From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Collegium system
Mains level: Issues with collegium system
The Supreme Court has said that it had become a “fashion” for its former judges to comment on earlier decisions of the Collegium when they were part of it while adding that the apex court was the “most transparent institution”.
What is Collegium System?
The Collegium of judges is the Indian Supreme Court’s invention.
It does not figure in the Constitution, which says judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts are appointed by the President and speaks of a process of consultation.
In effect, it is a system under which judges are appointed by an institution comprising judges.
After some judges were superseded in the appointment of the CJI in the 1970s, and attempts made subsequently to effect a mass transfer of High Court judges across the country.
Hence there was a perception that the independence of the judiciary was under threat. This resulted in a series of cases over the years.
Evolution: The Judges Cases
First Judges Case (1981) ruled that the “consultation” with the CJI in the matter of appointments must be full and effective.
However, it rejected the idea that the CJI’s opinion, albeit carrying great weight, should have primacy.
Second Judges Case (1993) introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”.
It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the Supreme Court.
Third Judges Case (1998): On a Presidential Reference for its opinion, the Supreme Court, in the Third Judges Case (1998) expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.
The procedure followed by the Collegium
Appointment of CJI
The President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges.
As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.
In practice, it has been strictly by seniority ever since the supersession controversy of the 1970s.
The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the PM who, in turn, advises the President.
Other SC Judges
For other judges of the top court, the proposal is initiated by the CJI.
The CJI consults the rest of the Collegium members, as well as the senior-most judge of the court hailing from the High Court to which the recommended person belongs.
The consultees must record their opinions in writing and it should form part of the file.
The Collegium sends the recommendation to the Law Minister, who forwards it to the Prime Minister to advise the President.
For High Courts
The CJs of High Courts are appointed as per the policy of having Chief Justices from outside the respective States. The Collegium takes the call on the elevation.
High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.
Does the Collegium recommend transfers too?
Yes, the Collegium also recommends the transfer of Chief Justices and other judges.
Article 222 of the Constitution provides for the transfer of a judge from one High Court to another.
When a CJ is transferred, a replacement must also be simultaneously found for the High Court concerned. There can be an acting CJ in a High Court for not more than a month.
In matters of transfers, the opinion of the CJI “is determinative”, and the consent of the judge concerned is not required.
However, the CJI should take into account the views of the CJ of the High Court concerned and the views of one or more SC judges who are in a position to do so.
All transfers must be made in the public interest, that is, “for the betterment of the administration of justice”.
Loopholes in the Collegium system
Lack of Transparency: Opaqueness and a lack of transparency, and the scope for nepotism are cited often.
Judges appointing Judge: The attempt made to replace it with a ‘National Judicial Appointments Commission’ was struck down by the court in 2015 on the ground that it posed a threat to the independence of the judiciary.
Criteria: Some do not believe in full disclosure of reasons for transfers, as it may make lawyers in the destination court chary of the transferred judge.
Way ahead
In respect of appointments, there has been an acknowledgment that the “zone of consideration” must be expanded to avoid criticism that many appointees hail from families of retired judges.
The status of a proposed new memorandum of procedure, to infuse greater accountability, is also unclear.
Even the majority opinions admitted the need for transparency, now Collegiums’ resolutions are now posted online, but reasons are not given.
Prelims Only | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Remittances
Mains level: Remittances inflows and their significance
India is expected to receive a record $100 billion in remittance in 2022, the top recipient this year, the World Bank has said.
What are Remittances?
A remittance is a non-commercial transfer of money by a foreign worker, a member of a diaspora community, or a citizen with familial ties abroad, for household income in their home country or homeland.
The World Bank defines it as “the sum of worker’s remittances, compensation of employees, and migrants’ transfers as recorded in the IMF Balance of Payments.
Workers remittances are current transfers by migrant who are considered residents in the source.
Remittances are a vital source of household income for low- and middle-income countries.
India’s total remittances to grow
Remittances to India are money transfers from non-resident Indians (NRIs) employed outside the country to family, friends or relatives residing in India.
In its Migration and Development Brief, the World Bank has said India’s remittance will grow 12 per cent from 7.5 per cent last year, resulting in $100 billion flow as compared to $89.4 billion in 2021.
It attributed the feat to the large share of Indian migrants earning relatively high salaries in the US, UK and East Asia.
Key points from the report by World Bank
Highly-skilled Indian migrants living in wealthy nations such as the US, UK, and Singapore were sending more money home.
Remittances to low and middle-income countries have grown by 5% in 2022 to around $626 billion – around half the rate of growth seen in 2021.
The amount of money sent back home by migrants around the world has grown by 5% in 2022.
Other top recipient countries for remittances include Mexico, China, Egypt and the Philippines.
Domestic and International shocks have affected countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka for whom remittances earned by migrants are expected to drop this year
Barring India and Nepal, other south Asian countries saw a decline of more than 10% in their remittances from 2021, due to the end of government incentives introduced during the pandemic
Why is remittance to India so high this year?
