Daily News Capsules
1. Ash cloud from Africa volcano reaches India
A windborne cloud of ash from a volcanic eruption in Ethiopia traversed swathes of Northwest India on Monday night, crossing Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Delhi-NCR and Punjab, hampering visibility and disrupting air traffic as it headed eastwards across the subcontinent. The ash came from the Hayli Gubbi volcano, which erupted for the first time in nearly 12,000 years on Sunday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the altitude of the cloud—above 10 km—meant that air pollution levels in an already struggling Delhi, where it reached around 11pm, would not be significantly affected. IMD added that the impact over cities in India was likely limited to a few hours, with the plume rapidly moving eastwards. Akasa Air and IndiGo said several of their flights were diverted or cancelled. The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued an advisory to airlines in the evening after the plume was detected over the Muscat Flight Information Region (FIR) and adjoining areas. The cloud crossed into India through Rajasthan at 6.30 pm, travelling at speeds of between 100 km/hour and 120 km/hour. In the advisory, DGCA told airlines to avoid affected altitudes and regions according to the latest guidance. The volcanic ash advisory, issued along with an ASHTAM — a special aviation alert issued as a type of NOTAM (notice to airmen) to caution pilots about hazardous volcanic conditions—asked all Indian aviation operators to brief personnel on the ‘Operations Manual – Volcanic Ash’, ensuring strict compliance with established procedures. Any suspected encounter with volcanic ash, including engine performance fluctuations or cabin smoke/odour, must be reported “immediately,” DGCA said.
Possible Question
In the context of the Hayli Gubbi eruption and India’s response mechanisms, critically analyse the adequacy of India’s disaster early-warning, inter-agency coordination, and aviation safety architecture for high-altitude hazards originating abroad.
2. WFH enforced for 50% office-goers across Delhi
The Delhi government on Monday directed all government and private offices in the city to enforce a shift to work-from-home for at least 50% of their staff, after a key revision in the Graded Response Action Plan (Grap). The measure, an earlier part of Grap’s Stage 4, will now be enforced under Stage 3. According to a notification issued by the environment department, the directive is being implemented under Section 5 of the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. Any breach will invite punishment under the Act. Administrative secretaries and heads of departments in state government offices are required to attend work regularly, although only 50% of the workforce may be physically present on a given day. The remaining employees may visit the office only when essential or emergency public services need to be delivered. Private offices have been asked to follow the same cap. Private establishments have also been told to prioritise flexible working hours, ensure strict work-from home compliance and reduce office-related vehicular movement. Essential services are exempt. These include public and private government hospitals, fire services, prisons, public transport, electricity, water, sanitation, disaster management, municipal services and departments involved in air pollution control. The shift follows the Commission for Air Quality Management’s revision of Grap on November 22 after a Supreme Court hearing on worsening pollution. CAQM informed the court it would move certain actions from Stage 4 to 3, from Stage 3 to 2 and from Stage 2 to 1.
Possible Question
Examine whether emergency behavioural restrictions can be an effective tool for urban air-quality governance. Evaluate their legal basis, enforceability, and socio-economic trade-offs.
3. Carney to visit India in ’26 as nations target big trade deal
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has accepted Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s invitation to visit India next year even as the two countries have embarked on a comprehensive economic partnership agreement to double trade (between the two countries) to $50 billion (CAD 70 billion) by 2030. Union commerce minister Piyush Goyal described the deal as a “high ambition” one, adding that the “strengths of Canada, and strengths of India, together can become a force multiplier for businesses, for investors…” Goyal’s comments, on Monday, in a talk in Delhi to the Indo-Canadian Business Chamber, came even as the Canadian PMO said in a statement that such a comprehensive trade deal could serve as a “powerful economic anchor” between the two countries. The decision to launch negotiations towards a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) was announced following a bilateral meeting between PM Modi and his Canadian counterpart Carney on the margins of the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg on Sunday. The two countries also agreed to “enhance diplomatic staffing levels to meet growing consular demands and to strengthen people-to-people linkages, including through reciprocal knowledge transfer”. The comprehensive trade talks that the two countries will soon embark on will be more expansive than the earlier ones that were discontinued in September 2023 because of a diplomatic row. A reset was signalled when Carney replaced Trudeau as PM in March this year and it appears to have turned into a renewal of the relationship.
