Lok Sabha sends the bill to raise women’s age of marriage to standing committee.

Bills sent to Standing Committee

• In 1993, 17 Departmentally Related Standing Committees were constituted.
• The number of Standing Committees has now been increased from 17 to 24.
• While 8 Committees work under the direction of the Rajya Sabha Chairman, 16 Committees work under the direction of the Speaker of  Lok Sabha.
• One of the important functions of these Committees is to examine such Bills introduced in either House as are referred to them by the Chairman, Rajya Sabha or the Speaker, Lok Sabha, as the case may be, and make report thereon.
• The reports of the Standing Committees have persuasive value.
• In case the Government accepts any of the recommendations of the Committee, it may bring forward official amendments at the consideration stage of the Bill or may withdraw the Bill reported by the Standing Committee and bring forward a new Bill after incorporating the recommendations of the Standing Committee.

Bills before a Joint or Select Committee

• If a Bill is referred to a Select or a Joint Committee, it considers the Bill clause-by-clause just as the House does.
• Amendments can be moved to the various clauses by the members of the Committee.
• After the report of the Select or Joint Committee has been presented to the House, the member-in-charge of the Bill usually moves the motion for consideration of the Bill, as reported by the Select or Joint Committee, as the case may be.
• A Money Bill or a Financial Bill containing any of the provisions calculated to make a Bill a Money Bill, however, cannot be referred to a Joint Committee of the Houses.

December 21 is marked as the Winter Solstice.

Winter Solstice

• During Winter Solstice the Northern Hemisphere experiences the shortest day and longest night of the year.
• The angle of the sun’s rays will be perpendicular to the earth at the Tropic of Capricorn.
• Earth tilts on its axis at 23.5 degrees and as it revolves around the Sun, it rotates on its axis.
• After the winter solstice, the days will get longer and the nights shorter in the Northern Hemisphere, until June 21, 2022 (the summer solstice).

Why the difference in angle?

• The December solstice is the southernmost sunset point.
• After this, the sunset point starts moving North.

Kashmir’s winter is categorized into three parts namely the Chillai Kalan, Chillai Khurd and Challai Bache.

Chillai Kalan

• It is a 40 day period of harsh winter.
• It begins with winter solstice on December 21st and ends on January 31st.
• It usually brings snowfall, sub-zero temperatures causing the freezing of Dal Lake.
• The weather in Kashmir valley continues to remain dry and cold with minimum temperatures hovering below the freezing point.

Chillai Khurd

• It follows the Chillai Kalan.
• A 20 day period that occurs between January 31st and February 19.
• They are less intensive when compared to Chillai Kalan.

Challai Bache

• As the name states they are known as Baby Cold.
• They are less severe.
• It occurs from February 20 to March 2 and is a 10day period of winter.

Kappaphycus Alvarezil

• It is a species of red alage.
• Kappaphycus, a fast growing alga known to absorb high amount of nutrients from seawater is already under rampant cultivation in Palk Bay region.
• Indigenous to Indonesia and Philippines, the exotic seaweed was introduced to India in 1995 for cultivation purpose.
• The commercial significance of Kappaphycus lies in its role in production of an industrially lucrative polymer called Carrageenan. 
• This is highly problematic considering the fact that the global invasive species database maintained by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) placed the Kappaphycus in the 'red list'.
• The Invasive Species Specialist Group of IUCN has described the Kappaphycus as "destructive invasive species and pose a serious danger to the coral reefs".

World Press Freedom Index

• The World Press Freedom Index is published by Reporters Without Borders, a non-government-organization.
• It intends to reflect the degree of freedom that journalists, news organizations, and netizens have in each country, and the efforts made by authorities to respect this freedom.
• A smaller score on the report corresponds to greater freedom of the press as reported by the organization. 
• India ranked at 142 out of 180 countries in the World Press Freedom Index.
• Reporters Without Borders is careful to note that the index only deals with press freedom and does not measure the quality of journalism in the countries it assesses, nor does it look at human rights violations in general.
• Violence against journalists, netizens, and media assistants, including abuses attributable to the state, armed militias, clandestine organizations or pressure groups, are monitored by RSF staff during the year and are also part of the final score.