Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Attorney General
Mains level: Not Much
Attorney General of India (AGI)
- The AGI is the Indian government’s chief legal advisor and is a primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.
- They can be said to be the advocate from the government’s side.
- They are appointed by the President of India on the advice of Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and holds office during the pleasure of the President.
- They must be a person qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court ( i.e. a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President and must be a citizen of India.).
Functions and duties
- The AGI is necessary for advising the Government of India on legal matters referred to them.
- They also perform other legal duties assigned to them by the President.
- The AGI has the right of audience in all Courts in India as well as the right to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament, though not to vote.
- The AGI appears on behalf of the Government of India in all cases (including suits, appeals and other proceedings) in the Supreme Court in which GoI is concerned.
- They also represent the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution.
- The AG is assisted by a Solicitor General and four Additional Solicitors General.
Powers of AG
- The AG can accept briefs but cannot appear against the Government.
- They cannot defend an accused in criminal proceedings and accept the directorship of a company without the permission of the Government.
- The AG is to be consulted only in legal matters of real importance and only after the Ministry of Law has been consulted.
- All references to the AG are made by the Law Ministry.
Term of Attorney General’s office
- There is no fixed term for the Attorney General of India. The Constitution mentions no specified tenure of Attorney General. Similarly, the Constitution also does not mention the procedure and ground of his removal.
Facts about his office:
- He can be removed by the President at any time.
- He can quit by submitting his resignation only to the President.
- Since he is appointed by the President on the advice of the Council of Ministers, conventionally he is removed when the council is dissolved or replaced.
Limitations to his powers
The AG:
- should not advise or hold a brief against the Government of India
- should not defend accused persons in criminal cases without the permission of the government of India
- should not accept appointment as a director in any company without the permission of the government
Office of AG across the world
- Unlike the Attorney General of the United States, the AGI does not have any executive authority.
- Those functions are performed by the Law Minister of India.
- Also, the AG is not a government servant and is not debarred from private legal practice.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Rohini
Mains level: Not Much
In a few weeks’ time, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) hopes to achieve a remarkable feat — the 200th successful launch of the Rohini RH-200 sounding rocket in a row.
Rohini RH-200
- RH-200 is a two-stage rocket capable of climbing to a height of 70 km bearing scientific payloads.
- The first and second stages of RH-200 are powered by solid motors. The ‘200’ in the name denotes the diameter of the rocket in mm.
- Other operational Rohini variants are RH-300 Mk-II and RH-560 Mk-III.
- For years, the RH-200 rocket had used a polyvinyl chloride (PVC)-based propellant.
- The first RH-200 to use a new propellant based on hydroxyl-terminated Polybutadiene (HTPB) was successfully flown from the TERLS in September 2020.
- The first and second stages of RH200 rocket are powered by solid motors.
- Since inception of RH200 rocket, both solid stages are processed using polyvinyl chloride (PVC) based propellant.
- As compared to PVC based propellants, HTPB based propellant is more energetic, higher mechanical & interface properties and has less defects due to lower processing temperature.
What basically is a Sounding Rocket?
- A sounding rocket is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight.
- The rockets are used to launch instruments from 48 to 145 km above the surface of the Earth, the altitude generally between weather balloons and satellites.
- The maximum altitude for balloons is about 40 km and the minimum for satellites is approximately 121 km.
History of sounding rockets in India
- Sounding rockets have an important place in the ISRO story.
- The first sounding rocket to be launched from Thumba was the American Nike-Apache — on November 21, 1963.
- After that, two-stage rockets imported from Russia (M-100) and France (Centaure) were flown. The ISRO launched its own version — Rohini RH-75 — in 1967.
- The ISRO has launched more than 1,600 RH-200 rockets so far.
- Currently, the RH200, RH300 MkII and RH560 Mk-III rockets are operational which were developed during the early phase of our journey in rocketry.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PVTGS
Mains level: Not Much
Keeping the rampant child marriages among the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) of Odisha in mind, the State government is providing an incentive of ₹20,000 to the couples marrying after the age of 18 years.
Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs)
- There are certain tribal communities who have declining or stagnant population, low level of literacy, pre-agricultural level of technology and are economically backward.
- They generally inhabit remote localities having poor infrastructure and administrative support.
- These groups are among the most vulnerable section of our society as they are few in numbers, have not attained any significant level of social and economic development.
- 75 such groups have been identified and categorized as Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
Origin of the concept
- The Dhebar Commission (1960-1961) stated that within Scheduled Tribes there existed an inequality in the rate of development.
- During the fourth Five Year Plan a sub-category was created within Scheduled Tribes to identify groups that considered to be at a lower level of development.
- This was created based on the Dhebar Commission report and other studies.
- This sub-category was named “Primitive tribal group”.
Features of PVTGs
- The features of such a group include a:
- Pre-agricultural system of existence
- Practice of hunting and gathering
- Zero or negative population growth
- Extremely low level of literacy in comparison with other tribal groups
- Groups that satisfied any one of the criterion were considered as PTG.
- In 2006 the government of India proposed to rename “Primitive tribal group” as Particularly vulnerable tribal group”.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Consider the following statements about Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs) in India:
- PVTGs reside in 18 States and one Union Territory.
- A stagnant or declining population is one of the criteria for determining PVTG status.
- There are 95 PVTGs officially notified in the country so far.
- Irular and Konda Reddi tribes are included in the list of PVTGs.
Which of the statements given above are correct? (CSP 2019)
(a) 1, 2 and 3
(b) 2, 3 and 4
(c) 1, 2 and 4
(d) 1, 3 and 4
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Sittanavasal
Mains level: NA
The Sittanavasal Rock Cave Temple, a major centre of Jain influence for 1,000 years just before the Christian era, is in need of better upkeep.
Sittanavasal
- Sittanavasal is a small hamlet in Pudukkottai district of Tamil Nadu, India.
- It is known for the Sittanavasal Cave, a 2nd-century Jain cave complex. From the 7th to the 9th century A.D., the village flourished as a Jain centre.
- Sittanavasal is the name used synonymously for the hamlet and the hillock that houses the:
- Arivar Kovil (temple of Arihants — Jains who conquered their senses)
- Ezhadipattam (a cavern with 17 polished rock beds), megalithic burial sites and the
- Navachunai tarn (small mountain lake) with a submerged shrine
What makes it special?
