Pallas’s cats

Recently researchers have discovered one of the planet’s rarest Pallas cats for the first time in the Mount Everest Region.

About Pallas’s cats:

The Pallas’s cat, also known as manul, is a small wild cat, perfectly adapted to the harsh conditions typical of its habitat.
Naturally secretive, it is rarely seen and little known.
Habitat: Wide but fragmented distribution throughout montane grasslands and steppes of Central Asia.
Its core populations are in Mongolia and China.
Conservation status
IUCN Red List: Least concern

Lake Chad Basin

According to a report published by Refugees International, shrinking natural resources due to adverse weather are raising tensions across communities and displacing people of the Lake Chad region

About Lake Chad Basin

Lake Chad is located in the Sahel, the vast semi-arid region south of the Sahara desert.
It is bordered by 4 countries – Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Nigeria.
Source of the Lake:It is fed mainly by the Chari River through the Lagone tributary.
The Lagone tributary used to provide 90 % of its water.
Significance of the Lake: The Lake is vital for indigenous, pastoral and farming communities in these countries.
The lake has been supporting drinking water, irrigation, fishing, livestock and economic activity for over 30 million people in the region.
The Lake Chad basin in west and central Africa covers 8% of the African continent and is home to 42 million people.

What are Issues in the Lake Basin Region?

Lake Chad has shrunk by 90% in 60 years, and climate change is a significant contributor.
A 13-year insurgency of the Boko Haramextremist group and other militant groups has destabilized the Lake Chad basin and the wider Sahel region.

OPCW

OPCW recently said that their nearly two-year investigation had found that at least one Syrian military helicopter had dropped gas cylinders on to residential buildings in the rebel-held Syrian city of Douma in 2018, killing 43 people. Recently OPCW blamed Syria gov’t for 2018 chlorine gas attack in Douma

About Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW):

It is the implementing body of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).
Mission: To implement the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in order to achieve the OPCW’s vision of a world that is free of chemical weapons and of the threat of their use, and in which cooperation in chemistry for peaceful purposes for all is fostered.
Its headquarters are located in The Hague, Netherlands.
The OPCW receives states-parties’ declarations detailing chemical weapons-related activities or materials and relevant industrial activities.
The OPCW is authorized to perform inspections to verify that signatory states are complying with the convention.
It also performs testing of sites and victims of suspected chemical weapons attacks.
OPCW reports on its inspections and other activities to the UN through the office of the secretary-general.
The OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2013.

Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC):

It is a multilateral treaty that bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction within a specified period of time.
It entered into force on April 29, 1997.
The CWC requires states-parties to declare in writing to the OPCW their chemical weapons stockpiles, chemical weapons production facilities (CWPFs), relevant chemical industry facilities, and other weapons-related information.
The CWC is open to all nations and currently has 193 states-parties.

National Centre for Polar and Oceanic Research (NCPOR)

A recent study by the NCPOR revealed that the Antarctic sea ice (South Pole) reached its lowest level ever recorded in the summer of 2022.

About National Centre for Polar and Oceanic Research (NCPOR):

It is an autonomous research institute under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) established in 1998.
NCPOR is tasked with planning and executing polar expeditions and scientific research in Antarctica, Arctic, Himalayas and Southern Ocean.
NCPOR is the nodal agency for planning, promoting, coordinating, and executing the entire gamut of polar and southern ocean scientific research in the country and the associated logistics activities.
It also undertakes research on some of the country’s strategically vital projects like mapping of Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), continental shelf margins and the Deep Ocean Mission.
The Center maintains a Research Advisory Committee (RAC) to help guide and concentrate the research activities.
It is located in Vasco da Gama, Goa, and was formerly known as the National Center for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR).

Indus Water Treaty

India recently issued a notice to Pakistan for modification of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT).

About Indus Water Treaty:

It was signed in September 1960 between India and Pakistan.
The treaty was brokered by the World Bank, which too is a signatory to the treaty.
The treaty fixed and delimited the rights and obligations of both countries concerning the use of the waters of the Indus River system.
It gives control over the waters of the three “eastern rivers’ — the Beas, Ravi, and Sutlej — to India, while control over the waters of the three “western rivers’ ‘ — the Indus, Chenab, and Jhelum — to Pakistan.
The treaty allows India to use the western river waters for limited irrigation use and unlimited non-consumptive use for such applications as power generation, navigation, floating of property, fish culture, etc.
It lays down detailed regulations for India in building projects over the western rivers.

GJ 1002 b and c

An international group of researchers has recently discovered the presence of two planets with masses comparable to that of the Earth in orbit around the star GJ 1002.

About GJ 1002 b and c:

The two new planets are named, GJ 1002 b and GJ 1002 c.
These planets lie in so-called habitable zones, within which water could be found in liquid form, and which is located in the immediate vicinity of the star due to its low luminosity.
Planet b has a mass slightly higher than Earth’s, is the closer of the two and its year lasts only 10 days.
Planet c is about a third more massive than Earth and takes about 20 days to orbit the star.
The two planets were discovered using the radial velocity (RV) method.

What is the Radial Velocity method?

This method is based on the detection of variations in the velocity of the central star, due to the changing direction of the gravitational pull from an unseen exoplanet as it orbits the star.

Lucy Mission

NASA recently announced that it is adding a new target for the Lucy mission as the spacecraft goes on its more than 6-billion-kilometre-long journey to study the Jupiter trojan asteroids..

About Lucy Mission:

NASA’s Lucy mission is the first spacecraft launched to explore the Trojan asteroids, a population of primitive asteroids orbiting in tandem with Jupiter.
Lucy was successfully launched Oct. 16, 2021, and will visit eight asteroids over 12 years — one asteroid in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter, and seven Trojan asteroids leading and trailing Jupiter in its orbit.

What are Trojan Asteroids?

Asteroids sharing an orbit with a planet, but which are located at the leading (L4) and trailing (L5) Lagrangian points, are known as Trojan asteroids.
These asteroids occupy a stable Lagrangian point in a planet’s orbit around the Sun.
Trojan Asteroids are some of the oldest remnants from the formation of our solar system 5 billion years ago.
There are currently over 4,800 known Trojan asteroids associated with Jupiter.
They orbit the Sun in two loose groups: one group leading ahead of Jupiter in its orbit, the other trailing behind at the same distance from the Sun as Jupiter.
Due to the combined gravitational influences of the Sun and Jupiter, these Trojan asteroids have been trapped on stable orbits (around what is known as the Lagrange Points) for billions of years.

What is a Lagrange point?

Lagrange Points are positions in space where the gravitational forces of a two body system like the Sun and the Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
The Lagrange Points are positions where the gravitational pull of two large masses precisely equals the centripetal force required for a small object to move with them.
These can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.

