SC Judgements | Indian Society | Mains Paper 1: Role Of Women & Women Organization

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not Much

Mains level: Women in armed forces

The Supreme Court has held that the Army’s “selective” evaluation process discriminates against and disproportionately affects women short service commission officers seeking a permanent commission.

Must read

[Burning Issue] Women in Armed Forces

What did the Court say?

The Court held the view that the evaluation criteria set by the Army constituted systemic discrimination against the petitioners (women officers).
The evaluation pattern of women officers has caused them economic and psychological harm.
In a series of directions, the court ordered that the cases of women officers who have applied for the permanent commission should be reconsidered in a month and the decision on them should be given in two months.

Asks for permanent commission

They would be considered for permanent commission subject to disciplinary and vigilance clearance.
The court said physical standards should be kept at a premium during selection.
The court highlighted how one of the Army’s “administrative requirements” was to benchmark women officers, under consideration for permanent commission, with male officers who are lowest in merit.
This is arbitrary and irrational, said Justice Chandrachud.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Forest Conservation Efforts – NFP, Western Ghats, etc.

Amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

| Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: FCA 1980

Mains level: Deforestation and development issues

The Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has proposed several amendments to the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 (FCA), which may enable infrastructure projects to come up in the forest areas more easily.

What are the amendments?

They propose to grant exemptions to railways, roads, tree plantations, oil exploration, wildlife tourism and ‘strategic’ projects in forests.
The proposal also aims to empower state governments to lease forest land to private individuals and corporations.
If the proposed amendments come into force, they would dilute the provisions of the landmark 1996 decision of the Supreme Court in Godavarman

The amendments, however, propose two changes to strengthen the applicability of the FCA, according to the documents accessed:

To complete the process of forest identification in a time-bound manner
To enable the creation of ‘no-go’ areas, where specific projects would not be allowed

The Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980

The FCA is the principal legislation that regulates deforestation in the country.

It prohibits the felling of forests for any “non-forestry” use without prior clearance by the central government.
The clearance process includes seeking consent from local forest rights-holders and from wildlife authorities.
The Centre is empowered to reject such requests or allow it with legally binding conditions.
In a landmark decision in 1996, the Supreme Court had expanded the coverage of FCA to all areas that satisfied the dictionary definition of a forest; earlier, only lands specifically notified as forests were protected by the enforcement of the FCA.

The FCA is brief legislation with only five sections of which-

Section 1 defines the extent of coverage of the law,
Section 2 restrictions of activities in forest areas and the rest deals with the creation of advisory committees, powers of rule-making and penalties.

Key propositions of the Amendment

The proposed amendments seek to make additions and changes to Section 1 and 2.

(1) Concessions to survey and exploration

In the proposed new section 1A, a provision has been added to exempt the application of FCA on forest land that is “used for underground exploration and production of oil and natural gas through Extended Reach Drilling (ERD) originating outside forest land.”
The exemption is subject to terms and conditions laid down by the central government.
A new explanation added to Section 2 says that “survey, reconnaissance, prospecting, exploration or investigation” for future activity in the forest will not be classified as a “non-forestry activity”.
This means such survey works would not require any prior permission from the government.

The only exception is if the activity falls within a wildlife sanctuary, national park or tiger reserve.

(2) Exemptions to Railways and roads inside forests

Land acquired by the railways for establishing a rail line or a road by a government agency before 25.10.1980 (the day the FCA was passed) would be exempted from seeking a forest clearance — if they put the land to the same use for which it was acquired.
This is included in a provision in the proposed section 1A.
The exemption is subject to terms and conditions that the central government will lay down through guidelines, which include planting trees to compensate for the loss of forests.

(3) Leases on forest land

Section 2(iii) of the FCA requires the central government’s approval before assigning forest lands on lease to any private person/corporation/organisation not owned or controlled by the central government.
This clause, however, has purportedly been deleted in the proposed amendment.
This may mean that state governments can issue leases for the use of forest land without the Centre’s prior approval.

(4) Exemptions to plantations

A new explanation to Section 2 proposes to exempt plantation of native species of palm and oil-bearing trees from the definition of “non-forest purpose”.
Since the FCA applies to the conversion of forest land to “non-forest purpose”, this proposed amendment would effectively mean that anyone who wants to clear a natural forest to raise such plantations would not require any approval from the government.
The government will only impose conditions for compensatory afforestation and payment of other levies and compensations.

(5) Exemptions to wildlife tourism, training infrastructure

The FCA classifies activities related to wildlife conservation as “non-forestry” purposes, which means such activities — building checkpoints, communication infrastructure, fencing, boundary, etc — which include do not need a forest clearance.
The proposed amendment claims to add to this list “forest and wildlife training infrastructure” and the “establishment of zoos and safaris” managed by the government or any authority under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
It may also add ecotourism facilities approved under the Forest Working Plan or Working Scheme approved by the central government.

(6) States may grant forest clearance for strategic / security projects

The proposed Section 2A may empower the central government to provide for state government approval for projects on forest land for “strategic” or security projects of “national importance”, according to the documents accessed.
There is no clarity on the scope of these terms, or on the determination of national importance, or illustrative examples of such projects.

Limiting the coverage of the Supreme Court’s decision

The Supreme Court in Godavarman Case 1996 had held that the meaning of “forest” under the FCA would include not only statutorily recognised forests.
It would include any area recorded as forest in government records, regardless of ownership.
The restrictions in the FCA would, therefore, be applicable to both de jure and de facto

The proposed amendment purportedly seeks to reduce the scope of this judgment by limiting the applicability of the FCA to only such land that has been:

Declared or notified as forest under the Indian Forest Act, 1927
Recorded as forest land in the government record prior to 25 October 1980, with the exception of such land if its use has been changed from forest to non-forest purpose prior to 12 December 1996
Identified as “forest” by a state government expert committee up to one year from the date of the amendment.

The judgment interpreted the Act as it stood then. The addition of a specific definition thus limits the scope of the judgment. De facto forests are, therefore, excluded from the purview of the FCA.

Creation of ‘No-Go’ areas

The proposed amendment inserts a new Section 2B, which will allow the central government to delineate forest areas where conversion to specific non-forest uses would not be permitted for a fixed period of time.
The delineation would be based on the basis of pre-defined criteria.
This could mean, for instance, that a certain dense forest would not be allowed to be converted to a coal mine for the next 30 years, but it could be allowed to be cleared for a thermal power plant.
In the Godavarman case, the Supreme Court had directed states to set up expert committees to draw up a list of forests that were not notified under the Indian Forest Act, 1927 (IFA), but deserved to be protected by the FCA.
Several states are yet to comply with this requirement.

Impact

The proposed Section 1A(ii) excludes from the purview of the FCA those forests which were described as such in government records (but not notified under the IFA).
The Karnataka High Court recently dealt with a matter wherein the state government had passed several orders to de-notify lands classified as “state forest” (but not notified under IFA), and to divert them for non-forest purposes.
The lands were then allotted for the rehabilitation of displaced people. The state government completed this process of dereservation of reserved forests in 2017.
On March 4, 2021, the high court struck down actions of the state government for not taking “prior approval of the central government” as required under Section 2 of the FCA.
It recommended criminal action against any officers responsible for allowing non-forest use of forest land.

