16 March 2023

• Child marriage age: the Child Marriage Prohibition (Amendment) Bill 2021 proposes raising the minimum marriage age for women from 18 to 21 years. NFHS-5 data shows 23% of women aged 20-24 were married before 18.
• McMahon Line: China disputes this line as the boundary in Arunachal Pradesh, calling the state "South Tibet." The line was drawn at Shimla in 1914.
• D-SIBs: RBI's Domestic Systemically Important Banks framework identifies SBI, ICICI, and HDFC Bank. Failure of these institutions could destabilise the financial system.
• Rupee trade: 18 countries have opened Special Vostro Rupee Accounts to settle bilateral trade in Indian rupees, reducing dollar dependence.
• PM MITRA parks: the textile mega-park scheme with a Five F vision moves toward implementation with Rs 4,445 crore allocated.

GS Paper 2: Polity; Social Justice; Governance; GS Paper 1: Society.

The Child Marriage Prohibition (Amendment) Bill, 2021 proposes raising the minimum age of marriage for women from 18 to 21 years, making it equal to the age for men. The Bill was referred to a Parliamentary Standing Committee. It would amend the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

• Current legal position: the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 defines a child as a male below 21 and a female below 18. Marriage below these ages is voidable (not automatically void) on application by the minor party.
• Proposed change: the Bill raises the minimum age for women to 21 years. This requires consequential amendments to personal laws including the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Muslim Personal Law (Application) Act, 1937, Special Marriage Act, 1954, Indian Christian Marriage Act, 1872, and Parsi Marriage and Divorce Act, 1936.
• Implementation timeline: the Bill provides for a two-year transition period after parliamentary notification before the new minimum age takes effect. This allows time for awareness campaigns and administrative preparation.
• NFHS-5 data: the Fifth National Family Health Survey (2019-21) found that 23% of women aged 20-24 were married before the age of 18. The rate has declined from 47% in NFHS-4 (2015-16), but remains high in states like Bihar, Rajasthan, and West Bengal.
• Petition window: under the amendment, a person married below the proposed legal age may petition for annulment up to five years after attaining adulthood (effectively up to age 23 for a woman married at 18 under the new regime, or five years from the marriage).
• Jaya Jaitly Task Force: the government constituted a task force in 2020 under Jaya Jaitly to examine the minimum age of marriage for women. The task force recommended raising the age to 21. Its report provided the legislative basis for the Bill.
• Arguments for: nutrition, maternal mortality, educational attainment, and economic empowerment all improve when women delay marriage. The task force cited improved maternal and infant health outcomes.
• Arguments against: critics argue the Bill will be used to criminalise consensual adult relationships (since enforcement would target the husband and his family even after the girl is 18), may drive marriages underground, and that the real barrier to women's empowerment is poverty and access to education, not the age threshold.

The distinction between voidable (not void) marriage under current law and the two-year implementation timeline are the procedural precision facts.

Revises: Social Justice; Family Law; Polity; Women's Rights.

GS Paper 2: International Relations; GS Paper 1: Geography; Modern History.

The McMahon Line is the de facto boundary between India and China in the Eastern Sector, separating the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh from the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

• Origin: the McMahon Line was drawn at the Shimla Convention of 1913-14. The convention involved British India, Tibet (as an autonomous entity), and China. Named after Sir Henry McMahon, the British Foreign Secretary of India who negotiated the line.
• The Shimla Convention: the tripartite conference attempted to resolve the boundary between British India, Outer Tibet, and Inner Tibet. Tibet and British India initialled the convention. China disputed its terms and did not sign the final convention. China's refusal to sign is the basis of its current position that the line has no legal validity.
• China's position: China does not recognise the McMahon Line. It claims Arunachal Pradesh as "South Tibet" (Zangnan in Chinese), arguing that the line was imposed on Tibet by British imperialism at a time when China was weak. China claims the entire state (approximately 90,000 sq km) as its territory.
• India's position: India regards the McMahon Line as the established, legitimate boundary. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. India points to the "highest watershed principle" on which the line is based.
• Highest watershed principle: the boundary follows the ridge lines of the highest watershed (the line from which water flows in different directions to different river systems). This is a standard geographical boundary-drawing principle.
• Western and Middle Sectors: the India-China boundary dispute spans three sectors. The Western Sector covers Aksai Chin (administered by China, claimed by India). The Middle Sector in Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand has the fewest disputes. The Eastern Sector is the McMahon Line. The 1962 war was fought primarily in the Eastern and Western Sectors.
• Tawang: the Tawang monastery town in Arunachal Pradesh is China's most specific claim within the Eastern Sector. China has repeatedly pressed this claim because Tawang was historically part of the Tibetan ecclesiastical circuit.

