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Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the country’s first Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), calling the Namo Bharat train a glimpse of India’s promising future.
Mr. Modi purchased a ticket and took a ride with schoolchildren on the 17-km stretch from Sahibabad to Duhai Depot in Uttar Pradesh; the full 82-km Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor is scheduled to be functional by 2025.
The Namo Bharat Train is defining the new journey of new India and its new resolutions. The Delhi-Meerut stretch is just the beginning, as the first phase will see many areas of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, and Rajasthan being connected.
In the coming days, a similar system will be created in the other parts of the country to improve connectivity and create new avenues of employment.
Pointing out that he had laid the foundation stone of the project four years ago, and had now come back to inaugurate it.
The rest of the project will be complete in one and a half years. At that time also, I will be present at your service.
Editorial
Not just a case about improving investigation (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court of India, recently, in Rajesh & Anr. vs The State of Madhya Pradesh, while setting aside the conviction of three accused persons alleged to have been involved in murder and related offences, emphasised the need to devise ‘a consistent and dependable code of investigation’ so that the guilty do not walk free on technicalities.
The Court not only pointed out some illegalities in the investigation but also echoed the comments of the Justice Malimath Committee on Reforms of the Criminal Justice System and the observations of the Law Commission of India in its Report number 239. Here is a reality check on both these observations.
A major pitfall pointed out by the Court relates to Section 27 of the Indian Evidence Act which lays down conditions of the admissibility of any fact discovered in consequence of information received from a person ‘accused of any offence’, ‘in the custody of a police officer’.
The Court held that the person could not be said to be in police custody till he was formally arrested, as he did not figure as an accused person in the First Information Report (FIR) and was not accused of any offence till his arrest. This assumption does not appear to be a correct proposition of the law.
In Re: Man Singh (1959), the Court held that the word ‘custody’ does not necessarily mean detention or confinement. The submission to custody, by any action or words, is also custody within the meaning of this section.
Even indirect control over the movements of suspects by the police has been held to constitute ‘police custody’. In Chhoteylal vs State of U.P. (1954) and many other similar cases, the Court has held that ‘an accused is in police custody within the meaning of the section when he is under surveillance of the police and cannot break away from the company of the police’.
News
As part of ‘Meri Maati, Mera Desh’, Railways plans special trains to transport volunteers carrying soil to Delhi (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Infrastructure)
The Indian Railways will operate special trains to transport volunteers carrying mitti (soil) from State capitals and other major stations across the country to reach New Delhi on October 29.
The initiative is part of the ‘Meri Maati Mera Desh’ [My soil, my country] campaign being organised by the Ministry of Culture as “a tribute to the Veers and Veeranganas [bravehearts] who have made the supreme sacrifice for the country”. Around 20,000 volunteers with kalash (urn) containing the soil in their possession will reach Delhi to participate in events culminating in the year-long Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
According to official sources, volunteers would collect the soil from every household as a mark of respect to the people who had sacrificed their lives for the nation. In cases where the soil was not available, people can contribute a grain of rice. The soil that gets collected would be used in the ‘Amrit Vatika’, a special garden being created in Delhi along with an ‘Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ memorial.
To facilitate the movement of the volunteers, the Ministry of Railways would operate special ‘Amrit Kalash Yatri’ trains, add additional coaches in scheduled trains and facilitate release of berths from Emergency Quota depending upon the demand.
These trains would have halts at major stations for meet and greet with local Members of Parliament, celebrities and officials.
In the return journey from the national capital, the special trains would run from Delhi to the respective destinations on November 1.
Gaganyaan Mission: ISRO is set for first test flight today (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will conduct the Gaganyaan’s first Flight Test Vehicle Abort Mission-1 (TV-D1), which will demonstrate the performance of the Crew Escape System. The TV-D1 will lift off at 8 a.m. from the first launch pad of the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
According to ISRO, the test vehicle developed for this abort mission is a single-stage liquid rocket. The payloads consist of the Crew Module (CM) and Crew Escape Systems (CES) with their fast-acting solid motors, along with CM fairing (CMF) and Interface Adapters.
The CM is where the astronauts are contained in a pressurised earth-like atmospheric condition during the Gaganyaan mission.
For the TV-D1, the CM is an unpressurised version. “This flight will simulate the abort condition during the ascent trajectory corresponding to a Mach number of 1.2 encountered in the Gaganyaan mission.
CES with CM will be separated from the Test Vehicle at an altitude of about 17 km. Subsequently, the abort sequence will be executed autonomously commencing with the separation of CES and deployment of the series of parachutes, finally culminating in the safe touchdown of CM in the sea, about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota.
