Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UPI
Mains level: Paper 3- Account Aggregators
Context
Account Aggregators will enable the use and enrich the quality of information needed for lenders to extend loans without collateral back-up.
Issue of preference for a collateralised loan in India
- Demand for credit in India far outstrips institutional supply.
- Financial Service Providers (FSPs) are well aware of this demand.
- And they have been looking for ways to provide credit without collateral back-up.
- Historically, financial service providers (FSPs) like banks and non-bank finance companies (NBFCs) have relied on collateral while making lending decisions.
- In the absence of collateral pledges, the only way to assess a consumer’s willingness and ability to repay is by examining the prospective borrower’s cash flows.
- Your bank account statement is a digital representation of your financial life.
- However, this bank account statement-driven process is highly manual, time-consuming, expensive and fraught with potential for abuse.
- These shortcomings have held back cash-flow based lending for too long in India.
- Borrowers in the country have been underserved because of the preference for collateralized loans.
- Both FSPs and consumers are in dire need of a seamless digital way of sharing account information.
Account Aggregator (AA) framework
- The account aggregator framework announced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) promises to solve these problems.
- It aims to make financial data sharing as easy as making a Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transfer.
- This is the promise of account aggregation, as envisaged by RBI.
- Account aggregators (AAs), with their user interface, will play a pivotal role in closing the trust deficit between FSPs and consumers.
Fenefits of Account Aggregator would work
- User control over data: They permit users to control who gets access to their data, track and log its movement and reduce the potential risk of leakage in transit.
- A single-window format allows user-friendly data movement and reduces the need for physical transfers and post-facto attestations.
- Industry-standard for consent: AAs create a default industry standard for consent that cuts through the dense fine print buried in most privacy policies.
- Wider data points to rely on: With the security of this data as a given, AAs allow lenders (or other FSPs for that matter) to rely on a wider selection of data points to determine the trustworthiness of a borrower.
- Through AAs, FSPs have a chance to provide cash-flow based credit, personalized financial management tools, robo-advisory services and many more innovative financial products and services to a wider cross-section of people.
Conclusion
By incorporating security, transparency and agility into data sharing, AAs could usher in the most significant transformation of India’s fintech landscape yet.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 142 (1)
Mains level: Paper 2- Issue of judicial appointments
Context
For the first time ever, the Supreme Court Collegium led by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) recommended/selected as many as nine persons at one go to be appointed to the apex court.
Significance of the move
- It is a happy augury that the present CJI, Justice N.V. Ramana, could, along with his colleagues in the Collegium, select the judges within a short period of his assumption of office.
- It is a tough task to build a consensus around one person or a few persons, the CJI being the head of the Collegium, has an unenviable task in building that consensus.
- Therefore, it can be said without any fear of contradiction that the job of selecting as many as nine judges for appointment to the Supreme Court was done admirably well.
- The latest resolution of the Collegium gave effect to the multiple judicial pronouncements of the top court on the subject.
- The selection of three women judges, with one of them having a chance to head the top court, a judge belonging to the Scheduled Caste and one from a backward community and the nine selected persons belonging to nine different States, all point towards an enlightened and unbiased approach of the members of the Collegium.
- A needless controversy is sought to be raised by a section of the media about this round of selection citing the non-existing ‘Rule of Seniority’.
Various norms to be followed in judicial appointment
1) Consideration of merit
- Article 142 (1) contains the concept of ‘complete justice’ in any cause or matter which the Supreme Court is enjoined to deliver upon.
- So, while selecting a judge to adorn the Bench, the fundamental consideration should be his/her ability to do complete justice.
- In the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association and Another vs Union of India (1993), the Court spelt out the parameters within which to accomplish the task of selecting candidates for appointment to the higher judiciary.
- The most crucial consideration is the merit of the candidates.
- The merit is the ability of the judge to deliver complete justice.
2) Plurality
- The nine judges who decided the above case were quite aware of these compelling realities.
