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In a landmark unanimous judgment, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down as “unconstitutional and manifestly arbitrary” the electoral bonds scheme, which provides blanket anonymity to political donors, as well as critical legal amendments allowing rich corporations to make unlimited political donations.
A five-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud held that the scheme, and preceding amendments made to the Representation of the People Act, the Companies Act, and the Income Tax Act, violated the voters’ right to information about political funding under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution.
South
INSAT -3DS mission to be launched from Sriharikota tomorrow (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The GSLV-F14 carrying INSAT-3DS is scheduled for a launch at 5.35 p.m. on Saturday from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The GSLV-F14 is the 16th flight of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV), and the 10th flight with the indigenous cryo stage. This is the seventh operational flight of the GSLV with an indigenous cryogenic stage.
The GSLV-F14, with indigenous cryogenic stage, will place INSAT-3DS satellite in a geosynchronous transfer orbit.
According to the ISRO, the satellite is an exclusive mission designed for enhanced meteorological observations, monitoring of land and ocean surfaces for weather forecasting and disaster warning.
Editorial
Places of worship and an unsettling judicial silence (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
When the Supreme Court of India passed its verdict in November 2019, in what is popularly known as the Babri Masjid case, it was a slight beacon of hope for all backers of the idea of India.
Though the Court ended up giving the plot of land to the party that was responsible for the desecration and demolition of the mosque, the Court’s glowing reference to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 was like applying a little balm to an embattled soul.
It promised to shut the door with a finality on further contentions of other places of worship, notably the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah in Mathura.
Opinion
Is it ethical to use AI to clone voices for creative purposes? (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Recently, music composer A.R. Rahman tweeted that the song Thimiri Yezhuda from the Tamil film Lal Salaam uses an Artificial Intelligence (AI) software to recreate the voices of singers Bamba Bakya and Shahul Hameed.
Bakya died in September 2022 at the age of 42 and has sung songs in films including 2.0 and Bigil. Hameed, who died in 1998, worked extensively on movies such as Gentleman and Kadhalan.
Though their voices were used with the permission of their families, who were also compensated, the move has raised a debate among artists about the use of AI.
Text & Context
Why did Kosovo face delays in Schengen approval? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Kosovo recently secured visa-free access to the Schengen zone in Europe, world’s largest zone of free movement, becoming the last western Balkan non-European Union nation to be waived visa requirements.
The zone is known after Schengen, the tiny Luxembourg village bordering France and Germany, where the agreement was signed in 1985 among five of the six EU founding members except Italy.
Citizens of Kosovo can now enter the Schengen as tourists for 90 days within 180 days. Croatia, a European Union (EU) member since 2013, joined Schengen in 2023, while Romania and Bulgaria, EU members since 2007, will gain partial Schengen entry in March.
The case of Kosovo is egregious given that the European Commission had in 2018 cleared Pristina’s preparedness to tackle illegal migration and corruption, preconditions for the entry.
News
Indian martial arts training for Army post Galwan clash (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Various Indian martial arts are now part of the routine training of regiments of the Army. Post the Galwan violent clash between India and China, the Army has added martial arts to the regular training of troops in addition to the usual physical exercise, officials said.
For instance, the Punjab regiment has incorporated Gatka in the training regime, the Gorkha Regiment the Khukri dance and the Kalaripayattu by the Madras regiment.
A unit of the Punjab regiment deployed close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Kibithu in eastern Arunachal Pradesh displayed the martial arts training to a group of visiting presspersons.
Major Kartikey Jaiswal of the unit said the terrain here had its own peculiarities and added to the challenges faced during patrolling.
These are in the form of fast flowing rivers, continuously changing weather conditions. To face these challenges, we continuously undertake training and the martial arts is one of them.
Global meet urges India to augment pulses production to meet nutritional needs (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Global Pulses Conference, an annual meeting of pulse producers, processors and traders, has suggested India to augment production of pulses to meet the nutritional requirements. Ministers Arjun Munda and Piyush Goyal said the Centre has taken adequate measures to improve pulses cultivation in the country by increasing the minimum support price regularly.
