Current Affairs – September 07-08, 2025

{GS1 – MIH – Personalities} Savitribai Phule and Women’s Education

• Context (TP): Building on Savitribai Phule’s reforms, women’s education remains key to India’s vision of Viksit Bharat@2047.

Why Educating Women Matters

• Economic Impact: India could add $700 billion to its GDP from higher female participation. [McKinsey]
• Income Gains: Each additional schooling year increases girls’ lifetime earnings by 10–20%. [UNECO}
• Health Benefit: Educated women reduce infant mortality and promote better family nutrition.
• Democratic Deepening: Women’s education enhances democracy and promotes SDGs 4 & SDG 5.
• Role Models: Women teachers in rural schools raise girls’ enrolment, retention, and aspirations.

Progress So Far

• Bridging Gaps: Female literacy increased from 8.86% in 1951 to 70.3% in 2021.
• Expanding Access: Girls’ secondary enrolment rose from 75.5% (2014–15) to 78% (2023–24) [UDISE+].
• Gender Parity: Women now make up 54.2% of teachers, with 61% of recruits since 2014 being female.
• Advancing Equity: Female university enrolment rose 26% in 2023–24, men’s grew only 3.6%.
• Retention: Achieved 98.9% at Foundational and 92.4% at Preparatory levels [UDISE+ 2024–25].

Persistent Barriers to Women’s Education

• Early Marriage: Child marriage continues to be a major reason for secondary school dropouts.
• Safety Concerns: Harassment risks during travel discourage girls from pursuing higher schooling.
• Economic Barriers: Poverty and household labour often limit girls’ regular school attendance.
• Digital Divide: Rural girls face limited access to the internet and digital learning devices.
• Social Norms: Rural Scheduled Tribe girls have the lowest literacy rates due to patriarchal norms.

Pathways to Viksit Bharat 2047

• Adolescent Retention: Expand scholarships, hostels, & menstrual hygiene programs for adolescent girls.
• Digital Inclusion: Provide affordable devices and internet access to rural girls through PPP models.
• Safety Assurance: Improve transport, surveillance, and grievance redressal to address mobility concerns.
• Teacher Training: Improve gender-sensitive teaching and leadership for women educators.
• Community Mobilisation: Adopt Rajasthan’s Educate Girls–Team Balika model to boost girls’ enrollment.

Read More > Government schemes for female education

{GS1 – Geo – Solar System} Blood Moon *

• Context (IE | TH): On September 7-8, 2025, India witnessed a total lunar eclipse popularly called a “Blood Moon.”

Key Highlights

• Lunar Eclipse: Occurs when the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon, casting its shadow on the lunar surface. Depending on alignment, it can be total or partial.
  • Unlike solar eclipses, it is safe to view with the naked eye.
• Blood Moon Effect: During totality, the Moon turns coppery-red due to Rayleigh scattering; the same phenomenon responsible for blue skies and red-orange sunsets.

• Significance: Beyond its cultural and aesthetic appeal, such celestial events promote astronomy outreach, STEM education, and astro-tourism, fostering greater public interest in science.

Read More > Solar Eclipse | Blue Ghost Lunar Mission

{GS2 – Polity – IC – Elections} Criminalisation of Politics in India **

• Context (TH | IE | SCO | ET | IE): As per the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), 31% of MPs and 29% of MLAs face serious criminal charges, with MPs’ share rising from 14% in 2009 to 31% in 2024.

Key Drivers

• Electoral Winnability: Parties choose ‘winnable’ candidates, ignoring criminal records.
• Money & Muscle Power: Candidates with criminal backgrounds often have unaccounted wealth and musclemen networks to finance expensive elections.
  • Link with political funding opacity (cash donations, misuse of electoral bonds).
• Vote Bank Politics: Candidates with a criminal background are perceived as “Robin Hood figures,” providing protection, patronage, or caste-based mobilisation that leads to identity-based voting.
• Media Complicity: Political control over media narratives, under-reporting of cases, and favourable coverage generate public tolerance or admiration for criminal leaders.
• State-Crime Nexus: Criminals use politics to gain immunity and legitimacy, while parties use them to intimidate opponents and secure votes.
• Structural Loopholes: First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) system allows candidates with low vote share but solid caste/community support to win.
  • Lack of inner-party democracy in candidate selection.

Impact of Criminalisation of Politics

• Erosion of Rule of Law: Legislators facing charges directly undermines the constitutional principle of equality before law. It blurs the line between law-makers and law-breakers.
• Policy Capture: Politico-criminal nexus ensures that laws and regulations are shaped to protect vested interests rather than public welfare (e.g., mining contracts, liquor mafias in Bihar and UP).
• Weakening of Institutions: Criminalised leaders often interfere in police postings, bureaucratic transfers, and investigations, reducing institutional autonomy (Second Administrative Reforms Commission).
• Corruption & Black Money: Criminal politicians fuel increased circulation of illicit money and corruption in elections.
• Governance Deficit: Focus on protecting personal cases and networks diverts attention from developmental governance. E.g., states with high criminal representation (Bihar, UP) often lag in HDI indicators.
• Electoral Distortions:  Intimidation, booth capturing, and vote-buying distort elections. The Dinesh Goswami Committee (1990) highlighted the role of musclemen in skewing voter choice.
• Democratic Trust: The entry of criminals into legislatures undermines public trust and normalises the “bahubali culture,” where muscle power is considered essential in politics.

