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Hindu Dec 3

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Content
Rethink the death penalty

India must show proof of fraud: Swiss Ambassador

Include more adaptation efforts in Paris climate deal: India

China, Maldives sign preliminary accord on bridge construction

India signs up for multi-crore TMT project

Learning beyond textbooks

GSLV Mark III faces its first experimental flight

Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com

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Rethink the death penalty

Wed, Dec 3, 2014

death penalty, The Hindu, polity,

As India continues to stand in favour of the death penalty, it is increasingly finding

itself in the margins of world politics and international standards on this issue. On a
UN General Assembly resolution to establish a moratorium on death penalty, a vast
majority of the countries have voted in favour of abolishing the penalty. Amnesty
International reported that 114 of the UN's 193 member-states voted in favour of the
resolution and 36 voted against it, while 34 abstained. Around 140 countries worldwide
have abolished the death penalty in law or practice, and the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights is strongly against it.
India gave the following reasons for its retentionist position: (a) the sovereign right to
determine its own laws; (b) the death penalty is exercised in the "rarest of rare" cases;
and (c) India guarantees 'rule of law' and the necessary procedural safeguards for a
fair trial. Abolition is now firmly entrenched in the human rights discourse and no
longer limited to national criminal justice policy, making the 'sovereignty defence'
much weaker. As far as the "rarest of rare" jurisprudence is concerned, the Supreme
Court in Sangeeth (2013) agrees that this principle laid down in Bachan Singh (1980)
has received erroneous and inconsistent interpretations in most judgments since Machhi
Singh (1983). The court concedes that the test has become arbitrary and judge-centric
rather than principle-centric. As far as the 'due process of law' is concerned, the stealthy
killings of Ajmal Kasab and Afzal Guru, as well as the undue delay in handling mercy
petitions, deftly spelt out in Shatrughan Chauhan (2014), reflect flawed executive action
that cannot always be corrected by judicial intervention. Even if public opinion in India
currently favours the death penalty, the move towards a more enlightened approach
can be initiated in Parliament. As India endeavours to play a stronger role in world
politics, it is time to rethink its stand on the death penalty with more clarity.

India must show proof of fraud: Swiss Ambassador

Wed, Dec 3, 2014

black money, The Hindu, international, Switzerland,

The Swiss government will continue to withhold information on Swiss bank account
holders, unless the Indian government shows "independent investigations of fraud" in
each case,
Mr. Castelmur said some of the processes would be speeded up since the Swiss federal
council agreed to join the "global framework on automatic exchange of tax information"
in November, which would become the world standard by 2017. However, despite the
NDA government's push for "bringing back black money," it has yet to join the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development-led framework, partly because
the Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the matter.

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More than $2.5 billion, or Rs. 14,000 crore, of deposits in Swiss banks belong to Indian
account holders, according to the Swiss National Bank (SNB).

Include more adaptation efforts in Paris climate deal: India

Wed, Dec 3, 2014

Paris climate deal, environment, The Hindu, climate change,

India today said its position remains very strong on the need for a balanced inclusion
of adaptation efforts in the 2015 Paris agreement and less focus on mitigation.
"Developing countries are talking quite a bit about adaptation, but not developed
countries,"
The conference has to agree on a draft agreement which would form the cornerstone
of a historic deal to be signed in Paris in December 2015 and take effect by 2020.
India will "need to bring [climate change issues] into development planning" and
"disseminate whatever is in the IPCC report" at the state-level within India.
The state-level action plans are important because each will be have different concerns
depending on whether it is a coastal, desert, or tropical climate.
tailored state plans are crucial for India to put together a "comprehensive and robust"
Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC).
CoP-20 is expected to focus on the elements of 2015 Agreement and INDCs.
"The approach seeks to protect the interests of the country in climate change negotiations
based on the principles of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC), and its Kyoto Protocol (KP). It would also enhance the solidarity
among the developing countries on these issues,"

China, Maldives sign preliminary accord on bridge construction

Wed, Dec 3, 2014

Maldives, Maritime Silk Road , The Hindu, international, China,

China and Maldives -- a major element of the Beijing-sponsored Maritime Silk Road
project -- have signed an accord to conduct preliminary study on constructing a bridge
that would connect capital Male with the city's international airport.
Analysts point out that the project underscores a deepening engagement between China
and Maldives, which is a major cog in the establishment of the 21st century Maritime
Silk Route visualised by China.
he Chinese hope to revive a maritime route that would start from its Fujian province,

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cross the Malacca Straits and transit through the Indian Ocean via India, Sri Lanka,
Maldives, and Nairobi in Kenya. It would finally cross the Mediterranean via the Suez
Canal to terminate at Venice. Venice would also be end of the New Silk Route --a land
corridor that would start in Xian in China and travel through Central Asia, before
entering Europe.

