Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development – Sustainable Development, Poverty, Inclusion, Demographics, Social Sector Initiatives, etc
Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilisation, of resources, growth, development and employment.
What’s the ongoing story: In line with expectations, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Friday lowered the cash reserve ratio (CRR)by 50 basis points (bps) to 4 per cent to boost liquidity in the financial system, even as the six-member Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) left the repo rate — the key policy rate — unchanged at 6.5 per cent for the 11th consecutive time.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is the Cash Reserve ratio (CRR)? How does it impact the flow of money in the economy?
• What is the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)? What are its role and responsibilities?
• What are the various instruments used by RBI to control inflation in the economy?
• What is the neutral policy stance of RBI? How does it resonate with the state of the Indian economy?
• What is the impact of rising inflation on the economy? Why does the government target to control inflation?
• How is the inflation measured in India?
• India has experienced rising inflation in 2023-24. What were the major factors behind it?
Key Takeaways:
• The rate-setting panel, however, slashed the GDP growth estimate to 6.6 per cent in FY2025 from 7.2 per cent projected earlier and revised upwards the consumer price index-based inflation (CPI), or retail inflation, forecast to 4.8 per cent for the current fiscal from 4.5 per cent estimated earlier.
• The reduction in the CRR — the percentage of a bank’s total deposits that it is required to maintain in liquid cash with the RBI as a reserve — would release primary liquidity of about Rs 1.16 lakh crore to the banking system.
• The liquidity in the banking system is likely to remain tight over the next few months on account of tax outflows related to advance tax and goods and services tax (GST) later this month, likely increase in currency in circulation (CIC) and due to outflows from foreign portfolio investors (FPIs) in the last two months.
• The capital freed up because of the CRR cut will be used by banks to meet the rising credit demand, which, in turn, will have a positive impact on net interest margins (NIM) of lenders.
• With this cut, the CRR rate has gone back to the pre-pandemic levels. The last time the CRR was reduced was in March 2020, when the RBI lowered it by 100 bps to 3 per cent. One basis point is one-hundredth of a percentage point.
• As expected, the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee, in a 4:2 majority, left the repo rate — the rate at which the RBI lends money to banks to meet their short-term funding needs — unchanged at 6.5 per cent as inflation continues to hurt the economy. It also decided to continue with the neutral monetary policy stance.
• The CPI inflation surged to a 14-month high of 6.21 per cent in October 2024, compared to 5.5 per cent in September.
• “High inflation reduces the disposable income in the hands of consumers and dents private consumption, which negatively impacts the real GDP growth. The increasing incidence of adverse weather events, heightened geopolitical uncertainties and financial market volatility pose upside risks to inflation,” Governor Das said.
• The MPC lowered the real GDP growth forecast for FY25 to 6.6 per cent from an earlier estimate of 7.2 per cent. This revision comes on the back of a below-expected real GDP growth in Q2 FY25, which fell to a seven-quarter low of 5.4 per cent. The RBI had projected the real GDP growth of 7 per cent in the July-September 2024 quarter.
From Editorial
Why RBI isn’t cutting interest rates
• Dharmakirti Joshi and Pankhuri Tandon write: The Monetary Policy Committee’s (MPC) decision to leave the repo rate unchanged would have been a tough one. It is difficult to choose between rising inflation and a sudden slowdown in economic growth.
• Monetary policies of major economies have become less restrictive in recent times. The US Fed and the European Central Bank ECB have cut 75 basis points (bps) each in 2024. But the pace of rate action has been slower than expected as taming inflation is proving to be tough for them as well.
• While most emerging market central banks are likely to cut rates in 2025, they would monitor the impact of policy changes in the US on their growth and financial markets. Put another way, the global environment is conducive to rate cuts, but their pace would be slower.
