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The rules for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), which was enacted by Parliament in December 2019 and spawned protests in parts of the country, are likely to be notified within the next fortnight or so, sources in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said.
I cannot tell you the date, but they will be notified before the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) comes into force.
The MCC comes into force when the Election Commission announces polls. It is expected that the Lok Sabha poll dates will be announced sometime next month.
Despite its enactment four years ago, the CAA could not be implemented because the rules were not notified.
Sources said the rules will specify the evidence needed for applicants to prove their credentials and eligibility for citizenship under the new law.
Astronaut wings for Gaganyaan’s IAF pilots, PM calls them 4 Shakti (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Six years after he announced the decision to send Indians into space, Prime Minister Narendra Modi presented to the nation the four selected astronauts-designate who have been undergoing training under anonymity for the last four years.
The four candidates — Group Captains Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair (47), Angad Pratap (41), Ajit Krishnan (41) and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla (38), all officers of the Indian Air Force — will follow in the footsteps of Rakesh Sharma, the first and only Indian to have travelled to space, way back in 1984, in a Russian spacecraft. (Two Indian-Americans — Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams — have also been to space on NASA missions.)
One of the four IAF pilots is likely to fly to the International Space Station later this year as part of a NASA mission, following an agreement between the space agencies of India and the United States last year.
The others would be part of the Gaganyaan mission, India’s first manned space flight that is currently scheduled for next year.
The space capsule for Gaganyaan has the capacity to carry three astronauts, but it has not yet been finalised whether two or three astronauts would be sent on that mission.
Editorial
Religious internationalism (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
As he races to clinch the Republican Party’s presidential nomination, Donald Trump is intensifying the outreach to America’s Christian nationalists.
At a speech last week to the Christian Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tennessee, Trump promised to protect and defend Christian values against the onslaught of the liberal left that wants “to tear down crosses”.
Quoting repeatedly from the Bible and invoking God, Trump promised to use the full power of the White House to end the “persecution” of Christians and put Christian values at the centre of American political life.
Christian conservatives and radicals of different kinds have long been part of US electoral politics. This election season, they are melding into a powerful political stream that seeks to make America a Christian nation.
Although there is no single platform and agreed agenda, several demands stand out. Christian nationalists would like to end the separation of Church and state, push back against LGBTQ rights, abolish abortion rights, counter what they see as ultra-liberal hegemony over educational institutions, and reverse the rising tide of immigration into the US.
Ideas Page
Our burdened children (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
Sporadic experimentation is familiar to students of the history of education in our country. The latest to be tried out is the open-book examination.
This, too, is not new, but this time it is expected to reduce the pressure that children are under. The ingredients of this pressure were the object of an inquiry by a committee that gave its report some three decades ago.
Committees come and go, but the problem persists, and some problems acquire greater virulence. A small committee chaired by the late Professor Yash Pal studied the problem of stress on school children in the early 1990s.
He was a space scientist who answered — on TV or in newspapers — hundreds of questions posed to him by children. His slim report ‘Learning Without Burden’ was the focus of a recent workshop held at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai.
The Yash Pal committee was set up in response to a moving speech given by the novelist RK Narayan in the Rajya Sabha. He was a nominated member and this was his maiden speech.
Its emotional appeal brought tears to the eyes of the then Deputy Speaker, Najma Heptulla. Other members were also moved by Narayan’s description of children’s daily ordeal.
Express Network
Former SC judge Khanwailkar to head Lokpal 6 other members also named (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Nearly 19 months after he retired as a Supreme Court judge, Justice A M Khanwilkar was appointed the chairpersonof the anti-corruption ombudsman Lokpal on Tuesday. The post fell vacant nearly two years ago.
“President Droupadi Murmu is pleased to appoint Justice Ajay Manikrao Khanwilkar as the chairperson of the Lokpal,” a statement released by Rashtrapati Bhavan said.
Justice Khanwilkar had a six-year tenure as an SC judge. In his last year, he authored a series of crucial verdicts that validated the state’s sweeping powers against citizens in special legislations — the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act and the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Act. He retired in July 2022.
The government has also appointed six members, including three judicial members, to the Lokpal. Former Himachal Pradesh High Court Chief Justice Lingappa Narayana Swamy, former Allahabad High Court Chief Justice Sanjay Yadav and former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice and Law Commission Chairperson Ritu Raj Awasthi are judicial members; non-judicial members include former Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra, former Chief Secretary of Gujarat Pankaj Kumar and former Rural Development Secretary Ajay Tirkey.
Goa researcher claim breakthrough, turn mushroom into gold (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Two researchers in Goa have said that they synthesised gold nanoparticles from a wild mushroom species that is widely eaten as a delicacy in the coastal state.
Mushrooms of the Termitomyces species, which grow on termite hills and is locally known as ‘roen olmi’, is an edible wild mushroom popular among Goans and consumed during the monsoons.
According to the new research, this species of mushroom has been cultured in a pure three-dimensional pelletised form and successfully used to produce gold nanoparticles.
The research, titled ‘Biosynthesis and characterisation of AuNPs produced using Termitomyces heimii Pellets’ was published recently in the Geomicrobiology Journal published by Taylor and Francis.
On Tuesday, the researchers – Dr Sujata Dabolkar and Dr Nandkumar Kamat – presented the findings of their research before Aleixo Sequeira, Goa’s Environment Minister and chairman of the Goa State Biodiversity Board (GSBB).
They also shared a draft roadmap for the Goa government, saying that the “breakthrough” has vast economic and bioindustrial implications for Goa, which can benefit by sustainable use of this local mushroom species.
Explained
Human space flight mission : A status check (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Group Captain Prasanth Balakrishnan Nair, Group Captain Ajit Krishnan, Group Captain Angad Pratap, and Wing Commander Shubhanshu Shukla are India’s astronauts-designate for Gaganyaan, India’s first crewed space mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced.
All four Indian Air Force officers have had extensive experience as test pilots and are currently in training for the mission. Modi, who bestowed them with the prestigious astronaut wings, described them as “four forces” who represent the aspirations and optimism of 1.4 billion Indians.
The announcement was made at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thumba, Kerala, days after the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said it had successfully tested the human readiness of the cryogenic engine that will be used on the Gaganyaan mission vehicles.
The first mission flight, Gaganyaan-1, an unmanned test flight to check technology readiness, is expected by the end of 2024. The manned mission, which will take a three-member crew into a low earth orbit of 400 km altitude and return to Earth after three days, will follow.
Economy
Current approaches for addressing overfishing flawed : India at the WTO (Page no. 21)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
India urged the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) to introduce a moratorium on subsidies by Distant Water Fishing Nations for fishing related activities beyond their exclusive economic zone (EEZs) for a period of at least 25 years.
This came during the WTO negotiation session on fisheries subsidies in the ongoing Abu Dhabi Ministerial Conference-13, ministry of commerce and industry said in a statement.
India said that the members should not lose sight of the harmful effects of subsidies for large-scale fishing on sustainable fishing and management of marine resources. India explained that the current approaches for addressing Over Capacity and Over Fishing (OCOF) is deeply flawed.
During the negotiations, India reiterated its long-held positions that responsible and sustainable fisheries is a practice ingrained in the ethos and practices of India’s large and varied fishing community.
In that context, any comprehensive agreement on fisheries subsidies should keep in mind the interests and welfare of the fishing community that depends on the marine resources for their livelihood and sustenance.