The milestones of Chandrayaan-2, India’s second lunar probe                              

Yoga training included in ‘Study in India’ Program                                                  

Speed restrictions and sound alerts mooted for protection of dolphins               

Next Dalai Lama must be chosen within China; India should not intervene          

India is home to 1,256 species of orchid, says first comprehensive survey          

Sexual offence cases not being probed in stipulated time: Report                        

Draft Model Tenancy Act                                                                                             

The milestones of Chandrayaan-2, India’s second lunar probe

GS PAPER - 03 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology.

Context :

• Chandrayaan 2, India’s second lunar mission, was scheduled to be launched on 15 July from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Andhra Pradesh. However, the launch got delayed due to technical issues.

Chandrayaan 2 :

• Chandrayaan 2 is ISRO’s first attempt to make a soft landing on the Moon.

  • If successful, India will join the US, the former Soviet Union, and China—the only three other nations to have soft landed on the moon.

• Chandrayaan-2 will comprise of an Orbiter, Lander named ‘Vikram’ and Rover named ‘Pragyan’

• The orbiter will circle the moon and provide information about its surface, while the lander will make a soft landing on the surface and send out the rover. The rover will be used mostly for in situ experiments.

• The entire lifecycle of the Lander and Rover will be one lunar day, which is equivalent to 14 earth days while the Orbiter will continue for one year.

• Chandrayaan-2 will carry out extensive three-dimensional mapping of the topography of the lunar South Pole region. It will also determine its elemental composition and seismic activity. If successful, India will be the first country to soft land on lunar South Pole. So far, all the landing on the moon have taken place in the equatorial region

• The mission would also try to assess the abundance and distribution of water on the lunar surface.

                                                                                                                    Source :- Indian Express

Yoga training included in ‘Study in India’ Program

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• The Government has also included Yoga training in the “Study in India” programme to encourage Yoga seekers from abroad to obtain authentic Yoga training in India.

More in the news:

• University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved  the establishment of an Inter University Centre-Yogic Science at Bengaluru and introduced Yoga as a new National Eligibility Test (NET) subject from January 2017 UGC-NET onwards.

• Further, in order to promote Yoga in the country, Yoga Departments have been established in nine Central Universities.                     

• The Government has set up a Yoga Certification Board (YCB) to standardize and strengthen Yoga training by providing certification to individuals and accreditation to Institutions.

                                                                                                                                      Source :- PIB

Speed restrictions and sound alerts mooted for protection of dolphins

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT  - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• The Ministry of Shipping has planned to safeguard the population of the Ganges River Dolphin in Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary (VGDS) by restricting the speeds of vessels and blowing sirens and horns.

Measures taken :

• The measures are an attempt to minimise the impact of National Waterway-1 connecting Haldia to Varanasi which passes through the Vikramshila Gangetic Dolphin Sanctuary.

• fitting vessels with propeller guards and dolphin deflectors to minimise dolphin accidents and using non-toxic paints for painting vessels.

                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

Next Dalai Lama must be chosen within China; India should not intervene

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - India and its neighborhood- relations.

Context :

• The successor of the Dalai Lama has to be decided within China and any interference by India on the issue will impact bilateral ties, Chinese authorities have said.

More in the news:

• China will reject any reincarnation of the Dalai Lama born among Tibetan exiles in India or elsewhere.

• China also expects India not to recognize any successor to the Tibetan spiritual leader chosen by the Tibetan government in exile who is not endorsed by China.

• The reincarnation of the Dalai Lama is a historical and controversial issue.

• Following the Buddhist belief in the principle of reincarnation, the current Dalai Lama is believed by Buddhists to be able to choose the body into which he is reincarnated.
   

  • That person, when found, will then become the next Dalai Lama.

  • According to Buddhist scholars it is the responsibility of the High Lamas of the Gelugpa tradition and the Tibetan government to seek out and find the next Dalai Lama following the death of the incumbent.

  • If more than one candidate is identified, the true successor is found by officials and monks drawing lots in a public ceremony.

  • Once identified, the successful candidate and his family are taken to Lhasa (or Dharamsala) where the child studies the Buddhist scriptures in order to prepare for spiritual leadership.

• But , According to China, there was a well-established procedure for recognizing the reincarnation of the Dalai Lama,
   

  • One of the conditions was that the name of the successor was pulled out of golden urns found in the Jokhang Temple (one of the most sacred monasteries of Tibetan Buddhism situated in Lhasa) and the Potala Palace which was the residence of the Dalai Lama till he fled to India in 1959.

