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  • How to break the ration shop monopoly

    Why in the News

    One Nation One Ration Card (ONORC), introduced in 2019 so migrant workers could draw subsidised grain away from home, is used mostly to switch ration shops near home. Its main gain is bargaining power over the shop dealer, not long-distance mobility, according to Bihar’s transaction records.

    What is ONORC, and what was it meant to fix?

    1. What it is: ONORC lets a beneficiary draw subsidised grain at any ration shop in India, much like keeping a mobile number in any city. The shop checks identity through Aadhaar, India’s biometric ID.
    2. PDS scale: About six in ten Indians draw subsidised cereals each month from 5 lakh fair price shops (FPS), the ration shops of the Public Distribution System (PDS).
    3. Old gap: Until 2019 the entitlement was tied to the address on the card, so a worker in a Punjab field or Surat mill could not draw grain there.
    4. Two elements: Portability lets a beneficiary collect the quota at any FPS in India. Divisibility lets the entitlement be split across draws, part at home and part where the migrant stays.
    5. The takeaway: ONORC serves mainly as a way to shop around locally rather than to move across States, which changes the dealer’s power.

    What does Bihar’s data show?

    1. Dataset: The study uses 891 million transactions from Bihar’s online PDS portal since April 2022, together with inter-State data. Bihar is India’s poorest State and its largest source of migrants.
    2. Nearby use: 55% of ONORC use is at another shop in the same block, against 38% at the assigned shop, the one the card is tied to.
    3. Two types: Type 1 portability is use at a nearby shop, which dissatisfaction with price, quantity or quality at the assigned shop would drive. Type 2 is use by long-distance migrants, and it is far smaller: only 1% of use is in other States.
    4. Trend: Portable transactions have risen about six percentage points a year, evenly across Bihar but most in type 1.
    5. Divisibility: Divisibility is used sparingly. Low awareness and dealer incentives are among the suspected reasons.

    Why does the freedom to switch discipline the dealer?

    1. Old monopoly: Before ONORC the dealer was a monopolist. A household tied to one shop had no bargaining power when cheated on price, quantity, quality or service. This mostly hurt households with little social power, such as female-headed and lower-caste ones.
    2. Exit threat: A cardholder can now threaten to leave. That hurts the dealer, because commission depends on the volume of grain disbursed. A cardholder who switches keeps the dealer in check, so beneficiaries can get better outcomes.
    3. Welfare gain: ONORC made the dealer-client relationship negotiable. The authors say this shift in bargaining power may be the largest welfare change the PDS has seen in decades.

    Challenges

    1. Authentication failures: Elderly and manual workers with worn fingerprints, and shops with weak networks, can be denied grain when Aadhaar checks fail.
    2. Thin dealer margin: A fixed commission per quintal gives dealers a thin margin and a reason to short-weigh or divert grain.
    3. Outdated coverage: Coverage is pegged to the 2011 Census, so experts estimate over 100 million eligible people lack ration cards.

    Way Forward

    1. Awareness drive: States should publicise portability and divisibility at every FPS so cardholders use the choice they hold.
    2. Fallback authentication: Offer iris scanners and one time password overrides where fingerprints fail.
    3. Fair margin: The Centre and States should review dealer commission so that income does not rest only on volume.
    4. Updated coverage: Revise coverage with the latest Census so excluded households get cards.

    Conclusion

    ONORC has proved less a migrants’ scheme than a tool that gives every cardholder a choice of dealer. The test ahead is whether other States show the same pattern and whether dealer incentives are reformed to keep that choice meaningful.

    Public Distribution System and the National Food Security Act, 2013

    1. Entitlement: The Act gives a legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrain to up to 75% of the rural and 50% of the urban population.
    2. Categories: Antyodaya Anna Yojana households (the poorest) get 35 kg a family a month, and Priority Households get 5 kg a person a month.
    3. Division of work: The Centre procures, stores and allocates grain in bulk, and States identify beneficiaries, issue cards and run the shops.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2021, GS3, 15 marks] What are the salient features of the National Food Security Act, 2013? How has the Food Security Bill helped in eliminating hunger and malnutrition in India?”

  • Drug prices: overcharging claims of Rs 8,447 crore remain unpaid

    Why in the News

    Medicine makers that overcharge must repay the excess, yet about 84% of the Rs 10,029.8 crore the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has demanded for overcharging remains unpaid. The Rs 8,447.4 crore outstanding surfaces as the Supreme Court presses the government to extend price limits to more medicines.

    How does price control work, and how is overcharging recovered?

    1. What it is: The Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO) is the government order that sets the highest price for listed medicines. It works like a fare cap: charging above it is overcharging.
    2. Who enforces it: The NPPA, the government’s drug-price regulator set up in 1997, raises a demand with interest on companies that overcharged. Its records go back to 1979.
    3. Trade margin: A seller adds a markup between the price it pays for a medicine and the price the patient pays. That markup is the trade margin.
    4. Patients get nothing back: Recovering money from companies is separate from compensating patients. A 2019 Lok Sabha reply said no mechanism exists to compensate consumers, though the NPPA takes consumer complaints.
    5. The takeaway: Medicines make up nearly one fifth of a rural hospital bill, yet recovery runs between the regulator and companies, so patients see no refund even when a demand is met.

