Cavalier India Defence Training Academy

CONTEXT The Foreign Ministers of Nepal and China jointly certified the elevation of Mount Everest at 8,848.86 metres above sea level 86 cm higher than what was recognised since 1954.  About Mount Everest Mount Everest rises from the border between Nepal and China. Everest is also known as Sagarmatha in Nepal and Mount Qomolangma in China. BACKGROUND No other mountain has perhaps been the subject of as much debate. Over the years, there have been debates on issues like whether it should be “rock height”, or whether the snow cladding it, too, should be accounted for. How and when was the earlier measurement of 8,848 m done? Earlier measurement was determined by the Survey of India in 1954, using instruments like theodolites and chains, with GPS still decades away. The elevation of 8,848 m came to be accepted in all references worldwide except by China. In 1999, a US team put the elevation at 29,035 feet (nearly 8,850 m).

Right to reject and elect new candidate will give power to the people to express their discontent. Election Commission of India CONTEXT An advocate has moved the Supreme Court for a direction that fresh elections should be held in a constituency where NOTA (‘None of the above’ option) garnered the maximum number of votes. Besides, none of the candidates who lost to NOTA should be allowed to contest the fresh polls. Views of the Advocate  If the electorate has rejected the candidates by voting for NOTA, the parties should be barred from fielding them again in the fresh polls. The parties should accept that the voters have already made their discontent loud and clear. Right to reject and elect new candidate will give power to the people to express their discontent. Right to reject will check corruption, criminalisation, casteism, communalism. Parties would be forced to give tickets to honest and patriotic candidates. Right to Reject The ‘right to reject’ was first proposed by the La...