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.
EC launches SIR 2.0 in nine states and three union territories
- The Election Commission has started the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists in nine States and three Union Territories, covering around 51 crore voters. The work is being done through booth-level officers (BLOs) who will visit homes for voter verification.
- However, this move has faced strong criticism from several political parties. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee led protests, saying that the revision process was part of a “silent, invisible rigging” taking place in Kolkata.
- In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK party has taken the matter to the Supreme Court, calling the SIR exercise unfair, unreasonable, and likely to remove genuine voters from the voter list.
- On the other hand, the BJP supported the drive, saying it will help clean up the voter rolls and make elections more fair, accurate, and transparent.
- The Election Commission explained that BLOs are going door-to-door with partially filled forms, so that each voter can check, correct, or confirm their details.
- This process will continue till December 4, during which over 5.3 lakh BLOs will visit every house at least three times to distribute and collect the forms.
- Along with them, there are 64 lakh booth-level agents from political parties, 10,448 electoral registration officers, assistant officers, and 321 district election officers (DEOs) working to make the SIR process smooth and transparent.
- The SIR is being carried out in 12 regions — Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Puducherry, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal.
- Among these, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, and Puducherry are important because they are poll-bound in 2026, making the voter list revision politically sensitive.
- The first phase of the SIR was held earlier in Bihar, where after checking and verification, over 68 lakh names were deleted from the voter list.
- During a protest in Kolkata, Mamata Banerjee said she would fight to bring down the BJP-led central government if any eligible voter’s name was wrongly removed.
- Mamata Banerjee accused the BJP and Election Commission of using the SIR as a political weapon to scare voters and influence election results in their favour.
- Banerjee further alleged that the BJP’s plan was to delete two crore names, deport people to Bangladesh, or send them to detention camps to strengthen its political control.
- On the same day, officials said that 16 lakh enumeration forms had already been given out in West Bengal as part of the ongoing voter list revision.
- The Trinamool Congress chief also questioned why this process was happening now, asking why citizens still need to prove their nationality even after so many years of India’s independence.
- In Uttar Pradesh, the SIR was launched under the slogan “Shuddh Nirvachak Namavali – Majboot Loktantra” (Clean Electoral Roll – Strong Democracy), highlighting transparency in elections.
- In Kerala, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called for an online all-party meeting to discuss and build agreement on the SIR process.
- Except for the BJP, most other political parties in Kerala were worried about the timing of this voter list revision, saying it might confuse people and remove genuine voters from the list.
8 dead as passenger and goods trains collide near Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh
- At around 4 p.m. on Tuesday, a passenger MEMU train going from Gevra to Bilaspur hit a stationary goods train near Bilaspur railway station in Chhattisgarh, killing at least eight people.
- Around 20 passengers were injured, and rescue teams worked till late evening to free those trapped and clear the damaged train coaches.
- The Railway Ministry has ordered an inquiry to find out what caused the accident. Train services on the busy Mumbai–Howrah route were also disrupted due to the crash.
- Authorities announced compensation of ₹10 lakh for the families of the deceased, ₹5 lakh for the seriously injured, and ₹1 lakh for those with minor injuries.
- One passenger said he suddenly felt a strong jerk, and when the train stopped, he saw that the engine and first coach had climbed over the goods train.
- He also said that many passengers were trapped inside the broken coaches, and that he and other passengers started helping in the rescue even before the officials reached the spot.
SC to reconsider ban on surrogacy for couples with one child
- The Supreme Court has agreed to look into whether married couples with one child who suffer from secondary infertility should be allowed to go for surrogacy. The question is whether the current ban under Section 4(iii)(C)(II) of the Surrogacy Act violates their reproductive rights.
- The Central government defended the law, saying that surrogacy is not a fundamental right, but a legal right given under specific conditions, since it involves using another woman’s womb.
- The government also said that the Constitution does not give anyone rights over another person’s body, and that surrogacy should stay a limited and regulated option under the 2021 Surrogacy (Regulation) Act.
- Advocate Mohini Priya, representing a couple with secondary infertility, argued before Justice B.V. Nagarathna’s Bench that the government should not interfere in people’s private family or reproductive choices.
- She explained that secondary infertility means a couple cannot have another child even though they already had one before. This condition, she said, is emotionally painful and causes social embarrassment, just like primary infertility.
- The lawyer pointed out that both primary and secondary infertility are included in the definitions under the Surrogacy and ART Acts, and requested the Court to relax the restrictive rule in Section 4(iii)(C)(II).
- The Central government responded that the law already allows exceptions — couples can go for surrogacy if their existing child is mentally or physically disabled, or suffers from a serious, incurable, or life-threatening disease.
- This rule, the government said, helps balance genuine medical needs with the need to protect surrogate mothers from unnecessary pregnancies when a healthy child already exists.
- Justice Nagarathna said that this restriction seemed reasonable, mentioning that India’s population is already very large. The Court was hearing if the law indirectly acts like a one-child policy.
- Advocate Priya, however, argued that India has no one-child policy, pointing to the Adoption Regulations, 2017 under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, which allow families to adopt up to three children.
Important Questions
- What is the main aim of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2.0 launched by the Election Commission of India?
- Why did West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and the DMK party in Tamil Nadu criticize the SIR 2.0 exercise?
- Where did the passenger MEMU train from Gevra to Bilaspur collide with the stationary goods train in Chhattisgarh?
- What amount of compensation did the Railway Ministry announce for families of people killed and injured in the Bilaspur train accident?
- Why is the Supreme Court of India reviewing the ban on surrogacy for married couples with secondary infertility?
- How does the Surrogacy (Regulation) Act, 2021 restrict couples with one child from opting for surrogacy?
Important Vocabulary
- Enumeration – Counting or listing items or people one by one.
- Disenfranchise – To take away someone’s right to vote.
- Apprehension – Fear or concern about something that might happen.
- Transparency – The quality of being open, honest, and easy to understand.
- Collision – A violent crash between two moving objects.
- Rescue operations – Efforts made to save people from danger or disaster.
- Inquiry – An official investigation to find out the truth.
- Disrupted – Interrupted or stopped from continuing normally.
- Surrogacy – When a woman carries and gives birth to a baby for another person or couple.
- Infertility – The inability to have children naturally.
- Proviso – A condition or rule added to a law or statement.
- Constitutionality – Whether something agrees with the principles of the Constitution.
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