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■ Joint sitting (Joint session): • According to Article 108, the President can summon both the Houses to meet in a joint sitting to resolve a deadlock between the two Houses over the passage of a bill. • The provision of joint sitting is applicable to ordinary bills or financial bills only and not to money bills or Constitutional amendment bills. • The quorum to constitute a joint sitting is one-tenth of the total number of members of the two Houses. • The joint sitting is governed by the Rules of Procedure of Lok Sabha and not of Rajya Sabha. • The Bill is passed by a simple majority of the total number of members of both the Houses present and voting in the joint sitting. • In case there is a tie (votes in favour and against a bill are equal), the Speaker can make use of his casting vote. It is customary for the Presiding Officer to exercise the casting vote in such a manner as to maintain the status quo. • Since 1950, the provision regarding the joint sitting of the two Houses has been invoked only thrice. The bills that have been passed at joint sittings are:  1) Dowry Prohibition Bill, 1960. 2) Banking Service Commission (Repeal) Bill, 1977. 3) Prevention of Terrorism Bill, 2002. ● According to Article 87 of the Constitution, there are two instances when the country’s President specifically addresses a joint sitting of both Houses. They are: 1) At the start of the first session after a general election. This is when the reconstituted Lok Sabha meets for the first time after being elected. 2) At the start of the first session every year. □ Occasions when Joint Session of Parliament is summoned: • To resolve deadlock when any house of the Parliament passes a bill and: • The other House rejects this bill, or • The Houses do not agree on the amendments made to the bill, or • More than six months elapsed with the bill being received by the other House without it being passed. □ Who presides the Joint session? • The Speaker of Lok Sabha presides over a joint sitting of the two Houses. • If the Speaker of the Lok Sabha is absent, then the Deputy Speaker will preside the Joint sitting. • If the Deputy Speaker is also absent from a joint sitting, the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha presides. • If he is also absent, such other person as may be determined by the members present at the joint sitting, presides over the meeting. • The Chairman of Rajya Sabha does not preside over a joint sitting as he is not a member of either House of Parliament. □ Do state legislatures have the mechanism of Joint sitting? • The Constitution does not provide for the mechanism of joint sitting of two Houses of the state legislature to resolve a deadlock between them over the passage of a bill. □ Exceptions to Joint sitting: • The provision of joint sitting is applicable to ordinary bills or financial bills only and not to money bills or Constitutional amendment bills. • Money Bill: In the case of a money bill, the Lok Sabha has overriding powers. • Constitution Amendment Bill: According to Article 368, both houses of Parliament must pass a Constitutional Amendment bill separately. There is no provision for a joint sitting in case of a disagreement. • If the bill (under dispute) has already lapsed due to the dissolution of the Lok Sabha, no joint sitting can be summoned. But, the joint sitting can be held if the Lok Sabha is dissolved after the President has notified his intention to summon such a sitting (as the bill does not lapse in this case). • After the President notifies his intention to summon a joint sitting of the two Houses, none of the Houses can proceed further with the bill, but the President may at any time after the date of his notification summon the Houses to meet in a joint sitting for the purpose specified in the notification and, if he does so, the Houses shall meet accordingly.

