Daily News Analysis:-
Webb space telescope spots ‘teenage’ galaxies
Source The Hindu https://epaper.thehindu.com/reader
GS3, Science And Technology
Why in News?
- Since becoming operational last year, the James Webb Space Telescope has made groundbreaking observations involving some of the universe’s earliest galaxies.
- But Webb has obtained even better data on galaxies a bit further along in development. Astronomers call these the galactic “teenagers”. As new research shows, they resemble human teenagers in certain respects, including by displaying growth spurts along with a bit of immaturity.
What is James Webb Space Telescope?
- The telescope is the result of an international collaboration between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency which was launched in December 2021.
- It is currently at a point in space known as the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point, approximately 1.5 million km beyond Earth’s orbit around the Sun.
Objectives of James webb telescope
- It will examine every phase of cosmic history: from the Big Bang to the formation of galaxies, stars, and planets to the evolution of our own Solar System.
About James webb telescope
- Launched in December 2021, the telescope is the product of an international partnership involving NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency.
- It is currently 1.5 million kilometers beyond Earth’s orbit around the Sun, at a location known as the Sun-Earth L2 Lagrange point.
- One of the five points in the Earth-Sun system’s orbital plane is Lagrange Point 2.
- Lagrange points are locations in space where enhanced regions of attraction and repulsion are produced by the gravitational forces of a two-body system, such as the Sun and the Earth.
- It’s the biggest and strongest infrared space telescope ever constructed.
- It is the Hubble Telescope’s replacement.
It’s time to revamp the structure of the Supreme Court
Source The Hindu
https://epaper.thehindu.com/reader
GS2, Judiciary
Background
The Supreme Court of India has three jurisdictions under the Constitution: original, appellate, and advisory. The Supreme Court serves as a Constitutional Court as well as a Court of Appeal. The Court sits in benches of varying sizes, as determined by the Registry on the directions of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), who is the Master of the Roster.
What is a Constitutional Bench?
- Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court typically comprise five, seven, or nine judges who deliberate on a specific issue related to constitutional law.
- Article 145(3) of the Constitution provides for the setting up of a Constitution Bench. It says a minimum of five judges need to sit for deciding a case involving a “substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution”, or for hearing any reference under Article 143, which deals with the power of the President to consult the Court.
Why is there a need for revamping the structure of the Supreme court?
- At present, there are 79,813 cases pending before the 34 judges of the Supreme Court.
- It is therefore understandable that there has been demand time and again for a structural change in the top court.
- Recently, CJI D.Y. Chandrachud announced his intent to create Constitution Benches of varied strengths as a permanent feature of the Court.
Various law commission recommendation for Revamping structure of Supreme court
- The Tenth Law Commission of India proposed that the Supreme Court be split into two divisions: the Constitutional Division and the Legal Division.
- The proposal stated that only issues pertaining to constitutional law would be brought to the proposed Constitutional Division.
- The Eleventh Law Commission stated in 1988 that dividing the Supreme Court into parts would make justice more widely available and would significantly decrease the fees that litigants have to pay.
- It was reported that appeals in the top court mostly comprised matters from High Courts that are closer to the Supreme Court. That is, appeals from the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Allahabad High Court, and Delhi High Court formed the major chunk of matters, whereas courts far away from the apex court had fewer appeals filed, due to both difficulties in accessibility and costs.
- Earlier, in Bihar Legal Support Society v. Chief Justice of India (1986), the Supreme Court stated that it was “desirable” to establish a National Court of Appeal that would be able to entertain special leave petitions. This would allow the Supreme Court to only entertain constitutional and public law related questions.
- As a step towards making the Court more accessible, the 229th Law Commission Report (2009) recommended four regional benches to be located in Delhi, Chennai or Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai to hear non constitutional issues. It recommended six judges from each region at four regional benches take up appellate responsibility, with a Constitution Bench in New Delhi working on a regular basis. By dividing the heavy backlog of nonconstitutional cases among regional benches, the Supreme Court, it said, could “deal with constitutional issues and other cases of national importance on a daytoday basis.”
- During colonial times, there were three Supreme Courts: in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. The Indian High Courts Act of 1861 replaced the Supreme Courts with High Courts for separate regions. The Government of India Act, 1935, created the Federal Court of India as an appellate body for the Privy Council and High Courts.
- Increase in the number of judges from the past -The first Supreme Court included eight judges,including the CJI. As the workload rose year after year and arrears of cases began to accumulate, Parliament increased the number of judges from eight in 1950 to 34 in 2019.
Overburdened Supreme court
- Today’s Supreme Court issues around 810 decisions each year through Constitution Benches of five or more judges. It serves primarily as an appeals court.
- Only four of the 1,263 decisions issued in 2022 were issued by a Constitution Bench. The Supreme Court hears matters between the Centre and the States, as well as between two or more States; rules on civil and criminal appeals; and provides legal and factual advice to the President.
How can the pendency of cases be addressed ?
Speedy appointment of judges:
- There is an urgent need to improve the judge population ratio to reduce the workload of judges.
Collegium System and Judges’ Appointment
- To maintain transparency, the selection of the High Court judges should be through a transparent and public mechanism so that the right candidate can be chosen to sit in the constitutional courts
Live- Hearings of the PIL
- PIL refers to litigation undertaken to secure public interest and demonstrates the availability of justice to socially disadvantaged parties.
Government Actions
- Centre had suggested measures like increasing the number of working days of courts, establishment of fast track courts and Indian Courts and Tribunal Services (ICTs) to increase the productivity of the court system.
