Remission of Convicts
- Three girls of TN Agricultural University were burnt alive when their bus was set afire by 3 after Jayalalithaa was convicted in a corruption case in 2000.
- Three convicts were initially sentenced to death, but the punishment was commuted to life in prison by the Supreme Court 2 years ago.
- They were recently granted remission and set free. TN governor cleared the government’s recommendation to release them prematurely.
- The Governor had earlier returned the file seeking remission of their life sentence for reconsideration by the government.
- However, the State sent back the file sticking to its stand, following which the governor accepted the recommendation to release them.
- Legal provision – Section 433A deals with the restriction of powers of remission or commutation in certain cases.
- It says that, a sentence of death imposed on a person has been commuted under section 433 into one of imprisonment for life, such person shall not be released from prison unless he/she had served at least 14 years of imprisonment.
Pardoning Terms
- Pardon - It removes both the sentence and the conviction and completely absolves the convict from all the sentences, punishments and disqualifications.
- Commutation - It denotes the substitution of one form of punishment for a lighter form.
- Remission - It implies reducing the period of sentence without changing its character.
- Respite - It denotes awarding a lesser sentence in place of one originally awarded due to some special fact, such as the physical disability of convict or the pregnancy of a woman offender.
- Reprieve - It implies a stay of the execution of a sentence (especially that of death) for a temporary period. Its purpose is to enable the convict to have time to seek pardon or commutation from the President/Governor.
Most Luminous Galaxy
- Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) telescope in Chile has recently observed the most luminous galaxy in the Universe.
- The light from this galaxy, known as W2246-0526, took 12.4 billion years to reach Earth.
- Its brightness is not due to its stars rather it is powered by a tiny energetic disk of gas that is being superheated as it spirals in on the supermassive black hole.
- The light from the energetic disk is then absorbed by the surrounding dust which re-emits the energy as Infrared light.
- This extreme infrared radiation makes this galaxy one of a rare class of quasars known as Hot, Dust-Obscured Galaxies or Hot DOGs.
Global Fight on Malaria
- The World Health Organisation in its recent report has revealed that global efforts to fight Malaria stalled.
- The number of cases of the disease climbed by 2 million to 219 million in 2017.
- The international funding to fight the disease has declined in the recent years.
- Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by Plasmodium parasites.
- It is transmitted to people through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
- The mosquito transmits the parasite in to bloodstream and after it gets matured it begin to infect red blood cells.
- There are 5 parasite species that cause malaria in humans, and 2 of these species P. falciparum and P. vivax pose the greatest threat.
- It is preventable and curable.
- An infected mother can also pass the disease to her baby at birth. This is known as congenital malaria.
- Malaria is transmitted by blood, so it can also be transmitted through:
- an organ transplant
2. a transfusion
3. use of shared needles or syringes
Igla-S missile
- Igla-S is a Russian man-portable Surface to Air missile.
- Russia has recently bagged the contract of Indian Army’s bid for air defence missile.
- Igla-S system has been confirmed as the lowest bidder for the mega deal.
Telescope to View Kartarpur Sahib
- The government has decided to install a high-powered telescope along the India-Pakistan border for devotees to view kartarpur sahib in Punjab.
- It is organized to mark the 550th birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikh faith.
- Kartarpur sahib, one of the holiest shrines, is the final resting place of Guru Nanak.
- The telescope would be installed by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
Click here to know about Sikh Gurus
Source: The Hindu, Economic Times
