Today's Headlines - 25 July 2023
SC stops Gyanvapi mosque survey
GS Paper - 2 (Polity)
The Supreme Court on 24 July 2023 stayed the ongoing scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, which a 30-member team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had begun earlier in the day. In doing so, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud put on hold until 26 July 2023 the order of a district court in Varanasi that had directed the ASI to carry out a “scientific” survey of the mosque premises.
What was the Varanasi court’s order?
On 21 July 2021, the Varanasi court asked for a “scientific investigation/ survey/ excavation” of the mosque premises by the ASI.
District and Sessions Judge Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha asked the ASI to conduct a “ground penetrating radar survey just below the three domes of the building in question and conduct excavation, if required”.
The court directed the “Director of ASI…to conduct a detailed scientific investigation by using GPR Survey, Excavation, Dating method and other modern techniques of the present structure to find out…whether the same has been constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple”.
The ASI was also directed to investigate the age and nature of the construction of the western wall of the building through scientific methods, and to carry out a GPR survey beneath the ground of all the cellars and an excavation, if required.
The court told the ASI Director to ensure that no damage is done to the “structure standing on the disputed land” and that “it remains intact and unharmed”.
How did the court take up this matter?
The court was acting on a petition filed by four Hindu women petitioners seeking the right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.
In its order, the court clarified that the survey will exclude the wuzu khana or the ablution area which was sealed last year on the orders of the Supreme Court after Hindu litigants claimed that they had identified a Shivling there.
However, the Muslim litigants contended that the object that had been found was a fountain. Following this, the court instructed that the survey proceedings be videographed, and a report is submitted to it before 4 August.
The Hindu litigants contend that the mosque was built on the site of the original Kashi Vishwanath temple. The Muslim litigants maintain that the mosque was built on Waqf premises, and that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 barred changing the character of any place of worship as it existed on 15 August, 1947.
However, this was not the first time this issue reached the court. The Varanasi district court had agreed to hear the present plea for an ASI survey on 16 May this year, after an order by the Allahabad High Court.
How did the Supreme Court come into the picture?
The Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, moved the top court, arguing that the proceedings were an attempt to change the religious character of the mosque.
The Places of Worship Act, 1991 bars the conversion of the religious character of a place of worship from how it existed on 15 August 1947.
On 20 May 2022, the Supreme Court, underlining the “complexity of the issues involved in the civil suit”, transferred the case to the District Judge. The SC subsequently said it would intervene only after the District Judge had decided on the preliminary aspects of the case.
After that, the Supreme Court in November 2022 extended its interim direction securing the area of the Gyanvapi complex where the “Shivling” was claimed to have been found without impeding or restricting the rights of Muslims to access and offer namaz there till further orders.
#upsc #news #todayheadline #gyanvapi #mosque #supremecourt #archaeological #survey #CJI #districtcourt #varanasi #sessions #scientific #penetrating #construction #shrinagar #kashivishwanath #temple #anjumanintezamia #masajid
SC stops Gyanvapi mosque survey
GS Paper - 2 (Polity)
The Supreme Court on 24 July 2023 stayed the ongoing scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, which a 30-member team of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had begun earlier in the day. In doing so, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud put on hold until 26 July 2023 the order of a district court in Varanasi that had directed the ASI to carry out a “scientific” survey of the mosque premises.
What was the Varanasi court’s order?
On 21 July 2021, the Varanasi court asked for a “scientific investigation/ survey/ excavation” of the mosque premises by the ASI.
District and Sessions Judge Ajaya Krishna Vishvesha asked the ASI to conduct a “ground penetrating radar survey just below the three domes of the building in question and conduct excavation, if required”.
The court directed the “Director of ASI…to conduct a detailed scientific investigation by using GPR Survey, Excavation, Dating method and other modern techniques of the present structure to find out…whether the same has been constructed over a pre-existing structure of a Hindu temple”.
The ASI was also directed to investigate the age and nature of the construction of the western wall of the building through scientific methods, and to carry out a GPR survey beneath the ground of all the cellars and an excavation, if required.
The court told the ASI Director to ensure that no damage is done to the “structure standing on the disputed land” and that “it remains intact and unharmed”.
How did the court take up this matter?
The court was acting on a petition filed by four Hindu women petitioners seeking the right to worship Maa Shringar Gauri on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, located next to the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.
In its order, the court clarified that the survey will exclude the wuzu khana or the ablution area which was sealed last year on the orders of the Supreme Court after Hindu litigants claimed that they had identified a Shivling there.
However, the Muslim litigants contended that the object that had been found was a fountain. Following this, the court instructed that the survey proceedings be videographed, and a report is submitted to it before 4 August.
