Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Tenth schedule
Mains level: Paper 2- Anti-defection law
Context
The political crisis in Maharashtra has brought focus back on the anti-defection law. By all accounts, the law has failed to shore up the stability of elected governments.
About Anti-defection law
- The Anti-Defection Law under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution punishes MPs/ MLAs for defecting from their party by taking away their membership of the legislature.
- It gives the Speaker of the legislature the power to decide the outcome of defection proceedings.
- It was added to the Constitution through the Fifty-Second (Amendment) Act, 1985 when Rajiv Gandhi was PM.
- The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.
How provisions of the law are being thwarted?
- There are many ways to thwart provisions of the law:
- The Speaker can sit on the defection pleas for the term of the assembly;
- The beneficiary party can facilitate accretion of defectors to hit the magic two-thirds threshold.
- The voters don’t seem to care about punishing the defectors either.
Is an amendment to the law a solution?
- Some have thus argued that the way forward is to amend the anti-defection law to fill these lacunae by mandating time-bound decisions by the Speaker and disqualifying defectors from standing for the next election as well.
- These proposed amendments like the original law want to consolidate power without necessarily putting in the requisite politics.
Why amendment to the law will not solve the problem
- Politicians are adept at subverting institutional processes for their own ends and there are many possibilities for payoff for defectors outside of elected office alone.
- Moreover, politics has a rich history of exercise of power by proxy and the disqualified representative may simply choose to have a family member stand in their stead.
- The anti-defection law and proposed amendments approach the issue of defections from the prism of denying power to the defector, a framing which repeatedly comes up short in the face of a bigger and/or more punitive power.
Way forward
- Parties need to project power: Within this framework, if political parties want to resist defections, they must be able to project (imminent) power themselves.
- Parties need to address organisational issues: At the same time, political parties must address organizational and ideological infirmities which have made them susceptible to mass defections in the first place.
- Ideological clarity: Political parties need ideological clarity and the ability to attract individuals with a sense of purpose and not love for power alone.
- This ideological depth if reflected in the party organization and its political programs will give members the ability to withstand lean periods of power.
- Inner-party democracy: Political parties are failing to create intra-party forums where grievances can be expressed and resolved on an ongoing basis.
- Internal mechanisms for inner-party democracy – from elections to deliberative forums – are ultimately at the discretion of the party leadership.
- Scrap anti-defection law: Scrapping the anti-defection law would provide some institutional leverage to express intra-party dissidence and while it may be more chaotic in the short-term would lead to greater stability and political strength in the long-term.
- Contributed to polarisation: The anti-defection law has undermined not just the very principle of representation but has also contributed to polarization in our country by making it impossible to construct a majority on any issue outside of party affiliation.
- Avoid ceding political power to the judiciary: Political parties are repeatedly giving primacy to legal instead of political battles since these issues inevitably end up in court.
- This repeated ceding of political power to the judiciary is a serious deviation from the democratic paradigm and must be checked.
Conclusion
Anti-defection law has failed to prevent the defections and subsequent toppings of the several state government. Scrapping it could provide leverage to express intra-party dissidence.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: UNCLOS
Mains level: Paper 2- India-Vietnam defence ties
Context
The two countries recently deepened bilateral cooperation with the signing of the Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030 during the recent visit of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to Vietnam.
About the Joint Vision Statement
- India and Vietnam Wednesday signed a Joint Vision Statement on India-Vietnam Defence Partnership towards 2030, “which will significantly enhance the scope and scale of existing defence cooperation”.
- Boosting the scale and scope of defence cooperation: The Joint Vision Statement is aimed at boosting the scope and scale of the existing defence cooperation between the two nations.
- Mutual logistic support: The two sides also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on mutual logistics support.
- Elevating CSP: This is the first agreement of its kind that Hanoi has entered into with any other country and elevates the standing of Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP) which Hanoi shares with New Delhi since 2016 (along with only Russia and China).
Enhanced maritime cooperation
- Both countries find convergence in their approaches towards the maintenance of stability and security of the Indo-Pacific.
- This approach has translated into diplomatic and political support in the context of developments within the region and manifested in the form of tangible and functional cooperation instruments — the most vital being bilateral defence partnership.
