Current Affairs – July 01, 2025

{GS1 – A&C – Religion} Dalai Lama

• Context (IE): The Dalai Lama’s 90^th birthday has revived debate over succession and spiritual continuity.

• A 3-day Buddhist event in McLeod Ganj is discussing the framework for future reincarnation processes.

About Dalai Lama

• Traditionally regarded as both the spiritual and political leader of the Tibetan Buddhists.
• The title “Dalai Lama” (Ocean of Wisdom) was conferred by Mongol ruler Altan Khan.
• Avalokiteshvara: Regarded as the human incarnation of Avalokiteshvara (Chenrezig).
  • Avalokiteshvara is considered the Bodhisattva of Compassion & Patron Saint of Tibet.
• Gelug School: Acts as the spiritual leader of the Gelugpa tradition, established by Tsongkhapa.
• First Incarnate: Gendun Drup was retrospectively recognised as the first Dalai Lama.
  • The first two Dalai Lamas were acknowledged posthumously.

Current Dalai Lama

• The 14^th Dalai Lama is Tenzin Gyatso. He is recognised as the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama at age two.
• He fled to India after the failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule and established the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) in Dharamshala.
• Transferred political authority to an elected Sikyong (President) in 2011.
• He received the 1989 Nobel Peace Prize for non-violent resistance.

Selection Process of the Dalai Lama

• It follows the tulku system of rebirth within samsara.
• A name may be drawn by lot from the Golden Urn if there are multiple candidates.
• Recognition: Needs approval by Tibetan monastic and temporal authorities.

Tulku: A tulku is a reincarnated lama recognised as the spiritual successor of a previous master. Samsara: Samsara refers to the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth driven by karma and desire.

China’s Contestation

• China maintains that the selection of the Dalai Lama follows historical conventions and must comply with Chinese laws. Order No. 5 (2007) gives China authority over all reincarnations.
• China rejected the Dalai Lama’s nominee and installed its own Panchen Lama. It cites 1793 Qing decree requiring selection of high lamas via Golden Urn & insists that next Dalai Lama must be born in China.

Panchen Lama Senior Rank: Panchen Lama ranks second to the Dalai Lama in Tibetan Buddhism. Key Function: Plays a crucial role in identifying the Dalai Lama’s next reincarnation. The current Dalai Lama’s nominee has been held incommunicado since 1995.

About Tibetan Buddhism

• Historic Roots: Buddhism entered Tibet in the 7^th century via Indian Mahayana traditions.
• It merges Mahayana thought with Vajrayana rituals, mantras, and initiation rites.
  • Absorbed aspects of the indigenous Bon religion, including shamanic elements.
• Major Schools: Includes Nyingma, Kagyu, Sakya, Gelug, and the smaller Jonang tradition.
  • Among them, the Gelug school became dominant by the 15^th century with Mongol patronage.
• Tibetan Canon: Kangyur and Tengyur texts form the core of Tibetan Buddhist study.
  • Kangyur: Canonical collection of Buddha’s own words, translated into Tibetan.
  • Tengyur: Commentaries by scholars on the Kangyur and Buddhist philosophy.
• Tulku System: Tibetan Buddhism formalised the reincarnation of lamas within institutional lineages.
• Diaspora Growth: Spread globally after 1959 with centres across continents.

About Bodhisattva

• Enlightened Beings: Bodhisattvas are enlightened but they postpone nirvana to guide sentient beings.
• Active Role: Live among people and alleviate suffering.
• Avalokiteshvara: Most revered Bodhisattva in Mahayana and Tibetan traditions.
• Doctrinal Authority: Bodhisattva vows bind Tibetan monks to lifetimes of service.

{GS1 – MIH – Revolts} 170 Years of Santhal Revolt

• Context (IE): Hul Diwas on 30 June 2025 marked 170 years of the Santhal Revolt against British rule.
  • President Droupadi Murmu paid homage at Bhognadih, the revolt’s origin site.

