23 March 2024

• History: 23 March is Martyrs' Day (Shaheed Diwas), the anniversary of the execution of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru in 1931 in the Lahore Conspiracy Case.
• International: Operation Indravati was launched on 21 March 2024 to evacuate Indian nationals from Haiti to the Dominican Republic amid escalating gang violence.
• Science: ISRO completed the second Reusable Launch Vehicle Landing Experiment (RLV-LEX-02, codename Pushpak), demonstrating autonomous landing of a winged reentry vehicle.
• Reports: The Global E-waste Monitor 2024 recorded 62 million tonnes of electronic waste generated in 2022, an 82 per cent increase since 2010.

GS area: History (modern India, freedom struggle)

23 March 1931 is the date Bhagat Singh was executed at Lahore Central Jail along with Sukhdev Thapar and Shivaram Rajguru in the Lahore Conspiracy Case. Facts that recur in UPSC:

• Born: 27 September 1907 in Banga (now in Punjab, Pakistan).
• Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA): Bhagat Singh joined in 1924. The HSRA sought to replace British rule with a socialist republic.
• Naujawan Bharat Sabha (1925): a mass-mobilisation organisation founded by Bhagat Singh to bring peasants and workers into the nationalist movement.
• The Central Assembly bombing (1929): Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw smoke bombs in the Central Legislative Assembly to dramatise the demand for political prisoners' rights. The intent was to "make the deaf hear," not to kill.
• Why I Am an Atheist: a seminal essay written in jail, arguing against religion as an opium and for a rational, socialist worldview.
• Age at execution: 23 years old.

Static linkage: History (modern India, freedom struggle, revolutionary movements).

GS area: International Relations, Disaster management

The Indian government launched Operation Indravati on 21 March 2024 to evacuate Indian nationals from Haiti to the Dominican Republic.

Context:

• Haiti's crisis: armed gangs besieged Port-au-Prince following coordinated prison raids that freed thousands of inmates. A state of emergency was declared. Prime Minister Ariel Henry was unable to return from overseas.
• Geography: Haiti occupies the western third of the island of Hispaniola; the Dominican Republic occupies the eastern two-thirds. Port-au-Prince is the Haitian capital.
• Haiti's history: the first Black republic, established 1804 following the Haitian Revolution against French colonial rule.

Static linkage: International relations, geography.

GS area: Science and Technology (space)

ISRO completed the second Reusable Launch Vehicle Landing Experiment (RLV-LEX-02) at Challakere, Karnataka. The vehicle is named Pushpak.

• What it demonstrated: autonomous approach and landing of a winged spacecraft from altitude, using a helicopter release. The vehicle stabilised, navigated and landed on its own.
• Why it matters: current launch vehicles are expendable. A reusable winged vehicle can re-enter the atmosphere, land on a runway and be refurbished for another mission, dramatically reducing the per-launch cost.
• First experiment: RLV-LEX-01 was completed in April 2023 at Challakere.
• Broader programme: ISRO's TSTO (Two Stage to Orbit) concept envisions a fully reusable orbital vehicle.

Static linkage: Science and technology (ISRO, space).

GS area: Environment

The Global E-Waste Monitor 2024 released data:

• Global e-waste generated in 2022: 62 million tonnes.
• Growth since 2010: an 82 per cent increase, making it the world's fastest-growing waste stream.
• Projected 2030: 82 million tonnes (a further 32 per cent increase).
• India: the third-largest e-waste generator globally with approximately 4,137 million kg (4.1 million tonnes).
• Recycling rate: only about 22 per cent of e-waste is formally documented as collected and recycled.

E-waste contains both hazardous materials (lead, mercury, cadmium) and valuable recoverable materials (gold, silver, copper, palladium). India's E-Waste Management Rules 2022 update the EPR framework for producers of electronic goods.

Static linkage: Environment (e-waste, pollution).

• Lancet Global Burden of Disease study: India's Total Fertility Rate is projected to fall to 1.29 by 2050, well below replacement level of 2.1. The study covered data from 1950 to 2021 and found the global TFR halved from 4.84 to 2.23.
• ILO Profits and Poverty Report: 27 million people in forced labour globally (2021 data), generating illegal profits of approximately USD 236 billion. The ILO Protocol of 2014 to the Forced Labour Convention requires states to implement anti-forced labour laws and provide victim support.
• Right Whales: North Atlantic Right Whale (critically endangered) populations are declining partly because smaller, less well-fed females produce fewer calves. Climate change reduces their zooplankton prey in the northwest Atlantic.