- Because of the volume of maritime trade that passes through sea lanes of communication in the Indo-Pacific and potential as well as estimated energy reserves in these waters, maritime cooperation between countries in the region have expanded exponentially.
Emphasis on the cooperative mechanism
- The enhanced geostrategic prominence and attendant uncertainties vis-à-vis China’s expanding and often abrasive footprints in the Indo-Pacific have resulted in an overall increase in emphasis on cooperative mechanisms and frameworks across the region.
- Defence partnership between the two countries has been growing steadily following the signing of the Defence Protocol in 2000 and today covers extensive navy-to-navy cooperation.
Dealing with Chinese transgression
- Vietnam has and continues to be one of the most vocal countries with respect to China’s periodic transgressions in the South China Sea.
- Freedom of navigation: In India, Vietnam has found an equally uncompromising partner when it comes to the question of violations of freedom of navigation and threats to sovereign maritime territorial rights as enshrined under international maritime law.
- New Delhi has supported Vietnam’s position in the South China Sea with respect to Beijing’s destabilising actions and coercive tactics backing by reiterating the irrefutability of the UNCLOS.
- India has also not backed down from continuing ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL)’s oil exploration project in Block 128 (which is within Hanoi’s EEZ) despite China’s protests.
- Emphasis on naval diplomacy: It is also in the last few years that Vietnam has augmented its emphasis on naval diplomacy and strengthened its ties with the US alongside the extension of its engagement with India and other ASEAN members.
- Despite the fact that the China factor has provided impetus to the solidification of ties, it is also important to consider that mutual cooperation is not driven solely by it.
- Support in the rubric of Indo-Pacific: Both countries have expanded areas of collaboration and are supportive of each other’s individual and multilateral involvements within the rubric of the Indo-Pacific.
Conclusion
Convergences between New Delhi and Hanoi has naturally found expression in bilateral relations and the two countries are poised to develop their partnership further in the coming years.
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Back2Basics: About UNCLOS
- UNCLOS is sometimes referred to as the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty.
- It came into operation and became effective from 16th November 1982.
- It defines the rights and responsibilities of nations with respect to their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine natural resources.
- It has created three new institutions on the international scene :
-
- International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea,
- International Seabed Authority
- Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Indian Tricolor
Mains level: Honor of our national flag and national anthem
The Centre has reached out to manufacturers and e-commerce sites to boost the availability of the Tricolour, according to officials aware of the programme.
Why in news?
- The Centre is set to launch a large-scale campaign to encourage Indians to fly the National Fag at their homes to mark the 75th Independence Day.
- The aim of the campaign was to inspire people, rather than carry out a distribution drive.
How is it made possible?
- In order to facilitate the campaign, the Union Home Ministry had last year amended the Flag Code, which earlier only allowed hand-woven or hand-spun flags to be made.
- It has now allowed flags to be polyester and machine-made.
Do you know?
Earlier, the display of the national flag was governed by the provisions of The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950 and the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act, 1971.
What is the Flag Code of India?
- The Flag Code of India is a set of laws, practices and conventions that apply to the display of the national flag of India.
- The Code took effect from 26 January 2002 and superseded the “Flag Code-India” as it existed earlier.
- It permits the unrestricted display of the tricolour, consistent with the honour and dignity of the flag.
The Flag Code of India has been divided into three parts:-
- First Part: General Description of the National Flag.
- Second Part: Display of the National Flag by members of public, private Organisations & educational institutions etc.
- Third Part: Display of National Flag by Union or State Governments and their organisations and agencies.
Disposing of the national flag
- A/c to the Flag Code, such paper flags are not to be discarded or thrown on the ground after the event.
- Such flags are to be disposed of, in private, consistent with the dignity of the flag.
Hoisting the national flag is a fundamental right
- The bench headed by Chief Justice of India V. N. Khare said that under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution of India, citizens had the fundamental right to fly the national flag on their premises throughout the year.
- However, it provided that the premises do not undermine the dignity of the national flag.
About Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act
- The law, enacted on December 23, 1971, penalizes the desecration of or insult to Indian national symbols, such as the National Flag, the Constitution, the National Anthem, and the Indian map, as well as contempt of the Constitution of India.
- Section 2 of the Act deals with insults to the Indian National Flag and the Constitution of India.
Do you know?