- So, they said, “In the context of the plurastic [pluralistic] society of India where there are several distinct and differing interests of the people with multiplicity of religions, race, caste and community and with the plurality of culture, it is inevitable that all people should be given equal opportunity in all walks of life and brought into the mainstream.”
3) Transparency
- India is perhaps the only country where the judges select judges to the higher judiciary.
- It is, therefore, necessary to make the norms of selection transparent and open.
- In 2019, a five judge Bench of the Supreme Court, of which the present CJI was also a member, laid emphasis on this point.
- The Bench observed: “There can be no denial that there is a vital element of public interest in knowing about the norms which are taken into consideration in selecting candidates for higher judicial office and making judicial appointments”.
Thus, the essence of the norms to be followed in judicial appointments is a judicious blend of merit, seniority, interests of the marginalised and deprived sections of society, women, religions, regions and communities.
Consider the question “What are the various norms to be followed by the Collegium for judicial appointments? What are the issues with Collegium system of judicial appointment?”
Conclusion
The Collegium has started doing its job. Now, it is time for the Government to match the pace and take the process of appointments to its logical conclusion at the earliest.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 235
Mains level: Paper 2- Independence of judiciary
Context
The August 11 order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court directed that “hereinafter, all the courts in the state other than the high court shall be referred to as district judiciary”. Furthermore, “these courts shall not be referred to as subordinate court” but as trial courts.
Issues with the judicial hierarchy Vs. hierarchy of judges
- The expression “subordinate courts” used by Part VI, Chapter 6, of the Constitution of India cannot signify that judges are subordinate.
- The term subordinate has implications for the independence of the judiciary, entrenched with and since Kesavananda Bharati (1973) as the essential feature of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution.
- No judge is “subordinate” to any other, constitutionally judges are limited in the jurisdiction but also supreme within their own jurisdiction.
- However, Article 235 speaks of “control over subordinate courts”.
- This Article created the notion of subordination by describing these entities and agents as persons “holding a post inferior to the post of a district judge”.
Constitutional provision
- The Constitution no doubt contemplates a hierarchy of jurisdictions, but no judge, acting within her jurisdiction, is “inferior” or “subordinate”.
- On appeal, or review, a court with ample jurisdiction may overturn and even pass judicial strictures but this does not make the concerned courts “lower” or “inferior” courts.
- Supervisory powers: High courts always have considerable powers of superintendence on the administrative side but this “supervisory“ power has been recognised by the apex court as a “constitutional power” and subject to the right of appeal as granted by Article 235.
- While the Constitution allows “supervision”, it does not sanction judicial despotism.
- Despite this, arbitrary practices in writing confidential reports of district justices seem to continue.
Way forward
- Constitutional amendment: A complete recasting of Article 235 is needed, which does away with the omnibus expression of “control” powers in the high courts.
- The amendment should specifically require the high courts to satisfy the criteria flowing from the principles of natural and constitutional justice and all judicial officers who fulfil due qualification thresholds should be treated with constitutional dignity and respect.
- Collegiate system at high court’s level: For most matters (save elevation), senior-most district judges and judges of the high courts should constitute a collegiate system to facilitate judicial administration, infrastructure, access, monitoring of disposal rates, minimisation of undue delays in administration of justice, alongside matters concerning transfers, and leave.
- If an ACR is to be adversely changed in the face of a consistent award for a decade or more, it should be a collegiate act of the five senior-most justices, including the Chief Justice of the High Court.
- CJI Ramana has recently agreed in principle, following the request of the Supreme Court Bar Association, that chief justices of the high courts should consider lawyers practising in the Supreme Court for elevation to the high courts.
Consider the question “Do you agree with the view that the Constitution contemplates a hierarchy of jurisdictions, but no judge, acting within her jurisdiction, is “inferior” or “subordinate”. Give reason in support of your argument.”
