The week in 5 charts | Gaganyaan test flight successful, PM flags off ‘Namo Bharat’, SC verdict on same-sex marriages, and more

Here are five charts that will help you understand some of the key stories from last week

From the Supreme Court’s refusal to legalise same-sex marriage to the successful test flight of Gaganyaan, here are five charts that will help you understand some of the key stories from last week.

(1) Gaganyaan Test Flight Successful

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) achieved a major milestone on Saturday by successfully conducting the Test Flight Abort Mission for the Gaganyaan mission. The first test flight had to be aborted earlier in the day due to an issue with the engine ignition. However, ISRO quickly identified and rectified the errors, leading to the rescheduling of the second launch at 10:00 am.

The primary objective of this Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission was to demonstrate the performance of the Crew Escape System (CES) as part of the Gaganyaan mission. The mission aimed to evaluate various subsystems of the Test Vehicle, including the CES and its separation systems. Additionally, it sought to assess Crew Module (CM) characteristics and demonstrate the deceleration system at higher altitudes and its recovery.

The liquid-propelled single-stage Test Vehicle (TV-D1) used for this abort mission was specifically developed for this purpose. It carried the CM and CES equipped with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters. The mission simulated an abort condition during the ascent trajectory, corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2, which is encountered during the Gaganyaan mission.

The flight sequence began with the launch of the TV-D1. Six seconds into the flight, the fin enabling system was activated, followed by the activation of the Crew Escape System Pillbox at a speed of Mach number of 1.25, at an altitude of 11.8 km. The High Energy Motor (HEM) then fired, propelling the vehicle further into the atmosphere. Nearly 61.1 seconds after the launch, when the vehicle reached a Mach number of 1.21 at an altitude of 11.9 km, the Crew Escape System separated from the rocket booster. The Crew Module separated from the Crew Escape System at an altitude of 16.9 kilometers as it travels at a speed of 550 kilometers per hour. The drogue parachute is deployed next, slowing the vehicle’s descent. The crew module separated from the vehicle was recovered from the Bay of Bengal.

The test validated the motors that will be used during this mission, which included low-altitude motors, high-altitude motors, and jettisoning motors that will be put to use to safely eject astronauts away from the vehicle in case of an emergency. ISRO Chairman S. Somanath declared the mission complete and the objectives achieved.

The successful execution of this test flight marks a significant achievement for India’s space exploration efforts, showcasing the country’s potential to send humans into space. The Gaganyaan project aims to demonstrate India’s human spaceflight capabilities by launching a crew of three members into a 400 km orbit for a 3-day mission, ensuring their safe return by landing in Indian waters.

(2) PM Modi flags off ‘Namo Bharat’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the country’s first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) on Friday, calling the ‘Namo Bharat’ train a glimpse of India’s promising future. Mr. Modi purchased a ticket and took a ride with schoolchildren on the completed 17-km stretch from Sahibabad to Duhai Depot in Uttar Pradesh; the full 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor is scheduled to be functional by 2025.

In Pictures | Aboard RapidX, the high-speed train from Delhi

The RRTS is a new rail-based, semi-high-speed, high-frequency commuter transit system. With a design speed of 180 kmph, it is a regional development initiative, which is designed to provide high-speed trains for intercity commuting every 15 minutes, going up to a frequency of every five minutes when required. Developed at a cost of more than ₹30,000 crore, the train will allow a commuter to travel between Delhi and Meerut in less than an hour.

The train has five standard coaches, with one reserved for women, and a premium coach. While a ticket for a seat in the standard coach costs ₹20, passengers have to shell out double that amount to enjoy a ride in the premium coach. End-to-end travel in a standard coach will cost a total of ₹50 and ₹100 in the premium coach. Travel is free for children whose height is below 90 cm.

A total of eight RRTS corridors have been identified for development in the National Capital Region, of which three have been prioritised for implementation in the first phase: Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut; Delhi-Gurugram-SNB-Alwar; and Delhi-Panipat.

(3) Supreme Court refuses to legalize same-sex marriage

A five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday in a 3:2 verdict ruled against legalising same-sex marriage in India leaving it up to the legislature to decide if non-heterosexual unions can be legally recognised.

