Daily News Capsules
1. Private entities may have to register for Aadhaar verification
The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is set to introduce a new rule that will require hotels, event organisers, and other private entities to register with the authority before they can ask for Aadhaar details electronically, news agency PTI reported on Sunday. The rule is meant to stop establishments from taking and storing photocopies of Aadhaar cards, which is not allowed under the Aadhaar Act. UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar told PTI that these entities, once registered, will be allowed to use a new, safer technology, like scanning a QR code or using the new Aadhaar app, to verify a person’s identity instead of taking photocopies. HT spoke to Kumar earlier, who said that UIDAI will notify a fresh regulation to operationalise Section 8A of the Aadhaar Act, which governs Offline Verification Seeking Entities (OVSEs). OVSEs are hotels, societies, or event organisers that want to verify Aadhaar without using the online authentication system that involves sending data to UIDAI’s servers. While the Act recognises OVSEs, there is no process or system yet for registration, said Kumar. The PTI report said the regulation has been approved and will be notified soon. He clarified that the regulation “does not make anything mandatory but will enable interested entities to use Aadhaar verification in electronic mode instead of the physical copies.” The upcoming Aadhaar app will let people share an electronic version of their ID, and also allow them to update their registered mobile number directly from their phone. UIDAI believes these features will reduce misuse of physical Aadhaar cards, prevent tampering, and give establishments a legal and safer alternative to collecting photocopies.
Possible Question
Examine whether India’s identity-verification ecosystem adequately balances privacy protection, ease of service delivery, and accountability of private data handlers.
2. India, US call for UN action against Pak terror units
India and the US have sought additional designations and punitive measures such as an asset freeze and arms embargo by the UN against proxies of Pakistan-based terror groups Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and affiliates of Islamic State and al-Qaeda. The two sides made this call while discussing ways to boost cooperation to combat terror at a meeting of the bilateral joint working group on counter-terrorism and a terrorist designations dialogue in New Delhi on December 3. The additional designations of proxies, supporters, sponsors, financiers and backers of LeT and JeM and affiliates of Islamic State and al-Qaeda under the UN Security Council’s 1267 sanctions regime will ensure their members face a global asset freeze, travel ban and arms embargo, a joint statement said. Underscoring the convergence between India and the US on counter-terrorism, the Indian side thanked the US department of state for designating The Resistance Front (TRF), a proxy of LeT, as a foreign terrorist organisation and a specially designated global terrorist. The TRF had taken responsibility for the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The two sides also strongly condemned the terrorist attack in Pahalgam and the terror incident near the Red Fort in New Delhi on November 10, and stressed that those responsible for terrorism should be held accountable. “Both sides unequivocally condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including cross-border terrorism. They expressed concern over the increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), drones and AI for terrorist purposes,” the statement said. India and the US also discussed strengthening law enforcement and judicial cooperation, including through cooperation on mutual legal assistance requests.
Possible Question
How do international terror-designation regimes such as UNSC 1267 complement India’s domestic counter-terrorism framework? Discuss the challenges India faces in converting diplomatic support into enforceable on ground outcomes.
3. Make all prisons disabled-friendly, SC directs states
The Supreme Court has passed sweeping directions to all states and union territories to make prisons disabled-friendly and sought a compliance report within four months. The order, passed early last week, sought details of various aspects related to audit of prison infrastructure for disabled prisoners, their educational and health requirements and effective grievance redressal mechanism. A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta passed the order in a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by activist Satyan Naravoor who cited the instances of wheelchair-bound former Delhi University professor GN Saibaba and Parkinson-affected Stan Swamy. While Swamy died in incarceration in the Bhima Koregaon violence case, Saibaba passed away a few months after his acquittal in a case where he was alleged to have links with banned Maoists. Advocate Kaleeswaram Raj who appeared for Naravoor informed the court that currently jails are not equipped to keep disabled prisoners who have diverse needs and require disabled-friendly spaces, ramps for movement, learning and reading aids for pursuing education, among other needs. “No inmate shall be deprived of the opportunity to pursue educational programmes solely on account of disability, and suitable adjustments shall be made to facilitate their effective participation,” the bench said. As the judges embarked upon passing directions, they noted that a bench of the top court passed comprehensive directions in July this year in a case from Tamil Nadu that was restricted only to that particular state. The top court order of December 2 extended the directions passed in the July judgment in L Muruganantham case to all states and union territories.