What lies ahead?

If the proposed amendment is enacted, the insertion of Section 1A(ii) would exempt the application of the FCA to the land which was converted to non-forest use by the Karnataka government.
The exemption of zoos and safaris from “non-forest purpose” comes a year after the government proposed to open a zoo in Mumbai’s Aarey forest and a tiger safari in Madhya Pradesh led to objections from biologists.
While state governments may certainly continue to seek dilution of the FCA during enforcement, the removal of the requirement of central government approval is a step towards a dilution of restrictions on forest land use.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Judicial Appointments Conundrum Post-NJAC Verdict

Vacancies in High Courts

| Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Collegium System

Mains level: Judicial appointments and transparency issues

The Supreme Court has asked the government to clarify on the status of 55 recommendations made by the Collegium for judicial appointments to various High Courts six months to nearly a year-and-a-half ago.

What is the news?

HC Vacancies

The total sanctioned judicial strength in the 25 High Courts is 1,080.
However, the present working strength is 661 with 419 vacancies as on March 1.
The Supreme Court has been repeatedly conveying to the government its growing alarm at the judicial vacancies in High Courts.
Some of these High Courts are functioning only with half their sanctioned judicial strength.
On average, the courts suffered at least 40% judicial vacancies.

What is the Collegium System?

The Collegium of judges is the Indian Supreme Court’s invention.
It does not figure in the Constitution, which says judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts are appointed by the President and speaks of a process of consultation.
In effect, it is a system under which judges are appointed by an institution comprising judges.
After some judges were superseded in the appointment of the CJI in the 1970s, and attempts made subsequently to effect a mass transfer of High Court judges across the country.
Hence there was a perception that the independence of the judiciary was under threat. This resulted in a series of cases over the years.

Try this PYQ:

Q.With reference to the Constitution of India, consider the following statements:

No High Court shall have the jurisdiction to declare any central law to be constitutionally invalid.

An amendment to the Constitution of India cannot be called into question by the Supreme Court of India.

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

Answer: (d)

The Judges Cases

The First Judges Case (1981) ruled that the “consultation” with the CJI in the matter of appointments must be full and effective.
However, it rejected the idea that the CJI’s opinion, albeit carrying great weight, should have primacy.
The Second Judges Case (1993) introduced the Collegium system, holding that “consultation” really meant “concurrence”.
It added that it was not the CJI’s individual opinion, but an institutional opinion formed in consultation with the two senior-most judges in the Supreme Court.
On a Presidential Reference for its opinion, the Supreme Court, in the Third Judges Case (1998) expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.

The procedure followed by the Collegium

Appointment of CJI

The President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges.
As far as the CJI is concerned, the outgoing CJI recommends his successor.
In practice, it has been strictly by seniority ever since the supersession controversy of the 1970s.
The Union Law Minister forwards the recommendation to the PM who, in turn, advises the President.

Other SC Judges

For other judges of the top court, the proposal is initiated by the CJI.
The CJI consults the rest of the Collegium members, as well as the senior-most judge of the court hailing from the High Court to which the recommended person belongs.
The consultees must record their opinions in writing and it should form part of the file.
The Collegium sends the recommendation to the Law Minister, who forwards it to the Prime Minister to advise the President.

For High Courts

The CJs of High Courts is appointed as per the policy of having Chief Justices from outside the respective States. The Collegium takes the call on the elevation.
High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.

Does the Collegium recommend transfers too?

Yes, the Collegium also recommends the transfer of Chief Justices and other judges.
Article 222 of the Constitution provides for the transfer of a judge from one High Court to another.
When a CJ is transferred, a replacement must also be simultaneously found for the High Court concerned. There can be an acting CJ in a High Court for not more than a month.
In matters of transfers, the opinion of the CJI “is determinative”, and the consent of the judge concerned is not required.
However, the CJI should take into account the views of the CJ of the High Court concerned and the views of one or more SC judges who are in a position to do so.
All transfers must be made in the public interest, that is, “for the betterment of the administration of justice”.

Loopholes in the Collegium system

Many have faulted the system, not only for its being seen as something unforeseen by the Constitution makers but also for the way it functions.
Opaqueness and a lack of transparency, and the scope for nepotism are cited often.
The attempt made to replace it by a ‘National Judicial Appointments Commission’ was struck down by the court in 2015 on the ground that it posed a threat to the independence of the judiciary.
Some do not believe in full disclosure of reasons for transfers, as it may make lawyers in the destination court chary of the transferred judge.
Embroilment in public controversies and having relatives practising in the same High Court could be common reasons for transfers.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Civil Services Reforms

[pib] Mission Karmayogi

PIB | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Civil Service

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Mission Karmayogi

Mains level: Civil Services Reforms

The Union Minister of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions has informed about the Mission Karmayogi to Parliament.

Try this MCQ:

Q.The Mission Karmayogi recently seen in news is related to:

a) EPFO reforms

b) Labour laws reforms

c) Civil Services reforms

d) Artisans and Handicrafts

Mission Karmayogi

The mission is established under the National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB).
It is aimed at building a future-ready civil service with the right attitude, skills and knowledge, aligned to the vision of New India.
It is meant to be a comprehensive post-recruitment reform of the Centre’s human resource development, in much the same way as the National Recruitment Agency approved last week is pre-recruitment reform.

Why such a mission?

The capacity of Civil Services plays a vital role in rendering a wide variety of services, implementing welfare programs and performing core governance functions.

Major undertakings of the scheme

The scheme will cover 46 lakh, Central government employees, at all levels, and involve an outlay of ₹510 crores over a five-year period, according to an official statement.
The programme will support a transition from “rules-based to roles-based” HR management so that work allocations can be done by matching an official’s competencies to the requirements of the post.
Apart from domain knowledge training, the scheme will focus on “functional and behavioural competencies” as well, and also includes a monitoring framework for performance evaluations.
Eventually, service matters such as confirmation after the probation period, deployment, work assignments and notification of vacancies will all be integrated into the proposed framework.
The capacity building will be delivered through the iGOT Karmayogi digital platform, with content drawn from global best practices rooted in Indian national ethos.

Apex bodies under the mission

The Prime Minister’s Public Human Resource Council will be set up as the apex body to direct the reforms.
There will be an autonomous Capacity Building Commission to be established to manage the reformed system and harmonize training standards across the country so that there is a common understanding of India’s aspirations and development goals.
A wholly government-owned, not-for-profit special purpose vehicle will be set up to own and operate the digital platform and its content.

Answer: C

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Learning economic lessons from Bangladesh

| Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 3- Lessons from Bangladesh's success

The article examines the key driving factors of Bangladesh’s stellar economic progress and draws lessons for India.

Overview of Bangladesh’s economic achievements

Bangladesh’s GDP growth in 2019 was an enviable 8.4 per cent — twice that of India’s during that year.
It is one of the few countries to have maintained a positive growth rate during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Its GDP per capita is just under $2,000 — almost the same as India’s.
In five years, by 2026, Bangladesh will drop its least developed country tag, and move into the league of developing countries — on a par with India.

