Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: T-Cell Immunity
Mains level: Long term health impact of COVID
A new study from Wuhan has studied the role of T-Cell Immunity against prolonged and sever COVID-19.
What are T-Cells?
- Like B cells, which produce antibodies, T cells are central players in the immune response to viral infection.
- For your immune system to fight off any kind of invader, such as a virus, you need a kind of white blood cell called a B cell, which makes antibodies, and a similar-looking white blood cell called a T cell.
- T cells can play different roles altogether.
- They can act as “killer cells”, attacking cells which have been infected with a virus or another kind of pathogen, or they can act as “helper cells” by supporting B cells to produce antibodies.
How do they function?
- Alongside antibodies, the immune system produces a battalion of T cells that can target viruses.
- Some of these, known as killer T cells (or CD8+ T cells), seek out and destroy cells that are infected with the virus.
- Others, called helper T cells (or CD4+ T cells) are important for various immune functions, including stimulating the production of antibodies and killer T cells.
- T cells do not prevent infection, because they kick into action only after a virus has infiltrated the body. But they are important for clearing an infection that has already started.
- In the case of COVID-19, killer T cells could mean the difference between a mild infection and a severe one that requires hospital treatment.
What did the latest research find?
- The researchers found that neutralising antibodies were detectable even 12 months after infection in “most individuals”.
- It remained stable 6-12 months after initial infection in people younger than 60 years.
- The researchers found that “multifunctional T cell responses were detected for all SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins tested”.
- And most importantly, the magnitude of T cell responses did not show any difference immaterial of how severe the disease was.
- While the ability of antibodies to neutralise was nearly absent against the Beta variant, it was reduced in the case of the Delta variant.
Neutralizing antibodies
- SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralising antibody and T cell responses were retained 12 months after initial infection.
- Neutralising antibodies to the D614G, Beta, and Delta were reduced compared with those for the original strain, and were diminished in general.
- Memory T cell responses to the original strain were not disrupted by new variants.
- The findings show that robust antibody and T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 is present in majority of recovered patients 12 months after moderate-to-critical infection.
Robustness of antibodies
- The study reveals the durability and robustness of the T cell responses against variants, including Delta, even after one year of infection.
- Most importantly, the robust and longstanding T cell responses were seen in people who have not been reinfected or vaccinated.
- This would mean even in the absence of vaccination, a person who has been infected by the virus even one year ago would have robust immune responses.
- It would offer protection against disease progressing to a severe form requiring hospitalization.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Olive Ridley Turtles
Mains level: Not Much
About 2.45 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles crawled ashore on the Nasi-II beach of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary along the Odisha coast for laying eggs, marking one of the largest opening day arrivals of turtles at the site.
Olive Ridley Turtles
- The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
- In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups at Rushikulya rookery near Gahirmatha in Odisha.
- The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
- The species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Appendix 1 in CITES, and Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Special feature: Mass nesting
- They are best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed Arribadas.
- Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.
- They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers.
- They hatch in 45 to 60 days, depending on the temperature of the sand and atmosphere during the incubation period.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Open Government Data platform
Mains level: Paper 3- Data Accessibility and Use Policy
Context
The Draft India Data Accessibility and Use Policy 2022 released in February for public consultation, is silent on the norms, rules, and mechanisms to bring to fruition its vision.
Aims of the policy
- The Draft Policy aims for harnessing public sector data for informed decision-making, citizen-centric delivery of public services, and economy-wide digital innovation.
- It seeks to maximise access to and use of quality non-personal data (NPD) available with the public sector, overcoming a number of historical bottlenecks.
- This GovTech 3.0 approach — to unlock the valuable resource of public sector data — does upgrade the OGD vision of the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), 2012.
- It seeks to harness data-based intelligence for governance and economic development.
What is lacking in the draft policy?
- Lacking in norms and rules: The Draft Policy is silent on the norms, rules, and mechanisms to bring to fruition its vision of data-supported social transformation.
- Ignores the canons of RTI: Any attempt to promote meaningful citizen engagement with data cannot afford to ignore the canons of the Right to Information (RTI), and hence, the need for certain citizen data sets with personal identifiers to be in the public domain, towards making proactive disclosure meaningful.
- The unfinished task of the NDSAP in bringing coherence between restrictions on the availability of sensitive personal information in the public domain and India’s RTI, therefore, has been lost sight of.
- Risks to group privacy: With respect to government-to-government data sharing for citizen-centric service delivery, the Draft Policy highlights that approved data inventories will be federated into a government-wide, searchable database.
- But even in the case of anonymised citizen data sets (that is no longer personal data), downstream processing can pose serious risks to group privacy.
- Lack of data trusteeship framework: The Draft Policy adheres to the NDSAP paradigm of treating government agencies as ‘owners’ of the data sets they have collected and compiled instead of shifting to the trusteeship paradigm recommended by the 2020 Report of the MEITY Committee of Experts on non-personal data governance.
- The lack of a data trusteeship framework gives government agencies unilateral privileges to determine the terms of data licensing.
Suggestions
- Taking on board a trusteeship-based approach, the proposed Draft Policy must pay attention to data quality, and ensure that licensing frameworks and any associated costs do not pose an impediment to data accessibility for non-commercial purposes.
- Create common and interoperable data spaces: In the current context, where the most valuable data resources are held by the private sector, it is increasingly evident to policymakers that socioeconomic innovation depends on the state’s ability to catalyse wide-ranging data-sharing from both public and private sector actors across various sectors.
- The European Union, for instance, has focused on the creation of common, interoperable data spaces to encourage voluntary data-sharing in specific domains such as health, energy and agriculture.
- Mandatory data sharing arrangement: Creating the right conditions for voluntary data-sharing is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for democratising data innovation.
- In this regard, the data stewardship model for high-value data sets proposed by the MEITY’s Committee of Experts in their Report on Non-Personal Data Governance (2020) is instructive.