The entire duration of the flight from lift off to CES and CM separation to deployment of parachutes and touchdown of the crew module in the sea about 10 km from the coast of Sriharikota will be completed in about eight and half minutes.
The ISRO said that the Indian Navy will lead the recovery of the TV-D1 CM after touchdown. Recovery ships positioned at a safe range in sea waters will approach the CM and a team of divers will attach a buoy, hoist the CM using a ship crane and bring it to the shore.
The objectives of this mission is flight demonstration and evaluation of test vehicle sub systems, evaluation of CES including various separation systems and CM characteristics and deceleration systems demonstration at higher altitude and its recovery.
Army commanders discuss lessons from Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Army commanders analysed geostrategic issues such as the Russia-Ukraine war and the Israel-Hamas conflict at a conference which concluded, according to an Army statement.
Deliberations at the Army Commanders Conference also focused on making the Short Service Commission for officers more attractive, conducting internal examinations online, and establishing speedy mechanisms to redress issues faced by veterans.
Currently, several internal exams like promotion boards and so on are held in physical format for which personnel have to travel from remote areas which takes them away from their duty stations. Going online will save the effort. Similar is the case with Junior Commissioned Officers and other ranks who have several exams for upgrades which they attend in person.
The apex Army leadership was addressed by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, the Chief of Defence Staff, the chiefs of the Army and the Air Force, and the government’s Principal Scientific Adviser, Ajay Kumar Sood, who spoke on leveraging technology for national security.
Mr. Singh emphasised the need to draw lessons from the ongoing geopolitical crisis and conflict in West Asia, highlighting the need for readiness while expecting the unexpected.
World
No political strings in our support: Xi to Sri Lanka (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
China will continue to assist Sri Lanka without any “political strings attached” and help the country cope with difficulties, President Xi Jinping told his Sri Lankan counterpart Ranil Wickremesinghe, according to an official statement, even as Colombo attempts to finalise a debt treatment plan with its creditors, including the Asian giant.
Mr. Wickremesinghe is in Beijing for the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation. Noting that Sri Lanka was among the first group of countries to join China’s ambitious connectivity project, Mr. Xi said China would work with Sri Lanka to “jointly promote high-quality Belt and Road cooperation” and push for new progress in “developing China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership featuring sincere mutual assistance and lasting friendship.”
The two sides pledged greater collaboration on international and regional affairs, oppose politicisation of the human rights issue and bloc confrontation, and safeguard common interests of the two countries and developing countries.
China has also expressed willingness to increase its imports from Sri Lanka and promote more Chinese investment in the island nation.
Notably, a press statement from Mr. Wickremesinghe’s office mentioned Mr. Xi’s assurance of “friendly, practical and timely support for Sri Lanka’s debt optimisation programme,” but the statement from the Chinese side made no mention of debt owed by Sri Lanka, or an agreement on its treatment, as the island nation struggles to get out of its crushing economic meltdown.
Business
‘Global uncertainties have risen over the past fortnight’ (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Interest rates will remain high, and any change will depend on the way the world evolves, Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das said, highlighting emerging uncertainties in the global economy in the fortnight since the latest Monetary Policy review.
Referring to the recent spurt in U.S. bond yields to a record high, combined with policy pronouncements from central banks globally with mixed data points, Mr. Das asserted that while central banks must remain agile to these developments, the first line of defence must be stock exchanges and financial institutions.
Existng uncertainties have been exacerbated, he noted, like the rise in crude oil prices and the persistent volatility in financial markets.
Asked about ‘higher for longer’ interest rate prospects at the Kautilya Economic Conclave, Mr. Das said central banks must be vigilant about the growth-inflation dynamics while watching over price rise.
Mr. Das said a slowdown across economies “creates other challenges for financial stability. So I would not venture to say how long interest rates will be high. I am not giving a forward guidance.
Household consumption propping up economy (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Controlling inflation and while also boosting household consumption to support growth remained the main concern at the most recent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting held between October 4-6.
MPC member Prof. Jayanth R. Varma in his statement wrote that since the August meeting, risks to inflation had marginally increased and “a small shortfall in rainfall coupled with the spatio-temporal dispersion could cause volatility in food prices.”
He noted this could cause “few short lived inflation spikes rather than a sustained rise in inflation”. Highlighting that growth outlook had improved modestly due to consumer confidence as indicated in RBI surveys, Mr. Varma said this must be seen in light of household financial savings data released in September.
Data shows consumers incurred financial liabilities and reduced savings to support consumption. Willingness to consume at the cost of reducing savings is important because it is household consumption that has been propping up the economy in the face of headwinds from fiscal consolidation, weak external demand, and tepid capital investment.