Parallels between Vietnam and Bangladesh’s progress

Vietnam instituted market and economic reforms in 1986, which enabled it to achieve rapid economic growth and industrialisation.
It began with the manufacturing of textiles and garments and moved into making mobiles and electronics.
As supply chains diversify from China, Vietnam is a beneficiary.
It is now the “+1” in the “China +1” strategy of multinationals.
Vietnam has signed trade agreements and inserting itself into global supply chains.
Bangladesh has followed a similar strategy.
Its rise is directly connected with the textiles and garments industry, which accounts for 80 per cent of the country’s exports.
Bangladesh also enjoys preferential trade treatments with the European Union, Canada, Australia, and Japan with negligible or zero tax.
With India too, Dhaka has a zero-export duty on key products like readymade garments.
Like Vietnam, its foreign investment regime is investor-friendly.
For instance, Bangladesh’s liberal FDI policy allows 100 per cent equity in local companies and no limits on repatriation of profits in most sectors.
Indian companies are increasingly present in Bangladesh, and Indian products are popular — an outcome of a strong cultural affinity.

Women in workforce and microfinance

The world’s most successful and pioneering microfinance organisations like Grameen and BRAC have aided small businesses in the country, and regionally.
Many of these schemes, over the years, were directed at women.
This has paid dividends not just in financial independence, but also in encouraging them to work outside the home.
Consequently, Bangladesh’s workforce in its textiles sector is almost all women — 95 per cent women in an industry which is 80 per cent of Bangladesh’s exports.

Role of government schemes

This, along with government schemes like Pushti Apas (Nutrition Sisters) and community health clinics has helped Bangladesh in the development indices.
Bangladesh fares better on infant mortality, sanitation, hunger and gender equality than many countries including India.

Key lessons for India

Increasing women in the workforce, liberalising internal and external trade, and making micro lending accessible, are some of the lessons.
But so is the goal of being a global hub for the sub region, building special economic zones which requires infrastructure, connectivity and a welcoming environment for investors both domestic and foreign.
both countries have suffered since 1947, without connectivity, at huge cost.
It is time to integrate our power systems, think about free trade, liberalise the visa regime.

Conclusion

India need not always carry the burden of South Asia’s development alone. It now has a partner with whom to collaborate effectively towards achieving that goal.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

How fiscal stimulus in the U.S. will impact emerging economies

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 3- Uneven economic recovery at the global level and policy challenges it poses

The article highlights how the faster recovery of the U.S. economy aided by the faster vaccination and stimulus packages may pose a policy challenge to the emerging economies.

About the fiscal stimulus in the U.S.

With the recent passage of Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, the cumulative fiscal stimulus amounts to 25 per cent of GDP.
This reliance on fiscal stimulus is in sharp contrast to the policy response in the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis (GFC) when monetary policy was the main tool.
The over reliance on fiscal measures is because of the “liquidity trap” — interest rates are already treading close to zero.

So, what does this mean for the US and emerging economies?

From the US perspective, this is good news.
The U.S. economy is expected to converge to the pre-pandemic GDP projection after the third quarter of 2021, exceeding it by 1 per cent in the fourth quarter.
The impact on emerging economies is less certain.
A booming US economy generally bodes well for global growth as higher demand “spills over” to the rest of the world.
However, the sectoral contribution to US growth presents a different picture this time.
Private consumption of goods (tradable) is already back to pre-pandemic levels, while consumption of services remains significantly below pre-pandemic levels.
As the vaccination drive gathers pace in the US and the economy slowly opens up, it should be fair to assume that the non-tradable sector would be driving growth.
But given the expected nature of the underlying growth, the positive impact on emerging economies will perhaps be softer.
With smaller fiscal stimulus in emerging economies and the slower vaccine roll, the US recovery largely being led by the non-tradable sector will result in a divergence in growth between the US and emerging countries.

Policy challenge for emerging economies which is different from GFC

Post-GFC, a combination of zero interest rates and quantitative easing in advanced economies led to a significant surge in capital inflows to emerging countries in search of higher yield leading to an appreciation of their currencies.
Now, the situation is exactly the opposite.
The differential rate of recoveries has already led to capital outflow from emerging economies.
The rise in yield in the U.S. may further fuel capital outflows in coming days leading to tighter monetary conditions in emerging markets.

What should be India’s policy response

As far as India is concerned, the macro-economic fundamentals are much stronger than during the taper-tantrum days.
The foreign exchange reserves remain at historically high levels, the current account situation is comfortable and the inflation rate remains within the target band of the RBI.
In the event of capital outflows, the RBI should let the currency depreciate as the first line of defence to preserve India’s external competitiveness and intervene only to smoothen out extreme volatility.
It should avoid the temptation to increase interest rates at the risk of hurting the pace of economic recovery.

Consider the question “Uneven economic recovery on the global level poses a policy challenge to India. In this context, discuss the possible impact of uneven recovery and suggest the policy measures to deal with it.”

Conclusion

Uneven recovery at the global level demands an unconventional policy approach. The policy approach of India should be based on this premise.

Back2Basics: Taper Tantrum

The phrase, taper tantrum, describes the 2013 surge in U.S. Treasury yields, resulting from the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) announcement of future tapering of its policy of quantitative easing.
The Fed announced that it would be reducing the pace of its purchases of Treasury bonds, to reduce the amount of money it was feeding into the economy.
The ensuing rise in bond yields in reaction to the announcement was referred to as a taper tantrum in financial media.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Disinvestment in India

Why privatising public assets is poor economics

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 3- How fiscal deficit financed government spending leads to wealth inequality

The article highlights the issues with government expenditure driven by the selling of public sector assets.

How public asset selling could affects private investment decisions

Public sector assets are not bought by reducing consumption or investment.
Current investment expenditure depends on decisions taken in the past and is more or less pre-determined.
Investment decisions that are taken today for fructification tomorrow that may be scaled down by such a purchase.
However, if investment decisions taken today are scaled-down, then it results in crowding out and such a strategy should be avoided anyway.
This implies that selling public sector assets therefore does not release any resources from private use for government spending.

How selling public asset has same macroeconomic effect as fiscal deficit

In case of fiscal deficit, the government puts its bonds in private hands; in sale of a public asset, the government puts its equity held in public sector assets in private hands.
The macroeconomic consequences of a fiscal deficit on the economy are no different from those of selling public assets.
However, finance capital, and institutions like the IMF treat the sale of public assets on a different footing from a fiscal deficit, for ideological — not economic — reasons, because they ideologically favour a dismantling of the public sector.

How fiscal deficit leads to wealth inequality

In a situation of demand-constraints, where unutilised capacity and unemployed workers exist aplenty, if an appropriate monetary policy is pursued, it can have no adverse effects whatsoever, except one: It increases wealth inequality.
The government expenditure financed by the fiscal deficit creates additional aggregate demand that increases output and incomes until the additional savings generated out of such incomes exactly match the fiscal deficit.
These additional savings accrue to the savers without their having to reduce their consumption, compared to the initial situation (that is, prior to government expenditure increase).
Since savings represent additions to wealth, this amounts to putting extra wealth into the hands of the rich.
Selling public assets puts into private hands public assets, and that too at prices well below the capitalised value of earnings.
This increases wealth inequality for two reasons:
First, it does so exactly as a fiscal deficit does.
Second, the public asset it puts in private hands is under-priced.

