Daily News Capsules
1. New cess bill on sin goods likely as Parliament opens today
Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman is scheduled to introduce a bill in the Lok Sabha on Monday to levy “Health Security se National Security Cess” on pan masala and any other items notified by the central government to meet expenditure on national security and for public health, people in the know of the matter said on Sunday. The bill may immediately impose a cess on pan masala and could later extend it to other sin goods such as cigarettes and tobacco products (excluding bidis), they said. It is also expected to empower the central government to add any item to the list in the future in the interest of public welfare. Once the bill becomes an act, the proposed cess will come into effect on the day the government notifies it in the official gazette, the people added. According to the proposed health and national security cess legislation, the levy is expected on the production capacity of specified items. Individual producers or firms will self-declare location-wise production capacity of their units for the purpose of the cess, they said. Citing the example of pan masala, they said a cess of about ₹100 per month per machine is expected to be levied if a facility has a production capacity of 500 units of 2.5gm pouches or packets per minute per machine. The cess rates may increase with the increase in production speed as well as the weight of specified goods (pan masala in this case) in each pouch, or packet, or tin, or container, they added.
Possible Question
Discuss the constitutional, economic, and public-health considerations involved in using cesses for targeted social objectives.
2. Public perception of police must be changed, says PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called upon top police officers from across the country to realign policing practices with the national vision of a Viksit Bharat, emphasising the need to modernise systems, transform public perception of the police and deepen youth engagement. Addressing the 60th All India Conference of Director Generals and Inspector Generals of Police at the Indian Institute of Management, Raipur, Modi said the police must enhance professionalism, sensitivity and responsiveness while ensuring citizen-centric service delivery. An official statement said Modi underlined the need to strengthen urban policing and tourist police and said that rapidly growing cities demand dedicated approaches to public safety and law-and-order management. He also called for increased public awareness of the newly enacted Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam and Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, which have replaced the colonial-era criminal laws. The PM said regular and structured monitoring of banned outfits is essential, along with ensuring holistic development in areas freed from Left-Wing Extremism.
Possible Question
Critically examine how police modernisation, legal reforms (including the new criminal laws), and community-centred policing can together create a more citizen-centric law-and-order ecosystem.
3. SC: Cannot use insolvency to deny dignified housing
Insolvency protection cannot become an instrument to perpetuate displacement or defer the constitutional promise of dignified housing, the Supreme Court underlined on Friday, stressing that the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) was never intended to shield developers who default, abandon performance, or frustrate projects of public significance. Economic revival, the court held, cannot eclipse citizens’ fundamental right to live in safe and habitable conditions. A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan dismissed an appeal filed by AA Estates Private Limited, currently undergoing Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP), challenging a September 2024 judgment of the Bombay high court that had cleared the way for redevelopment of dilapidated Kher Nagar Sukhsadan Co-operative Housing Society in Bandra (East), Mumbai. The high court had permitted the society’s plea and directed authorities to process redevelopment permissions in favour of the newly appointed developer, Tristar Development LLP, after years of delay and alleged obstruction by AA Estates and its Resolution Professional (RP). Calling redevelopment of unsafe habitation a “human-centered welfare initiative” rather than a mere commercial transaction, the top court held that the invocation of insolvency proceedings or a moratorium under IBC cannot be weaponised to stall projects impacting hundreds of families. “The law must balance commercial rights with human realities,” noted the bench, adding that the Code was designed to revive viable entities, not to protect developers who display no bona fide intent to fulfil obligations.
Possible Question
Analyse the tension between commercial insolvency processes and socio economic rights in India’s urban redevelopment landscape. How can regulatory frameworks ensure both urban renewal and protection of vulnerable residents?
4. Live-in partners can be tried for cruelty under 498A : HC
The Karnataka high court has held that Indian Penal Code Section 498A, which punishes cruelty by a husband or his relatives, can apply even to “live-in relationships” and to “void or voidable marriages.” In an order passed on November 18, justice Suraj Govindaraj ruled: “…the expression ‘husband’ in Section 498A IPC is not confined to a man in a legally valid marriage, but extends to one who enters into a marital relationship which is void or voidable, as also to a live-in relationship which bears the attributes of marriage, so long as the essential ingredients of cruelty as defined in the explanation to the section are satisfied.” In such cases, one can be booked and tried under Section 498A, which is now replaced by Sections 85 and 86 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, “so long as the ingredients of cruelty are proved,” the court said. The court made the observations while hearing a petition filed by a man seeking quashing of a case registered against him on his second wife’s complaint. The petitioner’s counsel, however, argued that he cannot be charged under Section 498A because the complainant was not his legally wedded wife. The counsel argued that since the earlier marriage was valid, no lawful second marriage could have occurred, and at best the arrangement with the complainant was a “live-in relationship.”
Possible Question
With courts increasingly recognising live-in relationships within the framework of domestic-violence and cruelty laws, evaluate how India’s legal system is adapting to evolving social realities. What challenges do such judicial interpretations pose for due process, gender protection, and clarity in personal laws?
