Weekly Roundup | Current Affairs |17th to 23rd May, 2026 | Vision IAS

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[00:00:17]Good morning everyone. Uh welcome to the another session of weekly roundup. In weekly roundup, we cover the most important news of the last week and along with the main news, we also discuss the PyQs from the prelims as well as from the mains examination. My name is Anoj and I will be taking today's session. In today's session, we will be covering five main news, seven quick update and one place in news. The first main news is about the demographic transition. The theory and implications on India. Then we will be discussing about simultaneous election.

[00:00:57]Then the next news is about the Indust water treaty as India have rejected the court of arbitration ruling on India's Indust water treaty. Then the next news bat maritime insurance pool. And the last main news is the consensus building a solution to India's federalism challenge. So these are the five main news. After that we will be discussing the features of Indonesia in place in news and then quick update. So this is the brief about today's session. Let us start the session with the first main news.

[00:01:36]So the first main news is about the demographic transition, its theory and implications on India. In this news, we will be covering how demographic transition is interlin with the economic development. It is related to paper one where slabs talks about populations and associated issues. Let us understand this news in detail. First of all the development why we are discussing this news. So the development is that that the Andhra Pradesh chief minister has recently announced financial incentive for third child and fourth child through transition demographics. So he has announced rupees 30,000 for the third child and 40,000 for the fourth child.

[00:02:33]why he has made these announcement that we will be understanding in this news.

[00:02:39]First of all, let us understand about the replacement fertility rate. So, fertility rate is the number of children's uh produced by a woman in her age that is fertility rate and replacement fertility rate is 2.1. That means if a woman or a couple is having 2.1 children then the population will be stable and if the fertility rate is below 2.1 that means population is going towards the decline and it is if it is more than 2.1 then the population is growing. Now coming to the concerns of the southern states. So southern states which include Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka and Keralam.

[00:03:40]In these state the fertility rate is much below the replacement fertility rate where the state such as Tamil Nadu have only fertility rate of 1.4. 4 and the states such as Andhra Pradesh is having 1.4 Kerala 1.8, Karnataka around 1.7 and Telangana is around 1.6 and 1.7 only. So these states are moving towards the population decline. While announcing uh this announcement, the chief minister of Andh Pradesh also talked about Japan and South Korea that when it comes to the population growth, we should not become like Japan and South Korea. So we will be discussing why he has particularly talked about Japan and South Korea population growth. So this is the basic scenario in this news. Let us discuss the ne next aspect in this news. So next is about the demographic transition theory. Here we will be understanding what is this theory and how it is related to economic development. First of all, it described the transition from a stage of high fertility and high mortality to a stage of low fertility and low mortality. It was first coined by Warren S. Thommpson and later by Frank W. Nostin. So it explain how a country's population structure transforms as it develop economically.

[00:05:36]First of all, let us understand about stage one. Most of the humankind history is related to the stage one where the birth rate is high as well as the death rate is high. So suppose the number of birth which are there are high and also the mortality rate is high then the total population will be almost the same but the population will be low and when we draw its pyramid the base will be high. The children's as the uh birth rate is high the base will be high and the pyramid will be sharply coming towards at the top. So this will be the pyramid for the first stage. Then coming to the second stage that is early expanding. So here the birth rate remain high but death rate decline rapidly. And why the uh death rate uh decline rapidly? Because there is improvement in the health care facilities such as better vaccination, better sanitation and better medical procedures. So here that's why the death rate will decline rapidly but there will be a concerns in the mind of the parents. They will produce more children. And that's why the birth rate will remain high and it will lead to high population growth.

[00:07:12]Then stage three here the birth rate also decline. And one of the major factor here is the empowerment of the woman. They are allowed to take their own decision because of their involvement in the financial activities.

[00:07:32]That is a major aspect in the stage three. Also here the children's become from the economical helper to economic responsibility.

[00:07:55]What does it mean? So basically it means till stage through stage two most of the parent thinks that more the number of child the more numbers of economic help it will provide. But after stage three the parent thinks children as economic burden. that means that they have to provide better health care and better education for their improvement in the future. So that is the basic reason that the uh fertility rate in India is declining because the cost of the education and the health care is increasing much faster than the increase in the incomes of the population. Then stage four here there will be decline in the birth rate and there will be low death rate. Then here as well the population growth will be there but it will be at very slow stage or the slow uh pace. Here it is the population and in the last stage that there will be very low fertility rate and population aging. Here the population will decline. When we talk about India in India was there in stage one till independence and after independence till 1980 we were there in stage two. Presently uh most of the states uh most of the states are there in stage three but southern states are there in state four and they are moving towards stage five. What is stage five?

[00:09:44]There will be population decline. There will be uh very low fertility rate and there will be population aging. And it has been noticed then countries like South Korea, Japan and Germany are there in the stage five.

[00:10:12]That's why the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh when he declared this announcement he has talked about Japan and South Korea. So these are the stages of the demographic transition. Now let us move forward and understand about the implication of demographic transition on India. First of all there will be interstate divergence as we have learned that the northern state we are still having high fertility rate when it when they are compared to the southern state.

