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Setting the ball rolling on its party’s manifesto promise of working towards simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the country, the government announced a committee that would submit its report to Parliament.
While details of the committee’s composition were not announced, it is learnt that former President Ram Nath Kovind will head it.
This comes a day after the government, in a surprise announcement, called a special session of Parliament from September 18-22 without citing any reason.
Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said that once the committee submits its report, it will be discussed in the public domain and Parliament.
India is the mother of democracy and our democracy is a mature democracy. There has been a long and rich tradition of discussing subjects related to the interest of the country.
Right now only a committee has been constituted to discuss the topic of ‘One nation, One election’ and to know the opinion of the people. The agenda for the upcoming special session of Parliament will be shared with the nation soon.
Govt & Politics
Child from void marriages can claim ancestral property: SC (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Children born out of void or voidable marriages can claim a right in their parent’s share of ancestral property. A three-judge Bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, however, clarified that they cannot claim rights in the ancestral property of anyone else in the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) governed by Mitakshara Law but only in their parents’ share.
The Bench also comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra referred to Section 16 (1) and 16(2) of the Hindu Marriage Act (HMA), 1995, which, it pointed out, confers legitimacy on children born out of void or voidable marriages.
Writing for the Bench, the CJI said “a child who is legitimate under” these sections “would, for the purposes of….the Hindu Succession Act (HSA), 1956, fall within the ambit of the explanation ‘related by legitimate kinship and cannot be regarded as an illegitimate child for the purposes of the provison.
Delving into the history of amendments made to the Hindu Succession Act, the court explained why such children can have rights only on their parent’s share of ancestral property and not in the property of the entire HUF.
Express Network
Mission Sun: ISRO to launch Aditya – L1 today (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) launched Aditya L-1, its first space-based mission to study the Sun, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota.
The lift-off took place barely 10 days after ISRO became the first space agency to soft-land a spacecraft near the Moon’s south pole.
The solar probe was carried into space by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) in ‘XL’ configuration. PSLV is one of the most reliable and versatile workhorse rockets of ISRO.
Previous missions like Chandrayaan-1 in 2008 and Mangalyaan in 2013 were also launched using PSLV. The rocket is most powerful in the ‘XL’ configuration as it is equipped with six extended strap-on boosters — they are larger than the boosters of other configurations and, therefore, can carry heavier payloads.
Editorial
The good and the sobering (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The surge in GDP growth to 7.8 per cent in the first quarter is no surprise. Most high-frequency indicators, including the Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for goods and services and credit growth data already pointed to fast growth.
The weakness in exports, which contracted by 6.3 per cent during the period, did not dent the momentum much.
But manufacturing was a bit disappointing, given that PMI for manufacturing was in a strong expansion zone, and corporate profits for the quarter were healthy.
Construction surged 7.9 per cent over a high base, and on the back of government capital expenditure (capex), a pick up in real estate activity and lower input prices. That is likely to have spurred employment growth in construction — a labour-intensive sector.
On the demand side, the investment to GDP ratio was at a healthy 34.7 per cent – similar to last year. The front-loading of the Centre’s aggressive budgeted spending target, along with a sharp rise in spending by states has helped.
Spending by the Centre grew at a massive 59 per cent, and for 16 major states, it rose 76 per cent. But unlike central government capex, the high state capex growth was over a very weak base.
Economy
India’s Russian oil imports slump in August as Urals lose some sheen (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
With discounts on Russia’s flagship crude Urals having narrowed considerably in recent weeks coupled with lower oil purchases by Indian refiners due to maintenance shutdowns at some units, India’s import volumes of the medium-sour crude declined by nearly a third on a month-on-month (MoM) basis in August.
This, in turn, resulted in New Delhi’s overall Russian oil imports falling to a seven-month low, shows an analysis of data shared by energy cargo tracker Vortexa.
Import volumes of Urals — the mainstay of India’s Russian oil import basket–declined to 1.08 million bpd from 1.60 million bpd in July. Even Urals import volumes were at a seven-month low in August.
India’s total Russian oil imports fell 23.4 per cent month-on-month in August to 1.47 million barrels per day (bpd). Barring January, when cumulative Russian oil imports of Indian refiners stood at 1.27 million bpd, August volumes were the lowest this year.
While Russia maintained its position as India’s top source of crude oil in August, its share in the country’s overall oil imports declined to 33.8 per cent during the month, down from a share of over 40 per cent seen over the previous three months.
In August, India imported a total of 4.35 million bpd of crude, which was down 5 per cent MoM, according to Vortexa. Meanwhile, oil imports from Saudi Arabia–traditionally a major oil supplier to India–jumped nearly 70 per cent MoM to 820,000 bpd during the month.
Factory output hits 3-mnth high (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s manufacturing activity continued to expand in August, with the S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rising to a three-month high of 58.6 as against 57.7 in July.
The gauge of manufacturing activity in August was above 50, the key level which separates expansion in activity from contraction, for the 26th month straight. A reading below 50 would mean contraction in activity.
“The PMI results for India painted a vibrant picture of the nation’s manufacturing landscape in August,” said Pollyanna De Lima, economics associate director at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The August manufacturing PMI number has come a day after the release of April-June GDP data, which showed the Indian economy grew at a four-quarter high of 7.8 per cent, broadly in line with expectations.
