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The Election Commission (EC) withdrew permission for the Rythu Bandhu scheme of the Telangana government citing violation of the model code of conduct. In its order, the poll body withdrew the permission citing violation of the same by State Finance Minister T. Harish Rao.
Mr. Rao had made a statement that money would be disbursed under the Rythu Bandhu scheme on November 28. The Assembly election in Telangana will be held on November 30.
Under the Rythu Bandhu scheme, financial assistance is directly transferred to each farmer’s account per season towards meeting the cost of inputs and other initial needs.
The Congress had filed a complaint with the EC last week seeking an order to stop the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from using Rythu Bandhu in their election campaign.
Editorial
The many grave risks confronting the world today (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
If, as is sometimes mentioned, war reflects geo-political incompetence, then the first quarter of the 21st century reflects incompetence of the highest order, with several nations contributing to this state of affairs. Europe, Asia, and Africa seem to be in a state of permanent dissonance today, while North and South America are plagued by problems of varying magnitude. All this has set the stage for multi-polar disorder.
Liberal democracy confronts a multitude of dangers. On September 11, 2001, with al-Qaeda attacking the Twin Towers in New York, terrorism gained a new dimension.
A few years later, we saw the rise of the Islamic State, which even talked of establishing a state of its own. Meanwhile, there were, and still exist, many lesser-known terrorist outfits such as the Pakistan-backed Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was responsible for carrying out attacks in Mumbai on November 26, 2008, and the Boko Haram in Africa, which continues to indulge in terror attacks in different regions of the globe.
It’s time to revamp the structure of the Supreme Court (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court of India has three jurisdictions under the Constitution: original, appellate, and advisory. The Supreme Court serves as a Constitutional Court as well as a Court of Appeal.
The Court sits in benches of varying sizes, as determined by the Registry on the directions of the Chief Justice of India (CJI), who is the Master of the Roster.
Constitution Benches of the Supreme Court typically comprise five, seven, or nine judges who deliberate on a specific issue related to constitutional law.
Article 145(3) of the Constitution provides for the setting up of a Constitution Bench. It says a minimum of five judges need to sit for deciding a case involving a “substantial question of law as to the interpretation of the Constitution”, or for hearing any reference under Article 143, which deals with the power of the President to consult the Court.
Opinion
Fading sheen of Maoists’ poll boycott call (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
Desperate to disrupt the recently held Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, the Maoists had to bite the dust in their own guerrilla bases.
The elections boycott call issued by the CPI (Maoist) neither had any major impact on the people willing to cast their vote nor on disrupting elections by means of violence.
This time, the security forces — having increased their reach in the past five years by establishing new camps in the forward areas — had an upper hand in ensuring the peaceful conduct of elections in the State.
Chhattisgarh has 14 districts affected by Left-Wing Extremism (LWE) activities; all of them are included in the Security Related Expenditure (SRE) Scheme of the MHA [Ministry of Home Affairs] and given financial grants on various counts.
Five battalions of the CRPF allotted to Chhattisgarh (in addition to the 44 battalions already deployed) since the last Assembly elections in 2018, and the redeployment of many companies resulted in the establishment of no less than 75 new security camps in the SRE districts, mostly in the Bastar region.
In addition, the recently recruited Bastar Fighters force of more than 2,000 local youth (including 460 women) from seven districts of the Bastar range also helped in securing the votes and keeping the Maoists at bay.
Text & Context
Can dollarisation save an economy? (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Another election, another victory for the global right. Javier Milei, the recent winner of Argentina’s presidential election, has drawn attention for his unconventional and worrying views, such as his opposition to abortion and his ambivalent attitude towards the torture and undemocratic excesses of Argentina’s military government.
Mr. Milei’s economic proposals have also drawn much debate and scrutiny. The self-confessed “anarcho-capitalist” pledged in his campaign to replace Argentina’s currency — the peso — with the dollar, to eliminate the Central Bank and to slash government spending.
