- Panel recommends simultaneous polls
- The high-level committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind has recommended simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and state assemblies as the first step.
- It has also recommended municipal and panchayat polls within hundred days of the general election in the next phase.
- The 22nd law commission which is currently examining the simultaneous polls issue is also expected to submit its report to the law ministry anytime now.
- ‘Simultaneous Elections’ is defined as structuring the Indian election cycle in a manner such that elections to Lok Sabha and State Assemblies are synchronized together. Elections to Local bodies, which is a state subject, are not included in it.
2. Poll bonds: 22 firms donated over ₹100 cr., a party got highest share
- Into the electoral bonds data released by the State Bank of India and published by the Election Commission on the orders of the Supreme Court, future gaming and hotel services is the single largest donor to political parties between April 2019 and January 2024.
- Electoral bonds are money instruments like promissory notes, which can be bought by companies and individuals in India from the State Bank of India (SBI) and donated to a political party, which can then encash these bonds.
3. India ranks 134th in global human development index: UNDP
- India has moved up a rank on the global human development index according to the United Nations Development Programme.
- The report stated that while India ranked 135 in 2021 it had moved up to 134 in 2022.
- A total of 193 countries were ranked in 2022.
- Sri Lanka has been ranked at 78 while China is ranked at 75. India also ranks below Bhutan which is ranked at 125 and Bangladesh ranked at 129th .
- Switzerland has been ranked number one.
- Recently released 2023/24 Human Development Report (HDR) was titled as “Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining Cooperation in a Polarized World.” It is a statistical composite (first published in 1990 by the UNDP) index, which measures average achievement of a country in 3 basic dimensions – Health, Education and Standard of Living
4. CAA and status of judicial proceedings
- The Ministry of Home Affairs notified the rules to implement the citizenship Amendment Act 2019 on March 11.
- It fast tracks citizenship for undocumented immigrants from six non-Muslim communities from the countries of Pakistan Afghanistan and Bangladesh.
- The law is under challenge before the Supreme Court with several petitioners moving fresh pleas seeking a stay on the implementation of the rules.
- Petitions challenge the law for violating article 14 of the constitution by making religion a qualifier for citizenship.
- The CAA, 2019 is an Indian legislation that provides a path to Indian citizenship for migrants belonging to six religious minorities: Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan.
5. India likely to start free trade deal talks with EAEU
- India is seriously considering starting talks for a free trade agreement with the Eurasian Economic Union. The statement comes from the Foreign Minister of Belarus.
- The remarks acquire significance as Belarus has been closely aligned with Russia even as President Putin continues to push ahead with the military operation against Ukraine.
- The Eurasian Economic Union is an international organization for regional economic integration that came into existence on 1st January 2015. The EAEU provides for free movement of goods, services, capital, and labour within its borders. The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union are Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, and The Russian Federation.
