11 January 2024

• Polity: a comparison of India's and France's constitutions was prompted by Gabriel Attal becoming France's new Prime Minister.
• Science: 1.75-billion-year-old microfossils provided the oldest direct evidence of photosynthesis, connecting to the Great Oxidation Event.
• Space: NASA's Peregrine lunar lander suffered a propellant leak and was unable to land, ending the first US commercial moon attempt in 50 years.
• Society: sisal leaves were found to have higher absorption capacity than commercial sanitary pads, offering a sustainable alternative for menstrual hygiene.

GS area: Polity (comparative constitutions)

Gabriel Attal became France's new Prime Minister, described as France's first openly gay PM. This prompted a comparison of India's and France's constitutional systems.

• Secularism: India practises positive secularism, meaning the state engages with all religions, grants religious minorities special protections, and supports religious institutions. France practises laïcité (negative secularism), a strict separation of state and religion where no religious symbol may appear in public institutions.
• Executive structure: India has a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy with a ceremonial President and an executive Prime Minister. France has a semi-presidential system where the President holds substantial executive authority alongside the Prime Minister.
• Amendment: India's constitutional amendment under Article 368 is partly rigid (with special majority and sometimes state ratification) and partly flexible. France's constitution is relatively easier to amend.
• Unitary vs federal: India is a federal structure with a unitary bias. France is a unitary state.

Static linkage: comparative constitutions, Indian secularism.

GS area: Science and Technology (biology, palaeontology)

Researchers identified fossilised thylakoid membranes in 1.75-billion-year-old microfossils (Navifusa majensis) found off the Australian coast.

• Thylakoids: membrane-bound structures within chloroplasts where light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis occur. They are the seat of chlorophyll.
• Significance: the fossils provide the oldest direct physical evidence of oxygenic photosynthesis. Previously, evidence was indirect.
• Great Oxidation Event: approximately 2.4 billion years ago, photosynthetic cyanobacteria began releasing oxygen into Earth's atmosphere, transforming it from a reducing to an oxidising atmosphere. The new fossils push back evidence for photosynthetic life to 1.75 billion years ago.

Static linkage: origins of life, photosynthesis, biology.

GS area: Science and Technology (space)

NASA's Peregrine lunar lander, part of the Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative, suffered a propellant leak after launch and was unable to execute a soft landing on the Moon.

• CLPS: the Commercial Lunar Payload Services programme is a NASA initiative under which private companies carry payloads to the Moon. Astrobotic Technology built the Peregrine lander.
• Significance of the mission: it would have been the first US spacecraft to land on the Moon in over 50 years and the first private spacecraft to land there.
• India comparison: India's Chandrayaan-3 mission successfully soft-landed the Vikram lander near the Moon's south pole in August 2023, making India the fourth country and first to land near the south pole.

Static linkage: space technology, Moon missions, commercial space.

GS area: Economy, Environment (fisheries)

The ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, headquartered in Kochi, recommended introduction of a Marine Fishery Act to regulate fishing beyond India's territorial waters.

• CMFRI: established in 1947, joined ICAR in 1967. It is considered a leading tropical marine fisheries research institute globally.
• India's fisheries rank: India is the third-largest fish producer globally and second in aquaculture.
• Why the Act is needed: Indian fishermen operating in the Exclusive Economic Zone and beyond currently operate under scattered regulations. A unified law would also protect them legally when operating near international maritime boundaries.
• Key government schemes: Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (2020), National Policy on Marine Fisheries (2017), Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development Fund (2015).

Static linkage: fisheries policy, blue economy, maritime law.

GS area: Economy, Maritime

India planned to establish a Protection and Indemnity insurance entity (India Club) to insure ships operating on domestic routes.

• P&I insurance: Protection and Indemnity clubs are mutual insurance associations covering shipping liabilities such as oil spills, cargo damage, crew injury, and third-party claims. The International Group of P&I Clubs in London covers about 90 per cent of ocean-going vessels globally.
• Why India needs its own: India's ships operating domestically are dependent on London-based P&I clubs. A domestic P&I club would reduce foreign dependence and lower costs.
• Lead ministry: Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways.

Static linkage: maritime economy, shipping policy.

• Sisal leaf absorption: Stanford University researchers found that sisal leaves, after a mechanical and enzymatic process inspired by termite gut chemistry, can replace synthetic cotton in sanitary pads. The resulting material absorbs more liquid and requires no chemicals.
• PPVFR Act 2001: the Delhi High Court ruled in PepsiCo's favour regarding its FL 2027 potato variety. The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act, 2001 protects both breeder rights (for commercial varieties) and farmers' rights (for traditional and saved seeds).