In a first, selection process for next Chief Election Commissioner casts wider net

Traditionally, the successor to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) has been the next senior most Election Commissioner. For the first time, as per the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Act, 2023, the net can be cast wider. The Election Commission comprises the CEC and two election commissioners - Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu at present. Gyanesh Kumar could still be in contention but according to Sections 6 and 7 of the Act, the Ministry of Law will set up a Search Committee chaired by the Law Minister to prepare a panel of five names for the Selection Committee.

2024 was hottest year ever, breached 1.5 degree Celsius warming threshold

The last year, 2024, has become the first year to breach the 1.5 degree Celsius warming mark, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said. Average annual global temperature in 2024, based on data from six different datasets, was 1.55 degree Celsius higher than pre-industrial times (average of 1850-1900 period), it said. One of these datasets, from Copernicus Climate Change Service run by the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting, found the warming to be 1.6 degree Celsius higher than pre-industrial levels. 2024 now overtakes 2023 as the warmest year ever recorded. 2023 was recorded to be 1.45 degree Celsius warmer than pre-industrial times.

Vaishnaw: 50 Amrit Bharat trains to be manufactured at ICF in 2 yrs

The Ministry of Railways has added 12 major improvements on the Amrit Bharat Version 2.0 trains including modular toilets and emergency braking system and 50 such trains will be manufactured at the Integral Coach Factory (ICF) over the next two years, Railway Minister said. "Semi-automatic couplets, modular toilets, chair pillars and partitions, emergency talk back feature, emergency brake system, continuous lighting system like Vande Bharat trains, seats and berths with new ergonomic design have been improved," he said. He said the entire pantry car in the Amrit Bharat Version 2.0 trains have been built using a new design.

CEO CAN'T SEE

There is a crisis of imagination and no amount of perks, ESOPs or staggering six-figure salaries seem to square up to it. The future of productivity, if industry bros are to be believed, lies not in work-life balance but in work-work sublimation. After Narayana Murthy's prescription of a 70-hour work week in 2023, Larsen and Toubro (L&T) chairman S N Subrahmanyan has urged employees to put in 90 hours at work every week and to even forgo weekends in the pursuit of professional excellence. In between, corporate leaders of all stripes from Bhavish Agarwal of OLA to Bombay Shaving Company's CEO Shantanu Deshpande have advocated harsher work regimens for a variety of reasons, ranging from character building to nation building.

SYMPTOM OF A LARGER MALADY

For long, ambulances were available only at a hospital. In the 1980s, non-government organisations stepped in, particularly in southern India, to provide voluntary and free ambulance services. Over the last decade, several state governments have provided ambulance services for women in the reproductive age group and for children below five years. Ambulance services were introduced to transport expectant mothers to healthcare facilities mostly in urban areas. Under the National Rural Health Mission, ambulance services were introduced in a public-private partnership mode. More recently, several private ambulance services have been introduced both by corporate hospitals and companies. Blinkit, an online delivery service, has recently launched a "10-minute" ambulance service in Gurugram. Mere expansion of ambulance services does not ensure quality. In fact, the lack of regulation of quality is a serious concern. Several studies have shown that the lack of availability of assured ambulance service, required and functioning equipment, trained staff and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) are serious gaps. The non-availability of a standard pan-India toll free number, along with the lack of a systematic plan for monitoring and accountability to ensure timely and optimal care are some of the other areas needing action.

WHY FACT-CHECKERS HAVE BEEN DUMPED BY META, HOW NOTES WORK

Meta, the company behind Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, recently announced changes to content moderation across its apps in the US. It will eliminate fact-checking labels from fact-checkers, replacing them with a 'Community Notes' system similar to X (formely Twitter). Nine years ago, Meta began flagging fake news with help from external fact- checkers. Its independent fact-checking programme was expanded after reports said Russian disinformation campaigns had targeted American voters during the 2016 presidential election campaign. Community Notes was first piloted as a programme called Birdwatch by Twitter in 2021, that is, before Elon Musk purchased the platform and renamed it. A Community Note shows only if enough contributors vote that it provides helpful context.

What breaching 1.5°C means

The Year 2024 has now been confirmed to have breached the 1.5 degree Celsius global warming threshold, becoming the first calendar year to do so. The annual average temperature of Earth's surface in 2024 was 1.6 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times (average of the 1850-1900 period), according to data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service run by the European Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting (ECMWF). The 2024 breach does not mean that the 1.5 degree target is over. This target, mentioned in the 2015 Paris Agreement, refers to long-term temperature trends, usually over two to three decades, not annual or monthly averages. The breach does not come as a surprise. The WMO as been saying for more than two years now that this threshold was almost certain to be crossed before 2027.

Behind LA fires: Heat, no rain, Santa Ana

At least 10 people have been killed in the wildfires that continued to rage in Southern California powered by Santa Ana winds that gusted to 112 kmph in some places. The fires have destroyed thousands of acres of land, entire streets, and thousands of buildings in the Los Angeles area, forcing the evacuation of more than 200,000 residents.The Palisades fire, the largest and most destructive, had destroyed more than 17,000 acres in the Pacific Palisades neighbourhood to the west of LA. The next biggest fire, the Eaton fire, is burning to the east of LA. It has so far burned 10,000 acres in the San Gabriel Mountains to the north of Pasadena. It has not been contained at all. These winds blow when high pressure builds over the Great Basin - the area between the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada-and pressure is low over California's coast. The difference in pressure triggers powerful winds that move from the Basin's inland deserts east and north of Southern California towards the Pacific Ocean.

Factory output growth hits 6-month high of 5.2% in November: Govt data

India's factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose to a six-month high of 5.2 per cent in November from 3.7 per cent in October, mainly due to a favourable base effect along with a pickup in manufacturing, capital goods, and consumer durables. It had grown by 2.5 per cent in November 2023. Cumulatively so far in the financial year 2024-25, industrial growth has been recorded at 4.1 per cent during April-November as against 6.5 per cent in the year-ago period. The manufacturing sector in particular has fared BRIEFLY No Dec Jan 24 well with growth of 5.8 per cent over 1.3 per cent last year. Besides the low base effect, there has been a revival of both capital goods and consumer durable goods," Madan Sabnavis, Chief Economist, Bank of Baroda said.

Mandatory for banks to offer customers fixed interest rate product: RBI's FAQS

The RBI said it is mandatory for banks to offer fixed interest rate product in all equated installment based personal loan categories. The FAQs on 'Reset of Floating Interest Rate on EMI based Personal Loans' (August 2023) also said the circular covers all equated installment based personal loans, irrespective of whether the interest rate is linked to an external benchmark or an internal benchmark.

Regulated entities (REs), the FAQs said have to mandatorily offer fixed interest rate product in all equated installment based personal loan categories. REs have to provide the option to the borrowers to switch over to a fixed rate as per their board approved policy at the time of reset of interest rates.