11 March 2023

• Women's Reservation Bill: constitutional amendment to reserve one-third of seats in Parliament and state assemblies has stalled since its last Rajya Sabha passage in 2010. India ranks 144th globally in women's political representation.
• Sri Lanka IMF deal: the IMF approved a USD 2.9 billion Extended Fund Facility. India had already extended USD 4 billion in bilateral support including grain, fuel, and credit lines.
• PMLA tightening: amendments defined Politically Exposed Persons, reduced the beneficial ownership disclosure threshold to 10%, and brought non-profits under mandatory registration on DARPAN.
• Space debris threat: the Kessler Syndrome describes a chain of collisions that could render near-Earth orbits unusable. India's ISRO operates Project NETRA and IS4OM for space situational awareness.
• Megha-Tropiques-1 reentry: ISRO conducted the first controlled de-orbit of an Indian satellite, guiding the India-France weather satellite to a safe splashdown in the Pacific.

GS Paper 2: Polity; Parliament; Social Justice.

The demand for one-third reservation of seats in Parliament and state assemblies for women has been before the legislature since 1996. As of March 2023 the Bill had not been passed by the Lok Sabha.

• First introduction: the Constitution (81st Amendment) Bill was first introduced in 1996 under the United Front government. It lapsed with the dissolution of that Lok Sabha.
• Subsequent attempts: the Bill was reintroduced in 1998, 1999, and 2008. The 2008 version was introduced as the Constitution (108th Amendment) Bill.
• Rajya Sabha passage: in March 2010 the Bill was passed by the Rajya Sabha with 186 votes in favour. It was never put to a vote in the Lok Sabha and lapsed.
• Current representation: women held 78 seats in the 17th Lok Sabha, representing approximately 14% of total strength. India ranked 144th out of 193 countries in the Inter-Parliamentary Union's index of women's parliamentary representation as of 2023.
• Global benchmark: Rwanda leads the world with 61% women in its legislature, achieved through a constitutional reservation in the post-genocide reconstruction period. Nordic countries occupy the top positions among those without formal reservations.
• The constitutional route: a women's reservation bill requires a constitutional amendment under Article 368. It must pass each House of Parliament by a two-thirds majority of members present and voting and an absolute majority of total membership.
• Panchayati Raj precedent: the 73rd Constitutional Amendment (1992) already mandates not less than one-third reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions. The Rajya Sabha Bill sought to replicate this at the national level.

The 14% (17th Lok Sabha) and 144th rank are the prelims numbers. Distinguish the 73rd Amendment (PRIs, operational) from the proposed national reservation (not yet passed as of March 2023).

Revises: Parliament; Constitutional Amendments; Women's Rights.

GS Paper 2: International Relations; Economy.

The International Monetary Fund approved a USD 2.9 billion Extended Fund Facility for Sri Lanka in March 2023. The approval came after months of negotiations following Sri Lanka's declaration of sovereign default in April 2022.

• Facility type: an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is an IMF programme designed for countries with structural balance of payments problems. It has a longer repayment window (up to 10 years) than a standard Stand-By Arrangement.
• Quantum: USD 2.9 billion, disbursed in tranches subject to quarterly reviews and agreed structural reforms.
• Indian support: India extended approximately USD 4 billion in bilateral support including a credit line for fuel, a credit line for essential goods, humanitarian shipments of food and medicines, and currency swap arrangements under the SAARC facility.
• Multilateral pipeline: additional financing from the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was contingent on the IMF programme going through. IMF approval acts as a seal of confidence for other creditors.
• Conditions: Sri Lanka committed to revenue-based fiscal consolidation, restructuring of domestic and external debt, cost-reflective energy pricing, and anti-corruption governance reforms.
• Debt restructuring: China and India are Sri Lanka's two largest bilateral creditors. Both were required to provide debt restructuring assurances before the IMF disbursed funds.

The EFF (Extended Fund Facility) versus SBA (Stand-By Arrangement) distinction is a standard IMF facility MCQ. India's USD 4 billion is bilateral; the USD 2.9 billion is multilateral. Do not conflate them.

Revises: International Monetary Fund; South Asia; India-Sri Lanka Relations.

GS Paper 3: Economy; GS Paper 2: Governance.

The World Bank Findex 2021 report estimated that one-third of adults globally still lack access to formal financial services. Financial inclusion is linked to up to 14% GDP growth in developing economies.

