The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 21 August 2023

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis for UPSC

The Hindu Newspaper Analysis 19 August 2023

• Tomato prices may be cooling from recent highs, but pulses could play the next spoilsport in the battle against inflation, with a below-par monsoon in August dragging down the sown area for pulses in the kharif season by almost 10% from a year ago.
• While a 37% surge in vegetable prices had fired up retail inflation to a 15-month high of 7.4% in July, prices of pulses have also risen sharply in recent months, speeding to 13.3% in July from 10.6% in June.
• Economists reckon prices of pulses such as tur dal and moong dal, which surged 34.1% and 9.1%, respectively, in July, would likely spiral further. This is because the total sown area for dals — 114.9 lakh hectares as on August 18 — is unlikely to improve much amid deficient rainfall towards the end of the sowing season.

 The Hindu Editorial Today

• This article is not about the content of these Bills (the controversies on that will play out) but their names: the Indian Penal Code is now replaced by Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, the Code of Criminal Procedure by Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and the Indian Evidence Act by the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill.
• Article 348 of the Constitution states that the authoritative texts of all Acts passed by Parliament or State legislatures shall be in the English Language. The body of these new Bills is in the English language, but the title of the Bills being in Hindi goes against the embargo placed by the Article.
• In a linguistically diverse country where language has been the flashpoint for several protests and people’s movements, the emotions and sentiments that people attach to their language must be respected.

• In the past weeks, there have been reports of some Indian pilots who passed away due to cardiac arrest. One of them was a pilot of Indian origin flying for an airline in West Asia. Another was a pilot employed in a major private airline in India who collapsed and died at the boarding gate in Nagpur just before his flight.
• In March 2023, Domestic carriers flew 13 million passengers. As per the Civil Aviation Ministry, India will have more than 140 million passengers in FY2024 alone.
• India to handle over 1.3 billion passengers annually in the next 20 years. There are currently 148 airports in the country, and it is the third-largest domestic market in the world in terms of seat capacity. As of March 2023, IndiGo (domestic market leader) with 56.8% of the market share, followed by Vistara (8.9%) and Air India (8.8%).
• Directorate General of Civil Aviation
• It is an attached office of the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
• It is the regulatory body in the field of Civil Aviation primarily dealing with safety issues.

• It is responsible for regulation of air transport services to/from/within India and for enforcement of civil air regulations, air safety and airworthiness standards.
• It also co-ordinates all regulatory functions with the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
• About International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO):
• ICAO is an intergovernmental specialized agency associated with the United Nations (UN).
• It was established in 1947 by the Convention on International Civil Aviation (1944) known as Chicago Convention.
• Headquarters: Montreal, Canada
• Functions:
• ICAO is dedicated to developing safe and efficient international air transport for peaceful purposes and ensuring a reasonable opportunity for every state to operate international airlines.
• It sets standards and regulations necessary for aviation safety, security and facilitation, efficiency, and economic development of air transport as well as to improve the environmental performance of aviation.
• It also serves as a clearinghouse for cooperation and discussion on civil aviation issues among its 193 member states.

• However, alongside positive developments, this AI revolution also brings risks. Most pressingly, AI powered tools are enabling bad actors to create artificial entities that are indistinguishable from humans online (via speech, text, and video).
• Bad actors can misrepresent themselves or others and potentially launch a barrage of variations on old harms such as misinformation and disinformation, security hacks, fraud, hate speech, shaming, etc.
• Regulation is necessary but not sufficient; a broader approach should be considered to improve Internet safety and integrity.

• Russia’s Luna 25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after it spun into an uncontrolled orbit, the country’s Roscosmos space agency said on August 20.
• The pilotless spacecraft was aiming to land in the south pole area of the moon, an area where scientists believe there could be important reserves of frozen water and precious elements. It had been expected to land on August 21.
• However, Roscosmos said it lost contact with Luna 25 on August 19 after the spacecraft ran into difficulties and reported an “abnormal situation”.
• The lunar mission was Russia’s first since 1976, when it was part of the Soviet Union. Only three governments have managed successful moon landings: the Soviet Union, the U.S., and China.

Why is Luna 25 Reaching the Moon Earlier than Chandrayaan-3?

• Direct Trajectory Advantage: Despite being launched almost a month later than Chandrayaan-3, Luna 25 is set to reach the moon earlier due to its more direct trajectory.
• Payload and Fuel Storage: Luna 25’s lift-off mass of 1,750 kg is significantly lighter than Chandrayaan-3’s 3,900 kg, facilitating a quicker journey.
• Circuitous Route for Chandrayaan-3: Chandrayaan-3 took a longer route to compensate for its lower fuel reserve, involving maneuvers to gain velocity and slingshotting towards the moon.

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