Upskilling: There has been a gradual shift in destinations for Indian migrants aided by a structural shift in qualifications.
Work from home: Indian migrants in high-income countries benefited from work-from-home and large fiscal stimulus packages.
Easing of pandemic: As the pandemic eased, the wage hikes and “record-high employment conditions” helped migrants send money home despite high global inflation.
Inflation control in India: The price support policies kept inflation at bay in India.
Crude oil dynamics: Demand for labour increased with higher oil prices, which in turn increased remittances for Indian labourers.
Significance of remittances
Stable source of funds: Remittance flows tend to remain relatively stable through the business cycle, thereby having the potential to support households in the face of economic adversity.
Economic lifeline: In countries affected by political conflict, they are often an economic lifeline to the poor.
Labour contribution: While migrant remittances contribute to the development of their home country, and also to the host country by filling the gap between labour demand and supply and making a positive net fiscal contribution.
Globalization: In this way, remittances represent globalization with a human face, contributing to the spread of global interdependence at all levels – social, economic and political.
Issues with Remittances
Fear of currency depreciation: It causes the rupee to weaken against the dollar, which in return impacts the businesses exposed to foreign exchange, and the economy overall.
Accuracy of data: A key challenge for policymakers, researchers and investors interested in remittance flows concerns the accuracy and consistency of available data.
Accounting inconsistencies: The varied nature of remittance transactions makes the compilation process complex, resulting in a systemic problem of under-reporting of flows and data asymmetries between host and recipient countries.
No formal registration in India: The main source of data on remittances is the World Bank, which combines national balance of payments data compiled by the IMF with country information.
Ignoring informal flows: A large share of remittances is believed to flow through informal channels, which are often more convenient and cheaper than formal ones.
Hawala transactions: In addition, Hawala (an international network of money brokers) and Hundi (a form of credit instrument) systems operate in parallel to formal remittance channels.
Way forward
Promoting labour mobility: India should aim to increase remittances to say 10% of GDP. The Philippines’ model of promoting labour mobility should be replicated in India.
Reducing the costs involved: Both the cost of recruitment of such workers and the cost of sending remittances back to India should come down.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNESCO ICH, Baguette
Mains level: NA
Baguette the staple French bread has been inscribed into the UN’s list of intangible cultural heritage (ICH).
What is a Baguette?
The baguette is a long and thin loaf made of flour, water, salt and yeast, and is consumed as a staple in France.
Some believe that it was invented by August Zang, a baker and an entrepreneur from Vienna in 1839, who introduced the world to the taste of crusty bread with softer insides, using a steam oven.
It gained its official name in 1920.
The history of the bread is uncertain, some also believe that Napoleon Bonaparte ordered thin sticks of bread for consumption by his soldiers as they could be carried from one place to another more conveniently.
Why did France nominate it for the UN list?
About 10 billion baguettes are consumed every year in France by a population of 67 million.
It drew attention to the steady decline in the number of bakeries in the country as around 20,000 of them have closed down since 1970.
In March 2021, France nominated the baguette as its candidate for consideration within the UNESCO ICH list.
In 1970, there were 55,000 artisanal bakeries (one for every 790 residents) compared with 35,000 today (one for every 2,000), often in favour of baguettes produced industrially.
Back2Basics:UNESCOIntangible Cultural Heritage (ICH)
ICH means the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated with them that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as a part of their cultural heritage.
Furthermore, its importance is not in the cultural manifestation itself, but in the wealth of knowledge, know-how and skills that are transmitted from one generation to the next.
The adoption of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the ICH by the General Conference of UNESCO in 2003 was a crucial step towards preserving intangible heritage.
UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was established in the year 2008.
Criteria for the selection
There are three criteria for an intangible cultural heritage to be inscribed in the United Nations list.
The entity must-
be recognized by communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals as part of their cultural heritage,
be transmitted from generation to generation and be constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and their history and
provide them with a sense of identity and continuity, thus promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity
India’s ICH on the UNESCO list
Sangeet Natak Akademi is the nodal organisation which looks after this function, and files nominations of intangible cultural entities from India, for evaluation by the international body.
ICG from India include Kolkata’s Durga Puja (2021), Kumbh Mela (2017), Navroz (2016), Yoga (2016), traditional brass and copper craft of utensil-making among coppersmiths of Punjab (2014), Sankirtana, a ritual musical performance of Manipur (2013), and the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh (2012).
Before 2011, the list included Chhau dance, Kalbelia folk songs and dance of Rajasthan, and Mudiyettu, a dance drama from Kerala (2010), Ramman, a religious festival and theatre performance of Garhwal in the Himalayas (2009), and Kutiyattam or Sanskrit theatre, and Vedic chanting (2008).
Ramlila, a traditional performance of Ramayana, was also included in 2008.
This year, India nominated Garba, a traditional dance form that originated in the state of Gujarat, for inscription on UNESCO’s ICH list.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: DigiYatra
Mains level: Not Much
The centre has introduced paperless entry at select airports to make air travel hassle-free under the DigiYatra initiative.
What is DigiYatra?
