02 December 2025

• Supreme Court gives CBI a nationwide mandate to investigate fast-rising ‘digital arrest’ scams.
• Centre reported ₹3,000 crore losses, mainly among senior citizens.
• Court overrides need for state consent due to exceptional circumstances.
• States directed to grant consent under DSPE Act Section 6.
• RBI, Interpol, telecom operators, and intermediaries asked to assist in curbing cyber fraud networks.

Key Points

• CBI gets “free hand” to investigate digital arrest scams first; fraudulent investments and job scams will follow as Stage 2 and 3.
• States such as Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Punjab, Maharashtra, West Bengal, etc., must grant DSPE Act Section 6 consent.
• Court found telecom operators negligent in issuing multiple SIMs, aiding cybercriminal anonymity.
• RBI asked to respond on using AI/ML tools to detect transaction layering and mule account networks.
• CBI to create a multi-agency team with state police officers and domain experts.
• Online intermediaries mandated under IT Rules, 2021 to share required data for investigations.
• States/UTs must operationalise Regional Cybercrime Coordination Centres linked to I4C (Indian Cybercrime Coordination Centre).
• Court recognised growing foreign bases of cybercrime and directed Interpol collaboration.

Static Linkages

• DSPE Act, 1946: CBI needs state consent unless directed by Constitutional Courts under Articles 32/226 in exceptional situations.
• Article 142: Supreme Court’s power to pass necessary orders for complete justice.
• Cybercrime Trends: NCRB categorises cyber frauds as a major share of cyber offences (over 60%).
• Telecom KYC Norms: Governed by DoT regulations requiring Aadhaar/e-KYC–based verification for SIM issuance.
• Money Laundering Layering: Defined under FATF standards, involving multi-step movement of illicit funds.
• Intermediary Due Diligence: Provided under IT Act Section 79 and IT Rules 2021.

Critical Analysis

• Pros
  • Centralised probe avoids jurisdictional gaps.
  • Multi-agency + AI/ML approach strengthens detection.
  • Enhances accountability of telecom operators and banks.
  • Expands international cooperation.
• Concerns
  • May spark Centre–state friction.
  • Cyber forensic capacity remains limited.
  • SIM issuance lapses point to weak regulation.
  • Balancing privacy with investigation needs is essential.

Way Forward

• Stricter KYC enforcement for SIMs and bank accounts.
• National cyber fraud registry integrated with banks/fintech.
• More cyber forensic labs under I4C.
• Mandatory AI-based fraud monitoring systems.
• Targeted digital literacy for senior citizens.
• Clear norms for CBI takeover of cybercrime cases.

AMR PLAN NEEDS A BOOST

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• India released NAP-AMR 2.0 (2025–29) amid rising antimicrobial resistance across human health, veterinary systems, agriculture, aquaculture, waste streams and food chains.
• Builds on NAP-AMR 2017–21, which improved awareness and surveillance but saw weak State-level execution.
• AMR is now treated as a national development priority requiring multisectoral coordination.

Key Points

• Five-year One Health strategy with clearer timelines, roles and resource planning.
• NITI Aayog to lead coordination via an intersectoral committee.
• Mandatory expectation (not binding) for States/UTs to set up AMR Cells and State Action Plans.
• Expanded surveillance across human, animal, agriculture and environmental sectors with a national dashboard.
• Stronger emphasis on private-sector engagement and innovation (diagnostics, alternatives to antibiotics).
• Better coverage of food systems, waste management and environmental discharge.

Static Linkages

• AMR is classified by WHO as a Top 10 Global Public Health Threat.
• “One Health” approach integrates human, animal and environmental health – recognised in various WHO, FAO, UNEP frameworks.
• State governments hold primary authority over Public Health (State List), Agriculture, Markets, Veterinary Services, Sanitation, and Public Order.
• NITI Aayog plays a key role in cooperative federalism; modelled after the erstwhile Planning Commission, but focuses on coordination and monitoring.
• National Health Mission (NHM) allows conditional funding tied to health priorities — proven effective for TB and maternal health.
• Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 empowers regulation of effluents, crucial for addressing antibiotic-laden waste.
• ICMR-AMR Surveillance Network (initiated 2013) is the backbone for human-health data on AMR.