Article 51 ‘A’ contained in Part IV A i.e. Fundamental Duties asks:
To abide by the constitution and respect its ideals and institutions, the National Flag and the National Anthem in clause (a).
Back2Basics: Story of our National Flag
(1) Public display for the first time
- Arguably the first national flag of India is said to have been hoisted on August 7, 1906, in Kolkata at the Parsee Bagan Square (Green Park).
- It comprised three horizontal stripes of red, yellow and green, with Vande Mataram written in the middle.
- Believed to have been designed by freedom activists Sachindra Prasad Bose and Hemchandra Kanungo, the red stripe on the flag had symbols of the sun and a crescent moon, and the green strip had eight half-open lotuses.
(2) In Germany
- In 1907, Madame Cama and her group of exiled revolutionaries hoisted an Indian flag in Germany in 1907 — this was the first Indian flag to be hoisted in a foreign land.
(3) During the Home Rule Movement
- In 1917, Dr Annie Besant and Lokmanya Tilak adopted a new flag as part of the Home Rule Movement.
- It had five alternate red and four green horizontal stripes, and seven stars in the saptarishi configuration.
- A white crescent and star occupied one top corner, and the other had Union Jack.
(4) Final version by Pingali Venkayya
- The design of the present-day Indian tricolour is largely attributed to Pingali Venkayya, an Indian freedom fighter.
- He reportedly first met Mahatma Gandhi in South Africa during the second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902), when he was posted there as part of the British Indian Army.
- Years of research went into designing the national flag. In 1916, he even published a book with possible designs of Indian flags.
- At the All India Congress Committee in Bezwada in 1921, Venkayya again met Gandhi and proposed a basic design of the flag, consisting of two red and green bands to symbolise the two major communities, Hindus and Muslims.
(5) During Constituent Assembly
- On July 22, 1947, when members of the Constituent Assembly of India, the first item on the agenda was reportedly a motion by Pandit Nehru, about adopting a national flag for free India.
- It was proposed that “the National Flag of India shall be horizontal tricolour of deep saffron (Kesari), white and dark green in equal proportion.”
- The white band was to have a wheel in navy blue (the charkha being replaced by the chakra), which appears on the abacus of the Sarnath Lion Capital of Ashoka.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Current account deficit
Mains level: Read the attached story
The data for the country’s current account balance for the fourth quarter of FY 2021-22 shows a decrease in the deficit to 1.5% of gross domestic product (GDP) from 2.6% of GDP in Q3 FY 2021-22.
What is Current Account Deficit (CAD)?
- A current account is a key component of balance of payments, which is the account of transactions or exchanges made between entities in a country and the rest of the world.
- This includes a nation’s net trade in products and services, its net earnings on cross border investments including interest and dividends, and its net transfer payments such as remittances and foreign aid.
- A CAD arises when the value of goods and services imported exceeds the value of exports, while the trade balance refers to the net balance of export and import of goods or merchandise trade.
Components of Current Account
Current Account Deficit (CAD) =
Trade Deficit + Net Income + Net Transfers
(1) Trade Deficit
- Trade Deficit = Imports – Exports
- A Country is said to have a trade deficit when it imports more goods and services than it exports.
- Trade deficit is an economic measure of a negative balance of trade in which a country’s imports exceeds its exports.
- A trade deficit represents an outflow of domestic currency to foreign markets.
(2) Net Income
- Net Income = Income Earned by MNCs from their investments in India.
- When foreign investment income exceeds the savings of the country’s residents, then the country has net income deficit.
- This foreign investment can help a country’s economy grow. But if foreign investors worry they won’t get a return in a reasonable amount of time, they will cut off funding.
- Net income is measured by the following things:
- Payments made to foreigners in the form of dividends of domestic stocks.
- Interest payments on bonds.
- Wages paid to foreigners working in the country.
(3) Net Transfers
- In Net Transfers, foreign residents send back money to their home countries. It also includes government grants to foreigners.
- It Includes Remittances, Gifts, Donation etc
How does Current Account Transaction takes place?
- While understanding the Current Account Deficit in detail, it is important to understand what the current account transactions are.
- Current account transactions are transactions that require foreign currency.
- Following transactions with from which component these transactions belong to :
- Component 1 : Payments connection with Foreign trade – Import & Export
- Component 2 : Interest on loans to other countries and Net income from investments in other countries
- Component 3 : Remittances for living expenses of parents, spouse and children residing abroad, and Expenses in connection with Foreign travel, Education and Medical care of parents, spouse and children
What has been the recent trend?
