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In a quick turn of events, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud referred the challenge to the validity of the electoral bonds scheme, which facilitates anonymous donations to political parties, to a Constitution Bench of five judges.
During the oral mentioning hour, the Chief Justice said the court had received a plea to refer the case from the three-judge Bench to a larger Bench.
He said the case would now go before a five-judge Bench owing to the “importance of the issue”. The case, as scheduled in an earlier hearing on October 10, will be listed on October 31.
By refusing to delay the hearing for the formation of a five-judge Bench, the court has sent a clear message to the government that it does not intend to delay the hearing any more.
The case has been pending in the Supreme Court for over eight years now. “We are here to decide the case,” Chief Justice Chandrachud observed in the October 10 hearing.
Editorial
The Indian Himalayan Region needs its own EIA (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The Teesta dam breach in Sikkim in early October and the recent floods and landslides in Himachal Pradesh are a stark reminder of the havoc our development model is wreaking on our environment and ecology especially in the mountains. It is imperative to assess the worthiness of any significant human endeavour in terms of its impact on the environment.
Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) is one such process defined by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as a tool to identify the environmental, social, and economic impacts of a project before it is implemented.
This tool compares various alternatives for the proposed project, predicts and analyses all possible environmental repercussions in various scenarios. The EIA also helps decide appropriate mitigation strategies.
The EIA process would need comprehensive, reliable data and would deliver results only if it is designed to seek the most appropriate, relevant and reliable information regarding the project.
Hence, the base line data on the basis of which future likely impacts are being predicted are very crucial.
Confronting the long-term risks of Artificial Intelligence (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Risk is a dynamic and ever-evolving concept, susceptible to shifts in societal values, technological advancements, and scientific discoveries.
For instance, before the digital age, sharing one’s personal details openly was relatively risk-free. Yet, in the age of cyberattacks and data breaches, the same act is fraught with dangers.
A vivid cinematic example of evolving perceptions of Artificial Intelligence (AI) risk is the film, Ex Machina.
In the story, an AI named Ava, initially viewed as a marvel of synthetic intelligence, reveals her potential to outwit and manipulate her human creators, culminating in unforeseen hazards.
Such a tale exemplifies how our understanding of AI risk can drastically change as the technology’s capabilities become clearer. This underscores the importance of identifying the short- and long-term risks.
Opinion
No dengue epicentre so far in 2023; cases spread across India (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
This year, close to 95,000 dengue cases have been recorded in India until September 17, leading to over 90 deaths.
The fact that the case burden is spread out across many regions is unusual. In general, dengue follows a pattern in India where one region bears a disproportionately high case burden one year, followed by another region the next year.
This year, Kerala and Karnataka in the south have recorded the highest number of cases (over 9,000 each) followed by Maharashtra in the west (8,496 cases), Odisha in the east (6,563), Uttar Pradesh in the north (5,742), and Assam in the north-east (5,604).
For instance, in 2008, close to 55% of India’s cases were recorded in the northern States of Punjab, Delhi, and Haryana. In 2009, close to 50% of the cases were recorded in the western and central States of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh.
In 2015, the northern States were again more disproportionately impacted. In 2017, over 60% of the cases were recorded in the south.
In 2022, the eastern State of West Bengal was impacted the most with 29% of the cases. Till September 17 this year, no such region-specific pattern has emerged.
News
India and U.K. discuss Indo-Pacific and trade (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Reaffirming mutual commitment to maritime freedom, India and the U.K. on Monday discussed the situation in the Indo-Pacific region.
The discussion was held here during the inaugural “2+2” Foreign and Defence Dialogue. “The two sides also discussed possibilities for further collaboration in trade and investment, defence, critical and emerging technologies, civil aviation, health, energy, and strengthening peoples connect.
They discussed ideas regarding counterterrorism, HADR and maritime security. The Indian delegation was led by Piyush Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs, and Vishwesh Negi, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence, and the U.K. delegation was co-chaired by Ben Mellor, India Director, Indian Ocean Directorate, FCDO and Lt. General Rob Magowan, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff.
Two laboratories in India take majority of cough syrup samples for testing (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Two laboratories — one Central and one State — are analysing the bulk of cough syrup samples brought in for testing before they are exported, shows the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) list issued in October. The country has 15 Central and State-run laboratories engaged in cough syrup sample testing.
The Union government issued a notification early this year making it compulsory from June 1 for cough syrup manufacturers to secure a certificate of analysis from government-approved laboratories.
