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Against the backdrop of the Ladakh stand-off and the war in Ukraine, a clear road map is in place for ammunition procurement and the requirement for 10 years has been finalised, defence sources have said on the efforts to secure supply chains and avoid any impact on operational preparedness.
Already, about 85% of the ammunition requirement has been indigenised, from both the public and private sectors. The aim is to build up ammunition stocks to desired levels, minimise imports and achieve self-sufficiency in the country, have multiple sources of supply, and possess indigenous manufacturing capability.
As part of this, indigenisation of more than 30 variants, amounting to about ₹16,000 crores, is under way and five or six variants of ammunition have been identified for production through the Indian industry, which will expand the indigenous vendor base. Subsequently, next-generation high-tech ammunition based on research and development is being identified for in-house development.
Rejection by Governor does not mean death of Bill: Supreme Court (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court, in a 27-page judgment, has clarified that the rejection of a Bill by a Governor does not mean its death.
Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, writing for a three-judge Bench, held that a law proposed by a State legislature is not extinguished merely because the Governor refuses to sign his assent.
The judgment explains that the substantive portion of Article 200 of the Constitution provides the Governor with three options when presented with a Bill — consent to the proposed law, withhold consent, or reserve the Bill for the consideration of the President.
The first proviso of Article 200 goes on to say that the Governor may send the withheld Bill, if it is not a Money Bill, back to the House as soon as possible with a message suggesting amendments or requesting the Assembly to re-consider the Bill or specific provisions of it. The judgment holds that the first proviso does not offer the Governor a fourth contingency.
Aditya-L1 may enter orbit on Jan. 7: ISRO (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) expects its Aditya-L1 solar probe to enter into orbit around Lagrangian point L1 on January 7, Chairman S. Somanath said.
Mr. Somanath, who was here for the 60th anniversary celebrations of the first rocket launch from Thumba, said the Aditya-L1 mission is now in the final phase of its long journey to L1 point. “The current date for entering into orbit around L1 is January 7.
One of the five Lagrangian points or ‘equilibrium points’ in the sun-earth system, L1 is about 1.5 million kms from the earth between the planet and the sun.
The ISRO plans to place the probe in a halo orbit at this vantage point in space to carry out studies with its seven scientific payloads.
The ISRO expects to launch the G-X unmanned orbital demonstration flight ahead of the Gaganyaan manned mission in the first half of 2024.
Urban Affairs Ministry starts data portal on cities for policymaking (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is making raw data from Indian cities available on a single platform for academics, researchers, and stakeholders to help data-driven policymaking.
The Amplifi 2.0 (Assessment and Monitoring Platform for Liveable, Inclusive and Future-ready urban India) portal was launched by the Ministry three weeks ago.
Currently, 258 urban local bodies have been onboarded, and data for 150 cities is available on the portal. “While onboarding the cities, we found that there is a lack of data maturity in cities, and thus only 150 civic bodies were able to share their data.
It is hoped that data from all 3,739 municipal corporations will eventually be made available on the portal. The website provides data on a range of information for several cities, including total consumption; number of samples tested for water quality; average annual expenditure on healthcare; number of slum dwellers; and road accident fatalities.
World
Yameen to break away from Maldives President Muizzu (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Former Maldives President Abdulla Yameen will form a new political party, his lawyer said, splitting from his successor’s ruling party and posing the new President a major setback ahead of parliamentary polls.
President Mohamed Muizzu, 45, was sworn in last week after being elected in September as a proxy for his pro-China predecessor Yameen, who was disqualified from the polls because he was serving an 11-year jail term for corruption.
Yameen loyalists accused Mr. Muizzu of seeking to hijack the leadership of their Progressive Party of Maldives (PPM), and the former President will now form his own party.
Mr. Yameen “chose to resign from the PPM and President Muizzu’s coalition”, the 64-year-old former-leader’s lawyer Mohamed Jameel told.
“Yameen is now forming a new political party and a significant portion of the party is rallying behind him.”
Science
Eight months on, States wait for 3HP TB preventive drug (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Eight months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the pan-India rollout of a shorter TB Preventive Treatment (TPT) in March 2023 called the 3HP —once-weekly isoniazid-rifapentine for 12 weeks — States are yet to receive the 3HP combination drug from the Central TB Division. Tamil Nadu and Kerala have already begun using 3HP for TB preventive treatment despite not receiving the drug supply.
Currently, all household contacts of a person who has been recently diagnosed with pulmonary TB are tested for TB disease and those who do not have TB disease but have been infected with the bacteria are offered treatment to prevent the progression from latent infection to TB disease.
Daily dose of isoniazid for six months, which is the current treatment protocol, translates to 180 pills. In contrast, the 3HP regimen of one combination drug a week for three months translates to 12 pills in all.
Antarctica’s ozone hole expands mid-spring since 2001 (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The core (middle stratospheric layer) of the Antarctic ozone in mid-spring (October) has experienced a 26% reduction since 2004, contrary to previously reported recovery trends in total ozone, according to a study published recently in the journal Nature Communications.
