Daily Prelims Notes 2 July 2023

July 2, 2023
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

2 July 2023

Table Of Contents

1. The intensity of extreme rainfall events is estimated to increase by 15%

Subject :Geography

Section: Climatology

Context:

Climate warming is causing a decrease in snowfall and an increase in rainfall at high altitudes in the Northern Hemisphere.
A study has predicted an increase in the risk of extreme rainfall events.

Extreme rainfall events:

“Extreme rainfall events” refers to instances during which the amount of rain experienced in a location substantially exceeds what is normal. What constitutes a period of extreme rainfall events varies according to location and season.

Study findings:

Researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California analysed the data of rainfall from 1950 to 2019 with future projections up to 2100.
Their results suggest that warming is causing an increase in rainfall extremes within regions of high elevation in the Northern Hemisphere, particularly in regions usually dominated by snowfall.
On average, the intensity of extreme rainfall events is estimated to increase by 15% per 1 degree C of warming. These patterns are seen both in historical observations and future projections.
The intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation events are expected to increase as global warming continues to affect the planet.
Extreme rainfall events are more damaging than similar snowfall events due to their instantaneous runoff, increasing the risk of floods, which can cause infrastructure damage and landslides.
The estimated rate of increased rainfall in high altitudes is approximately double that of low altitudes, highlighting the increased vulnerability of mountainous regions to extreme precipitation.
They utilised both a climate reanalysis dataset and future model projections to show that the amplified increase is due to a warming-induced shift from snow to rain.
The study findings pinpoint high-altitude regions as ‘hotspots’ that are vulnerable to future risk of extreme-rainfall-related hazards, thereby requiring robust climate adaptation plans to alleviate potential risk.

Importance of the findings:

26% of the global population lives in or directly downstream of mountainous regions.
Study results can help in developing sound climate adaptation plans to protect the natural and built environments.
The amplification of rainfall extremes is likely to be associated with a decrease in snowfall extremes owing to the transition from snow to rain.

2. India adds 664 animal species to its faunal database in 2022, 339 taxa to its flora

Subject :Environment

Section: Species in news

Context:

India added 664 animal species to its faunal database in the year 2022. These comprise 467 new species and 197 new records [species found in India for the first time].
Details:
The country also added 339 new plant taxa – 186 taxa that are new to science and 153 taxa as new distributional records from the country in 2022.
Released by Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The faunal discoveries have been compiled in a publication by Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) titled Animal Discoveries – New Species and New Records 2023, whereas floral discoveries are contained in Plant Discoveries 2022 published by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).

Fauna species discovered are:

The year 2022 witnessed the highest number of new discoveries in the last 10 years.
With the new discoveries and new records, the fauna diversity of the country increased to 1,03,922.
The maximum number of new faunal discoveries has been of invertebrates with 583 species, while vertebrates constitute 81 species.
Insects dominate among invertebrates with 384 species, whereas fish dominated among vertebrates, followed by reptiles, amphibia, mammals and aves.
Among the major fauna species discovered are:
- Three new species and one new record of mammals;
- Two new records of birds;
- 30 new species and two new records of reptiles;
- Six new species and one new record of amphibia; and
- 28 new species and eight new records of fish.
The mammal species discovered include two species of bats:
- Miniopterus phillipsi, a long-fingered bat, and
- Glischropus meghalayanus, a bamboo-dwelling bat – both from Meghalaya.
Sela macaque (Macaca selai), a new macaque species discovered in western and central Arunachal Pradesh and named after the Sela Pass.
The new records include:
- Macaca leucogenys, a white-cheeked macaque earlier found in Modog, southeastern Tibet, and sighted in India for the first time in 2022 in West Siang, Arunachal Pradesh.
- Ficedula zanthopygia, the yellow-rumped flycatcher, earlier known from Mongolia, Transbaikal, southern China, Korea, and western Japan, and was found last year in Narcondam Island of the Andaman archipelago
Statewise discovery of fauna:
- In 2022, the maximum new discoveries were recorded from As many as 82 animal species new to science and 15 new records were from Kerala, which contributes to 14.6% of the new species and new records.
- Karnataka followed with 64 new species and 24 new records accounting for2%.
- Tamil Nadu saw 71 new discoveries and 13 new records contributing to 6% of all the new discoveries and new records in the country.
- The Andaman and Nicobar Islands contributed to about 4% of the discoveries, whereas 7.6 % of discoveries were from West Bengal and 5.7% from Arunachal Pradesh.

