18 July 2024

• Polity: Karnataka withdrew its controversial local jobs reservation Bill after constitutional concerns. Punjab and Haryana High Court had struck down a similar Haryana law.
• Economy: National Quantum Mission funding gap: India committed 6,003 crore rupees versus China's 15 billion dollars and the US's 4 billion dollars.
• Governance: Money Bill controversy: a seven-judge Supreme Court Bench is examining whether Aadhaar and PMLA amendments were correctly certified as Money Bills.
• International: Rwanda's President Kagame re-elected with 99.15 per cent vote share.

GS area: Polity, Federalism

The Karnataka government proposed and then withdrew the Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill 2024. The Bill would have reserved 50 per cent of management jobs and 70 per cent of non-management jobs for local candidates.

• Definition of "local": Born in Karnataka, domiciled for 15 years, or Kannada-language proficient.
• Constitutional problem: The Punjab and Haryana High Court struck down Haryana's Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act 2020 (which reserved 75 per cent of private sector jobs) as violating Articles 14 (equality), 15 (non-discrimination), and 19 (right to move freely and settle anywhere in India).
• Article 16(2): Specifically prohibits discrimination in employment on grounds including place of birth and residence.
• Industry reaction: The IT and manufacturing industries threatened to relocate investments. Karnataka's IT sector employs over 1 million people, many from other states.
• Investor confidence impact: Haryana saw a reported 30 per cent drop in new investment after its local jobs law.
• Relaxation clause: Even as introduced, the Bill had a fallback: if local candidates were unavailable, the reservation could be reduced to 25 per cent (management) and 50 per cent (non-management). This itself shows the unworkable nature of strict quotas.

Static linkage: Right to freedom (Article 19), reservation policy (Polity).

GS area: Science and Technology, Economy

The National Quantum Mission, approved in April 2023 with a budget of 6,003 crore rupees for 2023 to 2031, faces a significant funding gap relative to rival nations.

• India's allocation: 6,003 crore rupees (approximately 0.75 billion dollars) over 8 years.
• China's investment: Approximately 15 billion dollars in quantum research over a similar horizon.
• US investment: About 4 billion dollars through the National Quantum Initiative Act.
• Research output gap: From 2000 to 2018, India published 1,711 quantum research papers versus China's 12,110 and the US's 13,489.
• Patent disparity: India holds 339 quantum patents (2015 to 2020) versus China's 23,335 and the US's 8,935.
• Researcher density: India has about 253 quantum researchers per million population versus Italy's approximately 2,300 per million.
• Mission structure: NQM focuses on four technology areas: quantum computing, quantum communication, quantum sensing, and quantum materials. Hubs will be established at national research institutions.
• Deep-tech gap: Only 3 per cent of India's deep-tech startups focus on quantum manufacturing or materials.

Static linkage: Quantum technology (S&T), India's technology competitiveness.

GS area: Polity

A seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court is examining whether several laws certified as Money Bills were constitutionally valid.

• Money Bill definition: Article 110 defines a Money Bill as one dealing exclusively with taxation, borrowing by the government, expenditure from the Consolidated Fund, or appropriation.
• Speaker's certificate: Under Article 110(3), if a question arises whether a Bill is a Money Bill, the Speaker's decision is final.
• Controversial certifications: The Aadhaar Act 2016, Finance Act 2017 (which amended the PMLA and the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act), and subsequent Finance Acts were certified as Money Bills. Critics argued these contained non-financial provisions that would normally require the Rajya Sabha's concurrence.
• The problem: Money Bills go to the Rajya Sabha only for recommendations (which can be rejected). A regular Bill must pass both Houses. Certifying a Bill as a Money Bill bypasses Rajya Sabha scrutiny.
• Rojer Mathew case (2019): A five-judge Bench referred the question to a larger bench. The seven-judge Bench is now examining the standards for Money Bill certification.

Static linkage: Money Bills (Polity), Parliament, federal legislative process.

GS area: Governance, Education

The University Grants Commission launched the ASMITA Project to develop 22,000 books in Indian languages over five years.

• Full name: Augmenting Study Materials in Indian Languages Through Translation and Academic Writing.
• Objective: Address the acute shortage of quality textbooks in Indian languages at the university level. Most higher education textbooks are in English, excluding students who studied in regional-medium schools.
• NEP 2020 alignment: The National Education Policy 2020 promotes education in mother tongue and Indian languages up to higher education.
• Thirteen nodal universities: Leading implementation across language regions.
• Additional components: Bahubhasha Shabdkosh (multilingual dictionary) and Real-time Translation Architecture for academic terminology.

Static linkage: Education policy (Governance), NEP 2020.

GS area: International Relations, Comparative Polity

Rwanda held presidential elections and incumbent Paul Kagame was re-elected with 99.15 per cent of the vote.

• Rwanda profile: Landlocked country in East-Central Africa. Bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Known as the "Land of a Thousand Hills."
• Kagame's record: Has been in power since 2000 (formally president from 2003). Rwanda has achieved remarkable post-genocide reconstruction and economic development with human development indicators among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa.
• Governance concern: Critics point to absence of political opposition, restricted media freedom, and treatment of dissidents. The near-unanimous election result reflects the absence of meaningful electoral competition.
• African context: Rwanda joined the Commonwealth in 2009 despite having no colonial ties to Britain, becoming the 54th member.

Static linkage: African countries (Geography), comparative politics.

• Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire): Became the first country to roll out the R21/Matrix-M malaria vaccine for children. The vaccine showed over 75 per cent efficacy in trials. It is a second malaria vaccine after the RTS,S (Mosquirix). Capitals: Yamoussoukro (political/official) and Abidjan (economic).
• Inverse ETF: An exchange-traded fund that profits when the benchmark index declines. High-risk instrument. SEBI proposed allowing these under a new asset class framework for sophisticated investors.
• LUCA (Last Universal Common Ancestor): A study estimated LUCA lived approximately 4.2 billion years ago in deep-sea hydrothermal vents. Evidence: 355 genes suited for extreme environments. LUCA is the theoretical common ancestor of all modern life on Earth.