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The Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 is entering the Indian Ocean and headed to Maldives, according to Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) observers and maritime tracking portals. Official sources acknowledged the development but did not comment on it.
The destination — Male — is noteworthy given the moratorium on foreign research vessels by Sri Lanka and the ongoing friction between India and Maldives over Indian troops stationed there.
As reported by The Hindu earlier, there has been a steady rise in the deployment of Chinese research vessels in the Indian Ocean Region.
States
SC to hear if Centre encroached on legislative domain of Punjab (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court on Monday decided to examine if all border States have to be treated alike while demarcating the area of jurisdiction of the Border Security Force (BSF), a central unit.
The court was hearing a dispute raised by Punjab against the Centre for extending BSF’s jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km from the Indo-Pakistan border.
The top court said it would determine whether the Centre had encroached into the legislative domain of Punjab.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud fixed the third week of April for hearing the suit filed by Punjab accusing the Centre of virtually stripping the State and its police of its powers. The Constitution gives the State control over the police and of maintaining public order.
Punjab has challenged the constitutional validity of a notification issued by the Centre in October 2021 extending the reach of the BSF to 50 km by invoking Section 139 of the BSF Act, 1968.
The provision authorises the Centre to confer powers and duties on members of the BSF force in respect of any Central Acts.
The purpose of the particular provision was to gain a more effective control on trans-border crimes in conjunction and cooperation with the State Police.
Editorial
Tax contribution by States needs to be revisited (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Finance Commission’s important job is to recommend a distribution formula specifying each State’s share in the part of the Union tax revenue assigned to States. Such distribution formulas have a few weighted determinants.
Since the 1st Finance Commission, some States have been arguing that their contributions to the Union tax revenue have been higher than others and, therefore, they rightfully have higher shares in the Union tax revenue.
In the first eight Finance Commissions, tax contribution with very little weight was a determinant in the distribution formula. Since the 10th Finance Commission, this tax contribution was dropped from the distribution formula.
Here, we argue that tax contribution by each State is a good measure of efficiency, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime creates an opportunity for its inclusion in the distribution formula.
Opinion
Fired up and plugged in (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
As India throttles to become the fastest-growing economy in the coming years, it will have to grow in the wake of a global agreement at COP-28 to phase down unabated coal.
In this critical decade, the spotlight will be on how India decarbonises its power sector while ensuring economic development and energy security.
As the seventh most-vulnerable country to the impacts of climate change, India has been at the forefront of climate action — it has reduced overall fossil fuel subsidies by 76% between FY14 and FY22 and is priming the domestic industry to nearly triple its installed renewable power generation capacity by 2030.
Despite significant climate action and ambition, coal-based power plants continue to provide the base power load support of over 100 GW on most days of the year.
Due to rapidly increasing electricity demand, any future predictions of India’s reliance on coal are laden with uncertainty. The country has affirmed that while it continues to rapidly expand renewable energy, coal will remain a vital energy source till it reaches the status of a developed country in a geopolitically turbulent world.
Text & Context
On equal access to benefits for all SCs (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
The Union government has formed a high-level committee of secretaries, chaired by the Cabinet Secretary, to evaluate and work out a method for the equitable distribution of benefits, schemes and initiatives to the most backward communities among the over 1,200 Scheduled Castes (SCs) across the country, that have been crowded out by relatively forward and dominant ones.
This committee’s formation is the result of a meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired in December, 2023, weeks after promising to look into the demand for sub-categorisation of Scheduled Castes as raised by the Madiga community in Telangana in the run-up to the Assembly elections there last year.
The Madiga community constitutes at least 50% of the SC population in Telangana, where SCs comprise around 15% of the total population (2011 Census).
For decades, the Madiga community has said that despite their numbers, they are crowded out of government benefits meant for SCs, including reservation, by the Mala community — another SC — which is dominant and relatively forward.
Why was FCRA registration for several NGOs cancelled? (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act, 2010 (FCRA) registration of two prominent non-governmental organisations (NGOs) — Centre for Policy Research (CPR) and World Vision India (WVI) have been cancelled this month.
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) monitors the implementation of the FCRA. The registration of thousands of NGOs was due for renewal in 2020-2021. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the amendments to the FCRA Act in 2020, many NGOs could not complete the process.
The MHA had given a relief up to September 30, 2021 to NGOs whose registration was expiring between September 29, 2020 and September 30, 2021 to apply for a renewal. The MHA has extended the deadline multiple times; the latest date being March 31, 2024.
Through the FCRA, the ministry regulates foreign donations to ensure that such funds do not adversely affect the country’s internal security. It is compulsory to register under the Act, first enacted in 1976, if an association, group or NGO intends to receive foreign donations.
The 1976 Act was repealed and replaced with a new legislation in 2010. It was further amended in 2020. The registration is valid for five years, after which the NGO has to apply for a renewal.
It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register under the FCRA, initially valid for five years that can be renewed if it complies with all norms. Registered groups can receive foreign contribution for social, educational, religious, economic and cultural programmes.
News
With no iron or steel, Ayodhya temple is a study in sandstone (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
The Ayodhya temple, consecrated on Monday, is a sprawling structure built with sandstones by overcoming engineering challenges and showing sensitivity to nature, say authorities connected with its construction.
Champat Rai, general secretary of the Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, said the temple’s construction was the result of “collective wisdom” of “some of the best brains in the country”.
No iron or steel has been used in the construction of the grand structure. Stones have been sourced from the Bansi Paharpur area in Rajasthan. Images of Lord Hanuman and other deities, peacocks and flower patterns have been carved into them.
“The entire temple superstructure will eventually be three storeys — ground plus two floors,” Mr. Rai said. Visitors will climb 32 steps from the eastern side to reach the main temple.
The temple complex, built in the traditional Nagara style, will be 380 feet long from east to west, 250 feet wide and 161 feet high. Each floor will be 20 feet high and will have 392 pillars and 44 gates.
Business
Govt. expands financial services scope at IFSC (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The government has expanded the scope of activities that can be undertaken at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) by including services such as book keeping, and accounting.
As per a notification from the Finance Ministry, many services, including book-keeping, accounting, taxation, and financial crime compliance, have been included as part of financial services.
“Provided that the financial services shall be offered by units in an International Financial Service Centre regulated by the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to non-residents whose business is not set up either by splitting up of business already in existence in India; or reconstructing/reorganising of business already in existence in India,” it said in a notification on January 18.
The notification stipulates the units should not offer services by way of transferring or receiving existing contracts or work arrangements from their group entities in India.
Science
Jammu CSIR lab finds cannabis compound that has antibiotic effects (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
Cannabis has the potential to make a dent in India’s fight against the escalating threat of antibiotic resistance.
Scientists at CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine (IIIM), Jammu, have found that phytocannabinoids, a class of compounds found in the cannabis plant, possess some hitherto unexplored antibiotic properties.
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a major health concern worldwide. It refers to when bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites no longer respond to medicines used to treat them.
According to Sanghapal D. Sawant, a senior principal scientist at the CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune, bacteria have developed certain sophisticated ‘shields’ over many decades to resist the effects of antibiotic medications.
These include the formation of biofilms – thin sheets of bacterial colonies that are more resistant to antibiotics than when separated – and cellular mechanisms called efflux pumps that flush drugs out from cells.
The resulting AMR increases the risk of disease spread, severe illness, and death.
According to one estimate, India reported 2.97 lakh deaths in 2019 that could be attributed to AMR and 10.42 lakh others that could be associated with AMR.