Conclusion
The changes suggested here needs to be implemented to ensure the independence of the judiciary at all levels.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: A25, A21
Mains level: Anti-Conversion Law
The Gujarat High Court this week stayed key provisions of The Gujarat Freedom of Religion (Amendment) Act, 2021 pertaining to marriages involving religious conversion of either of the two parties.
What is the Anti-Conversion Law?
- The legislation has amended the 2003 Gujarat Freedom of Religion Act.
- The amendment was brought in line with several similar laws enacted last year by right-wing-ruled states, starting with Uttar Pradesh.
- The laws seek to end conversion through unlawful means, specifically prohibit any conversion for marriage, even if it is with the consent of the individual except when a prior sanction is obtained from the state.
- Apart from UP and Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh too, have also enacted similar laws.
Controversial provisions
- Vagueness: It gives powers to the state to conduct a police inquiry to verify the intentions of the parties to convert for the purposes of marriage.
- Burden of proof: Section 6A reverses the burden of proof on the partner of the converted spouse to prove that he/she did not coerce the other spouse.
- Intent of marriage: Section 4 allows the aggrieved person, their parents, brother, sister, or any other person related by blood or marriage or adoption to file an FIR challenging the conversion and subsequent marriage.
- Conversion as Allurement: The law considers lawful conversions as “allurement” in vague.
- Discrimination: It defines over-broad terms; prescribes different jail terms based on gender; and legitimizes the intrusion of family and the society at large to oppose inter-faith marriages.
Issues with such laws
- Stereotyping of lawful conversion: The new anti-conversion laws shift the burden of proof of a lawful religious conversion from the converted to his/her partner.
- Curb on individual freedom: Legal experts have pointed out that the laws interfere in an individual’s agency to marry a partner from different faith and to choose to convert from one’s religion for that purpose.
- Interference of state: Apart from being vague and sweeping, the laws also test the limits to which the state can interfere in the personal affairs of individuals.
- Violative of FRs: The freedom to propagate one’s religion (A25) and the right to choose a partner are fundamental rights (A21) that the new anti-conversion laws impinge upon.
What has the Gujarat High Court held?
- A Division Bench of the Gujarat High Court has granted an interim stay on certain provisions of the amendment that interfere with inter-faith marriages.
- It has held that the bill interferes with the intricacies of marriage including the right to the choice of an individual, thereby infringing Article 21.
- The interim stay on certain provisions will have to be confirmed when the larger challenge is decided.
What was the government’s defence?
- The state government had argued that the law did not prohibit all inter-faith marriages, but only the ones based on fraud and coercion.
- To buttress its submission, Advocate General had argued that the Act must be read as a whole to interpret the provision, and the provision alone could not be read by itself.
- However, the court said that the wider interpretation would happen at a later stage, and stayed the provisions for the time being. A larger challenge would determine the fate of the law eventually.
Significance of the ruling
- The HC ruling, although preliminary, comes as a relief to interfaith couples from being harassed.
- The reading could have a bearing on challenges pending in other HCs (namely in MP, UP, Himachal etc).
- However, its real impact on the ground could be limited, as larger constitutional nuances are often difficult to permeate, especially when it is not a final and binding verdict.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: AERA Act
In the recent monsoon session, Parliament passed the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India (Amendment) Bill, 2021.
Key features of the AERA Bill, 2021
- It seeks to amend the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority of India Act, 2008.
- The 2008 Act established the Airport Economic Regulatory Authority (AERA).
- AERA regulates tariffs and other charges (such as airport development fees) for aeronautical services rendered at major airports in India.
- The 2008 Act designates an airport as a major airport if it has an annual passenger traffic of at least 35 lakh.
- The central government may also designate any airport as a major airport by a notification.
- The Bill adds that the central government may group airports and notify the group as a major airport.
Why has the definition of a major airport been amended?
- The Amendment has changed the definition of a major airport to include “a group of airports” after the words “any other airport”.