- In this model, a government/not-for-profit organisation may request the Non-Personal Data Authority or NPDA for the creation of a high-value data set (only non-personal data) in a particular sector, demonstrating the specific public interest purpose.
- Once such a request is approved by the NPDA, the data trustee has the right to request data-sharing from all major custodians of data sets corresponding to the high-value data set category in question – both public and private.
Conclusion
- What we need is a new social contract for data whereby:
- a) the social commons of data are governed as an inappropriable commons that belong to all citizens;
- b) the government is the custodian or trustee with fiduciary responsibility to promote data use for public good; and
- c) democratisation of data value is ensured through accountable institutional mechanisms for data governance.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Various provisions of the 74th Constitutional Amendment Act
Mains level: Centre vs. Delhi Govt
The Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was tabled in Lok Sabha.
What is the MCD Amendment Bill?
- The Bill seeks to amend The Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, to effectively undo the earlier 2011 amendment to the Act.
- Under the 2011 Act, the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was trifurcated into separate North, South, and East Delhi Municipal Corporations.
Key features of the Bill
(1) Unification of Municipal Corporations in Delhi:
- The Bill replaces the three municipal corporations under the Act with one Corporation named the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
(2) Powers of the Delhi government:
- The Act as amended in 2011 empowers the Delhi government to decide various matters under the Act.
- These include:
- Total number of seats of councillors and number of seats reserved for members of the Scheduled Castes,
- Division of the area of corporations into zones and wards,
- Delimitation of wards,
- Matters such as salary and allowances, and leave of absence of the Commissioner,
- Sanctioning of consolidation of loans by a corporation, and
- Sanctioning suits for compensation against the Commissioner for loss or waste or misapplication of Municipal Fund or property
- Similarly, the Act mandates that the Commissioner will exercise his powers regarding building regulations under the general superintendence and directions of Delhi government.
- The Bill instead empowers the central government to decide these matters.
(3) Number of councillors:
- The Act provides that the number of seats in the three corporations taken together should not be more than 272.
- The 14th Schedule to the Act specifies 272 wards across the three Corporations.
- The Bill states that the total number of seats in the new Corporation should not be more than 250.
(4) Removal of Director of Local Bodies:
- The Act provides for a Director of Local Bodies to assist the Delhi government and discharge certain functions which include:
- Coordinating between Corporations,
- Framing recruitment Rules for various posts, and
- Coordinating the collecting and sharing of toll tax collected by the respective Corporations.
- The Bill omits this provision for a Director of Local Bodies.
(5) Special officer to be appointed by the central government:
- The Bill provides that the central government may appoint a Special Officer to exercise powers of the Corporation until the first meeting of the Corporation is held after the commencement of the Bill.
(6) E-governance system for citizens:
- The Bill adds that obligatory functions of the new Corporation will include establishing an e-governance system for citizen services on anytime-anywhere basis for better, accountable, and transparent administration.
(7) Conditions of service for sweepers:
- The Act provides that a sweeper employed for doing house scavenging of a building would be required to give a reasonable cause or a 14 day notice before discontinuing his service.
- The Bill seeks to omit this provision.
Issues with the Amendment Bill
The Bill, when passed, will not return the MCD exactly to its pre-2011 situation. There are many sections in the Bill that will make the new MCD very different from the older one.
- New delimitation exercise: Reducing the number of seats means a new delimitation exercise will have to be conducted, which experts say will take at least three months, but is more likely to take six months.
- Bureaucratization: Appointing a Special Officer means that until the elections are concluded, the Centre will likely appoint an officer to run the corporation. The Bill also does away with the provision of appointing a Director of Local Bodies by the Delhi government.
- Central hegemony: The other significant change is the replacement of the word “government” with “Central government” in all places. The bill hence seeks to curtail the powers of the elected govt of New Delhi by introducing central hegemony.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CBI
Mains level: Issues with CBI
The Calcutta High Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the killings in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, where eight persons were burnt alive.
About CBI
- The Bureau of Investigation traces its origins to the Delhi Special Police Establishment, a Central Government Police force, which was set up in 1941 by the Government of India.
- It then aimed to investigate bribery and corruption in transactions with the War and Supply Department of India.
- It then had its headquarters in Lahore.
- After the end of the war, there was a continued need for a central governmental agency to investigate bribery and corruption by central-government employees.
- The DSPE acquired its popular current name, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), through a Home Ministry resolution dated in 1963.
Mandate of the CBI
- The CBI is the main investigating agency of the GoI.
- It is not a statutory body; it derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
- Its important role is to prevent corruption and maintain integrity in administration.
- It works under the supervision of the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) in matters pertaining to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
- The CBI is also India’s official representative with the INTERPOL.
Cases to investigate
- Cases connected to infringement of economic and fiscal laws
- Crimes of a serious nature that have national and international ramifications
- Coordination with the activities of the various state police forces and anti-corruption agencies.
- It can also take up any case of public importance and investigate it
- Maintaining crime statistics and disseminating criminal information.
How does the CBI take up cases?
- Unlike the NIA, CBI cannot take suo motu cognizance of a case in a state — whether in a matter of corruption involving government officials of the Centre and PSU staff, or an incident of violent crime.
- In order to take up corruption cases involving central government staff, it either needs general consent (see last question) of the state government, or specific consent on a case-to-case basis.
- For all other cases, whether involving corruption in the state government or an incident of crime, the state has to request an investigation by the CBI, and the Centre has to agree to the same.
- In case the state does not make such a request, the CBI can take over a case based on the orders of the High Court concerned or the Supreme Court.
Can the CBI decline to take up a case for investigation?
- After a state makes a request for an inquiry by the CBI, the Centre seeks the opinion of the agency.
- If the CBI feels that it is not worthwhile for it to expend time and energy on the case, it may decline to take it up.
- In the past, the CBI has refused to take over cases citing lack of enough personnel to investigate, and saying it is overburdened.
What is the CBI’s workload currently?
- According to the latest Annual Report of the Central Vigilance Commission, the CBI registered 608 FIRs in 2019 and 589 FIRs in 2020.
