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Annual Current Affairs Compilation
(AI based Learning Platform) (To the Point) Jan 2022 – Jan 2023
Index
NATIONAL AIR SPORTS DRAFT POLICY ........................................ 5 PM CARES SCHEME FOR CHILDREN ........................................... 22
PADHE BHARAT .......................................................................... 5 ONE CLASS, ONE CHANNEL........................................................ 22
DISTRICT LEVEL GOVERNANCE INDEX ......................................... 5 MINISTRY OF EDUCATION LAUNCHES BHASHA CERTIFICATE
SELFIE CAMPAIGN ..................................................................... 23
NEAT 3.0 .................................................................................... 6
NON-LAPSABLE CENTRAL POOL OF RESOURCES SCHEME .......... 23
PRADHAN MANTRI MATRU VANDANA YOJANA (PMMVY) ......... 6
OPERATION GANGA .................................................................. 23
DAM SAFETY ACT CHALLENGED IN HC ........................................ 7
INTERNATIONAL MONSOONS PROJECT OFFICE LAUNCHED ....... 24
DEBATE ON INCOME CRITERIA SET FOR EWS .............................. 8
‘VOTER ISLANDS’....................................................................... 24
NATIONAL SINGLE WINDOW SYSTEM (NSWS) ............................ 8
NATIONAL YOUTH PARLIAMENT FESTIVAL ................................ 25
GIS-BASED AUTOMATED WATER CONNECTION .......................... 9
AAP INCHES CLOSER TO BECOMING A ‘RECOGNISED’ NATIONAL
NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR SAFAI KARAMCHARIS .................. 9
PARTY ....................................................................................... 26
THE 50TH STATEHOOD DAY ...................................................... 10
GENDER SAMWAAD .................................................................. 26
IAS CADRE RULES AMENDMENT ............................................... 10
GOVT. SEEKS PARLIAMENT NOD FOR EXTRA SPENDING OF ₹1.07
NEW CCS (PENSION) RULES ...................................................... 11 LAKH CR. ................................................................................... 27
ODF PLUS VILLAGE.................................................................... 12 51% MLAS FACE CRIMINAL CASES IN NEW UP VIDHAN SABHA .. 27
NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR WOMEN .................................... 12 COURT IS RIGHT, ISLAM DOESN'T MANDATE HIJAB ................... 28
GLOBAL CENTER OF EXCELLENCE IN AFFORDABLE AND CLEAN MGNREGA ................................................................................ 28

ENERGY (GCOE-ACE) ................................................................. 13
THE COMPETITION (AMENDMENT) BILL, 2022........................... 29
SERVICES E-HEALTH ASSISTANCE AND TELECONSULTATION
SEXUAL HARASSMENT OF WOMEN AT WORKPLACE
(SEHAT) .................................................................................... 13
(PREVENTION, PROHIBITION AND REDRESSAL) ACT OF 2013. .... 29
THE LIMITS OF THE LEGISLATURE’S POWER TO SUSPEND A
NIPUN BHARAT SCHEME ........................................................... 30
MEMBER .................................................................................. 13
PM SVANIDHI SCHEME .............................................................. 30
RASHTRIYA YUVA SASHAKTIKARAN KARYAKRAM (RYSK) ......... 14
ETHANOL BLENDED PETROL (EBP) PROGRAMME ...................... 30
NATIONAL AIR SPORTS POLICY (NASP 2022) ............................. 15
ALL INDIA DIGITAL NATION-WIDE PENSION ADALAT ................. 31
NAI ROSHNI SCHEME ................................................................ 15
TELE LAW MOBILE APP.............................................................. 31
AUTO FUEL VISION AND POLICY-2025....................................... 16
DELHI MUNICIPAL CORPORATION (AMENDMENT) BILL ............. 31
ONE DISTRICT ONE PRODUCT ................................................... 16
PRADHAN MANTRI GARIB KALYAN ANNA YOJANA (PM-GKAY)
SAINIK SCHOOLS....................................................................... 16
SCHEME .................................................................................... 32
SMILE SCHEME ......................................................................... 17
FASTER (FAST AND SECURED TRANSMISSION OF ELECTRONIC
SAMAJIK ADHIKARITA SHIVIR ................................................... 17 RECORDS) ................................................................................. 32
DIGITAL LEARNING SHOULD NOT LEAD TO DIGITAL DIVIDE: VICE MENSTRUATION BENEFIT BILL 2017 .......................................... 33
PRESIDENT ............................................................................... 18
NCW LAUNCHES ANTI-HUMAN TRAFFICKING CELL .................... 33
SEED PROGRAMME .................................................................. 18
AFSPA ....................................................................................... 33
NEW INDIA LITERACY PROGRAMME ......................................... 19
ZONAL CONFERENCE OF 8 NORTH-EAST STATES IN GUWAHATI. 34
JAL JEEVAN MISSION ................................................................ 19
SMART CITIES, SMART URBANIZATION’ CONFERENCE ............... 35
PM FASAL BIMA YOJANA .......................................................... 20
SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL WATER WEEK 2022 ..................... 36
SBM-U 2.0 AND AMRUT 2.0 ...................................................... 20
PARBOILED RICE........................................................................ 36
DRAFT RIGHTS ON REFUGEE RIGHTS ......................................... 21
DRAFT BATTERY SWAPPING POLICY .......................................... 37
TRIBUNALS REFORMS ACT ........................................................ 21
NOISE POLLUTION..................................................................... 37
NATIONAL MEANS-CUM-MERIT SCHOLARSHIP SCHEME ........... 22
48TH ALL INDIA POLICE SCIENCE CONGRESS .............................. 38
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NATIONAL PANCHAYATI RAJ DAY ............................................. 39 GOOGLE BATS FOR ‘NARROWLY TAILORED’ DATA
LOCALISATION .......................................................................... 57
RAISINA DIALOGUE 2022 .......................................................... 40
NEW ORDERS ON MGNREGA WORKERS .................................... 58
VIRTUAL REGIONAL CONCLAVES ON PM CARES FOR CHILDREN
SCHEME ................................................................................... 41 REGULATING MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENTS ........................... 59
MANDATE DOCUMENT OF NATIONAL CURRICULUM NCPCR ISSUES GUIDELINES FOR PROTECTION OF CHILD
FRAMEWORK (NCF) .................................................................. 41 ARTISTES ................................................................................... 59
ADIGRAMS ............................................................................... 42 COALITION FOR DISASTER RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE (CDRI) . 60
NATIONAL CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK (NCF) .......................... 42 CENTRE AMENDS FCRA RULES ................................................... 60
KARNATAKA PREVENTION OF SLAUGHTER AND PRESERVATION NO HOTELS OR RESTAURANTS CAN ADD SERVICE CHARGE
OF CATTLE ACT ......................................................................... 43 AUTOMATICALLY ...................................................................... 61
COMPUTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAM (CERT-IN) ............... 43 THE FUNCTIONING OF THE NATIONAL INVESTIGATION AGENCY62
TELANGANA FORMATION DAY ................................................. 44 MYGOV GUJARAT ..................................................................... 62
UIDAI WITHDRAWS ADVISORY ON SHARING AADHAAR PANEL SUGGESTS INCREASING TENURE OF PARLIAMENTARY
PHOTOCOPY ............................................................................. 44 COMMITTEES ............................................................................ 63
NATIONAL AIR SPORTS POLICY ................................................. 45 CASTE CENSUS .......................................................................... 63
MISSION KARMAYOGI .............................................................. 46 POCSO APPLICABLE TO MINOR MUSLIM GIRL WHO HAS
ATTAINED AGE OF PUBERTY: DELHI HC ..................................... 64
GREEN ENERGY OPEN ACCESS .................................................. 47
NITI UNIT PITCHES FOR GENDER BUDGETING ACT ..................... 64
ELECTION TO THE OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF INDIA, 2022 .......... 47
INTERPOL'S INITIATIVE AGAINST CHILD SEX ABUSE ................... 65
GUIDELINES ON PREVENTION OF MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENTS
AND ENDORSEMENTS FOR MISLEADING ADVERTISEMENTS, FOREST ACT: CENTRE TO DECRIMINALISE MINOR OFFENCES ..... 65
2022 ......................................................................................... 48
HOUSE PANEL RECOMMENDS AGAINST COMPULSORY
28TH JOINT CIVIL-MILITARY TRAINING PROGRAMME AT MEDIATION, ROLE FOR JUDICIARY ............................................ 66
LBSNAA .................................................................................... 49
TELE-LAW SERVICE .................................................................... 66
NATIONAL E-GOVERNANCE SERVICE DELIVERY ASSESSMENT
JAN SAMARTH PORTAL ............................................................. 67
2021, NESDA 2021 .................................................................... 49
DRAFT NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY.............................................. 67
NCPCR TO CELEBRATE ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOUR WEEK . 50
GREEN ENERGY OPEN ACCESS ................................................... 68
NATIONAL E-GOVERNANCE SERVICE DELIVERY ASSESSMENT 2021
REPORT .................................................................................... 50 CENTRE SETS UP MSP PANEL ..................................................... 68
E- VIDHAN SYSTEM ................................................................... 51 STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT TO MAKE ONLINE
EDUCATION MORE CONDUCIVE ................................................ 69
NO ADS PROMOTING ONLINE BETTING .................................... 52
THE ANTI-MARITIME PIRACY BILL.............................................. 69
DRAFT ANTI- TRAFFICKING BILL ................................................ 52
FLAG CODE OF INDIA 2022 ........................................................ 70
FIRST NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF CHIEF SECRETARIES ............. 53
CENTRE TO AMEND WAREHOUSING ACT .................................. 71
ENFORCEMENT DIRECTORATE .................................................. 54
NEW LAW TO FREE COFFEE SECTOR FROM RESTRICTIVE
DEADLINE FOR FREEZING ADMINISTRATIVE BOUNDARIES
CONTROLS ................................................................................ 72
EXTENDED ................................................................................ 54
PRIVATE PLAYERS CAN USE DRONES FOR DELIVERY PURPOSES . 73
DRAFT NATIONAL DATA GOVERNANCE FRAMEWORK POLICY .. 54
THE PARLIAMENTARY PANEL HAS HIGHLIGHTED SOME OF THE
GOVT TO TWEAK ANCIENT MONUMENTS ACT TO MAKE IT
OUTDATED PROVISIONS OF GOA’S UNIFORM CIVIL CODE ......... 73
FLEXIBLE ................................................................................... 55
KERALA RAISES CONCERNS ABOUT PROPOSED AMENDMENTS TO
CANDIDATES WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CONTEST ELECTIONS FROM
LAW GOVERNING MINES AND MINES AND MINERALS .............. 74
MORE THAN ONE SEAT ............................................................. 55
PUBLIC GRIEVANCE REDRESSAL TIME REDUCED TO 30 DAYS
NATIONAL CONCLAVE OF SCHEDULED & MULTI-STATE URBAN
FROM 45 DAYS .......................................................................... 75
CO-OPERATIVE BANKS AND CREDIT SOCIETIES ......................... 56
SC QUASHES JHARKHAND DECISION TO GRANT 100% QUOTA TO
THE CONSTITUTIONAL VALIDITY OF TALAQ-E-HASAN ............... 57
LOCALS IN GOVT JOBS ............................................................... 75
CENTRE MANDATES 3-YR HEALTH INSURANCE PLAN FOR
SURROGATE MOTHERS............................................................. 57
Future of education
GOVT WITHDRAWS DATA PROTECTION BILL TO BRING GOVT STANDARDISES PROCESS TO ISSUE INTERNATIONAL
REVAMPED, REFRESHED REGULATION...................................... 75 DRIVING PERMIT ....................................................................... 95
E-COURT MISSION MODE PROJECT ........................................... 76 FORENSIC INVESTIGATION MANDATORY IN DELHI FOR CASES
THAT ATTRACT 6-YR JAIL TERM ................................................. 95
NO IMMUNITY FROM ARREST IN CRIMINAL CASES FOR MPS
DURING SESSION ...................................................................... 77 NDPS ACT.................................................................................. 96
CHHATTISGARH GOVT IMPLEMENTS EXTENSION OF PANCHAYAT SUPREME COURT DISMISSES PLEA TO NOTIFY SANSKRIT AS
RIGHTS IN SCHEDULED AREAS .................................................. 77 NATIONAL LANGUAGE .............................................................. 97
CABINET ALLOWS PROCUREMENT BY COOPERATIVES THROUGH CHANGING THE AGE OF CONSENT ............................................. 97
GEM PORTAL ............................................................................ 78
COURT CANNOT QUESTION THE CHOICE OF MINORITY
PETITION TO RECOGNISE MINORITIES AT DISTRICT LEVEL IS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION ..................................................... 98
CONTRARY TO LAW .................................................................. 79
FUNDING PUBLIC EDUCATION ................................................... 98
ELECTRICITY BILL ...................................................................... 79
SC NOTICE ON PLEA TO CANCEL SYMBOLS, NAMES OF POLITICAL
STATE-LEVEL OBC GROUPS MUST BE INCLUDED IN CENTRAL PARTIES USING RELIGION.......................................................... 99
LIST .......................................................................................... 80
THE TEDIOUS PROCESS OF ADOPTION..................................... 100
EUTHANASIA ............................................................................ 81
NATIONAL LOGISTICS POLICY .................................................. 100
KERALA GOVT BILL TO CURTAIL GOVERNOR’S POWER IN
NEW RULES FOR CHILD WELFARE PANEL MEMBERS ................ 101
VARSITIES ................................................................................. 81
MHA NOTIFIES RULES TO RECORD AND STORE IRIS, RETINA,
NATIONAL E-VIDHAN APPLICATION (NEVA) PROJECT ............... 82
PHYSICAL AND BIOLOGICAL SAMPLES OF SUSPECTS ................ 102
TALAQ-E-HASAN ....................................................................... 82
NEW SECURITY FEATURE ADDED TO AADHAAR-LINKED PAYMENT
SUPREME COURT NOT IN FAVOUR OF DERECOGNISING SYSTEMS TO PREVENT FRAUDS ............................................... 103
POLITICAL PARTIES OVER FREEBIES .......................................... 83
REFORMS AND THE TASK OF GETTING TEACHERS ON BOARD . 104
SUPREME COURT EXTENDS STATUS QUO ON COA TAKE OVER . 84
FREEING THE CAGED PARROT ................................................. 104
ALL 11 LIFE IMPRISONMENT CONVICTS RELEASED UNDER
ABORTION AND MARITAL RAPE .............................................. 105
GUJARAT GOVERNMENT'S REMISSION POLICY ......................... 84
IMEI NUMBERS COMPULSORY ................................................ 106
MGNREGA ................................................................................ 85
POPULAR FRONT OF INDIA (PFI) .............................................. 106
LEGAL AID DEFENSE COUNSEL SYSTEM ..................................... 86
NATIONAL DISASTER MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY ................... 107
SC DECLARES RETROSPECTIVE USE OF BENAMI LAW
UNCONSTITUTIONAL ................................................................ 86 AFSPA EXTENDED IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH, NAGALAND FOR SIX
MONTHS ................................................................................. 108
PEW REPORT ON SEX RATIO AT BIRTH IN INDIA ....................... 87
PREVENTIVE DETENTION SERIOUS INVASION OF PERSONAL
CENTRE SIGNS HEADQUARTERS AGREEMENT WITH COALITION
LIBERTY, RULES SUPREME COURT ........................................... 108
FOR DISASTER RESILIENT INFRASTRUCTURE ............................. 88
JOB ON COMPASSION GROUND A CONCESSION, NOT A RIGHT:
KASHMIR VOTER LIST ............................................................... 88
SC ........................................................................................... 109
NATIONAL AUTOMATED FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM
CRITERION FOR SC STATUS...................................................... 109
(NAFIS) ..................................................................................... 89
PARLIAMENT COMMITTEES .................................................... 110
FLOOR TEST IN BIHAR ASSEMBLY ............................................. 90
ONE CANDIDATE, ONE CONSITUENTCY ................................... 111
OFFICE OF PROFIT..................................................................... 90
MULTIPURPOSE PACS IN EVERY PANCHAYAT .......................... 111
ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY ISSUES RULES ON WASTE ELECTRIC
VEHICLE BATTERIES .................................................................. 91 HIJAB BAN .............................................................................. 112
SUPREME COURT SET TO REVIEW PMLA VERDICT, RECONSIDER CABINET OKAYS AMENDMENTS IN MULTI-STATE COOPERATIVE
TWO PROVISIONS .................................................................... 92 SOCIETIES ACT......................................................................... 112
AADHAAR- VOTER ID LINKAGE ................................................. 92 HARYANA TOPPED THE PUBLIC AFFAIRS INDEX 2022 IN BIG
STATES .................................................................................... 113
MORE WOMEN NOW SEEKING `KHULA’ AS PER ISLAMIC LAW .. 93
NATIONAL CREDIT FRAMEWORK (NCRF) ................................. 113
POLITICAL PARTIES FREEBIES .................................................... 94
LOK ADALATS .......................................................................... 114
GOVERNMENT PROPOSES NEW REGULATOR TO PROMOTE
‘UNIFORMITY’ IN ALL BOARD EXAMS ....................................... 94
Future of education
CCI FINES GOOGLE RS 1,338 CR FOR ANTI-COMPETITIVE UGC 4-YEAR UNDERGRADUATE HONOURS DEGREE TO HELP
PRACTICES .............................................................................. 115 STUDENTS GO ABROAD .......................................................... 134
OPERATION MEGH CHAKRA ................................................... 115 SCHEME FOR MADRASAS, MINORITY INSTITUTES ................... 135
NATIONAL CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK (NCF) 2022 (FOR FAMILY PEHCHAN PATRA (FPP) ............................................... 135
FOUNDATIONAL LEARNING) ................................................... 116
SOCIAL PROGRESS INDEX (SPI) ................................................ 136
CENTRE CANCELS FCRA LICENCES OF TWO NGOS HEADED BY
CENTRE DRAWS FLAK FROM PARLIAMENTARY PANEL OVER
SONIA GANDHI ....................................................................... 117
STATE OF ONION SILOS ........................................................... 137
HATE SPEECH.......................................................................... 117
25TH EASTERN ZONAL COUNCIL MEETING .............................. 138
CHINTAN SHIVIR ..................................................................... 118
JAMMU AND KASHMIR NEW LAND LAWS END PAST PROPERTY
UNIFORM CIVIL CODE(UCC) .................................................... 119 LEASES .................................................................................... 138
THE AMENDMENTS TO THE IT RULES, 2021 ............................ 120 AVGC TASK FORCE REPORT ..................................................... 139
VOTING FOR NRIS ................................................................... 121 EXPEDITE CLASSIFICATION OF NOMADIC TRIBES IN QUOTA LISTS,
PANEL TELLS CENTRE............................................................... 140
CHILD WELFARE POLICE OFFICERS (CWPO) ............................. 122
DPIIT SEEKS VIEWS OF DIFFERENT MINISTRIES ON DRAFT
POCSO ACT FORCES ADIVASIS IN THE NILGIRIS INTO CONFLICT
NATIONAL RETAIL TRADE POLICY ............................................ 141
WITH LAW .............................................................................. 122
NATIONAL ARCHIVES HEAD SAYS NO RECORD OF 1962, 1971
LAW COMMISSION CONSTITUTED AFTER 4 YEARS .................. 123
WARS...................................................................................... 141
GUIDELINES FOR UPLINKING AND DOWNLINKING OF SATELLITE
CAG REPORT ON ASSAM'S NRC ............................................... 142
TELEVISION CHANNELS IN INDIA, 2022 ................................... 124
INDIA HAS OFFICIALLY RECOGNISED ESPORTS AS A PART OF
CENTRE ISSUES E-WASTE MANAGEMENT RULES ..................... 125
'MULTISPORT EVENT ............................................................... 143
JHARKHAND RESERVATION BILL & NINTH SCHEDULE OF THE
NATIONAL MOBILE MONITORING SYSTEM .............................. 143
INDIAN CONSTITUTION .......................................................... 125
ELECTION COMMISSION BEGINS DELIMITATION OF
SC ISSUES NOTICE TO HIGH COURTS ON PLEA FOR SETTING UP OF
CONSTITUENCIES IN ASSAM .................................................... 144
‘GRAM NYAYALAYAS’ ............................................................. 126
ELECTION COMMISSION DEVELOPS EVM PROTOTYPE FOR
‘PRISON INDUCTION DOCUMENT’ CAN BE USED FOR AADHAAR
MIGRANTS .............................................................................. 145
ENROLMENT OF INMATES ...................................................... 127
KARNATAKA RECLASSIFIES VOKKALIGAS, LINGAYATS TO RAISE
25TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON E-GOVERNANCE (NCEG) .... 128
THEIR OBC QUOTA SHARE ....................................................... 146
FSSAI RELEASES NEW DRAFT FOR GM FOOD REGULATIONS.... 128
DRAFT RULES FOR ONLINE GAMING ........................................ 146
GOVERNMENT FORMS PANEL TO LOOK INTO MGNREGA’S
NMC RELEASES DRAFT RULES FOR TIMETABLE, DURATION,
EFFICACY ................................................................................ 129
GRADES, AND PAPERS ............................................................. 147
AMENDMENT TO REGISTRATION OF BIRTH AND DEATH ACT,
NATIONAL GEOSPATIAL POLICY 2022 ...................................... 148
1969 ....................................................................................... 129
UGC RELEASED DRAFT GUIDELINES TO SET UP FOREIGN
PAPERLESS SAHARSA IS BIHAR’S NEW SHOWCASE DISTRICT... 130
EDUCATIONAL CAMPUSES IN INDIA ........................................ 149
CENTRE WIDENS ED POWER ................................................... 131
INDIAN TELEGRAPH (INFRASTRUCTURE SAFETY) RULES 2022 .. 150
GOVT APPROVES NEW SELF-REGULATORY BODY FOR PRINT,
KUKI-CHIN REFUGEES ISSUE .................................................... 150
DIGITAL NEWS OUTLETS ......................................................... 132
CENTRE TO END DISCRETIONARY HAJ QUOTA ......................... 151
NATIONAL PARTY IN INDIA ..................................................... 132
CEA RELEASES DISASTER MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR POWER
GREATER TIPRALAND ............................................................. 133
SECTOR ................................................................................... 152
UGC CHIEF DISCUSSES TRANSLATIONS OF BOOKS FOR COURSES
IN INDIAN LANGUAGES .......................................................... 134
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Future of education
National Air Sports Draft Policy
In News
The Ministry of Civil Aviation releases a draft of ‘National Air Sports Policy’, with a vision to make India one of the top
sports nations by 2030.
Features of the Draft Policy

 The draft covers sports like aerobatics, aeromodelling, amateur-built and experimental aircraft, ballooning,
drones, gliding, hang gliding and paragliding; microlighting and paramotoring; skydiving and vintage aircraft.
 An Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) will be established as the apex governing body.
 ASFI shall represent India at Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI)and other global platforms related
to air sports.
 Domestic design, development and manufacturing of air sports equipment will be promoted in line with the
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
 NASP 2022 places a strong focus on ensuring international best practices in safety.
 All persons and entities providing air sports services shall be required to register as members of the
respective air sports associations.
 An airspace map of India has been published on DGCA’s DigitalSky Platform. The map segregates the entire
airspace of India into the red zone, yellow zone and green zone.
 Schools, colleges and universities will be encouraged to have air sports included in their curriculum.
 Long-term funding for the development of air sports in India shall come from corporate investors, sponsors,
membership fees, events and media rights.
 To make air sports affordable to the common public, the Government will request the GST Council to
consider rationalising the GST rate on-air sports equipment to 5% or less.
Padhe Bharat
In News
A 100-day reading campaign has been launched by the Union Education Minister with an objective to promote the
practice of reading among children.
Significance of the Campaign:

 The Padhe Bharat campaign will be a crucial step to improve the learning levels of students.
 This will develop creativity, critical thinking, vocabulary and the ability to express both verbally and in
writing.
 It will be a 14 weeks programme with one activity per week per group and has been designed with an
intention to build a lifelong association of students with the joy of reading.
 The campaign also forms conformity with the vision and goals of the foundational Literacy and Numeracy
mission.
District level Governance Index
In News
Jammu & Kashmir will soon become the first Union Territory in the country to have a district level Good Governance
Index, modeled on the Good Governance Index 2021 launched on 25 December 2021.
Future of education
District Good Governance Index (DGGI)

DGGI will enable each of the 20 districts of Jammu & Kashmir to rise to the level of some of the best-administered
districts of the country, with
 Time-bound disIncreased transparency
 Increased accountability
 Increased citizen participation
The DGGI Framework has 58 Indicators drawn from different aspects of development and district administration
distributed in 10 sectors that include,
 Agriculture & allied sector
 Commposal of office files and other matters
 erce & Industry
 Human Resource Development
 Public Health
 Public Infrastructure & Utilities
 Economic Governance
 Welfare & Development
 Public Safety
 Judiciary
 Citizen-Centric Governance
About GGI
The Good Governance Day is observed on the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee
(25th December). It was observed for the first time in 2014.
NEAT 3.0
In News
Union Education Minister launches NEAT 3.0.
About NEAT 3.0:

 NEAT 3.0 is a single platform to provide the best-developed ed-tech solutions and courses to students of the
country.
 AICTE is the facilitator in the process.
 NEAT has 58 Education Technology Companies with 100 products that help to develop employable skills,
capacity building, and bridge learning gaps.
 More than 12 lakh socially and economically disadvantaged students have received free ed-tech course
coupons worth over ₹253 crores under NEAT 3.0.
 NEAT is expected to be a game-changer in bridging the digital divide in education.
 The minister also launched AICTE prescribed technical books in regional languages.
Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY)
In News
Review of the Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY) after five years of its inception.
Future of education
About Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana (PMMVY):

 It was rolled out on January 1, 2017, where a ‘cash incentive of ₹5,000 is provided directly to the bank/post
office account of pregnant women and lactating mothers for the first living child of the family (subject to
fulfilling specific conditions relating to maternal and child health)’.
 Those under Regular employment - Women with paid leave/maternity benefits from their employers in the
government(state/centre/PSUs) sector or those who are in receipt of similar benefits under any law are not
eligible.
 Objective: Cash incentives provided would lead to improved health seeking behaviour amongst PW&LM.
 Providing partial compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentives so that the woman can take
adequate rest before & after delivery of the first living child
 It is implemented collaboration with the state governments: 60:40.
 The scheme has retained the condition that the woman must not have more than 2 living children. Several
civil society organisations have asked for such conditions to be removed so that the scheme could be truly
effective.
Challenges faced by the scheme

 The annual estimate of the targeted beneficiaries by the Government of India has remained the same over
the years. While the estimated eligible population of pregnant and lactating mothers in India was 128.7 lakh
for 2017-18 (as in a report by the Centre for Policy Research 2019-20), the target set by the Government was
51.70 lakh beneficiaries, which is only 40% of the eligible population. Exclusion error of at least 60% since
2017, as the target has remained unchanged over the years.
 The enrolment and disbursements under the scheme have witnessed a downward fall in the last two years,
as in the data provided by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) in response to my
parliamentary questions
 The overall budget for women and child development was reduced by 20% for 2021-22. Additionally, Budget
allocation for the PMMVY has also been slashed as it has been clubbed under SAMARTHYA along with
multiple other schemes such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, Mahila Shakti Kendra and Gender
Budgeting/Research/Training.
Way Forward
 Extend the maternity benefit under the PMMVY to the second live birth.
 Since the primary objective of the PMMVY is to provide partial wage compensation, we need to revisit the
maternity benefit amount offered under the scheme.
 In line with the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 which mandates 12 weeks of maternity leave for women with
two or more children, pregnant and lactating mothers should receive 12 weeks of wage compensation
amounting to ₹15,000.
 A simplification of the process can result in increased registration of beneficiaries.
 To fulfill India’s commitment towards the Sustainable Development Goalof improving maternal health, an
ambitious Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) Abhiyan and a national
maternity benefit scheme are promising initiatives by the Centre.
Dam Safety Act challenged in HC
In news
The ruling DMK in Tamil Nadu has moved the Madras High Court challenging the Dam Safety Act 2021.
Why?
The Act would completely reduce the power of the states over the control of dams located within their territory.
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Features of the Act

 The Act has the effect of taking control over all major dams in the State.
 The Union government is taking steps to constitute National Committee on Dam Safety and National Dam
Safety Authority, whereupon the States will be completely denuded with the control over dams located
inside and outside the States covered under the Act.
 The Act not only shifted control over the dam to the Union but also usurped control over water supply
through the dams within the State of Tamil Nadu for various purposes.
 The Supreme Court had clearly held that water is the basic need for survival and is a part of the right to life
under Article 21.
 Thus, the impugned Act has the effect of impinging upon the right to survival and existence and therefore
liable to be struck down.
Debate on income criteria set for EWS
In News
The Government-appointed committee has submitted to the Supreme Court that the annual family income of ₹8
lakh is “a reasonable” threshold to determine if someone belongs to economically weaker sections to avail 10%
reservations in admissions and jobs.
OBCs V/s EWS

 In EWS family includes the candidate, his/her parents, under-18 siblings, spouse, and his/her under-18
children, whereas for creamy the OBC family includes the candidate and his parents and minor children.
 For OBC household gross income should be above Rs 8 lakh per annum for three consecutive years, whereas
to be eligible for EWS reservation, the beneficiary household income has to be below Rs 8 lakh in the
preceding financial year.
Challenges associated with Income criteria

 The Court had said that the OBC category is socially and educationally backward, and had therefore
additional impediments to overcome, and had asked whether it “would... be arbitrary to provide the same
income limit both for the OBC and EWS categories”.
 The committee does not present any data on the estimated number of EWS persons in the population based
on this.
 There is a regional & social difference in purchase power which are not factored in. It was suggested that all
differences in purchasing power across urban/rural regions and per capita income/GDP across States must
be considered to arrive at this number.
 If available consumer expenditure surveys such as the 2011-12 NSSO report, Key Indicators of Household
Consumer Expenditure are any indication, a bulk of the population will be eligible for reservations.
Way Forward
The validity of the 103rd Constitution Amendment, through which the EWS quota was introduced in 2019, is in any
case still before a Constitution Bench. But the apex court must seek more clarity on the criteria adopted by the
Government committee to set the income limit for identifying the EWS sections eligible for reservations.
National Single Window System (NSWS)
In News
A review meeting of the National single window system was held with a prime focus on the simplicity of operations
and transparency.
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About NSWS
 The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has launched the national single window system for expanding the
scope of Ease of Doing Business.
 The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade in association with Invest India initiated this
portal.
 It is aimed at making investments flexible and easy.
 This single window system acts as a portal that allows businesses to apply for clearances, track the process
and address their queries.
 It ensures a one stop solution for states and central governments in carrying out businesses bringing more
transparency and accountability.
 It offers a Know Your Approvals service which gives information about the required approvals, criteria and a
common registration form. This speeds up the process of documentation in carrying out business.
GIS-based automated water connection
In News
Water connection has been granted under an automated water supply system that is GIS (Geographical Information
System) enabled for the residents of cantonments.
About GIS:
 The GIS-based ‘Automatic Water Supply System’ has been developed by Bhaskaracharya Institute for Space
Applications and Geoinformatics under the guidance of the Defense Secretary and Director General of
Defense Estates.
 It is completely an automated system that provides the citizens with the nearest water pipeline.
 Under the GIS, no manual intervention is required for the clearance and sanction of the water connection.
About E-Chhawani portal:

 It is a unified portal for 62 cantonment boards which will enable the citizens to have ready access to
information regarding their cantonment board.
 This portal also helps the citizens to avail the civic services delivered by cantonment boards.
 It is planning to provide an online property tax payment facility. Online building plan facility, community hall
booking, school admission facility along with fee payment in the coming future.
National Commission for Safai Karamcharis
In News
Cabinet approved the extension of tenure of the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK) for three years.
Background
 The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis recommends the government regarding specific programmes
for welfare of the Safai Karamcharis.
 In accordance with the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013,
the NCSK has been tasked to monitor the implementation of the act.
 Despite the initiatives taken by the government to avert the socio-economic deprivation of the scavengers,
hazardous cleaning of sewer and septic tanks continues to be a major issue.
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About NCSK:
 The commission was established in 1993 and was valid till 1997 followed by the further extension of the
tenure of the act.
 The commission was later extended as a non-statutory body under the Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment.
 The tenure of the commission is extended from time to time through government resolutions.
The 50th Statehood Day
In News
Tripura, Manipur and Meghalaya celebrated their 50th statehood day upholding the values of the indestructible
Indian Union of destructible states.
About the Celebration:

 The 50th foundation day of the three North Eastern states was celebrated with the announcement of several
welfare programmes that intend to improve the livelihood opportunities for the people of North East and
head towards the overall development of the region.
 Over a period of time, there have been several connectivity and infrastructure projects in the North-East
region which will experience further progress in the upcoming years.
Scenario after Independence

 Post Independent India witnessed the existence of more than 560 princely states.
 These princely states were provided with choices of either to join the territory of India or Pakistan or retain
their sovereignty as per the provisions of the Indian Independence Act of 1947.
 Tripura and Manipur were erstwhile princely states that merged with the Indian Union in October 1949.
 Tripura and Manipur became full-fledged states on the 21st of January, 1972. On the same day Meghalaya
was accorded statehood which was a part of Assam.
 All the three states were accorded statehood under the provisions of the North Eastern Region
(Reorganization) Act, 1971.
IAS cadre Rules amendment
In News
The Central Government has proposed four amendments to Rule 6(1) of the IAS (Cadre) Rules, 1954 dealing with
deputation in December.
Background
 It was Sardar Patel who had championed the creation of the IAS and the IPS as “All India Services” (AIS)
whose members would be recruited and appointed by the Centre and allotted to various States, and who
could serve both under the State and the Centre.
 He considered the AIS essential to knit the administrative framework of a vast and diverse country into an
integrated whole and to provide a connecting link between implementation at the field level and
policymaking at the top.
 The existing Rule 6(1) states that a cadre officer may be deputed to the Central Government (or to another
State or a PSU) only with the concurrence of the State Government concerned. However, it has a proviso
which states that in case of any disagreement, the matter shall be decided by the Central Government.
 The DoPT is the cadre controlling authority of IAS officers.
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Proposed Changes
 the State government delays posting a State cadre officer to the Centre and does not give effect to the
Central government’s decision within the specified time, “the officer shall stand relieved from cadre from
the date as may be specified by the Central government.” Presently, officers have to get a no-objection
clearance from the State government for Central deputation.
 The Centre will decide the actual number of officers to be deputed to the Central government in
consultation with the State and the latter should make eligible the names of such officers. According to
existing norms, States have to depute the All India Services (AIS) officers, including the Indian Police Service
(IPS) officers, to the Central government offices and at any point it cannot be more than 40% of the total
cadre strength.
 In case of any disagreement between the Centre and the State, the matter shall be decided by the Central
government and the State shall give effect to the decision of the Centre “within a specified time.”
 In specific situation where services of cadre officers are required by the Central government in “public
interest” the State shall give effect to its decisions within a specified time.
Concerns with the amendment

 A new proviso making it mandatory for the State government to provide a certain fixed number of IAS
officers for central deputation every year.
 This more or less compels a State government to offer IAS officers for central deputation even when these
officers themselves may not wish to go on central deputation.
 State government to release such officers whose services may be sought by the Central Government in
specific situations.
 Based on experiences of the recent past, State governments have a justified apprehension that this proviso
may be misused for political considerations.
 If States begin to doubt the loyalty of IAS officers, they are likely to reduce the number of IAS cadre posts
and also their annual intake of IAS officers. They may prefer officers of the State Civil Services to handle as
many posts as possible.
 In course of time, the IAS will lose its sheen
Way Forward
 The Centre would have no moral authority to govern unless it displays a sense of constitutional morality,
particularly a sense of justice and fairness towards the States”.
 In S.R. Bommai vs Union of India (1994), the Supreme Court held that “States have an independent
constitutional existence and they have as important a role to play in the political, social, educational and
cultural life of the people as the Union. They are neither satellites nor agents of the Centre”.
 In a federal setup, it is inevitable that differences and disputes would arise between the Centre and the
States. But all such quarrels should be resolved in the spirit of cooperative federalism and keeping the larger
national interest in mind.
New CCS (Pension) Rules
In News
A webinar was conducted to create awareness on the newly notified Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules and
generation of Digital Life Certificates using Face Authentication Technology.
The CCS (Pension) Rules 2021:

 The government has amended the pension rules for Central Civil Services 1972. This was carried out by the
Department of Pension & Pensioners’ Welfare.
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 The CCS (Pension) rules apply to the civil servants who have been appointed before 1/1/2004.
 The civil servants appointed on or after 1/1/2004 are covered under the National Pension Scheme.
 These rules provided new restrictions for the officials of intelligence and security organisations.
 Rule 8(3) (a): Officials who retired from certain intelligence and security establishments will not be allowed
to write anything about their organisation without permission. These organisations refer to those that are
included in the second schedule of the RTI Act of 2005.
 It covers 26 organisations such as the Intelligence Bureau, R&AW, Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, CBI
(Central Bureau of Investigation), NCB (Narcotics Control Bureau), BSF (Border Security Force), CRPF (Central
Reserve Police Force), ITBP (Indo-Tibetan Border Police) and CISF (Central Industrial Security Force).
 Rule 9: Restricts a government servant from making any statements of fact or opinion in writing or in a
telecast that hold criticism against the existing policies of the government. Any misconduct might result in
departmental proceedings against the official only until four years of the date of committing that
misconduct.
 There is no rule to stop the government servants from joining politics after their retirement.
ODF plus village
In News
South Maubuang, a village in Mizoram, has been declared as the first ODF (Open Defecation Free) plus village in the
state having fulfilled all the criteria as per Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (SBM-G) Phase II guidelines.
ODF Plus Village

Village with sustained ODF behaviours along with access to solid and liquid waste management is recognised as an
ODF plus village.
Key indicators assessed:

 ODF sustainability
 Biodegradable Waste Management
 Liquid Waste Management
 Plastic Waste Management
 Faecal Sludge Management
National Commission for Women
In News
The Prime Minister will address the 30th National Commission for Women (NCW) Foundation Day programme on
31st January, 2022.
National Commission for Women

 The National Commission for Women (NCW) was set up as a statutory body in 1992 under the National
Commission for Women Act, 1990.
 Objectives:
o Review the Constitutional and Legal safeguards for women
o Recommend remedial legislative measures
o Facilitate redressal of grievances
o Advise the Government on all policy matters affecting women
 Key Functions:
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o Investigate and examine matters relating to the safeguards provided for women under the Constitution
and other laws.
o Make recommendations for the effective implementation of safeguards for improving the conditions of
women.
o Review the existing provisions of the Constitution and other laws affecting women and recommend
amendments
o Take up cases of violation of the provisions of the Constitution and of other laws relating to women with
the appropriate authorities.
Global Center of Excellence in Affordable and Clean Energy (GCoE-ACE)
In News
A virtual function was held to mark the launch of the Global Center of Excellence in Affordable and Clean Energy
(GCoE-ACE) in Karnataka.
Global Center of Excellence in Affordable and Clean Energy (GCoE-ACE)

 The GCoE-ACE aims to establish equipment for skill development, fabrication, and R&D.
 The centre is supported by the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) donation from HHSIF.
HSIF-
 The Honeywell Hometown Solutions India Foundation (HHSIF) is a not-for-profit organization that deploys
efforts in several critical areas.
 Aim: To encourage innovation to support the solutions to the grass-root problem statements in the
affordable and clean-energy domain.
Services E-Health Assistance And Teleconsultation (Sehat)
In News
As part of the Government’s commitment to Digital India and e-Governance, the Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh
launched SeHAT.
About SeHAT
 SeHAT is the tri-services teleconsultation service of the MoD designed for all entitled personnel and their
families.
 SeHAT stay home OPD is a patient-to-doctor system where the patient can consult a doctor remotely
through the internet using his Smartphone, laptop, Desktop or Tablet.
 It aims to provide quality healthcare services to patients from the comfort of their homes.
The limits of the legislature’s power to suspend a member
In News
Recently, Supreme Court declared as grossly illegal and irrational the suspension of 12 BJP legislators for one year by
the Maharashtra Assembly for disorderly conduct.
Recent Instances
 5th July 2021: when the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government introduced a resolution seeking empirical
data on OBCs from the Union government there was ruckus in the house. The House was adjourned briefly
Future of education
for a few times before the resolution was passed, as BJP members rushed to the well of the House and were
accused of damaging the presiding officer’s microphone and grabbing the mace.
 Later the Chair, during the incidents, said that when he was in the Deputy Speaker’s chamber, some
members rushed inside and abused him. A resolution moved by the Parliamentary Affairs Minister was
subsequently adopted by the House suspending 12 MLAs. They were barred from entering the legislative
premises for 12 months.
Rules regarding suspension

 There is no limitation on the power of the legislature to punish for breach of privilege or disorderly conduct
in the course of its proceedings.
 No judicial review of the manner in which it is exercised.
 Under Rule 53 of the Maharashtra Assembly Rules, the Speaker could direct a Member to withdraw from the
Assembly for disorderly conduct for the day, or the remainder of the Session.
 However, there is no such limitation when the whole House decides to impose suspension. In this context,
counsel contended that when the power to expel a member is available, the power to suspend, being a
lesser punishment, is also available to the House at all times.
Court's Ruling:
 Against constitutional mandate In the light of Article 190(4) of the Constitution, which says the House could
declare a seat vacant if a member is absent for 60 days.
 Rule 53 showed a ‘graded approach’ to the issue of disorderly behaviour, an initial suspension for a day, and
then for the remainder of the session, but nothing beyond it.
 The power to be exercised only for the protection of the proceedings. However, in the present case, there
was no separate provision for the House to impose a lengthy suspension for what happens in private
chamber.
 Once the length of the suspension went beyond the session, it ceased to be a disciplinary measure, but
partook the character of a punitive action.
 Citing Privy Council cases and Indian precedents, the Bench said anything that went beyond the session was
irrational and grossly illegal.
 The suspension seemed to have worse consequences than outright expulsion from the legislature, as a by-
election will be held within six months; whereas, a one-year suspension does not entail mandatory filling up
of the vacancy.
Conclusion:
 The court has reiterated the principle that even though the judicature will not interfere with the functioning
of the legislature, a coordinate body, it is not deprived of the power of judicial review if there is a violation of
the Constitution.
 Even though there were no prescribed limits to the privileges of the House, there is no doubt that these are
subject to the provisions of the Constitution.
 A lengthy suspension, apart from the deprivation of representation for the constituents, may also be
detrimental to democracy, as it could be used to manipulate numbers in the legislature and deny the
opposition the opportunity to participate effectively in debates.
Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK)
In News
The government has decided to extend the RYSK scheme to develop the personality and leadership qualities of the
youth.
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About RYSK
 The Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram scheme is a central sector scheme of the Ministry of Youth
Affairs and Sports.
 The beneficiaries of the scheme include youth in the age group of 15-29.
 The age group has been considered in alignment with the definition of ‘youth’ as per the National Youth
Policy of 2014.
 The programmes of the RYSK scheme is implemented through seven sub-schemes:
o Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS)
o National Youth Corps
o National Programme for Youth and Adolescent Development
o International Cooperation
o Youth Hostels
o Assistance to Scouting and Guiding Organisations
o National Young Leaders Programme
Objectives
 The major aim of the scheme is to motivate the youth to strive for excellence in their respective fields and
engage them in the developmental process.
 It seeks to harness the immense youth energy for nation-building.
 Besides, it also aims at enhancing National Integration, Adventure, Youth Leadership and Personality
Development and Empowerment of Adolescents, Technical and Resource Development.
National Air Sports Policy (NASP 2022)
In News
In order to promote air sports in the country, the Government has prepared a draft National Air Sports Policy (NASP
2022).
National Air Sports Policy (NASP 2022):

 National Air Sports Policy (NASP) seeks to leverage India’s potential for air sports and places a strong focus
on ensuring international best practices in safety.
 The vision of the policy is to make India one of the top air sports nations by 2030.
 Once NASP 2022 is finalized and the proposed Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) is constituted, the
Government may release the funds based on need and justification.
 Sports covered under the policy: aerobatics, aeromodelling, amateur-built and experimental aircraft,
ballooning, drones gliding, hang gliding and paragliding, micro-lighting and paramotoring, skydiving and
vintage aircraft.
Nai Roshni Scheme
In News
Recently, the Ministry of Minority Affairs has informed the Rajya Sabha that the Government has sanctioned Rs 26
crore under the Nai Roshni scheme in the last three years (2018-19 to 2020-21) through which around one Lakh
women have been trained.
Nai Roshni Scheme

 Nai Roshni scheme is a Central Sector scheme.
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 AIM - to empower and enhance confidence in women by providing knowledge, tools and techniques for
Leadership Development of Women.
 It is a six-day non-residential/five-day residential training programme conducted by selected Programme
Implementing Agencies for the women belonging to minority communities in the age group of 18 to 65
years.
Auto Fuel Vision and Policy-2025
In News
In a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha, the Government informed that it has taken a series of measures
to enhance energy security and improve efficiency in the use of energy.
Auto Fuel Vision and Policy-2025:

 The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has constituted an Expert Committee for drafting Auto Fuel
Vision and Policy – 2025.
 Recommend a suitable roadmap for auto fuel quality till 2025 for the country.
 Recommend suitable mix of auto fuels including gas and its specifications, considering the following:
o Availability of infrastructure and logistics of fuel supplies,
o The processing economics of Auto fuels, and
o Improvement in the quality of fuel vis-à-vis improvement in vehicle engine technology.
One District One Product
In News
Government offers a giant technology boost to the One District One Product Mission.
About ODOP
 Under the initiative of the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, the Ministry of
Commerce and Industry, Lakadong Turmeric has been listed under the ODOP mission.
 For the first time, a fly-off event took place with the usag`
 The Lakadong Turmeric is grown in the West Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya with the highest curcumin content of
about 7-9% which can be a major boost to the economy of the district.
Sainik Schools
In News
The Sainik School Society (SSS) is developing an automated system for conducting e-Counselling for admissions into
Sainik Schools.
Sainik Schools
 Sainik Schools Society (SSS) is an autonomous organisation under the Ministry of Defence. The Society
administers the Sainik Schools.
 The Sainik Schools were established in 1961 by K. Krishna Menon, the then Defence Minister of India.
 Sainik Schools are English medium residential schools affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary
Education(CBSE) that offer admission at the level of Class VI and Class IX.
 Admission is based on the performance of candidates in the All India Sainik Schools Entrance Examination
(AISSEE).
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 Currently there are 33 Sainik Schools and the government aims to set up 100 new schools throughout the
country.
Benefits of E-counselling
 Ensure complete transparency in the admission process.
 It will be less-expensive and user friendly for all the stakeholders
 Provide access for real-time monitoring of the entire process, and necessary action required at each stage.
SMILE Scheme
In News
The Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment launched the Central Sector scheme “SMILE: Support for
Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise”.
SMILE Scheme
 This is an umbrella scheme, to provide comprehensive welfare and rehabilitation to the Transgender
community and the people engaged in the act of begging.
 The two sub-schemes of SMILE include, -Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation for
Welfare of Transgender Persons.
 It provides Scholarships for Transgender Students studying in IX and till post-graduation.
 It has provisions for Skill Development and Livelihood under the PM-DAKSH scheme.
 Through Composite Medical Health, it provides a comprehensive package in convergence with PM-JAY
supporting Gender-Reaffirmation surgeries through selected hospitals.
 The Provision of Transgender Protection Cell in each state will monitor cases of offences and ensure timely
registration, investigation and prosecution of offences.
 The National Portal & Helpline will provide necessary information and solutions to the Transgender
community and the people engaged in the act of begging when needed.
 Central Sector Scheme for Comprehensive Rehabilitation of persons engaged in the act of Begging.
 Will focus on Survey and identification, Mobilisation, Rescue/ Shelter Home and Comprehensive
resettlement of people engaged in the act of begging.
 The scheme aims at achieving social security through multiple dimensions of identity, medical care,
education, occupational opportunities and shelter.
 The Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment has allocated Rs. 365 Crore for the scheme from 2021-22 to
2025-26.
Samajik Adhikarita Shivir
In News
The Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry launched ‘Samajik Adhikarita Shivir’ and ‘An Integrated Mobile Service
Delivery Van’ for Divyangjan and Senior Citizens.
Samajik Adhikarita Shivir

 It is a program that will be organized to distribute aids and assistive devices to Physically Disabled persons
under ADIP Scheme and Senior citizens under Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana
 The program will be organized by the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) in
association with the Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO), which is a public sector
enterprise under the DEPwD.
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 The Union Minister will also launch ‘An Integrated Mobile Service Delivery Van’ which has been developed
by ALIMCO to provide “After-Sale Service”.
Digital learning should not lead to digital divide: Vice President
In News
The Vice President stressed that taking measures to promote digital learning is important to ensure that there is no
digital divide.
Digital divide:
It is a term that refers to the gap between demographics and regions that have access to modern information and
communications technology (ICT), and those that don’t or have restricted access.
How digital learning helps reduce the digital divide in education?

