Failure of Atomic Clock Cripples ISRO’s NavIC | Thorium can Power India’s 100 GWe by 2047 Mission | Rajasthan’s Property Bill

Failure of Atomic Clock Cripples ISRO’s NavIC

Syllabus: GS3/ Science and Technology

Context

• India’s indigenous navigation satellite system Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC) has suffered a setback after the failure of the IRNSS-1F satellite due to malfunction of its last operational rubidium atomic clock.

Navigation with Indian Constellation (NavIC)

• It was launched in 2013.
• Established by – Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
• It is India’s autonomous regional navigation satellite system, designed to fulfill both civilian and military navigational needs.
• NavIC was erstwhile known as Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS).
• Purpose – It provides precise Position, Velocity, and Timing (PVT) services within India and extends up to 1,500 km beyond the country’s borders, forming its primary service area.
• NavIC is designed with a constellation of 7 satellites and a network of ground stations operating 24 x 7.
• Three satellites of the constellation are placed in geostationary orbit and four satellites are placed in inclined geosynchronous orbit.
• Significance – It provides location accuracy better than 20 meters and timing accuracy better than 40 nanoseconds across the core service area.

Thorium can Power India’s 100 GWe by 2047 Mission

Syllabus: GS3/Energy Sector

Context

• The SHANTI Act 2025 represents a watershed moment for India’s atomic energy programme; however, resolving the challenges of thorium utilisation is urgent.

India’s Thorium Reserves

• India has one of the largest reserves of thorium in the world.
• Together, Kerala and Odisha account for over 70% of India’s thorium.
• India has been developing a three-stage nuclear program, with thorium-based reactors being a critical part of the third stage.
• Challenges: Extracting thorium from ores requires high amounts of energy and creates significant waste.
• It includes challenges such as the need for advanced reactor technology and economic viability.

Need for Thorium Utilization

• Reduce Reliance on Imports: The growth of nuclear generation capacity currently depends heavily on imported uranium.
• Domestic uranium ores are lean and costly to extract, though this does provide some insulation against supply disruptions.

Significance of Thorium for India

• Resource Advantage: India has limited uranium but abundant thorium reserves, mainly in coastal and riverine sands.
• Nuclear Behaviour: Thorium is not fissile like uranium; it is fertile and converts into uranium-233 after absorbing neutrons, which can then sustain nuclear fission.
• Strategic Fit: Integral to India’s long-term three-stage nuclear power programme.

India’s Three-stage nuclear programme

• India established the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948.
• In 1956, Asia’s first research reactor, Apsara, was commissioned at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Trombay.
• Note – India was the second Asian nation to build a nuclear power plant in 1969 at Tarapur, just after Japan and long before China.
• India has a three-phase programme of nuclear power visioned by Dr Homi J Bhabha, the father of India’s nuclear programme.

1. First Stage (Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors – PHWRs)
2. Second Stage (Fast Breeder Reactors – FBRs)
3. Third Stage (Advanced Heavy Water Reactors – AHWRs)

Rajasthan’s Property Bill

Syllabus: GS2/Polity

Context

• The Rajasthan Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property in Disturbed Areas Bill was passed by the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly.
• Rajasthan becomes the second state in India, after Gujarat, to implement such a bill.

Rajasthan Prohibition of Transfer of Immovable Property in Disturbed Areas Bill

• Aim: To regulate property transactions in areas that the government declares as “disturbed”.
• Under the proposed law, Section 3(1,2) states that the State government may declare any area within the State as a ‘disturbed area’ if it considers that communal violence, riots, or public disorder exist or are likely to occur.
• Once a locality is notified, any transfer of immovable property, including land, houses or commercial establishments, would require prior approval from the District Magistrate.
• Property transactions carried out without such permission would be treated as legally invalid.
• The law also provides penalties for property transfers carried out without the required permission.
• Concern – The Bill has also drawn attention in relation to Article 14, which guarantees equality before the law.

Do you Know?

• Note – The right to property was removed as a fundamental right by the 44th Amendment to the Constitution in 1978.
• It remains protected under Article 300A, which states that no person can be deprived of property except by authority of law.