Hyperloop

We’re not selling transportation, we’re selling time

That’s what the CEO of Hyperloop says.A while back we published the idea of Metrino pod and Talgo train – Click Here

Now the transport ministry is toying with the idea of Hyperloop.

TUBE TRAVEL: A file picture of journalists and guests look at tubes following a propulsion open-air test at Hyperloop One in Las Vegas, Nevada, US. Photo: Reuters


The travel time between Mumbai and Pune, about three hours by train now, would be cut to 25 minutes if Hyperloop Transportation Technologies has its way.

The Los Angeles-based company, which has designed a new way to move people, has asked the transport ministry for land to run a pilot project of its high-speed transportation service.

Hyperloop is a concept where a pod-like vehicle travels through a near-vacuum that’s contained within a tube. It can theoretically touch top speeds of close to 1,200 km an hour even when not running on full steam, using less energy than conventional modes of transportation. It is being heralded as the future of high-speed passenger and freight transportation the world over, with futurists such as Elon Musk backing the concept.

“We use a custom electric motor to accelerate and decelerate a levitated pod through a low-pressure tube. The vehicle will glide silently for miles with no turbulence,” says its website. “We tested our motor in May, 2016, and will test the full system in early 2017. We’re developing routes in five countries. The goal is to be moving cargo by 2020 and passengers by 2021.”

Bipop Gresta, chairman and chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, says he met Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari and made a formal proposal to set up a pilot project in the country. “We’re not asking for money right now, we’re asking for land. If they want to put money, we can do a public-private partnership. But if they don’t want that, we have private investors. In the second case, we need to have land that is meaningful and not something in the middle of nowhere.”

If the proposal goes through, Gresta says he estimates it will take eight months to do a feasibility study. It might take an additional 28 months from the time all the permits are acquired to roll out the transportation service.

Unlike traditional high-speed rail networks that need vast stretches of land for arrow-straight tracks, Hyperloops can be built alongside highways. The technology consumes much less energy owing to the lack of air resistance within the tubes.

Gresta says the concept will be an ideal fit for India, which lacks high-speed rail and air connectivity. “India is a country that has a very particular situation. It has a high density of population, lacks infrastructure and a political environment that is willing to invest in innovation,” Gresta had said on the sidelines of Carnegie India’s Global Technology Summit in Bengaluru on Tuesday.

Hyperloop Transportation Technology already has a 25-member team in India that is working on technology, mechanical engineering and other roles for its global ambitions. Further, the company is looking to partner with Indian educational institutes to have them solve engineering problems.

The company is also in talks with at least two Indian firms for outsourcing some part of its manufacturing and other technology services. Gresta did not divulge the details on the companies.

“We’re not selling transportation, we’re selling time,” says the company’s website.


Andaman and Nicobar: Navy deploys ships to evacuate 800 tourists stranded in Havelock Island

Four ships of the Indian Navy were sailed on Wednesday morning to evacuate about 800 tourists from Havelock Island in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, an official said. The sudden evacuation mission was initiated at the request of the Andaman and Nicobar disaster management, which speculates that a “cyclonic storm” might struck Havelock, an island about 36 km from capital Port Blair.


C-sec births altering course of evolution

Regular use of caesarean sections to deliver babies is affecting the human evolution, according to a new study. An increasing number of mothers now need surgery to deliver a baby due to their narrow pelvis size, researchers said.

Researchers estimate cases where the baby cannot fit down the birth canal have increased from 30 in 1,000 in the 1960s to 36 in 1,000 births today . Historically, these genes would not have been passed from mother to child as both would have died in labour.

According to Dr Philipp Mitteroecker from the University of Vienna, there is a long standing question in the understanding of human evolution. “Why is the rate of birth problems, in particular what we call fetopelvic disproportion -basically that the baby does not fit through the maternal birth canal -why is this rate so high?” he said.

“Without modern medical intervention such problems often were lethal and this is, from an evolutionary perspective, selection. Women with a very narrow pelvis would not have survived birth 100 years ago. They do now and pass on their genes encoding for a narrow pelvis to their daughters,” said Mitteroecker.

It has been a long stan ding evolutionary question why the human pelvis has not grown wider over the years. The head of a human baby is large compared with other primates, meaning animals such as chimps can give birth relatively easily , `BBC News’ reported.

Researchers devised a mathematical model using data from the WHO and other large birth studies. They found opposing evolutionary forces. One is a trend towards larger newborns, which are more healthy . However, if they grow too large, they get stuck during labour, which would have proved disastrous for mother and baby , and their genes would not be passed on.”One side of this selective force -namely the trend towards smaller babies -has vanished due to caesarean sections,” said Mitteroecker.


India Puts Remote Sensing Satellite RESOURCESAT-2A Into Orbit

According to ISRO, Resourcesat-2A is a follow on mission to Resourcesat-1 and Resourcesat-2, launched in 2003 and 2011 respectively.

The new satellite Resourcesat-2A is intended to continue the remote sensing data services to global users provided by it two predecessors.

The RESOURCESAT-2A carries three payloads which are similar to those of the earlier two Resourcesat’s.

They are a high resolution Linear Imaging Self Scanner (LISS-4) camera operating in three spectral bands in the Visible and Near Infrared Region (VNIR) with 5.8 m spatial resolution and steerable up to 26 degree across track to achieve a five day revisit capability.

The second payload is the medium resolution LISS-3 camera operating in three-spectral bands in VNIR and one in Short Wave Infrared (SWIR) band with 23.5 m spatial resolution.

The third payload is a coarse resolution Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) camera operating in three spectral bands in VNIR and one band in SWIR with 56 m spatial resolution.

The satellite also carries two Solid State Recorders with a capacity of 200 Giga Bits each to store the images taken by its cameras which can be read out later to ground stations.

The mission life of Resourcesat-2A is five years.


Measures to meet targets for Nuclear Power

The Government has taken measures to ensure availability of fuel in required quantity (from both domestic and imported sources) and to expedite ongoing projects.

In addition, the Government has taken the following measures to facilitate nuclear power capacity addition:

• In principle approval of sites to locate nuclear power plants in future.

• Creation of India Nuclear Insurance Pool to cover the Operator’s Liability as prescribed under the provisions of the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage (CLND) Act, 2010.

• Amendment to the Atomic Energy Act, 1962 to facilitate establishment of Joint Venture Companies (JVC) by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) with other Central Public Sector Undertakings to set up nuclear power plants.

• Budget speech announcement (2016-17) on augmenting investment in nuclear power.

A focussed approach directed towards research and development with identified goals are being carried out in various fields like advanced reactor development, nuclear fuel cycle, thorium fuel utilisation, reactor safety studies, life cycle & ageing management studies, electronics and instrumentation, high efficiency energy conversion, advanced materials and remote handling and robotics.

The research and development activities in NPCIL are being carried out for development of technology, tools, testing facilities etc. aimed at enhancement of nuclear and radiation safety, reliable operation of nuclear power plants and development of equipment/ components/ systems for current and future nuclear power reactors.


