Syllabus: GS-II

Subject: Society and Social Justice

Topic: Education

Issue: All India Survey on Higher Education

Context: All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE) 2021-22 released.

All India Survey on Higher Education (AISHE):

• It is an annual web-based survey conducted by the Ministry of Education since 2010-11.
• Objective: To portray the status of higher education in the country.
• Covers all the institutions in the country engaged in imparting higher education.

Parameters: Teachers, student enrolment, programmes, examination results, education finance, infrastructure.

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus:GS-II

Subject: Federalism

Topic: Financial relations

Issue: Financial Relations between state and centre

Context: The State of Kerala moved the apex court challenging the Ministry of Finance directives which lowered the borrowing limit of the state.

Synopsis:

• The petition was filed under Article 131 (Original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court) which deals with disputes between states or between centre and states.

Financial control of centre over states:

• Article 293: The centre can impose limits upon the borrowing limits of the state.
• FRBM Act,2003: Empowers the centre to set borrowing limits for states to ensure specific fiscal deficit and debt-to-GDP ratio targets.

Grants-in-Aid to the States: Statutory Grants(Article 275) based on Finance Commission recommendations and Discretionary Grants(Article 282) by the discretion of centre.

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus: GS-II

Subject: Executive

Topic: Governor

Issue: Governor’s address to the state legislature

Context: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s address to start the tenth session of the 15th Kerala Assembly.

Governor’s address:

• As per Article 176, the Governor is mandated to address the state legislature at the commencement of
  1. the first session after each general election.
  2. the first session of each year.
• The address generally contains
  1. Government’s achievements and performance over the preceding years.
  2. Main issues and challenges facing the state.
  3. Vision for the future and specific policies and initiatives.
• However, the content of the address is not under governor’s discretion.
• As per Article 163 and Supreme court’s judgement in Shamsher Singh case,the Governor is bound by the aid and advice of the council of ministers.
• Hence, the speech is prepared by the concerned government.

Source: The Hindu

Syllabus: GS-III

Subject: Space Technology

Topic: Recent space missions

Issue: Aditya-L1 Mission

Context: The six-magnetometer boom, previously stowed, is successfully deployed in the Halo orbit.

Synopsis:

• The boom carries two state-of-the-art high-accuracy magnetometer sensors.
• The experiment is designed to study the low-intensity interplanetary magnetic field in space.

Aditya-L1 Mission:

• It is a space-based observatory designed to study the Sun.
• It has been placed in an orbit around the L1 or Lagrange Point 1 that allows an unobstructed view of the Sun round the clock, throughout the year.

A Lagrange point is a special location in space where the gravitational forces of two massive objects balance each other out, allowing a small object to stay in a fixed position relative to them.

Source: Indian Express