Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for April 11, 2023. If you missed the April 10, 2023 UPSC key from the Indian Express, read it here Note: There will be no UPSC Key on April 12th, 13th, or 14th. However, a compilation of these will be available on Sunday, April 16, 2023. FRONT PAGE AAP gets national party tag, but NCP, TMC, CPI lose status Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. Main Examination: General Studies II: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- IN A boost for the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections next year, the Election Commission (EC) recognised it as a national party on Monday. The Trinamool Congress (TMC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India (CPI), however, lost their national party status. The EC’s decision was based on a review of the parties’ poll performances — the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls and 21 state assembly polls since 2014. Besides other benefits, the status of a national party ensures that the party’s symbol is reserved for its candidates across the country, and it gets land for an office in the national capital. • What is political party? • There are four types of political parties in the contemporary democratic states-what are they? • The party system in India has the certain characteristic features-what are they? • What is National Party? • What are the conditions for recognition as a national party in India? • How Election Commission of India defines National Party? • How many national parties are there in India? • The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, stipulates the criteria for recognition as a national or state party-know the criteria • Where does the AAP fit into this scheme? • Aam Aadmi Party recognised as National Party-what criteria has the party fulfilled to become the National Party? • What is a State Party? • What are the basic requirement to be recognised as a state party? • National Party and State Party-compare and contrast • What are the other national parties? • Why the Trinamool Congress (TMC), Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Communist Party of India (CPI), lost their national party status? • For Your Information-Acting under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968, which stipulates the criteria for recognition as a national or state party, the EC’s order said AAP had fulfilled the requirement of being a recognised state party in four or more states. According to Paragraph 6C of the order, amended with effect from January 1, 2014, a party will continue to be a national or state party if it fulfils the criteria laid down in Paragraphs 6A and 6B in the “next election”, after the one in which it “got recognition”. Among other conditions, Paragraph 6A states that a state party must get at least 6% of the votes polled in the last Assembly election and at least two MLAs; or 6% vote share and one MP from that state in the last Lok Sabha election; or 3% of the total seats in the Assembly or three seats, whichever is more. Similarly, Paragraph 6B states that a national party must get at least 6% vote share in four or more states in the last Lok Sabha or Assembly elections and have at least four MPs; or at least 2% of the seats in the Lok Sabha, with its candidates having been elected from at least three states. Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍AAP gets tag: How a ‘national party’ is defined TN Assembly resolution seeks ‘time limit’ for Governors to clear Bills Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc. Mains Examination: General Studies II: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story-ESCALATING THE tension between the DMK government led by Chief Minister M K Stalin and Governor R N Ravi, the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Monday adopted a resolution in which it criticised Raj Bhavan for stalling Bills and asked the Centre to fix a “specific time limit” for “Governors to give assent to Bills passed by the Legislatures”. Hours later, Ravi cleared a Bill pending for 131 days which seeks to ban online gambling and regulate online games. • Once again, Governor R. N. Ravi in the news right now-Why? • The curious case of Tamil Nadu politics-What is going on between the governor and the state government? • “Governor” is neither a decorative emblem nor a glorified cipher. His powers are limited but he has an important constitutional role to play in the governance of the state and in strengthening federalism-Analyse the role of the Governor • Articles 153 to 167 in Part VI of the Constitution deal with the state executive. The state executive consists of what? • The office of governor has a dual role-Elaborate • The Governor of a State is appointed by the whom? • The Constitution lays down certain conditions for the governor’s office-what are those conditions? • Every ordinary bill is given to the governor for his approval after it has been approved by the legislative assembly. The Governor has four options with respect to the bill-what are they? • The governor enjoys only a ‘suspensive veto’-What is Suspensive Veto? • Why Tamil Nadu Assembly on adopted a resolution in which it criticised