While hearing a Habeas Corpus petition on missing Rohingyas, the Supreme Court recently held that illegal immigrants have no legal rights, stressing that benefits must prioritise citizens, though custodial torture of illegal entrants remains prohibited.

Key Observations by the Supreme Court

• Illegal Immigrants Lack Enforceable Rights: Illegal entrants or overstaying foreigners, labelled as “intruders” under the Citizenship Act, 1955, cannot demand residence, settlement, or access to State resources, since these rights belong exclusively to Indian citizens.
• Citizens Must Be Prioritised for Resources: The Court stressed that India must use its limited welfare resources primarily for its own citizens, especially vulnerable groups who depend heavily on public services.
• Fundamental Rights Apply Only in a Limited Sense: Illegal immigrants cannot claim rights under Article 19, but they still retain basic rights under Articles 14 and 21, which ensure equality before the law and protection from arbitrary or cruel treatment.
  • Articles 14, 19 & 21 form India’s Golden Triangle– Article 14 ensures equality for all persons, Article 19 protects citizens’ freedoms, and Article 21 guarantees life and liberty through fair, non-arbitrary procedures, shaping all State action.
• Humane Treatment is Non-Negotiable: While the State may detain or deport illegal migrants, it cannot subject them to torture, abuse, or degrading treatment, reflecting India’s constitutional commitment to dignity.

India’s Legal & Policy Framework for Refugees

• India’s International Legal Stance: 
  • India’s Position on the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol: India has not signed either instrument, choosing to retain sovereign discretion in determining who qualifies as a refugee and what protections they receive.
    • This allows flexibility in responding to geopolitical concerns but also limits India’s ability to claim leadership in global refugee governance.
  • Recognition of Non-Refoulement as Customary Law: Despite being a non-signatory, India acknowledges the principle of non-refoulement—the prohibition on returning individuals to a place where their life or freedom is threatened.
    • Article 51(c) directs the State to foster respect for international law; courts read customary non-refoulement into Article 21 using the Vishakha Guidelines logic.
    • The Supreme Court frequently enforces this principle through Article 21, which protects every person on Indian soil.
  • Engagement with Global Humanitarian Norms: India selectively follows humanitarian traditions rooted in its civilisational ethos—Atithi Devo Bhava and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
    • However, the absence of formal treaty commitments makes refugee protection ad hoc, executive-driven, and vulnerable to shifts in diplomatic priorities.
• Domestic Statutory Vacuum and the ‘Foreigner’ Classification: India has no national asylum law, resulting in refugees being treated as regular foreigners under general immigration statutes.
  • Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920: Criminalises entry without valid documents—an unavoidable reality for many people fleeing persecution.
  • Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939: Requires mandatory registration and periodic reporting by foreigners, enabling administrative surveillance.
  • Foreigners Act, 1946: The central instrument. It grants the Union Government broad powers to regulate the entry, stay, and exit of all non-citizens. Refugees are legally indistinguishable from illegal immigrants under this Act.
  • Citizenship Act, 1955: Governs acquisition and loss of citizenship; explicitly excludes illegal migrants from applying for Indian citizenship.
  • CAA 2024 Rules: “Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019 (rules notified March 2024) fast-tracks citizenship for persecuted non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh & Afghanistan (entered before 31.12.2014) — but excludes Muslims including Rohingyas.
• Executive Mechanism and India’s Policy of ‘Strategic Ambiguity’: In practice, refugee protection in India operates through executive guidelines, not statutory entitlements. This creates a dual system:
  • Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA)–Managed Groups: Handles refugee communities viewed as geopolitically significant (e.g., Tibetans, Sri Lankan Tamils).
    • Grants protection through executive orders, rehabilitation schemes, or long-term visas—not through enforceable legal rights.
  • UNHCR-Managed Groups: The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) conducts Refugee Status Determination (RSD) for groups not directly managed by the Government (e.g., Rohingyas, Afghans, African nationals).
    • UNHCR documentation assists in humanitarian protection, but it has no binding force on Indian authorities for detention, deportation, or stay rights.
    • This dual-track system enables flexibility but results in inconsistencies, unequal treatment across communities, and legal uncertainty.
• Judicial Safeguards- Courts as De Facto Guardians: With no statutory refugee law, the judiciary has emerged as a key protector of refugee rights:
  • Article 21 as a Constitutional Shield: The Supreme Court has repeatedly used Article 21 to prevent deportation when there is a credible threat to life, effectively operationalising non-refoulement.
  • Ensuring Humane Treatment: Courts insist that refugees and even illegal migrants cannot be subjected to torture, cruel treatment, or arbitrary detention.
  • Case-by-Case Oversight: Judicial protection remains individualised and reactive, dependent on litigation rather than a uniform policy.
  • 2018 Rohingya Case: In Mohd. Salimullah (2018), the Supreme Court held that the right against deportation to persecution is part of Article 21; this position has not been overruled in 2025.