- In Q4 FY 2021-22, CAD improved to 1.5% of GDP or $13.4 billion from 2.6% of GDP in Q3 FY 2021-22 ($22.2 billion).
- The difference between the value of goods imported and exported fell to $54.48 million in Q4FY 2021-22 from $59.75 million in Q3 FY2021-22.
- However, based on robust performance by computer and business services, net service receipts rose both sequentially and on a year-on-year basis.
- Remittances by Indians abroad also rose.
What are the reasons for the current account deficit?
- Intensifying geopolitical tensions and supply chain disruptions leading to crude oil and commodity prices soaring globally have been exerting upward pressure on the import bill.
- A rise in prices of coal, natural gas, fertilizers, and edible oils have added to the pressure on trade deficit.
- However, with global demand picking up, merchandise exports have also been rising.
How will a large CAD affect the economy?
- A large CAD will result in demand for foreign currency rising, thus leading to depreciation of the home currency.
- Nations balance CAD by attracting capital inflows and running a surplus in capital accounts through increased foreign direct investments (FDI).
- However, worsening CAD will put pressure on inflow under the capital account.
- Nevertheless, if an increase in the import bill is because of imports for technological upgradation it would help in long-term development.
Should a widening CAD worry policymakers?
- Data shows the trade deficit widened to $24.29 billion in May 2022 from $6.53 billion a year ago.
- Merchandise exports in May 2022 rose by 20.55% over May 2021, while merchandise imports rose by 62.83%.
- However, if increasing imports is accompanied by an expansion in industrial production, it is a sign of economic development.
- Immediately after the covid-19 lockdown, after a long time, the country experienced a current account surplus.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: VPN, Cert-In
Mains level: Cyber security challenges for India
On April 28, Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) passed a rule mandating VPN (virtual private network) providers to record and keep their customers’ logs for 180 days.
What is VPN?
- VPN describes the opportunity to establish a protected network connection when using public networks.
- It encrypts internet traffic and disguise a user’s online identity.
- This makes it more difficult for third parties to track your activities online and steal data.
- The encryption takes place in real time.
How does a VPN work?
- A VPN hides your IP address by letting the network redirect it through a specially configured remote server run by a VPN host.
- This means that if you surf online with a VPN, the VPN server becomes the source of your data.
- This means your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and other third parties cannot see which websites you visit or what data you send and receive online.
- A VPN works like a filter that turns all your data into “gibberish”. Even if someone were to get their hands on your data, it would be useless.
Why do people use VPN?
- Secure encryption: A VPN connection disguises your data traffic online and protects it from external access. Unencrypted data can be viewed by anyone who has network access and wants to see it. With a VPN, hackers and cyber criminals can’t decipher this data.
- Disguising whereabouts: VPN servers essentially act as your proxies on the internet. Because the demographic location data comes from a server in another country, your actual location cannot be determined.
- Data privacy is held: Most VPN services do not store logs of your activities. Some providers, on the other hand, record your behaviour, but do not pass this information on to third parties. This means that any potential record of your user behaviour remains permanently hidden.
- Access to regional content: Regional web content is not always accessible from everywhere. Services and websites often contain content that can only be accessed from certain parts of the world.
- Secure data transfer: If you work remotely, you may need to access important files on your company’s network. For security reasons, this kind of information requires a secure connection. To gain access to the network, a VPN connection is often required.
What does the new CERT-IN directive say?
- VPN providers will need to store validated customer names, their physical addresses, email ids, phone numbers, and the reason they are using the service, along with the dates they use it and their “ownership pattern”.
- In addition, Cert is also asking VPN providers to keep a record of the IP and email addresses that the customer uses to register the service, along with the timestamp of registration.
- Most importantly, however, VPN providers will have to store all IP addresses issued to a customer and a list of IP addresses that its customers generally use.
What does this mean for VPN providers?
- VPN services are in violation of Cert’s rules by simply operating in India.
- That said, it is worth noting that ‘no logs’ does not mean zero logs.
- VPN services still need to maintain some logs to run their service efficiently.
Does this mean VPNs will become useless?