Raj Bhavan for stalling Bills? • Governor R N Ravi and Tamil Nadu State Government have major differences over multiple issues-why • What are the Constitutional Roles of a Governor? • Office of Governor-know the historical background • Why has the Governor’s role and powers recently become a matter of contention? • “A good governor must stay above politics and manifestly be seen as impartial and fair”-Discuss • Various attempts were made to understand the role of the governor to strengthening center-state relations-Can you name those committees and their recommendations? • Administrative Reforms Commission of 1968, the Rajamanar Committee of 1969, the Sarkaria commission of 1988 and Punchhi Commission-What were their recommendations in the context of role of Governor? • The Sarkaria Commission, set up in 1983 to look into Centre-state relations, proposed certain points for the selection of Governors-Know them in detail • What Punchhi Committee, constituted in 2007 on Centre-state relations said on selection the Governor? • The Punchhi Committee recommended deleting the “Doctrine of Pleasure” from the Constitution-What is “Doctrine of Pleasure”? • What Supreme Court of India said about the Governor’s role? • How things changed after the S.R. Bommai case ,1994? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Governor vs government Previous Year Prelims Questions Covering Same theme: 📍With reference to the Legislative Assembly of a State in India, consider the following statements: (Please Refer GS1 2019 for Complete Question) 1. The Governor makes a customary address to Members of the House at the commencement of the first session of the year. 2. When a State Legislature does’ not have a rule on a particular matter, it follows the Lok Sabha rule on that matter. 📍Which one of the following suggested that the Governor should be an eminent person from outside the State and should be a detached figure without intense political links or should not have taken part in politics in the recent past? (Please Refer GS1 2019 for Complete Question) 📍Which of the following are the discretionary powers given to the Governor of a State? (Please Refer GS1 2014 for Complete Question) 1. Sending a report to the President of India for imposing the President’s rule 2. Appointing the Ministers 3. Reserving certain bills passed by the State Legislature for consideration of the President of India 4. Making the rules to conduct the business of the State Government UN fund launched in 2005 on sidelines of India-US N-deal Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Main Examination: General Studies II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- India and the US were prime movers behind the UN Democracy Fund in 2005, when they were negotiating the civilian nuclear co-operation deal. As Joint Secretary (Americas) at the time, S Jaishankar was a lead negotiator. That India, a founding member of UNDEF, has no objections to the Fund giving grants to NGOs funded by George Soros, while he is put on the watchlist in India underlines a contradiction that’s not new. • Who is George Soros? • When was UN Democracy Fund established? • Who is the head of United Nations Democracy Fund? • What is India's contribution to UNDEF? • UN Democracy Fund-Role, Vision and features • Do You Know-During Prime Manmohan Singh’s visit to the US in July 2005, when he and US President George Bush announced the India-US framework agreement on civilian nuclear co-operation, they also announced the US-India Global Democracy Initiative, and support to the UN Democracy Fund that had been set up a couple of months earlier with an inaugural contribution of $ 10 million each. At the World Summit during the UN General Assembly in September 2005, Bush and Singh co-sponsored a fund-raising event for UNDEF. At the summit, 170 heads of state agreed to work together for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Democracy was seen as essential to this. The UNDEF was part of the World Summit’s outcome document. India gave $5 million to the fund in 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2011. No contribution was made in 2007 and 2010. The contributions began dipping from 2012. That year the contribution was $4.71 m. The following year it was $1.85 million. • Know in brief-CIVICUS and Transparency, Accountability and Participation Network Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍In New Delhi, George Soros is old, dangerous and on a watchlist — at UN, he isn’t a problem THE CITY SC: How can L-G act without aid, advice of council of ministers? Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance Mains Examination: General Studies II: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- THE SUPREME Court Monday orally observed as to how the Lieutenant Governor(L-G) can act “without aid and advice” of the council of ministers in nominating 10 members to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). • What is the difference between Governor and Lieutenant Governor? • How powerful is a Governor? • How powerful is a Lieutenant Governor? • Do you agree that the Lt. Governor of Delhi has more power? Attest your opinion with some recent incidence. • What is the 69th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1991? • The Chief Minister of Delhi is appointed by the Lieutenant Governor (LG)-True or False? • In Delhi, In the case of difference of opinion between the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) and his ministers, the Lieutenant governor’s (L-G) decision is taken into the consideration-True or False? • Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991-Know the Key Provisions • The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021 and Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991-Compare and Contrast • Know the Key Provisions of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021 • Articles 239AA and 239AB of the Constitution-Know in Detail • There was Conflict between the Chief Minister of Delhi and the Lieutenant Governor (L-G)-What were the point of conflicts between the two? • Supreme Court of India’s Verdict in Government of NCT of Delhi vs Union of India and Another in 2018 case-Know in Detail • ‘The chief minister-led council of ministers supports and counsels the lieutenant governor as he fulfils his duties. When the lieutenant governor and his ministers disagree, the lieutenant governor must bring the issue to the president for resolution and take appropriate action’-Do you believe that the lieutenant governor of Delhi has followed this procedure correctly? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Explained: Centre versus state in Delhi – what is the latest issue? 📍Why elected govt in Delhi if full control with you, SC asks Centre GOVT & POLITICS Top court dismisses petitions challenging Delhi HC order Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance Mains Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed petitions challenging the Delhi High Court judgment which upheld the Agnipath scheme for recruitment to the armed forces. “Overall there is nothing for us to interfere,” a bench presided by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said after hearing the petitioners who said the scheme had left those hoping to apply under the old method stranded. • What is ‘Agneepath Scheme’? • Who are ‘Agniveer’ under the Agneepath Scheme? • Aim of New Tour of Duty system-Know in Detail • How would the Indian Army benefit from the Tour of Duty? • What will be advantages esp. for the Government with this new move? • Tour Of Duty may have certain drawbacks. What are they? • What exactly Delhi High Court said? • Discuss the statement in the context of judicial interference in the government’s policy decisions: “That unless a policy decision taken by the government is demonstrably capricious or arbitrary, or if it suffers from the vice of discrimination or infringes any statute or provision of the Constitution,” • What exactly Supreme Court Said? • The Agnipath scheme is a major structural reform for the armed forces and society at large-What are the structural and fundamental changes proposed in this scheme? • Why ‘Agneepath’ is said to be a “major defence policy reform”? • The expenditure on defence constitutes what percentage of the central government’s budget? • The expenditure on defence is what percentage of India’s estimated GDP for previous years? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Playing with Agni 📍Govt’s big employment push Gadkari inspects work on Zojila tunnel: Will boost employment Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Main Examination: General Studies III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Monday inspected Zojila tunnel, which will establish all-weather connectivity between the Union Territories of Ladakh and Jammu and Kashmir. Gadkari visited the project site along with J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and members of the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Road Transport and Highways. • Map Work-Zojila Pass • What is significant about Zojila Pass? • Why is Zojila Pass called zero point? • Zojila tunnel-Know in Detail • From a strategic point of view, why Zojila tunnel is important • For Your Information-A 7.57 metres high horseshoe-shaped single-tube, two-lane tunnel, which will pass under the Zojila Pass between Ganderbal district in Kashmir and Drass town in Kargil district of Ladakh is also under construction. The project includes a Smart Tunnel (SCADA) System, which has been constructed using the new Austrian tunnelling method. “The use of modern technology in this project has saved the government more than Rs 5,000 crore,” the administration stated on Monday. With the construction of this tunnel, Ladakh is expected to have all-weather connectivity around the year. At present, the average travel time to cross Zojila Pass takes upwards of three hours, which is expected to come down to 20 minutes after the completion of this tunnel. Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Zojila tunnel: Kashmir to Ladakh, all year round THE EDITORIAL PAGE Ministry of Truth Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Main Examination: • General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. • General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- Apar Gupta writes: On April 6, a new power of censorship was born with a gazette notification. The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MEITY) created the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023 [IT Rules, 2023]. It authorises a “fact check unit of the central government” to identify, “fake or false or misleading” information in respect of, “any business of the central government”. • Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023-Know the Key Highlights • Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules 2021 and Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023-Compare and Contrast • What are the proposed amendments in Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Amendment Rules, 2023? • What is fact-checking unit? • For Your Information-The Ministry of Electronics and IT notified amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021, which allows the Ministry to appoint a fact-check body which will take a call on whether online information related to the Central Government is accurate. The final rules come months after the Ministry, in January, had first proposed that any piece of news that has been identified as “fake” by the fact-checking unit of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) – the Centre’s nodal agency to share news updates – will not be allowed on online intermediaries. However, the final draft has removed the reference to PIB. • The proposal drawn a lot of criticism-Why? • What do the final rules say? • The Final Rules Now- On paper, what the final rules now say is that an online intermediary – including social media platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter and internet service providers like Airtel, Jio and Vodafone Idea – should make “reasonable efforts” to not host content related to the Central Government that is “identified as fake or misleading” by a “fact check unit” that may be notified by the IT Ministry. In essence, if any piece of information is marked as fake by the upcoming fact check unit, intermediaries will be required to take it down, failing which they would risk losing their safe harbour, which protects them from litigation against third-party content. Social media sites will have to take down such posts, and internet service providers will have to block URLs of such content. • What has the Centre said on concerns around censorship? • What do you understand by ‘Significant Social Media Intermediaries (SSMIs)’? • Digital media regulation in India-Know in detail Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Govt-appointed fact-check body: What it will do, concerns around it THE WORLD Pak House again passes Bill to curb powers of SC Chief Justice Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance. Main Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighborhood- relations. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- A joint session of Pakistan’s Parliament on Monday passed a bill to curb the powers of the chief justice of the Supreme Court regarding suo motu cases and the constitution of benches, amidst strong opposition from Imran Khan-led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. “Parliament in its Joint session passes ‘The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023’,” the National Assembly or the lower house announced in a tweet. • Indian Judicial System vs Pakistan Judicial System-Compare and Contrast • For Your Information-Pakistan is witnessing a rift between the judiciary and the government after a three-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Uma Ata Bandial fixed May 14 as the date for elections to the Punjab Assembly and quashed the Election Commission’s decision to extend the date of the poll from April 10 to October 8. The apex court’s verdict was criticised by the coalition government led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party, which has refused to accept it. The government is keen to curb the suo motu powers of the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Bandial. • The Supreme Court (Practice and Procedure) Bill, 2023-Know the key highlights • What does the Bill say? • Do You Know-The Bill has three crucial provisions — what suo motu cases can be taken up will be decided by a committee consisting of the Chief Justice and two other senior most judges instead of only the Chief Justice; benches to hear these cases will also be decided by the committee instead of the top judge, where any case that involves interpreting the Constitution will not have a bench with fewer than five judges; and decisions made in such cases will be open to appeals. The Constitution of Pakistan provides for “Original Jurisdiction of Supreme Court” under Article 184. Suo motu cases are taken up under Article 184 (3), where the SC can take up a case “if it considers that a question of public importance with reference to the enforcement of any of the Fundamental Rights” is involved. So far, matters under this were directly at the discretion of the Chief Justice. Another key provision is that “an application pleading urgency or seeking interim relief, filed in a cause, appeal or matter, shall be fixed for hearing within fourteen days from the date of its filing.” • What led up to this? • What happens next? