Current Affairs – April 17, 2025

{GS2 – Governance – Initiatives} Registration of Birth and Deaths in India

• Context (TH): The office of the Registrar General of India (RGI) cautioned private and government hospitals to report incidents of births and deaths within 21 days.

Concerns Raised by RGI

• Under Registration: According to RGI, around 10% of births and deaths are not registered in the country.
• Reasons:
  • Hospital Shedding Responsibility: Instead of registering the events, hospitals wait for the relative of the baby or the deceased to approach them and only then do they begin the registration process.
    • Some private hospitals don’t report birth and death events to the concerned registrar and advise the relatives to report it themselves.
  • Lack of Citizen-Friendly Measures: Some registrars do not take adequate measures to make the registration process citizen-friendly, stressing that birth and death certificates need to be issued within 7 days.

Registration of Birth and Deaths in India

• Mandatory Registration: According to the Registration of Birth and Death Act, 1969, which was amended in 2023, registration of all births and deaths is mandatory.
  • Private hospitals are supposed to report the events in their jurisdiction to the registrar so that certificates can be issued to the family.
• Registrar General of India (RGI): The RBD Act empowers the RGI to coordinate and unify the activities of Chief Registrars appointed by State governments.
  • According to the 2023 amendment to the RBD Act, the RGI shall maintain a national database; it is obligatory that Chief Registrars and Registrars share the information with the Centre.
• Civil Registration System (CRS): Under the CRS, controlled by the RGI, government hospitals are responsible for functioning as registrars.
  • According to the 2023 Act, all births and deaths in the country are to be digitally registered through the Centre’s portal, the CRS.
• Punishment: As per Section 23(2) of the RBD Act, “negligence by the registrar in registering any birth or death” is punishable with a fine. The amended Act enhanced the fine to up ₹1,000 from ₹50.

Importance of Registration Through CRS

• Updation of NPR: The data will be used to update the National Population Register (NPR), ration cards, property registration and electoral rolls.
  • The NPR, first collected in 2010 and updated in 2015 through door-to-door enumeration, already has a database of 119 crore residents. The NPR is the first step in creating the National Register of Citizens, per the Citizenship Act of 1955.
  • The updation of NPR is currently on hold as it is to be done simultaneously with the first phase of the next Census, which has been indefinitely delayed.
• Socio-Economic Planning: The government uses the data in socio-economic planning to evaluate the effectiveness of various social sector programs. It also serves as the cornerstone of public health system.

{GS2 – Polity – IC – Federal Structure} TN sets up Panel on States’ Autonomy

• Context (IE): Tamil Nadu has constituted a high-level committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Kurian Joseph. The committee will examine Centre-State relations and suggest measures to strengthen states’ constitutional rights.

• Earlier, the Rajamannar Committee (1969) studied the Constitution and recommended steps to safeguard states’ autonomy without compromising India’s unity.

Key Issues Highlighted by Rajamannar Committee

• Centre’s Dominance over States: Despite the federal appearance of the Constitution, the Centre had become increasingly dominant, turning states into mere “administrative units of the Centre.”
• Constitutional Provisions Enabling Overreach: The report pointed to provisions like Articles 256, 257, and 365, which gave the Union government sweeping powers to interfere in state affairs.
  • Article 365 highlights the subordinate position of the States. This results in the assumption of the legislative and executive powers of the State by the Union.
• Economic Control: It criticised the emergence of institutions like the Planning Commission, saying they had turned states into “suppliants for aid” and rendered the Finance Commission irrelevant.
• Federal Imbalance: It warned of a dangerous trend; the convergence of central planning, discretionary grants, and political dominance, which threatened the balance of federalism.
• Redefining Strength of the Centre: The committee rejected the argument that a strong Centre equates to a strong India. Instead, it cautioned, adding that true strength lay in restraint and clarity of purpose, and not in expansionism.

