Table of Contents
The Hindu Editorial Analysis
We understand the significance of reading The Hindu newspaper for enhancing reading skills, improving comprehension of passages, staying informed about current events, enhancing essay writing, and more, especially for banking aspirants who need to focus on editorials for vocabulary building. This article will explore today’s editorial points, along with practice questions and key vocabulary.
29 civic bodies in Maharashtra head to polls; Mumbai emerges as the biggest prize
- More than 3.48 crore voters will vote on Thursday in elections to 29 municipal corporations in Maharashtra, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
- Voters will choose 2,869 corporators from a total of 15,908 candidates. All six major political parties in the State carried out a very intense and loud campaign ahead of the polls.
- The Mumbai municipal corporation, which is the richest civic body in the country, is the main centre of attention. This is especially important because cousins Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray have come together again after nearly 20 years.
- In all cities except Mumbai, voters will vote for more than one corporator for each ward for the first time under the panel system.
- In Mumbai, voters will give only one vote because the city continues with the old system of one corporator for one ward.
- The counting of votes will be held on Friday.
- On Wednesday, Maharashtra State Election Commissioner Dinesh Waghmare held a meeting with representatives of all registered political parties and senior police officers to check whether all preparations for the polls were complete.
- According to a State Election Commission spokesperson, voting arrangements have been made at 39,092 polling booths across Maharashtra.
- Out of the total 3.48 crore voters, 1.81 crore are men, 1.66 crore are women, and 4,596 belong to the ‘other’ category.
- Out of the 39,092 polling stations, 3,196 have been marked as sensitive.
- Voting will take place using electronic voting machines (EVMs).
- For security, the police have deployed several senior officers along with 11,938 constables and 42,703 home guards.
- In Mumbai alone, 1,700 candidates are contesting elections in 227 wards.
- The Congress party is fighting the Mumbai elections in alliance with Prakash Ambedkar’s Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi.
- Uddhav Thackeray and Raj Thackeray are being supported by the NCP (SP) in Mumbai.
- The Shiv Sena (UBT) is contesting 163 seats, while Raj Thackeray’s party is contesting 53 seats.
- The NCP (SP) has been given 11 seats to contest in Mumbai.
- The BJP is contesting 137 seats, while Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena is contesting 90 seats.
- In Mumbai, the biggest concern is how the Marathi vote will shift.
- The Shiv Sena (UBT) believes that votes of minority communities and backward classes may get divided because the Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance has split.
- The BJP, meanwhile, is worried that voter turnout in Mumbai may be low.
- While the BJP is trying to win as many seats as possible in Mumbai, it has also tried to assure Mr. Shinde that only numbers will not decide who becomes the Mumbai mayor.
- In Mumbai, the BJP and Shiv Sena have not joined their Mahayuti ally, the NCP, which is contesting the elections on its own.
- In Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad, Ajit Pawar’s NCP and Sharad Pawar’s NCP have come together to fight against the BJP.
- Over the past few weeks, the ruling alliance partners have been involved in sharp exchanges and strong verbal attacks against each other.
UGC introduces new rules to curb caste discrimination
- The University Grants Commission (UGC) has announced new rules to deal with caste-based discrimination in colleges and universities across the country. These rules make it compulsory for institutions to set up equity committees on campus and also mention strict punishments for not following the rules. Punishments can go up to banning institutions from offering degrees or courses.
- These rules are called the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026. They were officially notified on Tuesday and replace the earlier anti-discrimination rules that were in place since 2012.
- A draft of these new rules was released by the UGC in February last year to seek public feedback. It received a lot of criticism because it had kept Other Backward Classes (OBCs) outside the definition of caste-based discrimination and did not clearly explain what discrimination meant.
- The draft also had a clause suggesting fines to “discourage” false complaints of discrimination.
- In the final version of the rules, the UGC has included OBCs under caste-based discrimination, removed the clause about discouraging false complaints and fines, and slightly widened the meaning of discrimination by using some wording from the 2012 rules.
- According to the new rules, “caste-based discrimination” means discrimination done only on the basis of caste or tribe against people belonging to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
- The rules explain “discrimination” as any unfair or biased treatment, whether done openly or indirectly, against any person on grounds such as religion, race, caste, gender, place of birth, disability, or any combination of these.
- The UGC has also added that discrimination includes any action that creates differences, exclusions, limits, or preferences that reduce or damage equal treatment in education, especially if such actions go against human dignity.
- The new rules make it compulsory for every higher education institution to set up an Equal Opportunity Centre (EOC). These centres are meant to promote fairness, equal chances, and social inclusion for everyone.
- Under each EOC, an equity committee must be formed. This committee will be headed by the head of the institution and must include members from OBCs, persons with disabilities, Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and women.
- While the Equal Opportunity Centre must submit a report twice a year on its work, the equity committee is required to meet at least two times every year.
- The UGC will also create a system to monitor how well these rules are being followed. This will include a national-level monitoring committee with members from statutory professional councils and commissions.
Two Bengal nurses critical with Nipah; two contacts hospitalised
- Two nurses infected with the Nipah virus remain in critical condition in West Bengal. One of them has gone into a coma, while the other is being kept on ventilator support.
- Both nurses are admitted to a private hospital in Barasat, where they were working.
- A doctor and another nurse who were in contact with the infected nurses have also been hospitalised after showing symptoms of Nipah virus infection.
- Many other people who were in contact with them are now being screened.
- Samples of the two nurses were first tested at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Kalyani, on January 11.
- Sources said on Wednesday that the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, has confirmed that both nurses are infected with the Nipah virus.
- The doctor and nurse who showed symptoms were admitted to the Infectious Diseases and Beleghata General Hospital in Kolkata on Wednesday. Their samples have been sent for Nipah testing.
- The exact source of the Nipah outbreak has not yet been found.
- So far, more than 120 people who came in contact with the two nurses have been advised to stay in isolation.
- These include hospital staff, family members, and ambulance drivers. Samples from some of them have already been sent for testing.
- Three co-workers of the nurses have also been temporarily removed from duty.
- Contact tracing is being actively carried out in the districts of North 24 Parganas, Bardhaman, and Nadia.
- A relative of one of the nurses told the media that she had returned home with cold and fever, and the family did not realise that it could be something serious.
- The West Bengal government has started helpline numbers for people to ask questions: 03323330180, 9874708858, and 9836046212.
- The government has asked people not to panic, but to stay alert and follow proper hygiene practices.
Important Questions
- Why is the Mumbai municipal corporation described as the country’s richest civic body and the biggest prize in the elections?
- What is the difference between the panel system used in other cities and the one-ward-one-corporator model followed in Mumbai?
- What changes did the University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026 make regarding the inclusion of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in caste-based discrimination?
- What is the purpose of setting up Equal Opportunity Centres (EOCs) and equity committees under the new UGC regulations?
- What action was taken after the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, reconfirmed the Nipah virus infection in the two nurses from West Bengal?
- How is contact tracing being carried out in the districts of North 24 Parganas, Bardhaman, and Nadia following the Nipah cases?
Important Vocabulary
- Corporators – Elected members of a municipal corporation
- Sensitive – Areas needing extra security or attention
- Turnout – Number of voters who come to vote
- Alliance – Partnership between political parties
- Discrimination – Unfair or biased treatment
- Mandating – Making something compulsory
- Debarred – Officially banned or stopped
- Ambit – Range or scope of something
- Critical – Very serious health condition
- Ventilator – Machine that helps a patient breathe
- Isolation – Staying away from others to stop infection
- Screened – Checked for signs of disease
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