- The artwork on the ceiling of the sanctum and the ardha mandapam of Arivar Kovil is an early example of post-Ajanta cave paintings of the fourth to sixth centuries.
- It was also done using the fresco-secco technique (a process that dispenses with preparation of the wall with wet plaster).
Features of the cave paintings
- The ceiling paintings show ‘bhavyas’ (exalted souls who work to achieve moksha or spiritual liberation) enjoying themselves in a pool, full of lotuses; today much of it is obscured by patchy plastering.
- Faint outlines linger of dancing girls on the ‘ardha mandapam’ pillars.
- The colours are a mixture of plant dyes and mineral elements such as lime, lamp black, and clay pigments such as ochre for yellow and terre verte for the greyish-green tints.
Why in news now?
- Unrestricted public access and general exposure to the elements have led to a gradual fading away of these paintings.
- At the Ezhadipattam, inscriptions have been vandalised beyond recognition.
Also try this PYQ:
Q.There are only two known examples of cave paintings of the Gupta period in ancient India. One of these is paintings of Ajanta caves. Where is the other surviving example of Gupta paintings?
(a) Bagh caves
(b) Ellora caves
(c) Lomas Rishi cave
(d) Nasik caves
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NAFIS
Mains level: Not Much
The Union Home Minister has inaugurated the National Automated Fingerprint Identification System (NAFIS).
What is NAFIS?
- NAFIS is developed by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) at the Central Fingerprint Bureau (CFPB) in New Delhi.
- The project is a country-wide searchable database of crime- and criminal-related fingerprints.
- The web-based application functions as a central information repository by consolidating fingerprint data from all states and Union Territories.
- In April this year, Madhya Pradesh became the first state in the country to identify a deceased person through NAFIS.
Utility of NAFIS
- It enables law enforcement agencies to upload, trace, and retrieve data from the database in real time on a 24×7 basis.
- It would help in the quick and easy disposal of cases with the help of a centralised fingerprint database.
How does it work?
- NAFIS assigns a unique 10-digit National Fingerprint Number (NFN) to each person arrested for a crime.
- This unique ID will be used for the person’s lifetime, and different crimes registered under different FIRs will be linked to the same NFN.
- The 2020 report states that the ID’s first two digits will be that of the state code in which the person arrested for a crime is registered, followed by a sequence number.
- By automating the collection, storage, and matching of fingerprints, along with digitizing the records of fingerprint data, NAFIS will provide the much-needed unique identifier for every arrested person.
- It will be included in the CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network & Systems) database as both are connected at the backend.
Is this the first time that such an automation project is being attempted?
- Upon the recommendations of the National Police Commission in 1986, the Central Fingerprint Bureau first began to automate the fingerprint database.
- It began with digitizing the existing manual records through India’s first Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFI) in 1992, called Fingerprint Analysis & Criminal Tracing System (FACTS 1.0).
- The latest iteration, FACTS 5.0, which was upgraded in 2007, was considered to have “outlived its shelf life”, according to a 2018 report by the NCRB and thus needed to be replaced by NAFIS.
Since when has India relied on fingerprinting as a crime-fighting tool?
- A system of fingerprinting identification first emerged in colonial India, where it was tested before it spread to Europe and beyond.
- At first, it was used by British colonial officials for administrative rather than criminal purposes.
- William Herschel, the chief administrator of the Hooghly district of Bengal, from the late-middle 1800s onwards, used fingerprinting to reduce fraud and forgeries.
- It then aimed to ensure that the correct person was receiving government pensions, signing land transfer deeds, and mortgage bonds.
- Anthropometry, the measurement of physical features of the body, was used by officials in India but was soon replaced with a system of fingerprints.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Argo
Mains level: Not Much
The International Argo Program system to observe carbon concentration in the world’s oceans is extremely inadequate to meet the growing and urgent need for information on oceanic carbon, says a report.
What is Argo?
- Argo is an international program that uses profiling floats to observe temperature, salinity, currents, and, recently, bio-optical properties in the Earth’s oceans; it has been operational since the early 2000s.
- The real-time data it provides is used in climate and oceanographic research.
- A special research interest is to quantify the ocean heat content (OHC).
- Each instrument (float) spends almost all its life below the surface.
- The name Argo was chosen because the array of floats works in partnership with the Jason earth observing satellites that measure the shape of the ocean surface.
- In Greek mythology Jason sailed on his ship the Argo in search of the Golden Fleece.
What are its aims?
- The data that Argo collects describes the temperature and salinity of the water and some of the floats measure other properties that describe the biology/chemistry of the ocean.
- The main reason for collecting these data is to help us understand the oceans’ role in earth’s climate.
- For example, the changes in sea level (once the tides are averaged out) depend partly on the melting of icecaps and partly on the amount of heat stored in the oceans.
- Argo’s temperature measurements allow us to calculate how much heat is stored and to monitor from year to year how the distribution of heat changes with depth and from area to area.
- As ocean heat content increases, sea level rises, just like the mercury in a thermometer.
How does it work?
- Each Argo float (costing between $20,000 and $150,000 depending on the individual float’s technical specification) is launched from a ship.
- The float’s weight is carefully adjusted so that, as it sinks, it eventually stabilizes at a pre-set level, usually 1 km.
- Ten days later, an internal battery-driven pump transfers oil between a reservoir inside the float and an external bladder.
- This makes the float first descend to 2km and then return to the surface measuring ocean properties as it rises.
- The data and the float position are relayed to satellites and then on to receiving stations on shore.
- The float then sinks again to repeat the 10 day cycle until its batteries are exhausted.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Ambedkar Tourist Circuit
Mains level: Not Much
The Central government has announced a special tourist circuit encompassing five key sites associated with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Why in news?
- Activists have urged that Mahad, located in Raigad District of Maharashtra, famous for Mahad Lake Satyagraha should also be included in the proposed circuit.
Ambedkar Circuit
- The five cities in the tourist circuit as announced are Mhow (his birthplace), London (where he resided and studied), Nagpur (also studied here), Delhi (where he passed away) and finally Mumbai (where he was cremated).
- With a special AC train, the government is looking to trace the footsteps of Ambedkar in India by giving better connectivity to four of these spots.
- The idea is to attract tourists beyond the Dalit community, who mostly visit these places as a pilgrimage.
- The journey will include meals, ground transportation, and entry to the sites.