Possible Question
Strengthening rights of prisoners with disabilities requires more than infrastructural reform. Critically analyse how systemic issues—such as overcrowding, lack of trained personnel, and prolonged pre-trial detention— shape the lived experience of vulnerable inmates in India’s prisons.
4. Customs duty regime next in line for reform: FM
Reforming India’s customs duty regime—by lowering rates on select goods, increasing transparency, and reducing official discretion—will be the next major economic reform push, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday. A comprehensive overhaul of the customs framework would be the continuation of a series of economic and regulatory overhauls that have eased the burden of compliance for businesses and consumers. This year alone, the finance minister streamlined income tax laws with the Income Tax Act 2025, besides lowering slabs in the Union budget, and, as chairperson of the GST Council, ushered in changes that rationalised India’s indirect tax structure. Speaking at the 23rd Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, the minister said the proposed customs reforms would be similar to the simplification undertaken in the Income Tax Act, which is being administered under a new statute starting this April. The proposed customs reforms will be comprehensive and entail duty rate rationalisation. “We have brought down customs duty over the last two years steadily. But in those few items where our rates are considered to be over the optimal level, we have to bring them down as well. Customs is my next big cleaning-up assignment,” Sitharaman said.
Possible Question
The finance minister has indicated a major overhaul of customs duties to enhance transparency and reduce discretion. Discuss how rationalising customs rates can strengthen India’s trade competitiveness while balancing the revenue needs of the Union government.
5. Delhi HC upholds 2013 rules barring entry of colour blind in forces
The Delhi high court has upheld the Centre’s 2013 guidelines that bar the recruitment of persons with defective vision, including colour blindness, to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) and Assam Rifles (AR), saying that the same are “not arbitrary, unreasonable or perverse”. A bench of justices Subramonium Prasad and Vimal Kumar Yadav, in its verdict delivered on November 28, observed that the 2013 guidelines are intended to ensure safety, as people with abnormal vision who cannot distinguish between uniforms or identify their colleagues may be unable to effectively engage with insurgents or terrorist groups. The verdict came in response to a petition filed by various individuals who had been selected as constables on probation in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF), but were later declared unfit after being diagnosed with defective colour vision and terminated from service. The petitioners had asserted that the guidelines were violative of their fundamental right to equality, since they were only applicable to the individuals who were recruited after the guidelines. The Centre’s lawyer justified the guidelines, saying colour identification is an important ability. He also clarified that the individuals were not a part of the regular service when the termination orders were passed. The court observed that as probationers they did not have an indefeasible right to continue in service until confirmation.
Possible Question
Courts have consistently upheld service-eligibility criteria in security forces on operational grounds. In light of the Delhi HC verdict on colour vision, discuss how India should balance equal opportunity with occupational standards in security-sensitive services.
Editorial Snapshots
A. Building on the past for the future
In many ways, the summit between PM Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin was an opportunity for India to reassert its stance of strategic autonomy amid unprecedented churn and uncertainty on the international stage. Modi’s act of breaking with protocol to receive Putin at the airport set the tone for the India-Russia Summit. The pageantry and hospitality were meant to impress Moscow about New Delhi’s commitment to bilateral ties, but could also be seen as a message to the US, which imposed punishing tariffs on Indian goods over Russian oil purchases, that India still has options. The decision by India and Russia to focus on their economic partnership at the summit and a subsequent business forum reflected the realisation by both sides that they can no longer depend solely on their long-standing defence and strategic ties to take their overall relations into the future. The “Programme for the Development of Strategic Areas of India-Russia Economic Cooperation till 2030” is meant to ensure that two-way trade and investment become more diversified and balanced, a necessary step at a time when trade is completely skewed in Russia’s favour. This, coupled with the renewed commitment to finalising a free trade agreement between India and the Eurasian Economic Union, could go a long way in addressing India’s concerns about the lack of access to Russian markets and non-tariff barriers. Putin has unambiguously backed New Delhi’s stance on terrorism and promised uninterrupted shipments of fuel to India. Both Putin and Modi were confident of expanding bilateral trade to $100 billion by 2030, up from $68 billion now. India-Russia ties have never looked so good since the heady days of the Indo-Soviet Friendship Treaty signed at the height of the Cold War in 1971. However, unlike then, India now has the economic heft, strategic confidence and diplomatic leverage to pursue close relations with Russia, the US and Europe in parallel. As it should.