• PMJDY: the Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana is India's flagship financial inclusion scheme. It provides zero-balance savings accounts with a RuPay debit card, accident insurance of Rs 2 lakh, and overdraft facility of up to Rs 10,000.
• APY: the Atal Pension Yojana provides guaranteed pension to unorganised sector workers between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5,000 per month at age 60, depending on the contribution amount and entry age.
• PMVVY: the Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana is a pension scheme for senior citizens above 60 years, offering a guaranteed return through the Life Insurance Corporation of India.
• Stand Up India: targets at least one loan each to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe borrower and one woman borrower per bank branch, for amounts between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore for greenfield enterprises.
• PMMY (Mudra): the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana provides loans up to Rs 10 lakh to non-corporate, non-farm small enterprises. Three categories: Shishu (up to Rs 50,000), Kishore (Rs 50,001 to Rs 5 lakh), and Tarun (Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh).
• PMSBY: the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana is an accidental death and disability insurance scheme with an annual premium of Rs 20.
• India's G20 theme: India's G20 Presidency in 2023 adopted the theme "Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam" (One Earth, One Family, One Future). Financial inclusion featured in the G20's Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion discussions under India's presidency.

The three MUDRA loan categories (Shishu, Kishore, Tarun) with their respective limits are perennial MCQ material. APY (guaranteed pension) versus PMJDY (savings account) is a common category-confusion trap.

Revises: Financial Inclusion; Government Schemes; Social Security.

GS Paper 3: Economy; GS Paper 2: Polity; Legal Framework.

India amended the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, rules in March 2023 to align with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) norms ahead of India's scheduled mutual evaluation.

• Politically Exposed Persons: the amendment formally defined PEPs as current or former heads of state or government, senior government officials, judicial or military officials, senior executives of state-owned enterprises, and important political party officials. Family members and close associates of PEPs also attract enhanced due diligence.
• Beneficial ownership threshold: the shareholding threshold for mandatory disclosure of a company's beneficial owner was reduced from 25% to 10%. This prevents concealment of ownership behind a nominee holding 24.9%.
• NPO registration: non-profit organisations are now required to register on the DARPAN portal maintained by NITI Aayog. Only registered NPOs can receive foreign contributions and bank services relevant to charitable operations.
• FATF mutual evaluation: FATF conducts country evaluations of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks every few years. India's evaluation was pending in 2023. Compliance with FATF norms determines a country's risk rating and affects correspondent banking relationships.
• PMLA, 2002: the parent statute. Enforcement is by the Enforcement Directorate. The Financial Intelligence Unit-India receives suspicious transaction reports from reporting entities.

The 10% threshold (down from 25%) and the DARPAN registration requirement for NPOs are the specific amendment hooks. FATF (Paris-based intergovernmental body, not an UN agency) is the standard framing MCQ.

Revises: Money Laundering; Financial Regulation; FATF; Governance.

GS Paper 3: Science and Technology; Space; GS Paper 2: International Relations.

The growing volume of space debris prompted fresh discussion in March 2023 about governance gaps and technical mitigation measures.

• Types of debris: non-functional spacecraft, spent rocket upper stages, fragments from collisions and explosions, and paint flecks from spacecraft surfaces. Debris ranges from metres down to millimetres.
• Kessler Syndrome: proposed by NASA scientist Donald Kessler in 1978. Describes a cascade scenario where one collision generates fragments, each capable of causing further collisions, exponentially increasing debris density until an orbital band becomes unusable. No remediation exists once the cascade begins.
• India's anti-satellite test: Mission Shakti in March 2019. India used a kinetic kill vehicle to destroy one of its own satellites in low-Earth orbit (approximately 280 km altitude). The choice of LEO was deliberate to allow fragments to decay within weeks. The test made India the fourth country to demonstrate ASAT capability, after the United States, Russia, and China.
• De-orbit guideline: the existing international guideline is that spacecraft in LEO must de-orbit within 25 years of end of mission. This is a guideline, not a binding treaty obligation.
• ISRO Project NETRA: Near-Earth Tracking Radar network to detect and track space objects threatening Indian assets.
• IS4OM: ISRO Space Situational Assessment and Management system. It monitors the orbital environment and issues conjunction warnings.

Mission Shakti (2019, India, fourth country) and the Kessler Syndrome (cascading collisions) are separately testable. NETRA (tracking radar) versus IS4OM (situational management system) is a pairing the exam uses.

Revises: Space Technology; International Space Law; Defence.

GS Paper 3: Science and Technology; Space.

ISRO guided the Megha-Tropiques-1 satellite to a controlled re-entry over the Pacific Ocean in March 2023. This was the first time ISRO performed a controlled de-orbit of a satellite.

• Mission profile: Megha-Tropiques-1 was launched in October 2011 as a joint mission between ISRO and CNES (France's space agency). Its purpose was to study the water cycle and energy exchanges in the tropical atmosphere, particularly over the Indian Ocean.
• Designed life: three years. The satellite continued to function for approximately ten years before being de-orbited.
• De-orbit manoeuvre: ISRO performed a series of controlled burns to lower the satellite's orbit and aim the re-entry for a remote Pacific Ocean corridor, minimising risk to populated areas.
• Why it matters: most old satellites are simply abandoned. Controlled de-orbit is best practice for responsible space operations. It was the first such manoeuvre by ISRO, demonstrating a new capability.
• CNES: the Centre National d'Études Spatiales is France's national space agency. The India-France space partnership also includes the SARAL-AltiKa oceanography satellite and the TRISHNA thermal infrared mission.

