Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Social media regulation
The new rules for social media platforms and digital news outlets called the Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code has come into effect.
New guidelines for digital media
- The guidelines had asked all social media platforms to set up a grievances redressal and compliance mechanism.
- This included appointing a resident grievance officer, chief compliance officer and a nodal contact person.
- The IT Ministry had also asked these platforms to submit monthly reports on complaints received from users and action taken.
- A third requirement was for instant messaging apps was to make provisions for tracking the first originator of a message.
- Failure to comply with any one of these requirements would take away the indemnity provided to social media intermediaries under Section 79 of the Information Technology Act.
What is Section 79 of the IT Act?
- Section 79 says any intermediary shall not be held legally or otherwise liable for any third party information, data, or communication link made available or hosted on its platform.
- This protection, the Act says, shall be applicable if the said intermediary does not in any way, initiate the transmission of the message in question, select the receiver of the transmitted message and does not modify any information contained in the transmission.
- This means that as long as a platform acts just as the messenger carrying a message from point A to point B, without interfering in any manner, it will be safe from any legal prosecution.
- The intermediary must not tamper with any evidence of these messages or content present on its platform, failing which it loses its protection under the Act.
Effect of non-compliance
- As of now, nothing changes overnight. Social media intermediaries will continue to function as they were, without any hiccups.
- People will also be able to post and share content on their pages without any disturbance.
- Social media intermediaries such as Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram have so far not appointed any officer or contact person as required under the new rules.
- They have also failed to submit monthly action taken reports on grievances and complaints submitted to them by users. Thus, protection under Section 79 of the IT Act does will not hold for them.
Liabilities with the new rules
- Further, Rule 4(a) of the IT Rules mandates that significant social media intermediaries must appoint a chief compliance officer (CCO) who would be held liable in case the intermediary fails to observe the due diligence requirements.
- This means that if a tweet, a Facebook post or a post on Instagram violates the local laws, the law enforcement agency would be well within its rights to book not only the person sharing the content but the executives of these companies as well.
Global norms on safe harbour protection
- As most of the bigger social media intermediaries have their headquarters in the US, the most keenly watched is Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act.
- This provides Internet companies a safe harbour from any content users post of these platforms.
- Experts believe it is this provision in the US law that enabled companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google to become global conglomerates.
- Like Section 79 of India’s IT Act, this Section 230 states that “no provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider”.
- This effectively means that the intermediary shall only be like a bookstore owner who cannot be held accountable for the books in the store unless there is a connection.
Repercussions of the rules in India
- WhatsApp has approached the Delhi High Court challenging the new Rules which include a requirement for social media platforms to compulsorily enable “the identification of the first originator of the information” in India upon government or court order.
- It argued that this provision forces it “to break end-to-end encryption on its messaging service, as well as the privacy principles underlying it.
Must read:
[Burning Issue] New IT Rules 2021
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not Much
Mains level: Hate Speech vs Free Speech
A panel constituted by the Union Home Ministry to suggest reforms to the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC) is likely to propose a separate Section on “offences relating to speech and expression.”
Panel to define hate speech
- As there is no clear definition of what constitutes a “hate speech” in the IPC, the Committee for Reforms in Criminal Laws is attempting for the first time to define such speech.
- Legally speaking, for criminal Sections to be invoked, any such speech has to lead to violence or disturbance of law and order.
What constitutes Hate Speech?
- Hate speech can be defined as “public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation”.
- The word ‘hate speech’ as is a loaded term and merely criticizing someone is not hate speech.
- There has been much debate over freedom of speech, hate speech and hate speech legislation.
Indian attempts for definition
- The Bureau of Police Research and Development recently published a manual for investigating agencies on cyber harassment cases.
- It has defined hate speech as a language that denigrates, insults threatens or targets an individual based on their identity and other traits (such as sexual orientation or disability or religion etc.).
- Earlier in 2018, the Home Ministry had written to the Law Commission to prepare a distinct law for online “hate speech”.
- A committee was formed in the wake of Section 66A of the IT Act, 2000, which provided punishment for sending offensive messages through communication services.
- In 2019, however, the Ministry decided to overhaul the IPC, framed in 1860 and the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) after seeking suggestions from various stakeholders.
Recommendations of various committees
- The Viswanathan committee proposed inserting Sections 153 C (b) and Section 505 A in the IPC for incitement to commit an offence on grounds of religion, race, caste or community, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, place of birth, residence, language, disability or tribe.
- It proposed punishment by up to two years along with ₹5,000 fine.