• True, retail inflation barring food has been much lower — at 2.5 per cent in April-October, a good 150 bps lower on-year. But it is food prices that typically dictate the trajectory of retail inflation in India, given its significant weight in the CPI index. Food prices also have the biggest impact on the cost of living. The higher they go, the bigger is the hole in the budgets of lower-income households.
• Food inflation has been accelerating above 6 per cent on average for almost three years now. This has cumulatively and materially increased the average monthly food bill of households.
• In the past two years, private consumption has slowed as food inflation rose. While it briefly surged to 7.4 per cent in the first quarter of the last fiscal, it slowed to 6 per cent in the second quarter. The urban economy faces additional headwinds from lower credit offtake and elevated interest rates.
• The rural economy, on the other hand, seems better placed as agricultural output is expected to be better than last fiscal year after another normal monsoon. So, while the driver of demand shifts from urban to rural, food inflation continues to be the pain point.
• Given that food prices sway the retail inflation gauge, a new CPI series based on the latest consumption survey could help reassess the importance of food in shaping monetary policy decisions. Such a recalibration would decrease the weightage accorded to food in the CPI basket. Fiscal policy also needs to accelerate efforts to limit the structural and climate risks of food prices on headline inflation.
• Inflation remains a concern for the Indian economy. The RBI cannot ignore this given that price stability is its main mandate. Fiscal policy mitigating supply risks can help ease food inflation durably and aid the RBI in balancing inflation with growth objectives.
Do You Know:
• Inflation refers to the rate at which the general price level for goods and services increases over a period of time, causing a decrease in purchasing power of money or real income. In other words, as inflation rises, each unit of currency can buy fewer goods and services than before.
• Rising inflation affects the financial well-being of households, especially those with lower incomes or fixed incomes. As the cost of goods and services increases, it reduces the quantity of goods and services that can be purchased with the same nominal income, thereby affecting households’ cost of living.
• There are different methods for measuring inflation such as Consumer Price Index (CPI), Wholesale Price Index (WPI), GDP deflator, Producer Price Index (PPI), and wage inflation, with each focusing on a specific aspect of price changes.
• Major causes of inflation can be categorised as demand-pull inflation and cost-push inflation.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Knowledge nugget of the day: RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC)
📍 How inflation affects cost of living
📍 Rising inflation: A growing concern for policymakers
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(1) With reference to the Indian economy, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2022)
1. If the inflation is too high, Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is likely to buy government securities.
2. If the rupee is rapidly depreciating, RBI is likely to sell dollars in the market.
3. If interest rates in the USA or European Union were to fall, that is likely to induce RBI to buy dollars.
Which of the statements given above are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
📍 Do you agree with the view that steady GDP growth and low inflation have left the Indian economy in good shape? Give reasons in support of your arguments. (UPSC CSE 2019)
EDITORIAL
Another step against TB
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
What’s the ongoing story: J P Nadda writes: Under PM Modi leadership, a new model of TB care was adopted and India pioneered several innovative approaches over the last few years to bring a paradigm shift in TB prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Findings from the WHO’s Global TB Report 2024 acknowledged the efficacy of the approach. It noted a 17.7 per cent decline in TB incidence in India from 2015 to 2023 — double the rate of decline observed globally. Not just that, the country diagnosed 25.1 lakh patients, marking a significant rise in treatment coverage from 59 per cent in 2015 to 85 per cent in 2023.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is TB? What are the key highlights of the Global TB Report?
• Discuss the significance of India’s achievements in tuberculosis (TB) treatment and preventive therapy.
• What is the Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY)?
• What is the Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (PMTBMBA)?
• What is the importance of BpaLM in the treatment of TB?
Key Takeaways:
• On December 7, inspired by the PM’s vision, India will witness yet another transformative push in its TB elimination strategy. We are launching a 100-day campaign in 347 high TB burden districts across the country to accelerate our response to fight TB. Through this initiative, we will reinforce our resolve to identify every TB patient early and proactively reach out to vulnerable populations with timely and quality treatment.