- The government hopes the move will encourage the development of smaller airports and make bidding for airports with less passenger traffic attractive.
- It plans to club profitable airports with non-profitable ones and offer them as a package for development in public-private partnership mode to expand connectivity.
Was there a need to amend the AERA Act?
- The Airports Authority of India (AAI) awarded six airports — Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Mangaluru, Thiruvananthapuram and Guwahati — for operations, management and development in public-private partnership mode in February 2019.
- In 2020 too, the AAI has approved leasing of another six airports — Bhubaneswar, Varanasi, Amritsar, Raipur, Indore and Tiruchi.
- The Ministry of Civil Aviation plans to club each of these airports with nearby smaller airports for joint development.
- The move follows FM’s Budget Speech this year, in which she said the government planned to monetize airports in tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: India's largest solar PV Project
Mains level: Renewable Energy in India
The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has commissioned the largest floating solar PV project of 25MW on the reservoir of its Simhadri thermal station in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
Simhadri PV Project
- The 2000MW coal-based Simhadri Station is the first power project to implement an open sea intake from the Bay of Bengal which has been functional for more than 20 years.
- This is the first solar project to be set up under the flexibilization scheme of coal-powered plant, notified in 2018.
- The floating solar installation which has a unique anchoring design is spread over 75 acres in an RW reservoir.
- This floating solar project has the potential to generate electricity from more than 1 lakh solar PV modules.
- This would not only help to light around 7,000 households but also ensure at least 46,000 tons of CO2e are kept at arm’s length every year during the lifespan of this project.
- The project is also expected to save 1,364 million litres of water per annum. This would be adequate to meet the yearly water requirements of 6,700 households.
Other important facts you must know
- As of May 2021, India has 95.7 GW of renewable energy capacity, and represents ~ 25% of the overall installed power capacity.
- The government plans to establish renewable energy capacity of 523 GW (including 73 GW from Hydro) by 2030.
- India was the world’s 3rd largest renewable energy producer with 38% (136 GW out of 373 GW) of total installed energy capacity in 2020 from renewable sources.
- Tamil Nadu has the highest installed solar power capacity in India. Kamuthi Solar Power Project near Madurai is the world’s second-largest solar park.
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Back2Basics: NTPC
- NTPC is an Indian statutory corporation engaged in the generation of electricity and allied activities.
- It is incorporated under the Companies Act 1956 and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Power.
- NTPC’s core function is the generation and distribution of electricity to State Electricity Boards in India.
- It is the largest power company in India with an electric power generating capacity of 62,086 MW.
- It has also ventured into oil and gas exploration and coal mining activities.
- In May 2010, NTPC was conferred Maharatna status by GoI, one of the only four companies to be awarded this status.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ex Malabar
Mains level: QUAD security Dialogue
Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt have arrived at Guam, an Island Territory of the USA to participate in the annual Exercise MALABAR-21.
Also read:
[Prelims Spotlight] Various Defence Exercises in News
Ex Malabar
- MALABAR series of maritime exercises commenced in 1992 as a bilateral IN-USN exercise and has grown in stature over the years to include four prominent navies in the Pacific and Indian Ocean Region.
- It is carried out between navies of Australia, India, Japan, and the USA
- The exercise provides an opportunity for common-minded navies to enhance inter-operability, gain from best practices and develop a common understanding of procedures for Maritime Security Operations.
Significance
- The exercise will see the participation of all four Quad countries.
- Indian Navy also conducted a number of Passage Exercises (PASSEX) with navies from Japan, Australia and the US.
Another Exercise in news: Ex Konkan 2021
- Exercise Konkan 2021 was held between INS Tabar and HMS Westminster on 16 Aug 21 in the English Channel.
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Back2Basics: Quad Security Dialogue
- QSD is a strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia and India that is maintained by talks between member countries.
- The dialogue is paralleled by joint military exercises of an unprecedented scale, titled Exercise Malabar.
