DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS IAS | UPSC Prelims and Mains Exam – 11th January 2025

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – POLITY

Context: Traditionally, the senior-most Election Commissioner has been appointed as the next Chief Election Commissioner (CEC). However, for the first time, the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service, and Term of Office) Act, 2023, allows for a wider range of candidates to be considered for the role.

Background: –

• This comes against the backdrop of the EC facing the heat from the Opposition parties over a range of issues.

Key takeaways

• As per Section 5 of the Chief Election Commissioner And Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service And Term of Office) Act, 2023, the candidates for the post would be current or former Secretary-level officers.
• According to Sections 6 and 7 of the Act, the Ministry of Law will set up a Search Committee chaired by the Law Minister to prepare a panel of five names for the Selection Committee.
• Section 6 states, “A Search Committee headed by the Minister of Law and Justice and comprising two other members not below the rank of Secretary to the Government of India, shall prepare a panel of five persons for consideration of the Selection Committee, for appointment as the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners.”
• The Selection Committee, comprising the Prime Minister, a Cabinet minister and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, can select from this panel or consider “any other person” from outside.
• This Act was brought after an intervention from the Supreme Court, following a clutch of petitions filed challenging the Centre’s exclusive powers in picking the Election Commissioners.
• The court had noted that the Constitution’s founders never intended to give the Executive exclusive appointment powers.
• In March 2023, the Court ruled that the appointment of the CEC and ECs would be done by the President on the advice of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Chief Justice of India. This arrangement was to prevail until the Parliament enacted a law for the appointments.
• The Union government eventually brought a law in December 2023, which made it mandatory to appoint the CEC and ECs by way of a shortlist panel and a selection committee. However, the Chief Justice of India was dropped as a member of the Selection Committee.

Source: Indian Express

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – POLITY

Context: The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) is again in the spotlight amid a political row triggered by its report on the cost of renovation at the office and residence of former Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Background: –

• The CAG has submitted a dozen audit reports to the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi in recent years. But the AAP government has not laid them in the Assembly, triggering a backlash from the BJP whose MLAs have approached the High Court.

Key takeaways

• Articles 148 to 151 in part 5 of the Constitution are on the appointment, duties, and audit reports of the Comptroller and Auditor-General , who is appointed by the President.
• The Comptroller and Auditor General’s (Duties, Powers and Conditions of Service) Act, 1971, determines the CAG’s service conditions and prescribes the duties and powers of their office.
• The CAG conducts three kinds of audits: compliance audit, or an assessment of whether the provisions of the applicable laws, rules, and regulations, and various orders and instructions issued by the competent authority are being followed; performance audit, or an assessment of the implementation of schemes or programmes; and financial audit, or certification of government’s accounts and the accounts of Public Sector Undertakings.

How does the CAG select audit subjects?

• Before finalising a subject, it follows a risk assessment procedure that accounts for various factors such as the size of the outlay of a project, what is being written in newspapers about the issue, and its own inspection reports over the years. It also consults the guidelines laid down by the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions, that spell out what is of relevance to citizens.
• Based on these criteria, the CAG’s office approves an annual audit plan that is implemented in the field offices. There is also an Audit Advisory Board that meets twice a year and suggests subjects and methodologies for audit.
• The government or courts can also recommend CAG audits.

What happens after the CAG selects a subject?

• Once a subject is chosen, the CAG holds an entry conference with the department or organisation that is being audited. At this conference, CAG officials inform the body concerned about matters such as their plans for the audit, the methodology to be followed, and a tentative timeline.
• After the audit, the officials from the auditor general’s office hold an exit conference to share their findings with the department or organisation and seek their reply. The entry and exit conferences are held for every performance and compliance audit.
• The CAG shares a draft report with the department audited. Normally, the department has to respond within six weeks. Thereafter, the CAG signs the report and sends it to the government (the President or the Governor). Then the government lays the report before the legislature.

Tabling of a CAG report

• Article 151 provides for laying CAG reports in Parliament or state legislatures but no time limit is specified. This is why governments often do not lay CAG audit reports on time.
• A CAG report becomes public only after it is laid in the House. The Public Accounts Committee examines the selected reports and seeks a response from the government. The PAC also asks the government to take action on the recommendations and submit an Action Taken Report.

