THE ASSAM TRIBUNE ANALYSIS DATE – 18 MARCH 2021 For Preliminary and Mains examination As per new Pattern of APSC (Also useful for UPSC and other State level government examinations) Answers of MCQs of 17-03-2021 1. C 2. D 3. B 4. A 5. A MCQs of 18-03-2021 Q1. Name the place from where Chandrayaan-1 was launched? A. Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota B. ISRO Satellite Centre, Bangaluru C. Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram D. Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre, Thiruvananthapuram Q2. What will be the India's second mission to the Moon by ISRO? A. Chandrayaan-2 B. Chandrayaan-3 C. Chandrayaan-1 D. None of the above Q3. The National Highway connecting Nagaon to Dimapur through Karbi Anglong district is- A. NH 37 B. NH 36 C. NH 39 D. NH 40 Q4. The first editor of Jonaki A. Hemchandra Goswami B. Chandra Kumar Agarwala C. Lakshminath Bezboruah D. Padmanath Gohai Baruah Q5. Karengar Ligiri was written by A. Bishnu Prasad Rabha B. Lakshmi Nath Bezboruah C. Jyotiprasad Agarwalla D. Padmanath Gohai Baruah CONTENTS 1. No decision on nationwide NRC yet (GS 2 – Polity and Governance) 2. Envisaged for a year, Chandrayaan-2 orbiter likely to last for 7 years (GS 3 – Science and Technology) 3. IOC, Israeli firm form JV to manufacture metal-air batteries for EVs (GS 3 – Science and Technology) 4. 41 candidates in 1st phase face criminal cases (GS 5 – Electoral Reforms related) EDITORIALS 1. Constitutionalizing a coalition (GS 2 – Polity and Governance) 2. Not feasible (GS 3 – Privatization) 3. Meghalaya mining ban (GS 5 – Environment related issue) 4. Orunodoi: A long misunderstood publication (GS 5 – History) NEWS ARTICLES No decision on nationwide NRC yet The Centre on Wednesday said it has not taken any decision on the nationwide roll-out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai was replying to a question in the Rajya Sabha on whether the Central government had any plans to implement the NRC throughout the country. “Till now, the government has not taken any decision to prepare the National Register of Indian Citizens at the national level,” Rai said in a written reply. The NRC was updated in Assam under the supervision of the Supreme Court. When the final NRC was published on August 31, 2019, a total of 19.06 lakh people were excluded out of the total 3,30,27,661 applicants, which created ripples across India. Replying to another question, Rai said there is no provision of detention centres under the Citizenship Act, 1955 and the National Register of Indian Citizens. He said the Supreme Court on February 28, 2012 had directed that foreign nationals who completed their sentence shall be released from jail immediately and be kept in an appropriate place with restricted movement pending their deportation or repatriation. – PTI Envisaged for a year, Chandrayaan-2 orbiter likely to last for 7 years The life of the orbiter of Chandrayaan-2 was initially envisaged for a year but the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) expects it to last for seven years, Union minister Jitendra Singh said on Wednesday. In a written response to a question in the Lok Sabha on India’s second lunar mission, Jitendra Singh, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, said Chandrayaan-2 was a highly complex mission to develop and demonstrate the key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability, including soft- landing and roving on the lunar surface. The mission comprised an orbiter, lander and rover. Planned to land on the South Pole of the Moon, Chandrayaan-2 was launched on July 22, 2019. However, the lander Vikram hard-landed on September 7, 2019, crashing India’s dream to become the first nation to successfully land on the lunar surface in its maiden attempt. “But for achieving soft landing at the intended spot, the other objectives of the mission have been significantly attained. So much so, that against an initially envisaged one-year life of orbiter, we expect it to be serving for seven years,” Singh said. The mission has accomplished the objective of expanding lunar scientific knowledge through detailed study of topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and tenuous lunar atmosphere leading to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the moon, it added. In August last year, Singh had announced that Chandrayaan-2 orbiter has captured the images of craters on the Moon. They were christened ‘Sarabhai crater’ after Vikram Sarabhai, father of the Indian space programme. The Sarabhai Crater captured in 3D images shows that it has a depth of around 1.7 kilometres, taken from its raised rim, and the slope of crater walls is in between 25 to 35 degree. These findings will help space scientists to understand further the process on the lunar region filled with lava, Singh had said. ISRO’s missions are known to have an enhanced life than what is earlier