  • The second was the reincarnation getting the approval of the Chinese government.

                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu ; Live mint

India is home to 1,256 species of orchid, says first comprehensive survey

GS PAPER - 03 ENVIRONMENT - Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment

Context :

• The Botanical Survey of India has come up with the first comprehensive census of orchids of India putting the total number of orchid species or taxa to 1,256.

Orchids of india :

• The 1,256 species or taxa of orchids belong are found in India.
   

• 388 species of orchids are endemic to India of which about one-third (128) endemic species are found in Western Ghats.
   

• The publication also contains photographs of 775 species.
   

• While north-east India rank at the top in species concentration, the Western Ghats have high endemism of orchids.
   

• The highest number of orchid species is recorded from Arunachal Pradesh with 612 species, followed by Sikkim 560 species and West Bengal.
   

• Among the 10 bio geographic zones of India, the Himalayan zone is the richest in terms of orchid species followed by Northeast, Western Ghats, Deccan plateau and Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

Categories into 3 life forms :

• Epiphytic - plants growing on other plants including those growing on rock boulders and often termed lithophyte

  • The epiphytic orchids are abundant up to 1800 m above the sea level and their occurrence decreases with the increase in altitude.

• Terrestrial - plants growing on land and climbers.

  • Terrestrial orchids, which grow directly on soil, are found in large numbers in temperate and alpine region

• Mycoheterotrophic  - plants which derive nutrients from mycorrhizal fungi that are attached to the roots of a vascular plant.

  • mycoheterotrophic orchids, mostly associated with ectomycorrhizal fungi, are found in temperate regions, or are found growing with parasites in tropical regions.

                                                                                                                         Source :- The Hindu

Sexual offence cases not being probed in stipulated time: Report

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Context :

• In February 2019, the Union Home Ministry launched an analytics tool — Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences (ITSSO) to monitor and track time-bound investigation.
   

• ITSSO is part of the Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and System (CCTNS) that connects over 15,000 police stations across the country.

Key Findings:

• According to the ITSSO analysis of crime data in the 7 States — Haryana, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh. Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand — investigation into nearly half the sexual offences cases are not being completed within the stipulated 60-day period.
   

• To check sexual crimes against women and children, the Centre approved the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2018 last year which prescribed the time-limit for completion of investigation.
   

• In many States, the fast-track courts designated to handle rape cases are also handling other criminal cases leading to delay in verdicts.

• The Supreme Court noted last week that trial had been completed in only 4% of the 24,000 cases of sexual offences that were filed from January to June.

                                                                                                                       Source :- The Hindu

Draft Model Tenancy Act

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

Context :

• The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has drafted a ‘Model Tenancy Act’, 2019 .

‘Model Tenancy Act’, 2019  :

• ‘Model Tenancy Act’, 2019 which envisages to balance the interest and rights of both the owner and tenant and to create an accountable and transparent ecosystem for renting the premises in disciplined and efficient manner.

•  It will enable creation of adequate rental housing stock for various income segments of society including migrants, formal and informal sector workers, professionals, students etc. and increase access to quality rented accommodation, enable gradual formalization of rental housing market. 

• It will help overhaul the legal framework vis-à-vis rental housing across the country.

• It is also expected to give a fillip to private participation in rental housing for addressing the huge housing shortage across the country.

Key Features :

• MTA stipulates a robust grievance redressal mechanism comprising of Rent Authority, Rent Court and Rent Tribunal.

•    It has been proposed to cap the security deposit equal to a maximum of two month’s rent in case of residential properties and, a minimum of one month’s rent in case of non-residential property.

•    After coming into force of this Act, no person shall let or take on rent any premises except by an agreement in writing.

•    The Model Act provides for its applicability for the whole of the State i.e. urban as well as rural areas in the State.

•    Within two months of executing rental agreement both landowner and tenant are required to intimate to the Rent Authority about the agreement and within seven days a unique identification number will be issued by the Rent Authority to both the parties.

•    A digital platform will be set up in the local vernacular language of the State for submitting tenancy agreement and other documents.

• A copy of the draft Act has also been shared with the States/UTs for seeking their views/comments.

•    Once finalized the Model Act will be shared with the States/Union Territory (UTs) for adoption.

Need :

• The Model Act would bring 1.1 crore houses lying vacant (according to Census 2011) into the rental market, and would promote the growth of the rental housing segment.
   

• The existing rent control laws are restricting the growth of rental housing and discourage owners from renting out their vacant houses due to fear of repossession.

                                                                                                         Source :- Indian Express

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