The three sectors of the India-China boundary, the Shimla Convention's 1914 dating, and the McMahon-China refusal nexus are the most-tested facts.

Revises: International Relations; India-China Relations; Geography; Modern History.

GS Paper 3: Economy; Banking; Financial Stability.

The Reserve Bank of India's D-SIB framework identifies banks whose failure would pose systemic risk to India's financial system. Three banks are currently designated D-SIBs: SBI, ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank.

• D-SIB framework: the RBI announced the framework for Domestic Systemically Important Banks in 2014, drawing on the Financial Stability Board's (FSB) global standards for Global Systemically Important Banks (G-SIBs). A D-SIB is a bank whose failure would significantly disrupt the domestic financial system and broader economy.
• Threshold: banks with total assets exceeding 2% of GDP are assessed for D-SIB designation. The RBI uses a composite score based on size, interconnectedness, substitutability (availability of alternatives for the services it provides), and complexity.
• Additional capital requirement: D-SIBs must hold an additional Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) capital surcharge above the minimum. The surcharge ranges from 0.2% to 0.8% of risk-weighted assets depending on which D-SIB bucket the bank falls into. This buffer absorbs losses without triggering resolution.
• Current D-SIBs: SBI (State Bank of India), ICICI Bank, and HDFC Bank. HDFC Bank was added to the list after its merger with HDFC Limited significantly increased its balance sheet size.
• G-SIBs: the Financial Stability Board identifies approximately 30 Global Systemically Important Banks annually. None of India's banks currently appears on the G-SIB list.
• Purpose: the framework addresses the moral hazard of "too big to fail." By requiring D-SIBs to hold extra capital, regulators reduce the probability of failure. If a D-SIB does fail, the extra capital reduces the need for government bailouts.
• Context after SVB: the SVB collapse (March 2023) renewed global attention to systemic risk. SVB was not a G-SIB or D-SIB. Its rapid growth and concentrated deposit base were risks that standard systemic-importance frameworks do not fully capture.

The 2% of GDP threshold and the CET1 capital surcharge mechanism are the structural facts. The three-name list (SBI, ICICI, HDFC Bank) is a direct recall item.

Revises: Banking; Financial Stability; RBI; Economy.

GS Paper 3: Environment; Urban Governance; GS Paper 2: Governance.

A landfill fire at the Brahmapuram waste processing plant in Kochi, Kerala, drew national attention to India's solid waste management failures in March 2023.

• Root cause of landfill fires: unsegregated mixed waste decomposes anaerobically in landfills. This produces methane, a flammable and potent greenhouse gas. When methane concentrations build up and come into contact with a spark or heat source, uncontrolled fires start. Fires in municipal landfills are therefore predictable in the absence of waste segregation.
• Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016: these rules under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, mandate source segregation of waste into at least three streams (wet/biodegradable, dry/recyclable, and hazardous/domestic hazardous waste) before collection. They bind all local bodies, resident welfare associations, and bulk waste generators. Poor enforcement is widespread.
• India's waste processing efficiency: India processes approximately 30-40% of the solid waste it generates. The remainder is deposited in landfills or open dump sites, creating fire, leachate, and air pollution risks.
• Indore model: Indore, Madhya Pradesh, consistently ranks first in the Swachh Survekshan. The city segregates waste into six streams and processes approximately 1,900 tonnes daily. Near-100% door-to-door collection and a zero-landfill target distinguish the Indore model from most Indian cities.
• Swachh Bharat Mission: launched in 2014. The urban component is administered by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It has funded waste-processing infrastructure (bio-CNG plants, composting, material recovery facilities) in cities.
• Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR): the government has extended EPR to plastic packaging, e-waste, and battery waste. Producers must ensure collection and recycling of a specified percentage of what they put into the market. EPR is one mechanism to reduce landfill burden.

The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016, the methane-fire mechanism, and Indore's six-stream segregation model are the three precision anchors.

Revises: Urban Governance; Environment; Waste Management; Government Schemes.

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

The PM MITRA (PM Mega Integrated Textile Region and Apparel) scheme develops large integrated textile parks with plug-and-play infrastructure covering the entire textile value chain.

