Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
At least five persons died and 42 people, including 22 Army personnel, went missing on Wednesday after heavy rainfall triggered a lake outburst in parts of the highly vulnerable Lhonak Lake in north Sikkim and resulted in a flash flood in the Teesta river basin.
The Army’s Eastern Command said that some establishments along Lachen valley were affected by the flood, which was worsened by the release of water from Chungthang dam.
Release of water from the Chungthang dam led to a sudden increase in water level up to 15-20 feet high downstream. This led to Army vehicles parked at Bardang near Singtam getting affected. 23 personnel have been reported missing and some vehicles are reported submerged under the slush. Search operations are underway,” it said in a statement.
We will look at immunity of MPs and MLAs if acts involve element of criminality: SC (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court said that it will examine if MPs or MLAs are entitled to immunity in respect of a vote given or speech made in Parliament or Assembly where there is criminality attached to such acts but added that it will restrict itself to the question of reexamining the question of privileges only so far as the offence of bribery is concerned.
Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, presiding over a 7-judge Constitution Bench, which is re-examining “the correctness” of a 1998 five-judge Constitution Bench judgment in the P V Narasimha Rao case, where the majority had held that legislators were immune to prosecution on bribery charges for their speech or vote in Parliament.
At the very outset, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, told the bench, also comprising Justices A S Bopanna, M M Sundresh, P S Narasimha, J B Pardiwala, Sanjay Kumar and Manoj Misra, that he and Attorney General R Venkataramani would be arguing that the minority view in the Rao case by Justice S C Agarwal “is the correct view”.
Govt & Politics
NCP’s Lakshadweep MP Faizal disqualified as Lok sabha member (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
NCP Lakshadweep MP Mohammed Faizal was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, a day after the Kerala High Court rejected his plea to suspend his conviction in a murder attempt case.
In view of order dated 03.10.2023 of the Hon’ble High Court of Kerala, Shri Mohammed Faizal P.P., Member of Lok Sabha representing the Lakshadweep Parliamentary Constituency of the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, stands disqualified from the membership of Lok Sabha from the date of his conviction, i.e. 11th January, 2023.
This is the second time Faizal has been disqualified as member of the Lok Sabha. However, the suspension of sentence of Faizal and three others, as per an earlier High Court order, would continue pending final disposal of their appeal.
Express Network
Defence minister releases fifth positive inidenisation list a t 2 day navy seminar (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh released the fifth positive indigenisation list of 98 items for which there would be an import ban beyond indicated deadlines against them. He released this list—comprising a range of weapons, ammunition, and sensors—alongside other announcements during the plenary session of ‘Swavlamban 2.0’, the two-day seminar of Naval Innovation and Indigenisation Organisation (NIIO).
The list includes Futuristic Infantry Combat Vehicle, Articulated All-Terrain Vehicles, Remotely Piloted Air Borne Vehicles up to 25 Km with 2Kg Payload for Army, Naval Shipborne Unmanned Aerial System, Medium Upgrade Low Endurance Class Tactical Drone, Electric Light Vehicle for Army, Medium Range Precision Kill System for Artillery, Next Generation Low Level Light Radar for Army.
Editorial
A fraught border crossing (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Recent events pertaining to pro-Khalistan activists in Western countries once again bring into focus the diabolical role of some overseas Indian groups working in tandem with various anti-India elements.
This is a manageable challenge for the Indian State, even when caught on the wrong foot. One must, however, distinguish between the threat posed by such anti-India elements and the challenge posed by the growing political activism of overseas Indians, both in host and home countries.
The latter draws attention to the complex nature of the political relationship between India and its worldwide diaspora.
The growing political engagement of overseas Indians in host and home country politics has become a challenge for Indian diplomacy.
Political elements in the Indian diaspora critical of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s politics are one side of the same coin that the Bharatiya Janata Party tries to encash through overseas Indians. Drawing the diaspora into both diplomacy and domestic politics can cut both ways.
Ideas Page
Caged parrots & universities (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
Recent weeks have seen a heated debate on academic freedom in India’s universities. In the English-language press, the view that appears to have prevailed is that there is none, having been snuffed out through political interference.
What the view is among speakers of the Indian languages we cannot say, but it would be important for us to know, as this is a matter of national importance.
