Contact for JPSC Notes

Source: The Hindu (Delhi Edition), 26 September 2026

1. Congress protests demanding CEC’s resignation & arrest; SIR fallout

• Static anchors to nail down:
  • Article 324: superintendence, direction and control of elections vested in ECI — a multi-member body (CEC + 2 ECs) whose decisions, per SC precedent, ideally rest on consensus, not CEC’s unilateral authority (“primus inter pares,” not “first among unequals”).
  • CEC and Other ECs (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023 — post Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India (2023); selection committee = PM + LoP + a Cabinet Minister nominated by PM (replaced CJI in the panel, which is the core of ongoing legal challenge
  • Special Intensive Revision (SIR): not defined by statute — an administrative exercise under the Registration of Electors Rules, 1960, distinct from the routine “Summary Revision” of rolls.
  • Governing framework for rolls: RPA, 1950 (Part III — preparation of electoral rolls) vs RPA, 1951 (conduct of elections, disqualifications) — commonly conflated; keep the split clear for Prelims.

2. Nagas killed in Manipur by Myanmar-based armed group

• AFSPA 1958 relevance : AFSPA applies to areas notified “disturbed” under Section 3.
• Indo-Myanmar border: 1,643 km, largely unfenced; Free Movement Regime (FMR) — India has been progressively scrapping/restricting FMR since 2024 in border-management overhaul.
• Static: difference between “insurgent,” “extremist,” and “terrorist” groups under India’s internal security lexicon (UAPA classification vs regional militant outfits).

3. SC/ST MPs’ speaking time (Jitan Ram Manjhi’s letter)

• Article 330 (reservation of seats for SC/ST in Lok Sabha) and Article 332 (in State Assemblies) — reservation of seats, not guaranteed speaking time; the latter is a procedural/Chair-discretion matter under Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha, not a constitutional entitlement — a classic Prelims trap (don’t conflate representation with procedural privilege).

4. UPI MDR & subsidy

• NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India) — not-for-profit, Section 8 company under Companies Act; operates UPI, RuPay, IMPS, FASTag.
• MDR (Merchant Discount Rate): fee merchants pay to accept digital payments; currently zero-MDR regime on UPI person-to-merchant transactions since Jan 2020 — the 15 October rollout marks a policy shift, tiered by merchant turnover/transaction value (per earlier NPCI circulars).
• RuPay promotion budget ties to India’s push for payment sovereignty — relevant alongside the CIPS/SPFS/mBridge theme covered in yesterday’s digest.

1. DU hostel shortage / Satya Niketan collapse

• Static: National Building Code (NBC) 2016, Delhi Municipal Corporation Act 1957 — sanctioning authority for building plans; MCD’s building-bye-law enforcement gap is a recurring governance-failure theme (link to earlier DDA structural-audit story).
• UGC/AICTE hostel-availability norms are advisory, not justiciable — Right to Education (Article 21A) applies to elementary education, not higher-ed hostel access; don’t over-extend this static link in an answer.

1. NDA leaders (Bihar) on SIR clarity

• Reinforces SIR theme — cross-party demand for clarity is itself a Mains-relevant governance point, but for Prelims, just fix: SIR ≠ statutory term; ECI derives its conduct from plenary power under Article 324 in absence of specific law (as held in Mohinder Singh Gill v. CEC, 1978 — residuary power doctrine).

2. All-woman SIT — Veeramani case

• POCSO Act, 2012 — gender/child-sensitive investigation provisions; Section 26 CrPC/BNSS-equivalent enables special courts; static point: POCSO trials mandated to be in-camera, victim-friendly.

3. Bihar CM photo controversy

• Relevant static: POCSO Section 23 — prohibits disclosure of identity of child victims in media, including print/electronic/social media; breach is a cognizable offence. Good addition — original notes missed this legal hook entirely.

4. BJP mayoral sweep, Rajasthan

• Static: 74th Constitutional Amendment Act, 1992 — municipal governance, direct/indirect mayoral election varies by State law (Rajasthan Municipalities Act).

5. Greater Noida bus fire — booking manager arrest

• Static: vicarious/negligence liability under BNS (Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) 2023 replacing IPC — good current hook for BNS transition questions this cycle.

1. IIT-Bombay case, NCSC inquiry

• Article 338: NCSC — investigate/monitor safeguards for SCs under Constitution and law; can summon witnesses like a civil court (Article 338(8), powers of a civil court under CPC).
• Parallel body: Article 338A = NCST (Scheduled Tribes) — commonly confused; keep the two separate in memory.

2. MP bus service relaunch — “Mukhyamantri Sugam Parivahan Seva,” PM-eBus Sewa

• Static: PM-eBus Sewa scheme (Centrally Sponsored Scheme, MoHUA) — augmenting city bus operations via PPP model, launched 2023, targets cities without organised bus services.

