Current Affairs Compilations for UPSC IAS Prelims 2022

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

• The Pee Case: Why India Needs Tort Laws
• Myanmar’s failed military regime is unsettling the whole region
• More than just an address
• Of metals and rare earths
• Bound supremacy – Parliamentary sovereignty isn’t undone by the basic structure doctrine

GS Paper 3

• Costa Rica’s rainforest canopies tower 150 feet tall — these are the last biotic frontier
• Take a step to regulate deepfakes

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

• More pilgrims than infra, waste disposal lacking: NGT panel on key pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand’s Char Dham trail
• India’s trade deficit with China races beyond $100 bn
• Juna Khatiya Site: Gujarat’s Harappan necropolis reveals death rituals of 5,000 years ago
• iKnife: New surgical knife detects endometrial cancer within seconds
• Roman secret to durable architecture? Self-healing concrete
• Rajasthan varsity study moots dairy products to combat Alzheimer’s
• Kollam is first Constitution literate district
• Year End Review 2022: Ministry of Tribal Affairs
• Joshimath sank by 5.4 cm in 12 days, says ISRO report

Mains Oriented Articles

GS Paper 2

The Pee Case: Why India Needs Tort Laws

News: The article discusses a recent case of misbehavior with a woman in the flight.

What are the issues?

The accused has been booked under IPC provisions Section 354 (assault or criminal force on woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), 509 (act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 510 (misconduct in public by a drunken person) and 294 (obscene acts).

The court has also denied the bail on the grounds of outraging the modesty of a woman. However, the offences for which accused has been booked is not appropriate.

Why IPC sections that have been applied on Mishra is not appropriate?

Person has been booked for an offence that is punishable irrespective of the victim (man or woman).

The IPC sections that deal with offences or sexual offences against women misleads the case and there is no evidence at all that Mishra’s act was intended as a sexual offence.

This shows there are structural problems with the Indian laws and judicial practices. The concept of tort law is still underdeveloped in India which misleads these kinds of cases that are less about criminal intentions and much more about negative consequences for the victim.

What is the tort law and how is it applied?

Under tort law, a person who is injured or the aggrieved party is compensated by the payment of damage. The accused is asked for compensation. Tort cases are civil cases.

Tort law can be applied to damages caused to a person’s health, safety, his environment, his property, his economic interests, or his reputation.

The application of tort law needs to be applied through common sense. Every damage caused cannot be considered the grounds for receiving compensation and every case need not be treated as criminal case.

However, most of the Indian laws do not have tort clauses in it.

Why do Indian laws not have tort clauses?

One of the reasons behind excluding the tort clauses is to provide space to the state functionaries. It is an inappropriate established fact in India that the state and its functionaries cannot do wrong or cause damage.

Thus, India’s Parliament never considered a comprehensive tort law which saved the state from paying compensation to victims. It was left for the judiciary to develop a tort jurisprudence.

Moreover, there are some laws in India such as The Environment Protection Act 1986, Prevention of Sexual Harassment at Workplaces Act 2013 and Motor Vehicles Act 2019 which have tortious clauses.

However, building tort into all laws, making it a part of social, governance and legal narratives is missing in India. Some judges have argued for codification of torts, but have not been successful.

Why is there a need to codify tort in India?

If tort is codified in India, cases like Mishra’s can be dealt with more logically and it will also benefit many other victims.

For example, victims of road accidents or those petitioning consumer courts and the complaints related with service providers of government or private.

What can be the way ahead?

India needs to have tort law like the US has Federal Tort Claims Act that compensates individuals who have suffered personal injury, death, or property loss caused by wrongful act of an employee of the federal government.

However, there is a need for the Indian government to properly write the tort laws specifying the kind of liability and standard of proof, and judges must apply their mind and common sense when hearing tort cases.

Myanmar’s failed military regime is unsettling the whole region

News– The article explains the internal fighting in Myanmar and its destabilising potential for its neighbouring countries.

What are the internal security challenges faced by Myanmar?

The military regime in Myanmar has failed to establish control over the country .

Ethnic militias have joined hands with pro-democracy civilians.They have taken up arms against the military since the February 2021 coup.