Chapter 3 : Salient Features of Indian Constitution

Introduction

The Constitution of India begins with a Preamble. The Preamble contains the ideals, objectives and basic principles of the Constitution. The salient features of the Constitution have evolved directly and indirectly from these objectives which flow from the Preamble.
Our Constitution has adopted the best features of most of the major constitutions of the world as per the needs of the country. Though borrowed from almost every constitution in the world, the constitution of India has several salient features that distinguish it from the constitutions of other countries.

Constitution of India – Major Features

The salient features of the Indian Constitution are listed and briefed below:

Lengthiest Written Constitution

Constitutions are classified into written, like the American Constitution, or unwritten, like the British Constitution.
The Constitution of India has the distinction of being the lengthiest and detailed Constitutional document the world has so far produced. In other words, the Constitution of India is the lengthiest of all the written constitutions of the world.
It is a very comprehensive, elaborate and detailed document.
The factors that contributed to the elephantine size of the Indian Constitution are:

Geographical factors, that is, the vastness of the country and its diversity.
Historical factors, for instance, the influence of the Government of India Act of 1935, which was bulky.
Single constitution for both the Centre and the states.
The dominance of legal luminaries in the Constituent Assembly.

The Constitution of India contains not only the fundamental principles of governance but also detailed administrative provisions.
Both justiciable and non-justiciable rights are included in the Constitution.

Drawn from Various Sources

The Constitution of India has borrowed most of its provisions from the constitutions of various other countries as well as from the Government of India Act of 1935 [About 250 provisions of the 1935 Act have been included in the Constitution].
Dr B R Ambedkar proudly acclaimed that the Constitution of India has been framed after ‘ransacking all the known Constitutions of the world’.
The structural part of the Constitution is, to a large extent, derived from the Government of India Act of 1935.
The philosophical part of the Constitution (Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of State Policy) derive their inspiration from the American and Irish Constitutions respectively.
The political part of the Constitution (the principle of Cabinet government and the relations between the executive and the legislature) have been largely drawn from the British Constitution.

Blend of Rigidity and Flexibility

Constitutions are classified into rigid and flexible.
A rigid constitution is one that requires a special procedure for its amendment, as for example, the American Constitution.
A flexible constitution is one that can be amended in the same manner as the ordinary laws are made, as for example, the British Constitution.
The Indian Constitution is a unique example of the combination of rigidity and flexibility.
A constitution may be called rigid or flexible on the basis of its amending procedure.
The Indian Constitution provides for three types of amendments ranging from simple to most difficult procedures depending on the nature of the amendment.

Federal System with Unitary Bias

The Constitution of India establishes a federal system of government.
It contains all the usual features of a federation, such as two governments, division of powers, written constitution, the supremacy of the constitution, the rigidity of the Constitution, independent judiciary and bicameralism.
However, the Indian Constitution also contains a large number of unitary or non-federal features, such as a strong Centre, single Constitution, appointment of state governor by the Centre, all-India services, integrated judiciary, and so on.
Moreover, the term ‘Federation’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution.
Article 1, describes India as a ‘Union of States’ which implies two things:

Indian Federation is not the result of an agreement by the states.
No state has the right to secede from the federation.

Hence, the Indian Constitution has been variously described as ‘federal in form but unitary in spirit’, ‘quasi-federal’ by K C Wheare.

Parliamentary Form of Government

The Constitution of India has opted for the British Parliamentary System of Government rather than the American Presidential system of government.
The parliamentary system is based on the principle of cooperation and coordination between the legislative and executive organs while the presidential system is based on the doctrine of separation of powers between the two organs.
The parliamentary system is also known as the ‘Westminster’ model of government, responsible government and cabinet government.
The Constitution establishes the parliamentary system not only at the Centre but also in the States.
In a parliamentary system, the role of the Prime Minister has become so significant, and therefore it is called a ‘Prime Ministerial Government’.

What are the features of parliamentary government in India ?

The features of parliamentary government in India are as follows:

Presence of real and nominal executives
Majority party rule
Collective responsibility of the executive to the legislature
Membership of the ministers in the legislature
The leadership of the prime minister or the chief minister
Dissolution of the lower house (Lok Sabha or Assembly)
Indian Parliament is not a sovereign body like the British Parliament.
Parliamentary Government combined with an elected President at the head (Republic).

Synthesis of Parliamentary Sovereignty and Judicial Supremacy

The doctrine of the sovereignty of Parliament is associated with the British Parliament while the principle of judicial supremacy with that of the American Supreme Court.
Just as the Indian parliamentary system differs from the British system, the scope of judicial review power of the Supreme court in India is narrower than that of what exists in the US.
This is because the American Constitution provides for ‘due process of law’ against that of ‘procedure established by law’ contained in the Indian Constitution (Article 21).
Therefore, the framers of the Indian Constitution have preferred a proper synthesis between the British principle of parliamentary sovereignty and the American principle of Judicial supremacy.
The Supreme Court can declare the parliamentary laws as unconstitutional through its power of judicial review.
The Parliament can amend the major portion of the Constitution through its constituent power.

Rule of Law

According to this axiom, people are ruled by law but not by men, that is, the basic truism that no man is infallible. The axiom is vital to a democracy.
More important is the meaning that law is the sovereign in democracy.
The chief ingredient of law is custom which is nothing but the habitual practices and beliefs of common people over a long number of years.
In the final analysis, rule of law means the sovereignty of the common man’s collective wisdom.
Apart from this crucial meaning, rule of law means a few more things like

There is no room for arbitrariness
Each individual enjoys some fundamental rights, and
The highest judiciary is the final authority in maintaining the sanctity of the law of the land.

The Constitution of India has incorporated this principle in Part III and in order to provide meaning to Article 14 (all are equal before the law and all enjoy equal protection of laws), promotion of Lok Adalats and the venture of the Supreme court known as “public interest litigation” have been implemented.
Also, as per today’s law of the land, any litigant can appeal to the presiding judicial authority to argue the case by himself or seek legal assistance with the help of the judiciary.

Integrated and Independent Judiciary

India has a single integrated judicial system.
Also, the Indian Constitution establishes Independent Judiciary by enabling the Indian judiciary to be free from the influence of the executive and the legislature.
The Supreme Court stands as the apex court of the judicial system. Below the Supreme Court are the High Courts at the state level.
Under a high court, there is a hierarchy of subordinate courts, that is district courts and the other lower courts.
The Supreme Court is a federal court, the highest court of appeal, the guarantor of the fundamental rights of the citizens and the guardian of the Constitution. Hence, the Constitution has made various provisions to ensure its independence.

Fundamental Rights

Part III of the Indian Constitution guarantees six fundamental rights to all Citizens.
Fundamental Rights are one of the important features of the Indian Constitution.
The Constitution contains the basic principle that every individual is entitled to enjoy certain rights as a human being and the enjoyment of such rights does not depend upon the will of any majority or minority.
No majority has the right to abrogate such rights.
The fundamental rights are meant for promoting the idea of political democracy.
They operate as limitations on the tyranny of the executive and arbitrary laws of the legislature.
They are justiciable in nature, that is, enforceable by the courts for their violation.

