Bank Frauds in India

• RBI’s Report on Trend and Progress of Banking in India 2024-25 shows fraud cases fell, but money involved surged in FY25.

Key Findings from the RBI Report

• Nature: Frauds fell to 23,879 (from 36,052), but value jumped to ₹34,771 crore (from ₹11,261 crore).
• Court-Linked Reclassification: Spike largely due to 122 cases worth ₹18,336 crore re-reported after complying with SC on borrower hearing/natural justice.
• H1 Trend: Apr–Sep FY26 cases fell to 5,092 (from 18,386), but the amount rose to ₹21,515 crore.
• Digital Volume: Card/Internet frauds around 66.8% of cases by number (FY25).
• Loan Fraud: Advances-related frauds are around 33.1% of the total amount by value.
• Bank-Group Pattern: Private banks: 59.3% of cases; PSBs: 70.7% of amount involved (FY25).

Reasons for Decline in the Number of Bank Frauds

• Digital Transaction Controls: AI-based fraud monitoring systems deployed across core banking platforms, velocity checks, and risk-based authentication have reduced small-value fraud attempts.
• Stronger KYC Framework: Mandatory re-KYC, video-based customer identification and centralised KYC records have reduced impersonation and mule accounts.
• Early Warning Systems: Automated alerts for unusual account behaviour help freeze suspicious transactions faster; E.g., account-level early warning signal dashboards in scheduled banks.
• Consumer Awareness Drives: SMS alerts, fraud advisories and helpline integration have improved customer response time; E.g., nationwide cyber awareness campaigns linked to digital payments.

Reasons for High Value Loss in Bank Frauds

• Legacy Loan Frauds: Large corporate and consortium loan frauds surface after forensic audits, inflating total value despite fewer cases.
• Reclassification Effect: Earlier under-reported or disputed frauds were re-examined and reported afresh, adding high-ticket amounts in a single year.
• Advances Concentration: Credit-related frauds are fewer in number but involve large exposure sizes compared to retail digital frauds.

Way Forward

• Risk-Based Supervision: Intensify scrutiny of large-value advances using dynamic risk scoring models; E.g., borrower risk heat-maps for early supervisory intervention.
• Unified Fraud Intelligence: Integrate fraud registries across banks and non-banks for real-time red-flag sharing; E.g., interoperable fraud alert platforms similar to payment switch networks.
• Digital Payment Safeguards: Introduce cooling-off periods and beneficiary verification for high-risk transactions; E.g., delayed execution for first-time high-value transfers.
• Board-Level Accountability: Mandate periodic fraud-risk reviews by bank boards with fixed response timelines; E.g., quarterly fraud governance dashboards.

Contaminated Water Crisis in Indore

• Indore is currently facing a public health crisis due to widespread reports of drinking water contamination in the Bhagirathpura area.
• Contamination Source: Laboratory tests confirmed bacterial contamination caused by sewage seeping into drinking water through a loose pipeline joint.
• Health Impact: The waterborne disease outbreak, primarily diarrhoea and vomiting, caused multiple deaths and thousands of reported illnesses.

Water Contamination in India

• Sewage Treatment: Only 28% of urban sewage is treated, while 72% is discharged into water bodies.
• Nitrate Levels: 56% of districts exceed the safe nitrate limit of 45 mg/L, primarily due to fertiliser runoff.
• Arsenic Risk: Arsenic contamination persists across the Ganga–Brahmaputra plains, disproportionately affecting West Bengal, Bihar, and Assam. [CGWB, 2023]
• Disease Burden: About 11 million Indians suffer from waterborne diseases each year, resulting in over 10,000 reported deaths between 2017 and 2021. [CBHI, 2022]
• Child Mortality: Diarrhoea causes about 1 lakh child deaths annually and ranks as the fourth leading cause of under-five mortality. [WHO, UNICEF]
• Primary Contaminants: Arsenic, fluoride, nitrate, uranium, and radon remain the primary chemical contaminants in India.

