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Under fire and grappling with a situation fast turning into a diplomatic row, the Maldives government of President Mohamed Muizzu, whose party rode to power last year on an ‘India Out’ poll campaign, suspended three ministers Sunday for making derogatory remarks about Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the people of India.
Ministers Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha Shareef and Mahzoom Majid were suspended with immediate effect, hours after the Maldives government distanced itself from the remarks made by the ministers and MPs who joined a social media spat over Lakshadweep vs Maldives in the wake of Prime Minister Modi’s photographs from Lakshadweep.
The Indian High Commission in Male, sources said, raised the matter with the Foreign Office there and expressed concern over comments about the Prime Minister by certain ministers of the Maldives government. President Muizzu was leaving for China on a State Visit at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
The Maldives government, in a statement, without naming its ministers or Prime Minister Modi, said: “The Government of Maldives is aware of derogatory remarks on social media platforms against foreign leaders and high-ranking individuals. These opinions are personal and do not represent the views of the Government of Maldives.”
Express Network
IAF- C 130J makes maiden night landing in Kargil (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
In a landmark feat, a C-130J aircraft of the Indian Air Force recently landed at the Kargil airstrip in the night for the first time.
Sharing the video of the night landing, the IAF said, “In a first, an IAF C-130 J aircraft recently carried out a night landing at the Kargil airstrip. Employing terrain masking enroute, the exercise also dovetailed a training mission of the Garuds.
C-130 J aircraft of the IAF recently landed on the Kargil airstrip in the night for the first time. The IAF, however, did not provide more details about the training mission.
In November last year, the IAF successfully landed two of its Lockheed Martin C-130J-30 ‘Super Hercules’ military transport aircraft at a rudimentary and unfeasible airstrip in Uttarakhand.
The mission was carried out in inclement weather, to deliver heavy engineering equipment to help rescue workers trapped inside a nearby under-construction mountain tunnel.
Editorial
A god that failed (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
Tulsidas’s Ramacharitmanas asks, Jaum mrigpati badha medukanhi bhala ki kahai kou tahi (if a lion kills frogs, will anyone speak well of him)? The Indian Penal Code makes the Indian state very powerful — does it really need jail provisions in half of the 1,536 laws that touch employers?
The recent Jan Vishwas Bill, now a law, has reduced corruption demands on employers by removing 113 jail provisions across 23 laws. I make the case for Jan Vishwas Bill Version 2.0 with a shift in policy strategy from retail to wholesale filtering after next year’s general elections to further reduce corruption and accelerate good job creation.
Labour laws are the biggest culprit.
The Factories Act, 1948, read with 58 rules, contains more than 8,682 imprisonment clauses. But even simpler laws are hardly innocent: The Legal Metrology Act, 2009, read with 29 rules, has 391 imprisonment clauses; the Electricity Act, 2003, read with 35 rules, has 558; and the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, read with nine rules has 134. Overall, there are 25,000+ employer jail provisions, of which 5,000+ arise from central legislation.
Ideas Page
Growth and its discontent (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
As we enter 2024, there is optimism on the macro-economic front. The NSO has estimated GDP growth for 2023-24 at 7.3 per cent in its first advance estimates.
The Sensex is booming, having crossed the 72,000 mark first time in history. Foreign exchange reserves have crossed $620 billion as on December 22, 2023. Inflation has been contained within the RBI’s desirable band of 4 plus/minus 2 per cent.
All this points to India being the best performer among G20 countries in 2023. And as per IMF projections, India is likely to outperform most G20 countries even in 2024.
All this cannot be achieved without policy playing a critical role. In this context, the RBI Governor and his team, along with the Ministry of Finance, deserve credit for having worked in tandem to spur growth, contain inflation and provide financial stability.
No wonder, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das has been honoured with the Governor of the Year award at the Central Banking Awards in London.
Explained
How AI us being harnessed in the treatment of cancer (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Given the escalating cases of cancer, the shortage of specialists poses a significant challenge in curbing fatalities. To address this gap, Mumbai’s Tata Memorial Hospital (TMH), the biggest cancer hospital in India, is turning to artificial intelligence (AI).
By established a ‘Bio-Imaging Bank’ for cancer, the hospital is utilising deep learning to craft a cancer-specific tailored algorithm that aids in early-stage cancer detection. It incorporated data from 60,000 patients into the biobank in the last year.
The project’s overarching goal is to create a robust repository encompassing radiology and pathology images, intricately linked with clinical information, outcome data, treatment specifics, and additional metadata. This comprehensive resource is strategically designed for the training, validation, and rigorous testing of AI algorithms.
Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Supreme Court judge Justice BR Gavai has been nominated as the Chairman of the Supreme Court Legal Services Committee (SCLSC), replacing Justice Sanjiv Khanna – the seniormost judge of the top court after the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
A notification issued by the Department of Justice on December 29, 2023, announced Justice Gavai’s nomination. Here is what the committee is, and what the law says on legal services in India.
The Supreme Court Legal Services Committee was constituted under Section 3A of the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, to provide “free and competent legal services to the weaker sections of society”, in cases falling under the top court’s jurisdiction.
Section 3A of the Act states that the Central Authority (the National Legal Services Authority or NALSA) shall constitute the committee.
It consists of a sitting SC judge, who is the chairman, along with other members possessing the experience and qualifications prescribed by the Centre.
Both the chairman and other members will be nominated by the CJI. Further, the CJI can appoint the Secretary to the Committee.
What the GDP data shows (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s GDP will grow by 7.3% in the current financial year (2023-24), slightly faster than the 7.2% growth in 2022-23, the First Advance Estimates (FAEs) released by the government on Friday showed.
The FAE are presented at the end of the first week of January every year. They are only the first estimates of growth for that financial year.
By the end of February, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) will release the Second Advance Estimates and, by the end of May, the Provisional Estimates.
The GDP estimates continue to be revised as more and better data become available — and in the coming three years, MoSPI will release the First, Second, and Third Revised Estimates of this year’s GDP before settling on the final number, which is called the “Actuals”.
The FAE are based on the performance of the economy over the first seven-odd months, and the data are extrapolated to arrive at an annual picture.
The Advance Estimates of National Income are indicator-based and are compiled using the benchmark-indicator method, i.e. the estimates available for the previous year (2022-23) are extrapolated using the relevant indicators reflecting the performance of sectors.
World
PM Hasina gets 4th straight term in landslide win amid opp boycott (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has secured a record fourth straight term as her Awami League party won an overwhelming majority in the general elections marred by sporadic violence and a boycott by the main opposition BNP and its allies.
Hasina’s party won 223 seats in the 300-seat Parliament. Election was held for 299 seats The election to one seat will be held later due to the death of a candidate, according to media reports.
The main opposition in Parliament, the Jatiya Party, got 11 seats, Bangladesh Kallyan party won in one constituency while independent candidates came out victorious in 62 seats. Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and the Workers Party of Bangladesh won one seat each.
Hasina, 76. also the president of Awami League, won the Gopalganj-3 constituency in a landslide victory, her eighth term as a Member of Parliament.