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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 24 December 2019 (Safeguarding constitutional morality (The Hindu))

Safeguarding constitutional morality (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Federal structure and consequences

Context:

  • On the occasion of Constitution Day, at a joint sitting of Parliament to mark the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Constitution, President Ram Nath Kovind, (quoting B.R.Ambedkar) made a significant observation that all three organs of the state, persons occupying constitutional posts, civil society members, and citizens should abide by ‘constitutional morality’.

Article 370, and after

  • Recent developments in India, however, seem to ‘singe’, without as yet undermining, the basic structure and principles of the Constitution.
  • Steps need to be taken expeditiously to prevent any further slide.
  • There has been made of the fact of diluting Article 370, that it was a temporary provision.
  • The reality is that it was, nevertheless, a provision made in the Constitution for a specific purpose, which clearly required more detailed and careful treatment before being peremptorily invalidated. Even if the end justified the means, the haste was unwarranted.

Features of federalism in Indian constitution:

  • Indian Constitution provides for a federal system with a unitary bias, the Central and State Governments both derive their authority from the Constitution.
  • This implies that States are not exactly subordinate to the Centre. Splitting Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, without due consultation with different segments and shades of opinion there, including its political leadership, ran contrary to this essential principle. It violated the spirit, if not the letter, of the Constitution.
  • The secularism is becoming an ugly word today in many parts of the globe, we in India were free of any such bias.
  • Lately, it would seem, that some of these biases are beginning to emerge in many circles in India as well, undermining our long held secular precepts.
  • In its seminal judgment in the Kesavananda Bharati v. State of Kerala case (1973), the Supreme Court held that secularism is part of the basic structure of the Constitution and cannot be trifled with in the name of security or other considerations.

Drama in Maharashtra

  • The unfortunate drama enacted after the Maharashtra State Assembly results were announced could have been avoided if constitutional proprieties were adhered to.
  • A pre-election alliance of the BJP-Shiv Sena had secured a majority, but the inability of the two allies to resolve issues relating to sharing of power led to a breakdown. President’s rule had to be invoked.
  • Later, after a compromise was reached between the Shiv Sena, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Congress to form a government, the President’s rule was revoked in a midnight charade using the Prime Minister’s ‘special powers’, and a BJP-led government was sworn in.
  • The State also witnessed unseemly incidents such as sequestering of MLAs who were taken to safe havens to avoid poaching in the event of a trial of strength in the Assembly.
  • That the attempt to impose a BJP-led government did not succeed is less important than the fact that provisions of the Constitution and the position of constitutional functionaries had been compromised.

Experiment of CAA:

  • The basic precepts contained in the Constitution, has been the passage of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). On the face of it, the CAA only makes it easier for refugees from countries such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan to gain Indian citizenship.
  • The CAA implicitly violates India’s liberal traditions, when combined with the move to compile a National Register of Citizens, it carries an ominous ring. Many experts had apparently warned that the proposals were in violation of the Constitution, but these warnings were not heeded.
  • The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill passed through both the Houses without any detailed debate or discussion thereafter is, hence, unfortunate, giving an impression that a majority in Parliament is adequate to push through Acts which may or may not be in tune with the Constitution.

A study was needed:

  • Whatever be the merits or demerits of the CAA, given India’s many-layered democracy and the existence of different religious communities spread across different regions of the country, a more detailed and in-depth study was called for before pushing through such a key measure.
  • Granting citizenship may be the sole discretion of the Centre, with the States having no role.
  • Yet, this could still be unconstitutional if it violates Articles 8 and 14 of the Constitution.
  • The violence in varying degrees of intensity that has erupted across the nation is a testimony to the divisive nature of this latest piece of legislation.

Way ahead:

  • The issue of refugees from neighbouring countries has been pending for long. No satisfactory outcomes were readily forthcoming.
  • It given that the Constitution has been the guarantor of equal treatment to people of all religions and regions, and irrespective of geography and history, the issue of refugees called for not only greater understanding, but also more time, so that the fundamental principles of the Constitution were not violated.
  • While piloting the Bill, the Home Minister had mentioned that “if the Congress had not divided this country on the basis of religion, there would have been no need to bring in this Bill”.
  • On the other hand, it raises more questions as to what were the real reasons behind the enactment of the Act.