About the sites
- Janma Bhoomi– Ambedkar’s birthplace in Madhya Pradesh’s Mhow
- Shiksha Bhoomi– the place in London where he stayed while studying in the UK
- Deeksha Bhoomi– the place in Nagpur where he embraced Buddhism
- Mahaparinirvan Bhoomi- the place of his demise in Delhi and
- Chaitya Bhoomi- the place of his cremation in Mumbai
Back2Basics: Tourism Circuits
- The government had identified 15 tourist circuits under the Swadesh Darshan Scheme in 2014-15.
- Besides the Ramayana and Buddhist Circuits, others include Coastal Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Heritage, North East, Himalayan, Sufi, Krishna, Rural, Tribal, and Tirthankar Circuits.
- In terms of train collaboration, the Ramayana, Buddhist, and North East Circuits are already active, while Ambedkar will be fourth.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Account settlement, T+1
Mains level: NA
Beginning October 1, the new account settlement system for the stock broking industry will kick in under the new guidelines issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI).
What is Settlement of Accounts?
- The SEBI mandates stockbrokers to settle i.e., transfer the available credit balance from trading account to bank account, at least once in a quarter (90 days) or 30 days.
- The process of transferring the unutilised funds back into the bank account is called ‘Running Account Settlement’ or ‘Quarterly Settlement of Funds’.
- The funds are transferred back to the primary bank account of the customer that is linked to the trading account.
- As per the latest guidelines, the settlement will now be done on the first Friday of the quarter or the month depending upon the option selected by the customer.
What are SEBI’s new settlement guidelines?
- On July 27, SEBI issued new guidelines on running accounts of client funds and securities lying with the broker.
- As per the new guidelines, with effect from October 1, 2022, the settlement of running account of clients’ funds will be done by the trading members after considering the end of the day (EOD) obligation of funds.
- In cases where the client has opted for a monthly settlement process, then the running account shall be settled on the first Friday of every month.
How will it impact investors and traders?
- Changes in settlement brought in by SEBI over the last few years have had the aim of protecting the investor and preventing the misuse as money lying in trading accounts of investors for long periods.
- SEBI’s move will give certainty to investors and trading members.
- It will help brokers develop a system just like banks, which credit interest in the accounts of their customers at the end of the quarter.
- Another advantage would be that if a customer has more than one demat account with different brokers, having one settlement date for the entire industry will make it easier for her to keep track of her funds.
Back2Basics: Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI)
- The SEBI is the regulatory body for securities and commodity market in India under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Finance Government of India.
- It was established on 12 April 1988 and given Statutory Powers on 30 January 1992 through the SEBI Act, 1992.
Jurisdiction of SEBI
- SEBI has to be responsive to the needs of three groups, which constitute the market:
- Issuers of securities
- Investors
- Market intermediaries
SEBI has three powers rolled into one body: quasi-legislative, quasi-judicial and quasi-executive.
- It drafts regulations in its legislative capacity, it conducts investigation and enforcement action in its executive function and it passes rulings and orders in its judicial capacity.
- Though this makes it very powerful, there is an appeal process to create accountability.
- There is a Securities Appellate Tribunal which is a three-member tribunal and is currently headed by Justice Tarun Agarwala, former Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court.
- A second appeal lies directly to the Supreme Court.
Also read:
SEBI introduces T+1 Settlement System
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: DART Mission, Didymos, Dimorphos
Mains level: Not Much
In the first-of-its kind NASA’s DART Mission is about to hit a small, harmless asteroid millions of miles away.
What is DART Mission?
- The main aim of the mission is to test the newly developed technology that would allow a spacecraft to crash into an asteroid and change its course.
- It is a suicide mission and the spacecraft will be completely destroyed.
- The target of the spacecraft is a small moonlet called Dimorphos (Greek for “two forms”).
- It is about 160-metre in diameter and the spacecraft is expected to collide when it is 11 million kilometres away from Earth.
- Dimorphos orbits a larger asteroid named Didymos (Greek for “twin”) which has a diameter of 780 metres.
Why Dimorphos?
- Didymos is a perfect system for the test mission because it is an eclipsing binary which means it has a moonlet that regularly orbits the asteroid.
- It is observable when it passes in front of the main asteroid.
- Earth-based telescopes can study this variation in brightness to understand how long it takes Dimorphos to orbit Didymos.
Collision course
- At the time of impact, Didymos and Dimorphos will be relatively close to Earth – within 6.8 million miles (11 million kilometers).
- The spacecraft will accelerate at about 24,140 kilometers per hour when it collides with Dimorphos.
- It aims to crash into Dimorphos to change the asteroid’s motion in space.
- This collision will be recorded by LICIACube, or Light Italian CubeSat for Imaging of Asteroids, a companion cube satellite provided by the Italian Space Agency.
- Three minutes after impact, the CubeSat will fly by Dimorphos to capture images and video.
Why such mission?
- Dimorphos was chosen for this mission because its size is relative to asteroids that could pose a threat to Earth.
- The spacecraft is about 100 times smaller than Dimorphos, so it won’t obliterate the asteroid.
- The fast impact will only change Dimorphos’ speed as it orbits Didymos by 1%, which doesn’t sound like a lot — but it will change the moon’s orbital period.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dvorak Technique
Mains level: Weather forecasting
Recently, the American meteorologist Vernon Dvorak passed away at the age of 100 who pioneered the widely used Dvorak Technique.
Who was Vernon Dvorak?
- Dvorak was an American meteorologist best credited for developing the Dvorak (read as Do-rak) technique in the early 1970s.
- The technique helps forecast the tropical storm.
- His technique has saved the lives of millions of people across the world and will continue to do so.
What is the Dvorak technique?
- The Dvorak technique was first developed in 1969 and tested for observing storms in the northwest Pacific Ocean.
- Forecasters used the available satellite images obtained from polar orbiting satellites to examine the features of the developing tropical storms (hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons).
- During day time, images in the visible spectrum were used while at night, the ocean would be observed using infrared images.
- It was a cloud pattern recognition technique based on a concept model of the development and decay of the tropical cyclone.
Why is technique still widely in use?
- Unlike land, ocean observations in the 1970s were sparse.
- Today, there continues to be an improved network of land-based meteorological observations, either in the form of taking manual observations, installing automatic weather stations or automatic rain gauges.
- On the other hand, ocean observations still remain limited.