About Santhal Hul

• The Santhal Hul was a tribal revolt against British exploitation and landlord oppression.
  • In Santhali, Hul means resistance, uprising, or revolution.
• It began on 30 June 1855 in Bhognadih village, now in Jharkhand.
• Led by Sidhu and Kanhu Murmu, with key roles by Chand, Bhairav, Phulo, and Jhano Murmu.
• The revolt united over 32 tribal and backwards communities across eastern India.

Background

• Santhals migrated after the 1770 Bengal famine and were settled by the British for forest reclamation.
  • Earlier attempts to settle the Paharia tribes in the region had failed.
• In 1832, the British demarcated Damin-i-Koh in Rajmahal Hills for Santhal settlement & farming.

Reasons of Revolt

• Dikus’ Exploitation: Santhals faced exploitation by zamindars, moneylenders, and colonial officials.
  • In Santhali, Diku refers to outsiders who exploit or dominate the tribal community.
• Revenue Focus: British policies replaced forests with farmland to boost revenue and cash crops.
• Loss of Autonomy: Traditional tribal rights and self-governance systems were gradually undermined.

Immediate Issues

• Rising Oppression: Escalating outsider control resulted in landlessness, debt and forced labour.
• Divine Call: Leaders claimed divine sanction from Thakur (God), legitimising the resistance.

Revolt Events

• Rebels declared independence and attempted to establish a parallel tribal administration.
• Santhals used traditional weapons like bows, arrows, and axes against better-armed British forces.
  • The British imposed martial law to suppress the uprising.
• The revolt was crushed brutally, with over 10,000 Santhals killed and leaders executed.

Aftermath of the Revolt

• Santhal Parganas: ~5,500 square miles were carved out of Bhagalpur and Birbhum to form the Santhal Parganas. The new district was placed under special administrative control to quell tribal unrest.
• The Santhal Pargana Tenancy Act, 1876: Prohibited land transfers to non-Santhals in the region.
• The Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act, 1908: Provided similar protections in Chotanagpur.

Significance of the Santhal Revolt

• Among the earliest large-scale tribal uprisings before the 1857 Revolt.
• Forced the British to introduce tenancy protection laws and tribal administrative zones.
• Remains a lasting symbol of tribal assertion and resistance in eastern India.

Present Status of the Santhals Santhals are India’s third-largest Scheduled Tribe by population. They are concentrated in Jharkhand, West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, and Assam. They speak Santhali, a Munda language listed in the Eighth Schedule. Santhals follow the Sarna religion and celebrate festivals like Sohrai and Baha. They maintain a clan-based structure through the parha governance system.

{GS2 – MNRE – Schemes} Revised Guidelines for Biomass Programme

• Context (PIB): The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) released revised guidelines for the Biomass Programme under Phase I of the National Bioenergy Programme.

• The revision aims to simplify processes and promote cleaner energy from agricultural residue.

About National Bioenergy Programme

• It is a centrally sponsored scheme to promote the use of biomass and waste as a clean energy source.
• Launched in 2022, and Phase I will run until 2025–26.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of New and Renewable Energy
• Implemented through State Nodal Agencies and coordinated by MNRE.
  • Sardar Swaran Singh National Institute of Bio-Energy at Kapurthala, Punjab conducts technical inspections and performance verification.
• Component Structure: The scheme has 3 components:
  1. Waste-to-Energy Programme: Support setting up of large Biogas, BioCNG and Power plants from Urban, Industrial and Agricultural Wastes/Residues.
  2. Biomass Programme: Support Manufacturing of Briquettes & Pellets and Promotion of Biomass based cogeneration in Industries from agro-residues.
  3. Biogas Programme: It promotes the development of biogas plants in rural areas.

About Biomass Programme

• Biomass Programme is a sub-scheme under the National Bioenergy Programme.
  • It promotes the generation of clean energy from agro-residues and biomass.
• It supports setting up pellet plants and non-bagasse cogeneration projects commissioned between 2021–22 and 2025–26.

