Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
The high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind has recommended simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and State Assemblies as the first step, and holding municipal and panchayat polls within 100 days of the general election in the next phase.
The committee submitted its report, running into more than 18,000 pages, to President Droupadi Murmu. The report that is put in the public domain, however, is a 321-page one.
The 22nd Law Commission, which is examining the simultaneous polls issue, is also expected to submit its report to the Law Ministry anytime now and recommend the same from the 2029 general election cycle.
States
India 134th in global human development index: UNDP (Page no. 4)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India has moved up a rank on the global Human Development Index (HDI), according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report ‘Breaking the gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarised world’, released on Wednesday.
The report stated that while India ranked 135 in 2021, it had moved up to 134 in 2022. A total of 193 countries were ranked in 2022, and 191 countries in 2021.
India’s southern neighbour Sri Lanka has been ranked much ahead at 78, while China is ranked 75, both categorised under the High Human Development category.
India also ranks below Bhutan, which stands at 125, and Bangladesh, which is in the 129th position. Switzerland has been ranked number one.
Editorial
In issuing AI advisory, MEITY becomes a deity (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Until a few years ago, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY/MeitY) was called the Department of Electronics and IT, or DEITY.
The abbreviation often led to its overzealous and early attempts to censor the Internet, or regulate technology, open to ridicule.
Underlying it is the comic act of government departments that demand divine obedience but do their work with clumsy incompetence.
This very avatar was adopted on March 1, 2024, when MEITY issued an advisory to several large platforms for the regulation of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI).
It was immediately criticised by both a cross-section of experts in regulation and AI and even the more reticent start-up founders.
Opinion
Has poverty really dropped to 5% in India? (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
NITI Aayog B.V.R. Subrahmanyam recently claimed that less than 5% of Indians now live below the poverty line. He made the claim based on the findings of the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), 2022-23. Mr. Subrahmanyam argued that the average consumption expenditure in the bottom 5% of India’s population, as estimated by the survey, is about the same as the poverty line in India, suggesting that the poverty rate in India is somewhere in the range of 0 to 5%.
Text & Context
CAA rules and controversies (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
Four years after Parliament passed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) notified the rules to implement the law on March 11.
It fast-tracks citizenship for undocumented immigrants from six non-Muslim communities — Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Parsi, Christian and Jain — from Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
The CAA is also under challenge before the Supreme Court, with several petitioners moving fresh pleas seeking a stay on the implementation of the rules.
In December 2019, Parliament passed an amendment to The Citizenship Act, 1955 (1955 Act) introducing a new proviso to Section 2(1)(b) which defines “illegal migrants.”
Accordingly, undocumented immigrants who entered India on or before December 31, 2014, and whom the Central government has exempted under the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, or the Foreigners Act, 1946, would be eligible for citizenship under the 1955 Act.
News
Study flags mixed implementation of Forest Rights Act (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
A fact-finding committee formed by Call for Justice, a Delhi-based organisation, has found “mixed” implementation of the Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 in five States across the country.
The States studied by an eight-member committee, led by Justice S.N. Dhingra (retd), over eight months are Assam, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Odisha, and Karnataka.
The team assessed two districts in Assam – Dima Hasao and Hailakandi – and found that the FRA in its current form does not address the unique situation existing in the northeastern States concerning shifting or jhum cultivation.
This form of cultivation involving slashing and burning plants on hill slopes needs to be recognised as a practice adapted to the ecological and cultural needs of the forest-dwelling communities.
In Chhattisgarh, the decision-making process was significantly delayed in Kanker and Korba, the two districts where the team conducted the study.
Centre unveils project for cashless treatment of road crash victims (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Road Transport and Highways Ministry announced a pilot project to provide cashless treatment of up to ₹1.5 lakh to all victims of road accidents.
The pilot project will be undertaken in Chandigarh to establish an ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour.
Victims will be entitled to cashless treatment of up to ₹1.5 lakh per person for a maximum period of seven days from the date of the accident.
The scheme will be applicable to all victims of road accidents involving a motor vehicle which occurred on any category of road.
The packages for trauma and polytrauma offered under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana will also be co-opted under the scheme.
Claims raised by hospitals for providing treatment will be reimbursed from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.
Business
Fitch lifts India growth view to 7.8% for 2023-24 (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Fitch Ratings raised its GDP growth projections for India to 7.8% for this year, and 7% for 2024-25, attributing the “sizeable upward revisions” to brighter prospects for emerging markets excluding China “particularly in India”.
While raising world growth prospects for 2024 from 2.1% to 2.4%, Fitch said there are “upside risks” to its 2023-24 growth projection for India which is marginally higher than the government’s 7.6% estimate.
Terming domestic demand and investment the main drivers of growth, Fitch said short-term growth would outpace the economy’s estimated potential before moderating towards the trend next year.
World
Sri Lanka gets bomb disposal device through Chinese grant (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2International Relation)
Sri Lanka has received a stock of bomb squad equipment through a grant from the Chinese military, the Sri Lankan Army has said.
The Chinese Ambassador in Colombo handed over the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) equipment to the Secretary to Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence Gen. Kamal Gunaratne (Rtd) in a ceremony held, according to a media statement.
The equipment will be used primarily for screening, bomb detection, and disposal, according to Army sources in Colombo. The statement did not mention the cost of the equipment.
The development came a day after the U.S. Department of Defence commenced a training programme for Sri Lanka’s Air Force for enhanced protection of the island’s maritime resources, to counter illicit trafficking and monitor its exclusive economic zone.
It also coincided with the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s recent engagement in the region, including in Sri Lanka.
Science
Why govts. are seeing red on Rhodamine B in street food (Page no. 21)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
On February 17, Tamil Nadu banned the sale of cotton candy or candy floss after analysis confirmed the presence of Rhodamine-B, an industrial dye, in samples lifted from stalls in Chennai.
Since then, the Karnataka government has banned the use of harmful colouring agents in cotton candy and “Gobi Manchurian”, while Andhra Pradesh has begun lifting samples for analysis.
Rhodamine-B is a textile dye, and its use in food has a huge impact on health. Meenakshi Bajaj, dietician, Tamil Nadu Government Multi Super Speciality Hospital, explains: “Rhodamine-B is a fluorescent dye used in cosmetics, textile and leather industries.
It gives you brilliant pinks, greens and blues. Unfortunately, it is used as a food colouring agent not only in cotton candy but also in the preparation of sweets, various manchurian items and pakodas and in the preparation of sauces for Chinese food.”