Daily Current Affairs : 11th January 2024

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Anti Defection Law
2. Amaterasu
3. Laws around Remission Policy
4. Accessible India Campaign
5. Facts for Prelims  

1 . Anti Defection Law

Context: Rejecting the Thackeray faction’s request to disqualify 16 Shinde faction legislators, the Speaker said that there was no valid ground to disqualify them. 

 About the news

• In a huge setback to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s faction was the ‘real Shiv Sena‘ when the rival factions emerged on June 21, 2022. 
• He also rejected disqualification petitions filed against 30 Shiv Sena MLAs from both factions, including Mr. Shinde himself, citing a lack of valid grounds. 

Background of Anti Defection Law 

• Indian political scene was besmirched by political defections by members of the legislature. This situation brought about greater instability in the political system. 
• Legislators used to change parties frequently, bringing about chaos in the legislatures as governments fell. In sum, they often brought about political instability. This caused serious concerns to the right thinking political leaders of the country.Several efforts were made to make some law to curb defections 
• Finally, in 1985, the Rajiv Gandhi government brought a Bill to amend the Constitution and curb defection. 
• Through 52nd constitutional amendment act 10th Schedule of the Constitution, which contains the anti-defection law, was added to the Constitution. 

About Anti Defection Law 

• The purpose of the law is to curb political defection by the legislators. 
• The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies. 
• There are two grounds on which a member of a legislature can be disqualified. 
  • If the member voluntarily gives up the membership of the party, he shall be disqualified. Voluntarily giving up the membership is not the same as resigning from a party. Even without resigning, a legislator can be disqualified if by his conduct the Speaker/Chairman of the concerned House draws a reasonable inference that the member has voluntarily given up the membership of his party. 
  • If a legislator votes in the House against the direction of his party and his action is not condoned by his party, he can be disqualified. 

About Speaker’s Power under Anti Defection Law 

• The ultimate evaluator in the case of disqualification under the Tenth Schedule is the Speaker of the House. 
• The Speaker can disqualify a member-only if a claim of disqualification is made before him under Para 2 of the Tenth Schedule. 
• Under the light of Articles 102 and 191 of the Constitution and the Tenth Schedule, the Speaker’s exercise is of judicial nature as he can take a decision only after a member files a disqualification petition. 

Exception from Disqualification 

• The 10th Schedule says that if there is a merger between two political parties and two-thirds of the members of a legislature party agree to the merger, they will not be disqualified. 

Amendments 

• When it was enacted first, there was a provision under which if there occurs a split in the original political party and as a result of which one-third of the legislators of that party forms a separate group, they shall not be disqualified. 
• This provision resulted in large scale defections and the lawmakers were convinced that the provision of a split in the party was being misused. Therefore, they decided to delete this provision. 
• Now, the only provision which can be invoked for protection from disqualification is the provision relating to the merger. 

Is the law, as it stands now, open to interpretation? 

• The first ground for disqualifying a legislator for defecting from a party is his voluntarily giving up the membership of his party. This term “voluntarily giving up the membership of his party” is susceptible to interpretation. As has been explained earlier, voluntarily giving up the membership is not the same as resigning from a party. 
• The Supreme Court has clarified this point by saying that the presiding officer (Speaker), who acts as a tribunal, has to draw a reasonable inference from the conduct of the legislator. 

Evaluation 

• The law certainly has been able to curb the evil of defection to a great extent. But, of late, a very alarming trend of legislators defecting in groups to another party in search of greener pastures is visible. 
• The recent examples of defection in state Assemblies and even in Rajya Sabha bear this out. This only shows that the law needs a relook in order to plug the loopholes if any. But it must be said that this law has served the interest of the society. Political instability caused by frequent and unholy change of allegiance on the part of the legislators of our country has been contained to a larger extent. 

Conclusion 

• The anti-defection law seeks to provide a stable government by ensuring the legislators do not switch sides. However, this law also restricts a legislator from voting in line with his conscience, judgement and interests of his electorate. Such a situation impedes the oversight function of the legislature over the government, by ensuring that members vote based on the decisions taken by the party leadership, and not what their constituents would like them to vote for. 
• Political parties issue a direction to MPs on how to vote on most issues, irrespective of the nature of the issue. Several experts have suggested that the law should be valid only for those votes that determine the stability of the government (passage of the annual budget or no-confidence motions. 