The order came following a World Health Organization product alert in cases of syrup products being exported from India.
India is the world’s third largest maker of drugs by volume after the U.S. and China. According to the CDSCO, the number of batches of cough syrup samples received for testing in Central/ State drug testing laboratories in two centres — CDTL, Mumbai; and the Food and Drug Laboratory, Gujarat — is 176. This is part of the 328 batches being tested in various centres currently.
The CDSCO and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare have brought in various measures to maintain the standard of drugs being exported from India.
A senior Health Ministry official noted that regulatory measures that have been undertaken include amending the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945.
Business
Wholesale prices stayed almost flat in September (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s wholesale prices stayed in deflationary mode for the sixth month in a row this September, albeit only fractionally with inflation at -0.26% compared to -0.52% in August.
Wholesale price inflation had been 10.55% in September 2022, creating a high base effect. Price rise in primary articles and food items eased sharply to 3.7% and 1.5%, respectively, from 6.34% and 5.62% in August.
However, within food items, the price rise in onions accelerated to cross 55% from 31.4% in August, while inflation in pulses sped to 17.7% from 10.45% in the previous month.
Milk inflation hit a three-month high of 8.6%. Vegetables’ prices, which had risen a sharp 67.6% and 48.4% in July and August, slid 15%, bringing some relief, but the price rise in cereals and wheat hardened to 7.3% and 6.3%, respectively.
The surge in global oil and gas prices led to a sharp rebound in crude petroleum and natural gas inflation which hit an 8-month high of 15.6% from -1.9% in August.
Despite a sequential rise in food prices so far this month, rating agency ICRA expects overall wholesale prices to remain in deflationary territory in October as well.
World
Youngest-ever President-elect in Ecuador vows to ‘restore peace’ (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Car horns in Quito blared in celebration as banana empire heir Daniel Noboa, 35, became Ecuador’s youngest-ever President-elect, vowing to “restore peace” to a country ravaged by a bloody drug gang war.
After the electoral authority of Ecuador declared him the victor and socialist rival Luisa Gonzalez conceded defeat, Mr. Noboa vowed that “tomorrow we begin work to rebuild a country that has been severely hit by violence, corruption and hatred.”
Long a peaceful haven between major cocaine exporters Colombia and Peru, Ecuador has seen violence explode in recent years as enemy gangs with links to Mexican and Colombian cartels vie for control.
The fighting has seen at least 460 inmates massacred in prisons since February 2021 — many beheaded or burned alive in mass riots.
In August, the violence claimed the life of anti-graft and anti-cartel presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, mowed down in a barrage of submachine-gun fire after a speech. He had been polling in second place.
Science
How do some cancer cells survive chemo? Scientists discover a way (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Treating cancer is expensive, costing up to several lakh rupees depending on the type of cancer, the treatment options available, and the treatment setting (public or private). It can also take time, removing an individual from work and family for extended periods, and be painful.
Sometimes, while an individual may have successfully forced a cancer into remission, there may be a risk of relapse.
One way this happens is when a few cancer cells are able to resist the drugs used to destroy them: they lie in wait and produce a show of strength later.
Understanding this resistance could eliminate the different ways in which it happens, and reduce the odds of a relapse.
In a new study, published in Cell Reports on September 20, researchers from the Netherlands Cancer Institute investigated the resistance of some cancer cells to a drug called Taxol.
They have reported that the culprit could be the location of a particular gene inside the cancer cells’ nuclei.
The Bumrah ball to see energy law in action (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
India scored a thumping win against Pakistan at the ICC Men’s ODI World Cup match in Ahmedabad on October 14, with the latter’s batters folding for 191 following a collapse.
They were at a healthy 155/2 when things fell apart. Five of India’s six bowlers took two wickets apiece in the rout, although they were led by Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav, who induced the collapse with the wickets of Mohammad Rizwan and Iftikhar Ahmed, respectively.
But for all the magic on display, Bumrah’s delivery to dismiss Rizwan on the last ball of the 34th over stands out for illustrating an everyday occurrence in cricket but at a magnitude commonly seen in physics textbooks and high-school laboratories, less so on the cricket field.
The delivery was a slow offbreak – a ball delivered at 122 km/hr that, after bouncing, jagged sharply into the right-handed batter.
There, a gap between bat and pad, which Bumrah had spent the first five balls of the over opening, allowed the ball to hit the stumps.