- The Bezbaruah Committee was constituted by the Centre in February 2014 in the wake of series of racial attacks on persons belonging to the northeast.
- It proposed amendment to Section 153 C IPC (promoting or attempting to promote acts prejudicial to human dignity), punishable by five years and fine or both and Section 509 A IPC (word, gesture or act intended to insult a member of a particular race), punishable by three years or fine or both.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: BEPS, Global Minimum Tax
Mains level: Narrative for the Global Minimum Corporate Tax
Global_Minimum_Corporate_Tax
The US has anticipated support from the G7 industrial democracies for the Biden Administration’s proposed 15%-plus global minimum corporate tax.
Multinational corporations rather monopolies don’t like to pay their fair share of taxes. They’ll do everything in their power to exploit loopholes and minimize their tax liability. Most companies simply open offices in destinations where tax rates are low or negligible. And at the end of it all, they’ll have done just enough to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes.
Global Minimum Corporate Tax
- Major economies are aiming to discourage multinational companies from shifting profits – and tax revenues – to low-tax countries regardless of where their sales are made.
- Increasingly, income from intangible sources such as drug patents, software, and royalties on intellectual property has migrated to these jurisdictions.
- This has allowed companies to avoid paying higher taxes in their traditional home countries.
- With a broadly agreed global minimum tax, the Biden administration hopes to reduce such tax base erosion without putting American firms at a financial disadvantage.
How would such tax work?
- The global minimum tax rate would apply to companies’ overseas profits.
- Therefore, if countries agree on a global minimum, governments could still set whatever local corporate tax rate they want.
- But if companies pay lower rates in a particular country, their home governments could “top-up” their taxes to the agreed minimum rate, eliminating the advantage of shifting profits to a tax haven.
- The Biden administration has said it wants to deny exemptions for taxes paid to countries that don’t agree to a minimum rate.
Back2Basics: Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS)
- BEPS refers to corporate tax planning strategies used by multinationals to “shift” profits from higher-tax jurisdictions to lower-tax jurisdictions.
- It thus “erodes” the “tax base” of the higher-tax jurisdictions.
- Corporate tax havens offer BEPS tools to “shift” profits to the haven, and additional BEPS tools to avoid paying taxes within the haven.
- It is alleged that BEPS is associated mostly with American technology and life science multinationals.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Reclining Buddha , Various Mudras
Mains level: Buddhist arts in India
On this Buddha Jayanti, Buddha Purnima, or Vesak — India’s largest statue of the Reclining Buddha was to have been installed at Bodh Gaya. The ceremony has been put off due to Covid-19 restrictions.
The Reclining Buddha
- A reclining Buddha statue or image represents The Buddha during his last illness, about to enter Parinirvana, the stage of great salvation after death that can only be attained by enlightened souls.
- The Buddha’s death came when he was 80 years old, in a state of meditation, in Kushinagar in eastern Uttar Pradesh, close to the state’s border with Bihar.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2014 in the comment box:
Q.Lord Buddha’s image is sometimes shown with a hand gesture called ‘Bhumisparsha Mudra’. It symbolizes-
a) Buddha’s calling of the Earth to watch over Mara and to prevent Mara from disturbing his meditation
b) Buddha’s calling of the Earth to witness his purity and chastity despite the temptations of Mara
c) Buddha’s reminder to his followers that they all arise from the Earth and finally dissolve into the Earth and thus this life is transitory
d) Both the statements ‘a’ and ‘b’ are correct in this context
Significance of the position
- Buddha is lying on his right side, his head resting on a cushion or relying on his right elbow, supporting his head with his hand.
- After the Buddha’s death, his followers decide to build a statue of him lying down.
- It is a popular iconographic depiction in Buddhism and is meant to show that all beings have the potential to be awakened and be released from the cycle of death and rebirth.
Connection with Gandhara Art
- The Reclining Buddha was first depicted in Gandhara art, which began in the period between 50 BC and 75 AD, and peaked during the Kushana period from the first to the fifth centuries AD.
- Since the Buddha was against idol worship, in the centuries immediately following his Parinirvana (483 BC), his representation was through symbols.
- As the devotional aspect subsequently entered Buddhist practice, however, iconographic representations of The Buddha began.
Try this question from CS Mains 2016:
Q.Early Buddhist Stupa-art, while depicting folk motifs and narratives, successfully expounds Buddhist ideals. Elucidate.
Reclining Buddha outside India
- In Sri Lanka and India, the Buddha is mostly shown in sitting postures, while the reclining postures are more prevalent in Thailand and other parts of southeast Asia.