However, the manufacturing sector grew by a mere 4.7 per cent, pulling down overall growth. Kaushik Dani, Fund Manager-PMS, Abans Investment Managers, said, “we have a strong beginning to the month of September with high frequency indicators like the manufacturing PMI showing robust expansion. Even the first quarter GDP numbers for this fiscal, though in line, at 7.8% is at a four-quarter high.
Thus, India continues to remain the fastest growing among trillion-dollar economies.” Markets, especially large cap indices which have taken a breather over the last few weeks, should witness a fresh up move on account of these positive data points.
Explained
Special Session of Parliament (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
On August 31, Pralhad Joshi, the Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, announced that a “special session” of Parliament would be held from September 18 to 22.
The Minister was quoted as stating that “important items” were on the session’s agenda, which the government would circulate shortly.
The announcement has led to speculation about the government’s legislative plans for the session. Usually, a few days before a Parliament session, the government convenes an all-party meeting to share its agenda and build consensus on possible issues for discussion.
India’s Parliament has no fixed calendar of sittings. In 1955, a Lok Sabha committee had proposed a timetable for parliamentary sessions.
It recommended that the Budget session of Parliament begin on February 1 and go on till May 7, and the Monsoon session start on July 15 and end on September 15.
The committee suggested that the Winter session, the last session of the year, commence on November 5 (or the fourth day after Diwali, whichever is later) and finish on December 22. While the government agreed to this calendar, it was never implemented.
The government determines the date and duration of parliamentary sessions. The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs takes this decision.
It currently has ten Ministers, including those for Defence, Home, Finance, Agriculture, Tribal Affairs, Parliamentary Affairs, and Information and Broadcasting.
The sun up close: Aditya -L1 mission and its objectives (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Aditya-L1 mission, launching on Saturday, will take India into an elite group of nations that have sent probes to study the Sun.
While India has carried out experiments to study the Sun using satellites earlier, Aditya-L1, which aims to park a spacecraft in the ‘L1’ spot in space (see box and illustration), is the country’s first dedicated solar mission.
Aditya-L1 is also ISRO’s second astronomy observatory-class mission after AstroSat (2015).
Indian scientists have so far observed the Sun through telescopes on the ground, and relied on data from solar missions launched by the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, and Japan.
All these years, India has been observing the Sun using only ground-based telescopes, which have grown old now. As India lacked a large-scale modern observational facility, we were dependent on other sources for solar data.
Aditya-L1 presents a unique opportunity to not only address the existing gaps but also complement with newer data to address the unsolved problems in solar physics.
3mn EVMs, massive security and funds: Challenges in holding simultaneous polls (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
The logistics challenges of holding simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and state Assemblies — arranging around 30 lakh electronic voting machines (EVMs) and voter-verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) machines, and deploying central forces around the country — will be immense, but not insurmountable, according to several former Chief Election Commissioners (CEC).
Parliament and state elections were held simultaneously until 1967, but over the years as Assemblies and Lok Sabhas were dissolved before the end of their terms, the elections fell out of sync with each other.
Currently, elections to the Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, and Sikkim Houses are held along with Lok Sabha polls.
In 2022, then CEC Sushil Chandra had said the Election Commission of India (ECI) was “fully geared up” to hold simultaneous elections. Current CEC Rajiv Kumar declined to comment on the issue.
To be able to hold simultaneous elections, the EC will need around 30 lakh EVMs, according to estimates. Former CEC O P Rawat said the government had asked the ECI to study the feasibility of simultaneous polls in 2015. Rawat was one of the Election Commissioners at the time.
World
Putin, Erdogan meeting amid efforts to repair Black sea grain deal (Page no. 2)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Russian President Vladimir Putin will host Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi on Monday, the Kremlin announced, just over six weeks after Moscow broke off a deal partly brokered by Ankara that allowed Ukrainian grain to reach world markets despite the 18-month war.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the talks, ending weeks of speculation about when and where the two leaders might meet next as international efforts continue to patch up the Black Sea Grain Initiative which got grain and other food to Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat.
Turkiye, together with the United Nations, brokered a deal in July 2022 that allowed Ukraine to ship grain and other foodstuffs from three Black Sea ports.
A separate memorandum between the UN and Russia, agreed at the same time, pledged to overcome obstacles to Moscow’s shipment of food and fertiliser to world markets.
However, Russia pulled out of the deals earlier this year, claiming that its conditions hadn’t been met.On Thursday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hosted his Turkish counterpart for talks in Moscow.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sent Russia a new proposal in hopes of reviving the deal but it didn’t satisfy Moscow’s demands.
Lavrov said he had given Ankara a list of actions that the West would have to take in order to resume Ukrainian grain and fertiliser shipments. Talks between Putin and Erdogan could help unlock that.
The agreement had allowed Ukraine to ship almost 33,000 tons of grain at a time of growing global hunger.
Nobel body reverses ban, will now invite Russia, Belarus, Iran (Page no. 2)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Several Swedish lawmakers said they will boycott this year’s Nobel Prize award ceremonies after the private foundation that administers the prestigious awards changed its position from a year earlier and invited representatives of Russia, Belarus and Iran to attend.
The Nobel Foundation said invitations were extended to all countries with diplomatic missions in Sweden and Norway since that “promotes opportunities to convey the important messages of the Nobel Prize to everyone.” It was unclear whether the invitations to the Dec. 10 events already went out.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Swedish Employment Minister Johan Pehrson called the foundation’s decision “extremely injudicious.”
Last year, the diplomatic envoys of Russia and Belarus were barred from attending the prize ceremonies and related banquets because of the war in Ukraine.