    How much has been recovered, and where is the rest stuck?

    1. Recovered: By March 2026 only Rs 1,582.4 crore had been realised, so the unpaid sum is more than five times the amount recovered.
    2. Litigation: More than Rs 5,800 crore of the unpaid sum is tied up in court cases.
    3. Recovery process: Rs 200 crore relates to cases referred to district collectors for recovery, and Rs 2,369.3 crore is still being processed.
    4. Old backlog: Almost half of the unpaid sum dates from cases before 2009.

    Why is the Supreme Court pressing for wider price limits?

    1. Margin cap: The Centre told the Court it had capped trade margins at 30% for non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines, those outside the ceiling price list.
    2. Court’s question: A two judge Bench asked why similar limits cannot cover other medicines and medical products.
    3. Price gaps: Citing steep gaps between supply prices and prices charged to patients, the Court asked the government to work out broader measures to regulate medicine prices.
    4. Overcharging versus margins: Overcharging beyond regulated prices breaks the DPCO, but a high margin need not be illegal. Both raise costs for patients.
    5. Next hearing: The matter will be heard again on October 27.

    Challenges

    1. Undercounted overcharging: The dues cover only cases the NPPA detected and pursued, so actual overcharging is larger.
    2. Uneven enforcement: The number of cases taken up each year peaked in 2015-16 and fell sharply by 2020-21, so pressure on companies is uneven.
    3. Narrow price control: Ceiling prices apply only to scheduled medicines on the National List of Essential Medicines, and other medicines face only a cap on yearly price rises.
    4. Weak deterrent: When most demanded money stays unpaid for years, overcharging carries little penalty.

    Way Forward

    1. Priority hearings: The Department of Pharmaceuticals should seek early hearings in the NPPA recovery cases pending in court.
    2. Time-bound recovery: Set deadlines for district collectors on cases referred to them for recovery.
    3. Patient redress: Build a compensation route for consumers, funded from recovered overcharges.
    4. Wider margin cap: Extend a uniform trade margin cap beyond anti-cancer medicines, as the Court has asked the government to examine.
    5. Public reporting: The NPPA should publish yearly data on overcharging detected and money recovered.

    Conclusion

    Price rules bind makers on paper, but the money owed for breaking them has largely not been collected, and none of it reaches patients. The next hearing will show whether the government widens margin control or first strengthens recovery.

    Key numbers

    1. Before 2009: 731 cases, with Rs 4,764.75 crore demanded and Rs 3,987.5 crore outstanding.
    2. Since 2009: About Rs 5,265 crore demanded, of which about Rs 4,460 crore is outstanding.
    3. Annual cases: 268 (2015-16), 224 (2017-18), 38 (2020-21), 148 (2022-23) and 133 (2025-26).
    4. Medicine spend per hospital stay (2025): Rural Rs 6,368 of Rs 32,884; urban Rs 6,948 of Rs 46,774.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “No direct PYQ traced in the provided files. Thematic PYQ: [2015, GS2, 12 marks] For achieving the desired objectives, it is necessary to ensure that the regulatory institutions remain independent and autonomous. Discuss in the light of the experiences in recent past.”

  • Unlocking agri-potential of FRA lands

    Why in the News

    The Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA) has given millions of tribal and forest-dwelling families legal rights over land. Two authors now propose growing pulses and oilseeds on these plots to turn titles into livelihoods, because these crops suit rain fed marginal land and could cut India’s import dependence.

    Why do land titles need crops to become livelihoods?

    1. FRA lands: The Act recognises land rights of Scheduled Tribes and other forest dwellers who long occupied forest land. A title without seed, water and a market is like a shop licence without stock.
    2. Next step: A parcel of land is the base of a livelihood only if conditions make it productive and sustainable. The authors want titles paired with sustainable farming, soil and water management, institutional support and market access.
    3. Why these crops: Pulses and oilseeds adapt to rain fed (watered only by rainfall) and marginal (poor quality) land, raise productivity and support climate-resilient farming. They also strengthen domestic supplies.
    4. The takeaway: A title secures the land, but crops and support decide whether it becomes a livelihood.

    Which tribal districts suit pulses and oilseeds?

    1. Soil suitability: An analysis using the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) soil map finds many tribal regions suited to soybean, groundnut, sunflower, mustard, chickpea and other pulses.
    2. Oilseeds: Of the 244 tribal districts, 60 have major oilseed production potential.
    3. Pulses: 31 districts have strong pulse potential, and 23 have favourable conditions for both crops.
    4. Cropping pattern: Paddy and maize dominate the Kharif (monsoon) season, and wheat, gram, mustard and lentil the Rabi (winter) season. Millets, cotton, sesame and spices offer scope for sustainable diversification.
    5. Local variety: The districts span 33 States and Union Territories with different settlement patterns and resources, so plans must follow local conditions.

    How do the proposals fit existing schemes?

    1. Scheme convergence: The authors would link the plan to the PM Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (irrigation), National Food Security and Nutrition Mission, National Mission on Edible Oils (edible oil output), PM-AASHA (price support) and Van Dhan Yojana (tribal produce).
    2. Aspirational districts: Many tribal districts overlap with aspirational districts, the districts flagged as lagging on development indicators, so the effort reaches places with the greatest need.