Judicial & Electoral Reforms

Key Judgments

• ADR vs Union of India (2002): Mandatory disclosure of criminal cases, assets, and educational qualifications.
• PUCL vs Union of India (2004): Upheld voters’ right to know candidate background as part of Article 19(1)(a).
• Lily Thomas (2013): Immediate disqualification of convicted MPs/MLAs, striking down the earlier 3-month buffer.
• Public Interest Foundation (2018): Directed political parties to publicise criminal records of candidates on websites, newspapers, and TV.

Election Commission of India (ECI) Measures

• Affidavit disclosures made mandatory before elections.
• Enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) to curb the use of muscle/money.
• Bans on carrying arms near polling booths.
• Power to cancel polls in cases of booth capturing and malpractice.

Law Commission (2015)

• Recommendation: Disqualification based on framing of charges for serious offences (punishable with 5 or more years).
• Suggested Time Limit: Charges framed at least 1 year before nomination scrutiny.

Recent Initiatives

• Lifetime Ban: The Supreme Court of India is hearing a PIL seeking a lifetime disqualification for convicted MPs and MLAs from contesting elections.
• Mandatory Disclosure: ECI requires political parties to publicly disclose details of candidates with criminal records and the reasons for their selection in polls.
  • This is mandatory at both the central and state levels.

Way Forward

• Legal Reforms: Amend the RPA, 1951, to bar candidates from contesting once charges are framed in serious offences (as suggested by the Law Commission, 2015).
• Lifetime Ban: Extend disqualification beyond six years post-conviction to a permanent bar, ensuring long-term deterrence.
• Judicial Reforms: Expand Fast-Track Courts and strictly monitor the 12 existing special courts for MPs/MLAs to reduce case pendency.
• Electoral Reforms: Make access to state subsidies, bonds, and media slots conditional on candidates’ clean records (ECI proposal, 2022).
• Institutional Reforms: Ensure political party accountability, mandate internal disciplinary committees to screen candidates and publish reasons for giving tickets to tainted ones.
• Voter-centric Reforms: Nationwide campaigns (in local languages) to highlight the cost of electing tainted candidates.

{GS2 – Governance – Reforms} Innovation Corridors for Viksit Bharat **

• Context (BL): Innovation corridors can realise India’s Viksit Bharat 2047 vision, reiterated by the Prime Minister in his Independence Day speech.

• Innovation corridors are integrated clusters of research, design, manufacturing, and talent that accelerate breakthrough technologies in strategic sectors.

Need for Innovation Corridors

• Pandemic Lesson: COVID-19 vaccines show that interdisciplinary collaboration speeds up innovation.
• Dependency Risk: Reliance on imported technologies makes India vulnerable to tariffs and disruptions.
• Historical Pattern: Scientific breakthroughs like the Webb Telescope arise at intersections.
• Demographic Dividend: India’s large youth population needs corridors to harness its potential fully.

Advantages of Innovation Corridors

• Value Chains: Domestic semiconductor packaging hubs anchor ecosystems and reduce import reliance.
• High-Skill Jobs: Corridors boost employment in semiconductors, defence, energy, and space sectors.
• Economic Multipliers: EV battery breakthroughs stimulate mining, power grid, and recycling industries.

Challenges in India’s Adoption

• Institutional Silos: Weak industry–academia patent transfers restrict effective innovation collaboration.
• Funding Gaps: Shallow venture ecosystem limits investment in semiconductor and biotech research.
• Infrastructure Deficit: The absence of shared fabrication labs limits start-up prototyping capacity.
• Regulatory Constraints: Limited sandbox frameworks restrict innovations in fintech and biotech.
• Regional Imbalance: Metro-centric clusters marginalise innovation growth in non-metropolitan regions.

Way Forward

• University–Industry Linkage: ANRF partnerships can replicate Stanford–Silicon Valley linkages.
• Infrastructure: Domestic fabrication labs reduce reliance on overseas semiconductor prototyping.
• Corporate Convergence: Cascadia Corridor model shows cross-industry innovation benefits for India.
• Cluster Integration: China’s G60 hubs illustrate scaling manufacturing through multi-city integration.
• Regional Decentralisation: Kochi–Palakkad industrial corridor as a model for decentralised innovation.

Read More > Nation Building through Science and Innovation

{GS2 – IR – Groupings} India at the SCO Summit 2025

• Context (TH): PM’s participation in the SCO Summit 2025, alongside Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin, sparked debate over whether India is shifting its foreign policy.