Possible Question
Analyse the factors that led to the turnaround in the relationship between India and Canada.
4. Calling failed relationship rape trivialises offence: SC
The Supreme Court on Monday cautioned that branding every failed or acrimonious relationship as rape trivialises the gravity of the crime and inflicts “indelible stigma and grave injustice” upon the accused. Condemning the “misuse of the criminal justice machinery” in such instances, the court stressed that the law must be invoked only where genuine sexual violence or lack of free consent is evident. A bench of justices BV Nagarathna and R Mahadevan made the remarks while quashing an FIR and charge sheet accusing a Maharashtra based lawyer of rape and criminal intimidation. The woman who filed the complaint had initially approached the advocate for legal assistance in a maintenance case and later entered a long-term intimate relationship with him. Setting aside the March 6 order of the Bombay high court that refused to quash the proceedings, the Supreme Court held that the material on record “unmistakably indicates” a consensual relationship that later turned bitter. The bench noted that the woman, a major and an educated individual, voluntarily stayed in contact with the advocate and remained in a close and emotionally connected relationship for nearly three years. “This is not a case where the appellant lured respondent No. 2 solely for physical pleasures and then vanished…Physical intimacy during the course of a functioning relationship cannot be retrospectively branded as rape merely because the relationship failed to culminate in marriage,” it added. The high court, noting that a charge sheet had already been filed, had held that a trial was necessary to test the veracity of her allegations, particularly because the relationship involved a lawyer-client “fiduciary dimension”.
Possible Question
Discuss the challenges Indian courts face in distinguishing “promise to marry” cases from genuine sexual violence, and analyse whether legislative clarification is needed to protect both survivors and the wrongly accused.
5. Ahead of Parl session, RS says Chair’s ruling can’t be criticised
A Rajya Sabha bulletin ahead of the winter session has said that rulings given by the Chair should not be criticised inside or outside the House and there should be no “Thanks”, “Thank You”, “Jai Hind”, “Vande Mataram” or any other slogans raised in the House. The Parliamentary bulletin no. 65855, issued on Monday, has reminded MPs that production of exhibits on the floor of the House is not in order and if an MP criticises another lawmaker or a minister, “the latter is entitled to expect that the critic should be present in the House to hear his reply. To be absent when the latter is replying, is a breach of parliamentary etiquette”. These issues, related to the conduct of MPs, are part of a standard handbook of lawmakers in both Houses. But, the bulletin assumes significance as newly elected Vice President CP Radhakrishnan will be presiding in the Rajya Sabha for the first time in the upcoming winter session that starts from December 1. In the last two years, the relationship between the Rajya Sabha chairperson and Opposition lawmakers had soured, culminating in the first-ever impeachment notice against a Vice President. VP Jagdeep Dhankhar had later dismissed the notice on technical grounds. The winter session is likely to be the first test of the working equation between Radhakrishnan and the Opposition, which wants to boost its so-called ‘vote chori’ campaign.
Possible Question
In light of recent tensions between the presiding officer and the Opposition, assess whether existing parliamentary rules adequately balance decorum with democratic dissent.
