7 February 2024

• Governance: The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill 2024 passed in Parliament. It criminalises question paper leaks with up to 10 years imprisonment for organised crime links.
• Environment: Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen reported that rural sanitation coverage rose from 39 per cent in 2014 to 100 per cent in 2019; 85 per cent of villages achieved ODF Plus status.
• Science: IIT Kanpur developed India's first hypersonic testing facility, named Jigarthanda.
• Space: NASA's TESS satellite discovered the super-Earth exoplanet TOI-715b in the habitable zone of a red dwarf star.

GS area: Governance, Polity (Legislation)

The Bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament. It addresses the growing menace of question paper leaks and impersonation in large-scale competitive examinations.

• Scope: Covers examinations conducted by UPSC, SSC, Railway Recruitment Boards, IBPS (bank exams), and the National Testing Agency (NTA). State PSC examinations are outside this central legislation.
• Scale of the problem: The bill's statement of objects notes that 1.5 crore students were affected by paper leaks between 2016 and 2023, across more than 70 cases.
• Punishments:
  • Question paper leak, impersonation, or document tampering: 3 to 5 years imprisonment and a fine of up to 10 lakh rupees.
  • Organised crime link (a group engaged in unfair means as a business): 5 to 10 years imprisonment and a fine of up to 1 crore rupees.
• Ministry: Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which also oversees UPSC.

Static linkage: Polity (legislation, Parliament), Governance (examination integrity, DoPT).

GS area: Governance, Social Policy

A parliamentary assessment of Swachh Bharat Mission-Grameen reported official data on sanitation progress:

• Coverage: Rural sanitation coverage rose from 39 per cent before the mission (pre-2014) to 100 per cent open defecation free (ODF) status declared in 2019.
• ODF Plus: 85 per cent of villages have achieved ODF Plus status, which requires not only toilet construction but also solid and liquid waste management.
• Physical infrastructure: Over 6 lakh community and public toilets were constructed.
• Financial mobilisation: 20,000 crore rupees mobilised for waste management infrastructure.
• SBM-G Phase II: Focuses on sustainability and ODF Plus certification rather than just toilet construction.

The critical concern is the gap between reported ODF status and actual usage. Toilet construction is easier to count than behaviour change. Open defecation continues in many declared-ODF areas according to independent surveys.

Static linkage: Governance (government schemes, rural development, sanitation, ODF).

GS area: Polity (Judiciary)

The Supreme Court invoked Article 142 in a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Article 142 grants the Supreme Court the power to pass any order or decree as is necessary to do "complete justice" in any matter pending before it. This is an extraordinary power unique to the Supreme Court.

• Key features: Article 142 is wide enough to override ordinary statutory or procedural requirements if strict application would cause injustice. It cannot be used to override fundamental rights or ignore constitutional provisions.
• Common uses: Dissolution of marriage in cases of irretrievable breakdown (before the Hindu Marriage Act was amended); directions to clean up the Yamuna; contempt enforcement.
• POCSO Act: The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act 2012 prescribes mandatory minimum sentences for offences against children below 18 years.
• Distinction: Article 142 is exclusive to the Supreme Court. High Courts have no equivalent power.

Static linkage: Polity (Supreme Court, Article 142, POCSO, judicial powers).

GS area: Science and Technology (Defence Technology)

The Hypervelocity Expansion Tunnel at IIT Kanpur, named Jigarthanda, is India's first hypersonic aerodynamic testing facility capable of simulating the extreme conditions experienced by vehicles re-entering Earth's atmosphere or by hypersonic missiles.

• Capability: Simulates speeds of 3 to 10 kilometres per second (equivalent to approximately Mach 9 to Mach 30).
• Why it matters: Hypersonic vehicles (missiles, re-entry vehicles, aircraft) face extreme heat and pressure due to their speed. Testing in a tunnel allows engineers to verify designs without building costly prototypes.
• Defence application: India's DRDO is developing hypersonic cruise missiles under Project HSTDV. A domestic testing facility reduces dependence on foreign test ranges.
• IIT Kanpur: Funded through the Technology Innovation Hub on Aerospace and Defence, part of the National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber-Physical Systems.

Static linkage: Science and Technology (defence, aerospace, hypersonic technology).

GS area: Science and Technology (Space Science)

NASA's Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) discovered TOI-715b, a super-Earth orbiting a red dwarf star 137 light-years away.

• Super-Earth: A planet larger than Earth but smaller than Neptune. TOI-715b is approximately 1.5 times Earth's width.
• Habitable zone: The region around a star where liquid water could exist on a planet's surface. TOI-715b orbits within this zone.
• Red dwarf star (M-dwarf): The most common type of star in the galaxy. They are smaller, cooler, and longer-lived than the Sun. Their habitable zones are much closer to the star.
• TESS: Launched in 2018, TESS surveys the sky for planets by detecting the slight dimming of starlight as a planet passes in front of its host star (the transit method).
• Confirmation needed: The habitable zone position means conditions for liquid water are possible in principle. Atmospheric composition would need spectroscopic follow-up to assess habitability more concretely.

Static linkage: Science and Technology (space, exoplanets, TESS, astrobiology).

GS area: Geography (World Rivers)

The Mekong River was in the news in the context of upstream dam impacts. Key geography facts:

• Rank: The 12th longest river in the world; the third longest in Asia.
• Origin: Tibetan Plateau.
• Course: Flows through China (upper Mekong), then Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam before emptying into the South China Sea through the Mekong Delta.
• Lower Mekong: The stretch from China's border southward is also called the Lancang River in China.
• Challenge: Extreme seasonal fluctuations and navigation obstacles in the upper course. Chinese dams upstream alter seasonal flow patterns, affecting agriculture and fishing in downstream countries.
• Mekong Commission: The Mekong River Commission (MRC) coordinates water management for Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. China and Myanmar are dialogue partners but not full members.

Static linkage: Geography (world rivers, Asian rivers, international water disputes).

• GRAPES-3 experiment at Ooty: A cosmic ray research experiment run by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research at Ooty, Tamil Nadu. GRAPES-3 identified a new feature in the cosmic ray proton spectrum at an energy of 166 Tera-electron Volts, challenging the traditional single power-law model of cosmic ray energy distribution.
• Black-necked Crane: The only alpine crane species in the world. Found in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau. It is listed in Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 and Appendix I of CITES. Habitat loss due to development in high-altitude wetlands is the primary threat.