- In 2020, a total 86 cases related to demands for bribes by public servants for showing favour, and 30 cases for possession of disproportionate assets were registered.
- Out of 676 cases in the year (including FIRs and Preliminary Enquiries), 107 cases were taken up on the directions of constitutional courts and 39 on requests from state governments/ Union Territories.
- Also, there are over 1,300 vacancies in the CBI.
What is the CBI’s progress on cases?
- At the end of 2020, the CBI had 1,117 cases (both FIRs and PEs) pending investigation. In 2019, this number stood at 1,239.
- During 2020, investigation was finalised in 693 FIRs and 105 PEs.
- The conviction rate during the year was 69.83% against 69.19% in 2019.
- At the end of 2020, 9,757 cases were pending in various courts.
- The conviction rate in corruption cases was slightly lower at 67% in 2020.
- Almost 2,000 corruption cases are pending trial for more than 10 years.
What is the role of state consent in an investigation by the CBI?
- Since 2015, as many as nine states — Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Mizoram and Meghalaya — have withdrawn general consent to the CBI.
- Opposition-ruled states have alleged the CBI has become its master’s voice, and has been unfairly targeting opposition politicians.
- Withdrawal of general consent means that to probe any case in these states, CBI would have to take prior permission from the state government.
- CBI has claimed that this has tied its hands.
Also read
[Burning Issue] Central Bureau of Investigation
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Noise Pollution
Mains level: Not Much
The city of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh is the second-most noise polluted city globally, according to a recent report title Frontier 2022 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
What is Noise Pollution?
- Noise pollution, also known as environmental noise or sound pollution, is the propagation of noise with ranging impacts on the activity of human or animal life, most of them harmful to a degree.
- It is generally defined as regular exposure to elevated sound levels that may lead to adverse effects in humans or other living organisms.
- The source of outdoor noise worldwide is mainly caused by machines, transport, and propagation systems.
- Poor urban planning may give rise to noise disintegration or pollution, side-by-side industrial and residential buildings can result in noise pollution in the residential areas.
- Some of the main sources of noise in residential areas include loud music, transportation (traffic, rail, airplanes, etc.), maintenance, construction, electrical generators, wind turbines, explosions, and people etc.
Defining Noise Pollution
- Sounds with a frequency over 70 db are considered harmful to health.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) had recommended a 55 db standard for residential areas in the 1999 guidelines, while for traffic and business sectors, the limit was 70 db.
- The WHO set the limit of noise pollution on the road at 53 db in 2018, taking into account health safety.
Noise Pollution in India
- The report identifies 13 noise polluted cities in south Asia. Five of these, including Moradabad, are in India, which have recorded alarming levels of noise pollution:
- Kolkata (89 db)
- Asansol (89 db)
- Jaipur (84 db)
- Delhi (83 db)
- The noise pollution figures given in the report relate to daytime traffic or vehicles.
- Moradabad has recorded noise pollution of a maximum of 114 decibels (db). The Frontier 2022 report mentions a total of 61 cities.
Case in the neighborhood
- The highest noise pollution of 119 db has been recorded in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.
- At third place is Pakistan’s capital Islamabad, where the noise pollution level has been recorded at 105 db.
Hazards created
- High levels of noise pollution affect human health and well-being by having an effect on sleep.
- This has a bad effect on the communication of many animal species living in the area and their ability to hear.
- Regular exposure for eight hours a day to 85 decibels of sound can permanently eliminate the ability to hear.
- Not only that, exposure to relatively low noise pollution for long periods in cities can harm physical and mental health.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: B9 Countries
Mains level: Not Much
The envoys to India of nine Eastern European countries called Bucharest Nine jointly wrote to acquaint the Indian public with the basic facts on the ground” about the “premeditated, unprovoked and unjustified Russian aggression in Ukraine”.
What is Bucharest Nine?
- The “Bucharest Nine” is a group of nine NATO countries in Eastern Europe that became part of the US-led military alliance after the end of the Cold War.
- The Bucharest Nine or Bucharest Format, often abbreviated as the B9, was founded on November 4, 2015, and takes its name from Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
- The group was created on the initiative of Klaus Iohannis, who has been President of Romania since 2014, and Andrzej Duda, who became President of Poland in August 2015.
Composition
- The B9 are, apart from Romania and Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
- All members of the B9 are part of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
- All nine countries were once closely associated with the now dissolved Soviet Union, but later chose the path of democracy.
- Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria are former signatories of the now-dissolved Warsaw Pact military alliance led by the Soviet Union.
- The other Warsaw Pact countries were the erstwhile Czechoslovakia and East Germany, and Albania. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were part of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
Functions of B9
- The B9 offers a platform for deepening the dialogue and consultation among the participant allied states, in order to articulate their specific contribution to the ongoing processes across the North-Atlantic Alliance.
- It works in total compliance with the principles of solidarity and indivisibility of the security of the NATO Member States.
Opposition to Russian expansion
- The B9 countries have been critical of President Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014, when the war in the Donbas started and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.
- After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the B9 met in Warsaw.
- Ukraine’s President has also appealed to the B9 for defense aid, sanctions, pressure on the aggressor Russia and create one anti-war coalition.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Solomon Islands
Mains level: Chinese expansion in Pacific
The Solomon Islands has defended plans to sign a security deal with Beijing that could allow China to boost its military presence in the South Pacific island nation. This has left Australia very concerned.
Solomon Islands
- Solomon Islands is a sovereign country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu.
- It has a land area of 28,400 square kilometres and a population of 652,858.[10] Its capital, Honiara, is located on the largest island, Guadalcanal.
- The country takes its name from the Solomon Islands archipelago, which is a collection of Melanesian islands.
- It also includes the North Solomon Islands (a part of Papua New Guinea), but excludes outlying islands, such as the Santa Cruz Islands and Rennell and Bellona.