- The Indian government has not banned VPNs yet, so they can still be used to access content that is blocked in an area, which is the most common usage of these services.
- However, journalists, activists, and others who use such services to hide their internet footprint will have to think twice about them.
Why such move?
- Crime control: For law enforcement agencies, a move like this will make it easier to track criminals who use VPNs to hide their internet footprint.
- Curbing dark-net activities: Users these days are shifting towards the dark and deep web, which are much tougher to police than VPN services.
Back2Basics: Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN)
- CERT-IN is an office within the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.
- It is the nodal agency to deal with cyber security threats like hacking and phishing. It strengthens the security-related defense of the Indian Internet domain.
- It was formed in 2004 by the Government of India under the Information Technology Act, 2000 Section (70B) under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: GST Compensation Cess
Mains level: Success and limitations of the GST regime
The Centre has extended the time for levy of GST compensation cess by almost four years till March 31, 2026.
What is the news?
- The Goods and Services Tax (Period of Levy and Collection of Cess) Rules were notified in 2022 by the Finance Ministry.
- The levy of cess was to end on June 30 but the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister decided to extend it till 2026.
What is GST?
- GST, being a consumption-based tax, would result in loss of revenue for manufacturing-heavy states.
- GST launched in India on 1 July 2017 is a comprehensive indirect tax for the entire country.
- It is charged at the time of supply and depends on the destination of consumption.
- For instance, if a good is manufactured in state A but consumed in state B, then the revenue generated through GST collection is credited to the state of consumption (state B) and not to the state of production (state A).
Compensation Cess under GST regime
- Due to the consumption-based nature of GST, manufacturing states like Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu feared a revenue loss.
- Thus, GST Compensation Cess or GST Cess was introduced by the government to compensate for the possible revenue losses suffered by such manufacturing states.
- However, under existing rules, this compensation cess will be levied only for the first 5 years of the GST regime – from July 1st, 2017 to July 1st, 2022.
- Compensation cess is levied on five products considered to be ‘sin’ or luxury as mentioned in the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017 and includes items such as- Pan Masala, Tobacco, and Automobiles etc.
Alternatives to prevent losses
- The input tax credit can help a producer by partially reducing GST liability by only paying the difference between the tax already paid on the raw materials of a particular good and that on the final product.
- In other words, the taxes paid on purchase (input tax) can be subtracted from the taxes paid on the final product (output tax) to reduce the final GST liability.
Distributing GST compensation
- The compensation cess payable to states is calculated based on the methodology specified in the GST (Compensation to States) Act, 2017.
- The compensation fund so collected is released to the states every 2 months.
- Any unused money from the compensation fund at the end of the transition period shall be distributed between the states and the centre as per any applicable formula.
Significance of GST compensation
- States no longer possess taxation rights after most taxes, barring those on petroleum, alcohol, and stamp duty were subsumed under GST.
- GST accounts for almost 42% of states’ own tax revenues, and tax revenues account for around 60% of states’ total revenues.
- Finances of over a dozen states are under severe strain, resulting in delays in salary payments and sharp cuts in capital expenditure outlay amid the pandemic-induced lockdowns and the need to spend on healthcare.
Try this question from CSP 2018:
Q.Consider the following items:
- Cereal grains hulled
- Chicken eggs cooked
- Fish processed and canned
- Newspapers containing advertising material
Which of the above items is/are exempt under GST (Goods and Services Tax)?
(a) 1 only
(b) 2 and 3 only
(c) 1, 2 and 4 only
(d) 1, 2, 3 and 4
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Salmonella Typhi
Mains level: Not Much
The bacteria causing typhoid fever is becoming increasingly resistant to some of the most important antibiotics for human health.
What is the news?
- The largest genome analysis of Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) also shows that resistant strains — almost all originating in South Asia — have spread to other countries nearly 200 times since 1990.
- The researchers noted that typhoid fever is a global public health concern, causing 11 million infections and more than 1,00,000 deaths per year.
- Antibiotics can be used to successfully treat typhoid fever infections, but their effectiveness is threatened by the emergence of resistant S. Typhi strains.
What is Salmonella Typhi?
- Salmonella Typhi (S. Typhi) are bacteria that infect the intestinal tract and the blood.
- It is usually spread through contaminated food or water.
- Once S. Typhi bacteria are eaten or drunk, they multiply and spread into the bloodstream.
