Daily Current Affairs – 26 November 2022

26th November observed as National Constitution Day

It is celebrated on 26^thNovember every year.
It is also known as National Law Day.
On this day in 1949, the Constituent Assembly of India formally adopted the Constitution of India that came into force on 26^th January 1950.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 19^thNovember 2015, notified the decision of the Government of India to celebrate 26 November as ‘Constitution Day’.

Framing of Constitution:
- In 1934, M N Roy first proposed the idea of a constituent assembly.
- Under the Cabinet Mission plan of 1946, elections were held for the formation of the constituent assembly.
- The Constitution of India is framed by the Constituent Assembly. The Constituent Assembly of India appointed a total of 13 committees to deal with different tasks related to the framing of the constitution.
- There were 8 major committees and the rest were minor ones. The list of major committees and their heads are mentioned below:
  - Drafting Committee– B. R. Ambedkar
  - Union Power Committee– Jawaharlal Nehru
  - Union Constitution Committee– Jawaharlal Nehru
  - Provincial Constitution Committee– Vallabhbhai Patel
  - Advisory Committee on Fundamental Rights, Minorities and Tribal and Excluded Areas– Vallabhbhai Patel.
  - Rules of Procedure Committee– Rajendra Prasad
  - States Committee (Committee for Negotiating with States)– Jawaharlal Nehru
  - Steering Committee– Rajendra Prasad

Facts about the Constitution of India:
- World’s lengthiest Constitution.
- Federal System with Unitary Features.
- Parliamentary Form of Government.
- The framing of the Constitution took over 2 years, 11 months and 18 days.
- The original copies of the Indian Constitution weren’t typed or printed. They have been handwritten and are now kept in a helium-filled case within the library of the Parliament.
- Prem Bihari Narain Raizada had written the unique copies of the Structure of India.
- Originally, the Constitution of India was written in English and Hindi.
- The basic structure of the Indian Constitution stands on the Government of India Act, 1935.
- The Constitution of India has also borrowed some of its features from a number of countries.

Birth certificate to be made mandatory for jobs, driving licence, passport, voting right

The Central government proposes to make birth certificates a mandatory document for almost every sphere of life — admission in educational institutions, inclusion in the voter list, appointment in Central and State government jobs, issue of driving licence and passport — according to a draft Bill to amend the Registration of Birth and Death (RBD) Act, 1969.
The centrally-stored data will be updated in real time without any human interface required, leading to addition and deletion from the electoral roll when an individual turns 18, and after death, respectively.
According to the proposed changes, it shall be mandatory for hospitals and medical institutions to provide a copy of all death certificates, stating the cause of death, to the local registrar apart from the relative of the deceased.
Though registration of birth and death is already compulsory under the RBD Act, 1969 and violating it is a punishable offence, the government intends to improve compliance by making the registration mandatory to avail basic services such as admission in schools and registration of marriages.
The Bill to amend the RBD Act, 1969, proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), states that birth certificates issued by the local registrars will be “used to prove the date and place of birth of a person born on or after the date of Amendment for: admission into educational institutions; issuance of driving licence; preparation of voter list; registration of marriage; appointment in Central Government, State Government, local bodies and Public Sector Undertakings, statutory bodies, autonomous bodies under Central and State government; Issuance of passport and other cases as prescribed by rules.”

Mumbai national park gets Asiatic lions from Junagadh

A pair of threeyearold Asiatic lions has been brought to the Sanjay Gandhi National Park here from Gujarat in exchange for a pair of tigers, an official said on Saturday.
As per an official release, the Asiatic lions from Sakkarbaug Zoo arrived in SGNP on Friday, he said.
The lions are presently being identified as D11 and D22 and are yet to be named, it was said. According to the officials, the lions will later be moved to safari enclosures for visitors

PSLV-C54 successfully places nine satellites in multiple orbits

In one of its longest missions, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed nine satellites, including an Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-06) in multiple orbits with the help of the space agency’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C54).
The vehicle took off precisely at 11.56 a.m. on Saturday from the first launch pad (FLP) at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), SHAR.
The eight nano satellites include ISRO Nano Satellite-2 for Bhutan (INS-2B), Anand, Astrocast (four satellites), and two Thybolt satellites.
Notably, EOS-6 is the Oceansat series’ third-generation satellite. This is the 56th flight of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and the 24th flight of the PSLV-XL version with 6 PSOM-Xls.
EOS-06 is envisaged to observe ocean colour data, sea surface temperature and wind vector data to use in oceanography, climatic and meteorological applications.
The satellite also supports value added products such as potential fishing zone using chlorophyll, SST and wind speed, and land based geophysical parameters.
The Primary satellite (EOS-06) was separated in Orbit-1. Subsequently, orbit was changed by using two Orbit Change Thrusters (OCTs) introduced in the Propulsion Bay Ring of the PSLV-C54 Vehicle.
Later, all the seven commercial satellites from NSIL were deployed successfully. Astrocast, a 3U spacecraft with 4 Satellites from Spaceflight Inc, U.S., were separated.
Meanwhile, the live launch was witnessed by 10,342 people from the open view gallery at SDSC SHAR, Sriharikota.
Thousands of school students from Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and from other parts of India gathered at ISRO to watch this rocket take off.
In one of its longest missions, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully placed nine satellites, including an Earth Observation Satellite (EOS-06) in multiple orbits with the help of the space agency’s Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C54).
The India-Bhutan satellite is a very important milestone in the history of joint collaboration of Indian scientist and Bhutanese scientists in building this satellite with two payloads.
ISRO is planning to have its mission to the sun with its satellite Aditya-L1, a coronagraphy spacecraft to study the solar atmosphere, with a PSLV rocket next year.