Flora’s discoveries include:

‘Plant Discoveries 2022’ contains an enumeration of 339 taxa, which have been added to the Indian flora during 2022.
These comprise 319 species and 20 infraspecific taxa as new to the Indian flora.
Of these, 186 taxa are new to science and 153 taxa are new distributional records from India.
Among the new discoveries:
- 37% are seed plants,
- 29% fungi,
- 16% lichen,
- 8% algae,
- 6% bryophytes,
- 3% microbes and
- The remaining 1% pteridophytes.
Seed plants contributed the maximum discoveries, of which dicotyledons contribute 73% and monocotyledons 27%.
The Plant Discoveries 2022, includes 125 angiosperms, one gymnosperm, five pteridophytes, 19 bryophytes, 55 lichens, 99 fungi, 27 algae and nine microbes.
Statewise discoveries:
- About 21% of the total discoveries were made from the western Himalayas followed by 16% from the Western Ghats.
- A State-wise analysis of the plant taxa points out that maximum discoveries of 57 were made in Kerala, which alone accounts for 16.8% of all plant discoveries in the country in the year 2022.
The plant discoveries in 2022 include wild relatives of many potential horticultural, agricultural, medicinal, and ornamental plants such as begonia, impatiens (balsams), legumes, zingibers, orchids etc.
Among the new genus of plants discovered are:
- Nandadevia Pusalkar, a genus common throughout the foothills and warm outer valleys of the Uttarakhand Himalayas, and
- Nilgiriella Pusalkar, endemic to the southern Western Ghats of India and distributed in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
Among the new records in orchid species:
- Calanthe lamellosa, earlier recorded in China and Myanmar, and found for the first time in India in the Japfu mountain range in Kohima, Nagaland.

3. Japan says Russian warships spotted near Taiwan and Okinawa islands

Subject :International Relations

Section: Places in news

Context:

Japan and Taiwan both claim that they have spotted Russian military ships near their coastal areas.

Details:

Japan and Taiwan have joined the United States and its allies in imposing wide-ranging sanctions on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine last year.
The Japanese ministry said two Steregushchy-class frigates were first spotted 70 km (40 miles) southwest of Japan’s westernmost island of Yonaguni, in Okinawa prefecture near Taiwan.
Spotted again in the waters between Miyako and Okinawa islands.
Russia said that a detachment of ships of the Russian Pacific Fleet had entered the southern parts of the Philippine Sea to perform tasks as part of a long-range sea passage.

Japan-Russia dispute over Kuril Island:

The Kuril Islands dispute between Japan and Russia is over the sovereignty of South Kuril Islands.
The South Kuril Islands comprise Etorofu island, Kunashiri island, Shikotan island and the Habomai island.
These islands are claimed by Japan but occupied by Russia as the successor state of the Soviet Union.
Japan is also having a similar dispute regarding Northern territories with South Korea. South Korea refers to as Dokdo islands.

What is the Geographic Location and Significance of the Kuril Islands?

Location:

The Kuril Islands are stretched from the Japanese island of Hokkaido to the southern tip of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula separating the Okhotsk Sea from the North Pacific Ocean.
The chain is part of the belt of geologic instability circling the Pacific (Ring of Fire) and contains at least 100 volcanoes, of which 35 are still active, and many hot springs.

Significance:

Natural resources: The islands are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are thought to have offshore reserves of oil and gas.
Strategic Importance: Russia has deployed missile systems in the region. Russia also plans a submarine project and intends to prevent any American military use of the islands.
Cultural Importance: The Japanese people, especially conservatives in Hokkaido, are emotionally attached to the islands.

