Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
Bihar Assembly Speaker Awadh Bihari Choudhary made it clear on Wednesday that he would not step down from his post until the Assembly session begins on February 12, when Chief Minister and JD(U) leader Nitish Kumar is set to face the floor test.
The newly formed National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in the State had moved a no-confidence motion against Mr. Choudhary, who belongs to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).
I will run the House according to rules of the Constitution. Strength will be known in the House and it is not our job to see this,” said Mr. Choudhary, when asked about resigning in view of the no-confidence motion against him. He was speaking after addressing a press advisory committee meeting inside the Assembly.
It was on January 28 that BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav gave a notice of no-confidence against the Speaker to the Secretary. The NDA’s leaders want to remove the Speaker before the floor test.
States
390 year old post in Nalgonda unravels trade links of Telangana (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
A newly-discovered 390-year-old Deepastambham (lamp post) on the edge of River Krishna in Nalgonda district of Telangana casts a fresh light on trade ties in the region in early medieval times.
Archaeologists working in the area found the 20-foot tall pillar with hollows for lamps and a multi-lingual inscription in Mudimanikyam village of Nalgonda.
“The pillar and a small flat roofed structure near it was found by Ashok Kumar of Public Research Institute for History, Archaeology & Heritage. It is on a slope from the village leading to the river bank.
We have not found anything like this in the Krishna river valley. Nor are there records of similar structures,” says Srinivasan who found the pillar along with Ashok Kumar.
While Dhwajasthambam (flag pole) is part of temple architecture, lamp posts are rare in the Deccan while they are common in temples in the west coast, including Goa.
Editorial
Downloading child pornography is an offence (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Social Justice)
Recently, the Madras High Court, in S. Harish vs Inspector of Police, quashed the judicial proceedings and held that downloading child pornography was not an offence under Section 67B of the Information Technology (IT) Act, 2000.
The High Court categorically said that watching child pornography per se was not an offence as the accused had merely downloaded it onto his electronic gadget and had watched it in private.
The High Court also referred to a case decided by the Kerala High Court where it had been held that watching pornography in private space was not an offence under Section 292 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
This case related to the quashing a criminal case registered against a youth in 2016 by the Aluva police as he had been watching pornographic material on his mobile phone on the roadside at night.
In this case, after investigation, the police had filed the final report and cognisance had been taken by the High Court under Section 14(1) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and Section 67B of the IT Act.
Opinion
Road map for fiscal consolidation (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The interim Budget or ‘vote on account’ for 2024-25 was presented on February 1, 2024. In keeping with the best traditions, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that she was not proposing to make any changes in the tax rates either for direct taxes or indirect taxes.
Nevertheless, a few things stand out in the Budget. First, there is a continued emphasis on increasing capital expenditures of the Union government and second, there is a continued emphasis on fiscal correction and consolidation.
In some sense, the Budget is not overstretched. The buoyancy of tax revenue comes to 1.33, if the base is taken as Budget Estimates of the present year and using nominal GDP growth for 2023-24 as per the National Statistics Organisation’s (NSO) first advance estimates.
The buoyancy comes down to 1.09 if the base is taken as Revised Estimates. The nominal GDP growth for 2024-25 is conservatively estimated at 10.5%.
This means an implicit price deflator-based inflation of 3.3% if we assume a 7% real growth. Thus, the revenue projections provide a buffer that can be used to increase expenditures or reduce deficit later. That will be known only when the regular Budget is presented later.
Text & Context
A history of the Northern Ireland conflict (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
On February 3, pro-Irish unity politician Michelle O’Neill from the Sinn Fein party made history by becoming the first Nationalist First Minister of Northern Ireland, after the opposition Democratic Union Party (DUP), the largest pro-U.K. party, returned to government ending a two-year long political deadlock in Northern Ireland.
Northern Ireland is governed by a power-sharing agreement known as consociationalism as laid down in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.
This system believes that power should be shared equally between the various sectarian groups in a state, in this case, between the pro-Irish unity faction, called the Nationalists or Republicans, and the pro-U.K. faction, which are the Loyalists or the Unionists.
Sinn Fein is the largest Nationalist political party (also left-wing), while the DUP is of the latter. The party that wins the largest vote-share will hold the First Minister position while the party with the second largest vote share will keep the post of Deputy First Minister.
Of these two posts, one must be a Unionist and the other a Nationalist. Both positions hold equal weight and one cannot exist without the other.
News
Uttarakhand Assembly passes Uniform Civil Code (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Uttarakhand Assembly passed the Uniform Civil Code, despite the Opposition’s demand that the Bill be handed over to the House’s select committee first.
Terming it a “historic moment”, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the Assembly had become the first legislature in Independent India to pass a Bill that imposes common rules for all communities — except Scheduled Tribes — on marriage, divorce, inheritances, and live-in relationships.
In his final address before Speaker Ritu Khanduri Bhushan called for a voice vote on the UCC Bill, Mr. Dhami said that the legislation would end the injustice faced by women for centuries.
Mentioning the Shah Bano and Saira Bano cases, the Chief Minister said that anti-social elements wanted to keep different communities divided for political benefits.
Referencing B.R. Ambedkar, Mr. Dhami claimed that certain clauses mentioned in the Constitution were misused from time to time by certain anti-social, anti-national people.
Certain mistakes were done in the Indian Constitution which now need to be corrected,” he said, listing other countries such as Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Japan, the United States, Canada, Bangladesh and Indonesia that have implemented a uniform civil code.
