13 July 2025 : The Hindu Current Affairs Simplified - UPSC Foundation

CONTENT LIST : 13 JULY 2025 

1. India’s Poor Turning to Informal Credit

2. UGC’s Anti-Ragging System Has Failed – Delhi HC

3. Inequality in India – Rahul Menon

4. Mizoram’s Refugee Crisis – Rahul Karmakar

5. Stampedes Across India – Population Day Reality

6. Population Snapshot – India on World Population Day

CBSE Relevance :

Subjects Covered:

• Social Science (Class 10)

• Political Science & Economics (Class 11–12)

• Geography (Population, Migration)

• Sociology & Disaster Management

Skills/Concepts Reinforced:

• Population challenges and policies

• Governance and public safety

• Credit access and financial inclusion

• Regional identity and refugee handling

• Socio-economic inequality

• Mental health in education and institutions

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Top Vocabulary:

Word	Meaning (Simple)
Informal credit	Loans from non-bank sources like moneylenders or friends
Microfinance	Small loans given to poor people, often by special lenders
Ragging	Bullying of juniors by seniors, especially in colleges
Suo motu PIL	A legal case started by the court itself to address injustice
Gini coefficient	A number showing income or wealth inequality in a country
Ethnic ties	Shared culture, language, or ancestry among groups
Stampede	A sudden panic-driven rush of people that causes injury/death
Financial inclusion	Access to banking and financial services for all people

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Full Forms:

Short Form	Full Form
NBFC	Non-Banking Financial Company
UGC	University Grants Commission
HC	High Court
SC	Supreme Court
NCRB	National Crime Records Bureau
HCES	Household Consumption Expenditure Survey
WID	World Inequality Database
RCB	Royal Challengers Bengaluru
FMR	Free Movement Regime
CMIE	Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy
PIL	Public Interest Litigation
YMA	Young Mizo Association
PTI	Press Trust of India
CBSE	Central Board of Secondary Education

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🏷️ Tags :

Tags:
India Population, Informal Credit, Stampede Tragedies, UGC Ragging Failure, Mizoram Refugees, Inequality in India, Mental Health, RCB IPL 2025

India's Poor Turning to Informal Credit

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1. Bank Access but Credit Problem

• About 96% of Indian households had at least one bank account by 2021 due to the government's financial inclusion programme.

• But most progress has happened only in opening bank accounts (deposits).

• Poor people are still not getting easy loans from banks.

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2. More People Using Informal Loans

• Many poor and low-income families are now borrowing from informal sources like:

• Moneylenders

• Chit funds

• Friends

• These loans are costly and risky, but people still use them because formal loans are hard to get.

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3. What the Data Shows (2018-19 to 2022-23)

a. Economically Weaker Section (₹1–2 lakh per year)

• Borrowers from banks and NBFCs (formal loans) dropped by 4.2%

• Borrowers from informal sources rose by 5.8%

b. Lower Income Group (₹2–5 lakh per year)

• Formal loan borrowers increased by 10.4%

• Informal loan borrowers increased even more — by 12.6%

c. Middle Income Group (₹5–10 lakh per year)

• Formal loans: up by 8.7%

• Informal loans: up by 10.3%

d. Higher Income Group (More than ₹10 lakh per year)

• Formal loans: down by 9.9%

• Informal loans: down by 7.6%

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4. Worrying Trend: Microfinance Defaults Rising

• More people are failing to repay microfinance loans.

• Microfinance borrowers are similar to informal borrowers, so this shows rising financial stress.

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5. Expert Opinion

• Debopam Chaudhuri, Chief Economist, Piramal Enterprises:

• Financial inclusion is working only for opening accounts, not for giving loans to the poor.

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Data Source

• Piramal Enterprises

• CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy)

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UGC's Anti-Ragging System Has Failed – Delhi HC

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1. Delhi High Court's Remarks

• Delhi HC criticised the UGC’s anti-ragging system as a total failure.

• It may start a suo motu PIL over rising ragging and student suicides.

• Case heard on a petition by Aman Satya Kachroo Trust (ASKT).

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2. Sharp Rise in Ragging Cases and Suicides

• UGC helpline got 1,084 ragging complaints in 2024 – highest in 9 years.

• NCRB 2022: Students formed 7.6% (13,044) of suicide deaths, more than farmers.

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3. Court’s Criticism of UGC Spending

• “System has utterly failed,” said the Bench.

• UGC spends ₹744 lakh/year for 35 million students – court questioned this.

• Ragging may seem minor, but causes dropouts and suicides.

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4. Supreme Court's Earlier Comments (March 2024)

• SC said UGC’s anti-ragging rules are mostly on paper.

• Universities only take written undertakings and put notices.

• After 2 IIT Delhi suicides, SC ordered FIR and creation of a National Task Force.

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5. Mental Health Crisis (Medical Survey 2024)

• Survey of 37,000 PG students showed:

• 31% had suicidal thoughts

• 4.4% attempted suicide

• 27% were ragged

• 31% faced abuse from faculty/seniors

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Inequality in India – Rahul Menon

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1. What the World Bank Said

• Report said poverty and inequality have reduced in India.

