13 April 2025

• Culture: 13 April is Baisakhi, marking the start of the Punjabi new year and the harvest festival. It also commemorates the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919, which occurred on 13 April.
• Economy: RBI rate cut impact: banks began reducing MCLR rates. Housing and auto loan sectors expected to benefit most.
• Defence: India's AFSPA review in Manipur: the Centre partially lifted AFSPA from additional areas as security improved.
• Environment: Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve conservation status review highlighted threats to endemic species.

GS area: Modern Indian History, Art and Culture

13 April 2025 marks 106 years since the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of 1919. It coincides with Baisakhi, the harvest festival.

• Baisakhi: Marks the first day of Vaisakh in the Punjabi calendar. Celebrated across Punjab, Haryana, and parts of Himachal Pradesh. Also marks the founding of the Khalsa Panth by Guru Gobind Singh in 1699 in Anandpur Sahib.
• Jallianwala Bagh massacre (1919): On 13 April 1919, Brigadier-General R.E.H. Dyer ordered troops to open fire on a large peaceful gathering at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar, protesting the Rowlatt Act (1919).
• Rowlatt Act: Extended wartime emergency powers to allow detention without trial. Gandhiji led nationwide protests against it.
• Death toll: Official British figure was 379. The Indian National Congress estimated 1,000+. The Hunter Commission was appointed to investigate.
• Impact: The massacre transformed moderate Indian opinion against British rule. It led many, including Gandhiji, to embrace non-cooperation as the path forward.
• Udham Singh: The Punjabi revolutionary who shot and killed Michael O'Dwyer (then-Governor of Punjab) in London in 1940 in revenge for Jallianwala Bagh.

Static linkage: Modern Indian history, freedom struggle (GS-1 History).

GS area: Economy

Following the April 2025 RBI repo rate cut to 6 per cent, attention turned to the transmission mechanism, specifically how and when the cut reaches borrowers.

• MCLR (Marginal Cost of Funds Based Lending Rate): The minimum interest rate below which banks cannot lend. Introduced in 2016, replacing the base rate system.
• Transmission lag: Banks typically take 3 to 6 months to fully reduce MCLR after a repo rate cut. This is because MCLR depends on the bank's own funding costs (deposits), not just the repo rate.
• EBLR (External Benchmark Lending Rate): Introduced in 2019, requires retail loans (home, auto, MSME) to be linked to an external benchmark like the repo rate. EBLR-linked loans transmit cuts faster than MCLR-linked loans.
• Beneficiaries: Home loan and auto loan borrowers on EBLR-linked loans benefit fastest. MSME loans linked to EBLR also see quicker relief.

Static linkage: Banking, monetary policy transmission (GS-3 Economy).

GS area: Internal Security, Polity

The Central Government partially withdrew AFSPA from additional areas in Manipur in April 2025, citing improved security conditions.

• AFSPA 1958: Provides special powers to armed forces in "disturbed areas."
• Manipur's AFSPA history: The Act has been continuously in force in most of Manipur since 1958. Irom Sharmila's 16-year fast against AFSPA (2000-2016) made it globally known.
• Imphal exclusion: The Imphal municipal area has been kept out of the AFSPA ambit for years.
• April 2025 withdrawal: The Centre withdrew AFSPA from six additional police station areas in Manipur where normalcy was assessed to have returned.
• Context: Manipur has been under internal ethnic conflict since May 2023 between Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities.

Static linkage: Internal security, civil liberties (GS-3 Internal Security).

GS area: Environment and Ecology

The Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve's conservation status was reviewed in April 2025.

• UNESCO designation: March 2016.
• Location: Southernmost Western Ghats, straddling Kerala (Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam) and Tamil Nadu (Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari).
• Area: Approximately 3,500 sq km.
• Biodiversity: 2,254 plant species with 405 endemic. 79 mammal species including 20 endemics. 337 bird species. 88 reptile species. 45 amphibian species.
• Protected areas within: Periyar Tiger Reserve, Srivilliputhur Grizzled Squirrel Sanctuary, Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, Neyyar, Peppara, and Shendurney sanctuaries.
• Indigenous people: Kani tribe of approximately 30,000 people with traditional sustainable resource practices.
• Threats: Invasive species, encroachment, climate-driven habitat shifts, and illegal wildlife trade.

Static linkage: Biodiversity, biosphere reserves (GS-3 Environment).

GS area: Science and Technology

The CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology (IMMT) in Bhubaneswar celebrated its founding anniversary on 13 April 2025. It was founded on 13 April 1964.

• Founded: 13 April 1964 as the Regional Research Laboratory. Renamed CSIR-IMMT in 2007.
• Location: Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
• Focus: Minerals and materials technology relevant to India's mining, processing, and advanced materials sectors.
• 2025 significance: Signed joint declarations with Russia's Giredmet, Rosatom, and NUST MISIS for critical mineral processing technology, targeting rare earth processing and nuclear minerals.

Static linkage: Science and technology, CSIR institutions (GS-3).

• External Benchmark Lending Rate (EBLR): Introduced by RBI in 2019. Mandatory for retail and MSME loans. Must be linked to the repo rate, Treasury Bill yields, or another external benchmark. Ensures faster monetary policy transmission to borrowers compared to MCLR.
• Khalsa Panth founding: Guru Gobind Singh founded the Khalsa on Baisakhi in 1699 in Anandpur Sahib. The Panj Piaras (five beloved ones) were the first initiates. The founding gave Sikhs a distinct identity with the Five Ks (Kesh, Kangha, Kara, Kachera, Kirpan).