agent chloropicrin in Ukraine
Chloropicrin:
- Broad-spectrum fumigant chemical that can be used as an antimicrobial, fungicide, herbicide, insecticide, nematicide and also as a warfare agent.
- 1st used as a poison gas in – First World War, both by Allied and Central Powers.
- Features –
- Colorless to yellow oily liquid.
- Highly volatile
International regulation on Chemical Weapons:
- Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) –
- Initiative of – Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
- Objective – Prohibits the development, production, stock-piling and use of chemical weapons and monitors its elimination.
- India is a signatory and party of CWC and enacted Chemical Weapons Convention Act, 2000.
- Geneva Protocol 1925 – Prohibits the use of chemical and biological weapons in the field of conflict.
Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW):
- Mission – To implement the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in order to achieve a world that is free of chemical weapons and of the threat of their use
- Headquarters – Hague, Netherlands.
- Members – 193 (India is also its member).
- Functioning –
- It receives states-parties’ declarations detailing chemical weapons-related activities or materials and relevant industrial activities.
- Perform inspections to verify that signatory states are complying with the convention.
- Performs testing of sites and victims of suspected chemical weapons attacks.
- Reports on its inspections and other activities to the UN through the office of the secretary-general
- Awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.
Source: The Hindu
Previous Year Question
India is an important member of the ‘International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor’. If this experiment succeeds, what is the immediate advantage for India?
[UPSC Civil Service Exam – 2016 Prelims]
(a) It can use thorium in place of uranium for power generation
(b) It can attain a global role in satellite navigation
(c) It can drastically improve the efficiency of its fission reactors in power generation
(d) It can build fusion reactors for power generation
Answer: (d)