Key Government Initiatives

• Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM): Aims to provide safe drinking water through household tap connections to every rural household.
• Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0: Targets universal urban water supply with emphasis on wastewater treatment and reuse.
• National Water Mission (NWM): Seeks to improve water-use efficiency by 20% and promote the reuse of treated wastewater for non-drinking purposes.
• National Aquifer Mapping and Management (NAQUIM) Programme: Maps aquifers to manage groundwater scientifically and identify contamination-prone zones.
• Atal Bhujal Yojana (ATAL JAL): Targets water-stressed Gram Panchayats in seven states, strengthening real-time monitoring of groundwater levels and quality.

Systemic Gaps in Indian Sports Administration

• A Task Force set up by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) identified systemic weaknesses in Indian sports governance.

Key Gaps in Indian Sports Governance

• Institutional Gap: Administrative posts in the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the National Sports Federations (NSFs) are filled by generalists, weakening domain-specific decision-making.
• Poor Coordination: Concentration of power in NSF leadership and fragmented coordination between Central and State bodies result in overlapping roles.
• Leadership Deficit: Retiring athletes lack structured administrative training, leaving them unprepared for mandated governance roles.
• Standardisation Gap: Absence of a national framework or an accredited institute for training sports administrators leads to a lack of transparency.

Key Recommendations for Reform

• Statutory Oversight: Create the National Council for Sports Education and Capacity Building (NCSECB) as an autonomous body to regulate and accredit governance training.
• Professionalisation: Mandate the appointment of full-time CEOs and domain-specific directors in federations to clearly separate governance from execution.
• Capacity Building: Implement a five-level Capacity Building Maturity Model to improve organisational, digital, and pathway readiness.
• Integrated Training: Introduce mandatory sports governance modules for civil servants and create dual-career tracks to train athletes in administration.

Judicial Contours of Matrimonial Cruelty

• The Supreme Court ruled that financial dominance by a husband does not automatically amount to cruelty, unless it results in clear mental or physical harm.

Matrimonial Laws in India

• IPC Section 498A: Criminalises cruelty by husband or relatives causing grave injury or harassment linked to unlawful demands; now mirrored by BNS Section 85 (2023) with similar safeguards.
• Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961: Penalises giving, taking or demanding dowry, requiring proof of demand and a direct nexus with harassment or coercion.
• Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005: Provides civil remedies against physical, emotional and economic abuse, including protection orders and maintenance.

Key Judgements of the Court

• Financial Control Test: Monetary dominance or budgeting control, without demonstrable harm, does not meet the threshold of criminal cruelty.
• Specific Allegations Rule: Courts require clear, precise and repeated acts to be specifically attributed to each accused to initiate prosecution.
• Misuse of Safeguard: Criminal law cannot be permitted to act as a weapon for vendetta or to settle personal scores in matrimonial disputes.

Court’s Reasoning for the Judgement

• Ordinary Discord: Many allegations reflected routine marital disagreements and insensitive conduct, which do not cross the threshold of criminal cruelty.
• Process Protection: Entertaining vague claims would expose individuals to prolonged and oppressive litigation, undermining fairness.
• Evidence Standard: Criminal prosecution requires tangible material and specific acts, not inferences drawn from marital dissatisfaction.

Criticism of the Judgement

• High Prevalence Reality: Treating many complaints as “daily wear and tear” risks diluting protection for genuine victims; E.g., cases of cruelty by husband or relatives exceed 1.3 lakh annually.
• Under-Reporting Risk: Normalising financial dominance may discourage reporting of abuse; E.g., despite over 4.4 lakh crimes against women annually, experts note significant under-reporting.
• Civil Remedy Burden: Redirecting economic-control disputes to civil law may delay relief; E.g. in maintenance cases, the average delay from filing to final order often exceeds 12–18 months (NJDG).

Thorium Push for India’s Nuclear Programme

• NTPC is set to partner US-based Clean Core Thorium Energy (CCTE) to advance thorium-based nuclear fuel for India’s reactors, marking a new phase in India–US civil nuclear cooperation.

