26 April 2024

• Elections: Phase 2 of the 2024 Lok Sabha election is held today across 88 constituencies. Surat (Gujarat) goes uncontested as Congress candidate withdraws.
• Climate: Dubai received 142 mm of rain in 24 hours (17-18 April 2024), exceeding its annual average in a single event.
• Polity: The Supreme Court's nine-judge constitutional bench hears arguments on whether Article 39(b) allows government to acquire private resources for redistribution.
• Economy: RBI proposes Rs 300 crore minimum capital for Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs).
• Conservation: The Paro Statement commits $1 billion over 10 years for tiger conservation in Asia.
• Defence: IAF tests ROCKS, an Israeli-origin long-range stand-off missile.

GS area: Polity (elections)

Phase 2 of the 2024 Lok Sabha election covers 88 constituencies in 13 states and union territories on 26 April 2024.

Key facts:

• States covered (significant): Kerala (20 seats, all polled), Karnataka (14 seats), Rajasthan (13 seats), Maharashtra (8 seats), UP (8 seats).
• Surat uncontested: The Surat (Gujarat) seat was won uncontested by the BJP after the Congress candidate's nomination was rejected and all other candidates withdrew. This is the first uncontested Lok Sabha seat in decades.
• Section 53 of the RPA: A candidate is declared elected without a poll when no other candidate has filed a valid nomination (or all have withdrawn).
• Electoral bonds: Phase 2 is the first election conducted under a Supreme Court order requiring disclosure of electoral bond purchases (March 2024 ruling).
• Voter turnout: Phase 2 turnout was approximately 66 per cent, consistent with Phase 1.

Static linkage: elections, RPA 1951, polity.

GS area: Environment, Disaster Management

The United Arab Emirates received 142 mm of rainfall in 24 hours on 17-18 April 2024, the most in 75 years of recorded weather data for the region.

Key facts:

• Attribution science: Climate scientists estimated the storm was 10-40 per cent heavier due to anthropogenic climate change. Attribution science links individual extreme events to long-term warming.
• Cloud seeding: The UAE regularly uses cloud seeding to enhance rainfall. Some reports speculated cloud seeding may have contributed, though experts disagreed on the scale of its contribution.
• Urban flooding causes: Dubai's rapid urban development without adequate drainage infrastructure amplified the floods. Impervious surfaces prevent natural water absorption.
• Gulf climate: The Arabian Peninsula is arid. The 2024 event is consistent with projections that warming will intensify rainfall extremes globally, including in already dry regions (where less frequent but heavier events occur).
• Global parallels: Libya (September 2023, 414 mm in 24 hours in Derna) and Pakistan's 2022 floods are recent examples of extreme rainfall in arid and semi-arid regions.

Static linkage: environment, disaster management, climate change.

GS area: Polity (Constitutional law, Directive Principles)

The Supreme Court's nine-judge constitutional bench is hearing a 1978-era question: does Article 39(b) allow the state to acquire private property and redistribute it?

Key facts:

• Article 39(b): A Directive Principle of State Policy. States that the ownership and control of material resources of the community should be distributed to best serve the common good.
• Article 31C: Inserted by the 25th Amendment (1971). Laws giving effect to Articles 39(a) and 39(b) cannot be challenged for violating Articles 14 or 19.
• Kesavananda Bharati case (1973): The Supreme Court upheld the basic structure doctrine. Held that Parliament could not alter the basic structure of the Constitution even through amendment.
• Minerva Mills case (1980): SC limited Article 31C's protection to only Articles 39(a) and 39(b), not all DPSPs.
• Current case: The bench is examining whether "material resources" in Article 39(b) includes privately owned resources. If it does, the government could acquire private property without full compensation for redistribution purposes.
• Relevance: The case emerged from a Maharashtra housing law that allowed the acquisition of cooperative housing society properties.

Static linkage: constitutional law, property rights, DPSPs.

GS area: Economy (Banking, Finance)

The Reserve Bank of India proposed a minimum net owned fund (capital) requirement of Rs 300 crore for Asset Reconstruction Companies (ARCs).

Key facts:

• ARCs: Specialised financial entities that purchase Non-Performing Assets (NPAs) from banks at a discount and try to recover value. Regulated by the RBI under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest (SARFAESI) Act, 2002.
• Current requirement: The minimum Net Owned Fund was Rs 100 crore. The proposed increase to Rs 300 crore aims to strengthen ARCs' balance sheets.
• NPA problem: Indian banks' gross NPA ratio peaked at 11.2 per cent (2017-18) and declined to 3.2 per cent by March 2024, partly due to ARC resolution.
• National Asset Reconstruction Company Ltd (NARCL): The government-backed "bad bank" that absorbs large stressed assets. Separate from private ARCs.
• Security Receipts: ARCs issue security receipts (SRs) to selling banks as part of the acquisition price. SRs are redeemed when the ARC recovers from the asset.

Static linkage: economy, banking, RBI.

GS area: Environment (Biodiversity)

At the Third Asia Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation (Paro, Bhutan), tiger range countries committed $1 billion over 10 years for tiger conservation.

Key facts:

• Status: Global wild tiger population: approximately 5,574 (IUCN 2023), up from around 3,200 in 2010. India has 3,167 tigers (Census 2022), the highest of any country.
• TX2 goal: The St Petersburg Declaration (2010) set a goal of doubling wild tiger numbers by 2022 (TX2). The goal was effectively achieved.
• Tiger range countries: 13 countries including India, Russia, China, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Myanmar.
• Project Tiger: Launched in India in 1973. Currently 53 tiger reserves covering over 75,000 sq km. The National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) administers the reserves.
• Paro Statement (2024): Committed to maintaining and enhancing tiger habitat, controlling poaching, and funding conservation with $1 billion over 10 years.

Static linkage: environment, biodiversity, conservation.

• ROCKS missile test: The Indian Air Force tested the ROCKS (Crystal Maze 2) missile, an Israeli-origin long-range air-to-surface stand-off weapon. Stand-off weapons allow aircraft to strike targets from beyond enemy air defences.
• Iran nuclear deal (JCPOA): The 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) under which Iran agreed to limit its nuclear activities in exchange for sanction relief remains stalled. Iran's attack on Israel further complicated revival prospects.
• OECD Pillar Two (global minimum tax): Several G20 countries are working toward implementing the OECD's 15 per cent global minimum corporate tax, part of the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) project. India has adopted a qualified domestic minimum top-up tax.