- The disease is referred to as typhoid fever. S. Paratyphi bacteria cause a similar, but milder illness, which comes under the same title.
- Paratyphoid has a shorter duration, generally, than typhoid.
- Typhi and S. Paratyphi are common in many developing countries where sewage and water treatment systems are poor.
How does it spread?
- Salmonella Typhi lives only in humans.
- Persons with typhoid fever carry the bacteria in their bloodstream and intestinal tract.
- Symptoms include prolonged high fever, fatigue, headache, nausea, abdominal pain, and constipation or diarrhoea.
- Some patients may have a rash. Severe cases may lead to serious complications or even death.
- Typhoid fever can be confirmed through blood testing.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Corals, Coral Bleaching
Mains level: Not Much
Scientists have recorded four species of corals for the first time from Indian waters. These new species of azooxanthellate corals were found from the waters off the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
What are Azooxanthellate Corals?
- The azooxanthellate corals are a group of corals that do not contain zooxanthellae and derive nourishment not from the sun but from capturing different forms of planktons.
- They are deep-sea representatives with the majority of species being reported from depths between 200 metres and 1,000 metres.
- They are also reported from shallow waters unlike zooxanthellate corals that are restricted to shallow waters.
Which are the news species found?
- Truncatoflabellum crassum, T. incrustatum, T. aculeatum, and T. irregulare under the family Flabellidae were previously found in Japan, the Philippines and Australian waters.
- Only T. crassum was reported with the range of Indo-West Pacific distribution.
Significance of the discovery
- Most studies of hard corals in India have been concentrated on reef-building corals while much is not known about non-reef-building corals.
- These new species enhance our knowledge about non-reef-building solitary corals.
Back2Basics: Coral Reefs
- Corals are marine invertebrates or animals not possessing a spine.
- Each coral is called a polyp and thousands of such polyps live together to form a colony, which grows when polyps multiply to make copies of themselves.
- Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is the world’s largest reef system stretching across 2,300 km.
- It hosts 400 different types of coral, gives shelter to 1,500 species of fish and 4,000 types of mollusc.
- Corals are of two types — hard coral and soft coral:
- Hard corals, also called hermatypic or ‘reef building’ corals extract calcium carbonate (also found in limestone) from the seawater to build hard, white coral exoskeletons.
- Soft coral polyps, however, borrow their appearance from plants, attach themselves to such skeletons and older skeletons built by their ancestors. Soft corals also add their own skeletons to the hard structure over the years and these growing multiplying structures gradually form coral reefs. They are the largest living structures on the planet.
How do they feed themselves?
- Corals share a symbiotic relationship with single-celled algae called zooxanthellae.
- The algae provides the coral with food and nutrients, which they make through photosynthesis, using the sun’s light.
- In turn, the corals give the algae a home and key nutrients.
- The zooxanthellae also give corals their bright colour.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Eco-sensitive Zones (ESZs)
Mains level: Read the attached story
Farmers in Kerala continue to protest across several high ranges of the state against the Supreme Court’s recent order to establish 1-km Eco-Sensitive Zones around all protected areas, wildlife sanctuaries, and national parks.
What are the Eco-sensitive Zones (ESZs)?
- Eco-Sensitive Zones (ESZs) or Ecologically Fragile Areas (EFAs) are areas notified by the MoEFCC around Protected Areas, National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries.
- The purpose of declaring ESZs is to create some kind of “shock absorbers” to the protected areas by regulating and managing the activities around such areas.
- They also act as a transition zone from areas of high protection to areas involving lesser protection.
How are they demarcated?
- The Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 does NOT mention the word “Eco-Sensitive Zones”.
- However, Section 3(2)(v) of the Act, says that Central Government can restrict areas in which any industries, operations or processes or class of industries, operations or processes shall be carried out or shall not, subject to certain safeguards.
- Besides Rule 5(1) of the Environment (Protection) Rules, 1986 states that central government can prohibit or restrict the location of industries and carrying on certain operations or processes on the basis of certain considerations.
- The same criteria have been used by the government to declare No Development Zones (NDZs).
Defining its boundaries
- An ESZ could go up to 10 kilometres around a protected area as provided in the Wildlife Conservation Strategy, 2002.