    Challenges

    1. Recognition gap: Only 47% of individual claims under the FRA have been approved, so many families hold no title to farm.
    2. Wheat-rice bias: Procurement favours wheat and rice, so oilseeds and pulses lack assured markets that would reward farmers.
    3. Low, rain fed yields: Over 70% of oilseed cultivation depends on the monsoon, and yields are about half those of the US and Brazil.
    4. Cheap imports: Imported palm oil causes price swings that deter domestic growers. Eg. Indonesia and Malaysia are the main sources.

    Way Forward

    1. Production clusters: Develop region-specific oilseed and pulse clusters on FRA lands in high-potential tribal districts.
    2. Inputs and water: Supply certified seeds, irrigation, watershed management and stronger agri-extension.
    3. After harvest: Build local drying, storage, grading and primary processing to cut post-harvest losses.
    4. Farmer institutions: Strengthen farmer producer organisations (FPOs), cooperatives and self-help groups to aggregate produce and reach markets.
    5. Planning and finance: Plan crops with Geographic Information System (GIS) maps and back them with credit, crop insurance and assured procurement.

    Conclusion

    FRA titles settle who holds the land, and the proposed crop plan tries to settle what the land earns. The test ahead is whether States convert district-level potential into funded clusters.

    Government Initiatives for Pulses and Oilseeds

    1. Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses (2025-31): A six-year mission of about Rs 11,440 crore targets self-reliance in tur (pigeon pea), urad (black gram) and masoor (red lentil).
    2. High-yielding varieties: The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) approved 343 high-yielding pulse varieties and hybrids between 2014 and 2023.
    3. Assured procurement: The National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) and the National Cooperative Consumers’ Federation of India (NCCF) buy pulses from registered farmers to stabilise prices.
    4. PM Dhan-Dhaanya: The 2025 scheme targets crop diversification across 100 low-productivity districts.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2010] An objective of the Nations Food Security Mission is to increase the production of certain crops through area expansion and productivity enhancement in a sustainable manner in the identified districts of the country. What are the those crops? (a) Rice and Wheat only (b) Rice, Wheat and Pulses only (c) Rice, Wheat, Pulses and Oilseeds only (d) Rice, Wheat, Pulses, Oilseeds and Vegetables only ANSWER: (b)”

  • 4,263 SIR ‘objections’ missing from Delhi CEO’s website

    Why in the News

    Election rules say a deletion objection must be made public before anyone acts on it, yet nearly a third of the objections in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR), a door-to-door recheck of the electoral rolls, are missing from the public lists. Delhi’s Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) reported 13,462 deletion requests in the first 45 days of the claims and objections phase but listed only 9,199, leaving 4,263 undisclosed.

    What must happen before a deletion objection is acted on?

    1. What it is: A Form 7 asks for a voter’s name to be deleted from the roll. Like a public notice before a hearing, it must be shown to everyone before anything happens to the name.
    2. Public list: Form 10 is the constituency-wise list of Form 7s, naming the objector, the targeted voter and the reason. It goes on the CEO’s website daily, to parties weekly and on notice boards.
    3. Safeguard: The Election Commission of India (ECI) Manual on Electoral Roll 2023 bars an Electoral Registration Officer (ERO), who maintains the roll, from acting until the objection has stayed on Form 10 for seven days.
    4. Notice: If deletion is sought for any reason other than death, the voter must also get a personal notice and 15 days to reply.
    5. The takeaway: Publication lets the named voter, parties and citizens catch a false objection before a name is struck off.

    What is missing from the public lists?

    1. Hidden details: For the 31.67% of objections not listed, nobody can see who objected, against whom or why, because the details are not uploaded.
    2. Unlisted means invalid: An objection that has not been publicly listed is invalid, and processing it would violate the rules.
    3. Two counts: The CEO’s daily bulletin counts forms digitised by EROs, and Form 10 lists the published ones. Officials say the two should not differ.
    4. Single day gap: On October 15 the list carried 1,402 objections, but the bulletin showed 2,046 Form 7s received.
    5. No reply: The CEO’s office had not answered questions on the gap by publication.

    Who is filing the objections?

    1. Self-filed: Around 84% of listed objections were self-filed, most often citing “permanently shifted” or “absent/permanently shifted” as the reason.
    2. Hotspots: Okhla drew the most listed objections, followed by Timarpur, Najafgarh and Vikaspuri.

    Challenges

    1. Unseen deletions: An unlisted objection cannot be checked by the named voter or by parties before a name is removed.
    2. Closing window: The claims and objections period closes on October 30, so a voter may learn of an unlisted objection too late to reply.
    3. Weak reconciliation: The bulletin count and the public list can differ with no stated reconciliation, which weakens trust in the roll.

    Way Forward

    1. Daily reconciliation: Publish each day the Form 7s received, listed and pending, with the reason for any gap.
    2. Hold on unlisted objections: Bar any notice or action on an objection until its seven day listing is complete.
    3. Upload deadline: Fix a time limit for uploading each digitised Form 7 to the public list.
    4. Full reply period: Count the 15 day reply from the day an objection is first made public.

    Conclusion

    Delhi’s daily bulletin and its public lists of objections disagree on how many deletion objections exist, which puts the rule that no name is struck off unseen to the test. The CEO’s explanation for the gap, and the fate of the unlisted objections before the window shuts, are the next things to watch.

