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Gist of The Hindu : FEBRUARY 2024

Gist of The Hindu: FEBRUARY- 2024

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Young Scientist Programme (YUVIKA)

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is set to conduct its special ‘Young Scientist Programme’ or ‘YUVIKA’ for school children.

About the Young Scientist Programme (YUVIKA):

"Young Scientist Programme", or "YUva VIgyani KAryakram" YUVIKA, is a learning and awareness-creating programme of the ISRO to impart basic knowledge on Space Technology, Space Science, and Space Applications to younger students with a preference for rural areas.
The programme is aimed at creating awareness about the emerging trends in science and technology amongst the youngsters, who are the future building blocks of our nation. ISRO has chalked out this programme to "Catch Them Young".
The programme is also expected to encourage more students to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) based research /careers.

Eligibility:

Those who have finished class 8 and are currently studying in class 9 can apply for the programme.
Three students from each state/Union Territory will participate in this programme every year, covering CBSE, ICSE, and state-board syllabus.
The selection is based on 8th Standard academic performance and extracurricular activities.
Students belonging to the rural area have been given special weightage in the selection criteria.
In case there is a tie between the selected candidates, the younger candidates will be given priority.

What is being offered”

It is a two-week residential programme offered by ISRO.
It will include invited talks, experience sharing by eminent scientists, facility and lab visits, exclusive sessions for discussions with experts and practical and feedback sessions.
A minimum participation will be ensured from each State / UT.

Sangam: Digital Twin Initiative

Recently, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has unveiled the ‘Sangam: Digital Twin’ initiative.

About Sangam: Digital Twin Initiative:

It is a Proof of Concept (PoC) distributed in two stages to be conducted in one of the major cities of India.
The first stage is exploratory for clarity of horizon and creative exploration to unleash potential.
The second stage is for practical demonstration of specific use cases generating a future blueprint that may serve as a roadmap to scale and replicate successful strategies in future infrastructure projects through collaboration.
Aim: The initiative aims to demonstrate practical implementation of innovative infrastructure planning solutions, to develop a model framework for facilitating faster and more effective collaboration and to provide a future blueprint that may serve as a roadmap to scale and replicate successful strategies in future infrastructure projects.
Digital Twin technology offers a solution by creating virtual replicas of physical assets, allowing for real-time monitoring, simulation and analysis for experimental iterations and feedback loops to adapt to the changes to achieve the best outcomes.
The initiative comes against the backdrop of the past decade’s breakthroughs in communication, computation and sensing in the era of techade striving for the vision 2047.
Sangam: Digital Twin symbolises a collaborative leap towards reshaping infrastructure planning and design, combining the prowess of 5G, IoT, AI, AR/VR, AI native 6G, Digital Twin and next-gen computational technologies with the collective intelligence of public entities, infrastructure planners, tech giants, startups, and academia to break the silos and engage in a whole-of-nation approach.
Sangam brings all stakeholders on one platform aiming to transform innovative ideas into tangible solutions, bridging the gap between conceptualization and realisation, ultimately paving the way for groundbreaking infrastructure advancements.

Electoral Bonds

The Supreme Court recently directed the State Bank of India to stop issuing electoral bonds immediately.

About Electoral Bonds (EBs):

Electoral bonds are interest-free bearer bonds or money instruments that can be purchased by companies and individuals in India from authorised branches of the State Bank of India (SBI).
The bonds are similar to bank notes that are payable to the bearer on demand and are free of interest.
These bonds are sold in multiples of Rs 1,000, Rs 10,000, Rs 1 lakh, Rs 10 lakh, and Rs 1 crore.
They can be purchased through a KYC-compliant account to make donations to a political party.
EBs have a life of only 15 days during which it can be used for making donations to political parties.
The name and other information of the donor are not entered on the instrument and thus electoral bonds are said to be anonymous.
There is no cap on the number of electoral bonds that a person or company can purchase.
Under the Income Tax act, one’s electoral bond donations are considered tax-exempt under Section 80 GG and Section 80 GGB.
Who can receive funding via electoral bonds”
Only political parties registered under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 and which secured not less than 1% of votes polledin the last general election to the House of the People or the Legislative Assembly of the State, are eligible to receive electoral bonds.
The political parties have to encash them within a stipulated time.
The bond can be encashed by an eligible political party only through a designated bank account with the authorized bank.
The political parties have to disclose the amount to the Election Commission.

Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC)”

The Supreme Court recently decided to examine a plea on whether a divorced Muslim woman can seek maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

About Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC):

It deals with the maintenance of wives, children, and parents.
It is a legal provision that allows certain categories of individuals to claim financial support from their spouses or children, as the case may be, in the event they are unable to maintain themselves.