Way Forward 

• Various expert committees have recommended that rather than the Presiding Officer, the decision to disqualify a member should be made by the President (in case of MPs) or the Governor (in case of MLAs) on the advice of the Election Commission. 
• This would be similar to the process followed for disqualification in case the person holds an office of profit (i.e. the person holds an office under the central or state government which carries a remuneration, and has not been excluded in a list made by the legislature). 

2 . Amaterasu

Context: A cosmic ray that has been dubbed ‘Amaterasu’ appears to have reached the earth from an empty part of the universe; this ‘suggests the possibility of unknown astronomical phenomena and new physical origins beyond the Standard Model’ in the area of origin.  

About Cosmic rays

• Cosmic rays are streams of energetic particles and clusters of particles coming from outer space and the sun. They include protons and alpha particles (nuclei of helium atoms).
• Only low-intensity cosmic rays reach the earth’s surface. Their energy is mostly lost in the atmosphere itself, as they smash into atoms of the atmospheric gases and produce a shower of other particles. Otherwise life wouldn’t have been possible on the earth.
• From the 1930s, studies of cosmic rays led scientists to discover many then-unknown subatomic particles. Yet the sources of cosmic rays and the reason they’re so energetic remain a mystery even 86 years after their discovery.

Where did Amaterasu come from? 

• An amazing feature of the Amaterasu particle is that if you look along the direction it came, towards its point of origin, there is nothing to be seen – meaning it appears to have come from an empty part of the universe. 
• The Standard Model is the theory most physicists currently use to explain the universe’s subatomic building blocks. 
• Nonetheless, the researchers proposed three possible explanations for the particle’s origin:
  • (i) it could be from a source we haven’t yet identified;
  • (ii) it may have interacted with a magnetic field stronger than current models account for, changing its direction; or
  • (iii) scientists may have to rethink their understanding of high-energy particle physics. 
• In 1991, another high-energy cosmic ray with an energy of 320 EeV was detected at the Dugway Proving Ground in Utah. It remains the most energetic cosmic ray ever recorded. Scientists have called it the “Oh My God” particle. 

How can Amaterasu help? 

• Cosmic rays can be divided into two types: those originating from beyond our solar system, called galactic cosmic rays (GCR), and high-energy particles emitted by the sun, called solar cosmic rays, that are mainly protons. 
• Solar cosmic rays originate primarily in solar flares. In modernity, the particles in these rays have come to be called solar energetic particles. 
• By tracking these cosmic rays, scientists have found that the mass ratio of helium to hydrogen nuclei – that is, the ratio of the total masses of hydrogen and helium present – is about 28:100, meaning there are about 28 grams of alpha particles for every 100 grams of protons in cosmic rays. This ratio is similar to the abundance of helium and hydrogen in the early universe. 
• GCRs are slowly changing streams of high-energy particles that constantly strike the earth. They are thought to originate outside the solar system in events such as supernovae. (A supernova is an explosion that occurs when a massive star nears the end of its life after running out of matter that it can fuse.) 
• Although some 89% of GCRs is hydrogen, the remainder includes the nuclei of all elements, down to and including trace amounts of uranium. These nuclei are also fully ionized, meaning all of their electrons have been stripped away. As a result, these particles interact with and are affected by magnetic fields. This is why the sun’s strong magnetic fields alter the energy levels of GCRs reaching the earth. 
• When cosmic ray particles reach the earth’s atmosphere, they ionise air molecules that are at least about 3 km above the surface. Beyond that, they will have lost most of their energy. 
• Against this background, we can see how high the energy of the recently discovered cosmic ray was, and how that energy helps us select theories that better fit the data. 

3 . Laws around Remission Policy

Context: The Supreme Court recently set aside the remission of 11 convicts sentenced to life imprisonment for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano and murder of her family, during the 2002 communal riots in Gujarat. The remission order was passed by the Gujarat government in August 2022. 

What are clemency powers? 

• Article 72 and 161 of the Constitution provide powers to the President and Governor respectively to grant pardon, commutation, remission, respite or reprieve to a convict. These are sovereign powers vested in the heads of the Union and State executive to be exercised on the advice of the council of ministers. 
• Apart from this, the appropriate State government under Section 432 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) may remit the whole or part of the punishment to which a convict has been sentenced. In case of life imprisonment convicts, this remission can be done only after a period of 14 years in jail as per Section 433A of the CrPC. 