[00:10:50]So northern states will have a high share of young population and have a higher window of opportunity. That means that this demographic dividend can be used for better economic growth than changing dependency ratio.

[00:11:11]In the later stage the population is higher in the upper scenario that means in the old age. If you talk about the fourth stage the pyramid of population will look like a box and if you talk about the fifth stage the pyramid will be inverted. that means the more old people are dependent on the less uh working population. So that is the reason that by the year 2050 1 in5 Indians will be aged 60 or above that will amount to 349 million people up from the 149 million. Next the fiscal issues as well who contribute more towards taxation. The working age population who have uh more pensions role or who are more dependent on the uh pension. They are the old people. That is the issue of fiscal. That means the aging state may experience shrinking tax base as there will be decline in the working population. there will be rising uh pension and the health care expenditure. It is obvious that the old people will need better health care facilities and the more health care facilities. And lastly the political.

[00:12:42]Recently there was a debate and there was a bill regarding the delimitation and one day or other delimitation will take place and the state which have lower population will uh have lower say in the Lok Sabha. That means the delimitation and political representation will higher population state will gain greater parliamentary representation. That is also one of the major concern for the southern state. So this was all in this news. Now let us discuss PQs. One from the prelims and one from the mains examination.

[00:13:24]So first PYQ is from the year 2012 prelims examination and please listen to the question carefully because we have discussed the answer for this question and you have to answer the question in the comment section. So the question is consider the following specific stages of demographic transition associated with economic development. One low birth rate and low death rate. Two high birth rate with high death rate. three high birth rate with low death rate. So this is the question and you have to select the correct order of the above stages using the code given below A, B, C or D that is A is 1 2 3, B is 213, C is 2 31 and D is 3 2 1. So please write down the answer of this question in the comment section. Then the mains question from the year 2024 question is what is the concept of demographic winter is the world moving towards such a situation elaborate. So here in the introduction you have to explain the demographic winter that means declining of the world population and in the body you have to argue that is world moving toward that or is world not moving towards that and at last you have to conclude accordingly depending on your answer in the pod. So this was all from the first news. Now let us move to the second main news for today.

[00:15:04]Second main news is regarding the one nation one election.

[00:15:11]So this is the context. It is related to paper two where slabs talks about parliament and state legislature structure also related to the election reform. So let us deep dive into this news. So here the development is that that the joint parliamentary committee on one nation one election bill held that simultaneous poll could save nearly 7 lakh cr and boost the GDP growth by 1.6%.

[00:15:47]Okay. So here they are talking about the simultaneous election for the Lok Sabha as well as for the state assemblies in India till the year 1967.

[00:16:03]The election used to take place simultaneously for the states as well as for the Lok Sabha. But there were instances when this cycle was disrupted and now we can observe that in a year there will be many election and if we include the local election as well we can observe that there are continuous elections happening at one place or the another in India. So what was those incidented that disrupted the cycle? So the major incidents was 1959 dissolution or the disruption of the Kerala state government, communist government. Then in 1968 there was disruption of the Hana state assembly because of rampant uh disqualification not disqualification basically defection to the other party.

[00:17:04]Then in the year 1971 the Lok Sabha was dissolved early before completing its five years. So these dis disruptions created a scenario where the elections are taking place at one place or another in our country. So here there was a bill to have election simultaneously at the state as well as at the center and that bill was sent to a joint parliamentary committee and now joint parliamentary committee have observed that this simultaneous poll could save nearly 7 lakh cr and boost GDP growth by up to 1.6%.

[00:17:49]So this is the development of this news and GPC is scrutinizing two proposed legislative related to the simultaneous elections and these are the constitution 129 amendment bill 2024 and the union territory law amendment bill 2024.

[00:18:11]Basically they provide a scenario or conditions for simultaneous elections in India.

[00:18:19]Let us understand about one nation one election. So basically it refers to the idea of conducting simultaneous election for all tiles of the government and it include the central government, state government as well as the local government. And what are the significance of conducting simultaneous polls? First of all, the financial saving and growth. As you might be aware that conducting uh elections is a costly affair. The 2019 Lok Sabha election posted around 6,000 K rupees or there was a spend of 6,000 cr rupees according to ADR report. So there will be reduction in the cost of conducting elections and streamlining the time consumption process aiding the economic growth. Then second significance is about the prevention of policy paralysis.

[00:19:33]Let us uh understand or let us understand with an example. So in the last term of Maharashtra state government term, the state government term around 300 days in 5 years there was the uh model code of conduct and in model code of conduct you cannot announce the new policies or new schemes. So there is a a policy paralysis that means that there will be frequent elections if there are frequent election it lead to repeated imposition of model code of conduct which disrupt the development activities. So here when we were talking about the last terms of the Maharashtra state government. So out of five years around 300 days was uh the model code of conduct was imposed due to various election that might be the Lok Sabha that might be the various local elections as well. So at that time there can be no announcement or about the new policies which can be related to development. So simultaneous election will promote long-term development and welfare policies. Then the resource preservation and sustained governance.