- The islands have been settled since at least some time between 30,000 and 28,800 BCE, with later waves of migrants, notably the Lapita people, mixing and producing the modern indigenous Solomon Islanders population.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Time to rethink relations with Russia
Context
Russia’s war on Ukraine has decisively shaped international opinion. Indian foreign policy is also going to be affected in a profound manner.
India’s foreign policy conundrum
- Russia’s attack on Ukraine has put New Delhi in a foreign policy conundrum that will not disappear soon because Russia’s action has changed the global order.
- India has not directly criticised Moscow’s action.
- Memories of the historic Indo-Soviet partnership still seem to tip the scales when it comes to India’s vote at the UNSC.
- Western countries have criticised India’s repeated abstentions at the UNSC on the issue of the Russian invasion.
- The Western world has imposed unprecedented sanctions against Russia and banned energy imports.
- New Delhi is concerned about the impact of these sanctions on global finance, energy supplies, and transportation, amid growing signs that they will constrain India’s ability to import Russian oil.
India’s challenges
- Russia’s increasing dependence on China: What must worry India is the fact that Russia will now become increasingly dependent on Chinese support to defend its policies.
- The collapsing ruble, the punishing sanctions, and the dire state of the Russian economy will push Russia further into China’s military and economic orbit.
- China’s challenge in Indo-Pacific: India’s real strategic challenge is surfacing in the Indo-Pacific with the rise of China, as Beijing has consistently sought to expand its zone of military, economic and political influence through the Belt and Road Initiative.
- Though India would like the U.S. to continue to focus on China, it is not possible for Washington to ignore Russia’s aggression along NATO’s periphery.
How India’s ties with Russia changed over time
- Since the end of the Cold War, Indians have been debating the contours of strategic autonomy.
- For one section the doctrine of ‘multi-alignment’ is the 21st century avatar of strategic autonomy as India has been expanding its engagement with all the major powers.
- Following the disintegration of the USSR, India joined Russia and China against the unipolarity of the U.S.
- For some time, this common concern about unipolarity put the three countries on the same path towards mutual cooperation and understanding.
- Later, Brazil and South Africa were also brought into this coalition.
- However, it soon became clear that India and China did not see eye to eye.
- Moreover, India was determined to maintain its partnership with Russia, an important arms supplier.
- Its ties with the U.S. have also improved significantly since the end of the Cold War.
- But continuing dependence on Russian weaponry has become India’s strategic headache.
Way forward for India
- Under Mr. Putin, Russia is in a state of transition, swinging wildly from one crisis to another.
- Therefore, it is too risky for India to pursue vague aims vis-à-vis Russia in these uncertain times.
- A NATO-Russia Council was formed specifically to alleviate Russia’s concerns, and that Russia was recognised as one of the world’s leading industrial powers through a formal admission into the elite G-7.
- Though Moscow has drifted much closer to Beijing, and is sharply critical of India’s engagement with the U.S. and the Quad, India finds it difficult to extend support to Ukraine.
- It goes without saying that the U.S. is the country most likely to bolster India’s future as a great power.
Conclusion
It is not going to be easy for New Delhi to maintain its balancing act in the future as Washington hardens its position further. It is inevitable that during this time of diplomatic and strategic uncertainty, New Delhi needs to be ready to radically redefine its relationship with Moscow.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CCTN
Mains level: Paper 2- Use of technology in policing and issues with it
Context
On March 11, speaking at the NCRB Foundation Day, the Union Home Minister remarked that the second phase of the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS) is set to be completed by 2026.
Increasing use of technology for policing
- the Inter-operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS), a Rs 3,500 crore project, is set to be completed by 2026 with increased use of artificial intelligence, fingerprint systems and other tools of predictive policing.
- One crore fingerprints had already been uploaded and if these were available to all police stations as part of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS), there would no longer be any need to pursue criminals.
- The existing systems of ICJS and CCTNS empower the state to cross-reference data between different pillars of the criminal justice system.
- Recently, the Indore Police Commissioner unveiled a “fingerprint-based criminal record data fetching system” in which a small thumb impression machine can be added to a phone.
- If the fingerprint recorded matches with the police database, all information about a person’s criminal record will be pulled up.
Issues with the use of technologies
- Privacy concerns: The enthusiasm for generating and cross-referencing data to make policing more efficient ignores privacy concerns and structural faults of policing.
- The Supreme Court in K.S Puttaswamy declared a fundamental right to informational privacy as paramount and noted that any measure that sought to collect information or surveil must be legal, necessary, and proportionate.
- Fear of mass surveillance: Integrating “fingerprint-based criminal record data fetching system” to the list of predictive policing practices will give birth to mass surveillance, particularly of certain oppressed caste communities, based on little evidence.
- Nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes were ascribed “criminality by birth” and considered as “hereditary criminals addicted to systematic commission of non-bailable offences” under the colonial Criminal Tribes Act, 1871.
- It has been replaced with the murky Habitual Offenders (HO) provisions, which have acted as a tool for police to continue to attribute criminality to Vimukta communities, by mandating their surveillance through regular check-ins at police stations.
- Mere suspicion or FIRs filed against an individual are sufficient to trigger the discretionary powers of the police.
Consider the question “Use of technology in policing can make it better at the same time run the risk of making it more dangerous.” Critically examine.
Conclusion
With the increasing adoption of technology in policing, we must pay attention to the risks involved and the issue of misuse.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Internationalization of Kashmir Issue
Finance Minister sought to remind Parliament that it was the country’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, who internationalized the Kashmir issue by taking it to the United Nations.
Kashmir at UN
- The United Nations has played an advisory role in maintaining peace and order in the Kashmir region soon after the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947.
- India took this matter to the UN Security Council, which passed resolution 39 (1948) and established the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) to investigate the issues and mediate between the two countries.
- Following the cease-fire of hostilities, it also established the United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP) to monitor the cease-fire line.
Why did Nehru agree to these terms?
- In December 1947, because the British perhaps suggested Nehru that this matter will not be resolved unless you take it to the UN.
- British were convinced that an intermediary was needed.