Why tax financed government spending should be preferred

If the same government expenditure is financed by taxation, no matter who was taxed, then there would be no addition to private wealth and hence no increase in wealth inequality.
Which is why tax-financed government expenditure should always be preferred to fiscal-deficit-financed government expenditure.

What alternative government have

The obvious one is wealth taxation.
Taxing away the private wealth created by a fiscal deficit leaves private wealth inequality unchanged at its initial level; it does not exacerbate it.
If the government is unwilling to impose higher wealth or profit taxes, it can raise GST rates on several luxury goods.

Consider the question “How fiscal deficit financed government spending differs in its impact on weath inequality from the tax-financed government spending?”

Conclusion

Thus, selling public assets to finance government spending is both undesirable and unnecessary.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Judicial Appointments Conundrum Post-NJAC Verdict

Justice NV Ramana set to take over as 48th CJI

| Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Appointment of CJI

Mains level: Judicial appointments and transparency issues

The Chief Justice of India Sharad Bobde has recommended Justice N.V. Ramana, the senior-most judge of the Supreme Court, as the next top judge from April 24.

Chief Justice of India

The CJI is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian federal judiciary.

Appointment

The Constitution of India grants power to the President to nominate, and with the advice and consent of the Parliament, appoint a chief justice, who serves until they reach the age of 65 or until removed by impeachment.
Earlier, it was a convention to appoint seniormost judges.
However, this has been broken twice. In 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed superseding 3 senior judges.
Also, in 1977 Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as the chief justice superseding Justice Hans Raj Khanna.

Qualifications to be a SC Judge

The Indian Constitution says in Article 124 (3) that in order to be appointed as a judge in the Supreme Court of India, the person has to fit in the following criteria:

He/She is a citizen of India and
has been for at least five years a Judge of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or
has been for at least ten years an advocate of a High Court or of two or more such Courts in succession; or
is, in the opinion of the President, a distinguished jurist

Also read:

Explained: Collegium of Judges

Functions

As head of the Supreme Court, the CJI is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law.
In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice allocates all work to the other judges.

On the administrative side, the CJI carries out the following functions:

maintenance of the roster; appointment of court officials and general and miscellaneous matters relating to the supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court

Try this PYQ:

Q. Who/Which of the following is the custodian of the Constitution of India?

(a) The President of India

(b) The Prime Minister of India

(c) The Lok Sabha Secretariat

(d) The Supreme Court of India

Removal

Article 124(4) of the Constitution lays down the procedure for removal of a judge of the Supreme Court which is applicable to chief justices as well.
Once appointed, the chief justice remains in the office until the age of 65 years. He can be removed only through a process of removal by Parliament as follows:
He/She can be removed by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present.
The voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

North-East India – Security and Developmental Issues

Sixth Schedule areas of Assam

| Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution - historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Sixth Schedule

Mains level: Read the attached story

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has informed the Lok Sabha that presently, there is no proposal to implement the Panchayat system in the Sixth Schedule areas of Assam.

Try this question from CSP 2015:

Q.The provisions in Fifth Schedule and Sixth Schedule in the Constitution of India are made in order to-

(a) protect the interests of Scheduled Tribes

(b) determine the boundaries between States

(c) determine the powers, authority and responsibilities of Panchayats

(d) protect the interests of all the border States

What is the Sixth Schedule?

The Sixth Schedule consists of provisions for the administration of tribal areas in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and Mizoram, according to Article 244 of the Indian Constitution.
Passed by the Constituent Assembly in 1949, it seeks to safeguard the rights of the tribal population through the formation of Autonomous District Councils (ADC).
ADCs are bodies representing a district to which the Constitution has given varying degrees of autonomy within the state legislature.
The governors of these states are empowered to reorganize the boundaries of the tribal areas.
In simpler terms, she or he can choose to include or exclude any area, increase or decrease the boundaries and unite two or more autonomous districts into one.
They can also alter or change the names of autonomous regions without separate legislation.

Autonomous districts and regional councils

The ADCs are empowered with civil and judicial powers can constitute village courts within their jurisdiction to hear the trial of cases involving the tribes.
Governors of states that fall under the Sixth Schedule specify the jurisdiction of high courts for each of these cases.
Along with ADCs, the Sixth Schedule also provides for separate Regional Councils for each area constituted as an autonomous region.
In all, there are 10 areas in the Northeast that are registered as autonomous districts – three in Assam, Meghalaya and Mizoram and one in Tripura.

The specified tribal areas are the North Cachar Hills, Karbi Anglong and the Bodoland Territorial Area in Assam, Khasi Hills, Jaintiya Hills and Garo Hills in Meghalaya, Tribal Areas in Tripura, Chakma, Mara and Lai districts in Mizoram.

These regions are named as district council of (name of district) and regional council of (name of region).
Each autonomous district and regional council consists of not more than 30 members, of which four are nominated by the governor and the rest via elections. All of them remain in power for a term of five years.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Inter-state Tiger Relocation Project

| Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NPs mentioned in the news

Mains level: Tiger relocation issues

Sundari — a tigress shifted as part of India’s first inter-state translocation project in 2018 from Madhya Pradesh to Odisha has returned home.

What is the news?

The five-year-old tigress Sundari spent 28 months in captivity in Satkosia Tiger Reserve, Odisha.
The two states lingered on the process for her relocation despite the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) shelving off the much-vaunted inter-state tiger translocation drive.

What was the Tiger Relocation Project?

The tiger relocation project was initiated in 2018 wherein two big cats, a male (Mahavir) from Kanha Tiger Reserve and a female (Sundari) from Bandhavgarh from MP were relocated to Satkosia Tiger Reserve in Odisha.
The relocation was meant to serve two purposes

to reduce the tiger population in areas with excess tigers to majorly reduce territorial disputes and
to reintroduce tigers in areas where the population has considerably reduced due to various reasons

How were Mahavir and Sundari chosen for the project?

Both the big cats were selected for the translocation project as per the NTCA guidelines and in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India and the GoI.
Two key factors were considered for choosing the animal — first, a dispersing young animal which is to find a new and second, an adult transient which was yet to establish any territory.

What is the Satkosia Tiger Reserve and why was it chosen?

Encompassing an area of 963.87 sq km, the Satkosia Tiger Reserve spreads across four districts and has as its core area 523 sq km.
According to NTCA, Satkosia falls under reserves where “there is a potential for increasing tiger populations”.
Declared as a Tiger Reserve in 2007, Satkosia had a population of 12 tigers then. The numbers reduced to two in 2018.
The purpose of the relocation was to repopulate tigers in the reserve areas.

Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:

Q.With reference to India’s Desert National Park, which of the following statements is correct?

It is spread over two districts.

There is no human habitation inside the Park.

It is one of the natural habitats of Great Indian Bustard.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Unexpected outcomes of the project

The project ran into trouble within weeks of initiation.