• To complement expanded diagnostic efforts and to support a complete recovery of TB patients, India conceptualised and operationalised a nutritional support scheme, Nikshay Poshan Yojana (NPY). Since April 2018, we have disbursed Rs 3,295 crore to 1.16 crore beneficiaries through Direct Benefit Transfer under NPY. In what is a major reinforcement of India’s commitment to TB elimination, the monthly support under the scheme has been doubled from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 per month from November 2024.
• The Pradhan Mantri TB Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (PMTBMBA) has not only helped address the challenge of nutrition but also enhanced community mobilisation. It has united various community stakeholders creating a mass movement to increase awareness and to provide nutritional, vocational, and psychological support to TB patients.
• Over the years, India has introduced newer drugs such as Bedaquiline and Delamanid to improve treatment success rates. Considering the challenges in treatment completion for patients with drug-resistant variants, we have allowed a new shorter regimen, BpaLM, which is more effective than the existing regimens.
• We have consistently strived to ensure that advanced tools are available at the grassroots levels to find and treat all patients at the earliest. To enable this, we introduced more efficient and accurate diagnostic tools — molecular tests.
• In fact, taking a cue from the Make in India initiative, indigenous molecular tests have been field-tested and introduced. We have been able to not only reduce the time taken for TB diagnosis at district and block levels but have drastically reduced the costs of testing and treatment.
• We must also take great pride in the fact that the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has consistently been among the top public funders of TB research worldwide since 2018.
• India’s journey toward TB elimination is a testament to its leadership. From pioneering research that has led to advanced diagnostics and treatments, to the introduction of universal social support provisions, India stands at the forefront of the global TB response.
• The need of the hour is to ensure a massive Jan Bhagidari in the identification, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB. The intensified 100-day campaign is another testament to our collective commitment to eliminate TB
Do You Know:
• TB is caused by an organism called mycobacterium tuberculosis, which mainly affects the lungs, but can also impact other parts of the body. TB spreads through the air when an infected individual coughs, sneezes, or speaks.
• Once diagnosed, the treatment depends on whether it is drug-resistant or simple tuberculosis. According to experts, when recovering from TB, it is critical to consume a well-balanced and nutritious diet to help strengthen the immune system.
• According to the Global TB Report 2024, India saw a slight decline in the estimated number of tuberculosis cases and deaths in 2023, but it is nowhere near its elimination target. India had an estimated 28 lakh TB cases in 2023, accounting for 26% of the global cases. And, there were estimated 3.15 lakh TB-related deaths, accounting for 29% of the deaths globally.
• In December 2022, WHO recommended the use of the BPaLM/BPaL regimen for Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) patients, which offers a much higher success rate of 89 per cent.
• Pretomanid (Pa) is used in combination with bedaquiline (B), linezolid (L) and sometimes moxifloxacin (M) to form BPaL and BPaLM. India is the only global supplier of pretomanid, a key drug within the BPaL regimen.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Knowledge Nugget of the day: Global Tuberculosis Report
📍High TB treatment coverage in India, surge in preventive therapy: WHO report
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(2) ‘Mission Indradhanush’ launched by the Government of India pertains to (UPSC CSE 2016)
(a) immunization of children and pregnant women
(b) construction of smart cities across the country
(c) India’s own search for the Earth-like planets in outer space
(d) New Educational Policy
THE IDEAS PAGE
The platforms like PRAGATI
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
What’s the ongoing story: Parameswaran Iyer and Soumitra Dutta write: As nations grapple with how to implement ambitious infrastructure agendas amid rising costs and complex regulatory environments, India has quietly pioneered an innovative solution. While much recent attention has focused on the country’s technological advances in digital payments and identity systems, another digital transformation has been revolutionising how India manages its massive infrastructure projects.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is the significance of apps like PRAGATI and SWAGAT?
• How PRAGATI has transformed the infrastructure projects in India?
• How injecting a sense of urgency and accountability into the bureaucratic process is significant in yielding results?