Directive Principles of State Policy

According to Dr B R Ambedkar, the Directive Principles of State Policy is a ‘novel feature’ of the Indian Constitution.
They are enumerated in Part IV of the Constitution.
The Directive Principles were included in our Constitution in order to provide social and economic justice to our people.
Directive Principles aim at establishing a welfare state in India where there will be no concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.
They are non-justiciable in nature.
In the Minerva Mills case (1980), the Supreme Court held that ‘the Indian Constitution is founded on the bedrock of the balance between the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles’.

Fundamental Duties

The original constitution did not provide for the fundamental duties of the citizens.
Fundamental Duties were added to our Constitution by the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976 on the recommendation of the Swaran Singh Committee.
It lays down a list of ten Fundamental Duties for all citizens of India.
Later, the 86th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2002 added one more fundamental duty.
While the rights are given as guarantees to the people, the duties are obligations that every citizen is expected to perform.
However, like the Directive Principles of State Policy, the duties are also non-justiciable in nature.
There is a total of 11 Fundamental duties altogether.

Indian Secularism

The Constitution of India stands for a secular state.
Hence, it does not uphold any particular religion as the official religion of the Indian State.
The distinguishing features of a secular democracy contemplated by the Constitution of India are:

The State will not identify itself with or be controlled by any religion;
While the State guarantees to everyone the right to profess whatever religion one chooses to follow (which includes also the right to be an antagonist or an atheist), it will not accord preferential treatment to any of them;
No discrimination will be shown by the State against any person on account of his religion or faith; and
The right of every citizen, subject to any general condition, to enter any office under the state will be equal to that of the fellow citizens. Political equality which entitles any Indian citizen to seek the highest office under the State is the heart and soul of secularism as envisaged by Constitution.

The conception aims to establish a secular state. This does not mean that the State in India is anti-religious.
The western concept of secularism connotes a complete separation between religion and the state (negative concept of secularism).
But, the Indian constitution embodies the positive concept of secularism, i.e., giving equal respect to all religions or protecting all religions equally.
Moreover, the Constitution has also abolished the old system of communal representation. However, it provides for the temporary reservation of seats for the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes to ensure adequate representation to them.

Universal Adult Franchise

Indian democracy functions on the basis of ‘one person one vote’.
Every citizen of India who is 18 years of age or above is entitled to vote in the elections irrespective of caste, sex, race, religion or status.
The Indian Constitution establishes political equality in India through the method of universal adult franchise.

Single Citizenship

In a federal state usually, the citizens enjoy double citizenship as is the case in the USA.
In India, there is only single citizenship.
It means that every Indian is a citizen of India, irrespective of the place of his/her residence or place of birth.
He/she is not a citizen of the Constituent State like Jharkhand, Uttaranchal or Chattisgarh to which he/she may belong but remains a citizen of India.
All the citizens of India can secure employment anywhere in the country and enjoy all the rights equally in all the parts of India.
The Constitution makers deliberately opted for single citizenship to eliminate regionalism and other disintegrating tendencies.
Single citizenship has undoubtedly forged a sense of unity among the people of India.

Independent Bodies

The Indian constitution not only provides for the legislative, executive and judicial organs of the government (Central and state) but also establishes certain independent bodies.
They are envisaged by the Constitution as the bulwarks of the democratic system of Government in India.

Emergency Provisions

The Constitution makers also foresaw that there could be situations when the government could not be run as in ordinary times.
To cope with such situations, the Constitution elaborates on emergency provisions.
There are three types of emergency

Emergency caused by war, external aggression or armed rebellion [Aricle 352]
Emergency arising out of the failure of constitutional machinery in states [Article 356 & 365]
Financial emergency [Article 360].

The rationality behind the incorporation of these provisions is to safeguard the sovereignty, unity, integrity and security of the country, the democratic political system and the Constitution.
During an emergency, the central government becomes all-powerful and the states go into total control of the centre.
This kind of transformation of the political system from federal (during normal times) to unitary (during emergency) is a unique feature of the Indian Constitution.

Three-tier Government

Originally, the Indian Constitution provided for a dual polity and contained provisions with regard to the organisation and powers of the Centre and the States.
Later, the 73rd and 74th Constitutional Amendment Acts (1992) have added a third-tier of government (that is, Local Government), which is not found in any other Constitution of the world.
The 73rd Amendment Act of 1992 gave constitutional recognition to the panchayats (rural local governments) by adding a new Part IX and a new schedule 11 to the Constitution.
Similarly, the 74th Amendment Act of 1992 gave constitutional recognition to the municipalities (urban local government) by adding a new Part IX-A and a new schedule 12 to the Constitution.

Co-operative Societies

The 97th Constitutional Amendment Act of 2011 gave a constitutional status and protection of cooperative societies.
In this context, it made the following three changes in the Constitution:

It made the right to form cooperative societies a fundamental right (Article 19).
It included a new Directive Principles of State Policy on the promotion of cooperative societies (Article 43-B).
It added a new Part IX-B in the Constitution which is entitled “The Co-operative Societies” [Articles 243-ZH to 243-ZT].

The new Part IX-B contains various provisions to ensure that the cooperative societies in the country function in a democratic, professional, autonomous and economically sound manner.
It empowers the Parliament in respect of multi-state cooperative societies and the state legislatures in respect of other cooperative societies to make the appropriate law.

Philosophy of Constitution

On January 22, 1947, the Constituent Assembly adopted the Objectives Resolution drafted by Jawaharlal Nehru. The Objectives Resolution contained the fundamental propositions of the Constitution and set forth the political ideas that should guide its deliberations.

The main principles of the resolution were:

that India is to be an independent, sovereign republic ;
that it is to be a democratic union with an equal level of self-government in all the constituent parts;
that all power and the authority of the Union Government and governments of the constituent parts are derived from the people;
that the constitution must strive to obtain and guarantee to the people justice-based upon social, economic and political equality, of opportunity and equality before the law;
that there should be freedom of thought, expression, belief, faith, worship, vocation, association and action;
that the constitution must provide just rights for minorities, and people from backward and tribal areas, etc. so that they can be equal participants of social, economic and political justice; and
to frame a constitution that should secure for India, a due place in the community of nations.

The philosophy of a Constitution consists of the ideals for which the constitution stands and the policies that the Constitution enjoins upon the rulers of the Community to follow. The Constitution of India reflects the impact of our ideology in the following spheres:

(i) Secularism: Secularism is the hallmark of the Indian Constitution. People professing different religions have the freedom of religious worship of their own choice. All religions have been treated alike. The fact appreciated in India was that all religions love humanity and uphold the truth. All the social reformers and political leaders of modern Indian have advocated religious tolerance, religious freedom and equal respect for all religions. This very principle has been adopted in the Constitution of India where all religions enjoy equal respect. However, the word ‘secularism’ was nowhere mentioned in the Constitution as adopted in 1949. The word ‘secularism’ has now been added to the Preamble to the Constitution through the 42nd Amendment passed in 1976.

