22 November 2025

• MOSPI's 79th round survey found that 89.49 percent of Scheduled Tribe members lack ICT skills, compared with 73.71 percent among the general category.
• India's four Labour Codes consolidate 29 central labour laws and remain pending for implementation across most States.
• Only 55 percent of cases before Juvenile Justice Boards have been resolved as of October 2023, with 24 percent of JJBs not fully constituted.
• CISF was designated as the safety regulator for over 250 major and minor seaports, taking the role of a Recognised Security Organisation.
• The G20 Johannesburg Summit opened under South Africa's presidency with the theme "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability," the first G20 Leaders' Summit on African soil.

GS area: GS-2 (social justice, welfare of vulnerable sections, governance)

MOSPI's 79th Round Survey on ICT skills in India reveals deep disparities in digital access along caste, gender, and income lines, with Scheduled Tribes facing the steepest exclusion.

• Survey authority: Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI), 79th Round.
• ICT skills gap by social group: STs lack ICT skills: 89.49 percent; SCs: 86.62 percent; OBCs: 81.73 percent; general category: 73.71 percent.
• Gender gap: men nationally have 22.78 percent ICT skill attainment; women have 13.91 percent. This gap is wider in rural areas.
• Income disparity: the poorest 20 percent of households have 6.8 percent computer access; the richest 20 percent have 66.3 percent access, a tenfold difference.
• Policy relevance: the National Digital Literacy Mission and PMGDISHA (Pradhan Mantri Gramin Digital Saksharta Abhiyan) target rural and marginalised populations, but the data shows persistent exclusion.
• Prelims hook: MOSPI conducts the National Sample Survey (NSS) through periodic rounds. The 75th Round examined household social consumption, the 79th Round covers ICT usage.

GS area: GS-2 (labour rights, social security, government policy, industrial relations)

India consolidated 29 central labour laws into four comprehensive Codes between 2019 and 2020. Most States have not yet notified rules, delaying implementation.

• Code on Wages 2019: establishes a universal minimum wage applicable to all workers (including unorganised sector), a national floor wage as a reference floor, gender-neutral pay provisions, and overtime at double the regular wage rate. Replaces four earlier Acts.
• Industrial Relations Code 2020: introduces fixed-term employment with full social benefits (no inferior status versus permanent workers), creates a re-skilling fund providing 15 days' wages for retrenched workers, sets trade union recognition at 51 percent membership, and raises the threshold for prior government approval of layoffs from 100 workers to 300 workers.
• Code on Social Security 2020: extends social security coverage to gig workers and platform workers for the first time, with aggregator companies required to contribute to a dedicated social security fund.
• Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code 2020: provides a single registration replacing multiple establishment registrations, permits women to work night shifts with mandatory safety provisions, caps working hours at 8 per day and 48 per week, and requires safety committees in establishments with 500 or more workers.
• Implementation status: all four Codes passed Parliament; States must frame rules before the Codes come into force. Most States are yet to finalise rules.

GS area: GS-2 (social justice, child welfare, judiciary)

A review of India's Juvenile Justice Boards reveals severe pendency rates and structural gaps that undermine the juvenile justice system's rehabilitative mandate.

• Pendency rate: 55 percent of cases before JJBs were pending as of October 31, 2023.
• Total cases: 1,00,904 cases across all JJBs in India.
• Structural gap: 24 percent of JJBs are not fully constituted as required by law.
• Legal services deficit: 30 percent of JJBs lack functional legal services clinics.
• State variation: Odisha has the highest pendency rate (83 percent); Karnataka has the lowest (35 percent).
• Legal basis: Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, Section 4, requires each state government to constitute a JJB for every district.
• JJB composition: one Metropolitan or Judicial Magistrate (with three or more years' experience) and two social workers, of whom at least one must be a woman.
• Section 15 provision: JJBs may transfer a case to the Children's Court when the accused is between 16 and 18 years of age and the offence is heinous, allowing trial as an adult after a preliminary assessment.

GS area: GS-3 (infrastructure, transport, waterways)

The Inland Waterways Authority of India entered focus through a Rs 3,000 crore MoU signed during India Maritime Week 2025 and its expanded role in the National Waterways programme.

• Established: October 27, 1986, under the Inland Waterways Authority of India Act, 1985.
• Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh.
• Regional offices: Patna, Kolkata, Guwahati, Varanasi, Bhubaneswar, and Kochi.
• MoU: Rs 3,000 crore agreement signed during India Maritime Week 2025 for waterway infrastructure expansion.
• Key National Waterways: NW-1 on the Ganga (Prayagraj to Haldia), NW-2 on the Brahmaputra (Dhubri to Sadiya), and NW-16 on the Barak River.
• National Waterways total: India has declared 111 National Waterways under the National Waterways Act, 2016.
• Jal Marg Vikas Project: World Bank-funded flagship project developing NW-1 for commercial navigation, connecting Varanasi to Kolkata.
• Prelims hook: IWAI is a statutory body, not a ministry department. Its parent ministry is the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways.