DigiYatra envisages that travellers pass through various checkpoints at the airport through paperless and contactless processing.
This means, passengers won’t need to carry their ID card and boarding pass.
This would rather use facial features to establish their identity, which would be linked to the boarding pass.
With this technology, the entry of passengers would be automatically processed based on the facial recognition system at all checkpoints – including entry into the airport, security check areas, aircraft boarding, etc.
Implementation strategy
In the first phase, the initiative will be launched at seven airports, starting with three — Delhi, Bengaluru, and Varanasi.
It will then be followed by four airports namely Hyderabad, Kolkata, Pune, and Vijayawada by March 2023.
Subsequently, the technology will be implemented across the country.
How is it being implemented?
The project is being implemented by the DigiYatra Foundation — a joint-venture company whose shareholders are the Airports Authority of India (26% stake) and Bengaluru Airport, Delhi Airport, Hyderabad Airport, Mumbai Airport and Cochin International Airport.
These five shareholders equally hold the remaining 74% of the shares.
How can people avail the DigiYatra facility?
For availing the service, a passenger has to register their details on the DigiYatra app using Aadhaar-based validation and a self-image capture.
In the next step, the boarding pass has to be scanned, and the credentials are shared with airport authorities.
At the airport e-gate, the passenger has to first scan the bar coded boarding pass and the facial recognition system installed at the e-gate will validate the passenger’s identity and travel document.
Once this process is done, the passenger can enter the airport through the e-gate.
The passenger will have to follow the normal procedure to clear security and board the aircraft.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Personality Rights
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Delhi High Court recently passed an interim order to prevent the unlawful use of a megastar’s name, image and voice.
What did the HC say?
The court, through its order, restrained persons at large from infringing the personality rights of the actor.
Why are we discussing this?
Celebrities are protected from commercial misuse of their name and personality.
However, there have been instances where the consumers are misled owing to false advertisements or endorsements by such personalities.
Due to such cases, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs has made a notification in 2022 to keep a check on misleading adverts and endorsements of consumer products by imposing a penalty on the endorser.
What are Personality Rights?
Personality rights refer to the right of a person to protect his/her personality under the right to privacy or property.
These rights are important to celebrities as their names, photographs or even voices can easily be misused in various advertisements by different companies to boost their sales.
Therefore, it is necessary for renowned personalities/celebrities to register their names to save their personality rights.
A large list of unique personal attributes contribute to the making of a celebrity.
All of these attributes need to be protected, such as name, nickname, stage name, picture, likeness, image and any identifiable personal property, such as a distinctive race car.
Correlation with publicity rights
Personality rights are different from publicity rights.
Publicity rights are governed by statutes like the Trade marks Act 1999 and the Copyright Act 1957.
Types of personality rights
Personality rights consist of two types of rights-
Right of publicity: It is the right to keep one’s image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation, which is similar (but not identical) to the use of a trademark;
Rightto privacy: It is the right to not have one’s personality represented publicly without permission.
However, under common law jurisdictions, publicity rights fall into the realm of the ‘tort of passing off’.
Passing off takes place when someone intentionally or unintentionally passes off their goods or services as those belonging to another party.
Often, this type of misrepresentation damages the goodwill of a person or business, resulting in financial or reputational damage.
Does the use of a name on the internet affect personality rights?
The Delhi High Court in 2011 made an observation in the case of Arun Jaitley vs Network Solutions Private Limited and Ors.
In this case, former finance minister filed a suit seeking permanent injunction against the defendants from misuse and immediate transfer of the domain name www.arunjaitley.com.
The Court stated that the popularity or fame of individual will be no different on the internet than in reality.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Corals, Coral Bleaching
Mains level: Great Barrier Reef
A joint report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and UNESCO’s World Heritage Centre (WHC) expressed concern about the status of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) in Australia, recommending that it “be inscribed on the List of World Heritage in Danger.”
About Great Barrier Reef
Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km and having nearly 3,000 individual reefs.
It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
Coral reefs support over 25% of marine biodiversity even as they take up only 1% of the seafloor.
The marine life supported by reefs further fuels global fishing industries.
Besides, coral reef systems generate $2.7 trillion in annual economic value through goods and service trade and tourism.
In Australia, the Barrier Reef, in pre-COVID times, generated $4.6 billion annually through tourism and employed over 60,000 people including divers and guides.
What does the new report say?
The current report surveyed 87 reefs in the GBR between August 2021 and May 2022.
Coral cover is measured by determining the increase in the cover of hard corals.
The hard coral cover in northern GBR had reached 36% while that in the central region had reached 33%.
Meanwhile, coral cover levels declined in the southern region from 38% in 2021 to 34% in 2022.
The record levels of recovery, the report showed, were fuelled largely by increases in the fast-growing Acropora corals, which are a dominant type in the GBR.
Threats found
Acropora corals are also the most susceptible to environmental pressures such as rising temperatures, cyclones, pollution, crown-of-thorn starfish (COTs) attacks which prey on hard corals and so on.
Does this mean the reef is out of the woods?