📰 Golden era of Santhal tribe in India now, say community leaders. • Santhal community is in the spotlight after the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nominated one of the community leaders Droupadi Murmu to the highest constitutional position in the country. • If elected, Ms. Murmu would become first tribal woman President of India. Besides, Hemant Soren, a Santhal, is the Chief Minister of Jharkhand. Girish Chandra Murmu, the first Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, is now Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Mayurbhanj Member of Parliament, Biseswar Tudu, a Santhal, is Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti. □ About Santhals: • Santhal is the third largest schedule tribe community in the country after Gond and Bhil. • The population of Santhal is mostly distributed in Odisha, Jharkhand and West Bengal. Her home district, Mayurbhanj, has one of the largest concentrations of the tribe.  • According to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Research and Training Institute (SCSTRTI), Bhubaneswar, the word ‘Santhal’ is derived from two words; ‘santha’ meaning calm and peaceful and ‘ala’ meaning man. • The SCSTRTI says that in the past, the Santhals were leading a nomadic life. Gradually they came to settle down in the Chhotanagpur plateau. Towards the end of the 18th century, they migrated to the Santhal Parganas of Bihar and then they came to Odisha. • The Santhal community is huge community and one of the most populous tribal communities in the country. Their literacy rate is very high compared to other tribes in Odisha. • Santhals speak Santhali which has its own script called ‘Ol chiki’ invented by Pundit Raghunath Murmu. Santhali in OI-Chiki script has been included in the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. • Ol-Chiki is medium of instructions in many schools across the State. Even Santhal is a subject in post-graduate class. Santhal houses called ‘Olah’ are distinct. • Bodo, Dongri, Maithili, and Santhali were added in the official languages of India by the 92nd Amendment Act, 2003. • The Santhal’s Phuta Katcha pattern saree and dress, sold through e-commerce sites, are widely accepted in the community. • The Santhals are usually connected to their roots. They are nature worshippers and could be seen paying obeisance at Jaher (sacred groves) in their villages. • Santhals are fond of their folk song and dance that they perform at all community events and celebrations. They play musical instruments like kamak, dhol, sarangi and flutes. • River Damodar holds a special place in the religious life cycle of a Santhal. When a Santhal dies, his or her ashes and bones are immersed in the Damodar for a peaceful afterlife.

📰 MoD approves 'BRO Cafes' in border areas: • The Ministry of Defence on Wednesday approved the setting up of wayside amenities with Border Roads Organisation (BRO), to be branded as ‘BRO Cafes’, at 75 locations in 12 States and Union Territories on different sections of roads. • "These are intended to provide basic amenities and comfort to the tourists and lead to boosting of economic activities in border areas, besides generating employment for the local people,” the Ministry said in a statement. • The scheme provides for wayside amenities in public-private partnership mode with agencies, on license basis, which will design, build and operate the facility as per guidelines of BRO. • Proposed amenities include parking for two and four wheelers, food plaza, restaurant, separate rest rooms for men, women and differently abled and first aid facilities, among others. □ About Border Roads Organization (BRO): • Border Roads Organization was formed on 7th May 1960. • Border Roads Organization construct and maintain roads in the states of India, that shares international border with neighbouring countries. • Earlier Border Roads Organization was functioning under the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. • But since 2015, it works under the administrative control of the Ministry of Defence. 📰 Four new corals recorded from Indian waters: • Scientists have recorded four species of azooxanthellate corals for the first time from Indian waters. • These new corals were found from the waters of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. • Azooxanthellate corals are a group of corals that do not contain zooxanthellae and derive nourishment not from the sun but from capturing different forms of plankton. • These groups of corals are deep-sea representatives, with the majority of species reporting from between 200 m to 1000 m. Their occurrences are also reported from shallow coastal waters. • Zooxanthellate corals, meanwhile, are restricted to shallow waters. • Tamal Mondal, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) scientist behind these new records, said that all the four groups of corals are from the same family Flabellidae. • Truncatoflabellum crassum, T. incrustatum, T. aculeatum, and T. irregulare under the family Flabellidae were previously found from Japan to the Philippines and Australian waters while only T. crassum was reported within the range of Indo-West Pacific distribution including the Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf. • Mr. Mondal said that azooxanthellate corals are a group of hard corals and the four new records are not only solitary but have a highly compressed skeletal structure. • “The most studies of hard corals in India have been concentrated on reef-building corals while much is not known about non-reef-building corals. 📰 Israel uncovers remains of mosque. • Israeli archaeologists on Wednesday unveiled a rare ancient mosque in the country's south that the antiquities officials said sheds light on the region's transition from Christianity to Islam. • The remains of the mosque, believed to be more than 1,200 years old, were discovered during works to build a new neighbourhood in the Bedouin city of Rahat. • The mosque is located in the Negev desert contains "a square room and a wall facing the direction of Mecca", with a half-circle niche in that wall pointing to the south. 📰 Indian origin woman in U.S. science adviser. • Leading Indian-American scientist Dr. Arti Prabhakar has been nominated by Joe Biden as a top science adviser to the U.S. President. • If confirmed by the Senate, Dr.Prabhakar would make history as the first woman, immigrant, or person of colour to head Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).