Who Can Claim Maintenance”

Wife: A wife who is unable to maintain herself can claim maintenance from her husband. The wife is entitled to maintenance if she is unable to support herself. The word "wife" refers to a woman who has been divorced or sought divorce from her spouse and has not remarried.
Children: Children, whether legitimate or illegitimate, who are unable to maintain themselves and are below a certain age or mentally/physically disabled can claim maintenance from their parents.
Parents: Under this, both father and mother are entitled to be maintained equally by son and daughter, but the court must be satisfied that the daughter has the means to support herself. Parents also include “Adoptive father” and “Adoptive mother.”
To successfully claim maintenance under Section 125 CrPC, certain conditions must be met:
Neglect or Refusal: The person seeking maintenance must demonstrate that the respondent (the person from whom maintenance is sought) has neglected or refused to provide financial support.
Dependency: The claimant must establish their inability to maintain themselves and their dependency on the respondent for financial assistance.
Sufficient Means: The person from whom maintenance is claimed must have sufficient means to maintain the person claiming.
Quantum of Maintenance: The court will determine the amount of maintenance based on various factors like the income and financial capacity of the person liable to pay, the needs of the claimant, and other relevant circumstances. The objective is to ensure that the claimant gets a reasonable and fair amount for their maintenance.
Duration: Maintenance can be awarded on a monthly basis, and the court can specify a duration for which it should be paid. It can be a temporary or permanent arrangement, depending on the circumstances.
Enforcement: If the person ordered to pay maintenance does not comply with the court’s order, the person seeking maintenance can file an application for the enforcement of the order. The defaulter may face legal consequences for non-compliance.

PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana

Prime Minister of India launched PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana to provide free electricity to its beneficiaries.

About PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana:

In this scheme, the central government will provide 300 units of free electricity per month to its beneficiaries by investing worth ₹75,000 crores.
The free electricity scheme was earlier announced by the Finance Minister in an interim budget speech.
Target: It aims to light up 1 crore households.
Under the scheme, Urban Local Bodies and Panchayats shall be incentivised to promote rooftop solar systems in their jurisdictions.
The Central Government will guarantee no financial burden on the people by providing significant subsidies directly to their bank accounts and offering highly concessional bank loans.

Expected benefits:

Savings of up to fifteen to eighteen thousand rupees annually for households from free solar electricity and selling the surplus to the distribution companies;
Charging of electric vehicles;
Entrepreneurship opportunities for a large number of vendors for supply and installation;
Employment opportunities for the youth with technical skills in manufacturing, installation and maintenance.

Gulf Stream

A recent scientific study estimates a timescale for the collapse of the Gulf Stream between 2025 and 2095, with a central estimate of 2050, if global carbon emissions are not reduced.

About Gulf Stream:

It is a swift and warm ocean current that flows along the eastern coast of North America and crosses the Atlantic Ocean towards Europe.
This extension towards Europe is known as the North Atlantic drift.
The Gulf Stream transports more water than all the world’s rivers combined.

Key characteristics:

Location: It originates in the Gulf of Mexico. It then travels northward along the eastern coast of the United States. It follows a north-eastward path across the western North Atlantic Ocean.
Sources: The two equatorial sources of the Gulf Stream are the North Equatorial Current (NEC), which flows generally westward along the Tropic of Cancer, and the South Equatorial Current (SEC), which flows westward from southwestern Africa to South America and then northward to the Caribbean Sea. Together, these two warm currents, along with waters from the Gulf of Mexico, form the Gulf Stream.
Warmth: The current carries warm water from the tropics (around 25 to 28°C or 77 to 82°F) to higher latitudes.
Width and Speed: The Gulf Stream is several hundred kilometres wide and can flow at an average speed of about four miles per hour (6.4 kilometres per hour). However, its speed can vary depending on the location and other factors.
Depth: The current is also very deep, extending to depths of up to 1,000 metres.

UN World Restoration Flagships

The United Nations named seven initiatives from across Africa, Latin America, the Mediterranean and Southeast Asia as the intergovernmental organisation’s World Restoration Flagships.

About UN World Restoration Flagships:

The World Restoration Flagship are part of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration – led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
It aims to prevent, halt, and reverse the degradation of ecosystems on every continent and in every ocean.
The award conferred by the UNEP and FAO of the UN makes the initiatives eligible for technical and financial support from the organisation.
The awards track notable initiatives that provide support to global commitments in order to restore one billion hectares.

The seven initiatives are

The Restoring Mediterranean Forests Initiative: It involves the countries of Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia and Türkiye.
It consists of a novel approach said to have protected and restored natural habitats and vulnerable ecosystems. It is also said to have led to around two million hectares of forests restored across the region since 2017.
The Living Indus initiative received approval from the Pakistan parliament in the wake of the devastating 2022 climate change-induced floods.
Its official launch took place at the 27th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Sharm el-Sheikh.
It designates the Indus River as a living entity with rights — a measure taken to protect rivers elsewhere as well.
The Acción Andina social movement led by Peruvian conservation non-profit ECOAN aims to protect and restore a forest area of one million hectares.
The Sri Lanka Mangrove Regeneration initiative: It is a science-driven programme co-led by local communities. It focuses on the restoration of natural balance in the ecosystem