The Hindu litigants contend that the mosque was built on the site of the original Kashi Vishwanath temple. The Muslim litigants maintain that the mosque was built on Waqf premises, and that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 barred changing the character of any place of worship as it existed on 15 August, 1947.
However, this was not the first time this issue reached the court. The Varanasi district court had agreed to hear the present plea for an ASI survey on 16 May this year, after an order by the Allahabad High Court.
How did the Supreme Court come into the picture?
The Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, moved the top court, arguing that the proceedings were an attempt to change the religious character of the mosque.
The Places of Worship Act, 1991 bars the conversion of the religious character of a place of worship from how it existed on 15 August 1947.
On 20 May 2022, the Supreme Court, underlining the “complexity of the issues involved in the civil suit”, transferred the case to the District Judge. The SC subsequently said it would intervene only after the District Judge had decided on the preliminary aspects of the case.
After that, the Supreme Court in November 2022 extended its interim direction securing the area of the Gyanvapi complex where the “Shivling” was claimed to have been found without impeding or restricting the rights of Muslims to access and offer namaz there till further orders.
#upsc #news #todayheadline #gyanvapi #mosque #supremecourt #archaeological #survey #CJI #districtcourt #varanasi #sessions #scientific #penetrating #construction #shrinagar #kashivishwanath #temple #anjumanintezamia #masajid
Today's Headlines - 07 August 2023
Draft National Deep Tech Startup Policy
GS Paper - 3 (Economy)
The office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government put out a draft National Deep Tech Startup Policy (NDTSP) for public comment, following two versions that were iterated at high levels with other government departments, academia and stakeholder firms. The policy seeks to “ensure India’s position in the global deep tech value chain,” in areas such as semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and space tech.
More about the Policy
The policy seeks to bolster research and development in deep tech start-ups, which work on fundamental and technical problems, unlike firms that monetise technology with distinguished business models.
The policy also seeks to find approaches to provide financing to deep tech start-ups at critical moments, such as before they go to market with their products or ideas.
Additionally, the policy seeks to simplify the intellectual property regime for such start-ups, ease regulatory requirements, and proposes a slew of measures to promote these firms.
For instance, the NDTSP suggests that an Export Promotion Board be created to ease barriers of entry for Indian deep tech start-ups into foreign markets and those clauses to ease such market access be included in foreign trade agreements.
The policy also includes resource-intensive policy approaches to attract global talent, such as offering “networking opportunities to international deep tech startups and experts interested in relocating and contributing to the local ecosystem.
Since expertise and regulatory overview of different aspects of deep tech and its supply chains are under different Ministries, the policy suggests the creation of an “Inter Ministerial Deep Tech Committee” to regularly review the requirements of enabling the deep tech ecosystem to function better.
International agreement
The policy restates the government’s disappointment with international agreements that it argues have left India on the backfoot in terms of manufacturing and development power.
India’s experience with some aspects of international cooperation has had a deleterious effect on the domestic ecosystem. A key example of this is the Information Technology Agreement-I that India joined in 1997.
The policy calls for a more multi-pronged approach to protect Indian interests. The need of the hour is a coordinated, comprehensive push to optimally engage with international partners and multilateral institutions to push the Indian Deep Tech Ecosystem, the policy says.
#upsc #news #headline #Draftnational #Deeptech #Startup #policy #economy #principal #scientific #adviser #NDTSP #global #AI #semiconductors #artificial #intelligence #spacetech #fundamental #technical #technology #monetise #critical #property #resource #networking #indian #internationalagreement #ecosystem
Draft National Deep Tech Startup Policy
GS Paper - 3 (Economy)
The office of the Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government put out a draft National Deep Tech Startup Policy (NDTSP) for public comment, following two versions that were iterated at high levels with other government departments, academia and stakeholder firms. The policy seeks to “ensure India’s position in the global deep tech value chain,” in areas such as semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and space tech.
More about the Policy
The policy seeks to bolster research and development in deep tech start-ups, which work on fundamental and technical problems, unlike firms that monetise technology with distinguished business models.
The policy also seeks to find approaches to provide financing to deep tech start-ups at critical moments, such as before they go to market with their products or ideas.
Additionally, the policy seeks to simplify the intellectual property regime for such start-ups, ease regulatory requirements, and proposes a slew of measures to promote these firms.
For instance, the NDTSP suggests that an Export Promotion Board be created to ease barriers of entry for Indian deep tech start-ups into foreign markets and those clauses to ease such market access be included in foreign trade agreements.
The policy also includes resource-intensive policy approaches to attract global talent, such as offering “networking opportunities to international deep tech startups and experts interested in relocating and contributing to the local ecosystem.