Recommendations of Rajamannar Committee

• Abolish Article 356, which allows the Centre to impose President’s Rule in states.
• Establish a permanent Inter-State Council under Article 263 to foster dialogue.
• Abolish the extra-constitutional Planning Commission, which has centralised economic power.
• End the Centre’s control over subjects like education and health, which are better managed at the state level. Transfer more subjects from the Concurrent List to the State List.
• Revitalise the Finance Commission to reduce states’ financial dependency on the Centre.

Status

• The Rajamannar Committee’s report was never implemented by the Centre. Though many of its ideas were echoed in later reports like the Sarkaria Commission (1988) and the Punchhi Commission (2010).

Also Read> Federalism and Centre-State Relations.

{GS2 – Polity – IC – Reservation} Telangana 1^st state to implement SC sub-categorisation

• Context (IE): Telangana becomes 1^st state to implement SC sub-categorisation, popularly called reservation within reservation. According to the notification, Scheduled Castes in the state will be divided into three categories – Group I, II and III.

• SC categorisation will be implemented in Telangana in employment and education.

What is SC Sub-Categorisation?

• Definition: SC Sub-Categorisation refers to the idea of dividing the Scheduled Castes (SCS) into sub-groups to ensure fairer distribution of reservation benefits among all SCS.
• Aim: Sub-categorising SCS aims to correct the imbalance/inequalities by reserving specific shares of benefits for smaller, less-represented Dalit communities.

Cases Related to SC Sub-Categorisation

• E.V. Chinnaiah v State of Andhra Pradesh (2004): The SC invalidated the Andhra Pradesh Scheduled Castes (Rationalisation of Reservations) Act 2000, which attempted to SC Sub-Categorisation.
  • Held that Scheduled Castes form a single class and cannot be subdivided. It stated that sub-classification would interfere with the Presidential list (Article 341) & violate Article 14 of the constitution.
    • Article 341 gives power to the President to specify castes, races or tribes that will be classified as ‘Scheduled Castes’ under the Constitution.
• Jarnail Singh v. Lachhmi Narain Gupta Case (2018): The Court held that the concept of the creamy layer would apply to SCs and STs for the purpose of promotions.
• State of Punjab vs Davinder Singh (2024): A 7-judge Constitution Bench upheld the validity of sub-classification within Scheduled Caste categories with a 6:1 majority.
  • The SC held that sub-classification within SCs is permissible under Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of India, provided that the class is not homogenous for the purpose of the law.

Need of Sub-Categorisation

• Disproportionate Share in Opportunities: A few dominant SC communities have received a disproportionately large share of the benefits meant for all SCs.
• Address Inequalities Among Scheduled Caste Communities: Many smaller or more marginalized SC groups are left out, with minimal access to education, jobs, and political representation.
• Overcoming Hierarchy within Scheduled Castes: The SC category is not homogenous and comprises a wide range of communities with distinct cultural, social, and economic characteristics.

Possible Challenges

• Administrative Complexity: Categorising SC communities into sub-groups involves complex procedures. Variations in caste names and identities across regions can lead to confusion and disputes.
• Lack of Reliable and Updated Data: The absence of comprehensive, caste-wise data on socio-economic indicators makes it difficult to decide who should get how much.
  • The last caste census was conducted in 1931, and the Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) 2011 data was never fully released.
• Political and Social Tensions: Dominant SC communities may oppose the division of reservation benefits. Sub-categorisation might create internal divisions and inter-caste conflicts within Dalit groups.
• Demands from Other States: Telangana’s move may encourage similar demands in other states, putting pressure on state and central governments. This could lead to the fragmentation of reservation politics and increased regional disparities.

Way Forward

• Conduct a Nationwide Caste-Based Survey: Initiate a scientific, updated, and comprehensive caste-based census or survey. Use the data as a foundation for evidence-based policy-making.
• Establish Review Mechanisms: Set up state-level and national-level commissions to periodically review sub-categorisation. These bodies should recommend adjustments in sub-quotas based on updated socio-economic conditions.
• Frame Uniform Guidelines at the National Level: The central government could consider enabling legislation to guide sub-categorisation efforts across states. This would ensure constitutional consistency, avoid legal disputes, and maintain a unified approach.

