Context: On January 16, Thiruvalluvar Day was observed to mark the birth anniversary of the poet.  Thiruvalluvar Day was first celebrated on May 17 and 18 in 1935.

• In the present time, it is usually observed either on January 15 or 16 in Tamil Nadu and is a part of Pongal celebrations.

Who was Thiruvalluvar?

Except for his work, nothing much is known about Thiruvalluvar’s life.

• Among Tamils, poet and philosopher Thiruvalluvar is regarded as a cultural icon.
• In the early 16th century, a temple was built within the Ekambareswarar temple complex in Mylapore and it was dedicated to Thiruvalluvar.
• So, it is believed that he used to live in the town of Mylapore, which in today’s time is a neighborhood in Chennai.
• Some accounts say that he lived from the 8th to the 9th century.

Thiruvalluvar’s Famous Work:

• His most popular work is Thirukkuṛaḷ, which has 1330 couplets (kurals), and it is basically a collection of couplets on politics, ethics, economy, and love.
• The couplets define moral living, ideal characteristics of every relationship in the world, moral responsibilities of every human born in the earth.

Valluvar year:

• The Valluvar year is a type of calendar system which has additional 31 years. For instance, the Valluvar year of 2022 (Gregorian year) is 2053.
• It was the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu M Karunanidhi who initiated the idea of Valluvar Day.

Significance:

• The Tamil saint-poet neither mentioned his religion and caste nor his place of birth and language in any of the verses nor did he highlight his ideas about a particular religion or ritual.
• He has influenced a wide range of scholars through the years in disciplines like ethics, politics, economics, philosophy and spirituality. He is a venerated figure in Tamil culture.

Source: PIB

Context: Scientists have reported the first evidence of the presence of solitary waves or distinct electric field fluctuations in the Martian magnetosphere.

Highlights:

• For the first time, a research team from the Indian Institute of Geomagnetism (IIG) has identified and reported the solitary waves in the Martian magnetosphere.
• These waves were reported with the help of high-resolution electric field data recorded by Langmuir Probe and Waves instrument on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft of NASA.
• The magnetosphere is weak but highly dynamic and formed due to the direct interaction of solar winds with the Martian atmosphere.

Significanceof the finding:

• Unlike Earth, the planet Mars do not have any intrinsic magnetic field. This allows the high-speed solar wind to interact directly with the Mars atmosphere, like an obstacle in flow.
• It has been suggested that even in a weak and thin magnetosphere as that of the Mars, one can observe frequent occurrences of solitary waves.
• However, despite several missions to Mars, the presence of solitary waves in the Martian magnetosphere has never been reported earlier.
• The study of these waves is crucial as they directly control particle energization, plasma loss, transport, etc., through wave-particle interactions.

What are the Solitary waves?

A solitary wave is a localized "wave of translation" that arises from a balance between nonlinear and dispersive effects. In most types of solitary waves, the pulse width depends on the amplitude.

Key points about Solitary waves on the Mars:

• Solitary waves are the distinct electric field fluctuations (bipolar or monopolar) that follow constant amplitude-phase relations.
• Their shape and size are less affected during their propagation.
• These pulses are dominantly seen in the dawn and afternoon-dusk sectors at an altitude of 1000–3500 km around the Mars.
• The dominant occurrence of solitary waves in the dawn and dusk sector is still a mystery and needs further investigation.
• Through simulations, it is found that the spatial extent of these structures is very small (30-330 meters).
• These waves are known to be responsible for the plasma energization and its transport in Earth’s magnetosphere.

Source: PIB

Context: According to Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) the organisation is yet to receive approval from the Indian government for the Venus mission and that the mission could as a result be postponed to 2031.

• ISRO’s Venus mission, called Shukrayaan I, initially was expected to be launched in December 2024.

Launch Window: The orbital manoeuvres for launching of the Mission are most conducive when earth and Venus would be so aligned that the spacecraft could be put in the neighbouring planet's orbit using a minimum amount of propellant.

• The next similar window would be available in 2031.
• Optimal launch windows from Earth to Venus occur once around every 19 months.
• This is why ISRO has ‘backup’ launch dates in 2026 and 2028 should it miss the 2024 opportunity.

What is the Shukrayaan I?