Judicial Precedents Supporting the Supreme Court’s Stand

• Sarbananda Sonowal (2005) Highlighted Security Threats: The Court held that large-scale illegal migration into border states like Assam amounts to “external aggression”, giving the Union government a constitutional duty to act under Article 355.
• Louis De Raedt (1991) Limited Foreigners’ Rights: The Court ruled that foreigners enjoy only Article 21, not Article 19 freedoms, reinforcing that no foreign national has a right to stay, except under State permission.
• Contrast With Expansive Rights Jurisprudence: While in cases like Maneka Gandhi Case (1978) and Chandrima Das Case (2000), the SC expanded the meaning of personal liberty, the Court has now underlined boundaries where national sovereignty supersedes broad rights interpretation.

Arguments Supporting the Supreme Court’s Stand

• National Security and Internal Stability: Porous borders—particularly the 4,096 km India–Bangladesh stretch—create multiple security risks, including infiltration, insurgency linkages, demographic shifts, and organised trafficking routes. 
  • Undocumented populations are frequently exploited by transnational criminal networks for narco-terrorism, arms smuggling, and hawala-based illicit financial flows, undermining India’s internal security architecture. 
  • The absence of identity documentation also increases the risk of sleeper cells, radicalisation, and other anti-national activities, making strong border control a sovereign necessity.
• Economic Pressure and Public Resource Allocation: With more than 21% of Indians living below the poverty line, the Court emphasised that scarce public resources—housing, food, healthcare, education—must primarily serve Indian citizens. 
  • Further, the presence of undocumented migrants often leads to wage suppression in the informal labour market, displacing low-skilled Indian workers and deepening economic vulnerability among local populations.
• Institutional Discipline and Executive Competence: Immigration, deportation, and diplomatic negotiations fall squarely within the Executive’s domain, and cannot be compelled through habeas corpus petitions. 
  • The Court sought to prevent judicial overreach into policy areas that require sensitive geopolitical balancing, intelligence inputs, and bilateral coordination.
• Social Cohesion and Demographic Anxiety: Large-scale undocumented migration fuels identity-based tensions in border states, drawing parallels to the Assam Agitation and the Assam Accord (1985). 
  • Sudden demographic shifts strain social cohesion, political representation, and cultural identity. In major cities, migrant settlements often develop in informal slum clusters, intensifying pressure on sanitation, health, housing, and urban infrastructure.
• Security vs. Humanity: The issue raises a deep ethical conflict between the State’s sovereign duty to protect national interest and India’s civilisational values of karuna (compassion) and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (world as one family). 
  • While the State must regulate borders, undocumented migrants face high vulnerability to trafficking, bonded labour, sexual exploitation, and other human rights abuses—necessitating safeguards rooted in Article 21 and constitutional morality.