- Nehru, a loyalist to the British agreed upon the terms laid by Mountbatten.
- It was Nehru who first put forth the idea of a referendum under the aegis of UN soon after independence.
- There is evidence to believe Sardar Patel was uncomfortable with Nehru taking the matter to the UN, and thought it was a mistake.
Issue: Adventurism by Pakistan
- The discussions in the Security Council on our complaint of aggression by Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir took a very unfavourable turn.
- Pakistan then succeeded, with the support of the British and American members creating a western bias against India.
- Pakistan is misusing this till date paving wave for third-party intervention.
- It is an issue which should not have gone to a global forum, it is essentially an Indian issue.
Article 35 of UN Charter
- There has been some debate on whether India chose the wrong path to approach the UN.
- In 2019, Home Minister said that had Nehru taken the matter to the UN under Article 51 of the UN Charter, instead of Article 35, the outcome could have been different.
- India pointed out that J&K had acceded to India, and that the “Government of India considered the giving of this assistance by Pakistan to be an act of aggression against India.
- Articles 33-38 of the UN Charter occur in Chapter 6, titled “Pacific (peaceful) Settlement of Disputes” :
These Articles lay out that:
- the parties to a dispute that has the potential for endangering international peace and security are not able to resolve the matter through negotiations between them, or by any other peaceful means, or with the help of a “regional agency”
- the Security Council may step in, with or without the invitation of one or another of the involved parties, and recommend “appropriate procedures or methods of recommendation”
- Article 35 only says that any member of the UN may take a dispute to the Security Council or General Assembly
- Article 51, which occurs in Chapter 7, titled “Action With Respect to Threats to the Peace, Breaches of the Peace, and Acts of Aggression”
- It says that a UN member has the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if attacked
Issues with the internationalization of Kashmir
- Kashmir issue no longer remains bilateral; it has thus been internationalized.
- However, India has been successful in perhaps internationalizing terrorism but not the Kashmir problem.
- But unwarranted statements against India’s sovereign concerns are increasing these days.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: IAS
Mains level: Read the attached story
Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions told the Lok Sabha that as on January 1, 2021, there were 5,231 IAS officers in the country — 1,515 (22.45 per cent) fewer than the sanctioned strength of 6,746.
About IAS
- The Indian Administrative Service (IAS) is the administrative arm of the All India Services of Government of India.
- Considered the premier central civil service of India, the IAS is one of the three arms of the All India Services along with the Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service.
- Members of these three services serve the Government of India as well as the individual states.
- IAS officers may also be deployed to various public sector undertakings and international organizations.
Functions of the IAS
- Upon confirmation of service, an IAS officer serves a probationary period as a sub-divisional magistrate.
- Completion of this probation is followed by an executive administrative role in a district as a district magistrate and collector which lasts several years.
- After this tenure, an officer may be promoted to head a whole state administrative division, as a divisional commissioner.
How are officers recruited in the IAS?
- Direct recruits are selected through the Civil Service Examination (CSE) every year; the number of recruits is decided by a committee that takes several factors into account.
- Since 2012, 180 IAS officers have been recruited every year through the CSE.
- A committee has been constituted to arrive at a suitable formula to determine the intake of IAS officers every year from CSE-2022 to 2030.
- Some officers are promoted from the State Civil Services (SCS), and a limited number are promoted from among non-SCS officers.
- Filling of vacancies through induction from State Services is a continuous process.
- The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) holds Selection Committee meetings with state governments.
Is the shortage a new trend?
- The shortage has been a constant feature ever since — it was the least in 2001 (0.79 per cent), and the most in 2012 (28.87 per cent), as per available data.
How is the sanctioned strength decided?
- There is a provision for quinquennial cadre reviews for every cadre of the All India Services under the relevant Cadre Rules.
- The Cadre Review Committee (CRC) is headed by the Cabinet Secretary with the Secretary DoPT, Secretary Expenditure, Secretary Administrative Ministry, and the senior-most member of the service/cadre in question as its members.
- Cadre review is an ongoing process, and some states are taken up by rotation every year for review — in 2020-21.
- For example, it was decided to revise the strength and composition of the IAS in UP and Bihar, and of the IPS in Manipur.
- The sanctioned strength, therefore, keeps changing.
What impact can a shortage of IAS officers have?
- IAS officers are given a wide range of high-level responsibilities.
- In states, their work relates to the collection of revenue, maintenance of law and order, and supervision of policies of the central and state governments.
- They function as executive magistrates in revenue matters, and as development commissioners.
- They supervise the spending of public funds and, at a senior level, contribute to policy formulation and decision-making in consultation with Ministers.
- They serve the central government under deputation.
Other issues
- State governments have sometimes refused to send IAS/IPS/Indian Forest Service officers to the Centre saying they are short of officers.
- The Centre has recently proposed amendments to the IAS (Cadre) Rules in order to exercise greater control in central deputation of IAS officers.
Why can’t we have more IAS officers?
- The B S Baswan Committee, said in its report submitted in 2016 that “any number above 180 would
- Compromise quality
- Exceed the LBNSAA’s (Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration’s) capacity and
- Lead to a distortion in the career pyramid of IAS officers, particularly for senior posts in the Government of India
- The Committee recommended that “vacant posts in the Centre and states can be filled by deputation where the number of deputationists would be less than the present.”
Issues with shortage of Officers
- Bureaucracy deficit is, perhaps, compelling states to take recourse to such means as appointing non-cadre officers to cadre posts.
- States allow them to continue in such posts beyond the permissible time limit besides giving multiple charges to serving officers.
- Such measures compromise the efficiency of administration.
Way ahead
- The DoPT should increase the annual intake of IAS officers significantly keeping in view the evolving needs of Indian administration.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Facets of Indian Diplomacy
The government has convened a multi-Ministerial group to look into how to overcome challenges in trade with Russia, including managing payments for exporters and importers.
Recent course of updates
- Many parliamentarians have raised concerns over India’s abstentions at the United Nations and the impact of Indian policy on India’s trade and ties with the US.