Conclusion:

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 24 December 2019 (Making capital out of political rivalry (The Hindu))

Making capital out of political rivalry (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Governance
Prelims level: Sivaramakrishnan Committee
Mains level: Recommendation made by Sivaramakrishnan Committee of formation of Andhra Pradesh Capital

Context:

  • Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has hinting at the establishment of three capitals, citing the South Africa.
  • Mr. Reddy has announced in Andhra Pradesh Assembly about having Amaravati, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool as the legislative, executive and judicial capitals respectively.

Wait for a capital:

  • Such a move by Mr. Reddy would mean that people of Andhra Pradesh have to wait for more time to realise their dream of having a place that could be called a capital.
  • When the Telugu-speaking Andhra State was carved out of the composite Madras State in 1953, Kurnool was made the capital and many people had to move out of the then-Madras city.
  • Three years later, in 1956, the erstwhile Hyderabad State was merged with the Andhra State, including Rayalaseema, to form Andhra Pradesh with Hyderabad as capital.

Role of Sivaramakrishnan Committee:

  • Sivaramakrishnan Committee, constituted by the Central government to suggest choices for the capital, did not favour one ‘super-capital’ and pitched for decentralised development.
  • But, the panel also never said that there should be a string of capitals across the State as is being interpreted now. Perhaps, it was for this reason that the government went in for a fresh committee headed by former IAS officer G.N. Rao to get a report in sync with its thinking.
  • It came as no surprise that the committee’s report had all the points made by Mr. Reddy in the Assembly, two days earlier!
  • This committee suggested that Andhra Pradesh should have a High Court in Kurnool, with a bench each in Visakhapatnam and Amaravati; and an Assembly in Amaravati, which also conducts a few sessions in Visakhapatnam.
  • The proposal promises to be a logistical nightmare with officials frequently having to hop from one city to another.

Naidu’s vision and fallacies:

  • Mr. Naidu had dumped the Sivaramakrishnan Committee report and its objections to locating the capital in the Vijayawada-Guntur-Tenali-Mangalagiri stretch of land — a fertile stretch.
  • He bulldozed the panel’s warnings and went ahead to build a ‘dream capital’ at the very place.
  • Mr. Naidu’s vision was that of a capital as grand as Singapore or any other contemporary capital city with characteristics like iconic public buildings and multiple cities within a city.
  • Mr. Naidu wanted the capital to be a robust growth engine that would attract investments, promote tourism and create innumerable jobs, like Hyderabad closer home, Bengaluru and Mumbai.
  • Through Amaravati, Mr. Naidu thought his name would remain etched in public memory forever.
  • In hindsight, Mr. Naidu seems to have gone for an overkill, pooling in a whopping 33,000 acres for the capital and taking his own sweet time to draw a master plan, for which he paid a heavy price and lost badly in the election.
  • There is also a charge made by YSRCP leaders that lot of ‘insider trading’ happened and Mr. Naidu’s supporters benefited.

Conclusion:

  • To leaving aside Amaravati’s scale and size, a centrally located capital has already come into existence with the completion of Secretariat, Assembly and High Court buildings.
  • Should not a government that appears to be sensitive to extravagant public expenditure capitalise on this infrastructure, instead of creating something new in various cities at an enormous cost?
  • At a time when political rivals of conflicting ideologies have come together to form a government in a neighbouring State based on a Common Minimum Programme, is it too much to expect something like CMP on a capital city?

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 20 December 2019 (Climate Change and India (The Hindu))

Climate Change and India (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Environment
Prelims level: Climate Change
Mains level: Challenges towards climate change

Context

  • The 25th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change will be held in Spain from 2nd December this year. CoP 25 holds a lot of significance as countries prepare to move from pre 2020 period under the Kyoto protocol to post 2020 period under the Paris Agreement.
  • India is all set to stress upon the need for fulfilling pre 2020 commitments by developed countries and that pre 2020 implementation gaps should not present an additional burden to developing countries in the post 2020 period.