envisaged. The planned life span of Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) after its insertion into the Mars orbit on September 24, 2014 was six months and it was to complete on March 24, 2015. However, the MOM is still functioning and sending pictures. – PTI IOC, Israeli firm form JV to manufacture metal-air batteries for EVs State-owned Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Israeli battery developer Phinergy today formalised a joint venture to manufacture ultra-lightweight metal-air batteries for electric vehicles (EVs), a venture that got its first customers in Maruti Suzuki and Ashok Leyland. The equal joint venture will replace lithium with aluminum to make batteries that will charge faster and give a longer run. This will “help overcome most of the challenges facing EVs including range anxiety,” IOC Chairman SM Vaidya said. “Al-air technology will help us overcome most of the current challenges for e-vehicles and address most of the potential customers’ pain-points, including range anxiety, higher cost of purchase, and safety issues. “This technology will also boost India’s existing aluminum industry and help the nation become self-reliant in the energy field and promote the ‘Make in India’ drive,” he said. IOC had in February last year acquired a minority stake in Phinergy Ltd. Now they have formed a joint venture, IOC Phinergy Pvt Ltd, which will manufacture aluminum-air systems using mostly recycled aluminum. At a virtual event marking the event, Maruti Suzuki and Ashok Leyland signed a letter of intent (LoI) with the newly incorporated JV. Founded in 2008, Phinergy develops an assortment of zero-emission batteries including aluminum-air and zinc-air batteries designed to offer power sources for electric cars. The IOC and Phinergy joint venture will set up a factory in India to manufacture aluminum-air batteries for electric vehicles and stationary applications. Aluminum is naturally available in India and its extraction and recycling technologies are also very well established. Speaking on occasion, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the joint venture will help India in its journey towards clean, sustainable, affordable, safe and long-lasting energy options and facilitate much faster adoption of e-vehicles in the country. The minister said that based on domestically available aluminum, the joint venture plans to manufacture aluminum-air systems in the country, which will provide a boost to ‘Make in India’. Minister of Energy of Israel, Yuval Steinitz, lauded the initiative, saying that this is indicative of increasingly close cooperation between the two countries. Oil Secretary Tarun Kapoor said India’s energy demand is going to increase at a faster pace compared to the world, and the country is looking for a breakthrough in storage technology-batteries that are compact, cheaper, lighter and have higher energy density. He described today’s initiative as pathbreaking. – PTI 41 candidates in 1st phase face criminal cases Forty one candidates contesting in the first phase of Assembly elections in Assam have declared criminal cases against them. As per a report prepared by the National Election Watch and Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 34 candidates contesting election in the first phase have declared serious criminal cases against them. The ADR analysed 259 of the 264 candidates in the fray. Affidavits of five candidates could not be analysed due to incomplete or unclear affidavits uploaded in the Election Commission website. A party-wise analysis of the candidates shows that among the major political parties, 10 of the 43 Congress nominees, eight of the 41 Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) nominees, three of the 39 BJP candidates and one candidate each from NCP, AGP and SUCI(C) have declared criminal cases against them in their self-sworn affidavits. Three constituencies – Bokakhat, Margherita and Biswanath Chariali – have been marked as ‘red alert constituencies’, where three or more contesting candidates have declared criminal cases against them. According to the report, five candidates have declared cases related to crime against women. While one candidate has declared cases related to rape, two candidates have cases related to murder, and four others have declared cases related to attempt to murder. The directions of the Supreme Court have had no effect on the political parties in selection of candidates in phase one of the Assam Assembly Elections 2021 as they have again followed their old practice of giving tickets to around 16 per cent candidates with criminal cases. All major parties contesting in the first phase have given tickets to eight per cent to 23 per cent candidates who have declared criminal cases against themselves, the report said. Meanwhile, AGP has earned the distinction of having highest number of crorepati candidates (90 per cent).