However, recovery trends remain in early spring (September). The findings highlight the importance of continuous monitoring and evaluation of the state of the ozone layer with the changing dynamical state of Earth’s climate.
The Montreal Protocol designated a list of controlled ozone depleting substances that were banned from future production in 1987 and is widely considered to have been successful for ozone recovery.
However, the past three years (2020-2022) have witnessed the re-emergence of large and long-lived ozone holes over Antarctica in mid spring, while early spring still shows a slight ozone increase (or a slight recovery of the ozone hole).
Understanding ozone variability remains of high importance, due to the major role Antarctic stratospheric ozone plays in climate variability across the Southern Hemisphere.
FAQ
Where does India stand on Israel-Hamas war? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Over the past weeks, India has expressed itself in statements, joint statements, and votes at the United Nations on the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, that saw a temporary pause for the exchange of hostages.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi hosted two separate virtual summits, the concluding session of India’s G-20 and the second edition of the ‘Voice of Global South’ Summit, and spoke about the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, as well as the importance of heeding the concerns of the developing world.
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar travelled to the U.K. for talks, held along with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh “2+2” dialogues with their counterparts from the U.S. and Australia where joint statements reflected the West’s position much more.
India’s position, as articulated since the October 7 terror attacks along the Israel-Gaza border by Hamas that killed more than 1,200 people, and then on the bombardment of Gaza by Israel where more than 13,000 have been killed, has been multi-layered.
The Modi government has condemned terrorism in the strongest language and stood with Israel over the attack, although it hasn’t thus far designated Hamas as a terror group.
The government has called on Israel for restraint, dialogue and diplomacy and condemned the death of civilians, and along with the U.S. and Australia, called for “humanitarian pauses” in bombardment, but has not so far called for a “ceasefire”.
At the same time, India has reaffirmed its support for a “two-state solution” including a sovereign, viable state of Palestine existing in peace alongside Israel, supported the “socio-economic welfare” of the Palestinian people, and has sent 70 tonnes of humanitarian assistance including 16.5 tonnes of medicines and medical supplies via Egypt to Gaza in the past month, Mr. Jaishankar said at the BRICS emergency meeting chaired by South Africa this week.
Is India lagging in measles vaccination? (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
A new report from the World Health Organization and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said measles cases in 2022 have increased by 18%, and deaths by 43% globally, compared to 2021.
This, the report states, takes the estimated number of measles cases to nine million and deaths to 1,36,000, mostly among children. The Union Health Ministry has refuted a part of the report which said that globally 22 million children did not get their first measles shot in 2022 and that half of them live in 10 countries including India, where an estimated 1.1 million infants did not get the first dose of the vaccine.
India’s Universal Immunisation Programme is one of the largest public health programmes in the world targeting close to 2.67 crore newborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women annually.
The Health Ministry maintains that just over 21,000 Indian children did not get the shot and said that the WHO data is based on an estimated number, reported under the WHO UNICEF Estimates National Immunization Coverage (WUENIC) 2022 report, which covers the time period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022.
A total of 2,63,63,270 children out of the eligible 2,63,84,580 children received their first dose of measles vaccine in FY 2022-23, according to the Health Ministry.
It added that 21,310 children missed their first dose in 2022-23; and that initiatives have been undertaken by the Centre in coordination with the States to ensure that all children receive all missed/due doses of the measles vaccine.
Business
India announces phased introduction of biogas blending (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India will start blending compressed biogas with natural gas to boost domestic demand and cut reliance on natural gas imports, the government said.
The mandatory phased introduction will start at 1% for use in automobiles and households from April 2025, it said. The share of mandatory blending will then be increased to about 5% by 2028.
India, which is one of the world’s largest importers of oil and gas, ships in about half of its overall gas consumption and wants to cut its import bill.
The government also aims to have 1% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in aircraft turbine fuel by 2027, doubling to 2% in 2028. The SAF targets will initially apply to international flights. The steps are aimed at helping India achieve net zero emissions targets by 2070.
India’s agricultural imports from South Australia tripled under zero-tariff regime (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s imports of almonds, beans, oranges, wines, lentils, pulses, several processed agro foods, sheep meat etc. from the state of South Australia (SA) have risen significantly since the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA) came into effect a year ago, said Nick Champion, Minister for Trade & Investment – South Australia.
South Australia has been witnessing growing import demand for lentils, pulses and certain other food items following the zero-tariff rate India introduced last year, resulting in food, wine and agribusiness sector exports to India growing more than 200% in the 12 months until September 2023.
He said his state was also seeing significant opportunities to grow its exports to India, especially products such as food and wine, and premium food products building upon the eliminated tariffs on over 85% of Australian goods–which will rise to 90% by January 2026.
Above all these, India is a fast-growing market for premium agri products, food items and high-value wines with consumers’ disposable incomes on the rise.