GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

Recently, Supreme Court issued notice to the election commission to cancel the registration of political parties that use religious symbols or names of religions in their nomenclature.

Registration of a political party in India:

• According to the Election Commission, any party seeking registration has to submit an application to the Commission within a period of 30 days.
• Following the date of its formation as per guidelines prescribed by the Commission in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 324 of the Constitution of India and Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• The registration of all political parties is governed by the provisions of Section 29A of the Representation of the People Act 1951.

Why registering with the EC is important?

• It is not mandatory to register with the Election Commission but registering as a political party with the EC has its advantage in terms of intending to avail itself of the provisions of the Representation of the People Act, 1951.
• The candidates set up by a political party registered with the EC will get preference in the matter of allotment of free symbols vis-à-vis purely independent candidates.
  
  
  
  

Issuing Symbols

• The registered political parties can get recognition as a ‘state party’ or a ‘national party’ subject to the fulfilment of the conditions prescribed by the Commission in the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968.

Significance of Election symbol

• Symbols are used by parties in their campaigning, and printed on ballot papers where a voter must make a mark to vote for the associated party.
• One of their purposes is to facilitate voting by illiterate people, who cannot read candidates' names on ballot papers.
• They are easily identifiable real-world creatures, objects, or items such as the head of an elephant.

Related Judgements

• Abhiram Singh vs C D Commachen: An appeal to vote on the ground of the religion (or caste, community, race or language) of a candidate or to refrain from voting for a candidate on the basis of these features would amount to a corrupt practice.

Recently, the government commissioned India’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant which is built by Cochin Shipyard Limited.

• Considering India’s crucial role in growing geopolitical threats, the third carrier is a necessity to counter.

About INS Vikrant:

• IAC Vikrant is the largest warship to have ever been built in India and is also the first indigenously designed and built Aircraft Carrier for the Indian Navy.
• IAC Vikrant is 262 m long and 62 m wide and displaces approx. 43000 T when fully loaded, having a maximum designed speed of 28 Knots with an endurance of 7500 NM.
• Designed by the Indian Navy's in-house Directorate of Naval Design (DND) and built by the CSL, a Public Sector Shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways
• It is capable of carrying more than 30 assorted aircraft including combat jets and helicopters.
• It boasts a fully-fledged state-of-art medical complex with the latest medical equipment facilities including major modular OT, emergency modular OT, physiotherapy clinic, ICU, laboratories, CT scanner, X-Ray machines, dental complex, isolation ward, and telemedicine facilities.
  
  

Indian Navy: National Security Plan

• In 1999, the government approved a 30-year plan for 24 conventional submarines.
• This was later modified to 18 conventional and six nuclear-powered submarines.
• The plan was to build six under Project 75, six under Project 75(I), and six under Project 76.
• Projects 75 and 75(I) were supposed to build design and manufacturing capability and facilitate the transfer of technology.
• Project 76 was to build Indian-designed submarines.
• The 75(I) and 76 were to be equipped with Air-Independent-Propulsion (AIP) systems that could boost underwater endurance, suppress noise, and increase stealth.
• The aircraft carrier and the submarine are the prime platforms of India’s naval power.
• INS Vikrant definitely gives us a cause to feel elated.

• Recently, Indian Army Chief General Manoj Pande was conferred the title of Honorary General of the Nepali Army by the Nepal President.

About Honour:

• The tradition started in 1950. India also confers the honorary rank of "General of Indian Army" to the Nepal Army Chief.
• Commander-in-Chief General KM Cariappa was the first Indian Army chief to be decorated with the title in 1950.
• In November last year, the Chief of the Nepali Army, General Prabhu Ram Sharma was also made the Honorary General of the Indian Army by President Ram Nath Kovind at a ceremony in New Delhi.
  
  

India Nepal Relation:

• The country shares a border of over 1,850 km with five Indian states - Sikkim, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Uttarakhand.
• Land-locked Nepal relies heavily on India for the transportation of goods and services.
• Nepal is important for India in the context of its overall strategic interests in the region.
• The leaders of the two countries have often noted the age-old "Roti Beti" relationship.

• The second India-Japan 2+2 Ministerial Meeting will be held in Japan.

About the second India-Japan 2+2 dialogue:

• India-Japan’s special strategic and global partnership is based on shared values of democracy, freedom, and respect for rule of law.
• The ‘2+2’ dialogue with Japan was initiated in 2019. In the 2+2 dialogue, the two sides are expected to deliberate on ways to further expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of defence and security besides taking stock of the developments in the Indo-Pacific.
  
  
  

History of India-Japan Relations:

Cultural Connection:

• The friendship between India and Japan has a long history rooted in spiritual affinity and strong cultural and civilization ties.
• The exchange between Japan and India is said to have begun in the 6th century when Buddhism was introduced to Japan.
• Indian culture, filtered through Buddhism, has had a great impact on Japanese culture, and this is the source of the Japanese people’s sense of closeness to India.

Diplomatic Relations:

• Japan and India signed a peace treaty and established diplomatic relations on 28th April 1952.
• This treaty was one of the first peace treaties Japan signed after World War II.
• Ever since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the two countries have enjoyed cordial relations.
• In the Post-World War II period, India’s iron ore helped a great deal in Japan’s recovery from the devastation.

Regional Cooperation:

• India-Japan has strategic cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region. They both are part of QUAD and the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework.
• India-Japan has a 2+2 Ministers Dialogue mechanism along with many other channels to strengthen India-Japan Relations.

• Recently, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) released the ‘State-wise Inflation measurement index’.

State-wise Inflation Ratio:

• Inflation measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) crossed the central bank’s upper tolerance limit of 6% in January and has averaged 6.8% till July 2022.
• But an analysis of State-wise inflation prints for the period 2022 evaluated 14 States as well as three UTs.
• India’s economy grew at a slower-than-expected 13.5% in the first quarter of the year.
• Private consumption picked up, but inflation has been a dampener.
  
  

Why does it happen?

• Food price inflation which dropped to a five-month low of 6.8% in July, is a key differentiating factor for States’ inflation experience, explained Bank of Baroda chief economist.
• States that are not major crop producers have higher food inflation as transport costs are added on, and those with predominantly rural areas also clock more inflation as the CPI for rural areas assigns a higher weightage to food.
• Rural inflation has averaged more than urban inflation at 7.07% from January to July, and 7.6% in the four months since it peaked at 8.38% in April.
• Urban inflation crossed 6% in March 2022, has averaged 6.47% through 2022 and fallen 0.6 percentage points by July from its 2022 high of 7.09% in April.

Divergence in inflation:

• Consumption patterns and divergences in different item price trends also influence variations among States.
• While the share of private consumption has spiked to nearly 60% of GDP in Q1 2022-23.
• This persistently high inflation has dented spending propensity, particularly in rural India which is facing more price pressures.
• According to CRISIL’s chief economist, Private consumption is improving, with urban demand getting support from contact-intensive services. If it had not been for high inflation and subdued rural demand due to negative real rural wage growth, private consumption would have grown faster.