The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 15 April 2023

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 14 April 2023

• Bihu is the main festival of Assam. It is celebrated three times a year.
• Rongali or Bohag Bihu is observed in April. Kongali or Kati Bihu observed in October and Bhogali or Magh Bihu observed in January.
• Rongali or Bohag Bihu is the Assamese new year and spring festival. The Rongali Bihu coincides with Sikh New Year- Baisakhi.
• The Bohag Bihu dates are April 13 to April 21. It is a harvest or sowing festival. It marks the first day of the Hindu solar calendar and is also observed in Bengal, Manipur, Mithila, Nepal, Orissa, Punjab, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.
• Festive food – pitha (rice cake) and larus (traditional food made of rice, coconut) are prepared.
• Men and women in traditional Muga silk (golden silk) attires dance to the rhythm of Bihu tunes and beatings of the bihu dhol (traditional drum) across the State.

 The Hindu Editorial Today

• A democracy requires a system of checks and balances to prevent the arbitrary use of power by the elected government of the day.
• India’s democracy provides for various constitutional authorities such as the Public Service Commission, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), the ECI, the Finance Commission and the National Commissions for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Backward Classes (BC), etc.
• The Constituent Assembly of India had recognised the need for such independent institutions to regulate sectors of national importance without any executive interference.
• he Constitution-makers have used simple words such as ‘shall be appointed by the President’ in the appointment of the Prime Minister (Article 75), the Attorney-General for India (Article 76), the Chairman and other members of the Finance Commission (Article 280), the Chairman and other members of the Public Service Commission (Article 316) and a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities (Article 350B). Article 324 provides that the President will appoint the CEC and ECs ‘subject to any law made in that behalf by Parliament’.
• However, the words ‘shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal’ are used while authorising the President for appointment of the judges of Supreme Court and the High Court (Articles 124 and 217), the CAG (Article 148) and for appointment of the Governor (Article 155). Similar words have been used in Articles 338, 338A and 338B authorising the President for appointing Chairman and members of the National Commissions for SCs, STs and BCs. However, the original Article, Article 338, had stated that ‘there shall be a Special Officer for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to be appointed by the President’.
• The Supreme Court has held, in N. Gopalaswami and Ors vs The Union of India) that the President acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, with the Prime Minister as the head in all matters which vests in the executive.
• It is pertinent to keep in mind that the Constitution affixes the phrase “by warrant under his hand and seal” only to refer to appointment to positions (Judges, the CAG and the Governors) where it assigns a special status to distinguish them from other constitutional positions.
• Constitutional authorities such as the Judges of the Supreme Court and the High Court and the CAG of India are to be kept free from political or executive pressure. Whereas appointment of judges and the ECs have been made free from the influence of the executive, the need to set up a well-defined criteria and procedure for the appointment of the CAG of India remains keeping in view the intention of the framers of the Constitution, as evident from the Constituent Assembly debates.

• The first claim for an “open” Internet may be examined by having a closer look at clause 3(i)(II)(C) of the IT Amendment Rules, 2023, which contain these powers that were notified on April 6, 2023.
• The determination of “fake or false or misleading” information about the central government will be by a “fact check unit of the Central Government”. Hence, it will be acting as a judge in its own case.
• Natural justice requires a transparent process, where a person is provided a fair chance of a hearing and given a legal order. No such safeguard exists in the IT Rules, which could result in a black box of government censorship.

• Myanmar’s military did it again. On Tuesday, the junta, notorious for its attacks on civilians, carried out air strikes on an opposition gathering in the rebel-held Sagaing region, killing over 100, including women and children.
• With the tacit support of Russia and China and silence from India, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing does not face any regional pressure either. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had earlier proposed a five-point peace plan, urging an end to hostilities and starting inclusive dialogue. But the generals have refused to talk to the opposition and are not ready to share power.
• A peaceful resolution in Myanmar is essential for the stability of Southeast Asia, and, hence, ASEAN and regional powers such as Russia, China and India should not see the civil strife as an internal problem of Myanmar.

• He was born on 14 April 1891 in Madhya Pradesh in Hindu Mahar Caste.

• B R Ambedkar contribution towards Constitutional Reforms:
• As chairman of the Constitution’s drafting committee, he took meticulous measures to build a just society through liberty, equality and fraternity.
• His advocacy for universal adult franchise ensured that women had the right to vote immediately after Independence.
• In 1990, Dr.B.R.Ambedkar, was bestowed with Bharat Ratna.
• The period from 14th April 1990 – 14th April 1991 was observed as ‘Year of Social Justice’ in the memory of Babasaheb.
• Few important works of Dr. Ambedkar: Mook Nayak (weekly) 1920; Janta (weekly) 1930; The Annihilation of Caste 1936; The Untouchables 1948; Buddha Or Karl Marx 1956, etc.

• A forthcoming satellite, NISAR, jointly developed the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the U.S. will map the most earthquake-prone regions in the Himalayas with unprecedented regularity. The data this will generate can potentially give advance warning of land subsidence, as recently observed in Joshimath, Uttarakhand, as well point to places that are at greatest risk from earthquakes.
• The NISAR satellite, expected to cost approximately $900 million (with ISRO contributing about one-tenth) will use two frequency bands: the L-band and S-band to image the seismically active Himalayan region that will, every 12 days, create a “deformation map”, said Prakash Chauhan, Director, ISRO-National Remote Sensing Centre at a seminar here this week.
• NISAR has been built by space agencies of the US and India under a partnership agreement signed in 2014.
• It is expected to be launched in January 2024 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre into a near-polar orbit.
• The satellite will operate for a minimum of three years.
• It is a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observatory.
• NISAR will map the entire globe in 12 days.
• Features
• It is a 2,800 kilograms satellite consisting of both L-band and S-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instruments, which makes it a dual-frequency imaging radar satellite.
• While NASA has provided the L-band radar, GPS, a high-capacity solid-state recorder to store data, and a payload data subsystem, ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) has provided the S-band radar, the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) launch system and spacecraft.

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