Critical Concerns & Counter-Arguments

• Conflict With Humanitarian and International Norms: India is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, yet the global principle of non-refoulement—not sending individuals back to places where they face persecution—is recognised as customary international law. 
  • Deporting Rohingyas to Myanmar, where UN-documented human rights abuses persist, raises serious humanitarian concerns.
    • Approximately 40,000 Rohingyas in India (UNHCR, Oct 2025); around 2,000 detained in Jammu, Delhi and Hyderabad, many for over five years without charges.
  • Risk of Misidentifying Refugees: By treating all undocumented entrants as “illegal immigrants,” India risks conflating economic migrants with genuine asylum seekers, undermining its longstanding humanitarian reputation.
• Threats to Constitutional Morality and Human Dignity: A narrow reading of Article 21 may weaken India’s constitutional commitment to dignity, fairness, and compassion, which has shaped earlier rights-expanding judgments.
  • Violation to Basic Structure Doctrine: An absolute denial of human dignity even to illegal entrants risks violating the basic features of ‘rule of law’ and ‘humanism’ recognised as part of the basic structure in Kesavananda Bharati (1973) and Minerva Mills (1980).
  • Human Trafficking & Rights Violations: Undocumented migrants are highly vulnerable to forced labour, human trafficking, and gender-based violence, creating a serious human-rights crisis that challenges India’s ethical obligations rooted in karuna and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
  • Arbitrary and Unequal Treatment: In the absence of a formal Refugee Status Determination (RSD) system, decisions on detention, release, and deportation depend heavily on executive discretion, resulting in inconsistent or discriminatory outcomes.
  • Concerns Over Indefinite Detention: Long-term or indefinite detention without a clear deportation pathway echoes concerns raised in Sunil Batra (1978) regarding custodial dignity and humane treatment.
• Soft Power, Diplomacy, and India’s Global Standing: A restrictive or ad-hoc approach can strain diplomatic relations with Bangladesh and Myanmar, complicating repatriation efforts and border cooperation.
  • Impact on India’s International Image: Criticism from UNHCR, international bodies, and human-rights organisations may erode India’s soft power and credibility as a responsible global leader, especially in human-rights discourse.

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Way Forward

• Enact a Comprehensive Refugee & Migration Law: Introduce a statute that distinguishes refugees from economic migrants, embeds non-refoulement, and provides clear procedures for screening, protection, residence, and deportation. 
  • Existing drafts like the Refugee and Asylum Seekers (Protection) Bill, 2015 and Asylum Bill, 2019 offer workable templates.
• Create an Independent RSD Authority: Establish a quasi-judicial Refugee Status Determination (RSD) Authority for objective, fair, and time-bound assessment of asylum claims, reducing executive arbitrariness and strengthening procedural justice.
• Strengthen Border Management: Expand the Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) with laser walls, drones, sensors, and coordinated intelligence to curb illegal entry while enabling regulated movement in sensitive border zones.
• Reform Detention Protocols: Notify statutory rules on detention limits, legal aid, basic amenities, and mandatory judicial review to prevent long-term or arbitrary detention, in line with principles affirmed in Sunil Batra (1978).
• Enhance Diplomatic Coordination: Work with Myanmar, Bangladesh, and the UNHCR to ensure voluntary, safe, and monitored repatriation for individuals ineligible for refugee protection.
• Ensure Judicial Oversight Under Article 21: Courts must continue to safeguard detainees from torture, coercion, degrading treatment, and indefinite confinement, while permitting deportation only after fair procedure.
• Adopt Lessons from Global Non-Signatory Models: Countries like Kenya (Refugees Act 2021) and South Africa (Refugees Act 1998) show that robust refugee protection laws can exist without signing the 1951 Convention.
• Prepare for Climate-Induced Displacement: With Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) estimates of 21.5 million climate migrants annually by 2050, India must create a temporary protection regime for environmental displaces who fall outside traditional refugee definitions.

Conclusion

The Supreme Court’s stance, though constitutionally sound, exposes India’s refugee-policy vacuum. A national refugee law is essential to balance border security with human dignity, enabling India to uphold sovereignty while honouring its constitutional and civilisational commitment to justice and compassion.

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A report by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Chemicals and Fertilisers has warned that lack of regulation on non-scheduled drugs is enabling excessive profiteering and harming ordinary citizens. 

• It has urged the Department of Pharmaceuticals and NPPA to frame a new policy urgently.

Key Highlights from the Report

• Excessive Markups: The committee found margins between price to stockist and MRP as high as 600%, 1200%, and even 1800%, making basic treatments unaffordable for large sections of the population.
• Lack of Pricing Transparency: Neither the government nor the NPPA has access to essential pricing data such as the Price to Stockist (PTS), preventing full visibility of profit margins across the supply chain.
• Limited Scope of Price Control:
• • Price regulation applies only to drugs listed in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
  • Non-scheduled medicines are not regulated at the initial pricing stage, allowing companies to set disproportionately high MRPs.
• Delayed Trade Margin Rationalisation: Trade Margin Rationalisation (TMR), which earlier succeeded in reducing cancer drug prices during pilot implementation, has not yet been formalised into permanent policy, despite prolonged discussions.