- Quad is widely viewed as a response to increased Chinese economic and military power.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hallmark Gold
Mains level: Not Much
Hallmarking scheme is turning out to be a grand success with more than 1 crore pieces of Jewellery hallmarked in a quick time” with more than 90000 Jewelers registered in a same time period.
What is Hallmark Gold?
- The process of certifying the purity and fineness of gold is called hallmarking.
- Bureau of Indian Standards, the National Standards Body of India, is responsible for hallmarking gold as well as silver jewellery under the BIS Act.
- If you see the BIS hallmark on the gold jewellery/gold coin, it means it conforms to a set of standards laid by the BIS. Hallmarking gives consumers assurance regarding the purity of the gold they bought.
- That is, if you are buying hallmarked 18K gold jewellery, it will actually mean that 18/24 parts are gold and the rest is alloy.
- At present, only 30% of Indian Gold Jewellery is hallmarked.
Here are the four components one must look at the time of buying gold (they are mentioned in the laser engraving of a hallmark seal):
- BIS Hallmark: Indicates that its purity is verified in one of its licensed laboratories
- Purity in carat and fineness (corresponding to given caratage KT)
- 22K916 (91.6% Purity)
- 18K750 (75% Purity)
- 14K585 (58.5% Purity)
What is HUID?
- HUID is a unique code that will be given to every piece of jewellery at the time of hallmarking.
- It will be helpful in identifying the jeweller or the Assaying and Hallmarking Centres (AHCs) which had hallmarked the jewellery.
- It will be a six-digit alphanumeric code, with which every piece of jewellery will be tagged.
- At the hallmarking centre, the jewellery is stamped with the unique number manually.
What are the new hallmarking rules?
- The government has made it mandatory for jewellers to hallmark gold jewellery, but with some relaxation.
- Jewellers with an annual turnover of up to Rs 40 lakh will be exempted from mandatory hallmarking.
- Similarly, jewellery for international exhibitions and government-approved business-to-business domestic exhibitions will also be exempted.
- It will also allow hallmarking of additional carats — 20, 23, and 24.
Issues with HUID
- Jewellers say the HUID process has increased the time required to get the hallmarking on jewels and this has created huge backlogs at AHCs.
- Since the process is being done manually, there are also chances of a mismatch of the code, he adds.
- The inventory pile-up at the centres is also raising concerns about the security of the jewellery.
- Several industry stakeholders point out the limited number of AHCs, which will not be enough to hallmark the large number of pieces that are sold in India every year.
Answer this PYQ from CSP 2017
Q.Consider the following statements:
- The Standard Mark of the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) is mandatory for automotive tyres and tubes.
- AGMARK is a quality Certification Mark issued by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).
Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 only
(c) Both 1 and 2
(d) Neither 1 nor 2
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Turmeric
Mains level: NA
Researchers have come forward with some interesting findings on Turmeric.
Turmeric
- Turmeric has about 3% of the active component molecule called curcumin, a polyphenol diketone (and not a steroid).
- Researchers point out that there is another molecule in turmeric called piperine, which is an alkaloid, responsible for the pungency of pepper that we use every day in our cooking, along with turmeric.
- Piperine enhances curcumin absorption in the body. It gives turmeric its multivariate healing and protective power.
Benefits of turmeric consumption
- Turmeric has been known for over 4,000 years in the Indian subcontinent, West Asia, Burma, Indonesia and China, and is used as an essential part of our daily food – what the colonials called curry powder.
- It has also been known as a medicine for ages, and to have anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Herbal medicine experts have used turmeric to treat painful symptoms of arthritis, joint stiffness, and joint pain.
- They have also claimed that turmeric helps cure acute kidney injuries. Some of these claims need to be checked using controlled trials.
Against COVID-19
- Most recently, an exciting study has recently been published by a group in Mumbai which shows that turmeric aids in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.
- The researchers did a trial of about 40 COVID-19 patients and found that turmeric could substantially reduce morbidity and mortality.
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