Current Affairs Reverse Engineering – CARE (25-06-2024)
| News at a Glance |
| Science and Technology: Pushpak, ISRO’s reusable launch vehicle, clears test |
| Art and Culture: Kozhikode in Kerala declared India’s first UNESCO ‘City of Literature’ |
| Srinagar gets tag of ‘World Craft City’, fourth from country |
| Polity and Governance: Kerala Assembly passes resolution to rename State as ‘Keralam’ |
| Centre amends rules to allow six months maternity leave for staff in case of surrogacy |
Pushpak, ISRO’s reusable launch vehicle, clears test
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS 3 – Space technology, Science and Technology
Context: The winged vehicle, Pushpak, was released from an Indian Air Force Chinook Helicopter at an altitude of 4.5 km.
Why in News
- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) completed the third Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV) Landing Experiment (LEX) on June 23 at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) in Chitradurga, Karnataka.
Key Highlights
- Following the success of the RLV LEX-01 and LEX-02 missions, RLV LEX-03 re-demonstrated the autonomous landing capability of the RLV under more challenging release conditions (cross range of 500 m against 150 m for LEX-02) and more severe wind conditions.
- ISRO said that from a release point 4.5 km away from the runway, Pushpak autonomously executed cross-range correction manoeuvres, approached the runway and performed a precise horizontal landing at the runway centreline.
What is Reusable Launch Vehicle?
- Primarily, launch vehicles comprise three or four stages apart from the payload, which needs to be launched into a polar or a geosynchronous orbit, depending on a mission’s requirements.
- In ISRO’s three-stage rockets, the first — or lowermost— stage has a motor fuelled by solid fuel (in the GSLV, this can also be augmented by up to four liquid strap-on boosters); the second stage has the Vikas engine powered by liquid fuel; and the third and uppermost stage has a cryogenic engine, which uses liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
- In the four-stage PSLV,
- the first stage has a motor using solid fuel (augmentable with up to six solid-fuel strap-on boosters),
- the second stage has a Vikas engine,
- the third stage again has a solid-fuel motor, and
- the fourth stage has two liquid engines.
- The RLV that ISRO is building has only two stages to propel the vehicle into orbit.
- Once the fuel in the first stage has been expended, the vehicle will shed it, and carry on with the second stage.
- Once it has been shed, the first stage will re-enter the atmosphere and land in an autonomous fashion at a pre-determined location.
- After some maintenance, it will be available for reuse.
Features of RLV
- This mission simulated the approach and landing interface and high-speed landing conditions for a vehicle returning from space, reaffirming ISRO’s expertise in acquiring the most critical technologies required for the development of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).
- Through this mission, the advanced guidance algorithm catering to longitudinal and lateral plane error corrections, which is essential for the future Orbital Re-entry Mission has been validated.
- It said that the RLV-LEX uses multisensor fusion including sensors like the Inertial sensor, Radar altimeter, Flush air data system, Pseudolite system and NavIC.
- Notably, the RLV-LEX-03 mission reused the winged body and flight systems as such without any modification, from the LEX-02 mission, demonstrating the robustness of ISRO’s capability of design to reuse flight systems for multiple missions.
- This mission simulates the approach & landing interface and high-speed landing conditions for a vehicle returning from space, which will reaffirm ISRO’s expertise in acquiring the most critical technologies required for the development of a Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV).
Have RLVs been used in the past?
- Since the 1960s, experts have conceived reusable rockets as a way to lower the cost of space missions.
- In the most idealised version, they imagined a single-stage-to-orbit rocket that could take off and land vertically.
- The American aerospace manufacturing company McDonnell Douglas realised this dream in 1993, building the Delta Clipper (DC-X) to demonstrate lift-off, maintain altitude, and a landing on its tail.
- The project was later transferred to NASA’s Reusable Launch Vehicle program after the cost of each test flight proved to be too expensive.
- In its twelfth flight in 1996, the DC-X crashed and burned on landing, extensively damaging its exterior chassis.