What is the background to the remission in this case? 

• The heinous crimes for which the 11 persons were convicted were committed in Gujarat in March 2002. However, considering the need for fair trial, these cases were shifted to Maharashtra by the Supreme Court in 2004. A CBI trial court in Mumbai sentenced the convicts to life imprisonment in 2008. 
• One of the convicts, Radheshyam Shah, moved the Supreme Court in 2022 seeking directions to the Gujarat government to consider his remission application under the State’s ‘Remission policy’ of 1992. 
• The argument was that this was the policy in force at the time of the commission of offence (2002) and at the time of sentencing (2008). 
• The Supreme Court in an order of 2022, directed the Gujarat government to consider Shah’s application for premature release under the 1992 policy. The Godhra Jail Advisory Committee (JAC) headed by the District Magistrate unanimously recommended the remission of sentence for the 11 convicts and they were freed in August 2022. 

What are the issues involved? 

• The premature release of the 11 convicts by the Gujarat government raised certain serious legal and moral questions. 
• Firstly, the provisions of CrPC are quite clear, that the appropriate State government for considering the remission application should have been Maharashtra where the sentencing happened and not Gujarat where the offence was committed or jail term was being served. Also, the law requires the opinion of the presiding judge of the convicting court to be obtained before considering the remission petition, which was not followed in this case. 
• Secondly, the Supreme Court in Laxman Naskar versus Union of India (2000) had laid down five grounds on which remission is to be considered. The first of these is whether the offence is an individual act of crime that does not affect society. It would be preposterous to surmise that such a heinous crime does not impact the conscience of a civilised society. 
•  Thirdly, the Supreme Court in Sangeet versus State of Haryana (2012) had held that a convict serving life imprisonment does not have a right to be prematurely released on completion of 14 years in jail and that remission should be considered only on a case-by-case basis. In light of this judgment, the Union Home Ministry had issued an advisory in February 2013 prescribing that remission should not be granted in a ‘wholesale manner’. 
• The Gujarat government had revised its ‘Remission policy’ in 2014 in line with this advisory and had explicitly barred remission for those convicted of rape and murder. However, the instant remission was granted based on the policy of 1992 (that had no such exclusions) as it was in force at the time of conviction. 

What did the Supreme Court rule? 

• The Supreme Court in its order categorically held that the Gujarat government is not the appropriate government to consider the remission petition. It held that the 2022 order of the Supreme Court, that asked the Gujarat government to consider the remission petitions, was obtained through fraud and suppression of facts before the court. 
• Hence, it held the May 2022 order of the Supreme Court to be a nullity. It further ordered the surrender of all the 11 persons before jail authorities within two weeks. 
• It held that the appropriate government for considering the remission petitions in the instant case is Maharashtra and it may consider their petitions in accordance with law and the guidelines laid down by the Court. 
• This order has reinforced the faith in our judicial system and ‘rule of law’ by setting aside a blatantly perverse order that shook the conscience of society at large and women in particular. 
•  It is expected that the Maharashtra government would follow the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in the Laxman Naskar case under which such crimes that affects the society at large deserve no mercy. 

4 . Accessible India Campaign

Context: SC report exposes severe gaps in accessibility for disabled persons across courts in India.  
About the news

• A recent report by the Centre for Research and Planning of the Supreme Court said that more than half of the district court complexes in the country do not have ramps, only 25.2% have wheelchairs, and just 5.1% have tactile paving to assist persons with visual disabilities in navigating the court building. 
• It sheds light on the glaring inadequacies in the infrastructure of district courts across India, raising serious concerns about the impediments faced by people with disabilities in accessing justice. 
• While accessible toilets for people with disabilities hold fundamental importance, only 30.4% of court complexes have separate disabled-friendly toilets. 
• Sign language interpreters who could be engaged to assist persons with hearing disabilities in accessing court proceedings are available in only 2.8% districts in India. 

About Accessible India Campaign

• It is a nation-wide Campaign launched by Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment to provide universal accessibility to persons with disabilities. 
• The campaign aims at providing equal opportunity to persons with disabilities to participate in all the aspects of life and live independently. 
•  The Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan focuses on developing accessible physical environment, transportation system and Information & communication ecosystem. 
• The Government of India with firm commitment towards socio-economic transformation of the persons with disabilities is making efforts to create mass awareness for universal accessibility. 

