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  • Election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker

    The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has been without a Speaker for most of this year.

    Election of Speakers

    • The Constitution specifies offices like those of the President, Vice President, Chief Justice of India, and Comptroller and Auditor General of India, as well as Speakers and Deputy Speakers.
    • Article 93 for Lok Sabha and Article 178 for state Assemblies state that these Houses “shall, as soon as may be”, choose two of its members to be Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
    • In Lok Sabha and state legislatures, the President/Governor sets a date for the election of the Speaker.
    • It is the Speaker who decides the date for the election of the Deputy Speaker.
    • The legislators of the respective Houses vote to elect one among themselves to these offices.
    • The Constitution provides that the office of the Speaker should never be empty.
    • So, he/she continues in office until the beginning of the next House, except in the event of death or resignation.

    Ruling party or Opposition?

    • Usually, the Speaker comes from the ruling party.
    • In the case of the Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha, the position has varied over the years.
    • Until the fourth Lok Sabha, the Congress held both the Speaker and Deputy Speakers positions.
    • In the fifth Lok Sabha, whose term was extended due to the Emergency, an independent member, Shri G G Swell, was elected the Deputy Speaker.
    • The tradition for the post of the Deputy Speaker going to the Opposition party started during the term of Prime Minister Morarji Desai’s government.
    • The first time the Deputy Speaker’s position went to the opposition was during the term of Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao.

    Their roles

    • According to the book Practice and Procedure of Parliament, published by the Lok Sabha Secretariat, the Speaker is “the principal spokesman of the House, he represents its collective voice and is its sole representative to the outside world”.
    • The Speaker presides over the House proceedings and joint sittings of the two Houses of Parliament.
    • It is the Speaker’s decision that determines whether a Bill is a Money Bill and therefore outside of the purview of the other House.
    • The Deputy Speaker is independent of the Speaker, not subordinate to him, as both are elected from among the members of the House.

    Why need Dy Speaker?

    • The Deputy Speaker ensures the continuity of the Speakers office by acting as the Speaker when the office becomes vacant.
    • In addition, when a resolution for removal of the Speaker is up for discussion, the Constitution specifies that the Deputy Speaker presides over the proceedings of the House.

    Issue over time limit for election

    • The Constitution neither sets a time limit nor specifies the process for these elections.
    • It leaves it to the legislatures to decide how to hold these elections.
    • Haryana and Uttar Pradesh specify a time frame for holding the election to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker’s offices.
    • In Haryana, the election of the Speaker has to take place as soon as possible after the election.
    • Uttar Pradesh has a 15-day limit for an election to the Speaker’s post if it falls vacant during the term of the Assembly.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Consider the following statements:

    1. The Speakers of the Legislative Assembly shall vacate his/her office if he/she ceases to be a member of the Assembly
    2. Whenever the legislative assembly is dissolved, the speaker shall vacate his/her office immediately.

    Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2013)

    (a) 1 only

    (b) 2 only

    (c) Both 1 and 2

    (d) Neither 1 nor 2

  • EAM hands over relics of 17th century Georgian Queen St. Ketevan to Georgia

    After a long-standing request of Georgia, External Affairs Minister handed over the holy relics of 17th century Georgian Queen St. Ketevan nearly 16 years after they were found in Goa.

    Who was St. Ketevan?

    • Queen Ketevan was a 17th century Georgian Queen.
    • From Kakheti, a kingdom in eastern Georgia, she was tortured and killed in 1624 in Shiraz during the rule of the Safavid dynasty.
    • Portuguese missionaries were said to have carried the relics to Goa in 1627.
    • In 2005, after years of research and study of medieval Portuguese records, the relics were found at the St. Augustine Church in Old Goa.

    Importance of Georgia for India

    • Georgia a strategically important country situated at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia.
    • Relations between Georgia and India date back to ancient times.
    • The Panchatantra influenced Georgian folk legends. During the medieval period, Georgian missionaries, travelers, and traders visited India.
    • Some Georgians served in the courts of Mughal emperors, and a few rose to the rank of governor.
    • India was among the first countries to officially recognize Georgia, doing so on 26 December 1991.
    • India is a net exporter to Georgia.
    • The main commodities exported by India to Georgia are cereals, nuclear reactors, boilers, machinery and mechanical appliances, pharmaceuticals, electrical machinery and equipment, aluminium and aluminium articles.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Consider the following pairs:

    Sea Bordering Country
    1. Adriatic Sea Albania
    2. Black Sea Croatia
    3. Caspian Sea Kazakhstan
    4. Mediterranean Sea Morocco
    5. Red Sea Syria

    Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched? (CSP 2019)

    (a) 1, 2 and 4 only

    (b) 1, 3 and 4 only

    (c) 2 and 5 only

    (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

  • Mekedatu Dam Project

    Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are again at the crossroads against the Mekedatu dam project in the Cauvery River Basin.

