1) Right to Silence: Supreme Court said that all accused have a right to silence and investigators cannot force them to speak up or admit guilt.
- Right to silence emanates from Article 20(3), which states that no one can be compelled to be a witness against himself.
- Protection limited only to criminal proceedings.
- Right is not available to a person who is being interrogated under Customs Act, 1962, or Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999, since person is not “accused of an offence” and isn’t entitled to a lawyer.
- In Nandini Satpathy v. P.L. Dani case, SC stated that compelling a person to answer a question within limits of the police station may result in violation of Article 20(3).
2) National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL): Government has renewed its federal guarantee to NARCL, making it easier for entity to acquire bad loans from lenders.
- NARCL has been incorporated under Companies Act and registered with RBI as an Asset Reconstruction Company under Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002.
- NARCL has been set up by banks to aggregate and consolidate stressed assets for their subsequent resolution.
- Public Sector Banks maintains 51% ownership in NARCL
3) Kaas Plateau: New study of sediments from a seasonal lake in Kaas Plateau has indicated a major shift in Indian Summer Monsoons.
- Kaas plateau or pathar, also known as valley of flower, is located in Satara District, Maharashtra. It falls in biosphere of Western Ghats.
- Its name is derived from Kaasa tree, botanically known as Elaeocarpus glandulosus (rudraksha family).
- It is made of igneous rocks.
- This plateau is inscribed in UNESCO World Natural Heritage Site lists under the name of Western Ghats.
4) Operation Southern Readiness – 2023: It is an annual multinational exercise (India, USA, Italy, UK, Seychelles, etc) conducted by Combined Maritime Forces.
5) Siachen glacier: First Geological Survey of India expedition to the Siachen glacier was done in 1958.
- Siachen glacier is located in the eastern Karakoram Range in Himalayas.
- It is 2nd longest nonpolar glacier in world, after Fedchenko Glacier in Tajikistan.
- Nubra Valley acts as the gateway to strategically important Siachen Glacier and Karakoram Pass.
- Siachen glacier is the world’s highest battlefield.
6) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS): Tropical waters have turned green in colour due to climate change, observation is based on analysis of data generated from the MODIS aboard Aqua satellite.
- MODIS is an instrument that collects remotely sensed data used by scientists for monitoring, modelling, and assessing the effects of natural processes and human actions on the Earth’s surface.
- Carried on two NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) satellites, MODIS acquires morning (EOS-Terra) and afternoon (EOS-Aqua) views almost daily.
- MODIS takes measurements in seven visible wavelengths.