Key Features of Revised Guidelines

• Simplified Process: The approval process has been simplified by reducing paperwork and delays.
• IoT-based Monitoring for cost efficiency.
• Quarterly Submission: Project developers must submit performance data every quarter.
• Contract Flexibility: Two-year contracts have been replaced with general sale agreements.
• Performance-Based CFA: Central Financial Assistance (CFA) is 80% for full output and pro-rata for partial performance.
• Inspection Window: Inspections are allowed within 18 months of project commissioning.
• Certification: Pellet producers may choose from either emission certification by the MNRE or CPCB.

Pellet: A pellet is a compacted biofuel made from processed agricultural residues, such as straw, husk, or sawdust. Cogeneration Unit: A cogeneration unit simultaneously produces electricity and useful heat from the same biomass fuel source.

{GS2 – MoSPI – Initiatives} India’s First Household Income Survey

• Context (TNIE): India will carry out its first dedicated Household Income Survey in February 2026 to fill gaps in income data.

About The Household Income Survey

• The survey will be conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) under MoSPI.
• It will complement, not replace, the Consumption Expenditure Survey by focusing on income data.
• The survey aims to collect direct household income data instead of relying on expenditure proxies.
• Past income surveys in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1983–84 failed due to unreliable results.
• An 8-member expert group led by Surjit S. Bhalla is designing the survey framework.
• There are plans to match responses with tax records to enhance credibility.

Objectives of the Survey

• Data Gap Filling: Collect credible data on household income across urban and rural India.
• Policy Feedback: Evaluating the effectiveness of government schemes and economic reforms.
• Targeted Welfare: Enable better targeting of social welfare schemes.
• Tax Policy Design: Inform tax reforms by identifying underreported income.
• Detailed Insights: Provide granular, disaggregated income data to support informed policymaking.

Challenges in Conducting the Survey

• Informal Income: Irregular and non-recorded income is hard to estimate.
• Underreporting Risk: Fear of taxation may lead to intentional underreporting.
• Rural Income Diversity: Households often have multiple sources of seasonal income.
• Privacy Concerns: Balancing confidentiality and data transparency remains a challenging task.
• Seasonal Bias: Income data may fluctuate significantly across different seasons.
• Low Response Rates: Risk of non-responsiveness from households due to survey fatigue or suspicion.

{GS2 – Polity – IC – Elections} Electoral Roll

• Context (IE): Election Commission of India (ECI) has ordered a fresh revision of the electoral rolls in Bihar.

• Objective: To ensure accurate & citizen-verified electoral rolls by removing ineligible or duplicate voters.

Electoral Roll

• An Electoral Roll, ordinarily known as ‘Voters’ list’, is a list of person registered as an elector residing in a constituency.
• As per Art 326 of IC, only Indian citizens, above 18 years and ordinary resident in that constituency is eligible to be enrolled, provided they are not otherwise disqualified.
• The electoral rolls are prepared Assembly Constituency wise and an Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) is the statutory authority responsible for its preparation and revision. It determines who is eligible to vote and where.
• The creation, maintenance and purification of ER is the constitutional responsibility of the ECI.
• Whenever the ECI orders revision of electoral roll, the existing rolls are integrated into a single roll and published as a draft. As per Rule 25(1) of RER 1960, there are following types of revision:
  1. Intensive revision.
  2. Summery revision.
  3. Partly intensive and partly summery.

Legal & Constitutional Provisions

• Section 21(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1950: Allows the ECI to direct a fresh revision of electoral rolls. Such revision may be done intensively (fresh preparation) or summarily (updating existing rolls), or through a combination of both.
  • Intensive revisions have historically been carried out during years like 1952–56, 1957, 1961, 1965, 1983–84, 1995, 2002–04, among others.
• Art 324(1) of IC: Empowers the Election Commission to oversee & conduct elections, including voter list management.
• Art 325: No individual to be excluded from electoral rolls on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or any of them.

