16 December 2023

• Land records: The Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) was analysed for its progress and gaps, including the Unique Land Parcel Identification Number rollout.
• Surat Diamond Bourse: The world's largest workplace opened in Surat, consolidating India's 90 per cent share of global diamond cutting and polishing.
• E-cigarettes: WHO restated that e-cigarettes are ineffective for tobacco cessation. Karnataka classified them as Class A poison.
• Budhini Manjhiyain: The story of a tribal woman from Jharkhand ostracised in 1959 after garlanding PM Nehru returned to public debate.

GS area: Governance, Economy

The Digital India Land Records Modernisation Programme (DILRMP) was reviewed:

• Launch: August 2008 as the National Land Records Modernisation Programme (NLRMP). Rebranded in 2016 as DILRMP under the Digital India initiative.
• Funding: 100 per cent central government funding (a central sector scheme, not a centrally sponsored scheme).
• ULPIN: The Unique Land Parcel Identification Number is a 14-digit number assigned to each land parcel using GPS coordinates. It functions as an Aadhaar for land.
• Objective: End land disputes by creating clean digital records, eliminating the scope for forgery in manual records.
• India's land dispute problem: NITI Aayog data estimates land disputes can take about 20 years to resolve in courts. About two-thirds of all civil cases in India relate to land.

Structural weakness: India uses registered sale deeds rather than guaranteed land titles. A registered deed records that a transaction took place but does not guarantee the seller had valid title. The 1908 Registration Act governs this system.

Static linkage: Land policy, governance, digital India.

GS area: Economy, Geography (India)

The Surat Diamond Bourse (SDB) was inaugurated as the world's largest office building:

• Location: Surat, Gujarat, beside the Tapi River. Surat is part of the DREAM City project (700 acres of planned urban development).
• Scale: Houses 4,200 diamond trading offices across 15 interconnected towers.
• Significance: Surat processes and polishes about 90 per cent of the world's traded rough diamonds by volume. The bourse aims to shift the diamond trading hub from Mumbai's Bharat Diamond Bourse to Surat.
• India's diamond industry: India is the world's largest diamond cutting and polishing centre. Gujarat (especially Surat) accounts for the bulk of this industry.

Static linkage: Economy, Indian geography, trade and commerce.

GS area: Polity

The concept of asymmetric federalism is regularly examined in the context of India's special constitutional provisions for states and union territories:

• Definition: Asymmetric federalism refers to a system where different constituent units hold different powers or enjoy different constitutional statuses under the same federal arrangement.
• India's examples: Article 370 (now abrogated) for J&K; Article 371A for Nagaland (customary law and land rights); Article 371B for Assam (committee of tribal MLAs); Article 371G for Mizoram (customary law and land rights).
• Rationale: History, geography, and ethnic diversity create legitimate cases for differentiated rights, particularly in northeast India where customary land tenure and community governance predate the Indian state.

Static linkage: Constitutional provisions, federalism, northeast India.

GS area: Health, Governance

WHO restated at its annual meeting that e-cigarettes are not effective tools for tobacco cessation and may increase nicotine addiction:

• Nicotine content: E-cigarettes can contain up to 36 mg/mL of nicotine, compared to 1.2-1.4 mg/mL in conventional cigarettes.
• India's regulation: The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes Act (PECA) 2019 banned the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, and advertisement of e-cigarettes in India. PECA does not however ban use by individuals already in possession.
• Karnataka: Classified e-cigarettes as Class A poison under state public health law.
• Global pattern: Despite the ban, e-cigarette use among young people in India has been reported. Enforcement against online sales and cross-border imports is a known gap.

Static linkage: Health policy, substance regulation, consumer protection.

GS area: Society, Ethics

The story of Budhini Manjhiyain from Jharkhand returned to public discussion:

• What happened: In 1959, 15-year-old Budhini, a Santhal tribal girl, was selected to garland Prime Minister Nehru at the inauguration of the Damodar Valley Corporation dam. In Santhal custom, exchanging garlands with a man amounts to marriage.
• Consequence: Budhini's community declared her married to Nehru and ostracised her when she refused to leave him (which was impossible). She was expelled from her village, lost her tribal identity, and lived in poverty.
• Ethics angle: The story illustrates the intersection of state power, patriarchal custom, and failure of protective legal frameworks for tribal women. It raises questions about informed consent and community responsibility.

Static linkage: Tribal rights, customary law, ethics and society.

GS area: Science and Technology, Environment

The Barracuda, described as India's fastest solar-electric boat, was highlighted:

• Specifications: Top speed of 12.5 knots, 7-hour range on a single charge, capacity for 12 passengers, and can navigate 4-metre waves.
• Significance: Solar-electric watercraft for inland waterways and coastal transport can reduce diesel consumption and emissions.
• Policy context: Inland Waterways Authority of India has been expanding river transport under National Waterways development as an alternative to road and rail freight.

Static linkage: Green technology, inland waterways, transport.

• Moving Off Information Systems (MOIS): An advanced driver assistance system that detects pedestrians and cyclists in a vehicle's blind spots during low-speed manoeuvres like reversing and turning. Featured in the context of road safety policy analysis.
• DREAM City, Surat: A planned urban development of 700 acres in Surat where the Surat Diamond Bourse is a centrepiece. The DREAM acronym stands for Diamond Research and Mercantile City.