• Digital learning has enabled Indian institutes to further improve their portfolio of higher education
internationally.
• Further, increasing digital education in India is also helping the government to improve accessibility in rural
areas.
• It also imparts quality education to students in small towns and villages.
• Rising adoption of digital learning in India is also attracting global key players to offer online courses to
students and extend opportunities to learn new skills.
Recommendations:
• Corrective action is needed to upgrade the skills of teachers in e-learning.
• Ensure increased access to the internet especially in rural areas and remote places and to ‘keep inclusivity at
the heart of the educational experience’.
• Institutes should focus on developing a constructive and positive attitude among the students.
• Teachers should adopt innovative strategies to address important national and global challenges and
opportunities in an intellectually vibrant, collaborative environment.
• Emphasis should be on promoting and preserving Indian languages.
• Teachers should impart an ‘experiential learning’ methodology that helps in promoting creativity and
innovative outcomes.
SEED Programme
In News
In order to create welfare for the Denotified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic (DNTs) communities, the Scheme for
Economic Empowerment of DNTs (SEED) was launched.
About SEED:
 The scheme has been introduced for families having an income of Rs. 2.50 lakh or less per annum.
 The families that are not benefited from the similar scheme of Central and State Governments will be
covered under this scheme.
 The scheme will be implemented through a portal which is created by the Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment.
 Followed by the registration of the beneficiaries to the portal, the applicants will be provided with a unique
identification number which will be used as the permanent registration number enabling them to apply for
one or more components of the scheme.
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 A permanent database will be created in the portal for enrollment of applicants to the components of the
scheme.
 The beneficiaries will receive the funds for the welfare schemes under SEED directly in their accounts.
 The Ministry of Rural Development, National Rural Livelihood Mission and the National Health Authority are
the implementing agencies.
New India Literacy Programme
In News
The Government of India has approved a scheme called the New India Literacy Programme to improve adult
education and promote lifelong learning in accordance with the National Education Policy 2020.
Features of the scheme:

 The school will be the unit for implementation of the scheme.
 The survey of beneficiaries and voluntary teachers will be conducted in the schools.
 Performance Grading Index will be adopted for assessment at the state/UT and district levels on a yearly
basis.
 An Outcome-Output Monitoring Framework will be set up for annual achievement survey of learning
outcomes.
 Priority will be given in terms of categories to the girls and women, SC/ST/OBC/Minorities, Persons with
Special Needs, marginalised/nomadic construction workers, labourers.
Objectives of the scheme:

 The objective of the scheme is to deliver the necessary components that intend to skill the youth and make
them suitable for employment.
 It focuses on providing financial literacy, digital literacy, commercial skills, health care and awareness,
vocational training and so on.
 It will be implemented through volunteerism and will be through online mode.
 The materials and resources will be provided digitally with easy access to the registered volunteers.
 It will cover the non-literates of the age of 15 years and above in all states and union territories.
 It will also assist to achieve the target of foundational literacy and numeracy for FY 2022-27 which aims to
cover 5 crore learners by using Online Teaching, Learning and Assessment System (OTLAS) in collaboration
with the National Informatics Centre, NCERT and other institutions.
Jal Jeevan Mission
In News
Under the transformative programme of Jal Jeevan Mission, 9 crore rural households have been provided with
access to tap water. This is a milestone achieved.
About Jal Jeevan Mission

 On the 15th of August 2019, the Jal Jeevan Mission was announced and intended to improve the quality of
life and ease of living in rural areas with the supply of tap water.
 The objective is to develop the capacity of the local village community in order to achieve long term drinking
water security.
 ‘Har Ghar Jal’ is the motto and spirit of the mission.
Future of education
 Presently, every rural household in Goa, Haryana, Telangana, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Dadar
and Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu is provided with the supply of tap water.
 The mission also aims to ensure the freedom of mothers and sisters from the traditional cumbersome task of
fetching water for households improving their health, education and socio-economic conditions.
 Five women in each village have been trained to test water samples with the help of field test kits. These kits
test the water samples on 9 parameters such as pH, alkalinity, chloride, nitrate, total hardness, fluoride, iron,
residual free chlorine and hydrogen sulphide.
 This mission is geo-tagged which means the planning and programme implementation for drinking water
supply for every village have been mapped using hydro-geomorphological maps.
PM Fasal Bima Yojana
In News
The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana completes 7 years of its implementation that insured over 36 crore farmers.
About the Scheme:

 This flagship scheme was launched on 18th of February 2016 by the Government of India.
 The PM Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) aims to provide financial assistance to the farmers who suffer due to
crop loss/damage as a result of natural calamities.
 It enabled the farmers to report crop losses within 72 hours of the occurrence of any event through a crop
insurance app that facilitates electronic transfer of funds to the bank accounts of the eligible farmer.
 The National Crop Insurance Portal which is a part of the PMFBY is provided with the land records to offer
technology driven facilities by easy enrollment process, remittance of farmer premium through the portal.
 It has been successful in extending financial support to the vulnerable farmers as 85% of the enrolled
farmers belong to small and marginal categories.
 The scheme will be launching a doorstep distribution drive to deliver crop insurance policies to the farmers
under the programme called ‘Meri Policy Mere Hath’ in all implementing states.
SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0
In News
Both SBM-U 2.0 and AMRUT 2.0 have been launched to make cities ‘garbage–free’ and ‘water–secure’.
About SBM-U 2.0:

 Swachh Bharat Mission–Urban (SBM-U) 2.0 was launched in 2021 for a Mission period of five years.
 It involves urban-rural convergence, whereby infrastructure projects can be taken up on a cluster basis to
groups of neighbouring Urban Local Bodies (ULBs) and rural areas.
 The aim of Swachh Bharat Mission 2.0 is to make the cities garbage-free.
Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation 2.0 (AMRUT 2.0)
 AMRUT 2.0 is a step towards AatmaNirbhar Bharat with the aim of making the cities ‘water secure’ and
providing functional water tap connections to all households.
 Mission also targets to provide 100% sewage/septage management in 500 AMRUT cities.
 The mission will co-opt women and youth for concurrent feedback about its progress.
Future of education
Draft rights on Refugee rights
In News
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) recently held a debate on "protection of fundamental human rights
of refugees and asylum seekers in India."
1951 Refugee convention

 It is a multilateral convention ratified by the United Nations that specifies who is considered a refugee and
outlines the rights of those who are given asylum, as well as the duties of countries that provide asylum.
 People escaping persecution on the basis of their race, religion, nationality, connection to a specific social
group, or political opinion are granted certain rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
 The Convention also specifies certain individuals, such as war criminals, do not qualify for refugee status.
Holders of travel papers issued under the convention are also eligible for limited visa-free travel under the
terms of the Convention.
 In addition to Article 14 of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which affirms the right of people
to seek asylum from persecution in other nations, the Convention expands on the 1948 Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. In addition to the rights and advantages afforded under the Convention, a
refugee may be entitled to additional rights and benefits in a given state.
 While the 1951 Convention only covered refugees from Europe, the 1967 Protocol included refugees from all
nations, whereas the 1951 Convention only included refugees from Europe.
Tribunals Reforms Act
In News
The Supreme Court has noticed that the government's decision to propose a legislation on crucial tribunals last year,
and that it did so only a few days after the court threw down a similar law, may amount to a breach of the court's
ruling on the matter.
Provisions that have caused controversy:

 The Tribunal Reforms Act, 2021, was enacted unanimously by both chambers of Congress earlier this year.
The bill has re-ignited a debate between the legislature and the court regarding the powers and limitations
of the legislative branch in enacting legislation.
 For the nomination of advocates as members of tribunals, the Act stipulates that they must be at least 50
years old and that they must serve for a period of four years.
 The court ruled that the caps were arbitrary. However, the government claims that the measure will result in
the creation of a specialised skill pool of advocates from whom to choose.
 Articles 14, 21 and 50 of the Constitution are rendered null and void by Section 3(1), Section 3(7), Section 5
and Section 7(1).
 Persons under the age of fifty-one are barred from being appointed to tribunals under Section 3(1). In
addition to undermining tenure length and security, this is a violation of both judicial independence and the
constitutional concept of separation of powers.
 It is alleged that Section 3(7) of the challenged Act, which requires the submission of a panel of two names to
the Central Government by the search-cum selection committee, breaches the constitutional norms of
separation of powers and judicial independence.
Other possible changes made by act-

 It intends to abolish several current appellate bodies and transfer their powers to other judicial organisations
already in existence, including the Supreme Court.
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 It stipulates that the Central Government would nominate the Chairperson and Members of the Tribunals on
the proposal of a Search and Selection Commission.
 A committee to be chaired by either the Chief Justice of India or a Supreme Court Judge selected by him is
also established by this Act, which also specifies its makeup.
 In the case of state tribunals, a second search committee will be established.
 The suggestions of the search-cum selection committee must be decided by the Union government within
three months of the date of the committee's report, if at all possible.
National Means-cum-merit Scholarship Scheme
In News
The continuation of the National Means-cum- Merit Scholarship scheme has been approved by the government over
the 15th Finance Commission cycle for a period of five years.
About the Scheme:

 The objective of the scheme is to offer scholarships to meritorious students of economically weaker sections
to reduce the dropout rate from school encouraging them to continue their studies at the secondary level.
 To take the scheme further, one lakh fresh scholarships will be provided to the students of class IX every year
and their continuation in classes X to XII.
 It covers the government aided and local body schools apart from the schools under the state government.
 The students are selected through an examination conducted by the state and union territories. The scheme
is available on the National Scholarship Portal.
 The scholarships are transferred to the bank accounts of the selected students through the Public Financial
Management System (PFMS).
 As this is a central sector scheme, 100% funds are provided by the central government.
PM CARES scheme for children
In News
The PM CARES for Children scheme has been extended till the end of February, 2022 by the Ministry of Women and
Child development.
About the scheme:

 This scheme was launched by the government to extend assistance to the children who lost their parents or
single parents or legal guardians / adoptive parents due to COVID-19.
 Under this scheme, an amount of Rs. 10 lakhs has been allocated to the children from the PM CARES Fund.
This lump sum amount would be given to the children on attaining 23 years of age.
 The major aim of the scheme is to offer care and protection to the children in a sustainable manner through
health insurance, proper education along with the provision of financial support till they reach the age of 23
ensuring a monthly stipend from the age of 18.
One class, One Channel
In News
A webinar on ‘Widening reach of One Class-One channel has been organised by the Ministry of Education and was
addressed by the Prime Minister.
Future of education
About the Webinar:

 The significance of creating online content in the mother tongue has been discussed.
 Immense focus has been provided to the futuristic vision of digital education across the country and there
were discussions on technical preparations required for initiating 200 PM eVidya DTH TV channels.
 The concern of heterogeneity among the learners’ group has been raised and the need to introduce
innovation in pedagogy for better learning outcomes has been highlighted.
 It is envisaged that the One Class-One Channel programme will play a transforming role in creating better
learning outcomes.
 The medium of tele-schooling through the satellite medium of the Edustat network was discussed.
 The requirement of infrastructural set-up, creation of quality e-content in various languages, creation of
quality digital content for DIVYANG (Persons with disabilities) and the gifted children were some of the key
elements of the One Class-One Channel initiative.
Ministry of Education launches Bhasha Certificate Selfie campaign
In News
The Ministry of Education launched a campaign ‘Bhasha Certificate Selfie’.
‘Bhasha Certificate Selfie’:

 ‘Bhasha Certificate Selfie’ encourages cultural diversity and promotes multilingualism and to foster the spirit
of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
 Bhasha Certificate Selfie initiative aims to promote the Bhasha Sangam mobile app.
 It is developed by the Ministry of Education and MyGov India.
 The initiative is under the aegis of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
 It will aim to ensure that people acquire basic conversational skills in Indian languages.
Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources Scheme
In News
The expenditure under the NLCPR-State scheme is now being made for ongoing projects to meet committed
liabilities as per reported actual progress.
Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR)

 The Non-Lapsable Central Pool of Resources (NLCPR) Scheme came into existence in 1998 under the
Planning Commission.
 Subsequently, it was transferred to DoNER (Department for Development of North-East Region) in 2001.
 Funds under the scheme are shared between the Central and State Governments on a 90:10 basis.
 The broad objective of the NLCPR Scheme is to ensure the speedy development of infrastructure in the N-E
region.
Operation Ganga
In News
Prime Minister chaired a high-level meeting to review the ongoing efforts under Operation Ganga to bring back
Indians stranded in Ukraine.
Future of education
Operation Ganga
 India evacuated its stranded citizens from Ukraine via Romania and Hungary through “Operation Ganga”.
 The risky evacuation is taking place in the middle of a war, where Indian professionals are currently stranded
in an underground bunker in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv.
 Indian citizens entered Hungary from the Ukrainian border at the Zahony crossing and reached Budapest for
the Air India flight.
International Monsoons Project Office launched
In News
Union Minister of State Science & Technology launched the International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO).
International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO):

 The International Monsoons Project Office (IMPO) will be hosted at the Indian Institute of Tropical
Meteorology (IITM), Pune, an institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Govt of India, initially for five
years.
 Both the World Climate Research Programme and World Weather Research Programme are international
programmes coordinated by the United Nations World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
 The IMPO would support activities of the Monsoons Panel, jointly established by the World Climate Research
Programme’s CLIVAR (Climate and Ocean Variability, Predictability, and Change) and GEWEX (Global Energy
and Water Exchanges) projects.
 The launch of IMPO is aligned with this year’s theme of the National Science Day – ‘Integrated Approach in
Science and Technology for a Sustainable Future’.
 It is being organized in India jointly by the Ministry of Earth Sciences, World Climate Research Programme,
and World Weather Research Programme in March 2022.
 The IMPO is a step towards making India a global hub for monsoon research and coordination in a seamless
manner for addressing common and region-specific aspects of the monsoons around the world.
‘voter islands’
In news
Political leaders participating in the delimitation process as well as independent observers have raised fears of
“islands” being formed.
Details
 The Delimitation Act, 2002 says that apart from population, the constituencies have to be geographically
compact areas and contiguous. Observers say this principle is not being followed in the ongoing Delimitation
exercise.
 For example, in Kishtwar district, where the number of constituencies has been proposed to be increased
from two to three (Mughalmaidan, Kishtwar and Padder), Bounjwah tehsil was proposed to be in the
Mughalmaidan constituency. However, one village in the tehsil, Kewah, would be completely surrounded by
villages in the Kishtwar constituency.
 The draft proposals had used the boundaries of the patwar halqa, an administrative unit of multiple villages,
which in some cases included villages that were not located next to each other.
 This has happened because the basic principles have not been followed.
 The Commission “has carved out geographical islands and joined with the other Assembly segments without
any proximity or connectivity”.
Future of education
Delimitation Exercise in J &K

 The first delimitation exercise, carving out 25 assembly constituencies in the then state, was carried out by a
Delimitation Committee in 1951.
 The first full-fledged Delimitation Commission was formed in 1981 and it submitted its recommendations in
1995 on the basis of 1981 Census. Since then, there has been no delimitation.
 J&K saw the last delimitation exercise in 1994-95, after 22 years, which resulted in an increase in the number
of Assembly constituencies from 76 to 87.
 The Jammu region saw an increase of five seats (from 32 to 37 seats), the Kashmir region an increase of four
seats (from 42 to 46) and Ladakh two seats (from two to four).
Delimitation Commission
 Under Article 82, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act after every Census.
 Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up a Delimitation Commission made up of a retired
Supreme Court judge, the Chief Election Commissioner and the respective State Election Commissioners.
 The Commission is supposed to determine the number and boundaries of constituencies in a way that the
population of all seats, so far as practicable, is the same.
 The Commission is also tasked with identifying seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes;
these are where their population is relatively large.
 All this is done on the basis of the latest Census.
National Youth Parliament Festival
In News
Speaker of Lok Sabha, Shri Om Birla will address the valedictory function of the 3rd edition of National Youth
Parliament Festival (NYPF) in the Central Hall of Parliament, New Delhi.
National Youth Parliament Festival

 The objective of the National Youth Parliament Festival (NYPF) is to hear the voice of the youth, who will join
various careers in coming years, including public services.
 NYPF is based on the idea given by the Prime Minister in his Mann Ki Baat Address on 31st December, 2017.
 Taking inspiration from the idea, the 1st edition of NYPF was organised from 12th January to 27th February,
2019 with the theme “Be the Voice of New India and Find solutions and Contribute to Policy”.
 A total of 88,000 youth participated in the program.
Objective
 The objectives of the National Youth Parliament are to provide a platform for the youth to voice their
thoughts opinions and dreams for the country and enable the youth to voice their concerns and local
problems on a platform to be heard.
 Also, to publicize the various schemes and activities of the government to the youth in an attractive
interactive platform and to inculcate the spirit of democracy through civic engagement and dialogue.
 NYP encourages the youth to engage with public issues, understand the common man's point of view, form
opinions and articulate efficiently and also promote informed and data backed decision making abilities
among youth.
 Another objective of NYP is to obtain and document the youth’s opinions on Vision of New India in 2022 and
make available the prominent views and aspiration arising out of the deliberations to policy makers to take it
forward.
Future of education
 2nd edition of NYPF was organized from 23rd December, 2020 to 12th January, 2022 with the theme
“YUVAAH- Utsah Naye Bharat Ka” through virtual mode which was witnessed by more than 23 lakh youth
and stakeholders across the country at District, State and National level.
 3rd edition of NYPF was launched on 14th February 2022 at District level through virtual mode.
AAP inches closer to becoming a ‘recognised’ national party
In News
 The Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party’s victory in the 2022 Punjab elections has brought the reasonably-
new political outfit closer to attain the coveted status of a ‘national party’.
 Seven political parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress, currently enjoy the status
of a national party, as per data from the Election Commission of India.
Benefits of National Party

 A national party can use its unique symbol to fight all elections, is eligible for a party office in Delhi, and is
also entitled to two sets of electoral rolls free of cost at the time of revision of rolls, and their candidates get
one copy of electoral roll free of cost during general elections.
 Such parties also get broadcast/telecast facilities over Akashvani/Doordarshan during general elections. A
recognised national party can also nominate up to 40 ‘star campaigners’ during general elections.
Eligibility to become a National Party

 It wins at least two percent seats in the House of the People (i.e., 11 seats in the existing House having 543
members), and these members are elected from at least three different States.
 Get at least six per cent votes in four states in addition to four Lok Sabha seats.
 Be recognised as a ‘state party’ in four or more states.
To be eligible for a ‘State Political Party:

 It must secure six per cent of the votes during the Assembly elections and two Assembly seats; or
 Six per cent of votes in the Lok Sabha from the state and an MP from the state; or
 Three per cent of total Assembly seats or three seats (whichever is greater); or
 One MP from every 25 Lok Sabha seats or eight per cent of total votes in the state during the Lok Sabha
election from the state or the Assembly polls.
Gender Samwaad
In News
Over 3000 State Mission staff and Self-Help Group (SHG) members logged in from 34 states to attend the third
edition of ‘Gender Samwaad’ organised by the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission
(DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development.
About Gender Samwad

 It is a national virtual initiative under the DAY-NRLM to generate greater awareness on the mission’s
interventions across the country with a gender lens.
 The theme for this edition was ‘Promotion of food and nutrition security through women’s collectives’.
 The event was organized as a part of Ministry’s Iconic Week celebration theme ‘Naye Bharat ki Naari’ under
Amrit Mahotsava.
 The event enabled National and State Rural Livelihoods Missions (SRLM) to listen to voices from SHG women
and for SRLMs to share and learn from best practices.
Future of education
 SHG women across the country played an important role in raising awareness on COVID-19 amongst over 5.5
crore rural households.
 MoRD shared the Ministry’s perspective and initiatives on interventions related to Food, Nutrition, Health
and WASH (FNHW).
 SHGs under the DAY-NRLM are working on multiple interventions to fight malnutrition including income
enhancement of rural households, improving productivity, and diversification of nutrient rich food crops and
social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) among SHG members.
 SHG women can promote behaviour change, counsel women on care of low-birth weight babies, promote
girl’s education, healthy diets, consumption of micronutrients, marriage at the right age, as well as spacing
between pregnancies.
Govt. seeks Parliament nod for extra spending of ₹1.07 lakh cr.
In News
The government on sought Parliament nod for net additional spending of more than ₹1.07 lakh crore, including
about ₹15,000 crore towards fertilizer subsidy, in the third batch of supplementary demands for the current fiscal
year.
Supplementary Grants
 Supplementary, additional or excess grants and Votes on account, votes of credit and exceptional grants are
mentioned in the Constitution of India 1949.
 Article 115: Supplementary, additional or excess grants.
 Article 116: Votes on account, votes of credit and exceptional grants.
Steps to be followed
 When grants, authorised by the Parliament, fall short of the required expenditure, an estimate is presented
before the Parliament for Supplementary or Additional grants.
 These grants are presented and passed by the Parliament before the end of the financial year.
 When actual expenditure incurred exceeds the approved grants of the Parliament, the Ministry of Finance
presents a Demand for Excess Grant.
 The Comptroller and Auditor General of India bring such excesses to the notice of the Parliament.
 The Public Accounts Committee examines these excesses and gives recommendations to the Parliament.
51% MLAs face criminal cases in new UP Vidhan Sabha
In News
More than half of the 403 newly elected Uttar Pradesh legislators have criminal cases against them, states an
analysis report by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).
Major findings of the report

 More than half of the 403 newly elected Uttar Pradesh legislators have criminal cases against them.
 Of the 403 legislators, 205 (51 per cent) have declared in their affidavits that they face criminal cases.
 Of them, 158 (39 per cent) winning candidates have declared serious criminal cases, including cases related
to murder, attempt to murder, kidnapping, and crime against women.
 In the report, the ADR also said five MLAs have declared cases related to murder (Section 302 of the IPC)
against themselves.
Future of education
 In all, 29 winning candidates are booked in attempt-to-murder cases, while six newly elected MLAs have
declared cases related to crime against women — one of them faces a rape case.
 In all, 233 BJP legislators have declared assets worth more than Rs 1 crore.
Court is right, Islam doesn't mandate hijab
In News
The verdict has come on petitions filed by Muslims girls seeking the right to wear hijabs or head scarves along with
uniforms inside classrooms.
What Court ruled?

 Wearing of the hijab by Muslim women does not make up an essential religious practice in Islamic faith.
 The prescription of a school uniform is a reasonable restriction constitutionally permissible which the
students cannot object to.
 The government has the power to restrict the wearing of hijabs in colleges where uniforms are prescribed.
 Therefore, the prescription of school uniform does not violate the petitioners fundamental rights guaranteed
under article 19 1 a of the constitution that is freedom of expression and article 21 that is privacy.
MGNREGA
In News
 Parliament’s Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj has asked the government to
roll back the system of caste-based wages, under which NREGS workers are paid based on whether they
belong to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, or Others.
 The panel has asked the Ministry of Rural Development to restore the earlier system by which a single Fund
Transfer Order was generated without “any sort of segregation on the basis of caste”.
Caste Based Payment System

 Under the new system, if 20 individuals (say, six SCs, four STs and 10 others) work together at a site under
MG-NREGA, a single muster roll would be issued, but payment would be done by issuing three separate
Fund Transfer Orders (FTOs), one for each of the three categories.
 It came into force on April 1, 2021.
 Beneficiaries in the ‘Others’ category, which includes the ‘General’ and Other Backward Classes (OBC)
categories, especially complained of delays.
About MGNREGA
 The scheme was introduced as a social measure that guarantees “the right to work”.
 The key tenet of this social measure and labour law is that the local government will have to legally provide
at least 100 days of wage employment in rural India to enhance their quality of life.
Key objectives:
 Generation of paid rural employment of not less than 100 days for each worker who volunteers for
unskilled labour.
 Proactively ensuring social inclusion by strengthening livelihood base of rural poor.
 Creation of durable assets in rural areas such as wells, ponds, roads and canals.
 Reduce urban migration from rural areas.
Future of education
The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022
In news
The Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 has been introduced that aims to improve regulatory set-up by increasing
the CCI’s accountability, giving it flexibility and enforcement efficiency.
Key changes
 A board with part-time members to supervise CCI activities.
 This would bring its regulatory architecture at par with that of financial regulators.
 CCI to mandatorily issue penalty guidelines and give reasons in case of any divergence.
 It will give much-needed certainty in regulatory environment.
 CCI could engage in structured negotiations with parties and arrive at mutually-workable solutions without
having to go through lengthy formal proceedings.
 This will bring powers of CCI on par with Sebi, which has been passing settlement orders for over a decade.
 Previously CCI was only empowered to take action for abuse of dominance or anti-competitive agreements
in the form of final orders in proceedings before it.
 CCI can make appeals to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal conditional on a pre-deposit of up to
25% of the penalty imposed by the CCI.
 Shortening of the merger review period from 210 to 150 days.
About CCI
It is a statutory body of the Government of India, responsible for enforcing the Competition Act, 2002 throughout
India and to prevent activities that have an adverse effect on competition.
Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of

2013.
In News
Kerala High Court has asked organisations associated with the film industry to take steps to constitute a joint
committee to deal with cases of sexual harassment of women, in line with the Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act of 2013.
Vishaka Guidelines
 The guidelines defined sexual harassment and imposed three key obligations on institutions — prohibition,
prevention, redress.
 The Supreme Court directed that they should establish a Complaints Committee, which would look into
matters of sexual harassment of women at the workplace.
 The 2013 Act broadened these guidelines.
 This Act lays down the procedures for a complaint and inquiry and the action to be taken.
 It mandates that every employer constitute an Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) at each office or
branch with 10 or more employees.
 It lays down the procedures and defines various aspects of sexual harassment.
Future of education
Nipun Bharat Scheme
In News
The Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education, Government of India has launched the
National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy called National Initiative for Proficiency in Reading with
Understanding and Numeracy.
About NIPUN Scheme

 It was launched on 5thJuly 2021 under the aegis of Centrally Sponsored Scheme of SamagraShiksha.
 The mission aims to achieve universal foundational literacy and numeracy in primary classes and to ensure
that all children attain grade level competencies in reading, writing and numeracy.
 The Mission lays down priorities and actionable agendas for States/UTs to achieve the goal of proficiency in
foundational literacy and numeracy for every child by grade 3.
 A National Achievement Survey across the country has been conducted on 12th November 2021 for Grade 3,
5, 8 and 10 students of State Government schools, Government Aided schools, Private Unaided recognized
schools and Central Government schools for assessing the competencies attained by the students vis-à-vis
learning outcomes.
PM SVANidhi Scheme
In News
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) is implementing Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar
Nidhi (PM SVANidhi Scheme) since June 01, 2020 to facilitate collateral free working capital loan to street vendors to
restart their businesses, which were adversely impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Features of the Scheme

 Facilitate collateral free working capital loan up to ₹10,000 of 1-year tenor; enhanced loan of ₹20,000 and
₹50,000 in the second and third tranches respectively, on repayment of earlier loans.
 Incentivize regular repayment, through interest subsidy @ 7% per annum; and
 Reward digital transactions, by way of cash back up to ₹1,200 per year.
 As on 15.03.2022, loans amounting to ₹3,119 crore have been released to the beneficiaries by the Lending
Institutions.
Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme
In News
The Government is promoting Ethanol Blended Petrol (EBP) Programme with broader objectives of providing boost
to domestic agriculture sector, environment benefits, reducing import dependency and savings in foreign exchange.
Details
 The Government is encouraging farmers to diversify from water intensive crops like rice, sugarcane, etc. to
more sustainable crops like maize.
 Ethanol from sugarcane route is not sufficient to achieve blending targets and for other uses.
 In view of surplus availability of food grains like maize and rice, ethanol from damaged food grains, maize
and surplus rice with FCI has been allowed.
 Government aims to create a sustainable market for surplus maize beyond its consumption in the domestic
poultry industry.
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 Moreover, production of ethanol from grain like maize gives a co-product called Dried Distillers Grains with
Soluble (DDGS), which is a very high source of protein and is also used as cattle feed/ poultry feed.
All India Digital Nation-Wide Pension Adalat
In News
Sh. K. Rajaraman, Secretary (Telecommunications) & Chairman, Digital Communications Commission (DCC)
inaugurated the All India Digital Nation-Wide Pension Adalat.
About Pension Adalat

 Organized by Controller General of Communication Accounts (CGCA).
 Motto- “Pensioners Delight” to resolve pensioner's grievance.
 SAMPANN-CPMS, which provides a paperless, cashless and faceless pensioners’ service across the country,
especially in rural and remote parts of India.
 Pensioners can, not only lodge their grievances, but also monitor, track and get it resolved, all through
SAMPANN application from the comfort of their home. SAMPANN-CPMS was dedicated to the nation by the
Honorable Prime Minister on 29th December, 2018.
 The initiatives taken up by field units like PRACHI (Pensioners Issues Redressal, Assistance and Care at Home
Initiative), Drive-In Digital Life certificate submission, dedicated toll free helpline, social media applications
like whatsapp/website and also a dedicated grievance redressal officer in each office.
Tele Law Mobile App
In News
The Citizens’ Tele-Law Mobile App, launched recently, enables the individual beneficiary to access pre-litigation
advice and hold consultation directly with the Panel Lawyer, free of cost.
About App
 This App is available in 6 languages viz English, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu on both Android
and iOS platform.
 This method of direct consultation through smart phone based App supplements the already-existing
assisted model of seeking legal advice available at Common Service Centres (CSCs) at the Panchayat level
which connects individual beneficiaries with Panel Lawyers via telephonic and video conferencing facilities,
available at these CSCs.
 Tele-Law is presently operational in 669 Districts across 36 States/UTs covering 75,000 Gram Panchayats.
 The service at CSCs is free for persons entitled under Section 12 of the Legal Services Authorities (LSA) Act,
1987 and for others at Rs.30/- per consultation.
 The Government launched the “Tele-Law on Wheels” campaign from 8th to 14th November, 2021 creating
awareness about the Mobile App reaching out to nearly 52,000 participants.
 In addition, the Government has launched Nyaya Bandhu (Pro-bono Legal Services) programme to link the
persons eligible to avail free legal aid under Section 12 of LSA Act, 1987 with the pro-bono lawyers.
Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill
In News
Union Cabinet gave its nod to present a bill for the unification of three municipal corporations in Delhi, "The Delhi
Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Act, 2022".
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Provisions of the bill

 It aims to merge the Capital’s three municipal corporations — South, North and East — ten years after the
trifurcation of the civic body.
 In 2011, the state government had proposed the trifurcation for better efficiency.
Need
 Uneven distribution of property tax between three civic bodies, inefficient management and growing losses,
etc.
 Trifurcation was uneven in terms of the territorial divisions and revenue-generating potential of each
corporation.
Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) scheme
In News
In keeping with the concern and sensitivity towards poor and vulnerable sections of society, the Government has
extended the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PM-GKAY) scheme for another six months i.e., till
September 2022.
About Scheme
 During the ongoing crisis owing to Covid-19 Pandemic, Union Government announced Pradhan Mantri Garib
Kalyan Ann Yojana (PMGKAY) providing free food grains to the affected population.
 PMGKAY is a part of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) to help the poor fight the battle against
Covid-19.
 Its nodal Ministry is the Ministry of Finance.
 It was initially announced for a three-month period (April, May and June 2020), covering 80 crore ration
cardholders. Later it was extended till November 2020.
 However, in April 2021, the government had announced its decision to restart the scheme as PMGKAY-III.
FASTER (Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records)
In News
Chief Justice of India N V Ramana launched FASTER (Fast and Secured Transmission of Electronic Records) — a digital
platform to communicate interim orders, stay orders, bail orders etc., of the Supreme Court to authorities concerned
through a secured electronic communication channel.
About FASTER
 The FASTER system is developed on war footing by the Registry in collaboration with the National
Informatics Centre.
 To reach all districts of India through this system, so far 73 nodal officers have been nominated at various
levels.
 All nodal officers have been connected through a specific Judicial Communication Network (JCN) by creating
a secured pathway.
 A total of 1,887 e-mail IDs have been created for this system across the country and a FASTER cell has been
established in the Registry of the Supreme Court
 The cell will transmit digitally signed record of proceedings or orders related to bail and release passed by
the court to the nodal officers and duty holders concerned through email.
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 As part of the second phase of the project, the SC would be able to transmit all records through this system
dispensing altogether with the need to share hard copies.
Menstruation Benefit Bill 2017
In News
For five years, Ninong Ering, a Congress MLA from Pasighat West in Arunachal Pradesh, has championed legislating
menstrual leave into law.
Features of the bill

 It seeks to provide leave for menstruating school and college-going girls, women in jobs, better facilities for
rest at the workplace during menstruation, and better hygiene provisions for women and adolescent girls.
 Given that sanitation and menstrual health are essential components of a woman’s life, one can reasonably
infer that they also come within Article 21, mandating the provision of necessary conditions for women to
work with dignity.
 The case for granting menstrual leave is, thus, a fundamental rights issue and should receive due diligence.
NCW Launches Anti-Human Trafficking Cell
In News
The National Commission for Women launched an Anti-Human Trafficking Cell today to improve effectiveness in
tackling cases of human trafficking.
About The Cell

 It will raise awareness among women and girls, capacity building and training of Anti Trafficking Units and to
increase responsiveness of law enforcement agencies.
 The Cell has been set up with an aim of increasing awareness among law enforcement officials and to
facilitate their capacity building.
 The Cell will conduct Gender Sensitization Trainings and Workshops in combating human trafficking for
police officers and for prosecutors at regional, state and district level.
 The complaints related to human trafficking received by the Commission will be addressed by this cell.
 The Cell will improve monitoring mechanism and encourage government agencies regarding measures being
adopted for prevention of trafficking and rehabilitation of victims.
 The Cell will also help survivors of trafficking in rebuilding their lives by providing them with need-based
training and by organizing capacity building programs for them to prevent re-traumatization of victims.
Reason
The Commission has observed that some of the major issues faced in combating trafficking include lack of
rehabilitation for victims and insensitive attitude towards trafficked survivors and their families.
AFSPA
In News
AFSPA, which gives sweeping powers to the armed forces, has been fully or partially withdrawn from parts of three
Northeast states — Assam, Nagaland and Manipur.
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About AFSPA
 The Act in its original form was promulgated by the British in response to the Quit India movement in 1942.
 After Independence, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru decided to retain the Act, which was first brought in as
an ordnance and then notified as an Act in 1958.
 AFSPA has been imposed on the Northeast states, Jammu & Kashmir, and Punjab during the militancy years.
 Punjab was the first state from where it was repealed, followed by Tripura and Meghalaya. It remains in
force in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam, J&K, and parts of Arunachal Pradesh.
Provisions of the act

 AFSPA provides for special powers for the armed forces that can be imposed by the Centre or the Governor
of a state, on the state or parts of it, after it is declared “disturbed’’ under Section 3.
 The Act defines these as areas that are “disturbed or dangerous condition that the use of armed forces in aid
of the civil power is necessary’’.
 AFSPA has been used in areas where militancy has been prevalent.
Criticism
 The Act, which has been called draconian, gives sweeping powers to the armed forces.
 It allows them to open fire’, even causing death, against any person in contravention to the law or carrying
arms and ammunition.
 It gives them powers to arrest individuals without warrants, on the basis of “reasonable suspicion”, and also
search premises without warrants.
 The Act further provides blanket impunity to security personnel involved in such operations: There can be no
prosecution or legal proceedings against them without the prior approval of the Centre.
Zonal Conference of 8 North-East States in Guwahati
In News
Union Minister for Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani will chair the Zonal Conference of State
Govts and Stakeholders of North-East region in Guwahati.
Details
 States of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Tripura, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Sikkim and Nagaland will
participate in the meeting.
 In order to ensure optimum impact of recently launched 3 Missions- POSHAN 2.0, Vatsalya and Shakti, the
Ministry of Women and Child Development has initiated a series of Zonal Consultations with State Govts and
Stakeholders in each region of the country.
 Zonal meeting in Guwahati is the third in the series. First such meeting was held in Chandigarh on 2nd April
and second in Bengaluru on 4th April, 2022.
Mission POSHAN 2.0

 Mission POSHAN 2.0is an Integrated Nutrition Support Programme.
 It seeks to address the challenges of malnutrition in children, adolescent girls, pregnant women and lactating
mothers through a strategic shift in nutrition content and delivery and by creation of a convergent eco-
system to develop and promote practices that nurture health, wellness and immunity.
 Poshan 2.0 will seek to optimize the quality and delivery of food under the Supplementary Nutrition
Program.
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Mission Shakti
 Mission Shakti envisages a unified citizen-centric lifecycle support for women through integrated care,
safety, protection, rehabilitation and empowerment to unshackle women as they progress through various
stages of their life.
 Mission Shakti has two sub-schemes ‘Sambal’ and ‘Samarthya’.
 While the “Sambal” sub-scheme is for safety and security of women, the “Samarthya” sub-scheme is for
empowerment of women.
Mission Vatsalya
Objective - to secure a healthy and happy childhood for every child in the country; foster a sensitive, supportive and
synchronized ecosystem for development of children; assist States/UTs in delivering the mandate of the Juvenile
Justice Act 2015; achieve the SDG goals.
Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization’ Conference
In News
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India under the clarion call of Azadi ka Amrit
Mahotsav (AKAM) by Hon’ble Prime Minister to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Independence, is organising
“Smart Cities, Smart Urbanization” event from 18-20 April, 2022 in Surat, Gujarat.
Details
 Focused on five sub-themes vis. Reimagining Public Spaces, Digital Governance, ClimateSmart Cities,
Innovation and Smart Finance, the conference will help disseminate the learnings from Smart Cities to other
cities and towns of the country.
 Several key initiatives will be launched during the event vis. release of Urban Outcomes Framework 2022
including, 'Ease of Living', ‘Municipal Performance Index’, ‘Data Maturity Assessment Framework 3.0 and
ClimateSmart Cities Assessment Framework 3.0. Ministry’s integrated data portal AMPLIFI, which will
provide valuable data on Indian cities.
 A comprehensive dashboard on Outcome Output Management Framework (OOMF dashboard in GMIS) with
more than 7800 projects being measured for their contributions to urban life and Sustainable Development
Goals, will also be released during the event.
Smart cities Mission

 SCMis a transformational Mission aimed to bring about a paradigm shift in the practice of urban
development in the country.
 Projects developed under the Smart Cities Mission are multi-sectoral and mirror the aspirations of the local
population.
 As on date, 80 Smart cities have developed and operationalised their Integrated Command and Control
Centres (ICCCs) in the country.
 These operational ICCCs functioned as war-rooms for COVID management, and along with other smart
infrastructure developed under the mission, helped cities in fighting the pandemic through information
dissemination, improving communication, predictive analysis and supporting effective management.
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Singapore International Water Week 2022
In News
Director General, National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) participated virtually in Singapore International Water
Week, Water Convention 2022 and gave a presentation on ‘Status of Wastewater Generation, Treatment and
Management in India.
Initiatives by Central Govt.