• Discuss the PRAGATI app as a case study in eliminating bureaucratic red-tapism.
• How did PARIVESH and PM Gati Shakti’s digital platforms streamline important projects?
• What are the various steps taken by the government to transform infrastructure governance?
Key Takeaways:
• This week, Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, in collaboration with the Gates Foundation, launched a case study examining India’s PRAGATI platform — a digital initiative that has helped accelerate more than 340 major infrastructure projects worth some $205 billion.
• PRAGATI (Pro-Active Governance and Timely Implementation) was launched in 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and combines leadership with video conferencing, drone feeds, and data management to enable oversight of critical infrastructure.
• The platform’s impact has helped complete long-delayed projects like segments of National Highway 8 in Maharashtra, the Chenab Bridge in Jammu and Kashmir, which is now the world’s highest rail bridge, and the Bogibeel Bridge in Assam, which had languished for more than a decade before being completed within three years of coming under review in PRAGATI.
• What makes PRAGATI noteworthy is the way it leverages the impact of active leadership from the top. Based on SWAGAT, a digital platform started by then Chief Minister Modi in Gujarat to address people’s grievances, PRAGATI has enabled the prime minister to take a consistent, direct role in overseeing complex infrastructure projects.
• In PRAGATI meetings, he is joined by senior aides, the cabinet secretary, all chief secretaries of states, and secretaries of the central ministries in dedicated video conference links. At these gatherings, the prime minister asks detailed questions about problems and delays, sets specific deadlines, and proposes solutions.
• The value of this high-level involvement can’t be overstated. In a large country with a complex federal structure, it communicates the importance of infrastructure development as a top national priority and injects a sense of urgency and accountability into the bureaucratic process. When officials know their decisions are trackable, they are much more motivated to move quickly to resolve bottlenecks.
• Consider the construction of the Bogibeel Bridge that runs across the wide Brahmaputra River, once viewed as “unbridgeable”. When the project entered the PRAGATI system in 2015, a decade had passed with minimal construction. The platform’s intervention prompted regular site visits by both state and central ministry officials and catalysed unprecedented cooperation between central and state agencies, leading to acceleration of work on what is now a lifeline for the remote region of Dhemaji.
• PRAGATI’s success has inspired the creation of complementary digital platforms. PM Gati Shakti, launched in 2021, provides sophisticated geospatial planning tools that help optimise infrastructure design and reduce adverse environmental impact.
• PARIVESH has streamlined environmental clearances, leading to greater transparency and also reducing approval times, at times from 600 days earlier to just 70-75 days now. Together, these platforms form a digital ecosystem that is transforming how India approaches infrastructure development.
• The impact extends beyond physical infrastructure. PRAGATI has also accelerated social development programmes, from rural electrification to providing tap water connections to millions of households.
• This digital transformation in infrastructure governance offers valuable lessons for other nations seeking to build sustainable infrastructure for the future, particularly in the developing world.
• First, technology alone isn’t enough — success requires sustained leadership from the top to drive implementation. Second, digital platforms must be designed to facilitate collaboration across different levels of government while respecting local autonomy. Third, combining various technological tools — from video conferencing to drone monitoring — creates powerful synergies for project oversight.
• The results speak for themselves. Studies by the Reserve Bank of India estimate that for every rupee spent on infrastructure, the country sees a 2.5 to 3.5-rupee gain in GDP.
• The platform’s approach could be particularly valuable for initiatives like the African Union’s Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA), which aims to close the continent’s infrastructure gap through cross-border projects. PRAGATI’s accomplishments in managing complex multi-state infrastructure developments offer a time-tested template for handling such collaborations.
• As countries across the Global South work to modernise their infrastructure and support rapidly growing populations and urbanisation, PRAGATI’s combination of digital innovation and high-level coordination provides a valuable model for accelerating development while ensuring accountability and effective resource utilisation.