The debate itself is timely though, as we have witnessed an unprecedented expansion in the university sector, to be understood as including all institutions of higher learning and research.
Data from UNESCO show India to be the country in which public spending per student in higher education in relation to that in primary schools is the highest. Public policy in India has privileged higher education for decades now.
Whether this was justified when schooling was woefully under-provisioned is not a question that can be brushed aside. But I shall overlook this to focus on the question whether academic freedom is so necessary to India’s universities.
Explained
Disaster in Sikkim: How do GLOF happen (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Fourteen people have been killed and 102, including at least 23 Army personnel, are missing in Sikkim as the South Lhonak Lake — a glacial lake situated in the state’s northwest at 17,000 ft — burst due to incessant rains, leading to the release of water in downstream areas.
This caused the rise of water levels in Teesta River that flooded at least four districts, including Mangan, Gangtok, Pakyong and Namchi, according to Sikkim State Disaster Management Authority (SSDMA).
The lake outburst in portions of Lhonak Lake in North Sikkim caused a rise in water levels with very high velocities near about 15m/sec, crossed the CWC (Centre Water Commission) Melli site measuring 227 m, near about 3m above Danger Level, at 0600 am.
For years, numerous studies have highlighted South Lhonak Lake’s rapidly growing size due to glacier melting and marked it as susceptible to glacial lake outburst flood (GLOF).
Why the peace nobels is awarded in Norway and others in Sweden (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The annual Nobel Prize announcements are underway with three of the 2023 awards unveiled so far by prize committees in Stockholm.
First up was the Nobel Prize in medicine, which was awarded Monday to two scientists for discoveries that enabled the development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Three scientists won the physics prize for their work on how electrons zip around the atom in the tiniest fractions of seconds.
Three U.S.-based researchers shared the chemistry prize on Wednesday for their work on quantum dots — tiny particles that can release very bright colored light and are used in electronics and medical imaging.
How size of the particles change their behavior and why that is important (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Every element exhibits specific properties, usually determined by the number of electrons in its atoms and the distribution of these electrons around the nucleus.
Also, every piece of a pure element exhibits exactly the same properties, regardless of its size. A piece of pure gold, for example, has properties very different from a piece of silver or any other element, but every piece of gold, whether it is a large 100-gram piece or a small 10 milligram one, has exactly the same properties. This is one of the fundamental facts of chemistry.
But about forty years ago, scientists started discovering something very remarkable. Very small particles, in the nanoscale range, were found to behave slightly differently from larger particles of the same element.
A nanoparticle (sizes in the range of 1 to 100 billionth of a metre) of gold, for example, displayed properties different in some respects from larger particles of gold. Such deviant behaviour had been predicted in theory a few decades earlier, but never observed.
World
In message to India, President elect of Maldives says foreign troops must go (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Foreign military forces cannot stay in the Maldives, president-elect Mohamed Muizzu told a rally celebrating his victory in closely watched weekend presidential elections that are expected to redraw ties with India and China.
Muizzu, who beat incumbent President Ibrahim Solih in a second-round runoff on Saturday, is backed by a coalition known to be close to China, and championed an “India Out” campaign a few years ago, against a small unit of Indian military.
All the countries which agree to our pro-Maldives policy will be our close friends and allies. We will send back foreign soldiers in the Maldives,” he added, without naming any country.
In the past his party has viewed India’s overwhelming influence as a potential threat to sovereignty and Muizzu accused the South Asian nation of aiming to establish a permanent military presence in the Indian Ocean archipelago.
India, with traditionally close ties to Male, denies that assertion, and is helping to build a naval harbour for Maldivian forces to be trained by its military.
Economy
Centre hikes LPG subsidy for Ujjwala beneficiaries by 50% (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
In the run-up to Assembly polls in five states later this year and Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the government on Wednesday increased the cooking gas subsidy for poor households under the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) by Rs 100 per 14.2-kg cylinder to Rs 300.
The decision is expected to benefit 9.6 crore households that are currently covered under the targetted subsidy scheme.
The decision, which was announced by Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur after, comes around a month after the government announced a price cut of Rs 200 per cylinder for all domestic liquefied petroleum gas (LGP) consumers including PMUY beneficiaries, and expanded the PMUY coverage to cover another 75 lakh poor households over three years.