 The formation of Jal Shakti Ministry in 2019 “a historic moment”.
 'Catch the Rain: Where it Falls, When it Falls’ campaign under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan.
 The focus of the Phase-II of Namami Gange Programme will be on sewerage infrastructure creation in the
tributaries of Ganga such as Yamuna and scaling up of PPP development efforts.
Arth Ganga
 It implies a sustainable development model with a focus on economic activities related to Ganga.
 As part of this process, farmers will be encouraged to engage in sustainable agriculture practices, including
zero budget farming, planting of fruit trees and building plant nurseries on the banks of Ganga.
 Above practices, along with creation of infrastructure for water sports and development of campsites,
cycling and walking tracks etc., would help to tap the ‘hybrid’ tourism potential of the river basin area- for
purposes of religious as well as adventure tourism.
 Almost half of the Indian population lives around the Ganges River belt. Moreover, of India’s total freight,
about 1/5th originates and 1/3rd terminates in the states around Ganges Belt. Thus, inland waterway is one
of the most important pillars of “Arth Ganga”project."
 One of the verticals of Arth Ganga is ‘Zero Budget Natural Farming’ which aims at facilitating the natural
farming process by providing natural manure/soil conditioner made out of sludge and reduce the use of
chemicals and fertilizers by the farmers thereby developing a circular economy model in sludge management
with economic benefits to the stakeholders (farmers in this case).”
Parboiled rice
In News
The Centre has said it will stop the purchase of excess parboiled rice, of which Telangana is a major producer.
Parboiled Rice
It is rice that has been partially boiled at the paddy stage, before milling. Parboiling of rice is not a new practice, and
has been followed in India since ancient times.
Preparation
 CFTRI, Mysuru, uses a method in which the paddy is soaked in hot water for three hours. The water is then
drained and the paddy steamed for 20 minutes. Also, the paddy is dried in the shade.
 Chromate soaking process: It uses chromate, a family of salt in which the anion contains both chromium and
oxygen, which removes the odour from the wet rice.
 All processes generally involve three stages — soaking, steaming and drying. After passing through these
stages, the paddy goes for milling.
Benefits
 Parboiling makes rice tougher. This reduces the chances of the rice kernel breaking during milling.
 Parboiling also increases the nutrient value of the rice.
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 Parboiled rice has a higher resistance to insects and fungi.
Draft Battery Swapping Policy
In News
Government think-tank Niti Aayog has prepared a draft battery swapping policy, under which it has proposed
offering incentives to electric vehicles (EVs) with swappable batteries, subsidies to companies manufacturing
swappable batteries, a new battery-as-a-service business model, and standards for interoperable batteries, among
other measures.
Key Provisions
 The draft policy has suggested that the GST Council consider reducing the differential across the tax rates on
Lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicle supply equipment. Currently, the tax rate on the former is 18 per
cent, and 5 per cent on the latter.
 The policy also proposes to offer the same incentives available to electric vehicles that come pre-equipped
with a fixed battery to electric vehicles with swappable batteries.
 “The size of the incentive could be determined based on the kWh (kilowatt hour) rating of the battery and
compatible EV.
 An appropriate multiplier may be applied to the subsidy allocated to battery providers to account for the
float battery requirements for battery swapping stations in different battery swapping ecosystems.
 The government will also specify a minimum contract duration for a contract to be signed between EV users
and battery providers to ensure they continue to provide battery swapping services after receiving the
subsidy.
 The policy also requires state governments to ensure public battery charging stations are eligible for EV
power connections with concessional tariffs. It also proposes to bring such stations under existing or future
time-of-day (ToD) tariff regimes, so that the swappable batteries can be charged during off-peak periods
when electricity tariffs are low.
 The policy also proposes to assign a unique identification number (UIN) to swappable batteries at the
manufacturing stage to help track and monitor them. Similarly, a UIN number will be assigned to each
battery swapping station.
 It also proposes to install battery swapping stations at several locations like retail fuel outlets, public parking
areas, malls, kirana shops and general stores etc.
Battery swapping
 Battery swapping is a mechanism that involves exchanging discharged batteries for charged ones.
 This provides the flexibility to charge these batteries separately by de-linking charging and battery usage,
and keeps the vehicle in operational mode with negligible downtime.
 Battery swapping is generally used for smaller vehicles such as two-wheelers and three-wheelers with
smaller batteries that are easier to swap, compared to four-wheelers and e-buses, although solutions are
emerging for these larger segments as well.
Noise Pollution
In News
An ultimatum by Raj Thackeray, president of the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS), that repercussions would
follow if speakers on mosques were not removed by May 3, has created political turmoil in the state.
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Noise
 As per the Central Pollution Control Board’s mandate for noise pollution, ‘noise’ is defined as unwanted
sound. Sound, which pleases the listener, is music and that which causes pain and annoyance is noise.
 At times, what is music for some can be noise for others. Any unwanted sound that causes annoyance,
irritation and pain to the human ear is termed ‘noise’.
The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000

 Section 2 (a) of the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981 includes noise in the definition of ‘air
pollutant’.
 Noise pollution and its sources are regulated under The Noise Pollution (Regulation and Control) Rules, 2000
under The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.
 The Act has defined ambient acceptable noise levels, silence zones, restrictions on the use of loudspeakers,
horns, sound-emitting construction equipment, and bursting of crackers.
 It has also laid down the responsibility for enforcement.
 Noise pollution Rules have defined the acceptable level of noise in different zones for both daytime and
night time. In industrial areas, the permissible limit is 75 decibels (unit of sound; tenth of a ‘bell’, symbol dB)
for daytime, and 70 dB for night.
 Daytime is defined as the period from 6 am to 10 pm, and night is 10 pm to 6 am of the following day.
 In commercial areas, these ceilings are fixed at 65 dB and 55 dB, while in residential areas they are 55 dB and
45 dB during daytime and night respectively
 In silence zones, i.e., an area comprising not less than 100 metres around hospitals, educational institutions
and courts, it is 50 dB in the daytime and 40 dB during the night.
Impact on Health
 According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), about 1.1 billion young people (aged between 12–35
years) are at the risk of hearing loss due to noise exposure.
 The WHO has stated that there is sufficient evidence that noise exposure at night causes self-reported sleep
disturbance and noise-induced sleep disturbance is viewed as a health problem.
 WHO also states there is evidence, albeit limited, that disturbed sleep causes fatigue, accidents and reduced
performance.
 Various physical disorders due to higher noise include temporary deafness, headache and an increase in
blood pressure.
48th All India Police Science Congress
In News
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Shri Amit Shah addressed the inaugural session of the 48th All India Police
Science Congress in Bhopal.
About the congress

 The All India Police Science Congress has a very important contribution to make in policing of the country
from two perspectives.
 One is coordination between the police across the country to deal with similar challenges and the other is
the use of technology to stay two steps ahead of criminals.
 The Police Science Congress is the ideal forum to discuss and work on a common strategy and synergy.
 Such meetings, being held under the aegis of BPR&D, provide a platform got police across the country to
address these shortcomings and face common challenges.
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Police Technology Mission

Prime Minister had announced a Police Technology Mission for this, the Ministry of Home Affairs has made a
blueprint which we will send to state police through the BPR&D for suggestions.
Benefits of Technology
 The police across the country should work to utilize all nine citizen services under CCTNS and take them to
every police station.
 Anti-Terrorist Squads should be activated to study FIRs and data, NCB has been asked to prepare a database
on Narcotics cases and Interoperable Criminal Justice System has also created a great amount of data, as
well as the National Database of Sex Offenders (NDSO) has also been prepared. For Science of Police, we
have to advance the use of Medical Science, Forensic Science, Management Science, Arms Science and
Communications Science
National Panchayati Raj Day
In News
 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will undertake a visit to Jammu & Kashmir to participate in the
celebration of National Panchayati Raj Day.
 Ministry of Panchayati Raj has requested all Gram Panchayats to organize Special Gram Sabha meetings on
24th April, 2022 across the country to mark the occasion of National Panchayati Raj Day.
Details
 During the visit, Prime Minister will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple development
initiatives worth around Rs 20,000 crore.
 He will also launch the Amrit Sarovar initiative.
Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel

 PM will inaugurate the Banihal Qazigund Road Tunnel, built at a cost of over Rs 3100 crore.
 The 8.45 Km long tunnel would reduce the road distance between Banihal and Qazigund by 16 km, and
reduce journey time by around one and a half hour.
 It is a twin tube tunnel – one for each direction of travel – with the twin tubes being interconnected by a
cross passage every 500m, for maintenance and emergency evacuation.
 The tunnel would help establish an all weather connection between Jammu and Kashmir, and bring the two
regions closer.
Ratle and Kwar Hydroelectric project

 PM will lay the foundation stone of Ratle and Kwar Hydroelectric projects.
 The 850 MW Ratle Hydroelectric Project will be constructed on Chenab river in Kishtwar District at a cost of
around Rs 5300 crore.
 The 540 MW Kwar Hydroelectric Project will also be built on Chenab river in Kishtwar District at a cost of
over Rs. 4500 crore.
 Both the projects will help meet the power requirements of the region.
Amrit Sarovar
 AIM- Developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country.
 It is yet another ode of the government towards the celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
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Background
 24th April is observed by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj as National Panchayati Raj Day (NPRD) every year to
celebrate the constitutional status accorded to Panchayati Ray system in the country.
 This occasion provides an opportunity for direct dialogue with Panchayat representatives from all over the
country as well as recognizing their achievements to empower and motivate them.
 The objective of the celebrating the National Panchayati Raj Day is to increase awareness about Panchayats
and Gram Sabhas, the institutions of the local self-governments for the rural areas mandated by the
Constitution, and also about their roles, responsibilities, achievements, concerns, resolutions etc.
 States and Union Territories are requested to celebrate National Panchayati Raj Day in a befitting manner
and call upon Panchayati Raj Institutions/ Rural Local Bodies to celebrate National Panchayati Raj Day with a
‘whole of society’ approach ensuring maximum possible ‘Jan Bhagidari’.
 National Panchayat Awards are also conferred to well-performing Panchayats on this occasion.
Master Deenanath Mangeshkar Awards

 Prime Minister will be conferred 1st Lata Deenanath Mangeshkar Award.
 This award, which has been instituted in memory of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar, will be given every year
exclusively to one individual for exemplary contribution towards nation building.
e-Panchayat Puraskar
 The e-Panchayat Puraskar is conferred to those States which have ensured maximum use of information
technology for monitoring the works of the Panchayats.
 The ranking of the following States that have been adjudged for e-Panchayat Puraskar under both the
categories is as follows:
Winning States under Category I:

 1st Place – Karnataka
 2nd Place – Chhattisgarh
 3rd Place – Odisha and Uttar Pradesh
Raisina Dialogue 2022
In News
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the seventh edition of the Raisina Dialogue.
Raisina Dialogue
 The dialogue will witness the participation of European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen as the
chief guest.
 The Raisina Dialogue is India’s premier foreign policy conference.
 Organized along the lines of the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore, and co-hosted by the ministry of
external affairs (MEA) and the Observer Research Foundation, it takes its name from the Raisina Hills, where
India’s seat of power resides.
 Theme- Terranova- Impassioned, Impatient, Imperilled", will be modelled along six thematic pillars --
Rethinking Democracy: trade, technology and ideology; End of Multilateralism: a networked global order;
Water Caucuses: turbulent tides in the Indo-Pacific; Communities Inc: first responders to health,
development, and planet; Achieving Green Transitions: common imperative, diverging realities; Samson vs
Goliath: the persistent and relentless technology wars.
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 The Dialogue, since its inception, has attracted academics, scholars, researchers, students, journalists and
even politicians who are either interested—or are working—in the field of international relations,
geopolitics, security, nuclear issues and Indian foreign policy.
 There will be side events that will be hosted in Berlin and Washington.
 Raisina young fellows programme will also be conducted on the sidelines of this main conference.
Virtual Regional Conclaves On PM Cares For Children Scheme
In News
In order to foster sensitization regarding various aspects of PM Cares for Children Scheme, the National Commission
for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) organized 4 virtual Regional Conclaves on PM Cares for Children Scheme.
Objective
To sensitize and bring-in the roles being played by all the stakeholder Departments.
PM Cares for Children Scheme

 PM Cares for Children Scheme was launched by the Prime Minister of India on 29th May 2021 to provide
comprehensive support for children who have lost both their parents or legal guardians or Adoptive Parents
or Surviving Parents to the COVID-19 pandemic.
 This Scheme enables the well-being of such children through health insurance, empowers them through
education, and equips them for self-sufficient existence with financial support.
 The Ministry of Women and Child Development has been anchoring the Scheme, which is leveraging
technology to identify, register and support the children through an online portal.
NCPCR
 National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is a statutory body constituted under provision
of the Commission for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005 (4 of 2006) for protection of child rights
and other related matters.
 Along with its other functions and roles, the Commission under Section 13 (1) (h) of the CPCR Act, 2005 is
mandated to; “spread child rights literacy among various sections of the society and promote awareness of
the safeguards available for protection of these rights through publications, the media, seminars and other
available means.
Mandate Document of National Curriculum Framework (NCF)
In News
 Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan will launch the Mandate Document of National
Curriculum Framework (NCF).
 The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 recommends the development of National Curriculum
Frameworks (NCF) in four areas- School Education, Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), Teacher
Education and Adult Education.
About The Mandate

 The Mandate Document describes the development process of the NCF, its expected structure and
objectives, and some of the basic principles from the NEP 2020 that will inform the development of the four
NCFs.
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 The NCF is being drafted through a collaborative and consultative process, starting from district to state level
and then National level.
 The ‘Guidelines for Position Papers for the Development of the National Curriculum Framework’ is an
integral part of this Mandate Document.
 Four curriculum frameworks, 25 themes based on the perspectives of the NEP, 2020 are identified under
the three categories, viz., 1. Curriculum and Pedagogy 2. Cross-cutting Issues 3. Other important areas of
NEP, 2020 focussing on systemic changes and reforms.
ADIGRAMS
In News
MoTA organised two-day’s hands-on training of key functionaries from across the Jharkhand state on ADIGRAMS
(Adivasi Grants Management System) on 27th and 28th April 2022.
ADIGRAMS
 ADIGRAM is a unique portal which monitors physical and financial progress of the grants given by the
Ministry to States and can track the actual utilization of funds.
 The details of beneficiaries are also uploaded on portal and the infrastructure projects are geotagged.
 Similar programs have been conducted by the Ministry in Maharashtra, Himachal, Chhattisgarh, Meghalaya,
where in training is as conducted by team of technical experts from MoTA and UNDP.
 Sh Jayant Kumar from UNDP and team of Dhanush Infotech who have developed this portal are conducting
regular training programs online and offline as per requirement of the states.
National Curriculum Framework (NCF)
In News
Union Education Minister Shri Dharmendra Pradhan released the ‘Mandate Document: Guidelines for the
Development of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF)’ at a function held at Indian Institute of Science,
Bengaluru.
Features of NCF
 The Mandate Document is the bridge between the NEP 2020 and the NCF.
 It provides clear and specific anchors for the NCF to the vision, principles, and approach of NEP 202.
 It sets the mechanisms for the development of a coherent and comprehensive NCF, fully leveraging the
widespread consultations already under way
 The process designed ensures the seamless integration imagined - vertically (across Stages) and horizontally
(across subjects in the same Stage) in the NEP 2020 – to ensure holistic, integrated, and multi-disciplinary
education
 It enables the critical linkage between the curriculum of schools with the curriculum of Teacher Education as
an integral part of the transformative reforms envisioned by the NEP 2020 in the overall Teacher Education
sector, thus enabling rigorous preparation, continuous professional development, and a positive working
environment for all our teachers
 It informs the creation of opportunities for life-long learning for all citizens in the country
 Directly ‘useable by’ and ‘relatable to’ the most important stakeholders in education - teachers, students,
parents, and communities across the country – to enable and empower, change and improve the reality of
education practice
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 Anchored and informed by sound theory and cutting-edge research, yet using simple language with real-life
illustrations from classrooms and schools in a variety of contexts
Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act
In News
Accusing the Government of creating fear psychosis among farmers using the Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and
Preservation of Cattle Act, a convention of dairy farmers has demanded that the legislation be scraped at the earliest
in their interest.
Concerns
 Police were harassing farmers by using the provisions of the legislation.
 While farmers are under watch by banning cow slaughter, the sale and export of beef by corporates has not
been banned.
 Farmers are banned from selling their cows to slaughter houses even if they were infertile. This results in
more number of farmers, particularly dairy farmers, quitting agriculture and allied activities.
Provisions
 Police officers ranked sub-inspector and above or a competent authority will have the power to search
premises and seize cattle and materials used or intended to use to commit the offence.
 Such seizures, if any, will then be reported before the Sub Divisional Magistrate without unreasonable delay.
 It is a cognizable offence, violators can attract three to seven years of imprisonment.
 While a penalty between Rs 50,000 and Rs 5 lakh can be levied for the first offence, second and subsequent
offences can attract penalties ranging between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 10 lakh.
Dairy Sector
 The sector that will take the largest hit from the legislation is the dairy industry. India’s dairy industry is
massive with an annual turnover of Rs 6.5 lakh crore – making it by far India’s largest agricultural product.
 India’s farmers earn more from dairy than wheat and rice put together. India has almost as many bovines as
people in the United States with one for every four Indians.
 The problem with the bill is that that slaughter is integral to the dairy industry’s economic functioning. Dairy
farming in India functions on small margins. As a result, the upkeep of unproductive animals would throw
their bottom lines out of alignment.
Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In)
In News
Shri Ajit Doval,KC, National Security Advisor, inaugurated the National Cyber Security Incident Response Exercise
alongside Lt General Rajesh Pant, National Cyber Security Coordinator and Dr Satheesh Reddy, Secretary DRDO.
Measures taken to prevent Cyber crime

 All service providers, intermediaries, data center providers, corporates, and government organizations have
to report cyber incidents within six hours of their detection.
 The new directions require virtual asset, exchange, and custodian wallet providers to maintain records on
KYC and financial transactions for a period of five years.
 Companies providing cloud, virtual private network (VPN) will also have to register validated names, emails,
and IP addresses of subscribers.
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 Service providers will also have to provide information and assistance to CERT-In for any action taken to
mitigate the impact of the cyber incident.
 To ensure the chain of events is accurately reflected in the time frame, service providers have been asked to
connect and synchronize all their ICT systems clocks to the Network Time Protocol (NTP) Server of the
National Informatics Centre (NIC) or National Physical Laboratory (NPL).
CERT-In
 CERT-In is the national nodal agency for responding to computer security incidents as and when they occur.
 The constituency of CERT-In is the Indian Cyber Community.
 CERT-In was established in 2004 as a functional organization of the Ministry of Electronics and Information
Technology.
Telangana Formation Day
In News
The Ministry of Culture is organising Telangana Formation Day celebrations at Dr Ambedkar International Centre,
New Delhi.
About Telangana
 On 2nd June, 2014 the north western part of Andhra Pradesh was separated and 29th state Telangana was
created with Hyderabad as its capital.
 The Andhra State Act (1953) formed the first linguistic state of India, known as the state of Andhra, by taking
out the Telugu speaking areas from the State of Madras (now Tamil Nadu).
 The States Reorganisation Act (1956) merged the Telugu-speaking areas of Hyderabad state with the Andhra
state to create the enlarged Andhra Pradesh state.
 The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act (2014) bifurcated Andhra Pradesh into two separate states, namely,
the Andhra Pradesh (residuary) and the Telangana.
 The state of Telangana was officially formed on 2nd June 2014 and the day is celebrated as ‘Telangana Day’
or ‘Telangana Formation Day’.
UIDAI Withdraws Advisory on Sharing Aadhaar Photocopy
In News
Two days after publishing an advisory to not share photocopies of Aadhaar cards to avoid misuse, the Unique
Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) issued a clarification recently, effectively withdrawing the earlier advisory.
UIDAI Advisory
 Holders should utilise a masked Aadhaar card instead of the traditional photocopy.
 The document must not be downloaded from a cybercafé or a public computer, and if it is, it must be wiped
from the system permanently.
 The first eight numbers of the twelve-digit ID are hidden behind ‘XXXX’ characters in ‘Masked Aadhaar.’
Safety of Aadhar
 The Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 makes it
clear that Aadhaar authentication is necessary for availing subsidies, benefits and services that are financed
from the Consolidated Fund of India.
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 The requesting entity would have to obtain the consent of the individual before collecting his/her identity
and ensure that the information is only used for authentication purposes on the Central Identities Data
Repository (CIDR).
 The Act makes it clear that confidentiality needs to be maintained and the authenticated information cannot
be used for anything other than the specified purpose.
 Identity information or authentication records would only be liable to be produced pursuant to an order of
the High Court or Supreme Court, or by someone of the Secretary rank or above in the interest of national
security.
UIDAI
 The UIDAI is a statutory authority established on 12th July 2016.
 Parent body: Works under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
 Initially, the UIDAI was set up by the Government of India in January 2009, as an attached office under the
aegis of the Planning Commission.
 The UIDAI is mandated to assign a 12-digit unique identification (UID) number (Aadhaar) to all the residents
of India
National Air Sports Policy
In News
The Minister of Civil Aviation Shri Jyotiraditya M. Scindia launched National Air Sport Policy 2022 (NASP 2022).
NASP 2022
 NASP 2022 lays out the vision of making India as one of the top sports nations by 2030, by providing a safe,
affordable, accessible, enjoyable and sustainable air sports ecosystem in India.
 The policy will cover the following air sports in India: -
o Aerobatics
o Aero modeling and model rocketry
o Amateur-built and experimental aircraft
o Ballooning
o Drones
o Gliding and powered gliding
o Hang gliding and powered hang gliding
o Parachuting (including skydiving, BASE jumping and wing suits etc.)
o Paragliding and para motoring (including powered parachute trikes etc.)
o Powered aircraft (including ultra light, micro light and light sports aircraft etc.)
o Rotorcraft (including autogyro)
Objectives
 Promote an air sports culture in the country
 Enable adoption of international good practices in safety including but not limited to, air sports
infrastructure, equipment, operations, maintenance and training
 Develop a simple, stakeholder-friendly and effective governance structure
 Enhance participation and success of Indian sportspersons in global air sports events; and
 Promote design, development and manufacturing of air sports equipment in India in line with the
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan.
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Under the new policy, there will be four-tier governance structure for air sports in India namely
 Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) as the apex governing body
 National associations for individual air sports or a set of air sports, as appropriate
 Regional (e.g. West/ South/ North East etc.) or State and Union Territory level units of the national air sports
associations, as appropriate; and
 District-level air sports associations, as appropriate.
Indian Air Sports Players

 Ms. Shital Mahajan is known as the first woman to perform an accelerated free fall jump over the Antarctica
from 10,000 feet, the youngest woman to jump over both the North and South Poles and the first woman
jumper to perform it without trials
 Ms. Rachel Thomas was the first Indian woman to skydive from 7,000 feet over the North Pole.
MISSION KARMAYOGI
In News
The Finance Minister mentioned about Mission Karmayogi tasked with capacity building commission to come up
with training modules in order to empower, train and skill the civil servants.
Mission Karamyogi
 To facilitate and build the capacity of the officials, the Institute of Government Accounts and Finance (INGAF)
and Arun Jaitley National Institute of Financial Management (AJNIFM) have developed the courses to be
published on the Igot karmayogi portal, DoPT.
 INGAF has developed the training programme on FR SR- III (Leave Rules) to increase knowledge of learners
towards various leaves.
 The course curated by AJNIFM caters to procurement of goods and services, including execution of works.
 This would help officers posted in Integrated Finance Divisions (IFDs) of various Ministries/Departments in
examining the proposals in light of GFRs and other instructions.
Features
 The transition from Rules Based to Roles Based Human Resource (HR) Management – The focus is to allocate
jobs to the civil servants based on their competencies.
 On-Site Learning to complement Off-Site Learning – It is a training given to the civil servants on-site.
 An ecosystem of shared training infrastructure – Civil servants to adapt to an ecosystem of shared learning
materials, institutions and personnel.
 Framework of Roles, Activities and Competencies (FRACs) approach – All civil services positions to be
calibrated under this approach. Also based on this approach, all learning content will be created and
delivered to every single government entity.
 Behavioural, Functional and Domain Competencies – Civil Servants to build their competencies in their self-
driven and mandated learning paths.
 Co-creation of the common ecosystem by all the Central Ministries, Departments and their organizations –
This is a way to create an ecosystem of learning through an annual financial subscription for every employee.
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Green Energy Open Access
In News
 In order to further accelerate our ambitious renewable energy programmes, with the end goal of ensuring
access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and green energy for all, Green Open Access Rules, 2022 have
been notified recently.
 These rules are notified for promoting generation, purchase and consumption of green energy including the
energy from Waste-to-Energy plants.
Salient Features
 The Green Open access is allowed to any consumer and the limit of Open Access Transaction has been
reduced from 1 MW to 100 kW for green energy, to enable small consumers also to purchase renewable
power through open access.
 Provide certainty on open access charges to be levied on Green Energy Open Access Consumers which
includes transmission charges, wheeling charges, cross-subsidy surcharge and standby charges. Cap on
increasing of cross-subsidy surcharge as well as the removal of additional surcharge, not only incentivise the
consumers to go green but also address the issues that have hindered the growth of open access in India.
 Transparency in the approval process of the open access application. Approval to be granted in 15 days or
else it will be deemed to have been approved subject to fulfilment of technical requirements. It will be
through a national portal.
 Determination of green tariff: The tariff for the green energy shall be determined separately by the
Appropriate Commission, which shall comprise of the average pooled power purchase cost of the renewable
energy, cross-subsidy charges if any, and service charges covering the prudent cost of the distribution
licensee for providing the green energy to the consumers.
 The Rules will help to streamlining the overall approval process for granting Open Access including timely
approval, to improve predictability of cash flows for renewable power producers. It will also bring Uniformity
in the application procedure.
 Banking of surplus green energy with the distribution licensee mandated.
 Consumers will be given the green certificates if they consume green power.
Election to the Office of President of India, 2022
In News
 The term of office of Shri Ram Nath Kovind, President of India, is ending on 24th July, 2022.
 As per Article 62 of the Constitution of India, an election to fill the vacancy caused by the expiration of the
term of office of the outgoing President is required to be completed before the expiration of the term.
Election of President
 The President is elected by the members of an electoral college consisting of elected members of both
Houses of Parliament, and elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of all states as well as Delhi and
Puducherry.
 According to Article 55 (3), the election is held in accordance with the system of proportional representation
by means of single transferable vote.
 In this system, the elector has to mark preferences against the names of the candidates.
 The elector can mark as many preferences as the number of candidates.
 While the marking of the first preference is compulsory for the ballot paper to be valid, other preferences
are optional.
 If there are five candidates for example, the voter will give five preferences.
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 It is mandatory to give a first preference for the vote to be valid, but if the voter doesn’t give other
preferences, the vote will still be valid.
How is Winner Determined?

 The votes are weighted.
 For each MLA, the value is determined by the total population of the state divided by the number of MLAs,
further divided by 1000.
 The value of each MLA’s vote, therefore, varies from state to state, from a high of 208 in UP to a low of 7 in
Sikkim.
 The values of the votes in the Assembly add up to 5.43 lakh.
 A similar total is assigned to the two Houses of Parliament, which have 776 MPs. The value of each MP’s
vote, therefore, works out to 5.43 lakh/776 = 700.
 The total value of the electoral pool is the sum of the vote values from the Assemblies and the two Houses,
or 10.86 lakh.
 The winner is the candidate who polls the most votes out of this pool.
Guidelines on Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading

Advertisements, 2022
In News
The Central Consumer Protection authority (CCPA) under the Department of Consumer Affairs has notified
‘Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022’
with an objective to curb misleading advertisements and protect the consumers, who may be exploited or affected
by such advertisements.
Major Guidelines
 It seek to ensure that consumers are not being fooled with unsubstantiated claims, exaggerated promises,
misinformation and false claims.
 Such advertisements violates various rights of consumers such as right to be informed, right to choose and
right to be safeguarded against potentially unsafe products and services.
 The present guidelines define “bait advertisement”, “surrogate advertisement” and clearly provides what
constitutes as “free claim advertisements”.
 Guidelines forbid advertisements from exaggerating the features of product or service in such manner as to
lead children to have unrealistic expectations of such product or service and claim any health or nutritional
claims or benefits without being adequately and scientifically substantiated by a recognized body.
 Guidelines says that advertisement targeting children shall not feature any personalities from the field of
sports, music or cinema for products which under any law requires a health warning for such advertisement
or cannot be purchased by children.
 Guidelines stipulates that disclaimer shall not attempt to hide material information with respect to any claim
made in such advertisement, the omission or absence of which is likely to make the advertisement deceptive
or conceal its commercial intent and shall not attempt to correct a misleading claim made in an
advertisement.
 Guidelines aims to protect consumer’s interest through bringing in more transparency and clarity in the way
advertisements are being published, so that, consumers are able to make informed decisions based on facts
rather than false narratives and exaggerations.
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Penalty
 CCPA can impose penalty of upto 10 lakh rupees on manufacturers, advertisers and endorsers for any
misleading advertisements.
 For subsequent contraventions, CCPA may impose a penalty of upto 50 lakh rupees.
 The Authority can prohibit the endorser of a misleading advertisement from making any endorsement for
upto 1 year and for subsequent contravention, prohibition can extend upto 3 years.
28th Joint Civil-Military Training Programme at LBSNAA
In News
 Raksha Mantri Shri Rajnath Singh has called for greater jointness of civil administration and Armed Forces to
further strengthen national security and deal with future challenges that may emanate from the ever-
evolving global situation.
 He was addressing the participants of 28th Joint Civil-Military Training Programme at Lal Bahadur Shastri
National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) in Mussoorie, Uttarakhand recently.
Joint Civil- Miliary programme

 The Joint Civil-Military Programme was initiated in 2001 with the aim of fostering structured interface
between civil servants and Armed Forces officers for a shared understanding of national security.
 Participants are drawn from the Civil Services, Armed Forces and Central Armed Police Forces.
 The objective is to familiarise the participants with challenges to management of national security,
emerging external and internal security environment and impact of globalisation; to provide an opportunity
for the participants to interact and exchange ideas on the subject and expose them to the imperatives of
civil-military synergy.
Benefits
 The Joint Civil-Military Programme at LBSNAA will play a crucial role in the journey of civil-military
integration, which has started under the present Government.
 He hoped that the programme will prove to be beneficial for civil servants and Armed Forces officers in
developing an understanding of coordination and collaboration in the domain of national security.
National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment 2021, NeSDA 2021
In News
Jammu & Kashmir tops among all the Union territories of India in e-Governance services delivery, which has also
enabled it to save around Rs 200 crore annually that was incurred in carriage of physical files during the Annual
Durbar move between the two capital cities of Jammu and Srinagar.
NeSDA 2021
 Jammu & Kashmir was assessed for the first time in NeSDA 2021 and scored the highest amongst all UTs for
six sectors.
 He said, after coming into force of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 with effect from 31 st
October, 2019, J&K became the first UT in the country to have Good Governance Index and was also first to
launch District Good Governance Index for 20 Districts of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in
January this year.
 In NeSDA 2021, 1400 services across all States and UTs were assessed as compared to 872 in 2019, an
increase of over 60%.
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 74% respondents of the nation-wide citizen survey conducted during the study had stated that they are
satisfied with the e-Services provided by the States and UTs.
 The e-Services of Finance and Local Governance & Utility Services sectors were the most widely used by
citizens.
E-office
 The adoption of e-Office in DRDO, represented a milestone as it demonstrated that Departments with
multiple field offices could use e-Office for real time transfer of files.
 e-Office has enabled the seamless movement of files to IFD and Department of Expenditure.
 E-Office version 7.0 is a significant advancement on e-Office over 6.0 with a number of new features,
enabling references to external offices.
 This has enabled seamless movement of files to IFD and Dept of Expenditure.
Ranking of other states

 Kerala became a front runner and the progress made by Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttar
Pradesh in NeSDA 2021 was also commendable.
 In Service portals, Rajasthan, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Meghalaya have topped the rankings.
 All States/ UT’s have shown improvements in the promotion of integrated service portals and the number of
services being offered on their state portals.
NCPCR To Celebrate Elimination of Child Labour Week
In News
National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) is celebrating Elimination of Child Labour Week in the
honour of World Day Against Child Labour in the 75 places as part of the “75th anniversary celebrations of India’s
independence.
About NCPCR
 National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has been constituted by the Government of
India, as a statutory body under section 3 of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005
for dealing with the protection of child rights and related matters.
 Under section 13(1) of the Commissions for Protection of Child Rights (CPCR) Act, 2005, has provided certain
functions to ensure that the rights of children are protected especially the most vulnerable and marginalized.
 In addition, the Commission has also been mandated to monitor the implementation of the Juvenile Justice
(Care & Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Right of Children to Free & Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009
and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
 The NCPCR has developed a draft SOP on the rescue and post-rescue of child labour incorporating all
provisions of various children related Acts which are applicable in these cases.
National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment 2021 Report
In News
 Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Ministry of Science and Technology, will release the second
edition of the National e-Governance Service Delivery Assessment 2021 on 13th June 2022.
 The NeSDA 2021 report has been prepared covering the assessment of States, UTs, and focus Central
Ministries on their effectiveness in delivering online services to citizens.
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NeSDA 2021 report

 Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances (DARPG) had constituted the National e-
Governance Service Delivery Assessment (NeSDA) in 2019 as part of its mandate to boost the e-government
endeavours and drive digital government excellence.
 The biennial study assesses States, Union Territories (UTs), and focus Central Ministries on the effectiveness
of e-Governance service delivery. NeSDA helps the respective governments improve their delivery of citizen
centric services and shares best practices across the country for all States, UTs and Central Ministries to
emulate.
 The NeSDA 2021 Portal was formally launched in June 2021 to conduct the entire assessment process online.
 The DARPG team supported by NASSCOM and KPMG, 36 nodal officers from State and UTs and 15 nodal
officers from Central Ministries came together to ensure the successful conduct of NeSDA 2021.
Grouping
 NeSDA has followed the Good Governance Index 2021 grouping of the States and UTs.
 North-East and Hill States make up the first group while Union Territories make up the second group.
 The remaining states of India have been classified into two states as Remaining States – Group
A and Remaining States – Group B.
E-Governance
 Increase in e-Service Delivery
 Rise in use of Integrated / Centralized Portals for delivery of e-Services
 Improvement across assessment parameter scores.
Ranking
 Among the Services Portals for North-East and Hill States, the highest-ranking states of Meghalaya and
Tripura showed improvement across all six sectors compared to NeSDA2019.
 In the Union Territories category, Jammu & Kashmir was assessed for the first time in NeSDA 2021 and
scored the highest amongst all UTs for six sectors. Among the Remaining States, the overall score of Tamil
Nadu increased the most in 2021 compared to 2019.
 Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Punjab, Goa, and Odisha also improved the compliance of their Services Portals by
100%.
 Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Rajasthan are the leading states with compliance of more than 75% across all
parameters for their Services Portals.
e- Vidhan System
In News
A delegation of MLAs from Gujarat visited the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly to learn about the novel e-Vidhan
system for paperless proceedings that has been recently adopted by the UP state assembly.
NeVA
 The National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) is a system for digitising the legislative bodies of all Indian states
and the Parliament through a single platform on which house proceedings, starred/unstarred questions and
answers, committee reports etc. will be available.
 Nagaland became the first state to implement NeVA, in March this year.
 The NeVA system has been developed to make all the work and data related to legislative bodies available
online for the use of both citizens and the members of Assemblies. It includes a website and a mobile app.
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 A digital platform, a portal that not only gives the necessary technological boost to our parliamentary
system, but also works to connect all the democratic units of the country.
Benefits
 This has been done for streamlining information related to various state assemblies, and to eliminate the use
of paper in day-to-day functioning. Its website states: “Several thousand tons of papers would be saved,
which in turn would help in saving lakhs of trees annually”.
 Himachal Pradesh’s Legislative Assembly implemented the pilot project of NeVA in 2014, where touch-
screen devices replaced paper at the tables of the MLAs.
Challenges
 Access, particularly for legislators representing rural constituencies, to devices and reliable internet and
electricity was an issue.
 In its 2020 report, it said lack of training and heightened concerns over security are some more recent issues
in the road to digitisation.
No ads promoting online betting
In News
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has today issued an advisory to print, electronic and digital media to
refrain from advertising online betting platforms.
Why this advisory?

 The advisory comes in light of instances of a number of advertisements of online betting websites/platforms
appearing in print, electronic, social and online media.
 The advisory has been issued in larger public interest, and it has advised the print and electronic media to
refrain from publishing advertisements of online betting platforms.
 It has also advised the online and social media, including the online advertisement intermediaries and
publishers, to not display such advertisements in India or target such advertisements towards the Indian
audience.
Betting & Gambling

 Betting and gambling, illegal in most parts of the country, pose significant financial and socio-economic risk
for the consumers, especially youth and children, the advisory states. It has further added that these
advertisements on online betting have the effect of promoting this largely prohibited activity.
 “The advertisements of online betting are misleading, and do not appear to be in strict conformity with the
Consumer Protection Act 2019, Advertising Code under the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act, 1995,
and advertisement norms under the Norms of Journalistic Conduct laid down by the Press Council of India
under the Press Council Act, 1978”.
Draft Anti- Trafficking Bill
In News
Activists from different part of the country are planning to travel to the national capital and press for the passage of
the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021.