- NASA later shelved the project due to budgetary constraints, bringing this chapter of the single-stage to-orbit launch vehicle to an end.
What reusable technologies are currently in play in spaceflight?
- Several DC-X engineers subsequently moved to Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s space company Blue Origin.
- On November 23, 2015, Blue Origin’s reusable space vehicle ‘New Shepherd’ successfully undertook a suborbital flight, reaching an altitude of 329,839 feet, and then performed a controlled landing back at its launch site in West Texas with the help of a parachute drop.
- Perhaps the most famous player in the reusable spaceflight sector is Elon Musk’s SpaceX, founded in 2001.
- Both Blue Origin and SpaceX, among others, are developing rockets with reusable parts, especially the first stage, rather than the whole vehicle being reusable.
- SpaceX initially attempted to salvage the rocket’s first stage using parachutes; but the boosters would break before the parachutes were deployed.
- Then came the Falcon 9 in 2010, a 54-metre-tall two-stage rocket with nine engines, capable of transporting cargo and crew to the International Space Station (ISS).
- Instead of using parachutes to recover the first stage, the Falcon 9 was equipped with retrograde thrusters, using which the first stage could come back down to a designated spot using its engines themselves.
- Initially, Falcon 9 attempted soft landings in the ocean as they did not have a landing site. After several failures, on its 20th attempt, a Falcon 9 was launched with a light payload to the ISS.
- Ten minutes after launch, the first stage — its duty done — turned back down and descended smoothly at a landing pad at Cape Canaveral.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
| Q1. Which statement correctly describes the RLV (Reusable Launch Vehicle) being developed by ISRO and its historical context?
A) The RLV is a single-stage rocket designed for vertical takeoff and landing, akin to McDonnell Douglas’ DC-X tested in the 1990s. B) ISRO’s RLV is a two-stage vehicle where the first stage returns to Earth for reuse after shedding, following the example of NASA’s space shuttle program. C) The RLV concept has never been realized in practice due to technical challenges and cost considerations, despite conceptualization since the 1960s. D) ISRO’s RLV is similar in design to SpaceX’s Falcon 9, featuring reusable first and second stages for cost-effective space missions. |
Q. With reference to India’s satellite launch vehicles, consider the following statements: (2018)
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 (c) 1 and 2 (d) 3 only Ans: (a) |
| Answer 1– B
Explanation:
|
Kozhikode in Kerala declared India’s first UNESCO ‘City of Literature’
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Relevance: GS 1- Art and Culture
Context: India’s first UNESCO ‘City of Literature’
Why in News
- Kozhikode in north Kerala, known for its rich cultural heritage, was officially declared as India’s first UNESCO ‘City of Literature’.
Key Highlights
- In October 2023, Kozhikode had earned a place in the ‘Literature’ category of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN).
- The status of ‘City of Literature’ bestowed on Kozhikode by UNESCO offers a multitude of avenues that need to be explored.
- Making the formal announcement of Kozhikode as the first ‘City of Literature’ in the country on (June 23) Sunday, he added that Kozhikode is to Kerala what London was to talents across the world.
- Minister for Tourism launched the logo and website of ‘Kozhikode – City of Literature’.
- We will have ‘City of Literature’ awards given away every year in six categories: Comprehensive contribution, women writers, young writers, children’s literature, and translations from Malayalam to other languages and vice versa. The awards will be presented during an annual cultural festival.
- Lyricist and musician Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri announced that Anakkulam Cultural Centre will henceforth be the ‘City of Literature centre’.
- The Kozhikode Corporation’s diamond jubilee award was presented to writer M.T. Vasudevan Nair.
UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN)
- UCCN was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.
- Almost 300 cities around the world currently make up this network.
- Objective: Placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level and cooperating actively at the international level.
- UNESCO designates the creative cities in seven fields: craft, folk art, media arts, film design, gastronomy, literature, and music.
- Every year, UNESCO seeks applications from various cities across the globe to put them under its UCCN project.
- The applications in India are routed through the Ministry of Culture.
