2+2 = ? 

Mains Paper: 2 | International Relations 
Prelims level: Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement
Mains level: India must watch its side of the ledger while deepening defence ties with the U.S. 

Introduction

• India-U.S. defence relationship has been given a significant boost with the three agreements signed on Thursday after the inaugural 2+2 Dialogue in Delhi.
• The Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), “hotlines” between the Defence and Foreign Ministers of both countries, and the first tri-services military exercises between the two countries. 
• This will increase, going forward, given the U.S. decision to include India in the top tier of countries entitled to Strategic Trade Authorisation (STA-1). 
• Apart from the defence agreements, both sides said in a joint statement that they had discussed trade issues, cooperation on fighting terrorism, advancing “a free, open, and inclusive Indo-Pacific region” and promoting sustainable “debt-financing” in the region.
• The last two points are clearly aimed at Beijing’s role in the South China Sea and the Belt and Road Initiative projects, respectively.

About the COMCASA

• COMCASA is the third of four “foundational”, or enabling, agreements signed by India after more than a decade of negotiations, and is perceived as an inevitable consequence of the large amount of U.S. defence hardware it has been purchasing.

Importance of the 2+2 dialogue,

• The much-needed focus on the India-U.S. relationship after months of drift and occasional discord.
• India did not receive a clear-cut assurance of its GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) status being restored, or of waivers on steel and aluminium tariffs imposed by Washington.
• Instead, U.S. officials said clearly that they expect India to increase imports of American oil and gas as well as aircraft in order to wipe out the trade surplus India enjoys.
• It is unclear whether the Centre has acquiesced to this blatantly anti-free market demand, but its silence on the matter is disturbing. 

From the perspective of  U.S.

• The U.S. demand is to “zero out” oil imports from Iran by November, is simply unreasonable.
• It would hurt India dearly not only because of costs at a time when the dollar is strengthening and fuel prices are going up, but also in terms of its substantial engagement with Iran. 
• No public statement was made on what the U.S. will do on India’s investment in the Chabahar port once its full sanctions kick in on November 4.
• American officials also gave no firm commitment in their statements that India will receive a waiver to purchase Russian hardware, beginning with the S-400 missile system. 
• While signing agreements the U.S. has pursued for years, India appears to have taken a leap of faith on its own concerns, expecting that the Trump administration will come through on waiving sanctions and being more
• flexible on trade issues. 
• Delhi must work with Washington in the next few months to ensure that the benefits from the 2+2 dialogue don’t add up only on the other side.

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) In 2018-July, India and USA declared intention to sign COMCASA agreement. What is its objective?
1.    an economic framework for cooperation in maritime commerce and trade.
2.    a defense framework for maritime security.
3.    a legal framework for the transfer of military communication equipment and technology.
4.    a legal framework for civil aviation.
Choose the correct statement(s) from the above 
A.    1 only 
B.    2 and 4 only 
C.    2 and 3 only 
D.    All of the above 
Answer : C  
HINT: In 2016, India had signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) with USA, which allows the military of each country to replenish from the other’s bases.
Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) will enable Indian military to obtain communication security equipment and technology from USA.

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1) India must watch its side of the ledger while deepening defence ties with the U.S. Analyse the statement. 
 

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Post office solutions: the challenges facing India Post Payments Bank 

Mains Paper: 3 | Economic Development  
Prelims level: India Post Payments Bank
Mains level: The new India Post Payments Bank can hasten financial inclusion, but detailing is key. Critically Analyse.  

Introduction

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the India Post Payments Bank (IPPB), a financial service provider that will operate under the country’s age-old postal department.
• The government-owned payments bank will be able to accept deposits of up to ₹1 lakh from customers but without the rights to use these funds to advance risky loans at higher interest rates.
• It, however, plans to offer a variety of other financial services to people, including the holders of postal savings accounts that are worth over ₹85,000 crore. 

Objectives of IPPB? 