Do You Know:
• PM GatiShakti is a digital platform that connects 16 ministries — including Roads and Highways, Railways, Shipping, Petroleum and Gas, Power, Telecom, Shipping, and Aviation — with a view to ensuring holistic planning and execution of infrastructure projects.
• The portal offer 200 layers of geospatial data, including on existing infrastructure such as roads, highways, railways, and toll plazas, as well as geographic information about forests, rivers and district boundaries to aid in planning and obtaining clearances.
• Studies estimate that logistics costs in India are about 13-14% of GDP as against about 7-8% of GDP in developed economies. High logistics costs impact cost structures within the economy, and also make it more expensive for exporters to ship merchandise to buyers.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Explained: Connecting ministries for infrastructure project
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(3) With reference to ‘National Investment and Infrastructure Fund’, which of the following statements is/are correct? (UPSC CSE 2017)
1. It is an organ of NITI Aayog.
2. It has a corpus of `4,00,000 crore at present.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Previous year UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
The Gati-Shakti Yojana needs meticulous coordination between the government and the private sector to achieve the goal of connectivity. Discuss. (UPSC CSE 2022)
EXPRESS NETWORK
‘Beginnings of something potentially important’: EAM on semiconductor alliance between India and Japan
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
What’s the ongoing story: Highlighting the possibility for semiconductor collaboration between India and Japan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Friday that he was “seeing the beginnings of something potentially important” that could reshape global geopolitical dynamics.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is India’s Semiconductor Mission?
• What are the international agreements signed by India for the import of semiconductors?
• What are the domestic policies adopted by India to increase semiconductor production?
• What are the challenges of chip manufacturing in India?
• What is the significance of Japan for India’s Semiconductor mission?
• India- Japan: areas of cooperation, conflict and challenges.
Key Takeaways:
• “Japan is today revitalising its semiconductor sector, and India, after a very long period of neglect, has announced a semiconductor mission. There are a lot of things happening. It is interesting that both of us also happen to be working with Taiwan. I am seeing the beginnings of something potentially important here, and potentially really significant for both countries,” he said.
• On India’s trade ties with Japan and other aspects of the bilateral relationship, Jaishankar said that even though India and Japan never had problems, it does not mean everything works well. “I would say how do you take good sentiment and make it into a practical plan,” he said.
Do You Know:
• The government of India not only acknowledges the economic and geopolitical importance of the semiconductor industry but also recognises the shortcomings of the Indian semiconductor sector. As a result, various steps have been taken by the government from time to time to boost domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
• The India Semiconductor Mission was launched in 2021. It is a strategic initiative undertaken by the government of India to promote the domestic semiconductor industry. Its goal is to improve semiconductor design and manufacturing capabilities domestically and to encourage innovation, employment, and economic growth.
• The government has launched the Semicon India programme with a total outlay of Rs 76,000 crore to provide financial support to companies investing in semiconductors, display manufacturing and design ecosystems. This will help in the development of the semiconductor and display manufacturing ecosystem in the country.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍UPSC Issue at a Glance | India’s Semiconductor Push: 4 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains
UPSC Mains Question Covering similar theme:
Why India is aiming to become self-sufficient in chip manufacturing? Highlight the government initiatives to strengthen India’s semiconductor ecosystem.
Farmers IDs: First to hit 25% milestone, Gujarat set to receive Centre’s incentives
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
What’s the ongoing story: Having achieved 25% of its target, Gujarat is set to become the first state to avail of the Centre’s incentives for creating a Farmers’ Registry. Agriculture Ministry sources said Gujarat officials have informed them that the state will be sending a formal proposal to get the funds under the the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2024-25 in the next few days.
Key Points to Ponder:
• What is Farmer’s registry?
• What is the objective and significance of the Farmer’s Registry?
• What is the Digital Agriculture Mission and what are its components?
• How government is integrating Digital Public Infrastructure in agriculture?
• What are the various challenges faced by the agriculture sector?