Do CAG reports have any impact ?

• The audit reports highlight losses to the exchequer and procedural losses and also provide recommendations that play a key role in changing rules and procedures. For instance, the Telangana government made changes in the Engineering Procurement Contract mode a few years ago after a CAG audit. 
• Among the CAG reports that have had a big impact was the one on licences and allocation of 2G spectrum that was tabled in 2010. It had a massive effect, damaging the image of the Manmohan Singh-led government that was ultimately voted out of power in 2014.

Source: Indian Express

Syllabus:

• Prelims – CURRENT EVENT

Context: President Smt Droupadi Murmu addressed the valedictory session of the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention and presented Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Awards at Bhubaneswar, Odisha.

Background:

• Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) is celebrated to recognize the contributions of the Indian diaspora towards India. It serves as a platform for the government to connect with overseas Indians, strengthen their ties with India, and acknowledge their achievements globally.

Key takeaways

• The 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas Convention (PBD), 2025 was held in partnership with the Government of Odisha in Bhubaneshwar, Odisha from 8 to 10 January 2025. This was the first PBD to be held in Eastern India. 
• First Observance: The first PBD was celebrated on January 9, 2003.
• Significance of the Date: January 9 marks the return of Mahatma Gandhi to India from South Africa in 1915, symbolizing the return of Indians from abroad contributing to India’s progress.
• Frequency: Initially celebrated every year, PBD became a biennial event in 2015. Now, it is held every two years.

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award (PBSA)

• The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award is the highest honor conferred by the Government of India on overseas Indians.
• PBSA is conferred by the President of India as a part of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) Conventions on a Non-Resident Indian (NRI), Person of Indian Origin (PIO) or an organization or institution established and run by NRI’s or PIO’s, who has made significant contribution in any one of the following fields :
  • Better understanding abroad of India;
  • Support to India’s causes and concerns in a tangible way;
  • Building closer links between India, the overseas Indian community and their country of residence;
  • Social and humanitarian causes in India or abroad;
  • Welfare of the local Indian community;
  • Philanthropic and charitable work;
  • Eminence in one’s field or outstanding work, which has enhanced India’s prestige in the country of residence; or
  • Eminence in skills which has enhanced India’s prestige in that country (for non-professional workers).

Source: PIB

Syllabus:

• Prelims & Mains – ENVIRONMENT

Context: Temperature data made public by the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), an authoritative source on historical trends in climate, show that 2024 was the first year in history when mean global temperature went 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial level.

Background: –

• 2024 with a warming of 1.6 degree Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels has overtaken 2023 as the warmest year ever recorded. 2023 was recorded to be 1.45 degree Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times.

Key takeaways

• The 1.5 degree Celsius mark is an important threshold mentioned in the 2015 Paris Agreement, which calls upon the world to restrict the rise in global temperatures to “well below 2 degree Celsius” from pre-industrial levels while “pursuing efforts” to keep this within 1.5 degree Celsius. 
• The 2024 breach, however, does not necessarily mean that the 1.5 degree Celsius goal is over. The 1.5, or 2, degree Celsius targets are meant to be seen in the context of long-term temperature trends and not in year-to-year, or month-to-month, temperature variations. For example, monthly average temperatures have crossed the 1.5 degree Celsius mark several times during the last two years.
• From the climate change perspective, the 1.5 degree mark would be considered to have been breached only if the averages over a decade or two remain above the thresholds.

2023 & 2024 – Exceptionally warm years

• The years 2023 and 2024 stand out even in the rapidly warming trend witnessed in the last decade, European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF) said. 
• For instance, the previous warmest year, 2016, which was 1.29 degrees Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels, was influenced by a very strong El Niño — a phenomenon in the eastern Pacific Ocean. El Niño has a general warming effect.
• There was an El Niño prevailing during 2023 and 2024 as well, but it was mild. ECMWF said the unusual warming of 2023 and 2024 could be because of other factors, though there was no one dominant reason. It cited “unprecedented” El Niño-like systems in multiple other ocean regions as one of the possible reasons.
• An underwater volcanic eruption near Tonga in the southern Pacific Ocean in January 2022, and lower sulphur dioxide emissions from the shipping industry in 2024 could also have contributed to the warming, ECMWF said. Sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere reflects some solar radiation, thus preventing it from reaching Earth.
• The unusual warming could also be because of the Sun, which was in its solar maximum phase in 2024 during its routine 11-year solar cycle. An increase in the solar energy reaching the Earth during the solar maximum phase could have contributed to the warming.