• The primary rationale behind the public payments bank idea is to help in the government’s goal of achieving financial inclusion by providing savings, remittance, and payments services to the rural and unorganised sectors of the economy.
• It is also hoped that the payments bank idea will help reinvigorate the postal system, which has a wide network of branches across India.
• All the 155,000 post offices in the country are expected to be linked to the IPPB system as early as in December this year. 
• The payments bank will also have a digital platform that is expected to make financial services more accessible even from remote locations.

Challenges faced by IIPB

• A big challenge facing the new public payments bank is whether it can manage to earn the profits required to survive as a standalone business entity.
• The severe restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India on how payments banks in general can employ their funds, the odds seem to be stacked against the IPPB at the moment.
• The first wave of new payments banks that commenced business last year — Airtel, Paytm and Fino — have not exactly set the market on fire.
• (The payments bank model, it should be noted, is still untested even though prominent private companies such as Airtel and Paytm have shown interest in the space.) 
• Banks have traditionally stayed away from the business of pure deposit banking, unless customers have been willing to pay for these services, for a good reason. 
• The IPPB promises to pay an interest rate of 4% to its savings account customers. 
• To generate revenues, it plans to charge fees on money transfers and other financial services while investing idle customer deposits in safe government securities in order to earn interest. 
• Whether this will be sufficient to cover interest and operational costs remains to be seen. Meanwhile, 

Way forward

• The IPPB is also likely to face stiff competition from private companies, which are generally more nimble in adapting to business realities and far more customer-friendly compared to the government-owned behemoths. 
• To increasing competition, the IPPB’s revenues and margins are also likely to come under pressure. 
• Yet, if it succeeds, the new payments bank could usher in a new era of rapid financial inclusion across rural India.

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1)  Which of the following restrictions has been placed on payments banks as compared to other commercial banks?
1. Payments banks cannot issue credit cards and cannot grant loan/ credit out of their own books of accounts.
2. The payments bank will be restricted to holding a maximum balance of Rs. 1,00,000 per  individual customer.
3. Under Cash reserve ratio Payments Bank will be required to invest minimum 75 per cent of its demand deposit balances in Government securities/treasury bills.
Codes:
a)  1 and 3
b)  Only 2
c)  1 and 2
d)  All
Ans: D

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1) India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) is a historic decision towards achieving the goal of financial inclusion. Discuss.

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Ending TB 

Mains Paper: 2 | Health 
Prelims level: Tuberculosis (TB)
Mains level: Tuberculosis cannot be eliminated without universal access to affordable, quality diagnostics and drugs. 

Introduction

• On September 26, the UN General Assembly will, for the first time, address TB in a High-Level Meeting and likely release a Political Declaration, endorsed by all member nations, to galvanise investment and action to meet the global target of eliminating TB worldwide by 2035.
• Elimination, which means reducing the number to one case per million people per year, will be impossible without universal, equitable access to affordable, quality TB diagnostics and treatment for anyone who needs it. 
• It is much to the disappointment of global civil society, issues around access to diagnostics and drugs have been considerably diluted in the most recent draft of the Political Declaration.

Observation of the political declaration

• A critical omission is that countries may avail of the various flexibilities under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights; 
• The countries may invoke the Doha Declaration to compulsorily license drugs for use in public health emergencies. 
• The option is to de-link the pricing of new TB drugs from the costs incurred in their research and development. 
• The latest draft is a watered-down version of the original that actively committed to upholding access to affordable generics for all.

From India’s angle

• India has fought to retain its status as a maker and distributor of generic medicines, thereby protecting the right to health of people in developing countries.
• Indian patent law contains important provisions that help protect and promote public health goals.

Way forward  

• TB is, by and large, easily diagnosable and curable. 
• It is unacceptable that it nevertheless remains the leading causes of death from any single infectious agent worldwide.
• Each day, thousands of people with TB die, often because of inequitable access to quality diagnosis and treatment.
• The rapid emergence of drug-resistant forms of TB (DR-TB) in many countries brings a fresh set of needs including new and comprehensive diagnostic tests and second-line TB drugs, and health systems trained anew to

Manage DR-TB.

