News Summary · 2 minutes read
Stay ahead in your UPSC CSE preparation with our daily News Summary. Designed to save time, it highlights key national and international events from leading newspapers and government websites.
Powers of Sessions Court vis-à-vis Constitutional Courts
Standard life imprisonment
- Imprisonment for the remainder of natural life, but eligible for remission after 14+ years.
- Both the sessions courts (district-level criminal courts) and the constitutional courts (HC/SC) can impose this.
Life imprisonment without remission
- Imprisonment until death or a fixed term (e.g., 30/40 years) with no early release.
- Sessions Courts lack authority to impose this → only HC/SC can.
- Only HC/SC can order fixed-term life sentences beyond remission. [Swamy Shraddananda case, 2008]
Death Sentence
- Imposed in “rarest of rare” cases where life imprisonment is “unquestionably foreclosed.” [Bachan Singh case, 1980]
- Sessions Courts can impose it, but require HC confirmation.
- HC/SC can impose it directly in rare cases.
Fast Breeder Reactor (FBR)
- India’s first Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam has recently achieved criticality.
- Criticality: A stage where the nuclear chain reaction becomes self-sustaining, allowing controlled and continuous power generation.
Features of FBR
- Generates more fissile material (plutonium) than it consumes, effectively “breeding” fuel for future use.
- Uses unmoderated, high‑energy (fast) neutrons for fission reactions.
- Employs liquid sodium as coolant for efficient heat transfer; however, sodium is extremely reactive and leaks can cause serious hazards — e.g., Japan’s Monju FBR incident (1995).
Significance for India
- Supports India’s three-stage nuclear programme → FBRs (Stage II) produce plutonium that is crucial for thorium-based 3rd stage.
- Fuel security and sustainability = fewer nuclear fuel imports.
- Reactor‑grade plutonium produced by FBRs can be used in nuclear weapons = strategic autonomy.
- PFBR operates outside IAEA safeguards = India’s strategic flexibility.
Challenges
- Requires advanced plutonium‑handling and reprocessing facilities.
- Ensuring rigorous safety management to prevent sodium leaks and handle coolant reactivity.
Quick Picks for Pre and Mains (QPPM)
- Project Cheetah was launched in 2022.
- Windfall Gains Tax: imposed by governments on industries or companies that earn unusually high, unexpected profits due to external factors beyond their control, such as sudden commodity price surges from geopolitical events.
- South Pars/North Dome: world’s largest natural gas field → located in the Persian Gulf and shared between Iran (South Pars) and Qatar (North Dome).
- Ismail Omar Guelleh: re-elected as Djibouti President for a 6th term.
- Chagos Islands: UK’s overseas territory located in the Indian Ocean south of the equator.
Coming soon…