10 March 2025

• Judiciary: Women represent only 14.27 per cent of High Court judges in India, with the Supreme Court about to have just one woman judge.
• Agriculture: February 2025's record heat threatened the 2024-25 wheat procurement target of 115 million tonnes.
• Environment: Madhav National Park became India's 58th tiger reserve following the reintroduction programme.
• Exercise: KHANJAR-XII between India and Kyrgyzstan began in Tokmok.
• Diplomacy: Vanuatu revoked Lalit Modi's citizenship, highlighting the abuse of Citizenship by Investment programmes.

GS area: Polity (Judiciary), Society

Data on women's representation in India's higher courts placed the question of judicial appointments firmly in the reform debate.

• High Court judges: Women constitute 14.27 per cent of High Court judges: 109 out of 764.
• Supreme Court: As of early 2025, there are two women judges. After the retirement scheduled for June 2025, only one woman judge will remain on the 34-member bench.
• Age of appointment: Women are appointed at an average age of 53 years against 51.8 years for men.
• Chief Justices: Only 1 woman Chief Justice among 25 High Courts (Gujarat High Court).
• Collegium recommendations: Nine women recommended for judgeships since 2020 were not confirmed.
• NJAC judgment (2015): The Supreme Court struck down the 99th Constitutional Amendment establishing the National Judicial Appointments Commission. The collegium system was restored.
• Collegium system: The Chief Justice of India plus 4 senior-most Supreme Court judges recommend appointments under the Second Judges Case (1993) and Third Judges Case (1998) interpretation.

The tension: the collegium controls appointments without external oversight, raising questions about diversity in outcomes.

Static linkage: Polity (judiciary, constitutional law).

GS area: Economy (Agriculture), Environment

February 2025, the hottest in 124 years, created heat stress during the critical grain-filling stage for wheat.

• Procurement target 2024-25: 115 million tonnes (initial government target).
• Revised expectation: 30 million tonnes (industry estimates based on field reports).
• Actual 2024-25 procurement: 26.6 million tonnes against a target of 34.15 million tonnes.
• Heat stress mechanism: High temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius during grain filling (February to March) shorten the growth period, reducing grain weight and starch quality.
• Geographic concentration: Punjab, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh together account for about 80 per cent of marketed surplus wheat.
• Policy response: Minimum Support Price (MSP) for wheat was set at 2,425 rupees per quintal for 2024-25.

Static linkage: Economy (agriculture, food security), environment (climate change impacts).

GS area: Environment (Wildlife), Geography

Madhav National Park in Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh, was formally included in India's tiger reserve network.

• Location: Shivpuri district, Madhya Pradesh.
• Area: 354 square kilometres.
• Established: 1958 as a national park.
• Tiger reintroduction: Three tigers introduced in 2023 from Bandhavgarh Tiger Reserve.
• Significance: Madhya Pradesh now has 9 tiger reserves, the most of any state.
• Project Tiger: Launched 1973. Administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) under the Ministry of Environment.
• Tiger census 2022: India had 3,682 tigers, the highest count since surveys began. India holds about 75 per cent of the world's wild tigers.

Static linkage: Environment and ecology (wildlife conservation, tiger conservation).

GS area: Environment (Wildlife)

Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha became a study in failed reintroduction.

• Location: Spans Angul, Cuttack, Boudh and Nayagarh districts, Odisha. Area: 1,136.70 sq km.
• Established: 2007.
• 2018 reintroduction: A male from Kanha and a female from Bandhavgarh were released. The reintroduction failed.
• 2022 census: Zero tigers recorded in Satkosia, despite the park previously hosting 12.
• Causes of failure: Human-wildlife conflict, inadequate buffer zone management, poaching and inadequate post-release monitoring.
• Ramsar designation: Satkosia Gorge on the Mahanadi River (within the reserve) is a Ramsar wetland site.

The contrast with Madhav NP (new success) and Satkosia (old failure) frames the conditions necessary for successful tiger reintroduction.

Static linkage: Environment (wildlife conservation, tiger reserves).

GS area: International Relations, Polity

The US Supreme Court's rejection of Tahawwur Rana's plea was confirmed this week, clearing his extradition to India.

• Charges: Provision of material support to the Lashkar-e-Taiba network behind the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
• Dual criminality: Acts must be criminal in both the US and India. Terrorism and murder qualify.
• Political offence exception: Does not apply. The Mumbai attacks targeted civilians, not a government.
• Extradition Act 1962: India's domestic law. Extradition requests must follow treaty procedures including prima facie evidence.
• India's 48 treaties: India has extradition treaties with 48 countries as of 2025.

Static linkage: International relations (India-USA), law (extradition).

GS area: International Relations, Governance

Prime Minister Jotham Napat of Vanuatu revoked Lalit Modi's citizenship, stating that Citizenship by Investment should not be a vehicle to avoid extradition.

• Vanuatu: Island nation of 83 volcanic islands in the South Pacific. Capital: Port Vila. Area: 12,189 sq km.
• CBI programme: Allows non-nationals to obtain citizenship in exchange for investment (typically property purchase or government fund contribution).
• Abuse concern: Several fugitives have used CBI programmes in small island nations to acquire alternative passports and claim they cannot be extradited to their home country.
• Lalit Modi: Former IPL chairman; fled India in 2010 facing financial irregularity charges.
• Global CBI scrutiny: The FATF and EU have both flagged CBI programmes as potential money laundering risks.

Static linkage: International relations, governance (citizenship law).

• AHAIC 2025 outcomes: The Kigali conference produced a communique calling for African nations to increase domestic health financing from 3.8 per cent to 6 per cent of GDP.
• Smooth-coated otter habitat survey: New survey data from Kerala's Periyar river system documented family groups of smooth-coated otters.