- Developments indicate a possible revival of “rupee-rouble trade” in the wake of economic sanctions against Russian banks and entities by more than 40 US and European allies.
- India’s position has been “steadfast and consistent”, and India has repeatedly called for the immediate cessation of violence and end to all hostilities.
Gearing-up for a ‘Shaky’ response
- FM responded to a question over India’s support on sanctions being “somewhat shaky” amongst Quad partners.
- Leaders asked whether there would be any “negative impact” on India’s relations with its closest allies.
India’s clear stance
- Indian foreign policy decisions are made in Indian national interest and we are guided by our thinking, our views and our interests.
- So, there is no question of linking the Ukraine situation to issues of trade, the FM clarified.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indias military satellites
Mains level: Not Much
The Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh cleared the Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) for procurement of a GSAT 7B satellite.
What are the GSAT 7 series satellites?
- GSAT 7 satellites are advanced satellites developed by the ISRO to meet the communication needs of the defence services.
- The satellite was injected into a geosynchronous transfer orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator.
- The GSAT 7 satellite was launched in August 2013 from an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
- It is a 2,650 kg satellite which has a footprint of nearly 2,000 nautical miles in the Indian Ocean region.
Utility of this satellite
- This satellite is mainly used by the Indian Navy for its communication needs.
- The GSAT 7 provides a gamut of services for military communication needs, which includes low bit voice rate to high bit rate data facilities, including multi-band communications.
- Named Rukmini, the satellite carries payloads in UHF, C-band and Ku-band, and helps the Navy to have a secure, real time communication link between its land establishments, surface ships, submarines and aircraft.
What will be the role of the GSAT 7B satellite?
- The GSAT 7B will primarily fulfil the communication needs of the Army.
- Currently, the Army is using 30 per cent of the communication capabilities of the GSAT 7A satellite, which has been designed for the Indian Air Force (IAF).
- The GSAT 7B will also help the Army enhance its surveillance in border areas.
- While many features of this satellite are still a closely guarded secret, it is expected that the state of the art, multi-band, military-grade satellite shall be a shot in the arm for the communication and surveillance needs of the Army.
What is the role of the GSAT 7A satellite, which is already operational?
- The GSAT 7A was launched in 2018 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
- It has gone a long way in boosting the connectivity between the ground radar stations, airbases and the airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C) of the IAF.
- It also helps in satellite controlled operations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which gives a great deal of reliability to the operations as compared to ground-controlled operations.
- This satellite has 10 channels in Ku band with switchable frequency for mobile users, one fixed Gregorian or parabolic antenna, and four steerable antennae.
Future plans
- A GSAT 7C satellite is on the cards for the IAF, and a proposal to this effect was cleared by the DAC in 2021.
- This satellite would facilitate real time communication with IAF’s software defined radio communication sets.
- It will increase the capability of the IAF to communicate beyond the line of sight in a secure mode.
What other kinds of military satellites does India have?
- An Electromagnetic Intelligence Gathering Satellite (EMISAT), developed by ISRO, was launched in April 2020 through a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C45).
- It has an Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) package called Kautilya, which allows the interception of ground-based radar and also carries out electronic surveillance across India.
- The ELINT package provides the capability in direction-finding of radar and fixing their locations.
- It is placed in a 748-km orbit, and is said to be based on the Israeli satellite system.
- This satellite circles the globe pole-to-pole, and is helpful in gathering information from radars of countries that have borders with India.
- India also has a RISAT 2BR1 synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite, which was launched in December 2019 from Sriharikota.
- It has the capability to operate in different modes including very high resolution imaging modes of 1×0.5 metre resolution and 0.5×0.3 m resolution with a swath of 5-10 km.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Covid lessons for TB
Context
On World TB day, we need to ask how best we can leverage the lessons learnt from Covid-19 to help gain a new momentum in TB control.
Comparing the impact of Covid-19 and TB
- In the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic, 1.8 million people were reported to have succumbed to the virus.
- In the decade between 2010-20, 1.5-2 million individuals died every year because of tuberculosis.
- The difference in responses to the two pandemics can only be explained by the differences in the profiles of those who get infected.
- TB disproportionately affects people in low-income nations, the poor and the vulnerable.
- The increased burden on healthcare to manage Covid has led to a serious setback in TB control.
Using lessons from Covid-19 for TB control
- To leverage the lessons learnt from Covid-19 to control TB, we need to focus on the epidemiological triad: Agent, host and the environment.
- Test, treat and track has been a strategy successfully employed for Covid.
- Scaling up testing: We need to aggressively scale up testing with innovative strategies such as active surveillance, bidirectional screening for respiratory tract infections using the most sensitive molecular diagnostics, and contact tracing.
- Vaccine: The biggest victory against Covid has been the speed with which vaccines were developed, scaled up and deployed.
- We need to replicate the same for tuberculosis, lobbying for funding from governments and industry to develop a successful vaccine for TB.
- Social security programs for the prevention of risk: Malnutrition, poverty and immuno-compromising conditions such as diabetes are some of the factors strongly associated with TB.
- Social security programmes that work towards prevention of modifiable risk factors would possibly pay richer dividends than an exclusive focus on “medicalising” the disease.
- Environmental factors: Environmental factors which have been neglected include ventilation of indoor spaces, educating individuals to avoid crowds when possible, and to encourage voluntary masking, especially in ill-ventilated and closed spaces.
- Investment and actions: Covid has been a stellar example of how investments and actions can be swift, and public education can transform behaviour.
- Similar aspirations for TB can help turn this crisis into an opportunity to re-imagine our overburdened and underfunded systems.
- Involvement of private sector: We need to actively engage the private sector, build bridges and partnerships as we did in the case of Covid.
Way forward
- The country needs to invest in state-of-the-art technologies, build capacity, expand its health workforce and strengthen its primary care facilities.
- It also needs to consider telemedicine and remote support as important aspects of health services.