 The bill proposes stringent punishments for offenders, including hefty fines and seizing of their properties.
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 The Bill also extends beyond the protection of women and children as victims to now include transgenders
as well as any person who may be a victim of trafficking.
 The draft also does away with the provision that a victim necessarily needs to be transported from one place
to another to be defined as a victim.
 Exploitation has been defined to include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or
other forms of sexual exploitation including pornography, any act of physical exploitation, forced labour or
services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or forced removal of organs etc.
Law will extend to-

 All citizens inside as well as outside India.
 Persons on any ship or aircraft registered in India wherever it may be or carrying Indian citizens wherever
they may be.
 A foreign national or a stateless person who has his or her residence in India at the time of commission of
offence under this Act.
 Every offence of trafficking in persons with cross-border implications.
 Defence personnel and government servants, doctors and paramedical staff or anyone in a position of
authority.
First National Conference of Chief Secretaries
In News
 Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will chair the First National Conference of Chief Secretaries at HPCA
Stadium in Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh on 16th and 17th June, 2022.
 It will be a significant step towards further strengthening the partnership between the Centre and the State
Governments.
About Conference
 The Conference will emphasise on evolution and implementation of a common development agenda and
blueprint for cohesive action to achieve the aspirations of the people.
 It will focus on the rapid and sustained economic growth in partnership with the States.
 Three themes have been identified for detailed deliberations in the Conference:
 Implementation of the National Education Policy;
 Urban governance; and
 Crop diversification and achieving self-sufficiency in oilseeds, pulses and other agri-commodities.
 There would be a session on Aspirational Districts Programme which would deliberate upon the
achievements made so far, with successful case studies including on data based governance, presented by
the young Collectors in specific districts.
 There would be a special session on ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav: Roadmap to 2047’ and four additional
thematic sessions on Reducing Compliance Burden & Decriminalization of Minor Offences for Ease of Doing
Business; Centre – State Coordination for achieving saturation coverage of schemes and ensuring last mile
delivery; Transforming India’s infrastructure through PM Gati Shakti; and Capacity building: Implementation
of iGOT - Mission Karmayogi.
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Enforcement Directorate
In News
After two consecutive days of questioning in the National Herald money laundering case, Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi appeared again on recently before the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
About Enforcement Directorate

 The origin of this Directorate goes back to 1st May, 1956, when an ‘Enforcement Unit’ was formed, in the
Department of Economic Affairs, for handling Exchange Control Laws violations under Foreign Exchange
Regulation Act, 1947 (FERA ’47).
 In the year 1957, this Unit was renamed as ‘Enforcement Directorate’.
 Presently, it is part of the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
 The Organization is mandated with the task of enforcing the provisions of two special fiscal laws – Foreign
Exchange Management Act, 1999 (FEMA) and Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA).
Deadline for freezing administrative boundaries extended
In News
The census exercise, which was originally scheduled to take place in 2021, has been further pushed to 2023-24.
Reason for post-ponment

 Normally, before every Census, states are required to provide information on changes in the number of
notified districts, villages, towns and other administrative units such as tehsils, talukas and police stations to
the Registrar General of India (RGI).
 After this RGI freezes the administrative boundaries so that census tasks can begin.
 However, this time, RGI has extended the deadline for freezing administrative boundaries to December 31,
2022.
 Since the Census can only begin a few months after the administrative boundaries are frozen, the possibility
of a Census in 2022 is ruled out.
About Census
 Population Census is the total process of collecting, compiling, analysing and disseminating demographic,
economic and social data pertaining, at a specific time, of all persons in a country or a well-defined part of a
country.
 It was conducted in India in 1872 during the reign of Governor-General Lord Mayo.
 The first synchronous census was taken under British rule on February 17, 1881, by C. Plowden (Census
Commissioner of India).
 The decennial Census is conducted by the Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry
of Home Affairs.
Draft National Data Governance Framework Policy
In News
A stakeholder interaction on the Draft National Data Governance Framework Policy was held in the presence of Shri
Rajeev Chandrasekhar, Minister of State, Electronics & Information Technology and Skill Development &
Entrepreneurship, recently at India Habitat Center in New Delhi.
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Features of Draft Policy

 It aims to ‘modernise’ the institutional framework for data collection by the government.
 It also aims to catalyse the AI-led startup ecosystem in the country by creating a repository of India-specific
non-personal datasets for usage by private players.
 The new draft bill envisages setting up of IDMO, on the lines of the US Federal Data Management Office.
 The IDMO will likely be responsible for setting all standards and guidelines going forward on all aspects of
data, which includes storage and anonymisation.
 All ministries will have data management units (DMUs) that will be headed by a Chief Data Officer, and will
also be responsible for the implementation of the data governance policy.
 The policy also seeks to ‘encourage’ private companies to share non-personal data with startups as part of
the effort.
 The new framework has also skipped the contentious clause that allowed the sale of data collected by the
government in the open market.
Govt to tweak Ancient Monuments Act to make it flexible
In News
The government is working to bring amendments to the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains
(AMASR) Act-1958, which stipulates area around the protected monuments to make it “more flexible and friendly.
AMSAR Act -1958

 The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (or AMASR Act) is an act of parliament of
the government of India that provides for the preservation of ancient and historical monuments and
archaeological sites and remains of national importance, for the regulation of archaeological excavations and
for the protection of sculptures, carvings and other like objects.
 The AMASR Act, 1958, was amended in 2010, according to which 100-metre radius of an ASI-protected
monument is “prohibited area”, and hence, no construction is allowed there, while the next 300-metre is
“regulated area”, where permissions are required before executing any structural changes.
Need for Amendment

 To rationalize prohibited and regulated zones following controversies over development projects pertaining
to different monuments.
 To give more teeth to the ASI to remove encroachments from regulated zones around the monuments and
hold the local authorities liable.
 To create standardization for the inclusion of site/monument in the ASI list and if the need arises,
monuments can also be dropped from the list.
 To recheck the reason for having 100-metre and 300-metre limits as a recent Parliamentary Standing
Committee report had also alluded to the fact that there was no specific reason behind these.
Candidates will not be able to contest elections from more than one seat
In News
The Election Commission is now said to be pushing for an amendment in the Representation of the People Act in
order to impose a ban on people from contesting polls from more than one seat.
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Existing law
 As per the existing electoral law, a candidate is allowed to file nominations from two different constituencies
in a general election or a group of bye-elections or biennial elections.
 Since one individual is allowed to represent only one constituency in a legislative or parliamentary body,
he/she has to vacate the other seat in case victories were registered on both seats.
 Way back in 1996, the government had amended the Representation of the People Act to bar a person from
contesting elections from more than two seats.
 Prior to the amendment, an individual was permitted to contest polls from as many seats as he wanted.
Need for an Amendment

 The ECI has said that if such a bar cannot be imposed on candidates, then at least a hefty fine should be
imposed on people who vacate one of the seats after winning in elections and force a bypoll.
 In case the existing provisions are to be retained, a candidate contesting from two seats should bear the cost
of the bye-election to the seat that the contestant decides to vacate in the event of him or her winning both
seats.
 At that time, the Commission had proposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh for the State Assembly and Legislative Council
election and Rs 10 lakh for the Lok Sabha election. Now, the ECI believes a revision in the amount is required.
 The Commission believes holding a bypoll in such cases leads to an unnecessary financial burden on the
public exchequer. Further, it is also an injustice to the voters of the seat which the candidate is vacating.
National Conclave of Scheduled & Multi-State Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit
Societies
In News
The Union Minister for Home Affairs and Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah will be the Chief Guest in New Delhi at the
National Conclave of Scheduled & Multi-State Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies on “Future Role of
Urban Cooperative Credit Sector”.
About Conclave
 The business sessions of the Conclave will include discussions on various issues related to Scheduled & Multi-
State Urban Co-operative Banks and Credit Societies and the Cooperative Credit Sector.
 The Conclave will also felicitate Urban Cooperative Banks that have completed 100 years of service to
society.
 There are 197 such banks in the country.
 This gives an indication of the deep roots of cooperatives and cooperative banks in the country.
UCBs
 Urban Cooperative Banks are among the oldest banking institutions in the country.
 They have been in existence for well over a century.
 They are banks organised and managed by a cross section of people from society that could include
teachers, lawyers, traders, doctors, engineers, social workers and others for providing banking services to
their members.
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The Constitutional Validity of Talaq-e-Hasan
In News
A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging divorce through Talaq-e-Hasan, a practice by which by a
Muslim man can divorce his wife by saying the word “talaq” once a month for three months.
Talaq-e-Hasan
 Under this form, a single revocable divorce is made (unlike multiple pronouncements under triple talaq)
 Following the pronouncement, a woman has to go through iddat or a waiting period of three months.
 During this period the divorce can be cancelled. However, failure to annul divorce during this period
results in it being finalized after which a woman is independent and free to marry another man or stay
single, as she may choose.
 Talaq-e-Hasan enjoys legal validity in almost all Muslim countries.
 It is essential that this form of divorce is pronounced when the wife is not menstruating and there has to be
a gap of one month between the three pronouncements. The duration of these three consecutive talaqs is
called the period of abstinence.
 The duration of abstinence or ‘iddat’ is 90 days or three menstrual cycles or three lunar months
Centre mandates 3-yr health insurance plan for surrogate mothers
In News
The government has issued fresh surrogacy rules, making it mandatory for couples who wish to become parents
through surrogacy to buy health insurance plans for surrogate mothers.
New Provisions
 The government has also ensured that the number of attempts of any surrogacy procedure on the surrogate
mother shall not be more than three times.
 Allowed abortion: A surrogate mother may be allowed for abortion during the process of surrogacy in case
of any complication as advised by the doctors
 Regulation of private clinics: Every private surrogacy clinic has to file an application for registration with a
fee of ₹2 lakh which is non-refundable. However, facilities under government-run institutes are exempt from
such fees.
 Specialist availability: Surrogacy clinics shall have at least one gynaecologist, one anaesthetist, one
embryologist and one counsellor.
 Marriage period: The couple should be married for more than five years.
 Consent of surrogate: Under the Surrogacy Rules 2022, a surrogate mother has to give her consent through
an agreement for giving up all her rights over the child and shall hand over the child/children as soon as she
is permitted to do so by the hospital.
Google bats for ‘narrowly tailored’ data localisation
In News
Google has suggested that -Local storage requirements should be “as narrowly tailored as possible” to minimise its
“downsides” and optimise for some very specific legitimate requirements.
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Details
 Under India’s data protection bill, big tech companies are mandated to store a copy of certain sensitive
personal data within India and the export of undefined “critical” personal data from the country is
prohibited.
 Data localisation is the practice of storing data on any device that is physically present within the borders of
the country where the data is generated.
 As of now, most of these data are stored, in a cloud, outside India.
 Draft National E-Commerce Policy Framework recommended data localisation and suggested a two-year
sunset period for the industry to adjust before localization rules become mandatory.
 Sri Krishna Committee Report said at least one copy of personal data will need to be stored on servers
located within India.
New orders on MGNREGA workers
In News
The Peoples’ Action for Employment Guarantee (PAEG) has opposed the rural development ministry’s order
discontinuing manual attendance at Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA)
scheme worksites with more than 20 workers and replacing it with the National Mobile Monitoring System (NMMS)
app.
Issues
 The Ministry’s order of manual attendance is in violation of the NREGA law and also flagged a series of
technical and sociological issues with the app.
 Section 15 – Schedule 1 lays down rules about the muster rolls — clearly says that the muster roll must be
accessible to the workers on demand all day during all working hours. If The muster roll is available only
digitally, access will be limited.
 The app discourages women from being mates which fundamentally undermines the Ministry’s own
repeated push towards encouraging women workers as NREGA mates.
 The job of a mate is to see the work of the workers working in his workplace. To make daily attendance of
labourers, to see who came and who did not.
 Lack of access to digital devices: Having a smartphone is now mandatory for mates to record attendance on
the NMMS. However, many women from poorer households don’t have access to smartphones.
 Language issues: The app has been designed completely in English And there is no technical help provided to
redress problems.
NMMS
 The NMMS App permits taking real-time attendance of workers at Mahatma Gandhi NREGS worksites along
with geotagged photographs, which will increase citizen oversight of the programme besides potentially
enabling processing payments faster.
 Area Officer Monitoring App facilitates them to record their findings online along with time-stamped and go-
coordinate tagged photographs for all the schemes of Deptt of Rural Development- Mahatma Gandhi NREGS,
PMAYG, PMGSY.
 This would also enable not only better record keeping of inspections by field and supervisory officials but
also facilitate analysis of the findings for better programme implementation.
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Regulating misleading advertisements
In News
The Central Consumer Protection Authority has come up with the Guidelines for Prevention of Misleading
Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022.
New Guidelines
 It means enticing consumers to buy the product at a lower price.
 Computers and other high-tech items are easy to bait and switch because many people don’t understand the
technology. So, when a salesperson claims that the only difference between this model and the one
advertised is that the manufacturers are different, the consumer believes it.
 They are regulated in India.
 Surrogate advertisements: They refer to any advertisement that promotes regulated products, like cigarettes
and alcohol, in the disguise of another product.
 The guidelines prohibit the use of surrogate advertising.
 The guidelines prohibit the advertisement of such products that will harm kids in any way.
 The guidelines also prohibit advertisements that can develop a negative image of the body in the minds of
the children. E.g Fairness cream etc.
 Advertisements also cannot give the impression that a product is better than the traditional food that
children usually consume at home. E.g Maggi, Yippee noodles, etc.
NCPCR issues guidelines for protection of child artistes
In News
Unveiling draft guidelines covering children working in the entertainment industry, the National Commission for
Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Saturday said children should not work for more than 27 straight days.
New Guidelines
 The guidelines also mandate deposit of 20 per cent of the child’s income in their bank accounts in a
nationalised bank.
 The Draft Regulatory Guidelines for Child Participation in the entertainment industry span TV, reality shows,
TV serials, news and informative media, movies, content on OTT platforms and social media, performing arts,
advertising and any other media involving commercial employment of children.
 The guidelines require producers of programmes involving child artistes to seek permission from district
magistrates and give an undertaking that the child won’t be subjected to abuse or exploitation.
 “No child should be allowed to work for more than 27 consecutive days.
 The child shall participate in one shift each day with a break after every three hours and not be made to
enter into an agreement for rendering any service as a bonded labourer under the Bonded Labour System
(Abolition) Act, 1976.
 The producer must ensure school education of children engaged in the shooting is not affected. A child
excused from school attendance because of engagement in the entertainment industry shall be taught by a
private tutor appointed by the producer.
 At least 20 per cent of the child’s income be directly deposited in a fixed deposit in a nationalised bank in the
name of the child to be credited on becoming an adult.
 The new rules bar children from being cast in a “role or situation that is inappropriate or causes distress.
 These also put the onus of ensuring a safe work environment for children on the production houses, adding
the child artistes should not be exposed to harmful lighting, irritating or contaminated cosmetics.
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Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI)
In News
The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the categorization of the
Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) as an ‘International Organization’.
Significance
 It will provide it an independent and international legal persona so that it can efficiently and effectively carry
out its functions internationally.
 Deputing experts to other countries, that are particularly vulnerable to disaster risk and / or require support
for post disaster recovery and also bringing in experts from member countries to India, for similar purposes;
 Deploying funds globally and receive contributions from member countries, for CDRI activities;
 Making available technical expertise to assist countries to develop resilient infrastructure in accordance with
their disaster and climate risks and resources;
 Imparting assistance to countries in adopting appropriate risk governance arrangements and strategies for
resilient infrastructure;
 Rendering all possible support to member countries in upgrading their systems to ensure disaster and
climate resilience of existing and future infrastructure, while aligning with the Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs), the Paris Climate Agreement and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction;
 Providing Indian scientific and technical institution as well as infrastructure developers an opportunity to
interact with global experts.
CDRI
 The CDRI was launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India during the United Nations Climate Action
Summit on the 23rd September, 2019, at New York.
 It is the second major global initiative launched by the Government of India and is a demonstration of India's
leadership role in climate change and disaster resilience matters, globally.
 CDRI is a global partnership of National Governments, UN agencies and programmes, multilateral
development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector, academic and knowledge institutions that
aims to promote the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks, thereby ensuring
sustainable development.
 On 28th August, 2019, the Cabinet had approved the setting up of CDRI with its Secretariat in New Delhi
along with a support of Rs. 480 crore to CDRI.
Centre Amends FCRA Rules
In News
The Central Government has amended the Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Rules 2011 exempting annual receipts
up to Rs 10 lakh from foreign relatives(who are citizens of other countries) from declaration and increasing the time
for declaration as three months.
New Amendments
 The government has also removed a provision wherein an organisation/individual receiving foreign funds
had to declare such contributions every quarter on its official website.
 The new rules — Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Rules, 2022 — were notified by the ministry
of home affairs (MHA) through a gazette notification recently.
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 “In the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Rules, 2011, in rule 6, for the words “one lakh rupees”, the words
“ten lakh rupees” shall be substituted; and for the words “thirty days”, the words “three months” shall be
substituted,”
 Rule 6 deals with intimation of receiving foreign funds from relatives. It stated earlier that “any person
receiving foreign contribution in excess of one lakh rupees or equivalent thereto in a financial year from any
of his relatives shall inform the Central government (details of funds) within 30 days from the receipt of such
contribution”.
 The amended rule now allows relatives to send up to ₹10 lakh without informing the government. If the
amount exceeds, the individuals will have three months to inform the government against 30 days earlier.
 Similarly, making changes in rule 9, which deals with application of obtaining ‘registration’ or ‘prior
permission’ under the FCRA to receive funds, the amended rules give individuals and organisations 45 days
to inform the MHA about bank account(s) that are to be used for utilisation of such funds. This time limit was
earlier 30 days.
 The Centre has also omitted provision ‘b’ in rule 13, which dealt with declaring foreign funds including details
of donors, amount received, and date of receipt every quarter on its website.
 The MHA made five more offences under FCRA “compoundable”, making 12 such offences compoundable
instead of directly prosecuting the organisations or individuals. Earlier, only seven offences under FCRA were
compoundable.
The FCRA violations that have become compoundable now include —

failure to intimate about receipt of foreign funds, opening of bank accounts, and failure to place information on
website etc.
FCRA Act
 The FCRA Act aims at prohibiting acceptance and utilisation of foreign contribution or foreign hospitality for
any activities detrimental to the national interest.
 In September 2020 — the government barred public servants from receiving foreign funding and made
Aadhaar mandatory for every office-bearer of the NGOs.
 The new law also says that organisations receiving foreign funds will not be able to use more than 20% of
such funds for administrative purposes. This limit was 50% earlier.
No hotels or restaurants can add service charge automatically
In News
The Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has issued guidelines for preventing unfair trade practices and
violation of consumer rights with regard to levying of service charge in hotels and restaurants.
Guidelines
 The guidelines issued by CCPA stipulate that hotels or restaurant shall not add service charge automatically
or by default in the food bill. No collection of service charge shall be done by any other name.
 No hotel or restaurant shall force a consumer to pay service charge and shall clearly inform the consumer
that service charge is voluntary, optional and at consumer’s discretion.
 No restriction on entry or provision of services based on collection of service charge shall be imposed on
consumers.
 Service charge shall not be collected by adding it along with the food bill and levying GST on the total
amount.
 The consumer may lodge a complaint on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), which works as an alternate
dispute redressal mechanism at the pre-litigation level by calling 1915 or through the NCH mobile app.
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 The Complaint can also be filed electronically through e-daakhil portal www.e-daakhil.nic.in for its speedy
and effective redressal.
The functioning of the National Investigation Agency
In News
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has taken over the probe into the killing of tailor Kanhaiyya Lal (48) in
Rajasthan’s Udaipur over a social media post supporting suspended leader Nupur Sharma.
About NIA
 The National Investigation Agency (NIA) was constituted under the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act,
2008.
 It is a central agency to investigates and prosecutes offences:
 Affects the sovereignty, security and integrity of India, security of the State, and friendly relations with
foreign States.
 Against atomic and nuclear facilities.
 Smuggling in High-Quality Counterfeit Indian Currency.
 It implements international treaties, agreements, conventions and resolutions of the United Nations, its
agencies and other international organizations.
 Its objective is also to combat terror in India.
 It acts as the Central Counter-Terrorism Law Enforcement Agency.
 Headquarters: New Delhi
 Branches: Hyderabad, Guwahati, Kochi, Lucknow, Mumbai, Kolkata, Raipur and Jammu
How NIA can take a probe?

 As provided under Section 6 of the Act, State governments can refer the case pertaining to the scheduled
offences registered at any police station to the Central government (Union Home Ministry) for NIA
investigation.
 Central government directs the agency: After Assessing the details made available, the Centre can then
direct the agency to take over the case.
 State governments are required to extend all assistance to the NIA.
 Outside India: Where the Central government finds that a scheduled offence has been committed at any
place outside India to which this Act extends, it can also direct the NIA to register the case and take up an
investigation.
 Can investigate allied offences: While investigating a scheduled offence, the agency can also investigate any
other offence that the accused is alleged to have committed if the offence is connected to the scheduled
offence.
MyGov Gujarat
In News
MyGov Gujarat, the 18th MyGov state instance, has been launched recently.
My Gov Portal
 The citizen centric platform has been launched with 4 key objectives –
 Discussion Forum on Saving rainwater and sharing water saving tips.
 Discussion Forum on Ease of Living through e Governance.
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 Poll on Swachhtha Abhiyaan.

 Blogs on Digital Seva Setu.
 The MyGov Gujarat platform shall empower 6.67 crore Gujarat is to contribute even more, towards nation
building.
 MyGov, the world’s largest citizen engagement platform, was launched by Prime Minister Shri Narendra
Modi on 26th July 2014 with the idea of bringing the Government closer to the common man.
 MyGov has evolved into a platform that allows citizens to contribute ideas and suggestions and make
participative governance a reality.
 MyGov is also present on almost all social media platforms popular with Indian youth, especially from the
far-flung corners of our great country; they played a key role during Covid, supporting MyGov.in by
disseminating correct and timely information.
 Our homegrown chatbot, MyGov Helpdesk, is extremely popular with young and old alike and is integrated
with many govt services including Cowin and recently, the Digilocker app.
Panel suggests increasing tenure of Parliamentary committees
In News
 There should be a dedicated hour during the Rajya Sabha proceedings to discuss the “import and
implications” of the reports finalised by Parliamentary Standing Committees, a panel headed by former
General Secretary and advisor P. P. K. Ramacharyulu has recommended.
 This is the first-ever comprehensive study of the Rajya Sabha secretariat.
Recommendations
 The committee suggested that the tenure of the Parliamentary committees should be increased from the
present one year to two years.
 Field visits should also be increased from the present two visits for a maximum of 10 days in a year to three
visits and 15 days.“
 Given the efforts that go into the preparation of reports by the DRSCs and their import and implications, a
Committee Hour has been recommended for consideration to discuss select major reports in the Parliament
for wider amplification of the content of the reports.
 The panel said that these reports should be made more accessible to the stakeholders and general public.
 The Study has suggested streamlining of the secretarial work, including disposing of of75% of the issues at
lower and middle levels in a 10-layer hierarchy that exists in the secretariat at present.
Caste census
In News
Several parties have been pushing for a nationwide ‘caste census’ to enumerate the Socially Economically Backward
Classes and OBCs.
Details
 The state does not have the power to conduct a census.
 The states can collect data or headcount of the population for the implementation of welfare schemes or
other purposes.
 This may be done either under existing state legislation and rules or new legislation may be enacted under
item 45 of List III (Concurrent List) of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution for socio-economic
development of the state.”
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 The central government accepted recommendations to use the Socio-Economic Caste Census in 2017:
 It will help in the identification of beneficiaries and transferring of funds for social schemes.
 It aims to bring out the unseen aspects of caste groups and their share in resources.
POCSO applicable to minor Muslim girl who has attained age of puberty: Delhi HC
In News
 Delhi High Court has said that the POCSO Act ensures that children are not sexually abused and exploited
and rejected the assertion that a minor Muslim girl who has attained the age of puberty would fall out of its
ambit.
 High Court Justice made this observation while rejecting the plea of a man, who is facing charges of rape
along with provisions of the POCSO Act for allegedly having a “physical relationship” with a minor girl after
their engagement.
 The judge however rejected his plea observing that, “POCSO is an Act for the protection of children below 18
years of age from sexual abuse and exploitation.
Features of POSCO Act

 POCSO is an Act for the protection of children below 18 years of age from sexual abuse and exploitation.
 AIM- to protect children below the age of 18 years from sexual abuse.
 Different forms of sexual abuse including but not limited to sexual harassment, pornography, penetrative &
non-penetrative assault are defined in the Act.
 Sexual assault is deemed to be “aggravated” under certain circumstances such as when the child is mentally
ill. Also when the abuse is committed by the person in a position of trust such as a doctor, teacher,
policeman, family member.
 Adequate provisions are made to avoid re-victimization of the Child at the hands of the judicial system. The
Act assigns a policeman in the role of child protector during the investigation process.
 The Act stipulates that such steps must be taken which makes the investigation process as child-friendly as
possible and the case is disposed of within one year from the date of reporting of the offence.
 The Act provides for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offences and matters related to
it.
Niti unit pitches for gender Budgeting act
In News
The Development, Monitoring and Evaluation Office (DMEO) has called for a National Policy for Women and
mainstreaming of gender-based budgeting across all ministries through the formulation of the Gender Budgeting
Act.
Reason
 As per the Global Gender Gap Report 2021, published by the World Economic Forum, India's rank fell by 28
places to 140 out of 156 countries with a score of 0.625 (out of 1) compared to 112 in 2020.
 The report provides scores on Global Gender Gap Index (GGGI), which examines the gap between men and
women in four dimensions, namely, economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health
and survival and political empowerment.
Recommendations
 Under report titled ‘Gender Mainstreaming in Governance’ also said there is a need to improve social
acceptance of transgender persons in society.
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 The report recommended that the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MWCD) should encourage
state governments to increase their budgetary allocation towards women and child development, protection
and welfare schemes
 There is a need to ‘finalise the National Policy for Women with revision in 2016 draft policy’.
 Absence of such data makes it difficult to measure the true impact of the schemes resulting in poor strategy
design.
Gender Budgeting
 Gender budgeting means preparing budgets or analyzing them from a gender perspective. Also referred to
as gender-sensitive budgeting, this practice does not entail dividing budgets for women.
 Gender Budgeting is a powerful tool for achieving gender mainstreaming so as to ensure that benefits of
development reach women as much as men.
 India has a gender budget component since 2005-06 wherein schemes having allocations at least 30% for
women is highlighted.
Beijing declaration and platform for action 1995: Recommended Gender Budgeting
Interpol's initiative against child sex abuse
In News
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has joined Interpol's International Child Sexual Exploitation (ICSE) database
that will allow Indian authorities to collaborate with international investigators in detecting child sex abuse online
and identifying abusers using specialised softwares.
About the Initiative

 The ICSE database uses video and image comparison to analyse Child Sex Exploitation Material (CSEM) and
make connections between victims, abusers and places.
 Avoids duplications and enables collaboration: The database avoids duplication of effort and saves precious
time by letting investigators know whether a series of images have already been discovered or identified in
another country, or whether it has similar features to other images.
 Statistics show that in India, every 155 minutes, a child under 16 years of age is raped. Parents of sexually
abused children are scared to tell anyone due to fear of being shamed in society.
 Previously, CBI had set up ‘Online Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation Prevention/Investigation (OCSAE) unit
for using CSEM data.
Forest Act: Centre to decriminalise minor offences
In News
The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has issued a public notice for decriminalisation of Indian
Forest Act, 1927.
Provisions of the Act

 A person who “kindles, keeps or carries any fire” permits cattle to pasture or trespass or causes damage by
felling a tree or dragging timber through the forest could earlier be penalised with six months imprisonment
or a fine up to Rs 500, or both.
 At present, the penalty is only a fine of Rs 500.
 Indian Forest Act, 1927: It classified the forests into three – reserved forests, protected forests and village
forests.
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 It attempted to regulate the collection of forests produce by forest dwellers and some activities were
declared as offences and imprisonment and fines were imposed in this policy to establish the state control
over forests
 Changes suggested: Decriminalizing kindling of fire or carrying fire in the forest areas, felling and dragging
timbers; violation of the act will only attract a fine of Rs 500 (previously it was six-month imprisonment and
fine)
 Previously, the Ministry had proposed the decriminalisation of the existing provisions of the Environment
Protection Act, 1986 in order to weed out fear of imprisonment for simple violations (e.g. violation of a ban
on single-use-plastic)
House panel recommends against compulsory mediation, role for judiciary
In News
 Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, headed by veteran BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, has
recommended substantial changes to the Mediation Bill, meant for institutionalisation of mediation and
establishment of the Mediation Council of India.
 The panel cautioned against making pre-litigation mediation compulsory and warned the Centre against the
provision to give higher courts the power to frame rules for mediation.
Key Provisions
 Clause 26 of the Bill: It provides for the court-annexed mediation
 This clause gives the powers to the court to make rules for ‘court-annexed mediation’, which is
unconstitutional.
 Pre-litigation mediation mandatory: Making pre-litigation mediation mandatory may actually result in the
delaying of cases and may prove to be an additional tool in the hands of truant litigants to delay the disposal
of cases.
 Non-applicability of provisions to non-commercial matters: Non Applicability of the provisions of the Bill to
disputes/matters of non-commercial nature involving the Government and its agencies.
 Appointment of chairperson and members: Appointment of the Chairperson and Members of the
Mediation Council of India should be made by a Selection Committee constituted by the Centre.
Tele-Law service
In News
From this year, Tele-Law service is being made free of cost for citizens in the country.
About Tele- Law service

 Tele–Law mainstreams legal aid to the marginalized seeking legal help by connecting them with the Panel
Lawyers through the tele/video-conferencing infrastructure available at Common Service Centers (CSCs)
across 1 lakh Gram Panchayats.
 For easy and direct access Tele- Law Mobile Application (both Android and IoS) has also been launched in
2021 and it is presently available in 22 scheduled languages.
 NALSA through its SLSAs and DLSAs is already working in this regard through Under Trial Review Committee
(UTRCs) by making available free legal aid/legal counsel to the undertrials.
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Jan Samarth Portal
In News
The Government launched “Jan Samarth” Portal on 6th June 2022 which is available 24/7.
About Portal
 It connects all stakeholders like beneficiaries, financial institutions, Central/State Government Agencies, &
Nodal Agencies on a common platform.
 Applicant can initially access 13 schemes through a single platform.
 Intuitive guidance to applicants for checking subsidy eligibility.
 Auto recommendation of the best suitable scheme for beneficiary.
 Digital approval of loan application based on digital verifications.
 Beneficiary can track real time status of their loan application.
 The use of “Jan Samarth” Portal by applicants will ease the loan application and disbursement process as the
applicant can upload his application and the rule engine for approval of the applications is inbuilt.
 This will save time and effort as applicant can apply for a loan on the portal which is available on 24/7 basis.
Draft National Youth Policy
In News
The Government has reviewed the existing National Youth Policy, 2014 and prepared a new draft of National Youth
Policy (NYP), which has been placed in public domain.
Features of Youth Policy

 The draft NYP envisages a ten-year vision for youth development that India seeks to achieve by 2030.
 It is aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and serves to ‘unlock the potential of youth to
advance India’.
 The NYP seeks to catalyze widespread action on youth development on five priority areas viz. education;
employment & entrepreneurship; youth leadership & development; health, fitness & sports; and social
justice.
 The policy draws a detailed roadmap towards the vision outlined for the youth in the coming decade and
delineates the actions within each priority area.
 The policy envisions an education system in sync with National Education Policy, 2020 that imparts career
opportunities and life skills to all young people.
 To develop India’s youth, both men and women, as leaders of tomorrow, the policy prescribes strengthening
the volunteering ecosystem, expanding opportunities for leadership development and mobilising technology
to establish a vibrant youth enablement platform.
 To develop India’s youth, both men and women, as leaders of tomorrow, the policy prescribes strengthening
the volunteering ecosystem, expanding opportunities for leadership development and mobilising technology
to establish a vibrant youth enablement platform.
 The policy outlines actions that will empower the youth and ensure their safety, strengthen the legal system
for the quick delivery of justice and provide holistic support for the rehabilitation of juveniles.
 The policy is a roadmap for the development of youth today to ensure a bright future for India tomorrow.
This national-level framework will be adopted by states that will formulate their youth policies to serve the
development needs of the region.
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Green Energy Open Access
In News
Ministry of Power has notified Electricity (Promoting Renewable Energy Through Green Energy Open Access) Rules,
2022 in order to further accelerate our ambitious renewable energy programmes, with the objective of ensuring
access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and green energy for all.
Salient Features
 These rules are notified for promoting generation, purchase and consumption of green energy including the
energy from Waste-to-Energy plants.
 The Green Open Access is allowed to any consumer and the limit of Open Access Transaction has been
reduced from 1 MW to 100 kW for green energy, to enable small consumers also to purchase renewable
power through open access.
 Consumers are entitled to demand supply of Green Power from Discoms. Discoms would be obligated to
procure and supply green power to eligible consumers.
 These Rules will also streamline the overall approval process for granting open access.
 Commercial and Industrial consumers are allowed to purchase green power on voluntarily basis.
 Consumers will be given Green Certificates if they consume green power.
Centre sets up MSP panel
In News
The Centre has constituted a high-powered panel under the chairmanship of former agriculture secretary Sanjay
Agarwal to make the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism more effective and transparent.
Objectives of the Committee

 It will work for Agri marketing as per the changing requirements of the country to ensure higher value to the
farmers through remunerative prices of their produce by taking advantage of the domestic output and
export.
 On natural farming: It will suggest programmes and schemes for value chain development, protocol
validation and research for future needs and support for area expansion under the Indian Natural Farming
System.
 On crop diversification: It will look into the mapping of existing cropping patterns of agro-ecological zones of
producer and consumer States.
 Review and suggestion on micro irrigation scheme
Need of MSP
 Support farmers from distress sales.
 To procure food grains for public distribution
 To safeguard farmers from market price fluctuations.
 Maintain a healthy supply of food grains in the market thereby helping in the fight against hunger.
 The guaranteed price for the crops and assured markets encourage higher investment and adoption of
modern farming practices.
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Steps taken by the Government to make online education more conducive
In News
In order to ensure that every student including those residing in rural and educationally backward districts of the
country, gets continues access educational, a multi-pronged approach has been adopted by the Dept. of School
Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education.
Measures taken by govt.

 PM e-Vidya has been started as part of Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan on 17th May, 2020, which unifies all
efforts related to digital/ online / on-air education to enable multi-mode access to education.
 DIKSHA the nation’s digital infrastructure for providing quality e-content for school education in states/UTs:
and QR coded Energized Textbooks for all grades (one nation, one digital platform)
 One earmarked Swayam Prabha TV channel per class from 1 to 12 (one class, one channel)
 Extensive use of Radio, Community radio and CBSE Podcast- Shiksha Vani
 Special e-content for visually and hearing impaired developed on Digitally Accessible Information System
(DAISY) and in sign language on NIOS website/ YouTube
 Where the digital facility (mobile device/DTH television) is not available, Ministry of Education has taken
many initiatives like Community Radio Stations and a podcast called Shiksha Vani of CBSE, Textbooks,
worksheet supplied to residence of learners, Handbook on 21st Century Skills and community/mohalla
classes are organized.
 PRAGYATA guidelines were issued to the States/UTs to facilitate continued education through various
modes.
 The guidelines inter-alia include situation where internet connectivity is not available or available with very
less bandwidth, resources are shared through various platforms like television, radio etc. that do not depend
on internet.
 The Ministry has undertaken a proactive initiative, named, ‘MANODARPAN’ covering a wide range of
activities to provide psychosocial support to students, teachers and families for Mental Health and Emotional
Wellbeing during the COVID outbreak and beyond.
The Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill
In News
Government has come up with Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill 2019 will bring the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea
into domestic law and enable Indian authorities to take action against piracy on the high seas.

 Piracy is defined as an act of violence or detention by the crew or passengers of a private vessel or private
aircraft on high seas, directed against another vessel or aircraft and/or people or property on board.
 Extra-territorial Jurisdictions: The Bill will apply to the sea beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), that is,
beyond 200 nautical miles from India’s coastline.
 However, it is unclear if it will apply to the EEZ that extends between 12 and 200 nautical miles from the
coast of India.
 For committing acts of piracy, the convicts shall be punished with imprisonment for life or death in case the
act of piracy itself causes the death or attempts to cause the death of another person.
 Participating in or assisting acts of piracy will be punishable with up to 14 years of imprisonment and a fine.
 Extraditable offences: This means that the accused can be transferred to any country for prosecution with
which India has signed an extradition treaty.
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 Designated Court: The central government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the concerned High
Court, may notify the Sessions Courts to be the Designated Courts under this Bill.
 The presumption of guilt will be on the accused if: (i) the accused is in possession of arms, explosives and
other equipment which were used or intended for use in committing the offence, (ii) there is evidence of use
of force against the ship’s crew or passengers, and (iii) there is evidence of the intended use of bombs and
arms against the crew, passengers or cargo of a ship.
Key Issues
 Under the Bill, if a person, while committing an act of piracy causes or seeks to cause death, he will be
punished with death. This implies a mandatory death penalty for such offences. The Supreme Court has
held that mandatory death penalty for any offence is unconstitutional as it violates Articles 14 and 21 of the
Constitution. However, Parliament has passed laws providing for mandatory death penalty for some
offences.
 The Bill provides for imprisonment of up to 14 years if a person participates in an act of piracy. Committing
an act of piracy (which includes voluntarily participating in the operation of a pirate ship or aircraft) is
punishable with life imprisonment. As these circumstances may overlap, it is unclear how the punishment
would be determined in such cases.
 The Bill will apply to all parts of the sea adjacent to and beyond the limits of the Exclusive Economic Zone
(EEZ) of India, i.e., beyond 200 nautical miles from the coastline. The question is whether the Bill should
cover the EEZ also, that is the area between 12 nautical miles and 200 nautical miles (from the coastline of
India).
UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS, 1982):

 It is an international agreement that establishes the legal framework for marine and maritime activities.
 It divides marine areas into five main zones namely– Internal Waters, Territorial Sea, Contiguous Zone,
Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the High Seas.
 It is a set of rules to govern the oceans and the use of their resources. It is based on the idea that all
problems related to oceans are interrelated and need to be addressed by the global community as a whole.
 UNCLOS governs all aspects of ocean space, including delimitation, environmental control, marine scientific
research, economic and commercial activities, transfer of technology and the settlement of ocean-related
disputes.
Flag Code of India 2022
In News
The Centre is encouraging citizens to hoist the national flag on their houses between August 13 and 15 as part of the
Har Ghar Tiranga campaign.
Har Ghar Tiranga

 It is a campaign under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to encourage people to bring the Tiranga home
and to hoist it to mark the 75th year of India’s independence. (people are encouraged to hoist a flag in their
home from 13 to 15th August)
 Art 51A(a) – To abide by the Constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the
National Anthem.
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Flag Code of India

 The Flag Code of India is a set of laws and conventions concerning the use, display, and hoisting of the Indian
national flag in the country.
 It was brought into effect on January 26, 2002.
 It states that a member of the public, private organisation, or educational institute is allowed to hoist the
national flag on all days and occasions, ceremonial or otherwise, consistent with the dignity and honour of
the flag.
 The code has been divided into three parts.
 The first part contains a general description of the national flag.
 The second part talks about the display of the flag by members of the public, private organisations, and
other institutions.
 The third part is about the display of the national flag by central and state governments, and their
organisations/agencies.
 On July 20, 2022, the Centre amended the Flag Code of India, allowing the national flag to be flown both in
the day and at night if it is displayed in the open or on the house of a member of the public. Earlier, the
tricolour could be hoisted only between sunrise and sunset.
Centre to amend Warehousing Act
In News
The Union Food and Public Distribution Ministry has suggested major amendments to the Warehousing
(Development and Regulation) Act of 2007.
Key Amendments
 The aim is to help farmers get access to the services of quality warehouses.
 The amendment is:
 To make registration of go downs compulsory
 To raise the penalty for various offences and
 To do away the jail term as a punishment for the offences
 Central government will have powers to exempt any class of warehouses from registration with the
Authority.
 At present, registration with the Warehousing Development and Regulation Authority (WDRA) is optional.
 After the proposed amendment, which is yet to be cleared by the cabinet, registration of all third party
warehouses throughout the country, will be undertaken in a phased manner.
 The Act wants to establish a system of negotiable and non-negotiable warehouse receipt (NWR), which is
now in electronic form.
Warehousing Act 2007

 The GOI has introduced a negotiable warehouse receipt system in the country by enacting the Warehousing
(Development and Regulation) Act, 2007 (37 of 2007).
 It has been made effective with effect from the 25th October, 2010.
 The Negotiable Warehouse Receipt (NWR) system was formally launched on the 26th April, 2011.
Why Amendment is needed?