Behind the recent recovery in parts of the reef, are the low levels of acute stressors in the past 12 months — no tropical cyclones, lesser heat stress in 2020 and 2022 as opposed to earlier.
Besides predatory attacks and tropical cyclones, scientists say that the biggest threat to the health of the reef is climate change-induced heat stress, resulting in coral bleaching.
The concern is that in the past decade, mass bleaching events have become more closely spaced in time.
The first mass bleaching event occurred in 1998 when the El Niño weather pattern caused sea surfaces to heat, causing 8% of the world’s coral to die.
The second event took place in 2002.
But the longest and most damaging bleaching event took place from 2014 to 2017. Mass bleaching then occurred again in 2020, followed by earlier this year.
Back2Basics: Coral Reefs
Corals are marine invertebrates or animals which do not possess a spine.
They are the largest living structures on the planet.
Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grow when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
Corals are of two types — hard corals and soft corals.
Hard corals extract calcium carbonate from seawater to build hard, white coral exoskeletons. Hard corals are in a way the engineers of reef ecosystems and measuring the extent of hard coral is a widely-accepted metric for measuring the condition of coral reefs.
Soft corals attach themselves to such skeletons and older skeletons built by their ancestors. Soft corals also add their own skeletons to the hard structure over the years. These growing multiplying structures gradually form coral reefs.
How do corals bleach?
Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae.
The algae prepares food for corals through photosynthesis and also gives them their vibrant colouration.
When exposed to conditions like heat stress, pollution, or high levels of ocean acidity, the zooxanthellae start producing reactive oxygen species not beneficial to the corals.
So, the corals kick out the colour-giving algae from their polyps, exposing their pale white exoskeleton and leading to coral starvation as corals cannot produce their own food.
Bleached corals can survive depending on the levels of bleaching and the recovery of sea temperatures to normal levels.
Severe bleaching and prolonged stress in the external environment can lead to coral death.
Try this PYQ:
Consider the following statements:
Most of the world’s coral reefs are in tropical waters.
More than one third of the world’s coral reefs are located in the territories of Australia, Indonesia and Philippines.
Coral reefs host far more number of animal phyla than those hosted by tropical rainforests.
Kerala’s ambitious Vizhinjam port project for a transshipment container terminal is caught in protests and violence.
Vizhinjam Port Project
In 2015, the Adani Group signed a concession agreement with the Kerala government to build India’s first mega transshipment container terminal at Vizhinjam near Thiruvananthapuram.
The ₹7,525 crore project — an all-weather deep-sea port with a depth of 24 meters — can service large megamax-sized container ships.
This natural port has no littoral sedimentation, obviating the need for periodic dredging and lowers maintenance costs.
The port, which is well-connected to the hinterland, will handle 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units in Phase-I and another 6.2 million TEUs when completed.
Significance of the project for India?
Transshipment hub: The Vizhinjam Port holds the potential to attract a large share of container transshipment traffic that is now handled by Colombo, Singapore or Dubai.
Important shipping lane: It located just off the International Shipping Lane and close to the East-West Shipping Axis.
Cargo handling: A large share of India’s exports and imports that are now transshipped through these international ports can be handled at Vizhinjam.
Reducing logistic costs: It would mean a sharp reduction in shipping costs and lead time. This will go a long way in reducing overall logistics costs and making manufacturing competitive.
Employment generation: It will also create thousands of jobs – directly and otherwise.
Reasons for protests
Local fishermen fear displacement and loss of livelihood. They blame higher tides and increasing coastal erosion on the project.
Protests has some leftist leaning inherently opposing every development project.
A Latin Catholic Church has been at the forefront of the protests.
Many right-wing outfits have thrown their weight behind the project and want its quick completion.
They blame foreign funding for what they call ‘anti-development’ protests.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shakti Policy
Mains level: Not Much
Ministry of Power has launched a scheme for procurement of aggregate power of 4500 MW for 5 years under SHAKTI Policy to help states that are facing power shortages and help generation plants to increase their capacities.
SHAKTI Policy
SHAKTI is an acronym for Scheme for Harnessing and Allocating Koyala Transparently in India.
It was launched in 2018 to provide coal to stressed power units which lack coal supply.
It seeks to provide coal linkages to power plants which lack fuel supply agreements (FSAs) through coal auctions.
Need for such policy
SHAKTI is a policy designated by the government for the allocation of coal among thermal power plants in a transparent and objective manner.
It aims to transfer the benefits of linkage coal to the end consumers.
The scheme is supposed to be beneficial not just for the infrastructure sector, but also for the public sector banks which have huge loans unpaid at the end of the power companies.
The companies, which did not have coal linkages before the introduction of the Shakti Scheme, would benefit when they would get domestic fuel supplies through auction at competitive rates.
The scheme also aims to reduce the dependence on imported coal and promote domestic industries.
With this policy, the government also aims to reduce dependence on imported coal.
Coal linkage scenario in India
Coal linkage to the power sector is governed by provisions of the New Coal Distribution Policy (NCDP), 2007.