E-platforms:
- Improve judicial infrastructure through the use of e-platforms and setting up of more courts. India has launched the e-Courts National portal ecourts.gov.in of the eCourts Project.
Strengthen the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism:
- It uses modes like Arbitration, Mediation and Conciliation. It uses a neutral third party who helps the parties to communicate, discuss the differences and resolve the dispute. It offers to resolve all types of matters related to civil disputes, as explicitly provided by the law.
Lok Adalat
- Voluntary agencies like Lok Adalats (People’s Courts) are an interesting feature of the Indian legal system. It is one of the alternative dispute redressal mechanisms.
Counseling:
- Disputes can be settled at the pre-litigation stage through counseling.
As deaths due to work-related factors go up, ILO report urges countries to strengthen safety net
Source The Hindu https://epaper.thehindu.com/reader
GS3, Economy
Why in News?
- Nearly 30 lakh workers die every year globally owing to work related accidents and diseases, says a new report prepared by the International Labour Organization (ILO). More than 63% of these deaths are reported from the AsiaPacific region.
What is the highlights of ILO Report?
- Exposure to long working hours (55 hours or more per week) was the biggest “killer”, with almost 7.45 lakh people dying of it in 2016, followed by exposure to occupational particulate matter, gasses, and fumes (4.5 lakh deaths) and occupational injuries (3.63 lakh deaths).
About ILO
- The ILO is the international organization responsible for drawing up and overseeing international labour standards.
- Headquarters –Geneva
- It is the only ‘tripartite’ United Nations agency that brings together representatives of governments, employers and workers to jointly shape policies and programmes promoting Decent Work for all.
- There 183 countries who are members of ILO
- Works to promote fair labour standards in health, safety, and working conditions, and freedom of association for workers
Objective of ILO
- To promote and realize standards and fundamental principles and rights at work.
- To create greater opportunities for women and men to secure decent employment.
- To enhance the coverage and effectiveness of social protection for all.
- To strengthen tripartism and social dialogue.
Functions of ILO
- Creation of coordinated policies and programs,directed at solving social and labor issues. Adoption of international labor standards in the form of conventions and recommendations and control over their implementation.
- Assistance to member-states in solving social and labour problems.
- Human rights protection(the right to work, freedom of association, collective negotiations, protection against forced labour, protection against discrimination, etc.).
- Research and publication of works on social and labour issue
ILO convention on worker’s safety
- ILO conventions The report said that so far 79 out of the 187 member countries have ratified the ILO Occupational Safety and Health Convention (No. 155), while 62 countries have ratified the Promotional Framework for
- Occupational Safety and Health Convention, 2006 (No. 187). India has not ratified both the conventions. In the wake of the Uttarkashi tunnel collapse in which 41 workers have been trapped, the Central trade unions had urged the Union government to ratify the conventions.
ILO and India
- Since 1922, India has served as a permanent member of the ILO Governing Body and is a founding member of the organization.
- The first ILO office in India opened its doors in 1928.
- Mutual trust and respect serve as the cornerstones of the decades-long successful partnership between the ILO and its constituents.
- This partnership is based on sustaining institutional capacities and enhancing partner capacities.
Fiber optic cables: its origins, working and different functions
Source The Hindu https://epaper.thehindu.com/reader
GS3, Science and technology
Why in News?
- During the unprecedented COVID19 pandemic, the one thing that connected us virtually was the internet.Because of high speed internet connections, we can now video chat with a friend, pay online, and attend classes or meetings from home.It was all possible because of Optical fibres,lets discuss about optical fibres and their functions.
What is an optical fibre?
- Optical fibres are made of thin cylindrical strands of glass. The diameter of a typical fibre is close to the diameter of a human hair.
- These fibers can carry information, such as text, images, videos, telephone calls, and anything that can be encoded as digital information, across large distances almost at the speed of light.
How do optical fibres work?
- Light is an electromagnetic wave with a spectrum of frequencies. Visible light, Xrays, radio waves, and thermal radiation (heat) all lie on this spectrum. Humans see the world around us via sunlight, but it took us a long time to control and guide light through fibre optic cables — or “light pipes’ ‘ — to send coded signals.
- When a beam of light falls on a glass surface, it passes through partially while the rest is reflected away.
- When it passes through, its path bends because the refractive index of glass is different from that of air.
- The refractive index is the property of a medium that determines how fast light can travel in it. When a beam travels in the reverse direction, that is from glass to air, it’s possible that it won’t enter the air.
- Instead, it will be completely reflected back within the glass. This phenomenon, known as total internal reflection, is the basis of guiding light across long distances without a significant loss of optical power.
- With proper adjustments, the light can be kept bouncing within the glass with very little escaping outside. This is how signals encoded as electromagnetic waves can be fed into one end of an optical fibre, and they will reflect and bounce many times between the glass walls as they traverse several kilometers bearing the information in the signals.
https://www.coherent.com/news/glossary/optical-fibers
What is the future of fibre cables?
- Fibre optics technology has since been used in telecommunication, medical science, laser technology, and sensing. With a goal to securing communication and promote quantum science, the Government of India announced a national mission in the Union Budget of 2020.
- The proposed budget for this National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications’ is ₹8,000 crore over a period of five years. The possibilities of fibre optic networks are growing at an accelerated rate, reaching all the way into our homes. Along with quantum optics, fibre optic communication stands on the cusp of a new era.