(ii) Democracy: We have borrowed the modern form of democracy from the West. Under this system, democracy means the periodic responsibilities of the Government to go to the people. For this purpose; elections have been held every five-year to elect a Government by the people. However, democracy covers even the economic and social aspects of life. This aspect of democracy is well-reflected in the Directive Principles of State Policy. They are aimed at human welfare, co-operation, international brotherhood and so on.

(iii) Sarvodaya: Sarvodaya refers to the welfare of all. It is different from the welfare of the majority. It seeks to achieve the welfare of all without exception. It is referred to as Ram Rajya. The concept of Sarvodaya was developed by Mahatma Gandhi Acharya Vinoba Bhave and J. Narayan under which the material, spiritual, moral and mental development of everyone is sought to be achieved. The Preamble to the Indian Constitution and the Directive Principles of State Policy represent this ideal.

(iv) Socialism: Socialism is not new to India. Vedanta’s philosophy has socialism in it. The national struggle for freedom had this aim also in view. Jawaharlal Nehru referred to himself as a socialist and republican. Almost all the parties in India profess to promote democratic socialism. These principles are included in the Directive Principles of State Policy. However, to lay emphasis on this aspect, the word ‘socialism’ was specifically added to the Preamble to the Constitution through the 42nd Amendment.

(v) Humanism: Humanism is a salient feature of Indian ideology. Indian ideology regards the whole of humanity as one big family. It believes in resolving international disputes through mutual negotiations. This is what we find in the Directive Principles of State Policy.

(vi) Decentralization: Decentralization is another aspect of Sarvodaya. Indian has always practised decentralization through the Panchayat system. Mahatma Gandhi also advocated decentralization. It is on this account that he is regarded as a philosophical anarchist. We have introduced the Panchayati Raj system in India to achieve the objective of decentralisation. The concept of cottage industries as laid down in the Directive Principles of State Policy also refers to decentralization.

(vii) Liberalism: Liberalism does not refer to the Western concept of liberalism. It refers, in the Indian context, to self-government, secularism, nationalism, economic reforms, constitutional approach, representative institutions etc. all these concepts were advocated by the modern Indian leaders.

(viii) Mixed Economy: Co-existence is a salient feature of our ideology. Co-existence has manifested itself through a mixed system of economy. In this system, we have allowed both the private and public sectors of the economy to work simultaneously. Large scale and essential industries have been put in the public sector.

(ix) Gandhism: Gandhism represents an ethical and moral India. Gandhi set a new example of fighting foreign rule through non-violence. He taught the importance of non-violence and truth. He advocated untouchability, cottage industry, prohibition, adult education and the uplift of villages. He wanted a society free of exploitation and decentralized in character. All these Gandhian principles have found an honourable place in the Constitution of India.

Criticism of the Constitution :

The Constitution of India, as framed and adopted by the Constituent Assembly of India, has been criticized on the following grounds:

A Borrowed Constitution

The critics opined that the Indian Constitution contains nothing new and original. They described it as a ‘borrowed Constitution’ or a ‘bag of borrowings’ or a ‘hotch-potch Constitution’ or a ‘patchwork’ of several documents of the world constitutions. However, this criticism is unfair and illogical. This is because, the framers of the Constitution made necessary modifications in the features borrowed from other constitutions for their suitability to the Indian conditions, at the same time avoiding their faults.
While answering the above criticism in the Constituent Assembly, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the Chairman of the Drafting Committee, said : “One likes to ask whether there can be anything new in a Constitution framed at this hour in the history of the world. More than hundred years have rolled over when the first written Constitution was drafted. It has been followed by many countries reducing their constitutions to writing. What the scope of a Constitution should be has long been settled. Similarly, what are the fundamentals of a Constitution are recognized all over the world. Given these facts, all Constitutions in their main provisions must look similar. The only new things, if there can be any, in a Constitution framed so late in the day are the variations made to remove the faults and to accommodate it to the needs of the country. The charge of producing a blind copy of the Constitutions of other countries is based, I am sure, on an inadequate study of the Constitution”

A Carbon Copy of the 1935 Act

The critics said that the framers of the Constitution have included a large number of the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1935 into the Constitution of India. Hence, they called the
Constitution as a “Carbon Copy of the 1935 Act” or an “Amended Version of the 1935 Act”. For example, N. Srinivasan observed that the Indian Constitution is “both in language and substance a close copy of the Act of 1935”. Similarly, Sir Ivor Jennings, a British Constitutionalist, said that “the Constitution derives directly from the Government of India Act of 1935 from which, in fact, many of its provisions are copied almost textually”. Further, P.R. Deshmukh, a member of the Constituent Assembly, commented that “the Constitution is essentially the Government of India Act of 1935 with only adult franchise added”. The same Dr. B.R. Ambedkar answered the above criticism in the Constituent Assembly in the following way : “As to the accusation that the Draft Constitution has reproduced a good part of the provisions of the Government of India Act, 1935, I make no apologies. There is nothing to be ashamed of in borrowing. It involves no plagiarism. Nobody holds any patent rights in the fundamental ideas of a Constitution. What I am sorry about is that the provisions taken from the Government of India Act, 1935, relate mostly to the details of administration”.

Un-Indian or Anti-Indian

According to the critics, the Indian Constitution is ‘un-Indian’ or ‘anti-Indian’ because it does not reflect the political traditions and the spirit of India. They said that the foreign nature of the Constitution makes it unsuitable to the Indian situation or unworkable in India. In this context, K. Hanumanthaiya, a member of the Constituent Assembly, commented : “We wanted the music of Veena or Sitar, but here we have the music of an English band. That was because our Constitution-makers were educated that way”. Similarly, Lokanath Misra, another member of the Constituent Assembly, criticized the Constitution as a “slavish imitation of the west, much more – a slavish surrender to the west”. Further, Lakshminarayan Sahu, also a member of the Constituent Assembly, observed: “The ideals on which this draft Constitution is framed have no manifest relation to the fundamental spirit of India. This Constitution would not prove suitable and would break down soon after being brought into operation”

An Un-Gandhian Constitution

According to the critics, the Indian Constitution is un-Gandhian because it does not contain the philosophy and ideals of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian Nation. They opined that the Constitution should have been raised and built upon village panchayats and district panchayats. In this context, the same member of the Constituent Assembly, K. Hanumanthaiya, said: “That is exactly the kind of Constitution Mahatma Gandhi did not want and did not envisage”. T. Prakasam, another member of the Constituent Assembly, attributed this lapse to Ambedkar’s non-participation in the Gandhian movement and the antagonism towards the Gandhian ideas.

