SC Judgement on Preventive Detention

• The Supreme Court in Dhanya M. vs State of Kerala (2025) reaffirmed that preventive detention must be used sparingly, not as a substitute for criminal prosecution or to bypass bail.
• Yet, its misuse persists through laws such as KAAPA (Kerala) and the NSA (National Security Act).

Need for Re-examination of Preventive Detention

• Judicial Disquiet: Despite repeated SC warnings (Rekha vs Tamil Nadu, Banka Sneha Sheela), preventive detention remains a routine tool of administration.
• Colonial Legacy: Traces back to Bengal Regulation III, 1818, retained post-Independence.
• Rising Use: Over 24,000+ preventive detentions annually under various state and central laws (NCRB, 2023), with poor conviction or review rates.
• Erosion of Liberty: Undermines Articles 14, 19, 21 — the “Golden Triangle” of fundamental rights.
• Wide Definitions: Terms like “goonda” or “anti-social element” enable vague and arbitrary detentions.
• Global Concern: India ranks lowest among G20 in Rule of Law Index (World Justice Project, 2024).

Way Forward

• Constitutional Revisit: Harmonise Article 22 with Article 21’s due process principle post-Maneka Gandhi. (Law Commission 276th Report)
• Periodic Review: Mandate quarterly judicial audits of all detentions; ensure public data disclosure. E.g. Periodic Review clause in the UK’s Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures Act, 2011.
• Digital Transparency: e-Detention Tracker for tracking detention orders, reasons, and review outcomes. E.g. OECD Open Justice Data Initiative.
• Rights Safeguards: Compulsory assignment of state-funded lawyers to all detainees within 48 hours.

Mahe Water Crafts

The first of 8 Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts (ASW SWC) ‘Mahe’ was delivered to the Indian Navy.

Mahe

• Built by: Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL), Kochi. 
• Named after: Historic port town in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• Capabilities: underwater surveillance, Low Intensity Maritime Operations (LIMO), Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) operations in coastal waters.
• Significance: Enhances Indian Navy’s ASW capability in littoral zones & supports Government’s Aatmanirbhar Bharat vision.

Human Immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Maldives became first country to halt mother-to-child transmission of HIV, syphilis and hepatitis B.

• All of them are Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs).
• HIV: It weakens the immune system by attacking white blood cells, and when severely advanced, it leads to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
• Syphilis: It is caused by a type of bacteria called Treponema pallidum.
• Hepatitis B: It is a viral infection that attacks the liver and can cause both acute and chronic disease.

 Inadequate Laws to Protect Domestic Workers in India

As highlighted in the news recently, Union Government is yet to frame a comprehensive domestic workers’ rights law as directed by the Supreme Court in January, 2025. 

Other Legal Frameworks Available

• Right to Fair Wages: Workers must receive at least the state-prescribed minimum wage under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948.
• Right to Safe Working Conditions: Employers must provide an abuse-free environment (POSH Act, 2013).
• Protection from abuse/exploitation: Bharatiya Nari Suraksha (BNS) Act, 2023 provides protection against all forms of abuse; enables legal remedies and complaint mechanisms.
• State-Level Initiatives: Tamil Nadu provides welfare benefits and minimum wages under the Manual Worker Act, 1982, while Karnataka’s 2025 Bill mandates worker registration, contracts, minimum wages etc. to a welfare fund.

Issues in Implementation of Legal Protection

• Patchy State Regulation: Minimum wages and labour protections vary across states; enforcement is weak.
• Exclusion under Labour Codes: Defines a “worker” in relation to establishments or industries, excluding workers employed in private households, such as domestic workers.
• Limited Organising: Dispersed workplaces, migratory status, poor socio-economicconditions, etc. make unionisation difficult.
• Data and Definition Issues: Lack of credible data and contested definitions of domestic work complicate policy-making.

Responsible Use of AI during Elections

The Election Commission issued an advisory to all political parties on responsible use of Al-generated content during elections.

• The advisory will help ensure a level playing field in elections and promote fairness in the electoral process.

Key Guidelines 

• AI-generated or digitally altered campaign content must carry a clear label such as “AI-Generated” or “Synthetic Content”.
• Unlawful or misleading content that distorts a person’s identity, appearance, or voice is strictly prohibited. E.g. Deepfakes.
• Political parties must maintain detailed records of all AI-generated materials etc.