    Key numbers

    1. Listed Form 7s by constituency, 31 August to 16 October: Okhla 531, Timarpur 335, Najafgarh 323, Vikaspuri 289.
    2. Timarpur on October 15: 214 objections were listed on that day alone.

    Back2Basics: Special Intensive Revision (SIR)

    1. What it is: A time-bound, door-to-door check in which Booth Level Officers (BLOs) visit households to verify every voter entry. The routine annual summary revision does not do this.
    2. Aims: Remove deceased, duplicate and permanently shifted voters, and register newly eligible citizens.
    3. Constitutional basis: Article 324 gives the ECI superintendence, direction and control of the rolls.
    4. Statutory basis: Section 21 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950 allows a special revision at any time for reasons recorded in writing.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2026, GS2, 10 marks] Is the right to vote a fundamental right? Discuss the position of the Election Commission of India while undertaking the revision of electoral rolls. Can it also examine the question of citizenship of voters?”

  • Crackdown on liquor masks alarming surge in narcotics

    Why in the News

    Bihar’s liquor ban, enforced since 2016 with about 3.16 crore litres seized and 7.15 lakh arrests, has been followed by a fast-growing market in narcotics. Cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, India’s main anti-drug law, already exceed the whole of 2022 in just five months of 2026.

    Why did a liquor ban create a market for drugs?

    1. The ban: Bihar imposed complete prohibition to curb alcoholism and its social and economic harm. Police seized 21.26 lakh litres of liquor and made 75,225 arrests in the first year.
    2. Price gap: Black-market whisky costs about twice its price elsewhere. A small packet of adulterated brown sugar costs far less and keeps a user intoxicated longer, so some users switch.
    3. Covid tipping point: In the Covid lockdown the legal liquor market disappeared and demand did not, so ganja and afeem (opium) spread in rural areas. Workers returning from other States brought contacts and knowledge of synthetic drugs.
    4. The takeaway: Policing one intoxicant left demand intact, so users moved to cheaper and stronger ones.

    How far has the drug market grown?

    1. Cases: NDPS cases reached 1,905 in the first five months of 2026, against 697 in 2019.
    2. Ganja and pills: Ganja seizures nearly doubled in three years, and tablets seized rose about 30-fold in four years, including counterfeit pills made from chemical powders.
    3. Changing users: The head of psychiatry at a Patna medical institute reports patients shifting from cannabis to semi-synthetic and synthetic (lab-made) drugs, with many dependent on heroin.
    4. Spreading districts: Patna was among the top five districts for NDPS cases every year from 2016 to 2025, and Samastipur, Muzaffarpur and Vaishali are new hotspots.

    How do the drugs reach Bihar?

    1. Kota: Kota is a raw form of heroin, inhaled with cigarettes. It is sold in soap-box containers, each split into hundreds of tiny vials. The name comes from “quota”, a local word for a dose.
    2. Route: Ready-made boxes come from Myanmar into the Northeast and onward by the Silchar (Assam) route. The “Death Triangle” of Myanmar, Laos and Thailand has shifted from opium and heroin towards synthetics such as “Yaba” methamphetamine tablets.
    3. Couriers: Couriers collect boxes in the Northeast and return by train, and women hide them in stitched compartments in clothes. About 80% of those arrested in kota cases link to Vaishali.
    4. Legal workarounds: The NDPS Act punishes by quantity: for ganja, 1 kg is small and 20 kg commercial. Traffickers split consignments among carriers to stay below the limits, because the quantity class also affects bail.

    Who is at risk, and is the response keeping up?

    1. Juveniles: Only 11 juveniles were detained under the NDPS Act from 2016 to 2023, against 50 in 2024 alone. Police fear cheap drugs are fuelling juvenile crime.
    2. Treatment gap: Beneficiaries of Union-supported de-addiction centres rose nearly 20-fold in two years, yet such centres run in under a third of Bihar’s districts.
    3. State bureau: The Prohibition and State Narcotics Control Bureau, set up in September 2025, merged the Anti Narcotics Task Force with the police prohibition wing.
    4. Union campaign: The Union Home Ministry’s Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, a drug-free India campaign, has 2029 as its target year.

    Challenges

    1. Hard-to-detect carriage: Pills and vials fit in a pocket, and scanners and sniffer dogs are of limited use, so detection depends on advance intelligence.
    2. Small players caught: Enforcement mostly catches couriers and users, not kingpins, because the chain is a loose network rather than one gang.
    3. Slow trials: Delayed trials, low conviction rates and weak forensic capacity reduce deterrence.

    Way Forward

    1. Community participation: The State should back community programmes that build resistance to drugs, since police action alone will not suffice.
    2. District coverage: The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment should extend supported de-addiction centres to every district.
    3. Special courts and labs: States should set up special NDPS courts and forensic labs for quicker trials.

    Conclusion

    Prohibition has changed what Bihar’s users consume more than whether they consume. The test ahead is whether treatment capacity and community programmes expand as fast as enforcement.