[00:21:04]Uh you might have observed that the workers or the election commissioner involved the various uh machineries or the local administration such as teachers and other local officials and these elections are conducted in schools mostly. So that disrupt the education as well as the whole uh governance system.

[00:21:29]Here it minimizes the frequent diversion of administrative machinery such as teachers and security forces because police and paramilitary is also involved to conduct the elections.

[00:21:48]That's why there is disruption in the governance and simultaneous uh election will promote the sustained governance.

[00:21:57]So these are the significance of the simultaneous election. Now let us move forward and understand about the expert institution which have recommended for simultaneous election. So it was recommended by the law commission of India in 170th report of 1999 and it was again recommended by law commission of India in its 2000 uh 255th report of 2015 and draft report of 2018.

[00:22:30]Then parliamentary standing committee report in 2015 also supported the one nation one election. Then the working paper of Niti Aayog also supported the one nation one election and also provided ways how it can become feasible. Then high level committee which was chaireed by former president of India Ramnath Cohen and it recommended the phase implementation. So election to the Lok Sabha and state assembly together and to local bodies within 100 days after that. That means that the state election and the Lok Sabha election can take place uh simultaneously and after conduct of these election after 100 days there can be conduct of local elections. So these are the expert institution which have recommended for one nation one election.

[00:23:28]So now let us understand about the challenges as well. First of all there are constitutional as well as legal hurdle. So there will be amendment to the constitution provision related to article 83 which talks about the term of Lok Sabha and the article 12 172 which talks about the term of the state assemblies and 327 which talks about the electoral roles and changes to the representation of the people Act 1951 are required that means there will be change in the constitution to bring this act then there will be premature dissolution. So example is suppose there is a hung assembly or government failing to no confidence motion before completing it.

[00:24:30]Let us understand it with an example.

[00:24:34]Suppose we are conducting election in the year 1935 in the Lok Sabha and in one state for example Uttar Pradesh and in Uttar Pradesh there is no majority of the power that means no political party got the majority that will lead to hung assembly that will necessitate the elections again and one more scenario suppose there is formation of government here and in the year 1937 there is passage of no confidence motion and government have pled. So according to this they have to be conducted election in the year 1940 but in Uttar Pradesh there is a governance uh issue that means not governance issue directly but there is no government because of hung assembly or passage of no confidence motion. What would be the scenario in such cases that will the premature dissolution then logistical deficit? So conducting election in a very short time will demand a massive infrastructure scale up including an estimated rupees 9,300 cr for additional EVM and VV pads. then overing of local issues.

[00:26:03]Okay. Suppose people are given choice to vote for uh two times in a particular day for state election and for the national election. So it is very rare that the people will vote separately. It is observed that most of the people vote for a single party in the both elections. So that means that it may lead to nationalization of local issues potentially marginalizing regional parties and local development issues. So this was about this news. Now let us discuss PYQ's related to this news.

[00:26:43]First PQ is from the year 2020.

[00:26:48]So according to the constitution of India, a person who is eligible to vote can be made a minister in a state for 6 month even if he or she is not a member of the legislature of that state. So here you have to understand about the qualification required. So qualification required to become a legislature member of a state is age required of 25 years of age. But for voting the lower age is required. So that mean a person who can vote cannot become the member of legislature before attaining a certain age. That's why this statement is not correct.

[00:27:34]Statement two. According to the representation of people act 1951, a pe a person convicted for a criminal offense and sentenced to imprisonment for 5 years is permanently disqualifi disqualified for from contesting an election even after his release from prison. Okay. He or she is not permanently disqualified. So both these statements are not correct. Answer is neither one nor two. Let us discuss the mains PYQ. First PYQ is from the year 2017.

[00:28:14]Question is simultaneous election to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies will limit the amount of time and money spent in the electioning but it will reduce the government accountability to the people discussed. So here you can divide the question in IBC format that is introduction, body and conclusion. In introduction you can write about the simultaneous election what it means or you can also talk about the new bill.

[00:28:42]Then in the body either you will be uh supporting before either supporting you will write about its pros and cons and then you will conclude accordingly. One more PQ from the year 2018. So the question is in the light of recent controversy regarding the use of electronic voting machine EVM. What are the challenges before the election commissioner of election commission of India to ensure the trustworthiness of elections in India? Again the IBC format introduction body and conclusion. Here you have to write about trustworthiness of elections uh election in India regard to the EVMS.

[00:29:29]So here you can write about EVM in the introduction or you can start the answer while writing about the article related to the election commission of India.

[00:29:41]Then you can write about the challenges and what can election commission of India do to gain the trustworthiness in the election or to prove the trustworthiness in the free and fair election and then you can conclude accordingly. So this was all in the second main news. Now let us move to the third main news.

[00:30:04]The next news is about the Indas water treaty. Here the context is that that the India have rejected the court of arbitration ruling regarding the indust water treaty. In this news we will be learning how why India have rejected this uh court of arbitration award and what is this industry.