Under the NCDP, a system of issuance of Letter of Assurance (LoA) was introduced.
The requests for Linkage/LoA are forwarded to the Ministry of Power for its recommendations.
The coal availability scenario has, now, emerged from scarcity to adequacy.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Exercise Yudh Abhyas
Mains level: Not Much
China expressed concern over the India-US joint military exercise Yudh Abhyas being held in Uttarakhand, about 100 km from the LAC.
Exercise Yudh Abhyas
Exercise Yudh Abhyas is the largest running joint military training and defence cooperation endeavour between India and the US.
The exercise aims at enhancing understanding, cooperation and interoperability between the two armies.
Interestingly, this is the only India-US service exercise continuing in bilateral format.
Why in news?
The disengagement of troops is still under process after several rounds of talks between India and China.
Since beginning in May 2020, Chinese and Indian forces faced off in clashes with rocks, batons, and clubs wrapped in barbed wire at multiple locations along the LAC.
Each country seeks the withdrawal of the other’s forces and a return to the pre-stand-off conditions, but neither China nor India agreed to the conditions.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: In-Camera Proceedings
Mains level: Not Much
The Supreme Court has rejected a plea by a rape case accused for an in-camera hearing.
What are in-camera proceedings?
In-camera proceedings are private, unlike open court proceedings.
It is conducted as per the court’s discretion in sensitive matters to ensure protection and privacy of the parties involved.
The proceedings are usually held through video conferencing or in closed chambers, from which the public and press are excluded.
In an open court or open justice system, which is the usual course of proceedings, the press is allowed to report on the matter being heard.
In-camera trial in rape cases
Section 327 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) has detailed the types of cases that should be recorded on camera, including inquiry into and trial in rape case.
The said section states that if the presiding judge or a magistrate thinks fit, she can order at any stage of the proceedings that the public generally, or any particular person, shall not remain present in the courtroom or the court building.
The said provision says that the inquiry into and trial be held in camera for various offences punishable under section 376 (rape) of the IPC.
The law also prescribes that in such cases, the trial be conducted as far as possible by a woman judge or a magistrate.
Other cases where in-camera proceedings are held
In-camera proceedings are usually conducted at family courts in cases of matrimonial disputes, including judicial separation, divorce proceedings, impotence, and more.
In-camera proceedings are also conducted during the deposition of witnesses of terrorist activities as per the court’s discretion, so as to protect them and maintain national security.
What about publishing of such a hearing?
Section 327 of the CrPC states that it shall not be lawful to publish any matter in relation to in-camera proceedings except with the previous permission of the court.
It adds that the ban on publishing of trial proceedings for offence of rape may be lifted subject to maintaining confidentiality of name and address of the parties.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mauna Loa
Mains level: Not Much
Mauna Loa, the world’s largest active volcano has erupted after 38 years, spewing ash and debris, and covering the sky of Hawaii’s Big Island.
Where is Mauna Loa?
Mauna Loa is one of five volcanoes that together make up the Big Island of Hawaii (biggest being the Mauna Kea).
It is the southernmost island in the Hawaiian archipelago.
It’s not the tallest (that title goes to) but it’s the largest and makes up about half of the island’s land mass.
It sits immediately north of Kilauea volcano, which is currently erupting from its summit crater.
Do you know?
Any volcano that has erupted within the Holocene period (in the last 11,650 years) is considered to be “active” by scientists. “Dormant” volcanoes are those active volcanoes which are not in the process of erupting currently, but have the potential to do so in the future.
Why do volcanoes erupt?
The deeper one goes under the surface of the Earth towards its core, the hotter it gets.
The geothermal gradient, the amount that the Earth’s temperature increases with depth, indicates heat flowing from the Earth’s warm interior to its surface.
At a certain depth, the heat is such that it melts rocks and creates what geologists call ‘magma’.
Magma is lighter than solid rock and hence it rises, collecting in magma chambers.
Chambers that have the potential to cause volcanic eruptions are found at a relatively shallow depth, between six to ten km under the surface.
As magma builds up in these chambers, it forces its way up through cracks and fissures in Earth’s crust. This is what we call a volcanic eruption.
The magma that surfaces on the Earth’s crust is referred to as lava.
Why is the eruption of Mauna Loa so explosive?
Eruptions vary in intensity and explosiveness, depending on the composition of the magma.
In simple terms, runny magma makes for less explosive volcanic eruptions that typically are less dangerous.
Since the magma is runny, gasses are able to escape, leading to a steady but relatively gentle flow of lava out of the mouth of the volcano.
The eruption at Mauna Loa is of this kind. Since the lava flows out at a slow pace, people typically have enough time to move out of the way
. Geologists are also able to predict the flow of the lava depending on the incline and exact consistency it has.
How is vulcanism measured?
The Volcanic Explosivity Index (VEI) is a scale used to measure the explosivity of a volcano.
It has a range of 1 to 8 with a higher VEI indicating more explosivity.