{GS2 – Polity – IC} Indian Secularism: Beyond the Preamble

• Context (IE): Recent political debates question the legitimacy of adding “socialist” and “secular” to the Preamble via the 42^nd Amendment (1976). However, constitutional experts and Supreme Court rulings affirm that secularism was always an inherent part of India’s constitutional framework.

The 42nd Amendment and Its Background

• The 42nd Amendment, enacted during the Emergency (1975–77) under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, introduced several significant changes:
  • Added the words “Socialist” and “Secular” to the Preamble.
  • Added “Integrity” to the expression of fraternity.
  • Introduced Fundamental Duties and new Directive Principles of State Policy.
  • Curtailed the powers of judicial review and froze parliamentary seat delimitation.
• Political context: The political context of the amendment was defined by:
  • Indira Gandhi’s leftward economic shift (e.g., bank nationalisation, abolition of privy purses).
  • Rising political opposition from the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the precursor to the BJP.
  • A need to justify the Emergency in terms of maintaining national integrity.
• While many 42^nd Amendment provisions were rolled back by the 44^th Amendment (1978) under the Janata Government, the changes to the Preamble were retained.

Inherent Secularism of the Constitution

• Secularism is inherent in the Constitution even without the explicit mention in the Preamble. Several provisions embed the spirit of secularism within India’s legal and institutional framework.

Fundamental Rights

• Art 14: Guarantees equality before law and equal protection of laws, forming the foundation of secularism by mandating state neutrality.
• Art 15: Prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth.
• Art 16: Ensures equal opportunity in public employment, regardless of religious background.
• Art 25-28: Provide freedom of conscience and the right to profess, practice and propagate religion, while also allowing the state to regulate religious practices that are not essential to religion.
• Art 29 & 30: Protect the rights of religious and linguistic minorities to conserve their culture and establish educational institutions.

Judicial Standpoints

• Kesavananda Bharati Case (1973): Secularism declared a part of the basic structure.
• S.R. Bommai Case (1994): Reaffirmed secularism as a foundational constitutional value.
• Minerva Mills Case (1980): Affirmed the relevance of socialism as a guiding principle, aligned with Directive Principles in Part IV, emphasising social and economic justice.
• Recent Developments (2024): A two-judge bench led by then Chief Justice dismissed petitions challenging the inclusion of “secular” and “socialist” in the Preamble.
  • Court held that these terms did not impede legislative action or infringe upon fundamental rights.

Secularism and the Preamble

• The Preamble, though not enforceable, is a vital interpretive guide (Berubari Union, 1961).
• India was secular even before 1976; the 42^nd Amendment only affirmed existing principles.
• Indian secularism means equal respect for all faiths, backed by rights and jurisprudence.
• Today’s debates must recognise secularism as a foundational, not imposed, value.

{GS2 – Social Sector – Poverty} Reimagining Poverty Measurement in India

• Context (IE): The Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) 2023-24, released by NSO in January 2025, has revived debate on India’s poverty metrics. While official reports suggest record-low poverty, the Thali Index offers a more grounded view of food deprivation and nutritional access.

Issues with Calorie-Based Poverty Metrics

• Culturally Detached: Calorie norms don’t reflect diverse regional diets or culturally accepted food habits like the Indian thali.
• Overlooks Essential Non-Food Costs: Housing, healthcare, education, and transport consume a large part of household budgets, reducing money left for food yet these are ignored in calorie-based methods.
• Ignores Regional Price Variations: Food prices differ across states, making uniform calorie thresholds misleading for real-life affordability and access.

A More Grounded Metric: The Thali Index

• The Thali Index uses the cost of a basic vegetarian thali (₹30 as per CRISIL) to assess how many balanced meals one can afford, offering a simple, grounded, and intuitive way to measure poverty.
• The index includes food accessed via the Public Distribution System and welfare schemes, making it more reflective of real consumption patterns on the ground.

Why India Needs a New Poverty Lens?