Can’t treat SCs as homogenous group, observes CJI-led Bench (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
A seven-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, on Tuesday observed that Scheduled Castes cannot be treated as a “homogenous group” for granting reservation as some may have advanced in society while other continue to remain “particularly underprivileged”.
Meanwhile, the Centre assured the court it was “committed” to the reservation policy. The Tamil Nadu government, in its turn, said the reservation policy should evolve with the times or would get “fossilised”.
The Constitution Bench is examining the question whether individual States could identify and sub-classify backward classes within the Scheduled Caste category in order to give them more preference in reservation.
The court said the diverse groups, clubbed together in the Presidential list under Article 341 of the Constitution as “Scheduled Castes”, cannot be treated alike.
Satellite-based toll collection may roll out before LS polls (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The government plans to implement satellite-based toll collection on highways before the Model Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha election kicks in, Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari told the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.
We are trying to implement satellite-based toll system very soon, perhaps before the Code of Conduct for the Lok Sabha election.
The technology, which has been under the government’s consideration for the past three years, will allow barrier-free movement of vehicles and they will will not be required to stop for toll payments.
He explained that the photo of the registration plate of the vehicle will be captured and the toll amount will be debited based on the actual length of the highway traversed by the vehicle.
This will replace the radio frequency identification-based FASTag system that was rolled out in 2016 and made mandatory from January 2021.
A total of 8.13 crore FASTags have been issued and a penetration of 98% has been achieved, according to the Minister.
World
Israel PM rejects Hamas truce terms, vows to fight until ‘absolute victory’ (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Israel Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on February 7 rejected Hamas’ terms for a ceasefire and hostage-release agreement, calling them “delusional,” a position that complicates efforts to strike a deal between the sides. Mr. Netanyahu vowed to press ahead with Israel’s war against Hamas until achieving “absolute victory.”
Mr. Netanyahu made the comments shortly after meeting the visiting U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, who has been traveling the region in hopes of securing a cease-fire agreement.
“Surrendering to Hamas’ delusional demands that we heard now not only won’t lead to freeing the captives, it will just invite another massacre,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a nationally televised evening news conference.
“We are on the way to an absolute victory,” Mr. Netanyahu said, adding that the operation would last months, not years. “There is no other solution.” He ruled out any arrangement that leaves Hamas in full or partial control of Gaza.
Despite post-pandemic growth, Maldives at high risk of debt distress, warns IMF (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Despite strong post-pandemic growth, the Maldives remains at high risk of debt distress, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned.
Without significant policy changes, the overall fiscal deficits and public debt are projected to stay elevated, and the Maldives remains at high risk of external and overall debt distress, calling for “urgent policy adjustment”.
The assessment echoed the World Bank’s earlier assessment, of the fiscal strain facing the Indian Ocean archipelago.
Acknowledging the challenge, President Mohamed Muizzu recently told parliament that his government would adopt reform policy to improve the country’s finances and bring debt and fiscal conditions to sustainable standards.
IMF staff issued the statement on Wednesday, as part of their “preliminary findings” from their mission to the Maldives.
EU and Hungary at odds once again over country’s new ‘sovereignty’ law (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, launched an ‘infringement procedure’ into Hungary’s new Defence of National Sovereignty law, setting Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on a collision course with the bloc. Under the controversial law, Hungarian authorities will be able to use the intelligence services to investigate individuals and organisations involved in the democratic and electoral process and allegedly receiving foreign funds.
The Commission said the law, which came into effect in December, violated the democratic values of the EU and the right to privacy of its citizens and the freedom of association among other concerns. Mr. Orban claims the law is intended to curb foreign influence in Hungary.
Mr. Orban, whose Fidesz party has a parliamentary majority, is no stranger to being isolated from his EU and Western allies.
The Hungarian leader was initially an outlier blocking a $54 billion EU aid package for Ukraine announced on February 1. Mr. Obran eventually lifted his veto.
Business
India-China bilateral trade hit a new record in 2023, says Chinese envoy (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s trade with China reached record levels in 2023, said the Chinese envoy to India, indicating that bilateral trade had surpassed 2022 figures despite a slowdown mid-year.
Speaking at an event celebrating the Chinese New Year, the envoy, Charge D’Affaires Ma Jia said that the growth in trade, to $136.2 billion, went along with other areas of “improvement” in bilateral ties, pointing to the informal meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in August.
In 2022, bilateral trade had reached a record $135.98, with imports from China surpassing $100 billion driven by a 21% rise in inbound shipments despite the continuing bilateral tensions over the military standoff at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“Over the past year, China-India relations have shown a positive momentum of improvement,” Ms. Ma said, addressing guests at a reception held at the Chinese Embassy.
President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Modi reached important consensus on stabilising bilateral ties. China supported India’s presidency of both G20 and SCO.
Science
In breakthrough, neural network ‘explains’ how it found new antibiotic (Page no. 20)
History has a curious answer: 1944. In that year, scientists proposed the first artificial neural network, a technology that later led to the birth of deep-learning and artificially intelligent systems like ChatGPT.
The same year, biologists discovered streptomycin, the world’s first aminoglycoside antibiotic. It would soon revolutionise the treatment of life-threatening diseases like tuberculosis.
Today, we have a deeper connection between deep-learning and antibiotics. In a December 2023 paper in Nature, scientists have reported discovering a new class of antibiotics using a form of deep-learning that has been gaining more attention.
According to their paper, the last known structural class of antibiotics was reported in 2000. Their work has thus ended a decades-long wait for a new class.
The researchers were from the Broad Institute, Integrated Biosciences Inc., the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research.