4. New parliament building: In phase 2 of Art project, focus on Indian traditions and freedom movement

Subject :History

Section: Modern India

Context:

The new Parliament building houses an extensive collection of around 5,000 artworks, but, just over a month into its inauguration, plans are already afoot for the next phase of the art project, which will focus on the freedom movement and Indian traditions.

Details:

The cost of the overall building project is estimated to be more than Rs 1,200 crore.
The next phase will include around eight new galleries — split equally between the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha Foyers — besides artwork to adorn the dining halls.
Lok Sabha Foyer:
- A gallery dedicated to India’s “fight for esteem, pre-1857” will come up on the upper ground floor of the Lok Sabha Foyer, besides another highlighting the freedom struggle (1857 to 1947).
- The Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA) will execute the project under the aegis of the Ministry of Culture.
- The first floor will also have two galleries:
  - One on the role of women in the nation’s development and
  - Another one showcases the role of tribal leaders in the freedom movement.
- The Samudra Manthan mural, which adorns the Lok Sabha wall in the Central Foyer, signifies the churning of ideas and thoughts for public welfare.
Rajya Sabha Foyer:
- The Rajya Sabha Foyer will have two new galleries on the upper ground floor (on India’s knowledge and Bhakti traditions) and two on the first floor (on the Indian connection with nature and traditional sports).
The other walls of the building will be decorated with shlokas and other sacred symbols.
The basic idea was to keep Indian ethos in mind and showcase Bharat and Bharatiyata.
Diverse representation:
- A decorated wall of the Central Foyer, named Jan Janani Janmabhoomi, had 75 women artisans create crafts representing 28 states and eight UTs.
- Another gallery called Shilp Deergha had more than 250 craft pieces sourced from 400 artisans from across the country.

Present Parliament:

The present Parliament building was inaugurated in 1927, this was designed by Lutyens and Baker.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan was designed by Edwin Lutyens and the secretariat that includes both north and south block was designed by Herbert Baker.
The “North” and “South” Blocks are named so for their location north and south of the Rashtrapati Bhavan.

New Parliament Building:

Central Vista Project:

5. This new tool can drive India’s eco-restoration initiatives; here’s how

Subject :Environment

Section: Ecosystem

Context:

Researchers have devised a tool that enables appropriate agroforestry and aids systematic ecosystem restoration.

About the tool- Diversity for Restoration (D4R):

Diversity for Restoration (D4R) tool, devised by Bioversity International, was later modified by Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) to adapt it to the Indian context.
The tool is developed with information on 237 socio-economically important native trees from the Western Ghats, and the numbers and geographies will increase over time.
The tool will help improve the effectiveness of restoration programmes by providing manifold benefits to interested stakeholders while promoting sustainable development.
- Non-profits, nature lovers and others working on plantations and increasing forest cover often face challenges in identifying the tree species to plant and their ecological benefits.
- On many occasions, they also struggle to understand which plant species would best suit their given geographic location.
The online tool precisely aims to help better decision-making and bring the best outcome for those plantation programmes.
It could improve socio-ecological perspectives and help stakeholders in decision-making.
The tool will help in:
- Identifying species that match their restoration objectives.
- Identifying species that can resist local stresses and adapt to evolving environmental conditions.
- Pinpointing areas and regions to procure the seeds for the required species.
The tool has information about 100 plant functional traits that have been considered to offer the best possible solution.
Functional traits include information on economic and ecological uses from the tree species chosen for plantation.
Information provided by the tool is:
- the tool could identify windbreakers — the trees can act as a barrier against high winds.
- The user can also know if the species offers better nitrogen fixing and whether it serves as a good pollinator for birds and bees.
- Informs the user whether the tree species offers timber, fruit, manure or other commercial benefits.
- Informs if the tree is resilient to physiological stresses such as extreme high or low temperatures, salinity or acidity tolerance in the soil among others.
The tool is already being used in countries such as Malaysia, Ethiopia, Columbia, Peru, Burkina Faso, Cameroon etc.
It provides a score of a particular tree species for plantations. This score helps determine and decide how well the species match the given site conditions and restoration objectives.
The tool also provides varied recommendations that help in maximising the chances of restoration along with propagation information and monitoring suggestions.

