Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Pakistan-China relations
Three power, India, Pakistan and China need to take a new look at the factors underlying their relationship with each other. The article deals with this issue.
Hope for regional politics to turn a new leaf
- The announcement by India and Pakistan of strict observance of all agreements, understandings and cease firing along the Line of Control is a welcome step.
- It is premature to conclude what all this will amount to in the long term.
- But if all three powers, China, Pakistan and India, can draw the appropriate lessons in humility, there is hope for regional politics to turn over a new leaf.
Lessons for India
- First, the belligerent use of foreign policy in domestic politics has unintended effects on your international standing.
- In 2019, the official rhetoric was promising India retaking PoK and putting more military pressure on Pakistan.
- In contrast, the discourse on foreign policy since the Chinese pressure on the LAC has been one of marked sobriety scaling back all expectations of a flippant militarism.
- Second, the standoff with China has brought home some stark realities. We can speculate on Chinese motives.
- The LAC standoff considerably released the pressure on Pakistan.
- We were reminded that the LAC and LoC can be linked; that the zone around Kashmir was a trilateral and not a bilateral contest, and that India will need significant resources to deal with China.
- In the matter of the CAA the talk of evicting Bangladeshis has been starkly checkmated by the need to placate Bangladesh, which is vital to our strategic interests.
Lessons for Pakistan
- First, India now has enough weight in the international system that any attempts to internationalise Kashmir are a non-starter.
- Second, the revocation of Article 370 did not unleash the kinds of fissures and cycle of violence within the Valley that Pakistan might have been hoping to exploit.
- Third, the pandemic is a great opportunity for Pakistan to recognise that opening up to the South Asian region is in its interest in the long term than acting on the coattails of China.
Lessons for China
- India may not have, in a literal sense, restored the status quo ante on the LAC, the fact of the matter is that it has stood up with enough firmness to send the signal that it will not be a pushover.
- India signalled a resolve that Chinese military and economic hegemony can be resisted.
- China cannot wish away considerable Indian power.
- In fact, by concentrating India’s mind on the China challenge, it may have unwittingly done India a favour.
Way forward
- So this moment can be a constructive one if everyone understands the one lesson in world politics: There are diminishing returns to belligerence.
- With Pakistan, India should seize the moment and build on the de-escalation.
- The pandemic offers an opportunity for greater economic cooperation.
- Political establishments of both countries will have to think of what is a win-win political narrative they can legitimately offer their citizens.
Consider the question “If all three powers, China, Pakistan and India, can draw the appropriate lessons in humility, there is hope for regional politics to turn over a new leaf. Comment.“
Conclusion
The region will be better off with a humility that tries to align them, rather than a hubris that exults in unilateral triumphalism.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Master of the Roaster
Mains level: Paper 2- Implications of the Master of Roaster power for the independence of the judiciary
CJI’s power as Master of Roaster and issues with it
- The Supreme Court recently closed the proceedings enquiring into a conspiracy to threaten the independence of the judiciary on the basis of sexual harassment allegations against the former CJI.
- The singular power of the CJI as the Master of the Roster – i.e., the vests exclusive discretion in the Chief Justice to constitute benches and allocate cases.
- While the CJI’s other powers such as recommending appointments to constitutional courts are shared with other senior judges, the power of Master of the Roster is enjoyed without scrutiny.
- This power enabled Justice Gogoi to institute suo motu proceedings despite being an accused; label the case as a matter of judicial independence; and preside over it.
- This power lay at the heart of the controversy surrounding the proceedings the Court has now closed.
Implications for independence of judiciary
- From the standpoint of judicial independence, the Master of the Roster power makes the CJI’s office a high stakes one.
- It makes the CJI the sole point of defence of the Court against executive interference.
- However, this has a flip side.
- With the CJI as the sole Master of the Roster, any executive seeking to influence the Supreme Court needs only a pliant CJI.
- Yet, the Supreme Court has been reluctant to dilute this power.
