27 June 2025

• The Election Commission moves to delist 345 dormant Registered Unrecognised Political Parties that have not contested since 2019, targeting a Rs 2,800+ party ecosystem used for tax evasion.
• India's birth registration rate reaches 96%, up from 86%, as Asia-Pacific governments commit to universal CRVS by 2030 under UN ESCAP leadership.
• A new indigenous point-of-care kit for haemophilia is developed by the National Institute of Immunohaematology, addressing a diagnosis gap where fewer than one in five patients are officially identified.
• Oil prices drop 9% after Iran-Israel ceasefire; Indian upstream firms suffer while downstream oil marketing companies gain.
• Five tigers found dead in Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka, raising alarm about a reserve that has not yet been notified as a Tiger Reserve.

GS area: Polity: Elections, Political Parties, Electoral Reforms

The Election Commission of India has initiated the delisting of 345 Registered Unrecognised Political Parties that have not participated in any election since 2019. The move targets what has become a vehicle for financial irregularity rather than democratic participation.

• Registered Unrecognised Political Parties (RUPPs): parties that have registered with the Election Commission under Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act 1951 but have not won enough votes or seats to earn formal recognition as a state or national party.
• Scale of the problem: More than 2,800 RUPPs are currently registered. They represent 97% of all registered political parties in India.
• Section 29A, Representation of the People Act 1951: the provision under which any association or body of individuals calling itself a political party can register with the Election Commission. Registration confers the right to use a reserved symbol and enjoy tax benefits.
• Tax exemption abuse: RUPPs enjoy exemption from income tax on voluntary contributions despite having zero electoral participation. Fewer than 5% submitted mandatory donation reports between 2013 and 2016.
• Money laundering risk: Dormant RUPPs have been identified as conduits for routing black money through fictitious donations that claim tax exemption.
• Recognition thresholds: A party becomes a recognised state party if it secures at least 6% of valid votes in a state election and wins at least 2 Assembly seats. A national party requires 6% of valid votes in four or more states and at least 4 Lok Sabha seats, or 2% of total Lok Sabha seats drawn from at least three states.
• EC powers: Article 324 of the Constitution vests the superintendence, direction and control of all elections in the Election Commission. The power to register parties under Section 29A is a statutory extension of this authority.

The delisting action highlights a structural flaw: the low bar for registration combined with tax incentives and weak compliance enforcement created an ecosystem where registration became financially rewarding even for parties that never intend to contest.

Revises: Election Commission of India, Representation of the People Act 1951, Political Party Registration.

GS area: GS II: Government Policies, International Bodies, SDGs

Twenty-nine countries in the Asia-Pacific region now register more than 90% of births. Governments meeting under UN ESCAP adopted a resolution committing to universal birth and death registration by 2030.

• Civil Registration and Vital Statistics (CRVS): the continuous, permanent, compulsory and universal recording of the occurrence and characteristics of vital life events including births, deaths, marriages, divorces and foetal deaths. It is the foundation of legal identity and population statistics.
• UN ESCAP: the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, headquartered in Bangkok. It leads the Asia-Pacific CRVS programme and convenes the Bangkok Conference that adopted this resolution.
• SDG Target 16.9: calls for providing legal identity for all, including birth registration, by 2030. CRVS is the primary delivery mechanism for this target.
• India's progress: India's birth registration rate improved from 86% to 96%, placing it among the countries that have substantially closed the coverage gap.
• Remaining gap: An estimated 14 million children in Asia-Pacific remain unregistered by age one. Without a birth certificate, a child cannot access schooling, healthcare or government welfare as an adult.
• Cross-border interoperability: A key challenge the resolution addresses is the need for CRVS systems across countries to share data for migrants and stateless persons.

Revises: SDG 16, Legal Identity, UN ESCAP, Vital Statistics.

GS area: GS III: Science and Technology, Health

The National Institute of Immunohaematology (NIIH) has developed an indigenous point-of-care diagnostic kit for haemophilia. The kit addresses a critical diagnosis gap: India has an estimated 150,000 people with haemophilia but only about 27,000 are officially diagnosed.

