Constitution of India in Sindhi Language
Syllabus: GS2/Governance
In News
- Recently, the Vice-President released the latest version of the Constitution of India in the Sindhi language in both Devanagari and Persian scripts.
About Sindhi
- It is an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Pakistan and in India, with smaller communities worldwide.
- It was officially included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution of India by the 21st Constitutional Amendment Act 1967.
- It is one of the oldest and most melodious languages with a rich literary tradition blending Vedantic and Sufi philosophies that promote unity, love, and brotherhood.
Original Language of the Constitution
- Drafted originally in English, a Translation Committee under Ghanshyam Das Gupta produced the official Hindi version.
- Both English and Hindi versions were signed by Constituent Assembly members and submitted to Rajendra Prasad on 24 January 1950.
Source :Air
Justice Varma Resigns Amid Proceedings For Removal
Syllabus: GS2/Polity & Governance; Judiciary
Context
- Recently, Justice Yashwant Varma, an Allahabad High Court judge submitted his resignation to the President of India..
About Judiciary in India
- India has a single unified judiciary (unlike the US dual system).
- Supreme Court of India (Top level); Articles 124–147
- High Courts (State level); Articles 214–231
- Subordinate Courts (District & lower courts); Articles 233–237
- This structure ensures uniform interpretation of law across the country.
Key Features of Indian Judiciary
- Independence of Judiciary (basic structure doctrine)
- Judicial Review, as it can strike down unconstitutional laws
- Separation of Powers
- Rule of Law
High Court Judges
- High Court judges are governed mainly by:
- Article 214: High Courts for States
- Article 216: Constitution of High Courts
- Article 217: Appointment & conditions of office
- Article 218: Application of provisions of removal (same as SC judges)
- Article 219: Oath or affirmation
- Article 220–224: Other provisions (practice restrictions, additional judges, etc.)
- Appointment of High Court Judges [Article 217(1)]: By the President of India, after consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), Governor of the State, and Chief Justice of the High Court (for other judges).
- Qualifications: A person must be a citizen of India. Held judicial office for 10 years, or been an advocate of a High Court for 10 years.
- Tenure (Term of Office): Holds office until age of 62 years (Article 217(1))
- Oath or Affirmation (Article 219): Judge must take oath before the Governor of the State; Oath includes upholding Constitution, and performing duties without fear or favour.
Removal of High Court Judges
- Grounds: Proved misbehaviour & Incapacity;
- Procedure (Impeachment-like): Motion introduced in Parliament; supported by special majority (majority of total membership, and 2/3rd of members present & voting), address sent to President and President orders removal.
- Resignation: Judge may resign by writing to the President of India.
Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
Syllabus: GS2/Polity
Context
- Recently, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) India Region Zone VII Conference concluded in Goa.
About Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)
- It is an international community of Commonwealth parliamentarians, working to promote parliamentary democracy, good governance, and the rule of law.
- It originated in 1911 as the Empire Parliamentary Association, and was renamed as Commonwealth Parliamentary Association in 1948 after decolonisation.
- Membership consists of national, state, provincial, and territorial parliaments of Commonwealth countries.
- Membership is institutional (parliaments), not individual countries alone.
- It has more than 180 branches (legislatures) across the Commonwealth.
- The CPA is organised into Regions (9 geographic regions) and Branches (individual legislatures).
- Key bodies include the General Assembly (supreme authority), Executive Committee and CPA Headquarters Secretariat (London).
India & CPA
- India is an active member.
- The Parliament of India and State Legislatures function as CPA branches.
Keytruda
Syllabus: GS2/Health
Context
- Recent investigations exposed a dangerous counterfeit market for Keytruda in India, fuelled by hospital-level supply chain breaches.
What is Keytruda?
- Brand name for Pembrolizumab, a revolutionary immunotherapy / checkpoint inhibitor drug for advanced and aggressive cancers.
- Manufactured by Merck & Co. (USA) known as MSD outside the US and Canada.
- Unlike traditional treatments that attack tumours directly, Keytruda empowers the body’s own immune system to identify and destroy cancer cells.
Immunotherapy
- Immunotherapy is a type of medical treatment that uses the body’s own immune system to fight diseases.
- While chemo and radiotherapy directly kill cancer cells and some healthy cells along with it, immunotherapy pushes the body’s own immune system to recognise and kill cancer cells.
- Being highly targeted, immunotherapy spares healthy cells.
- These therapies have been shown to extend life even in patients with aggressive forms of cancer.
Other Types of Immunotherapy for Cancer Treatments
- CAR-T cell therapy involves collecting a patient’s own T cells, engineering them to create chimeric receptors, multiplying these modified cells, and returning them to the patient.
- These engineered T cells can then identify, attach to, and destroy cancer cells that would normally evade immune detection.
- mRNA vaccines for cancer are currently under development.
- Unlike vaccines for infections given to healthy individuals, cancer vaccines are administered to patients who already have certain cancers to prevent relapse.
- These vaccines train the immune system to identify proteins called neoantigens found only in cancer cells.
- Once recognised, the immune system remembers these markers for years, continuing to fight cancer and prevent recurrence.
Implications for India’s Cancer Fight
- Rising Burden: India’s cancer cases projected to surge by nearly 74% by 2045 making access to drugs like Keytruda critical.
- Affordability Crisis: Extreme cost creates a dual-tier health system, only the wealthy or specially insured can access top-tier immunotherapy.
- Counterfeit Risk: Price-driven desperation has opened the door to fake drug markets, with hospital supply chains as weak links posing lethal risks to patients.