- In Asok Pande v. Supreme Court of India (2018), a three-judge bench of the Court held that Master of the Roster is the CJI’s exclusive power.
- Thereafter, a two-judge bench in Shanti Bhushan v. Supreme Court of India (2018) rejected the plea that the Master of the Roster should be interpreted as the collegium.
Need for the reforms
- The collegium system has failed to keep executive interferences at bay from the Supreme Court.
- This is for two reasons:
- First, as Justice Gogoi’s case shows, there is an attractive lure of post-retirement jobs.
- Second, as the privilege of Master of the Roster shows, the CJI’s allocation of cases is an unchecked power.
- The continuing project of judicial reforms should then address these two issues.
Way forward
- A cooling-off period between retirement and a post-retirement appointment has often been suggested as a way to deal with the first problem.
- For the second, the power of Master of the Roster needs to be diversified beyond the CJI’s exclusive and untrammelled discretion.
Consider the question “What are the issues with the Master of the Roaster power of the Chief Justice of India? Suggest the ways to deal with the issue.”
Conclusion
We need to carry out these reforms make the judiciary less prone to interference from the executive.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NFS Act
Mains level: Assurance of Food Security
The NITI Aayog has recently proposed a revision in the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013 for lowering the coverage of both rural and urban population to save up to Rs 47,229 crore annually.
National Food Security (NFS) Act
- The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
- It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.
- It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the GoI.
- It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
- Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
- The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
- Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.
Key provisions of NFSA
- The NFSA provides a legal right to persons belonging to “eligible households” to receive foodgrains at a subsidised price.
- It includes rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg and coarse grain at Rs 1/kg — under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
- These are called central issue prices (CIPs).
Try this PYQ:
Q.With reference to the provisions made under the National Food Security Act, 2013, consider the following statements:
- The families coming under the category of ‘below poverty line (BPL)’ only are eligible to receive subsidized food grains.
- The eldest woman in a household, of age 18 years or above, shall be the head of the Household for the purpose of issuance of a ration card.
- Pregnant women and lactating mothers are entitled to a ‘take-home ration’ of 1600 calories per day during pregnancy and for six months thereafter.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 and 2 only
(b) 2 only
(c) 1 and 3 only
(d) 3 only
What has NITI Aayog asked for review?
- A revision of CIPs is one of the issues that have been discussed.
- The other issues are updating of the population covered under the NFSA, and beneficiary identification criteria.
- Under sub-section (1) of Section 3 of the Act, the term “eligible households” comprises two categories — “priority households”, and families covered by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY).
- Priority households are entitled to receive 5 kg of foodgrains per person per month, whereas AAY households are entitled to 35 kg per month at the same prices.
Provisions for review
- Under Schedule-I of the Act, these subsidised prices were fixed for “a period of three years from the date of commencement of the Act”.
- While different states began implementing the Act at different dates, the deemed date of its coming into effect is July 5, 2013, and the three-year period was therefore completed on July 5, 2016.
- However, the government has yet not revised subsidised prices.
- The government can do so under Schedule-I of the Act, after completion of the three-year period.
- To revise the prices, the government can amend Schedule-I through a notification, a copy of which has to be laid before each House of Parliament as soon as possible after it is issued.
- The revised prices cannot exceed the minimum support price for wheat and coarse grains, and the derived minimum support price for rice.
The question of coverage
- The Act has prescribed the coverage under “eligible households” — 75% of the rural population and up to 50% of the urban population.
- On the basis of Census 2011 figures and the national rural and urban coverage ratios, 81.35 crore persons are covered under NFSA currently.
- This overall figure has been divided among the states and UTs, based on the NSSO Household Consumer Expenditure Survey 2011-12.
- Section 9 of the Act deals with an update of coverage of the population under the Act.
- However, given the population increase since then, there have been demands from the states and union territories to update the list by ensuring an annual updating system under NFSA.