• Gini coefficient for consumption dropped from 0.288 (2011-12) to 0.255 (2022-23).

• Govt used this to show success of its economic policies.

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2. What’s Wrong With This Picture

• World Bank measured consumption inequality, not income or wealth inequality.

• Poor spend more of their income, rich save more — so real inequality is hidden.

• Consumption inequality always appears lower than income or wealth inequality.

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3. Issues With the Data

• Based on Household Consumption Expenditure Surveys (HCES).

• These surveys:

  • Miss very high incomes.

  • Had method changes — not reliable for comparing over time.

  • Official release warned against direct comparison.

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4. What Real Estimates Show

• World Inequality Database (WID) used tax data and rich lists.

• Income Gini (2023): 0.61 – India among the most unequal economies.

• Wealth Gini (2023): 0.75 – very high concentration of wealth.

• Inequality rising:

  • Income Gini: 0.47 → 0.61 (2000–2023)

  • Wealth Gini: 0.70 → 0.75

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5. Where is Wealth Concentrated?

• Top 1% own nearly 40% of India’s wealth (2022-23).

• Only 4 countries are worse: Uruguay, Eswatini, Russia, South Africa.

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6. Why Falling Consumption Inequality is Misleading

• As incomes rise:

  • Poor spend more, rich save and grow wealth.

• So consumption inequality can fall even while wealth and income inequality rise.

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Example:

A poor family earns ₹10,000 per month and spends almost all of it on food, rent, and essentials. A rich family earns ₹1,00,000 per month but spends only ₹50,000 and saves the rest.

Even if both families get a salary increase of 50%:

• Poor family now earns ₹15,000 and still spends most of it (say ₹14,000).

• Rich family now earns ₹1,50,000 but might still spend only ₹60,000 and save ₹90,000.

Result:

• Consumption gap between rich and poor doesn’t grow much, so it may look like inequality is low.

• But the income and savings gap becomes huge, showing real inequality.

So, consumption inequality falls, while income and wealth inequality rise.

7. Final Conclusion

• India’s inequality is very high, despite what the World Bank report shows.

• Growth is unequal, with extreme wealth concentration.

• This hurts India’s future growth and social stability.

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Mizoram’s Refugee Crisis – Rahul Karmakar

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1. Crisis Background

• Since Myanmar’s 2021 coup, Mizoram shelters 40,000+ refugees from Myanmar, Bangladesh, and Manipur.

• Refugees welcomed due to ethnic and humanitarian reasons.

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2. Fresh July 2024 Influx

• 4,000 Chins entered Champhai after a clash between rebel groups CNDF vs. CDF-H in Myanmar.

• Both groups wanted control over India-Myanmar trade routes.

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3. Who Are They?

• Refugees include Chins (Myanmar), Bawms (Bangladesh), Kuki-Zo (Manipur).

• All are part of the Zo ethnic group, related to Mizos.

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4. State and Civil Society Response

• CM Lalduhoma supports them citing ethnic ties.

• Churches, YMA, locals offer help; Centre gave ₹8 crore.

• Some villages now limit refugee movement and trade due to rising pressure.

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5. Border Movement History

• Free Movement Regime (FMR) since 1968:

  • Allowed travel up to 40 km, reduced to 10 km in 2024.

• Despite Centre’s orders, Mizoram accepted refugees post-coup.

• Added pressure from 2,000 Bawm (2022) and Kuki-Zo (Manipur violence).

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6. Rising Concerns

• Locals fear resource strain, demographic change, and smuggling.

• Activist wrote to Amit Shah about border misuse and law violations.

• CM blamed FMR for smuggling rise.

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7. Legal Status & Identification

• India lacks a refugee law and isn’t part of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

• Refugees are handled under foreigners' laws.

• Mizoram Bill aims to register and identify foreigners; CM seeks President’s approval.

Stampedes Across India – A Population Day Reality Check

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1. India’s Growing Population

• On World Population Day (July 11), India’s population touched 1,45,48,50,455, as per the International Institute for Population Sciences.

• Large gatherings have caused deadly stampedes due to poor crowd control.

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2. Hathras Stampede – UP (July 2, 2024)

• 121 people died while collecting sacred sand at a godman’s event.

• Chaos and scattered footwear showed the crowd’s intensity.

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3. Tirumala Temple – AP (Jan 8, 2025)

• Despite 94 token counters, 6 died and 20 injured at Vaikunta Ekadasi darshan.

• Massive rush at token counters.

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4. Kumbh Mela – Prayagraj (Jan 29, 2025)

• Stampede during Mauni Ammavasya dip in Sangam.

• Official deaths: 37, but BBC count: 82.

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5. RCB IPL Celebration – Bengaluru (June 4, 2025)

• 11 fans died, many injured outside Chinnaswamy Stadium.

• Gates unopened; crowd overwhelmed police.

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6. Other Cases

• Hyderabad theatre stampede during Allu Arjun film premiere.

• New Delhi railway station: 18 devotees died rushing to board Kumbh train.

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7. Key Issues Behind Tragedies

• Events tied to faith or emotion saw massive unregulated crowds.

• Poor planning, no safety measures, and lack of emergency response.

• Highlights risks of crowd surges in a densely populated country.