CLAT 2024 Past Paper (PDF)

About Magazine “LawEx” is a carefully curated set of Current Events CONTENTS designed speciﬁcally for CLAT aspirants. To take you one step closer to realizing your dream, “LawEx” provides a QUICK BOOSTERS fortnightly overview of the most signiﬁcant current events THAILAND LEGALISES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE.............................................01 related to poli cs, economics, science and technology, & 74th ANNIVERSARY OF THE START OF THE KOREAN WAR......................02-03 sports with a wide range of infographics to ensure a 50th YEAR OF THE IMPOSITION OF THE EMERGENCY............................04-05 smoother learning experience and enhanced reten on of FIVE PRINCIPLES OF PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE........................................06-07 informa on. THE STARLINER MISSION............................................................................08 ROLE OF THE LOK SABHA LEADER OF OPPOSITION.....................................09 DUTIES OF A SPEAKER AND DEPUTY SPEAKER.......................................10-11 Editor's Note THE NEW PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS ACT...................................................12-13 RESOLVE TIBET ACT.....................................................................................14 Thailand will become the ﬁrst country in Southeast INDUS WATER TREATY...........................................................................15-16 Asia, and third in Asia a er Nepal and Taiwan, to UN GLOBAL PRINCIPLES FOR INFORMATION INTEGRITY.............................17 legalise same-sex marriage. The Lok Sabha on 26 June BIHAR QUOTA STRUCK DOWN BY HC.....................................................18-19 2024 passed a resolu on against the Emergency NALANDA UNIVERSITY'S NEW CAMPUS IN BIHAR......................................20 which was declared on June 25, 1975, to create SIPRI YEARBOOK 2024.........................................................................21-22 awareness about all historic events. The United SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2024..........................................23-24 Na ons Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on June 24, unveiled a set of principles aimed at curbing the spread of online misinforma on, disinforma on, and hate speech. The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on June 19 inaugurated the new campus of the QUICK FACTS Nalanda University in Bihar’s Rajgir. Keep reading for more updated informa on. CONTEMPORARY EVENTS OF SIGNIFICANCE..........................................25-27 INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS.......................................................................28-29 ARTS & CULTURE AND HISTORICAL EVENTS................................................30 VISIT SMARTKEEDA TEST ZONE PASSAGE -1 (Contemporary Events of Signiﬁcance)................................... 31 PASSAGE -2 (Interna onal Aﬀairs)............................................................. 32 PASSAGE -3 (Arts & Culture and Historical Events)..................................... 33 CROSSWORD CORNER Scan the QR code CROSSWORD -1......................................................................................... 34 to visit our website CROSSWORD -2......................................................................................... 35 testzone.smartkeeda.com Q. What did you do for your subject-wise strategy? Ans. My weak point was GK, so I gave it a bit more a en on compared to the other subjects. For this I read The Hindu newspaper everyday for 1.5 hrs and focused on the editorial as that improved my vocabulary and helped improve my English as well. I allocated 4-5 hours for GK everyday. I gave 2 hours for legal reasoning. During this me I had not yet started giving mock tests. I watched LawEx's maths YouTube videos to improve my maths for around 30 minutes. A bulk of my prepara on was focused on these 3 subjects. Apart from this I a empted around 60 mock tests, 20 of which were from LawEx and the rest I had to source from other test series. Q. What was your highest and lowest score in mock tests? Ans. My lowest score was 72 and my highest score was 96.25. On average my score was around 90 marks out of 120. Q. How did you keep your conﬁdence up when scoring low in mocks? Ans. My performance in mocks was more or less pre y consistent throughout my prepara on. So I did not face this issue. VAISHNAV BHATT Q. How to maintain mock scores? Ans. In my opinion, analysing the mocks a er a emp ng them is very Our Top Achiever important as it makes you understand what kind of mistakes you AIR - 113th have made and helps you to improve upon them in the next mock. This will also make you understand your own weak points and CLAT 2024 which subject needs improvement. This will help you maintain and improve your score. Q. Give us a brief intro about yourself, Vaishnav. Q. How much GK is suﬃcient and how to revise it? Ans. Hello, I'm Vaishnav and I secured AIR 113 in CLAT 2024. I completed Ans. No amount of GK can be considered suﬃcient in my opinion. So I my 10th standard in Delhi and have moved to Bangalore this year. would suggest to ﬁnd 2-3 sources which are of good quality like The Hindu newspaper and LawEx magazine which covers most of the Q. When did you think about doing law? topics which you need to know and for sta c GK you can purchase Ans. I've had some very unpleasant experiences in life when I was any book like A P Bharadwaj's Sta c GK book. I revised for GK by staying in Delhi where my family and I had to suﬀer emo onally and doing the topic tests mul ple mes. ﬁnancially and a major part of it was due to insuﬃcient knowledge of the law and our rights. In this process I had to interact with some Q. How many Mocks are suﬃcient for CLAT Prepara on? lawyers, and visit the court as well. These experiences made me Ans. According to me atleast 50 mock tests are required so that your want to pursue law as a profession as I found it interes ng and also speed along with accuracy improves and it doesn't make you feel felt that having this knowledge would keep me safe and I would be anxious anymore as a calm mind will help you concentrate be er able to help others as well who face similar situa ons due to and score more. Clat is a reading based exam and it can be quite insuﬃcient knowledge. draining especially in the last 30-35 minutes so prac cing mocks is important here. Q. When did you seriously start preparing for CLAT? Ans. I started my prepara on in March 2023. Q. What is your advice to CLAT Aspirants? Ans. I would advise CLAT aspirants to give themselves at least one year Q. What is the role of LawEx in your prepara on? for prepara on and a empt 1-2 mock tests every week so that it Ans. LawEx helped me a lot with my prepara on for CLAT. Their current doesn't drain you out. I made this mistake too by a emp ng aﬀairs magazine and Maths YouTube videos are excellent and have around 60 mocks in 2 months. It is not feasible. CLAT is highly been of great help. I also found their GK topic tests to be very compe ve and requires consistency and pa ence. As my English useful. was at a decent level to begin with, I was somehow able to manage the stress. Also don't forget to take short breaks and have good Q. Do you think LawEx Lectures with suﬃcient reading and mock sleep. Some books which I purchased for CLAT are A P Bharadwaj's prac ce enough for CLAT? Legal reasoning and A P Bharadwaj's sta c GK. Also prac ce 15-20 Ans. I feel LawEx should increase the number of mock tests that they mocks on OMR printouts as well and try ﬁnishing your mocks in 115 oﬀer. Apart from this I think that they provide suﬃcient study minutes as this is the me you'll get in your actual examina on. material. Best wishes to all of you. QUICK BOOSTERS 01 THAILAND LEGALISES SAME-SEX MARRIAGE WHY IN NEWS? The Thai Senate, the upper house of Thailand's Na onal Assembly, passed the Marriage Equality Bill on June 18, with a hundred and thirty senators vo ng in its favour, 18 abstaining, and only four vo ng against. – The Bill now awaits the formal endorsement of Thai monarch King Rama X. – A er that, Thailand will become the ﬁrst country in Southeast Asia, and third in Asia a er Nepal and Taiwan, to legalise same-sex marriage. Key Features The new legisla on changes references to “men”, “women”, “husbands” and “wives” in Thai marriage laws to gender- neutral terms such as “spouse” and “person”. – This means that two persons can marry each other, regardless of their gender. It also grants same-sex couples the same rights as heterosexual couples in areas such as adop on, inheritance, and tax beneﬁts. LGBTQ+ couples eﬀec vely possess the same legal powers as their heterosexual counterparts in case of legal incapacita on, from being able to access bank accounts to providing consent for medical treatment. A 2022 poll by Thailand's Na onal Ins tute of Development Administra on found 91% of respondents to be 'tolerant' towards LGTBQ+ family members, and 80% in favour of same-sex marriage. Situation in Rest of Asia and World Apart from Thailand, Taiwan, and Nepal, other Asian countries do not fare well when it comes to marriage equality and LGBTQ+ rights. In fact, at least 20 Asian countries outlaw same-sex sexual ac vity, with Afghanistan, Brunei, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Yemen, even prescribing the death penalty. Currently, same-sex marriage is legal in 36 countries (not including Thailand) globally, according to LGBTQ+ rights advocacy Human Rights Campaign. – These are Andorra, Argen na, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States of America and Uruguay. In India In October 2023, a ﬁve-judge Bench of the Supreme Court of India refused to alter the Special Marriage Act (SMA) of 1954 to give legal recogni on to same-sex marriages, pu ng the onus on Parliament to legislate marriage equality. Thus far, there has been next to no poli cal backing of the move. – The Bench however unanimously acknowledged that same-sex couples face discrimina on and harassment in their daily lives and accordingly urged the government to form a high-powered commi ee chaired by the Union Cabinet Commi ee to expedi ously look into the concerns faced by them. In India, same-sex rela ons between consen ng adults were decriminalised a er a landmark Supreme Court judgment in 2018. 