Key Recommendations by the Committee

• New Policy to Control Trade Margins: Draft a trade margin rationalisation (TMR) policy for all non-scheduled drugs, not only emergency medicines.
  • Make TMR as a statutory and permanent mechanism to prevent unjustified price inflation across the supply chain.
• Real-Time Pricing Database: Establish a mechanism to collect real-time pricing data from manufacturers, hospitals, distributors to improve transparency.
• Monitor Online Platforms: Strict oversight of online cancer drug sales, especially those offering steep discounts, to ensure drug authenticity.
• Review High-Cost Devices: NPPA and the Department of Pharmaceuticals must examine stent pricing trends and intervene to make them affordable.

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As India faces escalating pollution in air, water, and soil, Bioremediation offers a sustainable, low-cost, biological method to clean existing pollution and prevent future environmental degradation.

What is Bioremediation?

• Bioremediation means “restoring life through biology”, using microorganisms like bacteria, fungi, algae, etc, to break down or transform toxic pollutants such as oils, pesticides, plastics, and heavy metals  into harmless end products..
• Mechanism: These organisms metabolise pollutants as food, breaking them into harmless by-products like water, CO₂, organic acids, or converting toxic metals into less dangerous forms.

Types of Bioremediation

In Situ Bioremediation

• In situ bioremediation treats contaminants directly at the affected location.
• It is generally preferred because it reduces labour, minimises the risk of spreading pollutants, and avoids transportation-related hazards.
• Key In Situ Techniques:
• • Bioventing: This technique uses small-diameter wells to introduce air into the soil, thereby enhancing microbial activity by controlling oxygen and nutrient levels for effective soil and groundwater remediation.
  • Biosparging: This method injects high-pressure air below the water table to increase dissolved oxygen levels, which accelerates microbial degradation of pollutants and serves as a cost-effective alternative to excavation.
  • Bioaugmentation: This approach introduces additional native or non-native microbial strains to contaminated sites, often in combination with bioventing or biosparging. Its success depends on how well the added microbes adapt to the existing microbial ecosystem.
  • Bioattenuation (Natural Attenuation): This technique relies on naturally occurring microorganisms to gradually break down pollutants, especially petroleum compounds such as BTEX (Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylene), though its effectiveness is limited by site conditions and available nutrients.

Ex Situ Bioremediation

• Ex situ bioremediation involves removing contaminated soil or water and treating it at a separate controlled site.
• Although effective, it is used less frequently due to the need for excavation and the risk of spreading contaminants during transport.
• Key Ex Situ Techniques:
  • Biofiltration: This method treats contaminated air or water by passing it through microbial filters made of materials like compost, peat, or soil, where microorganisms degrade volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other pollutants.
  • Biopiles: This technique treats excavated soil by managing aeration, moisture, nutrients, and temperature to enhance microbial degradation, although it faces constraints such as drying, high maintenance, and significant energy requirements.
  • Bioreactors: This approach uses controlled vessels that maintain optimal conditions, including temperature, pH, and nutrient concentrations to ensure efficient microbial breakdown, but it is costly, labour-intensive, and difficult to scale for large volumes.
  • Land Farming: This technique spreads contaminated soil over a prepared surface, aerates it, and supplements it with nutrients to promote natural biodegradation, though it is less effective for inorganic pollutants and highly volatile toxins.

Significance of Bioremediation

• Affordability: Bioremediation provides a low-cost alternative compared to conventional clean-up methods, which are often expensive and energy-intensive.
• Ecosystem Restoration: Bioremediation is generally less invasive and supports natural biological processes, helping restore ecosystems without causing additional stress or disruption.
• Rich Microbial Diversity: India’s vast microbial biodiversity offers locally adapted microbial strains that can support sustainable and locally managed bioremediation solutions.

Need for Bioremediation in India

• Pollution Burden: Rapid industrialisation has caused severe river pollution (Ganga, Yamuna), oil leaks, pesticide residues and heavy-metal contamination, threatening ecosystems and public health.
• Limits of Traditional Methods: Mechanical and chemical cleanup methods are expensive, energy-intensive and often generate secondary pollution, making them unviable for large-scale use.
• Cost-Effective Alternative: Bioremediation is cheaper, scalable and sustainable, ideal for India’s large contaminated landscapes and limited remediation budgets.
• Biodiversity Advantage: India’s indigenous microbes, already adapted to high temperature, salinity or acidity, often perform better than imported strains.

