08 NOV 2023 | Daily Current Affairs | UPSC CDS CAPF NDA AFCAT SSB

1. Central Information Commission

Recently, the Information Commissioner, Heeralal Samariya, was sworn in as the chief of the Central Information Commission (CIC) by the President Of India.

About the Central Information Commission:

It has been constituted under the Right to Information Act, 2005.
The jurisdiction of the Commission extends over all Central Public Authorities.
Objectives
- To exercise the powers conferred on them under the RTI Act, 2005.
- To receive and inquire into complaints from any citizen (Section 18 of the RTI Act, 2005).
- To receive and decide upon the second appeal from any citizen (Section 19 of the RTI Act, 2005).
- To perform the duty of “Monitoring and Reporting “(Section 25 of the RTI Act, 2005).
Composition
- It consists of a Chief Information Commissioner and not more than ten Information Commissioners.
Appointment:
- They are appointed by the President of India on the recommendation of a committee consisting of the Prime Minister as Chairperson, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister.
Eligibility
- The members of CIC and SIC shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass media, or administration and governance.
- Members shall not be a Member of Parliament or Member of the Legislature of any State or Union Territory as the case may be, or hold any other office of profit or connected with any political party or carry on any business or pursue any profession.
Tenure
- The Chief Information Commissioner, or Information Commissioners, as the case may be, shall hold office for a period of three years from the date on which he enters upon his office.

Source : Heeralal Samariya sworn in as Chief Information Commissioner

2. Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL)

The researchers found a statistically significant correlation between a rise in soy production and acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) deaths in children between 2008 and 2019 in Brazil’s Amazon and Cerrado biomes.

About Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL):

It is a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow—the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made.
The word "acute" in acute lymphocytic leukaemia comes from the fact that the disease progresses rapidly and creates immature blood cells rather than mature ones.
It is the most common type of cancer in children.
Symptoms: Bleeding from the gums, Bone pain, Fever, Frequent infections, frequent or severe nosebleeds, etc.
Causes:
It occurs when a bone marrow cell develops changes (mutations) in its genetic material, or DNA.
A cell's DNA contains the instructions that tell a cell what to do. Normally, the DNA tells the cell to grow at a set rate and to die at a set time.
In ALL, the mutations tell the bone marrow cell to continue growing and dividing.
When this happens, blood cell production becomes out of control.
The bone marrow produces immature cells that develop into leukemic white blood cells called lymphoblasts.
These abnormal cells are unable to function properly, and they can build up and crowd out healthy cells.
It's not clear what causes the DNA mutations that can lead to acute lymphocytic leukaemia.
Treatment: It may include chemotherapy or targeted drugs that specifically kill cancer cells.

Source : Hike in soy production in Brazil linked to higher child cancer deaths, finds study

3. Kamakhya Temple

The Bhutan King began his maiden three-day tour to Assam with a visit to the famed Kamakhya Temple atop the Nilachal Hills in Guwahati.

About Kamakhya Temple:

It is situated on Nilachal Hilland adjoining the southern bank of the Brahmaputra River in Guwahati, Assam.
It is one of the most revered centres of Tantric practises.
It is regarded as one of the oldest of the 51 Shakti Peethas in India.
Temple Architecture:
- It had been modelled out of a combination of two different styles namely, the traditional Nagara,or North Indian and Saracenic or Mughal style of architecture.
- This unusual combination has been named the Nilachala Style of Architecture.
- This is the only temple of Assam having a fully developed ground plan.
- It consists of five chambers, garbhagrihaor sanctuary, antarala or vestibule, Jagan Mohan or principal chamber, bhogmandir or ritual chamber and natmandir or opera hall for performing traditional dance and music associated with sukti temples.
- It is interesting to note that the superstructure of each of the above chambers exhibits different architectural features.
- The main temple contains a modified Saracenic dome, the antarala carries a two-roofed design, the bhogmandir (also called pancharatna) with five domes similar in appearance to the main temple and the natmandir having a shell-roof with apsidal end similar to some of the impermanent namghars or prayer halls found in Assam.
Ambubachi Melais one of the major festivals of this temple. The festival is held every year to commemorate the yearly menstruation of Goddess Kamakhya

Source : Bhutan King begins three-day visit to Assam, offers prayer at Kamakhya Temple

4. Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative

Recently, the Indian Navy Chief Admiral said that the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative is a testament to the commitment to a free, open, inclusive, and rules-based Indo-Pacific region.