- There are many vast regions across the four oceans that have not been fully examined with meteorological instruments.
- Ocean observations are mostly taken by deploying buoys or dedicated ships, but the number of observations from the seas is still not sufficient across the world.
- That is why meteorologists have had to depend more on satellite-based imageries, and combine it with the available ocean-data at the time of forecasting the intensity and wind speed of the tropical cyclones.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: PM CARES
Mains level: Issues with PM CARES
The Union government has appointed veteran industrialist Ratan Tata, former Supreme Court judge K.T. Thomas, and former Lok Sabha Deputy Speaker Kariya Munda as trustees of the PM CARES Fund.
PM CARES Fund
- The PM CARES Fund was created on 28 March 2020 following the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
- The fund will be used for combat, containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future.
- The PM is the chairman of the trust. Members will include the defence, home and finance ministers.
- The fund will also enable micro-donations. The minimum donation accepted is ₹10 (14¢ US).
Some intriguing facts about PM-CARES fund
- PM CARES has been created not by law, not by notification, but by the mere creation of a webpage, and set up last year in March to raise funds for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The page lists its structure, functions and duties in an arbitrary manner.
- The official appeals for funds are made under the national emblem.
- The most significant lie of this sworn statement is that the Government has no control over the Fund.
The other funds
(1) National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF)
- The statutorily constituted NDRF was established under the Disaster Management (DM) Act of 2005.
- The NDRF is mandated to be accountable, and answerable under the RTI Act, being a public authority, and auditable by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India.
(2) Disaster Response Fund
- The DM Act also provided for a Disaster Response Fund — state and district level funds (besides the national level).
- It also collects and uses the donations at the local level, with mandatory transparency and audit provisions.
(3) Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund
- There is the PMNRF operative since the days of Jawaharlal Nehru. It was established with public contributions to assist displaced persons from Pakistan.
- The resources are now utilised primarily to render immediate relief to families of those killed in natural calamities and to the victims of the major accidents and riots.
- However, it has the President of India and the Leader of Opposition also as trustees.
Issues over PM-CARES Fund
- No defined purpose: It is deliberately ignored while a new, controversial, unanswerable, and ‘non-accountable vehicle is created; its character is not spelt out till today.
- Non-accountable: The government seems to consider statutory provisions for enquiry and information seeking to be embarrassing obstacles.
- Centralization of donations: It centralises the collection of donations and its utility, which is not only against the federal character but also practically inconvenient. The issue is seeming, the trusteeship of the fund.
Questions and gaps
- Law/statute: The PM CARES Fund was neither created by the Constitution of India nor by any statute.
- Authority: If that is the case, under what authority does it use the designation of the Prime Minister, designated symbols of the nation, the tricolour and the official (gov.in) website of the PMO, and grant tax concessions through an ordinance.
- Collection and dispensation: The amount received by the Fund does not go to the Consolidated Fund of India. If it goes to the CFI, it could have been audited by the CAG.
- Uncontrolled: The This Trust is neither intended to be or is in fact owned, controlled or substantially financed by any instrumentality of the any govt even being chaired by the PM.
Issue over tax benefits
- Income tax: An ordinance was promulgated to amend Income Tax Act, 1961 and declare that the donations to the PM CARES Fund “would qualify for 80G benefits for 100% exemption”.
- CSR Funds: It will also qualify to be counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013.
- Foreign donations: It has also got exemption under the FCRA [Foreign Contribution Regulation Act] and a separate account for receiving foreign donations has been opened.
What can be inferred from all these?
- The Centre now considers it as another obstacle and has created a new trust with the Prime Minister and his Ministers only.
- The manner in which the PM CARES Fund was set up — with its acronym created to publicise the point that the PM cares for people — shows a bypassing of the statutory obligations of a public authority.
Query and response: Again ironical
- After initial denials, the Government has conceded it to be a public charitable trust, but still maintains that it is not a ‘public authority’.
- The point is that the PMO operates the Fund, but says it cannot supply any information about the PM CARES Fund because it is not a public authority.
Severe interpretations: Is it an Office of Profit?
- If the PM CARES Fund is unconnected with the Government, then the Fund could become an office of profit.
Conclusion
- In order to uphold transparency, the PM CARES Fund should be declared as a Public Authority under the RTI Act, and all RTI queries answered truthfully.
- The fund should be designated as a “public authority” under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Union Cabinet has approved a uniform incentive of 50% of the project cost for setting up semiconductor, display and compound semiconductor fabrication units.
Why in news?
- Maharashtra is witnessing a political firestorm.
- The Vedanta Limited shifted its decision to set up a $20 billion Vedanta-Foxconn semiconductor manufacturing facility in neighbouring Gujarat, despite finalising its location near Pune (Mh).
- Foxconn is a major chip supplier to Apple. It has suspended its operations in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen and is now shifting to India.
- Bigger companies, such as Intel, TSMC, Samsung, etc., have announced such plans.
Spats between states over the location of critical industries display the grim picture of competitive bidding in India. This portrays India’s negative image as against ease of doing business.
About the Incentive Scheme
- The scheme has been named the “Programme for Development of Semiconductors and Display Manufacturing Ecosystem.”
- Previously, the three schemes had an incentive range of 30-50%.
- While incentives for setting up semiconductor fabrication were based on the size of the chip, for display fabrication and compound semiconductor fabs, the incentives were largely 30% of the total cost of the project.
- This scheme aims to project India’s position as global hub for electronics manufacturing with semiconductors as the foundational building block.
Why need such an incentive?
- Huge Investments involved: Semiconductor Fabrication facility requires many expensive devices to function. Complex tools and equipment are required to test quality and move silicon from location to location within the ultra-clean confines of the plant.
- Economy of scale: In semiconductor fabrication, a high volume production is required to be maintain so as to meet the increasing demand of the marketplace, at the same time, a strong financial backing as Indian market is very much uncertain about financial fluctuations.
- Requirement highly skilled labour: Semiconductor fabrication is a multiple-step sequence of photolithographic and chemical processing steps during which electronic circuits are gradually created on a wafer made of pure semiconducting material. This actually requires high skills.
- Scarcity of raw materials: From a value-chain perspective, it needs silicon, Germanium & Gallium arsenide and Silicon carbide which are not available in India and needs to be imported.
- Uncertain Indian market: A semiconductor fabrication facility in India cannot independently rely on Indian customers for their entire sales structure. They have to maintain overseas customer base to balance inflections from Indian market due to market trends, government policies etc.
