Topic 1 : Performance-Based Navigation for helicopters

Context: PM lauds Asia’s first demonstration for Performance-Based Navigation for helicopters
 

What is Performance based navigation?

• Performance-based Navigation (PBN) redefines the aircraft’s required
  navigation capability from sensor (equipment) based to performance based.
• The foundation for Performance Based Navigation is area navigation or RNAV.
  • RNAV is a method of navigation which permits aircraft operation on any desired flight path within coverage of station-referenced navigation aids or within the limits of the capability of self- contained aids, or a combination of these.
• With the advent of area navigation, there was a requirement to define and standardize the
  capability.

Main benefits

• PBN offers significant advantages over the current sensor specific method (which uses ground based navigation aids), to develop airspace, ATS routes, instrument flight procedures, and obstacle clearance criteria.

What is GAGAN

What is GAGAN

• GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) is a step by the Indian Government towards initial Satellite-based Navigation Services in India.
• It is a system to improve the accuracy of a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) receiver by providing reference signals.
• Who developed GAGAN?
  • The Airports Authority of India (AAI) and Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) have collaborated to develop the GPS Aided Geo Augmented Navigation (GAGAN) as a regional Satellite Based Augmentation System (SBAS).
• Aims and objectives:
  • The GAGAN’s goal is to provide a navigation system to assist aircraft in accurate landing over the Indian airspace and in the adjoining area and applicable to safety-to-life civil operations.
  • GAGAN is inter-operable with other international SBAS systems.
  • GAGAN is the first Satellite-Based Augmentation System in the world which has been certified for approach with vertical guidance operating in the equatorial ionospheric region.
  • GAGAN covers the area from Africa to Australia and has expansion capability for seamless navigation services across the region.
  • GAGAN provides accuracy, availability, and integrity essential for each phase of flight, en route the approach for airports within the GAGAN service volume.
  • This makes airline operations more efficient and effective, increase air safety, and fuel efficiency.
  • One essential component of the GAGAN project is the study of the ionospheric behaviour over the Indian region.
    • This makes India the third country in the world which has such precision approach capabilities.
  • GAGAN has been developed for aviation but it will provide benefits to other sectors as well like transportation, railways, surveying, maritime, highways, telecom industry, and security agencies.

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Topic 2 : National Commission For Women

Context:The National Commission for Women (NCW) in collaboration with the Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII) announced the launch of 100 Entrepreneurship Awareness Programmes (EAPs) for potential women entrepreneurs across the country.
 

Key details:

• The aim of the one-day EAP is to orient participating women to the benefits of:
  • adopting entrepreneurship as a career,
  • learn the finer skills and
  • overcome social, economic, and familial barriers to becoming entrepreneurs.
• The EAPs are aimed at developing entrepreneurial skills among women so that they could gain knowledge, skills and motivation to build their own businesses.

About the Commission

• The National Commission for Women was set up as statutory body in 1992 under the National Commission for Women Act, 1990 to :

• review the Constitutional and Legal safeguards for women ;
• recommend remedial legislative measures ;
• facilitate redressal of grievances and
• advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women.

• Composition
  • A chairperson:
    • The chairperson of the NCW is nominated by the Central Government
  • a member secretary:
    • The Central Government also nominates the member secretary
  • five other members:
    • The five members nominated by the Central Government should be individuals with ability, standing and integrity.
• Functions
  • Presentation of reports:
    • Reports should be submitted to the Central Government every year.
  • Investigation and Examination related to the protection of the rights of women:
  • Review of all laws and their scrutiny. And necessary amendments and alterations are made to meet the needs of the current world. This is to meet any break, incapacity or any inadequacies in the legislation.
  • Ensure there is no violation against women and taking due care of such cases.
  • Suo Motu Notice:
    • It takes care of complaints and also suo motu matters about the deprivation of rights of women.
  • Evaluation:
    • Assessing the development and the progress of women under the Center and State level.
  • Research:
    • To make research and study to understand the needs of women.
    • This is to make a proper support system to help the women in need.
  • Inspection:
    • Inspect the jail, remand home to ensure that the women staying here are not exploited.

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Topic 3 : Telangana statehood day

Context: Political parties across the board are celebrating the 9th anniversary of Telangana’s statehood.
 

How Telangana became a state?