- Moreover, in the case where sensitive corridors, connectivity and ecologically important patches, crucial for landscape linkage, are beyond 10 km width, these should be included in the ESZs.
- Further, even in the context of a particular Protected Area, the distribution of an area of ESZ and the extent of regulation may not be uniform all around and it could be of variable width and extent.
Activities Permitted and Prohibited
- Permitted: Ongoing agricultural or horticultural practices, rainwater harvesting, organic farming, use of renewable energy sources, and adoption of green technology for all activities.
- Prohibited: Commercial mining, saw mills, industries causing pollution (air, water, soil, noise etc), the establishment of major hydroelectric projects (HEP), commercial use of wood, Tourism activities like hot-air balloons over the National Park, discharge of effluents or any solid waste or production of hazardous substances.
- Under regulation: Felling of trees, the establishment of hotels and resorts, commercial use of natural water, erection of electrical cables, drastic change of agriculture system, e.g. adoption of heavy technology, pesticides etc, widening of roads.
What is the recent SC judgment that has caused an uproar in Kerala?
- On June 3, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court heard a PIL that sought to protect forest lands in the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, but was later expanded to cover the entire country.
- In its judgment, the court while referring to the 2011 guidelines as “reasonable”, directed all states to have a mandatory 1-km ESZ from the demarcated boundaries of every protected area.
- It also stated that no new permanent structure or mining will be permitted within the ESZ.
- If the existing ESZ goes beyond 1-km buffer zone or if any statutory instrument prescribes a higher limit, then such extended boundary shall prevail, the court, as per the Live Law report, said.
Why are people protesting against it?
- There is a high density of human population near the notified protected areas.
- Farmer’s groups and political parties have been demanding that all human settlements be exempt from the ESZ ruling.
- The total extent of the wildlife sanctuaries in Kerala is eight lakh acres.
- If one-km of ESZ is demarcated from their boundaries, around 4 lakh acres of human settlements, including farmlands, would come within that purview.
Try this PYQ
With reference to ‘Eco-Sensitive Zones’, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- Eco-Sensitive Zones are the areas that are declared under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972
- The purpose of the declaration of Eco-Sensitive Zones is to prohibit all kinds of human activities, in those zones except agriculture.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(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: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Abortion rights in the US
Context
With the US Supreme Court’s overturning of abortion as a constitutionally guaranteed right, America has taken another step towards democratic backsliding.
Background of the Roe v Wade case
- Bodily autonomy: Roe, the 1973 outcome of an unmarried woman’s crusade for bodily autonomy, had declared overbroad, and consequently unconstitutional, a provision of the Texas Penal Code which permitted only those abortions that were “procured or attempted by medical advice to save the life of the mother”.
- Right to abortion: While locating the right of privacy within the guarantee of personal liberty enshrined in the fourteenth amendment of the American constitution, Roe embodies a supervening constitutional right to abortion emanating from this right of privacy.
- The right to abort was held to be a constitutionally protected right within the right of privacy.
- Recognition of states’ rights: The decision simultaneously recognised the state’s interest in protecting the life of the foetus as also the life of the mother.
- Roe is not only relevant as a progressive trailblazer for reproductive rights in the United States but is also fundamental to constitutional jurisprudence globally for the interpretative tools it employed.
Overturning of Roe Vs Wade case
- The US Supreme Court on June 24 overturned a half-century-old right to abortion, granted by a 1973 Supreme Court decision in the Roe vs Wade case.
- No nationwide right to abortion: With a 5-4 majority, the court has said that American women have no nationwide right to abortion.
- Rather, state legislatures should decide whether women can have that right in their respective states.
- Concerns about the life of the unbors: In the court’s opinion, the right to privacy stemming from the 14th Amendment is not relevant, for abortion concerns not only the pregnant woman but also the life of the unborn.
- Not mentioned in the 1787 constitution: Moreover, the court said, abortion is neither “enumerated” as a right in the original 1787 constitution nor is it consistent with American history and tradition.
- Taking away the right once granted: In a democracy, can a right once granted be taken away?
- As the world’s oldest surviving democracy, the United States has figured prominently in this debate.
- With the overturning of Roe vs Wade, this debate has now become wider.
Was the right to abortion constitutionally justified?
- Protection of liberty and privacy: The 1973 court decision allowing the right to abortion was based on the 14th Constitutional Amendment (1868).
