Subordinate/District Judiciary
Context: The Supreme Court has asked States and Union Territories to consider extending subordinate judicial officers’ retirement age from 60 to 61 years.
- While the larger question of a uniform enhancement to 62 years across the country remains pending adjudication.
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Structure of the Indian Judiciary
- Supreme Court: The apex court of India, headed by the Chief Justice of India, with jurisdiction over constitutional, appellate and advisory matters.
- High Courts: The highest courts at the State/Union Territory level, exercising writ, appellate and supervisory jurisdiction.
- Subordinate Courts: Include District and Sessions Courts and lower civil and criminal courts functioning under the supervision of respective High Courts.
About Subordinate/District Judiciary
- The subordinate judiciary forms the grassroots tier of India’s judicial system, functioning at district and local levels and serving as the primary point of access to justice for citizens.
- It deals with civil and criminal cases and operates under the administrative and appellate supervision of the respective High Courts.
Constitutional Provisions: Chapter VI of Part VI of the Constitution provides the constitutional framework for the subordinate judiciary.
- Article 233: The Governor appoints, posts and promotes district judges in consultation with the High Court. Direct recruits from the Bar must have at least seven years of advocacy experience.
- Article 234: Recruitment of judicial officers other than district judges is made through the State Public Service Commission and the High Court.
- Article 235: Vests control over district and subordinate courts, including posting, promotion and leave, in the respective High Court.
- Articles 236–237: Define the expression “district judge” and provide for the application of these provisions to specified classes of magistrates.
- Retirement Age at Different Levels
- Supreme Court Judges: Judges of the Supreme Court retire at 65 years under the constitutional framework.
- High Court Judges: Judges of High Courts retire at 62 years.
- Subordinate Courts: 60 years for the subordinate judiciary in most States
Kutki (Picrorhiza kurroa)
Context: Farmers in Mandi district, Himachal Pradesh have pioneered a sustainable, stolon-based cultivation method for Kutki (Picrorhiza kurroa).
About Kutki (Picrorhiza kurroa)
- A high-value medicinal herb native to the alpine and sub-alpine Himalayan regions (2,700–4,500 m).
- Used as an ingredient in over 2,000 herbal formulations.
- Conservation Status:
- IUCN status: Endangered.
- CITES status: Listed under Appendix II — permits international trade only under regulated conditions, requiring export permits to ensure trade doesn’t harm wild populations.
- Key Features
- The plant’s medicinally valuable part is its stolon, a specialised side stem that creeps along the soil surface and bears nodes, rather than its fibrous roots.
- As a high-altitude Himalayan medicinal plant, Kutki contributes to the region’s biodiversity and traditional medicinal-resource base.
- Threats
- Destructive Harvesting: Traditional collection involved uprooting the entire plant, preventing regeneration and severely reducing wild populations.
- Commercial Pressure: Rising demand from the herbal and pharmaceutical industries, combined with declining wild populations, has increased market prices and encouraged further pressure on natural populations.
The Innovation: Stolon-Based Harvesting
- A stolon is a side branch/creeping stem with nodes that grows along the soil surface — commonly (and mistakenly) believed by traditional harvesters to be the plant’s “root,” which is falsely assumed to hold the medicinal value.
- In reality, the plant’s actual roots are fibrous and possess no medicinal content; only the dried stolons carry market/medicinal value.
- The new method harvests only the stolons, leaving the mother plant intact, allowing it to regenerate and produce continuously — turning Kutki cultivation into a perennial rather than one-time/destructive activity.
PM-YASASVI
Context: The Government has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening educational opportunities for OBC, EBC and DNT students through the PM-YASASVI Scheme.
About PM-YASASVI (Prime Minister Young Achievers Scholarship Award Scheme for Vibrant India) Scheme
- It is a central sector umbrella scholarship scheme of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
- Origin: Launched in 2021-22 to consolidate multiple existing scholarship programs.
- Objective: To reduce financial barriers and promote inclusive, equitable and quality education.
- Key Features of PM-YASASVI
- Target Beneficiaries: Focuses on marginalised student communities, specifically OBC, EBC, and Denotified Tribes (DNT).
- Income Limit: Restricts eligibility to families earning under ₹2.5 lakh annually
- Five Sub-Schemes: Bundles of structural assistance via Pre-Matric, Post-Matric, Top Class School, Top Class College scholarships, and dedicated hostel construction.
- Financial Structure: Offers tiered aid, providing up to ₹75,000 yearly for class 9–10 and up to ₹1,25,000 for class 11–12 top school students.
- Gender Focus: Guarantees inclusivity by reserving 30% of all slots for girl students.
- NSP Application: Implements an online application process entirely routed through the National Scholarship Portal (NSP) using Aadhaar-linked One-Time Registration
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Bab el-Mandeb Strait
Context: Yemen’s Houthi rebels announced their first-ever naval blockade targeting Saudi Arabia through the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.
About Bab el-Mandeb Strait
- Meaning: Bab el-Mandeb means “Gate of Tears” in Arabic.
- Location: A narrow waterway connecting the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
- Lies between Yemen, Djibouti and Eritrea (Horn of Africa).
- Located at the mouth of the Red Sea, which leads to the Suez Canal—the gateway between Asia and Europe.
- At its narrowest point, it is 29 km wide, with two shipping channels for inbound and outbound traffic.
- Strategic Importance: One of the world’s most important maritime chokepoints.
- Carries around 12% of global trade.
- Around 4.1 billion barrels of oil and petroleum products (about 5% of the global total) passed through it in 2024.
- A full closure to Saudi shipping could disrupt Saudi oil exports to Asia and reduce global oil supply by around 7%.
- Acts as a key export route for Saudi oil transported through the East-West (Petroline) Pipeline, which connects the Abqaiq oil field to the Red Sea port of Yanbu.
Project Kusha
Context: DRDO successfully conducted the maiden flight-test of the indigenous Kusha Long-Range Surface-to-Air Missile from APJ Abdul Kalam Island off the coast of Odisha.
About Kusha Missile System
- Kusha, also known as the Extended Range Air Defence System (ERADS), is an indigenous long-range surface-to-air missile programme designed to provide India with a multi-layered air defence shield.
- Objective: To neutralise diverse aerial threats, including fighter aircraft, UAVs, cruise missiles and other high-speed aerial targets, while strengthening India’s strategic air-defence capabilities.
- Developed By: Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO).
- Key Features
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- Multi-Range Interceptors: The system is planned with three interceptor variants—M1 (around 150 km), M2 (around 250 km) and M3 (around 350–400 km)—enabling interception of threats at different ranges.
- Advanced Threat Neutralisation: Kusha is designed to counter a broad spectrum of aerial threats, including stealth aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, cruise missiles and potentially ballistic and hypersonic threats.
- Integrated Air Defence: The system is intended to integrate with the Indian Air Force’s Integrated Air Command and Control System (IACCS), enabling coordinated detection, tracking and engagement of aerial threats.
- Strategic Significance: Indigenous development of Kusha can reduce India’s dependence on imported air-defence systems, strengthen Aatmanirbhar Bharat in Defence, and enhance the country’s ability to protect critical infrastructure and strategic assets.
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India’s Existing Air Defence System
- Strategic Outer Shield: The S-400 tracks and destroys fighters and ballistic missiles up to 400 km.
- Tactical Intermediate Grid: Indigenous Akash and Medium-Range Surface-to-Air Missiles neutralize threats within 25–100 km.
- Unified Digital Command: The automated Integrated Air Command and Control System fuses radar data for instant coordination.
24 Jul 2026