- There are several statues of the Reclining Buddha in China, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
- The largest in the world is the 600-foot Winsein Tawya Buddha built-in 1992 in Mawlamyine, Myanmar.
- In the late 15th century, a 70-meter statue of the Reclining Buddha was built at the Hindu temple site of Baphuon in Cambodia’s Angkor.
- The Bhamala Buddha Parinirvana in Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which dates back to the 2nd century AD, is considered the oldest statue of its kind in the world.
Reclining Buddha in India
- Cave No. 26 of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ajanta contains a 24-foot-long and nine-foot-tall sculpture of the Reclining Buddha, believed to have been carved in the 5th century AD.
- It shows the Buddha reclining on his right side, and behind him are two sala trees.
- At the base of the sculpture are his begging bowl, a water pitcher and walking stick.
- While his disciples are shown sitting in mourning, celestial beings are shown on top, rejoicing in anticipation of the Buddha’s arrival in heaven.
Back2Basics: Mudras of Buddha
Dharmachakra Mudra
- It is also called as the gesture of ‘Teaching of the Wheel of Dharma’ that describes one of the most important moments in the Buddha’s life as he performed the Dharmachakra mudra in his first sermon in Sarnath after he attained enlightenment.
- It is performed with the help of both the hands which are held against the chest, the left facing inward, covering the right facing outward.
Dhyan Mudra
- It is also known as Samadhi or Yoga Mudra.
- It is performed with the help of two hands, which are placed on the lap and place the right hand on the left hand with stretched fingers (thumbs facing upwards and other fingers of both the hand resting on each other.)
- This is the characteristic gesture of Buddha Shakyamuni, Dhyani Buddha Amitabh and the Medicine Buddha.
Bhumisparsa Mudra
- This gesture is also known as ‘touching the Earth’, which represents the moment of the Buddha’s awakening as he claims the earth as the witness of his enlightenment.
- It is performed with the help of the right hand, which is held above the right knee, reaching toward the ground with the palm inward while touching the lotus throne.
Varada Mudra
- This mudra represents the offering, welcome, charity, giving, compassion and sincerity.
- It is performed with the help of both the hands in which palm of right hand is facing forward and fingers extended and left hand palm placed near centre with extended fingers.
Karana Mudra
- It signifies the warding off of evil which is performed by raising the index and the little finger, and folding the other fingers.
- It helps in reducing sickness or negative thoughts.
Vajra Mudra
- This gesture denotes the fiery thunderbolt that symbolises the five elements—air, water, fire, earth, and metal.
- It is performed with the help of right fist and left forefinger, which is placed by enclosing the erect forefinger of the left hand in the right fist with the tip of the right forefinger touching (or curled around) the tip of the left forefinger.
Vitarka Mudra
- It signifies the discussion and transmission of the teachings of the Buddha.
- It is performed by joining the tips of the thumb and the index fingers together while keeping the other fingers straight, which is just like the Abhaya Mudra and Varada Mudra but in this mudra the thumbs touch the index fingers.
Abhaya Mudra
- It is a gesture of fearlessness or blessing that represents the protection, peace, benevolence, and dispelling of fear.
- It is performed with the help of right hand by raising to shoulder height with bent arm, and the face of palm will be facing outward with fingers upright whereas the left hand hanging down while standing.
Uttarabodhi Mudra
- This denotes the supreme enlightenment through connecting oneself with divine universal energy.
- It is performed with the help of both the hands, which are placed at the heart with the index fingers touching and pointing upwards and the remaining fingers intertwined.
Anjali Mudra
- It is also called Namaskara Mudra or Hridayanjali Mudra that represents the gesture of greeting, prayer and adoration.
- It is performed by pressing the palms of the hands together in which the hands are held at the heart chakra with thumbs resting lightly against the sternum.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Mekedatu Project
Mains level: Cauvery Water Dispute
The National Green Tribunal (NGT), Southern Zone has appointed a joint committee to look into allegations of unauthorized construction activity taking place in Mekedatu, where the Karnataka government had proposed to construct a dam across the Cauvery River.
What is the Mekedatu Project?
- Mekedatu, meaning goat’s leap, is a deep gorge situated at the confluence of the rivers Cauvery and Arkavathi, about 100 km from Bengaluru, at the Kanakapura taluk in Karnataka’s Ramanagara district.
- In 2013, then Karnataka announced the construction of a multi-purpose balancing reservoir project.
- The project aimed to alleviate the drinking water problems of Bengaluru and Ramanagara district.