• India not only accounts for a fifth of the world’s TB burden, it also has the largest number of people living with multidrug-resistant TB.
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India would eliminate TB by 2025, ahead of the global targets. 
• But these targets cannot be achieved without access to affordable, quality diagnostics/ drugs. 

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) Lifestyle diseases are associated with the way a person or group of people lives. Which of the following is/are example/s of such diseases?
1. Cirrhosis
2. Malaria
3. Swimmer’s ear
4. TB
Select the correct answer using the codes given below.
a) 1 and 2 only
b) 1 and 3 only
c) 2 and 3 only
d) 1 and 4 only
Answer 
b) 1 and 3 only.

Explanation : Malaria and TB are not lifestyle disease. Swimmer’s ear is inflammation, irritation, or infection of the outer ear and ear canal. Buzzing or ringing ears, or difficulty in understanding speech patterns are its symptoms. Swimmer’s ears results due to loud music and constant use of headphones. Cirrhosis refers to a group of liver disorders. Heavy alcohol consumption can cause it.

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1)  How India can eradicate the tuberculosis?

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Is Punjab’s proposed blasphemy law retrograde?

Mains Paper: 2 | Constitution 
Prelims level: Blasphemy law
Mains level: Is Punjab’s proposed blasphemy law retrograde? Critically examine. 
Arguments in favour 

Introduction

• The Punjab Cabinet has decided to introduce in the Indian Penal Code (IPC) a new Section (295AA) which states, “Whoever causes injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwad Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people, shall be punishable with imprisonment for life.”
• This extraordinary penalty is necessary when, throughout India, Section 295A of the IPC already provides for imprisonment up to three years for “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings”.
• Now, damage to holy books can attract a mandatory life sentence in Punjab, while other insults can attract up to three years. 
• To put it bluntly, insulting a god or Prophet would land you in jail, but burning or defacing a holy book would land you in prison for life.

History of criminal blasphemy

• The Punjab government has probably forgotten the misuse of similar blasphemy provisions in Pakistan, where similar amendments to Section 295 of the Pakistan Penal Code have ended in several tragedies. 
• To criminalise blasphemy and sacrilege is to step on a slippery slope of justifying mob violence and private vengeance against the accused.
• The history of criminal blasphemy creeping into Indian law needs to be retold. 
• Mahashay Rajpal, the publisher of a book, Rangila Rasul (The Colourful Prophet), was sought to be prosecuted under Section 153A, as the book allegedly caused disharmony between communities. 
• Rajpal was granted leave to appeal to the Lahore High Court because Section 153A then did not cover criticism of religious figures. 
• The book did not specifically cause enmity or hatred between religious communities, it did not violate Section 153A was the logic that weighed with the court. 
• Thereupon, the Indian Muslim community demanded a law against insult to religious feelings. 
• The British government enacted Section 295(A) in 1927.
• Rajpal was later acquitted by the Lahore High Court.
• On April 6, 1929, he was stabbed to death by a 19-year-old carpenter, Ilam Din. 
• The assassin was sentenced to death by the sessions court. 
• His appeal to the Lahore High Court was conducted by M.A. Jinnah, who was persuaded to do so by the poet Iqbal. 
• The appeal failed, and Ilam Din was hanged on October 31, 1929. 
• Another poet who was supposedly sympathetic to Ilam Din was Deen Mohammed Taseer. 
• Ironically, in 2011, his son Salman Taseer was assassinated by his bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, for speaking in support of a Christian woman accused of blasphemy.

Lesson from Pakistan

• Blasphemy laws in the subcontinent derive justification from the argument that people will be outraged by attacks on their religion and resort to street violence if the offender is not legally punished.
• The history tells us that such laws and prosecutions rarely avert violence. 
• On the other hand, they are more likely to attract violence and provide the perpetrator a justification for inflicting violence against those who are unfortunate enough to be accused of blasphemy.
• Indian Punjabi politicians would do well to reconsider their decision to follow their counterparts in Pakistani Punjab.

