6 June 2024

• Polity: NOTA record in Indore confirmed with 218,674 votes after final counting. NDA coalition formalising government formation talks.
• Governance: Supreme Court mandated self-declaration certificates for advertisers from 18 June 2024 to curb misleading advertising.
• Food safety: FSSAI banned "100% fruit juice" marketing claims citing high sugar content and misleading labelling practices.
• Economy: ONDC reached 8.9 million transactions in May 2024, a 23 per cent monthly increase.

GS area: Polity, Elections

Post-counting confirmation: NOTA secured 218,674 votes in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, finishing second in the constituency. The previous national record was 51,660 votes in Gopalganj, Bihar in 2019.

• Context: the main opposition candidate (Congress) withdrew from the Indore seat shortly before polling. Voters critical of the BJP candidate used NOTA as a protest instrument.
• NOTA origin: Supreme Court directive in 2013 following a PIL by the People's Union for Civil Liberties. Before NOTA, dissatisfied voters had no formal option to reject all candidates.
• Electoral consequence: none at the national level. The candidate with the second-highest votes wins even if NOTA tops the count. NOTA's only current effect is symbolic and statistical.
• Maharashtra and Haryana exception: these states treat NOTA as a fictional candidate in panchayat and municipal elections. If NOTA wins, a fresh election is held.
• Pending petition: a petition before the Supreme Court argues elections should be nullified and fresh polls held when NOTA wins. The case was sub judice as of June 2024.
• Global comparison: Belgium has mandatory voting and a "blank" ballot option. France's two-round system effectively forces a positive vote in the second round.

Static linkage: elections, polity.

GS area: Polity (judiciary), Governance

The Supreme Court ordered that TV and radio advertisers must submit a self-declaration certificate confirming compliance with advertising guidelines, effective 18 June 2024.

• Submission portals: TV and radio self-declarations go through the Broadcast Seva Portal. Print and digital advertisements use the Press Council of India Portal.
• Purpose: to curb misleading advertising, especially in health, education and financial products. The Court was responding to cases where advertisements made false claims about products' efficacy.
• Press Council of India: a statutory autonomous body established under the Press Council Act 1978. It regulates print media standards and adjudicates complaints.
• Broadcast Seva Portal: operated by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting for registration and regulation of broadcasters.
• Consumer Protection Act 2019: the primary statute protecting consumers from misleading advertising. It defines misleading advertisement as one that falsely describes a product or service.
• ASCI: the Advertising Standards Council of India is the industry's self-regulatory body. It operates alongside statutory regulators and accepts consumer complaints about advertising.

Static linkage: governance, consumer protection.

GS area: Governance, Food Safety

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India directed that products cannot be labelled as "100% fruit juice" if they contain added sugars, preservatives or reconstituted concentrate.

• FSSAI: the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India is the apex food regulator. It functions under the Food Safety and Standards Act 2006 and is under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
• Key directives: products using reconstituted concentrate (water added to dried juice powder or concentrate) must be labelled "reconstituted." Items with more than 15 grams of sweeteners per kilogram must carry the label "Sweetened juice."
• Why it matters for consumers: fruit juice is widely perceived as a health food. Sugar levels in commercial juices can approach those of soft drinks, which misleads buyers.
• Sugars in juice: a 200-ml glass of many commercial "fruit juices" contains 15 to 25 grams of sugar, comparable to a cola drink.
• FSSAI regulations: the Food Safety and Standards (Labelling and Display) Regulations 2020 require accurate ingredient and nutrition declarations on packaging.

Static linkage: food safety, consumer protection, governance.

GS area: Economy, Taxation

The draft Central Excise Bill 2024 was circulated for stakeholder consultation with a comment deadline of 26 June 2024.

• Purpose: replace the Central Excise Act 1944. The existing act is over 80 years old and predates the GST era.
• Residual excise coverage: after GST was introduced in July 2017, central excise applies only to products outside GST: petroleum products (petrol, diesel, ATF, natural gas, crude oil) and alcohol for human consumption.
• Revenue significance: petroleum and alcohol contribute over 4 lakh crore rupees in central excise to the Union's revenues annually.
• GST and the 101st Amendment: the Constitution (101st Amendment) Act 2016 inserted Articles 246A, 269A and 279A into the Constitution to establish the GST Council and give Parliament and state legislatures concurrent power to levy GST.
• CBIC: the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs operates under the Department of Revenue. It formulates policy and administers indirect tax collection.
• Ease of doing business objective: the new bill proposes digital submission of returns, simplified dispute resolution and removal of archaic provisions inconsistent with modern business.

Static linkage: economy (taxation), governance.

GS area: International Relations, Security

Australia's policy of allowing non-citizens from Five Eyes member nations to join its armed forces drew attention to the alliance's structure.

• Five Eyes: an intelligence-sharing partnership among the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
• Origins: the BRUSA (British-United States of America) Agreement of World War II, which evolved into the UK-USA Agreement (UKUSA). Canada joined in 1949; Australia and New Zealand in 1956.
• Scope: originally focused on signals intelligence (SIGINT) collection and sharing. Now covers cyber threats, terrorism and geopolitical analysis.
• India's position: India is not a Five Eyes member. It has separate bilateral intelligence-sharing arrangements with the US (the "foundational agreements") and the UK.
• 14 Eyes: an informal extension includes Germany, France, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Belgium, Italy, Sweden, Spain and additional partners. India's relationship with this network is through bilateral arrangements.

Static linkage: international relations, internal security.

GS area: Economy, Society

The Preston Curve demonstrates the positive relationship between national per capita income and life expectancy at birth. It was identified by demographer Samuel H. Preston in 1975.

• Shape of the curve: at low per capita incomes, small income gains produce large gains in life expectancy. At high incomes, additional wealth contributes little additional longevity. The curve flattens.
• Underlying logic: higher incomes fund better nutrition, sanitation, healthcare access and reduced exposure to occupational hazards. These translate into longer lives.
• India's trajectory: India's per capita income and life expectancy have both risen substantially since 1975. Life expectancy at birth rose from about 47 years in 1960 to 70 years in 2024.
• Exceptions: countries with similar incomes can have very different life expectancy outcomes depending on healthcare system quality, inequality and social determinants of health. Cuba and Sri Lanka exceed their income-predicted life expectancy significantly.
• UPSC relevance: the Preston Curve appears in discussions of HDI, social justice, and the relationship between economic growth and human development.

Static linkage: economy, society, social indicators.

• ONDC growth: 8.9 million transactions in May 2024 (23 per cent above April). The Open Network for Digital Commerce is gaining adoption in grocery, food delivery and mobility categories.
• Hydroxyurea paediatric formulation: ICMR is developing child-appropriate dosing for sickle cell disease treatment. Current 500 mg capsules cannot be split accurately for children, creating a treatment gap.