- India’s other cities in UCCN
- Srinagar and Jaipur: in the field of crafts and folk arts
- Mumbai: Film category
- Chennai, Gwalior and Varanasi: Music category
- Hyderabad: Gastronomy category
Kozhikode as City of Literature:
- Kozhikode is the first city in India to receive the prestigious title of ‘City of Literature’ by UNESCO.
- The city has a long history of hosting various literary events, such as the Kerala Literature Festival, which is one of the largest literary gatherings in Asia.
- This acknowledgement reinforces the city’s role as a hub for intellectual exchange and literary discussions.
- Kozhikode carried the distinction of being home to over 500 libraries.
- The city is also home to many renowned writers, including S. K. Pottekkatt (the most celebrated writer of the city), Thikkodiyan and P. Valsala Sanjayan, along with poets, scholars, and publishers who have contributed to the diversity and vibrancy of Malayalam literature and culture.
Other Indian cities in the UCCN
- Other Indian cities in the UCCN include
- Jaipur: Crafts and Folk Arts (2015),
- Varanasi: Creative City of Music (2015),
- Chennai: Creative City of Music (2017),
- Mumbai: Film (2019),
- Hyderabad: Gastronomy (2019), and
- Srinagar: Crafts and Folk Art (2021).
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ | ||||||||||||
| Q2. Consider the following pairs:
(City) (In UCCN list of)
Which of the above pairs are correctly matched?
|
Q. Consider the following pairs(2018)
Which of the pairs given above is /are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 (c) 3 only (d) 2 and 3 Ans: (a) |
Answer 2– B
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Kerala Assembly passes resolution to rename State as ‘Keralam’
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Relevance: GS2- Union and its territory, Polity and Governance
Context: Kerala Assembly passes resolution to rename State as ‘Keralam’
Why in News
- The Kerala Legislative Assembly, in a unanimous decision on June 24, passed a resolution proposing a Constitutional amendment to change the name of the State from ‘Kerala’ to ‘Keralam’.
Key Highlights
- The resolution, moved by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, called for invoking Article 3 of the Indian Constitution to effectuate this change in the First Schedule.
- This resolution mirrors a previous attempt from last year, which was sent back by the Central government due to procedural issues.
- Originally, the State sought to amend the names across all languages listed in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution to ‘Keralam’.
- However, following advice from the Union Home Ministry, the focus shifted to amending only the First Schedule, prompting the government to modify the resolution that was passed on August 9, 2023.
What does the resolution say?
- The name of our state in Malayalam is Keralam. States were formed on the basis of language on November 1, 1956. That day is also observed as Kerala formation day.
- The demand for a united Kerala for all Malayalam-speaking communities has been strongly raised right from the days of the freedom struggle.
- However, the name of our state in the first Schedule of the Constitution has been written as Kerala.
- This Assembly is unanimously requesting the Union Government to take immediate steps under Article 3 of the Constitution to change the name of the state to Keralam.
Why Keralam
- ‘Keralam’ being the Malayalam name of the State, it continues to be officially recorded as ‘Kerala’.
- The resolution aims to align the official name with the Malayalam pronunciation.
- Kerala is the English word for the Malyali Keralam.
- There are several theories regarding its etymological roots.
- The earliest mention of the word can be found in Emperor Ashoka’s Rock Edict II, dated to 257 BCE.
- Keralaputra, literally “son of Kerala” in Sanskrit, refers to the dynasty of the Cheras, one of the three main kingdoms of southern India.
- German linguist Dr Herman Gundert noted that the word ‘keram’ is Canarese (or Kannada) for ‘cheram’, which is used to refer to the coastal land between Gokarna (in Karnataka) and Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu, India’s southern tip).
- The origin of the term could possibly be from ‘cher’, which means to join in Old Tamil.
Process to rename a State
- Constitutional provision
- The Parliament has the power to change the name of a state.
- The Constitution of India gives the parliament power to alter the name of a state under Article 3.
- Article 3 of the Constitution explicitly lays down a procedure to alter the area, boundaries, or name of a state.