The junta’s confrontation with these groups is evident in the Chin state. For nearly a decade, Chin was one of Myanmar’s relatively peaceful border states. Chin National Army is the armed wing of the Chin National Front. It had  signed a ceasefire in 2012 with the then military government.

After the coup, the CNF joined hands with the National Unity Government, the political leaders of the pro-democracy struggle in Myanmar.

Another ethnic organisation called the Chin National Organisation also came up two months after the coup. It has its own armed wing called the Chin National Defence Organisation.

Every township in Chin state has its own people’s militia called the Chin Defence Force.

CNF-CNA headquarters located right on the Mizoram-Chin border, has been training hundreds of volunteers who have signed up to take on the junta.

How does it create security challenges for the neighbouring States of Myanmar?

The Chin state lies in the proximity of the Mizoram side. it also directly threatens the stability of the entire Northeast region. Mizoram has given refuge to over 40,000 Chin people. Refugees have crossed over into Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh as well.

Bangladesh has been impacted by the Rohingya influx.

Continuous fighting in Kachin near the Chinese border has security implications for China.

What is the way forward for stability in Myanmar?

The country’s ethnic groups who live along its borders do not trust the military to give them federal autonomy.

Peace in Myanmar and along its boundaries will come only with real democracy.

More than just an address

News- The article highlights breach of constitutional convention with respect to special address made by governor.

The Governor of Tamil Nadu, R.N. Ravi made constitutional history in the State by omitting certain paragraphs. He departed from the official text of his special address at the opening of the Legislative Assembly of Tamil Nadu for 2023.

What is a special address made by the president and governor?

Article 87 of the Indian Constitution requires the President to make a special address to both Houses of Parliament assembled on the commencement of the first session of each year.  Article 176 requires the Governor to make a special address at the first session of each year of every State Legislative Assembly and to both Houses wherever the State also has a Legislative Council. The language of these provisions were borrowed from the rules of the House of Commons.

Jawaharlal Nehru, stated that the President’s address is nothing but a statement of policy of the government.

The Calcutta High Court, while interpreting this article in Syed Abdul Mansur Habibullah v. The Speaker, West Bengal Legislative Assembly (1966), held that the special address  keeps the members informed about the executive policies and legislative programme of the State government.

What does departure from the official text of a special address mean?

When there is an independent power provided under Article 175, it is a serious impropriety for any Governor (or even the President) to omit several paragraphs from the speech prepared by the incumbent government.

The Supreme Court has held that constitutional conventions are as much a part of the Constitution as its written text.

These conventions fill the interstices of a written Constitution and enable effective coordination between the legislature, executive and the judiciary.

Article 361 of the Constitution gives the Governor complete immunity from any legal action because our founding fathers hoped that Governors would maintain the highest standards of rectitude and propriety.

What is the role of the Governor in this regard?

The special address of the Governor is an important constitutional duty. It is performed with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head.

The constitutional role of the Governor is that of an elder statesman who brings a sense of gravitas to this high office.

The residents of Raj Bhavans are expected to be above party politics and should not hamper the functioning of a duly elected State government.

Of metals and rare earths

News- The article explains the need to diversify sources of rare earth minerals.

The news that Sweden has just discovered a large deposit of rare earth minerals sparked off thoughts about “atmanirbhar” in this vital area.

What are the rare earth metals?

Rare earths are a class of metals. Their oxides need to be used in small but significant quantities to make electric vehicles, mobile phones and sundry other consumer electronics, besides wind turbines and solar energy units.

Renewable energy, therefore, depends on these metals.

What is the distribution of metals and rare earth metals across the world?

China has a hammerlock on global mining and production of rare earth oxides. It has 44 million tonnes of proven reserves (2021), estimated at one-third of known global reserves.

China has a 60% of the world’s market share.

The US has a 15-16 per cent market share and Myanmar (with the help of China) holds around 9.5 per cent. India has around 1 per cent market share.

By all accounts, Chinese mining and refining methods of these are fairly carbon-intensive and there have been reports of severe environmental degradation caused by Chinese mining practices.

What are the barriers in diversifying supply chains?

The barrier is really the cost. Given the scale of the opportunity and enabling policies, supply chains can be diversified if it’s made in sufficient quantities with policy support, it may become globally competitive.

However, if you don’t have domestic rare earths in sufficient quantities, you need to import from China. This has hard-to-model implications for geopolitics.