Source: Indian Express

Syllabus:

• Mains – GS 1 & GS 2

Context: After peaking at 923 in 2019, the sex ratio at birth in Haryana dropped to 910 in 2024, an eight-year low. The numbers have worried activists and civil society organisations.

Background: –

• The sex ratio is the measure of the number of females per 1,000 males in a given population.
• According to the National Health and Family Survey-5 (NFHS-5), which was published in 2021, the overall sex ratio at birth in India was 929.

Key takeaways 

• Of the 516,402 children born in Haryana in 2024, 270,354 (52.35%) were boys, while 246,048 (47.64%) were girls, giving a sex ratio of 910 girls per 1,000 boys born.
• In 2014, the sex ratio in Haryana was just 871. This triggered a massive nationwide outcry. In 2015, Prime Minister launched ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ campaign at Panipat.
• The efforts bore fruit, with the sex ratio at birth in Haryana climbing steadily after 2014. It touched 900 in 2016, and peaked at 923 in 2019. Since then, however, the sex ratio has once again seen a downward trajectory overall.

Loosening enforcement

• The gains made between 2014 and 2019 came due to the strict enforcement of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques Act, 1994 (PNDT Act) coupled with an intense awareness campaign.
• Activists say more needs to be done to change attitudes, and in recent years, enforcement of laws aimed towards curbing female foeticide has loosened.
• Wealthier families continue to access sex determination services and sex-selective abortions, which have become more costly, especially in bordering areas. A significant number of FIRs under the PNDT Act in Haryana were registered after inter-state raids.
• A growing trend of having only one male child is emerging in Haryana, driven by factors like decreasing land holdings and financial constraints. Rising inflation and the dowry system contribute to the preference for fewer children, highlighting the need for societal efforts to change attitudes and discourage extravagant marriages.

Government’s perspective

• State authorities, however, term the latest dip as a “slight fluctuation”, and point to the fact that the state’s sex ratio has improved. The state’s gender ratio improved from 871 in 2014 to 916 in 2023.
• State officials said that the government has worked to ensure that the girl child is not seen as a burden, including providing a one-time sum of Rs 21,000 at the birth of a baby girl, and opening bank accounts for girls through the Sukanya Samriddhi Scheme. 
• Officials also spoke about work that has gone into reducing dropout rates of girls and increasing secondary education enrolment — all factors which are known to in the long term positively impact sex ratio, and the status of women in general.

Source: Indian Express

Q1.) With reference to the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) in India, consider the following statements:

1. As per the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, only serving Secretaries to the Government of India are eligible for appointment as CEC.
2. The Selection Committee for appointing the CEC includes the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, and the Chief Justice of India.
3. The Search Committee for the appointment of the CEC is chaired by the Minister of Law and Justice.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1, 2, and 3

Q2.) With reference to the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG), which of the following statements is/are correct?

1. The CAG conducts compliance audits, performance audits, and financial audits.
2. The CAG’s audit reports are laid before the legislature within a specified time frame as per Article 151 of the Constitution.
3. The Public Accounts Committee examines selected CAG reports and seeks responses from the government.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2, and 3

Q3.) Consider the following statements regarding Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD):

1. Pravasi Bharatiya Divas is celebrated every year on January 1st.
2. The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award is conferred by the Prime Minister of India.
3. The first Pravasi Bharatiya Divas was celebrated in 2003.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 3 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 3 only

Comment the answers to the above questions in the comment section below!!

ANSWERS FOR ’  Today’s – Daily Practice MCQs’ will be updated along with tomorrow’s Daily Current Affairs

Q.1) – a

Q.2) – a

Q.3) – a