- Proposal
- The process of renaming of a state can be initiated by either the Parliament or the state assembly.
- The state legislature sends a proposal in the form of a resolution to the Central government.
- In Parliament, the bill cannot be presented without a recommendation from the President.
- Procedure
- States which are going to get affected by such changes, the legislation of that state must be presented with the bill.
- The provision to send a bill to the state legislature was not in the original Constitution.
- This process was added in the 5th Amendment Act, 1955.
- The State Legislature may present its views on the bill within the prescribed time period.
- The views or suggestions of the State Legislature are not enforceable against the President or The Parliament.
- If Parliament wants, it can dismiss the opinion of the state legislature.
- After receiving the suggestions of the State Legislative Assembly or after the expiration of the limited time period the bill goes back to the Parliament.
- Then the bill gets further deliberated upon in the Parliament.
- Passing of the bill
- The bill is sent to the President for approval. After the said bill gets approved, it becomes a law and the name of the state stands modified.
- Other institutions involved in the process
- No Objection Certificates (NOCs) from several agencies such as the Ministry of Railways, Intelligence Bureau, Department of Posts, Survey of India and Registrar General of India are required.
- Once the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) receives the NOC from these institutions, it gives its consent to the resolution passed by the state.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q3. Consider the following statements:
Which of the above statements is/are correct?
|
Q. With reference to the Legislative Assembly of a State in India, consider the following statements: (2019)
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (a) 1 only (b) 2 only (c) Both 1 and 2 (d) Neither 1 nor 2 Answer- (c) |
| Answer 3: D
Explanation:
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Centre amends rules to allow six months maternity leave for staff in case of surrogacy
Source: The Hindu
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS2- Polity and Governance
Context: Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972
Why in News
- The Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, have been updated to allow ‘commissioning mothers’ who opt for surrogacy 180 days of maternity leave.
Key Highlights
- The Centre has notified amended rules to allow women government employees to take 180 days of maternity leave in case they have children through surrogacy.
- The government has also allowed the “commissioning mother” (the intending mother of the child born through surrogacy) with child care leave besides paternity leave of 15 days to the “commissioning father”, according to the changes made in the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972.
About Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972
- The Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, have been updated to allow ‘commissioning mothers’ who opt for surrogacy 180 days of maternity leave.
- This revision marks a significant change to the 50-year-old regulation, now extending childcare leave to commissioning mothers with less than two surviving children.
- Additionally, ‘commissioning fathers’ are eligible for a 15-day paternity leave under the amended rules.
- The amended rules state, “In case of surrogacy, the surrogate, as well as the commissioning mother with less than two surviving children, may be granted maternity leave of 180 days, in case either or both of them are government servants.”
- Furthermore, the rules state that “the commissioning father who is a male government servant with less than two surviving children may be granted paternity leave of 15 days within six months from the child’s delivery date.”
- Additionally, the Central Civil Services (Leave) (Amendment) Rules, 2024, state that commissioning mothers with fewer than two surviving children may avail child care leave.
- Existing rules allow “a female government servant and single male government servant” child care leave for a maximum period of 730 days during entire service “for taking care of the two eldest surviving children, whether for rearing or for looking after any of their needs, such as education, sickness and the like.”
Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules of 2022
- Recently, the Centre revised the Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules of 2022, permitting married couples to use donor eggs or sperm when one partner faces a medical condition.
- According to the amended Surrogacy (Regulation) Rules of 2022, it is mandated that the District Medical Board must confirm the presence of a medical condition in either the husband or wife, which requires the use of a donor gamete.
What is surrogacy?
- The Act defines surrogacy as a practice where a woman gives birth to a child for an intending couple with the intention to hand it over to them after the birth.
- It is permitted only for altruistic purposes or for couples who suffer proven infertility or disease.
- Surrogacy is prohibited for commercial purposes including for sale, prostitution or any other forms of exploitation.
- Moreover, once the child is born, it will be deemed to be the biological child of the couple for all intents and purposes.