How global carbon is interlocked?

  • Global Carbon system is an interlocked system as the global transition to low carbon systems and the resultant spillover effects, from changes in one economy to changes in another economy, changes in politics in one place to changes in politics in another place, etc.
  • This makes important how we bring about the transition to a low carbon economy in India as India is a large economy, market, second largest population and it can play an important role in being part of these positive spillover effects.

Is India a major contributor?

  • India is not responsible for the stock of CO2 in the atmosphere as it contributes to only 6 or 7% of global emissions but we are one of the most vulnerable countries.

What are the adaptation and mitigation methods?

  • In adaptation, our focus should therefore be on understanding what our development deficits are. For example, to say that we need to improve, find a way for cleaner transportation, shouldn’t actually lead to a conclusion that it should lead to more electric vehicles – the first priority has to be improved and more accessible public transport.
  • We need to understand these development deficits from a multi objective point of view, in terms of economics and access, in terms of local pollutants like air pollutants, climate change and mitigation, and liveability of cities, we need this more multi-faceted and analytical framework.
    On the mitigation side, we have to be careful as we may not be fully exploring the scope of intersections between 'a low carbon agenda' and 'a development agenda'.
  • For example, the way we design our cities: we want more sustainable cities, we want cities with less congestion, with more public transport because we want cities that are more liveable. Those kinds of cities will also automatically be low carbon cities.

Key challenges:

  • The problem for India is hedging its future, not simply what we consume now or what we expect to gain in immediate terms.
  • The strategy is an ongoing game and it is not a static number - it changes over time - we need to continually monitor and study it.
  • Even though India’s performance in NDC is good, we cannot respond with more commitments in our NDC until we see serious commitments at the international level.

Way forward

  • Recognising climate change as a global collective action problem:
  • If one country is honourable in the extreme, and cuts its emissions to the bone, that is going to be of little use if the others do not follow suit.
  • They will suffer the consequences of climate change despite the extent of their sacrifice or effort.
  • Making climate change and global warming the top agenda in our Foreign policy:
  • This is a critical move we need to make and the sooner we do it, the greater is the benefit that we will draw from our own climate actions.
  • India will probably exceed the NDC pledges, because for reasons like urban congestion and air pollution, we will want to move in the direction of low carbon anyway, quite apart from climate change.
  • This is because our per capita energy consumption levels are extremely low and not something compatible with the development and lifestyle that we wish for in India.
  • The real dilemma is if we want to increase energy use at a time when globally we are trying to shift to a low carbon system.
  • At the same time, there is another big challenge - providing jobs when automation and artificial intelligence are growing in power and capacity.

Conclusion

  • If India has to decarbonise while meeting its development goals, what is important is that the new investments go in the direction of decarbonising, but only after taking into account possible synergies and trade-offs with other development objectives.Therefore, India should not be thinking about climate change adaptation as a single technology transition. Instead, we should think about jobs, energy and pollution questions together.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 20 December 2019 (Section 144 of CrPC (Mint))

Section 144 of CrPC (Mint)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: Section 144 of CrPC
Mains level: Issues related with new Section 144

Context

  • With protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act intensifying at several places across many states, several state governments have imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) to curb the protests.

What is Section 144 of CrPC?

  • Section 144 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) is frequently used to prohibit assemblies of four or more individuals, or to order mobile phone companies to block voice, SMS, or Internet communications in one or more geographical areas.
  • It empowers a district magistrate, a sub-divisional magistrate or any other executive magistrate specially empowered by the state government in this behalf to issue orders to prevent and address urgent cases of apprehended danger or nuisance.
  • The orders may be directed against a particular individual, or to persons residing in a particular place or area, or to the public generally when frequenting or visiting a particular place or area.
  • No order passed under Section 144 can remain in force for more than two months from the date of the order.
  • The state government can extend this, but not more than six months.