The arrival of the tigers was followed by severe protests by villagers living on the fringes of the reserve and the matter eventually snowballing into a poll issue.
Forest department officials were attacked and their offices burnt down by irate villagers most of whom were tribals.
The villagers feared the big cats would endanger their livelihoods, lives and livestocks. They also alleged that they were not consulted or informed prior to the translocation.
The major reason which contributed to the failure of the project was the lack of confidence and trust-building between the forest department and the villagers.
Within months of the translocation, Mahavir was found dead and was killed in poaching.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Traffic jam in the Suez Canal

Places in news | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Suez Canal

Mains level: Not Much

A massive cargo ship has turned sideways in Egypt’s Suez Canal, blocking traffic in a crucial East-West waterway for global shipping.

Try this PYQ:

Q.Between India and East Asia, the navigation time and distance can be greatly reduced by which of the following?

Deepening the Malacca straits between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Opening a new canal across the Kra isthmus between the Gulf of Siam and Andaman sea.

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

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez; and dividing Africa and Asia.
Constructed by the Suez Canal Company between 1859 and 1869, it officially opened on 17 November 1869.
The canal was earlier controlled by British and French interests in its initial years but was nationalized in 1956 by Egypt’s then leader Gamal Abdel Nasser.
It extends from the northern terminus of Port Said to the southern terminus of Port Tewfik at the city of Suez.
Its length is 193.30 km including its northern and southern access channels.

Its significance

The Suez Canal provides a crucial link for oil, natural gas and cargo being shipping from East to West.
It provides a major shortcut for ships moving between Europe and Asia, who before its construction had to sail around Africa to complete the same journey.
Around 10 % of the world’s trade flows through the waterway and it remains one of Egypt’s top foreign currency earners.
As per a report, the canal is a major source of income for Egypt’s economy, with the African country earning $5.61 billion in revenues from it last year.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Wildlife Conservation Efforts

Places in news: Zabarwan Mountains

Places in news | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Zabarwan Mountains

Mains level: NA

Prime Minister has asked tourists to visit the tulip garden, located at the foothills of the Zabarwan range in Jammu and Kashmir.

Try this PYQ from CSP 2020:

Q.Siachen Glacier is situated to the

(a) East of Aksai Chin

(b) East of Leh

(c)North of Gilgit

(d) North of Nubra Valley

Zabarwan Mountains

The Zabarwan Range is a short sub-mountain range between Pir Panjal and the Great Himalayan Range in the central part of the Kashmir Valley.
Specifically, the range is known to be what overlooks the Dal Lake and holds the Mughal gardens of Srinagar.
The Shankaracharya Temple is built on the edge of the central part of the Zabarwan Range.
The highest peak of this range is Mahadev Peak at 13,013 feet (3,966 m), which forms the distant background of the eastern mountain wall.
On the northern slopes of the central part of the range, there are three Mughal gardens built by Emperor Shah Jahan.
These include Chashma Shahi, Nishat Bagh and Shalimar Garden alongside the Pari Mahal (the fairy palace).
The Dachigam National Park is the main feature of the range which holds the last viable population of Kashmir stag (Hangul) and the largest population of black bear in Asia.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Festivals, Dances, Theatre, Literature, Art in News

Shigmo Festival of Goa

Prelims Only | History and Art & Culture | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Shigmo Festival

Mains level: NA

The Shigmo or the Goan Carnival celebrations may be terminated this year due to rising covid cases.

Try this PYQ from CSP 2017:

Q.Consider the following pairs:

Traditions Communities

Chaliha Sahib Festival — Sindhis

Nanda Raj Jaat Yatra — Gonds

Wari-Warkari — Santhals

Which of the pairs given above is/are correctly matched?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) None of the above

What is Shigmo or Shigmotsav?

Shigmo is the celebration of a ‘rich, golden harvest of paddy’ by the tribal communities of Goa.
Agricultural communities including the Kunbis, Gawdas and Velips celebrate the festival that also marks the onset of spring.
Shigmo celebrations last over a fortnight in the months of Phalgun-Chaitra months of the Hindu calendar that correspond with March-April every year.

Various activities in celebrations

The festival begins with ‘Naman’ that is the invocation of the local folk deities on the village ‘maand’ or the village stage.
It is held to the beats of percussion instruments like the Ghumat, Dhol, Mhadle and Tashe by the male folk.
This is called the ‘romta mell’ that moves from one village to another.
The celebration is replete with traditional, colourful costumes, mythological installations, painted faces and costumes of various hues.
Folk dances like Ghodemodini (a dance of equestrian warriors), Gopha and Phugadi are among the many dances performed by the participating communities.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Trans Pacific Partnership: Latest updates and developments

Recalibrating India-Taiwan ties

op-ed snap | International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 2- India-Taiwan ties

25 years of friendship

India and Taiwan are celebrating 25 years of their partnership.
Mutual efforts between Delhi and Taipei have enabled a range of bilateral agreements covering agriculture, investment, customs cooperation, civil aviation, industrial cooperation and other areas.
This growing relationship indicates that the time has come to recalibrate India-Taiwan relations.

Recalibrating relationship

1) Creating political framework

Both partners have increasingly deepened mutual respect underpinned by openness, with democracy and diversity as the key principles for collective growth.
To make this relationship more meaningful, both sides can create a group of empowered persons or a task force to chart out a road map in a given time frame.

2) Cooperation in healthcare

Taiwan’s handling of the pandemic and its support to many other countries underlines the need to deepen healthcare cooperation.
India and Taiwan already collaborate in the area of traditional medicine.
The time is ripe to expand cooperation in the field of healthcare.

3) Bio-friendly technologies

Stubble burning and an associated decline in air quality has become a challenge for Indian government.
Taiwan could be a valuable partner in dealing with this challenge through its bio-friendly technologies.
Such technologies convert agricultural waste into value-added and environmentally beneficial renewable energy or biochemicals.
This will be a win-win situation as it will help in dealing with air pollution and also enhance farmers’ income.
Further, New Delhi and Taipei can also undertake joint research and development initiatives in the field of organic farming.

4) Cultural exchange

India and Taiwan need to deepen people-to-people connect.
Cultural exchange is the cornerstone of any civilisational exchange.
However, Taiwanese tourists in India are a very small number.
The Buddhist pilgrimage tour needs better connectivity and visibility, in addition to showcasing incredible India’s diversity. .
With the Taiwan Tourism Bureau partnering with Mumbai Metro, Taiwan is trying to raise awareness about the country and increase the inflow of Indian tourists.

5) Deepening economic ties

India’s huge market provides Taiwan with investment opportunities.
The signing of a bilateral trade agreement in 2018 was an important milestone.
Taiwan’s reputation as the world leader in semiconductor and electronics complements India’s leadership in ITES (Information Technology-Enabled Services).
This convergence of interests will help create new opportunities.
Despite the huge potential, Taiwan investments have been paltry in India.
Taiwanese firms find the regulatory and labour regime daunting.

Consider the question “Though mutual efforts between Delhi and Taipei have enabled a range of bilateral agreements, the time has come to recalibrate India-Taiwan relations” In light of this, discuss the ways in which the two countries can deepen bilateral relations and increase cooperation.