About Satellite Launch Vehicle

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) are two operational launch vehicles of India. They are used to carry spacecraft into space

About PSLV

Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) is a launcher that is used to carry spacecraft into space. Some important salient features of PSLV are mentioned below:

It is a third-generation launch vehicle. It is termed as the ‘Workhorse of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO)‘.
It is the first launch vehicle of India that has liquid stages. There is a total of 4 stages in this launch vehicle.

- First Stage – PS 1 – PSLV uses the S139 solid rocket motor that is augmented by 6 solid strap-on boosters.
- Second Stage – PS 2 – PSLV uses an Earth storable liquid rocket engine for its second stage, known as the Vikas engine, developed by Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
- Third Stage – It is a solid rocket motor that provides the upper stages high thrust after the atmospheric phase of the launch.
- Fourth Stage – The PS4 is the uppermost stage of PSLV, comprising of two Earth storable liquid engines.
The first successful launch of PSLV was in October 1994.
It has the following variants:
- PSLV-G: It has strap-on motors
- PSLV – CA: It does not have strap-on motors
- PSLV – XL: It has strap-on motors
The capacity of payloads:
- It can carry the payload of 1750 kg to sun-synchronous polar orbits (SSPO) (Altitude – 600 Kms).
- It can carry the payload of 1425 kg to Geosynchronous and Geostationary Orbits (GTO).
It has launched Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) Satellites.

About GSLV

GSLV-Mk II is the largest launch vehicle developed by India. The salient features of this launch vehicle are mentioned below:

It is a fourth-generation launch vehicle.
It has three stages.

- First stage – The 138-tonne solid rocket motor is augmented by 4 liquid strap-ons.
- Second stage – One Vikas engine is used in the second stage of GSLV.
- Third Stage – Developed under the Cryogenic Upper Stage Project (CUSP), the CE-7.5 is India’s first cryogenic engine, developed by the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre.
It has four liquid-engine strap-ons.
The first flight by GSLV was on 18th April 2001.
The capacity of payloads:
- It can carry 2500 kgs INSAT class of communication satellites and place it to GTO.
- It can carry 5000 kgs heavy satellites to multiple smaller satellites in LEO.

Telangana scores double win at UNESCO heritage awards

Telangana scored a double win at the UNESCO AsiaPacific Awards for Cultural Heritage Conservation with a Distinction of Merit for the restoration of the 17th century stepwells inside the Qutb Shahi Tombs Complex in Hyderabad and an Award of Merit for the conservation work on the Domakonda Fort, built in the 18th century in Kamareddy district.
The awards were announced in Bangkok on Saturday.

Scientists discover new species of black corals near Australia

Using a remote-controlled submarine, researchers at Smithsonian Institution, Washington, discovered five new species of black corals living as deep as 2,500 feet (760 metres) below the surface in the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea off the coast of Australia.
Black corals can be found growing both in shallow waters and down to depths of over 26,000 feet (8,000 metres), and some individual corals can live for over 4,000 years
Many of these corals are branched and look like feathers, fans or bushes, while others are straight like a whip.
Unlike their colourful, shallow-water cousins that rely on the sun and photosynthesis for energy, black corals are filter feeders and eat tiny zooplankton that are abundant in deep waters.
In the past, corals from the deep parts of this region were collected using dredging and trawling methods that would often destroy the corals.
The researchers first sent a robot down to these particular deep-water ecosystems, allowing the team to actually see and safely collect deep sea corals in their natural habitats. Over the course of 31 dives, the researchers collected 60 black coral specimens.
They then removed the corals from the sandy floor or coral wall using the rover’s robotic claws, placed the corals in a pressurised, temperature-controlled storage box and then brought them up to the surface.
The researchers then examined the physical features of the corals and sequenced their DNA.
Among the many interesting specimens were five new species – including one that was found growing on the shell of a nautilus more than 2,500 feet (760 metres) below the ocean’s surface.
Similarly to shallow-water corals that build colourful reefs full of fish, black corals act as important habitats where fish and invertebrates feed and hide from predators in what is otherwise a mostly barren sea floor.
For example, a single black coral colony researchers collected in 2005 off the coast of California, United States, was home to 2,554 individual invertebrates.