Issues related to Section 144:

  • The term cases of apprehended danger or nuisance are too broad and wide enough to give absolute power to a magistrate.
  • The immediate remedy against such an order is a revision application to the magistrate himself.
  • An aggrieved individual can approach the High Court by filing a writ petition (article 226) if his fundamental rights are at stake. This however is a time taking process.

How have courts ruled on Section 144?

  • Dr Ram Manohar Lohiya case 1967, the Supreme Court held that “no democracy can exist if ‘public order’ is freely allowed to be disturbed by a section of the citizens”.
  • Madhu Limaye vs Sub-Divisional Magistrate case 1970, a seven-judge bench headed by the then Chief Justice of India M Hidayatullah upheld the constitutionality of section 144.
  • The court said that “law may be abused” is no reason to strike it down.
  • It further ruled that the restrictions imposed through Section 144 cannot be held to be violative of the right to freedom of speech and expression.
  • Imposition of Section 144 falls under the “reasonable restrictions” under Article 19(2) of the Constitution.
  • In 2012, the Supreme Court criticised the government for imposing Section 144 against a sleeping crowd in Ramlila Maidan.
  • The court held that such a provision can be used only in grave circumstances for maintenance of public peace. The emergency must be sudden and the consequences sufficiently grave.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 20 December 2019 (Milk safety survey (Indian Express))

Milk safety survey (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Health
Prelims level: aflatoxin M1
Mains level: Milk safety and quality standards survey

Context

  • The “most comprehensive and representative” milk safety and quality survey has demolished the perception of large-scale milk adulteration in India.
  • It was undertaken on 6,432 samples collected last year between May and October, and picked from over 1,100 town/cities with over 50,000 population.

Key highlights of the survey

  • By survey Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) found 93% of the samples were absolutely safe.
  • The samples were tested for 13 common adulterants and three contaminants — pesticides, aflatoxin M1 and antibiotics.
  • Only 12 adulterated samples were found to be unsafe for consumption. The adulterated samples — they were also subjected to confirmatory tests — were from just three States: Telangana (nine), Madhya Pradesh (two) and Kerala (one).
  • The survey claims that quantitative analysis of all adulterated samples showed the amount of adulterants and contaminants in the dozen samples was not high and hence “unlikely to pose serious threat” to human health.
  • It did find 368 samples (5.7%) had aflatoxin M1 residues beyond the permissible limit of 0.5 microgram per kilogram.
  • Compared with aflatoxin M1, antibiotics were seen above the permissible level in 77 samples, from Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.
  • At 227, aflatoxin M1 was more widely present in processed milk samples than in raw milk (141).
  • This is the first time the presence of the contaminant in milk has been assessed.

Presence of aflatoxin in milk

  • According to the FSSAI, aflatoxin M1 in milk is from feed and fodder, which is not regulated.
  • The highest residue levels of aflatoxin M1 in milk were seen in samples from three States — Tamil Nadu (88 out of 551 samples), Delhi (38 out of 262) and Kerala (37 out of 187).
  • According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer the contaminant has been classified as “possibly carcinogenic to humans”.
  • Its carcinogenic potency is estimated to be about a one-tenth of aflatoxin B1.
  • It is not clear how widespread aflatoxin M1 contamination is in milk products such as cheese, and hence the total exposure to it.
  • Aflatoxin M1 in milk and milk products is a public health concern especially in infants and young children as milk constitutes one of the major sources of nutrients.
  • According to the World Health Organisation, exposure to aflatoxin M1 in milk and milk products is especially high in areas where the grain quality used as animal feed is poor.

Conclusion

  • Hence all attempts need to taken both before and after food crop harvest to reduce the toxin amount.
  • Improper storage of food harvest in warm and humid conditions leads to aflatoxin contamination that is much higher than what is seen in the field.
  • Equally important is in having facilities to regularly test for aflatoxin M1.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 20 December 2019 (Online content - tracing origins (The Hindu))

Online content - tracing origins (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Science and Tech
Prelims level: IT Act of 2000
Mains level: Challenges ahead of the IT Act of 2000 amendment

Context:

  • The government is finalizing new IT rules for social media companies that would mandate traceability of the originator of information on social media platforms and removal of malicious content within 24 hours of notice.
  • The proposed new norms include the deployment of technology-based automated tools or appropriate mechanisms for proactively identifying and removing or disabling public access to unlawful information or content.
  • What is the background?
  • Messaging giant Whatsapp has in the past drawn flak from the government on the issue of message traceability and the government has been asking the Facebook owned company to find ways to identify originators of rogue messages but the firm has resisted the demand citing privacy concerns.

