UPSC Essentials | Weekly news express — Aditya L1, Simultaneous elections, and more : Key takeaways & Points to ponder

— Like the Chandrayaan-3 mission, the orbit as well as the velocity of the spacecraft around the Earth will be increased till it is slingshot towards the Sun. The distance to L1 point will be covered in nearly four months. The spacecraft will then be inserted into a halo orbit around the L1 point. It will collect data for five years.

What are the Lagrange points?

— There are five Lagrange points, L1 to L5, between any two-celestial body system. At these positions, the gravitational pull of the celestial bodies equals the centripetal force required to keep a smaller third body in orbit. In simpler words, the forces acting on the third body cancel each other out.

— The points can be used as ‘parking spots’ for spacecraft in space to remain in a fixed position with minimal fuel consumption, according to NASA. They have been named after Italian-French mathematician Joseph-Louis Lagrange (1736-1813), who was the first one to find the positions.

— So, between the Earth and the Sun, a satellite can occupy any of five Lagrangian points. “Of the five Lagrange points, three are unstable and two are stable. The unstable Lagrange points – labelled L1, L2, and L3 – lie along the line connecting the two large masses. The stable Lagrange points – labelled L4 and L5 – form the apex of two equilateral triangles,” NASA explains. The L4 and L5 are also called Trojan points and celestial bodies like asteroids are found here.

— Satellites placed at Lagrange points do not need to expend a lot of fuel to remain in position.

First, going to Lagrange 1 places the spacecraft at a point beyond the Moon between the Earth and the Sun. This offers the spacecraft an unobstructed view of the Sun even during phenomena like an eclipse.

Second, with the mission covering only 1% of the distance between the Earth and Sun, the payloads will be able to look directly at the Sun. “This position will allow the main payload, VLEC, to look directly into the source of coronal mass ejection. Once at L1, it will be the best instrument observing the solar corona,” said Prof Dipankar Banerjee, director of Aryabhatta Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES), which will host the support cell for the Aditya-L1 mission. Third, the L1 point makes the mission fuel-efficient.

Credit: ISRO

What is a halo orbit?

— NASA says a spacecraft can “orbit” about an unstable Lagrange point with a minimum use of thrusters for stationkeeping. Such an orbit is known as a halo orbit as “it appears as an ellipse floating over the planet”. A halo orbit, however, isn’t the usual orbit because the unstable Lagrange point doesn’t exert any attractive force on its own.

“In the Sun-Earth case for example, the spacecraft’s true orbit is around the Sun, with a period equal to Earth’s (the year). Picture a halo orbit as a controlled drift back and forth in the vicinity of the L point while orbiting the Sun,” the space agency adds.

What are the main objectives of Aditya-L1?

— The mission’s main objective is to expand our knowledge of the Sun, and how its radiation, heat, flow of particles, and magnetic fields affect us. Below is the list of other objectives that the mission will embark upon:

• To study the upper atmospheric layers of the Sun called chromosphere and corona. While the corona is the outermost layer, the chromosphere is just below it.
• To examine coronal mass ejections (CMEs), which are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona.
• To analyse the corona’s magnetic field and the driver of the space weather.
• To understand why the Sun’s not-so-bright corona is a million degree Celsius hot when the temperature on the surface of the Sun is just about 5,500 degree Celsius.
• To help scientists know the reasons behind the acceleration of particles on the Sun, which leads to the solar wind — the constant flow of particles from the Sun.

What is space weather?

— Space weather refers to changing environmental conditions in space. It is mainly influenced by activity on the Sun’s surface. In other words, the solar wind, magnetic field, as well as solar events like CME affect the nature of space.

“During such events, the nature of the magnetic field and charged particle environment near to the planet change. In the case of the Earth, the interaction of the Earth’s magnetic field with the field carried by CME can trigger a magnetic disturbance near the Earth. Such events can affect the functioning of space assets,” ISRO says.

What are the payloads?

— The main payload is the Visible Emission Line Coronagraph (VLEC), designed by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, which will help study the solar corona from the lowermost part upwards. The VELC can image the solar corona down to 1.05 times the solar radius, the closest any such payload has imaged.