 To make provisions for the development and regulation of warehouses, negotiability of warehouse receipts,
establishment of a Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA) and related matters.
 The Negotiable Warehouse Receipts (NWRs) issued by the warehouses registered under this Act would help
the farmers to seek loans from banks against NWRs.
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 It will avoid distress sale of agricultural produce.
New law to free coffee sector from restrictive controls
In News
 The government will loosen control over the coffee sector by scrapping several archaic provisions of the
Coffee Act 1942, and undertake all-round development of the sector with emphasis on domestic as well as
export requirements and farmer welfare, according to the draft Coffee (Promotion and Development) Bill,
2022, prepared by the commerce ministry.
 The new Bill will replace the Coffee Act of 1942.
Proposed Provisions
 It will now include support for production, research, extension, and quality improvement apart from regular
work of control, marketing and sale.
 Protection of interests of labour
 Simplifying the procedures and registration process of curing units.
 Centre extended the RoDTEP (Refund of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products) scheme to the coffee sector
to boost exports.
 The Bill aims to address several new areas of functions of the Coffee Board. These include support for
production, research, extension, quality improvement and the promotion of coffee and skill development of
coffee growers.
 The Bill is also aimed at “holistic promotion and development” of the coffee industry, covering activities such
as the expansion of the cash crop in new areas, sustainable cultivation, raising production as well as
productivity, exports, promotion and the marketing of coffee.
About Coffee
 Second most important beverage of India after tea.
 Indigenous to Abyssinia Plateau (Ethiopia).
 It was brought to India by Baba Budan in the 17th century from Arabia and was raised in the Baba Budan
Hills of Karnataka.
 British planters established large coffee estates near
 Chikmagalur (Karnataka) in 1826.
 Manantody (Wayanad) and Shevoroys in 1830.
 Nilgiris in 1839.
Conditions of Growth
 The hot and humid climate
 Temperature between 15°C and 28 °C.
 Rainfall from 150 to 250 cm.
 Well-drained, rich friable loams containing a good deal of humus and minerals like iron and calcium are ideal
for coffee cultivation.
 Dry weather is necessary at the time of ripening of the berries.
 The crop is not tolerant to
 Frost and snowfall.
 High temperature above 30°C and strong sunshine (Hence, generally grown under shady trees on Northern
and Eastern aspects of Hill).
 Drought
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Private players can use drones for delivery purposes
In News
Private players are free to use drones for delivery purposes subject to compliance with Drone Rules, 2021.
Drones Rules 2021

• Every drone, except for those meant for research, development and testing purposes, is required to be
registered and should have a Unique Identification Number (UIN).
• An airspace map of the country segregating the entire airspace into red, yellow and green zones is available
on the digital sky platform. Operation of drones in red and yellow zones is subject to the approval of the
Central Government and the concerned Air Traffic Control (ATC) authority respectively. No approval is
required for operation of drones in green zones.
• The State Government, the Union Territory Administration and Law enforcement agencies have been
empowered under the Rules to declare a temporary red zone for a specified period.
• Drones are required to have the necessary type certification issued by Directorate General of Civil Aviation
(DGCA). No type certification is however required in case of nano drones (up to 250 gram all-up weight) and
model drones made for research and recreation purpose.
• The owner and operators of drones are required to furnish the necessary personal details including their
Indian passport number etc. for issuance of any registration or licence.
• Rule 17 of the Drone Rules, 2021, lays down the provision of transfer of drone to another person by way of
sale, lease, gift or any other mode, after providing requisite details of the transferor, transferee and unique
identification number of the drone on the digital sky platform along with the applicable fees.
• Authorisation of Remote Pilot Training Organisations (RPTO) will be done by DGCA within specified time
limits.
PLI Scheme
• The scheme provides for an incentive of Rs 120 crores, spread over three financial years.
• The PLI rate is 20% of the value addition over three financial years. PLI for a manufacturer shall be capped at
25% of total annual outlay.
Benefits of Drones
• Drones offer tremendous benefits to almost all sectors of the economy.
• These include - agriculture, vaccine delivery, surveillance, search and rescue, transportation, mapping,
defence and law enforcement to name a few.
• The Government is utilising services of drone service providers for vaccine delivery, inspection of oil
pipelines and power transmission lines, anti-locust operations, agricultural spraying, survey of mines, land
mapping under SVAMITVA scheme for issuance of digital property cards, etc.
• Many of these have been in remote areas of the country.
The Parliamentary Panel has highlighted some of the outdated provisions of Goa’s uniform
civil code
In News
A parliamentary panel has reviewed Goa’s uniform civil code and some of its members feel that there are some
peculiar and outdated provisions related to matrimony in it.
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Goa Civil Code

• The Goa Civil Code, a set of civil laws that governs all residents of the coastal State irrespective of their
religion and ethnicity, has come under focus amid a call for the implementation of a uniform civil code (UCC)
across the country. Goa is the only state with UCC in India.
• Objections: There were some peculiar clauses in the law related to matrimony and division of property,
which were outdated and not based on the principle of equality.
• The law also doesn’t recognize bigamy or polygamy, including for Muslims but grants an exception to a
Hindu man to marry once again if his wife doesn’t conceive a child by the age of 21 or a male child by the age
of 30.
UCC
• The UCC refers to a common set of laws governing personal matters such as marriage, divorce, adoption,
inheritance and succession, that will apply to all citizens irrespective of their religion, caste, and gender.
• Article 44 of the Constitution, which is one of the Directive Principles of State Policy, also advocates a
uniform civil code.
• However, governments since Independence have allowed respective religion-based civil codes to respect the
diversity of India.
Kerala raises concerns about proposed amendments to law governing mines and mines and
minerals
In News
The Kerala government has opposed the new set of proposed amendments to the Mines and Minerals
(Development and Regulation) Act.
Key Concerns
• The main objection is against the sixth item in the note for consultation sent to the State governments that
will empower the Centre to auction some minerals from the list of atomic minerals.
• Allowing the private sector to engage in beach sand mining in the environmentally significant and
ecologically fragile coastal region of Kerala will lead to an environmental catastrophe.
• Entry 23 of List II and Article 246(3): State Governments are the owners of the mines and minerals located
within the territory of the State concerned, and under Entry 23 of List II of the Constitution and the
Constitutional right of the State under Article 246(3), State Assemblies can make laws on such minerals.
Article 246(3)
The Legislature of any State has exclusive power to make laws for such State or any part thereof with respect to any
of the matters enumerated in List II in the Seventh Schedule (in this Constitution referred to as the “State List”).
Monazite:
• It is one of the beach sand minerals that contain rare earth like lanthanum, cerium, praseodymium,
neodymium etc.
• It also contains thorium which is a “prescribed substance”, the list of which was revised in 2006 under the
Atomic Energy Act, 1962.
• It is a rare phosphate mineral that usually occurs in small isolated grains in Igneous and Metamorphic rocks
such as granite, pegmatite, schist, and gneiss.
• It is translucent and one of the most resistant minerals to weathering.
• It is a radioactive atomic mineral used for the production of Thorium (as high as 500 ppm) and has the
potential to be used as fuel in the nuclear power system.
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Public grievance redressal time reduced to 30 days from 45 days
In News
Union Minister Jitendra Singh said the time for redressal of public grievances received on an online portal has been
reduced from 45 to 30 days.
CPGRAM
• Centralized Public Grievances Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAM) is an online web-enabled system
developed by the National Informatics Centre (Ministry of Electronics & IT [MeitY]), in association with the
Directorate of Public Grievances (DPG) and Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances
(DARPG) (under Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions)
• It helps in receiving, redressing and monitoring of grievance of the public in an efficient way.
• The CPGRAMS provides the facility to lodge a grievance online from any geographical location.
• It enables the citizen to track online the grievance being followed up with Departments concerned and also
enables DARPG to monitor the grievance.
• The procedure includes designating a senior officer as the Director of Grievances/Grievance officer in every
office to ensure that the system remains accessible, simple, quick, fair and responsive, and fixing the time
limit for disposal of work relating to public grievances and staff grievances.
SC Quashes Jharkhand Decision to Grant 100% Quota to Locals in Govt Jobs
In News
The Supreme Court quashed the Jharkhand government’s 2016 decision to grant 100% reservation to locals of 13
scheduled areas in public jobs and upheld a high court decision that had termed the government decision
discriminatory and impermissible.
Details
• Observation by SC-“The citizens have equal rights, and the total exclusion of others by creating an
opportunity for one class is not contemplated by the founding fathers of the Constitution of India”
• The Issue: Jharkhand Government in 2016 granted 100% reservations to locals of 13 scheduled areas in
public jobs. Previously State HC had termed the decision discriminatory and impermissible.
• Rights violated: The move is unconstitutional and ultra vires Articles 14, 16(2), 16(3) and 35 of the
Constitution of India.
• For reservation outer limit is 50% as specified in the Indra Sawhney case, 1992.
• Previous Case: The top court relied on the constitution bench judgment of 2020 related to a 100% quota in
jobs in Andhra Pradesh.
• Power of Governor over scheduled areas: The power of the governor is pari passu with the legislative power
of Parliament and the State. The power of the Governor does not supersede the fundamental rights
guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution.
Govt withdraws data protection Bill to bring revamped, refreshed regulation
In News
• The government has withdrawn the Personal Data Protection Bill from Parliament as it looks to come up
with a “comprehensive legal framework” for regulating online space including separate legislation on data
privacy, the overall internet ecosystem, cybersecurity, telecom regulations, and harnessing non-personal
data for boosting innovation in the country.
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• The Joint Committee of Parliament on the Personal Data Protection Bill had submitted a 542-page report
with overall 93 recommendations and 81 amendments to the Bill in December 2021.
Recommendations by JCP
• Broader data protection: Expanding its mandate to include discussions on non-personal data, thereby
changing the mandate of the Bill from personal data protection to broader data protection
• Regulation of social media: Changes on issues such as the regulation of social media companies.
• Trusted hardware: Using only “trusted hardware” in smartphones, among other things.
• Data protection in line with SC judgment: The new Bill will incorporate the broader ideas of data protection
as recommended by the JCP and will be in line with the Supreme Court’s landmark judgment of 2017 in
which it held privacy as a fundamental right.
• Social media as content publishers: The JCP’s report also proposed that social media companies that do not
act as intermediaries are to be treated as content publishers, they become liable for the content they host.
• Non-personal data: The JCP had also recommended including non-personal data in the Bill. In its most basic
form, non-personal data is any set of data which does not contain personally identifiable information.
e-Court Mission Mode Project
In News
As part of the National eGovernance Plan, the eCourt project is an integrated Mission Mode Project under
implementation since 2007 for ICT development of the Indian Judiciary.
e-Court Project
• The e-Court Integrated Mission Mode Project was launched with the objective of improving access to justice
using technology.
• The Phase I of eCourts was concluded in 2015 in which 14,249 Court sites were computerized.
• Under Phase II, 18,735 District & Subordinate courts have been computerised so far.
• Using National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), developed under the eCourts Project with elastic search
technology, lawyers and litigants can access case status information of 20.86 crore cases and more than
18.02 crore orders/judgments.
• Case Information Software (CIS) based on customized Free and Open-Source Software (FOSS) has been
developed.
• 7 platforms for Citizen centric services or service delivery channels for providing real time information on
case status, cause lists, judgements etc. to lawyers/litigants.
• An eFiling system (version 3.0) has been rolled out for the electronic filing of legal papers with advanced
features like online submission of Vakalatnama, eSigning, online video recording of oath, online payment,
filing of multiple IAs/application, Portfolio Management and bilingual mode etc.
• eSewa Kendras: To make justice delivery inclusive and to mitigate handicaps caused by digital divide, eSewa
Kendras have been rolled out to provide e-filing services to lawyers and litigants.
• A ‘Judgment & Order Search’ portal has been inaugurated for the convenience of its stakeholders in
searching judgments easily by providing a repository for Judgments and Final Orders of the High Courts.
• Secure, Scalable & Sugamya Website as a Service (S3WAAS) Website: A new divyang friendly website for
eCommittee, based on S3WaaS platform is live in 13 regional languages including English & Hindi.
• Using SMS pull facility stakeholders can receive case status by sending sixteen characters CNR number of a
case to the number 97668-99899
• SMS push facility is provided to stakeholders like litigants and advocates to get SMS on the occurrence of
each event in a case like filing, registration, adjournment, scrutiny, listing, transfer of the case, disposal,
uploading of orders etc., on their mobile registered with the court.
• Service desk to be set up for internal stakeholders to get the relevant information.
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No immunity from arrest in criminal cases for MPs during session
In News
• Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu said in the Upper House that MPs did not have immunity from
being arrested in criminal cases — when the House is in session or otherwise.
• He said MPs could not avoid summons from law enforcement agencies.
Privileges
• Article 105: Under Article 105 of the Constitution, Members of Parliament enjoy certain privileges so that
they can perform their parliamentary duties without let or hindrance.
• One of the privileges is that a member of Parliament cannot be arrested in a civil case, 40 days before the
commencement of the Session or Committee meeting and 40 days thereafter.
• This privilege is already incorporated under section 135A of the Civil Procedure Code, 1908.
Major Judgements
• In 1966 by Dr Zakir Hussain it mentioned that “Members of Parliament do enjoy certain privileges so that
they can perform their duties”.
• K Anandan Nambiar and another: The Supreme Court of India held that the true Constitutional position is
that so far as a valid order of detention is concerned, a Member of Parliament can claim no special status
higher than that of an ordinary citizen and is as much liable to be arrested, detained or questioned even
during the Session.
• State of Kerala Vs K. Ajith and Others: The Supreme Court in a recent case, State of Kerala Vs K. Ajith and
Others, observed that “privileges and immunities are not gateways to claim exemptions from the general law
of the land, particularly as in this case, the criminal law which governs the action of every citizen.
Chhattisgarh govt implements extension of panchayat rights in scheduled areas
In News
The Chhattisgarh government implemented the extension of panchayat rights in scheduled areas — PESA Rule-2022
on World Tribal Day.
PESA Rules 2022

• Chhattisgarh’s PESA Rules mandate that 50% of the members of the Gram Sabha are from Tribal
communities (of which 25% will be female members). For PESA Act to be effective, it is important that Rules
be framed by the states.
• Out of 10 states (Andhra, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, HP, Jharkhand, MP, Maharastra, Odisha, and
Rajasthan) who have notified 5th Schedule Areas, only 7 states (including Chhattisgarh and Gujarat) have
notified Rules to implement the PESA Act.
• States coming in the 6th Scheduled are: Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, and Mizoram (remember as ‘AMTM’).
PESA Act, 1996

• It extends the provisions of Panchayats (Part IX of the constitution) to the Fifth Schedule Areas. These areas
have a huge tribal population.
• It ensures self-governmance through Gram Sabhas (village assemblies) for people living in the Scheduled
Areas.
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• The 73rd constitutional amendment (19992) gave shape to a three-tier Panchayati Raj Institution, however,
its application to the scheduled and tribal areas under Article 243(M) was restricted.
• It was after the Bhuria Committee recommendations in 1995 that PESA Act 1996 came into existence.
Powers of Gram Sabha under PESA Act

• Consultation before the land acquisition, prevent land alienation, power to enforce prohibition, prior
approval of all developmental projects and control over tribal sub-plan, maintenance of cultural identity and
tradition, control over schemes affecting the tribals etc.
• Judicial powers: Dispute resolution as per traditional laws and customs: the collective resolution of disputes
on the basis of customs, traditional laws and religious beliefs of tribal areas.
• Ownership and management of natural resources: E.g. water, forest, common lands (‘Jal, Jangal, and
Zameen’), minor forest produce, minor minerals, etc.
• Minor Forest Produce: It has been defined under FRA 2006, as those including all nontimber forest produce
of plant origin, including bamboo, brushwood, stumps, cane, tussar, etc.
Cabinet allows procurement by cooperatives through GeM portal
In News
• The government announced to expand the mandate of Government e-Marketplace by allowing procurement
by cooperatives.
• The move will help over 8.54 lakh registered cooperatives, like Amul and IFFCO, and their 27 crore members,
as they would get products at competitive rates from the GeM portal.
About Cooperatives
• It is a voluntary association of individuals having common needs who join hands for common economic
interests.
• Based on the principle of: Voluntary and open membership, Autonomy to members, Aimed at community
concerns.
• A separate ‘Ministry of Co-operation’ has been created by the Central Government for realizing the vision of
‘Sahkar se Samriddhi’ (Prosperity through Cooperation)
• Under the ‘state list’ of the 7th schedule
• Forming a cooperative is a fundamental right under Art19(1)(c) and states must promote cooperatives (Art
43-B)
• 97th A Act 2011 added a new part PartIX-B regarding cooperative working in India.
• The first credit cooperative society was formed in Banking in 1903. Cooperative got a legal status with the
enactment of the Cooperative Credit Societies Act, 1904.
Significance
• The GeM will provide a dedicated onboarding process for cooperatives, technical infrastructure to support
additional users on existing portals, as well as assistance to cooperatives for onboarding and transaction
journey via available contact centres, in-field training and other support services.
• The GeM will initiate suitable actions, including the creation of necessary features and functionalities on the
GeM portal, up-gradation of infrastructure, strengthening of the helpdesk and training ecosystem and
onboarding of cooperatives.
About GeM
• GeM is a one-stop National Public Procurement Portal to facilitate online procurement of common use
Goods & Services required by various Central and State Government Departments/Organizations/Public
Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
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• The procurement of goods and services by Ministries and the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) is
mandatory for goods and services available on GeM.
• It also provides the tools of e-bidding and reverse e-auction to facilitate the government users achieve the
best value for their money.
• At present, GeM has more than 30 lakh products, over Rs. 10 lakh crore worth of transactions have
happened so far at the portal.
Petition to recognise minorities at district level is contrary to law
In News
The Supreme Court on August 8 orally observed that it is "contrary to law" to identify religious and linguistic minority
communities district-wise.
Earlier Judgements
• SC (in Kerela Education Bill Case, 1958) had rejected that minorities be identified at the block or district level.
• SC (in TMA Pai Case, 2008) had said that Linguistic and religious minorities are determined by taking the
state as a unit and not at the national level.
Constitutional Status of Minorities

• Constitution doesn’t define the word ‘minorities’
• Article 29 (Right to conserve distinct language, script and culture): It grants protection to both religious as
well as linguistic minorities. Its scope is not necessarily restricted to minorities only.
• Article 30 (Right to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice): The protection under it
is confined only to minorities (religious or linguistic).
• Article 350-B (provides for a Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities appointed by the President of India)
Electricity Bill
In News
The government has tabled the Electricity (Amendment) Bill 2022 in the Lok Sabha and then referred it to the
parliamentary standing committee on energy for wider consultation.

• Allows multiple Discoms in the same area: More than one power distributor can operate in an area. This is
aimed at boosting competition and giving more choice to the consumers. The new supplier can use existing
supply lines.
• Regulator must decide in 90 days or the application will be deemed to be approved.
• It will end distribution monopolies and improve the viabilities of business.
Benefit for DISCOMs:

• Fixing of Tariffs: There will be “mandatory” fixing of minimum as well as maximum tariff ceilings by the
“appropriate commission” to avoid predatory pricing by power distribution companies and to protect
consumers.
• It aims to ensure graded and timely tariff revisions.
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Benefits for remote areas and farmers:

Cross-subsidy Balancing Fund: Cross-subsidy refers to the arrangement of one consumer category subsidizing the
consumption of another consumer category. E.g. commercial consumers subsidies residents or farmers. The state
government will set up such a fund.
Benefit for Environment:

• Renewable purchase obligation(RPO):Under the previous act SERCs are empowered to specify renewable
purchase obligations(RPO) for discoms. RPO refers to the compulsory procurement of a certain percentage
of electricity from renewable sources.
• As per the Bill, RPO should not be below a minimum percentage prescribed by the central government or
DISCOMS may face a penalty.
Concerns with the bill

• ‘Electricity’ is a state subject and any legislation on it should be in consultation with the state government.
However, no consultation was done before introducing the bill.
• Provision to encourage competition may lead to more entities entering lucrative and urban areas, while loss-
making areas may continue to be underserved.
• Fear of end of subsidies by farmers.
• Privatization of distribution companies may result in job losses
• There is a fear that the Bill might result in the privatization of profits and the nationalization of losses
• Multiple distribution licensees may lead to a situation similar to the telecom sector where monopoly
companies will destroy the public sector and smaller companies.
State-level OBC groups must be included in central list
In News
Currently, for each state, there are two OBC lists — from the state and the Centre. So, a caste may be included in the
OBC list of a state and enjoy the reservation benefits in state government jobs and educational institutions but not
with respect to central government jobs or educational institutions.
Constitutional Provisions
• In Ram Singh and Ors vs Union of India Case (2015), the Central government argued that the inclusion of
classes or groups in state OBC lists is a strong and compelling reason for the inclusion of such classes in the
central lists. The Supreme Court judgment validated this argument.
• Articles 15(4) and 16(4) make special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes of citizens
(SEBCs, popularly known as OBCs), the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
• First Backward Classes Commission (1955) recommended the inclusion of 2,399 castes as OBCs. But, the then
central government did not implement it.
• Second Backward Classes Commission (Mandal Commission, 1980), the central government implemented it
much later.
• The central government introduced a reservation of 27% for OBCs in government jobs, in 1990. The
constitutional validity of the reservation was upheld in the Indira Sawhney case. Pursuant to judgment, the
National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993was enacted.
Need for Sub-categorization

• The Justice Rohini Commission was constituted to ensure equitable distribution of reservation benefits
among the OBC castes through sub-categorization. It has recently been given the 10th extension in five
years.
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• It arises from the perception that a few dominant castes among the OBCs have cornered a disproportionate
amount of the benefits from the reservation, thus leading to injustice.
Euthanasia
In News
• In a recent incident, a Bengaluru woman goes to Delhi HC to stop a friend’s euthanasia trip to Europe.
• According to a petition filed before the court, the man has been suffering from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
since 2014 and is allegedly planning to travel to Switzerland for physician-assisted suicide as the option is not
available in India.
Euthanasia
• The term “euthanasia” is derived from Greek, literally meaning “good death”. Taken in its common usage,
however, euthanasia refers to the termination of a person’s life, to end their suffering, usually from an
incurable or terminal condition. It is for this reason that euthanasia was also coined the name “mercy
killing”.
• Voluntary euthanasia refers to euthanasia performed at the request of the patient.
• Involuntary euthanasia is the term used to describe the situation where euthanasia is performed when the
patient does not request it, with the intent of relieving their suffering – which, in effect, amounts to murder.
• Non-voluntary euthanasia relates to a situation where euthanasia is performed when the patient is incapable
of consenting.
Active Euthanasia
• It is also known as ‘Positive Euthanasia’ or ‘Aggressive Euthanasia’. It refers to causing intentional death of a
human being by direct intervention. It is a direct action performed to end useless life and a meaningless
existence.
• For example, by giving lethal doses of a drug or by giving a lethal injection. Active euthanasia is usually a
quicker means of causing death and all forms of active euthanasia are illegal.
Passive Euthanasia
• It is also known as ‘Negative Euthanasia’ or ‘Non-Aggressive Euthanasia’. It is intentionally causing death by
not providing essential, necessary and ordinary care or food and water.
• It implies discontinuing, withdrawing or removing artificial life support systems.
• Passive euthanasia is usually slower and more uncomfortable than active. Most forms of voluntary, passive
and some instances of non-voluntary, passive euthanasia are legal.
Kerala govt bill to curtail governor’s power in varsities
In News
A bill that seeks to give the Kerala government an upper hand in selecting vice chancellors of 13 state universities
will be taken up by the state assembly.
Provisions
• Under the existing legal framework, a three-member search committee appointed by the governor is
mandated to recommend potential candidates. This committee comprises nominees of the governor, the
University Grants Commission and the university senate’s representative.
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• The bill proposes to increase the strength of this search committee to five - nominees of the state
government and state higher education council will be the two additional members - and stipulate that the
candidate with the majority support in the search committee should be notified by the governor.
• This will end the governor’s discretion in the selection process.
National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) Project
In News
‘One Nation-One Application’ is being implemented using the National eVidhan Application (NeVA).
About NeVA
• Paperless Assembly or e-Assembly is a concept involving of electronic means to facilitate the work of
Assembly.
• It enables automation of entire law making process, tracking of decisions and documents, sharing of
information.
• NeVA aims to bring all the legislatures of the country together, in one platform thereby creating a massive
data depository without having the complexity of multiple applications.
• NeVA (previously known as e-Vidhan) is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) under the Digital India Programme,
under the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA).
e-Vidhan Project
• e-Vidhan is a Mission Mode Project (MMP) included in Digital India Programme and Ministry of
Parliamentary Affairs (MoPA) is the ‘Nodal Ministry’ for its implementation in all the 31 States/ UTs with
Legislatures.
• The total project cost of the project is over 738 crores and funding of NeVA is on the pattern of Central
Sponsored Scheme i.e. 60:40; and 90:10 for North East & hilly States and 100% for UTs.
• The funding for e-Vidhan is provided by the MoPA and technical support by Ministry of Electronics and
Information Technology (MeitY).
Talaq-e-Hasan
In News
The Supreme Court of India has stated the practice of divorce in Muslims through 'Talaq-e-Hasan' is not similar to
triple talaq and the women also have an option of 'Khula'.
Talaq-e-Hasan
• A Muslim man can divorce his wife by uttering Talaq once for three months. This practice is called Talaq-e-
Hasan. If couples don't live together, divorce gets formalised after the third utterance in the third month.
• However, if co-habitation occurs after the first or second utterance, parties are assumed to have reconciled
and the first or second utterance becomes null and void.
• Post the divorce, the wife is not allowed to remarry for a specific time. This period is called Iddat. The
objective of iddat is to ensure that the woman is not carrying any offspring in her womb.
• Husband and wife can not marry each after the third month of abstinence or 'Third Iddat'. With this, a
woman has to marry another man and divorce that man. After divorcing her second husband, she can marry
her former or first husband.
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Triple Talaq
Triple Talaq is known as Talaq-e-Biddat and is the most controversial divorce practice among a few sects of Muslims.
In this, talaq is uttered thrice consecutively and the marriage is invalid instantly.
Talaq-e-Ahsan
• Talaq-e-Ahsan is another form of divorce by the husband.
• Here, a husband asks for talaq once, and after 90 days or three menstrual cycles, a woman can marry
another man. Although, divorce can be withdrawn if the couple resumes their marital relations within these
three months.
Supreme Court not in favour of derecognising political parties over freebies
In News
The Supreme Court recently refused to consider the question of derecognising political parties who resort to
freebies.
Welfare V/s Freebies

• Free electricity, free water, free public transportation, waiver of pending utility bills and farm loan waivers
are often regarded as freebies
• They potentially undermine credit culture, distort prices through cross-subsidisation eroding incentives for
private investment, and disincentive work at the current wage rate leading to a drop in labour force
participation
• Welfare: Expenditure on which brings economic benefits, such as the public distribution system,
employment guarantee schemes, states’ support for education and health.
Measures
• There is a need to spend more resources on welfare schemes
• There’s a need to keep track of allocations to the social sector.
• Public expenditure efficiency: At the same time, it is high time we started talking about public expenditure
efficiency in this country.
• Better resources: We need to have a good tax framework, where you have much better resources for more
social sector expenditure while also ensuring medium-term debt sustainability.
• The court has mentioned the need to balance welfare spending and our fiscal concerns.
• The implicit subsidies can be reduced so that we have more resources for welfare or social sector
expenditure.
Welfare Spending in India

• Studies, especially by the Reserve Bank of India (Study on State Finances), have shown that from 2014
onwards, the social sector expenditure at the State level has been declining even after States were given
more resources.
• The allocation to the health and education sectors by the States is declining.
• The Reserve Bank of India report: two months ago brought to light the fiscal situation of the States.
• At least five States are going to see fiscal pressure.
• Welfare spending in India is woefully low.
• It is low in comparison to other developing countries – some years ago, public spending on health and
education was 4.7% in India, compared to 7% in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Supreme Court Extends Status Quo On CoA Take Over
In News
The Supreme Court extended the duration of its status quo order, which restrained a Committee of Administrators
(CoA) from taking charge of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
Committee of Administrator
• The Delhi High Court had directed the setting up of a CoA comprising:
• Former Supreme Court judge Justice Anil R. Dave
• Former Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi
• Former Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs Vikas Swarup.
• Assisted by eminent sports persons: High court has directed the Executive Committee of the IOA to forthwith
hand over the charge to the CoA, which would be assisted by three eminent sportspersons, namely,
Olympians Abhinav Bindra, Anju Bobby George and Bombayla Devi Laishram.
• According to the rules of the International Olympic Committee: The representation of a national-level body
like the IOA by a non-elected body would be treated as a third party interference.
• The IOA is bound by these rules. Every country in the world is bound by it.
• Third-party interference: The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is a unit of the International Olympic
Committee and they have their own rules and according to them
• If any national-level body like petitioner IOA here is represented by a non-elected body then it is treated as a
third-party interference.
FIFA
• It is the highest governing body of football in the world.
• It is the international governing body of association football, futsal, and beach soccer.
• FIFA is a non-profit organization.
• Founded in 1904, FIFA was launched to oversee international competition among the national associations
of Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.
• FIFA now comprises 211 member nations.
• It is headquartered in Zurich.
The All-India Football Federation (AIFF)

• It is the organization that manages the game of association football in India.
• It administers the running of the India national football team and also controls the I-League, India’s premier
domestic club competition, in addition to various other competitions and teams.
• The AIFF was founded in 1937, and gained FIFA affiliation in the year 1948, after India’s independence in
1947.
• Currently, it has an office in Dwarka, New Delhi.
• India was one of the founding members of the Asian Football Confederation in 1954.
All 11 life imprisonment convicts released under Gujarat government's remission policy
In News
The Gujarat government released all 11 convicts who were serving life imprisonment in the Bilkis Bano gang rape
case from Godhra jail giving them the benefit of the remission policy.
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Remission
• In remission, the nature of the sentence is remained untouched, while the duration is reduced i.e. the rest of
the sentence need not be undergone.
• For example, if a person is sentenced to a term of 20 years, his sentence is now reduced to 15 years.
Rules of Remission
• Supreme Court of India had earlier ruled that the remission question, in this case, would be governed by the
remission policy of 1992 that was in force at the time of conviction which did not exclude those convicted of
rape from executive remission.
• State governments have laid down behaviour/activities that can earn prisoners a certain amount of days as
remission, which is then deducted from their sentence.
• The Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) is clear that life convicts have to undergo a minimum of 14 years of
actual imprisonment before they can be considered for remission/premature release.
• But in this case, the term of imprisonment of all 11 men was more than 15 years and therefore, the
calculation of 14 years is irrelevant.
Powers of Governor
• State governments have also developed premature release rules that include the power to give effect to the
Governor’s powers of remission under Article 161 of the Constitution.
• Those powers are not governed by the CrPC and are often used to bypass the minimum 14 years of actual
imprisonment requirement in the CrPC.
• Article 161- It deals with the Pardoning Power of the Governor.
• The Governor can grant pardons, reprieves, respites and remissions of punishments or suspend, remit and
commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which
the executive power of the state extends.
MGNREGA
In News
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Rural Development and Panchayati Raj’ released an action taken report on
MGNREGA. The government has accepted 26 of the 33 recommendations made.
Recommendations
• Increase number of work days to 150 (from the current 100): However, it has been implemented only in
drought/calamity hit areas (by providing 50 additional days) and in some states (using their own fund) e.g.,
Uttarakhand(150 days)
• Despite efforts to involve more women, women’s participation has stagnated at around 50% in the last 5
years.
• Increase in wages and link it with inflation: But currently, it is linked with CPI-AL (agriculture labour)
• Timely funding: Currently, (as per a study) wage payments were delayed for 71 per cent of the transactions
beyond the mandated seven days
• Convergence of various rural development schemes along with MGNREGA as it would help address rural
poverty
• Doorstep medical facilities for job cardholders have been recommended by the committee
• Roll back the system of caste-based wages, under which NREGS workers are paid based on whether they
belong to a Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, or Others, with the earlier system by which a single Fund
Transfer Order.
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MGNREGA
• It was notified in September 2005
• It guarantees “the right to work”, by legally providing at least 100 days of wage employment in rural India.
• The Ministry of Rural Development (MRD) in association with state governments is implementing the
scheme. It is a centrally-sponsored scheme.
• Within 15 days of submitting the application or from the day work is demanded (demand-driven scheme),
wage employment will be provided to the applicant, and allowances in case employment are not provided.
Legal Aid Defense Counsel System
In News
The National Legal Services Authority has recently introduced the concept of full time engagement of lawyers for
legal services delivery under the Legal Aid Defense Counsel System (LADCS), which is in line with the ‘Public Defender
System’.
LADCS
LADC is a NALSA-funded project to provide free legal aid (in line with the Public defender system) to accused persons
to defend themselves in criminal trials.
NALSA
• NALSA has been constituted under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, to provide free legal services to
weaker sections of society.
• NALSA monitors and review the effectiveness of legal aid programs and to develop rules and principles for
providing legal services under the Act.
• It also distributes funding and grants to state legal services authorities and non-profit organisations to help
them execute legal aid systems and initiatives.
• ‘Nyaya Deep’ is the official newsletter of NALSA.
• Chief Justice of India shall be the Patron-in-Chief, Second senior-most judge of the Supreme Court of India is
the Executive-Chairman.
• Outreach programme: where the legal service authorities were able to effectively reach out to the villages
and provide timely legal aid.
• Number of resolved Lok Adalat cases crossed the 1 crore mark.
• Article 39A of the Constitution of India provides that State shall secure that the operation of the legal system
promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity, and shall in particular, provide free legal aid, by suitable
legislation or schemes or in any other way, to ensure that opportunities for securing justice are not denied to
any citizen by reason of economic or other disability.
• Articles 14 and 22(1) also make it obligatory for the State to ensure equality before law and a legal system
which promotes justice on a basis of equal opportunity to all.
SC declares retrospective use of benami law unconstitutional
In News
The Supreme Court declared “unconstitutional and manifestly arbitrary” amendments introduced in the benami law
in 2016, which apply retrospectively and can send a person to prison for three years even as it empowers the Centre
to confiscate “any property” subject to a benami transaction.
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Historical background
• The 2016 law amended the original Benami Act of 1988, expanding it to 72 Sections from a mere nine.
Amendments were opposed in SC and SC had to decide on three main issues:
• Whether there is legislative intent to give retrospective effect to the 2016 Act
• Whether the 2016 Act imposes a harsher penalty than the earlier Act insofar as it provides for “confiscation
of Benami property rather than its acquisition”, thereby violating Article 20(1) Whether the 2016 Act is
constitutionally valid.
Key Highlights of the Judgement

• Section 3(2): It mandates three years of imprisonment for those who had entered into Benami transactions
between September 5, 1988, and October 25, 2016.
• A person can be sent behind bars for a Benami transaction entered into 28 years before the Section even
came into existence, thus it is a harsher punishment.
• Section 5 of the 2016 Amendment Act: It said that “any property, which is the subject matter of Benami
transaction, shall be liable to be confiscated by the Central Government”.
• The court held that this provision cannot be applied retrospectively.
• Government’s version of forfeiture and acquisition: The CJI dismissed the government’s version that
forfeiture, acquisition and confiscation of property under the 2016 Act as it was not in the nature of
prosecution and cannot be restricted under Article 20.
• New class of fictitious and sham transactions: The court observed that the 2016 Act condemned not only
transactions that were traditionally denominated as Benami but rather a “new class of fictitious and sham
transactions”.
• Prosecutions or confiscation proceedings quashed: Authorities concerned cannot initiate or continue
criminal prosecution or confiscation proceedings for transactions entered into prior to the coming into force
of the 2016 Act, viz., October 25, 2016.
Pew Report on Sex Ratio at Birth in India
In News
The latest study by Pew Research Center has pointed out that “son bias” is on a decline in India and the average
annual number of “baby girls missing” in India fell from approx. 4.8 lakh in 2010 to 4.1 lakh in 2019.
Key Findings
• Average annual number of baby girls “missing” in the country fell from 480,000 (4.8 lakh) in 2010 to 410,000
(4.1 lakh) in 2019.
• The “missing” refers to how many more female births would have occurred during this time if there were no
female-selective abortions.
• Bridging the Sex Ratio at Birth Gap: From a large imbalance of about 111 boys per 100 girls in India’s 2011
census, the sex ratio at birth appears to have normalised slightly over the last decade.
• Sex Ratio at Birth in India narrowed to about 109 in the 2015-16 wave of the National Family Health Survey
and to 108 boys in the latest wave of the NFHS, conducted from 2019-21.
• Sex-Selective Abortions: The Pew Research Center report points out that between 2000 and 2019, nine crore
female births went “missing” because of female-selective abortions.
Religion wise sex selection

• Among Sikhs: The report has also analysed religion-wise sex selection, pointing out that the gap was the
highest for Sikhs.
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• The study points out that while the Sikhs make up less than 2% of the Indian population, they accounted for
an estimated 5%, or approximately 440,000 (4.4 lakh), of the nine crore baby girls who went “missing” in
India between 2000 and 2019.
• In the 2001 census, Sikhs had a sex ratio at birth of 130 males per 100 females, far exceeding that year’s
national average of 110.
• By the 2011 census, the Sikh ratio had narrowed to 121 boys per 100 girls.
• It now hovers around 110, about the same as the ratio of males to females at birth among the country’s
Hindu majority (109).
• Both Christians (105 boys to 100 girls) and Muslims (106 boys to 100 girls) have sex ratios close to the natural
norm, and this trend is holding.
Sex Ratio
• It is the number of females born per thousand males.
• It is an important indicator to map the gender gap in a population.
• The sex ratio report in India is published by the Registrar General of India.
Centre signs headquarters agreement with Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure
In News
The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) and the Government of India (GoI) signed a headquarters
agreement in New Delhi.
About the agreement

• It is an agreement between an international organization and the host country ( India is hosting CDRI Hq) to
determine the privileges, immunities and facilities of an independent body.
• The agreement will enable the status of an ‘Independent and International Legal Entity’ for CDRI.
• The pact will enable CDRI to pursue functions internationally with all rights, immunities, and privileges, as
per the United Nations (Privileges & Immunities) Act, 1947.
CDRI
• Launched by Indian PM in 2019 at the UN Climate Action Summit (in New York, US), CDRI is a partnership
between national governments, UN agencies, the Pvt sector and Academia.
• Aim: It promotes the resilience of infrastructure systems to climate and disaster risks.
• Members: 31 countries, 6 International organizations and 2 private sectors.
• It works at the intersection of Sendai Framework for DRR (2015-2030) and the Paris Climate Agreement.
• The Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI) is a partnership of national governments, UN
agencies and programmes, multilateral development banks and financing mechanisms, the private sector,
and knowledge institutions that aims to promote the resilience of new and existing infrastructure systems to
climate and disaster risks in support of sustainable development.
Kashmir Voter List
In News
Recently the J&K Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) announced that anyone “who is living ordinarily in J&K” can avail the
opportunity to get enlisted as a voter in the Union Territory in accordance with the provisions of the Representation
of the People Act.
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EC announcement
• There is no need to have a domicile certificate of J&K to become a voter.
• An employee, a student, a labourer or anyone from outside who is living ordinarily in J&K can enlist his or her
name in the voting list.
• Around 25 lakh new voters are expected to be enrolled in J&K, which has 76 lakh voters on the list. The
projected 18-plus population of J&K was around 98 lakh.
• After the abrogation of special provisions of Article 370, the Representation of the People Act 1950 and 1951
is applicable in J&K, which allows ordinarily residing persons to get registered in the electoral rolls of J&K.
Why Electoral being revised?

• The ECI is working on fresh electoral rolls in J&K after the J&K Delimitation Commission carved out seven
new Assembly constituencies in the UT earlier this year.
• The Delimitation Commission has re-drawn many constituencies and fresh electoral rolls are essential to
prepare the ground for any announcement of elections in J&K.
• The last Assembly elections took place long back in 2014.
• In a latest move, the ECI has decided that it will also include any person who has attained the age of 18 years
on or before October 1, 2022 in the fresh electoral rolls.
• The final electoral roll would be published in November.
Significance
• Prior to August 5, 2019 when J&K had special constitutional powers, the Assembly electoral rolls in the State
were drawn up according to the separate J&K Representation of the People Act 1957.
• Therein only permanent residents of J&K were eligible to get registered in the Assembly rolls.
• To get voting rights, Permanent Resident Certificate and domicile certificates had to be shown.
• Several lakh residents from West Pakistan and Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, who had migrated to J&K and
were living there for decades,
• They had no voting rights in Assembly elections till August 5, 2019 but were able to vote in the parliamentary
elections.
National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS)
In News
Union Home Minister inaugurated the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS).
NAFIS
• Conceptualized and managed by the NCRB at the Central Fingerprint Bureau (CFPB), the NAFIS project is a
country-wide searchable database of crime- and criminal-related fingerprints.
• The web-based application functions as a central information repository by consolidating fingerprint data
from all states and Union Territories.
• According to a 2020 report by the NCRB, it enables law enforcement agencies to upload, trace, and retrieve
data from the database in real time on a 24×7 basis.
• NAFIS assigns a unique 10-digit National Fingerprint Number (NFN) to each person arrested for a crime.
• This unique ID will be used for the person’s lifetime, and different crimes registered under different FIRs will
be linked to the same NFN.
• By automating the collection, storage, and matching of fingerprints, along with digitizing the records of
fingerprint data, NAFIS will “provide the much-needed unique identifier for every arrested person in the
CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems) database as both are connected at the backend.
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• According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, NAFIS, which was developed by the National Crime Records
Bureau (NCRB), would help in the quick and easy disposal of cases with the help of a centralised fingerprint
database
• In April this year, Madhya Pradesh became the first state in the country to identify a deceased person
through NAFIS.
History of Finger Print

• The uniqueness of every individual’s fingerprints was first proposed in Europe by the German anatomist
Johann Mayer in 1788, and was confirmed through detailed studies by the Scottish doctor Henry Faulds
around the same time that Herschel had begun to implement fingerprinting as a means of identification in
Bengal.
• Tracing a single set of fingerprints from a large collection of fingerprint cards required a workable system of
classification.
• While similar attempts were made in England and beyond, the Bengal Police were able to create fingerprint
records which replaced the use of anthropometric measurements by 1897, when the world’s first Fingerprint
Bureau was established in Calcutta, four years before a similar decision was taken in England.
• The Inspector General of the Bengal Police, Edward Henry, recruited two Indian sub-inspectors, Aziz-ul-Haq
and H C Bose, for this task.
• It was Haq who first devised a system of primary classification and a system for indexing names in court
conviction registers.
Floor test in Bihar Assembly
In News
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar won the floor test to prove the majority of the 'Mahagathbandhan' alliance
government in the Assembly after the BJP staged a walkout as the Janata Dal (United) supremo addressed the
House.
Floor Test
• A floor test is primarily taken to know whether the executive enjoys the confidence of the legislature by
proving his majority
• This voting process occur in the state’s Legislative Assembly or the Lok Sabha at the central level.
• As per the Constitution, the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor of the state.
• In case the majority is questioned, the leader of the party which claims majority has to move a vote of
confidence and prove majority among those present and voting.
• The Chief Minister has to resign if they fail to prove their majority in the house.
• This happens both in the parliament and the state legislative
• Composite floor test is necessitated when more than one person stakes the claim to form the government
and the majority is not clear.
• Governor may call a special session to assess who has the majority. The majority is counted based on those
present and voting and this can be done through voice vote also.
Office of Profit
In News
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has told Jharkhand Governor Ramesh Bais that Chief Minister Hemant Soren
should be disqualified as an MLA for violating electoral norms.
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Office of profit
• If an MLA or an MP holds a government office and receives benefits from it, then that office is termed an
“office of profit”.
• Disqualification: A person will be disqualified if he holds an office of profit under the central or state
government, other than an office declared not to disqualify its holder by a law passed by Parliament or state
legislature.
Grounds for Disqualification

• Basic disqualification criteria for an MP are laid down in Article 102 of the Constitution, and for an MLA in
Article 191.
• Grounds for disqualification under Constitution- Holding an office of profit under the government of India or
state government
• Being of unsound mind
• Being an undischarged insolvent
• Not being an Indian citizen or for acquiring citizenship of another country.
The Supreme Court ruling in 1964

• Factors which are considered for determination of whether a person holds an office of profit include-
• Whether the government is the appointing authority
• Whether the government has the power to terminate the appointment
• Whether the government determines the remuneration
• What is the source of remuneration
• Power that comes with the position
Environment ministry issues rules on waste electric vehicle batteries
In News
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFC) has issued a notification on rules for battery waste
management, given the surge in demand for electric vehicles and therefore the need to have an organised channel
for their safe disposal and recycling.
Waste management Rules,2022

• Producers (including importers) of batteries are responsible for the collection and recycling/refurbishment of
waste batteries and the use of recovered materials from waste into new batteries.
• Mechanism of centralized online portal: For the exchange of EPR certificates between producers and
recyclers/refurbishers to fulfil the obligations of producers.
• Industries and entrepreneurship: Setting up of new industries and entrepreneurship in collection and
recycling/refurbishment of waste batteries.
• Mandatory minimum percentage of recovery of materials from waste batteries: It will bring new
technologies and investment in the recycling and refurbishment industry and create new business
opportunities.
• Use of a certain amount of recycled materials for new batteries: It will reduce the dependency on new raw
materials and save natural resources
• Online registration & reporting, auditing, and a committee: To monitor and implement rules and to take
measures required for removal of difficulties.
• Polluter Pays Principle: Environmental compensation will be imposed for non-fulfilment of Extended
Producer Responsibility targets, responsibilities and obligations set out in the rules.
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• Utilization of funds: The funds collected under environmental compensation shall be utilized in collection
and refurbishing or recycling of uncollected and non-recycled waste batteries.
Supreme Court set to review PMLA verdict, reconsider two provisions
In News
• The Supreme Court agreed to consider a plea seeking a review of its earlier judgment upholding the
constitutional validity of anti-money laundering provisions, including the powers of arrest and seizure.
• The court said it would re-examine two provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), one
with respect to providing a copy of the Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) to the accused and
another related to the burden of proof on the accused regarding innocence.
PMLA Act
• PMLA was enacted in 2002 and it came into force in 2005 as a response to India’s global commitment
(including the Vienna Convention) to:
• Curb the menace of money laundering (the process of converting black money into white)
• To provide for confiscation and seizure of property derived from money laundering.
• To deal with any other issue connected with money laundering in India.
PMLA (Amendment) Act, 2012

• Adds the concept of ‘reporting entity’ which would include a banking company, financial institution,
intermediary etc.
• PMLA, 2002 levied a fine up to Rs 5 lakh, but the amendment act has removed this upper limit.
• It has provided for provisional attachment and confiscation of property of any person involved in such
activities.
PMLA (Amendment) Act, 2019

• It provided extensive power to ED for summons, arrests and raids, and makes bail provisions difficult while
shifting the burden of proof of innocence onto the accused rather than prosecution.
• Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as
drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement, etc.
ECIR
• The ECIR is a case-record document of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and it comprised prime facie
charges against the accused. The ED is the federal agency given the powers to investigate money laundering
under the PMLA.
• Another provision under review is Section 24 of the PMLA, dealing with the burden of proof. It states when a
person is accused of having committed the offence under Section 3 (offence of money laundering), the
burden of proving innocence shall be on the accused.
Aadhaar- Voter ID linkage
In News
Reports have surfaced online of instances where block level officers have asked individuals to link their Aadhaar with
their Voter IDs, failing which their Voter IDs could be cancelled.
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Why Aadhaar- Voter ID linkage?

