Context

• Recently, the Minister of External Affairs of India  participated in the 18th BIMSTEC Ministerial Meeting in Colombo.

• India emphasised the grouping’s commitment to intensify and expand areas of cooperation, especially connectivity, energy and maritime cooperation.
  • Cooperation on port facilities, ferry services, coastal shipping, grid connectivity and motor vehicles movement are key.

About BIMSTEC

• The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) is aregional organisation that was established on 06 June 1997 with the signing of the Bangkok Declaration.
• Initially known as BIST-EC (Bangladesh-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand Economic Cooperation), the organisation is now known as BIMSTEC and comprises seven Member States with the admission of Myanmar on 22 December 1997, and Bhutan and Nepal in February 2004.

• The grouping holds annual meetings hosted by member states based on alphabetical rotation. Sri Lanka is the host nation this time.

• Focused Sectors:
  • Being a sector-driven grouping, cooperation within BIMSTEC had initially focused on six sectors in 1997 (trade, technology, energy, transport, tourism, and fisheries) and expanded in 2008 to incorporate agriculture, public health, poverty alleviation, counter-terrorism, environment, culture, people-to-people contact, and climate change.
  • Subsequently, following steps to rationalise and reorganise sectors and sub-sectors, cooperation was reorganised in 2021 under the following sectors and sub-sectors led by the respective Member States:

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Context

• Union Minister for Law and Justice in response to a question in the Lok Sabha stated that the government was exploring the possibility of allowing online voting for non-resident Indians (NRI).

Background

• In 2017, the government proposed to remove the restriction imposed by Section 20A of the Representation of the People Act, which required them to be physically present to vote in their constituencies.
• The Bill provided for overseas voters to be able to appoint a proxy to cast their votes on their behalf, subject to conditions laid down in the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
• The Bill was later passed in 2018 but lapsed with the dissolution of the 16th Lok Sabha.
• The ECI then approached the government to permit NRIs to vote via postal ballots similar to a system that is already used by service voters, (a member of the armed Forces of the Union; or a member of a force to which provisions of the Army Act, 1950 which is the Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System or ETPBS.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

Context

• To create awareness among the tribal people about their rights under effective implementation of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, several measures have been taken.
• Ministry of Tribal Affairs in collaboration with National Resource Center, at TRI Campus, Odisha and National Tribal Research Institute, Delhi has prepared various training modules viz. Forest Rights Act Training Manual for Government functionaries and members of Gram Sabha, Training Manual on Delineation and Mapping of Community Rights and Community Forest Resources and Interactive Self Learning Training Module for capacity building of the Gram Sabhas.
• The TRI Odisha and NTRI regularly conduct national and State level programs to augment the capacity of States for effective implementation of FRA and train master trainers.
• The course material is available to these trainers and trainees on Adiprashikshan Portal.

About the Act

• The Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 is a people-centric law for forests, which recognises the rights of forest- dwelling communities to use and manage forest resources. 
• With more than 150 million forest dwellers, the scope of FRA is immense to protect their livelihoods, and engage them in sustainable forest management.

Objective

• To undo the historical injustice occurred to the forest dwelling communities;
• To ensure land tenure, livelihood and food security of the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers;
• To strengthen the conservation regime of the forests by including the responsibilities and authority of Forest Rights holders for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context

• The Ministry of Science and Technology has shortlisted applications for the Swarnajayanti Fellowships Scheme.

About the scheme

• The Government of India under the Ministry of Science and Technology had instituted “The Swarnajayanti Fellowships” to commemorate India’s fiftieth year of Independence in 1997.
• Under this scheme a selected number of young scientists, with proven track record, are provided special assistance and support to enable them to pursue basic research in frontier areas of science and technology. 
• Scientists selected for the award will be allowed to pursue unfettered research with freedom and flexibility in terms of expenditure as approved in the research plan.
• The project should contain innovative research ideas and it should have a potential of making an impact on R&D in the discipline.
• The fellowships are scientist specific and not institution specific, very selective and have close academic monitoring.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context

Recently the Russian Ministry of Defence announced that it used the hypersonic missile for the first time in the conflict with Ukraine.

About hypersonic weapons

• They are manoeuvrable weapons that can fly at speeds of at least Mach 5, five times the speed of sound.
  • The speed of sound is Mach 1, and speeds above Mach I are supersonic and speeds above Mach 5 are hypersonic.
• They are different from Ballistic missiles which, even though are travel much faster, follow a fixed trajectory and travel outside the atmosphere to re-enter only near impact.  Once the ballistic missiles are launched they cannot alter their course.
• On the other hand, hypersonic weapons travel within the atmosphere and can maneuver midway which combined with their high speeds make their detection and interception extremely difficult. This means that radars and air defences cannot detect them till they are very close and have only little time to react.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context

• Asiatic cheetah is classified as a “critically endangered” species by the IUCN Red List, and is believed to survive only in Iran.
• Asiatic cheetahs were once widespread across India but were eradicated in the country as they were hunted for sport.
• Historically, Asiatic cheetahs had a very wide distribution in India. There are authentic reports of their occurrence from as far north as Punjab to Tirunelveli district in southern Tamil Nadu, from Gujarat and Rajasthan in the west to Bengal in the east.
• The cheetah’s habitat was also diverse, favoring the more open habitats: scrub forests, dry grasslands, savannas and other arid and semi-arid open habitats.
• In 1952, Asiatic cheetah was declared extinct from India, after decades of human intervention, hunting and habitat degradation.
• In Iran, the last surviving population of wild Asiatic cheetahs are found in hilly terrain, foothills and rocky valleys within a desert ecosystem, spread across seven provinces of Yazd, Semnan, Esfahan, North Khorasan, South Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi and Kerman.
• The current estimate of the population of wild Asiatic cheetahs is about 40 with 12 identified adult animals.
• It is recorded that the last cheetahs were shot in India in 1947, but there are credible reports of sightings of the cat till about 1967.
• Asiatic cheetahs are almost identical in appearance to their better known African cousins. However, there are subtle differences.
  • The Asiatic cheetah is slightly smaller and paler than its African cousin.