Since expertise and regulatory overview of different aspects of deep tech and its supply chains are under different Ministries, the policy suggests the creation of an “Inter Ministerial Deep Tech Committee” to regularly review the requirements of enabling the deep tech ecosystem to function better.
International agreement
The policy restates the government’s disappointment with international agreements that it argues have left India on the backfoot in terms of manufacturing and development power.
India’s experience with some aspects of international cooperation has had a deleterious effect on the domestic ecosystem. A key example of this is the Information Technology Agreement-I that India joined in 1997.
The policy calls for a more multi-pronged approach to protect Indian interests. The need of the hour is a coordinated, comprehensive push to optimally engage with international partners and multilateral institutions to push the Indian Deep Tech Ecosystem, the policy says.
#upsc #news #headline #Draftnational #Deeptech #Startup #policy #economy #principal #scientific #adviser #NDTSP #global #AI #semiconductors #artificial #intelligence #spacetech #fundamental #technical #technology #monetise #critical #property #resource #networking #indian #internationalagreement #ecosystem
Today's Headlines - 23 August 2023
Maternal vaccine to prevent RSV in infants
GS Paper - 3 (Health and Diseases)
The United States became the first country to approve a vaccine for pregnant women that prevents severe disease caused by Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in their babies.
More about the Vaccine
The Pfizer shot, which was already approved for use in older adults, has now been greenlighted for use as a single injection from 32 through 36 weeks of pregnancy, to protect infants from birth through six months.
It is the latest in a succession of medicines recently approved against the common microbe, which causes tens of thousands of hospitalizations among infants and the elderly in the United States every year.
Researchers have targeted an RSV vaccine since the 1960s, but the spates of shots that are emerging now were made possible thanks to a scientific breakthrough a decade ago.
RSV is a common cause of illness in children and infants are among those at highest risk for severe disease, which can lead to hospitalization.
This approval provides an option for healthcare providers and pregnant individuals to protect infants from this potentially life-threatening disease.
The approval follows a clinical trial involving some 7,000 pregnant women, which showed Pfizer's vaccine, called Abrysvo, reduced severe disease caused by RSV by 82 percent in babies from 0-3 months, and 69 percent from 0-6 months.
Abrysvo was previously approved by the FDA for adults aged 60 and over, as was another vaccine by drugmaker GSK, called Arexvy.
While RSV most often causes mild, cold-like symptoms in infants and young children, it can also lead to more serious outcomes such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis.
#upsc #news #headline #maternal #vaccine #RSV #healthanddiseases #country #pregnantwomen #severedisease #respiratory #syncytical #virus #vaccine #protectinfacts #commonmicrbe #spatesofshots #illness #healthcare #disease #succession #scientific #hospitalizations #medicines #women #abrysvo #FDA #Arexvy #symptoms #pneumonia #bronchiolitis
Maternal vaccine to prevent RSV in infants
GS Paper - 3 (Health and Diseases)
The United States became the first country to approve a vaccine for pregnant women that prevents severe disease caused by Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) in their babies.
More about the Vaccine
The Pfizer shot, which was already approved for use in older adults, has now been greenlighted for use as a single injection from 32 through 36 weeks of pregnancy, to protect infants from birth through six months.
It is the latest in a succession of medicines recently approved against the common microbe, which causes tens of thousands of hospitalizations among infants and the elderly in the United States every year.
Researchers have targeted an RSV vaccine since the 1960s, but the spates of shots that are emerging now were made possible thanks to a scientific breakthrough a decade ago.
RSV is a common cause of illness in children and infants are among those at highest risk for severe disease, which can lead to hospitalization.
This approval provides an option for healthcare providers and pregnant individuals to protect infants from this potentially life-threatening disease.
The approval follows a clinical trial involving some 7,000 pregnant women, which showed Pfizer's vaccine, called Abrysvo, reduced severe disease caused by RSV by 82 percent in babies from 0-3 months, and 69 percent from 0-6 months.
Abrysvo was previously approved by the FDA for adults aged 60 and over, as was another vaccine by drugmaker GSK, called Arexvy.
While RSV most often causes mild, cold-like symptoms in infants and young children, it can also lead to more serious outcomes such as pneumonia and bronchiolitis.
#upsc #news #headline #maternal #vaccine #RSV #healthanddiseases #country #pregnantwomen #severedisease #respiratory #syncytical #virus #vaccine #protectinfacts #commonmicrbe #spatesofshots #illness #healthcare #disease #succession #scientific #hospitalizations #medicines #women #abrysvo #FDA #Arexvy #symptoms #pneumonia #bronchiolitis
Today's Headlines - 02 September 2023
Chandrayaan-3 confirms Sulphur in lunar surface
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the Pragyan rover's Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope confirmed the presence of sulphur in the lunar surface near the south pole, through the first-ever in-situ measurements. Pragyan is a lunar rover that forms part of Chandrayaan-3, the lunar mission developed by ISRO.