[00:30:27]It is related to paper two where slab talks about India and its neighborhood relation. Let us discuss this news in detail.

[00:30:37]First of all the development. So the development is that India has never recognized the establishment of court of arbitration and has kept the industry in obeyance.

[00:30:50]Okay. So it is our stand that water and terrorism cannot go in hand in hand. So we have kept the industry in obeyance.

[00:31:00]That is we have temporarily suspended the industry.

[00:31:06]Then there is other concern of the Pakistan as well that is related to the Kishan Ganga and Ratlay hydroelect electric project. So basically Kishan Ganga hydroelect electric project is on the river Kishan Ganga which is a tributary to the river Jalam and Rattlay hydro project which is on the ratlay river and that is a tributary of China.

[00:31:41]So there is concern in the Pakistan related to these projects as well and India have refused to participate arguing that the dispute fall within the remmit of neutral expert appointed by the world bank. So let us understand why India have rejected these awards and claimed that this is illegal. First of all, in the court of arbitration, there should be seven members, two from India, two from Pakistan and three as neutral members. India has never sent any member to court of arbitration. So presently there are five members without Indian representation.

[00:32:28]Second, why India have rejected it?

[00:32:31]Because India is saying that there is a procedure given under industry where you have to first go to the neutral expert which are established by the world bank before going to the court of arbitration. So India is saying if you are going directly to the court of arbitration without consenting the neutral experts that is not following the treaty. That's why these awards are illegal and not applicable to India that is the Indian stand. Now let us discuss about the Indas water treaty. So first of all it was signed in the year 1960 between India and Pakistan and World Bank act as a facilitator and it was also signary along with India and Pakistan to determine the distribution of the water of the Indas and its tributaries. So basically it talks about six tributaries of the Indus river and the treaty extend to the main rivers of the Indas basin that include Satlas, Bas and Ravi that are considered eastern rivers and Jalam, Chennab and Indas that are considered as western river. So all the waters of the eastern rivers that is Satlas, Bas and Ravi were allocated to India for her unrestricted use while the water of the western river that include Jalam, Chennab and Indas in that India is obligated to let flow all the water of the western river expect except for the domestic use non-conumptive and other uses permitted under this treaty. So this is how the Indas water treaty divide the water of the tributaries of the Indas river. It divide into eastern and the western river. In the eastern river it include three rivers that is Satlas, Bas and Ravi. In the western rivers it include Chennab, Indas and Jalam river. India can use the total water of the eastern rivers and it is obligated to let flow all the water of the western rivers except for the domestic non-conceptive and other uses that are permitted under this treaty. Okay. Now let us discuss about the dispute resolution under the indust water treaty. Suppose if there is a dispute that should first go to the permanent indust commission.

[00:35:29]So they provide a commissioner from each country which meet annually alternative in both countries and if that dispute is not resolved here that will become difference and that will go to the neutral expert which are appointed by the world bank and involve a rendering and binding decision. Here most of the technical decisions are taken place.

[00:35:57]Then if there is a question regarding the larger aspect of the IWT that is Indas water treaty then it will go to the court of arbitration and here also there will be agreement between the parties here the parties are India Pakistan as well as the world bank at the request of the either party. So first of all we have does not have agreement and we are not sending our members to court of arbitration. Second issue that that we have already discussed while we were discussing the development that this second step which is the consultation with the neutral expert is have have not taken place. So this was all in this news. Now let us discuss the pqs related to this news.

[00:36:49]So the first PQ from the prelims examination of 2021.

[00:36:54]Question is with reference to the industrial system of the following re four rivers three of them pour into one of them which join the indust directly.

[00:37:05]Among the following which one of such a river that join the indust direct? So options given are Chennab, Jalam, Ravi and Satlaj. So if you see the Indian map and on the western side there will be the flow of these rivers and satlaj will meet the indas. Okay. First of all there will be uh chanab and jalam will be coming together and that along with that it will be considered as the chain. Then Ravi will also meet and it will known as the uh chainab only and that chainab will meet the satell and after that it will known as satlage only and satage will meet the industry war. Answer is satlaj.

[00:37:55]One more pq from the year 2019.

[00:38:01]So question is consider the following pair. On the left side it is glacier. On the right side it is river. So one banduch Yamuna. Okay Yamuna emerged from the glacier band. Second Barasi it is uh the birth point of the Chennab. Then Milan it is not the birth point of Mandagni. It is for the Gori Ganga.

[00:38:28]Then Siain it is the glacier point for Nubra river. and jammu it is for tar note the manus. So answer is 1 2 and four. So answer would be a 1 2 and four.