02 74th ANNIVERSARY OF THE START OF THE KOREAN WAR WHY IN NEWS? Seventy-four years ago, on June 25, 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea in a bid to reunite the two countries. At the me, the Korean Peninsula was divided along the 38th parallel – a split unprecedented in Korean history – with the Soviet Union backing Kim Il-Sung's Workers Party in the North and the United States' suppor ng Syngman Rhee's government in the South. The three-year war – pi ng Soviet and China-backed northern troops against US-led United Na ons forces – killed an es mated two million people and laid to waste ci es and villages on both sides of the border. It ended with an armis ce between the US, China and North Korea, but South Korea did not agree, and no formal peace treaty was signed. And 74 years on, the two Koreas remain technically at war. What led to the divide in the Korean Peninsula? The war was a result of Cold War tensions and the rivalry US authori es decided the 38th parallel would be the for supremacy between the communist Soviet Union dividing line. and the liberal capitalist United States. Over me, the Cold War rivalry and the inﬂuence of the The two superpowers emerged a er the Second World occupying powers made the division permanent. War (1939 to 1945) and a empted to extend their Today, a buﬀer zone called the demilitarised zone (DMZ) inﬂuence over the Korean peninsula as it had just gained runs along the 38th parallel to avoid border skirmishes. independence from colonial rule. Army members of both countries guard it on either side. Several dynas es ruled Korea before that with some In the North, the Soviet Union helped establish a uni ng the en re region, such as the Silla dynasty in the communist regime led by Kim Il-sung, a former guerrilla 7th century. ﬁghter and Soviet-trained leader. Korea then came under Japanese colonial rule from In the South, the United States supported the crea on of 1910 to 1945 and it ended with Japan's surrender in a capitalist state under Syngman Rhee, an an - WW2. However, Korea's libera on was quickly followed communist leader who had spent many years in exile in by division. the United States. To manage the Japanese surrender, the Allied forces By 1948, two separate governments were oﬃcially (comprising the US, the USSR, the UK, France, and established: the Democra c People's Republic of Korea others) agreed to a temporary division of Korea into two (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea), occupa on zones: the Soviet Union-controlled one in each claiming legi macy over the en re peninsula. the north and the US one in the south. The Korean War On June 25, 1950, North Korean forces, backed by the The UN Security Council passed a resolu on Soviet Union and China, launched a surprise invasion of condemning the invasion and calling for a withdrawal of South Korea by crossing the 38th parallel. North Korean forces from South Korea. – The invasion began in the early morning and caught – UN members were recommended to assist South the South Korean army and its American allies oﬀ Korea against the a ack and “restore peace on the guard. Korean Peninsula”. T h e N o r t h Ko re a n fo rc e s q u i c k l y a d va n c e d , In response, a coali on of UN forces primarily led by the overwhelming the South Korean defences and capturing United States intervened. key areas — including the capital Seoul. – This marked the beginning of a bloody and This alarmed the interna onal community and protracted conﬂict that would last for three years prompted the United Na ons to intervene. and result in millions of casual es. 03 Legacy of the Korean War The Korean War shaped the geopoli cal landscape of China's entry into the war demonstrated its East Asia and impacted global aﬀairs. commitment to suppor ng communist regimes and a It has had far-reaching implica ons for regional security, willingness to confront US-led forces in the region. contribu ng to the militarisa on of the Korean – China and North Korea largely maintain a close Peninsula and ongoing tensions between the two strategic partnership, with China being a key Koreas and between North Korea and the West. economic and diploma c ally of North Korea. It also solidiﬁed the alliance between the United States – China's support for North Korea in the UN and its role and South Korea. in providing economic assistance despite – The US established a las ng military presence in interna onal sanc ons highlights the enduring South Korea by sta oning American troops and nature of their rela onship. remains commi ed to defending it against any Russia has also emerged as a North Korean ally, trading external aggression. weapons with the largely isolated 'hermit' kingdom. 04 50th YEAR OF THE IMPOSITION OF THE EMERGENCY WHY IN NEWS? The Lok Sabha on 26 June 2024 passed a resolu on against the Emergency which was declared on June 25, 1975, to create awareness about all historic events. The Lower House decided to pass this resolu on on its 50th anniversary as post facto ra ﬁca on of the Emergency was done by the cabinet on June 26, 50 years back. The newly elected speaker of the Lok Sabha strongly cri cised then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's decision to impose an Emergency on the na on. He called the decision a "black chapter" in the history of Indian democracy. The Story of the Emergency The Emergency refers to the period from June 25, 1975, Newspapers were subjected to pre-censorship. UNI and to March 21, 1977, during which the government of PTI were merged into a state-controlled agency called Prime Minister Indira Gandhi used special provisions in Samachar. The Press Council was abolished. the Cons tu on to impose sweeping execu ve and Indira's son Sanjay Gandhi pushed a “ﬁve-point legisla ve consequences on the country. programme” that included forced family planning and Almost all opposi on leaders, including JP, were clearance of slums. detained. About 36,000 people were put in jail under – Sanjay gave oﬃcials at the Centre and in the states the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA). family planning targets, leading to forced Fundamental rights, including the freedom of speech sterilisa ons. and expression guaranteed under Ar cle 19(1)(a), were With the opposi on in jail, Parliament passed The curtailed, which led to pre-censorship of the press. Cons tu on (Thirty-eighth Amendment) Act that barred judicial review of the Emergency, and The The declara on of Emergency converts the federal Cons tu on (Thirty-ninth Amendment) Act that said the structure into a de facto unitary one, as the Union elec on of the Prime Minister could not be challenged in acquires the right to give any direc on to state the Supreme Court. governments, which, though not suspended, come The Cons tu on (Forty-second Amendment) Act made under the complete control of the Centre. changes to a range of laws, taking away the judiciary's Parliament may by law extend the (ﬁve-year) term of right to hear elec on pe ons, widening the authority Lok Sabha one year at a me, make laws on subjects in of the Union to encroach on State subjects, gave the State List, and extend the Union's execu ve Parliament unbridled power to amend the Cons tu on powers to the states. with no judicial review possible, and made any law The President can modify, with parliamentary passed by Parliament to implement any or all direc ve approval, cons tu onal provisions on the alloca on principles of state policy immune to judicial review. of ﬁnancial resources between the Union and states. In the famous case of ADM Jabalpur vs Shivkant Shukla, 1976, a ﬁve-judge Bench of the Supreme Court ruled that deten on without trial was legal during an emergency. – The sole dissenter to the majority judgment was Jus ce H R Khanna. 