CA-21/10/2025
C-Vigil App
Why in news?
The Election Commission of India (ECI) has integrated the C-Vigil App into the ECINET platform, enabling citizens and political parties to lodge complaints about MCC violations efficiently.
Key points of the C-Vigil App
- Purpose: The C-Vigil App is designed by the Election Commission of India to empower citizens to report Model Code of Conduct (MCC) violations during elections, ensuring free and fair polling.
- Complaint Registration: Citizens can lodge complaints by capturing photo, video, or audio evidence of violations via the app. Complaints are geo-tagged with precise location and timestamp to aid enforcement teams.
- Anonymous Reporting: Users can file complaints anonymously without revealing their identity.
- Timely Enforcement: The app enforces a 100-minute resolution timeline on complaints, creating urgency for field units (flying squads and surveillance teams) to respond swiftly. Field units must reach the incident spot within 15 minutes and upload reports.
- Impact: The app helps reduce frivolous complaints by enabling evidence-based and location-specific reporting. It facilitates quick decision-making and effective election code enforcement.
The C-Vigil system has enabled numerous complaints to be filed and resolved quickly in recent elections, contributing significantly to electoral oversight and voter confidence.
UDAN scheme
Why in news?
- UDAN scheme completed its 9th anniversary on October 21, 2025, marking significant achievements since its launch in 2016.
- The scheme has facilitated over 1.56 crore passengers through 3.23 lakh flights, operationalizing 649 routes.
- The government has disbursed more than ?4,300 crore as Viability Gap Funding and invested ?4,638 crore in airport development under UDAN.
Key features of UDAN
- Development and operationalization of regional airports to increase the number of airports with scheduled civilian flights.
- Provision of Viability Gap Funding (VGF) to airlines to compensate for losses incurred due to low fares.
- Collaboration between the central and state governments to support airport infrastructure, security, and operational costs.
- Focus on boosting regional connectivity across India, including remote, hilly, and North-Eastern regions.
- Inclusion of helicopter and seaplane services to enhance connectivity.
The government aims to expand the scheme further to include around 120 new destinations and promote balanced regional development.
India- MERCOSUR Preferential Trade Agreement
Why in news?
Recently, India and Brazil announced a joint declaration to significantly expand this PTA to cover both tariff and non-tariff issues, with the goal of increasing bilateral trade from the current USD 12.2 billion to USD 20 billion by 2030.
Key Features of India-MERCOSUR PTA Expansion
- The expansion will include broader tariff concessions and address non-tariff barriers to facilitate more trade.
- A technical dialogue led by the Joint Administration Committee will define the scope and modalities of the expanded deal.
- The original PTA, signed in 2004 and implemented in 2009, covers around 450 tariff lines with limited duty concessions.
- The PTA includes tariff concessions, rules of origin, safeguard measures, and dispute settlement mechanisms.
About MERCOSUR
- MERCOSUR is a regional trading bloc established in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, later joined by Venezuela and Bolivia.
- It functions as a customs union with common external tariffs and coordinated trade policies.
- It is the world's fourth-largest integrated market, the sixth-largest economy by GDP, and has a population of about 270 million people.
- The headquarters is in Montevideo, Uruguay.
Significance for India
- It strengthens South-South Cooperation within groups like BRICS, G20, and IBSA.
- Enhances Indian product competitiveness in Latin America, reducing dependence on Chinese and European suppliers.
- India's exports to MERCOSUR were USD 8.12 billion in FY 2024-25, with imports at USD 9.36 billion, primarily from Brazil.
- The agreement complements India's broader trade diversification strategy including FTAs with the EU, US, and Indo-Pacific nations.
- There are opportunities in agricultural imports, energy resources, and raw materials from MERCOSUR, while India exports pharmaceuticals, engineering goods, and IT services.
Challenges
- MERCOSUR countries have strong agricultural protectionism, limiting access for key Indian products like sugar, pulses, and dairy.
- Economic asymmetry exists as MERCOSUR is commodity-export oriented, while India has a diversified manufacturing and service economy.
- Consensus among all MERCOSUR members is required, which slows decision-making.
- Infrastructure, logistics, non-tariff barriers like technical regulations, and customs procedures pose challenges.
Decarbonising Indian Railways
Why in news?
Indian Railways has launched a comprehensive decarbonisation initiative aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2030 through massive electrification, renewable energy integration, and introduction of hydrogen-powered trains.
Key Initiatives
- Nearly 45,000 km of track electrified in the past decade, striving to increase freight share via Dedicated Freight Corridors.
- Renewable integration with solar, wind, and hybrid capacities.
- Introduction of hydrogen-powered trains for non-electrified routes.
- Climate finance through green bonds and international loans aiding infrastructure and renewable capacity.
Significance
- Environmental: Potential to prevent 60 million tonnes of CO? annually, akin to removing 13 million cars.
- Economic: Anticipated savings of over ?1 lakh crore in fuel costs by 2030.
- Strategic: Enhances energy independence by reducing fossil fuel imports.
- Social: Acts as a mass awareness platform on sustainable transport for 24 million daily passengers.
Challenges
- High green hydrogen production cost limiting scalability.
- Uncertain operational costs of hydrogen trains in India.
- Railway diesel usage is a small fraction (3%) of national diesel consumption, limiting impact on overall emissions.
- Dependence on renewable electricity source is critical to genuine decarbonisation from electrification efforts.
Overcoming Barriers
- Invest in R&D and public-private partnerships to reduce hydrogen costs.
- Deploy AI-powered energy optimization, aerodynamic coaches, and regenerative braking.
- Promote behavioural changes via green certification, carbon labelling, and public campaigns.
- Secure long-term power purchase agreements with renewable energy producers.
- Utilize green bonds, climate funds, and viability gap funding for financial support.
The Indian Railways decarbonisation drive represents a visionary yet practical model for state-led climate action, combining technology adoption, finance innovation, and public engagement to meet India’s net-zero goals.
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