Arunthathiyars, Axiom-4 Mission, Ecologically Sensitive Areas

• The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of a Tamil Nadu law offering preferential treatment among Scheduled Castes (SCs) to socially and educationally backward Arunthathiyars.
• A seven-judge Bench ruled 6:1 that sub-categorization within a class is necessary for substantive equality.
• The Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars Reservation Act, 2009, provides reservations for Arunthathiyars in state services and educational institutions.
• The Act defined Arunthathiyars to include the castes — Arunthathiyar, Chakkiliyan, Madari, Madiga, Pagadi, Thoti, and Adi Andhra — from the list of 76 SCs notified by the President under Article 341 of the Constitution
• Sections 3 and 4 stipulate that 16% of SC reserved seats in educational institutions and government posts should be allocated to Arunthathiyars.
• This case was linked with a similar law in Punjab favouring Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs among SCs.

Dig Deeper: Read about the recent Supreme Court judgement which allowed states to subcategories castes in the Scheduled Castes.

• Indian astronaut-designates have been shortlisted for training in the U.S. for the Axiom-4 mission to the International Space Station (ISS).
• The National Mission Assignment Board has recommended them as prime and backup mission pilots, with Group Captain Shukla as the prime pilot and Group Captain Nair as the backup. The Axiom-4 Mission is the fourth private astronaut mission to the ISS.
• ISRO’s Human Space Flight Centre (HSFC) has entered into a Space Flight Agreement with Axiom Space Inc., a NASA-identified service provider, for the mission.
• The crew members will be finally approved by the Multilateral Crew Operations Panel and will start training in early August.
• During the mission, they will conduct scientific research, technology demonstration experiments, and space outreach activities on the ISS.
• The experiences gained will benefit the Indian Human Space Program and strengthen ISRO-NASA cooperation.
• Group Captain Shukla and Group Captain Nair are also selected for India’s Gaganyaan mission.

Dig Deeper: Read about the Gaganyaan Mission.

• Opposition has moved a privilege motion in the Rajya Sabha against the Home Minister citing his speech in Parliament regarding the landslides in Wayanad. According to the report shows that statements about early warnings issued by the Union government were false.
• India lacks a law that defines what is a parliamentary privilege.
• Article 105 in the Indian Constitution explicitly mentions only two kinds of privileges, freedom of speech in the Parliament and the right to publish the house proceedings.
• It should be noted here that the Parliament, till now, has not made any special law to exhaustively codify all the privileges.
• They are based on five sources, namely, Constitutional provisions, Various laws made by Parliament, Rules of both the Houses, Parliamentary conventions, and Judicial interpretations.

Dig Deeper: Compare between Breach of Privilege and Contempt of House.

• Centre reissues draft notification on Ecologically Sensitive Areas in Western Ghats. It aims to restrict economic activities such as quarrying, mining, and large infrastructure development in these areas.
• Despite six iterations, the draft has not become law due to objections from Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Katakana, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
• The Gadgil Committee recommended that 75% of the Western Ghats be designated as ecologically sensitive areas (ESAs) with restrictions on development activities.
• The Kasturirangan Committee recommended conserving and protecting the biodiversity of Western Ghats while allowing for sustainable and inclusive development of the region. Notified only 37% of the Western Ghats as ESAs. It splits areas into cultural and natural zones.
• The Environment (Protection) Act of 1986 allows the Central Government to restrict industrial activities in these sensitive areas to safeguard their ecological integrity.
• Western Ghats Ecology Authority (WGEA) to be constituted as a statutory authority under the MoEF&CC, with the powers under Section 3 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Dig Deeper: Read about the Environmental Impact Assessment of Development in Eco-Sensitive Zones.