Polity: World Bank report on 73rd Constitutional Amendment and Panchayati Raj. PRIs generate only 1 per cent of revenue from own taxes; 95 per cent from devolved funds.
Science: UN declared 2025 as the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology. India's National Quantum Mission poised to add 280 to 310 billion US dollars to the economy by 2030.
Environment: UNEP report: tropical deforestation in top 20 countries emits 5.6 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually. Only 8 countries have explicit deforestation reduction targets.
Biodiversity: Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh recorded a sighting of the four-horned antelope (Chousingha).
1. Panchayati Raj and the 73rd Amendment: World Bank assessment
GS area: Polity, Governance
The World Bank released "Two Hundred and Fifty-Thousand Democracies," an assessment of the 73rd Constitutional Amendment's 30-year impact on India's local governance.
73rd Amendment (1992): inserted Part IX and Schedule 11 into the Constitution. Mandated the establishment of Gram Panchayats, Panchayat Samitis and Zila Parishads (three tiers) in all states.
Gram Sabha: a body comprising all registered voters in a village. The 73rd Amendment requires every state to constitute Gram Sabhas. It is the foundation of participatory democracy at the village level.
Reservations: the amendment requires reservation of seats for SCs and STs proportionate to their population in each panchayat. One-third of seats (and chairperson positions) are reserved for women. Several states have since extended this to 50 per cent.
Key World Bank findings:
21 states have reserved 50 per cent or more of PRI seats for women.
Panchayats generate only 1 per cent of revenue from their own taxes; 95 per cent comes from devolved state and central funds.
Average own tax revenue per panchayat is only 21,000 rupees per year.
Central grants to panchayats average 17 lakh rupees; state grants average 3.25 lakh rupees.
Only 0.67 Gram Panchayat Secretaries per panchayat on average, revealing a severe administrative shortage.
Fiscal dependence problem: panchayats that depend almost entirely on transfers from state and central governments have weak accountability to local taxpayers and limited autonomy in spending priorities.
Recentralisation risk: digital monitoring systems (used to track beneficiary identification and scheme delivery) shift decision-making back to higher levels.
Static linkage: polity, governance.
2. Quantum science: International Year 2025
GS area: Science and Technology
The United Nations General Assembly declared 2025 the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology, marking 100 years since Werner Heisenberg published his foundational paper on quantum mechanics in 1925.
Heisenberg's contribution (1925): developed matrix mechanics, the first complete formulation of quantum mechanics. Led to the uncertainty principle (1927): it is impossible to simultaneously know both the exact position and momentum of a particle.
Quantum applications: quantum computing (exponentially faster computation for certain problems); quantum cryptography (theoretically unbreakable communication); quantum sensing (ultra-precise measurement of gravity, time, electromagnetic fields); quantum simulation (modelling molecular interactions for drug discovery).
India's National Quantum Mission (2023): a 6,003-crore rupee mission over eight years. Targets developing intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50 to 1,000 physical qubits within three to five years. Also covers quantum communication, sensing and technology.
QuEST programme: Quantum Enabled Science and Technology, earlier scheme by DST. Supported basic research before the formal NQM.
Economic potential: quantum technology could add 280 to 310 billion US dollars to India's economy by 2030, according to industry estimates.
Challenges: quantum error correction (maintaining qubit coherence is extremely difficult); high costs of infrastructure; shortage of quantum engineers; cryptographic disruption (quantum computers could break RSA encryption currently securing most internet communication).
Static linkage: science and technology.
3. Tropical deforestation: UNEP report
GS area: Environment, International Relations
A UNEP report found that tropical deforestation in the top 20 deforesting countries emitted 5.6 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually during 2019 to 2023.
Deforestation and climate: forests store an estimated 800 billion tonnes of carbon. Destroying them releases stored carbon and eliminates the ongoing carbon sink function.
Top emitters from deforestation: Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Colombia and Bolivia are among the largest tropical deforesters.
India's forest cover: India's 2021 Forest Survey of India report shows 7,13,789 square kilometres of forest cover, about 21.7 per cent of the total geographic area. This includes open forests, moderately dense and very dense forest.
2030 deforestation goal: the Glasgow Leaders' Declaration on Forests and Land Use (COP26, 2021) committed over 140 countries to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. Only 8 countries have explicit national deforestation reduction targets as of 2024.
Urban heat and deforestation: a study of 141 Indian cities found that 60 per cent of warming is attributable to urbanisation alone. Urban trees reduce local temperature by 2 to 4 degrees Celsius.