China is also the dominant player in many other elements of global energy and electronics supply chains, including solar panels, wind turbines, electric vehicle batteries, electric vehicle drive trains, dynamos, alternators, and semiconductors.

What is the way forward?

For other elements, US has looked for additional local reserves.

Japan has examined the possibility of undersea mining

Indeed, many nations have domestic capacity and India aspires to join that club with its multitude of production-linked incentive schemes.

This means nations can switch suppliers at need.

In contrast, rare earths have a single-supplier, and China will remain the go-to supplier for the foreseeable future.

Bound supremacy – Parliamentary sovereignty isn’t undone by the basic structure doctrine

News: The Vice President of India in 83rd All-India Presiding Officer’s conference criticised the doctrine of the basic structure for undermining parliamentary sovereignty.

What are the major highlights of the Vice President’s address?

How Parliamentary legislation is regulated in India?

Parliamentary legislation is subject to two limitations under the Constitution of India.

1) Judicial review, or the power of constitutional courts to review legislation for possible violation of any fundamental right, and 2) No amendment to the Constitution should have the effect of destroying any of its basic features. This is ensured under two conditions. Such as, a) Under Article 13, laws inconsistent with or in derogation of fundamental rights are void, b) ‘Basic structure’ doctrine evolved by the Supreme Court in the Kesavananda Bharati case. The main purpose of the doctrine is to ensure that some fundamental features of the Constitution are not legislated out of existence.

What is the basic structure doctrine, and how was the doctrine developed?

Why basic structure doctrine is not undermining parliamentary sovereignty?

a) Parliament is sovereign in its domain, but it is still bound by the limitations imposed by the Constitution, b) The basic structure doctrine had helped to save the Constitution from being undermined through the misuse of the parliamentary majority, c) A Parliamentary majority is short-lived, but essential features of the Constitution such as the rule of law, parliamentary form of government, separation of powers, the idea of equality, and free and fair elections ought to be perennially protected from legislative excess.

For changing the basic structure doctrine, a new Constituent Assembly has to come up with another constitution that changes these fundamental concepts. But a legislature formed under the current Constitution cannot be allowed to change its core identity.

GS Paper 3

Costa Rica’s rainforest canopies tower 150 feet tall — these are the last biotic frontier

News: Research has been carried out on the canopies of the rainforests of Costa Rica. This article discusses the features and impacts of rainforest canopies.

What are some important features of rainforest canopies?

Canopy when compared to forest floor is full of sunshine, windier, and with extremes temperature and humidity.

This is because the diversity of plants and animals evolved to live in this micro-environment could not be even seen in the forest floors.

Canopies also perform several functions such as capture nutrients and provide resources for birds, mammals and insects.

Therefore, anything which affects canopies impacts the rainforest as a whole.

Moreover, canopies are also known as the last biotic frontier because it is very hard to reach those canopies as they are at a great height from the forest floor.

What are epiphytes and what are their roles in the forests?

Epiphytes are plants which grow on the trunks and branches of trees. They lack roots due to which they don’t get nutrients from trees or the ground.

Instead, they derive nutrients from rainfall, mist and cloud. When they perish and fall to the forest floor, they pass these nutrients to other members of the ecosystem.

So, these epiphytes function as giant sponges in the canopy which move nutrient resources down into the forest ecosystem.

Further, in the research it was found that one-third of all the bird visits were to the epiphytes, not the host tree. Hence, epiphytes play an important role in the lives of the birds and animals occupying such rainforests.

What is the importance of rainforest canopies in human life?

It produces oxygen and material for medicines. Therefore, Costa Rica is also trying to conserve the rainforest due to their wide uses and benefits.

Take a step to regulate deepfakes

News- The article explains the need to regulate deepfakes.

What are Deepfakes?

Deepfakes leverage powerful techniques from machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to manipulate or generate visual and audio content with a high potential to deceive.

What are the issues associated with deepfakes?

First, deepfake videos can be used to spread misinformation and propaganda.

Second, there has been a history of using deepfakes to depict someone in a compromising and embarrassing situation. For instance, there is no dearth of deepfake pornographic material of celebrities.

Third, deepfakes have been used for financial fraud. Recently, scammers used AI-powered software to trick the CEO of a U.K. energy company over the phone into believing he was speaking with the head of the German parent company.