    Key numbers

    1. Black-market prices: Whisky (750 ml) costs about Rs 1,500 in Bihar against Rs 650-750 elsewhere; a brown sugar packet costs Rs 300-500.
    2. Seizures: Ganja rose from 16,691.81 kg (2022) to 31,915.29 kg (2025); tablets from 29,762 (2022) to 9.29 lakh (January to May 2026).
    3. De-addiction beneficiaries: 1,487 (2022-23) to 29,429 (2024-25), per a Union reply of 10 March 2026.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2018, GS3, 15 marks] India’s proximity to two of the world’s biggest illicit opium-growing states has enhanced her internal security concerns. Explain the linkages between drug trafficking and other illicit activities such as gunrunning, money laundering and human trafficking. What counter-measures should be taken to prevent the same?”

  • Panchayat polls to be held in Ladakh on Nov. 21; Kargil hill council dissolved

    Why in the News

    Ladakh is moving from two hill councils, one each for Leh and Kargil, to hill councils in all eight of its districts, and its first panchayat polls since 2018 are set for November 21. The administration has dissolved the Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council (LAHDC)-Kargil with immediate effect.

    What is the LAHDC-Kargil, and why was it dissolved?

    1. What it is: A hill council is an elected body that handles development for a hill district, like an elected district board. Leh and Kargil had separate councils, created in 1995 and 2003.
    2. Why it was dissolved: The stated reason is the reorganisation of districts. Ladakh now has eight districts, six of them new additions to Leh and Kargil.
    3. What was cut short: The council was elected in 2023 and would have run until 2028.
    4. The takeaway: The creation of districts has ended an elected council before its term, and new councils are to be built around the new districts.

    What elections have been announced?

    1. Panchayat polls: The Ladakh State Election Commission (SEC) proposed general elections across all panchayat circles (halqas) on November 21. Nominations close on November 2.
    2. Model Code of Conduct: The Model Code of Conduct (MCC), the rules that bind parties and government during elections, is in force with immediate effect.
    3. Constituencies: The administration notified 100 elected constituencies across the eight districts. They will also be the basis for constituting hill councils in all eight districts.
    4. Gap since 2018: The last panchayat and municipal elections were held in 2018, when Ladakh was part of Jammu and Kashmir.

    Why does the timing matter?

    1. Statehood and Sixth Schedule talks: The step comes as the Centre holds talks with Ladakh’s representatives on demands for Statehood and Sixth Schedule status (self-governing tribal councils).
    2. Official framing: The Lieutenant Governor called the election announcement “a historic milestone for grassroots democracy in Ladakh”.

    Challenges

    1. Overlapping tiers: New hill councils, any Union Territory body from the talks and the Lieutenant Governor may compete for the same subjects.
    2. Interim gap: Kargil has no elected hill council until new councils are constituted, and no date is stated.
    3. Thin finances: Ladakh has a tiny tax base, so councils depend on transfers.
    4. Leh and Kargil differ: The two regions differ on representation and on the constitutional outcome they seek.

    Way Forward

    1. Constitution timetable: Announce a date for constituting the eight hill councils.
    2. Fiscal transfer formula: Give each hill council a statutory transfer on a fixed formula.
    3. Division of subjects: Divide subjects clearly among the hill councils, any Union Territory body and the Lieutenant Governor.
    4. Leh-Kargil formula: Agree a seat and revenue sharing formula between Leh and Kargil.

    Conclusion

    Ladakh has replaced a two-council structure with a plan for eight councils, and the panchayat polls are the first step. The next milestones are the polls and the constitution of the new hill councils, set against the continuing talks on Statehood and the Sixth Schedule.

    Key numbers

    1. Elected constituencies by district: Leh 22, Kargil 21, Sankoo 13, Changthang 10, Nubra 9, Sham 9, Zanskar 9 and Drass 7.
    2. Sixth Schedule council size: At most 30 members, of whom 26 are elected and 4 nominated by the Governor.
    3. LAHDC-Kargil result, 2023: The National Conference-Congress alliance won 24 seats (National Conference 12, Congress 10); the Bharatiya Janata Party won 2 and Independents 2.

    Back2Basics: Sixth Schedule

    1. What it is: Under Article 244(2), the Sixth Schedule governs tribal areas in four North-Eastern States: Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram. Ladakh is outside it and seeks inclusion.
    2. Councils: It sets up 10 Autonomous District Councils, each elected for a five-year term.
    3. Powers: Councils make laws on land, forests, shifting cultivation and customs, and collect land revenue and taxes on professions, vehicles and trades.
    4. Funding: Article 275(1) gives these areas special grants-in-aid from the Consolidated Fund of India.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2011] The Constitution (Seventy-Third Amendment) Act, 1992, which aims at promoting the Panchayati Raj Institutions in the country, provides for which of the following? 1. Constitution of District Planning Committees. 2. State Election Commissions to conduct all Panchayat elections. 3. Establishment of State Finance Commissions. Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1 only (b) 1 and 2 only (c) 2 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 ANSWER: (d)”

  • The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in dire straits

    Why in the News

    Saudi Arabia is pressed at two chokepoints at once: Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and renewed fighting with the al-Houthis, Yemen’s Shia militia, near the Bab al-Mandeb Strait. Houthi strikes on Riyadh airport and the headquarters of Aramco, the state oil company, are the first sustained attacks on Saudi cities in 35 years, and they threaten its oil exports.

