Today’s Articles for The Hindu Daily Digest
1. Aiding India’s progress with choice, control and capital
GS-I-Indian Society ▶️Population
With the right investments in education, skills and access to health, nutrition and family planning services, India’s youth population can boost national progress.
2. Population decline and an ill-informed chorus
GS-I-Indian Society ▶️Population
The fertility rate is falling but much of the alarmism is premature, analytically flawed and ethically troubling.
3. The real fertility crisis is one of agency, says UNFPA Asia Pacific director
GS-I-Indian Society ▶️Population
Note – Articles 1,2 and 3 are on the same topic (World Population Day).
4. The need to safeguard the right to vote
GS-II-Indian Polity & Constitution ▶️Political Dynamics
What did the Supreme Court say about electoral rolls revision in Bihar? Is the right to vote a fundamental right in India? Can electoral roll errors invalidate an election? How can India balance electoral vigilance with the inclusion of genuine voters?
THE GIST
The Supreme Court, while hearing challenges to the special intensive revision in Bihar, suggested that the Election Commission consider Aadhaar, voter ID, and ration card as acceptable documents, a move aimed at improving access and reducing wrongful exclusions.
The Election Commission, under Article 324, is empowered to revise electoral rolls under Section 21 of the RPA, 1950 — but this process must balance vigilance with inclusion, and follow due process to avoid wrongful disenfranchisement.
The right to vote in India is a statutory right, not a fundamental one, but it is treated as a ‘democratic imperative’ essential to the survival of the Indian republic.
5. Are existing mechanisms effective in preventing custodial violence?
GS-II-Polity and Constitution ▶️Criminal Justice Refroms
Custodial violence should not be dismissed as the actions of a few ‘bad apples’ within the system. Such behaviour is perpetuated by entrenched social hierarchies and an enduring colonial mindset within the police, where the public, particularly marginalised communities, is viewed not as citizens to be protected, but as subjects to be controlled. – Anup Surendranath.
6. ‘TB death audits, like maternal mortality model, can aid elimination’
GS-II-Social Justice ▶️Health
GS-III-Science & Technology ▶️Health
Soumya Swaminathan emphasises the need to prioritise reducing TB deaths and prevalence and incidence of the disease, stating that finding gaps, addressing them, and having an ambitious plan need to be focused on; our short-term focus, in the next National Strategic Plan, is to reduce TB mortality, she adds.
THE GIST
Dr. Swaminathan noted that among the challenges facing National TB Elimination Programme is the further reduction in TB mortality rates to meet the End TB and Sustainable Development Goals targets.
Every TB patient must be clinically evaluated for co-morbidities — such as diabetes, alcoholism, severe anaemia, and risk factors — and these should be treated.
She also emphasised the importance of providing good nutrition to TB patients and their families, citing the RATIONS trials led by Anurag Bhargava in Jharkhand.
7. Bridge too far
GS-III-Economics▶️Infrastructure
A regular audit of all major infrastructure projects is a must.
8. Widen the net
GS-II-Polity and Constitution ▶️Political Dynamics
The ECI must heed Court’s view on including more accessible documents.