{GS2 – Polity – Judiciary} The 2025 India Justice Report (IJR)

• Context (TH): Tata Trusts recently released the India Justice Report (IJR) 2025 in collaboration with a consortium of civil society organizations.

• It ranks states based on 24 indicators spanning the four pillars of the justice system: police, judiciary, prisons, and legal aid.

Key Findings

Judiciary

• Vacancies: India has just 15 judges per million people, far below the Law Commission’s 1987 recommendation of 50 judges per million population.
  • Vacancies in High Courts (HCs) accounted for 33% of the total sanctioned strength. Gujarat has the highest number of vacancies in HC Judges and staff.
• Expenditure: The national per capita expenditure on the judiciary stands at ₹182. No State in India spent more than 1% of its total annual expenditure on the Judiciary.
• Under Representation of Women: 38% Share of women judges in district judiciary. There is a higher share of women judges in the district courts than in the HCs and the Supreme Court (6 %).
  • Currently, there is only one woman Chief Justice across the 25 HCs.
• Under Representation of SCs and STs: The share of Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs) in the district judiciary remains low at 5% and 14%, respectively.
  • Of the 698 High Court judges appointed since 2018, only 37 are from SC and ST categories.

Police

• Police-Population Ratio: Nationally, the police-population ratio remained stagnant at 155 police personnel per 100,000 populations, significantly below the sanctioned strength of 197.
  • In India, one civil police personnel is available for 831 people.
• Underrepresentation of Women: Fewer than 1,000 women hold senior positions among the 20.3 lakh personnel in the police force.
  • Not a single State or Union Territory has met its reserved quota for women in the police. It would take the country 24 years to have at least 33% women in the police.
  • Bihar has the highest share of women in the State police.
• Under Representation of SCs and STs: SCS account for 17 per cent of the police force, and STs for 12 per cent. Karnataka is the only State to meet SC, ST, and OBC quotas in the judiciary and police.
  • 83% of all police stations in the country have at least one CCTV camera, while about 17% do not have a single CCTV.
• Lack of Forensic Resources: While the number of forensic labs has grown marginally – from 94 in 2020 to 110 in 2024 – this limited expansion has not kept pace with the rising demand.
  • Across the country, over 30,000 cases requiring forensic analysis were pending.

Prisons

• Overcrowded Prisons: The national average occupancy rate stands at 118.5%. In several states, such as Uttarakhand (183%), Uttar Pradesh (176%), and Delhi (174%), the situation is far more dire.
  • Uttar Pradesh has the most overcrowded prisons, adding that more than half of the High Court Judges are missing in the State.
• Under Trials: 77.1% of all prisoners in India are undertrials, up from 69% a decade ago. 20 states/UTs Over 20% of undertrials detained for 1-3 years. Among undertrials, the overrepresentation of Dalits, Adivasis, and Muslims is stark.

Legal Aid

• Several states have just one legal aid lawyer for every 10,000-30,000 eligible citizens, and lack of training, poor working conditions, and delayed payments continue to undermine the effectiveness of the legal aid system.
• Awareness remains a significant barrier, with many eligible individuals unaware of their right to free legal counsel.
• The national per capita spend on legal aid is a meagre ₹6 per annum.

{GS2 – Social Sector – Health – Diseases} Type 5 Diabetes

• Context (IE): Type 5 Diabetes is a distinct malnutrition-related form of Diabetes.