• Princely State of Hyderabad, post-independence Hyderabad State
  • Present-day Telangana comprised the south and south-east Telugu-speaking regions of the Princely State of Hyderabad.
  • In 1945, a communist-supported rebellion broke out in Telangana against the prevailing jagirdari (land-revenue) system.
  • The Nizam’s response was brutal, unleashing a local militia, known as the Razakars, on the protesting peasants.
  • Over the next few years, the Razakars committed numerous atrocities on Telangana’s population, and grew increasingly dominant in the state’s politics.
  • After Independence and the Partition in 1947, the Nizam of Hyderabad was unwilling to accede to India.
  • India signed the Standstill Agreement with Hyderabad in November 1947, which stated that all administrative agreements that were in place between the Nizam and the British Crown would continue between the Nizam and India
  • As the state started falling into anarchy, India intervened militarily, launching “Operation Polo” in September 1948.
  • Within a week, India had taken control of Hyderabad’s administration.
  • On January 26, 1951, when India became a republic, Hyderabad was accorded the status of a Part-B state, with the Nizam as the Rajpramukh and an elected chief minister.
• Linguistic reorganisation and the creation of Andhra Pradesh
  • In 1952, Potti Sriramalu went on a fast-unto-death demanding a separate Telugu state.
  • He died after 56 days, triggering unrest across the region and eventually leading to the formation of the Andhra State out of the north and north eastern regions of the Madras state in 1953.
• Thestruggle for Telangana and the creation of Telangana State
  • In September of 1973, Indira Gandhi initiated the 32nd Amendment to the Constitution, which declared that Andhra Pradesh would be divided into 6 zones, with reservation for jobs being decided on the basis of zones.
  • As a result, the original Mulki Rules Act was repealed, and the movement for Telangana lost some steam.
  • In 2009, K. Chandrashekhar Rao (KCR) began a fast-unto-death demanding statehood for Telangana.
  • Telangana came into existence around four and a half years later, in 2014.
  • KCR was the first chief minister and Hyderabad was chosen the joint capital of both Andhra and Telangana for a period of ten years, after which Andhra would have to shift its capital elsewhere.Topic 4 : Oil reserves in salt caverns

Context: Government-owned engineering consultancy firm Engineers India (EIL) is studying the prospects and feasibility of developing salt cavern-based strategic oil reserves in Rajasthan.
 

Key details:

• If the idea comes to fruition, India could get its first salt cavern-based oil storage facility.
• The country’s three existing strategic oil storage facilities — at Mangaluru and Padur in Karnataka, and Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh are made up of excavated rock caverns.
• Need for oil reserves:
  • Countries build strategic crude oil reserves to mitigate major supply disruptions in the global supply chain.
    • Strategic petroleum reserves (SPRs) are stockpiles of crude oil maintained by countries for release in the event of a supply disruption.
  • India, the world’s third-largest consumer of crude, depends on imports for more than 85% of its requirement .
  • Strategic petroleum reserves (SPR) could help ensure energy security and availability during global supply shocks and other emergencies.
• Current capacity of India:
  • India currently has an SPR capacity of 5.33 million tonnes, or around 39 million barrels of crude, that can meet around 9.5 days of demand.
  • The country is in the process of expanding its SPR capacity by a cumulative 6.5 million tonnes at two locations — Chandikhol in Odisha (4 million tonnes) and Padur (2.5 million tonnes).
  • India’s strategic oil reserves come under the Petroleum Ministry’s special purpose vehicle Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserve (ISPRL).
• Salt cavern-based reserves v. rock cavern-based reserves
  • Unlike underground rock caverns, which are developed through excavation, salt caverns are developed by the process of solution mining, which involves pumping water into geological formations with large salt deposits to dissolve the salt.
  • After the brine (water with dissolved salt) is pumped out of the formation, the space can be used to store crude oil.
  • The process is simpler, faster, and less cost-intensive than developing excavated rock caverns.
  • Salt cavern-based oil storage facilities are also naturally well-sealed, and engineered for rapid injection and extraction of oil.
  • This makes them a more attractive option than storing oil in other geological formations.
  • The salt that lines the inside of these caverns has extremely low oil absorbency, which creates a natural impermeable barrier against liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons, making the caverns apt for storage.
  • Also, unlike rock caverns, salt cavern-based storages can be created and operated almost entirely from the surface.
  • Salt caverns are also used to store liquid fuels and natural gas in various parts of the world.
  • They are also considered suitable for storing compressed air and hydrogen.

• Potential in India for storing crude, petroleum products
  • Rajasthan, which has the bulk of requisite salt formations in India, is seen as the most conducive for developing salt cavern-based strategic storage facilities.
  • A refinery is coming up in Barmer, and Rajasthan has crude pipelines as well.
  • Such infrastructure is conducive for building strategic oil reserves.
  • However, no Indian company had the requisite technical know-how to build salt cavern-based strategic hydrocarbon storage.
  • This gap in access to technology has been bridged by EIL’s recent partnership with Germany’s DEEP.

