Chandrayaan-4

Context:

• SpaDeX first of many as ISRO prepares for Chandrayaan-4

News:

• On New Year’s Eve, Chairman of ISRO, S. Somanath said, “2025 will be an exciting year as ISRO will launch four GSLV rockets, three PSLV launches as well as an SSLV launch”.

More info:

• There will be a series of space docking experiments before the Indian Space Research Organisation embarks on its Chandrayaan-4 mission to bring soil samples from the moon to the earth, ISRO has said.
• On December 30, 2024, the C60 mission of the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) placed two satellites, each weighing 220 kg, in orbit.
• They will rendezvous and dock with each other as part of ISRO’s first Space Docking Experiment (SpaDeX).
• ISRO Chairman said “the nominal time” for the docking “will be approximately January 7.”
• He added, the two SpaDeX satellites have moved one behind the other, so over a period of time, they will pick up further distance.
• The distance will increase by 20 km over the next few days and then the rendezvous and docking process will start.
• For Chandrayaan-4, ISRO will launch the mission’s modules in two Launch Vehicle Mark-3 (LVM-3) rockets.
• At various points during the mission, the modules will undergo a series of docking and undocking manoeuvres before finally transporting a canister of lunar soil safely back to the earth.

A crucial technology:

• Somanath had said, “2025 will be an exciting year as ISRO will launch four GSLV rockets, three PSLV launches as well as an SSLV launch.”
• (GSLV is short for Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle and SSLV for Small Satellite Launch Vehicle).
• Docking is a crucial technology for India to master for Chandrayaan-4 as well as its forthcoming orbital Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), expected to be ready by 2035, and for its goal to send an Indian astronaut to the moon.
• Chandrayaan-4 study director said, Docking is important for all future missions of ISRO because you cannot launch everything in one go. So you need docking of modules in space.
• There will be five modules in BAS, all of which require docking.
• This technology is crucial for bringing back the lunar soil samples and for India’s constant presence in space.
• The two satellites in the current SpaDeX mission are in a circular orbit 475 km above the earth.
• At that height, the two satellites will be moving at a speed of 28,000 km an hour.
• We must establish the orbit of both the satellites.
• To bring them together, we have to match their speeds.
• It is not easy to match and adjust their speeds precisely, make them come close to each other and then dock. There lies the challenge.

Chandrayaan-4 mission profile:

• ISRO representative said at the International Astronautical Congress at Milan, Italy, in October 2024 one LVM-3 would carry the transfer and reentry modules and the other would carry the descend and ascend modules.
• The four modules together would weigh about 9.2 tonnes.
• The pairs will dock in the geosynchronous transfer orbit and travel to lunar orbit.
• Here, the transfer and reentry modules will remain in orbit while the descent and ascent modules will reach the moon’s surface.
• The descent module will undock from the ascent module and deploy a robotic scoop to obtain a 3 kg sample of the lunar surface and subsurface, and place it in a cartridge.
• The ascent module will then lift off from the moon with the sealed cartridge.
• The descent module will be dead after the ascent module lifts off.
• The ascent module will dock with the transfer module, transfer the cartridge, and undock to stay in a low lunar orbit.
• The reentry and transfer modules will then together travel towards the earth.
• In the final step, the transfer module will eject the reentry module, which will descend to the ground for retrieval.

UPSC Mains PYQ:

• What is the main task of India’s third moon mission which could not be achieved in its earlier mission? List the countries that have achieved this task. Introduce the subsystems in the spacecraft launched and explain the role of the ‘Virtual Launch Control Centre’ at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre which contributed to the successful launch from Sriharikota. (2023)

School enrolment

Context:

• School enrolment fell by 37 lakh in 2023-24: Education ministry data
• The Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) Plus is a data aggregation platform maintained by the education ministry to collate school education data from across the country.

More info:

• While the number of enrolled students in 2022-23 was 25.17 crore, the figures for 2023-24 stood at 24.80 crore.
• The number of girl students dropped by 16 lakh during the period under review, while the number of boy students fell by 21 lakh.
• The representation of minorities in total enrolment stood at around 20 per cent.
• Among the minorities, 79.6 percent were Muslims, 10 percent Christians, 6.9 percent Sikhs, 2.2 percent Buddhists, 1.3 percent Jains, and 0.1 percent Parsis.
• At the national level, 26.9 percent of students registered in UDISE+ were from the general category, 18 percent from Scheduled Caste, 9.9 percent from Scheduled Tribe, and 45.2 percent from the Other Backward Class category.
• UDISE+ 2023-24 attempted to collect student-wise data along with their Aadhaar numbers voluntarily to establish uniqueness.
• Overall, more than 19.7 crore students provided Aadhaar numbers by 2023-24.
• The data observed some real changes from the previous years, as this exercise of maintaining a separate student base is different, unique, and incomparable to 2021-22 or prior years.
• The student-wise data helps identify ‘ghost students’, and aids in transferring benefits to the deserving students, resulting in savings to government and good governance by way of better expenditure management.
• Individual student-wise data reflects a realistic and more accurate picture of the education system, which is being attempted for the first time at the national level, marking a departure from the school-wise consolidated data collected till 2021-22.
• Hence, the data is not strictly comparable to the previous reports on various educational indicators such as GER, NER, dropout rates, etc.,
• The Gross Enrolment Ratio (GER) compares the enrolment in a specific level of education to the population of the age-group, which is most age appropriate for that level of education.
• Curtailing dropouts and ensuring universal access to education at all levels by 2030 is one of the primary goals of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
• Areas such as enrolment and retention of students show how many students who entered the school at Class-1 are being retained in subsequent years, representing effectiveness of policy.
• With individual student-wise data, dropout of students can now be identified precisely, who can be tracked and be brought back to school.
• This will also help monitor the progression of students through their entire school life.
• It is calculated based on actual movement of students from one level to another using individual student-wise data.
• It represents the actual scenario more precisely.
• The report also noted that the availability of schools, teachers and students enrolled in different states are different.
• The report said, in states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan, the percentage of schools available is more than the percentage of students enrolled, implying underutilisation of available schools.
• Whereas in states like Telangana, Punjab, West Bengal, Haryana, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi and Bihar, the percentage of available schools is significantly less as compared to enrolled students, indicating better utilisation of infrastructure.

