8 February 2023

• Disaster: Indian rescue teams were operational in Turkey's Hatay province. The Turkey earthquake death toll crossed 15,000.
• Urban governance: MCD's Delhi mayoral elections failed for the third time, over a dispute about whether nominated aldermen may vote. The 74th Amendment's devolution promises remained unfulfilled in most of urban India.
• Social issues: Assam's child marriage arrests data: 44 per cent of women in the state were married before 18. The legal framework for child marriage and its impending reform came under scrutiny.
• Foreign policy: the 30th anniversary of the India-Russia Friendship Treaty. The scope of the Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership reviewed.

GS area: Polity (local governance)

Delhi's Municipal Corporation elections had concluded in December 2022, but the city's first mayor had still not been elected by February 2023. Three rounds of mayoral elections failed:

• The dispute: nominated members (aldermen) were being counted in the electoral college. The MCD Commissioner had allowed them to vote in the first mayoral election. The AAP-led MCD alleged this was unconstitutional.
• Supreme Court ruling: the Court held that nominated members (aldermen) cannot vote in mayoral elections. Only elected councillors may vote.
• 74th Constitutional Amendment (1992): mandates devolution of 18 functions listed in the Twelfth Schedule to urban local bodies. Also mandates constitution of Ward Committees and State Finance Commissions for ULBs.
• National picture: 22 of 28 municipal corporations in Maharashtra had expired terms in February 2023 without fresh elections. Elections for many ULBs had been delayed across states.
• Urban stakes: 675 million Indians are projected to live in urban centres by 2035. Without functional, funded urban local bodies, infrastructure investment will continue to be managed by state-level agencies bypassing elected local governments.

Static linkage: Polity (74th Amendment, local governance, urban administration).

GS area: Social Justice, Governance

Assam launched a crackdown on child marriage in February 2023, resulting in over 2,000 arrests in a short period:

• Scale of the problem: 44 per cent of women in Assam were married before turning 18, among the highest rates in India.
• National estimate: the UN estimates 1.5 million girls are married before 18 every year in India.
• Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006: the primary law governing child marriage in India. A key distinction:
  • A child marriage is voidable (not void) at the option of the minor. The minor may affirm or repudiate the marriage on reaching adulthood.
  • The proposed amendment (Prohibition of Child Marriage Amendment Bill) would make child marriage void (invalid from the start), not merely voidable. This remains a significant policy debate.
• Age of marriage: under Hindu law, 18 for women and 21 for men. The Child Marriage Restraint Act (1929, amended multiple times) set these ages.
• POCSO Act 2012: criminalises sexual activity with a minor. A marriage does not exempt a husband from POCSO liability if his wife is under 18.
• Pending reform: a Bill to raise the minimum marriage age for women from 18 to 21 years (to align with men) has been introduced but not yet passed.

Static linkage: Social Justice (child marriage, women's rights, family law).

GS area: International Relations

The India-Russia Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation was signed on 28 January 1993. The 30th anniversary fell in early February 2023:

• Nature of the relationship: upgraded to a "Special and Privileged Strategic Partnership" in 2010.
• Key mechanisms: annual summits between the Prime Minister and the President of Russia, plus cooperation in BRICS, SCO, and the Nuclear Suppliers Group.
• Defence ties: the S-400 Triumf air defence system ($5.4 billion for five batteries) delivered to India despite US CAATSA pressure. BrahMos cruise missiles jointly developed.
• Trade: bilateral trade was targeted at $30 billion by 2025. Indian oil imports from Russia rose sharply after the 2022 Ukraine invasion as India purchased discounted crude.
• Space: Russia participated in India's Gaganyaan human spaceflight training programme.
• Complications in 2022-23: India's substantial purchase of Russian oil drew Western criticism. India maintained a position of strategic autonomy, abstaining on UN resolutions condemning the invasion.

Static linkage: International Relations (India-Russia relations, strategic autonomy).

GS area: Polity (constitutional provisions)

The Supreme Court ruled that governors must decide remission pleas within three months:

• Remission: the reduction of a prison sentence without changing the conviction. The punishment is reduced; guilt is not wiped.
• Article 72: the President's power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites, remissions and commutations. Applies to cases tried by court martial, cases involving Central law, and cases with a death sentence.
• Article 161: the Governor's equivalent power at the state level. Applies to sentences under state law. Does not extend to death sentences (those require Presidential pardon under Article 72).
• Prisons Act 1894: the statutory basis for remission rules. State governments frame remission policies under this Act.
• The ruling: three-month deadline for governor decisions. Prolonged delay in acting on a remission plea is itself a denial of the constitutional right.

Static linkage: Polity (Article 72, Article 161, presidential and gubernatorial powers).

GS area: Economy (infrastructure, industrial policy)

The Tumakuru node under the Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor was highlighted as South India's first industrial corridor development:

• Chennai-Bengaluru Industrial Corridor: runs between Chennai and Bengaluru through Hosur, Krishnagiri and Tumakuru. Aims to create industrial townships with plug-and-play infrastructure.
• Other nodes: Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh and Ponneri in Tamil Nadu.
• National programme: 32 smart cities planned across 11 industrial corridors. The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) is the nodal agency.
• Completed nodes elsewhere: Dholera Special Investment Region in Gujarat and the Shendra-Bidkin Industrial Area in Maharashtra under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor.
• Significance: industrial corridors are India's attempt to emulate China's special economic zone model by integrating infrastructure, utilities and administrative services in designated investment zones.

Static linkage: Indian Economy (industrial corridors, infrastructure, DPIIT).

GS area: International Relations, Science and Technology

A Chinese high-altitude balloon traversed American airspace and was shot down on 4 February 2023. The episode drew attention to stratospheric surveillance:

• Altitude: spy balloons typically operate at 80,000 to 120,000 feet, above commercial aviation and below satellites.
• Advantages over satellites: can carry heavier sensor payloads, loiter over a target for longer periods, and collect higher-resolution imagery at lower cost.
• Disadvantage: cannot be steered directly against wind. Operators control them by changing altitude to find winds in the desired direction.
• Historical precedents: the US Project Genetrix (1950s) and Project Mogul used high-altitude balloons for surveillance and atmospheric sampling during the Cold War.
• India's concern: India maintains vigil over high-altitude intrusions given its disputed borders with China. The episode renewed focus on India's air surveillance and the strategic use of the stratosphere.

Static linkage: International Relations (India-China, surveillance technology, airspace).

• Jupiter's moons: astronomers confirmed 92 moons of Jupiter in early 2023, the highest of any planet, surpassing Saturn's previously record-leading count.
• G20 digital literacy campaign: India's IT Ministry and Meta launched a "Stay Safe Online" campaign targeting 10,000 students across Delhi schools and colleges on cyberbullying, sextortion, trolling and identity theft.
• Bio-hybrid robots: Israeli researchers created a sniffing robot using locust antennae to detect chemicals. Potential applications in disease diagnosis and security screening.