Static linkage: environment, international relations.
The first sighting of the four-horned antelope (Chousingha) was recorded in the Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve in Madhya Pradesh.
Veerangana Durgavati Tiger Reserve: Madhya Pradesh's seventh tiger reserve. Located in Sagar, Damoh and Narsinghpur districts.
Chousingha (four-horned antelope): scientific name Tetracerus quadricornis. India's and the world's only four-horned bovid. Only males have four horns (two front horns shorter than two back horns).
IUCN status: Vulnerable. Endemic to the Indian subcontinent, found only in India and Nepal.
Habitat: dry deciduous forests near water sources. Found in protected areas of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
Wildlife Protection Act 1972: listed in Schedule I, giving it the highest protection.
Madhya Pradesh as "Tiger State": Madhya Pradesh had the highest tiger population in India as of the 2022 Tiger Census, with 785 tigers.
Static linkage: environment and ecology, biodiversity.
5. Notified disasters and heatwaves
GS area: Disaster Management, Polity
Policy discussions on classifying heatwaves as notified disasters intensified amid severe heat events in June 2024.
12 notified disasters under DM Act 2005: cyclones, droughts, earthquakes, fires, floods, tsunamis, hailstorms, landslides, avalanches, cloudbursts, pest attacks, and frost and cold waves.
Heatwaves excluded: despite being among India's deadliest weather events, heatwaves are not notified disasters. This exclusion limits mandatory state compensation and response obligations.
COVID-19 exception: designated as a special one-time notified disaster in 2020 to allow State Disaster Response Fund deployment.
NDMA: the National Disaster Management Authority, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, issues guidelines for heatwave preparedness. It has recommended that states include heatwaves in State Disaster Management Plans.
Ahmedabad model: South Asia's first comprehensive Heat Action Plan developed in 2013 after a devastating 2010 heatwave. The model has been replicated in over 30 Indian cities and is recognised by UNFCCC.
Static linkage: disaster management, governance.
6. Lipulekh Pass and India-China-Nepal tri-junction
GS area: International Relations, Geography
News about trade goods stranded in Tibet at the Lipulekh Pass since 2019 highlighted the importance of border trade routes.
Lipulekh Pass: situated in Pithoragarh district, Uttarakhand, at the tri-junction of India, China (Tibet) and Nepal. Altitude approximately 5,334 metres.
India-China border trade via Lipulekh: bilateral border trade has been active through this pass since 1992 under the Border Trade Agreement. Used for Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage and goods trade.
Closure since 2019: China closed the pass in 2019 citing COVID-19 protocols. Goods worth approximately 15 lakh rupees remained stranded in Tibet.
Nepal's objection: Nepal claims Lipulekh and adjacent territory as part of its sovereign territory. A boundary dispute exists at the Kalapani region. Nepal published a revised map in 2020 including Lipulekh.
Kailash Mansarovar Yatra: India used to organise pilgrimages to Kailash Mansarovar in Tibet via three routes: Lipulekh Pass, Nathu La (Sikkim), and a third overland route via Nepal. All three were disrupted from 2019.
Strategic significance: Lipulekh is the shortest overland route from India to Tibet. Control over it has implications for military logistics and trade.
Static linkage: international relations, geography.
Briefly noted
Portable optical atomic clock: achieved an error margin of a few billionths of a second per day. Maritime applications include precise navigation, communication and seismic monitoring.
Aditya-L1: ISRO's solar observatory at the Sun-Earth L1 Lagrangian point captured solar storm images in May 2024 using its SUIT and VELC instruments. It was launched in September 2023.
Practice MCQs
Check yourself
With reference to the 73rd Constitutional Amendment, consider the following statements: 1. It mandated a three-tier Panchayati Raj system in all states. 2. The Gram Sabha comprises all adult residents of a village irrespective of voter registration. 3. At least one-third of seats in panchayats must be reserved for women. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Check yourself
Consider the following about the National Quantum Mission: 1. It has an outlay of 6,003 crore rupees over eight years. 2. It targets intermediate-scale quantum computers with 50 to 1,000 physical qubits. 3. It was launched by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Check yourself
The Chousingha (four-horned antelope) is endemic to:
Check yourself
Which of the following lists correctly contains ONLY notified disasters under the Disaster Management Act 2005?
Check yourself
The Lipulekh Pass, at the centre of a boundary dispute, sits at the tri-junction of: