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DAILY • UPSC CSE • PUNJAB PCS • CURRENT AFFAIRS

1. Cauvery Water Dispute: Supreme Court, Article 262, CWMA & CWRC

Why in News?

The Supreme Court has sought Karnataka’s response to Tamil Nadu’s plea regarding a shortfall in Cauvery river water. Karnataka has cited severe drought conditions while Tamil Nadu has raised concerns over inadequate releases and the impact on agriculture.

UPSC/PCS Importance

Important for Article 262, inter-State river water disputes, cooperative federalism, Cauvery Water Management Authority (CWMA), Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), riparian rights and Centre-State relations.

Prelims Facts

• Article 262 deals with adjudication of disputes relating to waters of inter-State rivers or river valleys.
• Parliament enacted the Inter-State River Water Disputes Act, 1956.
• The Cauvery basin involves Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry.
• CWMA is responsible for implementation of the Cauvery water-sharing arrangement.
• CWRC assists in monitoring water availability and releases.

Mains Perspective

GS-II: Federalism, Inter-State Relations and Water Governance

Revision Note: Inter-State river disputes demonstrate the need to balance judicial adjudication, institutional water management, ecological realities and cooperative federalism.

2. Anti-Defection Law: Tenth Schedule, Voluntary Membership & Whip

Why in News?

The Supreme Court declined to interfere with the disqualification of a Telangana MLA under the anti-defection law, bringing the distinction between voluntarily giving up party membership and voting against a party whip into focus.

UPSC/PCS Importance

Important for Tenth Schedule, anti-defection law, role of Speaker, party membership, whip, legislative stability and parliamentary democracy.

Prelims Facts

• The Tenth Schedule contains provisions relating to disqualification on grounds of defection.
• It was inserted by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1985.
• A legislator may be disqualified for voluntarily giving up membership of the political party.
• A member may also face disqualification for voting or abstaining contrary to a party direction, subject to the provisions of the Schedule.
• The merger exception requires support of at least two-thirds of the members of the legislature party.

Mains Perspective

GS-II: Parliament and State Legislatures, Political Parties and Constitutional Governance

Prelims Trap: Voluntarily giving up party membership does not necessarily require a formal written resignation; conduct may also become relevant in determining whether membership has been given up.

3. Digi Yatra International: Facial Recognition, Digital Identity & Data Governance

Why in News?

Digi Yatra is preparing to expand its operations to international departures, bringing biometric travel, facial-recognition technology, digital identity and passenger-data governance into focus.

UPSC/PCS Importance

Important for Digital India, facial recognition, digital identity, airport infrastructure, privacy, data protection and technology-based public services.

Prelims Facts

• Digi Yatra facilitates paperless passenger processing at participating airports.
• It uses facial recognition as part of the passenger authentication process.
• The initiative is associated with the civil aviation ecosystem.
• International expansion raises questions of interoperability between immigration, airline and airport systems.
• Biometric systems must also be studied alongside privacy and personal-data protection.

Mains Perspective

GS-II & GS-III: Digital Governance, Technology and Data Protection

Revision Note: Digital public services can improve efficiency and convenience, but biometric technologies require strong safeguards relating to consent, cybersecurity, privacy and accountability.

4. Make in India — 12 Years: Manufacturing, GVA, FDI & Industrial Policy

Why in News?

Twelve years of the Make in India initiative have renewed debate over India’s manufacturing performance, investment, employment generation and the effectiveness of industrial-policy interventions.

UPSC/PCS Importance

Important for manufacturing, Gross Value Added (GVA), FDI, employment, industrial policy, Production Linked Incentive schemes, exports and India’s integration with global value chains.

Prelims Facts

• Make in India was launched in September 2014.
• Manufacturing is part of the secondary sector of the economy.
• GVA measures the value of goods and services produced after accounting for intermediate consumption.
• FDI represents longer-term investment by a foreign entity in an enterprise.
• PLI schemes use production-linked incentives to encourage manufacturing in identified sectors.

Mains Perspective

GS-III: Indian Economy, Industrial Policy, Investment and Employment

Revision Note: The success of manufacturing policy should be evaluated not only through investment announcements but also through productivity, employment, domestic value addition, exports and technological capability.

5. BRICS Cross-Border Payments: SWIFT Alternatives, CBDCs & Dollar Dependence

Why in News?

The recent BRICS declaration called for greater trade among member countries and increased use of national currencies. The wider debate includes possible cross-border CBDC linkages and alternatives to the SWIFT-dominated international payment architecture.

UPSC/PCS Importance

Important for BRICS, SWIFT, CBDCs, de-dollarisation debate, international financial architecture, sanctions, CIPS, SPFS, Project mBridge and India’s strategic autonomy.

Prelims Facts

• SWIFT is a global financial messaging network used by financial institutions.
• CIPS is China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System.
• SPFS is Russia’s System for Transfer of Financial Messages.
• Project mBridge is a multi-CBDC cross-border payment initiative.
• CBDC stands for Central Bank Digital Currency.
• India and Russia have increasingly used rupee-rouble and other non-dollar settlement mechanisms in bilateral trade.

Mains Perspective

GS-II: International Relations | GS-III: International Economy and Financial Architecture

Revision Note: Alternative payment systems seek to reduce dependence on a single financial network, but interoperability, currency convertibility, trust, scale and geopolitical concerns remain major constraints.

6. UNSC Reform: Permanent Membership, Veto & Accountability

Why in News?

Renewed debate over reform of the United Nations Security Council has brought questions of representation, permanent membership, veto power and the effectiveness of global governance institutions back into focus.

UPSC/PCS Importance

Important for United Nations, Security Council, P5, veto power, UN reform, multilateralism, Global South representation and India’s claim for permanent membership.

Prelims Facts

• The UN Security Council has 15 members.
• Five are permanent members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• The remaining ten members are elected for two-year terms.
• The five permanent members possess veto power on substantive Security Council decisions.
• India supports reform of the Security Council to make it more representative of contemporary geopolitical realities.

Mains Perspective

GS-II: International Institutions and Global Governance

Revision Note: The central debate is whether the composition and decision-making structure of the Security Council adequately represent the distribution of power and population in the contemporary international system.

7. Edible Oil Import Duty: Customs Duty, Inflation & Food Security

Why in News?

The Union government reduced Basic Customs Duty on major imported crude edible oils in response to rising international prices and domestic inflationary pressures.

UPSC/PCS Importance

Important for Basic Customs Duty, food inflation, edible-oil imports, agricultural trade policy, consumer prices, domestic refining and food security.

Prelims Facts

• Basic Customs Duty is imposed on imported goods.
• BCD on crude sunflower oil was reduced from 10% to nil.
• BCD on crude soybean oil and crude palm oil was reduced from 10% to 5%.
• The government retained a duty differential between crude and refined edible oils.
• The differential is intended to support domestic refining capacity while lowering the landed cost of crude edible-oil imports.

Mains Perspective

GS-III: Indian Economy, Agriculture, Inflation and Food Security

Revision Note: Import-duty changes illustrate the policy trade-off between protecting domestic producers and containing consumer-price inflation.

8. Frontier AI Safety Debate: Human Control, Regulation & Global Governance

Why in News?

Artificial-intelligence safety and the need to keep advanced AI systems under meaningful human control have emerged as major issues in international technology discussions.

UPSC/PCS Importance

Important for Artificial Intelligence, frontier AI, AI safety, human oversight, algorithmic accountability, technological regulation, cybersecurity and global AI governance.

Prelims Facts

• Frontier AI generally refers to highly capable general-purpose AI models at the leading edge of technological development.
• AI governance includes safety standards, transparency, accountability and risk-management mechanisms.
• Human oversight is a major principle in debates over high-risk AI systems.
• AI regulation increasingly involves both domestic law and international cooperation.
• Major concerns include misuse, cybersecurity risks, misinformation, bias and loss of effective human control.

Mains Perspective

GS-III: Science & Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity

Revision Note: AI governance must balance innovation with safety, accountability, human oversight and international coordination.

📰 Mains Focus – BRICS & the Changing Global Financial Architecture

BRICS discussions on national-currency settlements and alternative cross-border payment mechanisms highlight a broader effort by emerging economies to diversify the international financial architecture.

Key Issues

• Dollar Dependence
• SWIFT Payment Network
• Cross-Border CBDCs
• CIPS and SPFS
• Project mBridge
• Financial Sanctions
• Strategic Autonomy
• Multipolar Financial Architecture

Mains Takeaway: The emergence of alternative payment mechanisms reflects a wider shift towards financial diversification, although the dollar-centred system continues to benefit from scale, liquidity and established global networks.

⚡ Prelims Concept – Anti-Defection Law

• Anti-defection provisions are contained in the Tenth Schedule.
• The Schedule was inserted by the 52nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 1985.
• Disqualification may arise from voluntarily giving up party membership.
• Voting or abstaining contrary to a party direction may also attract disqualification subject to the Schedule.
• The merger exception requires at least two-thirds of the legislature party.

Prelims Trap: “Voluntarily giving up membership” and “voting against the whip” are separate grounds under the anti-defection framework.

🔥 Most Important Topics for UPSC/PCS Today

• Cauvery Water Dispute — Article 262, CWMA & CWRC
• Anti-Defection Law — Tenth Schedule & Whip
• Digi Yatra International — Facial Recognition & Data Governance
• Make in India — 12 Years & Manufacturing
• BRICS Cross-Border Payments & Alternatives to SWIFT
• UNSC Reform — Permanent Membership & Veto
• Edible Oil Import Duty — Inflation & Food Security
• Frontier AI Safety — Human Control & Regulation

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