UN Decade of Ecological Restoration:

The Decade for Ecosystem Restoration was declared on 5 June 2021. It called for a biosphere restoration equal to the total land area of China. In addition, more stringent efforts towards climate mitigation as well were needed to preserve the ecological makeup of the earth.
The Decade on Ecosystem was first proposed by El Salvador during the Bonn Challenge meeting in March 2018. The proposal put forward by El Salvador called for a restoration of about 350 million hectares of degraded ecosystems by 2030.

What is Ecological Restoration?

The UN define ecosystem restoration as “the process of halting and reversing degradation, resulting in improved ecosystem services and recovered biodiversity”.
In practice, a particular restoration can involve quite different transitions, depending on what best suits the local conditions.

What is Agroforestry?

It is the practice of combining trees and farming; it demonstrates how food production and nature can co-exist.
It is a resilient and future-proof sustainable agricultural method that could effectively mitigate the climate crisis.

According to FAO:

Agroforestry is a collective name for land-use systems and technologies where woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboo, etc.) are deliberately used on the same land-management units as crops and/or animals, in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence.
In agroforestry systems, there are both ecological and economical interactions between the different components.
Agroforestry can also be defined as a dynamic, ecologically based, natural resource management system that, through the integration of trees on farms and in the agricultural landscape, diversifies and sustains production for increased social, economic, and environmental benefits for land users at all levels.
In particular, agroforestry is crucial to smallholder farmers and other rural people because it can enhance their food supply, income, and health. Agroforestry systems are multifunctional systems that can provide a wide range of economic, sociocultural, and environmental benefits.

6. Centre’s potable water mission may miss 2024 target

Subject :Schemes

Context:

The government’s ambitious Har Ghar Jal initiative to provide all rural households in India with potable water connections by 2024 under its flagship Jal Jeevan Mission is likely to fall short of its target.

Details:

Only 75% of village homes are likely to have taps delivering drinking water by April 2024.
At the time of the announcement of the scheme in 2019, only 16% of rural households had tap water.
The scheme got delayed due to:
- The COVID-19 pandemic,
- A dearth of qualified manpower in the States to make tanks, cisterns and water connections of acceptable quality.
- The scale of the exercise,
- State-specific issues and
- The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war led to a shortage of steel and cement for the construction of pipes.

Expected timeline for completion of the project:

About 75% of households are to be covered by March 2024 and 80% by December.
Of the nearly 19.5 crore households that are targeted under the scheme, there are about one crore households (5% of the total) where work hasn’t even begun.

Jal Jeevan Mission:

Launched in 2019
Comes under the Jal Shakti ministry.
The Jal Jeevan Mission has a financial outlay of ₹3.60 lakh crore, with the Centre funding 50% of the cost and the remainder being borne by States and Union Territories.
The mission’s stated objective is to provide ‘functional’ tap connections that give at least 55 litres per person per day, of potable or drinking water.
So far, according to data on the Jal Shakti Ministry portal, about 63% of rural households have tap connections, meaning that about 9.1 crore households have benefitted from the programme since 2019.

System of certification under the scheme:

There is a system of ‘certification’ wherein the gram panchayats in a village which district and block level authorities report as fully connected call a quorum, and upload a video attesting the veracity of the claim.
Of the nearly 1,68,000 villages that are reported as ‘Har Ghar Jal’ where all houses have tap water, only 58,357 villages have been so ‘certified’, suggesting that the gap between reported and verified connections is wide.
Two mechanisms for independent verification:

An independent audit agency conducts a survey by preparing a representative sample and interviewing respondents on whether the installed water connections are actually delivering water to their satisfaction.
A panel of National WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygeine) experts who appraise a section of villages on the quality of services provided. Their feedback is immediately provided to States and to us.