What is the present status?

  • Closed platforms like Whatsapp make use of end to end encryption for their content which ensures that the application doesn’t store or monitor the content being shared.
  • The government has v suggested that a unique ID be created for photos and videos to allow traceability to the origin, instead of sharing information regarding the content, as most of the riots happening are initiated by a photo or a video hurting the sentiments of a particular set of people.
  • PhotoDNA of Microsoft (a technology that aids in finding and removing known images of child exploitation) can also be used for the purpose of tracking the origin of messages as the software utilizes hash values of the pictures and videos to identify similar images.

What are the available ways of technology?

  • There are multiple ways that the origin of an encrypted message could be tracked.
  • Encryption is present in layers when a message is being forwarded and there can be technical possibilities to isolate the origin of a message.
  • Whatsapp admits to the availability of technologies that could help track the encrypted messages, however, they refuse to use such technologies stating that it would be a violation of their own privacy policies and business models.

What are the legal provisions available?

  • Apart from the Right to Privacy which was upheld by the Supreme Court, there are no pre-existing privacy laws in India.
  • The Supreme Court has ruled that there is a fundamental right to privacy under the Indian constitution, establishing that “The right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty”.
  • There have to be changes made to the existing laws wherein metadata is admissible as direct evidence for a deduction, because metadata by itself can have a lot of discrepancies.

What are the challenges involved?

  • Outdated laws like the IT Act of 2000 needs to be updated according to current scenario.
  • Lack of cybersecurity infrastructure and cyber warfare which needs to be worked upon.
  • Lack of stringent laws to regulate open ended as well as closed end platforms.
  • Right to privacy.
  • Awareness and educate the people.

Way forward

  • The problem of privacy and state interests needs to be looked at in a three dimensional manner i.e, law, technology and human privacy.
  • The government while talking about social media monitoring should refer to the personal chats in social media and also about the monitoring of the open content available.
  • The privacy of an individual cannot be an absolute right when national security requires it to be breached.
  • The open platform companies will have to accept that there are technical possibilities of recovering the origins of an encrypted message under certain circumstances and take necessary actions to accommodate the same.
  • Encryption is one of the best methods to ensure the protection of the privacy of an individual, however, there has to be sufficient awareness created amongst the public regarding it.

Conclusion

  • Rules with respect to the traceability of the originator of information on social media platforms must help the law enforcement agencies and enable them to conduct
    investigation in a better manner. With privacy laws being strengthened, there would be several provisions that social media platforms would have to comply with. The whole idea is to trace the origin of the messages similar to call records being tracked. India’s model is what the world is looking for.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 19 December 2019 (The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Mint))

The Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019 (Mint)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: Arms (Amendment) Bill
Mains level: Key features of the bill

Context:

  • Last week, Home Minister Amit Shah introduced the Arms (Amendment) Bill, 2019 in Lok Sabha.
  • The Bill seeks to amend the Arms Act, 1959 by reducing the number of firearms allowed per person from the current three to just one.
  • It also proposes new categories of offences and an increase in the penalty for certain offences.

Background:

  • The proposed capping of firearms has met with resistance from both ruling and opposition leaders amid reports of some MPs, including ex-royals, trying to persuade the government to refer the bill to a House committee.
  • In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh has argued that if some states are keen to reduce the number of weapons, they may be allowed to do so without prejudice to the other states.
  • The Punjab government is said to support most of the proposed amendments in the bill but has reservations about restricting the number of firearms a licensee can possess to one.