• The EC conducts regular exercises to maintain an updated and accurate record of the voter base.
• A part of this exercise is to weed out duplication of voters.
• There have been migrant workers who may have been registered more than once on the electoral rolls in
different constituencies or for persons registered multiple times within the same constituency.
• As per the government, linkage of Aadhaar with voter IDs will assist in ensuring that only one Voter ID is
issued per citizen of India.
Concerns
• The Court held that depriving a person of their right to property for non-linkage fell foul of the test of
proportionality.
• Lal Babu Hussein (1995): The Supreme Court held that the Right to vote cannot be disallowed by insisting
only on four proofs of identity — voters can rely on any other proof of identity and obtain the right to vote.
Challenges
• The preference for Aadhaar to determine voters is puzzling as Aadhaar is only a proof of residence and not a
proof of citizenship.
• Errors in biometrics: The estimate of error rates in biometric-based authentication differ widely.
• As per the UIDAI in 2018, Aadhaar-based biometric authentication had a 12% error rate.
• Violation of the right to privacy and surveillance measures by the state: Linking of the two databases of
electoral rolls and Aadhaar could lead to the linkage of Aadhaar’s “demographic” information with voter ID
information.
Way Forward
• Even as the amendments have been made and the EC has launched a campaign for linkage, a writ petition
has filed with the Supreme Court challenging the same.
• It challenges the amendments as being violative of the right to privacy.
• The Supreme Court has transferred the writ to the Delhi High Court.
• In the meantime, it is important that the government clarifies through a correction in Form 6B that the
linking is not mandatory.
• The govt should expedite the enactment of a data protection legislation that allays concerns of unauthorized
processing of personal data held by the government.
Source- The Hindu
More women now seeking `khula’ as per Islamic law
In News
There is a sharp fall in number of cases of instant triple talaq and increase in number of Muslim women seeking as
per Islamic law after the passage of the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act, 2019.
Khula
• It is the woman who initiates the divorce, and surrenders her mehr (wealth transferred or promised to the
woman at the time of marriage) at the time of such a divorce.
• Khhula can be initiated orally or through a document called the ‘Khhulnama’.
• It has the effect of an instant divorce.
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Triple Talaq
• Triple talaq is the practice under which a Muslim man can divorce his wife by simply uttering “talaq” three
times.
• It was banned by the Supreme Court verdict in 2017 (case Shayara Bano v. Union of India).
• It is prevalent among India’s Muslim community majority of whom follow the Hanafi Islamic school of law.
Political Parties freebies
In News
The Supreme Court recently called for introspection in the context of political parties’ “freebies” promise, often on
the eve of elections to State Assemblies or to Parliament.
Benefits of Freebies
• Food security e.g. now-famous mid-day meal scheme in 1982 was initially seen as a freebie and was resisted
by the own party members of AIADMK.
• Awareness generation: Television sets may not be about recreation, they could be vehicles for imparting
useful information or they could simply bring the family together, both of which have wider benefits for
society.
• Freebies are not the cause of high fiscal deficit: Duvvuri Subbarao, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of
India, has proposed a cap on freebies.
• It is hard to argue that freebies are the sole or even primary cause of fiscal imbalances as a proportion of
freebies to the total budget is small.
• While economics may promote growth but the country also need equity, which can be advanced using
freebies.
• Politicians often have a better understanding than economists do of the ‘merit’ underlying certain freebies.
They have a much better grasp of what it takes to change the lives of the disadvantaged or to bring about
social transformation.
Supreme Court observation

• SC in (S. Subramaniam Balaji Vs Tamil Nadu (2013)) case announced that only an individual candidate, not his
party, can commit a ‘corrupt practice’ under the RP Act by promising free gifts.
• However, Chief Justice N. V. Ramana’s Bench recently told that: There cannot be a dichotomy between a
political party and its candidate. What the candidate promises is what his party wants him to promise. The
party cannot escape liability.
Government proposes new regulator to promote ‘uniformity’ in all board exams
In News
The Union government intends to create a "benchmark framework" for evaluating students of secondary and upper
secondary in order to promote "uniformity" among state and central boards.
Objectives of PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) (a constituent
unit of NCERT):
• Holding periodic learning outcome tests like the National Achievement Survey (NAS) and State Achievement
Surveys.
• Set norms, standards and guidelines for student assessment and evaluation for all recognised school boards
in India
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• Encourage and help school boards to shift their assessment patterns towards meeting the skill requirements
of the 21st century.
• Tackle the problem of students of some state boards being at a disadvantage during college admissions as
compared to their peers in CBSE schools.
• Develop and implement “technical standards for the design, conduct, analysis and reporting” of tests at all
levels of school education
PARAKH
• PARAKH, the proposed implementing agency is also part of the NEP 2020 proposal.
• It is also one of the components of World Banks’ sponsored STARS Project (to improve the quality and
governance of school education in Indian states)
• Presently, different state and central boards follow different standards of evaluation, leading to wide
disparities in scores and confusion among universities to set admission criteria.
Govt standardises process to issue international driving permit
In News
The government has introduced a uniform format for international driving permit (IDP) issued in the country.
Details
 The document will now be issued in the form of a booklet and will also have a QR code for all driver-related
information that authorities in the country being visited can review.
 The new standardised format of the IDP will be issued by respective state authorities and it will be valid for a
period of one year from the date of issue.
 Currently, the format, size, pattern, colour etc. of the IDP being issued was differing across states in India.
 Due to this, many citizens were facing difficulties with their respective IDP in foreign countries.
 Now, through this amendment in the Central Motor Vehicle Rules 1989, the format, size, colour etc. for IDP
has been standardised for issuance across India, and in adherence to the Geneva Convention.
 The IDP is valid is as many as 102 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, UAE, Australia, Ireland, South
Korea, Russia, South Africa, Thailand and New Zealand, among others.
Geneva Convention
 It is an international treaty signed in 1949 that helps support the development and safety of International
Road traffic.
 Being a signatory to the Convention on International Road Traffic of 1949 (Geneva Convention), India is
required to issue IDPs, as provided under this convention, for acceptance of the same on a reciprocal basis
with other countries.
 Some countries where the IDP will not be valid include China, Pakistan, Germany and Nepal. These countries
are not signatories of the convention.
Forensic investigation mandatory in Delhi for cases that attract 6-yr jail term
In News
Delhi Police decided to make forensic investigation mandatory in all crimes where punishment provided is of more
than six years.
Future of education
Details
 A forensic mobile van will be allotted to each district to provide scientific and forensic assistance on the spot
whenever any need arises.
 These vehicles shall be fully-equipped with scientific tools and a sufficient number of forensic assistants shall
be detailed in each such van.
 These forensic mobile vans shall not be under the administrative control of the police but shall be an
independent entity responsible to the court of law.
 The recently released NCRB report showed a 40% increase in crimes against women in Delhi, the highest
among all metropolitan cities in the country.
Reason
 The decision to make forensic investigation “compulsory and legal” for such offences has been taken to
make conviction rate higher, on the lines of recent directions of Hon’ble Union Home Minister.
 Delhi Police has already integrated the criminal justice system (ICJS) with forensic science investigation and
have also collaborated with National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU), Gandhinagar to train and guide
investigating officers to make watertight cases against accused persons.
NDPS Act
In News
The Karnataka High Court has recently granted bail to a man arrested for bhang and ganja, and argued that NDPS Act
nowhere mentions it as a prohibited drink/ drug. Also, SC recently dismissed a petition to ‘decriminalize personal
consumption of drugs’ under the NDPS act.
Bhang
 Bhang is the edible preparation made from the leaves of the cannabis plant, often incorporated into drinks
such as thandai and lassi, along with various foods.
 Bhang has been consumed in the Indian subcontinent for centuries, and is frequently consumed during the
festivals of Holi and Mahashivratri.
 Its widespread use caught the attention of Europeans, with Garcia da Orta, a Portuguese physician who
arrived in Goa in the 16th century, noting that, “[Bhang] is so generally used and by such a number of people
that there is no mystery about it.
 The Act, in its definition, excludes seeds and leaves “when not accompanied by the tops”. Bhang, which is
made with the leaves of the plant, is not mentioned in the NDPS Act.
 As a “special provision”, the Act states that the government “may allow cultivation of any cannabis plant for
industrial purposes only of obtaining fibre or seed or for horticultural purposes”.
NDPS Act
 NDPS Act 1985 deals with drugs and their trafficking.
 The NDPS Act defines cannabis (hemp) as a narcotic drug – Charas, Ganja and any other mixture.
 Only Bhang which is made with the leaves of the plant is not mentioned in the NDPS Act.
 The Act prohibits the production, sale, purchase, transport and consumption of narcotic drugs and
psychotropic substances, except for medical and scientific purposes.
 The act extends to the whole of India and also to aircraft and ships that are registered in India.
 According to National Crime Records Bureau, there was a decrease of more than 27% in crimes related to
personal consumption of drugs from 2019 to 2020.
Future of education
Supreme Court Dismisses Plea To Notify Sanskrit As National Language
In News
The Supreme Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking directions to notify Sanskrit as the national
language.
SC observation
 SC said that the issue was in the realm of policy, requiring constitutional amendments which entailed
detailed discussion in the Parliament and not in the realm of judiciary.
 The petitioner’s lawyer invoked Sanskrit as a “mother language” from which other tongues took inspiration.
 He repeatedly invoked oriental scholar Sir William Jones and his study of the ancient language.
Status of Hindi
 Under Article 343 of the Constitution, the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari
 English would continue to be used for a period of 15 years.
 Official Languages Act, 1963 was passed in anticipation of the expiry of the 15-year period during which the
Constitution originally allowed the use of English for official purposes.
 Article 351 (Union government to promote the use of Hindi)
Sir William Jones

 William Jones was an SC judge as well as a linguist and proposed that there is an existence of a relationship
between European and Indo-Aryan languages, which he coined Indo-European.
 Established the Asiatic Society of Bengal in the year 1784.
 Jones’ was the first to suggest that Sanskrit, Greek and Latin languages had a common root.
 He also suggested that Sanskrit ‘was introduced to India by conquerors from other kingdoms in some very
remote age’ displacing ‘the pure Hindi’ of north India
Changing the age of consent
In News
In Rama Bande Rama v. the State of Karnataka, the Karnataka High Court quashed criminal proceedings of rape and
kidnapping under the Indian Penal Code, under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
POSCO Act,2012
 It was enacted to protect the children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography
with due regard for safeguarding the interest and well-being of children.
 Consent of person under 18 years- Under POCSO, the consent of a person under the age of 18 is irrelevant,
regardless of the nature and circumstance of the sexual interaction, or the particulars of the person with
whom it takes place.
 It defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age.
 Section 23 of POCSO relates to the offence of disclosure of the identity of the victim of the sexual offence.
 It was enacted to protect the children from offences of sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography
with due regard for safeguarding the interest and well-being of children.
 It defines a child as any person below eighteen years of age and regards the best interests and welfare of the
child as a matter of paramount importance at every stage, to ensure the healthy physical, emotional,
intellectual and social development of the child.
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 It defines different forms of sexual abuse, including penetrative and non-penetrative assault, as well as
sexual harassment and pornography.
Court cannot question the choice of minority educational institution
In News
The Delhi High Court has observed that a court cannot go into the merits of the choice of a minority educational
institution that appoints a qualified person from the "minority community" as its Vice Principal or Principal.
 Article 29- It provides that any section of the citizens residing in any part of India having a distinct language,
script or culture of its own, shall have the right to conserve the same.
 It grants protection to both religious minorities as well as linguistic minorities.
 However, the SC held that the scope of this article is not necessarily restricted to minorities only, as the use
of the word ‘section of citizens’ in the Article includes minorities as well as the majority.
 Article 30- All minorities shall have the right to establish and administer educational institutions of their
choice.
 The protection under Article 30 is confined only to minorities (religious or linguistic) and does not extend to
any section of citizens (as under Article 29).
 Article 350-B- The 7th Constitutional (Amendment) Act 1956 inserted this article which provides for a Special
Officer for Linguistic Minorities appointed by the President of India.
Funding Public Education
In News
In response to a debate in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of Education Dharmendra Pradhan remarked that people
should give up the notion that colleges should only be supported by the government.
Concerns related to Private education

 Substantial increase in fees and other charges from students.
 Inequalities: The heavy dependence on privately-managed institutes as a means of education often
perpetuates inequality in accessing higher education.
 Higher education ought to have received at least 2% of GDP, according to the National Education
Commission, often known as the Kothari Commission.
 In contrast, the Center and the States' combined spending on higher education plummeted from 0.86% of
GDP in 2010–11 to a pitiful 0.52% in 2019–20. (Budget Estimates, or BE).
 It is alarming that the Center's investment in higher education decreased from 0.33 percent of GDP in 2010–
11 to just 0.1 percent in 2019–20. (BE).
 Higher education spending by the Union government as a revenue receipt fell from 2.60% in 2011–12 to
1.85% in 2022–23. (BE).
 The allocation for higher education decreased from 1.49% to 1.04% of the total receipts for the same time
period.
NEP 2020
 NEP 2020 gave reassurance that appropriate public funding would support the independence of public
institutions.
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 The NEP observed that India's public spending on education fell well short of the 6% of GDP goal set forth in
the 1968 policy.
 In light of this, NEP called for the Central and State governments to significantly expand public investment
to at least 6% of GDP.
 To achieve the high-quality and egalitarian public education system required for India's future economic,
social, cultural, and intellectual progress and growth public investment is very crucial.
Vision of NEP 2020

 One of the NEP 2020s objectives is to "promote expanded access, equity, and inclusion through a variety of
measures, including additional opportunities for outstanding public education."
 In higher education, including vocational education, the goal is to raise the gross enrollment ratio from
26.3% in 2018 to 50% in 2035. The number of seats in higher education institutions will increase by 3.5 crore.
Benefits of Privatization
 It would mean increased funding for the education sector,
 More effective use of funds, and
 Greater flexibility in how education is delivered.
 management flexibility, accountability, and freedom of choice.
 promoting technological development while delivering high-quality education;
 bridging the gap between industry and education;
 expanding private ownership in society and easing the load on the government;
 providing education in rural and small-town settings;
 creating highly skilled workers for advancement in India
SC notice on plea to cancel symbols, names of political parties using religion
In News
 The Supreme Court sought responses of the Centre and the Election Commission of India over a petition to
cancel the names and symbols of political parties having religious connotations.
 Using religion, race, caste, community or language for electoral gains, is prohibited under Section 123 of RPA
1951 (Corrupt practices in elections).
RPA,1951
 As per Section 123(3), an appeal by a candidate or his agent to vote or refrain from voting for any person on
the ground of his religion or the use of, or appeal to religious symbols is a corrupt practice.
 This provision came for interpretation in the Supreme Court in 2017 in Abhiram Singh v CD Commachan,
where it was said, “Religion, race, caste, community or language would not be allowed to play any role in the
electoral process and should an appeal be made on any of those considerations, same would constitute a
corrupt practice.”
 Section 29A of the Representation of Peoples Act requires political parties to bear true faith and allegiance
to the principles of socialism, secularism and democracy.
 “By virtue of this Section 29A along with Section 123 of RP Act, 1951, the petitioner is seeking directions to
cancel the names and symbols of political parties which directly or indirectly refer to a religion or carry
religious connotation.”
 The usage of religion in the party’s name also violates the mandate of Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
Future of education
The tedious process of adoption
In News
District Magistrates (DM) have been empowered to give adoption orders instead of courts. All cases pending before
courts have to be now transferred. Hundreds of adoptive parents in the country are now concerned that the transfer
process will further delay what is already a long and tedious process.
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Amendment Bill, 2021

 Section 61 of the JJ Act: Authorizing District Magistrates and Additional District Magistrates to issue
adoption orders by striking out the word “court”.
 Empowerment of DM: The District Magistrates can:
 Inspect child care institutions
 Evaluate the functioning of district child protection units, child welfare committees, juvenile justice boards
etc.
 The Act and the corresponding rules came into effect from September 1. The amendments to the Juvenile
Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Model Rules, 2016 say, “all the cases pertaining to adoption matters
pending before the Court shall stand transferred to the District Magistrate from the date of commencement
of these rules
Concerns
 The revised rules have parents, activists, lawyers and adoption agencies worried as cases already before
courts for the past several months will have to be transferred and the process will have to start afresh.
 A petition for adoption orders is filed after a parent registers for adoption, who is then assessed through a
home study report, referred a child and subsequently allowed to take a child in pre-adoption foster care
pending an adoption order.
 A delay in such an order can often mean that a child can't get admission into a school because parents don't
yet have a birth certificate, or like in one case, parents unable to claim health insurance if a child is admitted
to a hospital.
 Parents and lawyers also state that neither judges, nor DMs are aware about the change in the JJ Act leading
to confusion in the system and delays.
 According to the latest figures there are only 2,188 children in the adoption pool, while more than 31,000
parents waiting to adopt a child
 Trafficking: Less availability allows traffickers to take advantage of loopholes in HAMA.
Adoption in India
 Adoptions in India are governed by two laws — the Hindu Adoption and Maintenance Act, 1956 (HAMA) and
the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015. Both laws have their separate eligibility criteria for adoptive parents.
 Under HAMA, a “dattaka hom” ceremony or an adoption deed or a court order is sufficient to obtain
irrevocable adoption rights.
 But there are no rules for monitoring adoptions and verifying sourcing of children and determining whether
parents are fit to adopt.
National Logistics Policy
In News
The government will launch an online logistics marketplace, which will seamlessly connect transporters,
warehousing facilities, freight forwarders, customs, regulatory bodies and other stakeholders to have an efficient
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supply-chain network that will reduce average logistics costs and make essential commodities cheaper for
consumers.
Features of the policy

 National Logistics Policy, a comprehensive effort to address issues of high cost and inefficiency by laying
down an overarching interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral and multi-jurisdictional framework for the
development of the entire logistics ecosystem, is yet another step in this direction.
 The policy is an endeavour to improve competitiveness of Indian goods, enhancing economic growth and
increasing employment opportunities.
 It has been the vision of the Prime Minister to develop world class modern infrastructure through integration
of all stakeholders in holistic planning and implementation so that efficiency and synergy is achieved in the
execution of the project.
 The PM GatiShakti - National Master Plan for muti-modal connectivity - launched by the Prime Minister last
year, was a pioneering step in this direction.
 PM GatiShakti will get further boost and complementarity with the launch of National Logistics Policy.
Need of the policy

 The need for a national logistics policy was felt since the logistics cost in India is high as compared to other
developed economies.
 It is imperative to reduce the logistics cost in India for improving the competitiveness of Indian goods both in
domestic as well as export markets.
 Reduced logistics cost improves efficiency cutting across various sectors of the economy, encouraging value
addition and enterprise.
 NLP is a necessity if we want to make India a developed economy by 2047.
 According to the global ranking of the World Bank’s 2016 Logistics Performance, India jumped to 36th rank in
2016 from 58th rank in 2014 in terms of providing qualitative physical infrastructure.
 The Union Budget has raised the outlay for capital expenditure in 2022-23 by 35.4% to ₹7.5 lakh crore.
 As per the Economic Survey 2017-18, the Indian logistics sector provides livelihood to more than 22 million
people and improving the sector will facilitate 10% decrease in indirect logistics cost leading to the growth of
5 to 8% in exports.
Significance
 NLP will create the pathway for sustainable and inclusive economic growth by driving trade competitiveness
and building cost-effective logistics networks.
 By developing an integrated multimodal logistics ecosystem, engineering a modal shift from road to rail, and
other efficient modes, driving down the logistics cost and creating an enabling environment for enhanced
digitisation and technology adoption, the NLP will facilitate improved stakeholder coordination to redefine
the logistics competencies of the country.
New rules for child welfare panel members
In News
The recently amended, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection Amendment) Model Amendment Rules 2022 rules bar a
person associated with an organisation receiving foreign funds to be a part of Child Welfare Committees.
Major changes
 Rule 15 (4B) of the Model Rules 2021: It states, “a person associated with an organisation receiving foreign
contribution shall not be eligible to be a Chairperson or member of the Committee.
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 Rule 15 (4C): It says that any person working in the implementation of the JJ Act in any NGO or organisation
such that it causes a conflict of interest will also be ineligible to be on a CWC.
 Any family member or “close relation” working for an NGO will also be disqualified to be on a CWC.
 Persons working in rescue and rehabilitation in the districts: A person representing someone running a child
care institution or member of the Board or Trust of any NGO can also not be on a CWC.
 Retired judicial officers: They have also been omitted from the category of persons who can be considered
for appointment to a CWC.
About CWC
 A CWC appointed by the State government under the JJ Act has the authority to dispose of cases of children
in need of care and protection brought before them.
 Can also order an inquiry: To ensure their safety and well-being
 Order for rehabilitation: Either in family-based care such as through restoration to family or guardian,
adoption, foster care or send them to child care institutions.
 The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010: It only bars certain categories of people and organisations
from receiving foreign funds.
 Candidates standing for elections
 Judges
 Government employees
 Member of any Legislature
 Political parties
 Journalists
 Media organisations.
About Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children), Act

 The Act offered provisions to allow trials of juveniles in the age group of 16-18 years as an adult who were
found to be in conflict with the law, especially heinous crimes.
 The Act also offered provisions regarding adoption. The Act replaced the Hindu Adoptions and Maintenance
Act (1956) and Guardians of the ward Act (1890) with more universally accessible adoption law.
 The Act enabled smooth functioning of adoption procedures for orphans, surrendered, and abandoned
children while making the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) the statutory body for adoption-
related matters.
MHA notifies rules to record and store iris, retina, physical and biological samples of
suspects
In News
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has notified the rules governing The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act,
2022 that would enable police and central investigating agencies to collect, store and analyse physical and biological
samples including retina and iris scans of arrested persons.
Key provisions
 The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022 repeals the Identification of Prisoners Act, 1920, whose
scope was limited to collecting finger impressions, footprint impressions and photographs of the convicted
persons and certain categories of arrested and non-convicted persons based on the order from the
Magistrate.
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 The new law enables police and central investigating agencies to collect, store, analyse physical and
biological samples like retina and iris scans of arrested individuals.
 The rules do not mention the procedure for convicted persons.
 Measurements of individuals detained under preventive detention laws should not be taken unless they are
associated with a serious offence or ordered by a court.
 Measurements here include finger-impressions, palm-print, foot-print, photographs, iris and retina scan,
physical, biological samples and their analysis, behavioural attributes including signatures, handwriting or
any other examination. They are mentioned in Section 53 and Section 53A of the Code of Criminal
Procedure, 1974.
 The rules allow the storing and preservation of the measurements in a secured and encrypted format as per
the Standard Operating Procedure by the NCRB from “time to time”.
 Illegal access, distribution or sharing of data collected under the Act shall be punishable under the Indian
Penal Code, 1860 and the Information Technology Act, 2000.
 The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will direct the states on how to collect and store the
measurements.
 It will give details on what equipment or devices to be used for taking measurements, provides specifications
for digital and physical format of the measurement and the method of handling and storing measurements
to make them compatible with the NCRB database.
About NCRB
 The National Crime Records Bureau comes under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
 It is responsible for collecting and analysing crime data under the Indian Penal Code and Special and Local
Laws.
 It acts as the repository of information on crime and criminals that enables investigators to link crimes to the
right perpetrators.
New security feature added to Aadhaar-linked payment systems to prevent frauds
In News
 The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) has introduced a new security feature to the Aadhaar
Enabled Payment System (AEPS).
 The security feature called fingerprint ‘liveliness’ is expected to help prevent the use of fake fingerprints to
withdraw money through AEPS.
About New Feature

 The new feature has been pushed to AEPS point of sale (PoS) machines via a software upgrade.
 Now the PoS now will be able to determine whether the fingerprint being used belongs to a person who’s
alive or not.
 Liveness detection in biometrics is the ability of a system to detect if a fingerprint or face (or other
biometrics) is real (from a live person present at the point of capture) or fake (from a spoof artefact or
lifeless body part).
AePS
 AePS (by National Payment Cooperation of India) is a bank-led model which allows online interoperable
financial inclusion transactions at PoS (MicroATM) through the Business correspondent of any bank using the
Aadhaar authentication. AePS allows you to do six types of transactions.
 Cash Deposit
 Cash Withdrawal
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 Balance Enquiry
 Mini Statement
 Aadhaar to Aadhaar Fund Transfer
 Authentication
 BHIM Aadhaar Pay
 The only inputs required for a customer to do a transaction under this scenario are Bank Name, Aadhaar
Number and Fingerprint captured during enrollment.
Reforms and the task of getting teachers on board
In News
 The education system in Andhra Pradesh is changing rapidly following a slew of reforms that have been
ushered in by the Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy government in Andhra Pradesh.
 The aim is to ensure that all children have access to quality education within an equitable and inclusive
classroom environment.
App based attendance system

 A platform to record the attendance of teachers in government schools across the State.
 Parents will also receive SMS updates on their child’s arrival and departure from school.
 Teacher absenteeism: It checks teacher absenteeism.
Concerns
 School restructuring programme: it calls for a merger of classes three to five in primary schools with high
schools (will further contribute to the school drop-out rate)
 Reapportionment of teaching staff in the State: It will only increase their workload in addition to shrinking
existing teacher posts.
 Face recognition app by the School Education Department: Asking teachers to download it on their personal
mobile phones and record their daily attendance
 Teachers have Cited issues of virtual security reasons.
Way forward
 As teachers are central to any change in the education system, they should not be left out of the realm of the
reforms underway
 Incentivisation: The government could think of employing effective motivation and small-scale
incentivisation to find a middle ground and make them partners in the ongoing journey.
Freeing the caged parrot
In News
Despite several observations made by the Supreme Court of India (SC) against the inefficient functioning of the CBI
nothing has happened to improve the situation.
Measures needed to improve the functioning

 The CVC Act should be amended, providing for a five/seven-member CVC, which could broadly assume the
role visualized for the Lokpal.
 Prevent favouritism in selection: The selection process to be more broad-based to prevent favouritism or
from controversial persons being appointed.
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 CVC should constitute an advisory committee: Consisting of at least 11 members drawn from criminologists
and forensic science experts.
 This will augment the professional input in its functioning.
 Expert or professional assistance: CVC should be given the power to go to any expert or professional to assist
it in screening complaints.
 No permission from the government: After assessing a complaint by broad-based CVC, there should be no
need to seek prior permission from the government.
 CBI should be made functionally and financially independent: Of the controls of any government
ministry/department.
 The professional supervision over the investigations of the CBI should rest only with the CVC.
 The laws relating to whistleblowers and grievance redressal should be placed within the jurisdiction of the
CVC.
About CBI
 Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating police agency in India.
 It provides assistance to the Central Vigilance Commission and Lokpal.
 It functions under the superintendence of the Deptt. of Personnel, Ministry of Personnel, Pension & Public
Grievances, Government of India - which falls under the prime minister’s office.
 However for investigations of offences under the Prevention of Corruption Act, its superintendence vests
with the Central Vigilance Commission.
 It is also the nodal police agency in India which coordinates investigation on behalf of Interpol Member
countries.
 Its conviction rate is as high as 65 to 70% and it is comparable to the best investigation agencies in the world.
Abortion And Marital Rape
In News
All women are entitled to a safe and legal abortion process and making any distinction between a married and an
unmarried woman in this regard is unconstitutional, the Supreme Court ruled recently.
About the judgement

 The ground-breaking judgment by the bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice AS Bopanna and Justice JB
Pardiwala also saw the court recognise marital rape, though purely within the ambit of abortion.
 The court ruled that under the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, the definition of rape must include
marital rape. This observation may pave the way for later judgments on marital rape, a subject of intense
debate in the country.
 Married women may also form part of class of survivors of sexual assault or rape. Ordinary meaning of the
word rape is sexual intercourse with a person without their consent or against their will regardless of
whether such forced intercourse occurs in the context of matrimony.
 The marital status of a woman cannot be a ground to deprive her of the right of abortion, the court said,
while ruling that even unmarried women would be entitled to terminate an unwanted pregnancy within 24
weeks.
 The court said a distinction between married and unmarried women under the abortion laws is "artificial and
constitutionally unsustainable" and perpetuates the stereotype that only married women are sexually active.
 The landmark verdict came on a petition by a 25-year-old unmarried woman.
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IMEI numbers compulsory
In News
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has made it mandatory for mobile phone manufacturers to register
the International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) – the 15-digit numbers that uniquely identify each mobile device
– of all handsets made in India with the government.
IMEI number
 The IMEI is a unique number that is used to identify a device on a mobile network. It has 15 digits and is like
a phone’s unique identity. The number is used to verify the identity of a device when a user uses the Internet
or places a call through it.
 This number reveals where the handset is made and its model number. It also indicates the location of the
cell phone.
 Phones with a dual-SIM option have two IMEI numbers, one for each SIM. The IMEI number can help
network providers track down a device in case it gets stolen or is lost. Once such loss or theft is reported, the
carriers can deny the device access to the cellular network even with a new SIM card.
New Rules
 The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has made it mandatory for all mobile manufacturers to
register the IMEI number of the devices made in India.
 Every handset must be registered with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction (ICDR) portal starting 1
January 2023.
 The manufacturer shall register the international mobile equipment identity number of every mobile phone
manufactured in India with the Indian Counterfeited Device Restriction portal of the Government of India in
the Department of Telecommunications prior to the first sale of the mobile phone.
Why these rules?

 The new rules are to curb the rising cases of cloning and theft of mobile phones.
 India has a Central Equipment Identity Register, which categorises devices based on the IMEI status in three
lists – white, grey and black.
 The white list comprises mobile phones which are permitted to use while the black one has IMEI numbers of
devices which are stolen, lost or barred from allowing access to the network.
 The grey list has operational numbers that are under supervision.
Popular Front of India (PFI)
In News
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) declared the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its front organizations including its
student wing- the Campus Front of India (CFI) as an “unlawful association” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act (UAPA).
About PFI
 PFI is an Indian Muslim political organisation that engages in a radical and exclusivist style of Muslim
minority politics. It was formed to counter Hindutva groups.
 It was founded in 2006 with the merger of the Karnataka Forum for Dignity (KFD) and the National
Development Front (NDF) – a controversial organisation established in Kerala a few years after the Babri
mosque was demolished in 1992.
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 It describes itself “as a non-governmental social organisation whose stated objective is to work for the poor
and disadvantaged people in the country and to oppose oppression and exploitation”
 At present, the PFI, which has a strong presence in Kerala and Karnataka, is active in more than 20 Indian
states and says its cadre strength is in the “hundreds of thousands”.
Activities
 It advocates for Muslim reservations.
 In 2012, the organisation conducted protests against alleged use of the UAPA law to detain innocent citizens.
 PFI has often been in violent clashes with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in parts of Kerala and
Karnataka – Activists have been found with lethal weapons, bombs, gunpowder, swords by the authorities.
 The organisation has various wings – National Women’s Front (NWF) and the Campus Front of India (CFI)
which have also been banned.
 The Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), founded in 2009, is a registered political party and active in
electoral politics — it has a few hundred representatives in local bodies, mostly in Karnataka, Kerala and
Tamil Nadu. It is regarded as the political wing of PFI.
 Even though the PFI and SDPI have separate leaderships, their cadres overlap and they share a political
vision.
UAPA Law
 Originally enacted in 1967, the UAPA was amended to be modelled as an anti-terror law in 2004 and 2008.
 In August 2019, Parliament cleared the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill, 2019 to designate
individuals as terrorists on certain grounds provided in the Act.
 In order to deal with the terrorism related crimes, it deviates from ordinary legal procedures and creates an
exceptional regime where constitutional safeguards of the accused are curtailed.
 Between 2016 and 2019, the period for which UAPA figures have been published by the National Crime
Records Bureau (NCRB), a total of 4,231 FIRs were filed under various sections of the UAPA, of which 112
cases have resulted in convictions.
National Disaster Management Authority
In News
 The National Disaster Management Authority celebrated its 18th Formation Day in New Delhi.
 The vision of NDMA is “To build a safe and disaster resilient India by developing a holistic, proactive, multi-
disaster oriented and technology - driven strategy through a culture of prevention, mitigation, preparedness
and response”.
 The theme for this year’s Foundation Day was “Volunteerism in Disaster Management”.
NDMA
 The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) is India’s apex statutory body for disaster
management.
 The Prime Minister is its chairperson and it has nine other members. One of the nine members is designated
as Vice-Chairperson.
 The primary responsibility for the management of disaster rests with the State Government concerned.
However, the National Policy on Disaster Management puts in place an enabling environment for all i.e., the
Centre, state and district.
 India is also a signatory to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) that sets targets for
disaster management.
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 The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has been established under the Chairmanship of the
Prime Minister and National Executive Committee (NEC) of Secretaries has been created to assist the NDMA
in the performance of its functions.
 At the State level, a State Disaster Management Authority has been created under the Chairmanship of Chief
Minister of the State, which has been assisted by a State Executive Committee.
 At the District level, District Disaster Management Authorities have been created.
AFSPA extended in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland for six months
In News
The Central government has extended the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in three districts of Arunachal
Pradesh and nine districts of Nagaland for six months.
AFSPA,1958
 The AFSPA gives armed forces the power to prohibit a gathering of five or more people in a "disturbed area".
 It also allows security personnel to use force and even open fire after due warning in the case of a breach of
law and order.
 It gives them powers to arrest individuals without warrants, on the basis of “reasonable suspicion”, and
search premises without warrants.
 Disturbed under Section 3: It can be imposed by the Center or the Governor of a state, on the state or parts
of it, after areas are declared “disturbed’.
 Amendment in 1972: The powers to declare an area as “disturbed” were conferred concurrently upon the
Central government along with the States.
 Currently, the Union Home Ministry issues periodic “disturbed area” notification to extend AFSPA only for
Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
Preventive detention serious invasion of personal liberty, rules Supreme Court
In News
The Supreme Court ruled that “preventive detention is a serious invasion of personal liberty” and therefore
whatever little safeguards the Constitution and the law authorizing such action provide must be strictly adhered to.
Preventive detention
 Preventive detention is the detention of a person on a mere reasonable apprehension of him doing an
activity dangerous to public order and security.
 Here, the person is confined in custody without undergoing a trial. Section 149-153 of CrPC as well as NDPS
Act, and UAPA Act deals with the Preventive actions of the Police.
 Constitution under articles 22 (1) and (2) gives protection from preventive detention, but these protections
are not available to a person arrested or detained under preventive detention laws (Article 22(3)).
 SC had said that there must be a “live and proximate link” between the grounds of detention and the
purpose of detention, in order to detain and keep the person in detention.
Background
 Preventive detention is devised to afford protection to society. The object is not to punish a man for having
done something but to intercept before he does it and to prevent him from doing it.
 SC (Ram Manohar Lohia Case): Only the most severe of the acts should justify preventive detention
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Job on compassion ground a concession, not a right: SC
In News
Remarking that the object of employment on compassionate grounds is to enable the affected family to tide over a
sudden crisis, the SC recently observed that appointment on compassionate ground is a concession not a right.
SC's Observation
 A bench of Justices MR Shah and Krishna Murari said appointment on compassionate ground, for all the
government vacancies equal opportunity should be provided to all aspirants as mandated under Articles 14
and 16 of the Constitution.
 Compassionate appointment is an exception to the general rule of appointment in the public services and is
in favour of the dependents of a deceased dying in harness and leaving his family in penury and without any
means of livelihood,
 And in such cases, out of pure humanitarian consideration taking into consideration the fact that unless
some source of livelihood is provided, the family would not be able to make both ends meet, a provision is
made in the rules to provide gainful employment to one of the dependants of the deceased who may be
eligible for such employment.
 The whole object of granting compassionate employment is, thus, to enable the family to tide over the
sudden crisis.
 The objective is not to give such a family a post much less a post held by the deceased.
Criterion for SC Status
In News
Recently, the Supreme Court has sought the government's position on petitions challenging the Constitution
(Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950, which allows only members of Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist religions to be recognised
as SCs.
About Petition
 The petitions arguing for inclusion Dalit Christians and Muslims have cited several independent Commission
reports that have documented the existence of caste and caste inequalities among Indian Christians and
Indian Muslims.
 Petitions cited that even after conversion, members who were originally from SCs continued to experience
the same social disabilities.
 The petitions have argued against the proposition that caste identity is lost upon conversion, noting that
even in Sikhism and Buddhism, casteism is not present and yet they have been included as SCs.
 By citing various reports and commission, petitions argue that caste-based discrimination continues even
after conversion, hence entitling these communities to SC status.
Constitution order, 1950

 When enacted, the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order of 1950, initially provided for recognising only
Hindus as SCs, to address the social disability arising out of the practice of untouchability.
 The Order was amended in 1956 to include Dalits who had converted to Sikhism and once more in 1990 to
include Dalits who had converted to Buddhism. Both amendments were aided by the reports of the Kaka
Kalelkar Commission in 1955 and the High-Powered Panel (HPP) on Minorities, Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes in 1983 respectively.
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 The Union government in 2019 rejected the possibility of including Dalit Christians as members of SCs,
rooting the exclusion on an Imperial Order of 1936 of the then colonial government, which had first classified
a list of the Depressed Classes and specifically excluded “Indian Christians” from it.
Why are Dalit Christians excluded?

 The Office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) had cautioned the government that SC status is meant for
communities suffering from social disabilities arising out of the practice of untouchability, which it noted was
prevalent in Hindu and Sikh communities.
 It also noted that such a move would significantly swell the population of SCs across the country.
 In 2001, RGI referring to 1978 note and added that like Dalit Buddhists, Dalits who converted to Islam or
Christianity belonged to different sets of caste groups and not just one, as a result of which they cannot be
categorised as a “single ethnic group”, which is required by Clause (2) of Article 341 for inclusion.
 Moreover, the RGI opined that since the practice of “untouchability” was a feature of Hindu religion and its
branches, allowing the inclusion of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians as SCs could result in being
“misunderstood internationally” as India trying to “impose its caste system” upon Christians and Muslims.
 The 2001 note also stated that Christians and Muslims of Dalit origin had lost their caste identity by way of
their conversion and that in their new religious community, the practice of untouchability is not prevalent.
Parliament Committees
In News
A revamp of the Standing Committees of Parliament could potentially worsen the relations between the government
and opposition parties.
Parliamentary Committees
 A Parliamentary Committee is a panel of MPs that is appointed or elected by the House or nominated by the
Speaker, and which works under the direction of the Speaker.
 It presents its report to the House or to the Speaker.
 Legislative business begins when a Bill is introduced in either House of Parliament.
 But the process of lawmaking is often complex, and Parliament has limited time for detailed discussions.
 Also, the political polarisation and shrinking middle ground has been leading to increasingly rancorous and
inconclusive debates in Parliament — as a result of which a great deal of legislative business ends up taking
place in the Parliamentary Committees instead.
Historical Background
 Parliamentary Committees have their origins in the British Parliament.
 They draw their authority from Article 105, which deals with the privileges of MPs, and Article 118, which
gives Parliament authority to make rules to regulate its procedure and conduct of business.
Measures needed to reform PSC

 It should be made mandatory for all the bills and budgets to be examined by PSC by convention
 For this rules of procedure in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha be amended
 Some constitutional experts argue to increase the PSC tenure from 1 year to two years, to give them more
time and gain more expertise in their respective areas.
 Institutional research and expert support will allow committees to better scrutinize the bills and recommend
innovative solutions to the government
 Major committee reports should be discussed in Parliament esp. for the reports where there is a
disagreement between a Committee and the government.
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 Parliamentary Standing Committees should scrutinize Ministries that are not audited by PAC
One Candidate, One Consituentcy
In News
Recently, the Chief Election Commissioner asked the Ministry of Law & Justice to limit the seats from which a
candidate can contest to just one.
Background
 As per Section 33(7) of the RPA (Representation of the People Act), 1951, one candidate can contest from a
maximum of two constituencies.
 More constituencies were allowed until 1996 when the RPA was amended to set the cap at two
constituencies.
 Since 1951, many politicians have used this factor to contest from more than one seat – sometimes to divide
the opponent’s vote, sometimes to profess their party’s power across the country, sometimes to cause a
ripple effect in the region surrounding the constituencies in favour of the candidate’s party and all parties
have exploited Section 33(7).
 While 33(7) allows candidates to contest from two seats, Section 70 bars candidates from representing two
constituencies in the Lok Sabha/state. Assembly.
Recommendations by ECI
 The Election Commission recommended amending Section 33(7) so as to allow one candidate to contest
from only one seat.
 It did so in 2004, 2010, and 2016 and in 2018.
 A system should be devised wherein if a candidate contested from two constituencies and won both, then
he or she would bear the financial burden of conducting the subsequent by-election in one of the
constituencies.
 The amount would be Rs 5 lakh for a Vidhan Sabha election and Rs 10 lakh for a Lok Sabha election.
Multipurpose PACS in every Panchayat
In News
The Ministry of Cooperation and the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) have planned a Multipurpose PACS
in every Panchayat which will do the work of distribution of Dairy, FPO, Agriculture and Gas Production.
About PACS
 It is a village-level institution that works directly with rural residents. It encourages agriculturists to save,
accepts deposits from them, makes loans to deserving borrowers, and collects repayments.
 PACS are the lowest unit in a three-tier structure: The other two tiers — State Cooperative Banks (StCB) and
District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCB) — have already been automated by the NABARD and brought on
the Common Banking Software (CBS).
 There are only 65,000 active PACS in the country at present.
 PACS will carry out activities like the sale of gas and petrol and the storage and marketing of dairy and farm
products with an aim to alleviate poverty and empower women.
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Hijab ban
In News
The Supreme Court recently delivered a split verdict on whether Muslim students should shed their hijabs at their
school gates.
Justice H. Gupta upheld Karnataka’s prohibitive government order

 Apparent symbols of religious belief: cannot be worn to secular schools maintained from State funds.
 Secularity’ meant uniformity: manifested by parity among students in terms of uniformity.
 Not amount to the denial of education: However, if the students were refusing to attend classes, it would
not amount to the denial of education by the state.
Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia

 Secularity: meant tolerance to “diversity”.
 Wearing or not wearing a hijab to school: It is ultimately a matter of choice (Article 19(1)(a))
 Asking the girls to take off their hijab:
 It is an invasion of their privacy (Article 21)
 It is an attack on their dignity
 It is a denial to them of secular education.
Article 25
 It does not speak of Essential Religious Practice.
 If the belief is sincere, and it harms no one, there can be no justifiable reasons for banning the hijab in a
classroom.
Cabinet okays amendments in Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act
In News
The Union Cabinet recently approved amendments to the Multi-State Cooperative Societies Act to bring
transparency in the sector and reform the electoral process.
Key Amendments
 The Bill will incorporate the provisions of the 97th Constitutional Amendment.
 The amendments have been brought to improve governance, reform the electoral process, strengthen
monitoring mechanisms and enhance transparency and accountability.
 The Bill also seeks to improve the composition of board and ensure financial discipline, besides enabling the
raising of funds in the multi-state cooperative societies.
 Enabling the raising of funds in the multi-state cooperative societies.
 Setting up of:
o Cooperative Election Authority
o Cooperative Information Officer
o Cooperative Ombudsman
The amendments have been introduced to