Fourth,Deepfakes can be used to influence elections. Recently, Taiwan’s cabinet approved amendments to election laws to punish the sharing of deepfake videos or images.

Fifth,Deepfakes can also be used to carry out espionage activities. Doctored videos can be used to blackmail government and defence officials into divulging state secrets.

What are the existing provisions related to deep fakes?

Section 500 of the IPC provides punishment for defamation.

Sections 67 and 67A of the Information Technology Act punish sexually explicit material in explicit form.

The Representation of the People Act, 1951, includes provisions prohibiting the creation or distribution of false or misleading information about candidates or political parties during an election period.

The Election Commission of India has set rules that require registered political parties and candidates to get pre-approval for all political advertisements on electronic media.

However, these rules do not address the potential dangers posed by deepfake content.

Why is there a need to regulate Deepfakes?

The lack of proper regulations creates avenues for individuals, firms and even non-state actors to misuse AI.

In India, the legal framework related to AI is insufficient to adequately address the various issues that have arisen due to AI algorithms.

The Union government should introduce separate legislation regulating the nefarious use of deepfakes and the broader subject of AI.

China is one of the few countries which has introduced regulations prohibiting the use of deepfakes deemed harmful to national security or the economy.

The proposed Digital India Bill can also address this issue. We can’t always rely on the policy of self-regulation.

Prelims Oriented Articles (Factly)

More pilgrims than infra, waste disposal lacking: NGT panel on key pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand’s Char Dham trail

Source: The post is based on the article “More pilgrims than infra, waste disposal lacking: NGT panel on key pilgrimage sites in Uttarakhand’s Char Dham trail” published in the Indian Express on 14th January 2023.

What is the News?

A Joint Committee, formed by the National Green Tribunal to investigate the “ecological damage in Uttarakhand’s sensitive areas” has found that the region lacks waste management infrastructure.

About the NGT Committee

The NGT on Urvashi Shobhna Kachari vs Union of India formed a committee to investigate the “ecological damage occurring near and around sacred pilgrim trails in sensitive and rich biodiversity regions of Uttarakhand.”

The committee surveyed four pilgrimage sites on the Char Dham trail – Kedarnath, Yamunotri, Gangotri and Hemkund Sahib.

The panel released a report titled ‘On ground evaluation of the issue of colossal environmental degradation in the prominent pilgrim track regions of Uttarakhand’.

About the Char Dham Yatra potential in Uttarakhand

The Char Dham Yatra is one of Uttarakhand’s highest job creators, generating an estimated Rs 1,100 crore with approximately 36 lakh pilgrims visiting Kedarnath, Badrinath, Yamunotri and Gangotri in 2019.

During the peak months of May and June, various small traders and other sellers make enough earnings to sustain themselves throughout the year.

What are the findings of the report?

-As per the Uttarakhand Government report, coronavirus (Covid-19) has caused a loss of around Rs 200-250 crore to the hospitality industry in Uttarakhand, which contributes around 30% of the GDP of the state.

-There appeared to be more pilgrims than infrastructure for managing pilgrim traffic, solid garbage, plastic waste, and the manure of mules or horses.

-Equine entry on the trek routes was not regulated. Further, a large number of animals can cause ecological disturbance in pristine areas.

-Proper management and monitoring practices for equine health and facilities, solid waste management facilities were not available (except on the Gangotri-Gaumukh trek route).

-There has been no report or research done so far on the direct effect of tourist inflow on biodiversity loss in the areas concerned.

India’s trade deficit with China races beyond $100 bn

Source: The post is based on the article “India’s trade deficit with China races beyond $100 bn” published in The Hindu on 13th January 2023.

What is the News?

India’s trade deficit with China has crossed $100 billion for the first time in 2022.

What is Trade Deficit?

Click Here to read

About Trade Deficit between India and China

Trade deficit for India stood at $101.02 billion, crossing the 2021 figure of $69.38 billion. 

China’s exports to India rose 21.7% on a year-on-year (YoY)  basis to $118.5 billion. During 2022, China’s imports from India fell to $17.48 billion.

Why is the trade deficit with China growing?

The growth of the trade deficit with China could be attributed to two factors: 1) A narrow basket of commodities mostly primary, that India export to China and 2) Market access impediments for most of India’s agri products and the sectors where India is competitive such as pharma, IT/ITES.