• Shukrayaan I will be an orbiter mission.
• Its scientific payloads currently include a high-resolution synthetic aperture radar and a ground-penetrating radar.
• The mission is expected to study Venus’s geological and volcanic activity, emissions on the ground, wind speed, cloud cover, and other planetary characteristics from an elliptical orbit.

Subsurface Investigation: ‘Shukrayaan-I’ plans to investigate the surface processes and shallow sub-surface study of rock layers, active volcanic hotspots, and lava flows and its patterns.

Other mission to Venus:

• Both the U.S. and the European space agencies have Venus missions planned for 2031 — referring to VERITAS and EnVision, respectively.
• China might launch its own mission for venus in upcoming years.

Source: The Hindu

Context: recently, a report on inequality - “Survival of the Richest: The India story”- was released by Oxfam India.

Key points of the report:

• India's top 1% owned more than 40.5% of its total wealth in 2021.
• In 2022, the number of billionaires in the country increased to 166 from 102 in 2020.
• The bottom half of the population own just 3% of wealth.
• Disparity: More than 40% of the wealth created in the country from 2012 to 2021 had gone to just 1% of the population while only 3% had trickled down to the bottom 50%.
• Tax: The country's poor and middle class were taxed more than the rich, Oxfam said.
• The rich, currently, benefited from reduced corporate taxes, tax exemptions and other incentives.
• GST: Approximately 64% of the total goods and services tax (GST) in the country came from the bottom 50% of the population, while only 4% came from the top 10%.

Suggestion given in the report:

• To correct this disparity, there is need to implement progressive tax measures such as wealth tax in the upcoming budget.
• A 2% tax on the entire wealth of India's billionaires would support the nutrition of the country's malnourished population for the next three years.
• A 1% wealth tax could fund the National Health Mission, India's largest healthcare scheme for more than1.5 years.
• Taxing the top 100 Indian billionaires at 2.5% or taxing the top 10 Indian billionaires at 5% would nearly cover the entire amount required to bring an estimated 150 million children back into school.

What is Oxfam?

Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International.

Source: BBC.

Context:

India has suggested several changes to the International Health Regulations (IHR) in a proposal.

Amendments proposed by India:

1. Implement IHR in “accordance with (the) common but differentiated responsibilities of the States Parties, taking into consideration their social and economic development”.
2. Assess human health in congruence with animal and environment health to promote One Health.
3. Include a provision for an intermediate public health alert in the event where an outbreak doesn’t yet meet the criteria for a public health emergency of international concern but requires timely mitigating measures.
4. Ensure greater accountability from the World Health Organization (WHO) in how the IHR is implemented and whether Member States are complying.
5. The Director-General should report all activities under the IHR to the World Health Assembly, particular instances when Member States did not share information.

What are IHR?

The International Health Regulations (IHR) are a legally binding instrument of the World Health Organization (WHO) that are designed to prevent, protect against, control and provide a public health response to the international spread of disease.

• The IHR were first adopted in 1969.
• The IHR establish a framework for national and international surveillance, response and cooperation in the event of a public health emergency of international concern.
• Under the IHR, countries are required to notify WHO of any events that may constitute a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC), and to take the necessary measures to prevent the international spread of diseases.

Sources: WHO.

• The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in November 2013 by NASA.
• It is the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.
• The goal of MAVEN is to determine the role that loss of atmospheric gas to space played in changing the Martian climate through time.

Langmuir Probe:

The Langmuir Probe (LMP) is an onboard scientific instrument of the satellite, its objective is to determine the parameters of the plasma in the upper regions of the Earth’s atmosphere (i.e., ionosphere).

Sources: Times of India.

Venus is often called as Earth's twin as it is similar in size and density but they are not identical twins as there are radical differences between the two planet worlds.

1. Venus is the second planet from the Sun and is the closest planetary neighbor to the Earth.
2. It is one of the four inner, terrestrial (or rocky) planets.
3. Venus is the hottest planet in our solar system, even though Mercury is closer to the Sun.
4. Venus rotates on its axis backward, compared to most of the other planets in the solar system.
5. The planet is shrouded in thick, yellowish clouds of sulfuric acid that trap heat and has a thick and toxic atmosphere filled with carbon dioxide.
6. Venus has crushing air pressure at its surface, which is 90 times more than that of Earth. This is similar to the pressure one would encounter a mile below the ocean on Earth.
7. It has a rust-coloured solid surface that is covered with dome-like volcanoes, mountains and rifts expansive volcanic plains and vast ridged plateaus.
8. Scientists think it is possible for some of the volcanoes to be still active.