3. Karnataka vs Centre — 15th Finance Commission grants

• Static: 15th Finance Commission (Chair: N.K. Singh) — award period 2021-26; grants include health, local body, disaster management, and State-specific grants; horizontal devolution formula uses income distance, population (2011), area, forest cover, tax/fiscal effort, demographic performance.
• e-GramSwaraj — portal for panchayat planning/accounting/monitoring under Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

1. Kerala on Western Ghats ESA

• Two committee reports — must distinguish clearly:
  • Gadgil Committee (WGEEP, 2011): recommended ~64% of Western Ghats as ESA across three graded zones (ESZ 1/2/3); most stringent.
  • Kasturirangan Committee (2013): diluted to ~37% of Western Ghats (~1,499 villages originally, later 3 draft notifications reduced village count — 123 villages figure cited is Kerala-specific).
• ESAs declared under Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, Section 3(2)(v).

1. UN reform op-ed

• Static: UNSC reform proposals — G4 (India, Japan, Germany, Brazil), L.69 group, Uniting for Consensus (Coffee Club) — recurring UPSC theme; cross-link to yesterday’s Liechtenstein Initiative/veto-reform note.

2. Lottery regulation

• Entry 40, List II (State List): “Lotteries organised by the Government of India or the Government of a State” — actually a Union List subject in terms of regulating lotteries organised by states is Entry 40 of Union List (List I), not State List — verify this carefully, it’s a classic trap (Entry 34, List II covers betting/gambling generally, State subject; but lotteries organised by Union/State govts specifically sits at Entry 40, Union List).
• Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998 — Parliament’s law under this entry; Section 5 currently lets a State prohibit sale of other States’ lottery tickets within its territory.
• Doctrine: res extra commercium — gambling/lotteries not “trade” protected under Article 19(1)(g); upheld in State of Bombay v. RMD Chamarbaugwala.

3. Karnataka & Western Ghats ESA rejection

4. Nuclear doctrine review

• India’s Nuclear Doctrine (2003): Credible Minimum Deterrence, No First Use (NFU), massive retaliation to inflict “unacceptable damage” if NFU is violated, non-use against non-nuclear states, civilian control (Nuclear Command Authority — Political Council chaired by PM; Executive Council chaired by NSA).
• Static triad: land (Agni series), air (fighter-bomber delivery), sea (Arihant-class SSBN, K-15/K-4 missiles) — nuclear triad completed 2018.

Haryana anti-drug village patrols

• NDPS Act, 1985 — Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act; enforcement agencies include Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) at Centre, State Narcotics Control Bureaus (like HSNCB, 2020) at State level.
• Community policing static tie-in: Article 243G (Panchayats’ role in maintenance of community assets, potentially extendable to local policing initiatives, though thekri pehra is customary/khap-driven, not a statutory PRI function — important nuance for a “which of the following is a statutory function of Gram Panchayat” trap question).

1. Form 6 changes in SIR

• Registration of Electors Rules, 1960: Form 6 = application for inclusion of name in electoral roll for first-time voters/new areas; Form 6 is framed under rule-making power of the Central Government in consultation with ECI (Section 28, RPA 1950) — note this is Central govt rule-making power, not ECI’s own — a genuinely high-value static point often tested.

2. SC plea for SIT probe + poll-body audit — reinforces Article 324/consensus theme.

3. Mamata-CPI(M) rapprochement — political/current, minimal static yield.

4. Lawyers’ group on CEC law challenge — judge conflict-of-interest concern — ties back to Anoop Baranwal judgment and composition of Selection Committee.

1. Census 2027 — open-field caste data

• Static: Census of India conducted under Census Act, 1948; decennial exercise, Registrar General & Census Commissioner of India (under Ministry of Home Affairs) is the nodal authority — note Census 2021 was delayed to 2027 (a fact worth flagging explicitly since it’s an important standalone Prelims fact).
• SECC 2011 (Socio-Economic and Caste Census) — separate exercise from regular Census; raw caste data was never officially released due to classification errors (the “46 lakh distinct caste names” issue is a famous administrative-failure static fact).

2. J&K Statehood resolution

• Article 370 — abrogated via Presidential Order (C.O. 272), 2019 + J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019; bifurcated J&K into two UTs (J&K with legislature, Ladakh without).
• SC upheld abrogation in In Re: Article 370 (December 2023), while directing restoration of statehood “at the earliest” — this pending restoration is exactly what today’s resolution invokes.

3. QUAD-at-Sea Ship Observer Mission — static: QUAD = India, US, Japan, Australia; not a formal treaty alliance, a “plurilateral” grouping.

1. Wrestlers challenge Brij Bhushan acquittal

• Static: appeal against acquittal lies under Section 372 CrPC (BNSS equivalent now); POCSO applies where victims are minors — distinguishes this from general sexual harassment provisions (Section 354 IPC/BNS equivalent, Section 509).

2. AFSPA extension

• AFSPA, 1958: Section 3 — State Governor/Administrator or Central Government may declare an area “disturbed”; extension typically for 6 months.
• Current spread (useful to memorise for Prelims map-based questions): Manipur (entire state except 13 PS in valley districts), Nagaland (currently 9 districts + 21 additional PSs across another 5 districts), Arunachal Pradesh (3 districts + parts of others bordering Assam/Myanmar).

3. Census 2027 in Ladakh — Population Enumeration phase

• Static: two-phase census — Houselisting & Housing Census (Phase 1), Population Enumeration (Phase 2); Ladakh being the first UT to start Phase 2 is a good stray fact.

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