The two-day conference is jointly organised by the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) and the Global Pulse Confederation (GPC).
Mr. Goyal said, over the last decade pulses production has grown by 60% from 171 lakh tonnes in 2014 to 270 lakh tonnes in 2024.
The partnership between NAFED and GPC will continue to grow to make pulses not only India’s wonder-diet but to make the wonder-diet of the world.
On MSP, he said the Centre has assured a price of 50% over the actual cost of production to our farmers, thereby providing an attractive return on investment.
The MSP is the highest today with increases as high as 117% in masoor, 90% in moong, 75% more in chana dal, 60% more in tur and urad over the amount provided a decade back.
Business
January trade deficit narrows to 9-month low of $17.5 billion (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s merchandise trade deficit, which had hit a record high of $29.9 billion in October 2023, narrowed sequentially for the third successive month and touched a nine-month low of $17.5 billion in January, provisional estimates released by the Union Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Goods exports rose for the second straight month, growing 3.1% year-on-year to $36.92 billion. However, they were 4% below December’s tally.
Imports grew 3% to $54.4 billion, although they were 6.6% lower than the preceding month.
Services exports, whose actual numbers will be released later, are estimated to have expanded 17.5% to $32.8 billion in January, taking the combined export tally last month to $69.72 billion, 9.28% higher than a year earlier.
Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said the uptick in exports was significant as it was achieved “despite the Red Sea crisis, the recessionary conditions in advanced countries and despite the falling commodity prices”.
The ministry, the top official said, had been working with other departments to help exporters navigate the difficult situation in the Red Sea.
India, Nepal sign pact to link UPI, NPI for faster remittances (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) signed and exchanged Terms of Reference (ToR) to integrate fast payment systems of India and Nepal through Unified Payments Interface (UPI) of India and National Payments Interface (NPI) of Nepal, respectively.
“The integration is aimed at facilitating cross-border remittances between India and Nepal by enabling users of the two systems to make instant, low-cost fund transfers,” the RBI said in a statement.
The collaboration between India and Nepal in linking their fast payment systems through the UPI-NPI linkage would further deepen financial connectivity and “reinforce the enduring historical, cultural, and economic ties between the two countries.
World
U.K. economy slipped into ‘technical’ recession in 2023; Sunak faces flak (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The U.K. economy slipped into a “technical” recession in 2023, with the final quarter for last year showing a decline in GDP of 0.3%, on the back of a 0.1% decline in growth in the third quarter, as per data released by the country’s Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The news was quickly deployed by the Opposition Labour Party as a reason to vote out Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government in elections later this year.
“Rishi Sunak has failed to turn the corner on 14 years of Tory economic decline,” Labour leader Keir Starmer said, adding that Labour alone could deliver the change that was needed.
Construction, production and services were all down in the final quarter of 2023. The U.K. grew at 0.1% over 2023 — the weakest growth registered since the 2009 financial crisis, barring 2020, when the pandemic began.
Science
The diversity blindspot in health policy (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The math seems to be off, in the equation of health and healing. Official data suggests women constitute almost half of all of India’s health workers.
Yet, only 18% of them make it to the top of the pyramid, reaching leadership positions across health panels, committees, hospitals, colleges and ministries. That means for every woman, there are more than four men in a health setting.
Emerging research is putting the health sector’s worst-kept secret on display: diversity gaps. The cone of the pyramid has an “over-concentration” of not just men, but of doctors, individuals from Delhi-NCR, and bureaucrats, according to a new analysis of India’s National Health Committees between 1943 and 2020.
The over-representation of privileged actors and lack of diversity indicates a “centralisation” of the health policy. If power is concentrated in circles — with gender, geography and socio-economic markers at their compass — it risks creating skewed health systems ridden with inequality, experts note.
This constitutes a very middle-class, or an upper-middle-class elite set of policymakers, making decisions for 70% of people whose lives they don’t understand, says Vandana Prasad, a public health professional associated with Public Health Resource Network.
In another reality, with a more equitable representation from stakeholders, “the policy, programme and implementation will all be different and the outcomes will be much better. The lack of participation is one of the reasons we are not arriving at the outcomes we want.”