Key features of the Bill:

  • The Bill seeks to enhance the punishment for existing offences like illegal manufacture, sale, transfer, etc.; illegal acquiring, possessing or carrying prohibited arms or prohibited ammunition; and illegal manufacture, sale, transfer, conversion, import, export, etc., of firearms.
  • It also proposes to define new offences and prescribing punishment for them, such as for taking away firearms from police or armed forces, involvement in organized crime syndicate, illicit trafficking including smuggled firearms of foreign make or prohibited arms and prohibited ammunition, use of firearms in rash and negligent manner in celebratory gunfire endangering human life, etc.
  • Further, the Bill seeks to enhance the period of arms license from three years to five years and also to issue arms license in its electronic form to prevent forgery.

Significance:

  • The Amendment assumes significance in recent times as Law enforcement agencies have indicated growing nexus between possession of illegal firearms and commission of criminal offences.
  • With the advancement in technology, the fire power and sophistication of illegal firearms have increased significance over the years.
  • The trans-border dimensions of illegal arms trafficking are causing threat to internal security and to prevent the usage of illicit firearms so trafficked has also become a prime concern.
  • To effectively curb crimes related to or committed by using illegal firearms and to provide effective deterrence against violation of law, there is an urgent need to strengthen the existing legislative framework by making appropriate amendments in the Arms Act, 1959.
  • Simultaneously, there is also a requirement for rationalizing and facilitating the licensing procedures for use of firearms by individuals and sports persons.

Issues with the act:

  • NIA had assumed jurisdiction over a Scheduled Offence even suo moto whereas the areas of policing and public order lie within the exclusive legislative competence of the States. So the States have been extremely wary of accepting or cooperating with any agency that encroached on that power.
  • The NIA has no officers specialising in cyber surveillance, explosives or tracing chemicals and has been forced to ask companies to decrypt computers recovered at crime scenes.
  • It has been repeatedly seen that the functioning of the investigation and prosecution agencies depend on political mandate. This raises serious doubts on the credibility on national institutions.
  • It is unclear why the Act does not compel the State government to provide the report to Central government with a much shorter window of time.
  • The NIA is not empowered to investigate a number of interstate and trans-national crimes that require a national response. For example, human trafficking, drug trafficking, cybercrime and organised crime are not included in the Schedule of Offences to the NIA Act.

Way forward:

  • NIA should cooperate with State governments, irrespective of their political affiliation, and win the long term confidence of ordinary people by providing expeditious justice.
  • Independent professionals from outside must be hired to include in the decision making process of deciding whether the NIA should investigate a certain Scheduled offence to avoid maintain integrity and impartiality.
  • To make NIA different and much more effective, its shortfalls must be debated openly and honestly. It should draw in a variety of voices, and incorporate checks and balances that will minimise thepossibility of failure.
  • It should be given necessary powers to prevent the enumerated offences rather than simply powers of investigation and enforcement.
  • It should be allowed to share, collect, collate, analyse and disseminate the intelligence with other intelligence agencies to integrate and enhance India’s security system.

Conclusion:

  • India's security perspectives would inevitably be governed by the interplay of its domestic imperatives, regional balance of forces and the global challenges which impinge on its role and capabilities. An overarching framework of India's national security has to take cognisance of military and non-military dimensions in terms of both external threats and internal challenges to its territorial integrity and national unity.
  • Threats to a nation emanate as much from external aggression as from internal strife but at times internal factors can erode national security more critically than any external danger.
  • In this significance, a strong and independent National Investigation Agency can make Indians more secure by addressing the gaps in our current approach to preventing and investigating offences with a transnational character.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 19 December 2019 (Social Security Code (Mint))

Social Security Code (Mint)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: Social Security Bill
Mains level: Key features of the bill

Context:

  • The Union Cabinet approved the fourth labour code - the Code on Social Security Bill 2019.
  • The bill seeks to consolidate the laws relating to social security of workers and subsume eight central laws.

