17 August 2023

• Polity: The Supreme Court released a handbook to eliminate gender stereotypes from legal language and court proceedings.
• Social Issues: A Lancet RATIONS trial in Jharkhand found nutritional supplementation reduces TB incidence by 40 per cent.
• Science: ISRO confirmed Aditya-L1, India's first solar observatory mission, would be launched on 2 September 2023.
• Schemes: PM e-Bus Sewa was formally launched, providing 10,000 electric buses to 169 cities with central subsidy of 20,000 crore rupees.

GS area: Polity, Social Issues (women)

The Supreme Court of India released a 30-page handbook titled "Combating Gender Stereotypes" to guide judges and lawyers in eliminating biased language from court proceedings.

• Objective: Address the use of language in judgments that reinforces stereotypes about women's sexual behaviour, morality, or rationality.
• Examples of banned terms: The handbook identifies terms like "loose character," "promiscuous," or assumptions about consent based on dress or behaviour, and provides alternatives.
• Basis: The handbook flows from constitutional guarantees under Articles 14 (equality), 15 (non-discrimination on grounds of sex), and 21 (dignity of life).
• Context: Courts have been criticised for using language that discourages women from reporting sexual violence or that minimises perpetrator responsibility.
• Significance for prelims: The handbook illustrates how the judiciary interprets Article 21 (dignity) and Article 15 in concrete procedural contexts.

Static linkage: Women's rights, constitutional provisions, judicial procedures (GS Paper 1, Paper 2).

GS area: Social Issues, Health

The results of the RATIONS (Reducing Activation of Tuberculosis by Improving Nutritional Status) trial, conducted in Jharkhand, were published in the Lancet medical journal.

• Finding: Providing nutritional supplements to households with active TB patients reduced new TB infections by approximately 40 per cent among household contacts.
• Mechanism: TB incidence is strongly linked to undernutrition. Poorly nourished individuals have weakened immune systems and are more susceptible to infection.
• Mortality: Early weight gain among underweight TB patients reduced mortality by approximately 60 per cent.
• India and TB: India carries about 27 per cent of the world's TB burden. The National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP, formerly RNTCP) aims to eliminate TB by 2025.
• Ni-kshay Poshan Yojana: A central government scheme providing 500 rupees per month nutritional support to TB patients.
• Global context: TB remains the world's deadliest infectious disease by annual deaths. Treatment is through directly observed therapy with a standard drug regimen.

Static linkage: Public health, nutrition-disease linkage, government schemes (GS Paper 2).

GS area: Science and Technology (space)

ISRO confirmed that the Aditya-L1 mission would be launched on 2 September 2023 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.

• Mission objective: Study the Sun's outer atmosphere (corona and chromosphere), understand coronal heating, solar wind dynamics, and space weather events.
• Lagrange Point L1: The spacecraft will be placed in a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth Lagrangian Point 1, approximately 1.5 million km from Earth. An object at L1 is in a gravitational equilibrium between Earth and Sun, allowing uninterrupted solar observation.
• Key payload: Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VELC) can image the solar corona at 1.05 solar radii, very close to the solar surface. It is built by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics.
• Other payloads: Seven scientific instruments in total, including a Solar Wind Particle Experiment (ASPEX), magnetic field monitors, and X-ray spectrometers.
• STEREO comparison: NASA's STEREO spacecraft (launched 2006) uses twin spacecraft to image the full solar sphere. Aditya-L1 is India's first dedicated solar mission.

Static linkage: Space science, ISRO missions (GS Paper 3).

GS area: Environment, Governance, Urban Development

The PM e-Bus Sewa scheme was formally launched. It will deploy 10,000 electric buses in 169 cities across India.

• Central subsidy: 20,000 crore rupees for a 10-year operational support period.
• City eligibility: Cities with population below 5 lakh receive 50 buses; cities between 20 and 40 lakh population receive 150 buses.
• Employment: The scheme is expected to create 45,000 to 55,000 direct jobs.
• Business model: The scheme uses a Gross Cost Contract model where city transport bodies do not need to own buses. Private operators run buses under a fixed per-km payment.
• Charging infrastructure: The scheme includes provision for bus depot charging infrastructure.
• Urban transport context: Indian cities have severely inadequate public transport. Private vehicles dominate, causing congestion and emissions.

Static linkage: Urban transport, electric vehicles, climate policy (GS Paper 3).

GS area: International Relations, Health, Governance

India and the World Health Organization launched the Global Initiative on Digital Health at the G20 Digital Economy Working Group meeting in Gandhinagar.

• Objective: Create a platform for countries to share digital health solutions, enable interoperability of health data systems, and mobilise global investment in digital health infrastructure.
• India Stack: India offered to share its Digital Public Infrastructure (UPI, Aadhaar, DigiLocker) models as templates for other countries. The model of digital public goods has gained international recognition.
• Alignment: The GIDH aligns with India's G20 Presidency theme of "One Earth, One Family, One Future" applied to health.
• WHO's role: WHO would act as a managing entity, curating approved digital health solutions and assisting countries in their adoption.

Static linkage: Global health governance, digital public infrastructure, G20 (GS Paper 2).

• INS Vindhyagiri: The sixth vessel of the Project 17A stealth frigate programme was launched at Kolkata's Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) on 17 August 2023. Project 17A frigates are an upgraded version of the Shivalik class, with advanced stealth features and weapons systems.
• Harit Dhara: An ICAR-developed cattle feed supplement that reduces methane emissions from cattle by 17 to 20 per cent. It addresses the agricultural sector's contribution to greenhouse gas emissions. India has the world's largest cattle population.
• Microplastics in human hearts: A study published in the American Chemical Society found microplastics (polyethylene terephthalate and polyvinyl chloride) in the tissue of cardiac surgery patients. This is among the first evidence of microplastics in human heart tissue.