— The Solar Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (SUIT) designed by the Inter University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) will capture the UV image of the solar photosphere and chromosphere. It will help study the variation in light energy emitted.

— The Solar Low Energy X-ray Spectrometer (SoLEXS) and High Energy L1 Orbiting X-ray Spectrometer (HEL1OS), developed by the UR Rao Satellite Centre, will study X-ray flares.

— The Aditya Solar wind Particle EXperiment (ASPEX) and Plasma Analyser Package for Aditya (PAPA) are designed to study the solar wind and energetic ions. The first payload has been developed by ISRO’s Physical Research Laboratory and the latter by the Space Physics Laboratory of ISRO’s Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre.

ISRO lists the payloads and their capabilities as below:

Dive deep..

Why study the Sun from space?

— The Sun is the nearest star to us and therefore can be studied in much greater detail than others. Studying the Sun can also help us understand more about other stars. While the Sun supports all life on Earth, it also has various explosive phenomena. These can damage our satellites and communication systems. Studying the Sun may help in providing early warnings for such events.

“The various thermal and magnetic phenomena on the Sun are of extreme nature. Thus, the Sun provides a good natural laboratory to understand them, which cannot be directly studied in the lab,” ISRO said.

— It is important to study the Sun from space because the Earth’s atmosphere and the magnetic field act as protective shields that block out harmful radiations, such as UV light. This means studying the Sun from the Earth can’t provide a complete picture.

Point to ponder: The study of the Sun can give insights about the processes happening inside other stars as well. Discuss.

1. MCQ:

Consider the following statements:

1. An orbit is known as a halo orbit as “it appears as an ellipse floating over the planet” however it isn’t the usual orbit because the unstable Lagrange point doesn’t exert any attractive force on its own.

2. The L2 and L3 are called Trojan points and celestial bodies like asteroids are found here.

Which of the above statement/s is/are correct?

(a) Only 1

(b) Only 2

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

— Assembly polls are due in five states in November-December of 2023 and they will be followed by the Lok Sabha elections in May-June next year. However, the recent moves by the government have thrown open the possibility of advancing the general elections and some state polls, which are scheduled after and with the Lok Sabha contest.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

What are the arguments around holding simultaneous elections?

— Pros:  Making polls simultaneous would address various concerns, such as reducing the cost of holding elections and limiting all elections to a single season. At present, there is an election in one state or the other at almost any given time, and those who favour simultaneous polls argue that the Model Code of Conduct gets in the way of the government announcing projects or policy plans.

— Cons: the arguments include the complexity of such an exercise, the widely held view that simultaneous polls would benefit the nationally dominant party at the cost of regional players, and the complications that would arise if any of the governments were to collapse before completing its term. Leave alone state legislatures, even the central government could fall.

— Of the Lok Sabhas since 1952, many were dissolved ahead of schedule — such as in 1971, 1980, 1984, 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2004. There would also be logistical issues, requiring about twice as many electronic voting machines and Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail machines.

When elections were first held in independent India, were they not simultaneous to begin with?

Yes. However, a series of political changes in different states changed this cycle.

— Lok Sabha and state legislatures went to polls together in 1952 and 1957, with the Congress initially comfortably placed all over the country. The synchronised cycle was first broken in Kerala, in July 1959, when the Centre invoked Article 356 of the Constitution to dismiss the ministry headed by E M S Namboodiripad of the Communist Party, which had assumed power after elections in April 1957. This was followed by state elections in February 1960.

— As the Congress’s popularity declined, it suffered major setbacks in several states —Bihar, UP, Rajasthan, Punjab, West Bengal, Orissa, Madras and Kerala — in the 1967 elections. Consequently, Samyukta Vidhayak Dal governments, comprising Bharatiya Kranti Dal, SSP, PSP, Swatantra Party, Jana Sangh and Congress defectors, came to power. Defections and counter-defections ultimately led to the dissolution of Assemblies, which separated the poll cycles of many states from the central one.

— At present, Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim are held together with Lok Sabha polls.

— In recent years, Assemblies have been completing their tenures, mainly because of the anti-defection law of 1985 and Supreme Court judgments on invoking Article 356. The Supreme Court had held that the President can put a state Assembly in suspended animation, but cannot dissolve it without the concurrence of Parliament. Further, the validity of the proclamation of President’s rule may be examined by the judiciary.