5. ‘Offender of the week’: White House unveils website section criticising coverage by media
The White House has rolled out a new section of its official website on Friday that publicly criticises and catalogues media organisations and journalists it claims have distorted coverage, the Guardian reported. The webpage is topped with a title that says: “Misleading. Biased. Exposed.” Underneath is a tagline saying “media offender of the week”, which is followed by a video of reporters from different organisations that the White House said made false claims in their coverage of certain stories. The webpage elaborated these media offences into categories such as “bias”, “lie”, “malpractice”, “omission of context”, “left wing lunacy”, “circular reporting”, “misrepresentation” and “failure to report”. Currently, the website lists the Boston Globe, CBS News and the Independent as “media offenders”, accusing them of misrepresenting Trump’s remarks, and seeking for American lawmakers to be held accountable for inciting alleged sedition. Below that are two columns. The one on the left identifies the media outlets, and names the reporters involved in allegedly distorting coverage below it. On the right column is their “offence”, followed by the “truth” and “sources” backing the White House’s contention. The currently identified “offence” on the website is that “the media misrepresented President Trump’s call for Members of Congress to be held accountable for inciting sedition by saying that he called for their ‘execution’.” With the next scroll, the White House then attempts to name, and shame. A section labelled “Offender Hall of Shame” aims to record “the media’s false and misleading stories”. “Scroll for the Truth”, it directs. The Hall features names of the Washington Post, CBS News, CNN, MSNBC, New York Times, Axios, Los Angeles Times, Politico, and the Wall Street Journal, among others, along with their reports that the White House took exception to.
Possible Question
Executive attempts to publicly rank or name-and-shame media organisations raise concerns about democratic norms. Discuss the implications of such practices for press freedom, citizen trust, and the institutional balance between government communication and media independence.
Editorial Snapshots
A. Taming abuse and hate online
When the Supreme Court directed the Centre this week to draft guidelines within four weeks for regulating user-generated content, it acknowledged a problem technology companies have long preferred to ignore. Harmful content — spreading hate, defamation, targeting of vulnerable communities — spreads with impunity while platforms hide behind inadequate self-regulation. The same bench ordered comedians who mocked persons with disabilities to host fundraisers twice monthly — after petitions detailed how India’s Got Latent, a purported comedy-talent show, mocked families desperately raising funds for children with spinal muscular atrophy. A key part of the problem in the recent cases was the format — videos and audio — where detection proves most challenging. Automated systems trained predominantly on English-language datasets struggle with context, cultural nuance, and linguistic complexity in other languages. The apex court’s intervention drew understandable concerns about free speech. Senior advocates representing platforms warned against overreach. The court itself said it seeks regulations that are not meant to “throttle” anyone but to create a “sieve”, filtering out bad content. Here, it is crucial to remind ourselves of India’s constitutional architecture — an approach that rejects absolutist interpretations of free speech. This is where the Big Tech platforms, more than fame-seeking internet users, need to be held accountable. Big Tech relies on self-regulatory bodies for most content policing decisions (except for outright illegality, including gore or pornography). The Court directive represents overdue calls for accountability over systematic failures. A well thought-out policy must follow, possibly after the executive considers the views of all stakeholders and due deliberation in Parliament.
Possible Question
What role should Big Tech, independent oversight bodies, and algorithmic transparency play in ensuring both free expression and protection from harm?
B. The message in high growth
An 8.2% GDP growth in the quarter ending September and an 8% growth in the first half of the fiscal year are unambiguously good numbers as far as the economy is concerned. This underlines the inherent robustness of the Indian economy at a time when the global economy is in a funk, and India has had to weather quite a few disruptions in its external economic engagements. The fact that this growth has come at a time when inflation is lower than normal also shows that the economy is anything but overheated at the moment. But three things need to be flagged here. One, some of the boost could be statistical because of low inflation and, therefore, the GDP deflator ends up much lower. This statistical tailwind will weaken going forward, and the annual growth number is likely to end up below what it is in the first half. Two, some of the growth boost could be on account of one-time tailwinds to growth rather than a structural upgrade of the Indian economy’s growth prospects. The 2025-26 Union Budget gave a consumption boost via income tax cuts. This was followed by another boost via a reduction in Goods and Services Tax rates on most commodities. Three, while the real rate is extremely impressive, the economy will have to deal with the effects of sub-par nominal growth, which is clocking just 8.7% for the first half of the fiscal year. Nominal growth is the base for revenue collections and debt servicing and also matters when it comes to business earnings. Managers, both at the finance ministry and those running businesses, would do well to brace for the headwinds from lower nominal growth this year. These concerns aside, the latest GDP numbers do point to a healthy state of economic activity, which could, with careful policy intervention, embark on a higher growth path in both the near term and the medium term. That’s a good position to be in.
Possible Question
Critically evaluate whether India’s current growth momentum is structural or driven by one-off fiscal and statistical factors. What policy adjustments are needed to sustain high-quality medium-term growth?
Fact of the day
AI helps drive record $11.8 billion in Black Friday online buys: AI-powered shopping tools helped drive a surge in US online spending on Black Friday, as shoppers bypassed crowded stores and turned to chatbots to compare prices and secure discounts amid concerns about tariff-driven price hikes. US shoppers spent a record $11.8 billion online, up 9.1% from 2024 on the year’s biggest shopping day, according to Adobe Analytics, which tracks 1 trillion visits that shoppers make to online retail websites. The holiday shopping season arrives amid tighter budgets, unemployment nearing a four-year high, US consumer confidence sagging to a seven-month low and price tags that have shoppers watching every dollar. Online shopping demand increased as consumers showed savviness in the holiday season, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which noted a 10.4% growth in e-commerce sales on Black Friday, compared to an in-store sales growth of 1.7% in 2024. The AI-driven traffic to US retail sites soared 805% compared to last year, Adobe said, when artificial intelligence tools such as Walmart’s Sparky or Amazon’s Rufus had not yet been launched. “Consumers are using new tools to get to what they need faster,” said Suzy Davidkhanian, an analyst at eMarketer. “Gift giving can be stressful, and LLMs (large language models) make the discovery process feel quicker and more guided.” Hot sellers on Black Friday included LEGO sets, Pokemon cards, gaming consoles like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, and products ranging from Apple AirPods to KitchenAid mixers. Globally, AI and agents influenced $14.2 billion in online sales on Black Friday, of which $3 billion came from the US alone, according to software firm Salesforce.
