High Court orders Bihar government to stop caste survey.

Topic:  GS2 – Governance

Context:

• The High Court ordered the Bihar government to halt the caste survey immediately.

Issue:

• The Patna High Court directed the government to stop the caste-based survey immediately and ordered the government to preserve and secure the data already collected.
• The court said that the Bihar government was misusing the contingency fund and that the right to conduct such surveys was beyond the State’s jurisdiction.
• It is being argued that the survey impinged upon the legislative power of the Union Parliament.
• The survey’s second phase had already covered 60-70% of the population in many districts.

Way Forward:

• Some district officials have halted the survey, while others are waiting for further instructions from the government.
• Statisticians are disappointed that their work may not be published.
• The survey was conducted in both offline and online modes.
  

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Meeting of SCO ministers to take place today.

Topic:  GS2 – International relations

Context:

• A meeting of the SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) Ministers will discuss economic relations.

Issue:

• Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Foreign Ministers are meeting to discuss economic cooperation, including national currency payments for mutual trade.
• The proposal comes from Central Asian members due to the Ukraine war and sanctions on Russia, one of the founder members.
• India is already in bilateral discussions with Russia on using national payments to circumvent unilateral sanctions.
• SCO Foreign Ministers will assess the status of decisions approved at the July SCO Summit in New Delhi.
• India brought economic and cultural cooperation issues to the table during its presidency.
• SCO Heads of State Summit in July to decide on all points, including national payments collaboration.
• SCO Foreign Ministers to discuss induction of Iran and Belarus as full members.
• India is appreciated as a “balancing” force despite having no ties with co-member Pakistan and strained relations with China due to military stand-off at the LAC and being part of U.S.-led groupings like the Quad.
  

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Karaikudi R. Mani, a renowned mridangam player in the Carnatic music world, passed away at 77 in Chennai.

Topic:  GS1 – Indian art and culture.

Issue:

• He popularized South Indian percussion instruments globally through his troupe Sruthilaya and collaborated with American singer Paul Simon on the album Dazzling Blue.
• Mani trained many students and played for Carnatic music legends such as M.S. Subbulakshmi, D.K. Pattammal, and T.M. Thiagarajan, among others.
• His skill on the mridangam embellished entire concerts, and he was well-versed in ragas and keerthanas.
• Mani won his first award at the national level when he was 18 and received the “Sangeet Natak Academy” National Award in 1998.
• He founded Sruthilaya in 1984, which brought the mridangam to the centre stage and collaborated with similar artists from the Australian Art Orchestra and Nada, Finland.
  

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More About Washington Declaration.

Topic:  GS2 – International relations

Context:

• During his visit to the U.S. on April 25, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol signed the “Washington Declaration,” focusing on nuclear deterrence strategy, to mark the 70th anniversary of U.S.-South Korea bilateral relations.

Issue:

• The declaration includes the deployment of an American nuclear ballistic submarine in the Korean peninsula, forming a nuclear consultative group, and strengthening of South Korea’s nuclear deterrence capabilities through joint military training programs and annual simulations.
• The U.S. is not keen on South Korea having a nuclear arsenal due to their efforts to control global nuclear arms production and the non-proliferation goal, among other reasons.
• China criticized the agreement, while North Korea warned that it would expose the region and the world to grave danger.
• The South Korean public is sceptical about U.S. support, with most wanting to build nuclear weapons for deterrence.
  

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Talks between India and Russia to settle trade in rupees have been suspended.

Topic: GS2, GS3 – International relations, economy.

Context:

• India and Russia have reportedly suspended talks to settle trade in rupees, which was meant to facilitate trade between the two countries and bypass the U.S. dollar.

Issue:

• India and Russia have halted negotiations to settle bilateral trade in rupees.
• Moscow reportedly declined to keep rupees in its reserves, resulting in a setback for Indian importers waiting for a rupee payment mechanism to lower currency conversion costs for cheap oil and coal imports from Russia.
• If such a mechanism is worked out, Russia has a high trade surplus with India and is concerned about ending up with a yearly rupee surplus of over $40 billion.
• Most trade between the two countries is conducted in U.S. dollars, with an increasing amount done in currencies such as the UAE dirham.
• India had begun exploring a rupee settlement mechanism with Russia soon after the invasion of Ukraine.