Background:

  • Last month, the Cabinet had approved Industrial Relations Code Bill, 2019 (third code), which was later introduced in the Lok Sabha.
  • The Code on Wage (first code) has already been approved by Parliament.
  • The Code on occupational safety, health and working conditions (second code) has already been introduced in the Lok Sabha and later sent to a standing committee for review.
  • This would be pushed for passage in the Budget Session after the committee's report submission in the House.
  • The Social Security Code will subsume 8 Central Labour Acts namely Employees Compensation Act, 1923, Employees ‘State Insurance Act, 1948, Employees Provident Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952, Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, Payment of Gratuity Act, 1972, Cine Workers Welfare Fund Act, 1981, Building and Other Construction Workers Cess Act, 1996, Unorganized Workers Social Security Act, 2008.

Objective of the bill:

  • Its objective is to adhere to existing laws and proposes several new initiatives, including universal social security for unorganized workers and health and insurance benefits for GIG workers.

Key features of the Bill:

  • The Employee Provident Fund (EPF) and Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) be comprehended under a central body with a corporate-like structure:
  • Although it is proposed extending the coverage of pension funds and ESI to temporary workers, however, did not propose a comprehensive system providing social security coverage for all.
  • The project simply proposed to amalgamate pension fund, pension, health insurance, maternity benefits, tips and pay laws.

Insurance, PF, life cover for unorganized sector employees:

  • The draft code stipulates that “the central government shall from time to time draw up and notify adequate social assistance schemes for unorganized workers on matters relating to life and disability coverage, maternity and health benefits, of old age and any other advantage that the central government may determine.”
  • States may also formulate and notify appropriate initiatives for non-unionized workers, including pension fund schemes, work injury benefits, housing, educational programs for their children, old age and funeral assistance.
  • Most of India’s labor force is in the informal sector and a move forward is expected, but most of the key initiatives suggested could be the states’ decision with a small contribution from the center.
  • There may be social security councils from the unorganized sector at the central and state levels.

Benefits for Gig workers:

  • Millions of Indian workers often described as solitary in the workplace may soon get a life, disability, health and maternity insurance, among others, while the union’s government is currently drafting a labor code proposing.

Maternity Benefit:

  • According to the draft, subject to the other provisions of this code, every woman will be entitled to it and her employer will be responsible for paying the maternity benefit at the average daily wage rate for the period of her actual absence, ie say period immediately before the day of your birth and any period immediately after that day.
  • For the purposes of this paragraph, “the average daily wage is the average woman’s salary payable to her for the days she worked in the three-month period immediately preceding the date of her absence from work”. maternity. , subject to the fixed or revised minimum wage rate in accordance with the Wage Code, 2019.

Existing labour laws that the code will merge:

  • The 2019 Social Security Code, once in force will amalgamate eight existing labor laws, including the Employee Compensation Act of 1923; Employees’ Insurance Act, 1948, Pension Funds and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952; Maternity Benefits Act, 1961; The Tip Payment Act, 1972; Act of the Social Fund for Cinema Workers, 1981; Act on the Ceasing of Construction and Other Construction Workers, 1996 and the Social Security of Unorganized Workers Act, 2008.

Flaws in the draft bill:

  • It rarely brings together the existing schemes in the organised sector.
  • The ambiguities have been avoided over the basic criteria for availing social security benefits.
  • No uniform definition of “social security” is there.
  • No clear definition for the crucial categories such as workers, wages, principal-agent in a contractual situation; and “organized unorganized sectors is provided.
  • The government has given no contribution to the listed social security measures, even as the Code is clear about employee and employer contributions.

Way forward:

  • Existing benefits for unorganized workers have failed to materialize. For example, the 22 years-old Building and Construction Workers’ Cess Fund’s failed to register the construction workers.
  • The fund has less than 3 crores workers registered including official estimates (over 5 crores construction workers) and union estimate (over 10 crores construction workers).
  • The arising problem is that the draft code merely clubs the relevant sections of the existing statute without specifying the manner in which these issues can be addressed.
  • The possible solution seen can be that the government should address the long pending structural issues and should actually simplify the existing labour laws.
  • As part of its labor reform program, the government proposed combining 44 labor laws into four codes. After presenting two codes, on wages, job security, health and working conditions, the third was not written.
  • The code also states that no employer may knowingly employ a woman six weeks after childbirth, miscarriage or medical termination of pregnancy.
  • The Maternity Benefits Act, 1961, which was included in the code, had established the six-week restriction for women after childbirth or miscarriage, not to mention medical interruption.