05 On June 12, 1975, Jus ce Jagmohanlal Sinha of Allahabad High Court delivered a historic verdict in a pe on ﬁled by Raj Narain, convic ng Indira Gandhi of electoral malprac ce, and striking down her elec on from Rae Bareli. On appeal, the Supreme Court gave the Prime Minister par al relief — she could a end Parliament but could not vote. As demands for her resigna on became louder and her aides in Congress dug in their heels, JP asked the police not to follow immoral orders. Late on June 25 evening, President Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed signed the proclama on of Emergency. The Cabinet was informed about the decision the next morning. Since no newspapers could be printed, people got the news from Indira's address on All India Radio. Constitutional Provisions The Emergency provisions are contained in Part XVIII of – Financial Emergency due to a threat to the ﬁnancial the Indian Cons tu on, from Ar cles 352 to 360. stability or credit of India (Ar cle 360). The Cons tu on s pulates three types of emergencies: Under Ar cle 352 of the Cons tu on, the President – An emergency due to war, external aggression, or may, on the advice of the Cabinet headed by the Prime armed rebellion (Ar cle 352). Minister, issue a proclama on of emergency if the – An Emergency due to the failure of the cons tu onal security of India or any part of the country is threatened machinery in the states (Ar cle 356). by “war or external aggression or armed rebellion”. – This is popularly known as 'Na onal Emergency'. In 1975, instead of armed rebellion, the ground of “internal disturbance” was available to the government to proclaim an emergency. This was the only instance of the proclama on of emergency due to “internal disturbance”. The two occasions in which an emergency was proclaimed earlier, on October 26, 1962, and December 3, 1971, were both on grounds of war. This ground of “internal disturbance” was removed by The Cons tu on (Forty-fourth Amendment) Act, 1978 by the Janata government that came to power a er the Emergency. Ar cle 356 of the Indian Cons tu on deals with the 'Cons tu onal Emergency'. However, the Cons tu on provisions of an emergency due to the failure of the does not use the word 'emergency' for this situa on. cons tu onal machinery in the states (President's Ar cle 360 of the Indian Cons tu on deals with the Rule). provisions of ﬁnancial emergency due to a threat to the This is popularly known as 'President's Rule'. It is also ﬁnancial stability or credit of India. known by two other names–'State Emergency' or Ar cle 358 frees the state of all limita ons imposed by Ar cle 19 (“Right to freedom”) as soon as an emergency is imposed. Ar cle 359 empowers the President to suspend the right of people to move court for the enforcement of their rights during an emergency. After the Emergency The Janata government reversed many of the – Unless it was approved by both Houses by a special cons tu onal changes eﬀected by the 42nd majority — a majority of the total strength of the Amendment Act of 1976. House and not less than two-thirds of the members – It did not do away with the provision of the present and vo ng — the proclama on would lapse. emergency but made it extremely diﬃcult to impose The Shah Commission, cons tuted by the Janata for the future. government to report on the imposi on of the – It made judicial review of a proclama on of Emergency and its adverse eﬀects, submi ed a damning emergency possible again and mandated that every report that found the decision to be unilateral and proclama on of emergency be laid before both adversely aﬀec ng civil liber es. Houses of Parliament within a month of the proclama on. 06 70th ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIVE PRINCIPLES OF PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE WHY IN NEWS? On June 28, 2024, the Conference Marking the 70th Anniversary of the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence was held in Beijing, China. The conference issued the Beijing Declara on. The theme of the event was “From the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence to Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind”. What are these Five Principles? Panchsheel to Non-Alignment In 1954, while inaugura ng bilateral talks between India A year a er the Sino-Indian Agreement, the Five and China over Tibet, Chinese Premier Zhou Enlai Principles would feature prominently at the ﬁrst African- proposed the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence, Asian Conference in Bandung, Indonesia. which was favoured by Nehru. Twenty-nine countries of Asia and Africa took part in the – What China calls the Five Principles is known in India Bandung Conference of April 1955 and signed a 10-point as Panchsheel. declara on that co-opted the Five Principles or The word Panchsheel traces its origin to the Buddhist Panchsheel. concept of Pañcaśīla, which describes the ﬁve moral vows of Buddhism: abs nence from murder, the , The Bandung Conference would serve as the precursor to sexual misconduct, lying, and intoxicants. The Panchsheel Agreement, formally known as The the Non-Aligned Movement, a grouping of na ons that Agreement on Trade and Intercourse with Tibet Region, consciously chose to not align themselves with either of was signed on April 29, 1954, by N Raghavan, the Indian the two global power blocs led by the United States and Ambassador to China, and Zhang Han-Fu, China's the Soviet Union. Foreign Minister. NAM was founded with the signing of the Brioni (Brijuni) The preamble of the Panchsheel Treaty laid down ﬁve Declara on on July 19, 1956, by Nehru, Egypt's President guiding principles- Gamal Abdel Nasser, and Prime Minister Josip Broz Tito of i. Mutual respect for each other's territorial integrity Yugoslavia. and sovereignty; The Brioni Islands are in the northern Adria c Sea, and are ii. Mutual non-aggression; now a part of Croa a. iii. Mutual non-interference; iv. Equality and mutual beneﬁt; and The ﬁrst NAM Summit in Belgrade accepted Panchsheel v. Peaceful co-existence. as the “principled core” of the grouping. The agreement aimed to enhance trade and coopera on between the two countries, establishing each country's trade centres in major ci es of the other, and laid out a framework for trade. The agreement also listed important religious pilgrimages, provisions for pilgrims, and acceptable routes and passes available to them. Importantly, India for the ﬁrst me recognised Tibet as the Tibet Region of China. 07 China's Foreign Policy Today Panchsheel was visualised as an agreement that promoted peaceful coexistence between India and China, but its heart was ripped out by the India-China War of 1962. Since the summer of 2020, Indian and Chinese forces have been locked in a standoﬀ along the LAC in Ladakh, and repeated mee ngs at mul ple levels have failed to achieve a substan ve breakthrough. China has made claims over territories in the South China Sea and has repeatedly engineered hos le situa ons with much smaller neighbours to its east and south-east. China's rela onship with the United States has been hos le, as it has mounted a trade and diploma c challenge to American dominance in various parts of the world. 08 THE STARLINER MISSION WHY IN NEWS? The return of Boeing's Starliner spacecra , which took NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore to the Interna onal Space Sta on (ISS) in June, has been postponed. Key Points Following li -oﬀ on June 5, the Boeing-built spacecra reportedly have a 45-day window to bring them back. docked at the ISS and was scheduled to begin its return The mission is seen as a landmark for the entry of journey towards Earth on June 26. another private player in the American space sector. Subsequently, four helium leaks, and ﬁve failures of its – Before Boeing, Elon Musk's company SpaceX was the 28 manoeuvring thrusters, were reported. Oﬃcials only one to successfully take US astronauts to space. About Boeing's Starliner Spacecraft The Boeing website describes the CST-100 Starliner as a “space capsule that will take people to and from low-Earth orbit.” LEO refers to Earth-centered orbits with an al tude of 2,000 km or less. According to NASA, this is considered near enough to Earth for convenient transporta on, communica on, observa on, and resupply. Starliner's spacecra was developed in collabora on with NASA's Commercial Crew Program. – It can accommodate up to seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo for LEO missions. – It is also reusable up to 10 mes with a six-month turnaround me. Back in 2012, SpaceX's Dragon spacecra became the ﬁrst commercial spacecra to deliver cargo to and from the ISS. In 2020, it became the ﬁrst to take humans to space and bring them back. Why are Starliner Astronauts still in Space? Two NASA astronauts were originally scheduled to According to a report from The Telegraph, the delay in return home a er one week, comple ng a test ﬂight of launch was linked to issues detected in a spacecra Boeing's Starliner spacecra. valve responsible for regula ng the ﬂow of oxidisers. – Instead, the astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni – On spacecra , oxidisers are chemicals that help Williams, will remain on the sta on for longer as rockets during li -oﬀ and in changing the rocket's NASA and Boeing engineers con nue to study path by aiding combus on. A large amount of energy misbehaving thrusters on the vehicle. is required to propel it forward. The vessel's return to Earth was delayed because of The ini al issue seemed small-scale. However, since its issues with some of its thrusters and leaks of the helium June 5 li oﬀ, the capsule has had ﬁve helium leaks, ﬁve gas which pushes fuel into the propulsion system. manoeuvring thrusters go dead and a propellant valve – Helium is used to push propellant to the thruster failed to close completely, promp ng the crew in space systems used for manoeuvring in space and slowing for more me. down to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. What's Next? The spacecra can remain docked for up to 45 days. Beyond that, the ISS has supplies and other materials that can last for several months. Therefore, there is no immediate danger to the two astronauts. If safety concerns remain, they may have to come back to Earth on SpaceX's Dragon spacecra , which is also currently a ached to the ISS. Further, the spacecra can be brought to Earth in case of an emergency, but the space agency is looking to understand the nature of the problem ﬁrst in the interest of the next such mission. 