India signs up for multi-crore TMT project

Wed, Dec 3, 2014

The Hindu, Thirty Metre Telescope, TMT, science & tech,

On Tuesday, Union Minister for Science and Technology Harsh Vardhan signed a
multilateral agreement admitting India's participation in the development of the Thirty
Metre Telescope (TMT) in Hawaii.
This project was rapidly cleared by the Union Cabinet and India has agreed to spend
Rs. 1299.8 crores over the next decade for this project. Besides learning about the
universe, India will gain the technology to manufacture fine aspherical mirror segments
from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). This technology, say experts,
will form the basis of the next generation of spy satellites.
TMT will contain 492 hexagonal mirror segments of 82 different kinds. These will
behave like a single mirror with an aperture of 30 metre diameter. This large collecting
area of 650 square metres is thrice as sensitive as the Hubble Space Telescope. India's
role will primarily be to create the control systems and software that keep the mirrors
aligned and collects the data.
The control system is an intricate process involving edge sensors--that detect the mutual
displacement of mirrors, actuators to correct their alignment, and the segment support
assembly. These will be manufactured by General Optics (Asia) in Puducherry, Avasarala
Technolgies and Godrej in Bengaluru respectively.
AN Ramaprakash, India Co-Chair of TMT explained that telescopes when turned
towards the earth are spy satellites. "They can resolve structures up to the size of man
walking on the Earth. Segmented mirrors are the next generation in telescope technology
and gaining this expertise is a huge leap for us," he told this paper.
Institutions from the United States of America, Canada, Japan and China are also
participating in the construction of the world's largest telescope on Mount Mauna Kea.
This telescope, 4207 metres above sea level, may cost more than 1.47 billion US dollars.
Through it we hope to find answers to fundamental questions about the universe. These
include, how and when the first galaxies were formed, does life exist outside the Earth,
the constitution of black holes and the nature of the universe's acceleration.

Notes by vineetpunnoose on www.kiwipaper.com

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Learning beyond textbooks

Wed, Dec 3, 2014

The Hindu, social, education, Comprehensive Evaluation system, CCE,

A few 'toppers have asked to reintroduce the board examinations in Class 10. The main
argument presented against the Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)
system was that it did not prepare them for competitive exams
grievances can be understood better if a perspective which regards schools as sites
which select, eliminate and celebrate the high scores of a few meritorious students, who
succeed by virtue of the social-cultural capital that they possess, is believed, as opposed
to a view which regards schools as inclusive, egalitarian and just learning spaces.
demands also reflect a belief which equates 'learning' with 'performing well' in exams.
The much-awaited Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009, besides making education a
fundamental right for children in the age group 6-14 years, also made it mandatory that
"no child admitted in a school shall be held back in any class or expelled from school
till the completion of elementary education." It also proposed "Continuous and
Comprehensive Evaluation of a child's understanding of knowledge and his or her
ability to apply the same" and said, "no child shall be required to pass any board
examination till completion of elementary education."
the CBSE made the Class 10 board exam optional for those students who wanted to
continue studying in the same school. However, all students, including those who opted
for CCE, would still have a choice to take the on-demand exam. This was in keeping
with the recommendation of the National Focus Group Position Paper on Examination
Reforms, National Curriculum Framework (NCF), 2005.
In a country which is still struggling to universalise elementary education, the dropout
rate increases while moving up the educational ladder. In view of this, the purpose
behind the 'no detention' policy was to give all children, especially the disadvantaged,
equal opportunities to complete elementary schooling.
The CCE similarly was a result of several years of deliberation and reflection. It sought
to bring reforms in the traditional system of evaluation, which had a written exam at
the end of the academic term, placing children under enormous stress. The nature of
this exam was such that it essentially tested students' skills to memorise and reproduce
textbook content, which in most cases presented disjointed information and facts as
'ultimate truth,' with little relationship with children's experiences. The idea underlying
CCE was to integrate assessment with teaching-learning, so that it would seamlessly
be woven with pedagogic processes, both inside and outside the classrooms. This marked
a significant shift from an exam-centric system which dictated not just the way students
approached learning but also determined the 'worth' of knowledge.

