26 November 2024

• Polity: The Supreme Court dismissed petitions challenging the inclusion of "socialist" and "secular" in the Preamble, inserted by the 42nd Amendment during the Emergency.
• Economy: PLI scheme generated 12.50 lakh crore rupees in production and 4 lakh crore rupees in exports by August 2024.
• Constitution: 26 November is Constitution Day (Samvidhan Diwas), marking the 75th anniversary of adoption in 1949.
• Agriculture: National Mission on Natural Farming targets 1 crore farmers across 15,000 clusters and 5 lakh hectares.

GS area: Polity, Constitutional Law

The Supreme Court dismissed petitions seeking removal of the words "socialist" and "secular" from the Preamble.

• 42nd Amendment Act 1976: Inserted "socialist" and "secular" into the Preamble during the Emergency. The original 1949 Preamble did not contain these words.
• Cases dismissed: Dr. Balram Singh v. Union of India, Dr. Subramanian Swamy v. Union of India, and Ashwini Upadhyay v. Union of India.
• Court's reasoning: The terms are consistent with the Constitution's basic structure as articulated in Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973) and SR Bommai v. Union of India (1994).
• Preamble's legal status: The Kesavananda Bharati case confirmed the Preamble is part of the Constitution. But it is not directly enforceable as a fundamental right.
• India's "socialism": The Chief Justice interpreted it as a welfare state that provides equality of opportunity, not as state ownership of means of production.

Static linkage: Constitutional law, basic structure doctrine, Preamble.

GS area: Economy, Governance

The PLI scheme's August 2024 performance review showed strong results.

• Total budget: 1.97 lakh crore rupees (approximately 24 billion dollars) across 14 sectors.
• Investment realised: 1.46 lakh crore rupees by August 2024.
• Production generated: 12.50 lakh crore rupees.
• Exports: 4 lakh crore rupees.
• Employment created: 9.5 lakh (950,000) direct jobs.
• Electronics transformation: India transitioned from a net electronics importer to a net exporter. 33 crore units produced in 2023-24.
• Sectors: Electronics, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, telecom, renewable energy, drones, textiles, steel and more.

Static linkage: Manufacturing, Make in India, industrial policy.

GS area: Polity, Modern History

26 November 2024 marked the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Indian Constitution.

• Adoption date: 26 November 1949.
• Enforcement date: 26 January 1950 (Republic Day).
• Constituent Assembly first session: 9 December 1946.
• Chairperson: Dr. Rajendra Prasad.
• Drafting Committee: Chaired by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar. The Drafting Committee prepared the final text.
• Duration: Two years, eleven months and seventeen days of deliberation.
• Original structure: 243 articles and 13 schedules.
• Press freedom ranking (2024): India ranks 159th in the World Press Freedom Index, a point made in Constitution Day debates about fundamental freedoms.
• MPs with criminal cases: Over 46 per cent of the 2024 Lok Sabha members face criminal cases, cited in discussions about electoral reform.

Static linkage: Constitutional history, Constituent Assembly, fundamental rights.

GS area: Agriculture, Environment

The National Mission on Natural Farming received budget allocation and scaled its targets.

• Budget: 2,481 crore rupees (Central share: 1,584 crore; State share: 897 crore) up to FY 2025-26.
• Target: 1 crore (10 million) farmers in 15,000 clusters across 5 lakh hectares.
• Bio-input Resource Centres: 10,000 centres to produce local bio-fertilisers and bio-pesticides.
• Model farms: 2,000 Natural Farming Model Demonstration Farms.
• Training: 75 lakh farmers to be trained. 30,000 Krishi Sakhis (rural women agriculture paraprofessionals) deployed.
• Natural farming: Avoids synthetic inputs. Uses cow dung-based formulations (jeevamrit), mulching, and intercropping. Associated with Subhash Palekar's zero-budget natural farming.

Static linkage: Agriculture, sustainable farming, government schemes.

GS area: Polity, Social Justice

The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991 came into focus amid temple-mosque disputes.

• Purpose: Freeze the religious character of all places of worship as they existed on 15 August 1947.
• Section 3: Bars conversion of any place of worship from one religion or denomination to another.
• Exemptions: The Ram Janmabhoomi site in Ayodhya (which was sub-judice under the Act), ancient monuments protected by the Ancient Monuments Act and sites settled by mutual agreement.
• Status of the Act: Upheld by the Supreme Court in the Ayodhya verdict (2019) as an important feature of secular constitutional commitment.
• Current disputes: Multiple mosques and dargahs facing survey petitions that parties argue fall outside the Act's protection.

Static linkage: Secularism, Places of Worship Act, constitutional provisions.

• One Nation One Subscription (ONOS): 6,000 crore rupees for 2025-2027 to provide access to 13,000 e-journals from 30 major publishers for 6,300 government higher education institutions and R&D labs. Coordinator: INFLIBNET (UGC). 8 crore students, faculty and researchers to benefit.
• MACE telescope: Major Atmospheric Cherenkov Experiment. Located in Hanle, Ladakh at 4,300 metres altitude, making it the world's highest imaging Cherenkov telescope. Developed by BARC. Studies high-energy gamma rays from supernovae, black holes and gamma-ray bursts.
• Gelephu Mindfulness City, Bhutan: 2,500 square kilometres (2.5 per cent of Bhutan's landmass). A zero-carbon, special administrative region designed around Gross National Happiness principles. 4,000 to 5,000 MW renewable energy capacity planned. India's investment role is being formalised.