Arguments in against the above statement 

• The anti-blasphemy law was scripted as a response to, and not an expression of, religious intolerance.
• In 1947, a man who was devoutly religious became the Father of a secular, democratic nation. 
• It was only natural for both countries, especially for India, to suffer the pangs of explosive inner paradoxes. 
• The things are happening in Punjab is merely an extension of these paradoxes.

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In fear miscreants

• Punjab is a land where secularism is not an ideology but inter-faith bonhomie. 
• Punjab, a Sikh-majority area, has been the cradle of Hinduism. 
• The Sikh faith is the only religion in the world which has its sanctum sanctorum founded by a saint (Sain Mian Mir) from a faith perceived as hostile, Islam.
• And the holy scripture of the Sikhs contains Banis (verses) of holy men from all the dominant faiths prevalent then, including Hinduism and Islam.
• It is intriguing that anti-sacrilege laws arose out of the crisis of a religion which is as tolerant and cosmopolitan as Sikhism. 
• Punjab has never seen a communal riot even once since 1947. 
• Those who interpret the anti-blasphemy law as intolerant are arguing from the wrong end of logic.
• In no country is freedom of expression taken to mean outraging the freedom and sensitivities of others.
• The lenient view which the State seemed to take of a collective hurt of a community was being taken unfair advantage of by miscreants. 
• There definitely needed to be a firmer deterrent to put some fear of the law in the minds of those miscreants.
• The Akalis have always advocated that the country needs to redefine blasphemy and patriotism and make secular tolerance an integral part of patriotic conduct.
• But they are also aware that religious sensitivities, once provoked, can immediately lead to conflagration and get out of hand in the sensitive border State of Punjab. 
• The legislation was meant to protect the tolerant against the intolerant.
• The effective and expeditious application of the existing laws, there was a need to make the existing law more stringent to deal with cynical elements who play with religious sentiments to destabilise Punjab.
• The Punjab initiative was not divorced from a broader vision in which the Akalis feel the need to make sacrilege and blasphemy socially and culturally unacceptable.
• That is why you need the law to be more stringent and effective. 
• As humanity and societies evolve, so do the laws.

Misusing the law

• Those who argue against the law on the basis of its misuse and misapplication need to be reminded that every law is capable of being misused and misapplied. 
• What is needed then is not doing away with laws but creating automatic, inbuilt guarantees against their misuse.
• The Amarinder Singh-led Congress government in Punjab has introduced the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018.
• The Code of Criminal Procedure (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2018, is applicable to Punjab.

Defining sacrilege

• The IPC already has a Section 295A, which says that “deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs” will be punishable with imprisonment extending up to three years.
• The Bills seek to insert a new Section 295AA that stipulates that whoever causes “injury, damage or sacrilege to Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Srimad Bhagwat Gita, Holy Quran and Holy Bible with the intention to hurt the religious feelings of the people” would be liable to be awarded life imprisonment, if convicted. 
• The proposed Penal Code Bill seeks to replace the Indian Penal Code (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2016, passed by the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD)-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, which specifically referred only to acts of sacrilege against the Sri Guru Granth Sahib.

Analysing the legal grounds 

• The drafting of the Bill has received criticism for the imprecise manner in which sacrilege has been defined;
• It should have been clearly mentioned as physical desecration/sacrilege. 
• Otherwise, even for writing a book or an article, or making a speech, or sketching a cartoon, or drawing a painting, a person can be erroneously accused of blasphemy notwithstanding the rights guaranteed by Articles 19 and 25 of the Constitution.
• In a larger context, the move should be interpreted as a party’s frantic attempt to move towards right-wing politics. 
• Also, Punjab is setting a precedent for other State governments.
• The 2016 Bill was a desperate move by a beleaguered SAD-led coalition government to somehow pacify the Sikh community, deeply traumatised by the dastardly incidents of desecration of the Guru Granth Sahib in Punjab in late 2015, which led to police firing on the protesters, resulting in deaths. 
• The introduction of the amended Bill by the Congress has coincided with the government’s decision to compensate the victims of the firing and also table the report of the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission.
• It was constituted to probe into the incidents of sacrilege and the consequent police action.