Source: IE
Sentinel Species
Syllabus: GS3/Environment
Context
- Emperor Penguin (Aptenodytes forsteri) upgraded from Near Threatened to Endangered on the IUCN Red List, driven by climate-induced sea-ice loss.
- As a sentinel species, its decline signals broader Antarctic ecosystem stress, populations projected to halve by the 2080s.
What is a Sentinel Species?
- It is a plant or animal whose health reflects the overall condition of the ecosystem it inhabits.
- They respond quickly and visibly to environmental stressors such as pollution, disease, and climate change.
- They act as early warning systems, allowing detection of ecological imbalance before it becomes widespread.
Examples of Sentinel Species
- Amphibians (Frogs): Frogs have permeable skin, making them highly sensitive to pollutants and pathogens. Decline in frog populations is often an early indicator of ecosystem stress.
- Canaries in Coal Mines: Historically used to detect carbon monoxide poisoning. They showed distress before humans due to faster metabolism.
- Honeybees: Used to monitor agricultural chemicals and pesticide loads. Decline in bee populations signals ecosystem imbalance and pollination crisis.
- Polar Bears: Indicators of Arctic ecosystem health and contaminant accumulation. Reflect impacts of climate change and ice loss.
About IUCN
- Created in 1948.
- Headquarter: Gland, Switzerland
- It is a membership union, and works closely with international frameworks.
- India, a State Member since 1969.
- It is an intergovernmental and NGO network (hybrid organisation)
Improved Cookstoves
Syllabus: GS3/Environment
In News
- Amid the LPG crisis, modern biomass stoves, often called improved cookstoves (ICS), represent a major step up from traditional cooking methods.
Modern Biomass Cookstoves
- Modern biomass cookstoves (improved cookstoves) are a cleaner and more efficient alternative to traditional chulhas, cutting fuel use by up to two-thirds and reducing smoke and pollution.
- They achieve much higher thermal efficiency (38–45%) compared to traditional stoves (~10%) by improving airflow and reducing harmful emissions.
Importance
- Firewood cooking can be made sustainable if biomass is harvested responsibly and paired with efficient stoves that reduce overall wood consumption.
- These stoves can also use alternative fuels like pellets and agricultural waste, reducing dependence on raw firewood.
- Operating costs are lower due to high efficiency, potentially reducing fuel use by over 50% and making firewood cheaper than LPG during supply or price crises.
Adoption status
- Widespread adoption depends on affordability and financing, with options like microfinance, CSR funding, and carbon credits helping reduce upfront costs (₹2,000–₹20,000 range).
- Large-scale adoption does not require heavy investment in fuel supply chains, since biomass is already widely available. Instead, success depends on strong distribution networks, last-mile delivery, user awareness, and reliable after-sales support.
Biomass
- It is renewable organic material from plants and animals that can be used directly for heat or converted into fuels for electricity, heating, and transport.
- It is widely used, especially in developing countries, for cooking and heating.
- Key sources include wood and wood waste (firewood, pellets, sawdust), agricultural crops and residues (like corn, sugarcane, and switchgrass), organic municipal waste (food, paper, yard waste), and animal manure or sewage used to produce biogas.
Source :TH
Quorum Sensing
Syllabus: GS3/Science and Tech
In News
- Scientists from UT Southwestern Medical Centre in Texas (USA) have found that male sex hormones (androgens like testosterone) can make skin infections more severe by enhancing bacterial communication in Staphylococcus aureus called quorum sensing.
Quorum sensing
- It is a microbial communication system where bacteria and some fungi release signaling molecules (autoinducers) that accumulate with cell density and trigger coordinated gene expression.
- It regulates key functions like virulence, biofilm formation, bioluminescence, and antibiotic production.
- Originally discovered in Vibrio fischeri, it is now known across many microbes, including pathogens like Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Candida albicans.
Androgens
- They are steroid hormones that regulate many body functions, including metabolism, muscle and bone maintenance, brain development, and reproductive processes.
- Testosterone is the most important androgen and can be converted into estrogen, allowing it to support multiple physiological systems in both sexes.
- Hormone balance is controlled by complex feedback systems involving the brain, pituitary, and gonads, and is influenced by age, health, and metabolism.
Source :TH
Oak Trees
Syllabus: GS3/Environment/Species in News
Context
- The Uttarakhand High Court stayed the felling of oak trees in Mussoorie for construction by the Municipal Council.
About
- Oak belongs to the genus Quercus in the Fagaceae family and holds immense social and ecological importance in the Indian Himalayan regions.
- Oaks can be separated into three groups, sometimes considered subgenera: white oaks, red and black oaks.
- Oak trees are mature at 75 years and have an average lifespan of 150-250 years. However, the oldest oak trees are over 1,000 years old.
- Climate Requirements: Oak trees generally thrive in temperate climates.
- Oak Trees in India: In the Himalayas, 35 species of oaks have been reported between 800 and 3,000 metres above sea level.
- Oaks found in Uttarakhand are Banj oak, Moru oak, Kharsu oak, Rianj oak, and Phaliath oak.
- Significance: Oak forests assist watershed protection by promoting the recharge of springs.
- Their trees host lichens, bryophytes, pteridophytes (all three being moss-like plants), orchids, and other flowering plants, creating layered microhabitats.
- Birds and mammals such as jays, Himalayan langurs, red giant flying squirrels, and Asiatic black bears feed on oak leaves and acorns, often caching them for leaner periods.
- Oak is used as fuel wood and fodder by locals from the forests near their settlements.
- Threats: Excessive lopping, grazing, and wood use for fuel and fodder consumption.
Source: IE
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