17 July 2024

• Polity: Supreme Court ruled that divorced Muslim women retain the right to maintenance under Section 125 CrPC regardless of the Muslim Women Act 1986.
• Economy: India-Russia bilateral trade reached 65 billion dollars in FY2023-24. Rupee-rouble transactions doubled in 2024.
• Governance: RBI issued new Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management applicable to commercial banks, cooperative banks, and NBFCs.
• Geography: Tizu and Zungki rivers in Nagaland designated as National Waterways for economic development of the state.

GS area: Polity, Social Justice

A Supreme Court Bench ruled in Mohd Abdul Samad v The State of Telangana that divorced Muslim women can claim maintenance under Section 125 of the CrPC (now the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita).

• Section 125 CrPC: Provides for maintenance of wives, children, and parents who cannot maintain themselves. Applies to persons of all religions unless a special personal law provides a more adequate remedy.
• Muslim Women Act 1986: Passed by Parliament after the Shah Bano controversy. It attempted to restrict maintenance claims by Muslim women to the period of iddat (typically three months after divorce) under a separate mechanism.
• Court's ruling: Section 125 is not overridden by the 1986 Act. A divorced Muslim woman who has not remarried can claim maintenance beyond the iddat period if she has no independent means of support.
• 2009 Shabana Bano case: An earlier ruling had already established that maintenance claims extend beyond iddat. The July 2024 ruling reaffirms and strengthens this position.
• Triple talaq context: The Triple Talaq Act 2019 (Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Act) criminalised instantaneous triple talaq. Divorces through triple talaq are now void. This case confirms that even where divorce does occur through valid Muslim law, maintenance rights survive.

The ruling reasserts secular personal law as the baseline protection for divorced women across religions.

Static linkage: Maintenance laws (Polity), personal laws and secular legislation.

GS area: Economy, International Relations

India-Russia bilateral trade reached 65 billion dollars in FY2023-24, driven by India's large-scale import of discounted Russian crude oil following Western sanctions.

• Rupee-rouble trade: Rupee-rouble transactions doubled in 2024. Russia's Sberbank reported a six-fold increase in rupee deposits since January 2024.
• Special Vostro Rupee Accounts (SVRAs): RBI enabled these in July 2022. Russian banks can hold SVRAs in India and use them to pay for Indian imports. This mechanism settles trade in rupees rather than dollars.
• Advantage: Reduces dollar dependency and transaction costs. Protects from dollar fluctuations.
• Limitation: A surplus of rupees in Russian hands creates an imbalance. Russia needs to buy Indian goods or invest in India to use the accumulated rupees. Limited capital account convertibility restricts investment options.
• India-UAE arrangement (July 2023): UAE agreed to accept rupees for crude oil purchases. Another step in the gradual internationalisation of the rupee.
• Trade deficit concern: India runs a significant trade deficit with Russia because crude oil imports vastly exceed exports.

Static linkage: Rupee internationalisation (Economy), India-Russia relations (IR).

GS area: Economy, Governance

The Reserve Bank of India issued Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management for regulated entities including commercial banks, urban cooperative banks, and NBFCs.

• Applicability: Tiered system. Stricter requirements for larger, systemically important institutions; lighter for smaller UCBs.
• Natural justice requirement: Before classifying an account as fraud, the regulated entity must give the borrower a fair hearing. This addresses earlier practices of one-sided fraud classification without due process.
• Early warning systems: Mandatory data analytics and early warning indicators to detect fraud before it becomes a full-blown NPA problem.
• Timely reporting: Fraud must be reported to law enforcement and to the RBI within prescribed timelines.
• Historical context: India's banking system has suffered large-scale fraud (Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, ABG Shipyard cases). The directions tighten the governance framework around detection, classification, and reporting.

Static linkage: Banking regulation (Economy), RBI supervisory functions.

GS area: Geography, Economy

The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways is developing the Tizu and Zungki rivers in Nagaland as National Waterway 101.

• Tizu River: Originates near Longkhim in Tuensang district of Nagaland. Flows into Myanmar where it joins the Chinwin River, a tributary of the Irrawaddy.
• Zungki River: The largest tributary of the Tizu within Nagaland.
• National waterway development: India is developing 111 national waterways under the National Waterways Act 2016. Inland waterway transport is significantly cheaper per tonne-km than road or rail.
• Significance for Nagaland: The state has limited road connectivity and high transportation costs. Waterway development could reduce logistics costs and support economic development.

Static linkage: Indian river systems (Geography), waterway development (Economy).

GS area: Urban Development, Geography

Urban planners discussed the 15-minute neighbourhood model for Indian cities like Bengaluru.

• Concept: An urban planning approach where all essential services (schools, healthcare, groceries, parks, workplaces) are accessible within a 15-minute walk or cycle from any residence.
• Origins: Popularised by Carlos Moreno for Paris as part of its post-COVID urban renewal strategy.
• Benefits for Indian cities: Reduces traffic congestion and vehicular pollution. Promotes physical activity. Strengthens community cohesion. Improves safety, particularly for women and the elderly.
• Challenges in India: Indian cities grew without planning for walkability. Mixed-use zoning is limited. Land use patterns segregate residential and commercial areas.
• Bengaluru context: One of India's most congested cities. Transit-Oriented Development along its metro corridors is the nearest equivalent approach.

Static linkage: Urban planning (Geography), sustainable cities.

• Article 341: Empowers the President to specify castes, races, or tribes as Scheduled Castes for any state or UT. Only Parliament can amend the Scheduled Castes list through legislation. State governments cannot modify the official SC list. Came up in the Puja Khedkar certificate controversy context.
• MV Sea Change: Described as the world's first commercial 100 per cent hydrogen fuel cell passenger ferry, launched in San Francisco. Range of 300 nautical miles. Operates for 16 hours before refuelling. Produces water vapour rather than emissions.
• Electroencephalogram (EEG): The technology for recording brain electrical activity celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2024 (first recording by Hans Berger in 1924). Used for epilepsy diagnosis, sleep studies, and anaesthesia monitoring. Advantages: non-invasive, portable, real-time. Limitation: detects only surface brain activity.