Conclusion

The two countries have much to cooperate and build the relationship on. What is needed is the political will to recalibrate the relationship.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Women empowerment issues – Jobs,Reservation and education

Why the MTP Bill is not progressive enough

op-ed snap | | Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Provision of MTP Act

Mains level: Paper 2- Issues with the MTP bill

The article highlights key changes the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks to make in the 1971 Act and also deals with the issues with some of these changes.

Key changes

The 1971 Act had moral biases against sexual relationships outside marriage, adopts an ableist approach and carries a strong eugenic emphasis.
In addition to preventing danger to the life or risk to physical or mental health of the woman, “eugenic grounds” were recognised as a specific category for legally permissible abortions.
To deal with these issues the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 was passed by the parliament.
The bill is being hailed for two reasons:
First, the bill replaces “any married woman or her husband” with “any woman or her partner” while contemplating termination of pregnancies resulting from contraception failures, thus ostensibly destigmatising pregnancies outside marriage.
Second, the time limit within which pregnancies are legally terminable is increased.

Issues with the Bill

1) Scope for executive overreach

The bill raises the upper gestational limits for the two categories of permissible abortions envisioned in Section 3(2) of the 1971 Act.
Limit for the first category in which pregnancies are terminable subject to the opinion of one medical practitioner is raised from 12 weeks to 20 weeks.
The limit for the second category in which pregnancies are terminable subject to the opinion of two medical practitioners is raised to include those exceeding 20 but not exceeding 24 weeks, instead of the present category of cases exceeding 12 but not exceeding 20 weeks.
However, the second category is left ambiguous and open to potential executive overreach insofar as it may be further narrowed down by rules made by the executive.

2) Rejection of the bodily autonomy of women

Pregnancies are allowed to be terminated only where:
1) Continuance of the pregnancy would “prejudice the life of the pregnant woman.
2) Or cause grave injury to her mental or physical health”
3) Or “if the child were born it would suffer from any serious physical or mental abnormality.”
As such, the bill seeks to cater to women “who need to terminate pregnancy” as against “women who want to terminate pregnancy.”
By not accounting for the right to abortion at will the Bill effectively cripples women’s bodily autonomy.

3) Ableist approach

A woman’s right to terminate the pregnancy of a child likely to suffer from physical or mental anomalies or one diagnosed with foetal abnormalities, on socio-economic grounds or otherwise, merits recognition.
However, in treating “physical or mental disability” or “foetal abnormalities” as separate categories amounting to heightened circumstances for termination of pregnancies, the bill reveals its ableist approach.
This evidences a presumption that certain people are by default societally unproductive, undesirable and somehow more justifiably eliminable than others.
This ableism becomes stark when the said 24-week limit, which is purportedly dictated by scientific and legislative wisdom, is completely lifted where the termination of a pregnancy involves “substantial foetal abnormalities”.

4) Dichotomy in allowing termination beyond 24 weeks

When read together with Section 3(2B) of the bill, a strange dichotomy emerges:
1) It is either the case that medical advancement is such that a safe abortion is possible at any point in the term of pregnancy, and hence, the bill allows it in case of “substantial foetal abnormalities” .
Or that, a 24-week ceiling is scientifically essential and abortions beyond the said limit would pose risks to the health of the pregnant woman or the foetus.
If it is the former, then allowing termination only in cases of “substantial foetal abnormalities” is a fictitious and moralistic classification.
If it is the latter, then the secondary status of women’s safety and the dominant eugenic tenor of the bill once again becomes evident.

Need to sensitise healthcare provider

Access to abortion facilities is limited not just by legislative barriers but also the fear of judgment from medical practitioners.
It is imperative that healthcare providers be sensitised towards being scientific, objective and compassionate in their approach to abortions notwithstanding the woman’s marital status.

Consider the question “What are the changes the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2021 seeks to make in the 1971 Act. Discuss the issues with the changed provision in the Act.

Conclusion

In KS Puttaswamy v Union of India, the Supreme Court recognised women’s constitutional right to “abstain from procreating” was read into the right to privacy, dignity and bodily autonomy. The MTPA Bill falls short of meeting this constitutional standard and its own stated objectives.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Industrial Sector Updates – Industrial Policy, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

Applying the policy of self-reliance to health, infrastructure and green technologies

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much

Mains level: Paper 3- How Atmanirbhar Bharat policies can help in post-covid recovery

The article highlights how Atmanirbhar Bharat policies can play important role in India’s post-pandemic recovery.

Decline of trade-led catch-up growth

The Asian Development Bank identifies India as an outlier, with the country’s GDP growth likely to range between eight and 10 per cent — as against 7.7 per cent for China and seven per cent for the Asian region.
The convergence between the rich and poor countries in the 1990s and 2000s was founded on high relative growth rates driven by globalisation and export-led growth.
The World Bank and many international think tanks are now projecting a process of de-globalisation, reduction in exports, and reduced service exports from the tourism, travel and hospitality sector in response to COVID.
So, the phenomenon of trade-led catch-up growth is declining.

How Atmanirbhar Bharat is different from past strategies

India’s import substituting growth strategy of the 1960s did not succeed because the high protective customs barriers led to the growth of non-competitive industries.
The current Atmanirbhar Bharat project is different because tariffs are low and public investment is focused on non-tradable infrastructure rather than commodity production.

1) Atmanirbhar in heath: Atmirbhar Swasth Bharat

Atmanirbhar Swasth Bharat is a domestic non-trade dependent initiative which will invest over Rs 64,000 crore in setting up 17,800 rural and 11,000 urban health and wellness centres and 602 critical care hospitals in the country’s districts.
Today India has 29 health workers per 10,000 population, while we need 60 such professionals per 10,000 people, as per WHO norms.
Creating such a cadre will mean nearly four million new jobs, which can be self-paying.

2) Infrastructure

China and emerging markets like Russia and Brazil have a fairly advanced transport and energy infrastructure.
India has a huge potential to renew its railways and highways and shift to solar energy from its current dependence on coal.
In fact, the country’s long-neglected fourth largest rail network in the world is undergoing rapid transformation.
While rail track coverage expanded by 5,000 km during 2010 to 2014-15, nearly 7,000 km of tracks were added between 2015 and 2020.
The Railways now aim to lay 9.5 km of track daily and have raised adequate capital for the same by leveraging domestic insurance funds.
Railways are also aiming for 100 per cent electrification and zero carbon footprint by 2024.
Electrified track has doubled from 20,000 km in 2012/13 to nearly 40,000 km in 2020.
The Centre’s decision to invest heavily in urban mass transit systems since 2014 has led to the rapid expansion of such services.
The resolution of financial problems of blocked PPP projects and smooth land acquisition process has increased the pace of construction of national highways.
Pace of construction of the national highway increased from 3,330 km per year during 2009-20014 to nearly 9,450 km in 2020-21.

3) Renewable energy

Today over 55 per cent of India’s energy comes from coal but the share of renewable has been steadly increasing.
Starting with only 10 MW of solar power in 2010, India has installed nearly 35 GW of solar power by 2020.
This has been propelled by economic reforms which drove solar power prices down from Rs 17 per unit in 2010 to Rs 2.44 per unit in 2020.
The target of reaching 100 GW by 2022 can drive growth further.
Currently nearly 25 per cent of India’s electricity is used for pumping underground water for irrigation.
Providing irrigation energy from decentralised solar grids — solar power can be generated at the points on consumption.
This will reduce huge transmission losses and the associated carbon footprint of non-renewable energy sources.