While the VEI of the current eruption at Mauna Loa is not known yet, the previous eruption in 1984 was deemed to have a VEI of 0.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Saras 3
Mains level: Not Much
India’s SARAS radio telescope has helped scientists determine the properties of the earliest radio luminous galaxies formed 200 million years after the Big Bang, a period known as the Cosmic Dawn.
SARAS 3 Telescope
SARAS stands for Shaped Antenna measurement of the background Radio Spectrum 3 (SARAS) telescope.
It is an indigenously designed and built at Raman Research Institute and was deployed over Dandiganahalli Lake and Sharavati backwaters, located in Northern Karnataka, in early 2020.
What have the researchers found?
Researchers have been able to determine properties of radio luminous galaxies formed just 200 million years post the Big Bang, a period known as the Cosmic Dawn.
These are the masses of the first generation of galaxies that are bright in radio wavelengths.
This helps provide an insight into the properties of the earliest radio loud galaxies that are usually powered by supermassive black holes.
What is Cosmic Dawn?
The ignition of the first stars marks the end of the Dark Ages and the beginning of our “Cosmic Dawn,” some 100 million years after the Big Bang.
For the first time, our universe began shining with a light other than the afterglow of the Big Bang.
SARAS 3 had improved the understanding of astrophysics of Cosmic Dawn by telling astronomers that less than 3% of the gaseous matter within early galaxies was converted into stars.
It found that the earliest galaxies that were bright in radio emission were also strong in X-rays, which heated the cosmic gas in and around the early galaxies.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bluebugging
Mains level: Cyber security challenges
Cybersecurity experts note that apps that let users connect smartphones or laptops to wireless earplugs can record conversations, and are vulnerable to hacks through a process called Bluebugging.
What is Bluebugging?
It is a form of hacking that lets attackers access a device through its discoverable Bluetooth connection.
Once a device or phone is blue-bugged, a hacker can listen to the calls, read and send messages and steal and modify contacts.
It started out as a threat for laptops with Bluetooth capability. Later hackers used the technique to target mobile phones and other devices.
Independent security researcher Martin Herfurt blogged about the threat of bluebugging as early as 2004.
He noted that the bug exploited a loophole in Bluetooth protocol, enabling it to download phone books and call lists from the attacked user’s phone.
How does bluebugging hack devices?
Bluebugging attacks work by exploiting Bluetooth-enabled devices.
The device’s Bluetooth must be in discoverable mode, which is the default setting on most devices.
The hacker then tries to pair with the device via Bluetooth. Once a connection is established, hackers can use brute force attacks to bypass authentication.
They can install malware in the compromised device to gain unauthorised access to it.
Bluebugging can happen whenever a Bluetooth enabled device is within a 10-metre radius of the hacker.
However, according to a blog by VPN service provider NordVPN, hackers can use booster antennas to widen the attack range.
Why is it a big threat?
Even the most secure smartphones like iPhones are vulnerable to such attacks.
Any app with access to Bluetooth can record users’ conversations with Siri and audio from the iOS keyboard dictation feature when using AirPods or Beats headsets, some app developers say.
Through Bluebugging, a hacker can gain unauthorised access to these apps and devices and control them as per their wish.
How can one prevent bluebugging?
Here are some of the ways to prevent bluebugging-
Turning off Bluetooth and disconnecting paired Bluetooth devices when not in use,
Updating the device’s system software to the latest version,
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Wet and dry leasing
Mains level: Not Much
In efforts to boost international air traffic, the civil aviation ministry has allowed Indian airlines to take wide-body planes on wet lease for up to one year.
What is Wet Leasing?
Wet leasing means taking the plane along with the operating crew and engineers, while dry leasing refers to taking only the aircraft on rent.
The technical term for wet leasing is ACMI which stands for aircraft, crew, maintenance and insurance.
These are the aspects of the operation that the wet lease airline takes care of, while the airline client will still be responsible for paying for direct operating costs.
This includes catering and fuel as well as fees such as airport fees, ground handling charges and navigation fees.
Operations of an aircraft on wet lease are more difficult for the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to monitor, which is why it is allowed for shorter durations.
What are the new rules?
The rules had been relaxed, allowing the wet leasing for a year as opposed to the six months permitted so far.
Dry leasing was already allowed for up to 12 months, with the option to extend the contract for 12 another year.
Why has govt extended limit now?
The civil aviation ministry’s decision came on a request by the country’s largest airline, IndiGo.
It plans for inducting B777 aircraft on wet/damp lease basis during the current winter schedule.
The relaxation will be available to all Indian carriers and will be granted based on international destinations they wish to operate to.
With Covid-related restrictions lifting, international travel is lifting up, and the wet leasing will allow airlines to fly more routes and rounds.
Wide-body planes can accommodate more passengers, thereby boosting revenue.
Why airlines lease aircraft?
About half the planes used by airlines around the world are not owned but leased.
Airlines and aircraft operators prefer leasing planes in order to avoid massive lump sum payments that buying them would entail, and to quickly increase capacity, perhaps temporarily, on certain routes or sectors.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PR23
Mains level: Rice for global food security
Farmers in China are now growing a perennial variety of rice called PR 22 which does not need to be planted every year.