African Cheetah

• The African cheetah is spread out across Africa from Northwest Africa, East Africa, and Southern Africa. With a bigger territory, the African cheetahs have higher populations compared to Asiatic cheetahs.
• They are categorized as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context

• National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) rolled out its Artemis I moon mission to the launchpad.
• Along with NASA, Canadian Space Agency, European Space Agency, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are also involved in the Artemis programme

What is the Artemis mission?

• NASA’s Artemis mission is touted as the next generation of lunar exploration, and is named after the twin sister of Apollo from Greek mythology. Artemis is also the goddess of the moon.
• Artemis I is the first of NASA’s deep space exploration systems. It is an uncrewed space mission where the spacecraft will launch on Space Launch System (SLS) — the most powerful rocket in the world
• The SLS rocket has been designed for space missions beyond low-earth orbit and can carry crew or cargo to the moon and beyond. With the Artemis programme, NASA aims to land humans on the moon by 2024, and it also plans to land the first woman and first person of colour on the moon.
• NASA will establish an Artemis Base Camp on the surface and a gateway in lunar orbit to aid exploration by robots and astronauts.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context

• The establishment of the National Land Monetization Corporation has been approved by the Union Cabinet (NLMC).
• A totally owned Government of India corporation, the NLMC would have an initial authorised share capital of Rs 5000 crore and a paid-up share capital of Rs 150 crore.
• The National Land Management Corporation (NLMC) would be responsible for the monetization of surplus land and building assets owned by ‘Central Public Sector Enterprises’ (CPSEs) and other government entities.
• The proposal is in accordance with the Budget Announcement for the fiscal years 2021-22.

The following are the primary functions of the NLMC:

• The National Land Management Corporation (NLMC) is anticipated to acquire, retain, manage, and monetize surplus land and building assets of CPSEs that are being closed, as well as surplus non-core land assets of government-owned CPSEs that are being strategically disinvested.
• This would expedite the closure of CPSEs and make the process of strategic disinvestment in CPSEs held by the government more seamless.
• It is possible to transfer these assets to NLMC in order for them to be held, managed, and monetized.
• Additionally, NLMC will provide advice and help to other government bodies (including CPSEs) in identifying their surplus non-core assets and monetizing them in a professional and efficient way in order to get the greatest possible value from those assets.
• In certain instances, the National Land Management Corporation (NLMC) will perform surplus land asset monetization as an agency function.
• It is anticipated that the National Land Monetization Center (NLMC) would serve as a repository of best practises in land monetization, as well as assist and give technical assistance to the government in the execution of the asset monetization programme.

Context

• During the last four years, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has been dysfunctional, according to a new report by a parliamentary committee.
• During that time, the commission has failed to provide a single report to Parliament.

About NCST

• The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) was founded by modifying Article 338 of the Constitution and introducing a new Article 338A into the Constitution by the Constitution (89th Amendment) Act, 2003.
• The old National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was abolished and replaced by two independent commissions, namely, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC), and  the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), which were established by this amendment.

Organizational structure: The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and each member serve three-year terms beginning on the day they are appointed to their positions.

• The Chairperson has been elevated to the level of Union Cabinet Minister, while the Vice-Chairperson has been elevated to the post of Minister of State, and the other members have been promoted to the rank of Secretary to the Indian Government.
• They are appointed by the President by a warrant signed by him and sealed with his seal.
• At the very least, one of the members should be a woman.
• The Chairperson, the Vice-Chairperson, and the other Members serve three-year terms in their respective positions.
• Members are not eligible for re-appointment after serving for more than two consecutive terms.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Context

The current status of Gaganyaan programme is as follows:

• An Astronaut training facility has been commissioned in Bengaluru. Training activities are progressing well at the newly commissioned Astronaut training facility.
• The design of all systems and sub-systems for Gaganyaan has been completed. Realisation of the same is in different stages of progress.
• Long duration qualification test of human rated cryogenic engine and First phase testing of human rated VIKAS Engine completed. First phase of demonstration tests for Gaganyaan service module propulsion system completed.
• The MoU, Contracts and Implementation Arrangements (IA) related activities with both national and international agencies are progressing well. The design of various human centric products has been completed and various prototypes are under realization.
• Roles and responsibility for crew recovery operations and rehearsals finalized. Detailed operational requirements for nominal missions scenarios worked out.
• The activities related to development of microgravity experiments have commenced. The conceptual design for experiments is under review.

About the Mission

• Announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, Gaganyaan is the first Indian Human Space Flight Programme (HSP) with the objective to demonstrate the capability to send humans to low earth orbit on board an Indian launch vehicle and bring them back to earth safely.
• A geosynchronous orbit is a high Earth orbit that allows satellites to match Earth’s rotation. Located at 22,236 miles (35,786 kilometers) above Earth’s equator, this position is a valuable spot for monitoring weather, communications and surveillance.
• The spacecraft, which is being developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), consists of a service module and a crew module, collectively known as the Orbital Module.

• With this, India could potentially become the fourth country to send a man to space, after the erstwhile USSR, the US and China. (Denmark also has a manned space flight scheduled for 2022)
• The first of the two pre-Gaganyaan flights with a humanoid will be launched soon along with some of the six shortlisted micro-gravity experiments.