Key Takeaways:
• According to an Agriculture Ministry official, as of December 5, Gujarat generated Farmer IDs for 17.47 lakh farmers — a quarter of its target of 66.21 lakh farmers. It’s the first state in the country to achieve the 25% target, the official added.
• A Farmer ID, also known as Kisan Pehchaan Patra, is an Aadhaar-based unique digital identity linked dynamically to a state’s land records bearing information such as demographics, crops sown and ownership details. It will form the core of the Farmers’ Registry, one of the three registries under the AgriStack component of the Centre’s Digital Agriculture Mission for the creation of digital public infrastructure in the farm sector, which got the Union Cabinet’s approval earlier this year.
• With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her Budget Speech on July 23, announcing that 6 crore farmers and their land will be brought into the farmer/ land registries in the current fiscal, the Centre earmarked Rs 5,000 crore as incentives for creating the Farmers’ Registry in 2024-25 under the Scheme for Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment 2024-25.
• According to the guidelines, the funds for creating a State Farmers’ Registry will be available on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis, with states becoming eligible to receive incentives only after achieving at least 25% coverage. The incentives are proportional to each milestone: Rs 500 per farmer after crossing 25% of the generation target; Rs 750 after 50%; Rs 1,250 after 75%; and Rs 1,750 at 100%.
• With the creation of the Farmers’ Registry, a farmer would be able to digitally identify and authenticate himself/herself to access benefits and services, obviating cumbersome paperwork and with little or no need to physically visit various offices or service providers, said a source.
Do You Know:
• The mission to create Digital Public Infrastructure in the agriculture sector is similar to the government’s flagship e-governance initiatives in other sectors, which have over the years resulted in digital solutions such as the Aadhaar unique ID and more.
• Three major components of DPI are envisaged under the Digital Agriculture Mission: AgriStack, Krishi Decision Support System (DSS), and Soil Profile Maps. Each of these DPI components will provide solutions that will allow farmers to access and avail of various services.
• The mission also aims to create a tech-based ecosystem, the Digital General Crop Estimation Survey (DGCES), which will provide accurate estimates of agricultural production.
• The Mission was planned for launch in the financial year 2021-22, but the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic upset these plans, a source said. The government subsequently announced the building of Digital Public Infrastructure for agriculture in the Union Budgets of both 2023-24 and 2024-25.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Big plans for farms: What is in the Rs 2,800-crore Digital Agriculture Mission?
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(4) What is/ are the advantage/advantages of implementing the ‘National Agriculture Market Scheme’? (UPSC CSE 2017)
1. It is a pan-India electronic trading portal for agricultural commodities.
2. It provides the farmers access to nationwide market, with prices commensurate with the quality of their produce.
Select the correct answer using the code given below :
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
EXPLAINED
How the Supreme Court hears cases
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance – Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues
Mains Examination: General Studies-II: Structure, organisation and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
What’s the ongoing story: A large number of cases are filed before the Supreme Court every year, even as thousands of other cases are already pending. How does the Supreme Court decide which cases to prioritise?
Key Points to Ponder:
• What are special leave petitions (SLPs)? How is it different from grant leave or permission to appeal?
• What is the issue of pendency of cases in the Supreme Court?
• What are the causes of the huge pendency of cases?
• What is the role of the Chief Justice of India in dealing with the pendency of cases?
Key Takeaways:
• Over the last month, the SC has been prioritising special leave petitions (SLPs). These are cases where the court would have issued notice to the parties over the last few years, but is yet to admit (grant leave or permission to appeal) them.
• The court has been hearing these cases for three days of the workweek and has kept only Mondays and Fridays for fresh cases. In effect, the SC is limiting the listing of cases in which a detailed hearing is required.
• On November 16, five days after Justice Khanna took office as the 51st CJI, the SC on the administrative side issued a circular saying “after notice miscellaneous matters” would be heard on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Also, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, “no regular hearing matter shall be listed till further orders”, the circular said.