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Pakistan Bill to curb Chief Justice’s powers: What does it say, how it can impact Nawaz Sharif’s case ‘Ready to fight’: China after completing three-day combat drills near Taiwan Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s Interest Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- After completing its three days of large-scale combat exercises around Taiwan, China’s military on Monday announced that its “ready to fight” any attempts to achieve Taiwan’s ‘independence’ or any interference by foreign forces, Associated Press reported. The exercises, which began on Saturday (April 8) and involved simulating the “seal off” of the island, were seen as China’s response to the recent visit of Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen to the United States. • China’s "Joint Sword” drill-what and why? • Taiwan and China-Know the Background • For Your Information-Taiwan, earlier known as Formosa, a tiny island off the east coast of China, is where Chinese republicans of the Kuomintang government retreated after the 1949 victory of the communists — and it has since continued as the Republic of China. The island is located in the East China Sea, to the northeast of Hong Kong, north of the Philippines and south of South Korea, and southwest of Japan. What happens in and around Taiwan is of deep concern to all of East Asia. Taiwan observes October 10 — “double 10” — as its national day; it was on this day in 1911 that sections of the Manchu army rose in rebellion, leading ultimately to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty and the end of 4,000 years of the monarchy. The RoC was declared on December 29, 1911, and it found its feet in the 1920s under the leadership of Dr Sun Yat-sen, founder of the Kuomintang (KMT) Party. Sun was succeeded by General Chiang Kai-shek, whose actions against the Chinese communists, who were part of an alliance with the KMT, triggered the civil war that ended in victory for the communists and the retreat of Chiang and the KMT to Taiwan. Since its founding in 1949, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has believed that Taiwan must be reunified with the mainland, while the RoC has held out as an “independent” country. The RoC became the non-communist frontier against China during the Cold War, and was the only ‘China’ recognised at the UN until 1971. That was when the US inaugurated ties with China through the secret diplomacy of Henry Kissinger, national security adviser to President Richard Nixon. The US backs Taiwan’s independence, maintains ties with Taipei, and sells weapons to it — but officially subscribes to PRC’s “One China Policy”, which means there is only one legitimate Chinese government. Just 14, mostly very small, countries recognise Taiwan. • China-Taiwan tensions-Know in detail • How does the world, and US, view Taiwan? • How does the India view Taiwan? • “Many East Asian and South East Asian countries economic and commercial interests are bound ever tighter with the large and growing Chinese economy”-How far you agree with this? • What is Taiwan’s strategy to fight back in case China attempts to occupy it by force? • For Your Information- While following the One-China policy, India has an office in Taipei for diplomatic functions — India-Taipei Association (ITA) is headed by a senior diplomat. Taiwan has the Taipei Economic and Cultural Center (TECC) in New Delhi. Both were established in 1995. • Map Work-Taiwan • What is the ‘One China’ policy? • India-Taiwan Bilateral Relations-Know in detail • So, what is the present situation? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Explained: The China-Taiwan tussle EXPLAINED El Niño and the monsoon Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Indian and World Geography Mains Examination: General Studies I: Important Geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, Tsunami, Volcanic activity, cyclone etc., geographical features and their location-changes in critical geographical features (including water-bodies and ice-caps) and in flora and fauna and the effects of such changes. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- India has had four consecutive years of good monsoons and overall rainfall from 2019 to 2022. In these four years, the country as a whole received an average area-weighted rainfall of 1,268 millimetres (mm) annually and 933.1 mm over the four-month southwest monsoon season (June-September). By contrast, the preceding five years from 2014 to 2018 – roughly coinciding with the first term of the Narendra Modi government – registered an average annual rainfall of just 1,072.1 mm and 812.4 mm during the southwest monsoon. The surplus precipitation – more than the “normal” or historical long period annual average of 1,160.1 mm and 868.6 mm for the monsoon season – during the last four years has helped deliver higher agricultural growth, relative to the previous period that recorded poor rain in three (2014, 2015 and 2018) out of the five years • The bountiful rainfall during 2019-22 has been significantly attributed to La Niña-Discuss • What is La Niña in weather? • Do You Know-La Niña basically refers to an abnormal cooling of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean waters off the coasts of Ecuador and Peru. Such cooling (SSTs falling 0.5 degrees Celsius or more below a 30-year average for at least five successive three-month periods) is a result of strong trade winds blowing west along the equator, taking warm water from South America towards Asia. The warming of the western equatorial Pacific, then, leads to increased evaporation and concentrated cloud-formation activity around that region, whose effects may percolate to India as well. The latest La Niña event was one of the longest ever, lasting from July-September 2020 to December-February 2022-23. And it brought copious rains to India – just as two previous “strong” La Niñas in 2007-08 and 2010-11, followed by one “moderate” episode in 2011-12, had done. The most recent Oceanic Niño Index or ONI value — a three-month running-average SST deviation from the normal in the east-central equatorial Pacific — was minus 0.4 degrees Celsius for January-March 2023. Since La Niña is characterised by a negative ONI exceeding or equal to minus 0.5 degrees, it means that the so-called ENSO (El Niño-Southern Oscillation) cycle has entered a “neutral” phase. • What is ‘Triple dip’ La Niña? • What are the El Niño and La Niña? • El Niño and La Niña events are not mirror images of each other. They differ in length and strength-How • What are the conditions which causes La Nina? • EL Nino Southern Oscillation or ENSO impact on Monsoon? • Indian Ocean Dipole-Know in Detail • How La Nina Impacts-Know Sector and region wise • But why have La Nina conditions continued for three years? • What is the reason behind an early heat wave in North India? • La Nina phenomenon, North-South low-pressure pattern over India in winters and Heat waves-Connect the dots • What is Inter Tropical Convergence Zone? Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍What is La Nina – how it impacts India’s monsoon? ECONOMY Bill banning online gambling gets Tamil Nadu Guv’s nod despite Centre’s new gaming rules Syllabus: Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance Mains Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation. Key Points to Ponder: • What’s the ongoing story- Hours after Tamil Nadu’s legislative assembly passed a resolution against its Governor RN Ravi for indefinitely withholding assent to several bills, he gave his assent to the state government’s Bill banning online gambling. Stakeholders from the online gaming sector – who were earlier miffed with the Bill – have said that they will mount a legal challenge against it after it is notified. The state’s assembly had passed the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Ordinance, 2022 last October. However, in early March, the Governor had returned the ordinance for consideration once again. But a few weeks later, the assembly readopted the Bill and sent it to Raj Bhavan once again. • Online Gambling and Regulation of Online Games Ordinance, 2022-know the key highlights • For Your Information-The Bill prohibits online gambling and online games of chance played for money or other stakes. While it specifically names Rummy and Poker as games of chance, the can go much wider in scope – it defines online games of chance as those where both an element of chance and skill are involved, and the element of chance dominates over the element of skill; games are presented as games of chance; the element of chance can only be eliminated by superlative skill; or games involve cards, dice, or wheel which work on random event generators. • Online gaming so far has been a state subject-true or false? • How big is the online gaming market in India? • Is there any central-level law on online gaming? • Any task force on online gaming by the Central Government? • Do You Know- The revenue of the Indian mobile gaming industry is expected to reach $5 billion in 2025. The industry grew at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 38 per cent in India between 2017-2020, as opposed to 8 per cent in China and 10 per cent in the US. It is expected to grow at a CAGR of 15 per cent to reach Rs 153 billion in revenue by 2024, as per a report by VC firm Sequoia and management consulting company BCG. • How have stakeholders reacted to the proposed rules? • What are the recommendations of the task force? • Which ministry will be in charge of the regulation? • What did the task force say about offshore betting apps? • Games of chance and Games of skill-compare and contrast • “The distinction between a game of chance and a game of skill has been maintained for over 150 years”-Analyse the statement • ‘In May 2022, Group of Ministers (GoM) were formed to look into the tax rate on casinos, online gaming and race courses, has arrived at a broad consensus to levy a flat rate of 28 per cent on these services under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) regime’-But, why 28 percent? • GST on online gaming-brainstorm the pros and cons Other Important Articles Covering the same topic: 📍Draft rules for online gaming: What are the regulations govt has released, and why For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com The Indian Express UPSC Hub is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest Updates.