Elephantine Size

The critics stated that the Indian Constitution is too bulky and too detailed and contains some unnecessary elements. Sir Ivor Jennings, a British Constitutionalist, observed that the provisions borrowed were not always well-selected and that the constitution, generally speaking, was too long and complicated.
In this context, H.V. Kamath, a member of the Constituent Assembly, commented : “The emblem and the crest that we have selected for our assembly is an elephant. It is perhaps in consonance with that our constitution too is the bulkiest that the world has produced”. He also said: “I am sure, the House does not agree that we should make the Constitution an elephantine one”

Paradise of the Lawyers

According to the critics, the Indian Constitution is too legalistic and very complicated. They opined that the legal language and phraseology adopted in the constitution makes it a complex document. The same Sir Ivor Jennings called it a “lawyer’s paradise”.
In this context, H.K. Maheswari, a member of the Constituent Assembly, observed : “The draft tends to make people more litigious, more inclined to go to law courts, less truthful and less likely to follow the methods of truth and non-violence. If I may say so, the draft is really a lawyer’s paradise. It opens up vast avenues of litigation and will give our able and ingenious lawyers plenty of work to do”
Similarly, P.R. Deshmukh, another member of the Constituent Assembly, said : “I should, however, like to say that the draft of the articles that have been brought before the House by Dr. Ambedkar seems to my mind to be far too ponderous like the ponderous tomes of a law manual. A document dealing with a constitution hardly uses so much of padding and so much of verbiage. Perhaps it is difficult for them to compose a document
which should be, to my mind, not a law manual but a socio- political document, a vibrating, pulsating and life-giving document. But, to our misfortune, that was not to be, and we have been burdened with so much of words, words and words which could have been very easily eliminated.

The Constitution of India at a Glance

Parts of the Indian Constitution	Subject Mentioned in the Part	Articles in Indian Constitution
Part I	Union & Its Territory	Article 1-4
Part II	Citizenship	Article 5-11
Part III	Fundamental Rights	Article 12-35
Part IV	Directive Principles	Article 36-51
Part IV A	Fundamental Duties	Article 51A
Part V	The Union	Article 52-151
Part VI	The States	Article 152-237
Part VII	Note: 7th Amendment Act, 1956 repealed Part 7	–
Part VIII	The Union Territories	Article 239-242
Part IX	The Panchayats	Article 243-243O
Part IX A	The Municipalities	Article 243P-243ZG
Part IX B	Co-operative Societies	Article 243ZH-243ZT
Part X	Scheduled and Tribal Areas	Article 244-244A
Part XI	Relation between Union & States	Article 245-263
Part XII	Finance, Property, Contracts and Suits	Article 264-300A
Part XIII	Trade, Commerce and Intercourse within the territory of India	Article 301-307
Part XIV	Services under the Union and States	Article 308-323
Part XIV A	Tribunals	Article 323A-323B
Part XV	Elections	Article 324-329A
Part XVI	Special Provisions relating to certain classes	Article 330-342
Part XVII	Official Languages	Article 343-351
Part XVIII	Emergency Provisions	Article 352-360
Part XIX	Miscellaneous	Article 361-367
Part XX	Amendment of the Constitution	Article 368
Part XXI	Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions	Article 369-392
Part XXII	Short title, Commencement, Authoritative Text in Hindi and Repeals	Article 393-395

How to Read Indian Express Newspaper

Important instructions

Read the newspaper with a clear understanding of the syllabus for the examination.
Politics, sports, masala news etc. can normally be skipped.
Identify the issue underlying the articles/ news. Issue is important for the exam rather than detailed news. For example In any report regarding security of aadhar card, the issue underlying is that of privacy of data and the key points are advantages of direct benefit transfer, privacy as a fundamental right, security threats of data breach etc.
News related to Committees, Commissions, Bills, Acts etc are important.
Making a summary of the editorial is important as it will help to develop your writing skills as well.
Factual information are important for Prelims.
Examples of how to deal with articles and what to focus upon are given at the end of this page.
We provide the list of important articles to be read from Indian Express and The Hindu everyday with syllabus and sub topic wise break up.

Front Page

Most important news of the previous day are usually given in the front page. It is continued in the second page too.
Front page also contains some state specific news, read the articles which are relevant.
You can ignore political statements, allegations made by political leaders etc.

The City

This Page contains state and region specific news .
Sometimes an innovative Policy / Scheme or successful governance model for a particular State is provided.
You should read these pages for your interview preparation as these pages focus up on the issues and problems of the concerned State. In interview questions may be asked on these topics.

Govt and Politics

Articles in this page are usually related to politics and government.
You may find articles related to certain schemes or policy of the govt. which you should read.

Express Network

This page usually contains news articles from all around India.
Read those articles which are relevant for the exam.

Explained

This page gives you detailed analysis about an issue which is current and relevant.
This page is reader friendly as the articles are written in a very simple language.
This page is very relevant for the exam.

Editorial and Ideas Page

Generally Editorial page depicts the most important topic in news. The articles of these two pages are written by senior journalists and editors, subject experts, economists, senior Lawyers etc.
In main examination questions asked are mainly opinion based. To answer such questions the in-depth analysis provided in the editorial section will be helpful.
These pages provide important points regarding a particular issue. It also provides the pros and cons, innovative solutions and futuristic suggestions about a particular issue. These points will be helpful in writing quality answers in Mains as it will make your answer multi dimensional.
These pages will also contribute towards your preparation for Essay paper and Interview.
These pages are also important for Preliminary exam as it also consists of facts.
It also helps in increasing your reading speed which will help in comprehension section of CSAT paper.
Do make notes regularly from OPED and Editorial.

World

This page will gives you information regarding the important events happening around the world.
You should read all articles which are relevant for your exam.
The selection of articles to be read should be based on the syllabus of General Studies II paper, especially the sub – topics related to international relations.
Other events happenings around the world should only be read if the contents of such an article affects the relationship of that particular country with India or it affects the Indian diaspora living in that country or in any manner directly or indirectly affecting India.

Economy

The articles of this page helps in preparing for Economy section of the Prelims as well sub-topics related to economics in General Studies III paper of Mains.
When we see past year question papers we get to know that the questions from Economics sub-topic of Mains generally come from the newspaper articles.

Sports Page

Just have a glance on the important sports events happening in India and around the world.
Reading articles are not recommended as questions in prelims are minimal from this section.
If any new technology has been implemented in any of the major sports, such news should be referred to and technology should be studied in depth.

Example -1

Article – “Their Lordship object”

Why we should read it

The article comes under Indian polity and governance in Prelims and under Judiciary sub-topic in General studies 2 in Mains.

