29 May 2024, The Hindu
The Constitution, a surprise entrant in poll battlefield
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GS 2: Indian Constitution: features, amendments, significant provisions
- The Chakkipat neighbourhood of Agra in Uttar Pradesh was adorned with flags of B.R. Ambedkar with the tagline kalam ka badshah (master of the pen), an allusion to the seminal role of Ambedkar in drafting the Constitution of India.
- We spoke to a group of young Jatav men, once a core vote bank of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). As the BSP’s graph has trended downward, these men had voted for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 general election, but they will not support the BJP this time.
- The reason, the Constitution — “Dr. Ambedkar means everything to us. We don’t think it’s too easy to change the Constitution, but we believe the BJP wants to change the Constitution.”
Still no sign of the language of equity and inclusion
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GS 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and the States and the performance of these schemes.
- The general election 2024 is almost nearing its end. Yet, when the Election Commission of India (ECI) made the announcement for the election in March, the long video televised and propagated on social media, stood out for one detail — the absence of sign language interpreters.
- This is a small, but significant, example of the ways in which everyday life in India excludes Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) citizens.
- India’s push for equity in education, health care, and rights cannot succeed without dismantling ableist barriers that exclude DHH people.
Turnout conundrum
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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance.
- With just one phase left in the general election 2024, a stocktaking exercise on voter participation across the country reveals a significant dampening in turnout in this set of elections in comparison to the 2019 and even the 2014 general elections.
- There are State and regional level variations — voters in the east, northeast and many in the south typically voted higher than those in west, central and north India.
- Yet, barring some exceptions such as Telangana and Karnataka, where voter turnout registered a small increase from 62.8% to 65.7% and 68.8% to 70.6% among others, there has been a general decline in voting across States in 2024.
India offers $1-million aid to Papua New Guinea
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GS 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting the Indian interests
- The Government of India has granted $1 million as immediate assistance for Papua New Guinea, which has been hit by a devastating flood and landslip that has so far killed 2,000 people.
- “As a close friend and partner under the Forum for India-Pacific Islands Cooperation (FIPIC) and as a gesture of solidarity with the friendly people of Papua New Guinea, Government of India extends an immediate relief assistance of $1 million to support relief, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts,” said the Ministry of External Affairs in a press statement.
‘Credit growth to slow to 14% on risk weights, softer GDP’
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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation of resources, growth, development and employment.
- Bank credit growth in FY25 is expected to moderate 200 basis points (bps) to 14% from an estimated growth of 16% in FY24 due to a high base effect, a revision in risk weights and a somewhat slower pace of gross domestic product (GDP) growth, CRISIL Ratings said in a report.
- However, a revival in private corporate capital expenditure (capex), especially towards the second half of the current year could provide a tailwind, the rating agency said.
An altered protein and fussy neurons conspire to cause microcephaly
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GS 3: General awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, Robotics, Nanotechnology, bio-technology
- Microcephaly is a condition in which a baby’s head is much smaller than normal. Most children with microcephaly also have a small brain, poor motor function, poor speech, and abnormal facial features, and are intellectually disabled.
- Researchers believe the roots of the condition lie in the peak phase of brain development in the embryo — when the cells that eventually become neurons fail to divide normally.
- Clinicians can diagnose microcephaly before the baby is born using foetal ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging.