Progress of Chandrayaan-2 Mission

Chandrayaan-2, India’s second mission to the Moon, is a totally indigenous mission comprising of Orbiter, Lander and Rover. The Orbiter and Rover flight systems are in advanced stage of realisation. Payloads are under development at various ISRO Centres / laboratories. Realisation of indigenous Lander is in progress. Special tests for new systems in Lander have been identified and a Lander Sensors Performance Test (phase-1) over artificial craters created in Chitradurga district in Karnataka has been conducted. Lunar Terrain Test facility is ready for Lander drop test and Rover mobility tests.

The Orbiter carrying six payloads will orbit around the Moon in 100 km lunar orbit. The payloads will collect scientific information on lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, lunar exosphere and signatures of hydroxyl and water-ice.

ISRO is working towards the launch of Chandrayaan-2 during the first quarter of 2018.


UNESCO inscribes Yoga in the representative list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity

Yoga, India’s one of the ancient practices has now been inscribed as an element in the UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of humanity during the 11th session of the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During this session, India’s proposal for inscribing Yoga as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity was unanimously supported by all the 24 members of the Intergovernmental Committee.

Yoga has become the 13th intangible cultural heritage that has been listed from India so far with UNESCO. Previous ones includes the Chhau dance( Inscribed in 2010), the Buddhist chanting of Ladakh ( inscribed in 2012), Sankirtana –the ritual singing, drumming, and dancing of Manipur( inscribed in 2013), the traditional brass and copper craft of utensil making among the Thatheras of Jandiala Guru, Punjab(inscribed in 2014) and Ramlila– the traditional performance of the Ramayana ( inscribed in 2008)


Impact of Administrative Reforms implemented by Government

Several administrative reforms are implemented by the Government post 2014 to make administrative process efficient, transparent and accountable.  Some of the major reforms are as under:

 

(i) e-Samiksha- A real time online system for monitoring and follow up action on the decisions taken by the Government at the apex level in respect of implementation of important Government’s programmes / projects.

 

(ii) e-Office– e-Office Mission Mode Project (MMP) has been strengthened for enabling Ministries/Department to switchover to paperless office.

 

(iii)  Direct Benefit Transfer(DBT) payment, e-Payments – All payments to the beneficiary

is to be made directly to their bank account through electronic mode under DBT.

 

(iv) Aadhaar enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) –AEBAS was introduced in the Central Government Offices located in Delhi to monitor punctuality of government officials.  This has improved the punctuality of the Government servant in offices.

 

(v) Smart Performance Appraisal Report Recording Online Window (SPARROW) –Annual Performance Appraisal Report of All India Service Officers and some other services are being submitted online in the SPARROW portal. The system ensures timely submission and easy access of APAR.

 

(vi) Legal Information Management Based System (LIMBS) – This is an online court case monitoring system to ensure speedy disposal of disputes.

 

(vii) Online application system for notaries– This system helps the interested persons in getting themselves registered as notaries.

 

(viii) Discontinuation of Interview in recruitment of Junior Level Posts – Government has taken a decision to dispense away with the interview in recruitment of all Group ‘C’, Group ‘B’ (Non-gazetted post) and other equivalent post from 01.01.2016 in all Government of India Ministries/Department/Attached Offices/Subordinate Offices/Autonomous Bodies/Public Sector Undertakings to curb malpractices and for bringing objectivities to the selection process.

 

(ix) Introduction of conducting examination by Staff Selection Commission (SSC) through Computer Based Mode.  Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’ posts recruitment conducted by SSC made through Computer Base Mode.

 

(x) JeevanPramaan’ – The system provides authenticity to Digital Life Certificate without the necessity of the pensioner being present in person before his/ her Pension Dispensing Authority (PDA).

 

(xi) The Government has undertaken several initiatives to introduce new IT products and technologies and to strengthen existing ones in its various e-Governance projects. Some of major initiatives are as under:

 

(a)    National Scholarship Portal: It provides a centralized platform for application and disbursement of scholarship to students under any scholarship scheme.

 

(b)   GeM–An online procurement of Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organizations / PSUs, Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has been developed to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.

 

(c)    UMANG –   Unified Mobile App for New – age Governance is an initiative to build a common, unified platform and mobile app to facilitate single point of access for government services through mobile.

 

(d)   e-Sign– This framework has been developed as an integrated service, which facilitates issuing a Digital Signature Certificate and performing signing of requested document by authenticating the Aadhaar card holder.

 

(e)    Digital Locker-This provides an ecosystem with collection of repositories and gateways for issuers to upload the documents in the digital repositories. It will eliminate the usage of physical documents and enable sharing of e-documents across agencies.The System serves as a platform to enable citizens to securely store and share their documents with service providers who can directly access them electronically.

 

(f)    e-Hospital– Online Registration Framework (ORF) is an initiative to facilitate the patients to take online OPD appointments with government hospitals. This framework also covers patient care, laboratory services and medical record management.

 

(g)   Mobile Seva –   Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has implemented a countrywide initiative on mobile governance, called Mobile Seva, to provide government services to the people through mobile phones and tablets.

 

(h)   National Centre of Geo-informatics (NCoG)–  Under this project, Geographic Information System (GIS) platform for sharing, collaboration, location based analytics and decision support system for Departments has been developed. Currently, 8 applications across various domains are operational.

 

(xii) Following initiatives are taken up to ensure farmers’ welfare as well as consumers’ satisfaction:

 

(a)   M-Kisan Portal – All Central and State Government organizations in agriculture and allied sectors to give information/services/advisories to farmers by SMS in their language, preference of agricultural practices and location.

 

(b)   Kisan Call Centres – Government setup call centres to respond to the queries of farmers on all seven days a week from 6.00 AM to 10.00 PM through toll free telephone No. 1XXX-XX-1551.

 

(c)    KisanSuvidha Mobile App – on five critical parameters – weather, input dealers, market price, plant protection and expert advisories.

 

(d)   e-National Agriculture Market (e-NAM) – Connecting 21 wholesale markets (Mandis) in eight states.


Surging methane emissions imperil climate goals

A decade-long surge of the potent greenhouse gas methane threatens to make the fight against global warming even harder, top researchers warned.

“Additional attention is urgently needed to quantify and reduce methane emissions,” they wrote Monday in the Environmental Research Letters journal, summarizing the findings of a consortium of 81 scientists.

After rising slowly from 2000 to 2006, the concentration of methane in the air climbed 10 times more quickly the following decade, according to that study, which was published in the peer-reviewed Earth System Science Data.
The unexpected and largely unexplained increase was especially sharp in 2014 and 2015.

“Keeping global warming below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) is already a challenging target,” they said, referring to the goal set in the 196 nation Paris climate pact, which entered into force last month.
“Such a target will become increasingly difficult if reductions in methane emissions are not also addressed strongly and rapidly.”