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Initiatives taken by India

• Government Initiatives:
  • The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) promotes bioremediation research and deployment through its Clean Technology Programme.
  • CSIR-NEERI is leading several pilot-scale bioremediation projects across the country.
• Research Breakthroughs: 
  • Scientists at IITs have developed cotton-based nanocomposites that can effectively absorb and clean up oil spills.
  • Indian researchers have successfully isolated bacterial strains capable of degrading toxic pollutants present in contaminated soils.
• Industry and Startups:  Companies such as Biotech Consortium India Limited (BCIL) and Econirmal Biotech are producing microbial formulations designed for soil restoration and wastewater treatment. 
• Key Challenges:
  • Technical challenges: India faces limitations due to inadequate site-specific data and the complex interactions between multiple pollutants.
  • Regulatory challenges: The country still lacks a unified national framework or standardised guidelines for bioremediation practices.

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The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released The State of the World’s Land and Water Resources for Food and Agriculture (SOLAW 2025), warning that land, soil, and water resources are finite, increasingly degraded, and central to future global food security.

Key Highlights from the Report

• Global Food Security Challenge: 
  • Hunger Burden: 673 million people faced hunger in 2024, with many regions stuck in recurrent food emergencies.
  • Rising Demand: By 2050, with the population projected to reach 9.7 billion, agriculture must produce 50% more food and 25% more freshwater compared to 2012 levels.
• Global Resource Stress:
  • Over 1.6 billion ha of land (10% of global land) is degraded due to unsustainable practices, and 60% of this is agricultural land.
  • Agriculture uses 72% of global freshwater withdrawals, intensifying water scarcity and groundwater depletion.
• Past Production Gains: 
  • From 1964–2023, agricultural production increased mainly through intensification, not land expansion (only 8% expansion).
  • Irrigated land doubled; though only 23% of cropland is irrigated, it produces 48% of global crop value.
  • Unsustainable Practices: Intensive fertilizer use and monocropping contributed to soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and pollution.

Solutions for Better Production

• Enhancing Rainfed Agriculture: By using conservation agriculture, drought-tolerant crops, soil moisture conservation, diversification, and organic composting.
• Increasing Land Productivity: Land productivity can be enhanced by narrowing the yield gap, selecting resilient crop varieties suited to local agro-climatic conditions, and adopting sustainable land and soil management practices.
• Urban and peri-urban farming (hydroponics, vertical farming) helps reduce pressure on land and water while enhancing food supply.
• Integrating Production Systems: Integrated approaches such as agroforestry, rotational grazing, forage improvement, and rice–fish farming can strengthen ecological resilience while diversifying farm outputs.
• Strengthening Institutional Capacity: Capacity development through modern agricultural extension tools, such as FAO’s Farmer Field Schools (FFS), helps farmers adopt sustainable practices.

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About the State of Land and Water Resources (SOLAW) Report

• Published by: It is the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s first flagship report assessing the global condition of land and water resources.
• Previous Editions: 2011, 2021
• Purpose: SOLAW seeks to raise awareness about the status of global and regional land and water resources and presents the FAO’s recommendations for policy formulation.
• Key Focus Areas:
• • Resource Status: Evaluates the quantity and quality of land and water resources worldwide.
  • Rate of Use: Analyses how rapidly these resources are being exploited and the sustainability of current practices.
  • Socio-economic Drivers: Examines how factors such as food security, poverty, and climate change influence resource degradation and management needs.

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During Antarctica Day celebrations on 1 December 2025 in Vasco da Gama, Goa, the Hon’ble Governor noted that the National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR) has emerged as the cornerstone of India’s polar and ocean exploration efforts. 

About National Centre for Polar and Ocean Research (NCPOR)

• Establishment: It was set up on 25 May 1998 as an autonomous Research and Development institution dedicated to polar and ocean studies.
• Former Name: The organisation was earlier known as the National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR).
• Nodal Ministry: NCPOR functions under the Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India.
• Location: Its headquarters is situated in Vasco da Gama, Goa.