Source: NASA Solar System Exploration

Context:

Last week, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi's suggestion to change the state's name to 'Tamizhagam' caused a stir, with several political parties criticizing his statement and recalling the past efforts to rename Madras State as Tamil Nadu.

• On January 14, 1969, the Madras State was officially renamed Tamil Nadu, under the then Chief Minister CN Annadurai.

What is the procedure of renaming of a state?

• The procedure can be initiated by either the Parliament or the State Legislator.
• Parliamentary approval is required under Article 3 and 4 of the Constitution.
• A bill for renaming a state may be introduced in the Parliament on the recommendation of the President.
• Before the bill is presented, the President will send it to the state assembly for their opinion, within a specified time frame. The opinion of the state assembly is not mandatory for the President or the Parliament to follow.
• After the state assembly has had a chance to express their views on the proposed name change, the bill is sent to the Parliament for further discussion.
• To become a law, the bill must be passed by a simple majority of the members in the parliament. Once it passes, the bill is sent to the President for final approval. If the President gives his approval, the bill becomes a law and the state's name is officially changed.

If the initiation is by state:

The process for renaming a state in India begins with the submission of a proposal from the state government to the Home Ministry. The Home Ministry will then prepare a document for the Union Cabinet to amend Schedule 1 of the Constitution. After that, a bill for constitutional amendment will be introduced in the Parliament and needs to be passed by a simple majority before it is sent to the President for final approval.

Sources: Indian Express

Context:

As Vice President Dhankar rekindled the debate over the "Basic Structure" doctrine, the name Kesavananda Bharati has come to the forefront. His legal battle in the Supreme Court led to the landmark verdict on the doctrine.

Who was Kesvananda Bharati?

• Kesavananda Bharati was the head seer of the Edneer Mutt in Kerala, India.
• He is remembered for challenging the Kerala land reforms legislation in 1970 in a case that reached the Supreme Court.
• The case, His Holiness Kesavananda Bharati Sripadagalvaru and Ors v State of Kerala, was primarily about the extent of Parliament's power to amend the Constitution.
• A 13-judge Bench was set up by the Supreme Court and the case was heard over 68 working days spread over six months.

The judgment:

The basic structure doctrine was evolved in the majority judgment which held that fundamental rights cannot be taken away by amending them, but drew the line by observing that certain parts are so inherent and intrinsic to the Constitution that even Parliament cannot touch it.

Sources: Indian Express.

Context:

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju has suggested the inclusion of a government nominee in the decision-making process for the shortlisting of judges. The suggestion is that the “evaluation committee” for Supreme Court and High Court judges should include a government nominee. The letter is yet to be discussed by the Collegium.

What does the letter imply?

According to Union Minister Rijiju’s letter, government representatives should be a part of the Supreme Court and High Court Collegiums. This would be a major departure from the existing system where the Collegiums comprise solely of senior judges.

Need for:

According to Rijiju, the role played by the government in choosing judges is vital, since judges themselves do not have access to reports and other information that the government does.

The current system:

The Supreme Court Collegium consists of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and four senior-most judges of the apex court.

• The High Court Collegium consists of the Chief Justice of the High Court and two senior-most judges of that particular court. Recommendations made by the Collegium are binding: while the government can flag concerns and ask the Collegium to reconsider, if the Collegium chooses to reiterate its recommendations, they become binding.

How is it different from NJAC?

The NJAC is the central feature of a long-standing proposal to do away with the Collegium. In 2014, through the 99th Amendment to the Constitution, the government passed a bill that would set up the NJAC, giving it significantly more say in the appointment of judges.

• The NJAC was to comprise the Chief Justice of India as the ex officio Chairperson, two senior-most Supreme Court Judges as ex officio members, the Union Minister of Law and Justice as ex officio member, and two eminent persons from civil society.
• However, after a Supreme Court judgement struck down this new amendment, the government was forced to repeal the law.

Kiren Rijiju’s latest recommendation is markedly different – instead of proposing a new forum altogether, he recommends changing the existing mechanism of judicial appointments to include representatives of the Centre.

Sources: Indian Express.

The 21st Edition of the Bilateral Naval Exercise between India and France – Exercise Varuna commenced on the Western Seaboard.