With only 1 degree Celsius (1.8 F) of warming above pre-industrial era levels so far, the world has seen an uptick in extreme weather, including droughts, superstorms, heat waves and coastal flooding boosted by rising seas.

On current trends, average global temperatures are on track to jump by more than 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 F) by 2100, even if national carbon-cutting pledges annexed to the Paris Agreement are honoured.

NDRF teams pre-positioned in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu for cyclone Vardah

In view of development of cyclone Vardah over Bay of Bengal, 19 flood rescue teams of NDRF have been prepositioned in coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh & Tamil Nadu as a proactive deployment.

NDRF:-

The Disaster Management Act has made the statutory provisions for constitution of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) for the purpose of specialized response to natural and man-made disasters.

Two national calamities in quick succession in the form of Orissa Super Cyclone (1999) and Gujarat Earthquake (2001) brought about the realization of the need of having a specialist response mechanism at National Level to effectively respond to disasters. This realization led to the enactment of the DM Act on 26 Dec 2005.

How the Cyclones are named:-

The naming of tropical cyclones is a recent phenomenon. The process of naming cyclones involves several countries in the region and is done under the aegis of the World Meteorological Organization.

For the Indian Ocean region, deliberations for naming cyclones began in 2000 and a formula was agreed upon in 2004. Eight countries in the region – Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand – all contributed a set of names which are assigned sequentially whenever a cyclonic storm develops.

Why name a Cyclone?

It’s easier and less confusing to say “Cyclone Phailin” than remember the storm’s number or its longitude and latitude. It’s also easier when you have more than one storm to track.


Tirupati laddu  – Geographical Indicator , also needs safety licence, says food safety authority

The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) now has to obtain a food safety licence like any other Food Business Operator (FBO) for the famed Tirupati laddu.

The applicability of the Act is not affected whether the food is purchased or distributed free of cost. TTD therefore has to obtain a licence and fulfil all responsibilities of an FBO as stipulated in Section 23 of the FSS Act


What are the different parts of a cyclone’s structure?

The eye

The eye of the storm is the centre. It’s a relatively calm space. When the eye passes over an area, winds slow down and everything feels like it has cleared up. But this is the proverbial calm before the storm, as the part that comes after the eye usually inflicts the most damage.

The eyewall

This is where the most effective part of a cyclone rests. The eyewall houses extremely high wind speeds, causing damage to both lives and property. It is a ring of thunderstorms, and changes in the eye or the eyewall affects the storm’s intensity.

Rainbands

These are the outer parts of a cyclone where sudden bursts of rain happen. There can also be gaps betwen rainbands where no rain or wind occurs.

Hurricane or cyclone?

The only difference between a hurricane, a cyclone and a typhoon is the location in which they occur. Storms in the Atlantic and the Northeast Pacific oceans are known as hurricanes, those in the Northwest Pacific ocean are called typhoons, and the same systems in the South Pacific and Indian oceans are cyclones.


Rs. 12.44 lakh crore in demonetised notes collected at banks

Banks have issued Rs 4.61 lakh crore to the public since November 9 through ATMs and bank counters.

The Reserve Bank of India said on Tuesday that Rs 12.44 lakh crore in demonetised notes have been collected at banks.


Cancel illegal salt pans in Sambhar Lake: NGT

The central zonal bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed the Rajasthan government to cancel allotments of salt pans in the Sambhar Salt Lake that fall within the wetland and run contrary to the mandate of Wetland Rules, 2010.

NGT has also directed the State government to not to make any further allotments or permit new salt pans within the wetland areas or in the ‘no construction zone’ identified for the said purpose in accordance with the Wetland Rules, 2010.

It has further asked the authority to examine the sensitive issue in light of observations and recommendations made by the two expert committees in the year 2010. The bench gave six months’ time to implement the recommendations which should not be later than the 2017 monsoon.

Sambar lake:

The Sambhar Salt Lake is India’s largest inland salt lake and the only aeolian lake. The lake encircles historical Sambhar Lake Town located 96 km south west of the city of Jaipur in Rajasthan. It is the source of most of Rajasthan’s salt production. It produces 196,000 tonnes of clean salt every year, which equates to around 9% of India’s salt production.

Sambhar has been designated as a Ramsar site. The wetland is a key wintering area for tens of thousands of flamingos and other birds that migrate from northern Asia.


Cabinet approves Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and United States Geological Survey (USGS) for cooperation in the Exchange and use of U.S. Land Remote Sensing Satellite Data

ISRO of Department of Space is actively pursuing civilian space cooperation with many US organisations including National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and United States Geological Survey (USGS). Data from Landsat series of satellites operated by USGS was used by Indian scientists during the inception of Indian remote sensing programme. ISRO received Landsat data during 1984 to 2001 through its ground station at Shadnagar. USGS has launched Landsat -8 satellite in February 2013. ISRO expressed interest in direct reception of the Landsat-8 data in India, while USGS expressed interest in obtaining data from ISRO’s RESOURCESAT-2 satellite.

ISRO and USGS, considering their mutual interest in data exchange of each other satellites, signed the MoU


Cabinet approves replacement of ‘Major Port Trusts Act, 1963’ with ‘the Major Port Trust Authorities Bill, 2016’

With a view to promote the expansion of port infrastructure and facilitate trade and commerce, the proposed bill aims at decentralizing decision making  and   to infuse  professionalism in governance of ports.  The new Major Ports Authority Bill, 2016 would help to impart faster and transparent decision making benefiting the stakeholders and better project execution capability. The Bill is aimed at reorienting the governance model in central Ports to landlord port model in line with the successful global practice. This will also help in bringing transparency in operations of Major Ports.

The salient features of the Major Ports Authority Bill are as under:

  1. The Bill is more compact in comparison to the Major Port Trusts Act, 1963 as the number of sections has been reduced to 65 from 134 by eliminating overlapping and obsolete Sections.
  2. The new Bill has proposed a simplified composition of the Board of Port Authority which will comprise of 11 members from the present 17 to 19 Members representing various interests. A compact Board with professional independent members will strengthen decision making and strategic planning. Provision has been made for inclusion of representative of the State Government in which the Major Port is situated, Ministry of Railways, Ministry of Defence and Customs, Department of Revenue as Members in the Board apart from a Government Nominee Member and a Member representing the employees of the Major Ports Authority.
  3. The role of Tariff Authority for Major Ports [TAMP] has been redefined. Port Authority has now been given powers to fix tariff which will act as a reference tariff for purposes of bidding for PPP projects. PPP operators will be free to fix tariff based on market conditions. The Board of the Port Authority has been delegated the power to fix the scale of rates for other port services and assets including land.
  4. An independent Review Board has been proposed to be created to carry out the residual function of the erstwhile TAMP for Major Ports, to look into disputes between ports and PPP concessionaires, to review stressed PPP projects and suggest measures to review stressed PPP  projects and suggest measures to revive such projects and to look into complaints regarding services rendered by the ports/private operators operating within the ports would be constituted.
  5. The Boards of the Port Authority have been delegated full powers to enter into contracts, planning and development, fixing of tariff except in national interest, security and emergency arising out of inaction and default. In the present MPT Act, 1963 prior approval of the Central Government was required in 22 cases.
  6. Empowers the Board to make its own Master Plan in respect of the area within the port limits and to construct within port limits Pipelines, Telephones, Communication towers, electricity supply or transmission equipment. The Board is empowered to lease land for Port related use for upto 40 years and for any purpose other than the purposes specified in section 22 for upto 20 years beyond which the approval of the Central Government is required.
  7. Provisions of CSR & development of infrastructure by Port Authority have been introduced.

