What to Read in Indian Express Editorial( Topic and Syllabus wise)

Editorial 1 : What caused the massive eruption of Italy’s Mount Etna

Context

Italy’s Mount Etna, the largest volcano in Europe, produced an explosive eruption recently, sending a huge cloud of ash, smoke and rock fragments several kilometres into the sky.

Where is Mount Etna?

• Mount Etna, sometimes referred to simply as Etna, is an active volcano on the east coast of Sicily, the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, lying just off the toe of the Italian “boot”.
• Etna’s peak is the highest in Italy south of the Alps, and it is the largest of Europe’s active volcanoes.
• Etna’s summit has five craters, which are responsible for most of the volcano’s eruptions. “Flank” eruptions also occur at the 300-odd vents of varying sizes along the slopes of the mountain.
• In recent years, summit eruptions have occurred in 2006, 2007-08, on two occasions in 2012, in 2018, and 2021; flank eruptions have taken place in 2001, 2002-03, 2004-05, and 2008-09.
• Etna has been a World Heritage Site since 2013, and according to UNESCO, the volcano’s eruptive history can be traced back 500,000 years. At least 2,700 years of this activity have been documented.

What kind of eruption did it have?

• Experts suggest that the eruption began with an increase in pressure inside the volcano due to expanding gases,which led to the collapse of the southeast crater, resulting in hot lava flows.
• According to Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) Etna Observatory, the volcano was witnessing a “Strombolian” eruption.
• This type of eruption is usually characterised as discreet moderately explosive bursts which can eject chunks of rock and cinders that can travel hundreds of metres into the air.
• It occurs due to the presence of gas in the magma chamber within the volcano.
• When the gas bubbles reach the surface, they can burst suddenly, throwing material skywards. The process is not dissimilar to letting gas out of a fizzy drink.
• The Strombolian eruption is named after another Italian volcano called Stromboli,which produces minor eruptions every 10 to 20 minutes.

Rather a Plinian eruption

• However, some volcanologists believe that Mount Etna did not experience a Strombolian eruption but rather a Plinian eruption, in which hot gas, ash, and rock can explode high enough to reach the stratosphere.
• Recently, eruption produced by Mount Etna threw material several kilometres into the sky, this set of volcanologists say it was a Plinian eruption.

Conclusion

Scientists typically classify eruptions based on how explosive they are. More explosive eruptions tend to be more dangerous, as they can cover a larger area and move faster.

 

Editorial 2 : New protections for Ladakh

Context

Over the past few years, civil society in Ladakh has raised demands for inclusion in the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The new regulations address some of these concerns, but fall short in significant ways.

The New Regulations

• The Centre has notified a series of regulations for Ladakh’s land, jobs, and cultural preservation, aimed at addressing concernsraised by the civil society in Ladakh over the past five years.
• The new legal framework introduces a domicile-based job reservation system, recognition of local languages, and procedural clarity in civil service recruitment.
• They are:

1. Ladakh Civil Services Decentralization and Recruitment (Amendment) Regulation, 2025

• This regulation introduces a domicile requirement for recruitment in government posts under the Union Territory of Ladakh, for the first time.

2. Ladakh Civil Services Domicile Certificate Rules, 2025

• These rules lay out the procedure and documentation required to obtain a domicile certificate. The tehsildar is designated as the issuing authority, while the Deputy Commissioner is the appellate authority.

3. Union Territory of Ladakh Reservation (Amendment) Regulation, 2025

• This regulation caps the total reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and other socially and educationally backward groups at 85%, excluding the 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS),
• Importantly, these reservations have also been extended to professional institutions, such as engineering and medical colleges in Ladakh.

4. Ladakh Official Languages Regulation, 2025

• This law recognises English, Hindi, Urdu, Bhoti, and Purgi as the official languages of Ladakh. It also mandates institutional support for the promotion of Shina, Brokskat, Balti, and Ladakhi, for preserving Ladakh’s linguistic and cultural diversity.

5. Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (Amendment) Regulation, 2025

• This amends the LAHDC Act of 1997 to reserve one-third of the seats for women in the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils of Leh and Kargil, through rotation.

Why are these regulations significant?

• This is the first comprehensive attempt by the Centreto tailor governance and administrative frameworks specifically for Ladakh, following its bifurcation from Jammu & Kashmir in 2019.
• Since the government is reluctant to grant Sixth Schedule status to Ladakh, which would result in greater autonomy under the Constitution, the regulations aim to address Ladakhi concerns through executive orders rather than constitutional guarantees.
• The promotion of Ladakhi, Balti, and other minority dialects reflectsan understanding of the importance of cultural identity in political demands.

How are the new regulations different from existing provisions?

• Before these regulations, Ladakh was governed largely by adapted versions of laws in J&K, including the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 and the Civil Services Decentralization and Recruitment Act, 2010.
• These did not include any concept of domicile specific to Ladakh, protection for jobs for locals, clear reservation caps or exclusions for EWS, and recognition of Ladakhi languages in official use.

How do they compare with Jammu & Kashmir’s protections?

• After bifurcation, the UT of Jammu & Kashmir received: Domicile laws that restrict government jobs to locals; Land ownership restrictions, preventing outsiders from purchasing land in the UT; A legislative assembly,which gives residents a voice in law-making.
• In contrast, Ladakh: Has no legislature; Until now, had no job reservation policy for locals; Still does not have any legal land protection mechanism.
• So, while these regulations bring Ladakh somewhat closer to the protections given to Jammu & Kashmir post-2019.

What are the limitations of these regulations?

• Despite being an important step, the regulations fall short of addressing certain core demands of the Sixth Schedule movement:
• Lack of constitutional protection:All new rules and regulations have been made under Article 240 of the Constitution, which allows the President to make regulations for UTs without the legislature. These are executive decisions that can be amended or withdrawn by the Centre at any time, unlike the Sixth Schedule, which is part of the Constitution and offers guaranteed protections.
• No land safeguards: The most critical omission is the absence of any restriction on land ownership by non-domiciles. This is a key issue in Ladakh, given concerns over large-scale tourism, infrastructure projects, and climate vulnerability.
• No local legislature or council with law-making powers:The Sixth Schedule allows for the creation of Autonomous District Councils with powers over land, forests, customs, education, and more. The LAHDCs, even with one-third seats now reserved for women, remain administrative bodies without legislative power.
• Symbolic cultural protection: While local languages have been recognised, there is no roadmap for their official use in education, governance, or the judiciary.

Conclusion

Kargili’s remarks underline that while progress has been made, it is only preliminary, and sustained efforts will continue to push for comprehensive political and constitutional safeguards for Ladakh.