    Why are two chokepoints a threat to Saudi Arabia?

    1. Chokepoint: A narrow sea passage that much world trade must use, so closing it hurts every user, like the only bridge into a city.
    2. Two straits: Iran has blockaded Hormuz. After the 2022 Yemen ceasefire broke down in July, the al-Houthis occupied Red Sea plains beside Bab al-Mandeb, a strait carrying nearly 12% of global maritime traffic.
    3. Pipeline: The Trans-Arabian Pipeline is also disrupted, allegedly by Iraqi Shia militias, threatening oil exports to Asia.
    4. The takeaway: Pressure on both sea routes is the toughest test yet for the Crown Prince, who already faces an economic downturn and shifting alliances, but fears for the state’s survival are overblown.

    Who are the al-Houthis, and what do common narratives miss?

    1. Old conflict: The Saudi-Houthi conflict is nearly a century old. Saudi forces beat Yemen’s Imam in 1934, and Yemen then ceded three Asir provinces under the Treaty of Taif.
    2. Sectarian divide: The al-Houthis are Zaydis, a Shia sect making up about a third of Yemen’s people. Saudis are mostly Wahhabi Sunnis. This divide underlies Yemen’s 12-year civil war.
    3. Not a mere proxy: Strong Iran ties do not make them a proxy, given their Arab identity. They sat out two recent US-Iran wars, and they attack Saudi Arabia in retaliation for its decade-old air and sea blockade.
    4. Oil flows: A 70% rise in global oil prices contradicts claims that Gulf oil and gas flows are near normal. Iran, self-styled “supervisor” of Hormuz, attacks tankers and restricts supplies to keep prices high until the US midterms.

    Can Saudi Arabia break the pincer by force?

    1. Military limits: Riyadh has an $83 billion defence budget, the world’s eighth-largest, yet cannot dislodge the al-Houthis from mountain positions by a ground offensive. Its Yemeni allies’ offensive has become a war of attrition, a slow grind.
    2. Thin backing: The White House and the Makkah Agreement partners offer only token gestures, because Yemen has a name as a graveyard of foreign interventions.
    3. Cost of a truce: A truce risks Riyadh’s prestige, a collapse of Yemen’s fractious internationally recognised government, and a stronger Tehran-Sana’a axis, meaning closer Iran-Houthi ties.

    How does the crisis reach India?

    1. Prices and supply: India avoids direct entanglement but suffers interrupted trade and high oil, gas and fertiliser prices.
    2. Citizens in the Gulf: About nine million Indians live there, and their safety is India’s responsibility.
    3. Lesson of 1990-91: Bringing back 1,60,000 Indians from Kuwait triggered India’s economic crisis and forced the first pledge of the country’s gold. The Gulf now holds over 50 times as many Indians.

    Challenges

    1. Exposed bypass routes: The East-West pipeline carries Saudi crude to the Red Sea, where the al-Houthis threaten shipping, so bypassing Hormuz does not remove the risk.
    2. Second front: Iran has made no secret of its plan to hit Gulf Arab states that act as US accomplices, so Saudi Arabia may face attacks from Iran as well as the al-Houthis.
    3. Scattered mediation: Reports say the US has demoted Pakistan, credited with the Islamabad Memorandum, as a go-between. Qatar, Iraq and Moscow are drawn in instead, so mediation is split.

    Way Forward

    1. Negotiated truce: Riyadh and the al-Houthis should agree a package that de-escalates tensions, lifts mutual air and maritime blockades and restores the 2022 ceasefire.
    2. Diversified imports: Indian refiners should widen crude sourcing beyond the Gulf. Eg. Nigeria and Angola supplied more in the 2026 crisis.
    3. Evacuation planning: The Ministry of External Affairs should keep contingency plans ready for Indians in the Gulf.

    Conclusion

    Saudi Arabia’s squeeze shows that military spending alone cannot keep sea routes open when both a state and a militia can threaten them. The next marker is whether Riyadh and the al-Houthis return to a ceasefire framework before another US-Iran round begins.

    India and West Asia

    1. Energy bedrock: The region provides nearly 60% of India’s crude oil and 70% of its liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) needs.
    2. Trade: Trade with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) was $178 billion in 2024-25, India’s largest trading partner bloc.
    3. Remittances: The region sends about 38% of India’s remittances.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2026] Ships from which of the following countries have to cross the Strait of Hormuz to reach out to the Indian Ocean? 1. Bahrain 2. Syria 3. Qatar 4. Egypt (a) 1 and 2 (b) 1 and 3 (c) 2 and 3 (d) 3 and 4 ANSWER: B”

  • Why sensitive legal language matters

    Why in the News

    The Supreme Court of India has published a revised Handbook on Judgments and Gender, and the Karnataka High Court has replaced the term “visitation” with “parenting time” in child custody cases. Insensitive remarks still persist in courts, because training and approved word lists have not changed the assumptions behind the words.

    What is the revised Handbook on Judgments and Gender, and why was it needed?