Kunar River

Afghanistan has announced plans to construct a dam on the Kunar River, obstructing its flow into Pakistan.

• It is a main tributary of Kabul River, which then merges with the Indus River in Pakistan. 
• Origin: from glaciated Hindu Kush Mountains of Chitral, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan 
• It then flows into Afghanistan and merges with Kabul River there.
• Two main tributaries: Bashgal (or Landiasind) and Pech.

Doctrine of Lis Pendens

• The Delhi High Court held that courts have the discretion to exempt property from the Doctrine of Lis Pendens to safeguard genuine owners from vexatious or frivolous litigation.
• Derived from Latin for “pending litigation,” it prevents any party from transferring or altering property rights under dispute to ensure the case outcome remains unaffected.
• It is defined under Section 52 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882.

 Conference for the Chief Electoral Officers

• The Election Commission of India convened a conference of Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs) in New Delhi to assess readiness for the upcoming nationwide Special Intensive Revision (SIR).

• Other Focus: The conference discussed mapping electors, verifying voter addresses through house-to-house visits, and restricting polling stations to a maximum of 1,200 electors.
• First Phase: The nationwide SIR will start in 10 states and one UT, beginning with Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal.

 Skilling for AI Readiness (SOAR) Programme

• The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) launched the SOAR programme to equip students and educators with foundational AI literacy for AI-era jobs.

Key Elements of the Programme

• It includes school students (classes VI-XII) and educators across government and private schools.
• The programme offers three 15-hour modules for students and a 45-hour module for teachers.
• Union Budget 2025-26 allocated ₹500 crore to set up a Centre of Excellence in Artificial Intelligence for Education to support research, content and teacher training.
• The SOAR initiative complements ongoing programmes under the Skill India Mission, including the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 4.0, National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS-2), and the Skill India Digital Hub (SIDH).

  Kafala System

Recently, Saudi Arabia has abolished the Kafala system.

• It is expected to benefit around 13 million foreign workers, including over 2.6 million Indians.

• It is a worker sponsorship programme which gave employers full control over their employees’ legal status, residencies, when or if they could leave the country, seeks legal help, or even changes jobs.
• The system tied each sponsor or ''Kafeel'' to a migrant worker.
• Concern associated with System: It is criticized as mordern day slavery as Employers started to abuse this system to exploit employees. E.g., they would restrict their movement, seize passport, etc.

 Kerala’s Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme

• Kerala will be officially declared free from extreme poverty on November 1, 2025, becoming the first Indian State to achieve this milestone.

• The announcement marks the culmination of a four-year effort under the Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme (2021–2025).

Extreme Poverty Eradication Programme (2021–2025)

• Initiated in 2021 to make Kerala free from extreme poverty by addressing deprivations in food, health, housing, and livelihood under the support of Kudumbashree (women empowerment program).
• Identified 64,006 extremely poor families through door-to-door surveys using multidimensional poverty indicators. By 2025, 59,277 families were uplifted; 3,913 houses were built, 1,338 families were given land, and 21,263 individuals received essential IDs.
• Every beneficiary was geo-tagged, and micro-plans were prepared for each household to ensure long-term social and economic rehabilitation.

 Freedom of Religion & Right to Privacy are interlinked

The Supreme Court in Rajendra Bihari Lal vs. State of Uttar Pradesh and Others emphasized that the Right to Privacy is intrinsic to Freedom of Religion.

• Direct link between Privacy & Religion: The Supreme Court highlighted that Article 25 includes elements of privacy in right to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion.
• Article 25 includes the ability to choose a faith and freedom to express or not to express such a choice.
• Publishing and declaration of one’s personal faith breaches the fundamental right to privacy underArticles 25 and 21.
• Various anti-conversion legislations framed by several states, now being examined by the Supreme Court, are required to meet the privacy test.

Other Observations by SC

• Secularism: The bench reiterated that the word ''secular'' in the Preamble is an intrinsic part of the basic structure of the Constitution. 
• Previous Judgements Highlighted by SC
• K.S. Puttaswamy case: The right to privacy is a fundamental right protected within Article 21 in particular and Part III on the whole.
• Shafin Jahan v. Asokan K.M. Case: Upheld individual autonomy in faith and marriage choices.

Intrusion Detection System

Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is implementing an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) across its network to prevent elephant deaths on tracks.

IDS

• It uses advanced optical fibre sensing technology to detect the vibrations generated by elephants’ movement by the sensor cables, which then transmit signals to the control room in real-time.
• It enables timely intervention and ensuring smooth operations.