[00:38:47]With this we have completed the third main news. Let us move to the next main news. The next main news is about the bhat maritime insurance pool. In this news, we will be learning about this pool and why it was required. It is related to paper three where slabs talks about economic development. Let us deep dive into this news and understand this in complete detail. So the development is that that the Bharat maritime insurance pool which aims to facilitate the continuous maritime insurance coverage and insulating India's maritime trade from globe volatility. So basically what is happening is that the state of hormones is under threat of attack. So many ships are not passing from here because uh one of the reason is the attack from the there can be attack from the Iran but the other reason is that that many insurance companies are saying that we won't provide the insurance if you go through this reason that means if there is any destruction to the sips or the goods which are there on the sips there will be no insurance for that that's why many ship owners are not allowing their ship to pass through straight of Hormos that is creating a situation which is hampering our energy security and other trades as well and our country does not have large insurance which can provide the insurance for the maritime because in one sip there can be a goods of around 3,000 cr or more that as well. So government is coming and saying that we will make a bat maritime insurance pool that will facilitate the continuous maritime insurance coverage. So this is the development of this news. Let us move forward and understand about the BMI pool. So basically it is a governmentbacked maritime insurance pool with a capacity of 1.5 billion and a sovereign guarantee of 12,980 K that is 1.4 4 billion US. Think of it like an example. Suppose you are 10 friends. Okay. You are pulling money together for some scenario and if there is a shortfall in the money then your parents are pitching in to provide the that deficit. Here the parent is the government and the friends are the insurance companies. So basically various insurance coming companies are coming together and forming a pool which is also backed by the government. That is the basic meaning of BMI pull. It will be there under the ministry of finance under the department of financial services. And what it will cover? It will cover the risk including the hull and machinery. Basically the risk to the ship.

[00:42:17]Then to the cargo that means to the goods on the ships. Then protection and intiminity that means the third party insurance. It will be provided for issues such as pollution or the injury to the crew member.

[00:42:40]Then the war risk as well. Suppose there is a war going on in the such as which is going on the state of hormones for that also it will provide the insurance and it will provide the insurance for the Indian flagged or controlled vessels as well as the vessel which are destined or starting from India. So it will provide insurance for two type of SE.

[00:43:06]One which have Indian flag that means it is controlled or owned by India or the Indian citizen. Then a vessel which is destined to India or starting from India that means it we are acting the we are acting like insurance provider on a larger scale so that there is more uh trade in the sea then about its governance. So pool administrator will be the general insurance corporation of India which is a government company and a governing body and a underwriting committee to oversee the pool function and risk management respectively. Basically underwriting committee looks after the risk for an insurance product and what type of uh insurance premium can be taken place. So if the risk is below the 100 million rupees in the sorry in dollars it is below the hund00 million it will be taken care by the insurance companies and if the risk is higher than the $100 million US then government will come in. Okay. So this is about the BMI pool. Now let us understand about what was its need.

[00:44:31]First of all about addressing the geopolitical uh geopolitical volatility.

[00:44:40]Okay. Why there is war going on in Ukraine and Russia?

[00:44:46]There is war going on in the western Asia and that create a global volatility and Middle East tension have drastically increased the maritime risk. That's why many sips are strengthened or many ships are stuck in the state of hormones. And example here is given of the disruption in the Red Sea which have taken place when a ship was strengthened or the when sip one sip was stuck in middle of the red sea. State of uh hormones also have the issues and have increased the insurance premium. There have been increase in the insurance premium and some of the insurance provider are saying that we won't provide the insurance facility if you are going into the state of hormones then it will mitigate the impact of sension. So basically uh America is censioning many countries. Previously we were using the insurance companies of the Russia as now there are sanctions on the companies of the Russia as well. So we cannot use the Russian insurance companies. So if we have our own insurance company or insurance pool then we don't have to fear from any sension. Then there are other significance as well such as develop the domestic expertise in the underwriting and the claim management that is how much premium should be charged for how much risk. Then there will be reduced foreign exchange outflow because we will be less dependent on the foreign uh insurance companies which are mostly there in the western countries and the Singapore and we are paying those premiums in dollars. So if we have our own insurance company, we will pay in the rupees in our own country itself then it will enhance the India's maritime self-reliance as well as financial sovereignity and trade security as well. Now let us understand about the India's shipping industry. So nearly 95% of India's trade by volume and 70% by value is through the sea roots. So most of the product you are using either it is LPG either or it is CNG or the crude oil petroleum which you are using are transported through the seas. Then cargo handling in the year 202425 major ports have handled around 855 million tons of cargo. Please write down in the comment section that how many major ports are there in India. Please write down in the comment section. Okay.

[00:47:50]How many major ports are there in India and why there is a debate that there are 12 or 13 major point in major ports in India? Please write down that in the comment section. Then about the domestic fleet strength there are 1,549 that represent only 1.2% of the global shipping fleets. That means we have less uh SIP as when we compare our our potentials then Indra contribute less than 1% to the global commercial ship building ship building uh industry is not that developed in India. Then lastly workforce 12% of the global seafaring workforce that is among the top three global suppliers. So this is about the Indian shipping industry. Now let us discuss one main PQ from this question.

[00:48:46]So this question is from the year 2017.

[00:48:50]And question is the question of India's energy security constitute the most important part of India's economic progress. Analyze India energy policy cooperation with West Asian countries.

