12 February 2025

• Manipur: Chief Minister Biren Singh resigned following Supreme Court pressure over the ethnic conflict. President's Rule under consideration.
• Land reforms: Zamindari abolition history and landmark constitutional cases revisited.
• USAID freeze: Impact on India assessed. India receives 0.2 to 0.4 per cent of the global USAID budget.
• Technology: ISRO-IIT Madras Shakti chip based on RISC-V architecture. Sṛjanam rig for biomedical waste treatment at AIIMS.

GS area: Polity (governance, President's Rule)

Chief Minister N. Biren Singh resigned on February 12 following the Supreme Court's order for a sealed-cover forensic report on audio tapes allegedly showing he instigated ethnic violence. Constitutional provisions now applicable:

• Article 356: Empowers the President to impose President's Rule in a state on the Governor's report that the constitutional machinery has failed.
• Duration: Initially for two months; extendable up to three years in total with parliamentary approval (each extension requires a resolution from both Houses).
• Beyond one year: An extension beyond one year requires either a proclamation of a national emergency (Article 352) or a certification from the Election Commission that elections cannot be held in the state.
• Effect: The Governor assumes executive powers. The state legislature is dissolved or placed under suspended animation. Parliament legislates for the state.

The Supreme Court had earlier described the situation in Manipur as an "absolute breakdown of law and order." The ethnic conflict between the Meitei community and the Kuki-Zo tribal communities began in May 2023.

Static linkage: Polity (emergency provisions, federalism).

GS area: Polity (constitutional amendments, land reforms)

The zamindari system was introduced in 1793 by Lord Cornwallis through the Permanent Settlement Act in Bengal, Bihar and Odisha. Revenue was split at 89 per cent to the British and 11 per cent to zamindars. Post-independence, the case for abolition generated some of the most consequential constitutional litigation:

• First Constitutional Amendment Act (1951): Added the Ninth Schedule to protect land reform laws from judicial review under Fundamental Rights. Added by Parliament to overcome the Allahabad High Court's strike-down of the UP Zamindari Abolition Act.
• Sankari Prasad v. Union of India (1951): The Supreme Court upheld the First Amendment and held that Parliament can amend any provision of the Constitution including Fundamental Rights.
• C. Golaknath v. State of Punjab (1967): An 11-judge bench reversed Sankari Prasad. Ruled that Fundamental Rights cannot be amended by Parliament.
• Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala (1973): A 13-judge bench overruled Golaknath and introduced the Basic Structure Doctrine. Parliament can amend any part of the Constitution but cannot destroy its basic structure.

Over 20 million peasants became landowners through zamindari abolition across states. The reforms were completed primarily between 1950 and 1961.

Static linkage: Polity (constitutional amendments, history).

GS area: Science and Technology

The Shakti microprocessor was jointly developed by IIT Madras and ISRO under the Digital India RISC-V (DIR-V) initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and IT:

• Architecture: 64-bit RISC-V instruction set architecture (open-source, royalty-free).
• Grade: Aerospace-grade microprocessor suitable for space missions.
• Applications: Space missions, defence systems, IoT devices and AI applications.
• Significance: India's first indigenously designed processor reaching deployment stage. Reduces dependence on foreign chip suppliers (Intel, ARM, Qualcomm) for strategic applications.

RISC-V (pronounced Risk Five) is an open standard instruction set architecture that is not proprietary to any company. It allows India to design chips without paying licensing fees to foreign architecture owners.

Static linkage: Science and technology (semiconductors).

GS area: Science and Technology, Environment

The Sṛjanam rig was installed at AIIMS New Delhi:

• Developer: CSIR-National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology (CSIR-NIIST), Thiruvananthapuram.
• Technology: Non-incineration biomedical waste treatment.
• Capacity: Treats 400 kilograms of biomedical waste daily including 10 kilograms of degradable medical waste.
• Context: India generates 743 tonnes of biomedical waste daily per Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) data. The Biomedical Waste Management Rules 2016 mandate segregation, treatment and disposal protocols.

Non-incineration alternatives are important because incineration of certain medical wastes releases dioxins and furans (persistent organic pollutants). The Basel Convention regulates hazardous waste including medical waste at the international level.

Static linkage: Environment (pollution management, science and technology).

GS area: Geography (world geography)

Russia's "shadow fleet" raising oil spill risks in the Baltic Sea brought the geography into focus:

• Area: 377,000 square kilometres.
• Length: 1,600 kilometres.
• Width: 193 kilometres.
• Largest contributing river: Neva River (Russia).
• Bordering countries (9): Denmark, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Russia, Finland and Sweden.
• Characteristic: One of the world's largest enclosed seas with very low salinity due to fresh water input from rivers and low evaporation.

Russia's shadow fleet refers to ageing tankers operating without standard insurance and certifications to bypass Western sanctions on Russian oil exports. Cable sabotage incidents in the Baltic have also raised security concerns.

Static linkage: World geography (seas and straits).

GS area: International Relations

The Trump administration's 90-day freeze on USAID funding (announced in late January 2025) had a limited direct impact on India:

• India's share: 0.2 to 0.4 per cent of USAID's total global budget.
• USAID's mandate: The US Agency for International Development is an independent government agency established by President Kennedy in 1961 under the Foreign Assistance Act. Headquartered in Washington DC.
• Top global recipients affected by the freeze: Ukraine, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen.
• UN warning: Halting HIV/AIDS funding could lead to over 6 million additional deaths over four years globally.

India's relative insulation from USAID reflects its transition from aid recipient to aid partner in the last two decades.

Static linkage: International relations, India-US relations.

• Asian elephants: A study in Mammalian Biology found that Asian elephants use trumpeting for diverse social interactions beyond distress calls. Researchers documented the first roar-rumble combination in the species. High-frequency sounds are produced through trunk bursts rather than vocal cord involvement.
• Su-57 fighter jet: Russia's fifth-generation stealth aircraft with a maximum speed of Mach 2 (against F-35's Mach 1.6). Cost approximately 70 million US dollars per unit. Features thrust-vectoring engines and supercruise capability.
• Kallur Balan: A conservationist from Palakkad, Kerala, who transformed over 100 acres of barren hills into a thriving ecosystem inspired by Sree Narayana Guru's philosophy. Received the Vanamitra Award.