Components

• Built Environment Accessibility: The Accessible India Campaign aims to provide an accessible physical environment to everyone. To achieve this, measures needs to be undertaken to eliminate obstacles and barriers to indoor and outdoor facilities including schools, medical facilities, and workplaces. The built environment not only covers buildings, but also steps and ramps, corridors, footpaths, curb cuts, parking, entry gate, emergency exits, toilets and obstacles that block the flow of pedestrian traffic. 
• Transportation System Accessibility: Transportation is a vital component for independent living. The term transportation covers a number of areas including air travel, buses, taxis, and trains. Inaccessible transportation system restricts mobility, denies freedom of movement and active participation, for much of the population who may need accessible transportation. The Accessible India Campaign focuses on providing persons with disabilities an equal right to travel and use public and private transportation infrastructure with dignity and independence. 
• Information and Communication Eco-System Accessibility: Access to information creates opportunities for everyone in society. Access to information refers to all information. This can range from actions such as being able to read price tags, to physically enter a hall, to participate in an event, to read a pamphlet with healthcare information, to understand a train timetable, or to view webpages. The Accessible India Campaign aims to take measures to curb all societal barriers of infrastructure, and inaccessible formats that stand in the way of obtaining and utilizing information in daily life. 

5 . Facts for Prelims  

Fog

• A fog is a collection of small droplets of water produced when evaporated water has cooled down and condensed. 
• Fog materialises whenever there is a temperature disparity between the ground and the air. This happens frequently during Indian winters where fog is created when the temperature drops at night and in the early morning, aerosols present in the atmosphere condense. 
• High humidity, combined with an ample presence of water vapour or moisture, encourages foggy conditions. 
• One primary mechanism contributing to fog formation is called infrared cooling. It typically occurs when the weather is transitioning from summer to winter. 
  • In the summer, the ground absorbs radiation from the sun, becomes warmer, and moistens the air passing over it. When cooler weather kicks in, this mass of warm, moist air comes in contact with processes that cool it. 
  • The ‘collision’ prompts the water vapour in the air to condense rapidly, giving rise to fog.
• Another type of fog, known as radiation fog, is prevalent and occurs when an unseasonably warm day with high humidity is followed by rapidly dropping temperatures. 
• The entire Indo-Gangetic plains are prone to formation of fog during winter season, as all the conditions — low temperatures, low wind speed, moisture availability and plenty of aerosols — are present in this region. Moisture incursion into this region can happen once a Western Disturbance — a precipational pattern that brings rain to north India during winter months — moves across northern parts. Sometimes, moisture incursion can happen from the Arabian Sea also.

Warm vaccine

• A heat-tolerant vaccine developed by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) researchers is said to be effective against all current strains of SARS-CoV-2 besides having the potential to be quickly adapted for future variants as well. 
• while current vaccines are proven to be effective against most SARS-CoV-2 strains, their efficacy has declined due to rapid mutation by the virus. 
• After analysing various proteins found in the virus, the researchers selected two parts of SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein – the S2 subunit and the Receptor Binding Domain (RBD) – for designing their vaccine candidate. 
• The S2 subunit is highly conserved. It mutates much less than the S1 subunit, which is the target of most current vaccines. 
• Scientists have also known that the RBD can provoke a strong immune response in the host. Therefore, the team created a hybrid protein called RS2 by combining these two components. 

Drishti-10 starliner Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE)

• The Indian Navy got its first indigenous medium-altitude long-endurance (MALE) drone, the Drishti 10 Starliner unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), which will boost its intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance capabilities. 
• It has been built by Adani Defence and Aerospace at its Hyderabad facility with technology transfer from Israeli defence firm Elbit Systems. 
• The UAV is based on the Hermes 900 platform of Elbit and has been 70% indigenised by ADA following a technology transfer
• Drishti 10 ‘Starliner’ is an advanced Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) platform with 36 hours endurance, 450 kgs payload capacity, the only all-weather military platform with STANAG 4671 certification (NATO’s STANAG 4671 (standardised agreement 4671) certification for airworthiness), and clear to fly in both segregated and unsegregated airspace. 
• It has a service ceiling of 30,000 feet.