Proceedings in the Supreme Court and High Courts

• Article 348(1) (a) of the Constitution of India states that all proceedings in the Supreme Court and in every High Court, shall be in English language.
• Article 348 (2) of the Constitution states that the Governor of a State, with consent of the President, authorize the use of Hindi Language, or any other language in the proceeding of the high court.
• Out of India’s 25 High Courts, only four high courts such as Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are allowed to use Hindi in their proceedings and legal documents.
• Bihar was the last High Court to receive authorisation to use Hindi way back in 1972.
• The use of Hindi in the proceedings of High Court of Rajasthan was authorized under clause (2) of Article 348 of the constitution in 1950.
• Government of India had received proposals from the Government of few states such as Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Karnataka to use of their regional languages.
• According to Article 21, the public has the right to early justice, which includes justice in a language they understand.
• Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti – A High Powered Committee for Promotion of Indian Languages has been constituted by the Ministry of Education.
• The mandate of this committee would be to explore and recommend pathways of the holistic and multi-disciplinary growth of Indian languages as envisaged in the National Education Policy-2020.
• It seeks to develop common core vocabulary that that closely align with various Indian languages for the purpose of translating legal material into regional languages.

Krishi-Decision Support System (DSS)

• Krishi-DSS is the first-of-its-kind geospatial platform specifically designed for Indian agriculture.
• The platform provides seamless access to comprehensive data that can be easily accessed from anywhere at any time.
• It is an initiative of the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers' Welfare.
• The comprehensive data include satellite images, weather information, reservoir storage, groundwater levels and soil health information.
• It can also be helpful in drought monitoring and it will provide near real-time information on various indicators such as soil moisture, water storage, crop condition, dry spells and so on.
• It will inform the stakeholders about how weather is impacting the crops, crop harvest status, crop residue burning and so on.

Bird Dung or Bird-dropping Spider (Phrynarachne decipiens)

Recently the bird dung crab spider was recorded by a team of zoologists from Assam, for the first time in India.

• Bird Dung was first recorded as seen in the forests of Indonesia in the 19th century by a Scottish naturalist, who marvelled at how its silken web mimicked the fluid part of a bird’s dropping.
• The species is almost completely white, whereas others of its kind come in varying shades of white and dark colours.
• It is a species of spiders of the family Thomisidae.
• They use mimicry of a quite different sort to capture its prey, which consist almost exclusively of male moths.
• The bite of this spider is not considered to be dangerous.
• Range – The Bird-dropping Spider is found throughout much of eastern and southern Australia.
• It is for the first time found in the Assam of India.
• South-east Asia has the world’s highest concentration of bird-dropping crab spiders.

Om Parvat

Om Parvat, a revered Himalayan peak in Uttarakhand, has lost its snow cover for the first time, alarming locals and scientists.

• Om Parvat is a Himalayan peak situated at Uttarakhand.
• It has recently lost its snow cover for the first time.
• This phenomenon is seen as a clear sign of climate change, with several factors contributing:
  • Reduced snowfall in winter
  • Increased vehicular emissions
  • Rising global temperatures
  • More frequent and extensive forest fires
  • Increased pollution, including black carbon from fires
• UN report states one-third of Himalayan glaciers are threatened by global warming.
• Glaciers are losing 58 billion tonnes of ice annually.
• Temperature increase in the Hindu Kush Himalayan region is higher than global averages.
• Western Himalayas are particularly affected due to limited precipitation sources.
• Impacts – Threat to local livelihoods dependent on tourism.
• Disruption of the Himalayan ecosystem.
• Increased drought and earlier forest fires.
• Drying up of water sources.
• Scientists emphasize the need for a holistic approach to glacier health, considering factors like alpine forests and meadows.

TDP1

Scientists at IACS have discovered a potential new target for killing cancer cells, focusing on DNA repair mechanisms during cell division.

• TDP1 plays a role in repairing the DNA damage in cancer cells.
• It plays a crucial role in maintaining the DNA structure during replication and transcription.
• Top1 is an enzyme found in all higher organisms.
• Drugs that target Top1 disrupt its activity, leading to the death of many cells, including cancer cells.
• Scientists at IACS have discovered a potential new target for killing cancer cells, focusing on DNA repair mechanisms during cell division.
• The study involves two key molecules:
  1. CDK1 protein
  2. TDP1 enzyme

• Current anti-cancer drugs (camptothecin, topotecan, irinotecan) target topoisomerase 1 (Top1), an enzyme crucial for DNA replication and transcription.
• Cancer cells can develop resistance to these drugs by activating repair mechanisms using TDP1.
• The research findings – Cells switch repair tools based on cell cycle stage and presence of camptothecin.
• A specific change (phosphorylation) in TDP1 helps remove it from chromosomes during cell division.
• Targeting CDK1 can disrupt the Top1-mediated DNA damage repair process.
• Potential new treatment strategy – Combining CDK1 inhibitors with Top1 inhibitors could be more effective against cancer cells.
• This combination makes it harder for cancer cells to survive and may overcome resistance to single-agent therapies.
• The study was conducted on human breast cancer cells, but the approach could potentially benefit patients with other cancers like ovarian, colorectal, and small cell lung cancers.