One such survey was conducted in October 2022, covering 13,303 villages, of which 5,298 were reported as Har Ghar Jal villages and consisting of nearly 300,000 households.
It was found that only 62% of households had fully functional connections.

A scenario in various states:

Of the top 10 States that have reported over 96% of coverage, two — Bihar and Telangana — have zero villages that have certified their connection status. This was because both States did not rely on Central funds for their drinking water supply programmes.
Only eight States and Union Territories so far have reported all their villages as 100% connected, but nearly all of them were well connected in 2019 itself, according to data on the web portal.
Haryana, Gujarat and Punjab – the largest of these States – already had over 50% coverage in 2019.
- In Uttar Pradesh, only 5.1 lakh (or 1%) of households reported tap connections in 2019.
  - This grew to 32 lakh by August 2021 and then grew slower to 42 lakh by August 2022.
  - In the last 10 months, it jumped to 1.3 crore or about half the total rural households in the State.
  - However, of U.P.’s 98,455 villages, only 13,085 have reported being fully connected and only 2,837 of them have certified themselves.
  - Thus, only about 3% of U.P. villages can be said to be 100% certified as Har Ghar Jal villages.
- In Rajasthan, 11 lakh households had tap connections in 2019, which has risen to about 44 lakh in June 2023.
  - Of its 43,249 villages, only 1,146 are reportedly fully connected, only half of which have been certified so.
- In West Bengal, where the number of connected households grew from 2.1 lakh to 62 lakh between 2019 and 2023, the number of villages reporting 100% connections are 2,654 or about 6% of the State’s villages.
  - Of these, only about a fourth are certified.

7. Chip industry to fuel demand for ultrapure water

Subject: Science and technology

Section: MSc

Concept :

Ultrapure water is needed throughout semiconductor manufacturing, for rinsing chips with tiny components.
There will be a growing demand for ultrapure water (UPW) in the coming years due largely to the growth of the semiconductor industry, Ashish Bhandari, MD & CEO of Pune-based Thermax Ltd., said in an interview.

Ultrapure water (UPW)

Ultrapure water (UPW), high-purity water or highly purified water (HPW) is water that has been purified to uncommonly stringent specifications.
Ultrapure water is a term commonly used in manufacturing to emphasize the fact that the water is treated to the highest levels of purity for all contaminant types, including: organic and inorganic compounds; dissolved and particulate matter; volatile and non-volatile; reactive, and inert; hydrophilic and hydrophobic; and dissolved gases.
UPW and the commonly used term deionized (DI) water are not the same. In addition to the fact that UPW has organic particles and dissolved gases removed, a typical UPW system has three stages: a pretreatment stage to produce purified water, a primary stage to further purify the water, and a polishing stage, the most expensive part of the treatment process

Ultra-Pure Water in Semiconductor Industry

They are the heart of any electronic device. It is important to know that there are only a handful of manufacturers in the world who deal in its making.
It requires a very finest level of accuracy in making a wafer chip; even a nano mistake can make it a waste. Semiconductors require a huge amount of pure water, or you can say even ultrapure water in their manufacturing.
For general knowledge, it must be known that a standard 30cm. wafer chip requires 2200 gallons of water (1 gallon is approximately equal to 4 liters).
So, you can imagine the amount of water to manufacture chips in bulk daily. And the most important; is not just water, it is ultrapure water.
With such a high level of purity, the amount of impure or wastewater generated during manufacturing is also a large quantity.
This wastewater is very toxic due to the presence of heavy metals and toxic solvents, and it is almost impossible to treat such water with 0% purity output.
So, apart from manufacturing a chip, dealing with water is also a major challenge and technology in this industry.

Why such a high amount of pure water is required ?