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In 2012, the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) constituted a subcommittee

for assessment and evaluation of CCE in the context of the 'no detention' provision
of the RTE. several limitations in the implementation of these provisions, placing them
in the context of declining learning levels of children and migration of children towards
private schools. The committee (not unanimously though) recommended implementation
of 'no detention' in a phased manner, and reiterated the need to link assessment of
learning outcomes with promotion of students to the next class beyond Grade 5. The
committee also said that 'no detention' was often misunderstood as 'no assessments'
or 'no relevance of assessment' and therefore adversely affected the drive to perform,
as the policy seemed to indicate that performance did not matter.
Both the CCE and the 'no detention' policy were meant to address the needs of especially
those learners who are either disadvantageously placed or those who get pushed out of
the school system with a low self-esteem, because of the lopsided view of learning
which celebrates cramming of textbooks in examinations. It is this view of equating
'performance in exams' with 'learning' that the NCF 2005, and before that the Yashpal
Committee report, tried to address by differentiating between learning and knowledge,
and reiterating the need to view learning beyond textbooks. In line with this vision, the
new textbooks developed by NCERT, post NCF 2005, recognised the agency of the
learner, emphasised a constructivist understanding of knowledge and learning, and
endeavoured to make learning more meaningful by presenting domain-specific perspectives
by which children could relate to textbook content and make sense of the world around
them.
it may not be legitimate to expect them alone to bring about significant educational
reform, ignoring the hugely deficit learning environments in which most schools exist,
and also the challenging circumstances in which most children learn. The CCE, which
is conceptualised differently and is being implemented by almost all States, suffers
from several limitations both at the level of 'design' and 'implementation,' besides
other school-related challenges such as inadequate teachers, absent/irregular students,
huge pupil-teacher ratios and lack of basic infrastructural facilities. Similarly, the biggest
challenge that the 'no detention' policy faces is the need to address learning gaps and
suitably equip children with grade-appropriate competencies.

GSLV Mark III faces its first experimental flight

Wed, Dec 3, 2014

GSLV Mark III, The Hindu, cryogenic, science & tech, ISRO, space,

he Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) Mark III is expected to lift off
for the first time from India's spaceport at Sriharikota on an experimental flight that
will assess the rocket's performance
the GSLV Mark III will be the Indian Space Research Organisation's most powerful

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rocket, capable of putting four-tonne communication satellites into orbit, almost double
the capacity of the current GSLV. The Mark III will weigh about 640 tonnes at launch,
about 50 per cent heavier than the GSLV.
Should India decide to send astronauts into space, this will be the rocket that carries
them.
During the 1990s, it became clear that a new launcher was needed to meet the country's
requirements for communication satellites heavier than what the existing GSLV could
carry,
Reducing the total number of propulsion modules that make up the GSLV Mark III
was seen as crucial to increasing the rocket's reliability and reducing launch costs, The
GSLV Mark III has just four propulsion modules while its predecessor, the GSLV, has
seven.
The GSLV Mark III has two huge solid propellants boosters, which are among the
largest in the world, flanking a big liquid propellant core stage. Atop the core stage,
sits a cryogenic upper stage that will provide half the velocity needed to put communication
satellites into the proper orbit
While the solid booster and the liquid propellant core stage completed ground tests and
were qualified for flight about three years back, development of the cryogenic engine,
running on liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, for the Mark III's upper stage is still in
progress.
the Mark III will be equipped with a dummy cryogenic engine and stage that will
simulate the weight and other characteristics of the flight version.
The rocket will, however, give the crew module a velocity of 5.3. km/second when the
latter separates at a height of about 125 km. The capsule will then descend and splashdown
in the Bay of Bengal, about 600 km from Port Blair in the Andaman Islands.
The GSLV Mark III is more sensitive than the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV)
and the current GSLV to disturbances that might occur as it accelerates through the
dense atmosphere, The ability of the rocket's control systems to effectively handle such
perturbations without violating the vehicle's structural capabilities will be tested during
the experimental flight.
The first developmental flight of the GSLV Mark-III, with a functional cryogenic engine
and stage, could take place in two years' time, according to Dr. Radhakrishnan.

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