Critical Analysis

• Strengths
  • Stronger national oversight & sectoral integration.
  • Clearer architecture for surveillance and stewardship.
  • Includes private sector and environmental pathways.
  • Prioritises diagnostics and scientific innovation.
• Limitations
  • No binding mechanism for States; implementation remains voluntary.
  • No NHM-linked incentives, limiting State urgency.
  • Lacks statutory backing for surveillance or antibiotic regulation.
  • High fragmentation across State departments continues.
• Stakeholder Views
  • Centre pushes uniformity; States cite resource constraints.
  •   Private sector needs clearer stewardship norms.
  • Environmental and food regulators need infrastructure upgrades.

Way Forward

•  Create a National–State AMR Council for joint reviews.
• Make State AMR Plans time-bound and mandatory through formal directives.
• Provide conditional NHM funding for labs, IPC and stewardship.
• Strengthen monitoring of wastewater, aquaculture, food retail chains.
• Tighten antibiotic regulation in human and veterinary pharmacies.
• Boost R&D in rapid diagnostics and non-antibiotic alternatives.
• Expand public awareness on rational antibiotic use.

HEART -SMART URBAN PLANNING

• On October 8, 2025, MoHUA marked World Habitat Day (theme: Urban Solutions to Crisis) focusing on PMAY-U and Smart Cities.
• Rising behind visible issues of pollution and heat is a silent surge in heart disease and diabetes in urban India.
• Urban CVD prevalence is nearly double rural levels, with more cases among those under 50.
• Long commutes, pollution, shrinking green spaces, and inequitable access to healthcare intensify risks.

Key Points

• Healthcare services cluster by profit, not population need, leaving vast areas underserved.
• Fragmented planning fuels sedentary lifestyles, pollution, heat islands and diet shifts.
• WHO Healthy Cities shows governance can reduce chronic disease.
• AI tools (air-quality sensors, heat mapping) enable early risk detection.
• Asia may see a 91% rise in CVD mortality by 2050; marginalised groups already show a 2.3- fold rise in disease burden.
• Risk of green gentrification if equity is ignored.

Static Linkages

• Article 47: State’s duty to improve public health.
• 74th Amendment: ULBs responsible for health, sanitation, planning.
• NCERT: Urbanisation’s impact on health, pollution, and spatial inequality.
• Air Act, 1981: Regulation of PM2.5 and emissions.
• URDPFI Guidelines: Mixed land-use, walkability, integrated transport.

Critical Analysis

• Opportunities
  • Health-integrated planning can cut emissions, reduce inactivity, and cool cities.
  • AI-driven urban diagnostics strengthen preventive health governance.
  • Mixed land-use and public transit directly lower CVD risk factors.
• Challenges
  • Poor inter-agency coordination; urban health often sidelined.
  • Market-driven hospital distribution → inequity.
  • Heat islands and low green cover worsen cardiac risks.
  • Potential displacement due to environmental upgrades.
• Stakeholders
  • Urban planners: need for integrated design.
  • Health sector: rising NCD burden.
  • Communities: demand equitable access.
  • Private sector: profit-driven expansion patterns.

Way Forward

• Mandate Health Impact Assessments (HIAs) for major projects.
• Expand primary care under NUHM in underserved zones.
• Build walkable, shaded corridors and cycling networks.
• Increase urban green cover and heat-resilient landscapes.
• Use digital equity audits for inclusive planning.
• Adopt 15-minute city principles.
• Regulate junk-food advertising, especially near schools.
• Strengthen ULBs with funds and skilled personnel.

