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Even as a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court struck down the electoral bonds scheme as unconstitutional on Thursday, it saved one aspect of the challenge for another day and a larger bench – the issue of the government using the money Bill route to bring in the laws that introduced the electoral bonds.
Pleas challenging the use of the money Bill route, which allows a legislation to bypass scrutiny of the Rajya Sabha, is pending before a seven-judge bench that is yet to be formed.
In his opinion in the electoral bonds ruling, Justice Sanjiv Khanna wrote, “The question of constitutional validity of the scheme and the amendments introduced by the Finance Act, 2017 are being examined by us.
The question of introducing these amendments through a money Bill under Article 110 of the Constitution is not being examined by us. The scope of Article 110 of the Constitution has been referred to a seven-judge Bench and is sub-judice.”
Editorial
Income not MSP (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Farmers, largely from Punjab, are protesting on Delhi’s borders. The government must deal with them rationally — study their demands and sit down with them to resolve the problem at the earliest.
The farmers’ demands include making minimum support prices (MSPs) legally binding and fixing MSPs according to the so-called Swaminathan formula — it suggested 50 per cent profit over comprehensive cost, often referred to as Cost C2.
This cost concept includes not only all the paid-out costs of farmers and imputed value of family labour (Cost A2+FL), but also imputed rent on owned land and imputed interest on owned capital.
The difference between Cost A2+FL and Cost C2 is roughly 25 to 30 per cent for most crops. The current MSP formula that the Modi government has accepted is minimum 50 per cent margin over Cost A2+FL.
So, if this is replaced by Cost C2 plus 50 per cent margin, in most crops covered under MSP regime, the MSPs will go up by 25 to 30 per cent.
Ideas Page
AI in the year of elections (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The year 2024 has been billed by Time magazine as the “ultimate election year” — the largest ever global exercise in democracy, with close to half the world’s population engaging in elections.
This year, democracy’s defenders are fretting not only over the run-of-the-mill election demons, but also over newer demons of the digital kind.
Since 2023 was the year of AI frenzy, there is a worry that AI will turbocharge 2024 election-related naughtiness. Think: Deepfakes, disinformation, robocalls and other dastardly forms of digital voter manipulation.
It is no surprise, therefore, that governments around the world have leapt into action. From the regulation-loving Europeans and the regulation-allergic Americans to India’s minister of state for electronics and IT, Rajeev Chandrashekhar — who claims to have “woken up earlier” than others to AI’s dangers — rules to tackle AI-created disinformation are being rushed out. I worry that in the scramble to nab the AI bogeyman during this year of elections, we may end up making the wider problems of AI worse.
World
US says will block another UN ceasefire resolution as Israel strikes across Gaza (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu brushed off growing calls to halt the military offensive in Gaza, vowing to "finish the job" as a member of his War Cabinet threatened to invade the southern city of Rafah if remaining Israeli hostages are not freed by the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Israel's government has not publicly discussed a timeline for a ground offensive on Rafah, where more than half the enclave's 2.3 million Palestinians have sought refuge.
Retired general Benny Gantz, part of Netanyahu's three-member War Cabinet, represents an influential voice but not the final word on what might lie ahead.
Explained
ISRO latest launch: Why GSLV rockets is called naughty boy (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched a new-generation meteorological satellite, INSAT-3DS, meant to carry out enhanced monitoring of the Earth’s surface, atmosphere, oceans and environment.
INSAT-3DS will augment the capabilities of the existing two meteorological satellites, INSAT-3D and INSAT-3DR, and boost India’s weather and climate prediction services, early warnings, and disaster management services.
But more than the satellite, it was the rocket that was the focus of attention of this launch. The INSAT-3DS satellite rode on the GSLV-F14 rocket to reach its intended geostationary orbit.
GSLV is one of the three main rockets used by ISRO for carrying its satellites, the other two being PSLV and LVM3 (earlier called GSLV-MkIII).
GSLV has had a rather patchy track record thus far, because of which it has been described as the ‘naughty boy’. On Saturday, however, it made a flawless flight, and deposited the satellite in the desired orbit.
Bubonic plague (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The bubonic plague is back. Earlier this week, health officials in Oregon, US confirmed the first case of bubonic plague in the state since 2005.
According to various reports, the person probably got the disease from a sick pet cat.
The disease was quickly detected and the person received antibiotics for treatment. The contacts of the person and the cat were tracked down and also given the treatment. The cat was also treated but did not survive.
Between 1346 and 1353, the bubonic plague killed as many as 50 million in Europe in what is known as the Black
The plague is caused by Yersinia pestis, a zoonotic bacteria, i.e. bacteria that can spread between animals and people. Y pestis is usually found in small animals and their fleas.
Economy
After PAC nod, hike in reporting limits for Ministries spending proposed (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
After a gap of about 18 years, the government is set to revise its financial limits for ‘New Service’ and ‘New Instruments of Service’ after getting approval from Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC).
The panel has approved the Finance Ministry’s proposal to raise the reporting limit for new policy-related expenditure by ministries/departments to above Rs 50 crore but not exceeding Rs 100 crore along with mandating prior approval of Parliament for spending over Rs 100 crore.
The approval, which has come in line with expansion in GDP growth and the Budget size, has fixed the reporting limit for ‘New Instrument of Service’, to up to 20 per cent of the original appropriation or up to Rs 100 crore, whichever is higher.
Approval from Parliament would be mandatory for amounts exceeding 20 per cent of the original appropriation or above 100 crores, whichever is higher, subject to savings within the same section of the grant,” the PAC, headed by Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, has said in the report titled ‘Revision of Financial Limits for Determining the Cases Relating to ‘New Service/New Instrument of Service’.