The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 2 September 2023

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

• The idea has been around since at least 1983, when the Election Commission first mooted it. However, until 1967, simultaneous elections were the norm in India.
• The first General Elections to the House of People (Lok Sabha) and all State Legislative Assemblies were held simultaneously in 1951-52.
• That practice continued in three subsequent General Elections held in the years 1957, 1962 and 1967.
• However, due to the premature dissolution of some Legislative Assemblies in 1968 and 1969, the cycle got disrupted.
• In 1970, the Lok Sabha was itself dissolved prematurely and fresh elections were held in 1971. Thus, the First, Second and Third Lok Sabha enjoyed full five-year terms.

 The Hindu Editorial Today

• Incalculable Economic Costs of Elections:
• Policy Paralysis
• Administrative Costs
• Simultaneous elections threaten the federal character of our democracy.
• Large national parties would reap the economies of scale of one large election every five years, to the disadvantage of regional parties.
• It is against the constitutional fabric.
• India’s first solar observatory mission, named Aditya-L1, will be launched onboard the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota at 11.50 a.m. on Saturday.
• On Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) commenced the 23-hour 40-minute countdown for the launch of the Aditya-L1 mission.
• Approximately sixty-three minutes after lift-off, the satellite separation is expected to take place as the PSLV will launch the Aditya-L1 spacecraft into a highly eccentric earth-bound orbit at around 12.53 p.m.
• This PSLV-C57/Aditya-L1 mission can be counted as one of the longest missions involving ISRO’s workhorse launch vehicle. However, the longest of the PSLV missions is still the 2016 PSLV-C35 mission which was completed two hours, 15 minutes and 33 seconds after lift-off.
• Aditya L1 is the first space-based Indian mission to study the Sun.
• It will be launched by the PSLV-XL launch vehicle.
• The spacecraft shall be placed in a halo orbit around the Lagrange point 1 (L1) of the Sun-Earth system, which is about 1.5 million km from the Earth.

• A satellite placed in the halo orbit around the L1 point has the major advantage of continuously viewing the Sun without any occultation/eclipses.
• Lagrangian points, also known as Lagrange points or libration points, are specific locations in space where the gravitational forces of two large bodies, such as a planet and its moon or a planet and the Sun, produce enhanced regions of gravitational equilibrium.
• In these points, the gravitational pull from the two bodies creates a stable or quasi-stable region where a third, smaller object can maintain a relatively constant position relative to the larger bodies.
• India’s economy, as measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as well as the Gross Value Added (GVA), grew 7.8% in the first quarter (Q1) of the year. This is the highest GDP uptick in four quarters, but slightly underwhelming relative to the 8% growth estimated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
• A feeble recovery in rural demand could also come undone if farm incomes take a hit. Interventions to counter inflation, such as export curbs on rice and onions, will hurt growth and the external trade balance, while relief measures, such as the ₹200 cut in LPG cylinder prices, that may proliferate ahead of the general election, also pose risks to the fiscal math and growth.
• In the seven years since the government unveiled its ambitious ₹20,000-crore National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), it has installed treatment plants capable of treating just 20% of the sewage estimated to be generated in the five major States that lie along the river. This is expected to increase to about 33% by 2024. According to the latest projections by senior officials in the NMCG, the treatment plants will be capable of treating 60% of sewage by December 2026.
• These calculations are premised on sewage to the tune of 11,765 million litres per day (MLD) being generated in the five States — Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal — through which the river courses. This figure derives from a report submitted to the National Green Tribunal earlier this year.
• Discovery:
• The Ganges river dolphin was officially discovered in 1801.
• They were declared as the National Aquatic Animal of India in 2009.
• Freshwater species:
• The Gangetic river dolphin is one of the four freshwater dolphin species in the world.
• The other three are the baiji, now likely extinct from the Yangtze River in China, the bhulan of the Indus in Pakistan and the boto of the Amazon River in Latin America.
• Habitat:
• Ganges river dolphins once lived in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems of Nepal, India, and Bangladesh.
• But the species is extinct from most of its early distribution ranges.
• The distribution range of the Ganges river dolphins in India covers seven states namely, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.
• Characteristics:
• The Ganges river dolphins can only live in freshwater and are essentially blind.
• They are frequently found alone or in small groups, and generally a mother and calf travel together.
• Females are larger than males and give birth once every two to three years to only one calf.
• The Dolphin cannot breathe in the water. It surfaces every 30-120 seconds to breathe in fresh air as it is a mammal.
• Navigation and hunting through a highly developed ‘sonar system’, using echolocation (ultrasonic sounds).
• Different names:
• They are also known as Susu, Hihu, Blind dolphin, Ganga river dolphin, side swimming dolphin and South Asian river dolphin.
• Ganges river dolphins are listed as Endangered in the IUCN Red List.

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