Rapid Fire Current Affairs

• 11 Nov 2023

Winter Session of Parliament to Start on December 4

The Winter Session of Parliament will begin on December 4,2023 as per the announcement of the Union government.

• This will also be the first full session to be held in the new Parliament building. A five-day Special Session had been held in September, 2023 during which the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha had ceremonially moved their sittings to the new building.
• India does not have a fixed parliamentary calendar. By convention (i.e. not provided by the Constitution), Parliament meets for three sessions in a year.
  • The longest, Budget Session (1st session), starts towards the end of January, and concludes by the end of April or first week of May. The session has a recess so that Parliamentary Committees can discuss the budgetary proposals.
  • The second session is the three-week Monsoon Session, which usually begins in July and finishes in August.
  • Third session is the Winter Session.

Read More: Parliament Sessions

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Supreme Court Attains Full Strength

The Supreme Court welcomed three new judges, taking the judicial strength to its sanctioned capacity of 34, which becomes significant as the pendency clock on the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) dashboard has risen to a high of 80,000 cases.

• Supreme Court collegium held that in view of the ever mounting pendency of cases, the workload of judges has increased considerably which necessitated the court having full working judge strength leaving no vacancy at any point of time.
• The swearing-in of the three judges and the court reaching its full judicial strength coincides with Chief Justice of India completing a year in the office.

Read More: Case Information Software (CIS), Supreme Court Portal for Assistance in Court’s Efficiency

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Headline Inflation and Food Price Shocks

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor in a keynote speech delivered in Tokyo, highlighted the need for vigilant and disinflationary monetary policy in India, amid the threats of food price shocks, global slowdown and geopolitical uncertainties.
  • Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation is projected at 5.4% for 2023-24, down from 6.7% in 2022-23, but headline inflation is vulnerable to recurring and overlapping food price shocks
    • Core inflation has decreased by 170 basis points since January 2023. Monetary policy is vigilant and actively focused on disinflation to bring inflation in line with the target while also supporting economic growth.
• Headline Inflation, as the name suggests, is the total inflation for the period, comprising a basket of commodities.
  • Core inflation = Headline inflation – (Food and Fuel) inflation.
• Amidst global economic challenges, policymaking grapples with trade-offs. India, staying agile, sees Japan as a key partner for future growth.

Read more: Reserve Bank of India (RBI)

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Bihar Assembly Passes Bill to Increase Reservation Quota

• The Bihar Assembly has unanimously passed a bill to elevate reservation quotas in educational institutions and government jobs for various communities.
• The overall reservation quota for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Extremely Backward Classes (EBCs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) has been raised from 50% to 65%.
  • With the existing 10% quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), the effective reservation becomes 75%.
• The bill emphasizes inclusive growth and aims to address societal inequalities.
• The proposed changes align with the caste survey report, providing a strategic direction for policy reform.
• The Bill is set to be presented in the Legislative Council, with expectations of unanimous approval.

Read more: Rethinking Reservation Policies in India