A semiconductor contains a number of transistors and other power electronic devices.
Semiconductors are built-in layers on silicon wafers into integrated circuits. It is important to know that after each one of several dozen layers of semiconductors are added to a silicon wafer, it must be rinsed and cleaned properly to remove waste (ions, particles, silica, TOC, dissolved oxygen) from it. This prevents chips from getting contaminated. Even a minute layer of impurity can make the chip unusable.
Ultrapure water is produced through many critical stages of water treatment. In general, let us consider the steps commonly used everywhere.
The first stage starts with the pre-treatment process. Here, raw water is passed through filter stages like MMF (Mixed Media filter), ACF (Activated Carbon filter), and Softener, and then passes through RO (Reverse Osmosis).
The second stage consists again of the 2nd pass RO system. The output from this RO is passed to a UV lamp where residual ozone is destroyed.
Then follows processes of vacuum de-aeration, passing water through mixed beds, resin regeneration, etc.
Finally, in the third stage, water is distributed to various points where pure water is required. Before reaching the final points, water again passes through UV oxidation, polishing mixed beds and degasifier.
The final output is very pure and contains very minute particles, which are mostly negligible and will not harm the chips (less than 1 particle>0.05uM per mL).
As discussed earlier, wastewater generated from purification stages needs to be treated before disposing it off in the drains. So, effluent treatment systems are then used to treat wastewater.
The chip industry demands the purest form of water for cleaning chips and an equal amount of treatment for wastewater. Any malfunction in both these processes can make the industry unusable.

8. With new date to fix boundaries, Census unlikely before polls

Subject :Polity

Section: msc

Concept :

The deadline to freeze the administrative boundaries of districts, tehsils and towns, among others, has been extended till December 31, ruling out the Census exercise before the 2024 General Elections.
The decennial Census exercise that was to be conducted in 2021 was postponed indefinitely, initially due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The latest order does not specify any reason.

About Census

Population Census is the total process of collecting, compiling, analyzing and disseminating demographic, economic and social data pertaining, at a specific time, of all persons in a country or a well-defined part of a country.
Census is the basis for reviewing the country’s progress in the past decade, monitoring the ongoing schemes of the government and plan for the future.
It provides an instantaneous photographic picture of a community, which is valid at a particular moment of time.

Phases: The Census Operations in India are carried out in two phases:

Houselisting/Housing Census under which details of all buildings, permanent or temporary, are noted with their type, amenities, and assets.
Population Enumeration where more detailed information on each individual residing in the country, Indian national or otherwise is noted.
It is carried out after making a list of all households that are surveyed.

Frequency:

The first synchronous decadal census was taken in 1881, by W.C. Plowden, Census Commissioner of India. Since then, censuses have been undertaken uninterruptedly once every ten years.
The Census of India Act of 1948 provides the legal framework for carrying out the Census however, it does not mention its timing or periodicity.
Hence, a Census is Constitutionally mandated in India but there is no Constitutional or legal requirement that it needs to be conducted decennially.
The 10-year frequency is followed in many countries (Ex. the US and the UK) but some countries like Australia, Canada, Japan conduct it every five years.

Nodal Ministry:

The decennial Census is conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs.
Until 1951, the Census Organization was set up on an ad-hoc basis for each Census.

9. 24-hour hotline for MPs helps collecting research material

Subject : Schemes

Concept :

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who was elected to the post in his second term as MP, set up a 24-hour research reference telephone hotline for Members of Parliament, as well as a reference section for legislations.
According to officials, the Parliamentary Research and Information Support for Members of Parliament (PRISM) is a round the clock service and also available on weekends during Parliament Sessions.
A team of 30-32 officers serve on the hotline on a rotational basis.
Between 2019 and 2023, 87% of MPs have used either online or offline reference services, which are also shared through WhatsApp and email if required.
The largest number of enquiries were about the Billslike the Juvenile Justice Bill, Wildlife Protection Bill and short duration discussions on climate change, drug abuse and price rise.
In total, both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members got help with offline references about 17,493 times, and online references numbered 3,393.

10. Artemis Accords

Subject : Science and tech

Section: Space Technology

Concept :

Recently, India became the 27th signatory to the Artemis Accords, a set of non-binding guidelines that underpin the Artemis programme, a U.S.-led project to return humans to the moon permanently.