■ Places, Species, Other names in News (May 2022): □ Places: ● Ranthambhore Tiger Reserve - Rajasthan. ● Rakhigarhi - It's an Indus Valley Civilization site located in Haryana. ● Sawa lake - Iraq. ● Orang National Park, Kaziranga National Park - Assam. ● Maitri setu bridge (India Bangladesh Friendship Bridge) - Feni river ● Maya Devi temple is located at Lumbini in Nepal. ● Lumbini and Mahabodhi Temple in Bodh Gaya are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. [Lumbini is the place where Prince Siddhartha Gautama was born around 623 BC. He later attained enlightenment at Bodhgaya in Bihar district and came to be known as the Buddha]. ● Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary - Kerala. ● Vallanadu Blackbuck Sanctuary - Tamil Nadu. ● Nechiphu tunnel - Arunachal Pradesh. ● Anatolian Peninsula - Europe's first farming populations descend mostly from farmers in the Anatolian peninsula, in what is now Turkey. □ Species: ● Indian Pangolin (Manis Crassicaudata) - It is Listed in Schedule I of Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972 and as Endangered on IUCN Red List. ● Money spider (Prosoponoides biflectogynus) is commonly found in European meadows but for the first time it is found in Kerala's Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. ● Ant-mimicking spider (Toxeus alboclavus). ● Maya's Pit viper (Trimeresurus mayaae) ● Pope's Pit Viper (Trimeresu rus popeiorum). ● Gum precht's Green Pit Viper (Trimeresurus gumprechti). □ Other names: ● Yala - Yala is the season of paddy cultivation in Sri Lanka that lasts between May and August. ● Zircon - Russia tested a Hypersonic cruise missile called Zircon (Tsirkon). ● Masked Aadhaar -An Aadhaar number consists of 12 digits. Masking an Aadhaar number means replacing the first eight digits with some characters like "xxxx-xxxx" while only the last four digits of the original number are visible ● BRICS - Brazil, Russia, India, China & South Africa. ● Quad countries - India, Japan, Australia & the US. ● INS Vikrant - India's first indigenously built Aircraft carrier. It is undergoing sea trials. It'll be commissioned soon. ● INS Vikaramaditya - India's one and only Aircraft carrier. It's a Russian origin. ● INS Khanderi - Indigenously built Scorpene class submarine. ● Jan Samarth - The Centre is planning to launch 'Jan Samarth', a common portal for delivery of various schemes run by different ministries and departments. • As part of the Centre's vision of minimum government maximum governance, the new portal plans to initially onboard 15 credit-linked government schemes, sources said. ● Project Vartak - Nechiphu Tunnel is being built in Arunachal Pradesh by Border Road Organisation (BRO) under Project Vartak ● CRISPR-Cas9 - It is a gene-editing technology. It enables geneticists and medical researchers to edit parts of the genome ● Hague Convention on Abduction - Hague Convention protects children and their families against the risks of illegal, irregular, premature or ill-prepared adoptions abroad. India is not a signatory ● Har Ghar Dastak campaign 2.0 - "Har Ghar Dastak" campaign launched in November 2021. "Har Ghar Dastak 2.0" campaign will be implemented from June 1 to 31 July 2022. Its objective is to vaccinate and cover the eligible population groups for first, second and precaution doses through door-to-door campaigns ● Jama Masjid in Delhi - It was built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan ● Fatehpuri Masjid - It was built in 1650 by Fatehpuri Begum, one of Shah Jahan's wives ● NADI Initiative - NADI, meaning river, is an initiative to articulate and activate a collective vision of sub-regional cooperation in the Bay of Bengal region and with South East Asia ● ABHA App - Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) mobile application. It enable individuals to access their health records anytime and anywhere. The ABHA app, previously known as the NDHM Health Records app ● Gati Shakti train - Gati Shakti train is India's first semi-high speed freight train. It is expected to start by December 2022. It will be able to run at 160 km/hour, and will be manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) in Chennai