- Disposal of hazardous waste: Many toxic materials are used in the fabrication process such as arsenic, antimony, and phosphorus. Hazardous impact on the environment by the industry may act as an impediment to India’s commitment to mitigate climate change.
Other supportive initiatives in India
- India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): It was announced with the aim to attract large-scale investments for manufacturing facilities in the midst of a global chip crisis.
- Make in India: This aims to transform India into a global hub for Electronic System Design and Manufacturing (ESDM).
- PLI scheme: In December 2021 the Centre sanctioned ₹76,000 crore under the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme to encourage the manufacturing of various semiconductor goods within India.
- DLI scheme: It offers financial incentives, design infrastructure support across various stages of development and deployment of semiconductor design for Integrated Circuits (ICs), Chipsets, System on Chips (SoCs), Systems & IP Cores and semiconductor linked design.
- Digital RISC-V (DIR-V) program: It intends to enable the production of microprocessors in India in the upcoming days achieving industry-grade silicon and design wins by December 2023.
- India Semiconductor Mission (ISM): The vision is to build a vibrant semiconductor and display design and innovation ecosystem to enable India’s emergence as a global hub for electronics manufacturing and design
Way forward
- Policy framework: As foundry setup is highly Capital intensive, it must be supported with a solid long term plan and financial backing. This backing is required from the entrepreneur & the government both.
- Fiscal sustenance: In text of Indian Government as tax holiday, subsidy, zero duty, financial investment etc. will play an important role in promoting the Fab along with the semiconductor industry in India; this will put further pressure on already large Fiscal Deficit.
- Support Infrastructure: World class, sustainable infrastructure, as required by a modern Fab be provided, with swift transportation, large quantity of pure water, uninterrupted electricity, communication, pollutant free environment etc.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Dharavi
Mains level: Slum rehabilitation
The Maharashtra government gave the go-ahead for fresh tenders in the Dharavi redevelopment project, almost two decades after it was first proposed.
About Dharavi
- Dharavi, infamous as one of the world’s largest slums, is located in the heart of India’s financial capital – Mumbai.
- A city within a city, it is one unending stretch of narrow dirty lanes, open sewers and cramped huts.
- While the land (area of 535 acres) is owned by the government, the houses are maintained by individuals.
- The Dharavi slum came into being in 1884. It was originally inhibited by fisherfolk when the area was still creeks, swamps.
- It became attractive to migrant workers from South Mumbai and others when the swamp began to fill in due to natural and artificial causes.
- The area grew as poor rural Indians migrated to urban Mumbai.
- Today, an estimated 600,000 to 1 million people live crammed in Dharavi.
Economic significance of Dharavi
- Dharavi stands near to India’s richest business district, the Bandra-Kurla Complex, where commercial office premiums are among the highest in the country.
- The slum sprawl, spread over 2.8 sq.km. is home to an informal leather and pottery industry which employs over a lakh people.
What is the Dharavi Redevelopment Project all about?
- The state had envisaged this sprawl be transformed into a cluster of high-rises with improved urban infrastructure.
- It entailed resettling 68,000 people, including slum dwellers and those with commercial establishments.
- The state was to provide 300-sqft houses for free to residents with proof that their slum structure was in existence before January 1, 2000.
- The project was initially mooted in 2004, but never got off the ground due to various reasons.
When redevelopment was first proposed?
- In 1999, the government first proposed to redevelop Dharavi.
- Thereafter, the government of Maharashtra in the year 2003-04 decided to redevelop Dharavi as an integrated planned township.
- An action plan for redevelopment was approved by issuing a government resolution.
- It was decided to develop Dharavi by using land as a resource to cross-subsidie the cost of development through a sale component on the basis of the Slum Rehabilitation Scheme.
- The government also decided to notify the whole of Dharavi as an undeveloped area and to appoint a Special Planning Authority for its development.
- In 2011, the government cancelled all tenders and drew up a master plan.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Lumpy Skin Disease
Mains level: Read the attached story
The Mumbai Police have ordered the prohibition of cattle transportation in the city to prevent the spread of the lumpy skin disease (LSD).
What is the Lumpy Skin Disease?
- Lumpy skin disease is caused by the lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), which belongs to the genus capripoxvirus, a part of the poxviridae family.
- Smallpox and monkeypox viruses are also a part of the same family.
- The LSDV shares antigenic similarities with the sheeppox virus (SPPV) and the goatpox virus (GTPV) or is similar in the immune response to those viruses.
How does it spread?
- It is not a zoonotic virus, meaning the disease cannot spread to humans.
- It is a contagious vector-borne disease spread by vectors like mosquitoes, some biting flies, and ticks and usually affects host animals like cows and water buffaloes.
- Infected animals shed the virus through oral and nasal secretions which may contaminate common feeding and water troughs.
- Thus, the disease can either spread through direct contact with the vectors or through contaminated fodder and water.
- Studies have also shown that it can spread through animal semen during artificial insemination.
How does it affect the animal?
- LSD affects the lymph nodes of the infected animal, causing the nodes to enlarge and appear like lumps on the skin, which is where it derives its name from.
- The cutaneous nodules, 2–5 cm in diameter, appear on the infected cattle’s head, neck, limbs, udder, genitalia, and perineum.
- The nodules may later turn into ulcers and eventually develop scabs over the skin.
- The other symptoms include high fever, sharp drop in milk yield, discharge from the eyes and nose, salivation, loss of appetite, depression, damaged hides, wasting of animals, infertility and abortions.
Do it kills the animal?
- The incubation period or the time between infection and symptoms is about 28 days according to the FAO, and 4 to 14 days according to some other estimates.
- The morbidity of the disease varies between two to 45% and mortality or rate of date is less than 10%.
- However, the reported mortality of the current outbreak in India is up to 15%, particularly in cases being reported in the western part (Rajasthan) of the country.
What is the geographical distribution and how did it spread to India?
- The disease was first observed in Zambia in 1929.
- Subsequently it got spread to most African countries, followed by West Asia, Southeastern Europe, and Central Asia, and more recently spreading to South Asia and China in 2019.
- As per the FAO, the LSD disease is currently endemic in several countries across Africa, parts of the West Asia (Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syrian Arab Republic), and Turkey.