Has the idea of simultaneous polls been explored before?

— The Election Commission had suggested back in 1983 that such a system be worked out. The Law Commission headed by Justice B P Jeevan Reddy, in its 170th Report in May 1999, stated, “We must go back to the situation where the elections to Lok Sabha and all the Legislative Assemblies are held at once”.

— In 2003, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee took up the issue with Congress president Sonia Gandhi. She appeared initially receptive, but the idea did not take off from there.

— In 2010, BJP leader LK Advani met with then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and then wrote in his blog: “I found both of them (PM and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee) receptive to a proposal I have been advocating for quite some time: fixed term legislatures and simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.” He noted that the country witnessed a “mini-general election” every alternate year, and wrote, “This is not good for the health either of our Central and State governments, or of our polity.”

— Sunil Arora also said in 2019, that the EC would be supportive of the idea. “Yes, we would also prefer it. And this is not a bureaucratic statement, just saying we agree in principle, etc.,” Arora said. He added that simultaneous elections are “a very desirable goal, but for that, political systems of the country will have to take steps to align the life of a state Assembly with the life of Parliament”.

How have matters moved on ‘One Nation, One Election’ after the NDA came to power?

— In 2015, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, headed by E M Sudarsana Natchiappan, compiled a report on ‘Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to House of People (Lok Sabha) and State Legislative Assemblies’.

“The holding of simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state assemblies would reduce: (i) the massive expenditure that is currently incurred for the conduct of separate elections; (ii) the policy paralysis that results from the imposition of the Model Code of Conduct during election time; (iii) impact on delivery of essential services and (iv) burden on crucial manpower that is deployed during election time,” the report observed.

— However, the Congress told the committee it was “impractical” and “unworkable”. The Trinamool Congress said it was anti-democratic and unconstitutional, while the CPI and the NCP said it was “not feasible”. The CPI(M) too pointed at “practical problems”.

— Also in 2017, in a discussion paper, ‘Analysis of Simultaneous Elections: The “What”, “Why”, and “How”’, Bibek Debroy and Kishore Desai of the NITI Aayog wrote that the elections of 2009 had cost the exchequer about Rs 1,115 crore, and the 2014 elections about Rs 3,870 crore. The total spent on the elections, including the expenses incurred by parties and candidates, was several times more.

Has there been an effort to address the concerns that would arise?

— In a draft report on August 30, 2018, the Law Commission headed by Justice B S Chauhan held that simultaneous elections could not be held within the existing framework of the Constitution. These could be held together “through appropriate amendments to the Constitution, the Representation of the People Act 1951, and the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and state Assemblies”.

— At least 50% of the states may ratify the constitutional amendments. The Commission recommended that all elections due in a calendar year be conducted together. Since a no-confidence motion, if passed, may curtail the term of Lok Sabha or an Assembly, the Law Commission recommended replacing the “no-confidence motion” with a “constructive vote of no-confidence” through appropriate amendments — a government may only be removed if there is confidence in an alternative government.

Dive deep…

What are the key challenges with the idea of “one nation, one election”?

Apurva Vishwanath writes: Sweeping changes to the Constitution, new pieces of legislation, consensus among states and entering uncharted territory for post-poll complications: these constitute the key legal challenges ahead for the government as it works on implementing the idea of “one nation, one election.”

— The first challenge in altering the tenure of the Lok Sabha or state Assembly to allow simultaneous polls is the constitutionally fixed limit of a five-year term. Articles 83(2) and 172(1) of the Constitution fixes a term of “five years” and “no longer” for the Lok Sabha and Assemblies respectively. There are few exceptions to the provision apart from the House dissolving prematurely when an elected government falls.

— Sections 14 and 15 of the Representation of People’s Act, 1951 that governs the process of conducting elections also requires the Election Commission to call for elections in accordance to the five-year limit placed by the Constitution.

Why is ‘Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) Annual Update 2023’ important to study?

WHY IN NEWS?

— Air pollution is reducing the life span of people living in South Asia by 5.1 years, according to a new report. The region, which is home to the most polluted countries of Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, accounts for more than half of the total life years lost globally due to high pollution.