The CNES partnership (France, not ESA), the 2011 launch, the 10-year operational life, and the Pacific de-orbit together form the testable cluster.

Revises: Space Technology; India-France Relations; ISRO Missions.

GS Paper 2: Polity; Governance; Technology.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology circulated a discussion paper in early 2023 proposing a comprehensive overhaul of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

• IT Act, 2000: the parent legislation governing electronic commerce, data protection, cybercrime, and intermediary liability in India. It was significantly amended in 2008.
• Safe harbour provision: Section 79 of the IT Act grants intermediaries (platforms, social media companies, ISPs) immunity from liability for third-party content, provided they observe due diligence and do not initiate or modify the content.
• Proposed rethinking: the Digital India Bill 2023 proposed reconsidering the safe harbour principle, potentially making platforms responsible for certain categories of harmful content regardless of their intermediary status.
• Algorithmic accountability: the proposed framework considered transparency requirements for recommendation algorithms used by large platforms.
• Relationship with DPDP: the Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023 (subsequently enacted) governs data handling. The Digital India Bill would complement it by regulating platform obligations independent of data protection.

The Section 79 safe harbour (IT Act, 2000) and the distinction between the Digital India Bill (platform regulation) and the DPDP Act (data protection) are the conceptual anchors.

Revises: IT Law; Governance; Digital Policy.

GS Paper 3: Defence; Science and Technology.

Hypersonic missile programmes became a major strategic flashpoint in 2023, with Russia using the Kinzhal in combat and the United States, China, and India in active development.

• Definition: hypersonic missiles travel at Mach 5 or above (five times the speed of sound, approximately 6,125 km/h at sea level). Speed alone is insufficient for definition; the key feature is manoeuvrability in the glide phase.
• Why they evade defence: traditional ballistic missile defence systems rely on predictable trajectories. Hypersonic glide vehicles manoeuvre in the terminal phase, defeating intercept calculations.
• Russia's Kinzhal: air-launched ballistic missile with hypersonic characteristics. Speed exceeds Mach 10 with a range of approximately 2,000 km. Launched from a modified MiG-31 interceptor aircraft. Capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads.
• Russia's Avangard: a hypersonic glide vehicle carried on top of an intercontinental ballistic missile. Rated at Mach 27. Deployed operationally by Russia.
• Russia's Zircon: a hypersonic anti-ship cruise missile with a range of approximately 1,000 km. Launched from surface ships and submarines.
• India's programme: the Hypersonic Technology Demonstrator Vehicle was tested by DRDO. BrahMos-II (a hypersonic derivative of the existing BrahMos supersonic cruise missile) is in development.

The three Russian systems (Kinzhal, Avangard, Zircon) and their distinct delivery modes (air-launched, ICBM-mounted glide vehicle, ship/submarine-launched) are a precise classification MCQ.

Revises: Defence Technology; Security; International Relations.

GS Paper 3: Economy; Technology; GS Paper 2: International Relations.

India and the United States signed a Memorandum of Understanding on semiconductor supply chain cooperation in 2023.

• US CHIPS Act: the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors Act was signed in August 2022, allocating USD 52.7 billion for domestic semiconductor manufacturing and research in the United States. It includes guardrails prohibiting recipient companies from expanding advanced chip production in China for 10 years.
• India Semiconductor Mission: launched in December 2021 with an incentive outlay of Rs 76,000 crore to attract semiconductor fabrication plants, display fabrication plants, and compound semiconductor units to India.
• MoU scope: the bilateral MoU covers joint R&D, talent development, and supply chain resilience. It positions India as a potential manufacturing partner for US-aligned chip production.
• Strategic significance: semiconductors underpin defence electronics, telecommunications, electric vehicles, and artificial intelligence. Control of fabrication technology is a geopolitical asset.

The CHIPS Act (2022, USD 52.7 billion) and India Semiconductor Mission (2021, Rs 76,000 crore) are separately testable with their figures.

Revises: Technology Policy; India-US Relations; Industrial Policy.

• Reddmatter superconductor: the lutetium-hydrogen-nitrogen compound operates at 21 degrees Celsius but requires 10,000 atmospheres of pressure. Applications, if verified, would include lossless power grids and nuclear fusion magnets. Independent replication had not confirmed the finding as of March 2023.
• Rwanda women's parliament: Rwanda holds 61% women in its lower house, the highest globally. The figure is achieved through constitutional seats reserved for women in each province, supplementing open-competition seats.
• SAARC currency swap: India operates a SAARC Currency Swap Framework to provide short-term foreign exchange liquidity to member states. Sri Lanka drew on this facility as part of India's USD 4 billion support package.