 Improve governance
 Reform the electoral process
 Strengthen monitoring mechanisms
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 Enhance transparency and accountability.
Haryana topped the Public Affairs Index 2022 in big states
In News
The Bengaluru-based Public Affairs Centre (PAC) recently released the seventh edition of the Public Affairs Index (PAI
2022).
Major Findings
 The PAI 2022, which assesses the delivery of economic, political, and social justice in the states, recognized
Haryana as the best-governed state under the big states category, which ranked 18 states.
 It was followed by Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Karnataka, and others.
 Maharashtra, West Bengal and Jharkhand were ranked 16th, 17th and 18th positions in the index.
 Sikkim retained the top position in the category of 10 smaller states.
 It is followed by Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, which secured second and third positions respectively.
 Economic Justice: Chhattisgarh, Haryana and Karnataka are the top performers in delivering economic
justice. The worst performer in this aspect is West Bengal, with a score of 0.18. Sikkim topped the list of
small states providing economic justice, while Uttarakhand scored the lowest.
 Political Justice: Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh topped the list of major states providing political
justice. Among the smaller states, the top rank is held by Uttarakhand and Goa secured the last position.
 Social Justice: Punjab received the highest score in the delivery of social justice. Haryana and Kerala hold the
second and third positions respectively
About PAI
 The PAI assesses the quality of governance in Indian states.
 Its main aim is to qualitatively measure the social, economic and political justice in India via 5 sub-themes
and 22 indicators.
 The social justice is measured using indicators like learning outcomes of school students, safe drinking water
and sanitation coverage, early childhood development outcomes, ease of trade and logistics, and regular and
reliable power supply.
National Credit Framework (NCrF)
In News
Union Minister of Education and Minister of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan
launched the draft of National Credit Framework (NCrF) for public consultation.
Significance
 The Government of India has developed the National Credit Framework (NCrF) to enable the integration of
academic and vocational domains to ensure flexibility and mobility between the two.
 NCrF would be a game changer by opening numerous options for further progression of students and inter-
mingling of school and higher education with vocational education and experiential learning, thus
mainstreaming skilling and vocational education.
 NCrFwill also enable students who have dropped out of the mainstream education to re-enter the education
ecosystem.
 National Credit Framework is an umbrella framework for skilling, re-skilling, up-skilling, accreditation &
evaluation encompassing our people in educational & skilling institutions and workforce.
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About NCRF
 NCrF will seamlessly integrate the credits earned through school education, higher education and vocational
and skill education by encompassing the National Higher Education Qualification Framework (NHEQF),
National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF) and National School Education Qualification Framework
(NSEQF).
 It also supports educational acceleration for students with gifted learning abilities and Recognition of Prior
Learning for the workforce that has acquired knowledge and skills informally through the traditional family
inheritance, work experience or other methods.
 NCrF will ensure Flexibility in the duration of study/ courses through provisions of multiple entries and
exit/work options as well as pave the path for creditisation of all learning hours, including academic,
vocational and experiential learning. It will also give the provision for lifelong learning – any time anywhere
learning: It will also help students by:
 Establishing multidisciplinary and holistic education with flexible curricula
 Removing the hard distinction between the education stream and making study choices respectful, allowing
for more than one award in the same period
 Removing the distinction between arts, science, social sciences, commerce, etc
 Giving student credits for every academic/ skill/ experience
 NCrF will bring about a unification of higher education institutions to promote multidisciplinary education,
creating a diverse and rich students knowledge base.
It will also help in:

 Promoting stronger collaboration between institutions
 Making credit mechanism simpler and uniform
 Increasing focus on research and innovation
 Promoting digital learning, blended learning, and open distance learning
 Leveraging the institutional infrastructure
Lok Adalats
In News
Over 450 prisoners have walked free in Chhattisgarh after Lok Adalats — a first of its kind initiative anywhere in the
country according to authorities — were set up in jails across the State recently.
About the Initiative

 Lok Adalats in Jail will be held every working Saturday and provide relief to undertrials, and in some cases
convicted prisoners, by explaining their rights and legal options such as plea bargaining and settlement.
 It is a first-of-its-kind initiative anywhere in India.
 It will help reduce jail congestion: There are over 20,000 prisoners lodged in various jails in Chhattisgarh,
against a sanctioned capacity of 14,000.
Lok Adalats
 It means ‘People’s Court’ and is based on Gandhian principles.
 It is one of the components of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) system and delivers informal, cheap
and expeditious justice to the common people.
 The first Lok Adalat camp was organized in Gujarat in 1982 as a voluntary and conciliatory agency.
 It was given statutory status under the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987.
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 Article 39A: It provides that State shall secure that the operation of the legal system promotes justice on a
basis of equal opportunity.
CCI fines Google Rs 1,338 cr for anti-competitive practices
In News
The Competition Commission recently imposed a penalty of Rs 1,337.76 crore on Google for abusing its dominant
position in multiple markets in the Android mobile device ecosystem.
About Allegations
 The allegations of unfair business practices pertained to two agreements —The Mobile Application
Distribution Agreement (MADA) and Anti Fragmentation Agreement (AFA)—which were entered into by the
OEMs of Android OS with Google.
 Google has perpetuated its dominant position in the online search market resulting in the denial of market
access for competing search apps.
 Also, it has leveraged its dominant position in the app store market for Android OS to protect its position in
online general search which violates the competition law.
 The mandatory pre-installation of entire Google Mobile Suite (GMS) under MADA, with no option to un-
install the same, and their prominent placement amounts to imposition of unfair condition on the device
manufacturers and thereby contravenes competition law.
 Section 4 of the Competition Act pertains to the abuse of a dominant position.
About CCI
The Competition Commission of India is a statutory body of the Government of India, responsible for enforcing the
Competition Act, 2002 throughout India and preventing activities that have an adverse effect on competition.
Operation Megh Chakra
In News
Recently, under operation “Megh Chakra” CBI conducted searches across States and UTs against the online
circulation and sharing of Child Sexual Abusive Material (CSAM).
Laws in India
 In India, viewing adult pornography in private is not an offence (SC in 2015 case).
 However, seeking, browsing, downloading or exchanging child pornography is an offence punishable under
the IT Act.
 As per the Information Technology (IT) Act, of 2002, it is punishable to show children any pornographic
content.
 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are exempted from liability for any third-party data if they do not initiate
the transmission.
Global Efforts against CSAM

 The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), operates a programme called CyberTipline,
for public and electronic service providers (ESPs) to report instances of suspected child sexual exploitation.
 Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), was established by the United Kingdom’s Internet industry to ensure a
safe online environment for users with a particular focus on CSAM.
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 INHOPE: It is a global network of 50 hotlines (46 member countries), that provides the public with a way to
anonymously report CSAM.
 It provides secure IT infrastructure, ICCAM (I- “See” (c)-Child-Abuse-Material) hosted by Interpol, and
facilitates the exchange of CSAM reports between hotlines and law enforcement agencies.
Measures taken by India

 ‘Aarambh India’: a Mumbai-based NGO, partnered with the IWF, and launched India’s first online reporting
portal in September 2016 to report images and videos of child abuse.
 National cybercrime reporting portal: launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in September 2018 in
compliance with Supreme Court directions for filing online complaints pertaining to child pornography and
rape-gang rape.
 The portal was later extended to all types of cybercrime.
 National Crime Records Bureau (MHA) signed a memorandum of understanding with the NCMEC in April
2019 to receive CyberTipline reports to facilitate action against those who upload or share CSAM in India.
National Curriculum Framework (NCF) 2022 (for foundational learning)
In News
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan recently launched the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) for the
foundational stage for children between ages three to eight.
Features of the Framework

 Foundational learning stage is focused on early childhood care and education (ECCE) for children between 3
to 8 years of age.
 This is the first time the NCF has been prepared for the foundational stage
 ECCE under the Anganwadi system, till now, primarily focused on the nutrition and the health of a child and
not on foundational learning.
Major Areas
 Activity books instead of textbooks for children 3-6 years.
 Playful learning in avoiding stereotypes, gender representation, and ethical and moral lessons.
 Use of toys, outside the class exposure to cultural and social activities
 Use of mother tongue
 Use of Panchakosha (Panchakoshas are the layers of the body that seemingly cover the Atman (Self or
Consciousness)- mentioned in Taittiriya Upanishad)
The concept’s five parts are-

 Physical development (sharirik vikas)
 Development of life energy (pranik vikas)
 Emotional and mental development (manasik vikas)
 Intellectual development (bauddhik Vikas)
 Spiritual development (chaitsik Vikas)
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Centre cancels FCRA licences of two NGOs headed by Sonia Gandhi
In News
The Centre has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) licences of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation
(RGF) and the Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust (RGCT) — two NGOs headed by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi — for
alleged violation of laws.
FCRA
 The “Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act” (FCRA) regulates foreign donations and ensures that such
contributions do not adversely affect internal security.
 First enacted in 1976, it was amended in 2010 in which a slew of new measures was adopted to regulate
foreign donations.
 The FCRA act is implemented by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
 Under the new rules notified by MHA in 2015, NGOs are required to give an undertaking that the acceptance
of foreign funds is not likely to prejudicially affect the sovereignty and integrity of India or impact friendly
relations with any foreign state and does not disrupt communal harmony.
 The FCRA is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations. It is
mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA.
Major Provisions
 The FCRA requires every person or NGO wishing to receive foreign donations to be registered under the Act.
 To open a bank account for the receipt of foreign funds in State Bank of India, Delhi is mandatory.
 These funds can be utilised only for the purpose for which they have been received, and as stipulated in the
Act.
 The receivers of foreign funds are also required to file annual returns, and they must not transfer the funds
to another NGO.
Registrations
 FCRA registrations are granted to individuals or associations that have definite cultural, economic,
educational, religious, and social programmes.
 MHA makes inquiries through the Intelligence Bureau into the antecedents of the applicant and accordingly
processes the application.
 The MHA is required to approve or reject the application within 90 days — failing which it is expected to
inform the NGO of the reasons for the same.
 Once granted, FCRA registration is valid for five years.
 NGOs are expected to apply for renewal within six months of the date of expiry of registration. In case of
failure to apply for renewal, the registration is deemed to have expired.
Hate Speech
In News
Recently Supreme court has directed the police chiefs of Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand to take “immediate”
suo motu action against any hate speech by lodging criminal cases without waiting for formal complaints.
Laws in India
 Hate speech is an incitement to hatred against a particular group of persons marginalized by their religious
belief, sexual orientation, gender, and so on.
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 The Law Commission, in its 267th report on hate speech, said such utterances have the potential to provoke
individuals and society to commit acts of terrorism, genocide, and ethnic cleansing.
 India does not have a formal legal framework for dealing with hate speech, a set of provisions of the Indian
Penal Code (IPC), loosely defining hate speech, are invoked.
 Section 295 of IPC: – it defines and prescribes punishment for deliberate and malicious acts, intended to
outrage the religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs.
 Origin: it was brought in 1927 (Rangila Rasool case). Its antecedent lies in the “communally charged
atmosphere of North India in the 1920s.
 Section 298 IPC penalises ‘uttering, words, etc., with deliberate intent to wound the religious feelings of any
person.
 Section 153A IPC penalises ‘promotion of enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race,
place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony’.
 Section 66A of the IT Act: – punishes sending offensive messages through communication services is added
when such speech is made online.
 Part VII of the Representation of People Act, 1951 classifies hate speech as an offence committed during
elections into two categories: corrupt practices and electoral offences.
Supreme Court Judgements

 Ramji Lal Modi v State of Uttar Pradesh (1957): – Supreme Court upheld the law on the grounds that it was
brought in to preserve “public order”.
 Public order is an exemption to the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression and the right to
religion recognised by the Constitution.
 Baba Khalil Ahmed v State of Uttar Pradesh (1960): – the Supreme Court said that the “malicious intent” of
the accused can be determined not just from the speech in question but also from external sources.
 Baragur Ramachandrappa v State of Karnataka, (2007 ): – The SC adopting a pragmatic approach ordered
that public order supersedes the individual interest of free speech.
Chintan Shivir
In News
The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) conducted a two-day “chintan shivir” in Haryana’s Faridabad city with
Home Ministers of states in attendance.
Chintan Shivir
 The event Chintan Shivir of Home Ministers aims to provide a national perspective to the formation of
policies related to internal security of India.
 It aims to boost synergy in planning and coordination between various stakeholders at the national and state
levels.
 It focused on topics such as modernization of police forces, management of cybercrime, the use of
Information Technology in the criminal justice system, land border management, coastal security, women
safety, drug trafficking etc.
 The event was organized to create an action plan for the implementation of Vision 2047 and Panch Pran,
which were announced by Prime Minister Modi.
One Nation one Uniform

 While addressing the Chintan Shivir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched the idea of ‘one nation, one
police uniform’ to promote a single uniform for all police in India.
 Currently, each state has the liberty to have its own number or insignia.
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 Presently, most of the police forces adorn different shades of khaki-coloured uniforms. A few states like
Kolkata, Tamil Nadu and Goa have adopted white uniform.
 The vision of “one nation, one uniform” is to create common identity for law enforcement in India, making it
easier for the citizens to recognize police personnel anywhere in the country.
 Maharashtra: In February 2018, in a bid to prevent colour variation in the uniform of its personnel, the
Maharashtra police had decided to provide dope-dyed khaki fabric for its staff.
Uniform Civil Code(UCC)
In News
A Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is one that would provide for one personal civil law for the entire country. This would be
applicable to all religious communities in their personal matters.
 Article 44, one of the Directive Principles of the Constitution lays down that the state shall endeavour to
secure a UCC for the citizens throughout the territory of India.
 These, as defined in Article 37, are not justiciable (not enforceable by any court) but the principles laid down
therein are fundamental in governance.
Arguments in favor
 Common Code would enable uniform civil principles to be applied to the entire Nation.
 If and when the whole population will start following the same laws, chances are there that it would bring
more peace to the living and reduce riots.
 UCC would help end gender discrimination and overall discrimination on religious grounds and strengthen
the secular fabric of the nation.
 Therefore UCC could bring all communities together to ensure Women the Right to a dignified life and
control over their life as well as body.
 A rational common and unified personal law will help eradicate many evil, unjust and irrational customs and
traditions prevalent across the communities.
 For example, Law against Manual scavenging. It might have been a custom in the past but in a mature
democracy like India, this custom cannot be justified.
 UCC would make it easy to administer the huge population base of India.
 Historically, not all Muslim communities were demanding separate laws- Few the Muslim communities like
the Khojas and Cutchi Memons did not want to submit to separate Muslim Personal Law.
Arguments against UCC

 Indian society has a unique identity in the form of its being diverse and multicultural, and unified law might
do away with these unique characteristics of this nation.
 Religious bodies oppose a uniform civil code on the ground that it would be interference in religious affairs
which would violate fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 25 of the constitution.
 It would be a tyranny to the minority and when implemented could bring a lot of unrest in the country.
 The All India Muslim Personal Law Board stated that the laws pertaining to marriage and inheritance were
part of religious injunctions for ages.
Way Forward
 Only those elements of customs and traditions should be brought into a unified law that causes injustice to
individuals.
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 There are some good and equitable provisions in personal laws, which are worth incorporating into the
unified law.
 Good customs and traditions should be protected to preserve the indigenous culture associated with them.
It will help India protect its strength i.e. unity in diversity.
 Codification of all personal laws as suggested by the Law Commission.
 By codification of different personal laws, one can arrive at certain universal principles that prioritize equity
rather than the imposition of a Uniform Civil Code.
 To resolve the contentious issues like UCC, common consensus of all the stakeholders is needed.
The amendments to the IT Rules, 2021
In News
 The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has notified amendments to the Information Technology
(Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021).
 It replaces decade-old rules regulating social media intermediaries (SMI) to make them more accountable
towards providing open, safe and trusted internet.
New Amendments
 The new rules pave the way for the establishment of one or more Grievance Appellate Committees (GACs)
within 3 months.
 These committees will enable users of social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to get recourse to
settle complaints without depending on the judiciary.
 The committee will have three members. One of them will be a government officer and the other two will be
independent representatives.
Social Media Obligations

 SMIs are mandated to ensure that their users comply with the relevant rules of the social platform. Earlier,
the rules only mandated SMIs to inform their users of the “rules and regulation, privacy policy and user
agreement”.
 The SMIs are required to make “reasonable” efforts to prevent prohibited content from being hosted in their
platforms. They will be responsible for policing and moderating the content on their platform. This rule has
been met with scepticism due to the subjectivity of the content’s nature and magnitude of information.
 SMIs are required to remove information or communication links that belong to 6 prohibited categories of
content within 72 hours after the complaint is raised. This will help stop the content from becoming viral and
spreading across the world.
 The SMIs are required to take reasonable measures to increase accessibility to their services to make them
more inclusive. This is to strengthen inclusivity of the SMI ecosystem, making it accessible to persons with
disabilities and those with diverse linguistic backgrounds. The new IT rules require the platforms to make
available the “rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement” in all languages listed in the
8th schedule of the Indian constitution.
Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC)

 The committee is styled as a three-member council out of which one member will be a government officer
(holding the post ex officio) while the other two members will be independent representatives.
 Users can file a complaint against the order of the grievance officer within 30 days.
 Importantly, the GAC is required to adopt an online dispute resolution mechanism which will make it more
accessible to the users.
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 It is unclear whether this is a compulsory tier of appeal or not, that is will the user have to approach the
grievance appellate committee before approaching the court.
 IT Rules, 2021 do not provide any explicit power to the GAC to enforce its orders.
 Lastly, if users can approach both the courts and the GAC parallelly, it could lead to conflicting decisions
often undermining the impartiality and merit of one institution or the other.
Significance
 First, there was a need to ensure that the interests and constitutional rights of netizens are not being
contravened by big tech platforms,
 second, to strengthen the grievance redressal framework in the Rules, and
 third, that compliance with these should not impact early stage Indian start-ups.
 The first category involved placing additional obligations on the SMIs to ensure better protection of user
interests while the second category involved the institution of an appellate mechanism for grievance
redressal.
Voting For NRIs
In News
The Union government has said that it was considering ways to facilitate non-resident Indians (NRI) to cast their
votes remotely while ensuring the integrity of the electoral process.
Remote Voting
 Remote voting is a method of casting vote, which may take place in person somewhere other than an
assigned polling station or at another time, or votes may be sent by post or cast by an appointed proxy.
 The Chief Election Commissioner has proposed to include the ‘remote voting facility’ in the upcoming 2024
Lok Sabha elections.
 The project is being developed by the IIT-Madras using blockchain technology.
Non-Resident Indian (NRI)

 Strictly asserting non-resident refers only to the tax status of a person who, as per section 6 of the Income-
tax Act of 1961, has not resided in India for a specified period for the purposes of the Act.
 The rates of income tax are different for persons who are “resident in India” and for NRIs.
Person of Indian Origin (PIO)

 Person of Indian Origin (PIO) means a foreign citizen (except a national of Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
China, Iran, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and/or Nepal), who:
 at any time held an Indian passport OR
 either of their parents/grandparents/great-grandparents were born and permanently resident in India as
defined in GoI Act, 1935 and other territories that became part of India thereafter provided neither was at
any time a citizen of any of the aforesaid countries OR
 is a spouse of a citizen of India or a PIO.
Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System (ETPBS)

 The ETPBS method allowed for greater turnout among service voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
 With increasing mobility of citizens across countries for reasons related to work, the postal ballot method
has been recognised by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (an
intergovernmental organization that works to support democratic processes and institutions) as a means to
Future of education
allow overseas voters to exercise their right, subject to certain conditions normally related to the time spent
abroad or the work carried out abroad.
 A postal ballot mechanism that allows for proper authentication of the ballot at designated
consular/embassy offices and an effective postal system should ease this process for NRIs, but rules must be
clearly framed for eligibility on the basis of time spent away from the country.
Significance
 Allowing NRIs to vote from abroad may see expatriates emerge as a decisive force in the country’s electoral
politics.
 NRI voters could be empowered better by amending the law.
 Purpose is to to see that persons living outside India and migrant labourers are still part of the entire
electoral process and every facility shall be extended which will also ensure the confidentiality of the
election
Child Welfare Police Officers (CWPO)
In News
The Ministry of Home Affairs has recently asked the States/Union Territories to appoint a Child Welfare Police
Officer (CWPO) in every police station to exclusively deal with children, either as victims or perpetrators.
About CWPO
 According to the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, there should be at least one
officer, not below the rank of an Assistant Sub-Inspector, as CWPO in every station.
 National Commission for Protection of Child Rights had requested that a Special Juvenile Police Unit in each
district and city, which is headed by an officer not below the rank of a Deputy Superintendent of Police, be
established.
 The unit would comprise CWPOs and two social workers having experience of working in the field of child
welfare, of whom one shall be a woman, to co-ordinate all functions of police in relation to children.
 The contact particulars of the CWPOs should be displayed in all police stations for the public to contact.
POCSO Act forces Adivasis in the Nilgiris into conflict with law
In News
The POCSO Act brings tribals in the Nilgiris into conflict with the law, as youth under the age of 18 in relationships
within or outside marriage are subject to the Act’s stringent provisions.
About POSCO Act

 The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development led the introduction of the POCSO Act in 2012.
 The Act was designed to protect children from sexual assault, sexual harassment and pornography offences,
as well as to provide for the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of such offences.
 The Act was amended in 2019 for enhancing the punishments for specific offences in order to deter abusers
and ensure a dignified childhood.
Features
 The POCSO Act establishes a gender-neutral tone for the legal framework available to child sexual abuse
victims by defining a child as “any person” under the age of 18.
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 Any person (except children) in charge of an institution who fails to report the commission of a sexual
offence relating to a subordinate is liable to be punished.
 As per Section 155(2) CrPC, a police officer cannot investigate a non-cognizable offence without the order of
a Magistrate.
 Section 23 of POCSO relates to the offence of disclosure of the identity of the victim of the sexual offence.
 The Act prohibits disclosure of the victim’s identity in any form of media, except when permitted by the
special courts established under the act.
 Any institution housing children or coming in regular contact is required to conduct a periodic police
verification and background check of every employee.
 Such an institution must impart regular training to sensitise its employees on child safety and protection.
 The institution has to adopt a child protection policy based on the principle of zero tolerance for violence
against children.
Concerns
 According to a recent survey, one in every two children is a victim of sexual abuse in India.
 Furthermore, in the vast majority of cases, the perpetrators are known to the victim, causing the victim to be
hesitant to approach authorities for redress.
 Incidents of child abuse have also risen exponentially since the Covid-19 pandemic, with the emergence of
new forms of cybercrime.
 The general level of awareness or knowledge on the part of minor girls and boys of the POCSO Act remains
severely inadequate in the country.
 Child marriage is common among certain tribal groups in the country, resulting in the criminalisation of 17-
18 years old youths due to a lack of knowledge of the POCSO Act.
Law Commission Constituted After 4 Years
In News
 The central government appointed chairperson and members of the Law Commission over two and a half
years after it was constituted.
 Retired Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Rituraj Awasthi appointed as the chairperson of the commission.
22nd law Commission

 The Law Commission is constituted for three years and the 22nd Law Commission was notified on February
24, 2020.
 Law Commission of India is neither a constitutional body nor a statutory body, it is an executive body
established by an order of the Government of India. Its major function is to work for legal reforms.
 The Commission is established for a fixed tenure and works as an advisory body to the Ministry of Law and
Justice.
 Its membership primarily comprises legal experts.
 The Law Commission, on a reference made to it by the Central Government or suo-motu, undertakes
research in law and review of existing laws in India for making reforms therein and enacting new legislations.
 It also undertakes studies and research for bringing reforms in the justice delivery systems for elimination of
delay in procedures, speedy disposal of cases, reduction in the cost of litigation etc.
 Former Kerala High Court judge Justice KT Sankaran, Professor Anand Paliwal, Professor DP Verma, Professor
Raka Arya and M Karunanithi have been appointed as members of the commission.
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Justice Ritu Raj

 Justice Rituraj Awasthi was a judge of the Allahabad High Court and retired in July this year as the Chief
Justice of Karnataka High Court. He had headed the HC bench which upheld the ban on wearing hijab by
Muslim girls in government colleges in Karnataka.
 Rituraj Awasthi graduated in law from Lucknow University in 1986. He practised in civil, service and
educational matters at the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court and has also worked as the Assistant
Solicitor General of India.
Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Satellite Television Channels in India, 2022
In News
The Union Cabinet has approved the “Guidelines for Uplinking and Downlinking of Television Channels in India,
2022”.
Key Guidelines
 Ease issue of permissions to the companies/ LLPs registered in India for Uplinking and Downlinking of TV
Channels
 Setting up of Teleports/ Teleport Hubs
 Use of Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG)/ Satellite News Gathering (SNG)/ Electronic News Gathering
(ENG) systems
 Uplinking by Indian News agencies
 Temporary uplinking of a live event
 Companies/LLPs having permission to uplink and downlink a channel: They may undertake public service
broadcasting (except where it may not be feasible) for a minimum period of 30 mins in a day on themes of
national importance and of social relevance.
 The TV Channels uplinking in frequency bands other than C band are mandatorily required to encrypt their
signals.
 Net worth requirement for Companies/LLPs holding permissions, to be as per the Guidelines at the time of
renewals.
 Security deposit: To ensure payment of dues.
Importance
 Only prior registration of events to be telecast live would be necessary.
 No permission for live telecast of events.
 No prior permission for change of language or conversion of mode of transmission from Standard Definition
(SD) to High Definition (HD) or vice versa
 In case of emergency, for a company/ LLP with only two Directors/ Partners, a Director/ Partner can be
changed
 Subject to security clearance post such appointment.
 A company/LLP can use News gathering equipment other than DSNG, such as optic fiber, Bag back, mobile,
etc.
 No separate permission would be necessary.
Ease of Doing Business:

 Specific timelines for grant for permission
 Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) entities can also seek permission
 A news agency can get permission for a 5 year period(one year at present)
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 A channel can be uplinked by using facilities of more than one teleport/ satellite(one teleport/satellite at
present)
Centre issues e-waste management rules
In News
The government has notified E-waste (management) rules 2022, which will come into force from 1 April next year
and apply to every manufacturer, producer refurbisher, dismantler and recycler of e-waste.
E-waste Management Rules

 Restricted the use of hazardous substances (such as lead, mercury, and cadmium) in manufacturing electrical
and electronic equipment that have an adverse impact on human health and the environment.
 Increased the range of electronic goods covered e.g., laptops, mobile, cameras etc.
 Producers of electronic goods have to ensure at least 60% of their electronic waste is collected and recycled
by 2023 with targets to increase them to 70% and 80% in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
 Companies will report these on an online portal.
 Extended Producer Responsibility Certificates (similar to carbon credit mechanism): This will allow the
offsetting of e-waste responsibility to a third party.
 ‘Environmental compensation’ to be provided by the companies that don’t meet their target.
 They will earmark industrial space for e-waste dismantling and recycling facilities, undertaking industrial skill
development and establishing measures for protecting the health and safety of workers engaged in the
dismantling and recycling facilities for e-waste.
Impact of E-Wastes
 Toxins’ harmful health impact on humans includes damage to the brain, heart, liver, kidneys and skeletal
system. They can also have a significant effect on neurological and reproductive systems, resulting in
sickness and birth abnormalities.
 E-Waste refers to all items of electronic and electrical equipment (EEE) and its parts that have been
discarded by their owner as waste without the intent of re-use. India is the third-largest e-waste generator in
the world after China and the USA (Global E-waste Monitor 2020).
 95% of e-waste in India is recycled by the informal sector.
Jharkhand Reservation Bill & Ninth Schedule of the Indian Constitution
In News
Jharkhand government has passed a bill increasing the reservation in vacant government posts and services to 77%,
thus violating the 50% mandate of the Supreme Court (Indra Sawhney Case). The government has further called for
putting the bill in the 9th Schedule to avoid Judicial Review.
Jharkhand Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (Amendment) Bill, 2022

 The Jharkhand Assembly passed a Bill to raise the total reservation for Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled
Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) in State government posts to up to 77%.
 In the Bill passed by the Jharkhand Assembly, the recommendation is to amend the Ninth Schedule of the
Constitution accordingly.
 The 77 percent reservation breaches the 50 percent ceiling set by the Supreme Court in the landmark 1992
Indra Sawhney v Union of India verdict.
 However, placing legislation in the Ninth Schedule shields it from judicial scrutiny.
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 Without directly referring to the Indra Sawhney judgment of 1993, the Bill passed in Jharkhand Assembly
noted that the 50% ceiling set out in the judgment never explicitly prohibited the breaching of the limit.
Ninth Schedule
 The Ninth Schedule contains a list of central and state laws which cannot be challenged in courts.
 Currently, 284 such laws are shielded from judicial review.
 Most of the laws protected under the Schedule concern agriculture/land issues.
 The Schedule became a part of the Constitution in 1951, when the document was amended for the first
time.
 It was created by the new Article 31B, which along with 31A was brought in by the government to protect
laws related to agrarian reform and for abolishing the Zamindari system.
 Article 31A extends protection to ‘classes’ of laws,
 Article 31B shields specific laws or enactments.
 The First Amendment added 13 laws to the Schedule.
 Subsequent amendments in 1955, 1964, 1971, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1984, 1990, 1994, and 1999 have taken the
number of protected laws to 284.
103rd Amendment Act

 The Parliament amended the Constitution of India (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019 to provide for a 10%
reservation in education and government jobs in India for a section of the General category candidates.
 Introduction of Article 15 (6) and Article 16 (6)- The amendment introduced economic reservation by
amending Articles 15 and 16. It inserted Article 15 (6) and Article 16 (6) in the Constitution to allow
reservation for the economically backward in the unreserved category.
 Article 15(6)- Up to 10% of seats may be reserved for EWS for admission in educational institutions. Such
reservations will not apply to minority educational institutions.
 Article 16(6)- It permits the government to reserve up to 10% of all government posts for the EWS.
SC issues notice to high courts on plea for setting up of ‘Gram Nyayalayas’
In News
The Supreme Court recently asked all high courts to respond to a PIL seeking a direction to the Centre and states to
take measures to set up ‘Gram Nyayalayas’.
About GNs
 GN came by Gram Nyayalayas Act 2008 on the recommendation of the 114th Report of the Law Commission.
 Establishment of GNs at the Panchayat level to try criminal, and civil claims and disputes.
 GNs will be headed by ‘Nyayadhikari’ (will be appointed by the state government in consultation with the
high court).
 It shall be guided by the principle of natural justice ( and not bound by rules of evidence provided in the
Indian Evidence Act, 1872)
 The seat of the Gram Nyayalaya will be located at the headquarters of the intermediate Panchayat; they will
go to villages, work there and dispose of the cases.
 Gram Nyayalayas have both civil and criminal jurisdiction over the offences.
 They can try criminal offences specified in the First Schedule and civil suits specified in Second Schedule to
the Act.
 The Central as well as the State Governments have been given the power to amend the First Schedule and
the Second Schedule of the Act.
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 The pecuniary jurisdiction of the Nyayalayas is fixed by the respective High Courts.
Why Gram Nyayalayas not operational?

 Lack of infrastructure like buildings, office spaces and related equipment
 Lack of man-power resources, notaries, stamp vendors etc. at sub-district level
 Inadequate Central assistance
 Lack of awareness among lawyers, police officials
 Non-cooperation of enforcement agencies
 The reluctance of state functionaries to invoke the jurisdiction of Gram Nyayalayas
 Setting up of legal services institutions at Taluk level reducing the dependency on Gram Nyayalayas
‘Prison Induction Document’ can be used for Aadhaar enrolment of inmates
In News
The Union ministry of home affairs (MHA) informed all state governments and prison authorities that the ‘Prisoner
Induction Document’ (PID), issued by prison authorities, will be accepted as a valid document for the enrolment or
update of Aadhaar data of inmates.
Significance of Aadhaar
 Aadhaar number is verifiable in an online, cost-effective way.
 It is unique and robust enough to eliminate duplicates and fake identities and thus used as a basis/primary
identifier to roll out several Government welfare schemes thereby promoting transparency and good
governance.
 Aadhaar number is devoid of any intelligence and does not profile people based on caste, religion, income,
health and geography.
 The Aadhaar number is a proof of identity, however, it does not confer any right of citizenship or domicile in
respect of an Aadhaar number holder.
 Aadhaar is a strategic policy tool for social and financial inclusion, public sector delivery reforms, managing
fiscal budgets, increasing convenience and promoting hassle-free people-centric governance.
 Aadhaar can be used as a permanent Financial Address and facilitates financial inclusion of the
underprivileged and weaker sections of the society and is therefore a tool of distributive justice and equality.
 Thus, the Aadhaar identity platform is one of the key pillars of ‘Digital India’.
Misuse of Aadhaar
 Many private entities in the country insist on an Aadhaar card, and users often share the details.
 In 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that Aadhaar authentication can be made mandatory only for benefits paid
from the Consolidated Fund of India and that alternative means of identity verification must always be
provided when Aadhaar fails.
 AePS is a facility that enables someone who has an Aadhaar-linked account to withdraw money from it
anywhere in India through biometric authentication with a “business correspondent” – a kind of mini-ATM.
 Central and state governments have made routine use of the “ultimatum method” to enforce the linkage of
welfare benefits with Aadhaar.
 In this method, benefits are simply withdrawn or suspended if the recipients fail to comply with the linkage
instructions in good time, such as failing to link their job card, ration card or bank account with Aadhaar.
Future of education
25th National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG)
In News
The 25th National Conference on e-Governance will be organized on November 26 and 27 this year.
About NCeG
 National Conference on e-Governance (NCeG) will be held in Katra – a city in the union territory of Jammu
and Kashmir.
 It will be jointly organized by the Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) and
the Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in collaboration with the Jammu and
Kashmir Government.
 The theme for this year’s NCeG is “Bringing Citizens, Industry and Government Closer”.
 The conference will be inaugurated on the occasion of Constitution Day (November 26), commemorates the
adoption of the Indian Constitution.
 During the conference, National Awards for e-Governance (NAeG) will be conferred under five categories of
the NAeG Scheme to 18 e-governance initiatives at the central, state and district levels, academic and
research institutes and public sector undertakings (PSUs).
 This year’s NCeG will centre around topics that will shape digital governance in the future. It will focus on
technologies that will enhance government services and make India a digitally empowered society and
knowledge economy.
 The conference would provide the opportunity for civil servants and industrial experts to demonstrate
successful interventions using e-governance in improving the delivery of public services.
FSSAI releases new draft for GM food regulations
In News
The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has released a new draft of Genetically Modified (GM) Food
regulations, which proposes front-of-the pack labelling for packaged food products that contain 1 per cent or more
of GM ingredients.
New Regulations
 The draft regulations propose front-of-the-pack labeling of packaged food products that contain 1 per cent
or more of GM ingredients.
 It is applicable for genetically modified organisms (GMOs) used in food items having 1 per cent or more of
GM ingredients produced from modified DNA and GMO-derived ingredients, additives or processing aids.
 No one will be allowed to manufacture, pack, store, sell, market, distribute or import any food items
produced from GMOs, except those that have received prior approval from the FSSAI.
 Manufacturers and importers of genetically modified food products and ingredients are required to receive
approval from the food regulator.
 If the GMOs are used as food or source material for the production of food, clearance is required from the
Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) – the central government authority responsible for
monitoring the environmental risks posed by the GMOs.
 If the genetically modified organism is used as seeds or for cultivation, the applicant is required to submit an
application to the GEAC to comply with the Environment Ministry’s 1989 rules.
 Food products having individual 1 per cent or more GM ingredients must be labeled as “contains genetically
modified organisms”.
Future of education
Government forms panel to look into MGNREGA’s efficacy
In News
The Central government has constituted a committee to review the implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, especially to assess the programme’s efficacy as a
poverty alleviation tool.
About MGNREGA
 The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was enacted in 2005, and the
demand-driven scheme promises 100 days of unskilled work per year to every rural household that wishes to
participate.
 It was launched as a poverty alleviation instrument for the rural region, providing them with a safety net in
the form of guaranteed work and wages. The scheme now has 51 crore active workers enrolled.
 However, it was felt that states like UP and Bihar where there is a higher level of poverty, haven’t been able
to utilise the scheme optimally.
 The scheme has also been criticised by economists like Jagdish Bhagwati and Arvind Panagariya as an
“inefficient instrument of shifting income to the poor”.
About the committee

 The Sinha committee (named after former Rural Development secretary Amarjeet Sinha) has now been
tasked to study –
 The various factors behind the demand for MGNREGA work,
 The expenditure trends and inter-State variations, and
 The composition of work.
 It will suggest (within 3 months) what changes in focus and governance structures are required to make
MGNREGA more effective.
Terms of reference
 It will look at the argument that the cost of providing work has also shot up since the scheme first started.
 It will review the reasons and recommend ways to bring in a greater focus on poorer areas.
 It will study if the composition of work taken up presently under the scheme should be changed, i.e.,
whether it should focus more on community-based assets or individual works.
Amendment to Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969
In News
 The Bill to amend the RBD Act, 1969 was recently proposed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
 The Bill is likely to be tabled in the upcoming winter session of the parliament.
Proposed Amendments
 It has been proposed to make birth certificates a mandatory document for almost every sphere of life —
admission in educational institutions, inclusion in the voter list, appointment in Central and State
government jobs, issue of driving licence and passport.
 It shall be mandatory for hospitals and medical institutions to provide a copy of all death certificates, stating
the cause of death, to the local registrar apart from the relative of the deceased.
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 According to the Civil Registration System (CRS) report, the registration level of births for the country
increased to 92.7% in 2019 from 82.0% in 2010 and that of registered deaths increased from 66.9% in 2010
to 92.0 % in 2019.
 CRS is an online system for registration of births and deaths under the operational control of the RGI.
Why these amendments?

 The draft amendments would enable the Registrar General of India (RGI) under the Ministry of Home Affairs
(MHA) to “maintain a database of registered birth and deaths at the national level”.
 The birth and death database at the national level that will be available with the RGI may be used to update
the Population Register, the Electoral Register, and the Aadhar, ration card, passport and driving licence
databases.
 If the amendments are implemented, the Centre could use the data to update the National Population
Register (NPR) that was first prepared in 2010 and revised through door-to-door enumeration in 2015.
 The NPR already has a database of 119 crore residents and under the Citizenship Rules, 2003, it is the first
step towards the creation of a National Register of Citizens (NRC).
RBD act,1969
 Registration of Births and Deaths in India is mandatory with the enactment of RBD, Act 1969 and is done as
per the place of occurrence of the event.
 Under the RBD Act, it is the responsibility of the States to register births and deaths.
 State governments have set up facilities for registering births and deaths and keeping records.
 A Chief Registrar appointed in every State is the executive authority for implementation of the Act
Paperless Saharsa is Bihar’s new showcase district
In News
Saharsa became the first district in Bihar to be declared paperless (e-office) with an aim to end the Great Indian Red
Tape.
About E-office
 E-Office is a Mission-Mode project as part of e-Governance Initiatives.
 The e-office initiative goes back to 2009, but the towering piles of paperwork were–and still are–a hurdle too
high to cross.
 Idukki in Kerala became paperless in 2012 and Hyderabad in 2016.
 It aims to significantly improve the operational efficiency of Government Ministries and Departments
through improvement in the workflow mechanism and office procedure manuals.
Red Tape
 It is a derisive term for excessive regulation or rigid conformity to formal rules that is considered redundant
or bureaucratic and hinders or prevents action or decision-making.
 It is usually applied to the government but can also be applied to other organisations like corporations.
 It generally includes the filling out of seemingly unnecessary paperwork, obtaining of unnecessary licenses,
having multiple people or committees approve a decision and various low-level rules that make conducting
one’s affairs slower and/or more difficult.
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Consequences
 In addition to time and money spent filling out forms, red tape reduces productivity and innovation in
businesses.
 Small businesses are particularly burdened by this and may discourage people from starting up a new
business.
 Because of red tape, contracts are not enforced consistently, and administration is delayed, resulting in
delayed justice, especially for the poor.
 The delays caused by government processing and the costs associated with them remain a source of
dissatisfaction among citizens.
 According to a World Bank study, corruption increases with increasing red tape.
 By complicating the normal flow of businesses, bureaucracy breeds corruption and lowers growth.
Centre widens ED power
In News
In its recent amendment, the Central Government listed 15 government bodies that are required to share
information with the Enforcement Directorate under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Agencies included in recent amendments

 National Investigating Agency (NIA)
 Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO)
 State Police
 Director General of Foreign Trade (DGFT)
 Ministry of External Affairs (MEA)
 National Intelligence Grid
 Central Vigilance Commission (CVC)
 Defence Intelligence Agency
 National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO)
 Military Intelligence
 Wildlife Crime Control Bureau
 Competition Commission of India (CCI)
 Under Section 66 of the Act, 15 entities are bound to disclose and share case information to the ED if the
investigation falls under its jurisdiction.
 The information shared can be used by the Enforcement Directorate to file a case under the PMLA when it
deems fit.
About ED
 The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which comes under the aegis of the Finance Ministry’s Revenue
Department, is an economic intelligence agency responsible for combating economic crimes in India and
enforcing economic laws.
 Its origins can be traced back to the Enforcement Unit, which was set up under the Foreign Exchange
Regulation Act, 1947 to combat violations of Exchange Control Laws.
 The Enforcement Unit was renamed as the Enforcement Directorate in 1957.
Future of education
Govt approves new self-regulatory body for print, digital news outlets
In News
The government has cleared a print and digital media association to look at grievances related to digital news
content. The self-regulatory body called the PADMA has 47 news publishers.
About PADMA
 This organization is responsible for looking into grievances related to digital media news content on its
member publishers’ platforms.
 It will be headed by former HC Judge Mool Chand Garg. It also includes a part-time member of Prasar Bharati
Ashok Kumar Tandon and journalist Manoj Kumar Mishra as its members.
 It will be involved in the redressal of grievances pertaining to the code of ethics under the rule 12 of the
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.
 The organization must also ensure that the member publishers have agreed to adhere to the provisions of
the rules, including the furnishing of information required under Rule 18.
 With this, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has approved 9 self-regulatory bodies since May 21
under Rule 12 of the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules,
2021.
About Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021
 The Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology notified the rules in February 2021.
 These rules identify significant social media intermediaries (SSMIs) – the social media intermediaries with
registered users in India above the notified threshold.
 The SSMIs are required to observe certain additional due diligence like appointing certain personnel for
compliance, enabling identification of the first originator of information on its platform under certain
conditions, and the use technologies to identify certain types of content.
 All intermediaries are required to provide a grievance redressal mechanisms for resolving complaints from
users or victims.
 The rules provide three-level grievance redressal mechanism with varying levels of self-regulations.
 Rule 12 requires self-regulatory bodies to oversee and ensure the publishers’ adherence to the code of
ethics.
 They are also required to provide guidance to publishers on the implementation of code of ethics and
address grievances that have not been resolved by publishers within 15 days.
National Party in India
In News
 The AAM Aadmi Party (AAP) won 5 seats in the Gujarat Assembly election and its vote share was almost
13%.
 This meant it was set to be recognised as a national party by the Election Commission of India.
National Party
 The name suggests that a national party would be one that has a presence ‘nationally’, as opposed to a
regional party whose presence is restricted to only a particular state or region.
 National parties are usually India’s bigger parties, such as the Congress and BJP. However, some smaller
parties, like the communist parties, are also recognised as national parties.
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Criteria for National Party

 It is ‘recognised’ in four or more states; or
 If its candidates polled at least 6% of total valid votes in any four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or
Assembly elections and has at least four MPs in the last Lok Sabha polls; or
 If it has won at least 2% of the total seats in the Lok Sabha from not less than three states.
 The Elections Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, recognises a party as a state party if it fulfils
any one of five conditions-
 6 per cent vote share and two MLAs or one MP in the respective election;
 3 per cent of Assembly seats or three MLAs, whichever is higher;
 one MP for every 25 allotted to the state or any fraction thereof;
 or 8 per cent vote share in the last Assembly election.
Benefits
 Right to have reserved symbol for its candidates contesting across the country
 Entitled to land or building for national headquarters at Delhi.
 Candidates need only one proposer to file nominations (2 in case of other parties)
 Get dedicated broadcast slots on Doordarshan and All India Radio during general elections.
 Can have up to 40 Star campaigners (20 for other parties)
 Expenditure on campaigning and star campaigners isn’t added to the candidate’s spending limit
Greater Tipraland
In News
Recently, chief of a political party of Tripura led a two-day dharna at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, to raise the demand
for a “Greater Tipraland”.
Issue
 Several tribal outfits and indigenous communities of the north-eastern state of Tripura demand for a
separate state of Greater Tipraland.
 The indigenous communities in the region is demanding a separate state as “survival and existence” was at
stake.
 Among the 19 notified Scheduled Tribes in Tripura, Tripuris (aka Tipra and Tiprasas) are the largest.
 According to the 2011 census, there are at least 5.92 lakhs Tripuris in the state, followed by Reangs (1.88
lakhs) and Jamatias (83,000).
 They want the Centre to carve out the separate state under Article 2 and 3 of the Constitution.
 Tripura was a kingdom ruled by the Manikya dynasty from the late 13th century until the signing of the
Instrument of Accession with the Indian government on October 15, 1949.
 The demand mainly stems from the change in the demographics of the state.
 The indigenous communities were reduced to a minority due to the displacement of Bengalis from the
erstwhile East Pakistan between 1947 and 1971.
 Their population reduced from 63% in 1881 to 31% by 2011.
 They have also been dislodged from land reserved for them by the penultimate king of the Manikya dynasty
Bir Bikram Kishore Debbarman.
 In the intervening decades, ethnic conflict and insurgency gripped the state, which shares a nearly 860-km
long boundary with Bangladesh.
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Criteria for new State