What is PR23?
Researchers at the Yunnan University have developed a variety of perennial rice named PR23 by cross-breeding regular annual rice Oryza sativa with a wild perennial variety from Africa.
Unlike regular rice which is planted every season, PR23 can yield eight consecutive harvests across four years (as these plants with stronger roots grow back vigorously after each harvest).
PR23 yields, reported at 8 tons per hectare, are comparable to regular irrigated rice.
But growing it is much cheaper since it requires less labour, seeds and chemical inputs.
Benefits of the variety
It can result in remarkable environmental benefits such as soils accumulating close to a ton of organic carbon (per hectare per year) along with increases in water available to plants.
It is were preferred by farmers since it saved 58% in labour and 49% in other input costs, over each regrowth cycle.
The researchers claim it can transform farming by improving livelihoods, enhancing soil quality and by inspiring research on other grains.
The invention could transform rice farming by making it climate-friendly, besides using less of labour and other inputs.
Why is the discovery of the new variety significant?
Rice feeds about half of the world, and its farming and consumption are primarily in Asia.
Most crops grown today were once perennial, but bred to be annual, short-duration, to make them more productive.
Perennial rice could be a transformational innovation if it proves to be economically sustainable.
Significance for India
India is the world’s second largest rice producer, after China, and the largest exporter with a 40% share in global trade.
It is grown during both summer and winter crop seasons.
Perennial rice can reduce the drudgery of annual trans-plantation, a back-breaking task, and generate savings on seeds and other inputs.
China’s early success has another lesson for India: to raise investments in public research and agricultural sciences.
This can help counter the impact of climate change on food security and rural incomes.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sacred Grooves
Mains level: Not Much
This newscard is an excerpt from the original article published in the Sunday edition of TH.
What are Sacred Grooves?
Sacred groves of India are forest fragments of varying sizes, which are communally protected, and which usually have a significant religious connotation for the protecting community.
It usually consists of a dense cover of vegetation including climbers, herbs, shrubs and trees, with the presence of a village deity and is mostly situated near a perennial water source.
Sacred groves are considered to be symbols of the primitive practice of nature worship and support nature conservation to a great extent.
The introduction of the protected area category community reserves under the Wild Life (Protection) Amendment Act, 2002 has introduced legislation for providing government protection to community-held lands, which could include sacred groves.
Historical references
Indian sacred groves are often associated with temples, monasteries, shrines, pilgrimage sites, or with burial grounds.
Historically, sacred groves find their mentions in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist texts, from sacred tree groves in Hinduism to sacred deer parks in Buddhism for example.
Sacred groves may be loosely used to refer to natural habitat protected on religious grounds.
Other historical references to sacred groves can be obtained in Vrukshayurveda an ancient treatise, ancient classics such as Kalidasa’s Vikramuurvashiiya.
There has been a growing interest in creating green patches such as Nakshatravana
Regulation of activities in Sacred Grooves
Hunting and logging are usually strictly prohibited within these patches.
Other forms of forest usage like honey collection and deadwood collection are sometimes allowed on a sustainable basis.
NGOs work with local villagers to protect such groves.
Traditionally, and in some cases even today, members of the community take turns to protect the grove.
Threats to such grooves
Threats to the groves include urbanization, and over-exploitation of resources.
While many of the groves are looked upon as abode of Hindu deities, in the recent past a number of them have been partially cleared for construction of shrines and temples.
Total grooves in India
Around 14,000 sacred groves have been reported from all over India, which act as reservoirs of rare fauna, and more often rare flora, amid rural and even urban settings.
Experts believe that the total number of sacred groves could be as high as 100,000.
They are called by different names in different states:
Sarna in Bihar
Dev Van in Himachal Pradesh
Devarakadu in Karnataka
Kavu in Kerala
Dev in Madhya Pradesh
Devarahati or Devarai in Maharashtra
Lai Umang in Maharashtra
Law Kyntang or Asong Khosi in Meghalaya
Oran in Rajasthan
Kovil Kadu or Sarpa Kavu in Tamil Nadu
What lies ahead?
The groves have great research value in in situ conservation of rare, endangered and threatened plant species.
It is high time that public awareness is created about the importance of these sacred groves, developmental activities are banned and the felling of trees or removal of any other vegetation is completely stopped.
This is possible only by way of enacting a special law for the protection and management of sacred groves.
As the management practices and other rituals vary from state to state, the concerned state governments may promulgate such an act as suitable for the state.
The idea should be to protect certain rare, endangered and threatened plant species in the era of global warming and climate change.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Darjeeling Tea
Mains level: Not Much
Tea Board officials admitted that Indian tea had not been able to establish itself globally, and that one of its key brands, Darjeeling Tea, was under acute stress.
About Darjeeling Tea
Darjeeling Tea, called the ‘Champagne of Teas’, was the first Indian product to get the GI (Geographical Identification) tag in 2004 for its distinctive aroma and flavour.
About 87 gardens in Darjeeling which employ about 55,000 workers produce approximately 7 million kg of tea, most of which is exported.
