17 March 2024

• Elections: The Model Code of Conduct, activated on 16 March, entered its first full day. Political parties began adjusting campaign strategies and pending government announcements were paused.
• Polity: The 2023 Act governing Election Commissioner appointments drew legal scrutiny after two commissioners were appointed under it, with petitions challenging the exclusion of the Chief Justice of India from the selection panel.
• Environment: Holi celebrations across India prompted public health advisories on chemical dyes. Jaipur's Gulaal Gota tradition using natural lac-based coloured powder attracted attention as an alternative.
• Economy: With MCC in force, the government's focus shifted to implementation of already-announced schemes. PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana continued enrolment outreach.

GS area: Polity (elections, governance)

The MCC entered its first full day on 17 March 2024. What the government cannot do while the MCC is in force:

• Policy announcements: no new schemes, subsidies or projects that could be seen as vote-inducing.
• Appointments: no transfers or postings of serving officials that could give electoral advantage.
• Inaugurations: no inaugural events for projects that were not already commissioned.
• Campaign finance: strict limits on expenditure per candidate (Rs 95 lakh for Lok Sabha in most states, revised from Rs 70 lakh). All expenditure must be tracked and reported.

What continues normally:

• Ongoing welfare deliveries: rations, pensions and scheme disbursements under existing programmes.
• Routine administrative actions.
• Judicial proceedings.

The Election Commission monitors compliance through flying squads, video surveillance teams and expenditure observers. Political parties can file complaints with the ECI through a standardised mechanism.

Static linkage: Polity (elections, Election Commission).

GS area: Polity (constitutional bodies, judiciary)

The appointments of Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu under the new 2023 Act drew immediate legal challenge. The controversy:

• Anoop Baranwal case (2023): a five-judge Constitution Bench directed that until Parliament legislated, the President would appoint Election Commissioners on the advice of a committee comprising the PM, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India.
• Parliament's response: the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act 2023 substituted a Cabinet Minister for the CJI. The Court's formula was overridden by statute.
• Petitions: multiple petitions were filed arguing that excluding the CJI undermines the independence of the ECI.

The core constitutional question: does Article 324 require an independent selection process as a matter of basic structure, or does it leave the appointment method entirely to Parliamentary law?

Static linkage: Polity (Election Commission, separation of powers, constitutional law).

GS area: Health, Environment

Holi 2024 was celebrated on 25 March (based on the full moon of Phalguna). Public health advisories ahead of the festival focused on synthetic dyes:

• Malachite green: a dye used in some colour powders; suspected carcinogen.
• Rhodamine B: bright pink dye; confirmed carcinogen. Karnataka's temple food ban (mentioned in the March 4 page) specifically banned Rhodamine B in cotton candy.
• Lead oxide (red dye): causes skin irritation and, with prolonged exposure, neurotoxicity.
• Traditional alternative: Gulaal Gota is a Jaipur tradition of nearly 400 years. Small lac (natural resin) balls are filled with natural coloured powder. Made by Muslim artisans called Manihaars. Lac is sourced from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.

Static linkage: Health (public health), environment, art and culture.

GS area: Government schemes, Economy (energy)

The PM Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana, approved in February 2024, was in the early enrolment phase. Scheme parameters to revise:

• Target: 1 crore households with rooftop solar by March 2027.
• Free power: up to 300 units per month after installation.
• Subsidy: up to 40 per cent of installation cost covered by the government.
• Finance: Rs 75,021 crore total outlay. Low-interest loans available from nationalised banks through a dedicated portal.
• Ministry: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• Carbon benefit: each installed system avoids approximately 1 tonne of CO2 per year.

With MCC now active, the government could not announce fresh expansion targets but could continue processing existing applications.

Static linkage: Government schemes (energy), environment.

• NOTA: None of the Above has been available to voters since 2013, introduced following a Supreme Court order. NOTA ballots count toward voter turnout but the seat goes to the candidate with the most votes regardless. If a majority of votes are NOTA, there is no re-election provision under current rules.
• ECI and SVEEP: the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation programme is the ECI's outreach effort to improve voter registration and turnout, especially among first-time voters, women and urban voters who tend to have lower participation rates.
• Gulaal Gota craft: Jaipur's lac-ball tradition faces competition from cheaper chemical alternatives. Lac is the resinous secretion of the lac insect (Kerria lacca). India is the world's largest producer of lac.