Possible Question
India’s deepening economic engagement with Russia is unfolding amid shifting geopolitical alignments. Analyse how India’s pursuit of strategic autonomy shapes its ability to maintain parallel relationships with competing global powers.
B. Mango wars: Battling over brand Alphonso
Mango, it is said, is not a mere fruit but a culture. Which is why mango-growing regions are possessive about the varieties they grow and insist that theirs are the best. It is then no surprise that a war is brewing over the Alphonso (also called Hapus) between mango-growers in Maharashtra and Gujarat. Alphonso is India’s largest exported variety of mangoes, and the best fruit is claimed to be harvested from orchards in Devgad and Ratnagiri in the Konkan region in Maharashtra. The Devgad mango growers own the Alphonso GI (geographical indication) tag: They are so possessive about their “brand” that they have objected to the growers in Valsad, Gujarat, seeking a GI tag for their fruit. Valsad growers have made their claim on the basis that the region is geographically contiguous with the Konkan. Mango aesthetes in other parts of India will understand the sentiment of the Konkan farmers, but could well be amused by their claims about the superiority of their fruit. Every region swears by the superiority of its mango so much that the fondness is an article of faith. Mango lovers in northern and eastern India will argue that nothing can beat the Langda. And southern India may insist that Malgova, Neelam, and Banganapalle (Andhra Pradesh has a GI tag for this variety) are the best in the world. Similarly, there will be Kesar or Chandrakaran or Himsagar faithfuls. Each variety carries its own weight of stories, memories, and myths. What matters, however, is the market, where Alphonso/Hapus reigns, especially when it comes to exports. Uttar Pradesh produces a quarter of India’s mangoes, but only a small part of which leaves India: In 2023-24, India exported over 30,000 metric tonnes of mangoes worth $60 million, much of it Alphonso. India has the largest acreage under mango cultivation, but yields are low when compared to top exporters such as Mexico and Brazil. In the battles over taste and tag, this larger economic picture must be kept in mind.
Possible Question
GI (Geographical Indication) protection is meant to empower producers, but disputes like the Alphonso–Valsad contest highlight underlying tensions. Discuss whether India’s GI framework sufficiently addresses issues of regional identity, market access, and producer welfare.
Fact of the day
Chernobyl’s damaged shield leaking, says IAEA:
A protective shield at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in war-torn Ukraine, built to contain radioactive material from the 1986 disaster, can no longer perform its main safety function due to drone damage, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday, a strike Ukraine has attributed to Russia. The International Atomic Energy Agency said an inspection last week of the steel confinement structure completed in 2019 found the drone impact in February, three years into Russia’s conflict in Ukraine, had degraded the structure. IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi said in a statement the inspection “mission confirmed that the (protective structure) had lost its primary safety functions, including the confinement capability, but also found that there was no permanent damage to its load-bearing structures or monitoring systems.” Grossi said repairs had already been carried out “but comprehensive restoration remains essential to prevent further degradation and ensure long-term nuclear safety”. UN reported on February 14 that Ukraine said a drone with a high explosive warhead struck the plant, caused a fire and damaged the protective cladding around reactor Number Four, which was destroyed in the 1986 disaster. Ukrainian authorities said the drone was Russian. Moscow denied it had attacked the plant. Radiation levels remained normal and stable and there was no reports of radiation leaks, the U.N. said in February. The 1986 Chernobyl explosion sent radiation across Europe and prompted Soviet authorities to mobilise vast numbers of men and equipment to deal with the accident. The plant’s last working reactor was closed in 2000. Russia occupied the plant and the surrounding area for more than a month in the first weeks of its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine as its forces initially tried to advance on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