    1. What it is: A Supreme Court guide that tells judges which words and assumptions to avoid in judgments involving gender. It works like a style guide for judicial writing.
    2. Trigger: The Supreme Court condemned remarks by an Allahabad High Court judge in a 2025 judgment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
    3. Earlier Handbook: The Chief Justice of India (CJI) called the earlier Handbook on Combating Gender Stereotypes “technical and Harvard-oriented”, which led to a revised version.
    4. Finding: The Handbook analysed 125 trial court judgments across States. They showed “a modern, gender-sensitive judicial approach”, yet outdated patriarchal terms such as “real victim” and “rape myths” persisted.
    5. The takeaway: Guidance has improved, but old words survive in judgments, so the problem is habits of thought and not a missing list of terms.

    Why does replacing “visitation” with “parenting time” matter?

    1. The Karnataka order: The October 7 order held that “no parent is a visitor in the life of a child”, so “visitation” wrongly casts one parent as a guest.
    2. Hidden assumption: Society treats mothers as the more natural parents, so custody cases thrust parenting duty on them. Gendered norms say mothers “take care” and fathers “babysit”.
    3. Active fathers: The new term casts fathers as active parents beyond paying maintenance, because a father is not a visitor either.

    Why have training and word lists not ended insensitivity?

    1. Efforts so far: Judges have attended training at judicial academies and studied the Handbooks and frameworks such as the 2022 Bangkok General Guidance for Judges on applying a gender perspective.
    2. Persisting insensitivity: For every instance of judicial empathy, multiple instances of insensitivity persist, as the Supreme Court itself recognised.
    3. Words carry context: Words have meanings tied to their social contexts, and change comes only when courts recognise and confront those meanings.

    Challenges

    1. Isolated reforms: Sensitive steps stay limited and context-specific instead of becoming widespread judicial practice.
    2. Advisory guidance: Handbooks bind no judge, so compliance depends on each judge’s willingness.
    3. Word drills: Memorising approved terms or swapping one problematic term for a slightly less problematic one leaves the assumption behind it untouched.
    4. Blind spots beyond gender: Access measures for persons with disabilities can still dismiss dignity and individuality, and caste and tribal realities are poorly understood.

    Way Forward

    1. Examine assumptions: Follow the Feminist Judgments Project, which examines the assumptions beneath a judgment and asks where a gender-aware view would reach a different conclusion. This upholds substantive equality.
    2. Diverse Bench: Increase meaningful representation of women and other diverse communities on the Bench, so that neutral-looking terms that hide insensitivity are spotted.
    3. Explain, do not only replace: Follow the Karnataka order’s method of explaining what insensitivity means and why it matters.
    4. Wider contexts: Extend the conversation on sensitive language to disability, caste and tribal realities and to structural societal barriers.

    Conclusion

    Sensitive judicial language will come from courts examining the assumptions behind their words, not from approved word lists. What to watch is whether other High Courts follow the Karnataka approach and whether appointments widen the diversity of the Bench.

    Women’s Representation in the Indian Judiciary

    1. Supreme Court: Only one of the Court’s 34 sanctioned judges is a woman.
    2. High Courts and district courts: Women are about 14.27% of High Court judges and about 38% of district and subordinate court judges.
    3. Bar pipeline: Women are only about 15% of India’s 1.7 million advocates, and many leave litigation mid-career for lack of support on work-life balance.
    4. Appointment rules: The Collegium (the senior judges who recommend appointments) has no formal gender-diversity criteria. Article 233 needs seven years of practice for a district judge, which weighs on women with family duties.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “No direct PYQ traced in the provided files. Thematic PYQ: [2024, GS2, 15 marks] Explain the reasons for the growth of public interest litigation in India. As a result of it, has the Indian Supreme Court emerged as the world’s most powerful judiciary?”

  • The struggle to preserve a fair international law

    Why in the News

    South African jurist Navi Pillay has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, as powerful authoritarian leaders weaken international law. The debate is whether authoritarian states are destroying that law or retooling it. Tom Ginsburg calls the second view “authoritarian international law”, a body of rules that shields regimes from scrutiny.

    What is authoritarian international law?

    1. What it is: It is an attempt by authoritarian states to build a new normative order. It is like a club that keeps its rulebook but rewrites it to protect its members from complaints.
    2. The order it departs from: The liberal order built after the Second World War, shaped by democratic states and deepened after the Cold War, wrote civil, political and human rights into its working.
    3. Courts and organisations: States gave international organisations (IOs) significant powers and created courts and tribunals to settle disputes, a trend called judicialisation.
    4. The takeaway: Authoritarian states are not simply hollowing out international law but rewriting it, so the fight is over whose purposes it serves.

    Is international law being hollowed out or retooled?

    1. Hollowing out: The ban on using force has been broken as multiple wars rage, compliance with human rights law has waned, and war crimes and crimes against humanity have risen.
    2. Vague language: A former US President favoured the ambiguous “rules-based order” over “international law”, a move towards governance with few binding norms. The current US President said his own morality guides him, not international law.
    3. Retooling: The other view is that authoritarians are retooling international law for their own objectives, as rising authoritarianism, even within liberal democracies, alters the liberal order.

    How do authoritarian states retool international law?

    1. Regime survival over rights: Authoritarian states treat international law as a tool for coordinating regime survival, so rights and accountability for war crimes get little place.
    2. Sovereignty claims: Sovereignty now shields regimes from scrutiny. Eg. Israel rejects UN human rights body reports as interference in its sovereign affairs.
    3. Weak organisations: Regimes delegate as little power as possible to IOs, so the members stay in control. Eg. the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).
    4. Negotiation over courts: Regimes prefer negotiation or quasi-judicial mechanisms to third party adjudication. Eg. the backlash against the International Criminal Court (ICC).

