GS Analyst: Daily Current Affairs

Context:

AI is now part of electoral processes, necessitating a fundamental redesign of civil society's core functioning.

AI Reshaping Political Landscape

• AI-Generated Multilingual Content: Examples like HeyGen's AI video generator showcase the viral impact of AI in politics, translating voices seamlessly for broader reach.
• Disinformation Challenges: Generative AI fuels disinformation campaigns, manipulating and micro-targeting voters, distorting truth and creating hyper-realistic fake content.
• Global AI Impact: From AI clones in virtual rallies to experiments like The Synthetic Party in Denmark, the AI era reshapes democracy globally, challenging reality.

Silencing Civil Society

• Targeted Silencing: Political and technological forces intentionally silence civil society, hindering discussions on power imbalances and suppressing dissent.
• Shift to Funded Organisations: Funding-driven organisations replace grassroots movements, focusing on programs rather than mobilizing people's power to challenge systems.
• Citizens as Clients: Civic space silencing is a risk; citizens must recognize their power extends beyond voting, emphasizing collective action for a resilient civic infrastructure.

Nurturing People-Powered Civic Action

• Platform Safety and Regulation: AI-powered election antidotes involve improved platform safety and government regulations, providing short-term solutions.
• Long-Term Inoculation: Civic association's capacity to represent voices, needs, and experiences offers a lasting solution, emphasizing the importance of community building and leadership.
• Building Collective Power: Social media enables mass aggregation, but the true power lies in relational community building, drawing inspiration from models like Obama for America's grassroots army.

Context:

While educational opportunities for girls in India have increased, the disparity in educational achievement has deteriorated over the years.

Gender Parity in Learning Outcomes

• National Achievement Survey (2017): Data reveals equal learning levels between boys and girls in elementary and secondary classes nationwide.
• Subject Scores: Minimal differences in average test scores across genders, with the maximum difference rarely exceeding one percentage point.
• Learning Equity: While this analysis suggests gender equity in learning outcomes, it may overlook prevalent gender discrimination in education.

Worsening Gender Gap in Educational Attainment

• Increasing Mean Years of Schooling: Girls' mean years of schooling tripled from 1.7 (1990) to 4.7 (2018), but the gender gap in attainment worsened.
• Boys' Educational Attainment: Boys' average educational attainment doubled from 4.1 to 8.2 years during the same period.
• Growing Gender Gap: Despite improvements for both genders, the gender gap increased from 2.4 to 3.5 years, deviating from global trends.

Focus on Early Childhood Education (ECE)

• Enrollment Disparities: More boys enrolled in private institutions, while girls' enrollment preferences align with free government schools, revealing gender biases.
• Importance of ECE: Early childhood is where gender norms take root; addressing biases in ECE can eliminate long-term gender gaps.
• Policy Implications: Urgent need to focus on ECE, with regulatory frameworks, funding, and legislation for universal access to tackle gender disparities.

Context:

Basic Structure doctrine is one of the strongest safeguards for Indian democracy.

Evolution of Basic Structure Doctrine

• Shankari Prasad and Sajjan Singh (1951, 1964): Validated parliamentary amendments, upheld legislature's authority to amend without limitations.
• Seeds of Basic Structure Doctrine in Sajjan Singh (1964): Judges questioned majority's approach, indicating concerns about fundamental rights as the "plaything of the majority."
• Golaknath Case (1967): Challenged Parliament's power to amend Part 3, hinted at inherent limitations; birthed the Basic Structure theory.

Kesavananda Bharati (1971)

• Legal Battle Origins: Challenged 24th-26th amendments; KB, head of a mutt, represented by Nani Palkhivala, brought implied limitations doctrine.
• Implied Limitations Accepted: Six judges acknowledged implied limitations on Parliament's amending powers, rejecting alteration of Basic Structure.
• Justice H R Khanna's Decisive Role: Dissenting from implied limitations, he held fundamental rights amendable but protected Basic Structure, endorsing Conrad's core doctrine.

Legacy of Basic Structure Doctrine

• Enduring Principle: KB judgment entrenched Basic Structure, establishing that even a constitutional amendment could be unconstitutional if it violated the Basic Structure.
• Impact on Jurisprudence: Applied in subsequent cases, it became a powerful safeguard against constitutional aberrations and tyranny.
• Significance Beyond Borders: Other Commonwealth countries, like Bangladesh, adopted the Indian judicial invention, highlighting its global influence and admiration.