About Artemis Accord:

Artemis, named after the Greek Moon goddess, represents a comprehensive agreement drawn up by the US to bring together nations that share a common vision for civil space exploration.
It serves as a framework for cooperation and collaboration in space exploration, building upon the foundation of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967.
The Artemis Accords were jointly launched by the United States Department of State and NASA on October 13, 2020, with seven partner countries, such as Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, UAE, and the UK.
The Accords have been signed by 26 countries as of June 23, including the original eight. These include traditional US allies like Japan, Australia, the UK, France, and Canada, but also countries with relatively less developed space programmes like Colombia, Rwanda, Nigeria, and Mexico.
The principles of the Artemis Accords include
- peaceful exploration,
- full transparency in space activity,
- including public release of scientific data,
- interoperability of systems to enhance safety and sustainability,
- emergency assistance to personnel in distress,
- preserving outer space heritage,
- extracting and utilising space resources in compliance with the Outer Space Treaty, and
- The safe disposal of orbital debris.

Significance for India

The Artemis programme includes plans for a base on the lunar surface, multiple spacecraft to ferry humans and cargo, an orbiting space station, and a constellation of satellites to help with navigation and communication. The first Artemis crewed mission to the moon’s surface is likely in 2026.
NASA is also keen to emphasise that the Artemis programme will take the first woman, and the “first person of colour”, to the moon.
By joining the Artemis Accords, ISRO gains access to valuable technologies and opportunities for scientific and technological advancements. Collaboration with NASA would enable knowledge-sharing and technology transfer and enhance India’s space exploration efforts.
The joint mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024, coupled with the Gaganyaan human module flights, would set the stage for India to raise its space aspirations.

11. Special Monsoon Session

Subject : Polity

Section: Parliament

Concept :

A new Parliament building awaits as the Monsoon Session was announced on Saturday, from July 20 to August 11.
However, with both the ruling BJP and Opposition parties in election mode, and continuing Manipur violence expected to prominently feature in the House, the Session is expected to be as turbulent as the past few ones have been.
Among the legislation expected in the short Session — likely to have a total of 17 working days — are the much-awaited Digital Personal Data Protection Bill and the Forest Conservation (Amendment) Bill, besides the Bill to replace the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance.
Another issue that could bring Parliament to a standstill is Uniform Civil Code, with talk that it might be brought in by the government gaining further momentum after a speech by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on it.

Sessions of Parliament

The power to convene a session of Parliament rests with the government.
The decision is taken by the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs, which currently comprises nine ministers, including those for Defence, Home, Finance, and Law.
The decision of the Committee is formalised by the President, in whose name MPs are summoned to meet for a session.
India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar. By convention, Parliament meets for three sessions in a year.
The longest, the Budget Session, starts towards the end of January, and concludes by the end of April or first week of May. The session has a recess so that Parliamentary Committees can discuss the budgetary proposals.
The second session is the three-week Monsoon Session, which usually begins in July and finishes in August. The parliamentary year ends with a three week-long Winter Session, which is held from November to December.
A general scheme of sittings was recommended in 1955 by the General Purpose Committee of Lok Sabha. It was accepted by the government of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, but was not implemented.

What the Constitution says

The summoning of Parliament is specified in Article 85 of the Constitution. It is based on a provision of The Government of India Act, 1935.
1935 Act : This provision specified that the central legislature had to be summoned to meet at least once a year, and that not more than 12 months could elapse between two sessions.
Dr B R Ambedkar stated that the purpose of this provision was to summon the legislature only to collect revenue, and that the once-a-year meeting was designed to avoid scrutiny of the government by the legislature.
On the floor of the Constituent Assembly, he said: “We thought and personally I also think that the atmosphere has completely changed and I do not think any executive would hereafter be capable of showing this kind of callous conduct towards the legislature.”
His drafting of the provision reduced the gap between sessions to six months, and specified that Parliament should meet at least twice a year.