Key Developments

• Outcomes: India backed “civilisational dialogue” as the declaration criticised unilateral sanctions, hinting at U.S. tariffs.
• India-China Ties: First Modi-Xi bilateral since Galwan (2020) agreed on border talks, flight revival, visa easing, and Kailash Yatra.
• U.S. Concerns: Modi-Xi-Putin images drew U.S. criticism of India “switching sides,” though later remarks reaffirmed India-U.S. ties.

Strategic Implications

• India-China: Gradual normalisation of ties without resolution of border disputes.
• India-Russia: Continued engagement through energy trade and SCO/BRICS forums.
• India-U.S.: Tensions over tariffs, Russian oil imports, and market access persist, though defence cooperation and Quad remain intact.
• Strategic Autonomy: India continues its long-standing policy of strategic autonomy, balancing between global powers.

{GS2 – IR – Groupings} Shift in OPEC+ Production Strategy

• Context (TOI): The ‘Voluntary Eight’ of OPEC+ will raise oil production to 137,000 barrels per day from October 2025, focusing on market share over price support.

Factors Influencing the Shift

• Market Share: OPEC+ seeks to regain market share from non-OPEC producers like Brazil and Guyana.
• Quota Breaches: Members such as Iraq and Kazakhstan exceeded limits, weakening collective credibility.
• Uneven Recovery: Post-COVID K-shaped demand and non-OPEC supply limited price support.
• Geopolitical Pressures: US sanctions and broader geopolitical frictions shaped compliance and strategy.
• Dominance: Saudi Arabia revived its swing producer role, prioritising dominance over price stability.

{GS3 – IE – Taxes} GST Exemption on Insurance Premiums

• Context (IE): The government removed GST on individual health and term insurance premiums as part of the next-generation GST reform.

About the GST Reform in Insurance

• GST Removal: Individual term and health insurance premiums are fully exempt from GST.
• Group Plans: Employer-sponsored group insurance schemes remain taxed at the standard 18% rate.
• ITC Blockage: Full exemption prevents insurers from utilising Input Tax Credit (ITC) on services.

Positive Outcome

• Household Relief: Reduced premiums improve disposable income and lessen medical vulnerability.
• Coverage Gains: Affordable policies expand insurance access to previously underserved households.
• Sector Growth: Rising demand accelerates premium collections, reinforcing insurance sector expansion.

Operational Challenges

• Credit Blockage: Zero GST disallows input tax credits, increasing operational costs by ~3%.
• Profit Pressure: Unused tax credits strain margins, potentially forcing insurers to raise premiums.
• Institutional Exclusion: Group insurance exclusion limits employer-driven coverage expansion.

Way Forward

• Transitional Clarity: Government should clarify mechanisms for addressing blocked Input Tax Credit.
• Duty Reform: Rationalise the GST framework to resolve the inverted duty structure and credit mismatch.
• Consumer Protection: Strengthen oversight to ensure premium savings fully reach policyholders.

Read More > Insurance Sector

{GS3 – Envi – Species} Tiger Population Growth in Ramnagar Division

• Context (IE): A special annual survey in Uttarakhand’s Ramnagar division adjoining Corbett Tiger Reserve showed sharp tiger growth in three years.

• The number of tigers increased from 67 in 2022 to 96 in July 2025, driven by higher prey density.
• The survey under Phase 4 of All India Tiger Estimation assessed Forest Landscape Restoration outcomes.

Read More > Tiger Census

{GS3 – S&T – Tech} Indian Army’s Advanced Air Defence Radars *

• Context (IE): The Indian Army will enhance the Akashteer air defence network with advanced radar to detect, track, and engage low radar cross-section (RCS) aerial objects that are harder to spot.

About the Radar Systems

• LLLR-I Radar: A 3D AESA system with a Commander’s Display Unit, 50 km range, and capable of tracking 100 targets; operational across mountains, deserts, coasts, and high altitudes.
• LLLR-E Radar: Features an Electro-Optical Tracking System (EOTS) and passive radio frequency detection to identify camouflaged or swarm drones day and night.
• ADFCR-DD System: A mobile platform integrating search, track, and fire-control radars with Identification Friend or Foe (IFF), while providing target data to VSHORADS.

Read More> India’s Multi-Layered Air Defence Shield

{Prelims – In News} India at International Earth Science Olympiad 2025

• Context (PIB): Team India bagged 7 medals, including 1 Gold and 4 Silver, at the International Earth Sciences Olympiad (IESO) 2025 held in Jining, China.

• The IESO, founded in 2003 by the International Geoscience Education Organisation (IGEO), is an annual global contest for secondary school students of Classes IX-XII.
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences conducts the Indian National Earth Science Olympiad (INESO) each year to select and support students for IESO.

{Prelims} One Liners

• In News – Infant & Neonatal Mortality (TOI): Kerala has achieved a remarkable decline with Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) at 5 (National 25) & Neonatal Mortality Rate (NMR) below 4 (National 18), while Manipur emerges as best performer recording India’s lowest IMR (3) & NMR (2) per 1,000 live births.
• Sports – Hockey Asia Cup (HT): India won their fourth Hockey Asia Cup crown with a 4-1 victory over Korea, thereby securing qualification for the 2026 FIH World Cup.