25 April 2024, The Hindu
EVMs’ control units do not recognise parties or names: SC
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GS 2: Structure, organisation and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary
- The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its verdict on a batch of petitions seeking 100% cross-verification of vote count in Electronic Voting machines (EVMS) with VoterVerifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) paper slips.
- Earlier in the day, a Bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta posed a series of questions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) about the functioning of EVMs and sought the presence of an official at 2 pm to answer them.
India’s ‘first Kinnar sarpanch’ in Lok Sabha fray from Damoh
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GS 2: mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of vulnerable sections
- The rituals of Navmi, the last day of the nine-day Hindu festival of Navratri, have just gotten over at her home in Kanhwara village in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district, and Durga Bai Majhwar — better known as Durga Mausi — is dressed up as the goddess she is named after, ready for a performance at the famous Maa Sharda Temple in neighbouring Maihar.
- She has taken a day off from the month-long campaign, criss-crossing her constituency on her trusty Scooty.
The conflict, from Nebuchadnezzar to Netanyahu
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GS 2: International Relations- Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting the Indian interests
- The ghost of Assyrian king Nebuchadnezzar (642-562 BC) would have probably gleefully approved of the recent first-ever direct projectile exchanges between Iran and Israel.
- After all, he sowed the seeds of this historic animosity in 586 BC by destroying the first Jewish temple, sacking the Jewish kingdom of Judea and taking its citizens in captivity to Babylonia.
- Jewish scripture Jeremiah described Nebuchadnezzar as the “Destroyer of Nations”.
The Indian seafarer deserves better in choppy high seas
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Prelims syllabus: Current events of national and international importance
- Amid rising safety concerns among Indian seafarers following the recent attacks on commercial ships in sensitive geographical areas such as the Red Sea and the Strait of Hormuz, India submitted three papers to the 111th Session of the International Maritime Organization’s (IMO) Legal Committee (LEG), which is from April 22 to 26, 2024.
- These submissions address crucial issues such as seafarers’ security, contract terms, and broader maritime security challenges.
- India has stressed the need for a comprehensive approach to maritime security and advocated improved contractual conditions for seafarers.
- While acknowledging the IMO’s efforts to combat maritime fraud, India has called for broader international cooperation to tackle various maritime threats, including piracy, armed robbery, extremist attacks, regional conflicts, and emerging risks such as drone attacks and the use of maritime weapons.
Hot button
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
- The Election Commission of India (ECI) suspects ambient heat dissuaded voters from turning out in greater numbers during the first phase of the general election, on April 19.
- It has since constituted a task force with representatives from itself, the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the National Disaster Management Authority to assess local heat and humidity for five days before each phase of polling and work with State electoral apparatuses to ensure adequate facilities at booths.
- The IMD declares heat wave conditions in a region depending on whether one of a few conditions is met, centred on deviations of the daytime temperature from the decade-long average. But these declarations are not concerned with the people’s experience of ambient heat.
The reality of the Swacch Bharat Mission
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GS 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and the States and the performance of these schemes
- India was ranked right at the bottom of 180 countries in the Environment Performance Index (EPI) in 2022.
- The EPI ranks countries on climate change performance, environmental health, and ecosystem vitality.
- It measures 40 performance indicators across 11 issue categories, such as air quality, and drinking water and sanitation.
- The government responded to the rank saying the methodology is faulty and does not quantify the Indian scenario objectively.
- For 10 years, the Modi government has embarked on much-hyped campaigns of development.
- These included the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation, the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, and the National Clean Air Programme.
No forests or animals will be left if human-wildlife conflicts continue: SC
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GS 3: Environment- Conservation
- The Supreme Court on Wednesday warned that animal-human conflicts pose a danger to the very existence of forests and wildlife, a balance has to be struck which takes care of the rights of both stakeholders.
- “There has to be a balance between the rights of the stakeholders. We cannot take a lopsided view. Forests and wildlife will not exist if conflict between animals and humans are not resolved,” Justice B.R. Gavai observed.
Powerful antidote to toxins in cobra, krait venoms developed
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GS 3: Science and Technology- Recent developments and their applications and effects in everyday life
- For some people, snakes are exotic yet dangerous creatures of the wild; eerie but elusive, and not something to worry about in day-to-day life. For others, especially some farmers in India and Africa, they are a constant and terrifying threat to life.
- Venom from snake bites leads to more than 100,000 deaths every year, with around 400,000 people left permanently disabled.
- The mortality burden is especially higher in low and middle-income countries in Africa and Asia, with India alone at a staggering average of 58,000 deaths in a year according to a 2020 report.