Private Members’ Bills

Context:

• During the five-year term of the 17th Lok Sabha that ended in 2024, only 9.08 hours were spent on Private Members’ Bills, while the Rajya Sabha spent 27.01 hours on them during the period, shows an analysis by PRS Legislative Research, an independent research body.

More info:

• The resolutions are declarations on which the House votes, while the Bills refer to proposed legislation.
• These are the only instruments available for MPs’ individual expression without being bound by their party’s diktat.
• They serve as an important medium for political messaging.
• V. Kamath, then an MP from the Praja Socialist Party, moved a Private Members’ Bill to amend the Constitution to allow only Lok Sabha members to be eligible for the post of Prime Minister.
• Indira Gandhi was a member of the Rajya Sabha at the time.
• Till date, only 14 Private Members’ Bills have been passed and received assent.
• None have been passed in both Houses since 1970.
• These Bills are scheduled for Friday afternoons, when members are in a hurry to return to their constituencies for the weekend.
• For Private Members’ business to survive, it should be scheduled midweek on Wednesday.
• With a narrowing window available for Private Members’ business, it takes years for legislation moved by members to come up for discussion.
• The makers of the Constitution provided a sacrosanct space for parliamentarians to express themselves freely.
• This should be protected. Instead, at the slightest provocation, this is scrapped.

About Private Members’ Bill:

• Legislative proposals can be brought before either of the House of Parliament in the form of Bills.
• These Bills may be classified into Government Bills and Private Members’ Bills.
• Government Bills are those which are introduced by a Minister.
• A Member of Parliament, other than a Minister is known as a Private Member.
• A Bill initiated by any such Member is called a Private Member’s Bill.
• In Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha, as also in State Legislatures, a particular day of every week is allocated for the transaction of Private Members’ Legislative Business.
• In Rajya Sabha, two and a half hours i.e., from 2.30 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. on every alternate Friday during a Session are generally allotted for the transaction of Private Members’ Legislative Business.
• Private Members comprise the vast majority of the Membership in Rajya Sabha but account for a minuscule proportion of the Bills which are eventually enacted into law.
• This is despite the fact that the Private Members’ Bills introduced outnumber the Government Bills introduced at any given point of time.
• Any Member, other than a Minister desirous of introducing a Bill is required to give a notice of his or her intention to move a motion to introduce a Bill.
• The period of notice to move a motion for leave to introduce a Bill is one month, unless allowed by the Chairman to be moved at a shorter notice.
• Pending notices of Bills will not lapse on prorogation of the Rajya Sabha.
• The prime responsibility of drafting a Private Member’s Bill lies with the Member concerned.
• The Rajya Sabha Secretariat, however, provides all possible assistance and advice on the technicalities of the Bill to the Member, so as to ensure that the Bills are not rejected on technical grounds.
• In Rajya Sabha, the admissibility of a Private Members’ Bill is decided by the Chairman.
• In Lok Sabha also, the admissibility of a Private Member’s Bill is decided by the Speaker, but there is a Committee on Private Members’ Bills and Resolutions which inter-alia allots time to Private Members’ Bills, examines Private Member’s Bills seeking to amend the Constitution before their introduction, and examines all Private Members’ Bills after they are introduced and before they are taken up for consideration in the House and classifies them according to their nature, urgency and importance.
• In a case where a Bill proposed by a private Member requires the recommendation of the President, for introduction under articles 3 and 274(1) or for consideration under article 117(3) of the Constitution, the Member concerned has to apply to the President through the concerned Minister for such recommendation.
• In the case of a Bill for which the recommendation of the President has been withheld for introduction, the Bill is not proceeded with.
• There is a general perception that chances of a Private Member’s Bill being enacted are very bleak since it has to overcome many hurdles before making its way into the Statute Book.
• First of all, a Private Member’s Bill requires one month notice for introduction.
• Then the Member should obtain priority in the draw of lots for his or her Bill to be listed for consideration and if financial implications are involved, President’s recommendation has to be obtained (it cannot be presumed to be automatic) and further the Bill must be supported by the majority of the House and so on.
• In brief, it can be said that the legislation is entirely in the hands of the Government and for Private Member’s Bill to become law, support of the Government and Treasury benches is essential.
• Nevertheless, the Private Member’s Bill serves a very useful purpose by drawing the attention of the Government to the desirability of legislation in a particular field or matter.

Conclusion:

• To sum up, the success of a Private Member in the field of legislation would depend upon the quality of the legislation sponsored by the Member and the issue intended to be projected through the Bill.
• If it is sufficiently important then it would stimulate debate and help develop public opinion on the matter.
• If sufficient support is garnered, the Government could either extend support to the Bill or at least accept the principles of the Bill that could later lead to official enactments by the Government on the subject.
• The procedure for Private Members’ legislation is indeed quite effective in influencing the thinking of the masses and drawing attention of the Government to issues of public importance which require a legal framework.