More about discovery
The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard Chandrayaan-3 Rover has made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the South Pole.
These in-situ measurements confirm the presence of sulphur (S) in the region unambiguously, something that was not feasible by the instruments onboard the orbiters.
LIBS is a scientific technique that analyses the composition of materials by exposing them to intense laser pulses.
A high-energy laser pulse is focused onto the surface of a material, such as a rock or soil. The laser pulse generates extremely hot and localised plasma.
The collected plasma light is spectrally resolved and detected by detectors such as Charge Coupled Devices. Since each element emits a characteristic set of wavelengths of light when it is in a plasma state, the elemental composition of the material is determined.
Chandrayaan-3 successfully executed a soft landing on the moon on 23 August 2023, making India the fourth nation in the world to achieve a successful lunar landing.
India also marked a milestone by becoming the first country to land near the South Pole, an area believed to harbour significant amounts of water ice.
ISRO on 29 August 2023 said preliminary analyses, graphically represented, have unveiled the presence of aluminium (Al), sulphur (S), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), and titanium (Ti) on the lunar surface.
Further measurements have revealed the presence of manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), and oxygen (O). A thorough investigation regarding the presence of hydrogen is underway.
Flashback
The LIBS instrument is developed at the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS) / ISRO, Bengaluru.
LEOS, situated at Peenya Industrial Estate, Bengaluru, is one of the vital units of ISRO.
It deals with the design, development, and production of attitude sensors for all low Earth orbit (LEO), geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) and interplanetary missions.
It develops and delivers optical systems for remote sensing and meteorological payloads.
#upsc #news #headline #chandryaan #sulphur #lunar #surface #spacetechnology #ISRO #pragyan #laser #spectroscope #southpole #situ #measurment #rover #LIBS #elemental #composition #scientific #technique #materials #laserpulse #rock #soil #plasma #wavelengths #light #chargedevices #softlanding #milestone #waterice #aluminium #calcium #iron #chromium #titanium #silicon #oxygen #manganese #hydrogen #LEOS #GEO #peenya
Chandrayaan-3 confirms Sulphur in lunar surface
GS Paper - 3 (Space Technology)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said the Pragyan rover's Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscope confirmed the presence of sulphur in the lunar surface near the south pole, through the first-ever in-situ measurements. Pragyan is a lunar rover that forms part of Chandrayaan-3, the lunar mission developed by ISRO.
More about discovery
The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument onboard Chandrayaan-3 Rover has made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the South Pole.
These in-situ measurements confirm the presence of sulphur (S) in the region unambiguously, something that was not feasible by the instruments onboard the orbiters.
LIBS is a scientific technique that analyses the composition of materials by exposing them to intense laser pulses.
A high-energy laser pulse is focused onto the surface of a material, such as a rock or soil. The laser pulse generates extremely hot and localised plasma.
The collected plasma light is spectrally resolved and detected by detectors such as Charge Coupled Devices. Since each element emits a characteristic set of wavelengths of light when it is in a plasma state, the elemental composition of the material is determined.
Chandrayaan-3 successfully executed a soft landing on the moon on 23 August 2023, making India the fourth nation in the world to achieve a successful lunar landing.
India also marked a milestone by becoming the first country to land near the South Pole, an area believed to harbour significant amounts of water ice.
ISRO on 29 August 2023 said preliminary analyses, graphically represented, have unveiled the presence of aluminium (Al), sulphur (S), calcium (Ca), iron (Fe), chromium (Cr), and titanium (Ti) on the lunar surface.
Further measurements have revealed the presence of manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), and oxygen (O). A thorough investigation regarding the presence of hydrogen is underway.
Flashback
The LIBS instrument is developed at the Laboratory for Electro-Optics Systems (LEOS) / ISRO, Bengaluru.
LEOS, situated at Peenya Industrial Estate, Bengaluru, is one of the vital units of ISRO.
It deals with the design, development, and production of attitude sensors for all low Earth orbit (LEO), geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) and interplanetary missions.
It develops and delivers optical systems for remote sensing and meteorological payloads.
#upsc #news #headline #chandryaan #sulphur #lunar #surface #spacetechnology #ISRO #pragyan #laser #spectroscope #southpole #situ #measurment #rover #LIBS #elemental #composition #scientific #technique #materials #laserpulse #rock #soil #plasma #wavelengths #light #chargedevices #softlanding #milestone #waterice #aluminium #calcium #iron #chromium #titanium #silicon #oxygen #manganese #hydrogen #LEOS #GEO #peenya