09 ROLE OF THE LOK SABHA LEADER OF OPPOSITION WHY IN NEWS? Rae Bareli MP Rahul Gandhi is Leader of Opposi on in Lok Sabha, a posi on that lay vacant for 10 years because no party had numbers equalling a tenth of the strength of the House, which has been by prac ce a requirement to lay claim to the post. Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha The Leader of the Opposi on is the Leader of the largest to be taken up by the party that secures one-tenth of the opposi on party. total strength of the Lok Sabha. The post was not recognised ll 1969 when Ram Subhag – As per this rule, since the Lok Sabha has 543 Singh became the ﬁrst recognised LoP of the Lok Sabha. members, a poli cal party will need 55 members to The posi on of Leader of Opposi on was oﬃcially appoint a Leader of the Opposi on. described in The Salary and Allowances of Leaders of The Ins tute of Secretariat Training and Management Opposi on in Parliament Act, 1977. men oned in one of its booklet that the recogni on of – The Act describes the Leader of Opposi on as a the Leader of Opposi on is given by the Speaker of the “member of the Council of States or the House of the Lok Sabha – “provided the largest party in opposi on People, as the case may be, who is, for the me have minimum 55 MP in the House”. being, the Leader in that House of the party in – This ins tute is managed by the Department of opposi on to the Government having the greatest Personnel and Training, under the Ministry of numerical strength and recognised as such by the Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Chairman of the Council of States or the Speaker of Government of India. the House of the People”. – However, no such 10 per cent rule for the Although several poli cal par es may exist in the appointment of the Leader of Opposi on is Opposi on, the post of Leader of the Opposi on is said men oned in the Leaders of Opposi on in Parliament Act. Position of the Leader of Opposition in the House DID YOU KNOW? The Leader of the Opposi on sits in the front row to the Parliament did not have a LoP the past two Sessions le of the Chair and enjoys certain privileges on (10 years) as no Opposi on party had members ceremonial occasions like escor ng the Speaker-elect to equalling one-tenth of the total Lok Sabha strength, the rostrum. which has by prac ce been required to qualify for the The Leader of Opposi on is also en tled to a seat in the post. front row during the Address by the President to both – While the Congress won 44 seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, in 2019, it won 52. Houses of Parliament. In 2014, Mallikarjun Kharge — who is now Congress The main duty of the Leader of Opposi on is to serve as president and Leader of Opposi on in Rajya Sabha — the voice of the opposi on in the House. was recognised Leader of the Congress party in Lok An oﬃcial booklet on Parliament published in 2012 says Sabha. the Leader of Opposi on in Lok Sabha “is considered as In 2019, this posi on went to then Baharampur MP a shadow Prime Minister with a shadow Cabinet, ready Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. Both Congress leaders were to take over the administra on if the Government part of panels to select candidates for high posi ons resigns or is defeated on the ﬂoor of the House”. that required the presence of the Leader of In order of precedence, the Leaders of Opposi on in Lok Opposi on. Sabha and Rajya Sabha come at No. 7, along with Union Before the BJP in 2014 and 2019, the Congress, which Cabinet Ministers, the Na onal Security Advisor, the had 415 members in Lok Sabha in 1984, had denied Principal Secretary to the PM, the Vice-Chairperson of the TDP, which had 30 MPs, the post of Leader of the NITI Aayog, former PMs, and Chief Ministers. Opposi on. 10 DUTIES OF A SPEAKER AND DEPUTY SPEAKER WHY IN NEWS? Om Birla, three- me BJP MP, was elected the Lok Sabha Speaker for the second me a er he defeated the INDIA bloc's candidate K Suresh via voice vote in a rare contest. Speaker pro tem The President has appointed seven- me MP Bhartruhari Mahtab as the 'Speaker pro tem' of the 18th Lok Sabha. Ar cle 94 of the Cons tu on states that the Speaker of the Lok Sabha shall not vacate his/her oﬃce un l immediately before the ﬁrst mee ng of the Lok Sabha a er its dissolu on. This is to ensure that the oﬃce of the Speaker is never le vacant. – Hence, Om Birla who was the Speaker of the 17th Lok Sabha con nues in that post ll June 24 when the ﬁrst mee ng of the 18th Lok Sabha is scheduled. Ar cle 95(1) of the Cons tu on provides that when the post of Speaker and Deputy Speaker is vacant, the President shall appoint a member of the Lok Sabha to perform the du es of the Speaker. This would be the situa on when the ﬁrst mee ng of a new Lok Sabha commences. – Hence, the President appoints 'Speaker pro tem' under this provision ll the full- me Speaker is elected. The term 'pro tem' means 'for the me being' or 'temporary'. This term is not found in the Cons tu on or rules of Lok Sabha but is a conven onal term which ﬁnds men oned in the 'Handbook on the working of Ministry of Parliamentary Aﬀairs.' As per tradi on, one of the senior-most members of the Lok Sabha is selected by the government, who is then administered oath by the President. The Speaker pro tem administers oath of oﬃce to other MPs and presides over the elec on of full- me Speaker. Ar cle 93 of the Cons tu on states that the Lok Sabha shall choose two members to be its Speaker and Deputy Speaker. – The elec on of the Speaker is held on a date ﬁxed by the President. – All the Speakers in independent India have been elected unopposed except on three occasions (1952, 1967 and 1976). The elec on of the Deputy Speaker is held on a date ﬁxed by the Speaker. The Deputy Speaker is an important cons tu onal oﬃcer who steps in during the vacancy or absence of the Speaker. The conven on of oﬀering the post of Deputy Speaker to the Opposi on started in the year 1991. Therea er, ll the 16th Lok Sabha this has been followed without a break. It was a travesty of the Cons tu on that no Deputy Speaker was elected in the 17th Lok Sabha. Apart from the conduct of business, the Speakers perform two important cons tu onal func ons of cer fying a Bill to be a Money Bill (over which the Rajya Sabha has a limited role) and deciding on disqualiﬁca on under the Tenth Schedule for defec on. The Lok Sabha rules provide the Speaker with the powers of referral of Bills introduced to Standing Commi ees and suspension of members for grave disorder up to a maximum of ﬁve days. – Referral of Bills to commi ees has declined from 71% during 2009-14 to 16% during 2019-24. – With the return of a coali on government, it is expected that the Speaker would refer important Bills to Standing commi ees for scru ny. 11 Conventions In Britain, the Speaker once elected to his/her oﬃce, resigns from the poli cal party to which he/she belonged. – In subsequent elec ons to the House of Commons, he/she seeks elec on not as a member of any poli cal party but as 'The Speaker seeking re-elec on'. – This is to reﬂect his/her impar ality while presiding over the House. Somnath Cha erjee, who was the Speaker of the 14th Lok Sabha acted independently by not resigning from the post despite his party's (CPM) direc on a er it had withdrawn support from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government during a conﬁdence vote in 2008. While the Tenth Schedule allows a Speaker to resign from their poli cal party on being elected to their oﬃce, it has never been done by any Speaker ll date. – Resigna on from their poli cal par es on being elected as Speaker could be a ﬁrst step towards demonstra ng independence. 12 THE NEW PUBLIC EXAMINATIONS ACT WHY IN NEWS? The Centre on June 24 no ﬁed the Rules required to opera onalize The Public Examina ons (Preven on of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, the an -chea ng law passed by Parliament in February 2024. The government is under great pressure from the opposi on and protes ng students across the country a er being forced to postpone the UGC-NET, CSIR UGC-NET, and NEET PG compe ve exams. Key Features The law came into force on June 21, a er it was no ﬁed in the oﬃcial gaze e. The Bill aims to prevent “unfair means” in order to “bring greater transparency, fairness and credibility to the public examina ons system”. The Rules no ﬁed by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, provide a framework of ac ons to prevent the use of unfair means in public examina ons, including appoin ng Centre Coordinators, venue in-charges, and Regional Oﬃcers. Computer-based Test - The Rules lay down the full parameters of Computer-based Tests (CBT) — from the registra on of candidates, alloca on of centres, and issue of admit cards to the opening and distribu on of ques on papers, evalua on of answers, and the ﬁnal recommenda ons. – The central government's Na onal Recruitment Agency shall prepare the norms, standards, and guidelines for CBTs in consulta on with stakeholders. Once ﬁnalised, these norms will be no ﬁed by the Centre. Centre Coordinator - The Rules provide for the appointment of a Centre Coordinator for Public Examina ons, who may be “serving or re red employees of the Central Government, State Government, Public Sector Undertakings, Public Sector Banks, Government Universi es, autonomous bodies and other Government Organisa ons”. – The Rules also lay down the deﬁni on of “service provider” for the purposes of the Act. Public Examina on: Sec on 2(k) of The Public Examina ons (Preven on of Unfair Means) Act, 2024 deﬁnes a “public examina on” as “any examina on conducted by the public examina on authority” listed in the Schedule of the Act, or any “such other authority as may be no ﬁed by the Central Government”. – The Schedule lists ﬁve public examina on authori es: i. Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) - conducts the Civil Services Examina on, Combined Defence Services Examina ons, Combined Medical Services Examina on, Engineering Services Examina on, etc. ii. Staﬀ Selec on Commission (SSC), which recruits for Group C (non-technical) and Group B (non-gaze ed) jobs in the central government iii. The Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs), which recruit Groups C and D staﬀ in the Indian Railways iv. Ins tute of Banking Personnel Selec on (IBPS), which hires at all levels for na onalised banks and regional rural banks (RRBs) v. Na onal Tes ng Agency (NTA), which conducts the JEE (Main), NEET-UG, UGC-NET, the Common University Entrance Test (CUET), etc. – Apart from these designated public examina on authori es, all “Ministries or Departments of the Central Government and their a ached and subordinate oﬃces for recruitment of staﬀ” also come under the purview of the new law. – The central government can add new authori es in the Schedule through a no ﬁca on as and when required. – The law deﬁnes a “candidate” in these exams as “a person who has been granted permission by the public examina on authority to appear in public examina on” as well as “a person authorised to act as a scribe on his behalf in the public examina on”. 13 Use of “Unfair Means”: Sec on 3 of the Act lists at least 15 ac ons that amount to using unfair means in public examina ons “for monetary or wrongful gain”. – These ac ons include: “leakage of ques on paper or answer key or part thereof” and colluding in such leakage; “accessing or taking possession of ques on paper or an Op cal Mark Recogni on response sheet without authority”; “tampering with answer sheets including Op cal Mark Recogni on response sheets”; “providing solu on to one or more ques ons by any unauthorised person during a public examina on”, and “directly or indirectly assis ng the candidate” in a public examina on. – The sec on also lists “tampering with any document necessary for short-lis ng of candidates or ﬁnalising the merit or rank of a candidate”; “tampering with the computer network or a computer resource or a computer system”; “crea on of fake website” and “conduct of fake examina on, issuance of fake admit cards or oﬀer le ers to cheat or for monetary gain” as illegal acts. Rationale for the Law The ongoing controversy over alleged paper leaks would appear to provide an obvious jus ﬁca on for such an Act, and future incidents of the use of unfair means in examina ons will be prosecuted under the provisions of the law. There have been a very large number of cases of ques on paper leaks in recruitment exams across the country in recent years — an inves ga on by The Indian Express had found at least 48 instances of paper leaks in 16 states over the last ﬁve years, in which the process of hiring for government jobs was disrupted. – These leaks touched the lives of at least 1.51 crore applicants for about 1.2 lakh posts. The new law, which provides for ﬁnes of Rs 1 crore and up to 10 years in prison, is also expected to serve as “a model dra for States to adopt at their discre on”. 14 RESOLVE TIBET ACT WHY IN NEWS? The United States Congress recently passed the Promo ng a Resolu on to Tibet-China Dispute Act, be er known as the Resolve Tibet Act. The bipar san legisla on now awaits assent from President Joe Biden following which it will be ra ﬁed into law. Key Points This Act is the third notable piece of legisla on that the US has taken regarding Tibet, following the Tibetan Policy Act or TPA (2002), and the Tibetan Policy & Support Act or the TPSA (2020). This legisla on aims to promote a peaceful resolu on to the Tibet-China dispute according to interna onal law and the United Na ons (UN) Charter through peaceful dialogue without precondi ons. Key Provisions The Resolve Tibet Act authorises the use of funds to Underlining the right of the Tibetan people to self- counter Chinese disinforma on about Tibet “including determina on and human rights, the Act makes a note disinforma on about the history of Tibet, the Tibetan of China's duty as a signatory of two covenants — the people, and Tibetan ins tu ons, including that of the Interna onal Covenant on Civil and Poli cal Rights and Dalai Lama.” the Interna onal Covenant on Economic, Social and The Act also challenges the Chinese conten on that Cultural Rights — that advocate the same. Tibet has been a part of China since ancient mes. The Resolve Tibet Act seeks to recognise and address the It urges China to engage in meaningful and direct mul -faceted socio-cultural iden ty of the Tibetan dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his representa ves, as people, in par cular their “dis nct historical, cultural, well as democra cally elected leaders of the Tibetan religious, and linguis c iden ty.” community “without precondi ons, to seek a Finally, it amends the TPA to deﬁne the exact se lement that resolves diﬀerences.” geographical areas part of the Tibetan Autonomous Region. Different from Previous Legislation The Resolve Tibet Act is a bold successor to the two acts which preceded it. Unlike the 2002 act, which recognized China's claim over Tibet, the Resolve Tibet Act directly challenges this claim. The 2002 Act encouraged dialogue with the Dalai Lama, but only in his capacity as a spiritual leader, not as a poli cal representa ve. In contrast, this Act urges China to engage in dialogue with the Dalai Lama or his democra cally elected representa ves, without precondi ons. The Tibetan Policy & Support Act of 2020 also pushed for construc ve dialogue, but the Resolve Tibet Act goes further by sta ng that these talks should aim to "resolve diﬀerences" between the par es. 15 INDUS WATER TREATY WHY IN NEWS? A ﬁve-member Pakistani delega on was ﬂown to Jammu's Kishtwar recently to inspect power projects set up on the rivers covered under the Indus Water Treaty (IWT) of 1960. It is the ﬁrst such visit since Jammu & Kashmir's special status was scrapped in 2019. Key Points The latest visit comes against the backdrop of Pakistan's repeated technical objec on to the Kishanganga (330 MW) and Ratle hydroelectric projects. India has objected to Pakistan's bid to hold “parallel proceedings by an illegally cons tuted Court of Arbitra on on the same set of issues pertaining to the Kishenganga and Ratle Hydro-Electric Projects”. So far, Pakistan has formally raised objec ons over the 1,000 MW Pakal Dul and 48 MW Lower Kalnai hydropower projects. It has ﬂagged its objec ons to other projects in Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, which include 10 hydroelectric power projects of Durbuk Shyok, Nimu Chilling, Kiru, Tamasha, Kalaroos-II, Bal kulan Small, Kargil Hunderman, Phagla, Kulan Ramwari and Mandi. About the Indus Water Treaty Indus Waters Treaty was signed by former Prime domes c uses by India and the three Eastern Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then President of rivers—Ravi, Beas and Sutlej—were allocated to Pakistan, Ayub Khan on September 19, 1960. India for unrestricted usage. It was brokered by the World Bank. Therefore, the – This meant that 80% of the share of water or about former Vice President of the World Bank, W.A.B. Iliﬀ, 135 Million Acre Feet (MAF) went to Pakistan, also signed it. leaving the rest 33 MAF or 20% of water for use by The Indus river basin has six rivers- Indus, Jhelum, India. Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej; origina ng from Tibet and It also required both countries to establish a Permanent ﬂowing through the Himalayan ranges to enter Pakistan, Indus Commission cons tuted by permanent ending in the south of Karachi. commissioners on both sides. The treaty prescribed how water from the six rivers The func ons of the commission include serving as a would be shared between India and Pakistan. forum for the exchange of informa on on the rivers, for – It allocated the three western rivers—Indus, Chenab con nued coopera on and as a ﬁrst stop for resolu on and Jhelum—to Pakistan for unrestricted use, of conﬂicts. barring certain non-consump ve, agricultural and The Indus Water Treaty provides a three-step dispute resolu on mechanism under which “ques ons” on both sides can be resolved at the Permanent Commission, or can also be taken up at the inter-government level. Unresolved diﬀerences between the countries on water-sharing can be addressed by the World Bank-appointed Neutral Expert. Appeal from a Neutral Expert of World Bank can be referred to a Court of Arbitra on set up by the World Bank. 16 What are Pakistan's Objections? Pakistan's ini al request to the World Bank in 2016, Pakistan ﬁled its ﬁrst Memorial, which listed out its legal concerning its objec ons to the design features of the case with documents, under this process in March 2023. two hydroelectric power projects, sought a se lement A month later, the Court undertook a week-long visit to through a 'Neutral Expert.' the Neelum-Jhelum Hydro-Electric Plant in Pakistan- However, Pakistan later withdrew this request and Occupied Kashmir “to familiarise the court with general sought adjudica on through a Court of Arbitra on. aspects of the design and opera on of run-of-river India, on the other hand, insisted that the issue should hydro-electric plants along the Indus system of rivers. be resolved solely through 'Neutral Expert' proceedings. While India refused to take part in the Court of A er failed nego a ons, the World Bank appointed a Arbitra on, it submi ed a Memorial to the Neutral Neutral Expert and the chair of the Court of Arbitra on Expert in August 2023. in October 2022. Pakistan joined the second mee ng of the par es held Issuing a no ce for modifying the Treaty, India warned by Neutral Expert in Vienna in September last year that “such parallel considera on of the same issues is which discussed ma ers related to the organisa on of not covered under any provision of the IWT”. the site visit. In July 2023, the Court of Arbitra on ruled that it was The Jammu and Kashmir administra on has appointed “competent to consider and determine the disputes set 25 "liaison oﬃcers" to coordinate the visit of neutral forth by Pakistan's request for arbitra on”. experts along with delega ons from India and Pakistan. 