• High Food Deprivation: In 2023–24, 40% of rural and 10% of urban Indians could not afford two thalis a day, indicating severe food insecurity.
• Contrast with Official Data: World Bank and SBI data claim poverty is below 5% in both rural and urban India, showing a disconnect between statistical poverty and lived experience.
• Relevance of Food Expenditure: Since food is non-negotiable, actual food expenditure is a sharper lens for understanding economic stress than broader consumption metrics.

Implications for Subsidy Policy

The findings have important implications for the design and targeting of food subsidies:

• Optimal Targeting: At the 70th percentile, rural individuals already afford twice the number of thalis as those at the 5th percentile, even without subsidies.
• Reform, not abandon: Rather than phasing out subsidies due to allegedly low poverty, the focus should be on rationalising them:
  • Curtail food subsidies for higher-income households.
  • Enhance support for the most deprived, based on food consumption capacity.
• Rethinking Welfarism: Restructure food subsidies through a graded model based on income or thali affordability to reduce leakage, ensure nutrition, and enhance fiscal efficiency.

Way Forward

• Adopt the Thali Index as a supplementary tool for evaluating food security and standard of living.
• Integrate regional dietary diversity and cost variations into national-level poverty assessments.
• Encourage a shift from calorie-counting to nutrient-based and culturally resonant food metrics.
• Ensure that food security remains central to poverty-alleviation strategies, especially amid rising living costs and urbanisation.

{GS3 – Agri – Crops – Diseases} Black-Headed Caterpillar Disease

• Context (TH): Coconut plantations across Karnataka are experiencing a widespread infestation of Black-Headed Caterpillar Disease.

Credit: Parachute Kalpavriksha

• Leaf-Eating Pest: The black-headed caterpillar (Opisina arenosella) is a serious pest of coconut palms, causing significant yield loss in all coconut-growing tracts of India.
• Identification of the Pest: The Caterpillar is greenish brown with a dark brown head and prothorax and a reddish mesothorax. It has brown stripes on the body.
• Seasonal Occurrence: The pest is active throughout the year, but its population peaks during the summer months, specifically from March to May.
• Symptoms: Coconut trees of all ages are under attack. Dried-up patches appear on the leaflets of the lower leaves, leaving only three or four of the youngest leaves at the centre green.
• Reduces Plant’s Photosynthetic Ability: The caterpillars reside in silken galleries built on the undersides of leaves and consume the green portions, reducing the plant’s photosynthetic ability.
• Damage: When the infestation is severe, the trees appear scorched and discoloured. If not controlled in time, yield can drop by as much as 80%.
• Goniozus nephantidis (also known as Erasmus nephantidis) and Brachymeria nosatoi are highly effective in controlling the pest.

{GS3 – Agri – Fertilisers} India’s DAP Shortage Amid China’s Export Restrictions

• Context (IE): China’s export restrictions prioritise domestic supply and meet rising phosphate demand in electric vehicle battery production, affecting the supply of di-ammonium phosphate (DAP).

• India, which imports over 50% of its DAP requirement, saw imports from China fall from 22.9 lakh tonnes in 2023–24 to just 8.4 lakh tonnes in 2024–25, with no shipments received since January 2025. This has encouraged Indian importers to import from Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Russia and Jordan.
• Indian farmers are shifting to NPKS complexes, such as Ammonium Phosphate Sulphate (APS), which provide balanced nutrients and are more sustainable.

About DAP

• It is a vital fertiliser containing 46% phosphorus (P) and 18% nitrogen (N); it plays a key role in promoting early root and shoot development in crops
• Application: It is typically applied at the time of sowing, along with seeds.
• DAP ranks as India’s second most-consumed fertiliser, with average annual sales of 103.4 lakh tonnes over the past five years, second only to urea, which averages 359 lakh tonnes.
• India imports a substantial portion, approximately 57 lakh tonnes annually, in its finished form. Until 2023–24 (April–March), China was a major supplier, often the top source of DAP imports.
• Other Uses of DAP: It is used beyond agriculture as a fire retardant, in metal finishing, and even in winemaking to sustain yeast fermentation.

