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The Supreme Court asked the office of Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan to read up the court’s latest judgment holding Governors responsible for acting within the four corners of the State Legislature without flexing a non-existent veto power over Bills presented to them for assent.
The judgment, in a plea filed by Punjab against its Governor Banwarilal Purohit, clarified that a Governor cannot indefinitely sit on Bills.
The Punjab judgment will entirely cover our case… He [Governor] has been sitting on our Bills for two years, advocate K.K. Venugopal, for Kerala, told a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud.
The Chief Justice said the Kerala Governor’s office should go through the judgment in the Punjab case and make up their minds on the future course of action. “The Governor’s secretary should look at the judgment and see what he has to say,” said CJI Chandrachud, scheduling the case for November 28.
Editorial
Need for climate-smart agriculture in India (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The two most important issues facing humanity in the 21st century are climate change and food insecurity. Some of the ongoing effects of climate change, such as heat waves, flash floods, droughts, and cyclones, are negatively influencing lives and livelihoods.
The world’s southern continents are reportedly experiencing severe drought due to climate change, which negatively impacts agricultural production and farmers’ livelihoods.
Both population expansion and dietary changes are contributing to an increase in the demand for food. The effects of the environment on farm output only add to the difficulty.
As a result of climate change, traditional farming practices are becoming less productive. Climate change is increasing the dangers faced by farmers, prompting them to re-evaluate their practices.
Farmers are taking a variety of adaptation measures to reduce the negative effects of climate change. The need for a holistic strategy is driven by climate change’s dual challenges of adaptation and mitigation, and the pressing need for agricultural production to rise by 60% by 2050 in order to fulfill food demand.
The inhumane decision to expel Afghan refugees (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
While international attention is focused on Israel’s merciless bombing of Gaza and its ground attacks, Pakistan’s decision to expel 1.5 million undocumented Afghan refugees in the beginning of winter is escaping sufficient global scrutiny.
The Israeli action, since October 7, has resulted in thousands of deaths, including of infants, and widespread destruction of territory.
Even hospitals have not been spared. It may therefore be considered inapt to mention the Pakistani decision along with the Israeli action.
The intention is not to compare them but to emphasise that the expulsion of Afghan refugees to an uncertain future is unjustified and will result in deprivation, if not starvation, for many of them.
Apart from being inhumane, this expulsion is also contrary to the ties of brotherhood that Pakistan claims binds the Afghans with its own people.
News
Centre exempts CERT-In from purview of RTI Act (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Union government has added the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) among a list of organisations that are exempted from the ambit of the Right to Information Act (RTI).
The CERT-In is the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents as and when they occur. One of its primary objectives is enhancing “security awareness among common citizens”. It functions under Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
There are 26 other intelligence and security organisations established by the Union government such as the Intelligence Bureau, Research and Analysis Wing, Directorate of Enforcement, National Technical Research Organisation that are exempt under RTI.
India, EU sign pact to build semiconductor supply chain (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India and the European Union on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding on semiconductors that will help in building a “robust supply chain” and support innovation.
The MoU was sealed during a “stock-taking call” between leaders of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC). Under this MoU, India and the EU are expected to “share experiences, best practices and information on our respective semiconductors ecosystems; identify areas of collaboration in research, development and innovation among universities, research organisations and businesses,” a statement said.
Generic drugs for 4 rare diseases made available in India (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Providing relief to patients with rare diseases across India, the Union Health Ministry has made available generic drugs to support the care and treatment of four ailments: Tyrosinemia-Type 1, Gauchers Disease, Wilson’s Disease, and the Dravet-Lennox Gastaut Syndrome. This means that the cost of these drugs will be slashed by between 60 and 100 times of their current market value.
The Ministry is also in the process of making available drugs for more rare diseases, including Phenylketonuria and Hyperammonemia, over the next few months.
The approvals for these drugs are awaited,” said V.K. Paul, NITI Aayog’s member with expertise on health issues. He added that this initiative would also result in patients’ costs dropping from crores to mere lakhs.
A rare disease is a health condition of particularly low prevalence that affects a small number of people. It collectively afflicts 6% to 8% of the population in any country at any given time, so India could have 8.4 crore to 10 crore such cases, said the Ministry. Nearly 80% of these diseases are genetic in nature.
World
French Foreign Minister holds talks in China on climate and global tensions (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
France and China should work together to reduce global tensions and address issues such as climate change and biodiversity, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said.
Ms. Colonna was on an official trip to Beijing ahead of a major UN climate conference starting next week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and an EU-China leaders meeting next month. Her visit coincided with the start of a four-day truce in the Israel-Hamas war.
As big powers, we both share the responsibility to tackle global challenges... and we can make concerted efforts in alleviating tensions around the world,” she said at a meeting with Premier Li Qiang, China’s No. 2 leader.
The tensions range from the wars in Gaza and Ukraine to the competition between China and the U.S. over trade, technology and security.
A delegation of Arab Foreign Ministers held talks in China and France in recent days as part of a series of meetings with permanent members of the UN Security Council to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Business
‘Falling recovery, delay in resolution dent IBC’s success’ (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Falling recovery rates from 43% to 32% between March 2019 and September 2023, and an increase in the average resolution time from 324 to 653 days versus the stipulated 330 days have emerged as impediments to the success of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
“There are two reasons for this. First, limited judicial bench strength and delays in identification and acknowledgement of default. Second, significant delay in the pre-IBC admission stage (650 days in fiscal 2022 increased from about 450 days in fiscal 2019) has suppressed recovery rates.
CRISIL said since its inception in 2016, the IBC has improved credit culture in India by resolving a significant amount of stressed assets with better recovery rates compared with the previous mechanisms. Importantly, it has set such deterrence that large bad-loan cases are getting sorted before reaching the IBC’s gates.