• India’s Q2 FY26 GDP grew 8.2%, surpassing forecasts and Q1 (7.8%).
• October’s record trade deficit ($41.68 bn) and tripling of bullion imports signal external stress.
• Growth driven by manufacturing, services and consumption, aided by low inflation (0.25% in October), which kept the GDP deflator below 1%.
• U.S. ‘two-stage’ tariffs and RBI’s repo cuts to 5.5% shaped the macro environment.

Key Points

• GDP Growth:
  • Q2 FY26: 8.2%, well above year-ago and consensus expectations.
  • Nominal GDP: 8.7%, unusually close to real GDP due to a deflator <1%.
• Demand-side Drivers:
  • Private Final Consumption Expenditure (PFCE) up 7.9% (vs. 6.4% last year).
  • Government consumption provided moderate support.
• Sectoral Performance (GVA):
  • Manufacturing: 9.1%
  • Services: 9.2%
  • Construction: 7.2%
  • Financial–real estate–professional services: 10.2%
• Industrial Indicators:
  • IIP (September): 4% growth
  • Steel: 14.1%, Cement: 5.3% — signalling infrastructure strength.
• External-Sector Risks:
  • Trade deficit record-high in October.
  • Possible front-loading of exports ahead of U.S. tariffs may have inflated Q2 production.
• Inflation Dynamics:
  • CPI inflation at 0.25% (Oct)—lowest in current series → deflator effect artificially boosting real GDP.
• Policy Angle:
  • Upcoming RBI MPC meeting could influence demand via interest rate signalling.

Static Linkages

• National Income concepts: GDP–GVA distinction, real vs. nominal GDP, GDP deflator.
• Impact of monetary policy on investment and capital formation.
• External sector fundamentals: trade deficit, tariffs, BoP.
• Structure of India’s workforce and consumption patterns.

Critical Analysis

• Positives
  • Broad-based expansion in industry and services.
  • Consumption revival strengthens domestic demand.
  • Repo cuts likely boosted investment indicators.
• Concerns
  • Statistical lift from an abnormally low deflator.
  • High trade deficit and tariff exposure threaten sustainability.
  • Weak rural demand, lag in labour-intensive sectors.
  • Potential imported inflation if crude prices rise.
• Stakeholder View
  • Govt: Sees policy validation.
  • Industry: Encouraged but export concerns persist.  
  • RBI: Balances growth revival with inflation risks

Way Forward

• Support labour-intensive exports and MSMEs.
• Strengthen rural demand through credit and social-sector spending.
• Diversify export markets and mitigate tariff impacts.
• Maintain calibrated monetary policy.
• Improve competitiveness via logistics and PLI- driven reforms.

PROTECT STATES’ FISCAL SPACE 

Context of the News

• The 16th Finance Commission (FC) has submitted its report; states expect clarity on their fiscal space.
• States have expressed concern that their share in resources is shrinking despite increasing expenditure responsibilities.
• Comparison of states’ fiscal space across 13th, 14th, and 15th FC periods shows important shifts in tax devolution and grants.
• Rise in non-sharable cesses & surcharges and reduction in GST revenues (post-GST 2.0 rate cuts + end of GST Compensation Cess) are intensifying concerns.

Key Points

• 14th FC raised state share in divisible pool 32% * 42%, lifting their fiscal space to 68.08% of combined revenue receipts.
• 15th FC period saw a slight decline to 67.39% due to:
  • Drop in tax devolution (1.05 percentage points).
  • Rise in non-sharable cesses/surcharges.  Fall in states’ own revenue.
• High-income states (HR, KA, KL, MH, TN) saw a 0.38 percentage point fall in fiscal space from 14th → 15th FC.
• GST 2.0 rate cuts + end of GST Compensation Cess may further reduce state revenues.

