12 April 2024

• Society: UNDP data shows women and children are 14 times more likely than men to die in climate-related disasters.
• Governance: India wins re-election to the International Narcotics Control Board. Jagjit Pavadia secures a third term with the highest vote count.
• Polity: The Supreme Court rules that candidates have some right to privacy from voters and need not disclose every personal possession in affidavits.
• Economy: CDP-SURAKSHA, a digital platform, disburses horticulture subsidies via e-RUPI vouchers to farmers in 55 clusters.
• Science: Three new microbial formulations from ICAR's Institute of Spices Research improve soil health and crop productivity.

GS area: Society, Environment

A UNDP study confirmed that women and children are 14 times more likely than men to die in climate-related disasters.

Key facts:

• Direct health risks: Heatwaves cause disproportionate maternal health complications. Vector-borne diseases spread through climate disruption hit women harder in low-income settings.
• Economic vulnerability: Rural women in agriculture-dependent households face income loss when crops fail. Male migration to cities leaves women with increased domestic and farm burdens.
• Education: Girls are pulled out of school following climate disasters more often than boys.
• Violence: Resource scarcity triggered by climate events correlates with increased gender-based violence.
• Child marriage: Used as a coping strategy in some communities when disasters reduce family assets.
• Indian examples of women-led solutions:
  • Odisha: Women's groups reviving traditional flood and drought-resistant crop varieties.
  • SEWA (Self Employed Women's Association): Climate adaptation training for women farmers in Gujarat.
  • Nagpur: Women's watershed management collectives.
  • Karnataka: Fisherwomen cooperatives converting fish waste to compost.
• Constitutional provisions: Articles 14, 15, 21, 23, and 39 together create obligations to protect women from discriminatory climate impacts.

Static linkage: society, gender, environment, government schemes.

GS area: Polity (elections, fundamental rights)

The Supreme Court ruled that candidates have a right to privacy that limits what they must disclose in nomination affidavits.

Key facts:

• Background: An MLA's election was challenged because vehicles belonging to her were not declared in the affidavit. The Court ruled in her favour.
• Section 33, Representation of People Act, 1951: Specifies what a nomination affidavit must contain regarding criminal cases, assets, and liabilities.
• Section 36, RPA, 1951: A returning officer can reject a nomination for "substantial character" defects.
• Section 123, RPA, 1951: Defines corrupt practices in elections.
• Court's reasoning: Non-disclosure of minor items (watches, small personal effects) does not constitute a substantial defect or a corrupt practice. Voters' right to know is not absolute; it extends to assets of material significance.
• What remains mandatory: Criminal records, major movable and immovable assets, liabilities, and affidavit disclosures on cases where charges have been framed.
• Right to know (voters): The Supreme Court has upheld voters' right to know candidates' criminal records since the ADR case (2002) and the PUCL case (2003). The current ruling narrows but does not overturn this.

Static linkage: elections, fundamental rights, Election Commission.

GS area: Economy (agriculture, governance)

The Cluster Development Programme (CDP) uses the CDP-SURAKSHA digital platform to disburse subsidies to horticulture farmers via e-RUPI vouchers.

Key facts:

• CDP: A government programme to develop specific horticultural commodity clusters. There are 55 clusters across India covering about 10 lakh farmers.
• e-RUPI: A pre-paid digital voucher issued by NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India), directed to a specific purpose and beneficiary. It is cashless and contactless.
• How CDP-SURAKSHA works: Farmers apply on the platform. The system validates their Aadhaar, generates an e-RUPI voucher equal to the subsidy, and the farmer redeems it directly at the point of purchase of inputs. This replaces the old system of reimbursement after purchase, which was slow and vulnerable to diversion.
• Verification: Geo-tagged photographs and videos of material delivery are mandatory.
• Transparency gain: The upfront voucher model eliminates middlemen between the subsidy and the farmer.

Static linkage: agriculture, governance, digital India, Aadhaar.

GS area: International Relations, Internal Security

India's Jagjit Pavadia was re-elected to the International Narcotics Control Board for a third term, securing the highest number of votes in the election.

Key facts:

• INCB: The International Narcotics Control Board was established in 1968. It monitors implementation of UN drug control conventions and ensures that controlled substances are available for medical and scientific purposes while preventing diversion to illicit markets.
• Composition: 13 members elected by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
• India's concurrent wins: India also won seats on the Commission on the Status of Women, UNICEF Executive Board, and UNDP Executive Board in the same period.
• Drug control treaty architecture: Three UN conventions form the backbone: Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs (1961), Convention on Psychotropic Substances (1971), and Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (1988).

Static linkage: international organisations, India's multilateral diplomacy.

GS area: Agriculture, Science and Technology

The Indian Institute of Spices Research (IISR), Kozhikode developed three microbial formulations to improve soil health and reduce chemical input dependence.

Key facts:

• Bactolime: Combines beneficial bacteria with liming material. Addresses soil acidity while delivering beneficial microorganisms. Useful in acidic soils of spice-growing regions.
• Bactogypsum: Buffers soil pH to near-neutral levels and establishes beneficial microbial populations. Gypsum is also a calcium and sulphur source.
• Trichogypsum: Similar function to Bactogypsum, using Trichoderma fungi which also suppress soil-borne pathogens.
• IISR context: Under ICAR. Kozhikode, Kerala is a major centre for spice research given India's dominance in cardamom, pepper, ginger, and turmeric production.
• Benefit: Reduces the need for synthetic fertilisers and fungicides in spice cultivation, lowering farmer costs and soil degradation.

Static linkage: agriculture, biotechnology, Karnataka-Kerala spice economy.

• National Herald case: The Adjudicating Authority under PMLA confirmed the Enforcement Directorate's provisional attachment of National Herald newspaper assets. Under PMLA, the authority must confirm or vacate such an attachment within 180 days.
• Parivartan Chintan: The tri-service conference on "Jointness and Integration in Armed Forces" discussed creating a Joint Culture that combines the strengths of the Army, Navy, and Air Force while maintaining each service's unique identity.
• Piezoelectric bone conduction implant: Command Hospital Pune performed India's first government-hospital piezoelectric Bone Conduction Implant surgeries. Piezoelectricity is the electric charge buildup in materials (like quartz) under mechanical stress. The implant bypasses the outer and middle ear, transmitting sound via bone vibration.