- Abortion of such a fetus is allowed only with the consent of the surrogate mother and the authorities and must adhere to the provisions of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act.
Who can avail of surrogacy?
- Under the Act, a couple should procure certificates of eligibility and essentiality in order to have a child via surrogacy.
- The couple is deemed ‘eligible’ if they have been married for five years, the wife is aged between 25-50 years and the husband is between 26-55 years.
- The couple must not have any living child (biological, adopted or surrogate.)
- A child with mental or physical disabilities, or one suffering from a life-threatening disorder or illness has been exempted from the above criterion.
- The couple can get an ‘essential’ certificate if suffering from proven infertility of either partner certified by a District Medical Board, and an order of parentage and custody of the surrogate child, passed by a Magistrate’s court.
- They must also have insurance coverage for 16 months for the surrogate mother, covering any postpartum complications.
Who can be a surrogate?
- A surrogate mother has to be a close relative of the couple, a married woman with a child of her own, aged between 25-35 years, who has been a surrogate only once in her life.
- She must also possess a certificate of medical and psychological fitness for surrogacy.
Who regulates surrogacy?
- The Centre and State governments are expected to constitute a National Surrogacy Board (NSB) and State Surrogacy Boards (SSB) respectively, within 90 days of the passing of the Act.
- This body is tasked with enforcing standards for surrogacy clinics, investigating breaches and recommending modifications.
- Further, surrogacy clinics need to apply for registration within 60 days of the appointment of the appropriate authority.
- Offences under the Act include commercial surrogacy, selling of embryos, exploiting, abandoning a surrogate child etc.
- These may invite up to 10 years of imprisonment and a fine of up to Rs. 10 lakh.
Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) Act:
- The ART Act was introduced in Lok Sabha in September 2020 and was sent to a Standing Committee for revisions.
- Later, along with the Surrogacy Act, it was passed in both Houses during the winter session of Parliament in December 2021.
- This law too came in force in January 2022.
What is ART?
- ART is defined as all techniques used to obtain a pregnancy by handling the sperm or egg cell outside the human body and transferring the embryo into the woman’s reproductive tract.
- These include – sperm donation, in-vitro-fertilisation (IVF) (where the sperm is fertilized in a lab), and gestational surrogacy (child is not biologically related to surrogate).
Rules for ART clinics & banks
- Every ART clinic and bank must be registered under the National Registry of Banks and Clinics of India which will maintain a central database with details of such institutions.
- The registration of such clinics and banks is valid for five years and can be renewed for another five years.
- It may be cancelled or suspended if the institution violates the provisions of the Act.
- Clinics are not allowed to provide a child of pre-determined sex and must check for genetic diseases before an embryo is implanted in a woman’s body.
Conditions for sperm donation & ART services
- A registered ART bank can screen, collect and store semen from men aged between 21 and 55 years. It can also store eggs from women aged between 23 and 35 years.
- Under the Act, female donors need to be married with at least one child of their own, aged at least three.
- A woman can donate up to seven eggs only once in her life.
- A bank cannot supply the semen of one donor to more than one couple.
- Such ART procedures require the written informed consent of both the couple and the donor.
- The couple seeking an ART procedure must provide insurance coverage for the female donor in case of loss, damage or death of the donor.
- clinics and banks are prohibited from advertising or offering sex-selective ART.
- Such an offence is punishable with imprisonment ranging between 5 to 10 years or/and a fine of Rs 10 to 25 lakhs.
- A child born via an ART procedure will be deemed to be the couple’s biological child in the eyes of the law and is entitled all such rights.
- The donor does not retain any parental rights over the child.
Regulation of ART processes
- The National and State Board formed under the Surrogacy Act are also expected to regulate ART services.
- These boards are to advise the government on policy, review and monitor implementation of the law, and formulate a code of conduct for ART clinics and banks.
Offences
- Offences under this Act include abandoning or exploiting children born through ART; sale, purchase, or trade of embryos; exploiting the couple or donor in any form; and transfer of an embryo into a male or an animal.