Propositions by NITI Aayog
- The NITI Aayog has suggested that the national rural and urban coverage ratio be reduced from the existing 75-50 to 60-40.
- If this reduction happens, the number of beneficiaries under the NFSA will drop to 71.62 crores (on the basis of the projected population in 2020).
- To make these changes in the law, the government will have to amend sub-section (2) of Section 3 of the NFSA. For this, it will require parliamentary approval.
Implications of the move
- If the national coverage ratio is revised downward, the Centre can save up to Rs 47,229 crore (as estimated by the NITI Aayog paper).
- On the other hand, if the rural-urban coverage ratio remains at 75-50, then the total number of people covered will increase from the existing 81.35 crores to 89.52 crore —an increase of 8.17 crore.
- This estimate by the NITI Aayog is based on the projected 2020 population, and, according to the paper, will result in an additional subsidy requirement of Rs 14,800 crore.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Swiss Neutrality
Mains level: Swiss Neutrality as a foreign policy tool
Switzerland’s traditional foreign policy of neutrality has become attractive again because of the changing political reality in the world, said its Ambassador recently.
Q.In context to foreign policy, discuss the relevance, benefits and limitations of Swiss Neutrality.(150 W)
What is Swiss Neutrality?
- Swiss neutrality is one of the main principles of Switzerland’s foreign policy which dictates that Switzerland is not to be involved in armed or political conflicts between other states.
- This policy is self-imposed, permanent, and armed, designed to ensure external security and promote peace.
- Under this, Switzerland pursues an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world.
Historic significance
- Switzerland has the oldest policy of military neutrality in the world; it has not participated in a foreign war since its neutrality was established by the Treaty of Paris in 1815.
- The European powers (Austria, France, the UK, Portugal, Prussia, Russia, Spain and Sweden) agreed at the Congress of Vienna in May 1815 that Switzerland should be neutral.
- But final ratification was delayed until after Napoleon Bonaparte was defeated so that some coalition forces could invade France via Swiss territory.
Swiss moves for the status
- Since World War II, Switzerland has taken a more active role in international affairs by aiding with humanitarian initiatives, but it remains fiercely neutral with regard to military affairs.
- It has never joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) or the European Union, and only joined the United Nations in 2002.
Relevance today
- Neutrality has become necessary as a foreign policy tool as the phase of power politics has returned in world affairs.
- Now with big power politics, Switzerland’s neutrality and Switzerland as a place to meet is much more attractive again.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 371A
Mains level: Naga customs and their constitutional protection
Some villages in Nagaland are trying to revive a traditional form of punishment that seeks to check crime with an itch in time.
What is Khujli Ghar?
- Social offenders or violators of Naga customary laws have over the ages dreaded a cramped, triangular cage made from the logs of an indigenous tree that irritates the skin.
- The dread is more of humiliation or loss of face within the community or clan than of spending at least a day scratching furiously without any space to move.
- Such itchy cages are referred to as khujli ghar in Nagamese but each Naga community has its own name.
- The Aos, one of the major tribes of Nagaland, call it Shi-ki that means flesh-house.
Terminologies associated
- The cage is usually placed at a central spot in the village, usually in front of the morung or bachelor’s dormitory, for the inmate to be in full public view.
- The cage is made of the logs of Masang-fung, a local tree that people avoid because of the irritation it causes.
- It does not affect the palm but people who make the cages have to be careful.
Naga belief in this
- It is not proper to view the itchy cages from the prism of modern laws.
- They have served a purpose for ages and have often proved to reform offenders, as identity and family or clan reputation is very important to a Naga.
Do you know?
Article 371(A) of the Constitution guarantees the preservation of the Naga customary laws.
The State also funds the customary courts in villages and towns where cases — mostly dealing with land litigation, money-lending and marital disputes — have a high rate of prompt disposal.
Back2Basics: Article 371A
- Parliament cannot legislate in matters of Naga religion or social practices, the Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law.