• “After notice miscellaneous matters” are cases in which the court issues “notice” to the other party in a “fresh matter”. A case becomes a “regular hearing matter” after it has been “admitted”.
• This prioritising of cases that can be either admitted or rejected quickly over those that require full-length arguments from both sides seeks to tackle the ever-increasing backlog of cases at the court. As per the National Judicial Data Grid, more than 82,000 cases are pending in the SC currently.
• According to the book Court on Trial: A Data-Driven Account of the Supreme Court of India, co-authored by National Law School of India University, Bengaluru professor Aparna Chandra, the SC accepts only 14% of SLPs that are filed.
• SLPs are essentially appeals (against an order of a High Court) but the SC has to grant “leave” for them to be heard. Dismissal of these cases means an immediate reduction in pendency.
• However, according to data in the book, in the four years from 2010 to 2014, the SC heard more than 60,000 such cases every year on average before deciding whether to admit them.
• Appeals, the bulk of which are SLPs, comprise approximately 92.4% of the court’s docket, and a typical hearing on whether to admit an SLP lasts for just 1 minute and 33 seconds on average, says the book.
• But once a case is taken up for full hearing by the court, it takes more than four years on average before the judgment is passed, with many cases taking “twice as long or longer”.
• On the other hand, regular hearing matters are often already pending for years, and this approach only extends the pendency.
• Behind the public-facing functions of the SC — which include conducting hearings, writing (and delivering) judgments, and making public appearances — is the administrative machine of the court, the “Registry”.
• The SC Registry has two wings — the administration and the judicial. Each of these wings is divided into various divisions, with their own administrative responsibilities such as case listing, technology, issues related to the court and buildings, human resources, etc.
• Each division is headed by a Registrar, and the Registry as a whole is led by the Secretary General, who is the highest administrative officer in the Supreme Court, and reports to the CJI.
• Once a case is “listed”, it comes up before a Bench as a “fresh” matter. As per SC rules, these cases have been heard on Mondays and Fridays for decades now, which are known as “Miscellaneous days”.
• If the court does not immediately dismiss the case, it sends a “notice” to the other party seeking a reply to the case against them. The case is then known as an “after notice miscellaneous matter”. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays are also referred to as “non-miscellaneous days” or NMDs.
• On these days, the court lists cases that need both parties to be heard, and written submissions considered before it is decided whether to admit the case. After admission, another schedule of detailed “final hearing” takes place, after which a verdict is delivered.
• Depending on how pendency has piled up, these are the cases where the court experiments with what kind of cases are to be listed. It is also on these days that Constitution Bench hearings take place.
Do You Know:
• High court vacancies average 30 per cent but can touch nearly 50 per cent. Subordinate court vacancies average 22 per cent. But Bihar and Meghalaya clock in vacancies above 30 per cent — ongoing for over three years.
• According to the India Justice Report, as of June 2020, on average, a case remained pending in the subordinate courts for three years and in high courts, at 2022 figures, for five years.
• The 120th report of the Law Commission recommended there should be 50 judges per 10 lakh population. At just 15 judges per 10 lakh population nearly four decades later, even this hugely inadequate figure has not been reached. Meanwhile, each of India’s BRICs partners has way more judges to serve their populations.
• Excessive government litigation presently accounts for roughly 50 per cent of the court load. Attempts to trim and rationalise this have been going on for a while. In the absence of comprehensive publicly available data, or cost-benefit analysis, it is hard to know whether they have led to any significant downsizing of the sprawling government docket or what incentives and disincentives would rationalise it.