• Five F vision: Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign. The scheme is designed to integrate the full value chain from raw fibre (cotton, silk, jute, technical textiles) to finished garments ready for export, within a single large park.
• Financial outlay: Rs 4,445 crore over five years (2021-22 to 2025-26).
• Park size: each PM MITRA park must be at least 1,000 acres. The large size is necessary to accommodate ginning, spinning, weaving, processing, garmenting, and export logistics facilities.
• Number of parks: the scheme envisages seven PM MITRA parks across India. Sites were selected in Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat.
• Ministry: Ministry of Textiles.
• Comparison with existing textile clusters: existing schemes like the Integrated Textile Parks (SITP) had smaller scale and did not integrate the full value chain. PM MITRA is designed to compete with large integrated textile parks in Bangladesh and Vietnam.
• PLI for textiles: the Production Linked Incentive scheme for textiles targets man-made fibre and technical textiles. PM MITRA and the textiles PLI are complementary: PLI provides production-linked financial incentives and PM MITRA provides the shared infrastructure.

The Five F vision, seven parks, minimum 1,000 acres per park, and Rs 4,445 crore outlay are the numeric anchors.

Revises: Economy; Industry; Government Schemes; Textiles.

GS Paper 2: International Relations; GS Paper 1: Society.

Feminist foreign policy (FFP) is an approach to diplomacy and international relations that centres gender equality, peace, and environmental integrity as explicit policy priorities rather than as secondary considerations.

• Definition: FFP reframes foreign policy by applying a gender lens to all decisions including trade, aid, defence, and multilateral diplomacy. It asks who benefits from each policy choice and whether outcomes are equitable across gender lines.
• Pioneers: Sweden was the first country to declare a feminist foreign policy in 2014. Other adopters include Canada (2017), Chile, Mexico, France, and Mongolia.
• Germany's quantitative commitment: Germany earmarked 8% of its development funds specifically for projects that have gender equality as a principal objective. This is an example of FFP translated into measurable budget allocation.
• Critics: critics argue FFP is rhetorical and that naming a policy "feminist" does not change the underlying national interest calculations that drive state behaviour. Others argue FFP could conflict with traditional norms of sovereignty and non-interference when applied to countries with different gender norms.
• India's position: India has not adopted a formal FFP. India's foreign policy language increasingly references women's empowerment (through G20 presidency, for example) but frames it as development rather than explicitly feminist.

Sweden (first, 2014) and Germany's 8% development fund earmark are the two specific numerical/historical anchors.

Revises: International Relations; Gender; Diplomacy.

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

India's rupee trade mechanism allows bilateral trade with partner countries to be settled in Indian rupees rather than US dollars. By March 2023, 18 countries had opened Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRAs) with Indian banks.

• Mechanism: a foreign bank in a partner country opens a Special Vostro Rupee Account (SVRA) with an authorised Indian bank. Exports from India are paid into this account in rupees. Imports from India are paid out of this account. The partner country accumulates rupee balances that can be used to pay for Indian goods, services, or investments.
• Vostro account: a vostro account is an account that a foreign bank holds with an Indian bank in Indian currency. The term "vostro" is from the Latin for "yours." The Indian bank holds the account "on behalf of you (the foreign bank)."
• Motivation: the mechanism reduces India's dependence on the US dollar for international trade. It also benefits partner countries that face currency shortages or sanctions-related dollar access difficulties (Russia's inclusion after February 2022 sanctions drove initial adoption).
• 18 countries (as of March 2023): the list includes Russia, Sri Lanka, and several other emerging economies. The RBI issued a circular in July 2022 establishing the legal framework for SVRAs.
• Limitation: the mechanism works only if India imports enough from the partner country to use the accumulated rupee balances. If India runs a large export surplus in a bilateral relationship, the partner accumulates unused rupees. Russia accumulated large rupee balances after the sanctions because India imported more oil but Russia had limited rupee-denominated imports to purchase.

The vostro-account mechanism, the 18-country count, and the RBI's July 2022 circular establishing the framework are the factual anchors.

Revises: Economy; International Trade; RBI; Currency; India-Russia Relations.

• Child marriage and annulment: under the current Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006, a child marriage is voidable, not void. The minor party may petition a district court to annul the marriage. The proposed amendment extends the petition window to five years after attaining adulthood.
• Arunachal Pradesh statehood: Arunachal Pradesh became a state on 20 February 1987 (earlier it was a Union Territory). It was previously part of the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA). Its statehood date is a direct prelims recall item.
• NFHS-5 summary figures: the Fifth National Family Health Survey (2019-21) recorded an improvement in most health and nutrition indicators. Child marriage declined from 47% (NFHS-4) to 23% (NFHS-5) for women aged 20-24. Total Fertility Rate fell to 2.0, just at replacement level.