The verdict weaves together four separate judgments, running into 366 pages, documenting “a degree of agreement and a degree of disagreement,” as the Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud noted. The disagreement centred on how far the law can go on matters of adoption rights and the right to form civil unions. The majority opinions were delivered by Justices S. Ravindra Bhat, Hima Kohli, and P.S. Narasimha, and the minority views by the Chief Justice D.Y Chandrachud and Justice S.K. Kaul.

Read the full judgment here

The Bench however unanimously acknowledged that same-sex couples face discrimination and harassment in their daily lives and accordingly urged the government to form a high-powered committee chaired by the Union Cabinet Committee to expeditiously look into the concerns faced by them.

Though all five judges agreed that homosexuality was neither an urban nor elitist concept, they differed on the point whether the court can obligate the State to formally recognise the relationship of queer couples by giving it the legal status of a “civil union” or “marriage”.

Editorial | Law and custom: On the Supreme Court’s verdict on same-sex marriage

All the five judges on the Bench agreed that the Special Marriage Act of 1954 was not unconstitutional for excluding same-sex marriages. They said that tinkering with the Special Marriage Act of 1954 to bring same-sex unions within its ambit would not be advisable. There was also an overall majority affirming that trans persons in heterosexual relationships have the “right to marry under the existing laws or personal laws.”

With the Supreme Court declining to accord legal recognition to same-sex marriage on Tuesday, a section of the LGBTQ+ community, petitioners and activists highlighted the positives in the ruling and called for legislative action while others expressed dismay and concern.

(4) The Israel-Palestine Conflict timeline

With the roots of the conflict being deep and complex, the timeline visualised below aims to give a brief summary of the important and historical events that have occurred since before 1916, up to what the situation between Israel and Palestine is now, since the Hamas’s coordinated attacks on the weekend of October 7, 2023.

On October 7, the Hamas terrorist group launched a surprise attack of unprecedented scale on Israel from the Gaza Strip, killing over 700 people in one day. The Jewish state immediately declared a war, and the decades-old conflict with the Palestinians took a turn for the worse. One question that demands attention in why did Hamas launch the brutal attack into Israel, knowing that the response would indeed be disproportionate. The cause of the sudden attack could be attributed to the deepening occupation of Palestinian-territory by Israel.

The Palestine-Israel relations have steadily deteriorated in recent years. Israel has been carrying out military raids in the occupied West Bank almost on a daily basis, besides tightening the screws of the occupation. Before the attacks on October 7, at least 200 Palestinians and some 30 Israelis have been killed so far this year. Divisions in Israeli society have also been visible with massive protests triggered when the ruling right-wing government pushed one part of its ambitious legislative agenda seeking to curtail the powers of the judiciary through Parliament.

Thousands of military reservists, the backbone of the IDF, had joined the sit-ins and threatened to resign in protest against the Netanyahu government’s judicial overhaul plan. So the government’s focus was on its legislative agenda; rights groups are up in arms showing deep divisions in society; and there were resenting voices even within the military. Hamas might have thought that Israel was at a weak moment internally, which provides an opportunity for it to launch an unprecedented attack from Gaza and trigger more resistance violence in the occupied West Bank.

The timeline below summarises the history of the conflict and its inflection points since the past 100 years.

(5) Wholesale prices almost flat in September 2023

For the sixth month in a row, India’s Wholesale Price Index (WPI) stayed in deflationary mode in September 2023 at -0.26%, compared to -0.52% of August 2023. The WPI stood at 10.7% in September 2022, creating a high base effect. 

“Deflation in September, 2023 is primarily due to fall in prices of chemical & chemical products, mineral oils, textiles, basic metals and food products as compared to the corresponding month of previous year,” the Commerce and Industry Ministry said. The Ministry revised the wholesale inflation rate for July from its earlier estimate of -1.36% to -1.23%.

With retail inflation moderating to 5.02% in September, the gap between Consumer and Wholesale inflation slid to a six-month low of 5.48%, compared to 8.67% in July and 7.35% in August. Despite a sequential rise in food prices so far this month, rating agency ICRA expects overall wholesale prices to remain in deflationary territory in October as well.

The bar chart below shows the fluctuation of the WPI from January 2022 till September 2023, as sourced from the Office of the Economic Advisor. Since January 2022, the WPI inflation rate was highest in May 2022 at around 16.6%, and was the lowest in June 2023 at -4.12%.