    What is the Mekedatu Project?

    • Mekedatu, meaning goat’s leap, is a deep gorge situated at the confluence of the rivers Cauvery and Arkavathi, about 100 km from Bengaluru, at the Kanakapura taluk in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district.
    • In 2013, then Karnataka announced the construction of a multi-purpose balancing reservoir project.
    • The project aimed to alleviate the drinking water problems of the Bengaluru and Ramanagara districts.
    • It was also expected to generate hydroelectricity to meet the power needs of the state.

    Issues with the project

    • Soon after the project was announced TN has objected over granting of permission or environmental clearance.
    • Explaining the potential for damage to the lower riparian state of TN, it said that the project was in violation of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
    • It stated that the project will affect the natural flow of the river Cauvery considerably and will severely affect the irrigation in TN.

    What do the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal and the Supreme Court say?

    • The Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, in its final order on February 2007, made allocations to all the riparian States — Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, apart from the Union Territory of Puducherry.
    • It also stipulated “tentative monthly deliveries during a normal year” to be made available by Karnataka to Tamil Nadu.
    • Aggrieved over the final order for different reasons, the States had appealed to the Supreme Court.
    • In February 2018, the court, in its judgment, revised the water allocation and increased the share of Karnataka by 14.75 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) at the cost of Tamil Nadu.
    • The enhanced quantum comprised 4.75 tmc ft for meeting drinking water and domestic requirements of Bengaluru and surrounding areas.

    What is Karnataka planning?

    • Encouraged by the Supreme Court verdict, Karnataka, which sees the order as an endorsement of its stand, has set out to pursue the Mekedatu project.
    • Originally proposed as a hydropower project, the revised Mekedatu dam project has more than one purpose to serve.
    • A hydropower plant of nearly 400 MW has also been proposed.
    • The Karnataka government has argued that the proposed reservoir will regulate the flow to Tamil Nadu on a monthly basis, as stipulated by the Tribunal and the Supreme Court.
    • This is why Karnataka has contended that the project will not affect the interests of Tamil Nadu farmers.

  • 2020 Millennium Technology Prize  

    The 2020 Millennium Technology Prize has been awarded to Shankar Balasubramanian and David Klenerman, for their development of revolutionary Next-generation DNA sequencing techniques.

    About Millennium Technology Prize

    • The Millennium Technology Prize is one of the world’s largest technology prizes.
    • It is awarded once every two years by Technology Academy Finland, an independent fund established by Finnish industry and the Finnish state in partnership.

    What is next-generation DNA sequencing?

    • Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a massively parallel sequencing technology that offers ultra-high throughput, scalability, and speed.
    • The technology is used to determine the order of nucleotides in entire genomes or targeted regions of DNA or RNA.
    • These technologies allow for sequencing of DNA and RNA much more quickly and cheaply than the previously used sequencing.
    • NGS has revolutionized the biological sciences, allowing labs to perform a wide variety of applications and study biological systems at a level never before possible.
    • More than a million base pairs can be sequenced, which translates to hundreds of genes or even the whole genome of an organism.
    • This is made possible by simultaneously sequencing hundreds of pieces of DNA at the same time.

    What is sequencing, btw?

    • DNA (or RNA, in some viruses), the genetic material of life forms, is made of four bases (A, T, G and C; with U replacing T in the case of RNA).
    • A chromosome is the duplex of a long linear chain of these – and in the DNA sequence is information – the blueprint of life.
    • Life famously can replicate, and DNA replicates when an enzyme, DNA polymerase, synthesises a complementary strand using an existing DNA strand as the template.
    • The breakthrough idea of Balasubramanian and Klenerman was to sequence DNA (or RNA) using this process of strand synthesis.
    • They cleverly modified their ATGC bases so that each shone with a different colour.
    • When copied, the “coloured” copy of DNA could be deciphered from the colours alone, using miniature optical and electronic devices.

    What about the cost of all this sequencing?

    • When the Human Genome Project delivered the first, near-complete sequence of our genome, the cost was estimated to have been 3 billion dollars.
    • As all our chromosomes together have 3 billion base pairs, it becomes an easy calculation – One dollar per sequenced base.
    • By the year 2020, NGS technologies has pushed the price for sequencing to a few thousands of rupees.

    Back2Basics:

    What is the Human Genome Project?