- It was also expected to generate hydro-electricity to meet the power needs of the state.
Issues with the project
- Soon after the project was announced TN has objected over granting of permission or environmental clearance.
- Explaining the potential for damage to the lower riparian state of TN, it said that the project was in violation of the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.
- It stated that the project will affect the natural flow of the river Cauvery considerably and will severely affect the irrigation in TN.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Fundamental challenges GST regime faces
The article highlights the fundamental challenges the GST faces in the form of trust erosion and politicisation of decision making in GST Council.
Initial issues with GST
- The multiple rates structure, high tax slabs and the complexity of tax filings as the problems underpinning India’s GST.
- These were indeed the initial problems in the way GST was implemented, leading to some of its current woes.
- However, technical fixes such as simplification of GST rates and tax filing systems will not succeed in addressing the fundamental problems with GST.
Fundamental problems
1) Politics influence the decision of GST Council
- The 43rd meeting of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council which consists of 31 States and Union Territorie is to be held on May 28.
- Ideally, political affiliations should not matter in a Council set up to decide indirect taxes.
- The GST Council was mandated to meet at least once every quarter, but it had not met for two quarters, due to the pandemic.
- Several of the 14 members of the groups who belong to parties different from the party ruling in the Centre, requested the Finance Minister to convene the GST meeting to help them manage their finances.
- None of the 17 members of the ruling group deemed it necessary.
- Even the need for a meeting to determine tax revenues for States is evidently a political decision.
2) Lack of trust
- The GST Council is a compact of trust between the States and the Centre, set in the larger context of India’s polity.
- The tragedy of the GST Council is that it is afflicted with spite and forced to function under the prevailing cloud of politics.
- If the functioning of the GST Council is subject to the vagaries of elections and consequent vendetta politics, GST will continue to be just a caricature of its initial promise.
3) Uncertainty after the guarantee of 14% growth ends
- The States paid a huge price for GST in terms of loss of fiscal autonomy.
- GST has endured so far primarily because the States were guaranteed a 14% growth in their tax revenues every year.
- This minimised the risks of this new experiment for the States and compensated for their loss of fiscal sovereignty.
- This revenue guarantee ends in July 2022.
- This can lead to a crumbling of the precarious edifice on which GST stands today.
Consider the question “What are the challenges faced by the States in the GST regime? What would be the impact on States as a guarantee of 14% growth in tax revenue comes to an end in July 2022?”
Conclusion
The end of India’s grand GST experiment seems inevitable unless there is a radical shift in the tone and tenor of India’s federal politics, backed by an extension of revenue guarantee for the States for another five years.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: MGNREGS
Mains level: Paper 2- Need to strengthen the PDS and MGNREGS
The disruption caused by the second Covid wave has added to the hardship faced by the migrant workers and the rural poor. Dealing with it requires strengthening of PDS and MGNREGS.
Distress due to second Covid wave
- Several States have imposed lockdown amid second Covid wave which will have severe implications for the livelihoods of those in the informal sector.
- Migrant workers and the rural poor have been facing great distress over the past one year and the crisis for food and work is only going to intensify further.
- The migrants have again become vulnerable due to the lockdown in different cities.
- In this context, there is an urgent need to strengthen the public distribution system (PDS) and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS).
Steps need to be taken
- The government announced 5 kg free foodgrains for individuals enlisted under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), for May and June 2021.
1) Changes in PDS
- Expand coverage: The government should expand PDS coverage immediately and include all eligible households under the schemes.
- According to an independent study, about 100 million people are excluded from the ration distribution system owing to a dated database based on the 2011 Census.
- Extend period: The Centre should also extend the free foodgrains programme to a year instead of limiting it to two months.
2) Expand MGNREGS
- The Centre had allocated ₹73,000 crore for 2021-22 for MGNREGS and notified an annual increment of about 4% in wages.
- Both these provisions are inadequate to match the requirements on the ground.
- The central allocation for MGNREGS is about ₹38,500 crore less than last year’s revised estimate.
- The budget for 75-80 days of employment in the year for 6.5 crore families given the current scale of economic distress.
- By this rationale, at the current rate of ₹268/day/person, at least ₹1.3 lakh crore will have to be budgeted.
- The government should also re-consider its decision of a mere 4% increase in MGNREGS wages and hike it by at least 10%.
Conclusion
A large population is facing hunger and a cash crunch. The situation is only becoming more dire as the pandemic continues to rage on. Therefore, the Union government should prioritise food and work for all and start making policy reforms right away.
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