    Why does the Pillay prize matter?

    1. The signal: By honouring Pillay, the Nobel Committee has signalled that international law matters, and the open question is which kind.
    2. Israel’s condemnation: Israel called the prize the “greatest lie” of the 21st century.
    3. The inquiry: Pillay chaired the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. That commission concluded that Israel committed genocide in Gaza.
    4. Individual as a subject of law: The law Pillay represents rests on equality, fairness and accountability. It makes the individual a subject of international law, meaning a person holds rights and duties under it, and most authoritarian regimes despise that.

    Challenges

    1. Vague vocabulary: Phrases like “rules-based order” let states choose which rules bind them.
    2. Weak enforcement: International courts have no police force and depend on states to carry out their orders.
    3. Pressure on courts: Sanctions on court officials weaken a court’s work. Eg. US sanctions on ICC officials in 2025.

    Way Forward

    1. Courts: Courts should keep hearing war crimes and rights cases, and national courts should apply international norms.
    2. Civil society: Civil society should document violations and give evidence to UN inquiry bodies.
    3. Academia: Academics should expose the retooling of law and defend precise legal rules.
    4. Democratic states: Democracies should speak of binding international law, not the vaguer “rules-based order”.

    Conclusion

    International law is contested less by repeal than by redefinition, and what it comes to protect depends on that contest. Whether democratic states and courts hold to binding law instead of looser language is the test to watch.

    Back2Basics: International Criminal Court (ICC)

    1. What it is: A permanent court at The Hague that tries individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
    2. Founding: The Rome Statute was adopted in 1998 and entered into force in 2002.
    3. Last resort: It acts only when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute, a principle called complementarity.
    4. India: India is not a party to the Rome Statute.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2015] Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action’, often seen in the news, is (a) a strategy to tackle the regional terrorism, an outcome of a meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (b) a plan of action for sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific Region, an outcome of the deliberations of the Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (c) an agenda for women’s empowerment, an outcome of a World Conferene convened by the United Nations (d) a strategy to combat wildlife trafficking, a declaration of the East Asia Summit ANSWER: (c)”

  • Core industrial growth hits historic high of 7.9%

    Why in the News

    Core industrial growth hit 7.9% in September 2026, the highest since the new Index of Core Industries (ICI) series began in April 2024. Coal, refinery products and iron ore led the rise, but part of it comes from a low base (weak output a year earlier, which makes any rise look large).

    What did the September reading show?

    1. What the index tracks: The ICI measures monthly output of the industries that supply coal, fuel, power and building material. A reading of 7.9% means output is that much higher than a year earlier.
    2. Short history: The new series has data only from April 2024, so the record is measured against a short history.
    3. Old series: Against the old series it is the highest in nearly three years, though that comparison is not strictly sound because the two series use different base years.
    4. The takeaway: Input industries sped up sharply, but a record on a short series is not yet a trend.

    Which industries drove the rise?

    1. Coal: Output grew 10.7%, the best in 13 months. Output also rose strongly over the previous month, and stocks at power plants were low.
    2. Refinery products: Growth accelerated to 10.3% from 5.6% in August.
    3. Iron ore: Growth of 18.4% continues double-digit growth that has lasted nearly a year.
    4. Electricity: Growth of 11.4% eased from 13.1% in August.
    5. Cement and steel: The two construction-linked sectors did well. Cement grew 9.8%, slower than in August, and steel quickened to 4.9%.

    How durable is the pickup?

    1. Base effect: Coal and iron ore output rose faster than in August, but the rise is aided by a low base, so part of it reflects weak output a year earlier.
    2. Refinery output: Refinery products grew by only 1% on average in the first half of this financial year, so September’s 10.3% is a sharp break from the usual pace.

    Challenges

    1. Crude oil: Output contracted 1.4%, a smaller fall than 3.6% in August.
    2. Natural gas: Output contracted 4.6%, against a 4.9% fall in August.
    3. Fertilisers: Output fell 11.7%, the seventh straight monthly contraction.

    Conclusion

    Whether the pickup lasts is unproven. The next monthly release will show whether coal and refinery output keep growing.

    Back2Basics: Index of Core Industries (ICI)

    1. What it measures: Monthly output of nine core industries: coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, iron ore, cement and electricity.
    2. Compiled by: The Office of the Economic Adviser in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
    3. New series: The new series uses 2022-23 as its base year, replacing 2011-12, and added iron ore as the ninth sector.
    4. Link with the IIP: The core industries are also part of the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), which a different ministry, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, compiles.

    Matching Previous Year Question

    “[2012] In India the overall Index of Industrial Production, the Indices of Eight Core Industries have combined weight of 37.90%. Which of the following are among those Eight Core Industries? 1. Cement 2. Fertilizers 3. Natural Gas 4. Refinery products 5. Textiles Select the correct answer using the code given below: (a) 1 and 5 only (b) 2, 3 and 4 only (c) 1, 2, 3 and 4 only (d) 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 ANSWER: (c)”

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