- We need to build an open and collaborative forum where all stakeholders, especially affected communities and independent experts, take a lead role.
Conclusion
We have ignored TB for too long. It’s time we acknowledge the magnitude of the disease, and work harder at offering individuals equitable healthcare access and resources that the disease warrants.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Central Bank Digital Currency
Mains level: Paper 3- CBDC and Sovereign Green Bond
Context
The other two major budget announcements pertain to the issuance of sovereign green bonds and a central bank digital currency. While geopolitical turbulence might make the current moment inopportune for experimentation, the government seems firm on both the proposals and they will most probably be rolled out.
Sovereign green bond (SGB): how it is different from a traditional bond
- The sovereign green bond is a novel idea.
- It will be a part of the government’s borrowing programme.
- The gross borrowing programme of the government is pegged at Rs 14.95 lakh crore.
- The SGB (sovereign green bond) raised will be part of the aggregate borrowing programme and has to be used for projects which are ESG (environment, social and governance) compliant.
- Hence, if the bond is being used to finance a power project or road, or in case it is used to finance revenue expenditure, it has to be ESG compliant.
- If they succeed at the central level, green bonds can be replicated by states.
Challenges for SGB
- Pricing challenge: As these bonds are different from G-secs (government securities), they may have to provide a better return as all ESG compliant companies have to make special investments that will push up costs.
- Low-interest rate: Further, given the low-interest rates prevailing today — real returns on deposits are negative — the SGBs can be issued as tax-free bonds, open to the public.
- This will evince a lot of interest given that these are government-issued bonds.
- The RBI and the government have been trying to get retail investors to participate in the government’s borrowing programme, and this move will expedite the process.
Central bank digital currency (CBDC) and challenges
- For launching such a currency, the RBI has to address certain fundamental questions.
- 1] Will it replace currency: Is a CBDC going to replace currency at some point in the future?
- One must remember that there are several sections in India that are not conversant with technology.
- 2] How will it be different from digital payments: If it is going to coexist with currency, how different will it be for the public from the digital payments that are being made today?
- Will people need to choose between a mobile wallet and a CBDC wallet?
- 3] Security of owner’s information: any issuance of CBDC on a voluntary basis also raises a question on the security of the owner’s information.
- CBDC has to be clear on the issue of confidentiality as it is bound to be a matter of concern.
- 4] The future of the banking system: If people have to be incentivised to move voluntarily to the CBDC, the cash exchanged must earn interest or else all money will go to bank accounts where a minimal interest rate can be earned.
- Will we require savings bank accounts with commercial banks in case all cash goes to the RBI?
- Will we then require ATMs for cash withdrawal? Will bank tellers become redundant? Will we need logistics companies that handle cash?
- These finer issues need to be addressed by the RBI as the widespread use of CBDC will progressively lead to lesser need for banks.
- 5] Issue of security: Any financial system that runs on technology can be hacked.
- It has to be foolproof and power failure resistant.
- There is a real danger of cyber fraud increasing as the majority of the population is not tech-savvy.
- Similarly, there is always downtime for bank servers when banking transactions cannot be carried on.
- This cannot be allowed to be the case with CBDC as it has to be available on a 24 x 7 basis.
Consider the question “What are green bonds? How the green bonds can act as a tool to achieve the targets of sustainable development as a means of finance?”
Conclusion
The arguments for CBDC are compelling on the grounds of keeping up with the central banks of other countries, and the possibilities of taking advantage of new technologies like blockchain. But before embarking on these measures, it might be useful to keep in mind the issues flagged above.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian exports
Mains level: Balance of Payment/Trade
India’s annual goods exports crossed the $400-billion mark for the first time ever.
The achievement of $400 billion in merchandise exports represents a growth of over 21 per cent from $330 billion achieved in FY2019 prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Do you know?
China’s total exports stood at $3.3 trillion ($3300 Billions) in 2021! Almost eight times of what we are celebrating!
How did India achieve this?
- The milestone was achieved due to increase in shipments of merchandise, including engineering products, apparel and garments, gems and jewellery and petroleum products.
- The agriculture sector too had recorded its highest-ever export during 2021-22 with the help of export of rice, marine products, wheat, spices and sugar.
Reasons behind the surge
- One of the major reasons for jump in exports is rise in pent up demand, which had fallen as the Covid pandemic forced nations to remain under strict lockdown, thereby impacting global trade.
- Beside, boost in domestic manufacturing due to production-liked incentive (PLI) schemes and implementation of some interim trade pacts have also led to surge in exports.
- The Centre implemented a series of steps to promote exports of both goods and services and that includes the introduction of Refund of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products (RoDTEP) and Rebate of State and Central Levies and Taxes (RoSCTL) Schemes.
External factors
- One of the key factors driving the surge in exports is pent up demand that was not met during major waves of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- Expansionary monetary policy by developed economies in response to the economic impact of the pandemic has also boosted demand for Indian exports.
Where has been the increase in imports?
- While exports have grown sharply, merchandise imports have grown even faster reaching $550 billion in the first 11 months of the fiscal.
- It has seen sharp growth in imports of crude oil, coal, gold, electronics and chemicals.
- Rising prices of commodities including crude oil and coal have played a significant role in adding to India’s import bill and taking the trade deficit for the first 11 months to a record high of $176 billion.
Why exports are important?
- Exports are one of the fundamental drivers of growth for any economy.
- It can influence a country’s GDP, exchange rate, level of inflation as well as interest rates.
- A robust export data is beneficial as it leads to increase in job opportunities, enhances foreign currency reserves, boosts manufacturing and also increases government’s revenue collection.
- It is also a good means by which a country can bring itself out of the recession phase.
- Besides, it also plays a key role in strengthening the domestic manufacturing units by scaling up their quality to make India made products compete and stand out against global peers.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 355
Mains level: Aggrevating Law and Order situtations in states
Considering the law and order situation in West Bengal, some politicians demanded the invoking of Article 355 to ensure the State is governed as per the provisions of the Constitution.
What is Article 355?