4) Privatising public sector outfits

The Centre’s shift towards privatising public sector outfits including banks, insurance companies and other PSUs can fund the growth of rail, road and energy infrastructure.
This will also foster efficiency in India’s credit system.
China achieved supernormal growth in infrastructure without access to international financing in the initial decades.
Recent studies have revealed that China’s financial decentralisation and commercial exploitation of state-owned lands was critical for the success.
In India, too, regional development authorities like the Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority and Maharashtra Industries Development Corporation have financed the metro, trans-harbour links and industrial infrastructure through a similar commercial land allocation model.
This model can be extended throughout the country to finance infrastructure expansion.

Consider the question “How Atmanirbhar Bharat policies differ from the past import-substituting growth strategy? Examine the role Atmanirbhar Bharat can play in the post-pandemic recovery?”

Conclusion

In such a way, Atmanirbharta with its various facets will pave the road of post-pandemic recovery.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Foreign Policy Watch: India-China

Sanctions on China over Uighurs: Cause & Effect

| International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Uighurs

Mains level: Uighur's genocide by PRC

In a coordinated move, many countries imposed sanctions on Chinese officials for human rights abuses against Uighurs and other minorities in Xinjiang province.

The Uighurs

Xinjiang has a large number of Uighurs, Muslims of Turkic descent.
Over the past few decades, more and more Han Chinese has settled in Xinjiang, which saw violent clashes between them and the Uighurs.

The sanctions have come after a meeting between the US and Chinese officials in Alaska last week, in what Washington described as “tough and direct talks”.

This was a “Tu-Tu, Mai-Mai” conservation if you had seen the news!

Sanctions on China

The European Union, the US, Britain, and Canada imposed sanctions on Chinese Officials.
Australia and New Zealand issued a joint statement welcoming the Western action, adding they were concerned about reports of abuses from Xinjiang.
China on the other hand has consistently denied all reports of atrocities against Uighurs, maintaining it is only “deradicalising” elements of its population in the interests of security.

Retaliation by China

Those sanctioned by China include five Members of the European Parliament and the Political and Security Committee, the EU’s main foreign policy decision-making body, among others.
China also summoned the EU ambassador and the UK ambassador to lodge “solemn protests”.

Why these sanctions are crucial?

This is the first time the EU has imposed sanctions on China since an arms embargo after the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. That is still in place.
Although the EU sanctions are not very damaging, they show a hardening of stance against its largest trading partner.
Also significant is that the Western powers moved together, in what is being seen as a result of the US push to deal with China along with its allies.

Nations that claim to be defenders of the faith or self-proclaimed Caliphates are silent on the persecution of Uighurs! They perceived the abrogation of Art. 370 as a doomsday event! This is height of hypocrisy!

Reasons behind: Crackdown on Uighurs

China is accused of putting over a million people in internment camps to “de-Muslimise” them and make them integrate better in the Communist country.
Allegations are that these people have been forced to leave behind their occupations, properties and families, to stay at the camps.
Survivors, human rights organisations, and governments of other countries have alleged physical, psychological and sexual torture.
People can be sent to the camps for showing any signs of “extremism” — sporting beards, fasting during Ramzan, dressing differently from the majority, sending Eid greetings, praying “too often” etc.

The idea of the sacred is quite simply one of the most conservative notions in any culture because it seeks to turn other ideas – uncertainty, progress, change – into crimes.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Women Safety Issues – Marital Rape, Domestic Violence, Swadhar, Nirbhaya Fund, etc.

Corrective voice from Supreme Court against stereotyping of women

SC Judgements | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Executive & Judiciary

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not Much

Mains level: Gender sensitization of Judiciary

A judgment by the Supreme Court forbidding judges from making gender-stereotypical comments came as a corrective voice from within the highest judiciary.

Q.Discuss the need for gender sensitization of the judicial institutions.

What is the news?

The judgment came days after the CJI, during a virtual hearing reportedly asked an alleged rapist’s lawyer to enquire whether his client would marry the survivor.
His statement coincided with International Women’s Day.
Days later, a Bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and S. Ravindra Bhat urged courts to avoid using reasoning/language which diminished a sexual offence and tended to trivialize the survivor.

What did the Court say?

The greatest extent of sensitivity is to be displayed in the judicial approach, language and reasoning adopted by the judge.
Even a solitary instance of such order or utterance in court, reflects adversely on the entire judicial system of the country, undermining the guarantee to fair justice to all, and especially to victims of sexual violence.
This judgment is one among a series of interventions with which the apex court has clamped down on abuse and sex stereotyping of women.

No institution is mightier than the modesty of a woman.

SC against stereotyping

Some of the notable judgments which have lashed out at sex stereotyping include:

The framing of the Vishaka Guidelines on sexual harassment of women in working places, and
Justice D.Y. Chandrachud’s historic judgment giving women Armed Forces officers’ equal access to Permanent Commission while debunking the establishment’s claim that women were physiologically weaker than men
In the Anuj Garg case, the Supreme Court had rebuked “the notion of romantic paternalism”, which, “in practical effect, put women, not on a pedestal, but in a cage”

Avoid gender stereotypes such as:

The courts should desist from expressing any stereotype opinion, in words spoken during proceedings, or in the course of a judicial order, to the effect that

women are physically weak and need protection;
men are the “head” of the household and should take all the decisions relating to family;
women should be submissive and obedient according to our culture;
“good” women are sexually chaste;
motherhood is the duty and role of every woman and assumptions to the effect that she wants to be a mother;
being alone at night or wearing certain clothes make women responsible for being attacked;
lack of evidence of physical harm in sexual offence case leads to an inference of consent by the woman.

Conclusion

Stereotyping compromises the impartiality and integrity of the justice system, which can, in turn, lead to miscarriages of justice, including the re-victimization of complainants.
Often judges adopt rigid standards about what they consider to be appropriate behaviour for women and penalize those who do not conform to these stereotypes.

There should be gender sensitization

The court-mandated that a module on gender sensitization is included, as part of the foundational training of every judge.
This module must aim at imparting techniques for judges to be more sensitive in hearing and deciding cases of sexual assault, and eliminating entrenched social bias, especially misogyny.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Road and Highway Safety – National Road Safety Policy, Good Samaritans, etc.

Vehicles scrappage policy: A step forward but a missed opportunity

| Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not Much

Mains level: Vehicle Scrappage Policy

The much-awaited draft policy on vehicle scrappage is finally out. But the draft policy also misses an opportunity: Of designing the policy as an effective stimulus programme for green recovery in the sector to achieve deeper and quicker air quality benefits.

Background

The policy outlines the criteria for defining end-of-life vehicles and scrapping them.
It also makes provision for scrapping facilities for safe disposal of waste and material recovery.
This is an important step forward towards building infrastructure for organised and scientific scrapping of old vehicles.

