Current Affair 1:

Constitutional Immunity to MPs

 

Bharatiya Janata Party MP recently sought an investigation into the allegation of bribery against Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra. Even if Moitra took the bribe, she could not be prosecuted in a court of law because of the immunity granted to all parliamentarians under Article 105 of the Indian Constitution. As it exists today, the MPs can receive bribes to raise any questions or vote in Parliament without any consequence of criminal prosecution.

What is current situation?

The Supreme Court judgment in PV Narasimha Rao vs State (1998) ensured that MPs and state legislators were immune from prosecution in bribery cases about any speech or vote in the House granted by Articles 105(2) and 194(2) respectively.

Additionally, the immunity granted to legislators ceases to exist when they accept a bribe and do not make good on the promise. If a legislator receives a bribe to vote a certain way and later don’t, it counts as an unfulfilled promise and the immunity does not apply. On the contrary, if the promise is completed upon accepting the bribe, immunity stays intact. This sense of justice has prevailed for two and a half decades now.

Revising the 1998 judgment

The Supreme Court has now taken an interest in correcting this by re-examining the 1998 judgment, the ramifications of which could be far-reaching. A seven-judge bench constituted by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud earlier this month seemed keen on modifying the judgment.

Let’s wait for judgement.

Current Affair 2:

Thermal plants slow in adopting biomass co-firing

 

News:

In the last couple of years, the government has tried to tackle the issue by bringing the focus on ex-situ mechanisms of handling biomass or crop residue management (CRM) such as biomass co-firing and production of bio-CNG. These were promoted apart from the long-advocated in-situ mechanisms such as promoting use of happy seeders and super seeders.   Co-firing five to seven per cent biomass pellets in thermal power plants can prevent 38 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in her budget speech in 2022.

 

Some basics:

Difference between torrefied and non-torrefied pellets:

One of the reasons is price benchmarking of biomass pellets:

Current Affair 3:

Importance of microalgae

 

News:

Microalgae, which form the base of the food chain in the ocean and capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, appear to rely on a unique strategy to cope with global warming, according to a new study. The findings are published in the journal Nature Microbiology.

Microalgae are usually made from one single cell, or a small number of cells put together in a very simple structure that can quickly grow and multiply into a large biomass rich in nutrients. Microalgae are organisms that can grow in aquatic environments and use light and carbon dioxide (CO2) to create biomass.

As climate change reduces the availability of nutrients in the sea, marine microalgae or eukaryotic phytoplankton fire up a protein called rhodopsin. It is related to the protein in the human eye responsible for vision in dim light. This light-responsive protein is helping the microalgae flourish with the help of sunlight in place of traditional chlorophyll.

Microbial rhodopsins, per the study, are proposed to be major light capturers in the ocean. Estimates suggested they may absorb as much light as chlorophyll-based photosynthesis in the sea, which also captures light to generate energy and food.

Current Affair 4:

National Film Awards

 

The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorate of Film Festivals since 1973.

Every year, a national panel appointed by the government selects the winning entry, and the award ceremony is held in New Delhi, where the President of India presents the awards.

Read some other details from website too:

CA5. GI-tagged Jaderi namakatti

About Jaderi namakatti:

These are clay sticks that are white in colour, usually available in finger-like shape with a smooth texture.  Jaderi is a small village in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu.

Namakatti is made up of the rich deposit of hydrous silicate minerals that form fine grain particles of clay. The production of namakatti depends on the climatic condition as it needs a lot of sunlight to dry.

 

 

 

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