[00:49:05]So here the question is asking about the India's energy security and why it is important for India's economic progress and what step India have taken place to form the energy cooperation or the policy cooperation with the west Asian countries that is the demand of this question. Now let us move to the last main news for today and the last main news is about the consensus building a solution to India's federalism challenges. Here we will be discussing about federalism in India and its challenges and step taken to improve the federalism in India. It is related to paper two where slivers talks about issues and challenging pertaining to the federal structure. Let us understand this news.

[00:50:00]So the development so development is not that important here. We will be understanding in detail about the federalism not about this development.

[00:50:09]So the development is that a book which is known as a sixth of humanity independent India's development ODC by former chief economic advisor Arvin Subramanyam and Davis Kapoor have highlighted growing concerns over India's federalism and consensus building as a solution. So they are in this book they have written about the concern related to India's federalism and they are saying that consensus building is a solution. Let us first understand what is the meaning of federalism.

[00:50:48]So basically federalism means that there are uh government at various level and they are working together with independent powers for the betterment of a country. That is the basic definition of the federalism. It include the state government, central government as well as the local government. Okay. In Indian constitution the word federalism or federation is not there. Instead in constitution it is there as union of state not as federation of state because we have come together and we does not want to give an inspir uh expression that it will lead to the distribution of India or there can be a demand for separation of from India that is not possible and that's why we have used the term Union of state. Okay. There are other countries as well which have come together to form a uh federation.

[00:51:59]Okay. India is not in that countries.

[00:52:03]These countries include USA, Switzerland, Australia and other countries. In these countries, various states have come together to form an country. But in India, the various state have not come together. But the power was divided with the various state according to various factors. And uh other countries which have also adopted such methods is uh Spain u other countries is India.

[00:52:47]Okay. So these countries have the this type of federation where there is division of power based on various factor. The other countries also include the Belgium as well. Okay.

[00:53:04]So this is about federation. Now let us move forward and understand about the challenges to federalism in India. First of all the divergent regional performance. So various state mostly the states of the southern India and the western India are performing betters in the economic term when compared to the other states and they are feeling that they are taking the burden of the less developed state that is the one diverse regional performance that is one challenge here the developed state feel penalized for better economic performance with growing gap between the state's economic contribution and finance commission transfer. Then combative federalism it means there is increasing unilateral central decision have weakened the consultation and cooperative federalism. So there is more negative competition or in the form of combat between the center and the state and here example is that the 2020 Indian form laws even the agriculture is state subject under seven scheduleul of Indian constitution. So these four laws was made by the central government which was related to agriculture. Even though agriculture is under the state list in the seventh schedule and sometime the central government transfer the subject from the state to the concurrent list and it have taken place in the year uh by the 42nd amendment in the year 1976.

[00:54:51]So there was transfer of five subject from state subject to the concurrent subject which include forest, education and other subject. Then rising democratic deficit. So there is uh frozen representation in Lok Sabha which is based on 1971 census and to avoid the penalizing the state controlling the population growth but it is leading to a situation where the uh state with larger population are saying that their representation is not there in the Lok Sabha. Okay, for example, suppose there is a class which have 50 members and there is a class there. If there are 500 members and both of them is sending one class representative that means the class with 500 member will have lesser representation then the increasing instance of the centralization. Here uh there are usage of central institutions such as the CBI as well as the issues related to the governor under the article 200. Okay, which is related to the passage of bill of the state government or the state assembly. So these are the challenges related to federalism in India. Now let us move forward and understand about various initiative to increase the federalism in India. First of all, federalism is a basic structure under the Indian constitution and there are uh various initiative to promote the federalism. One of which is interstate council which was established under article 263 to promote coordination between center and state. Then there is establishment of GST council under the article 290 uh 279A with members from center as well as state to decide on the GST policies.

[00:57:00]Then there is establishment of the institutions such as NITIO which uh include the cooperative federalism. Then other methods are 10% horizontal tax revolution based on contribution of GDP that uh limits or that solve the one of the challenge or one of the issue of the southern state. Then there is 73rd and 74th constitutional amendment which have led to local bodies and more uh strengthening of federalism. So these are the initiatives to strengthen the federalism. There are another other initiatives as well such as lowering of the centrally state uh centrally uh sector schemes. Okay.

[00:57:54]Now the last slide in this it is related to the solution to promote the federalism. Okay. One is implementing the circaria commission recommendation.

[00:58:08]So the circaria commission was formed to uh help to bring the more coordination in center and the state government. So they have said that there should be shift of all residiary power except the taxation to the concurrent list.

[00:58:25]Presently they are there under the central government. Then promoting the equitable development. It was recommended by the punchi commission in the year 2007. So they have recommended that there should be equal distribution sorry equal growth of the all the regions in India. Then there is enhancing the consensus through the key institutions such as interstate council, GST council as well as NITIO that we have learned in the last slide. Okay.

[00:58:57]Now let us move forward and understand the PQs related to this news. First PQ is from the year 2017.

[00:59:08]It is which one of the following is not a feature of Indian federalism? A there is an independent judiciary in India.