• It is a rare form of diabetes caused by chronic malnutrition, primarily affecting thin and undernourished adolescents and young adults, especially in low- and middle-income countries of Asia and Africa.
• Estimated to affect 20-25 million individuals globally, especially in countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, and Rwanda.
• Historical Background: 
  • First described in Jamaica in 1955 as J-type diabetes.
  • In 1985, WHO classified it as malnutrition-related diabetes mellitus but removed the classification in 1999 due to a lack of conclusive evidence.
  • Formally recognised by the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) at the World Diabetes Congress 2024 in Bangkok.
• Causes: Triggered by protein-energy malnutrition beginning in utero and continuing through early life, leading to underdeveloped pancreatic beta cells and persistently low insulin secretion.
  • Neither autoimmune (unlike Type 1) nor genetic, nor obesity-related (unlike Type 2) causes.
• Symptoms: Marked by persistently low BMI (<18.5), sudden/sustained low weight, low fat, frequent urination & excessive thirst; symptoms mimic Type 1 diabetes but show different therapeutic responses.
  • Standard insulin doses may induce hypoglycemia due to extremely low baseline insulin needs.
• Treatment: No global protocol yet; current approaches include nutritional rehabilitation (high-protein, micronutrient-rich diet), tailored insulin or anti-diabetic drugs depending on glycemic levels, and case-specific dietary support to encourage safe weight gain.

Comparison with Other Types of Diabetes

About International Diabetes Federation

• Established in 1950, it’s an umbrella organisation of 240+ national diabetes associations in 160 nations.
• Headquarters: Brussels, Belgium.
• Objective: To promote diabetes care, prevention, and a cure worldwide.
• Key Initiatives: Organises the World Diabetes Congress, observes World Diabetes Day (14 November), and maintains the IDF Diabetes Atlas, which tracks global trends and burden.

{GS2 – Social Sector – Health} Draft Pandemic Agreement

• Context (BBC): World Health Organization has finalized the text of a legally binding Pandemic treaty.

About the Agreement

• Aim: Bolstering global cooperation in prevention, preparedness, & response to future pandemic threats.
• Background: In December 2021, WHO Member States established an Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to develop a global convention or agreement to address health emergencies.
• Adoption: The draft treaty will now be considered at the 78th World Health Assembly in May 2025.
  • If adopted, it will require ratification by individual member countries before coming into force.

Key Highlights

• One Health Approach: This approach emphasises an integrated “One Health” strategy that connects human, animal, and environmental health.
  • It calls for stronger national health systems, a coordinated financial mechanism, and establishing a globally aligned supply chain and logistics network for health emergencies.
• Respect for National Sovereignty: The draft clearly states that WHO will not have the authority to enforce national health measures such as lockdowns, vaccination drives, or border closures. Decision-making will remain under the sovereign control of individual nations.
• Pathogen Access and Sharing System: This proposal proposes a new pathogen access and benefit-sharing system to ensure equitable distribution of vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments.
• Resource Sharing: The agreement promotes technology transfer, knowledge sharing, and capacity-building, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.
• Health Emergency Workforce: Calls for creating and training a multidisciplinary, well-equipped global and national health emergency workforce capable of responding swiftly and effectively to pandemic situations.

Need for WHO Pandemic Agreement

• Lessons from COVID-19: The COVID-19 pandemic exposed critical gaps in global health systems, coordination, and response. Countries faced delays in data sharing, vaccine distribution, and access to essential medical supplies.
• Strengthening Global Preparedness: Future pandemics are inevitable; thus, the agreement ensures proactive planning rather than reactive response.
• Equitable Access to Resources: Pandemic revealed inequalities in access to vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments. Global framework ensures fair distribution, especially for low-& middle-income countries.
• Improved International Collaboration: A binding agreement facilitates cooperation between countries, reducing unilateral actions that may undermine global efforts.

Also Read> Covid-19 Pandemic

{GS3 – Envi – Initiatives} Surat Emission Trading Scheme (ETS)

• Context (IE): Gujarat’s Surat ETS has demonstrated the effectiveness of market-based pollution control in particulate matter (PM) pollution from 2019 to 2021.

