Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
Reserving its judgment on petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Electoral Bond Scheme-2018, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court said it is “slightly difficult to accept” the government’s contention that voters do not have the right to know the source of funding of political parties.
The Bench, presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and comprising Justices Sanjeev Khanna, B R Gavai, J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, suggested that a better poll bond scheme can be formulated taking care of the “serious deficiencies” in the present scheme.
It directed the Election Commission of India to submit in two weeks the details of contributions received by political parties by way of electoral bonds until September 30, 2023.
As it is, everyone knows about it (donation through electoral bond). The party knows about it. The only person who is deprived is the voter. Your contention that voters do not have the right to know, after the number of decisions of this court, is slightly difficult to accept.
Express network
Developing countries need at least 10 times more funds for climate adaptation: UN report (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Despite rapidly increasing climate risks which necessitate greater efforts to adapt, the money being made available to developing countries for adaptation measures has been declining, and nowhere close to the scale of requirement, a new report by the United Nations has revealed.
In 2021, just about $21 billion went to developing countries for adaptation projects, which was down about 15 per cent from the previous years.
However, a fresh assessment of the requirements Climate changehow that developing countries, together, need at least $215 billion every year this decade to carry out meaningful adaptation work, the latest edition of
Editorial
Moment of Reckoning (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Social Issues)
In India, promising reservation to any caste or community is as daring an act as riding a tiger. Getting off the “reservation tiger” could be even more adventurous.
The BJP in Maharashtra would have learnt this by now. Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange has ended his fast. But with over half a dozen supporters committing suicide in the last few weeks, the issue has turned into a fireball that could hurt the ruling party’s ambitions.
Marathas, forming 33 per cent of Maharashtra’s population, are the strongest of all communities in the state. Eleven of the state’s 16 chief ministers have been Marathas.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and half of the 29-member cabinet are Marathas. In the education sector, most major private and deemed universities in the state, like the Bharati Vidyapeeth, D Y Patil University and the Pravara Institute Of Medical Sciences, are founded and run by Marathas.
Despite a wide and strong political and social base, Marathas want reservation. The government cannot give it. This raises two questions.
Why do Marathas need reservation and why is complying with their demand so difficult for the ruling alliance? To answer, one needs to dip into the state’s social history.
Ideas page
Nowhere to hide (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relationy)
Nowhere to go. No safe place to go to. Nowhere else to go. Nowhere to bury the dead. It is a litany that is repeated relentlessly in Gaza and with increasing intensity in recent days since the Israeli retaliation to the October 7 Hamas attacks began.
The Gaza Strip, perhaps the most uncharted place in the world, has been a small land completely closed off from the outside world for 17 years, ever since Israel imposed the blockade around its land and sea borders, leaving Egypt to manage the southern Rafah Crossing Point.
Gaza is a small strip of land where people are born, live and die without ever leaving a prison without bars.
Forty kilometres from north to south, less than 10 kilometres east to west, between the Mediterranean Sea and the border with Israel.
World
Putin withdraws Russia’s ratification of CTBT (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
President Vladimir Putin signed a law revoking Russian ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, according to a decree published on a government website.
Russia says the aim is to restore parity with the United States, which has signed but never ratified the 1996 treaty, and that it will not resume testing unless Washington does.
Explained
Why global pact on AI matters (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire near London was once the top-secret base of the codebreakers who cracked the German ‘Enigma Code’ that hastened the end of World War II.
This symbolism was evidently a reason why it was chosen to host the world’s first ever Artificial Intelligence (AI) Safety Summit.
The two-day November 1-2 summit that has drawn in global leaders, computer scientists, and tech executives began with a bang, with a pioneering agreement wrapped up on the first day, which resolved to establish “a shared understanding of the opportunities and risks posed by frontier AI”.
Twenty-eight major countries including the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and India, and the European Union agreed to sign on a declaration saying global action is needed to tackle the potential risks of AI.
“Frontier AI” is defined as highly capable foundation generative AI models that could possess dangerous capabilities that can pose severe risks to public safety.
UNESCO names Kozhikode city of literature: What this tag means (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
The city of Kozhikode in Kerala was added in UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network (UCCN). Gwalior from Madhya Pradesh was also among the 55 new cities to join the network.
These cities have been handpicked to represent seven creative fields — crafts and folk arts, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts, and music. Kozhikode was included in the category of literature and Gwalior in the category of music.
The UCCN was created in 2004 to promote cooperation among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. It now includes 350 cities in over a hundred countries.
The network is aimed at leveraging the creative, social, and economic potential of cultural industries. It was launched to promote UNESCO’s goals of cultural diversity and strengthen resilience to threats such as climate change, rising inequality, and rapid urbanisation. It encourages a culture of creativity in urban planning and solutions to urban problems.
Bletchley park: Birthplace of modern computing (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
An English country house does not come across as the natural choice to host the world’s first global summit on artificial intelligence (AI).
Bletchley Park, however, is not any random country house. Located about 80-odd km north of London, it is considered by many to be the birthplace of modern computing.
Advances made there in cryptographic and intelligence processes during World War II contributed greatly to the Allied effort, and may have shortened the War by a couple of years.
As world leaders and tech moghuls meet at Bletchley Park to discuss the next frontier in modern computing, a look at the history of the venue where they are meeting.
When World War II broke out in 1939, like many other British agencies and institutions, Britain’s Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) was promptly moved out of London, under constant threat from German bombers.
Economy
Labour issues increasingly getting discussed in trade talks (Page no. 19)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Maintaining high industrial safety standards is necessary as these are influencing free trade agreements and their non-compliance can lead to trade barriers affecting India’s economic growth.
Addressing the 10th FICCI Awards & Conference for Excellence in Safety Systems here, Union Labour Secretary Arti Ahuja underscored the pivotal role of robust industrial safety standards in safeguarding India's trajectory towards becoming the third-largest global economy.
With safety provisions increasingly influencing free trade agreements (FTAs), Ahuja highlighted the imperative of maintaining high safety standards to avoid these being used as potential trade barriers that could restrict India’s growth.
In the context of India’s rapid economic growth and its integration into global markets, it is crucial that we address safety and labour issues, as non-compliance could lead to non-tariff trade barriers, impeding our growth story.