— The report, ‘Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) Annual Update 2023’, was published on Tuesday (August 29) by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute. AQLI measures the impact of particulate pollution on life expectancy and the latest report analysed particulate matter data from 2021 to determine its impact on life expectancy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Alind Chauhan Explains:

— In India, on average, poor air quality takes 5.3 years off the life of a person, the report added. In contrast, cardiovascular diseases decrease the average Indian’s life expectancy by around 4.5 years, while child and maternal malnutrition reduce life expectancy by 1.8 years.

— The committee suggested that the Winter session, the last session of the year, commence on November 5 (or the fourth day after Diwali, whichever is later) and finish on December 22. While the government agreed to this calendar, it was never implemented.

Who decides when Parliament meets?

— The government determines the date and duration of parliamentary sessions. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs takes this decision. It currently has ten Ministers, including those for Defence, Home, Finance, Agriculture, Tribal Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting.

— The Law Minister and the Minister of State for External Affairs are special invitees to the Committee. The President is informed about the Committee’s decision, who then summons Members of Parliament to meet for the session.

What does the Constitution say?

— The Constitution specifies that six months should not elapse between two parliamentary sessions. This provision is a colonial legacy. The framers of the Constitution borrowed it from the Government of India Act of 1935. It allowed the British Governor General to call a session of the central legislature at his discretion, requiring that the gap between two sessions should not be more than 12 months.

— Dr B R Ambedkar stated that the purpose of summoning the central assembly was only to collect taxes, and the once-a-year meeting was for the government to avoid scrutiny by the legislature. The Constituent Assembly reduced the gap between sessions to six months.

How did the Constituent Assembly reach this decision?

— Some members of the Constituent Assembly wanted Parliament to meet throughout the year with breaks in between. Others wanted Parliament to sit for longer durations, and cited the examples of the British and American legislatures meeting for more than 100 days a year. One member wanted the presiding officers of the two Houses to be empowered to convene Parliament under certain circumstances.

— Dr Ambedkar did not accept these suggestions. He thought that independent India’s government would hold regular parliamentary sessions. He argued: “The clause as it stands does not prevent the legislature from being summoned more often than what has been provided for in the clause itself. In fact, my fear is, if I may say so, that the sessions of Parliament would be so frequent and so lengthy that the members of the legislature would probably themselves get tired of the sessions.”

How often do Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha meet?

— Before independence, the central assembly met for a little more than 60 days a year. This number increased to 120 days a year in the first 20 years after Independence. Since then, the sitting days of the national legislature have declined.

— Between 2002 and 2021, Lok Sabha averaged 67 working days. The situation in state legislatures is much worse. In 2022, 28 state Assemblies met for 21 days on average. This year, Parliament has met for 42 days so far.

— On multiple occasions, the conference of presiding officers has recommended that Parliament should meet for more than 100 days. The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution set up in 2000 made a similar recommendation.

— Individual MPs have introduced private member Bills that stipulated increased sitting days for Parliament. Former Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral, in his 2017 private member Bill, suggested that Parliament should meet for four sessions in a year, including a special session of 15 days for debating matters of urgent public importance.

— If the 1955 recommendations of the Lok Sabha committee were accepted, Parliament would be in session for eight months every year. The US Congress and parliaments of Canada, Germany, and the UK are in session throughout the year, and their calendar of sitting days is fixed at the beginning of the year.

Point to ponder: It is not only Members of Parliament but also citizens who should seriously introspect as to how the pre-eminence of Parliament among the organs of the state can be restored. Discuss.

4. MCQ

We adopted parliamentary democracy based on the British model, but how does our model differ from that model?

1. As regards legislation, the British Parliament is supreme or sovereign but in India, the power of the parliament to legislate is limited.

2. In India, matters related to the constitutionality of the Amendment of an Act of the Parliament are referred to the Constitution Bench by the Supreme Court.

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWERS TO MCQs: 1 (a), 2 (b), 3 (b), 4 (c)

Subscribe to our UPSC newsletter and stay updated with the news cues from the past week.

Share your views, answers and suggestions in the comment box or at manas.srivastava@indianexpress.com