• The eye-watering five million-plus cases pending have prompted all sorts of experiments and sudden ad hoc efforts: Compulsory pre-trial mediation, Lok Adalats, specialist courts, the winnowing out of petty cases, ironing out burdensome procedural bottlenecks as the apex court has done recently when it directed the electronic communication of bail orders directly to prisons; prioritising old cases and cases where delay will bring about loss of liberty and irreparable harm to one or other party, and ever more tribunals.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍Blaming court vacation for pendency misses the real problem
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(5) The power to increase the number of judges in the Supreme Court of India is vested in
(a) the President of India
(b) the Parliament
(c) the Chief Justice of India
(d) the Law Commission
Why low-intensity Cyclone Fengal caused large-scale destruction
Syllabus:
Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance
Mains Examination: General Studies-III: Disaster and disaster management.
What’s the ongoing story: Cyclone Fengal, which made landfall near Puducherry on November 30, was a low-intensity storm as it maintained a wind speed of about 75-95 kmph. However, the cyclone left a trail of destruction in its wake. At least 12 people died, mostly in Tamil Nadu, numerous properties were damaged, and standing crops were destroyed over large areas.
Key Points to Ponder:
• How are Tropical cyclones formed?
• How are cyclones named?
• What is the difference between tropical and temperate cyclones?
• What are the Cyclone disaster management mitigation and preparedness measures in India?
• What are the challenges of cyclone disaster management in India?
Key Takeaways:
• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) categorises cyclones based on the associated wind speeds. These categories are: low pressure (< 31 kmph), depression (31-49 kmph), deep depression (50-61 kmph), cyclonic storm (62-88 kmph), severe cyclonic storm (89-117 kmph), very severe cyclonic storm (118-221 kmph), and super cyclone (> 222 kmph).
• Over the years, Indian coasts have witnessed several severe storms which led to large-scale devastation. Associated maximum wind speeds went up to 260 kmph (Odisha super cyclone, October 1999), 215 kmph (Cyclone Phailin, May 2013), and 185 kmph (Cyclone Amphan, May 2020). Therefore, compared to many earlier storms, Cyclone Fengal was a low-intensity storm. Fengal triggered exceptionally heavy rain and flooding in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry.
• According to the IMD, this happened primarily due to the movement of Cyclone Fengal. From its genesis to landfall, Fengal moved at a slow pace. On occasions, it moved at speeds slower than 6 kmph while at sea. Fengal also remained stationary for nearly 12 hours soon after making landfall close to Puducherry. Maintaining its intensity as a cyclone, the storm caused heavy rainfall and rough windy conditions over the region.
• Usually, after landfall, cyclones weaken as they hit obstructions and experience friction from buildings and trees. In the case of Fengal, as the storm stayed stationary, the destruction was far more pronounced, leading to numerous deaths.
• Notably, during recent cyclones (such as Dana in October this year), which were more intense than Fengal, human casualties were either nil or limited to single digits.
Do You Know:
• Landfall is the event of a tropical cyclone coming onto land after being over water. As per the IMD, a tropical cyclone is said to have made a landfall when the centre of the storm – or its eye – moves over the coast.
• Crucially a landfall should not be confused with a ‘direct hit’, which refers to a situation where the core of high winds (or eyewall) comes ashore but the centre of the storm may stay remain offshore. As per the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), because the strongest winds in a tropical cyclone are not located precisely at the centre, it is possible for a cyclone’s strongest winds to be experienced over land even if landfall does not occur.
• The damage caused by the landfall will depend on the severity of the cyclone – marked by the speed of its winds… Landfalls can last for a few hours, with their exact duration depending on the speed of the winds and the size of the storm system.
• Cyclones lose their intensity once they move over land because of sharp reduction of moisture supply and increase in surface friction. This means that while landfalls are often the most devastating moments of cyclones, they also mark the beginning of its end.
Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:
📍What is the landfall of a cyclone?
Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
(6) Consider the following sentences: (UPSC CSE 2020)
1. Jet streams occur in the Northern Hemisphere only.
2. Only some cyclones develop an eye.
3. The temperature inside the eye of a cyclone is nearly 10°C lesser than that of the surroundings.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 2 only
(d) 1 and 3 only
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