GS area: GS-3 (science and technology, energy storage, research institutions)

Scientists at the Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences in Bengaluru developed a new zinc-ion battery technology with potential for large-scale energy storage applications.

• Developing institution: Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences (CeNS), Bengaluru, an autonomous institute under the Department of Science and Technology.
• Battery type: aqueous zinc-ion battery using zinc metal as the anode.
• Key innovation: thermo-electrochemical activation transforms vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) into a zinc-intercalated form (Zn-V2O5), significantly improving energy density and cycle life.
• Performance characteristics: higher energy density than conventional zinc-ion designs, capable of thousands of charge-discharge cycles.
• Safety advantage: aqueous (water-based) electrolyte is non-flammable, unlike the organic electrolytes used in lithium-ion batteries.
• Material advantage: zinc is abundant, inexpensive, and widely available globally, avoiding the supply-chain risks associated with lithium and cobalt.
• Application context: zinc-ion batteries are suited for stationary grid storage and community-scale energy systems rather than mobile applications.

GS area: GS-3 (internal security, maritime security, paramilitary forces)

The Central Industrial Security Force was designated as the Recognised Security Organisation for over 250 major and minor seaports across India, expanding its maritime mandate.

• New role: Recognised Security Organisation (RSO) for Indian seaports, responsible for safety standards and security audits.
• Number of facilities: over 250 major and minor seaports.
• CISF establishment: 1969, under the CISF Act. It is a Central Armed Police Force under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Existing CISF mandates: security of 70-plus commercial airports, nuclear power plants, metro rail systems, government PSUs, ISRO facilities, currency presses, and the Parliament complex.
• Regulatory significance: the RSO role involves setting security norms, conducting audits, and certifying compliance at maritime facilities, distinct from the physical guard/patrolling role CISF performs at airports.

GS area: GS-2 (international relations, multilateral groupings, global governance)

South Africa hosted the 2025 G20 Summit in Johannesburg, marking the first time an African nation hosted the G20 Leaders' Summit.

• Theme: "Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability."
• Historic milestone: first G20 Leaders' Summit hosted on the African continent.
• G20 origin: formed in 1999 after the Asian Financial Crisis as a forum for Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. Elevated to Leaders' Summit level in 2008-09 following the global financial crisis.
• Current membership: 19 individual countries, the European Union, and the African Union (admitted in 2023 at the New Delhi Summit under India's presidency).
• Troika: Brazil (2024 presidency), South Africa (2025 presidency), and the United States (2026 presidency).
• Key issues under South Africa: climate financing, debt relief for developing nations, food security, and inclusive digital infrastructure.

GS area: GS-2 (social justice, welfare schemes, nutrition, women and child development)

The Integrated Child Development Services completed 50 years in 2025, having grown from two pilot locations in 1975 to nearly 14 lakh Anganwadi Centres across India.

• Launch date: October 2, 1975.
• Pilot locations: Dharani block in Amravati (Maharashtra) and Dharavi in Mumbai.
• Current scale: nearly 14 lakh (1.4 million) Anganwadi Centres nationwide.
• Target beneficiaries: children aged 0 to 6 years, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and adolescent girls and women aged 15 to 45.
• Six core services: supplementary nutrition, pre-school non-formal education, health check-ups, immunisation, referral services, and nutrition and health education.
• Administering ministry: Ministry of Women and Child Development.
• POSHAN Abhiyaan linkage: ICDS is the delivery platform for POSHAN Abhiyaan (National Nutrition Mission), which targets reductions in stunting, wasting, and low birth weight among children under five.

• COP30 draft controversy: a draft outcome document circulated before COP30 removed all references to fossil fuels and the transition roadmap. Over 80 countries demanded the language be reinstated, reversing the COP28 Dubai commitment to "transition away from fossil fuels."
• Code on Wages re-skilling fund: the 15-day wage entitlement for retrenched workers under the Industrial Relations Code 2020 targets skill transition rather than simple welfare, aiming to reduce structural unemployment from industrial disruption.
• JJB magistrate qualification: the presiding magistrate of a JJB must have at least three years' experience as a Metropolitan or Judicial Magistrate, ensuring sufficient legal competence for complex juvenile cases.
• CeNS Bengaluru: Centre for Nano and Soft Matter Sciences is one of India's leading materials science institutions and has produced several breakthrough energy storage technologies.
• IWAI parent ministry: IWAI operates under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, not the Ministry of Jal Shakti (which handles drinking water and river conservation).