Legal Current Affairs for 3 April 2026

ARTEMIS is NASA’s flagship human space exploration program, aimed at returning humans to the Moon.
In 2020, Artemis Accords were launched which are a set of international agreements (signed by over 60 nations, including India in 2023) to ensure peaceful and transparent cooperation in space exploration.
Series of Artemis Missions:
Artemis I (2022): Uncrewed mission that successfully tested SLS (Space Launch System) rocket and Orion spacecraft around the Moon.
Artemis II (2026): First crewed mission on a lunar flyby without landing.
Future Phases:
Artemis III (2027): demonstration mission in low Earth orbit to test commercial landers.
Artemis IV (2028): to target the first Artemis lunar landing.
Artemis V (2028): scientific research and beginning Moon base construction with second lunar lending.

Overview: They are specifically delineated, duty-free enclaves treated as foreign territory for trade operations and customs duties.
Current Status: India has 368 notified SEZs (Feb 2026).
Legal Provisions: SEZs are governed by the SEZ Act of 2005 and SEZ Rules of 2006, which provide a simplified regulatory framework.

Legal Basis: Governed by Telecommunications (Temporary Suspension of Services) Rules, 2024 under Telecommunications Act, 2023.
Authority: issued by Union Home Secretary or state home secretary
Emergency: order by joint secretary or above ( to be confirmed within 24 hours by competent authority)
Mandating publication: including detailed justifications, geographical scope, and affected services.
Suspension duration cannot exceed 15 days.
Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita empowers magistrates to issue orders to maintain public order.

Key provisions
Decriminalization: replaces imprisonment with civil penalties for over 1,000 offences minor offences.
E.g. up to Rs. 1 cr penalty for making national highway impassable instead of imprisonment.
Adjudication Mechanism: to resolve penalties outside the court system.
Graduated response: warnings/advisories before fines for first or second time lapses.
Dynamic Monetary penalties: 10% increment every 3 years to create deterrence.
Several outdated colonial-era laws and offences are omitted.

Appearance: white, crystalline, water-soluble solid.
Not found in nature: made by reacting ammonia with nitric acid.
Explosive: it is deemed explosive under explosive act due to its use in IEDs (if more than 45%)
It is an actually an Oxidizer that supplies oxygen to accelerate combustion.
Fire by it is difficult to put out as it provides its own oxygen.
Hazardous Chemicals Rules, 1989: list it as hazardous chemicals
Import: Requires prior permission for specific grades
Regulated by: Petroleum & Explosives Safety Organization under DPIIT
Hygroscopic Nature: absorbs moisture from the air, turning into “hard rock.
Thermal Decomposition: Under High Heat it can explode releasing Nitrogen Dioxide (orange plume)
Applications : fertilizers, cold packs because its dissolution in water is endothermic, medical and industrial uses, etc.

GLOF is a sudden, catastrophic release of meltwater from a glacial lake due to unstable natural dam (consisting of loose rock and sediment or glacial ice) failure.
Types of Glacial Lakes:
Moraine-Dammed Lakes: Form behind ridges of loose rock and debris left by retreating glaciers.
Ice-Dammed Lakes: Form when an advancing or thickening glacier blocks meltwater from draining down a valley