Key Responsibilities of NCPOR

• Research Stations Management: The centre has established and operates India’s permanent research stations Maitri and Bharati in Antarctica; Himadri in the Arctic; and Himansh in the Himalayas.
• Facilitating Scientific Research: The organisation provides support and coordination for research activities undertaken by national institutions in Antarctica, the Arctic, and the Southern Ocean sector of the Indian Ocean.
• Research Vessel Operations: It manages the Ministry’s research vessel ORV Sagar Kanya which serves as a versatile ocean-observation platform equipped with advanced scientific instruments.
• Geoscientific Surveys: NCPOR leads geoscientific studies of India’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and extended continental shelf beyond 200 metres depth.
• Deep-Sea Exploration: It plays a major role in deep-sea drilling projects in the Arabian Sea under the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) and in the exploration of oceanic non-living resources such as gas hydrates and polymetallic sulphides found along mid-ocean ridges.

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Institutional Framework

• Governing Body: 
• • Composition: The Governing Body consists of 13 members representing national leadership across polar and ocean sciences, research, education, and administration.
  • Chairperson: The Secretary of the Ministry of Earth Sciences serves as the ex-officio Chairperson.
  • Administration: The Director is responsible for planning, administration, and execution of R&D activities, while the Head/In-charge of Administration functions as the Member-Secretary.
• Research Advisory Committee (RAC): This committee provides strategic guidance and scientific direction to NCPOR’s research activities.

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Domestic Systemically Important Banks

Context: RBI’s 2025 list continues SBI, HDFC Bank, and ICICI Bank as Domestic Systemically Important Banks, retaining their earlier systemic-risk buckets and CET1 surcharge levels.

• These banks maintain the same buckets as the previous year, reflecting stable systemic importance and continued monitoring by RBI.

About Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs)

• Introduction: Domestic Systemically Important Banks are institutions whose failure could significantly disrupt the country’s financial system and economy due to their size, interconnectedness, and substitutability.
• Identified by:  Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the D-SIB Framework issued in July 2014.
  • Annual assessment based on the banks’ Systemic Importance Scores (SISs).
• Criteria Used
  • Size of the bank (total exposures)
  • Interconnectedness within the financial system
  • Lack of substitutability for critical services
  • Complexity of operations
• D-SIB Bucketing Framework
  • Banks are placed in 5 buckets (1–5) based on systemic importance.
  • Each bucket carries an additional CET1 surcharge (0.20% to 1.00% fully phased in) above BASEL III norm of 7% of risk-weighted assets (RWA) as CET1.
  • Surcharge is in addition to the Capital Conservation Buffer (CCB).
  • Foreign G-SIBs operating in India must hold proportionate CET1 surcharge applicable globally.
• About CET1: Common Equity Tier 1: It represents the highest quality of regulatory capital, consisting mainly of:
  • Common shares
  • Stock surplus (share premium)
  • Retained earnings
  • Other comprehensive income
  • Certain regulatory adjustments

CET1 is used to absorb losses and is the core capital used to determine capital adequacy ratios like the CET1 ratio.

Significance

• Enhances financial system resilience and protects against contagion risks.
• Strengthens oversight of institutions whose distress could threaten macroeconomic stability.

New Criteria for “Small Company”

Context: The Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) revised the financial thresholds for defining a “small company” to expand ease-of-doing-business benefits to a wider segment of firms.

Revised MCA Thresholds for Small Companies

• Higher Paid-Up Capital Limit: The government increased the paid-up capital threshold to ₹4 crore, up from the earlier limit of ₹2 crore.
• Higher Turnover Limit: The annual turnover ceiling for classification as a small company has been raised to ₹40 crore, compared to the previous limit of ₹20 crore.
• Wider Coverage for Growing Firms: The revision enables more companies—especially start-ups and early-stage enterprises—to retain simplified compliance norms even during their growth phase.
• Flexibility Under Companies Act: The Companies Act empowers the government to raise these limits up to ₹10 crore paid-up capital and ₹100 crore turnover, depending on economic trends.

Key Benefits for Small Companies

• Reduced Compliance Burden: Small companies enjoy simplified reporting, lower penalties, and ease in meeting annual return filing requirements, which can be signed by a company secretary or even a director.
• Relaxed Audit Requirements: Auditors of small companies are exempted from reporting on the adequacy of internal financial controls and the operating effectiveness of such controls.
• Simplified Financial Statements: Small companies are not required to prepare cash flow statements and can file abridged annual returns.
• Lesser Corporate Governance Rigour: Small companies need to hold only two board meetings annually and face no mandatory auditor rotation norms.

Conclusion

• The enhanced thresholds strengthen India’s ease-of-doing-business framework by reducing regulatory load on small enterprises, supporting entrepreneurship, and promoting broader economic growth, especially in rural and start-up sectors.

Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) Navratna Status

Context: Numaligarh Refinery Limited (NRL) became the 27th Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) to receive  Navratna Status.

About Numaligarh Refinery 

• Numaligarh Refinery Limited is a 3 MMTPA petroleum refinery located in Golaghat district, Assam, established to meet the energy needs of the Northeast.
  • It has demonstrated strong financial performance with a turnover of ₹25,147 crore and net profit of ₹1,608 crore in FY 2024–25.
• The company is promoted by Oil India Limited with a 69.63% stake, along with the Assam Government (26%) and Engineers India Limited (4.37%).
• NRL is currently implementing major expansion projects such as the Numaligarh Refinery Expansion Project (NREP) and operating a bamboo-based 2G bioethanol plant supporting green energy transition.

Benefits of Navratna Status 

• Financial and Operational Autonomy: NRL can invest up to ₹1,000 crore or 15% of its net worth without approval and independently form JVs, subsidiaries, and pursue mergers or acquisitions.
• Enhanced Managerial Flexibility: Navratna status empowers faster decision-making in HR, capital expenditure, and strategic operations, improving efficiency and competitiveness.
• Improved Market and Investor Confidence: Greater autonomy strengthens investor trust, widens global opportunities, and accelerates NRL’s long-term growth.

Criteria for CPSE Classification 

• Maharatna: Requires Navratna status, stock-exchange listing, and three-year averages of turnover above ₹25,000 crore, net worth above ₹15,000 crore, and net profit above ₹5,000 crore, enabling the highest investment autonomy.
• Navratna: Requires Miniratna Category-I status, “Excellent/Very Good” MoU ratings for three of the last five years, and a minimum composite score of 60/100 for moderate autonomy.
• Miniratna Category-I: Requires a pre-tax profit of over ₹30 crore in at least one of the last three years and a positive net worth.
• Miniratna Category-II: Requires profit in the last three consecutive years and a positive net worth.

Alaknanda Galaxy

Context: Indian astronomers have discovered Alaknanda, a well-formed spiral galaxy from 1.5 billion years after the Big Bang.

About Alaknanda Galaxy

• Alaknanda is an early-universe spiral galaxy located nearly 12 billion light-years away, exhibiting structural maturity unexpected for its cosmic age.
• Discovered By: Researchers at National Centre for Radio Astrophysics – Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (NCRA-TIFR), Pune.
• Data Used: Researchers used high-resolution infrared observations from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), aided by gravitational lensing near the Abell 2744 galaxy cluster, to analyse 21 photometric filters.

Key Features of Alaknanda

• Well-defined spiral structure: The galaxy possesses two distinct spiral arms and a bright central bulge spanning 30,000 light-years, resembling the Milky Way.
• Rapid Star Formation: Alaknanda forms stars at nearly 60 solar masses per year, far exceeding the current Milky Way’s rate.
  • The current star formation rate of the Milky Way is approximately 1.5 to 2.0 solar masses per year.
• Massive Early Assembly: It accumulated nearly 10 billion solar masses within a short cosmic period, indicating unexpectedly fast galactic growth.

Significance of the Discovery

• Challenges existing galaxy-formation models: Its orderly structure disproves assumptions that early galaxies were chaotic, clumpy and unstable.
• Rewrites cosmic evolution timelines: The discovery suggests that mature disk galaxies formed far earlier than predicted, prompting a reassessment of early-universe physics.
• Enables Future Research: The finding sets the stage for JWST and Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) based studies to explore Alaknanda’s rotation, gas dynamics and formation mechanisms.

Malaria Parasites Movement

Context: A new Nature Physics study explains how malaria parasites use stable Crock-Screw like helical motion to travel efficiently through human skin.

About Malaria Parasites

• Malaria parasites are Plasmodium species transmitted by the bite of infected Anopheles mosquitoes.
• Site of Infection: After entering the skin, sporozoites move to blood capillaries, travel to the liver, multiply, and later infect red blood cells by release of merozoites.
  • Sporozoites are the infective motile forms of the malaria parasite.
  • Merozoites are the parasitic forms released from liver cells after sporozoite multiplication.
• Cause of Malaria: Disease occurs when merozoites released from the liver invade red blood cells, causing cyclical fever, anaemia, and systemic inflammation.

