3 December 2024

• International: South Korea's National Assembly overturned President Yoon's martial law declaration within hours, in a dramatic test of democratic institutions.
• Space: ISRO was preparing to launch the European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission from Sriharikota on 4 December aboard PSLV-XL, with key corona-study objectives.
• Governance: The Lok Sabha seating arrangement rules entered the news after opposition parties raised disputes about seat allocation in the new Parliament building.
• Health: High-risk food reclassification by FSSAI brought packaged drinking water under enhanced scrutiny protocols.

GS area: International Relations

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol declared emergency martial law on the night of 3 December 2024. By the early hours of 4 December, the National Assembly had voted to lift it.

• Grounds cited: Yoon accused opposition parties of sympathising with "anti-state forces" and obstructing government functioning.
• Assembly response: 190 members of the 300-seat assembly voted to lift the declaration. The constitution requires a majority of members (not just those present) to overturn martial law.
• Historical context: South Korea last imposed martial law in 1980 during political upheaval that followed the assassination of President Park Chung-hee.
• Outcome: Yoon withdrew the declaration within six hours. Impeachment proceedings began in the National Assembly in the following days.
• India angle: South Korea is among India's significant trade and technology partners. Korean companies have major manufacturing investments in India's electronics and automobile sectors.
• Geographic note: South Korea borders North Korea along the DMZ at the 38th parallel and has coastlines on the Yellow Sea, Sea of Japan and East China Sea.

Static linkage: International relations (East Asia, democratic institutions).

GS area: Science and Technology

ISRO was set to launch the European Space Agency's Proba-3 mission from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota, on 4 December 2024, aboard a PSLV-XL rocket.

• Joint venture: European Space Agency (ESA) and ISRO. ISRO provides launch services; ESA owns the spacecraft.
• Objective: Demonstrate high-precision formation flying and study the Sun's corona continuously.
• Two spacecraft: The Coronagraph Spacecraft and the Occulter Spacecraft fly in tandem at millimetre-level precision 150 metres apart. The Occulter blocks the Sun's bright disc, allowing the Coronagraph to observe the corona.
• Scientific value: Natural solar eclipses allow only minutes of corona observation. Proba-3 can sustain six-hour corona observations per orbit.
• Corona significance: The corona is far hotter than the Sun's surface (millions of degrees versus 5,500 degrees Celsius at the surface). Understanding it helps predict space weather events that disrupt satellites and power grids on Earth.
• PSLV-XL: The extended version of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle, with six strap-on motors for additional thrust. It launched Chandrayaan-1 and the Mars Orbiter Mission.

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

GS area: Polity

With US President-elect Donald Trump's election victory raising questions about presidential pardons, the differences between the Indian and American pardon frameworks entered the UPSC radar.

• India, Article 72: The President can grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishment. The power covers offences against Union law, court-martial sentences and all death sentences. It is exercised on the advice of the Council of Ministers.
• Article 161: Governors can pardon in cases under state law, except for offences tried by courts-martial and death sentences (which remain with the President).
• USA, Article II, Section 2: The President's pardon power is entirely personal and requires no Cabinet advice. It covers only federal crimes. Governors pardon state-level crimes; most cannot pardon death sentences.
• Key difference: India's pardon power is constitutional but the President and Governor act on ministerial advice. The US President's power is personal and unreviewable.

Static linkage: Polity (executive powers, comparative constitutions).

GS area: Polity

Opposition parties raised questions about seating allocation in the new Parliament building after some members felt their seats were too far from the Speaker.

• Governing rules: Rule 4 and Direction 122(1)(a) under the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.
• Allocation principle: The Speaker determines seating based on proportionate party strength. The ruling party and its allies sit to the right of the Speaker; opposition parties sit to the left.
• Threshold: Parties with five or more members use a defined allocation formula. Smaller parties and independents are placed at the Speaker's discretion.
• New Parliament building: The new triangular building opened in May 2023. The Lok Sabha chamber seats 888 members, designed for future expansion after delimitation.

Static linkage: Parliament and state legislatures (Polity).

GS area: Science and Technology

Research on extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) offered new leads for cancer treatment.

• Definition: Circular DNA fragments that break away from chromosomes and float freely in the cell nucleus, outside the normal chromosome structure.
• Prevalence in cancer: Found in about 17 per cent of tumour samples. More common in liposarcomas, brain cancers and breast cancers.
• How it drives cancer: ecDNA carries multiple copies of oncogenes (cancer-promoting genes). Because it does not follow Mendel's laws of independent assortment, it amplifies resistance to treatment rapidly.
• New drug lead: BBI-2779, a CHK1-inhibitor, selectively targets cells with ecDNA-driven oncogene amplification. It is in early trials.
• Why it matters for UPSC: Science questions routinely test understanding of DNA structure and cancer biology. The distinction between chromosomal and extrachromosomal DNA is testable.

Static linkage: Science and technology (biology, cancer research).

GS area: Science and Technology, Governance

A Punjab and Haryana High Court case on AI-generated content in academic submissions highlighted regulatory challenges.

• Beneficial uses of AI in education: Personalised learning, automated grading, plagiarism detection, and accessibility tools for differently abled students.
• Risks: Academic malpractice (submitting AI-generated text as original work), skill erosion in writing and critical thinking, and algorithmic bias in grading systems.
• Regulatory gap: No central policy in India mandates disclosure of AI use in academic submissions. The court case raised whether existing academic misconduct rules cover AI-generated content.
• Global approaches: The UK, USA and Australia have begun revising academic integrity frameworks to address AI. UNESCO released guidance on AI in education in 2023.

Static linkage: Science and technology (AI ethics), governance (education).

• Windfall Gains Tax withdrawn: The Government of India withdrew the Windfall Gains Tax, which had been levied since July 2022 on domestic crude oil and exports of diesel, petrol and aviation turbine fuel. The tax, structured as Special Additional Excise Duty, had collected about 25,000 crore rupees in FY 2023.
• NCVET anniversary: The National Council for Vocational Education and Training (NCVET) was founded on 5 December 2018 (operational from August 2020). It functions under the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to regulate, monitor and standardise vocational education.