  • Places in news: Kesaria Buddhist Stupa

    The world-famous Kesaria Buddha stupa in east Champaran district of Bihar is waterlogged following floods in some parts of the district after heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of river Gandak in neighbouring Nepal.

    Kesaria Stupa

    • The Kesaria stupa, located about 110 km from the State capital Patna, has a circumference of almost 400 feet and stands at a height of about 104 feet.
    • The first construction of the nationally protected stupa is dated to the 3rd century BCE.
    • It is regarded as the largest Buddhist stupa in the world and has been drawing tourists from across several Buddhist countries.
    • The sputa’s exploration had started in the early 19th century after its discovery led by Colonel Mackenzie in 1814.
    • Later, it was excavated by General Cunningham in 1861-62 and in 1998 an ASI team led by archaeologist K.K. Muhammad had excavated the site properly.
    • The original Kesaria stupa is said to date back to the time of emperor Ashoka (circa 250 BCE) as the remains of an Ashokan pillar was discovered there.

    In the accounts of foreign travellers

    • The stupa mound may even have been inaugurated during the Buddha’s time, as it corresponds in many respects to the description of the stupa erected by the Licchavis of Vaishali to house the alms bowl the Buddha has given them.
    • Interestingly, Chinese travellers Fa-Hien (5th century CE) and Hiuen Tsang (7th century CE), who travelled to India, also mention this stupa and the legend of Buddha and the Licchavis, in their records.
    • While Fa-Hien talks of a pillar erected at the site, Hiuen Tsang mentions the stupa itself.

    Try answering this question from CS Mains 2016:

    Q.Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate.

  • Sikkim is home to 27% of India’s flowering plants

    Sikkim, the smallest State with less than 1% of India’s landmass, is home to 27% of all flowering plants found in the country, reveals a recent publication by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).

    Flora of Sikkim

    • Flora of Sikkim – A Pictorial Guide lists 4,912 naturally occurring flowering plants in the tiny Himalayan State.
    • The total number of naturally occurring flowering plants in the country is about 18,004 species, and with 4,912 species, the diversity of flowering plants in Sikkim, spread over an area of 7,096 sq. km. is very unique.

    Why is Sikkim a host to such large biodiversity?

    • Sikkim is a part of the Kanchenjunga biosphere landscape, has different altitudinal ecosystems, which provide opportunities for herbs and trees to grow and thrive.
    • The State also borders China, Bhutan and Nepal, and the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal.
    • From subalpine vegetation to the temperate to the tropical, the State has different kinds of vegetation, and that is the reason for such a diversity of flora.
    • The elevation also varies between 300 to 8,598 metres above mean sea level, the apex being the top of Mt. Kanchenjunga (8,586 metres).

    Contribution by the Public

    • The people of Sikkim have a unique bond with nature and trees.
    • As per the Sikkim Forest Tree (Amity & Reverence) Rules, 2017 the State government allows any person to associate with trees standing on his or her private land or on any public land by entering into a Mith/Mit or Mitini relationship.
    • The notification encouraged people to adopt a tree “as if it was his or her own child in which case the tree shall be called an adopted tree”.

    Answer this PYQ in the comment box:

    Q.Which one of the following National Parks lies completely in the temperate alpine zone?

    (a) Manas National Park

    (b) Namdapha National Park

    (c) Neora Valley National Park

    (d) Valley of Flowers National Park

  • Places in news: Lemru Elephant Reserve

    The proposed Lemru Elephant Reserve in Chhattisgarh, in the pipeline for 20 years, has become the subject of yet another controversy over the reduction of its size.

    Lemru Elephant Reserve

    • The proposal for the reserve, in Korba district, was passed unanimously by the Assembly in 2005 and got central approval in 2007.
    • Lemru is one of two elephant reserves planned to prevent human-animal conflict in the region, with elephants moving into Chhattisgarh from Odisha and Jharkhand.
    • Its area was then proposed to be 450 sq km.

    Why does the government want to reduce the size of the reserve?

    • The area proposed under the reserve is part of the Hasdeo Aranya forests, a very diverse biozone that is also rich in coal deposits.
    • Of 22 coal blocks in the area, seven have already been allotted with mines running in three, and in the process of being established in the other four.
    • Under the ‘No-Go Area’ policy from the UPA area, the entire area was considered out of bounds for mines, but in 2020, five coal blocks from the region were put on the auction list.

    Why is the reserve important?

    • North Chhattisgarh alone is home to over 240 elephants.
    • Elephants in Chhattisgarh are relatively new; they started moving into undivided Madhya Pradesh in 1990.
    • Since these animals were relatively new, the human-animal conflict started once elephants started straying into inhabited areas, looking for food.

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