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

EDITORIAL 1: How astronauts feast on ISS

Context

Having a meal in space is not a piece of cake. It requires planning and organisation. But this does not mean that astronauts eat frugally or depend only on liquid diets. The food is also far from being bland or unappetising.

How astronauts eat in space

• On  the ISS, the permanent space laboratory where Shubhanshu Shukla is currently staying, astronauts often enjoy elaborate meals. It is just that they eat packaged food, which is stored and prepared a little differently.
• Due to zero-gravity conditions, food items, like everything else in space, tend to float around. This necessitates a level of organisation not required on Earth.
• The spacecraft’s safety could be compromised if small crumbs or loose pieces get stuck in some of its critical parts.
• These can also enter the mouths or nostrils of astronauts, leading to choking or creating breathing problems. As a result, food items are carefully chosen and properly packaged.
• The act of eating itself, that is, food travelling inside the body’s digestive tract, is not a problem.
• While gravity might help this process on Earth, it is not a necessity. Put simply, only management of food is an issue in space.
• Astronauts consume packaged and processed food items, which are usually in dehydrated form.
• They inject hot water through a needle into the packages before eating the dishes.

What Shubhanshu Shukla is studying at ISS

• Beverages such as tea, coffee or juices, and Shukla’s aamras, are usually in powder form, which can be mixed with water before consumption. There is provision for heating the food on the ISS.
• Astronauts on the space station usually have their breakfast and dinner together. Before eating, they secure themselves with footholds to restrict movement.
• Every astronaut has a food tray with some utensils, including spoons and forks. The cutlery and food packets are fastened to the tray with velcro.
• Astronauts are advised to snip open only a small part of the package, and dip their spoons inside to pick the food out.
• Seasonings such as salt and pepper are available, but they are typically dissolved in water which can be added to the food through droppers.
• A variety of food choices are available, and astronauts can select their menu or favourite cuisine months ahead of their travel. Once they have made their selection, nutritionists also weigh in with their recommendations to ensure astronauts meet the dietary requirements in space.
• For instance, astronauts need more calcium, and less sodium and vitamin D to keep their bones healthy.
• Such food arrangements for astronauts are relatively new. Early space travellers had to make do mostly with food paste, packaged in toothpaste-like tubes or bite-sized cubes.

Why grow food in space

• Despite technical advancements in packaging, storing, and preparing food items, scientists are now actively working on ideas for growing food in space.
• Space-grown plants, for example, can provide a sustainable food source for such missions.
• Scientists are currently studying different aspects of growing food in space, and exploring various methods to do so. For instance, they are examining the effects of microgravity on the growth of plants.
• They are also making attempts to use LED lights to induce photosynthesis. Researchers are developing soilless systems in which plants can be grown in space, and selecting crops most suited to grow in these conditions.
• Potatoes, soybean, wheat, spinach, tomatoes, and carrots are some crops that have shown promise for space cultivation.

Conclusion

ISRO is carrying out multiple experiments related to this subject during Shukla’s stay at the ISS. There  is a separate experiment on the growth of microalgae as well. Besides food, these microalgae can be used as potential fuel or even used in life support systems.

 

EDITORIAL 2: It will take a city

Introduction

Cities are vital to India’s future growth, innovation, and job creation. Just 15 urban centers – including Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, and others — contribute 30% of the country’s GDP. These key hubs will play a pivotal role in driving India toward becoming a $30+ trillion economy by 2047.

The issues they face

• These cities face numerous issues like extreme air pollution, urban flooding, water scarcity, lack of reliable internet connectivity, garbage, and slums.
• These are a direct reflection of how these cities expanded without proper planning or strong urban governance. Additionally, they also remain unprepared for the climate crisis.
• While cities like Bangkok, London, Dubai, and Singapore attract millions worldwide, Indian cities rarely feature as global destinations.

Unlocking their full potential

• We must clean our cities’ air. Approximately 42 of the 50 most polluted cities are in India.
• Vehicular emissions, construction dust and biomass burning are primary culprits. Public transport must be electrified at the earliest opportunity.
• Construction dust norms need to be implemented strictly.Budget 2025-26 announced the creation of a Rs 1 lakh crore Urban Challenge Fund — this can include a city-level grand challenge.
• Cities should be ranked and financial incentives disbursed based on performance.
• Solid waste management must be transformed. According to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), our cities produce upwards of 1,50,000 tonnes of solid waste daily, yet only a quarter is processed scientifically and sustainably.
• At the national level, India is estimated to generate about 62 million tonnes of municipal solid waste yearly, of which about 70 per cent is collected but only 30 per cent is processed.
• This is a failure of municipal governance. To fix it, state governments must build strong infrastructure — including purchasing vehicles for waste collection and transport — and train staff to handle these tasks effectively.
• Clear policies and regulations that promote performance-based accountabilityare key. Ultimately, better regulation, community involvement, and capacity-building is the only way to transform waste management into a sustainable, circular system.
• Indore’s model has shown immense promise. Door-to-door segregated waste is transported in specialised vehicles to world-class waste processing plants. Wet waste is processed into bio-CNG.

Other challenges

• Water stress is an urgent challenge. Nearly half of our rivers are polluted. In 2018, NITI Aayog predicted that 40 per cent of India’s population would face water scarcity by 2030.
• Rainwater harvesting and reuse of treated water have turned Indore into India’s first water-plus city.
• The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Knight Frank estimate a shortfall of 10 million affordable homes, expected to triple to 31 million by 2030.
• Informal settlements have proliferated, resulting in illegal colonies with inadequate infrastructure support, including water and sanitation.
• Increasing floor space index (FSI) and floor area ratio (FAR) growth will promote vertical growth.
• Density-related incentives are a potential solution too,as highlighted by the G20 India and OECD report on ‘Financing Cities of Tomorrow’.
• India’s urban potential remains trapped behind congested and overburdened city environments. Congestion also boosts emissions and pollution. To address this, we must prioritise investing in public transport.
• Implementing congestion-based pricing and harnessing AI and IoT for smart traffic management can also optimise flows.
• While cities like Seoul, Singapore and Hong Kong offer internet speeds exceeding 1 Gbps, India’s average mobile internet speed is just around 100 Mbps.
• To attract top global companies, multinational corporations setting up innovation centres, global capability centres (GCCs), and R&D hubs, India needs to dramatically upgrade its

Digital infrastructure.

• To do this, we need to expand high-speed broadband, 4G, and 5G across cities and rural areas. This requires cutting spectrum prices to attract investment, building extensive fibre-optic networks, and deploying 5G nationally.
• Effective urban reform depends on decentralised planning, governance, and financing.
• NITI Aayog reports that India has just one planner for every 1,00,000 people, while developed nations have one for every 5,000-10,000.
• Full implementation of the 74th Constitutional Amendment must happen — along with increasing property tax collection, which is less than 0.2 per cent of GDP.
• Digitising land records, using tech for surveillance and tax collection, and exploring land value capture (LVC)can help cities generate revenue.

Conclusion

The steps outlined will make our cities cleaner, safer, more productive, and accessible. The next decade is beyond a doubt an “urban decade”, and these 15 cities must drive India’s urban renaissance.