About the Indo-Pacific Maritime Domain Awareness (IPMDA) initiative:

It was announced at the 2022 Quad Leaders’ Summit in Tokyo.
It was announced to track “dark shipping” and build a “faster, wider, and more accurate maritime picture of near-real-time activities in partners’ waters”, integrating three critical regions in the Indo-Pacific — the Pacific Islands, Southeast Asia, and the IOR.
Purpose of IPMDA
It is a technology and training initiative to enhance maritime domain awareness in the Indo-Pacific region and to bring increased transparency to its critical waterways.
It harnesses innovative technology, such as commercial satellite radio frequency data collection, to provide partners across Southeast Asia, the Indian Ocean region and the Pacific with near real-time information on activities occurring in their maritime zones.

What is QUAD?

It is known as the 'Quadrilateral Security Dialogue' (QSD).
It is an informal strategic forum comprising four nations, namely -- United States of America (USA), India, Australia and Japan.
Objectives: To work for a free, open, prosperous, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region.
It is considered an alliance of maritime democracies, and the forum is maintained by meetings, semi-regular summits, information exchanges and military drills of all the member countries.
Formation of QUAD
Since its establishment in 2007, the representatives for the four-member nations have met periodically. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first to pitch the idea for the formation of Quad in 2007.
In fact, its origins can be traced back to the evolution of Exercise Malabar and the 2004 Tsunami when India conducted relief and rescue operations for itself and neighbouring countries and was later joined by the US, Japan and Australia.

Source : Quad’s IPMDA a proof of our commitment to a free, open, inclusive Indo-Pacific: Navy Chief

5. World Local Production Forum (WLPF)

Recently, the Indian delegation led by the Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers participated in the 2nd World Local Production Forum at the Hague.

About the World Local Production Forum:

It is an initiative of the World Health Organisation.
The first WLPF was organised virtually in 2021.
Aim: Increasing access to medicines and other health technologies.
This forum provides Member States and the global community with a regular platform to shape strategies, galvanize collective action, and foster partnerships on sustainable local production to improve timely and equitable access to quality-assured health products.
Secretariat: The Local Production and Assistance (LPA) Unit at the WLPF.
The second WLPF aims
To provide a global platform to discuss key challenges in promoting local production and technology transfer.
To explore opportunities and mechanisms to tackle the bottlenecks.
To promote sustainable local production capacity to improve access to quality, safe and effective health products and technologies.

Key Facts about the World Health Organisation

It was established in
It is a United Nations agency that connects nations, partners, and people to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable.
It provides technical assistance to countries, sets international health standards, and collects data on global health issues.
It has played a leading role in several public health achievements, most notably the Eradication of smallpox, the near-eradication of polio, and the development of an Ebola
The World Health Assembly, the agency's decision-making body, elects and advises an executive board made up of 34 health specialists.

Source : Indian delegation led by Union MoS Bhagwant Khuba to leave for Netherlands to participate in 2nd World Local Production Forum

6. Euclid Space Telescope

The first images captured by the European Space Agency's (ESA's) Euclid mission are due to be released.