Debates in Constitutional Assembly

During the debate, members of the Constituent Assembly highlighted three issues: (i) the number of sessions in a year, (ii) the number of days of sitting and, (iii) who should have the power to convene Parliament.
Prof K T Shah from Bihar was of the opinion that Parliament should sit throughout the year, with breaks in between.
Others wanted Parliament to sit for longer durations, and gave examples of the British and American legislatures which during that time were meeting for more than a hundred days in a year.
Prof Shah also wanted the presiding officers of the two Houses to be empowered to convene Parliament in certain circumstances. These suggestions were not accepted by Dr Ambedkar.

Moved, delayed, stretched

Over the years, governments have shuffled around the dates of sessions to accommodate political and legislative exigencies. In 2017, the Winter Session was delayed on account of the Gujarat Assembly elections. In 2011, political parties agreed to cut short the Budget Session so they could campaign for Vidhan Sabha elections in five states.
Sessions have also been cut short or delayed to allow the government to issue Ordinances. For example, in 2016, the Budget Session was broken up into two separate sessions to enable the issuance of an Ordinance.
Sessions have been stretched — in 2008, the two-day Monsoon Session (in which a no-confidence motion was moved against the UPA-I government over the India-US nuclear deal) was extended until December. The ostensible reason was to prevent the moving of another no-confidence motion. It meant that there were only two sessions that year.

Fewer House Sittings

Over the years, there has been a decline in the sittings days of Parliament. During the first two decades of Parliament, Lok Sabha met for an average of a little more than 120 days a year. This has come down to approximately 70 days in the last decade.
One institutional reason given for this is the reduction in the workload of Parliament by its Standing Committees, which, since the 1990s, have anchored debates outside the House.
However, several Committees have recommended that Parliament should meet for at least 120 days in a year.

12. GST helped increase revenue buoyancy of states, says FM

Subject : Economy

Section: Fiscal Policy

Concept :

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime has reduced the tax burden on consumers with a lower tax incidence on many common use items and has increased revenue buoyancy for states and Centre, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.
Stating that the all-round benefits of the indirect tax regime are “exemplary”, she said GST revenue buoyancy for states has improved to 1.22 after its implementation from 0.72 before the rollout of GST.

Revenue / Tax Buoyancy

Tax buoyancy explains relationship between the changes in government’s tax revenue growth and the changes in GDP.
It refers to the responsiveness of tax revenue growth to changes in GDP.
When a tax is buoyant, its revenue increases without increasing the tax rate.
A similar looking concept is tax elasticity. It refers to changes in tax revenue in response to changes in tax rate.
Tax buoyancy depends mainly on
- Size of the tax base
- Tax administration regime
- Reasonableness and simplicity of the tax rates
- Wealth creation

13. UCC push turns spotlight on SC’s query on religious freedom

Subject : Polity

Section: Constitution

Concept :

The renewed push for a Uniform Civil Code, which many communities perceive as an encroachment into their personal laws and religious rights, is underway even as a nine-judge Bench of the Supreme Court is yet to decide the “ambit and scope” of religious freedom itself.
It has been three years since a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court framed seven questions of law linked to religious freedom, rights and practices in the Sabarimala case.

Questions on Religious Freedom

The first of the seven questions is “What is the scope and ambit of the right to freedom of religion under Article 25 of the Constitution?” The reference in the case is still pending.
The questions remain unanswered by the court. Of all the nine judges on that Bench, only two — Justices B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant — are currently serving in the Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi speech came just a week after the 22nd Law Commission of India issued a public notice for a fresh debate on the common law.
The Opposition and minority bodies have reacted that a common civil code was not in tune with Article 25, which provides protection and freedom for all to practice their religion and customary laws.
The core issue at the heart of both the Constitution Bench’s question on religious freedom framed in February 2020 and the recent controversy over the UCC is the tussle between discrimination on religious grounds and the right to preserve one’s religious identity through personal laws based on religion, customs and usages.

21st Law Commission of India

The 185-page consultation paper of the 21st Law Commission of India, largely ignored for the past five years, recommends a balancing act between the equal treatment of all religions and religious diversity by codifying personal laws.
It said the “issue of uniform civil code is vast, and its potential repercussions, untested in India”.