{"id":36741,"date":"2023-08-07T05:27:30","date_gmt":"2023-08-06T23:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=36741"},"modified":"2025-04-22T01:11:13","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T19:41:13","slug":"centre-to-look-into-havana-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/centre-to-look-into-havana-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"Havana Syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"<h3><strong>What\u2019s in today\u2019s article?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Havana Syndrome<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What is Havana Syndrome?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Background:<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What are the causes of Havana Syndrome?<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Havana Syndrome in India<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>What are microwave weapons?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Why in news?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The Central government has told the Karnataka High Court that it will look into the matter of the \u2018Havana Syndrome\u2019 in India.<\/li>\n<li>A petitioner had approached the Karnataka High Court requesting a writ of mandamus for an enquiry on Havana Syndrome in India and the prevention of high-frequency microwave transmission in India.<\/li>\n<li>The petitioner argued that authorities must consider the grievances raised in the petition under Article 350 of the Constitution.\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Article 350<\/strong> &#8211; Every person shall be entitled to submit a representation for the redress of any grievance to any officer or authority of the Union or a State in any of the languages used in the Union or in the State, as the case may be.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>A single-judge bench of the court disposed of the petition on July 27 after the Centre\u2019s counsel agreed to examine the case.<\/li>\n<li>It directed the Centre to do so within three months.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2><strong>Havana Syndrome<\/strong><\/h2>\n<h2><strong>What is Havana Syndrome?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Havana Syndrome refers to a set of <u>mental health symptoms<\/u> that are said to be experienced by US intelligence and embassy officials in various countries.<\/li>\n<li>It typically involves symptoms such as\n<ul>\n<li>hearing certain sounds without any outside noise being present;<\/li>\n<li>nausea, vertigo and headaches, memory loss and issues with balance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>\u00b7 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/habkhr1x0DKrijAfTA1Sup4fYTerJrG7PO6SZp-Ns_AZUmLjxDH99DfqdDpMe0AUW6YpJiSkG9IEwYbD8Fki-zgLLNCo5oRu2O8KIMOCjc5qnR3G8Uv-pzsi4NiN1PSdkZKUWKlbrDsMEVGjUDPTnGs\" alt=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Image Caption: Symptoms of Havana Syndrome<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Background:<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In late 2016, <u>US diplomats and other employees stationed in Havana<\/u> reported feeling ill after hearing strange sounds and experiencing odd physical sensations.<\/li>\n<li>The symptoms included nausea, severe headaches, fatigue, dizziness, sleep problems, and hearing loss, which have <u>since come to be known as \u201cHavana Syndrome\u201d.<\/u><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are the causes of Havana Syndrome?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>No one is entirely sure. Initially, it was speculated to be a <u>sonic attack<\/u> done by Cuban intelligence agencies.<\/li>\n<li>Later, the National Academy of Sciences noted in its report that the best explanation for the syndrome would be <strong>pulsed, directed microwaves<\/strong>.\n<ul>\n<li>Microwaves are a type of electromagnetic radiation with <u>wavelengths longer than those of visible light but shorter than those of radio waves<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>They fall within the electromagnetic spectrum between radio waves and infrared radiation.<\/li>\n<li>Microwaves have frequencies ranging from about 300 megahertz (MHz) to 300 gigahertz (GHz).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>The report suggested that the victims may have been <u>subjected to high-powered microwaves that either damaged or interfered with the nervous system<\/u>.<\/li>\n<li>It is suspected that beams of high-powered microwaves are sent through a special gadget known as \u201cmicrowave weapon\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Havana Syndrome in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>In India, the first such case was reported in September 2021, when a US intelligence officer travelling to New Delhi with CIA director William Burns reported symptoms of Havana Syndrome.<\/li>\n<li>As of July 2023, the 2021 incident was the only reported occurrence of the syndrome in India.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>What are microwave weapons?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Microwave weapons are supposed to be a type of direct energy weapons.<\/li>\n<li>It <u>uses beams of high-frequency electromagnetic radiation<\/u> to heat the water in a human target\u2019s skin, causing pain and discomfort.<\/li>\n<li>A number of countries are thought to have developed these weapons to target both humans and electronic systems.\n<ul>\n<li>China had first put on display its \u201cmicrowave weapon\u201d, called <u>Poly WB-1<\/u>, at an air show in 2014.<\/li>\n<li>The United States has also developed a prototype microwave-style weapon, which it calls the \u201cActive Denial System\u201d.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h3><strong>Q1) What is the geographical location of Havana?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Havana is the capital city of Cuba, a country located in the Caribbean region. It is situated on the northern coast of the island of Cuba, and it&#8217;s known for its historic architecture, vibrant culture, and rich history.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Q2) What are Microwaves?<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Microwaves refer to electromagnetic waves with wavelengths that fall between those of radio waves and infrared radiation, typically ranging from about 1 millimeter to 1 meter. They are a type of non-ionizing radiation, which means they don&#8217;t have enough energy to ionize atoms or molecules (remove electrons from them), unlike higher-energy radiation like X-rays or gamma rays.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Source:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/havana-syndrome-meaning-explained-8880773\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Centre to look into \u2018Havana Syndrome\u2019: What it means and the term\u2019s history<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hindustantimes.com\/world-news\/what-is-havana-syndrome-the-mysterious-condition-plaguing-us-officials-101629963102505.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Hindustan Times<\/u><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/cia-officer-on-india-trip-reports-havana-syndrome-symptoms-causes-7525418\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><u>Indian Express<\/u><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Havana Syndrome refers to mysterious health issues causing neurological symptoms.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":36742,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-36741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}