{GS3 – Envi – PA} Tiger Outside Tiger Reserve

• Context (IE): CAMPA approved one-year pilot funding for a scheme to manage human–tiger conflict outside tiger reserves.

• Between 2020 and 2024, tiger–human conflicts resulted in 382 human deaths.

About The Scheme

• Tiger Outside Tiger Reserve is a pilot scheme for conflict hotspots.
• Implemented jointly by the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) and the state Chief Wildlife Wardens in 80 forest divisions across 10 conflict-prone states.
• Objective: It aims to –
  • Strengthen real-time monitoring,
  • Ensure quick tech-based intervention,
  • Enable veterinary and civil society collaboration, and
  • Augment the wild prey base.

The National Tiger Conservation Authority, under the MoEFCC, oversees Project Tiger, monitors tiger reserves, and is headed by the Union Environment Minister.

Why Tigers Are Outside Reserves?

• ~30% of India’s tiger population now lives outside designated tiger reserves.

• Habitat Fragmentation: Corridor loss and shrinking forests force tigers into non-protected areas.
• Territory Search: Young tigers disperse to establish territory beyond crowded reserves.
• Fringe Adaptation: Tigers adapt to fringe farmlands with prey availability.
• Reserve Saturation: Reserve saturation forces tigers into buffer and non-protected zones.

Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) CAMPA manages the National Compensatory Afforestation Fund (NCAF), which is funded through charges levied for forest land diversion under the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980. It has financed major projects like Project Cheetah and the Great Indian Bustard Recovery Plan.

{GS3 – IE – Banking} Financial Conditions Index

• Context (IE): The RBI has proposed constructing a daily Financial Conditions Index (FCI) to monitor real-time market conditions.

• FCI peaks align with major events like the 2013 taper tantrum, the IL&FS NBFC crisis, and COVID-19.

About Financial Conditions Index

• It is India’s first daily composite index (proposed) that measures overall financial tightness or ease of the economy.
• It includes indicators from five segments- Money markets, G‑secs, Corporate bonds, Equities & Forex, standardised against their historical averages since 2012.
• It’s objective is to track financial stress in real time and support effective monetary policy decisions.
• Interpretation of Values: Positive values signal financial tightening; negative values indicate relaxation.

Benefits

• FCI enables early detection of financial disruptions by monitoring daily sector market changes.
• RBI can adjust liquidity operations as FCI indicates financial tightening or easing trends.
• It offers standardised guidance to market participants on current financial stress.
• It combines signals from multiple markets into a single, easy-to-understand financial index.

Taper Tantrum It refers to the 2013 panic triggered by the US Fed’s announcement to reduce bond purchases. Trigger Mechanism: Fear of tightening liquidity led to sell-offs in bonds and outflows from emerging markets. Impact on India: India experienced rupee depreciation, rising bond yields, and capital outflows. RBI Response: RBI raised interest rates and used reserves to stabilise currency and inflation.

{GS3 – IE – Taxes} Eight Years of GST

• Context (ET): As India marks eight years of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) on July 1, 2025, it’s a timely moment to assess the country’s most ambitious post-independence tax reform.

Key Achievements

• Revenue Growth: FY25 saw record GST collections of ₹20.18 lakh crore, with an average monthly collection of ₹1.68 lakh crore. April 2025 alone recorded ₹2.36 lakh crore, the highest ever.
• Digital Transformation: From e-invoicing, e-way bills, and auto-generated returns to real-time credit matching, GST has evolved into a digitally integrated compliance platform.
  • Digitisation has improved transparency, reduced human interface, and encouraged formalisation, particularly among MSMEs.
• Formalisation and Market Integration: GST has promoted national market access, credit eligibility, and procurement parity for small businesses.
  • Monthly GST data has evolved into a macroeconomic indicator, offering insights into consumption trends, logistics, and sectoral performance.