About the Euclid Space Telescope:

The Euclid mission is part of ESA’s Cosmic Vision programme,which aims to explore the origin and components of the universe and the fundamental laws that govern it.
Its main goal is to investigate the "dark side" of the universe, focusing on dark matter and dark energy.
It was launched on 1 July 2023.
It is named after the Greek mathematician Euclid of Alexandria, who lived around 300 BC and founded the subject of geometry.
The Euclid mission will make a 3D map of the universe (with time as the third dimension) by observing billions of galaxies out to 10 billion light-years across more than a third of the sky.
It will reveal how dark energy has influenced the stretching and separation of matter over cosmic time.
Spacecraft and instruments:
The Euclid spacecraft is approximately 7 m tall and 3.7 m in diameter. It consists of two major components: the service module and the payload module.
The payload module comprises a 2-m-diameter telescope and two scientific instruments: a visible-wavelength camera (the VISible instrument, VIS) and a near-infrared camera/spectrometer (the Near-Infrared Spectrometer and Photometer, NISP).
The service module contains the satellite systems: electric power generation and distribution, attitude control, data processing electronics, propulsion, telecommand and telemetry, and thermal control.
Orbit: Its operational orbit will be a halo around a point known as the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 2 (L2), at an average distance of 5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit.
Lifetime: Nominal mission lifetime is six years, with the possibility of extension (limited by the amount of cold gas used for propulsion).

What is Dark Energy?

Dark energy is the name given to the mysterious force that’s causing the rate of expansion of our universe to accelerate over time rather than to slow down.
It is now thought to make up 68% of everything in the universe.
It's not matter or energy in the conventional sense. It does not interact with electromagnetic forces and, therefore, cannot be observed directly.

Source : Dark matter-hunting Euclid mission to share its 1st full-color images of the universe on Nov. 7

7. What is Section 437A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC)?

The Supreme Court recently issued notice to the Union of India on a plea challenging the constitutionality of Section 437A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).

About Section 437A of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC):

Section 437A of the CrPC requires a person who has been acquitted to furnish a bail bond and sureties to be able to be released from custody.
This is to ensure the appearance of the accused if an appeal is filed before a higher court against the acquittal.
The provision states that accused persons must execute bail bonds with sureties to appear before the higher court when an appeal or petition is filed against the judgement of the respective court.
These bail bonds are valid for six months, and failure to appear leads to bond forfeiture and the application of Section 446
Section 446 CrPC :
It provides that once the court records its satisfaction about the forfeiture of the bond, it shall call upon the person bound by such bond to pay the penalty or to show cause why it should not be paid.
If sufficient cause is not shown and the penalty is not paid, the Court may proceed to recover the same as if such penalty were a fine imposed by it under this Code.
Neither before the trial court nor before the appellate court, there is any applicability of Section-437A CrPC in cases where the accused is convicted.
As such, the only time when the court is required to ask theaccused to execute bonds is the time when the court acquits the accused.

What is Acquittal under CrPC?

The term "acquittal" refers to a judge's decision that legally confirms the innocence of the accused.
As a result, it is granted when the court determines that the accused did not commit the crime charged against him.
It means the prosecutor was unable to persuade the judge that the case was beyond a reasonable doubt.
If the judge concludes that there is no evidence that the accused committed the crime after evaluating the prosecution's evidence, the judge acquits the accused person under Section 232.
If the offender is not acquitted under Section 232, however, he is allowed to present his case and evidence. The court may acquit or convict the person underSection 233 after hearing both parties'

Source : Supreme Court seeks Central government's response to plea challenging Section 437A CrPC

8. What is the power of the Governor over State Bills?

The Supreme Court recently expressed concern over Governors of various states refraining from acting on bills passed by their respective State Assemblies and waiting for Supreme Court intervention before granting assent to such bills.

About the Power of the Governor Over State Bills:

Article 200 of the Indian Constitution includes the process for a state bill to be presented to the Governor for assent.
It provides for four alternative courses of action for a Governor when a bill, after being passed by the legislature, is presented to him/her for assent.

Give assent to the bill
Withhold assent
Return the bill to the state legislature, requesting to reconsider some provisions of the bill or the bill itself

However, if the legislature again passes the bill with/without accepting any of the amendments suggested by the Governor, it is constitutionally bound to give assent to the Bill.