Religion vs politics

• The report predictably indicts the SAD-BJP government for its failure to handle the volatile situation, punish the erring officials, and arrest the perpetrators of the crime who are still at large. 
• It implicates former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for allowing excessive police action. 
• Mr. Badal also responded by reminding the Congress of Operation Blue Star and accusing it of unleashing new flames in the State when the flames “that turned the urban and country landscape of Punjab almost to ashes are still raging.” 
• In Punjab, religion has played a more important role in determining the course of State politics, often with tragic consequences.

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1) Consider the following statements about section 295A of the IPC:
A.    It penalizes any deliberate intention of insulting the religion or religious beliefs of any class of citizen
B.    Section 295A is a cognizable offence, which means that the police are authorised to arrest accused persons without the need of a judicially sanctioned warrant.
C.    This law was added only in 1927. Earlier India never had blasphemy law
D.    It is often argued that Section 295A is not a section for blasphemy but a section against Hate Speech
Choose the correct statement(s) from the above 
A.    1 only 
B.    2 and 4 only 
C.    2 and 3 only 
D.    All of the above 
Answer : D  

UPSC Mains Questions:
Q.1) Is Punjab’s proposed blasphemy law retrograde? Critically examine.

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The right to love : on Section 377 verdict 

Mains Paper: 2 | Constitution 
Prelims level: Section 377
Mains level: The Supreme Court ruling on Section 377 furthers the frontiers of personal freedom 

Introduction

• The Supreme Court’s given landmark judgment decriminalising gay sex is that social morality cannot trump constitutional morality. 
• They have observed it is a reaffirmation of the right to love.
• In a 5-0 verdict, a Constitution Bench has corrected the flagrant judicial error committed by a two-member Bench in Suresh Kumar Koushal (2013), in overturning a reasoned judgment of the Delhi High Court reading down

Section 377 of the IPC.

• In 2013 decision meant that the LGBTQ community’s belatedly recognised right to equal protection of the law was withdrawn on specious grounds.
• The Parliament must act if it wanted to change the law against unnatural sex.
• The courts considered Section 377 earlier, the litigation was initiated by voluntary organisations. 
• When those affected by the 2013 verdict approached the Supreme Court, it was referred to a larger Bench to reconsider Koushal.

The historical development 

• Two landmark judgments took forward the law on sexual orientation and privacy and formed the jurisprudential basis for the latest judgment.
• In National Legal Services Authority (2014), a case concerning the rights of transgender people, the court ruled that there could be no discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. 
• In the ‘privacy case’, a nine-judge Bench ruled that sexual orientation is a facet of privacy, and constitutionally protected.
• Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra’s opinion lays emphasis on transformative constitutionalism, that is, treating the Constitution as a dynamic document that progressively realises various rights. 
• In particular, he invokes the doctrine of non-retrogression, which means that once a right is recognised, it cannot be reversed. 
• Taken together, the four opinions have furthered the frontiers of personal freedom and liberated the idea of individual rights from the pressure of public opinion.

Way forward 

• Justice R.H. Nariman said, Constitutional morality trumps any imposition of a particular view of social morality.
• Justice D.Y. Chandrachud underscores the “unbridgeable divide” between the moral values on which Section 377 is based and the values of the Constitution.
• Justice Indu Malhotra strikes a poignant note when she says history owes an apology to the LGBTQ community for the delay in providing the redress. 
• The dilution of Section 377 marks a welcome departure from centuries of heteronormative thinking. 
• This is a verdict that will, to borrow a phrase from Justice Chandrachud, help sexual minorities ‘confront the closet’ and realise their rights.

UPSC Prelims Questions: 

Q.1)  Section 377 of Indian penal code is related to
a. Cyber attacks
b. Heinous crimes
c. Criminalization of homosexuals
d. Sexual offences against children
Answers:  C

Mains Questions:
Q.1) What is Sec 377? What it needs to remove in current scenario  ?

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(Book) :Current Affairs Roundup 2019