Lumpy in India
- The spread in South Asia first affected Bangladesh in July 2019 and then reached India in August that year, with initial cases being detected in Odisha and West Bengal.
- The long porous borders between India, Nepal and Bangladesh allow for a significant amount of bilateral and informal animal trade, including cattle and buffaloes.
- This may have contributed to the spread of LSD in July-August 2019 between Bangladesh and India.
- While the 2019 outbreak later subsided, the recent spread in India began in June this year.
Is it safe to consume the milk of affected cattle?
- Studies say that it has not been possible to ascertain the presence of viable and infectious LSDV virus in milk derived from the infected animal.
- However, that a large portion of the milk in Asia is processed after collection and is either pasteurised or boiled or dried in order to make milk powder.
- This process ensures that the virus is inactivated or destroyed.
Economic implications of Lumpy on Dairy Sector
- Milk reduction: Lumpy leads to reduced milk production as the animal becomes weak and also loses appetite due to mouth ulceration.
- Animal wasting: The income losses can also be due to poor growth, reduced draught power capacity and reproductive problems associated with abortions, infertility and lack of semen for artificial insemination.
- Impact of trade ban: Movement and trade bans after infection also put an economic strain on the whole value chain.
Why India is at higher risk?
- India is the world’s largest milk producer at about 210 million tonnes annually.
- India also has the largest headcount of bovines
- In Rajasthan, which is witnessing the worst impact of LSD, it has led to reduced milk production, which lessened by about three to six lakh litres a day.
- Reports indicate that milk production has also gone down in Punjab owing to the spread of the disease.
- According to FAO, the disease threatens the livelihoods of smaller poultry farmers significantly.
- Notably, farmers in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab have incurred losses due to cattle deaths and are seeking compensation from their State governments.
How bad is the current spread in India?
- Lumpy has infected over 16 lakh cattle in 197 districts as of September 11.
- Of the nearly 75,000 cattle that the disease has killed, more than 50,000 deaths, mostly cows, have been reported from Rajasthan.
Remedies available in India
- The Union Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying informed that the ‘Goat Pox Vaccine’ is very effective against LSD.
- It is being used across affected States to contain the spread.
Way forward
The FAO has suggested a set of spread-control measures for LSD, which involves:
- Vaccination of susceptible populations with more than 80% coverage
- Movement control of bovine animals and quarantining
- Implementing biosecurity through vector control by sanitising sheds and spraying insecticides
- Strengthening active and passive surveillance
- Spreading awareness on risk mitigation among all stakeholders involved, and
- Creating large protection and surveillance zones and vaccination zones
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Retreat of Monsoon
Mains level: Not Much
The southwest monsoon rainfall, 7% more than normal, has started to withdraw.
What is Monsoon Withdrawal/Retreat?
- In India, retreating monsoon is the withdrawal of south-west monsoon winds from North India.
- The withdrawal is gradual and takes about three months.
- With the retreat of the monsoons, the clouds disappear and the sky becomes clear. The day temperature starts falling steeply.
- Monsoon rains weaken all over India except few southeastern states.
- It is helpful in Rabi crop cultivation.
Factors affecting the retreat
Two predominant factors cause the phenomenon:
(1) Land topography
- First, the low mountain range in each region runs from north to south, shielding it from west-bound winds that trigger summer monsoon.
- After summer, the range aids in the ‘orographic lift’ or rising of east-bound air mass from a lower to higher elevation, forming clouds and resulting in rain.
(2) Atmospheric convection
- The second factor is atmospheric convection or vertical movement of air.
- As the earth is heated by the sun, different surfaces absorb different amounts of energy and convection may occur where the surface heats up very rapidly.
- As the surface warms, it heats the overlying air, which gradually becomes less dense than the surrounding air and begins to rise.
- This condition is more favorable from September to February because of the role played by sea surface temperature or water temperature.
Immediate factors influencing withdrawal
- The withdrawal of the monsoon is based on meteorological conditions such as-
- Anti-cyclonic circulation (dry air that is the opposite of a cyclone)
- Absence of rain in the past five days and
- Dry weather conditions over the region
When does it occur?
- The monsoon withdrawal is a long-drawn process and extends into mid-October, though the IMD considers September 30 to be the final day of the season over India.
- The rain after that is categorised as “post-monsoon” rainfall.
Try this PYQ:
Q.The seasonal reversal of winds is the typical characteristic of:
(a) Equatorial climate
(b) Mediterranean climate
(c) Monsoon climate
(d) All of the above climates
Post your answers here.
Also read:
Various terms related to Indian Monsoon
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Triple Dip La-Nina
Mains level: Read the attached story
Parts of the world are expected to experience severe weather for the rest of the year and into 2023, as part of a rare “triple dip La Nina” event, according to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO).
What is the “Triple-Dip” La Nina?
- A “triple-dip” La Nina is a multiyear cooling of the surface temperature of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, which can cause droughts, fierce winds and heavy rainfall.
- According to WMO, the current La Nina is projected to span three consecutive northern hemisphere winters. It began in September 2020.
- If it continues for the next six months, it will be the first “triple-dip” La Nina event of the 21st century, WMO says.
How rare is this triple-dip?
- It is exceptional to have three consecutive years with a la Nina event.
- Its cooling influence is temporarily slowing the rise in global temperatures – but it will not halt or reverse the long-term warming trend.
- La Nina’s are usually preceded by El Nino, a weather pattern that warms the surface of the eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
- However, an El Nino event did not occur before the current La Nina.
Has it happened before? Will it happen again?
- La Nina’s occurred several times between 1903 to 2010 and 2010 to 2012.
- This would be the first “triple-dip” La Nina this century.
- However, it is not unprecedented for the weather pattern to last more than nine months to a year, which is typical for a La Nina.
Evaluating the likely impact
- In the Indian context, La Nina is associated with good rainfall during the monsoon season.
- This is the opposite of El Nino which is known to suppress monsoon rainfall.
- Thus, a continued spell of La Nina could lead to expectation of another year of good, or normal, rainfall during the monsoon.
- Until now, the monsoon season this year has produced 7% more rain compared to normal. Last year, the seasonal rainfall was almost 100%.
- But, even though powerful, ENSO condition is only one of the several factors affecting monsoon rainfall in India.
Impact on rainfall
- There is no one-on-one correlation between the ENSO condition and the amount of rainfall.
- Also, the influence of ENSO is at a macro level.