Key Findings on movement

• Helical Navigation for Stability: Malaria sporozoites move along right-handed helical paths, using internal coloured noise (Ornstein–Uhlenbeck pattern) to maintain orientation despite biological fluctuations.
• Enhanced Travel Efficiency: Mathematical modelling shows helical motion enables parasites to cover greater effective distances than straight-moving microbes, making them functionally “straighter than straight lines.”
• Optimised Capillary Targeting: Their helix pitch (~13 µm) and radius (~3 µm) match capillary geometry, helping them loop around vessels efficiently and improving chances of reaching the liver.

Biomedical & Technological Implications: Understanding this mechanism can inspire design of medical microbots using controlled rotational movement for improved navigation through complex tissue environments.

Cyber Slavery

Context: India has witnessed a sharp surge in incidents of Cyber Slavery, with over 300 Indians recently repatriated from Myanmar alone.

About Cyber Slavery

• Cyber slavery refers to the trafficking of individuals who are coerced into executing online fraud, phishing, investment scams, and extortion activities in controlled, call-centre-style compounds.
• How It Operates: Victims are lured with lucrative job offers (IT, data entry, customer service), transported to countries like Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, or Laos, and then moved to illegal scam centres where their passports are confiscated and movement restricted.
• Forms of Cyber Slavery
• • Forced Cyber Fraud: Conducting online scams targeting global victims.
  • High-Pressure Scam Operations: Pushing fraudulent investment schemes through social engineering.
  • Tech-Enabled Coercion: Surveillance, threats, and physical abuse to enforce compliance.

Why Cyber Slavery is Rising in Southeast Asia

• Presence of Armed Groups and Weak Governance: Regions in Myanmar and Cambodia host rebel factions that fund themselves through human trafficking and scam centres amid poor law enforcement.
• Post-Covid Economic Stress: Casinos and betting hubs, previously legal businesses, were converted into cyber-fraud centres due to the economic downturn.
• Lax Immigration Rules: Visa-on-arrival policies and corruption enable easy movement of traffickers and victims across borders.
• Targeted Luring of South Asian Job Seekers: High unemployment and attractive salaries (₹80,000–₹1 lakh) make Indian youth particularly vulnerable.

Jiyo Parsi Scheme

Context: Recently, the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA) in collaboration with the Maharashtra State Minority Development Department, organised a comprehensive Advocacy and Outreach Workshop at the Convocation Hall, Mumbai University, to promote and amplify the Jiyo Parsi Scheme.

About Jiyo Parsi Scheme

• It is a flagship initiative aimed at supporting the Parsi community in increasing its population through assisted childbirth and family welfare interventions.
• Launch: In 2013-2014.
• Nodal Ministry and Funding: The scheme is a Central Sector Scheme, meaning it is 100% funded by the Ministry of Minority Affairs (MoMA).
• Implementation: The scheme is implemented in collaboration with partner organizations like the Parzor Foundation and local Parsi Panchayats.
• Research: The International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS) has been engaged by MoMA to conduct an in-depth, evidence-based study on the scheme’s demographic impact.
• Key Components and Interventions: 
  • Medical Assistance: Provides financial aid for addressing fertility issues, including support for Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ART) like In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF), Intra Cytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI), and surrogacy, up to a maximum prescribed limit.
  • Advocacy: Focuses on counselling for fertility issues, late marriage, and family planning, and conducts workshops and outreach campaigns. 
  • Health of Community (HoC): Offers financial support for family welfare, including Childcare Assistance (monthly support for Parsi couples with children up to age 18) and Elderly Assistance (monthly support for the care of dependent elderly family members aged 60 years or more).
• Digital Transformation and Economic Empowerment: The scheme has evolved, integrating technology and broader welfare initiatives:
  • Digital Transformation: Beneficiaries can now complete key formalities, including biometric authentication, via a dedicated mobile application. 
  • Economic Empowerment Link: The National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC) participates in outreach, informing community members about easy and affordable loan schemes available for entrepreneurship, start-ups, and small businesses, linking demographic support with livelihood needs.
  • Mode of Transfer: Through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) mode.
• Parsi Community Demographic Context:
  • The Need: The Parsi population declined sharply to 57,264 in the 2011 Census, due to low birth rate, late marriages, and high emigration.
  • Success Indicator: The scheme has successfully facilitated the birth of over 400 Parsi children since its inception (as of mid-2023 data).

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