European Organisation for Nuclear Research

In recent years, Indian scientists have been involved in all pioneering activities at CERN. India has made significant contributions to the construction of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), in the areas of design, development and supply of hardware accelerator components/systems and its commissioning and software development and deployment in the machine.

India is one of the leading partners in the ALICE experiment, which is on a quest to unearth the physics of quark-gluon plasma (QGP) and to get a glimpse of how matter behaved within a few microseconds after the birth of the Universe.

The discovery of the Higgs Boson at the LHC is the most talked about scientific discovery in recent memory.

Indian scientists have played a significant role in the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiments, which is one of the two large experiments that have led to the discovery of the Higgs Boson.

Indian scientists have been named as part of this historic discovery. This helps India in participating in the high end technology related to high energy accelerators. It is noteworthy to mention the involvement of Indian scientists in high-tech particle detectors and electronics research, ISOLDE (Isotope Separator On Line Device) and n-TOF (neutron Time of Flight) experiments, and various application oriented programs including medical imaging.

In the field of large-scale computing, India has made major contributions in terms of designing, developing and deploying software for the Worldwide Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid (WLCG).

It is worth mentioning that the grid Tier-2 centres established at Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre (VECC), Kolkata and Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai have provided the pledged resources and are operating with 96% uptime, thereby facilitating running of computational jobs by various CERN collaborations.

An agreement has been signed  between India and the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) concerning the granting of the status of Associate Member at CERN.

Associate Membership entitles Indian industry to participate directly in all CERN related activities. This will lead to enhancement of high technology development expertise in the country, which will in turn be beneficial to DAE and other scientific departments in the country for their future programmes in the related areas.

About Quark–Gluon plasma (QGP)

A quark–gluon plasma (QGP) or quark soup is a state of matter in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) which is hypothesized to exist at extremely high temperature, density, or both temperature and density.

This state is thought to consist of asymptotically free quarks and gluons, which are several of the basic building blocks of matter. It is believed that up to a few milliseconds after the Big Bang, known as the Quark epoch, the Universe was in a quark–gluon plasma state.

In June 2015, an international team of physicists produced quark-gluon plasma at the Large Hadron Collider by colliding protons with lead nuclei at high energy inside the supercollider’s Compact Muon Solenoid detector. They also discovered that this new state of matter behaves like a fluid.


Nanocraft

Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is planning to send two nano satellites into space namely INS-1A & INS-1B, weighing 10 kg each including payload mass of 5 kg. These nano satellites are meant for technology demonstration. Mission life is expected to be six months to one year.


Recognition of Products under GI Classification -From North-East

260 products have been registered as Geographical Indications (GIs) since 2003.

Geographical Indications are covered as an element of Intellectual Property Rights under the TRIPS Agreement. The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property does not mention Geographical Indications; however, Appellations of Origin, which are a particular kind of Geographical Indications, are covered under the Paris Convention.

 There is no Geographical Indication registered in the name of Bhut Jolokia green chillies. A list of products from North Eastern States registered as Geographical Indications are : –

Geographical Indications State
Muga Silk of Assam Assam
Naga Mircha Nagaland
Assam (Orthodox) – A type of tea Assam
Shaphee Lanphee – Shaphee Lanphee is a traditional textile fabric woven and embroidered, usually as a shawl, with embroidered motifs with cotton threads generally by Meetei women of Manipur. The fabric was, in the past, presented as a gift of honour (Mana Phee) to the soldiers for their bravery in a successful war, and to the praise-worthy chiefs of the Nagas of Manipur by the king of Manipur. Manipur
Wangkhei Phee – Wangkhei Phee is a textile fabric made of white cotton. It is a product which is protected under the GI registration and is made throughout the Indian state of Manipur and is woven by women. The fabric is transparent, has many designs on its body, and is popularly worn by women of Manipur for marriage ceremonies and other festive occasions Manipur
Moirang Phee – is a textile fabric having origin in Moirang village Manipur
Naga Tree Tomato

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Nagaland
Arunachal Orange Arunachal Pradesh
Sikkim Large Cardamom Sikkim
Mizo Chilli Mizoram
Assam Karbi Anglong Ginger Assam
Tripura Queen Pineapple Tripura
Tezpur Litchi Assam
Khasi Mandarin– Khasi Mandarin of Meghalaya, a rare and unique citrus species Meghalaya
Kachai Lemon Manipur
Memong Narang Meghalaya

New Monuments under ASI

After survey, 22 numbers of monuments (list is given below) have been identified to include under list of centrally protected monuments.  Conservation work of the protected monuments is a continuous process.

List :- 

Name of Monument State
Badarpur Fort, District Karimganj Assam
Rock Painting at Chintakunta Muddanur Mandal, District Y.S.R. Kadapa Andhra Pradesh
Ancient Site, Khirsara, District Kacchh Gujarat
Budhist Monastery at Lahaling District Lalaul and Spiti. Himachal Pradesh
Zimskhang Gongma along with village remains Jammu & Kashmir
Ancient Caves Saspol/Gon-Nila-Phuk Meditition Caves Saspol, Leh-Laadakh Jammu & Kashmir
Rock Art site Murgi, Leh-Laadakh Jammu & Kashmir
Trilochana Temple Jammu & Kashmir
Trisher Stupa along with adjusting remains and prehistoric site around Holy Lake (Slob Phan Rso), Leh-Laadakh Jammu & Kashmir
Navratana Garh Fort Jharkahand
Janardana Temple, District Thrissur Kerala
Vishnu Temple (Visnugudi) Nadavyal Sultanbatery Taluk, Wayanad, District Thrissur Kerala
Dhurabarao (Putalibarao) Maharashtra
Monument at Ranipur Jharial Odisha
Zawar, Zinc Protection Centre Rajasthan
The four Mughal Gardens Uttar Pradesh
Haveli of Agah Khan Uttar Pradesh
Haveli of Khan-i-Duran Uttar Pradesh
Hathi Khana Uttar Pradesh
Someshwar Mahadeva Temple Char, District Chitrakut. Uttar Pradesh
Ancient Brick Temple (Tundare Baba), Deokalia (Unchagaon) in District Sitapur. Uttar Pradesh
Sanauli Uttar Pradesh

Security infrastructure to plug cross border infiltration

 *There was  question on border management in this years mains exam.