- There are wide variations in rainfall at the local level, which are getting exacerbated by climate change.
Differential impacts of this triple-dip event
- The continuance of La Nina further into 2023 is not bad news from the Indian standpoint. But it is not the same for many other regions where La Nina has very different impacts.
- In most parts of the United States, for example, La Nina is associated with very dry winters.
- In Australia and Indonesia, and generally in the tropical region, La Nina is expected to bring more rainfall.
- The excessive rainfall in Pakistan, which is experiencing its worst flooding disaster, can also be blamed in part on La Nina.
- It said that the persistence of La Nina was most likely to result in a worsening of the drought in Africa.
What is its climate change link?
- Every unusual weather event these days is attributed to climate change, but science is not conclusive right now.
- The occurrences of El Nino or La Nina are not very regular.
- Sometimes they emerge every two years, at other times there has been a gap of even seven years.
- Historical records do not go very far in the past.
- As a result, the natural variability of ENSO is not understood very clearly.
- And when the natural variability itself is not clear, the influence of global warming is difficult to quantify.
- But there is clearer evidence of another kind of linkage with global warming.
- During La Nina years, the colder surfaces allow the oceans to absorb more heat from the atmosphere.
- Consequently, the air temperatures tend to go down, producing a cooling effect.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: NA
Mains level: Quota benefits for religious convertees
The Centre is likely to soon decide on setting up a national commission to study the social, economic and educational status of Dalits who converted to religions other than Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism.
What is the news?
- Several petitions are pending before the Supreme Court seeking Scheduled Caste (SC) reservation benefits for Dalits who converted to Christianity or Islam.
Dalit Convertees and Quota Benefits
- The original rationale behind giving reservation to Scheduled Castes was that these sections had suffered from the social evil of untouchability, which was practised among Hindus.
- Under Article 341 of the Constitution, the President may specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall…be deemed to be Scheduled Castes.
- The first order under this provision was issued in 1950, and covered only Hindus.
- Following demands from the Sikh community, an order was issued in 1956, including Sikhs of Dalit origin among the beneficiaries of the SC quota.
- In 1990, the government acceded to a similar demand from Buddhists of Dalit origin, and the order was revised to state: “No person who professes a religion different from the Hindu, the Sikh or the Buddhist religion shall be deemed to be a member of Scheduled Caste.”
Does this religion-based bar apply to converted STs and OBCs as well?
- It does not.
- The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) website states, “The rights of a person belonging to a Scheduled Tribe are independent of his/her religious faith.”
- Following the implementation of the Mandal Commission report, several Christian and Muslim communities have found place in the Central and state lists of OBCs.
What efforts have been made to include Muslims and Christians of Dalit origin among SCs?
- After 1990, a number of Private Member’s Bills were brought in Parliament for this purpose.
- In 1996, a government Bill called The Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders (Amendment) Bill was drafted, but in view of a divergence of opinions, the Bill was not introduced in Parliament.
- Then government headed by PM Manmohan Singh set up two important panels:
- Ranganath Misra Commission: The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities, popularly known as the Ranganath Misra Commission, in October 2004 and
- Sachar Committee: A seven-member high-level committee headed by former Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Rajinder Sachar to study the social, economic, and educational condition of Muslims in March 2005.
What did they recommend?
- The Sachar Committee Report observed that the social and economic situation of Dalit Muslims and Dalit Christians did not improve after conversion.
- The Ranganath Misra Commission, which submitted its report in May 2007, recommended that SC status should be completely de-linked from religion and Scheduled Castes should be made fully religion-neutral like Scheduled Tribes.
Reception to these recommendations
- The report was tabled in Parliament in 2009, but its recommendation was not accepted in view of inadequate field data and corroboration with the actual situation on the ground.
- Few studies, commissioned by the National Commission for Minorities, was also not considered reliable due to insufficient data.
What lies ahead?
- Based on the recommendations of the Ranganath Misra Commission, there are some petitions pending before the Supreme Court, seeking reservation benefits for Christians and Muslims of Dalit orgin.
- In the last hearing, a three-judge Bench gave the Solicitor General of India three weeks’ time to present the stand of the Union government on the issue.
- The next hearing is awaited.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Plant treaty
Mains level: Not Much
The ninth session of the governing body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) has recently begun in New Delhi.
Theme of this years event
- The theme of the meeting is ‘Celebrating the Guardians of Crop Diversity: Towards an Inclusive Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework’.
What is the Plant Treaty?
- The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) was adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations November 3, 2001.
- It was signed in 2001 in Madrid, and entered into force on 29 June 2004.
- It is the first legally-binding international instrument to formally acknowledge the enormous contribution of indigenous people and small-holder farmers as traditional custodians of the world’s food crops.
- It also calls on nations to protect and promote their rights to save and use the seeds they have taken care of for millennia.
- The parties to this treaty have come together after nearly three years to discuss governance of agricultural biodiversity and global food security.
Objectives of the treaty
The treaty aims at:
- Guaranteeing food security through the conservation
- Exchange and sustainable use of the world’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA)
- Fair and equitable benefit sharing arising from its use, as well as
- Recognition of farmers’ rights.
Key feature: Annex 1 Crops
- The treaty has implemented a Multilateral System (MLS) of access and benefit sharing, among those countries that ratify the treaty, for a list of 64 of some of the most important food and forage crops essential for food security and interdependence.
- The genera and species are listed in Annex 1 to the treaty. The treaty facilitates the continued open exchange of food crops and their genetic materials.
- The list of plant genetic material included in the Multilateral System of the Treaty is made of major food crops and forages.
- The Forages are also divided in legume forages and grass forages.
- They were selected taking into account the criteria of food security and country interdependence
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Hyderabad's accession into India
Mains level: Post-independence consolidation
The Government of India began its year-long celebrations for the ‘Telangana Liberation Day’ on September 17, marking how on the same day in 1948, the state of Hyderabad got its independence from Nizam’s rule, as said in a press release.
Why in news?
- From 1911 to 1948, Nizam Mir Usman Ali, the last Nizam of Hyderabad, ruled the state composed of Telangana and parts of present-day Karnataka and Maharashtra (Marathwada).
- While these states mark the Liberation Day officially, Telangana has never done so.
Hyderabad’s accession into India: A backgrounder
(1) Reluctance of Nizam
- At the time of India’s independence, British India was a mix of independent kingdoms and provinces that were given the options of joining India, Pakistan, or remaining independent.