• Haemophilia: a group of inherited bleeding disorders in which blood does not clot properly due to a deficiency of clotting factors (Factor VIII in Haemophilia A, Factor IX in Haemophilia B).
• Haemophilia A incidence: 1 in every 5,000 male births. Haemophilia is X-linked recessive, which means it almost exclusively affects males while females are typically carriers.
• Von Willebrand Disease (VWD): a separate inherited bleeding disorder caused by a deficiency of Von Willebrand factor. Unlike haemophilia, VWD follows autosomal inheritance, meaning it affects both males and females equally. It affects approximately 1% of the general population.
• National Institute of Immunohaematology (NIIH): an institute under the Indian Council of Medical Research located in Mumbai. It specialises in haematology, immunology and blood-related disorders.
• Point-of-care diagnostics: tests that can be performed at or near the site of patient care without sending samples to a centralised laboratory. They reduce the time and cost of diagnosis, which is critical in district hospitals and primary health centres.
• Significance: India's haemophilia burden is the second largest in the world. The current diagnosis rate is below 20%, meaning most patients receive no treatment and face life-threatening bleeding complications.

Revises: Inherited Disorders, ICMR Institutes, X-linked Inheritance.

GS area: GS III: Economy, Energy Security, India's Petroleum Sector

Global crude oil prices declined by 9% after the United States announced a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. The Strait of Hormuz remained open throughout the conflict period.

• Strait of Hormuz: the narrow waterway between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. Approximately 25% of global oil passes through it. Any closure would trigger an immediate global supply crisis.
• Upstream companies: firms engaged in oil exploration and production. ONGC (Oil and Natural Gas Corporation) and Oil India Limited saw their stock prices fall because lower crude prices reduce the revenue they earn per barrel extracted.
• Downstream companies: firms engaged in refining and retail of petroleum products. BPCL (Bharat Petroleum), HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum) and IOC (Indian Oil Corporation) benefited because the gap between their input cost (crude) and their retail prices widened.
• India's import dependence: India imports approximately 85% of its crude oil requirements. A sustained decline in oil prices reduces India's import bill, narrows the current account deficit and eases fiscal pressure on fuel subsidies.
• Geopolitical risk premium: when conflict threatens a major oil transit route, traders add a risk premium to crude prices. The ceasefire removed that premium, driving the 9% decline.

Revises: India's Energy Security, Strait of Hormuz, ONGC, Oil Marketing Companies.

GS area: GS III: Economy, Financial Markets, Regulatory Bodies

The Securities and Exchange Board of India has mandated that all Market Infrastructure Institutions appoint at least two Executive Directors responsible for critical operations and regulatory compliance.

• Market Infrastructure Institutions (MIIs): entities that form the backbone of the securities market. They include stock exchanges (NSE, BSE), clearing corporations, and depositories (NSDL, CDSL).
• New mandate: MIIs must appoint a minimum of two Executive Directors. One ED must handle critical operations (trading, clearing, settlement). The other must handle regulatory and compliance functions.
• Board representation: the EDs will join the governing boards of MIIs and submit quarterly reports. This bridges the gap between day-to-day management and board oversight.
• External directorship restrictions: the new rules restrict MII officials from holding external directorships that could create conflicts of interest.
• SEBI's authority: SEBI was established under the SEBI Act 1992 as a statutory regulator for the securities market. It protects investor interests and promotes the development of the securities market.
• Systemic risk context: MIIs are too critical to the financial system to be governed loosely. A failure of a clearing corporation, for instance, can freeze the entire market. Stronger governance is a pre-emptive systemic risk measure.

Revises: SEBI, Stock Exchanges, Financial Regulators.

GS area: GS II: Health, Government Policy, International Organisations

India is among six countries to receive a 2025 Bloomberg Award for tobacco control under the WHO MPOWER strategy. India's cigarette packs display health warnings covering 85% of the pack surface.

• WHO MPOWER strategy: a package of six demand-reduction measures for tobacco control. MPOWER stands for: Monitor (track use and prevention policies), Protect (people from tobacco smoke), Offer (cessation support), Warn (about dangers of tobacco), Enforce (bans on advertising promotion and sponsorship), Raise (tobacco taxes).
• Global reach: 110 countries have implemented at least one MPOWER measure, covering 62% of the global population.
• India's tobacco burden: Tobacco is used by 38% of Indian men and 9% of Indian women. Global rates are 35% of men and 8% of women, placing India above the global average for male tobacco use.
• Pack warning coverage: India requires health warnings on 85% of cigarette pack surfaces, one of the highest mandated coverage levels in the world.
• Bloomberg Philanthropies tobacco control awards: recognise government action that demonstrably reduces tobacco use, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
• Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) 2003: India's primary legislation governing tobacco product regulation, advertising, packaging and labelling.

Revises: WHO, Tobacco Control, COTPA 2003, Public Health Policy.