17 UN GLOBAL PRINCIPLES FOR INFORMATION INTEGRITY WHY IN NEWS? The United Na ons Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on June 24, unveiled a set of principles aimed at curbing the spread of online misinforma on, disinforma on, and hate speech. Key Principles The seeds for the Global Principles for Informa on At the heart of the ini a ve, there are ﬁve core Integrity were sown in the 2021 UN report Our Common principles - Agenda, which envisioned future global coopera on – Societal trust and resilience; and mul lateral ac on. – Independent, free, and pluralis c media; These principles will serve as a vital resource for – Healthy incen ves; Member States ahead of the upcoming Summit of the – Transparency and research, and Future in September, where further discussions on – Public empowerment global coopera on are expected to take place. These principles form the founda on of a vision for a Titled the 'United Na ons Global Principles for more humane informa on ecosystem adding that the Informa on Integrity', these guidelines are designed to ini a ve is aimed to priori se human rights and support address the widespread harm caused by false sustainable development, climate ac on, democracy, informa on on digital pla orms. and peace. Key Recommendations Comba ng disinforma on and hate speech: All Reforming business models: Tech companies should stakeholders, including governments, tech companies, explore business models that do not rely on adver sers, and media, should avoid using, suppor ng, programma c adver sing and priori se human rights, or amplifying disinforma on and hate speech for any privacy, and safety. purpose. – Users should have greater control over their online Promo ng media freedom: Governments should experiences and personal data. ensure mely access to informa on, maintain a free, Transparency in adver sing: Adver sers should viable, independent, and plural media landscape, and demand transparency in digital adver sing processes to provide strong protec ons for journalists, researchers, ensure their budgets do not inadvertently fund and civil society. disinforma on or hate and do not undermine human Enhancing tech company responsibili es: Technology rights. companies should incorporate safety and privacy by Data transparency and accountability: Tech companies design in all products, apply policies consistently across and AI developers should ensure meaningful countries and languages, and give par cular a en on to transparency, allow researchers and academics access groups o en targeted online. to data while respec ng user privacy, commission – Addi onally, they should priori se crisis response independent audits, and co-develop accountability and support informa on integrity during elec ons. frameworks. Ethical AI development: AI developers must take Protec ng children: Special measures should be taken immediate, inclusive, and transparent measures to to protect and empower children, with governments ensure AI applica ons are designed, deployed, and used providing resources for parents, guardians, and ethically and safely, upholding human rights. educators. 18 BIHAR QUOTA STRUCK DOWN BY HC WHY IN NEWS? Recently, the Patna High Court struck down the laws passed by the Bihar Legisla ve Assembly providing 65% reserva on to the domiciles of Bihar belonging to Schedule Castes (SCs), Schedule Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in ma ers of public employment and admission to educa on ins tu ons. The Court reasoned that the enhancement of reserva ons beyond the 50% is bad in law and goes against the principles of equality emana ng from the Cons tu on. Key Points The decision of the Bihar Government to provide 65% – As per the caste survey report 85% of Bihar's total reserva ons to certain reserved categories was based Popula on comprises of SCs, STs, and OBCs; on the Caste Survey Report (2023) conducted in the therefore, the State Government jus ﬁed 65% State of Bihar. reserva on provided to such categories. The Bihar Government's Caste Survey report states that The Bihar Government's argument was considered bad the majority of the popula on within the State, belongs and rejected by the High Court because the caste survey to the marginalized and deprived communi es of report doesn't specify the status of the people at large in Backward & Extremely Backward Classes, Scheduled a caste and the economic and social status they Castes, and Scheduled Tribes, therefore, an a empt was achieved based on the reserva ons & beneﬁcial made by the Bihar Government to provide reserva on in schemes. propor on to the composi on of the castes in the State. The Bihar Government's reliance on the M. Nagaraj Case The Bihar Government's argument for breaching the was also rejected by the High Court on the ground that 50% ceiling limit was based on the concept of reserva on could not be extended merely on the ground 'propor onate representa on' which means that there exists quan ﬁable data. reserva on should be provided in propor on to the caste composi on in the state. The Indra Sawhney Ruling The 50% ceiling was introduced by the Supreme Court in its landmark 1992 decision in Indra Sawhney v Union of India in order to ensure “eﬃciency” in administra on. The 6-3 majority verdict that upheld the 27% quota for socially and economically backward classes (SEBC) set two important precedents — – ﬁrst, it said that the criteria to qualify for reserva on is “social and educa onal backwardness”; – second, it reiterated the 50% limit to ver cal quotas that the court had laid down in earlier judgments (M R Balaji v State of Mysore, 1963, and Devadasan v Union of India, 1964). The 50% limit would apply unless in “excep onal circumstances”, the court said. The Indra Sawhney ruling has been re-aﬃrmed in a host of cases since then. But eﬀorts to breach the 50% limit have also con nued, in Bihar and other states, and gained signiﬁcant poli cal currency. Legal Challenge to Ceiling The 50% limit is under challenge before the Supreme Court. Despite the pending challenge, laws that could breach the limit have been set aside by the courts. The only excep on has been the 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Sec on (EWS) introduced in 2019. – In November 2022, a ﬁve-judge Bench of the Supreme Court upheld the EWS quota in a 3-2 verdict that said the 50% ceiling applied only to SC/ ST and OBC quotas, and not to a separate quota that operated outside the 'backwardness' framework which was “an en rely diﬀerent class”. This observa on has led to ques ons on whether the SC might reopen the Indra Sawhney ques on itself. 19 Observing that the 50% ceiling limit could be breached in extraordinary circumstances, the Court in the Indra Sawhney Case noted that every excess over 50 percent will have to be jus ﬁed on valid grounds to make such an extension in conformity with Ar cles 16(1) and 16(4) of the Cons tu on. The Supreme Court in Union of India v. Rakesh Kumar gave excep onal treatment to the Schedule Tribes while upholding the Jharkhand Panchayat Raj Act that reserved 80% of seats in the Panchayats for the people belonging to Schedule Tribes in Schedule Areas. However, the Supreme Court K. Krishna Murthy v. Union of India clariﬁed that excep onal considera ons of crossing the ceiling limits cannot be invoked when the quantum of reserva ons is examined in favour of backward classes for the purpose of local bodies located in general areas. On the other hand, an argument is made that breaching 50% would be an the cal to the principle of equality since reserva ons are an excep on to the rule. – Dr B R Ambedkar's speech in the Cons tuent Assembly is o en quoted as a cau on that reserva ons without qualiﬁers could “eat up the rule of equality”. However, there is also a view that reserva ons are a feature of the fundamental right to equality and part of the basic structure of the Cons tu on. – In its ruling of 2022 upholding the 27% OBC quota in NEET, the SC had said that “reserva on is not at odds with merit but furthers its distribu ve consequences. Reservation in Other States The 76th cons tu onal amendment in 1994 inserted the Tamil Nadu reserva on law breaching the 50% limit into the Ninth Schedule of the Cons tu on. – The Ninth Schedule provides the law with a “safe harbour” from judicial review under Ar cle 31A of the Cons tu on. – Laws placed in the Ninth Schedule cannot be challenged for reasons of viola ng any fundamental right