GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

There has been a confrontation between the elected government in Tamil Nadu and the State Governor regarding the Governor withholding assent to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) Bill (linked to an all India premedical entrance test) passed by the State Assembly.

Understanding Governor’s Constitutional Position

• The Governor is a nominee of the Central government, appointed by the
• Article 154(1) of the Constitution vests in the Governor the executive power of the State, which he can exercise on aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
• In Shamsher Singh vs State of Punjab (1974), the Supreme Court had clearly affirmed that Governors exercise their formal constitutional powers only upon and in accordance with the advice of their Ministers save in a few well known exceptional situations.
• In the Nabam Rebia case 2016, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the above position on the governors’ powers in our constitutional setup.

Choices available to Governor on receiving a bill

Article 200 of the Constitution provides for four alternative courses of action for a Governor:

• Give his assent to the bill
• Withhold his assent to the bill
• Return the bill (if it is not a money bill) for reconsideration (or suggest amendments) of the state legislature. However, if the bill is passed again by the state legislature with or without amendments, the governor has to give his assent to the bill
• Reserve the bill for the consideration of the president.

While on a visit to Denmark, Indian Prime Minister agreed to further strengthen the Green Strategic Partnership with a focus on green hydrogen, renewable energy and wastewater management.

Key Outcome of the Visit

• Agreements covering sectors such as green shipping, animal husbandry and dairying, water management, energy, cultural exchange were signed.
• Deepening the existing cooperation in the field of safe and secure water to meet present and future demand through a holistic and sustainable approach.
• Expanding the cooperation on agriculture by establishing a Centre of Excellence on Dairy.
• Collaboration in the field of antimicrobial resistance.
• India will join the International Center for Antimicrobial Resistance Solutions (ICARS) as Mission Partner.
• Denmark will join the Global Digital Health Partnership to improve public health and well-being through evidence-based digital technologies.

About Green Strategic Partnership

• The focus of the Partnership is on expanding economic ties, green growth, and cooperation on global challenges such as climate change, water efficiency and water loss.
• Danish companies with their expertise and niche technologies will help India in curbing and tackle the problem of stubble burning.

India's ranking in the World Press Freedom Index 2022 has fallen down to 150^th position from last year's 142^nd rank out of 180 countries.

About World Press Freedom Index

• Published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), the World Press Freedom Index is an important advocacy tool based on the principle of emulation among states. 
• The Index ranks 180 countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists.
• It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country and region.

Key-highlights of the index:

• Top performing countries include Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Estonia and Finland while North Korea remained at the bottom of the list.
• The rankings of India's neighbours have also come down, with the index placing Pakistan at 157^th position (145^th last year), Sri Lanka 146^th (127^th), Bangladesh 162^nd (152^nd) and Myanmar at 176^th (140^th) position.
• Nepal has significantly improved its global ranking by 30 points from 106^th position last year to 76^th position in 2022.
• Russia’s position has also come down from 150^th last year to 155^th this year, while China climbed up by two positions (from 177^th to 175^th).

According to a study published in the journal Nature, Climate change will result in thousands of new viruses spread among animal species and this will increase the risk of emerging infectious diseases jumping from animals to humans.

Findings of the study

• A model was used to examine how over the next 50 years around 3,000 mammal species might migrate to new environments, taking their parasites and pathogens with them and share viruses among species if the global temperature rises by 2 degrees Celsius.
• Researchers found that cross-species virus spread will happen over 4,000 times among mammals alone.
• These novel virus sharing events are predicted to be driven predominantly by bats, which are likely to harbour viruses with a high chance of being transmissible to humans.
• The greatest threat of increased virus exposure will be faced by African and Asian countries who had little to do with inducing climate change.

Air-independent propulsion mechanism based on fuel cell that India is looking for its P-75I Project needs to be sea proven.

About P-75I project

• The P75I project is part of a 30-year submarine building plan that ends in 2030.

• As part of this plan, India was to build 24 submarines — 18 conventional submarines and six nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs).
• This project envisages the construction of six conventional submarines with better sensors and weapons and the Air Independent Propulsion System (AIP).