22 June 2024

• Economy: India's infrastructure push: capital expenditure of 11.11 lakh crore rupees in FY 2024-25 budgeted. PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan progress.
• Polity: 18th Lok Sabha first session underway. President's address to the joint sitting laid out NDA 3.0 government's priorities.
• International: Russia approved a draft Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS) with India after years of delays.
• Health: IRDAI annual report: insurance penetration in India at 3.8 per cent of GDP. Life insurance at 3 per cent, non-life at 0.8 per cent.

GS area: Economy, Governance

The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan, launched in October 2021, continued to deliver infrastructure coordination benefits to the new government.

• PM Gati Shakti NMP: a digital platform integrating spatial data from over 1,500 layers (railways, highways, waterways, ports, electricity, gas pipelines, telecom). It allows ministries to plan infrastructure projects without conflicting with each other.
• Basis: launched under Article 15(1) of the NHDB Act, it combines GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping with project planning tools.
• Capital expenditure: the Union Budget for FY 2024-25 provided for 11.11 lakh crore rupees in central government capital expenditure, continuing the trend of frontloading infrastructure investment. This is approximately 3.4 per cent of GDP.
• Multiplier effect: infrastructure spending has a fiscal multiplier of 2.5 to 4 times in India, meaning each rupee of capital expenditure generates 2.5 to 4 rupees of economic activity over time.
• National Monetisation Pipeline: a framework to monetise public infrastructure assets (roads, railways, ports, airports) by leasing them to private operators while retaining government ownership. This frees capital for new infrastructure.
• Sagarmala: the programme for port-led development. Links ports to hinterland through roads, rail and inland waterways.

Static linkage: economy, governance.

GS area: International Relations, Security

Russia approved the draft Reciprocal Exchange of Logistics Agreement (RELOS) with India after years of delay.

• RELOS purpose: administrative arrangement to streamline military logistics between India and Russia. Facilitates supply replenishment, vessel berthing, troop accommodation and aircraft refuelling.
• Broader context: India has signed similar agreements with the US (LEMOA, 2016), Australia (MLSA, 2020), France, Japan (ACSA, 2020) and the UK.
• LEMOA: the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement. India's foundational agreement with the United States, allowing Indian and US military vessels and aircraft to use each other's bases for supplies and repairs.
• Why RELOS was delayed: concerns in Russia about India's growing closeness to the US through the Quad and foundational agreements. India's balance between strategic autonomy and different partnerships.
• Arctic significance: a RELOS with Russia would support India's Arctic research at the Himadri station (India's Arctic research base at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, Norway). Russian Arctic routes are strategically important.
• India-Russia arms dependence: historically 60 to 70 per cent of India's military hardware was Russian-origin. India is diversifying, but maintenance agreements and spare parts still require Russian cooperation.

Static linkage: international relations, security.

GS area: Economy, Governance

The IRDAI (Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India) annual report showed insurance penetration at 3.8 per cent of GDP in FY 2023-24.

• Insurance penetration: total insurance premiums as a percentage of GDP. Global average is approximately 7 per cent. Developed markets like Taiwan and South Korea exceed 15 per cent.
• Life insurance penetration: 3 per cent of GDP in India. India is a significant life insurance market by absolute size due to population.
• Non-life penetration: 0.8 per cent of GDP. This is very low compared to comparable economies.
• IRDAI: established under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act 1999. Regulates and promotes the insurance sector. Grants licences to insurers and intermediaries.
• Bima Sugam: IRDAI's planned digital marketplace for insurance products, comparing to the "UPI for insurance" concept.
• PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana: term life insurance of 2 lakh rupees for enrolled bank account holders, at an annual premium of 436 rupees.
• PM Suraksha Bima Yojana: accidental death and disability cover of 2 lakh rupees for 20 rupees per year for bank account holders aged 18 to 70.

Static linkage: economy, governance.

GS area: Polity, Governance

The 18th Lok Sabha's first session ran from 24 June to 3 July 2024 (announced for this period). The President's address to the joint sitting was a key event.

• Presidential address to joint sitting: Article 87 requires the President to address both Houses of Parliament assembled together at the commencement of the first session after each general election and at the commencement of the first session of each year.
• Content of address: outlines the government's legislative priorities and policy agenda. Written by the Cabinet, it is a statement of government policy, not the President's personal views.
• Budget session 2024: the new government was to present a full Union Budget in July 2024, with Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presenting her seventh consecutive Budget.
• No-confidence motion consideration: the INDIA bloc considered a no-confidence motion but lacked the mathematical support to pass it (needed 272 votes).
• Parliamentary majority: NDA's 292 seats (53.8 per cent of the house) gives it a stable working majority in the Lok Sabha for all routine legislation.

Static linkage: polity, Parliament.

GS area: Governance, Science and Technology

The Cabinet approved the NFIES with an outlay of 2,200 crore rupees.

• Purpose: establish new campuses of the National Forensic Sciences University (NFSU) and set up Central Forensic Science Laboratories across all states and union territories.
• Trigger: the new criminal laws (BNS, BNSS, BSA) effective 1 July 2024 mandate forensic investigation for all offences carrying 7 or more years of imprisonment. This massively increases demand for forensic capacity.
• NFSU: the National Forensic Sciences University, established under the NFSU Act 2020. Headquartered in Gandhinagar, Gujarat. India's first university dedicated to forensic sciences.
• Current forensic gap: India has approximately 30 state forensic science laboratories and 6 central labs. The mandated expansion addresses the historic backlog.
• Types of forensic evidence: DNA analysis, ballistics, cyber forensics, toxicology, questioned document examination, voice analysis and fingerprinting.

Static linkage: governance, science and technology.

GS area: Polity

The Kerala Legislative Assembly unanimously passed a resolution to rename the state from "Kerala" to "Keralam."

• Constitutional procedure for renaming a state (Article 3): the President refers the bill to the affected state legislature for its views. A time limit may be set. The state's view is not binding. Parliament then enacts the legislation by a simple majority.
• First and Fourth Schedules: renaming a state requires amending the First Schedule (list of states and their territories) and potentially the Fourth Schedule (allocation of Rajya Sabha seats).
• Simple majority: unlike Article 368 amendments to Fundamental Rights or federal provisions, changes under Article 3 require only a simple majority in Parliament.
• Precedents: Uttarakhand was renamed from Uttaranchal in 2007. Orissa became Odisha in 2011. Puducherry is officially the Union Territory name in English but Puducherry is the Tamil version.
• Rationale for Keralam: the state government argued "Keralam" is phonetically closer to the Malayalam pronunciation and the historical name.

Static linkage: polity (Constitution).

• Fast Track Immigration Trusted Traveller Programme (FTI-TTP): launched at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. Pre-verified Indian citizens and OCI cardholders use automated e-gates for expedited immigration. Aims to reduce congestion and processing time.
• Underground Coal Gasification pilot: India's first UCG pilot in Jharkhand was initiated by the Ministry of Coal. UCG converts underground coal into syngas (methane, hydrogen, CO, CO2) without mining the coal to the surface.