Why are India’s imports from China rising?

According to experts, a large part of the import growth is being driven by the rise in chemicals and engineering equipment including electrical & non-electrical instruments. This reflects rising demand from a reviving manufacturing sector in India.

Juna Khatiya Site: Gujarat’s Harappan necropolis reveals death rituals of 5,000 years ago

Source: The post is based on the article “Gujarat’s Harappan necropolis reveals death rituals of 5,000 years ago” published in The Hindu on 13th January 2023.

What is the News?

Excavations at one of the biggest necropolises at Juna Khatiya village (Kutch, Gujarat) show rows of graves with valuable items such as Ceramic pots, beaded jewellery, animal bones etc.

About Juna Khatiya Site

It is located about 30 km from Lakhpat in Kutch district, Gujarat.

It has emerged as one of the biggest Harappan burial sites with the possibility of 500 graves of which about 125 have been found so far.

The archaeologists found rows of graves with skeletal remains, ceramic pots, plates and vases, beaded jewellery and animal bones.

The burials discovered at this site date from 3,200 BCE to 2,600 BCE, predating Dholavira—a UNESCO World Heritage Site—and several other Harappan sites in the state. 

The site is important because others like Dholavira have a cemetery in and around the town, but no major habitation has been discovered near Juna Khatiya.

The site demonstrates the transition from earth-mound burials to stone graves. The pottery from the site has features and styles similar to those excavated from early Harappan sites in Sindh and Balochistan.

iKnife: New surgical knife detects endometrial cancer within seconds

Source: The post is based on the article “New surgical knife detects endometrial cancer within seconds” published in The Hindu on 13th January 2023.

What is the News?

Scientists at Imperial College London, UK have proved that a modern surgical knife dubbed iKnife can “smell tumours”, effectively detecting womb or endometrial cancer within seconds. The breakthrough could enable thousands of women to get an earlier cancer diagnosis.

What is Womb or Endometrial cancer?

Womb cancer is cancer that affects the womb. The womb (uterus) is where a baby grows during pregnancy. Most womb cancer usually starts in the lining of the womb (endometrium), this is also known as endometrial cancer.

According to the World Cancer Research Fund International, womb or endometrial cancer is the 6th most commonly occurring cancer among people with uteruses. 

At least 417,000 new cases of endometrial cancer were recorded in 2020 globally. In India, at least 26,000 cases of endometrial cancer were recorded in 2020.

One of the main symptoms of this cancer is postmenopausal bleeding, with the average age of diagnosis at around 60 years.

What have researchers found to detect womb or endometrial cancer?

The researchers found that a surgical tool called iKnife could accurately detect the presence of endometrial cancer. The iKnife is already being used to spot breast and brain cancer.

How does iKnife works?

The iknife uses electric currents on biopsy tissue and then analyzes the vapourised aerosols from the tissue in a mass spectrometer to give real-time information about activity in the tissue. It essentially ‘smells’ the tissue for cancerous cells

The study noted that the iKnife reliably diagnosed endometrial cancer in tissue within seconds with an accuracy of 89%. 

This would greatly minimize the delays faced by patients who wait for a normal histopathological diagnosis of womb cancer.

Roman secret to durable architecture? Self-healing concrete

Source: The post is based on the article “Roman secret to durable architecture? Self-healing concrete” published in Down To Earth on 13th January 2023.

What is the News?

New research from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and laboratories in Italy and Switzerland have discovered the secret behind Roman construction abilities.

What was the secret behind ancient Roman construction abilities?

The ancient Romans were masters of engineering, constructing vast networks of roads, aqueducts, ports and massive buildings, whose remains have survived for two millennia.

Many of these structures were built with concrete: Rome’s famed Pantheon, which has the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome and was dedicated in 128 CE is still intact. 

For many years, researchers assumed the key to the ancient concrete’s durability was based on one ingredient: Pozzolanic material, such as volcanic ash from the area of Pozzuoli on the Bay of Naples. 

Under closer examination, the researchers found the ancient samples also contain small, distinctive, millimeter-scale bright white mineral features, which have been long recognised as a ubiquitous component of Roman concretes. These white chunks often called “lime clasts” originate from lime, another critical part of the ancient concrete mix.