What to focus upon

Procedure for Appointment and removal of Judges including CJI
What is National Judicial Appointment Commission and why was it unconstitutional
What is Collegium system and the judicial rulings leading to the same
Comparison of Constitutional provisions in appointment of judges in India and other countries
Importance of Independence of judiciary
Judicial activism and Judicial overreach
Number of judges in Supreme Court including the CJI

Example -2

Article – “No formal notice from Pakistan on suspension of co-operation, says US”

Why is this article important

We have to read this article because it comes under General Studies 2 under the sub topic Effect of Policies and Politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

What to focus upon

India – Pakistan relations including the wars fought between the two countries
Stopping US aid to Pakistan and its advantages and disadvantages on India
Impact of such a step on Pakistan – China relationship and its effects on India
India – US relationship
Cross border terrorism

Example -3

Article – “India shouldn’t copy China in Urbanisation, says Niti Aayog “

Why is this article important

We have to read this article because it comes under General Studies 1 under the sub topic urbanization, their problems and their remedies.

What to focus upon

What is the current status of Urbanization in India
What is the Chinese model of urbanization
What is the problems created by chinese model
Smart city projects of India
Government schemes dealing with urban areas
Niti Aayog, its structure and functions

Example -4

Article – ” Cong pokes fun at Modi hugs, BJP seeks Rahul apology ”

Article – ” 50 percent of Muslims converted from Hinduism, will return : BJP MLA from UP ”

What to focus upon

Above articles are political in nature and can be skipped

Constitution Literate District

Kollam in Kerala is India’s first Constitution literate district.

The Citizen is a Constitution literacy campaign jointly launched by the Kollam district panchayat, District Planning Committee and the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA).
The ambitious campaign involved 2,200 trainers called ‘senators’.
The senators visited schools, offices, auto stands and tribal councils to spread awareness.
Around 16.3 lakh people in the district above the age of 10 have been educated on various aspects of the Constitution.
The Preamble of the Constitution has been distributed in all households and installed at schools and institutions.
Kollam will be officially declared India’s first Constitution literate district by Chief Minister of Kerala.

T+1 Settlement

Indian Equity market is moving to ‘T+1’ trade settlement cycle from January 27, 2023.

‘T+1’ (trade plus one) settlement means that a transaction on the back of any purchase or sale of securities will reflect the next day (after a period of 1 day) in the DeMat account of the investor.
T refers to the trading day; T+1 – trading day plus one day.

Advantages

Risks

Provides better liquidity to investors and thereby enhance trade and participation.

Reduces the overall capital requirements.

Boosts operational efficiency as the rolling of funds and stocks will be faster.

Any downtime for a bank or a large bank could pose a challenge in settling the trades.

Higher volatility in capital markets could pose a contagion risk to the ecosystem.

Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the apex capital market regulator in India.

Trade settlement in India – Earlier in India, trade settlement used to take place on a ‘T+2’ basis.
SEBI had cut the number of days in the settlement cycle before as well.

Year	Settlement cycle
Before 2002	T+5 days
2002 – 2003	T+3 days
After 2003	T+2 days

In September 2021, SEBI provided flexibility to exchanges to offer either ‘T+1’ or ‘T+2’ settlement.
Implementation – The stock exchanges, NSE and BSE, decided to change to ‘T+1’ in a phased manner.
In the first phase of implementation, the bottom 100 stocks in terms of market value moved to ‘T+1’ settlement.
Thereafter, gradually stocks were added month after month.
Global Practices – India will be the second largest market after China to implement the ‘T+1’ settlement cycle of stocks.
Most international markets such as the US, Europe, and Japan are still under the ‘T+2’ settlement cycle.

UNDP India launches campaign to drive inclusive circular economy

Context

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched a campaign to drive an inclusive circular economy as part of its initiative to promote sustainability.

About the initiative

Project title: “Inclusive Circular Economy”
Partners: United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL)
The project is a scale-up of existing partnerships under UNDP’s flagship Plastic Waste Management Programme.
Aim: The initiative focuses on the end-to-end management of plastic waste by
- promoting the segregation of waste at the source
- collection of the segregated waste
- setting up Material Recovery Facilities (MRFs) for recycling all kinds of plastic waste along the value chain
- support the social inclusion of 20,000 waste-pickers across the country

The partnership is the first-of-its-kind attempt to promote the social inclusion of Safai Saathis at this scale in India.

Adoption of management models: The partnership with Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) will also help build the capacities of Urban Local Bodies for adopting the MRFs or Swachhata Kendra model for plastic and dry waste management in other cities.

UNDP’s flagship Plastic Waste Management Programme.

The project has successfully linked 3,300 Safai Saathis and their families to government welfare schemes, including Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana, SHRAM card, and Jan Dhan account.

Country’s indigenous mobile operating system BharOS

Context

The Ministry for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology tested ‘BharOS’, the recently-unveiled indigenous operating system developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT).

What is BharOS ?

BharOS is India’s first homegrown mobile operating system.
It is Linux kernel-based operating system that is designed to be secure and powerful.
Developed by: The BharOS was developed by JandK Operations Private Limited (JandKops), which has been incubated by IIT Madras Pravartak Technologies Foundation, a Section 8 (Not for Profit) Company established by IIT Madras.

Important Features

Key features of the new made-in-India OS:

No default apps: BharOS does not include any bloatware or default apps, giving users more storage space. Without any default apps, users are also not forced to use any app they may not trust.
NOTA updates: BharOS offers “Native Over The Air” (NOTA) updates, similar to Android, which means the software updates will be automatically downloaded and installed on the device.
Access to PASS: The new OS will also provide access to Private App Store Services (PASS), which offer trusted apps from specific organisations.

A PASS provides access to a curated list of apps that have been thoroughly vetted and have met certain security and privacy standards of organisations. This means users can be confident that the apps they are installing are safe to use and have been checked for any potential security vulnerabilities or privacy concerns

Need

Because all smartphones either run on Android or on iOS, there has always been a pervasive uneasiness about how these companies collect, store and use the data that is generated by Indian smartphone users.
- BharOS tries to address these issues.

Comparison of BharOS & Android

Similarity

Difference

Technically, BharOS is very similar to Android because they share the same basics. Because BharOS uses AOSP or Android Open Source Project, the functionalities and the methodologies both OS use are essentially the same.

What sets BharOS apart from Android, is that it is free from Google Services and Apps.
- Google has used its preinstalled apps and services to collect data, sometimes without explicitly asking a user.
- Similarly, other apps from Google’s PlayStore share data with third-party services.
- BharOS does not come with any

Which is better BharOS or Android?

BharOS sure has its benefits especially when we speak of security and privacy. However, Android has a few legacy advantages that will be hard for people to give up.
Android actually supports a wide range of devices and hardware, ranging from a basic smartphone worth Rs 6000-7000 or even lower to a complex, and expensive, a foldable smartphone that costs north of Rs 1,00,000.
- We don’t know what sort of devices BharOS will support.
Another advantage is that Android has a very wide user base so bugs and issues are quickly reported and resolved.
- Very rarely do we get to see bugs in the Android OS – most bugs crop up when OEMs try to lay their own UI on top of Android.
- We also don’t know how frequently will BharOS receive updates, security or generational.

