Legal Current Affairs for 13 December 2025

Phased Conduct: The exercise will occur in two phases: (i) House listing and Housing Census (April to September 2026) and (ii) Population Enumeration (PE) (February 2027).
First Digital Census: Using mobile applications.
Caste Data: Census will capture Caste data during the Population Enumeration phase.
New Technology: A dedicated Census Management & Monitoring System (CMMS) portal has been developed for real-time monitoring of the process.
Census-as-a-service (CaaS) will deliver data to ministries in a clean, machine-readable and actionable format.
Participation: The public will be provided with an option to self-enumerate.
About Census in India
Genesis: The first non-synchronous census was conducted in 1872.
Conducted by: Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India, under the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Statutory Mandate: The Census Act, enacted in 1948, provides the legal framework for the conduct of the census.
Parameters: The data gathered covers various parameters including Demography, Housing Condition, Religion, and Literacy, providing micro-level data down to the village or ward level.
Last Census: 2011. The 2021 census was postponed due to Covid-19 pandemic.

Ministry: Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
Type: Centrally Sponsored Scheme
Objective: Development of basic infrastructure in sectors of Water supply, Sewerage and septage management, Storm water drainage, green spaces and parks, and non-motorized urban transport in selected cities and towns.

Established in 2012, at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.
Roles and Functions:
Highest-level decision-making body on the matters related to environment.
It set the global environmental agenda; provide policy guidance and define policy responses to address emerging environmental challenges in the world.

It creates a new auction window for coal under the Non-Regulated Sector (NRS) Linkage Auction Policy of 2016.
Purpose: It will allow allocation of coal linkages on auction basis on long-term for any industrial use and export.
Exception: Coking coal shall not be offered under this window.
Participation: Any domestic buyer requiring coal can participate in the linkage auction.
Traders are not allowed to bid under this window.
Usage of Coal Obtained:
Own consumption by the buyer.
Export of coal (up to 50% of linkage quantity)
Coal washing or other purposes permitted under policy
Exception: Resale in the country is not allowed.

Location: Cambodia (Near the border with Thailand)
Principal Deity: The temple is dedicated to Lord Shiva
History: The temple began under King Yashovarman I (889–910 CE) and completed during the reign of King Suryavarman II (1113–1150 CE) of Khmer dynasty.
It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Objective: To provide financial protection to health workers engaged in COVID-19 duties.
Implementing Ministry: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India
Insurance Coverage: ₹50 lakh accident insurance cover per beneficiary.
Coverage Provided
Death due to COVID-19 infection during duty.
Accidental death while performing COVID-19–related duties.
Beneficiaries: Healthcare workers including doctors, nurses, paramedics and support staff directly involved in COVID-19 duties.

UN Specialised Agency: IFAD is an international financial institution and a United Nations specialised agency dedicated to eradicating rural poverty and hunger.
Focus on Smallholders: It supports smallholder farmers, pastoralists and rural entrepreneurs through finance, training and technology.
Rural Development Financing: Provides loans and grants for agriculture, climate resilience, value-chain development and livelihood diversification.