- Parliament also cannot intervene in ownership and transfer of land and its resources, without the concurrence of the Legislative Assembly of the state.
- This provision was inserted in the Constitution after a 16-point agreement between the Centre and the Naga People’s Convention in 1960, which led to the creation of Nagaland in 1963.
- Also, there is a provision for a 35-member Regional Council for Tuensang district, which elects the Tuensang members in the Assembly.
- A member from the Tuensang district is Minister for Tuensang Affairs. The Governor has the final say on all Tuensang-related matters.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mt Sinabung
Mains level: Pacific ring of fire
Indonesia’s Mount Sinabung volcano sent a cloud of hot ash as high as 3 km today, in its first big eruption since August last year.
Mount Sinabung
- It is a Pleistocene-to-Holocene stratovolcano in the Karo plateau of Karo Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
- It is created by the subduction of the Indo-Australian Plate under the Eurasian Plate.
- It erupted in 2010 after a 400-year-long hiatus and has been continuously active since September 2013.
Why frequent eruptions?
- Indonesia straddles the “Pacific ring of fire” with nearly130 active volcanoes, more than any other country.
- Sinabung had been inactive for centuries before it erupted again in 2010.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following statements:
- The Barren Island volcano is an active volcano located in the Indian Territory.
- Barren Island lies about 140 km east of Great Nicobar
- The last time the Barren Island volcano erupted was in 1991 and it has remained inactive since then.
Which of the statements given above is/are correct? (CSP 2018)
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 3 only
(d) 1 and 3
What is the Pacific ring of fire?
- The Pacific Ring of Fire is a region around much of the rim of the Pacific Ocean where many volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur.
- It includes the Pacific coasts of South America, North America and Kamchatka, and some islands in the western Pacific Ocean.
- It is a direct result of plate tectonics: specifically the movement, collision and destruction of lithospheric plates under and around the Pacific Ocean.
- The collisions have created a nearly continuous series of subduction zones, where volcanoes are created and earthquakes occur.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now
Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan
Mains level: Disable friendly infrastructure
Union Minister for Social justice and Empowerment has launched the “Sugamya Bharat App”.
Sugamya Bharat App
- The Sugamya Bharat App is a simple to use Mobile App with an easy registration process, requiring only 3 mandatory fields, namely, Name, Mobile number and Email-id.
- Registered users can raise issues related to accessibility being faced.
- The App is made accessible for ease of use for persons with disabilities also with features such as font size adjustment, color contrasting option, text to speech, and having an integrated screen reader in Hindi and English.
- It is available in 10 regional languages, namely, Hindi, English, Marathi, Tamil, Odiya, Kannada, Telugu, Gujarati, Punjabi, and Malayalam.
- The App also has the provision of easy photo uploads with a geotagging option of the premise where accessibility intervention is required.
Its features
- The app, a Crowdsourcing Mobile Application is a means for sensitizing and enhancing accessibility in the 3 pillars of the Accessible India Campaign i.e. built environment, transportation sector and ICT ecosystem in India.
- The app provides for five main features, 4 of which are directly related to enhancing accessibility, while the fifth is a special feature meant only for Divyangjan for COVID related issues.
The accessibility-related features are:
- Registration of complaints of inaccessibility across the 3 broad pillars of the Sugamya Bharat Abhiyaan;
- Positive feedback of examples and best practices worth emulating being shared by people as jan-bhagidhari;
- Departmental updates and guidelines and circulars related to accessibility.
Back2Basics: Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan
- Accessible India Campaign or Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan is a program that is set to be launched to serve the differently-able community of the country.
- The flagship program has been launched on 3 December 2015, the International Day of People with Disabilities.
- The program comes with an index to measure the design of disabled-friendly buildings and human resource policies.
- The initiative also in line with Article 9 of the (UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities) which India is a signatory since 2007.
- The scheme also comes under the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995 for equal Opportunities and protection of rights which provides non-discrimination in Transport to Persons with Disabilities.
Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024
Attend Now