 Payment Systems Report by RBI

• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) released its Payment Systems Report, highlighting India’s rapid digital payment growth from 2019 to 2025.

Key Insights from the Report

• Surge in Digital Payment: Total payment transactions rose from 3,248 crore (2019) to 20,849 crore (2024), with value increasing from ₹1,775 lakh crore to ₹2,830 lakh crore.
• UPI Dominance: UPI transactions grew 16-fold in five years from 1,079 crore (₹18.4 lakh crore) in 2019 to 17,221 crore (₹246.8 lakh crore) in 2024.
• Card-Based Payments: Debit Cards Volume fell from 495 crore (₹6.83 lakh crore) in 2019 to 173 crore (₹5.15 lakh crore) in 2024, while Credit Cards Volume doubled to 447 crore (₹20.4 lakh crore) in 2024.
• RTGS Leads in Value: Value increased from ₹1,388.7 lakh crore (2019) to ₹1,938.2 lakh crore (2024).
• Other Systems Growth:
• NEFT volume tripled to 926.8 crore (₹432.8 lakh crore) by 2024, and IMPS volume doubled to 593.8 crore (₹70.7 lakh crore) by 2024.
• BBPS grew from 12.6 crore to 217.5 crore transactions (value ↑41x), and NACH Transactions doubled to 677.1 crore (₹42.2 lakh crore) by 2024.
• Toll plazas increased from 505 (2019) to 1,782 (2025); FASTags issued rose to 11.11 crore.

Strengthening Governance through Blockchain Technology

In the recent time, Blockchain Technology has emerged as a key driver in transforming governance in India.

• Blockchain is a distributed, transparent, secure, and immutable database that functions like a ledger of records or transactions, resistant to tampering and accessible across a network of computers.

Key Role of Blockchain Technology in Governance 

• Property Chain: Blockchain-powered Property Management System ensures that every property transaction is securely recorded on the blockchain.
• This transparency helps prospective buyers verify ownership, rights, and liabilities, significantly reducing litigation and expediting dispute resolution.
• Certificates and Document Chain: E.g., National Informatics Centre (NIC) has built a ‘Certificate Chain’ for secured storage and retrieval of records.
• Logistics Chain: All transactions in the supply chain are recorded in a tamper-proof ledger, ensuring traceability and accountability at every stage. E.g., Online Supply Chain Management System for medicines (Aushada) of Karnataka
• Judiciary Chain: Blockchain facilitates electronic delivery of notices, summons, and bail orders, reducing delays and eliminating manual dependencies.
• Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System (ICJS): Over 39,000 ICJS documents have been verified on the blockchain platform, as of October 2025.

Emerging Jobs Crisis in Asia

• Recent youth-led protests across Asia from Indonesia to China and India highlight growing frustration among young people over unemployment, corruption, and inequality.

• Behind this unrest lies a structural jobs crisis, intensified by automation, AI, and trade disruptions.

Root Causes for the Unemployment Crisis in Asia

• Jobless Growth: Economic growth in India (6–7%) and Indonesia (5%) isn’t translating into employment gains. (World Bank)
• Education–Employment Mismatch: weak vocational and skill training. Less than 5% of India’s workforce has formal skill training, vs 75% in Germany and 96% in South Korea. (NSDC data).
• Automation Shock: AI and robotics could displace 27% of India’s current jobs by 2030. (WEF, 2025)
• Governance Issues: Corruption is deepening youth alienation and political anger 46% of youth in India and Indonesia perceive corruption as the top barrier to job access. (UNDP Youth Survey, 2024)

Way Forward

• Job-Centric Growth: Prioritise labour-intensive sectors like textiles, food processing, construction, and tourism. E.g. Vietnam’s “Factory-to-Export” model linking manufacturing with export growth.
• Strengthening Skill Ecosystem: Shift from rote academics to vocational and digital skills training. E.g. Singapore’s SkillsFuture programme promotes lifelong learning.
• Labour Market Reforms: Simplify hiring/firing, ensure safety nets, and promote gig worker protection. E.g. Labour Codes (2020), E-Shram Portal for informal workers.
• Harnessing Technology: Upskill youth in AI, data, robotics, and digital entrepreneurship. IndiaAI Mission (2024), Atal Innovation Mission (AIM).
• Education Industry Linkage: Create Industry-Academia councils for real-time curriculum design. Germany’s Dual Vocational Education System aligns training with employer needs.

 Malabar Gliding Frog (Rhacophorus malabaricus)

• A Malabar Gliding Frog was sighted near Belagavi in Karnataka, marking a rare occurrence outside its typical dense forest habitat.
• The Malabar Gliding Frog is an arboreal species native to the Western Ghats. It can glide up to 12 meters through the air using the broad webbing between its toes.
• Distinct Appearance: The frog has a bright green back, a pale-yellow belly, and large orange-red webbed feet.
• Body Size: With a body length of up to 10 cm, it is among the largest moss frog species; females are bigger than males.
• Habitat Preference: Inhabits the lower canopy of tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forests or plantations near streams.
• Regional Distribution: Recorded across Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu in the Western Ghats.
• Breeding Pattern: Females lay eggs in foam nests on leaves or branches hanging over ponds or streams. Tadpoles drop into the water after hatching.
• Major Threats: Habitat loss, pesticide contamination, climate change, hunting, superstition (bad omen), and illegal pet collection.
• Conservation Status: IUCN: Least Concern

Central Asian Mammal Initiative

• The Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI) adopted its six-year work programme (2026-2032) at the 3^rd Range States Meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.

CAMI Work Programme

• Timeframe: The plan spans 2026-2032 and sets conservation goals for 17 Central Asian migratory mammal species.
• Critical Regions: Thirteen transboundary regions are designated as crucial for the movement and long-term survival.
• Threat Mitigation: The programme addresses poaching, illegal trade, and habitat disruption caused by infrastructure expansion and climate change.
• Programme Continuity: It builds on the 2021-2026 plan from CMS COP13 (2020) by including two new species and updating conservation measures.

Central Asian Mammals Initiative (CAMI)

• CAMI operates under the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) as a regional platform for conserving migratory mammals in Central Asia.
• Establishment: It was launched in 2014 at the 11th Conference of the Parties (COP11) to the CMS, held in Quito, Ecuador.
• Objectives: The initiative aims to restore migratory mammal populations through coordinated policies and cross-border cooperation
• Geographical Scope: It covers 14 range states: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.
• Species Coverage: CAMI now protects 17 species (up from 15), including the newly added Pallas’s cat and Eurasian lynx.
• Key species include the Snow Leopard, Saiga Antelope, Chiru, Argali, Bukhara Deer, Wild Camel, etc.

Quantum Echoes and Quantum Advantage

• Google’s Quantum AI team (2025) developed a new quantum algorithm called Quantum Echoes, which they ran on their quantum processor “Willow chip”. It is being hailed that the Willow chip has achieved verifiable quantum advantage.

Quantum Advantage

• Quantum advantage is the stage where a quantum computer performs a computational task faster or more efficiently than any known classical computer, for a scientifically meaningful problem.
• It shows the “practical usefulness” milestone of quantum computing.

Verifiable Quantum Advantage

• Verifiable quantum advantage means achieving quantum advantage with results that can be independently verified or checked, proving that the quantum computer’s output is correct & not just faster.

Why Verifiable Quantum Advantage Matters?

• Quantum computers are probabilistic; the same input can give slightly different outputs each time.  This makes it hard to know whether a result is correct or just a random quantum fluctuation.
• This problem is solved by verifiable quantum advantage. When a quantum computer achieves the verifiable quantum advantage stage, scientists can verify the outcome through theory, smaller experiments, or cross-comparison, proving that the machine truly understands the problem, not just produces random data.

Quantum Echoes

• Quantum echoes is an algorithmic experiment developed by Google’s Quantum AI team (2025) that measures how information or disturbances spread and evolve within a quantum system by running quantum operations forward and then backwards in time, observing the resulting “echo.”
• It is inspired by a concept in physics called “Out-of-Time-Order Correlator (OTOC)”, which tracks how chaos or disturbance evolves in quantum systems (used in quantum thermodynamics, black hole physics, condensed matter, etc.).

How Quantum Echoes Works?

• The simplified steps to be carried out for this experiment are:
1. Apply a sequence of operations (quantum gates), i.e., like sending a pulse into the system.
2. Then slightly disturb one qubit (introduce a small change).
3. Now reverse all earlier operations, i.e., “rewind” the system to see if it returns to its original state.
• If everything were perfectly isolated (no noise, no entanglement), the reversal would yield a perfect “echo” (like shouting into a canyon and hearing our own voice back).
• But in real quantum systems, due to quantum chaos and entanglement, the echo decays and studying how fast the echo decays tells how quantum information spreads in a complex system.

 Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary

• Chhattisgarh’s Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary has revived its blackbuck population nearly fifty years after local extinction.

• Location: Barnawapara Wildlife Sanctuary is a tropical dry deciduous forest situated in the Mahanadi River basin in Chhattisgarh.
• Terrain: The landscape comprises rolling plains, small hillocks, and numerous perennial streams.
• The Balamdehi River defines the western boundary, & the Jonk River forms the northeastern border.
• Vegetation: Sal and Teak dominate the forest canopy, alongside Bamboo, Mahua, and Tendu.
• Faunal Diversity: Key species include gaur, leopard, sloth bear, dhole, chital, sambar, nilgai, chinkara, etc.
• The Balar reservoir inside the sanctuary supports diverse aquatic life and migratory birds.
• Blackbuck Programme: Following local extinction in the 1970s, a state-led reintroduction program (2021-2026) successfully revived the blackbuck population in the sanctuary.
• Archaeological Site: The sanctuary lies near Sirpur, the ancient capital of the Dakshina Kosala kingdom.

Ningol Chakouba Festival

• Manipur celebrates Ningol Chakouba, a traditional festival celebrating the bond between married women and their brothers.

Key Highlights of the Festival

• The festival is observed every year on the second day of Hiyangei in the Meitei lunar calendar.
• The term ‘Ningol Chakouba’ is derived from the Manipuri words, ‘Ningol’ meaning married women and ‘Chakouba’ meaning a grand feast.
• Every year, the Department of Fisheries, Manipur, organises this fair cum competition on the day before the festival to provide fish to the public at a minimum price.

SWAMIH

RBI has exempted SWAMIH (Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing) Fund, a government-backed fund from its tightened rules of Alternate investment fund (AIF).

• The RBI prescribes the regulatory guidelines in respect of investment by the regulated entities in AIF.

SWAMIH, 2019

• It is a Category II AIF.
• AIF means any fund established or incorporated in India which is a privately pooled investment vehicle which collects funds from sophisticated investors, whether Indian or foreign, for investments. 
• SEBI regulates AIF.  E.g., Venture capital funds (Including Angel Funds)
• Objective: Provide priority debt financing for completion of stalled housing projects.
• Fund Manager: SBI Ventures Limited

Weakening of Multilateralism

Experts have highlighted that the erosion of multilateralism is occurring at a time when the world urgently needs coordinated global action.

• Multilateralism refers to coordinated action among at least three actors to address common problems beyond individual capacity.

Erosion of Multilateralism

• Reduced effectiveness of Global Organisation: E.g., Blocking of new Appellate Body appointments by US, leaving appeals unresolved and enforcement delayed.
• Withdrawal from Global Frameworks: E.g., US withdrew from the Human Rights Council and UNESCO
• Resolving Conflicts- E.g., Failure of UN to resolve Russia-Ukraine Conflict 
• Rise of Minilateralism and regional partnership: Due to delayed decision making in multilateral institutions, nations are shifting towards mini-lateral. E.g., BRICS, Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), etc.
• Other: Imposing unilateral economic sanctions, protectionist policies, etc. 

Way Ahead

• Institutional Overhaul- E.g., reforming the UNSC to grant veto power to countries such as India, Japan, and Brazil, to make it more representative and effective.
• Addressing New and Emerging Global Challenges: Establish new global standards in evolving areas such as digitalization and artificial intelligence.
• Other: Addressing Global South Priorities (e.g., climate finance), addressing protectionist policies, etc.

Rani Chennamma

Recently Birth anniversary of Rani chennamma was celebrated on 23d October. 

Rani Chennamma (1778 - 1829)

• She was married to Raja Mallasarja of Kittur (or Kitturu) 
• After death of her husband & only son she adopted Shivalingappa.

• However, the British rejected him as the legitimate heir to Kittur, leading to the Kittur Revolt in 1824. 

• About Kittur revolt: 
• It is regarded as the first Indian armed rebellion against British EIC. Also, one of the earliest woman-led anti-colonial struggles.
• Though British lost 1st battle in 1824, Rani Chennamma was later captured & imprisoned, till her death in 1829. 

Values: courage, leadership, etc.