 Parliament derives powers to create a new state from Article 2 and Article 3 of the Constitution of India.
 Article 2- Parliament may by law admit into the Union, or establish, new States on such terms and conditions
as it thinks fit.
 States like Sikkim (previously not within India) became a part of the country under Article 2.
 Article 3- It empowered the Parliament to make law relating to the formation of new states and alteration of
existing states.
Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council:

 The Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council (TTADC) was formed under the sixth schedule of the
Constitution in 1985 to ensure development and secure the rights and cultural heritage of the tribal
communities.
 ‘Greater Tipraland’ envisages a situation in which the entire TTADC area will be a separate state. It also
proposes dedicated bodies to secure the rights of the Tripuris and other aboriginal communities living
outside Tripura.
 The TTADC, which has legislative and executive powers, covers nearly two-third of the state’s geographical
area.
 The council comprises 30 members of which 28 are elected while two are nominated by the Governor.
UGC chief discusses translations of books for courses in Indian languages
In News
University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairperson has met representatives of international publishers to discuss a
roadmap for translating their books as part of plans to introduce undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Indian
languages across disciplines.
Article related to regional languages

 Article 343(1) (the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagiri Script);
 Article 345 (the legislature of a State may by law adopt any one or more of the languages in use in the State);
 Article 347 (President has the power to recognize a language as an official language of a given state);
 Article 350A (instruction in mother-tongue at the primary stage); Article 350B( Special Officer for linguistic
minorities);
 Article 351 (power to the union government for the development of the Hindi language)
UGC 4-year undergraduate honours degree to help students go abroad
In News
The University Grants Commission’s proposal to award an honours degree after four years of undergraduate
programme (FYUP) could help students aiming for higher education overseas but needs to teach employable skills.
Features of the programme

 Students will receive a UG degree after completing 120 credits in three years. To receive UG honours degree,
the students need to complete the programme in four years and receive 160 credits. Under the present
system, it takes at least 3 years for the students to receive a UG honours degree.
 For students wanting to opt for research specialization at the undergraduate level, they have to secure 75
per cent marks or higher in the first 6 semesters. They can then choose a research stream in the fourth year.
They will be eligible for UG degree with honours and research after they complete a research project or
Future of education
dissertation under the guidance of a faculty member and secured 160 credits, along with 12 credits in
project/dissertation.
 While it is mandatory to complete at least four years of study for receiving a UG honours degree, there are
multiple exit features that allow students to leave with a certificate after completing just one year. This
feature requires students to secure 40 credits and one vocational course of four credits during the summer
vacation of the first year. They can re-enter the programme within three years and complete it within the
maximum period of 7 years.
 Students who choose to exit after completing the second year will be awarded UG diploma if they have 80
credits and completed one vocational course of 4 credits during the summer vacation of the second year.
They too can re-enter and complete the degree programme.
 Students will be awarded a single major if they secure a minimum of 50 percent credits. For a double major,
they are required to secure at least 40 percent credits.
Scheme for madrasas, minority institutes
In News
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment recently pulled up the Union
government for the delay in approving the continuation of the Scheme for Providing Education to
Madrasas/Minorities (SPEMM), which provides for financial assistance to madrasas and minority institutes.
Scheme for Providing Quality Education in Madrasas (SPQEM)

 It seeks to bring about qualitative improvement in Madrasas to enable Muslim children attain standards of
the National education system in formal education subjects.
 To provide financial assistance to traditional institutions to encourage them to introduce Science,
Mathematics, Social Studies, Hindi and English in their curriculum to attain proficiency
 To strengthen State Madrasa Boards opting for assistance by enabling them to monitor the Madrasa
modernization programme.
 To provide quality components in Madrasas such as remedial teaching, assessment and enhancement of
learning outcomes, Rashtriya Avishkar Abhiyan etc.
Infrastructure Development of Minority Institutes (IDMI)

 Infrastructure Development of Minority Institutes (IDMI) has been operationalised to augment Infrastructure
in Private Aided/Unaided Minority Schools/Institutions in order to enhance the quality of education to
minority children.
 To facilitate education of minorities by augmenting and strengthening school infrastructure in Minority
Institutions (elementary/ secondary/senior secondary schools) in order to expand the facilities for formal
education to children of minority communities.
 To encourage educational facilities for girls, children with special needs and those who are most deprived
educationally amongst the minorities.
Family Pehchan Patra (FPP)
In News
Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha’s announced that the government has decided to introduce a family
pehchan patra (identity card) for residents of the Union Territory.
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About FPP
 The FPP will be an identity card with a unique 8-digit alphanumeric number (like in a PAN Card) to identify
each family and its members through the head of the family.
 It will be a single identifier for every family and individual in the UT unlike the Aadhar card which contains
information about an individual only.
 The card will contain details of all members of the family, including their names, ages, qualifications,
employment status, etc. and will be linked with the Aadhaar and bank account number of the head of the
family.
 The card will be linked with the Aadhaar and bank account number of the head of the family.
 It will be a single identifier for every family and individual in the UT that will instantly confirm their eligibility
for government welfare schemes and facilitate direct transfer of benefits to their bank accounts with
minimum human interference.
Objective
 The primary objective is to create an authentic, verified, and reliable database of families in J&K to ensure
speedy and transparent doorstep delivery of welfare schemes to eligible beneficiaries.
 The database will help to identify and weed out duplicate ration cards and Aadhaar, and will help the
government identify families that may have a number of educated youth, but without jobs.
 While Aadhaar contains information about an individual, the family ID card will collate information about
families to help in the delivery of welfare schemes.
Significance
 The FPP aims to create an authentic, verified, and reliable database of families in J&K to ensure speedy and
transparent doorstep delivery of welfare schemes to eligible beneficiaries.
 Such a system would facilitate direct transfer of benefits to their bank accounts with minimum human
interference.
 The database will also help in identifying and weeding out duplicate ration cards and Aadhaar and will help
the government identify families that have a number of educated youth, but without jobs.
 The information in the database (births, deaths, and marriages) will be continuously and automatically
updated and people will no longer have to visit local officials for such purposes.
 It will also help the government plan policy based on authentic, updated population data.
Social Progress Index (SPI)
In News
Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) will release the Social Progress Index (SPI) for states and
districts of India.
About the Index

 The report has been prepared by Institute for Competitiveness, headed by Dr Amit Kapoor and the Social
Progress Imperative, headed by Michael Green and was mandated by Economic Advisory Council to the
Prime Minister of India.
 SPI is a comprehensive tool intended to be a holistic measure of the Social Progress made by the country at
the national and sub-national levels.
 Understanding that the social progress of citizens is key to sustaining economic growth in the long run, the
index complements the conventional measures of economic growth and development.
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 SPI assesses the performance of states and districts on three dimensions of social progress: Basic Human
Needs, Foundations of Wellbeing, and Opportunity. Within each dimension, there are four components.
 The dimension of Basic Human Needs assesses the performance of states and districts in terms of Nutrition
and Basic Medical Care, Water and Sanitation, Personal Safety and Shelter.
 The dimension of Foundations of Wellbeing evaluates the progress made by the country across the
components of Access to Basic Knowledge, Access to Information and Communication, Health and Wellness,
and Environmental Quality.
 The dimension of Opportunity focuses on aspects of Personal Rights, Personal Freedom and Choice,
Inclusiveness, and Access to Advanced Education.
 The report aims to provide a systematic account of the social progress made at all levels in the country.
 The report also sheds light on the achievements of the districts that have performed well on the index and
the role of the states in achieving social progress.
Centre draws flak from Parliamentary panel over state of onion silos
In News
Storage facilities for onions run by the Centre are poor and need an immediate overhaul, the Parliamentary Standing
Committee on Food, Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution has said in a recent report.
Onion in India
 India is the second-largest onion-growing country in the world and the Indian onions are famous for their
pungency (sharp smell, and taste) and are available round the year.
 There are 3 sowing seasons for the onion crop in India – Kharif (10%), late Kharif (20%) and Rabi (70%).
 The Rabi onion crop is the mainstay of India and the price of the onion is normally lower during these
months due to greater supply.
 In 2020-21, the major onion-producing states are Maharashtra (39%), Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh (17%),
Gujarat, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Telangana.
 The major export destinations are Bangladesh, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, UAE, Nepal and Indonesia.
 As India faces frequent onion demand-supply mismatches, resulting in price fluctuations, successfully storing
rabi onions and scientific management of onion output in all three seasons is crucial.
 Onions were traditionally stored in open ventilated chawls and the development of modern scientific
technology was still in the experimental stage.
 In order to develop technologies for primary processing, storage and valorisation of onion, the department
has initiated a hackathon under the guidance of Chief Innovation Officer, Ministry of Education.
Findings of the committee

 The Standing Committee also noted that 51,582.74 million tonnes (MT) of onion had been damaged due to
spoilage in the last three years.
 A quantity of 51,582.74 MT of onion has damaged due to spoilage during the years 2019-20 to 2022-21.
 Prices skyrocketed beyond 150 per kilogram in the winter of 2019 before stabilising.
 The percentage of loss on account of prolonged storage of onion in the buffer in 2021-22, had been reduced
to 25.96 per cent from about 28 per cent in 2020-21.
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25th Eastern Zonal Council meeting
In News
Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah presided over the 25th Eastern Zonal Council meeting in Kolkata
recently.
Zonal Councils
 They are statutory bodies established by an act of parliament (State reorganization Act of 1956)
 The idea of creation of Zonal Councils was mooted by the first Prime Minister of India, Pandit Jawahar Lal
Nehru in 1956 when during the course of debate on the report of the States Reorganisation Commission.
 The home minister of central government is the common chairman of all the zonal councils
 Other members include: The Chief Ministers of the States included in each zone act as Vice-Chairman of the
Zonal Council for that zone by rotation, each holding office for a period of one year at a time, Chief Minister
and two other Ministers as nominated by the Governor from each of the States and two members from
Union Territories included in the zone.
 At present there are six zonal councils– Northern, Central, Eastern, Western, Southern and North-Eastern
Aims/Objectives
 Any matter of common interest in the field of economic and social planning;
 Any matter concerning border disputes, linguistic minorities or inter-State transport;
 Any matter connected with or arising out of, the reorganization of the States under the States
Reorganisation Act.
Composition Of Zonal Councils

 The Northern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab,
Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Union Territory of Chandigarh;
 The Central Zonal Council, comprising the States of Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh;
 The Eastern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim and West Bengal;
 The Western Zonal Council, comprising the States of Goa, Gujarat, Maharashtra and the Union Territories of
Daman & Diu and Dadra & Nagar Haveli;
 The Southern Zonal Council, comprising the States of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the
Union Territory of Puducherry.
Jammu and Kashmir new land laws end past property leases
In News
The Jammu and Kashmir administration’s new land laws has ended the owners right to hold on to properties on
lease in the Union Territory (U.T.) and plans to outsource these properties afresh online.
New land Reforms 2022

 The J&K government has notified Land Grant Rules-2022 which state that all the outgoing lessees, except
subsisting/expired leases for residential purposes, shall immediately handover the possession of the land
taken on lease to the government, failing which the outgoing lessee shall be evicted.
 The erstwhile J&K Land Grants Rules 1960 under which land was granted on lease for 99 years and had the
provision of extension as well no more exists, post 5 August 2019, when J&K Reorganisation Act 2019 was
enacted.
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 Now, the government has decided to hold the auction online for the leased land.
 This means the hundreds of business establishments, hotels and shopping complexes in Jammu and Kashmir
might have to be closed down, since most of these commercial establishments have sprung up on the leased
land.
 The new land law also states that land can also be provided to ex-servicemen, war widows, families of
deprived categories, migrant workers, building and construction workers and sufferers of natural calamities.
 Law states that the outgoing lessees will be paid for any structure built on the land, ‘provided the lessee has
not violated any of the conditions of the lease’.
Criticism
 Few Political Parties have argued that the newly-introduced Land Grant Rules-2022 will push six to seven
lakh people into the unemployment bracket and will only pave the way for millionaires and capitalists from
outside to buy hotels and commercial establishments in J&K.
 The fresh Land Grant Rules-2022 will end the rights of present owners and sell it at market price. No local
businessman has purchasing power compared to millionaires and billionaires from the rest of the country.
 The present owners with bank loans will be forced to sell their houses to repay their loans.
 The current bank borrowing from the J&K Bank stands at ₹60,000 crore, an indicator of the loans raised by
locals to survive the turbulent times since 1990s.
AVGC Task Force Report
In News
The Animation, Visual Effects, Gaming and Comic (AVGC) Task Force has called for a National AVGC-XR Mission with
a budget outlay to be created for integrated promotion & growth of the AVGC sector.
Key Recommendations
Domestic Industry Development for Global Access

 A National AVGC-XR Mission with a budget outlay to be created for integrated promotion & growth of the
AVGC sector.
 Launch of a ‘Create in India’ campaign with exclusive focus on content creation, In India, For India & For
World!
 With a goal to make India the global hub for AVGC, institute an International AVGC Platform, along with a
Gaming Expo) with focus on FDI, Co-production treaties and Innovation.
 Establish a National Centre of Excellence (COE) for the AVGC sector to become an international reference
point across Skilling, Education, Industry Development and Research & Innovation for the AVGC sector.
Regional COEs will be instituted in collaboration with the State Governments to provide access to local
industries and to promote local talent and content.
Developing Talent ecosystem to realize Demographic Dividends

 Leverage NEP to develop creative thinking with dedicated AVGC course content at school levels, to build
foundational skills and to create awareness about AVGC as a career choice.
 Launch AVGC focused UG/ PG courses with standard curriculum and globally recognized degrees.
Standardize admission tests for AVGC related courses (viz, MECAT by MESC).
 With an eye on the demand of 20 Lakh skilled professionals in AVGC sector in this decade, augment skilling
initiatives for AVGC sector under MESC. Enhance Industry participation to ensure employment opportunities
and absorption for students from non-metro cities and NE states.
 Establish AVGC Accelerators and Innovation hubs in academic institutions, on lines of Atal Tinkering Labs.
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Enhancing Technology & Financial Viability for Indian AVGC Industry

 Democratize AVGC technologies by promoting subscription-based pricing models for MSME, Start-Ups and
institutions.
 Made in India for AVGC technologies through incentive schemes for R&D and IP creation. Evaluate PLI
scheme to incentivize AVGC hardware manufacturers.
 Enhanced Ease of Doing Business in AVGC sector i.e tax benefits, import duties, curbing piracy, etc.
 Leverage Start-Up India to provide technical, financial and market access assistance to AVGC entrepreneurs
to promote culture of R&D and local IP Creation.
Raising India’s soft power through an Inclusive growth

 Establish a dedicated Production Fund for domestic content creation from across India to promote Indian
culture & heritage globally. Evaluate Reservation for high-quality indigenous content by broadcasters.
 For an Inclusive India, target skilling and industry outreach for youth in Tier 2 & 3 towns and villages in India.
Establish Special incentives for women entrepreneurs in AVGC sector.
 Promote local Children’s channels for raising awareness on rich culture and history of India among children
and youth
 Establish framework to ensure Child Rights Protection in the digital world
About the Task Force

 The AVGC Task Force was set up under the chairmanship of the Secretary of the Information and
Broadcasting Ministry to help realize the full potential of India’s AVGC sector by identifying interventions for
boosting the domestic capacity that can serve the local and global markets.
 It had key stakeholders from the industry and the government, including members from state governments
of Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra.
Expedite classification of nomadic tribes in quota lists, panel tells Centre
In News
The Parliamentary panel on Social Justice and Empowerment has asked the centre to speed up the process to
categorize 260 denotified, nomadic, and semi-nomadic tribes under either the SC/ST/OBC lists.
Notified, Nomadic, and Semi-Nomadic Tribes

 These are communities that are the most vulnerable and deprived.
 DNTs are communities that were ‘notified’ as being ‘born criminals’ during the British regime under a series
of laws starting with the Criminal Tribes Act of 1871.
 These Acts were repealed by the Independent Indian Government in l952, and these communities were "De-
Notified".
 A few of these communities which were listed as de-notified were also nomadic.
 Nomadic and semi-nomadic communities are defined as those who move from one place to another rather
than living in one place all the time.
 Historically, Nomadic Tribes and De-notified Tribes never had access to private land or home ownership.
 While most DNTs are spread across the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward
Classes (OBC) categories, some DNTs are not covered in any of the SC, ST, or OBC categories.
 It has been estimated that South Asia has the world’s largest nomadic population.
 In India, roughly 10% of the population is Denotified and Nomadic.
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 While the number of Denotified Tribes is about 150, the population of Nomadic Tribes consists of about 500
different communities.
Problems faced by these Tribes

 People of these communities continue to be stereotyped. A large number of them have been labeled
excriminal tribes.
 They also face alienation and economic hardships.
 Most of their traditional occupations such as snake charming, street acrobatics and performing with animals
have been notified as criminal activity making it difficult for them to earn a livelihood.
 Many of the denotified, nomadic and semi-nomadic tribes are spread among SC/ST/OBC but are still not
classified anywhere and have no access to socioeconomic benefits whether education, health, housing or
otherwise.
 Grievances of these groups include food, drinking water, sanitation, education, health, housing, poor
infrastructure, etc.
 Many also complain about not getting caste certificates, not having ration cards, voter ID cards, aadhaar
cards, etc.
DPIIT seeks views of different ministries on draft national retail trade policy
In News
The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has sought the views of 16 departments and
ministries on its draft national retail trade policy.
Retail Trade Policy

 The policy would focus on formulating strategies to provide a globally competitive and sustainable
environment for the overall development of retail trade through targeted efforts.
 The objectives of the policy include ensuring easy and quick access to affordable credit,
 facilitating modernization and digitisation of retail trade by promoting modern technology and superior
infrastructural support;
 development of physical infrastructure across the distribution chain;
 promotion of skill development and improve labour productivity, and providing an effective consultative and
 grievance redressal mechanism for the sector.
 The retail industry is likely to see 10 per cent annual growth to reach about USD 2 trillion by 2032.
National Archives head says no record of 1962, 1971 wars
In News
The National Archives of India (NAI) does not have records of 1962, 1965, and 1971 wars, or even of the Green
Revolution.
National Archives of India

 The National Archives of India (NAI) is the repository of all non-current government records that can be used
by administrators and scholars.
 It comes under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Culture.
 Its origins can be traced back to the Imperial Record Department, which was established in the British India’s
capital Calcutta in 1891.
 The NAI is currently located in Delhi and is involved in conserving government records.
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 It had started holding records in 1748. These records are in English, Arabic, Hindi, Persian, Sanskrit and Urdu
languages.
 Currently, the agency is involved in digitizing all records on the newly created Abhilekh Patal portal.
Presently, over 1.27 lakh records can be accessed online.
 The agency holds regular exhibitions like the one displaying the declassified files on Subhas Chandra Bose in
2016 and the recent exhibition, ‘The Jammu and Kashmir Saga’.
 Under the Public Records Act, 1993, union ministries and departments are required to transfer records more
than 25 years old to the NAI unless they contain classified information.
CAG Report on Assam's NRC
In News
 Recently the Comptroller and Auditor-General of India (CAG) released a report on the National Register of
Citizens (NRC) update exercise in Assam.
 The report has highlighted serious irregularities, including the “haphazard development” of software for the
exercise, making it vulnerable to data tampering, and profits earned by the system integrator (SI) by violating
the Minimum Wages Act.
NRC
 Assam is the only State in India that initiated an exercise to update the NRC of 1951 with March 24, 1971, as
the cut-off date for citizenship.
 This date was decided in the Assam Accord of 1985 which ended a six-year anti-foreigners movement.
 It contained a provision that all ‘foreigners’ who came to Assam after 1971 Should be detected and
deported, and also talked about the deletion of foreigners' names from the electoral rolls.
 The Citizenship Act of 1955 was amended for Indian-origin People who came from Bangladesh before 1966
to be deemed as Citizens.
 Those who came between 1966 and 1971 were eligible for Citizenship after registering and living in the State
for 10 years while those entering after 1971, were to be deported.
Major Findings of the CAG

 When the process to update the NRC was started in 2014 the project cost was around ₹288.18 crore.
 However, till March 2022, the total project cost increased by more than 5 times due to additional time to
complete it and changes in the updated software. The project cost increased to Rs 1,602.66 crore.
 The CAG report said that audit records reflect irregularities in the utilization of funds including “excess and
inadmissible payment to vendors”.
 The CAG found that the number of wages paid to the outsourced staff was 45.59%-64.27% less than what
was approved by the NRC coordination committee.
 The difference in wages allowed the undeserved benefit of ₹155.83 crores to the system integrator and this
is beyond the 10% “reasonable profit margin”.
 The CAG noted that the due process of software development and vendor selection via tendering was not
followed.
Measures
 The process should be carefully audited to ensure that no citizens have been disenfranchised.
 Work permits can be issued by the government to allow migrants to work in India for pre-determined
periods.
 The Government of India should clearly define the next course of action for people outside the list and
ensure that no communal violence occurs.
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 The nearly 40 lakh people outside the list need legal aid and counseling which can be provided by the
government.
India has officially recognised Esports as a part of 'multisport event
In News
 The Indian government has officially recognized esports in the country.
 Esports will now be a part of the "multisports event" category in India under the Ministry of Youth Affairs
and sports and a section related to "matters relating to online gaming" is added under MeitY as well.
About E sports
 The President of India, amended the regulations governing eSports in accordance with the authority
"conferred by clause (3) of Article 77 of the Constitution" and requested the Sports Ministry and the Ministry
of Electronics and Information Technology to include "Esports as part of multi-sports events."
 According to a gazette notification, E-Sports will now be a part of the “multisports event” category in India.
E-Sports will be taken care of by Department of Sports under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
Meanwhile, 'Online Gaming' will be under MEITY (Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology).
 E-Sports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games.
Significance
 Esports have already been considered as a medal sport in the Olympics and Asian games and this news will
further boost the sport in the country as it was long overdue.
 The industry inclusive of developers, players and creators as a whole is growing at a fast pace and to come
full-circle this recognition will be very thriving for the industry.
 It presents a clean slate for gamers and proves to neigh-sayers that Esports is, in fact, a serious sport that
deserves to be recognised for its skilled and hard-working players who will be competing against some of the
world's best players and put India on the map of professional gaming countries.
National Mobile Monitoring System
In News
Digitally capturing the attendance of workers employed under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme (MGREGS) through NMMS has been made universal by the Centre from January 1, 2023.
About NMMS
 The NMMS App was launched by the Minister of Rural Development on May 21 2021. This app is aimed at
bringing more transparency and ensuring proper monitoring of the schemes.
 It permits taking real-time attendance of workers at Mahatma Gandhi NREGA worksites along with a geo-
tagged photograph.
 The app helps in increasing citizen oversight of the programme.
 The App is applicable for the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA workers for all the States/ Union Territories.
Bharat Net Project

 It is a project envisioned by the Government of India to digitally connect all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) and
Villages of India.
 It originally aimed to provide broadband services at 100 Mbps to around 2.5 lakh gram panchayats of the
country.
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 It is a highly scalable network infrastructure accessible on a non-discriminatory basis.

 It is the world’s largest rural connectivity scheme to be connected by the Optical Fibre network.
 Aim: To provide on-demand, affordable broadband connectivity of 2 Mbps to 20 Mbps for all households of
India especially in rural areas.
 The project is being implemented by Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL) through a Special Purpose
Vehicle (SPV).
 The entire project is being funded by the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF), which was set up for
improving telecom services in rural and remote areas of the country.
Election Commission begins delimitation of constituencies in Assam
In News
 The Election Commission recently said it has started the delimitation process of Assembly and parliamentary
constituencies in Assam.
 Census data of 2001 will be used for the process.
About Delimitation
 Delimitation is the act of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and state Assembly seats to represent changes
in population.
 The main objective of delimitation is to provide equal representation to equal segments of a population.
 For instance, in 1971, Assam’s population was 1.46 crore. In 2001, it increased to 2.66 crores.
 Further, the population does not grow uniformly across all areas of a state.
 Hence, delimitation of constituencies is periodically carried out to reflect not only an increase in population
but changes in its distribution.
Composition
 Delimitation is carried out by an independent Delimitation Commission, appointed by the Government of
India under provisions of the Delimitation Commission Act.
 The Delimitation Commission is appointed by the President of India and works in collaboration with the
Election Commission of India.
 It is composed of the following: a retired Supreme Court judge, the Chief Election Commissioner of India and
respective State Election Commissioners.
 The Delimitation Commission is to work without any executive influence.
 The Constitution mandates that the Commission’s orders are final and cannot be questioned before any
court as it would hold up an election indefinitely.
How is delimitation supposed to be carried out?

 Under Article 82, Parliament is to enact a Delimitation Act after every Census.
 Once the Act is in force, the Union government sets up the Delimitation Commission.
 The Commission is supposed to determine the number and boundaries of constituencies in a way that the
population of all seats, so far as practicable, is the same.
 The Commission is also tasked with identifying seats reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
 The final order is published in the Gazette of India and the State Gazette concerned and comes into force on
a date specified by the President.
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 In the history of the Indian republic, Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times — 1952, 1963,
1973 and 2002 under the Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002.
 There was no delimitation after the 1981, 1991 and 2001 Censuses.
 However, the 2002 Act did not make any changes in total Lok Sabha seats or their apportionment between
various states.
 The delimitation exercises was not conducted frequently in the recent past.
 This is because the Indian Constitution mandates that the number of Lok Sabha seats allocated to a state
should be (as far as it is achievable) same for all states.
 This has an unintended consequence of those states that did not take measures to control the population
getting larger number of seats in the Indian Parliament.
 To address this issue, the Indian Constitution was amended in 1976 to suspend the delimitation until 2001.
 Another amendment was enacted to delay the delimitation exercise further until 2026, with the hope that
India would achieve a uniform population growth rate by this time.
Election Commission develops EVM prototype for migrants
In News
The Election Commission on India (ECI) recently said it has developed a prototype of a multi-constituency remote
electronic voting machine (RVM) for domestic migrants, a potentially landmark development that can boost voter
participation and eliminate problems of travelling to home districts during polls for voting.
About RVMs
 The RVM is a multi-constituency electronic voting machine that can handle up to 72 constituencies from a
single remote polling booth. It is based on the time-tested M3 (Mark 3) EVMs and will be used to enable
voting at remote polling stations for domestic migrants.
 The initiative, if implemented, can lead to a social transformation for the migrants and connect with their
roots as many times they are reluctant to get themselves enrolled at their place of work for various reasons
such as frequently changing residences, not enough social and emotional connect with the issues of area of
migration, unwillingness to get their name deleted in electoral roll of their home/native constituencies as
they have permanent residence/property.
Challenges
 There are several challenges and considerations that must be addressed in order to successfully implement
the RVM system.
 These include defining domestic migrants, enumerating remote voters, and ensuring the secrecy of voting
and the presence of polling agents for voter identification.
 The Representation of the People Act, 1950 and 1951, The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, and The
Registration of Electors Rules, 1960 will also need to be amended to introduce remote voting.
 Other considerations include the method of remote voting, the familiarity of voters with the RVM
technology, and the counting and transmission of votes cast at remote polling stations.
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Karnataka reclassifies Vokkaligas, Lingayats to raise their OBC quota share
In News
Recently, the Karnataka Cabinet decided to categorise the two dominant communities, Vokkaligas and Lingayats, as
“moderately backward” from the “backward” category in a move that could increase their share in reservation for
Other Backward Classes (OBC).
Lingayats
 The term Lingayat denotes a person who wears a personal linga, an iconic form of god Shiva, on the body
which is received during the initiation ceremony.
 The tradition of Lingayatism is known to have been founded by social reformer and philosopher Basavanna
in 12th century Karnataka.
 Lingayats had been classified as a Hindu subcaste called “Veerashaiva Lingayats” and they are considered to
be Shaivites.
 The emergence of the Lingayat sect can be located within the larger trend of Bhakti movements that had
swept across South India from the 8th century AD onwards.
Vokkaligas
 The agricultural communities of south Karnataka are called Vokkaligas. People belonging to the Vokkaliga
community are known as Okkalia of Utkala Kingdom.
 As a community of warriors and cultivators they have historically had notable demographic, political, and
economic dominance in Old Mysore (region).
 It is believed by some historians that the Rashtrakutas and Western Gangas were of Vokkaliga origin. The
Vokkaligas occupied administrative positions in the Vijaynagar Empire.
OBC status in Karnataka

 Karnataka currently has 32% quota for OBC, and 17% and 7% quota for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes, respectively, taking the total to 56%.
 The Panchamasali sub-sect of Veerashaiva Lingayats has demanded inclusion in the 2A category which has
15% quota from their current 3B category which has 5% quota.
 The Vokkaliga community, which is currently in the 3A category, will be moved to a newly-created 2C
category with 4% reservation. And the Lingayat community, which is in the 3B category, will now be in a new
2D category with 5% reservation.
 The increase in reservation from the one granted currently to these communities — 4% for Vokkaligas and
5% for Lingayats — via redistribution of the EWS quota will be based on the population of various
communities assessed by the Karnataka State Commission for Backward Classes.
Draft rules for online gaming
In News
A self-regulatory body, mandatory know-your-customer norms for verification, and a grievance redressal mechanism
are among the key proposals in the draft rules for online gaming.
Draft Rules
 Online games will have to register with a self-regulatory body, and only games cleared by the body will be
allowed to legally operate in India.
 Online gaming companies will not be allowed to engage in betting on the outcome of games.
Future of education
 The rules aimed at safeguarding users against potential harm from skill-based games, have been introduced
as an amendment to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code)
Rules, 2021.
 The attempt is to regulate online gaming platforms as intermediaries and place due diligence requirements
on them.
 The self-regulatory body will have a board of directors with five members from diverse fields, including
online gaming, public policy, IT, psychology and medicine.
 It must ensure that the registered games don’t have anything “which is not in the interest of sovereignty and
integrity of India, defence of India, security of the state, friendly relations with foreign states or public order,
or incites the commission of any cognizable offence relating to the aforesaid.
 online gaming firms will be required to undertake additional due diligence, including KYC of users,
transparent withdrawal and refund of money, and a fair distribution of winnings. For KYC, they will have to
follow norms laid down for entities regulated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
 Gaming companies will also have to secure a random number generation certificate, which is typically used
by platforms that offer card games to ensure that game outputs are statistically random and unpredictable.
They will also have to get a “no bot certificate” from a reputed certifying body
 Similar to social media and e-commerce companies, online gaming platforms will also have to appoint a
compliance officer who will ensure that the platform is following norms, a nodal officer who will act as a
liaison official with the government and assist law enforcement agencies, and a grievance officer who will
resolve user complaints.
Why these rules?

 Around 40 to 45 % of the gamers in India are women, and therefore it was all the more important to keep
the gaming ecosystem safe.
 It is believed to be a great first step for comprehensive regulation for online gaming and will reduce the
state-wise regulatory fragmentation that was a big challenge for the industry.
 The revenue of the Indian mobile gaming industry is expected to reach USD 5 billion in 2025.
 The industry grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38% in India between 2017-2020, as
opposed to 8 % in China and 10% in the US.
 It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15 % to reach Rs 153 billion in revenue by 2024, as per a report by VC
firm Sequoia and management consulting company BCG.
NMC releases draft rules for timetable, duration, grades, and papers
In News
NMC has released the draft regulations for the National Exit Test (NExT), required for admission to PG medical
programmes and to obtain a license to practice medicine in India.
Objectives
 To bring uniformity in the summative evaluation across the country with reference to the minimum common
standards of education and training of a medical graduate.
 To improve the quality of healthcare in India by ensuring that all doctors have a minimum level of
competency and knowledge before they begin practicing medicine.
NeXT Exam
 All the students who have completed III or final MBBS course from a Commission-recognised medical college
would be eligible to appear in the exam.
Future of education
 The NExT step 1 exam will be held once a year prior to the university practical exam for III MBBS (Part
2)/final MBBS preceding compulsory rotating internship.
 A supplementary exam will be conducted once a year for the candidates who failed one or more papers.
 Students who won’t be able to clear that exam either can appear for the ‘step 1 regular exam in the
following year.
 There is no restriction in the number of attempts provided that the candidate passes both the steps within
10 years of joining MBBS.
 The exam will be held in person and shall be conducted by the respective state health universities.
 Where state Health Universities do not exist, the Commission shall decide on the university. The exam will be
conducted once a year.
 The NExT is a medical licensing exam that is designed to assess the competency of medical graduates.
 Students who received their medical degrees from NMC approved medical institutions and overseas
students also will have to qualify the National Exit Test.
About NMC
 The National Medical Commission (NMC) is a statutory body in India that was established in 2019 by the
Indian government to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI).
 The NMC has been constituted by an act of Parliament known as National Medical Commission Act, 2019
 The NMC is a regulatory body for the medical education sector in India.
National Geospatial Policy 2022
In News
The National Geospatial Policy 2022 recently notified is aimed to set up high resolution topographical survey and
mapping, with a high-accuracy Digital Elevation Model (DEM) for the country by 2030.
Features of the policy

 A Geospatial Data Promotion and Development Committee (GDPDC, will be a 17-member body) at the
national level shall be the apex body for formulating and implementing strategies related to promotion of
the Geospatial sector.
 GDPDC would replace and subsume the functions and powers of the National Spatial Data Committee
(NSDC) constituted in 2006 and GDPDC constituted in 2021.
 To develop a coherent national framework in the country and leverage it to move towards a digital economy
and improve services to citizens.
 To develop Geospatial infrastructures, Geospatial skill and knowledge, standards, Geospatial businesses.
 To promote innovation and strengthen the national and sub-national arrangements for generation and
management of Geospatial information.
Geospatial Technology
 Geospatial Technology is an emerging field of study that includes Geographic Information System (GIS),
Remote Sensing (RS), and Global Positioning System (GPS).
 It has applications in almost every domain of the economy ranging from -
 Agriculture to industries,
 Development of urban or rural infrastructure,
 Administration of land,
 Economic activities of banking and finance, resources, mining, water, disaster management, social planning,
delivery services, etc.
Future of education
 It enables government systems, services, and initiatives to be integrated using ‘location’ as a common and
underpinning reference frame.
Survey of India
 The origins can be traced back to the time of Lord Clive, who commissioned a major-ranking officer to
produce a map of Bengal.
 It was established in 1767 to help consolidate the Indian territories of the British East India Company.
 It is India’s principal mapping agency and functions under the Department of Science and Technology (DST),
Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India.
 Its chief responsibility is to ensure that India’s domain is explored and mapped appropriately.
 It also provides base maps for expeditious and integrated development of the country by ensuring that all
resources contribute to the progress, security and prosperity of the nation for the present and the future.
 Survey of India is headquartered in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.
 It is headed by the Surveyor-General of India.
UGC released draft guidelines to set up foreign educational campuses in India
In News
The University Grants Commission (UGC) has notified the draft guidelines for establishing campuses of foreign higher
educational institutions in the country.
Draft Guidelines
 The programmes offered under these regulations will not be allowed in online mode, and universities will
have to conduct the courses in offline mode only.
 A regulatory framework allowing the entry of higher-ranked foreign Universities will provide an international
dimension to higher education, enable Indian students to obtain foreign qualifications at affordable cost, and
make India an attractive global study destination.
 No Foreign Higher Educational Institutions (FHEIs) will be allowed to set up campuses in the country without
the approval of the UGC.
 The foreign educational institution should be within the top 500 of overall / subject-wise global rankings, as
decided by the Commission from time to time, in its home jurisdiction.
 These regulations shall regulate the entry and operations of Foreign Universities/Institutions in India to
conduct undergraduate, postgraduate, doctoral, post-doctoral, and other programmes and award degrees,
diplomas, and certificates in all disciplines.
 The foreign institute has to ensure that the quality of education imparted by it in its Indian campus is at par
with that of the main campus in the country of origin.
 A web-based portal maintained by the UGC will receive proposals → A committee formed by the UGC will
evaluate the applications and make recommendations within 45 days → The selected applicants will be given
about 2 years to set up campuses.
Significance
 Allowing foreign universities will ensure diverse courses, such as in the fields of urban design and fashion
design.
 Reduce forex reserve depletion. In 2022 over 5 lahks (four point five) of Indian students went abroad to
study, leading to an outflow of an estimated $28-30 billion.
 Around 40 million students in India, currently pursuing higher education, will have access to global quality
education.
Future of education
Indian Telegraph (Infrastructure Safety) Rules 2022
In News
The Department of Telecommunications under the Ministry of Communications has formulated the Indian Telegraph
(Infrastructure Safety) Rules 2022.
Provisions
 Any person wishes to exercise a legal right to dig or excavate any property which is likely to cause damage to
a telegraph infrastructure shall give notice to the licensee, prior to commencement, through common portal.
 The information shall include the name and address of the person exercising the legal, agency details,
contact details, date and time of start of the exercise, description and location of the exercise, and the
reasons for such dealing.
 The licensee shall, as expeditiously as possible, provide through the common portal, the details of telegraph
infrastructure owned/ controlled/ managed by them, falling under/ over/ along the property with which the
person intends to deal, alongwith precautionary measures for coordination in avoiding damages to the
telegraph infrastructure.
 Excavators/utility asset owners will be given alerts via SMS, email and in-app notification and will also have
the facility of ‘Click to call’ from the app itself.
 The person digging or excavating shall take appropriate action on precautionary measures provided by the
licensee.
 Once the asset owner agencies map their underlying assets with GIS coordinates on PM GatiShakti NMP
platform, it will also be possible to know the presence of underlying utility assets, at the point of interest,
before start of excavation.
Benefits
 Many utilities can be saved from unwanted cuts and wasteful cost towards restoration, thus saving
thousands of crores for businesses and associated tax loss to Govt.
 Inconvenience caused to citizens because of frequent breakdown may be reduced due to better synergy
between the agencies.
Kuki-Chin Refugees Issue
In News
As another round of refugee crisis brews on the Mizoram-Bangladesh border, several members of the Kuki-Chin
community were “pushed back” by the Border Security Force (BSF).
Kuki-Chin
 The Chins of Myanmar, the Mizos of Mizoram and the Kukis of Bangladesh are of the same ancestry and
belong to the Kuki ethnic group native to the Mizo hills.
 They are collectively called the Zo people.
 The Kuki Chin people are settled in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the only extensive hill area in Bangladesh that
lies in the southeastern part of the country.
 It borders Myanmar on the southeast, Tripura on the north, Mizoram on the east and the Chittagong district
in the west.
Future of education
Demands of Kuki-Chin
 The roots of Kuki militancy lie in conflicts of ethnic identity.
 First was the demand for self-determination solely for groups belonging to their ethnic fabric, meaning the
dream to form a Kukiland.
 The second reason for insurgency lies in the inter-community conflicts between the Kukis and the Nagas in
Manipur.
 The Kuki-Naga conflict was started over securing identity and land as some Kuki-inhabited areas coincided
with Naga-inhabited areas.
 Wanting to dominate trade and cultural activities in those areas the two communities often engaged in
violent standoffs, with villages being torched, civilians killed and so on.
Response by India
 Members of the Kuki-Chin community from Bangladesh who have entered Mizoram are being considered
“officially displaced persons” in State government records because India does not have a law on refugees.
 India has not signed the United Nations Refugee Convention, 1951 and its 1967 Protocol. Thus India does not
recognise refugees, and undocumented migrants could be prosecuted for violating the Foreigners Act of
1946.
 The members of the community who seek to take shelter in the Indian state of Mizoram have been sent back
by the BSF personnel as they have no instructions to let the refugees enter India.
 Further, the BSF personnel have showcased humanity by distributing food and extending medical assistance
to the refugee group.
Centre to end discretionary Haj quota
In News
The Union Minister for Minority Affairs, Smriti Irani, recently announced that the Indian government has done away
with the discretionary Haj quota for pilgrims.
About Haj Pilgrimage

 The Haj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims.
 It is considered to be a mandatory religious duty for all adult Muslims physically and financially capable of
doing so.
 The rites of pilgrimage are performed over five to six days, in Dhu al-Hijjah, the last month of the Islamic
calendar
Abolition of Discretionary Quota

 The “Government discretionary quota” is further divided in two, 200 seats are with the Haj Committee itself
and 300 are with people holding important offices at the Centre.
 These include, 100 with the President, 75 with the Prime Minister, 75 with the Vice President, 50 with the
Minister of Minority Affairs.
 As per the old policy, these seats could be allocated to individuals who applied for the pilgrimage through
the normal means but were unsuccessful in getting a slot for the pilgrimage.
 According to the 2018-22 policy document, 70 per cent of India’s total quota goes to the HCoI and 30 per
cent goes to private operators.
Future of education
CEA releases disaster management plan for power sector
In News
The Central Electricity Authority (CEA) has released the disaster management plan (DMP) for the power sector in a
bid to evolve a proactive and integrated approach to strengthen disaster mitigation, preparedness, emergency
response, and recovery efforts.
Features of the DMP

 The DMP provides a framework and direction to the utilities in the power sector for all phases of the disaster
management cycle.
 It is intended to guide all agencies within the sector with a general concept of potential emergencies and
roles and assignments before, during, and following emergency situations.
 To estimate threats to power infrastructure, it is pertinent that fragility and vulnerability analysis is carried
out for civil structures like buildings and foundations in transmission and distribution facilities.
 The main objectives of the DMP are to find out the quantitative risk involved in power networks and to
devise effective strategies for prevention, mitigation, response, and recovery.
 It includes investing in risk mapping globally, creating a network of universities working on disaster-related
issues, leveraging social media and mobile technologies for disaster risk reduction, as well as building local
capacities for disaster management, reduction, and relief.
 The CEA emphasised that to estimate threats to power infrastructure, it is pertinent that fragility and
vulnerability analysis is carried out for civil structures like buildings, tall structures, foundations in the
generation infrastructures, towers, gantry structures, and foundations in transmission and distribution
facilities.

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To the P int

POLITY & GOVERNANCE

400+ JAN. 2022 - JAN. 2023

An initiative By Pradeep Kumar (SOCIOLOGY EXPERT)

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