[00:59:17]Okay, this is true. Uh it is a feature of Indian federalism. B power have been clearly divided between center and state. Okay, this is also true. The power in India is clearly divided between center and the state. Then C that the federating units have been given a unequal representation in the Rajya Sabha. Okay. So there is unequal representation in the Rajya Sabha. That is also one of the feature of Indian federalism. Then D it is the result of agreement among the federating unit.

[00:59:50]Okay, this is not an feature of Indian federalism. So answer is D.

[00:59:57]Let us discuss the mains PyQ as well from the year 2023 and 2020. So first one is explain the significance of 10.1 constitutional amendment act. to what extent does it reflect the accommodative spirit of federalism. So you should know about this constitutional amendment act to answer this question. So basically it is related to GST and they are asking to what extent does it reflect the accommodative spirit of federalism that is the demand of this question. One more PYQ from the mains examination of 2020.

[01:00:34]Question is, how far do you think cooperation, competition and confrontation have saved the nature of federation in India? Site some recent example to validate your answer. You have to write about cooperation where you have can write about NITO, GST council. Then you can write about competition.

[01:00:55]Okay. You can write about various indexes where there is a ranking based on various performance. Then you can also write about the confrontation such as three language formula or the other issues such as the governor issues that is leading to confrontation. Then you can write how it is shaping the Indian federation. Okay. These are the example.

[01:01:17]Okay. So this is the demand of this question. With this we have completed the main news for today. Now let us discuss the place in news for today.

[01:01:27]The place in news for today is Indonesia and the context for this news is that the Dukano volcano have erupted in Indonesia north Maluku provinces. So in place in news we cover the features related to the country that we are covering or the place we are covering.

[01:01:49]First of all its location. It is located between Indian and Pacific Ocean. So here it is Indian Ocean and here it is Pacific Ocean. It is located between them. Then the major Iceland are Sumatra, Java, Kalimantan and Sulavi and Papua. So these are the major Iceland.

[01:02:09]One uh question in the prelims exam of the year 2017 UPSC have asked that and Nicobar is located near to which one of the Iceland. So for answer for that question was Sumatra Iceland. Then it share boundaries land boundaries with the east Tamur. It is the 11th country in the Asian Asian. Other country is Papani, Gina and Malaysia. Then global role. It is founding member of the non-aligned movement along with the India. Please write down in the comment section what were what are the other three countries which were the founding members of the nonalignment movement. Out of five, two are Indonesia and India. There are other three countries as well which are founding members of non-alignment movement. Please write down the name of those countries in the comment section.

[01:03:11]Then about the tectonic setting. So basically it is located at the convergence of tectonic plates which are part of ring of fire. And as it is uh located at the convergence of tectonic plates there are various natural disaster which is volcano as well as earthquake. Here volcanism presence of 100 plus active volcanoes. Examples are mount malapi and mount karaktoa and climate as it is located near to the equator there is tropical climate. So these are the feature related to Indonesia.

[01:03:52]Okay. Now with this we have completed the main news and the place in news. Now let us discuss the quick update related to this.

[01:04:02]So the first quick update is related to living wages. And the context here is that that the in the context of worker protest in NOA Supreme Court have highlighted the state's obligation to provide a living wage to the workers in accordance with the constitution's uh directive principle of state policy. So which article talks about the living wage? The article 43 under the DPS talks about the living wage. And what is the meaning of living wage? Basically a living wage or living income is the remineration received for a standard work life sorry standard work week that is a sufficient to afford a decent standard of living for a worker and for his or her uh family. And if we look at the various wages, there is floor wage, then minimum wage and then there is the living wage.

[01:05:08]Okay. So floor wage is the basic floor which is divi decided by the central government below which any uh wage cannot be fixed. Above the uh floor wage there is minimum wage. It can be equal to floor wage or mostly it is more than uh floor ways that is minimum wage. Then there is living wage which is higher than the minimum wage as well. So often the living wage is higher than the minimum wage that we have discussed and minimum wage are the lowest legally mandated remuneration that employer must pay to their workers. So this is about the living wage and article 43 talks about living wage. The second uh quick update is about Indian soft cell turtle and the context here is that the India's first satellite tagged Indian uh soft cell turtle have been released in Kajianga National Park which is there in Assam. So before understanding this news let us understand a difference between turtle and tortoise.

[01:06:24]So basically turtles are uh the species which lives in the water and they come to the land to lay eggs whereas the tortoise mostly lives on the land itself and tortoise are herbivores whereas turtle are omnivores.

[01:06:48]Okay. And toto have uh the hand and the feet of the tortoise are much stronger as they have to lift the weight of that tortoise. Whereas turtles because they swims the length of the hand and the feet of the turtle is little bit high when compared to the tortoise. Most of us think that turtle and tortoise are same but they are different. Okay. Now let us come back to the India's. soft cell turtle. So they are also known as Ganga softs set turtle and they are found in freshwater habitate and distinguished by its prominent tube-like snot and flattened cell. So the cell which is there on them is flattened and their distribution and range. They are found throughout the northern plains of the Indian subcontinent and they are found in the river such as Ganga, Yamuna and Mahanadi and it is also found in countries like Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan. and come when it's when we talk about his conservation status under the wildlife protection act they are under schedule one and in sites they are under appendix one and their IUCN status is endangered. Now let us move to the next quick update. The next quick update is about the jagy this good.