The Government has adopted multi-pronged approach to curb the infiltration from western front, which include construction of fence, floodlight, Border Out Posts (BoPs), induction of latest surveillance equipments like Hand Held Thermal Imager (HHTI), Long Range Recce Observation System (LORROS), Night vision Goggle/devices, etc.

Government of India has also decided to deploy technological solutions in the form of Comprehensive Integrated Border Management (CIBMS), on a pilot basis to begin with, in different terrains on Indo-Pakistan border.

It is based on integration of manpower, underground, under water sensors, networks, intelligence and command & control solutions, including options such as Electro-Optic Sensors (high resolution day & night cameras), Radars and other devices. As per procurement schedule, technical evaluation of offered technologies is in progress and deployment of CIBMS in Jammu on pilot basis is likely to be completed by 31st August, 2017.


Predatory Journals:

These are those journals which accept the articles of research and publish it without providing a peer to peer review which thereby leads to a lower standard of articles being published. There are chances of plagiarized articles entering into system. This type of articles is finding its presence in CSIR.
A study has said that India not only publishes the most number of predatory journals in the world but researches based in India are one of the biggest contributors to such bogus journals .

 

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  • Context:-

    At the recently concluded Leaders’ Summit on Climate in April 2021, Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition, a collective of the United States, United Kingdom and Norway governments, came up with a $1 billion fund plan that shall be offered to countries committed to arrest the decline of their tropical forests by 2030.

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    What is LEAF Coalition?

    • Lowering Emissions by Accelerating Forest Finance (LEAF) Coalition, a collective of the United States, United Kingdom and Norway governments, came up with a $1 billion fund.
    • LEAF is supported by transnational corporations (TNCs) like Unilever plc, Amazon.com, Inc, Nestle, Airbnb, Inc as well as Emergent, a US-based non-profit.

    Why LEAF Coalition?

    • The world lost more than 10 million hectares of primary tropical forest cover last year, an area roughly the size of Switzerland.
    • Ending tropical and subtropical forest loss by 2030 is a crucial part of meeting global climate, biodiversity and sustainable development goals. Protecting tropical forests offers one of the biggest opportunities for climate action in the coming decade.
    • Tropical forests are massive carbon sinks and by investing in their protection, public and private players are likely to stock up on their carbon credits.
    • The LEAF coalition initiative is a step towards concretising the aims and objectives of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) mechanism.
    • REDD+ was created by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). It monetised the value of carbon locked up in the tropical forests of most developing countries, thereby propelling these countries to help mitigate climate change.
    • It is a unique initiative as it seeks to help developing countries in battling the double-edged sword of development versus ecological commitment. 
    • The initiative comes at a crucial time. The tropics have lost close to 12.2 million hectares (mha) of tree cover last year according to global estimates released by Global Forest Watch.
    • Of this, a loss of 4.2 mha occurred within humid tropical primary forests alone. It should come as no surprise that most of these lost forests were located in the developing countries of Latin America, Africa and South Asia.
    • Brazil has fared dismally on the parameter of ‘annual primary forest loss’ among all countries. It has lost 1.7 mha of primary forests that are rich storehouse of carbon. India’s estimated loss in 2020 stands at 20.8 kilo hectares.

    Brazil & India 

    • Between 2002-2020, Brazil’s total area of humid primary forest reduced by 7.7 per cent while India’s reduced by 3.4 per cent.
    • Although the loss in India is not as drastic as in Brazil, its position is nevertheless precarious. For India, this loss is equivalent to 951 metric tonnes worth carbon dioxide emissions released in the atmosphere.
    • It is important to draw comparisons between Brazil and India as both countries have adopted a rather lackadaisical attitude towards deforestation-induced climate change. The Brazilian government hardly did anything to control the massive fires that gutted the Amazon rainforest in 2019.
    • It is mostly around May that forest fires peak in India. However, this year India, witnessed massive forest fires in early March in states like Odisha, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram among others.
    • The European Union’s Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service claimed that 0.2 metric tonnes of carbon was emitted in the Uttarakhand forest fires.

    According to the UN-REDD programme, after the energy sector, deforestation accounts for massive carbon emissions — close to 11 per cent — in the atmosphere. Rapid urbanisation and commercialisation of forest produce are the main causes behind rampant deforestation across tropical forests.

    Tribes, Forests and Government

    Disregarding climate change as a valid excuse for the fires, Indian government officials were quick to lay the blame for deforestation on activities of forest dwellers and even labelled them “mischievous elements” and “unwanted elements”.

    Policy makers around the world have emphasised the role of indigenous tribes and local communities in checking deforestation. These communities depend on forests for their survival as well as livelihood. Hence, they understand the need to protect forests. However, by posing legitimate environmental concerns as obstacles to real development, governments of developing countries swiftly avoid protection of forests and rights of forest dwellers.

    For instance, the Government of India has not been forthcoming in recognising the socio-economic, civil, political or even cultural rights of forest dwellers. According to data from the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs in December, 2020 over 55 per cent of this population has still not been granted either individual or community ownership of their lands.  

    To make matters worse, the government has undertaken systematic and sustained measures to render the landmark Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006 ineffective in its implementation. The Act had sought to legitimise claims of forest dwellers on occupied forest land.

    Various government decisions have seriously undermined the position of indigenous people within India. These include proposing amendments to the obsolete Indian Forest Act, 1927 that give forest officials the power to take away forest dwellers’ rights and to even use firearms with impunity.

    There is also the Supreme Court’s order of February, 2019 directing state governments to evict illegal encroachers of forest land or millions of forest dwellers inhabiting forests since generations as a measure to conserve wildlife. Finally, there is the lack of data on novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) deaths among the forest dwelling population;

    Tardy administration, insufficient supervision, apathetic attitude and a lack of political intent defeat the cause of forest dwelling populations in India, thereby directly affecting efforts at arresting deforestation.

    Way Forward

    • Implementation of the LEAF Coalition plan will help pump in fresh rigour among developing countries like India, that are reluctant to recognise the contributions of their forest dwelling populations in mitigating climate change.
    • With the deadline for proposal submission fast approaching, India needs to act swiftly on a revised strategy.
    • Although India has pledged to carry out its REDD+ commitments, it is impossible to do so without seeking knowledge from its forest dwelling population.

    Tuntiak Katan, a global indigenous leader from Ecuador and general coordinator of the Global Alliance of Territorial Communities, aptly indicated the next steps at the Climate Summit:

    “The first step is recognition of land rights. The second step is the recognition of the contributions of local communities and indigenous communities, meaning the contributions of indigenous peoples.We also need recognition of traditional knowledge practices in order to fight climate change”

    Perhaps India can begin by taking the first step.


    INTRODUCTION:-

    The Constitution of India was adopted on 26 November 1949, which means it was finalised by the Constituent Assembly on that day. But it became operative two months after its adoption, i.e., on 26 January 1950, which is also known as the date of its “commencement”.