Why is it under distress?
Garden owners are reeling under higher costs of production and other issues.
Inferior quality tea from Nepal is being imported, and then sold and re-exported as premium Darjeeling Tea.
Nepal shares similar climatic conditions and terrain, produces tea at a lower price because of less input costs, particularly labour, and fewer quality checks.
In 2017, the production of Darjeeling Tea hit a low of 3.21 million kg. Since a substantial market of Darjeeling Tea switched to cheaper varieties of tea, including the imported variety from Nepal.
Tea planters and industry experts admit that the tea industry in Darjeeling has not recovered from the damage it incurred in 2017.
Is climate change impacting production?
The decline in production is due to multiple factors, which include climate change, declining yields, and high absenteeism among workers.
Because of the hilly terrain of Darjeeling, there is no land left for expansion of tea gardens.
The tea bushes are older than other parts of the country.
Uprooting and planting them is both time and cost-intensive.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Shiveluch Volcano
Mains level: Not Much
The Shiveluch volcano on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East has increased its activity and is now in danger of erupting violently.
About Shiveluch
Shiveluch is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Kamchatka, having erupted at least 60 times in the past 10,000 years.
Kamchatka is home to 29 active volcanoes, part of a vast belt of Earth known as the “Ring of Fire” which circles the Pacific Ocean and is prone to eruptions and frequent earthquakes.
It has two main parts: Old Shiveluch, which tops 3,283 metres (10,771 ft), and Young Shiveluch – a smaller, 2,800-metre peak protruding from its side.
Young Shiveluch lies within an ancient caldera – a large crater-like basin that likely formed when the older part underwent a catastrophic eruption at least 10,000 years ago.
It is this part that has become extremely active; the lava dome continues to grow and that stronger “fumarole activity” has been observed.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sankaradeva
Mains level: Bhakti Movement
‘Gurujana’ a musical tribute to 15th–16th century Assamese polymath Srimanta Sankardeva was recently released by the PIB.
Srimanta Sankardeva (1449–1568)
Sankardeva was a 15th–16th century Assamese polymath; a saint-scholar, poet, playwright, dancer, actor, musician, artist social-religious reformer and a figure of importance.
He is widely credited with building on past cultural relics and devising-
New forms of music (Borgeet)
Theatrical performance (Ankia Naat, Bhaona),
Dance (Sattriya)
Literary language (Brajavali)
Literary works
He has left extensive literary trans-created scriptures (Bhagavat of Sankardev), poetry and theological works written in Sanskrit, Assamese and Brajavali.
Political influence
The Bhagavatic religious movement he started, Ekasarana Dharma and also called the Neo-Vaishnavite movement, influenced two medieval kingdoms – Koch and the Ahom kingdom.
His influence spread even to some kingdoms as the Matak Kingdom founded by Bharat Singha, and consolidated by Sarbananda Singha in the latter 18th century endorsed his teachings.
The assembly of devotees he initiated evolved over time into monastic centers called Sattras, which continue to be important socio-religious institutions in Assam and to a lesser extent in North Bengal even today.
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Cess, Surcharge
Mains level: Not Much
Several States, including some governed by the Centre urged to rein in its reliance on raising revenues through cesses and surcharges which reduce their share in the divisible pool of taxes.
What are Cesses and Surcharges?
The Union government has the authority to collect money through a variety of levies referred to as a tax, fee, cess, and surcharge.
(A) Cess
Cess is charged on the tax amount and is levied for a specific purpose.
In India, cess is applicable to all the taxpayers, and it is calculated over, and above the base tax liability of the taxpayer, cess taxes initially go to the consolidated fund of India (CFI) that has to be used for the purpose for which it was collected.
Education Cess, Swachh Bharat Cess
(B) Surcharge
The surcharge is levied on the tax payable and not on the total income.
It directly goes to the CFI, and after that it can be used for any purpose, just like the normal tax.
Surcharge applies to the taxpayer whose income is more than Rs 50 lakh.
In simple terms, surcharge is a tax on tax that is not collected for any particular cause, and the union government may use the proceeds of surcharges for any purpose it sees as important.
The objective behind the surcharge is to put a high tax burden on people with high incomes.
Difference between the two
The rate of cess under income tax is fixed at 4%, whereas the rate of surcharges varies from 10%, 15%, 25% & 37% based on the taxpayers’ total income.
Cess is calculated on total tax and surcharge amount; surcharge is calculated on total tax amount only.
In a nutshell, while both are taxes, cess is collected from every taxpayer to meet a certain purpose, and the surcharge is an additional tax collected from the taxpayers who have higher slab income.
Key difference over which states dispute
Major difference is that each can be shared with the state government, the surcharge can be kept with CFI, and it can be utilised for other taxes.
However, cess should be utilised for a particular reason. This restricts the states expenditure.
Tamil Nadu noted that the share of cesses and surcharges had grown from 10.4% of gross tax revenue in 2011-12 to 26.7% in 2021-22.
This has deprived the States of their legitimate share of revenue collected by the Union Government.
