1 June 2023

• Parliament: A new Parliament building was inaugurated, reviving the debate on whether India's parliamentary democracy is declining into executive primacy.
• Economy: The RBI Annual Report 2022-23 showed a sharp jump in income and a record dividend to the government, alongside a 26 per cent drop in total FDI.
• Energy: The IEA World Energy Investment Report found that clean energy investment now outpaces fossil fuels by a ratio of 1.7 to 1.
• Science: Indian astronomers at Mount Abu discovered TOI4603b, one of the most massive exoplanets known.
• Heritage: Excavations at Delhi's Purana Qila revealed nine cultural layers spanning 2,500 years.

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GS area: Polity, Governance

The inauguration of the new Parliament building renewed debate on how much real power Parliament retains. Several structural trends point to a weakened legislature.

• Sitting days: Parliament meets for fewer days each year. Bills pass with minimal floor deliberation.
• Ordinance route: The executive uses presidential ordinances as a parallel law-making channel that bypasses Parliament entirely.
• Anti-defection law: The Tenth Schedule, inserted by the 52nd Amendment in 1985, prevents MPs from dissenting against the party whip. This hands the executive control over the legislature's voice.
• Speaker's position: The Speaker is simultaneously a party figure and the presiding officer. The Constitution gives the Speaker no security of tenure comparable to a High Court judge.
• Money Bill classification: Routing legislation through the Rajya Sabha as a Money Bill reduces the upper house to a passive observer.

The concern is not that any single change is unconstitutional. The concern is that together these trends shift decision-making power from Parliament to the Cabinet and from the Cabinet to the Prime Minister's Office. India may be drifting from parliamentary to executive democracy without any formal constitutional amendment.

Static linkage: Parliament and state legislatures (Polity); constitutional bodies.

GS area: Economy

The Reserve Bank of India released its annual report. The numbers carry several examination hooks.

• RBI income: Rose to 2.35 lakh crore rupees from 1.6 lakh crore the previous year. The jump came largely from foreign exchange sales of roughly 1 lakh crore rupees.
• Dividend to government: 87,416 crore rupees. This was more than double the previous year's transfer and is the largest surplus transfer in the RBI's history.
• NPA ratio: Fell to 5.8 per cent. At its worst in 2018-19 it stood at 15.5 per cent. The direction of travel is positive.
• FDI: Total foreign direct investment fell 26 per cent to 46 billion dollars. Manufacturing FDI fell 30 per cent. The decline in manufacturing investment is a concern given India's production-linked incentive ambitions.
• Bank frauds: Reported cases rose 49 per cent to 13,530. The amount involved fell because most cases were smaller in scale than the mega-frauds of earlier years.

The RBI is India's central bank under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934. It regulates monetary policy, manages foreign exchange reserves, and supervises banks. Its surplus transfer to the government follows the Bimal Jalan Committee framework of 2019.

Static linkage: Indian economy; monetary policy; banking sector.

GS area: Economy (energy), Environment

The International Energy Agency released its annual investment report. The headline: for every one dollar going into fossil fuel, 1.7 dollars now go into clean energy.

• Absolute numbers: Global clean energy investment reached approximately 1.7 trillion dollars in 2023.
• Geography: Ninety per cent of the surge since 2021 is concentrated in advanced economies and China. South Asia, Latin America, and Africa remain on the margins.
• Solar leadership: India is specifically cited for strong solar investment performance.
• Challenges: Higher interest rates, unclear policy signals in some markets, and high upfront capital costs remain barriers.

India's relationship with the IEA: India became an Associate Member in 2017 and signed a Strategic Partnership in 2021. It has been invited to consider full membership.

Static linkage: Energy security; environment and ecology; Indian economy.

GS area: Science and Technology

Astronomers using the Physical Research Laboratory's 1.2-metre telescope at Gurushikhar, Mount Abu, discovered exoplanet TOI4603b. It was found using PARAS, an indigenous radial-velocity spectrograph.

• Mass: About 13 times the mass of Jupiter. This places it in the rare 11 to 16 Jupiter-mass range, sometimes called the transition zone between giant planets and brown dwarfs.
• Orbit: Period of 7.24 days around its host star TOI4603.
• Distance: 731 light-years from Earth.
• Significance: Fewer than five planets of this mass are known globally. Its density makes it the highest-density transiting exoplanet discovered to date.
• PARAS: The Physical Research Laboratory Advanced Radial-velocity Abu-Sky Search spectrograph. It is one of the few instruments of its kind in Asia.

Static linkage: Science and technology (space, astronomy).

GS area: Art and Culture, History

The Archaeological Survey of India's excavations at Delhi's Purana Qila revealed nine cultural layers extending back to around 1200 BCE. The site is traditionally identified with Indraprastha of the Mahabharata.

• Chronology: Pottery shards dated 1200 to 600 BCE were found at the lowest levels. A ring well from the Mauryan period and a four-room complex from about 300 BCE were identified.
• Artefacts: A Vaikuntha Vishnu stone image, a Gaja Lakshmi terracotta plaque, a Ganesha image, beads, and a bone needle.
• Mughal layer: Humayun renovated the fort in 1533 and called it Dinpanah. Sher Shah Suri captured it in 1540 and renamed it Shergarh.

The ASI conducts systematic excavations under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958. Ring wells are a characteristic feature of Mauryan-era urban sites across the subcontinent.

Static linkage: Art and culture; Indian history (ancient, medieval).

GS area: International Relations

The United Nations peacekeeping mission marked 75 years of existence. India's record is among the most extensive of any contributing nation.

• Current deployment: 6,097 personnel as of June 2023. India ranks third globally in troop contribution.
• Historical casualties: India has the highest casualty count among contributing nations across 71 peacekeeping operations.
• Key missions: UNEF in Egypt and Israel (1956 to 1967, 13 fatalities), ONUC in Congo (1960 to 1964, 24 fatalities), UNOSOM in Somalia (1992 to 1995, 15 fatalities).

The UN Charter gives the Security Council primary responsibility for international peace and security. Peacekeeping operations are created by Security Council resolutions and are funded by a separate assessed budget distinct from the regular UN budget.

Static linkage: International organisations; India and the world.

• Graphene: India opened its first graphene innovation centre in Thrissur, Kerala. Graphene is a one-atom-thick layer of carbon in a hexagonal lattice. It is the thinnest, strongest, and most electrically conductive material known.
• ADB Country Partnership Strategy 2023-27: The Asian Development Bank announced its India strategy with focus on job creation, climate resilience, and regional connectivity under SASEC. India has received 52.6 billion dollars in ADB loans since becoming a member.
• Rare earth magnet plant: PM Modi inaugurated a rare earth permanent magnet plant in Visakhapatnam. It uses an indigenous reduction-diffusion process to produce samarium-cobalt and neodymium-iron-boron magnets. These are critical for defence, aerospace, and electronics.

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