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    However, some provisions of it, i.e., those relating to citizenship, elections, provisional Parliament, temporary and transitional provisions had become operative on 26 November 1949 itself. The reason for its commencement after two months of its adoption was to signify the January 26 as the original date of achievement of Independence.

    It was this day, i.e. 26th January, in 1930 which the Indian National Congress (INC) had first celebrated as the Independence Day of India. It is important to note that the Constitution of India is product of a longdrawn process and deliberations.

    EVOLUTION OF THE INDIAN CONSTITUTION 1858-1935

    The Constitution of India embodies provisions providing basic democratic rights of human beings including the persons who are not Indian citizens. It also embodies provisions for the availability of institutions for legislation, execution and jurisdiction for the fulfilment these rights.

    It presents a vision for social transformation and deepening of democracy in India. The process of evolution of democratic institutions and rights had started much before the Constituent Assembly really made the Constitution of India.

    It, however, must be underlined that the features of democratic institutions and values which were introduced during the colonial period were meant to serve the colonial interests in contrast to the purpose of the provisions of the Constitution made by the Constituent Assembly of India.

    Although the Indian Constitution was result of the deliberations (from December 9, 1947 to November 26, 1949) of the Constituent Assembly, some of its features had evolved over three quarters of a century through various Acts, i.e., from 1858 to 1935.

    The Government of India Act, 1935, and Other Acts

    With the transfer of power from the East India Company to the British Crown, the British Parliament got involved in managing affairs of India. For achieving this purpose, from 1858 till 1935, the colonial government introduced certain features of constitution or rules of governance through different Acts. The Government of India Act, 1935 was the most important among these Acts.

    First of these other Acts was Government of India Act, 1858. It provided for a combination of centralised and decetralised power structure to govern India. The centralised structure was introduced in the areas which were under the direct control of the Crown. These areas were known as British India provinces or provinces. The decentralized structure was introduced in the areas which were not under the direct control of the Crown. These areas were ruled by the Indian princes, and were known as princely states or states.

    Under this system, the princes had freedom to govern in all internal matters of their princely states, but they were subject to the British control. In the centralized structure of power which was introduced in the provinces, all powers to govern India vested in the Secretary of State for India (and through him in the Crown). He acted on behalf of the Crown.

    He was assisted by a fifteen-member council of ministers.There did not exist separation of executive, legislative and judicial functions of government; these all were concentrated in the hands of the Secretary of State for India. In British India, the Secretary of State of India was assisted by the Viceroy, who was assisted by an executive council.

    At the district level, the viceroy was assisted by a small number of British administrators. The provincial government did not have financial autonomy. In 1870 viceroy Lord Mayo ensured that all parts of provincial administration received due share of revenue to meet their needs.

    The scope of political institutions in the provinces was expanded a little further following the introduction of Council of India Act, 1909. This Act introduced for the first time a “representative element” in British India, which included elected non-official members.This Act also introduced separate representation to Muslim community.

    The Government of India Act 1919 devolved some authority to the provincial governments, retaining the control of the central government (unitary government) on them.It relaxed the control of the central government in a limited way. It divided the subjects for jurisdiction of administration and sources of revenue between centre and provinces.

    Under this arrangement, the provincial government was given control on resources of revenue such as land, irrigation and judicial stamps. The provincial subjects were divided into “transferred’ and “reserved” categories.

    The “transferred” subjects were governed by the governor, and “reserved” subjects were governed by the legislature. The governor (executive head) was not accountable to the legislature.

    The Government of India Act, 1935 was different from the earlier Government of India Acts. Unlike the earlier Acts, the Government of India Act, 1935 also provided for provincial government enjoying provincial autonomy. It provided “safeguards” for minorities.

    Such “safeguards” included provisions for separate representations to Muslims, Sikhs, the Europeans, Indian Christians and Anglo-Indians. This Act also provided for three lists of divisions of power between the federation (central government) and provinces: federal (central), concurrent and provincial.

    The Act also provided for establishment of a federal court to adjudicate disputes between federation and provinces. The executive head of the provincial government was Governor, who enjoyed special power. Under the special power the Governor could veto the decisions of the provincial legislature.

    He acted on behalf of the Crown, and was not a subordinate of the Governor-General (the changed designation of Viceroy). He enjoyed discretionary powers to exercise his “individual judgments” in certain matters. In such matters, he did not need to work under the advice of ministers: he was to act under the control of the Governor-General, and indeed the Secretary of the State.

    He was also not accountable to the legislature but he was required to act on the advice of ministers, who were accountable to the legislature.

    Government of India Act, 1935 also had provisions for setting up a central government consisting of representatives from the provinces(areas ruled by the British India government) and the states (the areas covered under princely states).Such government was supposed to be known as federal government because of composition with members both from provinces and the states.

    However, the federal government could not be formed because there was no unanimity among the princes to join the federation; consent of all princes was essential for the formation of federation. Thus, only the provincial governments could be formed as per this Act.

    And election to the provincial legislature as per the Government of India Act, 1935 was held in 1937. Following the election of 1937, provincial governments headed by the Indian National Congresswere formed in eight provinces. The Indian National Congress government resigned in 1937. Nevertheless, according to M. Govinda Rao and Nirvikar Singh (2005), the Government of India Act, 1935 provided a basis to the Constituent Assembly to make the Constitution.

    The Nehru Report(1928): First Indian Initiative to Draft Constitution

    As you have read above, attempts to introduce elements of constitution in British India through different Act since 1858 were made by the British rulers. Indians had no role in it.

    The first attempt by Indians themselves to prepare a Constitution of India was made in the Nehru Report(1928).Earlier, effort by Indians was made in the name of the swaraj (self-rule) by leaders of Indian national movement during the non-cooperation movement in 1921-22.

    The Nehru Report was known as such because it was named after the chairman of its drafting committee, Motilal Nehru. The decision to constitute the drafting committee was taken in the conference of the established All India parties. The principal among these parties included Indian National Congress, Swaraj Party and Muslim League. The Justice Party of Madras and Unionist Party of Punjab did not participate in this meeting.

    The Nehru Report demanded universal suffrage for adults and responsible government both in the centre and in the provinces. It, however, supported the Dominion Status, not complete independence for India.

    It meant that Indians would have freedom to legislate on certain limited matters under the control of the British India government. For this, the Nehru Report prepared list of central and provincial subjects, and fundamental rights. It also raised demands for universal suffrage for men and women adults.

    Indeed, it was in 1934, a few years after the preparation of the Nehru report, that the Indian National Congress officially demanded a constitution of Indian people, without the interference of outsiders.

    FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

    The Cripps Mission

    Initially, the colonial authorities resisted the demand for creation of a Constitution of India. But with the change in the circumstances – the outbreak of the World War II and formation of the new Coalition (Labour-led) government in Britain, the British government was forced to acknowledge the urgency to solve the problem related to Constitution of Indians.

    In 1942, the British government sent its cabinet member – Sir Stafford Cripps with the draft declaration on proposals (regarding formation of constitution for Indians) to be implemented at the end of the WW II provided both the Muslim League and the Indian National Congress had agreed to accept them.