protected under the Cons tu on. In May 2021, a ﬁve-judge SC Bench unanimously struck down a Maharashtra law that provided reserva on to the Maratha community as uncons tu onal, holding that the quota limit could not exceed 50%. – With the implementa on of the Maratha quota, reserva ons in the state could have gone up to 68%. Similar to the Maratha issue are the cases of Patels in Gujarat, Jats in Haryana, and Kapus in Andhra Pradesh. North-eastern States including Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Nagaland (80% each). Lakshadweep has 100% reserva ons for STs. 20 NALANDA UNIVERSITY'S NEW CAMPUS IN BIHAR WHY IN NEWS? The Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi on June 19 inaugurated the new campus of the Nalanda University in Bihar's Rajgir. Key Features Spread across 455 acres, it is located in Rajgir, roughly In 2010, Parliament replaced this Act with the Nalanda 100 km from Patna, and merely 12 km away from the University Bill, which deemed the proposed university ruins of the eponymous ancient Buddhist monastery, to be one of “na onal importance”, and laid down rules considered to be among the greatest centres of learning regarding how it would be governed. in all of An quity. In 2013, the masterplan for the campus, proposed by It was then President APJ Abdul Kalam who oﬃcially renowned architect B V Doshi's Vastu Shilpa proposed 'reviving' Nalanda in 2006. Consultants, was chosen a er an interna onal In 2007, the proposal to re-establish Nalanda was compe on. endorsed at the East Asia Summit in Mandaue, Nalanda University admi ed its very ﬁrst batch of ﬁ een Philipines. This endorsement was re-iterated in the East students in 2014, to the School of Historical Studies, and Asia Summit of 2009, in Hua Hin, Thailand. the School of Ecology and Environmental Studies. In total, 17 countries other than India — Australia, Since 2014, four more schools have been established for Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Buddhist Studies, Languages and Literature, China, Indonesia, Laos, Mauri us, Myanmar, New Management Studies, and Interna onal Rela ons and Zealand, Portugal, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Peace Studies. Thailand, and Vietnam — have helped set up of the The Campus is a 'Net Zero' Green Campus. It is self- university. sustainable with a solar plant, domes c and drinking – Ambassadors of these countries a ended the recent water treatment plant, water recycling plant for reusing inaugura on ceremony. wastewater, 100 acres of water bodies, and many other The Bihar Assembly, in 2007, passed the University of environment-friendly facili es. Nalanda Bill to facilitate the crea on of a new, Nobel Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen, who had interna onal university near the site of the ancient been associated with the project since 2007, became learning centre in Rajgir. the University's ﬁrst Chancellor, and then-President Pranab Mukherjee became the ﬁrst Visitor. Nalanda Mahavira Mahavira in Sanskrit/Pali means 'great monastery'. – Hsuan Tsang es mated that at the me of his visit, Nalanda Mahavira was ac ve from the ﬁ h to thirteenth the monastery housed 10,000 students, 2,000 century CE. teachers, and a gargantuan re nue of servants. Gupta Emperor Kumaragupta (Shakraditya) of the Great masters such as Nagarjuna, Aryabha a, and Gupta dynasty founded Nalanda University in 427 CE in Dharmakir contributed to the scholarly tradi ons of modern Bihar in the early 5th century, and it ﬂourished ancient Nalanda. for 600 years un l the 12th century. The university was destroyed in 1193 by Bakh yar Khilji, During King Harshavardhana's reign (606-647 AD) a general of the Turkish ruler Qutbuddin Aibak. Chinese scholar Xuan Zang (also known as Hiuen Tsang It was rediscovered in 1812 by Sco sh surveyor Francis and Moksadeva, a 7th-century Chinese Buddhist monk, Buchanan-Hamilton and later iden ﬁed as the ancient scholar, traveller, and translator) came here and studied university by Sir Alexander Cunningham in 1861. for about 5 years. The ruins of Nalanda University were declared as a UN – The chronicles of seventh-century Chinese traveller Heritage Site in 2016. Hsuan Tsang provide the most detailed descrip on of ancient Nalanda. 21 SIPRI YEARBOOK 2024 WHY IN NEWS? The Stockholm Interna onal Peace Research Ins tute (SIPRI) recently launched its annual assessment of the state of armaments, disarmament and interna onal security. Key Highlights The nine nuclear-armed states—the United States, missiles, something Russia, France, the UK, the USA Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, and—more recently—China already have. Pakistan, the Democra c People's Republic of Korea – This would enable a rapid poten al increase in (North Korea) and Israel—con nued to modernize their deployed warheads, as well as the possibility for nuclear arsenals and several deployed new nuclear- nuclear-armed countries to threaten the destruc on armed or nuclear-capable weapon systems in 2023. of signiﬁcantly more targets. Of the total global inventory of an es mated 12,121 Russia and the USA together possess almost 90 per cent warheads in January 2024, about 9585 were in military of all nuclear weapons. stockpiles for poten al use. – The sizes of their respec ve military stockpiles (i.e. – An es mated 3904 of those warheads were useable warheads) seem to have remained rela vely deployed with missiles and aircra —60 more than in stable in 2023, although Russia is es mated to have January 2023—and the rest were in central storage. deployed around 36 more warheads with – Around 2100 of the deployed warheads were kept in opera onal forces than in January 2023. a state of high opera onal alert on ballis c missiles. Transparency regarding nuclear forces has declined in – Nearly all of these warheads belonged to Russia or both countries in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion the USA, but for the ﬁrst me, China is believed to of Ukraine in February 2022, and debates around have some warheads on high opera onal alert. nuclear-sharing arrangements have increased in India, Pakistan and North Korea are all pursuing the saliency. capability to deploy mul ple warheads on ballis c Size of Nuclear Arsenal SIPRI's es mate of the size of China's nuclear arsenal increased from 410 warheads in January 2023 to 500 in January 2024, and it is expected to keep growing. – For the ﬁrst me, China may also now be deploying a small number of warheads on missiles during peace me. Although the UK is not thought to have increased its nuclear weapon arsenal in 2023, its warhead stockpile is expected to grow in the future as a result of the Bri sh government's announcement in 2021 that it was raising its limit from 225 to 260 warheads. In 2023 France con nued its programmes to develop a third-genera on nuclear-powered ballis c missile submarine (SSBN) and a new air-launched cruise missile, as well as to refurbish and upgrade exis ng systems. The report put India's 'stored' nuclear warheads at 172 in January this year while the number for Pakistan was 170. – India slightly expanded its nuclear arsenal in 2023, it said, adding that both India and Pakistan con nued to develop new types of nuclear delivery systems in 2023. North Korea has approximately 50 warheads and materials for up to 90. Israel which does not publicly acknowledge possessing nuclear weapons—is also believed to be modernizing its nuclear arsenal and appears to be upgrading its plutonium produc on reactor site at Dimona. 22 ICAN Report In a separate report, the Interna onal Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, ICAN, said the nine nuclear- armed states spent a combined total of $91.4 billion on their arsenals in 2023 – equivalent to $2,898 per second. – The Geneva-based coali on of disarmament ac vists, ICAN, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017. The group said that ﬁgures show a $10.7 billion increase in global spending on nuclear weapons in 2023 compared to 2022, with the United States accoun ng for 80% of that increase. The U.S.' share of total spending — $51.5 billion — is more than all the other nuclear-armed countries put together. The next biggest spender was China at $11.8 billion with Russia spending the third largest amount at $8.3 billion. 