“It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.”
Cases for its invocation
- This article thus comes handy when there are communal violence incidents. Over the period, this article has gained a different texture.
- We know that the “public order” and “police” are state subject and states have exclusive power to legislate on these matters.
- These subjects were entrusted to states because states would be in better position to handle any law and order problem.
- Management of Police by states was also seen as administratively convenient and efficient.
- However, there might be some circumstances where states are unable to maintain public order and protect people.
- In such situation, centre can invoke article 355 and take measures such as taking law and order of state under its own hand, deployment of military etc.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mid-day meal scheme
Mains level: Nutrition impact of covid on children
A parliamentarian has recently asked the government to re-start the mid-day meals in reopening schools and to ensure that the meals provided are cooked and nutritious.
What is the Mid-Day Meal Scheme?
- The Midday Meal Scheme is a school meal program designed to better the nutritional standing of school-age children nationwide.
- It was launched in the year 1995.
- It supplies free lunches on working days for children in primary and upper primary classes in:
- Government, government aided, local body schools
- Education Guarantee Scheme, and alternate innovative education centres,
- Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, and
- National Child Labour Project schools run by the ministry of labour
- The Scheme has a legal backing under the National Food Security Act, 2013.
Objective: To enhance the enrolment, retention and attendance and simultaneously improve nutritional levels among school going children studying in Classes I to VIII
History of the scheme
- In 1925, a Mid Day Meal Programme was introduced for disadvantaged children in Madras Municipal Corporation.
- By the mid-1980s three States viz. Gujarat, Kerala and Tamil Nadu and the UT of Pondicherry had universalized a same scheme with their own resources for children studying at the primary stage.
- In 2001, the Supreme Court asked all state governments to begin this programme in their schools within 6 months.
Features: Calorie approach
- Primary (1-5) and upper primary (6-8) schoolchildren are currently entitled to 100 grams and 150 grams of food grains per working day each.
- It also include adequate quantities of micronutrients like iron, folic acid, Vitamin-A, etc.
- The calorific value of a mid-day meal at various stages has been fixed at a minimum:
| Calories Intake |
Primary |
Upper Primary |
| Energy |
450 calories |
700 calories |
| Protein |
12 grams |
20 grams |
Why in news?
- The flagship report of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2020 estimated that as of April 2020 369 million children globally were losing out on school meals, a bulk of whom were in India.
- As many as 116 million children — actually, 116 million hungry children — is the number of children impacted due to indefinite school closure during the pandemic.
Why discuss it now?
- The recent Global Hunger Index (GHI) report for 2020 ranks India at 94 out of 107 countries and in the category ‘serious’, behind our neighbours Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal.
- The index is a combination of indicators of undernutrition in the population and wasting (low weight for height), stunting (low height for age), and mortality in children below five years of age.
What measures were resorted to counter this?
- In March and April 2020 the GoI had announced that the usual hot-cooked mid-day meal or an equivalent food security allowance/dry ration would be provided to all eligible school-going children even during vacation.
- Nearly three months into this decision, States were still struggling to implement this.
What lies ahead?
- Across the country and the world, innovative learning methods are being adopted to ensure children’s education outcomes.
- The GHI report calls for effective delivery of social protection programmes.
- With continuing uncertainty regarding the reopening of schools, innovation is similarly required to ensure that not just food, but nutrition is delivered regularly to millions of children.
- For many of them, that one hot-cooked meal was probably the best meal of the day.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Artemis Mission
Mains level: Not Much
On March 17, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rolled out its Artemis I moon mission to the launchpad for testing at the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, United States.
What is the Artemis I Mission?
- NASA’s Artemis mission is touted as the next generation of lunar exploration, and is named after the twin sister of Apollo from Greek mythology.
- Artemis is also the goddess of the moon.
- Artemis I is the first of NASA’s deep space exploration systems.
- It is an uncrewed space mission where the spacecraft will launch on SLS — the most powerful rocket in the world — and travel 2,80,000 miles from the earth for over four to six weeks during the course of the mission.
- The Orion spacecraft is going to remain in space without docking to a space station, longer than any ship for astronauts has ever done before.
- The SLS rocket has been designed for space missions beyond the low-earth orbit and can carry crew or cargo to the moon and beyond.
Key objectives of the mission
- With the Artemis Mission, NASA aims to land humans on the moon by 2024, and it also plans to land the first woman and first person of colour on the moon.
- With this mission, NASA aims to contribute to scientific discovery and economic benefits and inspire a new generation of explorers.
- NASA will establish an Artemis Base Camp on the surface and a gateway in the lunar orbit to aid exploration by robots and astronauts.
- The gateway is a critical component of NASA’s sustainable lunar operations and will serve as a multi-purpose outpost orbiting the moon.
Other agencies involved
- Other space agencies are also involved in the Artemis programme.
- The Canadian Space Agency has committed to providing advanced robotics for the gateway.
- The European Space Agency will provide the International Habitat and the ESPRIT module, which will deliver additional communications capabilities among other things.
- The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency plans to contribute habitation components and logistics resupply.
What is the mission trajectory?
- SLS and Orion under Artemis I will be launched from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, U.S. in the summer of 2022.
- The spacecraft will deploy the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS), a liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen-based propulsion system that will give Orion the thrust needed to leave the earth’s orbit and travel towards the moon.
- On its way to the moon, Orion will be propelled by a service module provided by the European Space Agency (ESA).
- The spacecraft will communicate with the control centre back on Earth through the deep-space network.
- It will fly around 100 km above the surface of the moon and use its gravitational pull to propel Orion into an opposite deep orbit around 70,000 km from the moon, where it will stay for approximately six days.
What are the future missions in the Artemis programme?
- The second flight under the programme will have crew on board and will test Orion’s critical systems with humans onboard.
- Eventually, the learnings from the Artemis programme will be utilised to send the first astronauts to Mars.
- NASA plans on using the lunar orbit to gain the necessary experience to extend human exploration of space farther into the solar system.
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