GS area: GS III: Environment, Climate Change

Swiss glaciers are developing visible structural holes as weakened ice collapses internally. The 2022-2023 period was the worst on record for Swiss glacier melt, with some glaciers losing 10 metres of vertical ice in a single year.

• Mechanism: As surface and internal temperatures rise, meltwater creates conduits inside the glacier. Reduced ice mass weakens structural integrity and portions of the glacier collapse into voids.
• Downstream consequences: Glaciers regulate river flows that supply drinking water, agriculture and hydropower across Central and Western Europe. Loss of glacier volume means lower river flows in summer and spring flooding from rapid snowmelt.
• Climate-security nexus: SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) has documented how resource scarcity caused by climate events such as glacier retreat can trigger conflict over water.
• Cryosphere: the component of the Earth's climate system that includes all forms of frozen water. It is a key climate regulator because ice reflects solar radiation (high albedo) and its loss accelerates warming.
• India's relevance: The Himalayan glaciers are called the "Third Pole" and feed rivers including the Ganga, Brahmaputra and Indus. Accelerated melt threatens water security for over a billion people in South Asia.

Revises: Glaciers, Cryosphere, SIPRI, Climate Security.

GS area: GS III: Infrastructure, Economy, Maritime Sector

The Sagarmala Finance Corporation Limited (SMFCL) has been established as India's first dedicated Non-Banking Financial Company for the maritime sector. It holds Mini Ratna Category-I status as a Central Public Sector Enterprise.

• Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC): a company registered under the Companies Act that provides financial services but does not hold a banking licence. NBFCs cannot accept demand deposits but can lend, invest and provide other financial services.
• Mini Ratna Category-I CPSE: a Central Public Sector Enterprise that has recorded net profit in the last three years, has a positive net worth, and has been granted operational and financial autonomy below a defined threshold. It does not need government approval for capital expenditure up to Rs 500 crore.
• Mandate: SMFCL will finance maritime infrastructure, MSMEs in the maritime supply chain, startups, shipbuilding and green hydrogen projects for ships.
• Amrit Kaal Vision 2047: the long-term maritime development roadmap targeting a fivefold increase in India's share of global shipbuilding and port capacity expansion by 2047. SMFCL fills the financing gap that commercial banks have not adequately addressed.
• Sagarmala Programme: launched in 2015 under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways. It focuses on port modernisation, port-led industrialisation, port connectivity and coastal community development.

Revises: Sagarmala Programme, NBFC, Maritime Infrastructure.

GS area: GS III: Environment, Wildlife, Protected Areas

Five tigers: a mother and her four cubs: were found dead in the Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary in Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district. The incident draws attention to a sanctuary that conservationists have long argued should be notified as a Tiger Reserve.

• Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary: located in Chamarajanagar district in southern Karnataka. It spans approximately 906 square kilometres at the tri-junction of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu (Eastern Ghats transition zone).
• Declaration history: declared a Wildlife Sanctuary in 2013 under the Wildlife Protection Act 1972. It has not been notified as a Tiger Reserve despite housing a viable tiger population.
• Tiger Reserve criteria: a Tiger Reserve is notified under Section 38V of the Wildlife Protection Act 1972 on the recommendation of the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA). It requires a core critical tiger habitat and a buffer zone.
• Fauna: the sanctuary supports tigers, elephants, leopards, gaur, dholes (wild dogs), sambar deer and sloth bears. Its ecological connectivity with Bandipur, Nagarhole, Mudumalai and Wayanad makes it part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve landscape.
• Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve: India's first biosphere reserve, declared in 1986. It is recognised under the UNESCO Man and Biosphere Programme.
• Wildlife Protection Act 1972: the primary legislation governing wildlife conservation in India. It defines protected area categories: national parks, wildlife sanctuaries, conservation reserves and community reserves.

The death of five tigers: particularly cubs: points to enforcement gaps. Whether from territorial conflict, disease or poaching, the absence of Tiger Reserve status means the area receives less funding and fewer protection obligations under NTCA norms.

Revises: Tiger Conservation, Protected Areas, Wildlife Protection Act 1972.

• Bangkok Conference on CRVS: India's birth registration improvement from 86% to 96% was highlighted as a model at the Asia-Pacific meeting on civil registration systems led by UN ESCAP.
• Swiss glacier holes: Some Alpine glaciers lost 10 metres of vertical ice thickness in 2022-2023, the worst melt year on record. The structural collapse mechanism is now visually observable.
• SEBI MII governance: Market Infrastructure Institutions must now separate their operations and compliance leadership under two mandatory Executive Directors, each with board representation and quarterly reporting obligations.