The proposal

This proposed policy seeks to phase out unfit vehicles to reduce vehicular pollution, meet the climate commitments, improve road safety and fuel efficiency, formalize informal vehicle scrapping industry and recover low-cost material for the automotive, steel and electronics industry.
The policy expects to spin jobs and attract investment as well.
It is a big positive for supporting a network of well-equipped scrappage facilities with adequate environmental safeguards to stop unsafe dismantling that contaminates the environment.

Must read:

New Vehicle Scrappage Policy

Issues with the policy

(1) Advisory nature

This policy has only ‘advised’ the state governments and the automobile industry to provide voluntary incentives to the owners of old vehicles.
The central government has not committed to make it a fiscal stimulus strategy for quicker renewal of ageing, heavy-duty vehicle fleet with BS-VI vehicles — or to link other segments with targeted electrification.

(2) Achieving fleet renewal

The focus on targeted fleet renewal for maximum emissions gains is still weak.
The proposed policy puts the entire onus of incentivizing fleet renewal on the state governments.
They have been advised to waive off a big chunk of road tax and registration fees on replacement vehicles.
These are important sources of state revenue, and the reaction of the state governments is still not known.

(3) No stimulus

The more compelling question is whether the central government would consider a centrally supported stimulus programme for post-pandemic green recovery.
This is the global trend wherein governments have been giving conditional bailouts or tax support linked to emissions targets.

What can be an effective strategy?

(1) Transportation vehicles

For heavy-duty vehicles, the policy can take a more nuanced approach.
Consider that some truck owners may want to only dispose of the very old trucks without replacing them. But others may want to scrap and replace the older trucks.
In that case, a rebate can be given to the owners of end-of-life vehicles who are interested in ‘only scrapping’ the vehicle without immediately replacing them.
And this rebate can be given based on a scrappage certificate from authorized scrappage centres.
Old trucks with more economic life left can get a comparatively higher incentive as that will give higher emissions benefits.

(2) Personal vehicles

For these vehicles, the central incentive can be linked with replacement with electric vehicles.
This can be added to the normal scrapping of end-of-life vehicles as already proposed in the draft policy. This can maximise air quality gains.
Personal vehicles are numerous and general public support for their fleet renewal can divert a lion’s share of the allocated budget from the priority heavy-duty segment.
Therefore, the public support for the personal vehicle segment can be linked only with voluntary electrification.

Build-in manufacturers’ responsibility

The new policy also needs to align with the mandate for the manufacturers to meet targets for recyclability of material.
Make this mandatory as part of the scrappage policy.

We have AIS 129

It is encouraging that the Automotive Industrial Standard-129 (AIS 129) on reuse, recycling and material recovery from vehicles were framed in 2015.
This requires 80-85 per cent of the material used in vehicle manufacturing by mass to be recoverable/recyclable/reusable at the end of life.
AIS-129 also restricts the use of heavy metals including lead, mercury, cadmium, hexavalent chromium, etc, and asks for the coding of plastics to inform dismantlers.
The requirement of recyclability should be extended to 85-95 per cent to maximise material recovery as well as energy recovery from residual waste like used oil, non-recyclable rubber etc.

Way forward

This first-ever formal scrappage policy in India is urgently needed to help build infrastructure for safe disposal and material recovery to minimise environmental hazards.
But India would be adopting scrappage policy during these unprecedented pandemic times, so it is necessary to leverage this targeted fleet renewal with well-designed central support for a post-pandemic green deal.

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now

Banking Sector Reforms

National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development Bill, 2021

| Economics | Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: DFI

Mains level: Key provisions of the bill

Finance Minister has introduced the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NaBFID) Bill 2021 in the Lok Sabha to pave way for setting up a government-owned DFI to fund infra projects.

NaBFID Bill

The NaBFID Bill, 2021 was introduced in Lok Sabha on March 22, 2021.
The Bill seeks to establish the National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development (NBFID) as the principal development financial institution (DFIs) for infrastructure financing.

What are DFIs?

DFIs are set up for providing long-term finance for such segments of the economy where the risks involved are beyond the acceptable limits of commercial banks and other ordinary financial institutions.
Unlike banks, DFIs do not accept deposits from people.
They source funds from the market, government, as well as multi-lateral institutions, and are often supported through government guarantees.

Note every statement about DFIs such as – Terms of finance, Sources of funds, Savings option etc.

Key provisions of the Bill

NBFID:

NBFID will be set up as a corporate body with an authorised share capital of one lakh crore rupees.
Shares of NBFID may be held by (i) central government, (ii) multilateral institutions, (iii) sovereign wealth funds, (iv) pension funds, (v) insurers, (vi) financial institutions, (vii) banks, and (viii) any other institution prescribed by the central government.
Initially, the central government will own 100% shares of the institution which may subsequently be reduced up to 26%.

Functions of NBFID:

NBFID will have both financial as well as developmental objectives.
Financial objectives will be to directly or indirectly lend, invest, or attract investments for infrastructure projects located entirely or partly in India.
The central government will prescribe the sectors to be covered under the infrastructure domain.
Developmental objectives include facilitating the development of the market for bonds, loans, and derivatives for infrastructure financing.

Functions of NBFID include:

extending loans and advances for infrastructure projects,
taking over or refinancing such existing loans,
attracting investment from private sector investors and institutional investors for infrastructure projects,
organising and facilitating foreign participation in infrastructure projects,
facilitating negotiations with various government authorities for dispute resolution in the field of infrastructure financing, and
providing consultancy services in infrastructure financing

Source of funds:

NBFID may raise money in the form of loans or otherwise both in Indian rupees and foreign currencies, or secure money by the issue and sale of various financial instruments including bonds and debentures.
NBFID may borrow money from: (i) central government, (ii) Reserve Bank of India (RBI), (iii) scheduled commercial banks, (iii) mutual funds, and (iv) multilateral institutions such as World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Management of NBFID:

NBFID will be governed by a Board of Directors.
The members of the Board include: (i) the Chairperson appointed by the central government in consultation with RBI, (ii) a Managing Director, (iii) up to three Deputy Managing Directors among others.
A body constituted by the central government will recommend candidates for the post of the Managing Director and Deputy Managing Directors.
The Board will appoint independent directors based on the recommendation of an internal committee.

Support from the central government:

The central government will provide grants worth Rs 5,000 crore to NBFID by the end of the first financial year.
The government will also provide a guarantee at a concessional rate of up to 0.1% for borrowing from multilateral institutions, sovereign wealth funds, and other foreign funds.
Costs towards insulation from fluctuations in foreign exchange (in connection with borrowing in foreign currency) may be reimbursed by the government in part or full.
Upon request by NBFID, the government may guarantee the bonds, debentures, and loans issued by NBFID.

Prior sanction for investigation and prosecution:

No investigation can be initiated against employees of NBFID without the prior sanction of (i) the central government in case of the chairperson or other directors, and (ii) the managing director in case of other employees.
Courts will also require prior sanction for taking cognisance of offences in matters involving employees of NBFID.

Other DFIs:

The Bill also provides for any person to set up a DFI by applying to RBI.
RBI may grant a licence for DFI in consultation with the central government.
RBI will also prescribe regulations for these DFIs.

With inputs from:

PRS India

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now