- One among those who took a long time to make a decision was the Nizam of Hyderabad.
- Believed to be one of the richest people in the world at the time, the Nizam was not ready to let go of his kingdom.
(2) Sufferings for the people
- Meanwhile, the majority population of Hyderabad state was far from enjoying the same kind of wealth as the Nizam did.
- The feudal nature of the state at the time caused the peasant population to suffer high taxes, indignities of forced labour, and various other kinds of exploitation at the hands of powerful landlords.
(3) Lingual friction
- There was also a demand by the Andhra Jan Sangham for Telugu to be given primacy over Urdu.
- By the mid-1930s, apart from a reduction in land revenue rates and the abolition of forced labour, introducing Telugu in local courts became another important issue.
(4) Mass movement
- Soon after the organisation became the Andhra Mahasabha (AMS), and Communists became associated with it.
- Together, the two groups built a peasant movement against the Nizam that found local support.
Who were the Razakars and the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen?
- By October 1946, the Nizam banned the AMS.
- A close aide of the Nizam, Qasim Razvi, leader of the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen, became closely involved in securing the Nizam’s position.
- The Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen was a political outfit that sought a greater role for Muslims in the early 20th century, but after Razvi took over the organisation, it became extremist in its ideology.
- It was under him that a militia of the ‘Razakars’ was formed to suppress the peasant and communist movement, launching a brutal attack.
- Around this time, the Standstill Agreement was also signed between the Nizam and the Indian government in November 1947, declaring a status quo.
- This meant that until November 1948, the Nizam could let things be as they were and not finalise a decision as negotiations with the Indian union continued.
How did the situation escalate to military action?
- In the first half of 1948, tensions grew as the razakar leaders and the government in Hyderabad began to speak of war with India and began border raids with Madras and Bombay Presidencies.
- As a response, India stationed troops around Hyderabad and began to ready itself for military intervention.
India commences Operation Polo
- With the Nizam importing more arms and the violence of the Razakars approaching dangerous proportions, India officially launched ‘Operation Polo’ on September 9 and deployed its troops in Hyderabad four days later.
- On September 17, three days after the deployment, the Nizam surrendered and acceded to the Indian Union in November.
- India has decided to be generous and not punish the Nizam.
- He was retained as the official ruler of the state and given a privy purse of five million rupees.
The legacy of Operation Polo
- It has also been said that the army’s march into Hyderabad did not just target the razakars and the radical extremist forces.
- A four-member goodwill mission led by Pandit Sunderlal was constituted by the then Prime Minister.
- At the request of then PM Nehru, a month was spent in Hyderabad in November 1948 where evidence was gathered and at the end, a report was filed.
- Estimated thousands of people died in communal violence during the military action.
Why debate now?
- The debate about whether the day of independence was about integration into the Indian union after months of negotiations, or liberation from an autocratic monarch has continued.
- Hyderabad’s history continues to affect today’s politics.
- After Qasim Rizvi left India for Pakistan, the organisation was handed over to Abdul Wahed Owaisi, the grandfather of a present day Parliamentarian.
- And communal-sectarian politics is storming up the city of Hyderabad leading to religious tensions.
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From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Assisted Suicide
Mains level: Assisted Suicide and issues involved
A renowned French filmmaker died earlier this week by assisted suicide at the age of 91.
What is Assisted Suicide?
- Assisted suicide and euthanasia are practices under which a person intentionally ends their life with active assistance from others.
- These have long been contentious topics of debate as they involve a complex set of moral, ethical and in some cases, religious questions.
- Several European nations, some states in Australia and Colombia in South America allow assisted suicide and euthanasia under certain circumstances.
Difference between assisted suicide and euthanasia
- Euthanasia is the act of intentionally ending a life to relieve suffering – for example a lethal injection administered by a doctor.
- Intentionally helping another person to kill themselves is known as assisted suicide.
- This can include providing someone with strong sedatives with which to end their life or buying them a ticket to Switzerland (where assisted suicide is legal) to end their life
- Euthanasia can further be divided into active and passive.
- The practice of passive euthanasia involves simply stopping lifesaving treatment or medical intervention with the consent of the patient or a family member or a close friend representing the patient.
- Active euthanasia, which is legal in only a few countries, entails the use of substances to end the life of the patient.
India and Assisted suicide/ Euthanasia
- In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court of India legalised passive euthanasia in 2018, stating that it was a matter of ‘living will’.
- According to the judgment, an adult in his conscious mind is permitted to refuse medical treatment or voluntarily decide not to take medical treatment to embrace death in a natural way, under certain conditions.
Consideration for ‘living will’
- In the 538-page judgment, the court laid down a set of guidelines for ‘living will’ and defined passive euthanasia and euthanasia as well.
- It also laid down guidelines for ‘living will’ made by terminally ill patients who beforehand know about their chances of slipping into a permanent vegetative state.
- The court specifically stated that the rights of a patient, in such cases, would not fall out of the purview of Article 21 (right to life and liberty) of the Indian Constitution.
- The SC’s judgment was in accordance with its verdict in March 2011 on a separate plea.
- While ruling on a petition on behalf of Aruna Shanbaug Case, the court had allowed passive euthanasia for the nurse who had spent decades in a vegetative state.
Who was Aruna Shanbaug?
- Shanbaug had become central to debates on the legality of right to die and euthanasia in India.
- Shanbaug died of pneumonia in March 2015 at the age of 66, 42 years of which she had spent in a room at KEM Hospital in Mumbai, after a brutal rape left her in a permanent vegetative state.
Recent cases in India
- In 2018, an old couple from Mumbai wrote to then President Kovind, seeking permission for active euthanasia or assisted suicide.
- Neither of them suffered from a life-threatening ailment.
- The couple stated in their plea that they had lived a happy life and didn’t want to depend on hospitals for old age ailments.
Justification for Euthanasia/Assisted Suicide
- It provides a way to relieve extreme pain.
- Euthanasia can save life of many other people by donation of vital organs.
Issues with such killings
- Euthanasia can be misused. Many psychiatrists are of the opinion that a terminally ill person or someone who is old and suffering from an incurable disease is often not in the right frame of mind to take a call.
- Family members deciding on behalf of the patient can also lead to abuse of the law legalizing euthanasia as it can be due to some personal interest.
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