Reserve the bill for the consideration of the President

This reservation is mandatory when the bill passed by the State Legislature endangers the position of the State High Court.
Article 201:
It states that when a bill is reserved for the consideration of the President, the President can give assent to the bill or withhold assent.
The President may also direct the Governor to return the bill (if it is not a Money Bill) to the House or Houses of the Legislature of the State for reconsideration.
However, the Governor can reserve a bill and not grant assent in certain circumstances. This includes if the bill is
against the provisions of the Constitution
opposed to the Directive Principles of State Policy (DPSP)
against the larger interest of the country
of grave national importance
deals with the compulsory acquisition of property under Article 31A of the Constitution.
Previous rulings of SC:
A Constitution Bench clarified that the Constitution does not impose any time limit within which the Governor should provide assent to bills.
However, it maintained that the Governor must honour the will of the Legislatureand can act only in harmony with the Council of Ministers.
It also noted that causing delay to assent bills will be an arbitrary exercise, which in itself is against the spirit of the constitution.

Source : Governor must act on Bills passed by State legislature: Supreme Court on Punjab Governor's inaction

9. Ohio-class Submarine

A US nuclear-powered Ohio-class submarine was recently deployed in the Middle East to help prevent the Israel-Hamas war from spiralling into a broader conflict.

About Ohio-class Submarine:

The Ohio class is a class of nuclear-powered submarines currently used by the United States Navy.
They are the largest submarines ever built for the U.S. Navy.
The US Navy has a total of 18 Ohio-class submarines, which consist of 14 ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) and four cruise missile submarines (SSGNs).
The SSBN submarines are also known as "Trident" submarines and provide the sea-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad.
The 14 SSBNs together carry about half of S. active strategic thermonuclear warheads.
They were designed specifically for extended war deterrence
Features:
The class's design allows the warship to operate for about fifteen years between major overhauls.
Each of these submarines is provided with two complete crews, called the Blue Crew and the Gold Crew, with each crew serving typically on 70- to 90-day deterrent patrols.
They can travel at speeds of 30+ knots and remain submerged indefinitely.
Each SSBN submarine is armed with up to 24 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM).
Each SSGN is capable of carrying 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, plus a complement of Harpoon missiles to be fired through their torpedo tubes.

Source : US Submarine In Middle East To Prevent Gaza War From Expanding: Pentagon

10. Digital Life Certificate (Jeevan Pramaan)

Over 16 lakh Digital Life Certificates, or Jeevan Pramaan, have been generated by the end of the first week of the launch of Campaign 2.0, an initiative of the Ministry of Personnel to enhance the ‘ease of living’ of Central Government pensioners across the country.

About the Digital Life Certificate (Jeevan Pramaan):

The Digital Life Certificate for Pensioners Scheme of the Government, known as Jeevan Pramaan, is a biometric-enabled digital service for pensioners.
It was introduced in 2014 to simplify and enhance the convenience of life certificate submissions for pensioners.
Purpose:
One of the major requisites for pensioners after their retirement from the service is to provide life certificates to authorised pension disbursing agencies like the bank, following which their pension is credited to their account.
In order to get this life certificate, the individual drawing the pension is required to be either personally present themselves before the Pension Disbursing Agency or to have the Life Certificate issued by the authority where they have served earlier and have it delivered to the disbursing agency.
The Jeevan Pramaan scheme seeks to address this very problem by digitising the whole process of securing the life certificate.
Pensioners have the option to create Jeevan Pramaan, either online or via a mobile app.
Using Jeevan Pramaan, a pensioner can now digitally provide proof of his/her existence to authoritiesfor continuity of pension every year instead of requiring to appear in person before the certifying authority or the disbursing agency.
It employs biometric authentication to validate the pensioner’s identity, effectively preventing fraudulent activity.
Beneficiaries:
Pensioners of the Central Government, State Government, or any other Government organisation can take benefit of this facility.
It is not available to remarried or reemployed Pensioners. They are required to submit the life certificate the conventional way to their pension disbursing authority.

Source : Over 16 lakh Digital Life Certificates generated in 1st week of campaign 2.0

08 NOV 2023 | Daily Current Affairs | UPSC CDS CAPF NDA AFCAT SSB

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