ISRO to soon launch Aditya-L1

Context

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to launch the Aditya-L1 mission by June or July this year.

About Aditya-L1 mission

Aditya-L1 Mission is India’s first solar mission planned by ISRO. Earlier the name was Aditya -1, which has been renamed as Aditya-L1 Mission.
Aditya-L1 is the first Indian space mission to observe the Sun and the solar corona.
It is ISRO’s second space-based astronomy mission after AstroSat for a scientific expedition to study the Sun.
ISRO planned to place the satellite in the halo orbit around the Lagrangian Point (L1). Hence the mission was renamed as Aditya L1 mission.

Objectives of the mission

to help in tracking Earth-directed storms and predict their impact through solar observations

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona.

to research the Sun’s corona (Visible and Near-infrared rays), photosphere (soft and hard X-ray), chromosphere (Ultra Violet rays), solar emissions, solar winds and flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), as well as conduct round-the-clock imaging of the Sun

Payloads used for the mission

The 1,500 kg satellite carries seven science payloads with diverse objectives.
Seven science payloads:
- Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC)
- Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT)
- Aditya Solar wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX)
- Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya
- Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS)
- High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS)
- Magnetometer

What are Lagrange Points?

Lagrange points are named in honour of Italian-French mathematician Josephy-Louis Lagrange.

Lagrange Points are positioned in space where the gravitational forces of a two-body system like the Sun and the Earth produce enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion.
These can be used by spacecraft to reduce fuel consumption needed to remain in position.

Types:

There are five Lagrange points in the Sun-Earth system. Of the five Lagrange points in the Sun-Earth system, only the last two, called L4 and L5, are stable. Satellites at the First three points need constant adjustments to stay balanced and in place.

L-1: The first Lagrange point is located between the Earth and the Sun, giving satellites at this point a constant view of the Sun.
- The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a NASA and European Space Agency satellite tasked to monitor the Sun, orbits the first Lagrange point, about 1.5 million kilometres away from Earth.
L-2: The second Lagrange point is about the same distance from the Earth, but is located behind the Earth. Earth is always between the second Lagrange point and the Sun.
- Since the Sun and Earth are in a single line, satellites at this location only need one heat shield to block heat and light from the Sun and Earth. It is a good location for space telescopes.
L-3: The third Lagrange point is opposite the Earth on the other side of the Sun so that the Sun is always between it and Earth.
- A satellite in this position would not be able to communicate with Earth. The extremely stable fourth and fifth Lagrange points are in Earth’s orbital path around the Sun, 60 degrees ahead of and behind Earth.
L4 and L5 are 60° ahead and behind the Earth in the same orbit.

A Battle-Fit Police

Context:

A conference of the Directors General of Police of all the states and union territories was held, organised by the Intelligence Bureau which highlighted the increasing security related problems and need for reforms in policing model.

Highlighted concerns in the Conference:

Increasing rate of Crime: The events of chain-snatching, kidnapping, robbery, murder, communal riot, terrorist outrage or any other law and order situation is increasing and police interventions is neglected in terms of reforms.
Over-pendency of cases: The overburdening of police staff makes them inefficient and affects their working condition.
Tougher conditions of work: Since Independence, 36,044 police personnel have died in the performance of their duties. Police duties in India are tougher than in any other part of the world.

Present condition of Police system:

Working at police stations: Generally, visiting a Police station is a task for a citizen, as the staff, overworked and fatigued, is generally unresponsive. Police in India work at 77 per cent of their sanctioned strength and these personnel work for 14 hours a day on average.
Lack of resources: According to the Status of Policing in India Report 2019, there are 70 police stations which have no wireless, 214 police stations that have no telephone and 240 police stations that have no vehicles.
Inadequate Training and remunerations: The training institutions have not kept pace with the changing paradigm on the law or crime front and are manned generally by unwanted, demotivated officers.

Suggestive points:

Crimes increasing faster: Terrorist crimes, cybercrimes, drug trafficking, crypto currency, etc. are all very important subjects. These must be discussed and strategies planned to tackle them.
Allocation of proper resources at police stations: The police station must be reinforced with adequate staff and its infrastructure upgraded with better transport, communication and forensic facilities.
Win the confidence of people: Impacts on the life and property of the common citizen tend to get neglected at local police stations mostly; it is high time that the basics are taken care of to gain confidence of people.
Introduction with the increase in crime rates in India with suitable data.
Analyze why the policing system needs reforms like modernization, increasing police-citizen ratio, enhancing technological capabilities, etc.
Highlight some of the committee recommendations like 2^nd ARC Report, Supreme Court Guidelines, etc. to deal with digital and cross-border crimes.
Conclude with how police capability enhancement will ensure better Justice Delivery in India.

ONGC to map India’s geothermal resources

Context

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) plans to map the geothermal energy sources of India in search of clean energy.

What is Geothermal Energy?

Geothermal energy is heat that is generated within the Earth.
Geothermal energy is stored in the form of heat beneath the earth’s surface
Type: Renewable resource
Source: It is contained in the rocks and fluids beneath the earth’s crust and can be found as far down as the earth’s hot molten rock, magma.
Impact on environment: clean and carbon-free.
Process: A series of wells is used to generate steam from the Earth’s internal heat energy and fed to the power plant to generate electricity

Geothermal Energy in India

Geothermal province: There are seven geothermal provinces and a number of geothermal springs in India.
Total potential: According to the ministry of new and renewable energy, India has the potential to generate 10 gigawatts (GW) of geothermal power.
Major regions: Ladakh (Puga and Chumathang regions) has been identified as the most resource-rich region in terms of geothermal energy in the country.
- Apart from Ladakh, there is abundant potential in Himachal Pradesh too which has several sources of geothermal energy along the rivers Alaknanda, Sutlej, Beas and Bhagirathi.
- Efforts are also underway to utilize geothermal energy from oil and gas wells in the Gandhar oil field of ONGC’s Ankleshwar asset in Gujarat.

India’s Top Renewable Energy Projects

Puga Geothermal Energy Project, Ladakh
Bhadla Solar Park, Rajasthan
Jaisalmer Wind Park, Jaisalmer
Rewa Solar Project, Madhya Pradesh
Brahmanvel Wind Farm, Maharashtra
Gobar Dhan Bio CNG Plant, Indore
Vankusawade Wind Park, Maharashtra
Ramky Enviro Landfill, Gas to Bio CNG Plant, Hyderabad
Shakti Sthala Solar Project, Karnataka
Simhadri Floating Solar PV Plant, Andhra Pradesh
Kurnool Ultra Mega Solar Park, Andhra Pradesh
Pavagada Solar Park, Karnataka
Muppandal Wind Farm, Tamil Nadu

About Maharatna ONGC

The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation is a central public sector undertaking under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.
Headquarters: Dehradun
Founded in: 1956
ONGC is the largest crude oil and natural gas Company in India.