Suffering under inflation in excess of 100%, and with nearly two-thirds of the population falling below the poverty level as purchasing power of wages and salaries have eroded, the electorate has chosen to throw their weight behind Mr. Milei’s idiosyncratic policy proposals.
However, the president-elect has already begun walking back on some of his campaign promises, claiming dollarisation as a “medium-term” goal and ruling out the immediate lifting of currency controls when he takes office.
Whether dollarisation can be achieved immediately and painlessly is an important question, given the scarcity of dollar reserves with the Argentinian Central Bank. Regardless, the question of whether dollarisation is a solution to an economy undergoing runaway inflation is an important one.
Fibre optic cables: its origins, working and different functions (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
During the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the one thing that connected us virtually was the internet. Because of high-speed internet connections, we can now video chat with a friend, pay online, and attend classes or meetings from home.
Optical fibres are made of thin cylindrical strands of glass. The diameter of a typical fibre is close to the diameter of a human hair.
These fibres can carry information, such as text, images, videos, telephone calls, and anything that can be encoded as digital information, across large distances almost at the speed of light.
News
SC rejects undertrial’s plea to use its powers to club 30 FIRs arraigned across States (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court has refused an undertrial’s plea to flex its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to deliver him “complete justice” by clubbing 30 FIRs arraigned against him across seven States.
A Bench headed by Justice B.V. Nagarathna said it could not club FIRs (First Information Reports) which not only involve offences under the Indian Penal Code but charges under specific State laws.
The apex court said States would have their own designated special courts to try these offences. Clubbing FIRs would undermine the jurisdiction of these special courts.
The recent order came in a case of cheating investors in States, including Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Delhi, and Madhya Pradesh.
The petitioner, Amandeep Singh Saran, has 10 FIRs lodged in Chhattisgarh, four in Tamil Nadu, eight in Rajasthan, two each in Maharashtra and Delhi, and three FIRs filed in Madhya Pradesh and one in Haryana.
Business
Foxconn to invest another $1.6 billion in India as U.S.-China tensions rise (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Contract iPhone maker Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., also known as Foxconn, plans to expand its India footprint, with another $1.6 billion investment as part of its strategy to diversify outside China.
The announcement was made in an exchange filing in Taiwan. It did not give any further details, saying only that the investment was for “operational needs”.
The investment was made through a Foxconn subsidiary, Hon Hai Technology India Mega Development, which is registered in Maharashtra since 2015.
Foxconn is the largest global contract manufacturer for Apple and gets half of its revenues from making products for the American tech giant. Even in India, Foxconn’s production of Apple products, outpaces that by its competitors Tata and Pegatron.
Science
The mechanism that removes unfit cells before you’re born (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Let’s take a trip back in time, to when you were just made up of a single cell. The sperm from your father and the egg from your mother will have just fused, forming a single-celled zygote.
This zygote is now going to keep multiplying to form many cells, marking the start of embryonic development.
At some point, this mass of cells, making up the early embryo, will have implanted in your mother’s womb and begun to grow bigger.
The cells will also have started to differentiate, transforming into all the different kinds of cells that make up who we are – skin, muscles, nerves, etc.
Over time, the cells will also have developed into heart, lungs, the brain, and so forth. Finally, a whole nine months later, you will have been born, as a fully formed human baby.
Webb space telescope spots ‘teenage’ galaxies (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Since becoming operational last year, the James Webb Space Telescope has made groundbreaking observations involving some of the universe’s earliest galaxies.
But Webb has obtained even better data on galaxies a bit further along in development. Astronomers call these the galactic “teenagers”.
As new research shows, they resemble human teenagers in certain respects, including by displaying growth spurts along with a bit of immaturity.
The researchers focused on galaxies that formed about 2-3 billion years after the Big Bang (roughly 13.8 billion years ago).
The study averaged data obtained by Webb on light across various wavelengths emanating from 23 such galaxies —their “chemical DNA” —to paint a composite picture of teenage galactic characteristics.
These teenage galaxies have very unique chemical DNA, which indicates that they have formed a decent number of stars but still growing.