🚀 “31 March 2025 Current Affairs: The Hindu & Indian Express”

1. Unleashing the Potential of Electronics Manufacturing in India

About

• India aims to transform from a manufacturing hub to a key electronics design and manufacturing center.

Key Points

• Global Share: China leads in global electronics manufacturing (28.4%), followed by the USA (16.6%), with India at 3.3%.

• Economic Impact: Electronics contributes 3.17% to India’s GDP, with the global market projected to reach USD 3.5 trillion by 2030.

• Export Growth: India’s electronics production has significantly increased, from USD 48 billion in FY17 to USD 101 billion in FY23, and is expected to reach USD 120 billion by FY26.

• Global Value Chains: India’s participation in the global electronics value chain is low (less than 1% of the global trade flow), significantly lower than Vietnam’s.

• Challenges: The sector faces challenges including low global value chain integration, high import tariffs, a weak component ecosystem, limited R&D, skill deficits, and environmental concerns.

• Government Initiatives: Initiatives such as PLI Schemes, Modified Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMC 2.0), 100% FDI via the automatic route, and semiconductor manufacturing schemes are in place.

• Future Goals: India targets increasing its share in the global electronics GVC to 5-6% (USD 200-250 billion in exports) by 2030.

• Way Forward: Enhancing scalability and flexibility, strengthening industry-academia partnerships, and rationalizing import tariffs are crucial.

Timeline

• FY17-FY23: Electronics production nearly doubled.  

• FY26: Production expected to reach USD 120 billion.

• 2030: Global market projected to reach USD 3.5 trillion.

• 2030: Export target of USD 200-250 billion.

2. India’s Unity in Diversity

About

• India’s “Unity in Diversity” celebrates integration without uniformity and diversity without fragmentation.

Key Points

• Geographical Diversity: India features varied geographical landscapes with 8% of all recorded species.

• Religious Diversity: The religious landscape includes Hindus (82.41%), Muslims (11.6%), Christians (2.32%), Sikhs (1.99%), Buddhists (0.77%), and Jains (0.41%).  

• Caste Diversity: India has a complex caste system with approximately 3,000 Jatis.

• Linguistic Diversity: Diverse language families including Austric, Dravidian, Sino-Tibetan, and Indo-European are present.

• Racial Diversity: The population comprises Indo-Aryans, Dravidians, and Mongoloids.

• Threats to Unity: Factors like geographical isolation, regionalism, inter-state conflicts, communalism, language issues, and forced assimilation threaten unity.

• Factors Promoting Unity: Unity is fostered by climatic integration via the monsoon, constitutional identity, a dual-language framework, pluralism, mutual respect, economic integration, and sports/cinema.  

3. Indian Judicial Services

About

• The concept of Indian Judicial Services is discussed amid concerns about judicial selection processes, highlighted by incidents like the discovery of burnt currency notes at a judge’s residence.

Key Points

• Concerns: Recent incidents involving judges have raised questions about accountability and the current selection system.

• Collegium System: The Collegium of Judges selection process faces criticism for its opacity and potential for nepotism.

• Need for Transparency: Calls for a transparent, merit-based selection process, similar to the UPSC civil service model, are growing.

• Potential Benefits of AIJS: An All India Judicial Service could create a more inclusive judiciary, allowing meritorious candidates from all backgrounds to compete.

• Proposed Recruitment: Entrusting recruitment to the UPSC could ensure a transparent selection process.

• Constitutional Basis: Article 312(1) allows for AIJS creation, requiring a two-thirds majority resolution in the Rajya Sabha.

• Legislative Process: Parliament can amend Article 233 by a simple majority to establish the AIJS.

• Service Scope: AIJS would include positions at or above the level of a district judge.

• Parliamentary Regulation: Parliament can regulate the recruitment and service conditions for AIJS appointees.

4. Impacts of Deep-Sea Mining

About

• A recent study highlights the long-term environmental impacts of deep-sea mining, showing the seabed’s failure to recover from mining activities over 40 years ago.

Key Points

• Long-Term Impact: Deep-sea mining causes long-term sediment changes and reduces organism populations.

• Call for Moratorium: There are increasing demands for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

• International Authority: The UN’s International Seabed Authority discusses regulating deep-sea mining.

• Definition: Deep-sea mining involves removing mineral deposits and metals from the ocean floor.

• Types of Mining: It includes extracting polymetallic nodules, mining seafloor sulfide deposits, and stripping cobalt crusts.

• Extracted Resources: These sources contain valuable materials like nickel, rare earths, and cobalt.

• Resource Use: These materials are used in batteries, renewable energy tech, and everyday technology.

• Mining Technology: Deep-sea mining technologies are evolving, including pumps, AI robots, and advanced underwater machines.

• Environmental Concerns: Deep-sea mining can cause noise, vibration, sediment plumes, and light pollution, harming marine life.

• Authority’s Role: The International Seabed Authority regulates deep seabed mineral exploration and exploitation.

5. Green Credit Programme

About

• The Green Credit Programme is a market-based approach to incentivize voluntary environmental actions.  

Key Points

• Objective: It aims to advance ‘LiFE’ by incentivizing environment-positive actions from individuals, communities, and the private sector.

• Administration: The Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE) administers the program.

• Credit Trading: Green credits can be traded on a domestic platform, including for compensatory afforestation obligations.

• Registry and Platform: ICFRE is developing a Green Credit Registry and trading platform.

• Concerns: Concerns include potential “Green Deserts” and issues related to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).

• Law Ministry’s Caution: The Law Ministry noted that the EPA, 1986, did not support the green credit exchange model for compensatory afforestation.

• EPR vs. GCP: The Law Ministry distinguished between obligatory EPR and voluntary GCP.

• Need for EPA Amendment: Amending the EPA, similar to the Energy Conservation Act amendment in 2023, was suggested.

6. Bodh Gaya Temple

About

• The Mahabodhi Temple Complex is a significant Buddhist site, notably marking Buddha’s Enlightenment.

Key Points

• Significance: It’s a key Buddhist site, with others being Lumbini (Birth), Sarnath (First Sermon), and Kushinagar (Death).

• Historical Construction: The first temple was built by Emperor Asoka in the 3rd century B.C., with the current temple dating to the 5th or 6th centuries.

• Architectural Importance: It’s an early brick Buddhist temple from the late Gupta period, influencing brick architecture.

• Buddha’s Vajrasana: Ashoka’s stone slab marks Buddha’s enlightenment spot.

• UNESCO Recognition: It was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002.

• Protests: Buddhist monks are currently protesting for the repeal of the Bodh Gaya Temple Act, 1949.

• Historical Timeline:

  • 3rd Century B.C.: Ashoka built the first temple.
  • 629 A.D.: Hiuen Tsang visited during Harshavardhana’s reign.
  • 13th Century: Bakhtiyar Khilji’s invasion ended Pala rule.
  • 1590: A Hindu monk established the “Bodh Gaya mutt” during Akbar’s reign.
  • 1949: The Bodh Gaya Temple Act transferred control to a committee with equal Buddhist and Hindu representation.
  • 2013: Amendments to the BTA were made.               https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/