India’s Three-Stage Nuclear Programme

1. Stage One: Uses natural uranium in Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors (PHWRs); India operates 19 PHWRs, forming the backbone of its current nuclear capacity.
2. Stage Two: Fast Breeder Reactors designed to use plutonium-based fuel to breed more fissile material; progress has been slow, delaying scale-up.
3. Stage Three: Thorium Phase, which aims to use thorium to produce uranium-233 for sustained power generation, leveraging India’s thorium abundance.

• Current Status: Nuclear energy accounts for roughly 3% of the country’s total electricity generation.
• Long-term Goal: Achieve 100 GW of nuclear power capacity by 2047.

Importance of Thorium-Based Nuclear Fuel for India

• Resource Endowment: India possesses ~25% of global thorium reserves, while holding only ~1–2% of global uranium, making thorium central to long-term fuel security.
• Import Dependence: India imports over 70% of its uranium needs, whereas thorium is domestically available in coastal and riverine sands.
• Energy Longevity: Thorium-based fuel cycles can potentially power India’s reactors for several centuries.
• Waste Advantage: Thorium fuel produces significantly lower volumes of long-lived radioactive waste.
• Proliferation Safety: Uranium-233 bred from thorium has higher proliferation resistance, strengthening India’s non-proliferation credentials.

Strategic Significance of the Partnership

• India–US Cooperation: Only the second US firm in nearly two decades to receive clearance for nuclear tech transfer to India, signalling renewed trust.
• Private Sector Entry: Aligns with the SHANTI Act, 2025, which permits private participation in nuclear operations and fuel management.
• Global Leadership: Positions India as a front-runner in commercial thorium utilisation, an area where most nuclear powers remain experimental.
• Technology Leap: Allows thorium use in existing PHWRs (19 reactors in operation), avoiding multi-billion-dollar costs and decades needed to build an entirely new reactor fleet.

Sudarshan Chakra Mission

• The Defence Minister has formally announced that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) will lead the Sudarshan Chakra air defence initiative.
• DRDO is India’s leading defence R&D agency, formed in 1958 under the Ministry of Defence; it is responsible for developing advanced technologies and systems for the armed forces.

About Mission Sudarshan Chakra

• It is a national security initiative to build a comprehensive, indigenous, AI-enabled, multi-layered air defence shield for India by 2035.
• Hybrid System: The Sudarshan Chakra is both a defensive shield and an offensive sword, shifting from passive defence to active deterrence.
• AI Integration: It utilises Artificial Intelligence and Big Data for real-time threat modelling, automated target allocation, and predictive interception.
• Layered Architecture: It has three layers—outer space-based long-range detection, middle-layer missile interception, and inner-layer point defence using lasers and anti-drone systems.
• Cyber Security: The mission incorporates strong anti-cyber warfare capabilities to protect power grids, communication networks, and command systems.
• Civilian Coverage: It explicitly protects civilian infrastructure, including nuclear plants, railways, hospitals, and major cultural sites, unlike conventional military-only systems.
• Integrated Network: It integrates the Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS), Akashteer, the Trigun system, and Project Kusha.

Project Kusha

• It is an indigenous long-range surface-to-air missile (LRSAM) development programme.
• Developing Agencies: The project is led by the DRDO in collaboration with Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and private-sector partners.
• It features a three-layered interception system comprising three distinct missile variants—M1 (150 km), M2 (250 km), and M3 (350–400 km).
• It is designed to match or exceed the capabilities of Russia’s S-400 system and to move toward S-500 performance standards.

India-Pakistan Exchange Nuclear and Prisoner Lists

• India and Pakistan exchanged lists of nuclear installations and prisoners in accordance with long-standing bilateral agreements.
• The 1991 Agreement on the Prohibition of Attack (Article II) mandates the annual exchange of lists of nuclear installations.
• The agreement commits both nations to avoid actions that damage each other’s nuclear facilities.
• The 2008 Agreement on Consular Access requires a biannual exchange of lists of civilian prisoners and fishermen in custody.
• It mandates arrest notification within three months, consular access within 90 days, and repatriation within one month after sentence completion and nationality verification.
• This exchange marks the 35th consecutive iteration, with the first exchange held on January 1, 1992.