DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

21.02.2025

• News 1: Chief Minister
  

GS-2 Polity

About The News:                                                 

• Rekha Gupta, a first-time MLA from Shalimar Bagh, has been chosen as the new Delhi Chief Minister, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said after its legislature party meeting at its national headquarters on Wednesday evening.

Key points for prelims

Chief Minister:

• Article 164 of the Constitution envisages that the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the governor.
• A leader of the party that has got the majority share of votes in the assembly elections, is appointed as the Chief Minister of the state.
• The Governor is the nominal executive authority, but real executive authority rests with the Chief Minister.
• However, the discretionary powers enjoyed by the governor reduces to some extent the power, authority, influence, prestige and role of the Chief Minister in the state administration.
• A person who is not a member of the state legislature can be appointed as Chief Minister for six months, within which time, he should be elected to the state legislature, failing which he ceases to be the Chief Minister.

Term of the CM:

• The term of the Chief Minister is not fixed and he holds office during the pleasure of the governor.
• He cannot be dismissed by the governor as long as he enjoys the majority support in the legislative assembly.
• The State Legislative Assembly can also remove him by passing a vote of no-confidence against him.

Powers and Functions:

With Respect to Council of Ministers:

• The governor appoints only those persons as ministers who are recommended by the Chief Minister.
• He allocates and reshuffles the portfolios among ministers.
• He can bring about the collapse of the council of ministers by resigning from office, since the Chief Minister is the head of the council of ministers.

With Respect to Governor:

• Under Article 167 of the Constitution, the Chief Minister acts as a link between the Governor and state council of ministers.
• CM advises the Governor regarding the appointment of important officials like advocate general, chairman and members of the State Public Service Commission, State Election Commission, etc.

With Respect to State Legislature:

• All the policies are announced by him on the floor of the house. He recommends dissolution of legislative assembly to the Governor.

Other Functions:

• He is the chairman of the State Planning Board.
• He acts as a vice-chairman of the concerned zonal council by rotation, holding office for a period of one year at a time.
• He is a member of the Inter-State Council and the Governing Council of NITI Aayog, both headed by the prime minister.
• He is the chief spokesman of the state government.
• He is the crisis manager-in-chief at the political level during emergencies.
• As a leader of the state, he meets various sections of the people and receives memoranda from them regarding their problems, and so on.
• He is the political head of the services.
• NEWS 2: Effect of Policies of Developed Countries on India
  
  

GS-03 Economy

About The News:

• U.S. President Donald Trump has said that he had made it clear to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India would not be spared from Washington’s reciprocal tariffs, emphasising that “nobody can argue with me” on tariff structure.

Key points for prelims:

Effect of Policies:

Positive impacts:

• Economic Growth and Investment: Developed countries’ policies promoting foreign direct investment (FDI) can lead to increased capital inflows into India, boosting economic growth and job creation in various sectors like manufacturing and services.
• Technology Transfer: Access to advanced technologies from developed countries through collaborations and partnerships can accelerate India’s technological development and innovation capabilities.
• Market Access: Trade agreements and favorable policies in developed countries can provide wider market access for Indian goods and services, promoting export growth.
• Skill Development: Immigration policies in developed countries can create opportunities for skilled Indian workers to migrate and gain valuable experience, which can then be utilized upon returning to India.
• Development Aid: Development assistance programs from developed countries can support infrastructure projects, education initiatives, and healthcare development in India.

Negative Impacts:

• Brain Drain: Restrictive immigration policies in developed countries can lead to a significant outflow of skilled Indian professionals, impacting India’s human capital base.
• Economic Volatility: Fluctuations in the global economy due to policies in developed countries can significantly impact India’s economy, particularly in sectors reliant on exports.
• Unequal Trade Dynamics: Trade policies in developed countries can sometimes disadvantage Indian producers, particularly in sectors where they face stiff competition from established players.
• Environmental Concerns: Certain development policies in developed countries, like outsourcing of industries to India, can raise concerns about environmental degradation and labor standards.

GS-03 Science and Tech 

About the news:

• NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope is providing the best look yet at the chaotic events unfolding around the supermassive black hole at the center of our Milky Way galaxy, observing a steady flickering of light punctuated by occasional bright flares as material is drawn inward by its enormous gravitational pull.

Key points for prelims:  

Sagittarius A*:

• It is a supermassive black hole located at the center of our spiral galaxy, the Milky Way.
• It is mostly dormant and only occasionally absorbs gas or dust, but nonetheless has an estimated mass 4.3 million times that of the sun.
• It is located in the constellation Sagittarius.
• It has a diameter of around 14.6 million miles (23.5 million kilometers).
• It is a strong source of radio waves. Most of the radio radiation is from a synchrotron mechanism, indicating the presence of free electrons and magnetic fields.
• The event horizon of the black hole has a radius of 12 million km (7 million miles).

Black hole:

• A black hole is a region in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out.
• The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.
• Because no light can get out, it is difficult to detect a black hole.
• The largest black holes are called “supermassive.” These black holes have masses that are more than 1 million suns together.
• Albert Einstein first predicted the existence of black holes in 1916, with his general theory of relativity.

What is the ‘event horizon’ of a Black hole?

• It is the boundary defining the region of space around a black hole from which nothing (not even light) can escape.
• The escape velocity for an object within the event horizon exceeds the speed of light.
• The radius of the event horizon is called the Schwarzschild radius, after the German astronomer Karl Schwarzschild.

Mains Questions:

• Developed countries’ policies significantly impact India’s economy, both positively and negatively. Analyze the major effects of these policies on India’s trade, investment, and labor market. Suggest measures that India can adopt to mitigate the adverse impacts while maximizing the benefits.