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Topic 5 : Sedition Law and the Law Commission

Context: Citing the Law Commission’s backing of Section 124A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which pertains to sedition, the Congress alleged that the government was planning to make the law more “draconian”.
 

What is the sedition law?

• It was drafted by British historian-politician Thomas Babington Macaulay in 1837.
• Sedition was defined as an act by ‘whoever, by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise, brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the Government established by law in India’
• The Sedition charge, which was included in Section 124 A of the Indian penal code in 1870, was imposed by the British Colonial government to primarily suppress the writings and speeches of prominent Indian freedom fighters.
• Writings of leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Lokmanya Tilak, and Jogendra Chandra Bose were suppressed and they were tried under sedition law for their comments on the British rule.
• As per section 124A, sedition is a non-bailable offence, punishable with imprisonment from three years up to life, along with a fine.
• The person charged under this law is also barred from a government job and their passport is seized by the government.
• Incidentally, the sedition charge was abolished by the United Kingdom in 2010.

Legal challenges to IPC Section 124A

• As early as 1950, the Supreme Court in Romesh Thapar v State of Madras held that criticism of the government exciting disaffection or bad feelings towards it, is not to be regarded as a justifying ground for restricting the freedom of expression and of the press, unless it is such as to undermine the security of or tend to overthrow the state.
• Subsequently, two high courts — the Punjab and Haryana High Court declared that Section 124A of the IPC was primarily a tool for colonial masters to quell discontent in the country and declared the provision unconstitutional.

The Kedar Nath ruling on sedition

• A five-judge Constitution Bench overruled the earlier rulings of the high courts and upheld the constitutional validity of IPC Section 124A.
• However, the court attempted to restrict its scope for misuse.
• The court held that unless accompanied by an incitement or call for violence, criticism of the government cannot be labelled sedition.
• The court also issued seven “guidelines”, underlining when critical speech cannot be qualified as sedition.
• In its guidelines the court said that only speech that is likely to incite “public disorder” would qualify as sedition.

Law Commission of India

• Law Commission of India is a non-statutory body that is constituted by a notification of the Government of India, with definite terms of reference to carry out research in the field of law.
• The Commission makes recommendations to the Government (in the form of Reports) as per its terms of reference.
• The Law Commission was first constituted in 1955, and has so far submitted 277 reports.
• Composition of the Law Commission

• A law commission comprises legal experts appointed by the Central Government.
• A law commission consists of
  • One chairman
  • One permanent member
  • One member secretary
  • Six part-time members
• Term:
  • Five years 
• 22nd Law Commission

• The Commission headed by Justice Awasthi is the 22nd Law Commission of India.
• The tenure of the 21st Law Commission, which was headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice B S Chauhan, came to an end on August 31 2018.
• The 22nd Commission has been constituted two and a half years after it was approved by the Union Cabinet on February 19, 2020.Topic 6 : Bima Vahak

Context: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) issued draft guidelines for Bima Vahak, a dedicated distribution channel to reach out to every Gram Panchayat.
 

Key details:

• A core component of its ‘Insurance for all by 2047’ goal, Bima Vahak will be the crucial last-mile connect for insurers in the form of a field force comprising corporate as well individual Bima

What is Bima Vahak ?

• Bima Vahak is an initiative by the IRDAI which would help reach the last mile.
• Each Gram Panchayat would have a ‘Bima Vahak’ who would be tasked to sell and service simple parametric bundled insurance products.
• Bima Vahak intends to form a women-centric insurance distribution channel.
• The initiative is likely to foster greater trust and build awareness about insurance products in the rural areas of India.
• The insurance companies have adopted a state each and with the help of state governments are looking to develop state-level insurance plans.
• Every insurer will be responsible for ensuring KYC and AML compliance concerning the policies sourced through individual Bima Vahaks and corporate Bima Vahaks.
• In the event of the termination of an individual Bima Vahak:  

• All the insurance policies serviced by the Bima Vahak shall be allotted, to another Bima Vahak, preferably within the same territory.  
• Every insurer shall make necessary arrangements to ensure uninterrupted service to the policyholders, including in situations where the termination is of a Corporate Bima Vahak, as per the Irdai guidelines

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What is IRDAI?

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) is an autonomous and statutory body which is responsible for managing and regulating insurance and re-insurance industry in India.
• Irdai is a 10-member body–
  • a chairman,
  • five full-time members and
  • four part-time members.
• It was constituted under an Act of Parliament in 1999.
• Headquarters: Hyderabad.
• Role:
  • It has to protect the interests of insurance policy holders and ensure that they are treated in a just manner.
  • It also has to monitor policy issuers to ensure that the common man’s interests are not subverted.