• Legal Evolution: Landmark judicial interventions (e.g., Mohit Minerals, Safari Retreats, VKC Footsteps) have helped interpret ambiguities and safeguard taxpayer rights.

Pending Reforms and Challenges

• Delay in Operationalising GST Appellate Tribunal: Although notified, functional benches are still absent in many states. This has led to piling up of appeals in High Courts, increasing litigation backlog and delaying justice for taxpayers.
• Incomplete Rate Rationalisation: The four-slab system (5%, 12%, 18%, 28%) was meant to be transitional, but simplification remains pending. Lack of rationalisation leads to classification disputes, litigation, and inverted duty structure issues.
• Interpretational Ambiguities: Taxation of intermediary services, employee secondment, and distinct person services continues to generate confusion. Despite clarificatory circulars, compliance uncertainty persists.
• Exclusion of Petroleum and Alcohol: Keeping petroleum products and alcohol outside GST prevents full input tax credit chain, distorting value-added taxation.
• Limited Addressing: There is a lack of clarity around taxation of crypto-assets, carbon credits, digital goods, and gig economy services. Future-ready tax design needs principle-based, proactive responses, not reactive policies.

Way Forward

• Operationalize GSTAT Nationwide to ensure time-bound resolution of disputes.
• Implement Rate Rationalisation to reduce litigation and improve business clarity.
• Integrate Data Systems across GSTN, RBI, MCA, DGFT, and Customs for holistic compliance tracking.
• Include Petroleum and Alcohol to fully realise input credit and reduce cascading.
• Proactively Tax Emerging Sectors such as crypto-assets, digital goods, and carbon credits with clear, principle-based policies.

{Prelims – In News} AlphaGenome

• Context (IT): Google DeepMind has launched new AI model, AlphaGenome.

• AlphaGenome, by Google DeepMind, is an AI model that predicts how genetic mutations affect health and may help guide future treatments. It concentrates on non-coding regions of the genome.
• It examines extensive DNA sequences to identify changes caused by genetic mutations.
• It predicts how these mutations affect molecular functions like gene expression and protein binding.
• It builds on earlier DeepMind models like Enformer and AlphaMissense..

Genome: It comprises an organism’s entire DNA, including genes and non-coding regions that regulate gene expression. Non-coding regions are parts of DNA that do not produce proteins but regulate when and how genes are expressed. Genetic mutations: Permanent alterations in the DNA sequence that can change gene function and lead to diseases or traits.

{Prelims – Sci – Bio} Botrytis Fungus and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

• Context (TH): Scientists have discovered that botrytis fungus (Botrytis cinerea) and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum have an unusual genetic structure, making it impossible to clone.

• In these fungi, no single nucleus contains a complete set of chromosomes. Instead, the chromosome set is distributed across two or more nuclei, and any one nucleus contains only a subset.
• In all animals, plants, and fungi, the nucleus of a cell contains one or more sets of all of the chromosomes of the organism. This property of nuclei allows us to clone animals.

Botrytis Fungi

• Botrytis cinerea, commonly known as Noble Rot, is a unique fungus that plays a dual role as both a plant pathogen and a beneficial agent in winemaking.
• In humid conditions, it causes grey rot, which damages crops such as grapes and strawberries.
• In dry, misty conditions, it causes noble rot, a controlled infection that dries grapes, concentrating their sugars and flavours.

Sclerotinia sclerotiorum

• It causes a destructive disease known as white mould, or Sclerotinia stem rot, affecting over 400 plant species, including sunflower, soybean, mustard, tomato, and lettuce.
• The fungus thrives in cool, moist conditions, especially during the flowering stage of crops.

Both botrytis fungus and Sclerotinia sclerotiorum are species of ascomycetes fungi. Ascomycetes are a group of fungi that produce sexual spores called ascospores, which are formed inside microscopic sac-like structures known as asci.