Fragility of the Himalayan Mountains

Why in news?

With the sinking of Joshimath town, there is a considerable amount of research on the vulnerabilities of Himalayan geology brought to the fore.

How vulnerable is the Himalayan range?

The Himalaya is a fragile mountain range that is still rising as the Indian plate continues to push into the Asian plate.
The mountains are mainly the shale upwelling of the sea, which makes them quite unstable.
In fact, they are largely held together by the forests that they support.

himalayanranges

What is the case of Joshimath crisis?

Geography – At over 6,000 feet, Joshimath sits on the side of an unstable ridge created largely from glacial moraine rock and shale in a rift valley.
It is also a seismic zone.
The ground beneath is a heterogeneous mass with pockets of variegated rock and open spaces occupied by water and mud from old glacial deposits.
It also holds some important aquifers.
Issues – Joshimath is no place for a tourist town that supports more than 2 million pilgrims a year or a four-lane highway.
The government has sanctioned a hydropower project in the Dhauliganga-Alaknanda basin which upon tunneling punctured an aquifer in 2009 and contributed to the Joshimath slide.
Uttarakhand state has more than 40,000 km of roads and counting today for tourists to visit the Char Dham sites (Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath).
India also appears to be competing with China to build high-altitude railways.
The mountains in Tibet on the Chinese side are made of firm rock whereas most of the Himalayan mountains are made of the unstable shale.

hindukush

What are the concerns?

Extreme weather events – With the consequent loss of forest cover and extreme weather events (the 2013 Kedarnath flood), catastrophes have occurred at a steady beat in all of Uttarakhand.
Soil and water degradation – The local soil and water have been degraded.
Decline in natural springs – The number of natural mineral water springs is declining.
Increasing landslides – The number of landslides is also shooting up.

What lies ahead?

If India needs any strategic border roads, they must run along rocky terrain to be stable.
Those roads that exist on shale or other loose-soil hills must be urgently forested to stabilise the steep hillside as well as hold water and restore springs.
There must be a complete ban on any hydroelectric power projects in the Himalaya, especially on the source-rivers of the Ganga (Bhagirathi and Alaknanda).
Indian Himalaya has to be declared as an “inviolate protected zone” and a “planet reserve” similar to the declaration of Amazon basin as a “strictly protected zone”.

Kelp forests

A recent study published in the journal Nature revealed that Kelp forests are declining because of climate change.

About Kelp forests:

Kelp thrives in cold, nutrient-rich waters.
They attach to the seafloor and eventually grow to the water’s surface and rely on sunlight to generate food and energy, kelp forests are always coastal and require shallow, relatively clear water.
They provide underwater habitats to hundreds of species of invertebrates, fishes, and other algae and have great ecological and economic value.

Distribution of Kelp forest

Kelp forests have been observed throughout the Arctic by the Inuit. The Canadian Arctic alone represents 10 per cent of the world’s coastlines.
They have adapted to severe conditions. These cool water species have special strategies to survive freezing temperatures and long periods of darkness and even grow under sea ice.
In regions with cold, nutrient-rich water, they can attain some of the highest rates of primary production of any natural ecosystem on Earth.
Between Ellesmere Island and Labrador, as well as along the coasts of Lancaster Sound, Ungava Bay, Hudson Bay, Baffin Bay, and Resolute Bay in Hudson Bay and eastern Canada, kelp forests have been scientifically documented.

Spinal Muscular Atrophy type-1

The paediatrics department at AIIMS Delhi recently wrote a recommendation letter for the father of an 11-month-old patient who is seeking financial assistance for the infant’s treatment worth Rs 17.5 crore (USD 2.1 million) due to SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy) type-1.

About Spinal Muscular Atrophy) type-1:

Spinal Muscular Atrophy is a neurological condition caused by a defect in the SMN1 gene.
Normally, every person is born with a gene called SMN1 which produces a protein called SMN protein, in many cells in our body.
This protein is essential for the normal functioning of nerve cells in the spinal cord called the ‘anterior horn cells.
The anterior horn cells control the skeletal muscles essential for all our movements However, the absence of the SMN1 gene causes a reduction in the amount of SMN protein produced in anterior horn cells.
Impacts of reduced SMN protein: The reduced quantity of SMN protein causes gradual death of anterior horn cells, and thus progressive weakness of muscles of limbs, trunk and breathing and swallowing muscles.

There are broadly three types of SMA

SMA Type 1: It is the most severe type of SMA. The child will never achieve independent sitting, and at best, can attain neck holding and rollover.
SMA Type 2: These children will attain sitting without support, but, will not be able to walk independently.
SMA Type 3: This is the milder form of SMA. The affected persons can walk independently but have difficulty walking upstairs.

How is SMA treated?

There are currently three types of medicines available for the treatment of children and adults with SMA.

Spinraza (Nusinersen): This is an ‘exon skipping’, with medicine injected into the spine. There is no age limit for the administration of this medicine. It works by increasing the quantity of SMN2 expression, and thus SMN protein quantity.
Zolgensma: It is an artificially prepared SMN1 gene, coupled with an innocuous viral vector (AAV9) and administered as a single-dose intravenous infusion. This medicine is approved for use in children under two years of age
Risdiplam: It is the most recently approved drug (in 2020). It is in the form of powder and the reconstituted solution is given orally, once daily, life-long.

Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC)

The handover ceremony of the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) which is the primary payload of Aditya-L1 Mission was held recently.

About Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) on board Aditya-L1:

What is it?It is the largest payload that would fly on the Aditya-L1 mission. It is an internally occulted solar coronagraph capable of simultaneous imaging, spectroscopy and spectro-polarimetry close to the solar limb.
The VELC consists of a coronagraph, spectrograph, polarimetry module and detectors, aside from auxiliary optics.
It is built by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA) at its CREST (Centre for Research and Education in Science and Technology) campus at Hosakote, Karnataka.
Purpose:
- It will observe the solar corona, which is the tenuous, outermost layer of the solar atmosphere.
- It will analyze the coronal temperature, plasma velocity, density, etc.
- It will also study Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and the solar wind.

What is Aditya-L1 Mission:

It is India’s first dedicated scientific mission to study the Sun.
The spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around the first Lagrange point, L1, which is 1.5 million km from the Earth towards the Sun.
A satellite around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without occultation/eclipses.
Aditya-L1 carries seven payloads to observe the photosphere, chromosphere, and the outermost layers of the Sun (the corona) using electromagnetic and particle detectors.
The satellite will be launched by PSLV-XL launch vehicle from Sriharikota.

What are Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs):

(CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona.
The blast of a CME carries about a billion tons of material out from the Sun at very high speeds of hundreds of kilometers per second.
A CME contains particle radiation (mostly protons and electrons) and powerful magnetic fields stronger than what is normally present in the solar wind.
The resulting shocks ripple through the solar system and can interrupt satellites and power grids on Earth.