- Such offences may attract a fine of Rs 5 to 10 lakhs for the first time.
- Subsequent offences are punishable with imprisonment for 8 to 12 years and a fine of Rs 10 to 20 lakhs.
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
Q4. Which of the following statements regarding the recent amendments to the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972, is/are correct?
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Q. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding the Maternity Benefit Amendment Act, 2017? (2019)
1. Pregnant women are entitled for three months pre-delivery and three months post-delivery paid leave. 2. Enterprises with creches must allow the mother minimum six creche visits daily. 3 Women with two children get reduced entitlements. Select the correct answer using the code given below. [A] 1 and 2 only [B] 2 only [C] 3 only [D] 1, 2 and 3 Answer: C |
| Answer 4 D
Explanation
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Srinagar gets tag of ‘World Craft City’, fourth from country
Source: Indian Express
UPSC Syllabus Relevance: GS1- Art and Culture
Context: UNESCO Creative City Network (UCCN) for crafts and folk arts.
Why in News
- Srinagar has become the fourth Indian city to be recognised as a ‘World Craft City’ by the World Craft Council (WCC), three years after it was designated as part of the UNESCO Creative City Network (UCCN) for crafts and folk arts.
Key Highlights
- The J&K administration had applied for the recognition of Srinagar as World Craft City in 2021 together with recognition as UNESCO Creative Cities Network.
- In April this year, a three-member independent panel of craft specialists of the World Craft Council visited Srinagar.
- As of now, at least 10 different forms of craftsmanship survive in Srinagar and its suburbs, including papier-mâché, walnut wood carving, carpets, Sozni embroidery and Pashmina and Kani shawls.
- Jaipur, Malappuram and Mysore are the other Indian cities that have previously been recognised as World Craft Cities.
World Crafts Council(WCC)
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- World Crafts Council (WCC) is a non-government organisation working to empower artisans and safeguard craft heritage globally.
- Aileen Osborn Webb started the non-profit World Crafts Council (WCC) in 1964 to promote and encourage craftsmanship around the world.
- It was created after talks between foreign craft representatives in New York City, which led to its joining UNESCO.
- The WCC is split into five areas: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, and North America.
- Its main office is in Belgium. Amazingly, the WCC has named more than 40 towns around the world “Cities of Crafts.”
- It changed its name to World Crafts Council International in 2020 because of new rules.
UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN):
- It was created in 2004.
- It aims to “promote cooperation among cities which recognize creativity as a strategic factor in their urban development”.
- Sustainable Development Goal 11 aims for Sustainable Cities and Communities.
- The network covers seven creative fields: crafts and folk arts, media arts, film, design, gastronomy, literature and music.
Indian Cities on UCCN:
- Srinagar – Crafts and Folk Arts (2021)
- Mumbai – Film (2019).
- Hyderabad – Gastronomy (2019).
- Chennai- Creative city of Music (2017).
- Jaipur- Crafts and Folk Arts (2015).
- Varanasi- Creative city of Music (2015)
UNESCO About
- It is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN).
- It seeks to build peace through international cooperation in Education, the Sciences and Culture.
- It was founded in 1945 and is located in Paris, France.
- Reports:
- UNESCO Science Report
- Global Education Monitoring Report
- State of the Education Report for India
| CARE MCQ | UPSC PYQ |
| Q5. Consider the following statements:
Statement I: Srinagar has become the fourth Indian city to be recognised as a ‘World Craft City’. Statement II: Srinagar has achieved the distinction of being designated as a ‘World Craft City’, recognized by UNESCO Creative City Network (UCCN). Which one of the following is correct in respect of the above statements?
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Q. Consider the following properties included in the World Heritage List released by UNESCO: (2024)
1. Shantiniketan 2. Rani-ki-Vav 3. Sacred Ensembles of the Hoysalas 4. Mahabodhi Temple Complex at Bodhgaya How many of the above properties were included in 2023? (a) Only one (b) Only two (c) Only three (d) All four Ans b |
| Answer 5 C
Explanation
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