Syllabus subtopic: Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
News: On the occasion of its 250th session, Rajya Sabha MPs have made the following suggestions:
Prelims focus: Rajya Sabha- elections, composition and functions.
Mains focus: significance of Rajya sabha, issues, challenges and solutions.
Need for Rajya Sabha:
Arguements that favour abolishing Rajya Sabha
What can be done?
It is virtually impossible to abolish the Rajya Sabha without adopting a new Indian Constitution. The bicameral nature of the Indian Parliament is likely to be interpreted as a “basic structure” of the Indian Constitution, rendering it incapable of being amended. Even if this were to be tested, it would be ensnared in a judicial process for a very long time. It is much more practical to try and reform the Rajya Sabha than seeking to abolish it.
Reforms needed:
Source: The Hindu
Syllabus subtopic: Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.
News: The Haryana Cabinet has taken an in-principle decision to bring an amendment in Section 31 of the Haryana Panchayati Raj Act, 1994, allowing devolution of powers to the Gram Sabha to ban liquor within the local area of a Gram Panchayat.
Prelims focus: About panchayati raj
Mains focus: Issues associated with their functioning, need for more powers.
About Gram sabha
Composition:
Powers and functions:
Constitution mentions that Gram Sabha exercises such powers and performs such functions at the village level as the Legislature of a State may, by law, provide.
Important and specific functions of Gram Sabha:
Source: The Hindu
Syllabus subtopic: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.
News: According to a survey, the PMMVY has been able to reach less than a third of the eligible beneficiaries.
Prelims and Mains focus: Key Highlights of the PMMVY, funding and beneficiaries, challenges present and ways to address them.
Key concerns:
Challenges in implementing the scheme:
About PMMVY:
Exceptions: The maternity benefits are available to all Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PW&LM) except those in regular employment with the Central Government or State Government or Public Sector Undertaking or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law for the time being in force.
Funding: The scheme is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme under which cost sharing ratio between the Centre and the States & UTs with Legislature is 60:40 while for North-Eastern States & three Himalayan States; it is 90:10. It is 100% Central assistance for Union Territories without Legislature.
Way ahead:
Under-nutrition continues to adversely affect majority of women in India. In India, every third woman is undernourished and every second woman is anaemic.
An undernourished mother almost inevitably gives birth to a low birth weight baby. When poor nutrition starts in-utero, it extends throughout the life cycle since the changes are largely irreversible.
Owing to economic and social distress many women continue to work to earn a living for their family right up to the last days of their pregnancy.
They resume working soon after childbirth, even though their bodies might not permit it, thus preventing their bodies from fully recovering on one hand, and also impeding their ability to exclusively breastfeed their young infant in the first six months.
Source: The HIndu
Syllabus subtopic: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.
News: SpaceX, the world’s leading private company in space technology, has launched 60 satellites into the low earth orbit, under the Starlink network project
Prelims focus: Different orbits, about the Starlink network project.
Mains focus: Significance of the project and challenges present.
About Starlink Project:
Significance of the project:
The project ensures that reliable and uninterrupted Internet services are universally available in every part of the globe.
Why use low earth orbit (LEO) instead of geostationary?
Geostationary orbit is located at a height of 35,786 km over the Earth’s surface, directly above the Equator. Satellites in this orbit move at speeds of about 11,000 km per hour, and complete one revolution of the Earth in the same time that the earth rotates once on its axis. To the observer on the ground, therefore, a satellite in geostationary orbit appears stationary.
Advantages: Signals from geostationary orbit can cover a very large part of the Earth. Signals from one satellite can cover roughly a third of the planet — and three to four satellites would be enough to cover the entire Earth. Also, because they appear to be stationary, it is easier to link to them.
Issue
How low earth orbit seeks to solve this issue?
A satellite in the lower orbit, 200-2,000 km from the Earth’s surface, can bring the lag down to 20-30 milliseconds, roughly the time it takes for terrestrial systems to transfer data.
Concerns over LEOs:
Owing to their lower height, their signals cover a relatively small area. As a result, many more satellites are needed in order to reach signals to every part of the planet.
Other issues include: Increased space debris, increased risk of collisions, and the concern of astronomers that these constellations of space Internet satellites will make it difficult to observe other space objects, and to detect their signals.
Source: Indian Express
Syllabus subtopic: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment.
News: The 2019 World Talent Ranking was released.
Prelims focus: About the rankings
Mains focus: Issues and concerns highlighted by the report.
About the rankings:
Performance of countries:
India’s performance:
Source: Indian Express
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