Static Linkages

• Finance Commission: Article 280 mandates periodic FCs to recommend tax distribution.
• Vertical Devolution → Centre-to-state tax share; Horizontal Devolution → distribution among states using criteria such as income distance, population, forest cover, etc.
• Cesses & Surcharges are not part of divisible pool (Article 270).
• Cooperative Federalism and Fiscal Federalism concepts from Indian Constitution & 14th FC vision.
• GST: Article 279A, GST Council; compensation under GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 (ended June 2022).

Critical Analysis

• Strengths
  • 14th FC strengthened autonomy and fiscal federalism.
  • Increase in predictable transfers aided state- level planning.
• Concerns
  • Rising cesses weaken formula-based transfers
  • GST rate cuts reduce buoyancy; compensation ended.
  • High-income states feel penalised by the income-distance criterion.
  • States’ own revenues not keeping pace with responsibilities.

Way Forward

• Limit cesses/surcharges; widen divisible pool.
• Rebalance horizontal formula to address high- income states’ concerns.
• Improve GST buoyancy via rate rationalisation & compliance reforms.
• Strengthen states’ own tax sources (property tax, digital systems).
• Enhance Centre–State fiscal coordination (FC + GST Council synergy).

RESPECT CHECKS & BALANCES

Context of the News

• November 26 (Constitution Day) and December 6 (Ambedkar’s death anniversary) revived national debate on the health of India’s parliamentary democracy.
• The Winter Session of Parliament began on December 1 amid concerns over reduced sittings and weakening legislative scrutiny.
• Recent data from PRS Legislative Research highlights historically low sitting days and poor referral of Bills to Standing Committees.
• Wider concerns relate to executive dominance, federal tensions, and erosion of institutional checks.

Key Points

• Shrinking Parliamentary Sittings
  • 1st Lok Sabha average: 135 days/year  
  • 4th Lok Sabha: 123 days/year
  • 16th Lok Sabha: 66 days/year
  • 17th Lok Sabha: 55 days/year (lowest since 1952)
• Weakening Legislative Oversight
  • Out of 179 bills passed by the 17th Lok Sabha (excluding money bills):
• 35% passed after <1 hour debate  
• Only 16% referred to Standing Committees
• Procedural Decline: Increased suspensions of Opposition MPs; treasury benches disrupting proceedings.
• Federal Imbalance
  • Greater centralisation in fiscal matters (tax devolution, centrally designed schemes).
  • Rising use of central agencies in Opposition- ruled states.
  • Limited functioning of Inter-State Council.
  • Partisan gubernatorial interventions.
• Ambedkar’s Expectations
  • Rejection of presidential model; preference for continuous executive accountability to legislature.
  • Emphasis on “constitutional methods” and collective responsibility.

Static Linkages

• Features of Parliamentary System: Collective responsibility, executive accountability, daily oversight.
• Constitutional provisions:
  • Art. 75(3) – Council of Ministers collectively responsible to Lok Sabha.
  • Art. 107–111 – Legislative procedure & President’s assent.
  • Separation of Powers & checks and balances.
• Federalism:
  • “Union of States” under Art. 1.
  • Seventh Schedule & fiscal federalism.  
  • Role of Inter-State Council (Art. 263).
• Importance of Parliamentary Committees (Estimates Committee, PAC, Department-Related Standing Committees).

Critical Analysis

• Pros: Increased public debate on institutional decline; signals need for reform.
• Concerns:
  • Executive dominance → rushed legislation  
  • Weak committees → poor scrutiny
  • Centralisation → federal imbalance
  • Politicised use of agencies → erodes trust
• Ethical dimension: Violates constitutional morality and Ambedkarian principles.

Way Forward

• Mandate 100+ sitting days annually.
• Ensure mandatory committee scrutiny of key Bills.  
• Codify norms for Governor’s conduct.
• Revive Inter-State Council.
• Strengthen oversight of central agencies.
• Promote constitutional literacy & citizen vigilance.