    The draft proposals of the Cripps Mission recommended the following:

    1. providing Dominion Status to India, i.e., equal partnership of the British Commonwealth of Nations;
    2. all Provinces (ruled by the British India government) and Indian States (ruled by Indian princes) should constitute one Indian Union by the British Constitution;
    3. the Constitution of India should be framed by an elected Constituent Assembly of Indian people but if any province (or Indian State) which was not prepared to accept the Constitution was to be free to retain its constitutional position which had existed at that time.
    4. Such provinces were to be free to enter separate constitutional arrangements.

    Both the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League did not accept the proposals of the Cripps Mission. The Muslim League demanded that India should be divided on the communal lines and some provinces should form an independent state of Pakistan; and, there should be two Constituent Assemblies, one for Pakistan and another for India.

    The Cabinet Mission

    The British Indian government made several attempts to bridge the differences between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League. But it was unsuccessful.

    The British government sent another delegation of the Cabinet members, known as the Cabinet Delegation, which came to be known as the Cabinet Mission Plan. It consisted of three cabinet members – Lord Pathic Lawrence, Sir Stafford Cripps and Mr. A.V. Alexander.

    The Cabinet Delegation also failed to bring the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League to an agreement. It, however, made its own proposal which was announced simultaneously on 16 May, 1946 in England as well as in India.

    The Cabinet delegation made the following recommendations:

    1. there should a Union of India consisting of British India and the States, which would have jurisdiction over subjects of Foreign Affairs, Defense and Communication;
    2. all residuary powers would belong to the Provinces and the States;
    3. the Union would have Executive and Legislature consisting of the representatives from the Provinces and the States but for decision relating to a major communal issue in the legislature a majority of representatives of two major communities would be present, and voting along with the majority of all members present and voting would be required;
    4. the provinces would be free to form Groups with executives and legislatures;
    5. and each group would be free to determine the Provincial Subjects which would be taken up by the Group organisation.

    Election to the Constituent Assembly

    Meanwhile, according to the proposals of the Cabinet Mission, the election to the Constituent Assembly was held in which members of both the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League were returned. The members of the Constituent Assembly were elected by the Provincial Legislative Assemblies.

    However, differences between the Indian National Congress and the Muslim League arose on interpretation of “Group Clauses” of the Cabinet Mission.

    The British government intervened at this stage and explained to the leaders in London that the contention of the Muslim League was correct. And on December 6, 1946, the British Government published a statement, which for the first time acknowledged the possibility of two Constituent Assemblies and two States.

    As a result, when the Constituent Assembly first met on December 9, 1946, it was boycotted by the Muslim League, and it functioned without the participation of the Muslim League.

    NATURE OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY’S REPRESENTATION

    It is often argued that the Constituent Assembly of India did not represent the masses of India because its representatives were not elected through the universal adult franchise. Rather they were indirectly elected by the restricted adult franchise confined to the elite sections of society – the educated and tax payers.

    According to Granville Austin the reasons for the restricted franchise and indirect election to the Constituent Assembly members were spelled by the Cabinet Mission Plan. These were to avoid the cumbersome and slow progress in the process of Constitution making.

    The Cabinet Mission provided for the indirect election to the Constituent Assembly by the elected members of the provincial legislature. The Indian National Congress agreed to this proposal of the Cabinet Mission forsaking the claim of adult franchise to hold election to the Constituent Assembly.

    Despite having been elected through the restricted adult franchise, the Constituent Assembly represented different shades of opinions and religious communities of India. Austin observed that though there was a majority of the Indian National Congress in the Constituent Assembly, it had an “unwritten and unquestioned belief” that the Indian National Congress should represent social and ideological diversity.

    There was also its “deliberate policy” that the representatives of various minority communities and viewpoints should be represented in the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly consisted of members with different ideological orientations, and three religious communities -Sikhs, Muslims and General (Hindus and all other communities like the Anglo-Indians, Parsis, etc).

    In words of K. Santaram “There was hardly any shade of opinion not represented in the Assembly”. Majority of the Constituent Assembly members belonged to the Indian National Congress. It also included more than a dozen non-Indian National Congress members.

    Some of these were A.K. Ayyer, H.N. Kunjru, N.G. Ayyanger, S.P. Mukherjee and Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. S.P. Mookerji represented the Hindu Mahasabha.

    The Constituent Assembly included representatives from the Princely States as well. It needs to be underscored that Dr. Ambedkar was initially elected to the Constituent Assembly from Bengal as member of the Scheduled Caste Federation. But he lost this seat due to the partition of Bengal and was re-elected by the Bombay Indian National Congress (as a non-Indian National Congress candidate) at the request of the Indian National Congress High Command.

    The Constituent Assembly sought to address concerns of every person irrespective of their social and cultural orientations. Before incorporating a provision in the constitution, it held elaborate deliberations. Thus, the members of the Constituent Assembly could overcome the limitations of having been elected by the restricted franchise.

    The Constituent Assembly sought to accommodate universal values of democracy. The Constituent Assembly adopted several provisions from different constitutions of world and adapted them to the needs of India. In fact, Austin argues that while incorporating different provisions in the Constitution including those which were borrowed from other countries the Constituent Assembly adopted “two wholly Indian concepts” of resolving differences among its members, i.e., consensus and accommodation.

    Most members of the Constituent Assembly participated in its proceedings. But these were twenty individuals who played the most influential role in the Assembly.

    Some of them were Rajendra Prasad, Maulan Azad, Vallabhbhai Patel, Jawaharlal Nehru, Govind Ballabh Pant, P. Sitaramayya, A.K. Ayyar, N.G. Ayyangar, K.M. Munshi, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Satyanarayan Sinha. Though the Constituent Assembly was the sole forum where deliberations took place, yet the deliberations took place in coordination of three bodies – the Constituent Assembly, the Indian National Congress Party, and the interim government.

    Some members of the Constituent Assembly were also members of other bodies at the same time. Austin said that “an oligarchy” of four – Nehru, Patel, Prasad and Azad had enjoyed unquestioned honour and prestige in the Assembly. They dominated the proceedings of the Constituent Assembly.Some of these were simultaneously in the government, Indian National Congress Party and the Constituent Assembly.

    Prasad was President of Indian National Congress before becoming the President of the Constituent Assembly. Patel and Nehru were Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively at the same time. They were part of the inner circles of the committees of the Constituent Assembly.

    The Constitution Drafting Committee meticulously incorporated in the draft constitution the decisions of the Constituent Assembly. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, chairman of the Drafting Committee played the leading role in drafting of the Constitution.