- Even though abortion was not mentioned in the 1787 US Constitution, abortion’s defence was derived from the 1868 Amendment
- This Amendment, the court said, allowed protection of liberty and privacy, something the state could not impinge upon.
- Not absolute right: The 1973 court also argued that this right was not absolute, limited as it would be by considerations of “protecting potential life”.
Issues with the overturning of Roe Vs. Wade case
- 1] No constitution can anticipate the evolution of rights: Abortion was not mentioned in the 1787 constitution, nor explicitly in the 1868 amendment.
- That is because women were not autonomous political agents at that time.
- Until they were given the right to vote in 1920, they were not a constitutional category in the US, as was true virtually everywhere in the world.
- Women are autonomous agents today. Norms change; rights evolve.
- 2] Ignores rape and incest: As the court’s dissent note puts it, this majority decision ignore rape and incest.
- If abortion as a right is dissolved, women can be forced to give such unwanted births.
- The majority decision of the court is silent on this important matter.
- 3] Against the right to participate equally in economic and social life: Having a child is not simply a deeply moral obligation to the unborn.
- It is also a decision that affects “the ability of women to participate equally in (the nation’s) economic and social life”.
- These words are from a later decision, known as Casey (1992), when the US Supreme Court added the concept of “undue burdens” to support the idea of abortion.
- 4] Right over body ignored: Men don’t have to deal physically with pregnancy, whereas the foetus grows inside a woman’s body for nine months.
- If men have the right over their bodies, which can’t be taken away by the government,then women should also have autonomy over their bodies as well.
- Maternity must be a voluntary choice.
- There is no going back to the notion of rights as they were viewed in the 18th century — unequal, unneutral, unbalanced.
Conclusion
Typically, as they evolve and deepen, democracies allow the arc of rights to broaden further, not retreat. After this judgment in the US, the stakes have become much higher and the democratic challenges bigger.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Article 89
Mains level: Paper 2- Role of Rajya Sabha
Context
This article seeks to re-articulate a question pertaining to the composition of the Council of States.
Historical background and CAD over the issue of second chamber
- Lokanath Misra led the charge against a federal second chamber in the Constituent Assembly stating that there was not need for the second chamber and also that it will not serve any useful purpose.
- Shibban Lal Saksena, was equally emphatic: He said that as per their experience, the Upper House acts as a clog in the wheel of progress.
- They were not the only ones who had concerns. Other members expressed them too in different contexts during the Constituent Assembly debate on draft Article 67.
Issues with the role of Rajya Sabha
- Unable to protect the interest of the States: Article 1(1) of the Indian Constitution states “India, that is Bharat, shall be a Union of States.”
- Therefore, the primary responsibility of a Council of States would be to protect the interests of the states vis a vis the Union.
- There is hardly any empirical evidence that substantiates that the Rajya Sabha has measured upto the task ever since it came into existence on April 3r 1952.
- No focus on states: From 1952 to 2003, at least there was a veneer of a state focus when it was mandatory that any citizen desirous of contesting a Rajya Sabha election had to be an elector from that particular state.
- By amending Section 3(1) of the Representation of People’s Act 1952 and doing away with the domicile requirement, the Government removed this fig leaf also in 2003.
- A five-judge bench did not uphold tha challenge to this judgement.
- This amendment and the subsequent judgment buried the earlier practice of individuals entering the Rajya Sabha from anywhere based upon rather dodgy but still some form of domicile credentials.
- All states do not have bicameral legislature: Twenty-four states have unicameral legislatures, that is, only one legislative body, and only six states are bicameral.
- If the bulk of the states can make do with one House why not the Centre?
- Rajya Sabha as continuous house argument: It is also argued that the Rajya Sabha is a continuous House as opposed to the Lok Sabha that gets mandatorily dissolved every five years if not sooner.
- That can be fixed with a simple amendment to Article 83 (2) that should state that “Lok Sabha would remain in existence till the time its successor body/house is not constituted.
- Article 83 (1) would stand deleted and consequential amendments can be carried out to other parts of the Constitution.
Conclusion
It would be instructive to keep in mind that the Basic Structure doctrine enunciated by the Supreme Court in Re: Kesvananda Bharti holds parliamentary democracy to be basic structure, not bicameralism.
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