23 SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT REPORT 2024 WHY IN NEWS? The UN Sustainable Development Solu ons Network (SDSN) recently released the 9th edi on of the Sustainable Development Report. Key Findings On average, only 16 per cent of the SDG targets are on The bo om three countries are South Sudan, Central track to be met globally by 2030, with the remaining 84 African Republic and Chad. per cent showing limited progress or a reversal of The ﬁve countries most commi ed to UN-based progress. mul lateralism (UN-Mi) are Barbados (#1), An gua and – At the global level, SDG progress has been stagnant Barbuda (#2), Uruguay (#3), Mauri us (#4), and the since 2020, with SDG 2 (Zero Hunger), SDG 11 Maldives (#5). (Sustainable Ci es), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG – By contrast, the United States (#193), Somalia 15 (Life on Land) and SDG 16 (Peace, Jus ce and (#192), South Sudan (#191), Israel (#190), and the Strong Ins tu ons) par cularly oﬀ track. Democra c Republic of Korea (#189) rank the lowest – The ﬁve SDG targets show a reversal of progress on the UN-Mi. since 2015 are the obesity rate (SDG 2), press Low-income countries (LICs) and lower-middle-income freedom (SDG 16), the Red List Index (SDG 15), countries (LMICs) urgently need to gain access to sustainable nitrogen management ( SDG 2), and life aﬀordable long-term capital so that they can invest at expectancy at birth (SDG 3). scale to achieve their sustainable development – Goals and targets related to basic access to objec ves. infrastructure and services, including SDG 9 – Mobilizing the necessary levels of ﬁnance will (Industry, Innova on and Infrastructure), show require new ins tu ons, new forms of global slightly more posi ve trends. ﬁnancing (including global taxa on), and new BRICS and BRICS+ countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi priori es for global ﬁnancing (such as inves ng in Arabia, UAE) have shown faster-than-average SDG quality educa on for all). progress since 2015. The SDG targets related to food and land systems are European countries – notably the Nordic countries – top par cularly oﬀ-track. the 2024 SDG Index. Finland is ranked ﬁrst, followed by – Globally, 600 million people will s ll suﬀer from Sweden (#2), Denmark (#3), Germany (#4), and France hunger by 2030; obesity is increasing; and (#5). greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture, forestry, East and South Asia has emerged as the region that has and other land use (AFOLU) account for almost a made the greatest progress toward the SDGs. quarter of total annual global GHG emissions. India's Rank India secured 109th rank with an overall score of 64.0. As per the report, only around 30% of SDG targets are on track or have been achieved. There is limited progress in the other 40% of the targets and in around 30% of targets the situa on is worsening. Highest performance is observed in achieving SDG 1, SDG 4, SDG 12 and SDG 13. 24 Interna onal Spillover Index This index is a metric used to assess how a country's ac ons impact the ability of other countries to achieve the SDGs. – It measures the interna onal ripple eﬀects of a country's policies and prac ces. – It considers three main dimensions of these eﬀects - Environmental & social impacts embodied in trade (e.g., pollu on caused by produc on for export), Economic & ﬁnancial spillovers (e.g., ﬁnancial crises spreading across borders) and Security spillovers (e.g., instability in one country impac ng the safety of others). Sta s cal Performance Index India scored 74.5 on this index. It measures the strength of a country's na onal sta s cal system. A higher score indicates a country has a more reliable and comprehensive sta s cal system, which is crucial for eﬀec vely tracking progress towards the SDGs. QUICK FACTS CONTEMPORARY EVENTS OF SIGNIFICANCE FROM INDIA AND THE WORLD 25 1. Recently, the Ministry of Sta s cs and Programme biodiversity, is one of the two recipients of the 2024 Implementa on (MoSPI) released the ﬁndings of the Blue Planet Prize. The Blue Planet Prize, awarded by ﬁrst-ever all-India na onal survey on Ayurveda, Yoga Japan's Asahi Glass Founda on, is awarded annually to & Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy individuals and organisa ons to recognise outstanding (AYUSH) systems of medicine. It was conducted by the achievements in scien ﬁc research and its applica on, Na onal Sample Survey Oﬃce (NSSO) from July 2022 which have helped provide solu ons to global to June 2023. This survey covered the en re Indian environmental problems. Union, excluding a few inaccessible villages in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands. 7. Recently, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy (MNRE) has increased the yearly alloca on of Green 2. The Gandhi Sagar Wildlife Sanctuary will be the Ammonia for the fer liser sector from 550,000 to second home for cheetahs in India, a er the Kuno 750,000 tonnes to meet rising demand, enhancing Na onal Park. The Madhya Pradesh government has support for Green Hydrogen in India. India launched announced that it has completed its prepara ons for the Na onal Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM) in the ambi ous project. The ﬁnal call on when the January 2023. cheetahs will be imported from Namibia and South Africa will be made a er the monsoons. 8. The Odisha government recently announced the extension of its sponsorship for Hockey India un l 3. Russia is all set to ship the ﬁrst batch of 26 turbine hall 2036 – a year that marks the centenary of the state's pipeline valves, a total weighing about 27.50 tonnes, forma on in 1936. In 2018, the Odisha Mining for the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project's (KKNPP) Corpora on Ltd (OMC), a state-run PSU, entered into reactors 5 and 6. These specially designed valves can an agreement with Hockey India for sponsorship of the withstand temperatures up to 350 degrees Celsius. Indian Hockey Teams (Men/Women, Senior /Junior) for KNNP has been modernised jointly by Russia's ﬁve years from 2018 to 2023. In recogni on of the Rosatom and the Nuclear Power Corpora on of India success of the men's and women's teams in the Tokyo Limited (NPCIL). It is the largest nuclear power plant in Olympics, the state government announced that the India. sponsorship would be extended for another 10 years – up to 2033. 4. As many as nine ports of India have made it to the global top 100 rankings in the latest edi on of the 9. In a rare achievement that brought laurels to the Container Port Performance Index (CPPI). The CPPI, country, four Armed Forces Medical Service (AFMS) developed by the World Bank and S&P Global Market oﬃcers, including a couple from Thrissur district and Intelligence, measures the resilience, eﬃciency and another oﬃcer from Kannur, have clinched a record 32 overall performance of the Ports. While medals in the recently held 43rd World Medical and Visakhapatnam Port made it to the top 20 ports of the Health Games at Saint-Tropez, France. The World World at 19 in 2023, Mundra Port also climbed up the Medical and Health Games, o en regarded as the index at 27 in the current ranking. Olympic Games for health professionals, has evolved into the most pres gious global spor ng event within 5. The 10th Interna onal Day of Yoga (IDY) was the medical community. With a legacy da ng back to st celebrated on 21 June 2024 with the theme of “Yoga 1978, the Games annually a racts over 2500 for Self and Society”. 21st June was declared as the IDY par cipants from more than 50 countries. by the United Na ons in 2014, by resolu on 69/131. The IDY was celebrated in 2015 with the theme "Yoga 10. The Centre has no ﬁed amended rules to allow for Harmony and Peace". women government employees to take 180 days of maternity leave in case they have children through 6. Intergovernmental Pla orm on Biodiversity and surrogacy. The government has also allowed the Ecosystem Services (IPBES), the intergovernmental "commissioning mother" (the intending mother of the organisa on established to strengthen the science- child born through surrogacy) with child care leave policy interface for biodiversity and ecosystem services b e s i d e s p a t e r n i t y l e av e o f 1 5 d ay s t o t h e for the conserva on and sustainable use of "commissioning father", according to the changes 26 made in the Central Civil Services (Leave) Rules, 1972. Murmu's address to the joint si ng of Parliament was Till now, there were no rules to grant maternity leaves the ﬁrst a er the cons tu on of the 18th Lok Sabha. to women government employees in case a child was The ﬁrst session of the 18th Lok Sabha began on June born through surrogacy. 24 and the 264th session of the Rajya Sabha will begin on June 27. 11. Kerala Assembly on June 24 unanimously passed a resolu on urging the Centre to rename the state as 16. South India's ﬁrst and the country's largest leopard “Keralam'' in the Cons tu on. This is the second me safari was inaugurated at the Bannergha a Biological in the past year that such a resolu on has been passed. Park (BBP). As per Central Zoo Authority guidelines for Kerala is the English word for the Malyali Keralam. safaris, an area of 20 hectares has been demarcated and fenced for the safari. Currently eight leopards have 12. Ladakh has achieved a 97% literacy rate following the been released for the safari in the open forest area. The implementa on of the ULLAS - Nav Bharat Saaksharta BBP was separated from Bannergha a Na onal Park Karyakram scheme, making it a fully "func onally (BNP) in 2004 and gained its status as a na onal park in literate" administra ve unit. ULLAS - Nav Bharat 1974. It is home to free ranging leopards (Panthera Saaksharta Karyakram, also known as the New India Pardus). Literacy Programme (NILP), is a centrally sponsored ini a ve running from 2022 to 2027. Aligned with the 17. The U ar Pradesh government will set up a bioplas c Na onal Educa on Policy (NEP) 2020, it aims to park in Gola Gokarnnath of Lakhimpur Kheri district at empower adults aged 15 and above, regardless of an investment of Rs 2,000 crore. Bioplas c is made background, who missed out on formal schooling, from natural materials such as corn, sunﬂower, or integra ng them into society to enhance na onal sugar beet. It decomposes quickly, thereby reducing development. environmental pollu on. Using bioplas c not only promotes environmental sustainability but can also be 13. Recently, PM's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) used in various industries such as packaging, ready- chief Bibek Debroy pitched for a review of India's made garments, electronics, and other industrial oﬃcial poverty line and suggested analysing inequality products. at the

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