    Acknowledging the pivotal role of Dr. Ambedkar, T.T. Krishnamachari, a member of the Drafting Committee, said in one of his speeches: “The House is perhaps aware that out of the seven members nominated by you, one had resigned from the house and was replaced. One had died and was not replaced. One was away in America and his place was not filled up, and another person was engaged in State Affairs, and there was a void to that extent. One or two people were far away from Delhi and perhaps reasons of health did not permit them to attend. So it happened ultimately that the burden of drafting this constitution fell upon Dr. Ambedkar and I have no doubt that we are grateful to him for having achieved this task in a manner which is undoubtedly commendable.”

    Dr. Ambedkar on his part “gave much of credit” to S.N. Mukerjee – B.N. Rau’s and Ambedkar’s assistant, the Drafting Officer of the Assembly, “for the careful wording of the Constitution”.

    THE ROLE OF THE CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY IN THE MAKING OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION 1946-1949

    The inaugural session of the Constituent Assembly was held on 9 December 1946. It was supposed to be attended by all 296 members but only 207 members could attend it because the Muslim League members absented from it.

    As stated earlier, they had boycotted the Constituent Assembly. In this meeting, Acharya J.B. Kripalani requested Dr. Sachchidananda Sinha to be the temporary chairman of the House. The members passed a resolution on 10 December 1946 for election of a permanent chairman, and on 11 December 1946, Dr. Rajendra Prasad was elected as the permanent Chairman of the Constituent Assembly.

    The Constituent Assembly divided its work among different committees for its smooth functioning. Some of the important committees were:

    (a) Union Power Committee. It was chaired by Jawaharlal Nehru and had nine members;

    (b) Committee on Fundamental Rights and Minorities. It had 54 members and Sardar Ballabh bhai Patel was its chairman;

    (c) Steering Committee and its 3 members which included Dr. K.M. Munshi (chairman), Gopalaswami Iyangar and Bhagwan Das;

    (d) Provincial Constitution Committee. It had 25 members with Sardar Patel as its chairman;

    (e) Committee on Union Constitution. It had 15 members with Jawahalal Nehru as its chairman.

    After discussing the reports of these committees, the Constituent Assembly appointed a Drafting Committee on 29 August 1947 under the chairmanship of Dr. B.R. Ambedakar. The draft was prepared by Sir B.N. Rau, Advisor to the Constituent Assembly.

    A 7-member Committee was constituted to examine the draft. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, who was Law Minister as well as chairman of the Drafting Committee piloted the draft in the Assembly. Dr. Ambedkar presented “Draft Constitution of India”. The “Draft Constitution” was published in February, 1948.

    It was discussed by the Constituent Assembly clause by in its several sessions and was completed by October 17, 1949. This discussion was known as the second reading. The Constituent Assembly again met on 14 November 1949 to discuss the draft further or to give it a third reading.

    It was finalised on 26 November 1949 after receiving the signature of the President of the Constituent Assembly. But it was January 26, 1950 which became the date of commencement of the Constitution.

    SALIENT FEATURES OF THE CONSTITUION

    The Indian Constitution has some salient features. These features give Indian Constitution a distinct identity. It is based on the features of different constitutions of the world. In the words of Dr. Ambedkar, The Indian constitution was prepared “after ransacking all the known Constitutions of the world”.

    The chapter on Fundamental Rights  is based on the American Constitution; the Parliamentary System has been adopted from the British Constitution; the Directive Principles of State Policy  have been adopted from the constitution of Ireland; the Emergency provisions  are based on the Constitution of Weimar (Germany) and Government of India Act, 1935.

    The features which have been borrowed from other Constitutions have been modified in the light of the needs of our country. It is the longest written constitution. At the time of its formation, the constitution of India had 395 Articles and 8 Schedules. It ensures both Justiciable and Non-Justiciable Rights: Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles of the State Policy.The constituent makers preferred universal adult franchise over the separate electorates. 

    Universal Adult Suffrage and Abolition of the Separate Electorate

    After debating its draft list of Fundamental rights the Sub-Committee on Fundamental Rights did not recommend inclusion of all of them in the section III of the Constitution as the Fundamental Rights. Instead, it suggested that these should be incorporated in other places in the Constitution.

    One such example is that of the Universal suffrage, and Secrete and periodic elections. The sub Committee agreed unanimously in favour of the Universal suffrage but suggested that it should not be part of the Fundamental Rights.

    Accordingly, it was placed in the Article 326 of the Part XV on election.The word “universal”, however, is missing from the Article 326. But the fact that every adult citizen of the country is entitled to vote makes it practically a universal adult franchise.

    In fact, before Indians really got the right to universal adult franchise, the prominent leaders of the Indian National movement strove for the abolition of the separate electorate in favour of the joint electorate.

    The British had sought to continue separate electorate in India since the Morley-Minto reforms, 1909 till the Communal Award of 1932 in the Constitution.

    The Communal Award aimed to accord separate electorate for Muslims, Europeans, Sikhs, Indian Christians and Anglo-Indians. It also provided for seats for the Depressed Classes which were to be filled in elections from special constituencies. In such constituencies only the depressed classes could vote.

    In addition, the depressed classes were also entitled to vote in general constituencies. Gandhi opposed the recommendation of the notion of separate electorate for the depressed classes. In opposition to the proposal for separate electorate, he set on fast unto death in September 1932. Gandhi’s fast evoked opposition from Ambedkar. However, both Gandhi and Ambedkar reached compromise in Poona Pact.

    According to the Poona Pact, seats were reserved for the depressed classes in the general constituencies. This resulted in the abolition of the separate electorate.The abolition of separate electorate got reflected in the reservation of seats in the legislative bodies Constitution.

    CONCLUSION

    The making of Indian Constitution largely consisted of two phases – 1858 to 1935 and 1946 to 1949. With the transfer of power from the East India Company to the British Crown, the British government introduced different elements of governance through different Acts.

    These also included the elements of representation of Indians in the institutions of governance. The motive of the British to introduce them was to serve their colonial interests rather than to provide democratic rights to them. The provision for communal representation introduced through the Morley-Minto Reforms in 1909 and through the Communal Award in 1932 was opposed by the leaders of the Indian National Movement.

    Gandhi’s fast resulted in the Poona Pact abolishing the separate electorate and in giving the reservation to the depressed classes in the provincial legislature. After the Indian National Congress emphasized the need for making of a Constitution of India by their own Constitient Assembly, the changed political situation following the Second World War and change of government in Britain, the British reluctantly realized the urgency for establishment of the Constituent Assembly of India for Indians.

    The Constituent Assembly which was set up following the recommendations of the Cabinet Mission Plan was elected through the restricted adult franchise by the provincial assemblies. Despite having elected by the privileged sections of the society, the Constituent Assembly represented different shades of opinions and ideologies.

    It also represented different social groups of India. The Constituent Assembly discussed all issues thoroughly before reaching decision on them. The decision and suggestions of different sub-Committees of the Constituent Assembly were finally incorporated in the Constitution of India.

    The Constitution of India is a document which provides a vision for social change. The Constitution is an embodiment of principles of liberal democracy and secularism, with some elements of social democracy. It ensures protection of cultural, linguistic and religious rights of individuals and communities.