[01:08:23]So the second third quick update is about jaggery and the context here is that that the India account for over 70% of global jaggery production. This makes the world largest uh jaggery producer.

[01:08:38]That means the India is the world largest jaggery producer. In this news we will be covering about jaggery. It is recognized as superfood, a natural nutrientrich alternative to refined sugar. So it have its benefit but some people are using it in overuses and every anything which is used in overdoses is harmful. So it is beneficial but it should not be used in unlimited manner. Okay. So most of the people think that we are not eating sugar but we are having jagury and as jaggery have benefits so we can take it unlimitedly that is a misconception. So jaggery is produced from concentrated sugar cane juice without the chemical refining and therefore it retain the essential minerals and micronutrition.

[01:09:36]And what essential minerals and micronutrition such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, sodium, iron, zinc, copper and magnes.

[01:09:46]And there are benefit associated it with that with it as well such as sustained energy aids in treating the anemia strengthen the immunity of the humans treats throat and lung infection as well as supports the digestion. Okay. You might have uh seen in various household it is a habit to eat jaggery after having food. Okay. Now let us move to the next news. The next news is related to the Ebola virus. So basically uh the context here is that the World Health Organization has declared Ebola outbreak in Congo and Uganda a public health emergency of international concern. Okay. And in this news we will be learning about Ebola virus. First of all it is a junotic virus. What does it mean? that it transfer from wild animals to human and it transfer mostly from the fruit beds.

[01:10:48]Okay. If some people are eating them without cooking uh in a proper manner then that can transfer to the humans.

[01:10:58]Okay. They are transfer from the bats to the human. Bats are the only mammals that can fly in true sense.

[01:11:11]Then when it human come into the contact to this Ebola virus that can spread from one human to the another human and Ebola virus disease is a rare but severe illness in humans and it has various strain and for other strain there is the vaccination but for this strain which has been uh in the population or which has been outbroke recently there is No vaccination available and transmission medium of it is contact with the blood secretion organ or other bodily fut uh bodily fluids of the infected person that is the transmission medium. Okay. Now let us move to the next news. Next news is about silver and the context here is that the government have shift silver import to the restricted category and imposed a 15% import duty to curve the rising import. As you might have seen that rupee is falling due to large import. So that to stop uh the import that this step has been taken. Now let us understand about silver. So it is a relatively soft and siny metal. So it is relatively soft not soft. Then what are its application? Basically it is highest electrical and thermal conductivity make it an indisible for electronic circuit board connectors batteries and automotive system. So basically they have very high electrical and thermal conductivity. That's why they are used in various electric components such as circuit board, connectors, batteries and automo system. Then there is one more characteristics of silver that is its antibacterial properties that are used in wound, dressing, medical devices, coating, cathars, surgical instrument, water purification system and pharmaceutical compounds. And here you have to observe that silver have antibacterial properties as well. And the largest producer of the silver is Mexico in the world. And its second largest producer is China. When we talk about India, the largest producing state for silver is Rajasthan. Now let us move to the next quick update. The next quick update is about Venus orbiter mission and the context is that that the Sweden have joined India's Sukrayan Venus orbiter mission.

[01:14:04]So M Venus is the hottest planet in the uh solar system. Basically Mercury is very close to the sun but even then the Venus is having the higher temperature that is due to its composition because it has more carbon dioxide. Then Venus is nearest to the earth. Okay. Now let us understand about the Venus orbiter mission. So it is India's first scientific mission designed to explore the planet vision vision uh Venus which was approved in the year 2024 and its objective is to for better understanding of Venesuan surface and subsurface atmospheric process and influence of sun on the venuan atmosphere. So basically here there is continuous fall of acid rain due to the presence of the high carbon dioxide.

[01:15:09]Okay. And it is planned to launch in the March 2028 and ISRO will be responsible for development of the spacecraft and its launch and it will launch by the vehicle that is LVM 3.

[01:15:26]Hey now let us move to the next quick update. The next quick update is about dollar rupee swap. So the context here is that the RBI have announced five uh 5 million dollar rupee swap auction for 10 year of 3 years to inject liquidity. So basically what RBI is doing that RBI is buying the dollars from the bank and giving them the Indian rupee of 5 billion US dollars that will inject rupee into the banking system which will increase their liquidity. That is the basic news. Let us understand about dollar rupee swap. So forex liquidity management tool in which the reserve bank of India exchange US dollars and Indian rupee with an agreement to reverse the transaction transaction at a future date. That means that after 3 years this transaction will reversed.

[01:16:35]Then what is the purpose? It is to manage the rupee liquidity in the market, stabilize the forex market and reduce the exchange rate volatality. So that is the reason that RBI is doing and it is also to stabilize the fall of Indian rupee. Okay. So with this we have completed all the news for today's session. Thank you and all the best for your preparation.