16 February 2024

• Polity (major): The Supreme Court struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme as unconstitutional, holding it violated Article 19(1)(a) and Article 14.
• Environment: The Terai Arc Landscape programme restored 66,800 hectares of forest and boosted the Bengal tiger population across the Nepal-India belt.
• Energy: India applied for full IEA membership. Current strategic oil reserves stand at 66 days; IEA requires 90 days.
• Science: The Joint European Torus (JET) nuclear fusion experiment generated 69 megajoules of energy from 0.2 milligrams of fuel.

GS area: Polity (Electoral Finance, Constitutional Law)

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, unanimously struck down the Electoral Bonds Scheme as unconstitutional.

• What the scheme was: Introduced in 2018 through the Finance Act 2017. Electoral bonds are instruments sold by the State Bank of India. Any person or company could buy bonds in denominations from 1,000 to 1 crore rupees and donate them to registered political parties. The donor's identity was known only to SBI, not to the public or the Election Commission.
• Constitutional violations found by the Court:
  • Article 19(1)(a): Right to information. Citizens have the right to know who is funding political parties. The scheme denied this by keeping donor identity confidential.
  • Article 14: Right to equality. The Court found the scheme disproportionate and lacking a rational basis connecting anonymity to the legitimate goal of curbing black money.
  • Proportionality test: The Court applied this test (from Modern Dental College judgement) and found the scheme failed because less restrictive alternatives existed.
• Court's directions:
  • SBI must submit all electoral bond data to the Election Commission by 6 March 2024 (later extended; SBI complied in March).
  • The Election Commission must publish the data on its website.
• Bonds issued since 2018: Total value approximately 16,518 crore rupees sold across 30 phases. The ruling BJP received approximately 55 per cent of contributions.

Static linkage: Polity (electoral finance, Article 19, Article 14, Supreme Court constitutional review, right to information).

GS area: Environment (Conservation, Tiger, Transboundary)

The Terai Arc Landscape is a 900-km-long, 5-million-hectare transboundary conservation initiative stretching from the Bagmati River in Nepal to the Yamuna River in India.

• Achievement: Restored 66,800 hectares of forest and boosted the Bengal tiger population in the corridor.
• Recognition: Won the UN World Restoration Flagship award in 2022.
• Partner organisations: WWF India and WWF Nepal with support from the two governments.
• Terai ecology: The Terai zone at the base of the Himalayas is a belt of grasslands, savanna, and forests. It is the most productive habitat for Bengal tigers and elephants in South Asia.
• Tiger reserves included: The TAL corridor links Dudhwa, Kishanpur, Katerniaghat, Sohagi Barwa, and Valmiki tiger reserves on the Indian side with Chitwan, Bardia, and other protected areas in Nepal.
• Significance: Transboundary tiger corridors allow genetic exchange between isolated tiger populations, which is essential for long-term species viability.

Static linkage: Environment (tiger conservation, Terai, biodiversity corridors, Project Tiger, transboundary conservation).

GS area: International Relations (Energy, Multilateral Institutions)

India formally applied for full membership of the International Energy Agency (IEA).

• Current status: India has been an Associate Member of the IEA since 2017. Associate status allows participation in select meetings and data sharing but not full voting rights.
• IEA requirement: Full members must maintain strategic petroleum reserves equivalent to at least 90 days of net imports.
• India's reserves: Strategic oil reserves stand at 66 days, creating a 24-day shortfall. India has three strategic petroleum reserve facilities at Visakhapatnam, Mangaluru, and Padur in Karnataka with a total capacity of 5.33 million metric tonnes.
• IEA: Founded in 1974 after the Arab oil embargo, the IEA coordinates energy security among member countries. It is affiliated with the OECD. India became the first non-OECD country to seek full IEA membership.
• Why IEA matters: Full membership means India joins the collective release mechanism: if oil supplies are severely disrupted, member countries release strategic reserves in a coordinated manner to dampen price spikes.

Static linkage: International Relations (IEA, energy security, strategic petroleum reserves).

GS area: Science and Technology (Energy, Nuclear Physics)

The Joint European Torus (JET) fusion experiment at Culham in the UK achieved a world record by generating 69 megajoules of fusion energy from 0.2 milligrams of deuterium-tritium fuel. This surpassed JET's own previous record set in 2022.

• Fusion vs fission: Nuclear fission (used in current power plants) splits heavy atoms. Nuclear fusion joins light atoms (hydrogen isotopes) releasing more energy per unit mass with no long-lived radioactive waste.
• Tokamak design: JET uses a tokamak: a donut-shaped chamber where plasma is confined by powerful magnetic fields. At sufficient temperature and pressure, hydrogen nuclei fuse.
• Why this matters: 69 megajoules from 0.2 mg of fuel demonstrates the energy density of fusion. Scaling this to sustained commercial output is the challenge.
• ITER: The International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor under construction in Cadarache, France. India is one of seven ITER partners (EU, India, Japan, China, Russia, South Korea, USA) through the Institute of Plasma Research (IPR), Gandhinagar.
• JET closure: JET was decommissioned after this run. ITER will be the next major milestone.

Static linkage: Science and Technology (nuclear fusion, ITER, energy research, India's international scientific collaborations).

GS area: Environment (Biodiversity, Invasive Species)

Cuscuta dodder, an invasive parasitic vine, was found destroying forest cover in Chengalpet and threatening the Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary near Chennai.

• Origin: North America. Classified as a noxious weed in 25 countries.
• Biology: Cuscuta has no roots or chlorophyll. It germinates from seed, attaches to a host plant, and draws all its nutrients from the host by penetrating it with haustoria (specialised feeding organs). It kills host trees by strangulation and nutrient depletion.
• Seed persistence: Seeds remain viable in soil for up to 50 years, making eradication extremely difficult.
• Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary: India's oldest and largest bird sanctuary. Located in Chengalpet district, Tamil Nadu. Hosts thousands of migratory water birds during the nesting season.
• Invasive species threat: Invasive species are the second-largest cause of biodiversity loss globally after habitat destruction.

Static linkage: Environment (invasive species, Tamil Nadu biodiversity, bird sanctuaries).

GS area: Governance (Consumer Rights)

The National Consumer Dispute Redressal Commission launched the E-Jagriti portal with AI integration to reduce pending cases in consumer courts.

• Functions: Case filing, online fee payment, smart search, and virtual court facility for hearing disputes remotely.
• Consumer courts: Established under the Consumer Protection Act 2019, which replaced the 1986 Act. Three levels: District Consumer Dispute Redressal Commissions (DCDRC), State Commissions, and the National Commission (NCDRC).
• Established: NCDRC was established in 1988 under the Consumer Protection Act 1986.
• Jurisdiction: NCDRC handles claims exceeding 2 crore rupees. State Commissions handle 1 to 2 crore rupee cases. District Commissions handle claims up to 1 crore rupees.

Static linkage: Governance (consumer protection, Consumer Protection Act 2019, NCDRC).