Editorial Snapshots
A. The case for the new labour codes
The rollout of the four labour codes by the Union government is one of the most important market reforms in the history of the Indian economy. The net effect of the four new codes — they deal with wages, industrial relations, occupational safety, and social security — is primarily threefold. It will simplify the existing framework, introduce a level of formalisation as far as terms of employment of workers are concerned, and offer greater flexibility to employers in dealing with employees’ work duration and even employment itself. It is mostly the last part, manifested in increased threshold for hire-and fire, strike action, etc, which is the centrepiece of opposition to and apprehension of the codes by trade unions in the country. In an ideal world, one could reasonably argue that the move is pro-capital and anti-labour. However, the Indian economy, as it stands today, is far from ideal. Despite being a labour-abundant economy, India has struggled not just to usher in a manufacturing revolution, but even its limited manufacturing gains have been mostly concentrated in sectors that are not labour-intensive. A lot of this failure has been attributed to India’s labour market regime, which, businesses have argued, does not allow them to run enterprises that are nimble enough to deal with the volatilities or cyclical fluctuations of the market. There are studies that show that entrepreneurs have often tried to bypass these regulations by resorting to either replicating smaller factories or outsourcing work to informal workers, both of which have led to forgoing economies of scale in the Indian economy. The roll-out of the new labour codes should take away this constraint, real or perceived. Of course, the results are unlikely to be seen immediately. It is also a pity that the reform has happened at a time when the global economy is in a funk (to put it politely), which has generated headwinds for export markets. However, a period of crisis is often a period of reforms too. To be sure, some Indian states, which have had success with manufacturing, have already rolled out some of the key provisions in the labour codes. This strengthens their case. None of this, however, should be inferred as carte blanche for undermining labour rights. The best-case scenario would be entrepreneurs unleashing new dynamism from the reformed labour regime and workers reinventing their collective bargaining in a more robust economy.
Possible Question
Critically evaluate whether regulatory simplification and enhanced employer flexibility can realistically revive India’s stalled manufacturing ambitions without weakening worker protections.
B. Johannesburg G20 is a Global South moment
The G20 Summit in South Africa — the first in Africa since the forum’s inception in 2008 — has been significant in many ways. First, it has taken forward the vision and agendas outlined by India during its presidency in 2023. The Johannesburg meet privileged the interests of the Global South: The advocacy for greater financing to combat the climate crisis, for instance, reflects this. The six initiatives PM Narendra Modi outlined at the summit need to be read against this backdrop. The proposals he framed within a vision of “Integral Humanism”, a political philosophy associated with Deendayal Upadhyay, one of the founders of the Jana Sangh (the forerunner of the BJP), call for a rethink on the development priorities advanced by the wealthy Global North and prescribe a set of agendas that emphasise sustainable growth and an equitable sharing of resources to end the over-exploitation of nature. Proposals such as a global health care response team, a circular economy for critical minerals, and open satellite data partnership have the potential to cement Global South cooperation. India’s push for a global consensus on condemning “terrorism in all forms and manifestations” has also resonated in Johannesburg. The Africa Skills Multiplier Initiative is in step with efforts to engage constructively with the continent. Second, the leaders broke with convention to issue a statement at the onset of the summit, revealing intent. With the US boycotting the summit — the Trump regime accuses South Africa of racial discrimination against white Afrikaners, who led the apartheid regime for decades — a cloud hangs over follow-up action: The 2026 summit is scheduled to be held in Miami, the US. But, Washington will be the loser if it tries to undermine the goals set in Johannesburg. India, South Africa, and other Global South nations have made it clear that the age of global hegemons is over and the vision for a more inclusive world is likely to come from emerging powers. The South African G20 underlines this shift.
Possible Question
Discuss how India can convert this diplomatic moment into durable South– South coalitions that reshape global governance structures traditionally dominated by the Global North.
Fact of the day
Tesla vs Tesla: Delhi High Court grants protection to Musk’s company: The Delhi High Court on Monday granted interim protection to the Elon Musk-led Tesla Inc. in its trademark infringement case with Gurugram-based Tesla Power India Pvt. Ltd. The single judge bench of Justice Tejas Karia restrained Tesla Power from using Tesla Inc.’s registered trademarks, device marks, or logos in any form until the suit is decided. The order bars Tesla Power from using, soliciting, offering services or advertising under the impugned mark, including on internet and e-commerce platforms, for batteries of all kinds of vehicles, automotive UPS systems, inverters, solar hybrid valve-regulated lead-acid