The lime casts were earlier thought of as evidence of sloppy mixing practices or poor-quality raw materials. 

On close examination, they found the Romans employed a Hot mixing method and used quicklime in conjunction with or instead of slaked lime for producing concrete.

What is the hot mixing process?

During the hot mixing process, the lime clasts created a brittle structure with a reactive calcium source. The calcium would travel through the lime clasts, react with water and quickly fill any cracks. 

Based on these findings, the team has now concluded that Hot Mixing was actually the key to the super-durable nature.

Rajasthan varsity study moots dairy products to combat Alzheimer’s

Source: The post is based on the article “Rajasthan varsity study moots dairy products to combat Alzheimer’s” published in The Hindu on 14th January 2023.

What is the News?

Central University of Rajasthan (CUoR) has evolved an ingenious concept of food sustainability for combating age-related neurodegenerative ailments such as Alzheimer’s.

What is Alzheimer’s disease?

Click Here to read

What is the concept found by researchers to combat diseases like Alzheimer’s?

The researchers found that the intake of dairy proteins can reduce the occurrence of Alzheimer’s and also provide other health benefits.

How do dairy products help in combating Alzheimer’s?

When a protein called amyloid builds up in organs with food intake, the risk factor for Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative diseases increases. 

To capture these amyloids, it is necessary to find a suitable molecule that could effectively capture the toxic protein aggregates and degrade them.

The researchers have found dairy proteins to be having structural superiority to trap harmful molecules and destroy them.

Kollam is first Constitution literate district

Source: The post is based on the article “Kollam is first Constitution literate district” published in The Hindu on 14th January 2023.

What is the News?

Kollam will be officially declared India’s first Constitution literate district by Kerala Chief Minister.

How was Kollam declared India’s first Constitution literate district?

The Constitution Literacy Campaign was launched jointly by the Kollam district panchayat, the District Planning Committee and the Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA).

As part of the campaign, around 16.3 lakh people in the district above the age of 10 have been educated on various aspects of the Constitution and the strenuous process involved 2,200 trainers called ‘senators’.

The senators visited schools, offices, auto stands and tribal councils to spread awareness.

Impact of the campaign: A 63-year-old woman from Kollam district hardly knew that liberty of expression or equality of status was her right. Once enlightened, she has no doubt about where to place the Preamble of the Constitution of India. In her modest two-room house in Kollam, the preamble shares a wall with gods.

Year End Review 2022: Ministry of Tribal Affairs

Source: The post is based on the article “Year End Review 2022: Ministry of Tribal Affairs” published in PIB on 13th January 2023.

What is the News?

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has launched several initiatives and schemes in 2022.

What are the schemes and initiatives launched by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs in 2022?

Scheduled Tribes(ST) constitute approximately 8.6% of the population of India numbering around 10.4 crores. There are over 730 Scheduled Tribes notified under Article 342 of the Constitution of India.

Janjatiya Gaurav Divas

National Education Society for Tribal Students(NESTS)

National Tribal Research Institute

Grants under Article 275(1) of the Constitution

Jammu and Kashmir started implementation of the Forest Rights Act

Second Phase of GOAL Programme for uplifting tribal communities through digital entrepreneurship 

Pradhan Mantri Adi Adarsh Gram Yojana(PMAAGY)

Joshimath sank by 5.4 cm in 12 days, says ISRO report

Source: The post is based on the article “Joshimath sank by 5.4 cm in 12 days, says ISRO report” published in The Hindu on 13th January 2023

What is the News?

According to images released by the National Remote Sensing Centre (NRSC) of the Indian Space Research Organisation(ISRO), Uttarakhand’s Joshimath has witnessed a rapid subsidence of nearly 5.4 cm in the past 12 days.

What is Subsidence?

Click Here to read

Why is Joshimath sinking?

Joshimath town has great religious, spiritual and cultural importance. It is home to the monastery of Adi Sankaracharya and the gateway to the Badrinath temple.

However, it is built on the deposits of an old landslide which means the slopes can be destabilized even by slight triggers. 

The town is also in Zone V, denoting the highest risk, in India’s seismic zonation scheme. 

Hence, Joshimath’s geological setting together with the unplanned and rampant construction in and around the town has resulted in land subsidence.