About Surat ETS

• Initiated in 2019 in Surat, Gujarat, the ETS is the world’s first trading market for particulate matter (PM) emissions by means of the Cap-and-Trade Mechanism (used in Carbon Trading).
• Aimed at reducing industrial air pollution in Surat (industries contribute ~1/3^rd of the city’s PM levels).

Implementation and Monitoring

• Trading is conducted on NeML (National Commodities and Derivatives Exchange e-Markets Ltd), with Gujarat Pollution Control Board as the nodal authority.
  • Partnered with EPIC (University of Chicago), Yale University, J-PAL, and industry associations.
• Real-time emission tracking via Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems in all participating plants.

Types of Carbon Trading Mechanisms

Emission Trading (Cap-and-Trade)

• Carbon is treated as a tradable commodity in a regulated carbon market.
• Core Principle: Sets an emissions cap based on capacity and past emissions data.
• Countries or firms with unused emission allowances can sell them to those exceeding limits.
• Those failing to comply/obtain sufficient emission allowances are fined.

Offset Trading (Baseline-and-Credit)

• Entities earn carbon credits by funding low-emission or carbon-capturing projects.
• Useful for meeting emission targets where direct reduction is not feasible.

Carbon Credit Trading

• A single carbon credit represents the removal or avoided emission of one ton of CO₂ or another greenhouse gas like methane of equivalent volume.
• These credits can be sold to entities to claim as reductions in their emissions.

Other Trading Units in the Carbon Market

• A removal unit (RMU) by reforestation.
• An emission reduction unit (ERU) generated by a joint implementation project.
• A certified emission reduction (CER) generated from a clean development mechanism project activity.

  Also refer to Laws for Pollution Control.

{GS3 – S&T – Bio} Criminal Justice through Forensic Science

• Context (PIB | TH): At the All India Forensic Science Summit 2025, the integration of forensic science into criminal law was discussed.

What is Forensic Science?

• Forensic science is the application of scientific techniques like DNA analysis, ballistics, toxicology, cyber forensics, digital evidence handling and crime scene reconstruction, to investigate crimes and present legally admissible evidence in court.
• Aids criminal identification, strengthens evidence-based convictions to ensure the innocent are acquitted.

• Ancient Cultural Foundations in India: Appear in classical texts like Sushruta Samhita (post-mortem methods), Charaka Samhita (toxicology), Arthashastra (espionage & crime management).

All India Forensic Science Summit 2025

• Collaboration: NHRC, Attorney General, Bar Council of India & senior officials from the Home Ministry.
• Measures Announced:
  • Mandatory use of forensic evidence in serious criminal cases under new legislation.
  • Inclusion of private forensic labs to assist in high-volume evidence processing.
  • NFSU is tasked with expanding its human resources and research output to serve both public and private forensic infrastructure.

NFSU (National Forensic Sciences University)

• Established as Gujarat Forensic Sciences University in 2009, later evolved into NFSU in 2020.
• Recognised as an Institution of National Importance through an Act of Parliament.
• Part of Central Sector National Forensic Infrastructure Enhancement Scheme (NFIES) under Min. of Home Affairs; Offers UG, PG, Diploma & Doctoral in forensic sciences, cybersecurity & criminology.
• Aims to become an international hub for forensic learning and innovation.

Functions

• Develops indigenous forensic tools & advances research in toxicology, cybercrime & behavioral science.

• Training Hub: Drives workforce development for government agencies and private labs.
• Lab Support Network: Deploys certified professionals to boost the capacities of forensic laboratories.

{GS3 – S&T – Tech} Operation Chakra-V

• Context (TH): CBI succeeded in a crackdown on ‘Digital Arrest’ scams under Operation Chakra-V.

• Purpose of Operation Chakra-V: Combat transnational organised cybercrime.
• Initiated by CBI as a follow-up to Operation Chakra-IV, which tackled cyber-enabled financial fraud through INTERPOL coordination.