• While the bilateral exercise between the two navies were initiated in 1993, it was christened as ‘VARUNA’ in 2001.
• It has become a hallmark of India – France strategic bilateral relationship.
• The exercise facilitates operational level interaction between the two navies to foster mutual cooperation for good order at sea, underscoring the shared commitment of both nations to security, safety and freedom of the global maritime commons.

Source: Financial Express.

Context: Rajasthan has become the first State to implement a policy to control blindness, with the objective of ensuring the “right to sight”.

Key points:

• The prevalence rate of blindness, which was 1.1% in 2020, will be brought down to 0.3%, through the policy.
• The state government will provide free screening and treatment for eye diseases, including cataract surgeries.
• The policy also includes measures to prevent blindness caused by diabetes, hypertension, and other non-communicable diseases.
• The state government has set up a committee to monitor and implement the policy, and to ensure that it reaches the most marginalized and remote communities in the state.

Source: Business Standard.

Context: India's first Centre of Excellence for online gaming will be established in Shillong, Meghalaya.

Key points:

• The Centre will be set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).
• The Centre will focus on research and development of games, as well as training and skill development for game developers.
• It will also serve as a hub for the gaming industry in the region, providing support for start-ups and small and medium enterprises.
• The Centre will also promote the development of games in regional languages and those based on Indian culture.

Source: Live Mint.

Context: recently, a 5G-enabled drone has been developed by startup firm IG Drones. Startup firm IG Drones is born out of the Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology (VSSUT) campus in Odisha's Sambalpur.

• The drone is named as ‘Skyhawk’ and it is considered as India's first 5G-enabled drone.
• The drone is capable of providing high-speed internet to remote areas.
• The drone is also equipped with a range of sensors and cameras, which can be used for monitoring and surveillance.
• The development of 5G-enabled drones is part of India's efforts to harness technology for economic growth and development.

Source: TOI

The Business Confidence Index (BCI) released by the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) for the Oct-Dec 2022 quarter shows a significant rebound, reaching 67.6, its highest reading in almost 2 years.

• This reflects optimism among industry leaders in India despite rising global economic uncertainties.
• The BCI is an important indicator of future developments in production, orders, and stocks of finished goods in the industry sector. According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the BCI is based on opinion surveys of industry leaders.
• The CII, established in 1895 and headquartered in New Delhi, is a non-governmental and not-for-profit organization led and managed by industry leaders.

Context:

Antibiotic resistance is a growing problem that poses a significant threat to public health. It occurs when bacteria evolve to become resistant to the drugs that were once able to kill them. This means that infections that were once easily treatable can now become life-threatening.

Background:

The overuse and misuse of antibiotics have contributed to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, making it a pressing ethical issue.

The Problem:

• Antibiotic resistance is a significant public health issue that can lead to increased morbidity and mortality. It can also lead to longer hospital stays, increased healthcare costs, and a decrease in the effectiveness of medical procedures that rely on antibiotics, such as organ transplants and chemotherapy.
• Furthermore, the lack of new antibiotics being developed to replace those that have become ineffective is a major concern, as it leaves healthcare professionals with fewer treatment options.

Ethical Implications:

The overuse and misuse of antibiotics have led to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which is a significant ethical issue. The ethical implications include:

• Access to healthcare: Antibiotic resistance can lead to increased morbidity and mortality, making it difficult for individuals to access healthcare.
• Fair distribution of resources: The increased healthcare costs associated with antibiotic resistance can put a strain on healthcare resources, leading to a fair distribution of those resources.
• Social justice: Antibiotic resistance can disproportionately affect vulnerable populations, such as the elderly, children, and people with compromised immune systems, leading to a lack of social justice.

Solutions:

To address the problem of antibiotic resistance, a multi-faceted approach is needed. Some potential solutions include:

• Reducing antibiotic use: This can be done by prescribing antibiotics only when necessary and for the appropriate duration.
• Developing new antibiotics: Funding for research and development of new antibiotics needs to be increased to combat antibiotic resistance.
• Improving infection control: Implementing infection control measures, such as hand hygiene and infection prevention protocols, can help to reduce the spread of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
• Education and awareness: Educating healthcare professionals, patients, and the general public about the appropriate use of antibiotics can help to reduce their overuse and misuse.

Sources: Livemint.