Conclusion:

  • Moving on to the conclusion, Social security must include retraining of workers, not just unemployment benefits. This should help/force workers to buy insurance and save for old age, possibly deducting a fraction of payments received from their bank accounts to insurance/retirement accounts, for example in the national pension system. Social security should help older people deploy their skills to meet demand around the world.
  • Comprehensive health care and a quality education system would be linked to social security, which would improve income from working life and improve the income capacity of the next generation. It would be useful to rethink social security in holistic, if not conventional terms.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 19 December 2019 (Aadhaar, 10 years on (Indian Express))

Aadhaar, 10 years on (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: Aadhaar
Mains level: Significance and limitations of Aadhaar

Context:

  • From 2010, when Ranjana Sonawane received the first Aadhaar number, in less than 10 years, 95% of the adult residents in India have gotten Aadhaar.

About Aadhaar:

  • For a large number of these people, Aadhaar was the first usable ID. Without Aadhaar, they found it difficult to access services.
  • The latest State of Aadhaar Report (SoAR) — a study that attempts to capture the impact of Aadhaar in the real world brought out the voice of the users.
  • They are satisfied with Aadhaar (92%), trust that the data is safe (90%) and feel that it has made PDS rations, MGNREGS and other social programmes more reliable (80%).

Significance of Aadhaar:

  • Away from the experts, people who do not always get enough to eat are living. For them, exclusion isn’t a concept, but a lived reality.
  • Nearly 50% of the people have used Aadhaar to access rations, MGNREGS, social pensions, SIM cards or bank accounts for the first time.
  • 81% of Aadhaar holders say that they will provide it if they have a choice of which ID to provide.
  • 61% of beneficiaries trust that Aadhaar prevents others from accessing their benefits.

Limitations of Aadhaar:

  • There are some cases where authentication fails because the biometrics are defaced due to age. Supreme Court judge, Justice Srikrishna, recounted how he too had trouble in getting authenticated due to the difficulty of scanning his fingerprints.
  • UIDAI has maintained that there would be individuals for whom biometric authentication does not work.
  • Failure to authenticate cannot be a reason to deny any services to them and the organisation requesting the authentication must provide an exception handling mechanism in such cases.

Way ahead:

  • The report indicates a need for the state to wrap the unfinished agenda of ensuring that Aadhaar works for everyone.
  • Marginalised groups must be enrolled, the process to update records should be made simpler, the grievance redress systems need to be strengthened, and exclusions due to Aadhaar could be eliminated.
  • Focus on improving the user experience, making it easier for everyone to use Aadhaar safely every day.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 19 December 2019 (A duty to publish: On RTI (The Hindu))

A duty to publish: On RTI (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Polity
Prelims level: RTI Provisions
Mains level: Effectiveness of RTI

Context:

  • The Right to Information Act’s role in fostering a more informed citizenry and an accountable government has never been in doubt ever since its implementation in 2005.

Shortcomings:

  • There have been persistent and growing misgivings.
  • Section 4 of the Act calls for pro-active and voluntary dissemination of information, but only a few Central and State institutions have published relevant information; here, Rajasthan has taken a lead through its Jan Soochna portal.
  • The persisting vacancies in the State and Central Information Commissions, which was raised in a plea in the Supreme Court. A three-judge Bench led by the CJI allowed the request and asked the Centre and States to expedite filling up the vacancies.
  • The other key misgiving with RTI implementation has been the persisting problem of vacancies in the CIC and State commissions the CIC has four vacancies and 33,000 pending cases.
  • The CJI also curiously observed that officials were sensing fear leading to paralysis of action due to the working of the RTI, going on to elaborate that the kind of queries that were sometimes being asked were not always in public spirit and were posed by people who had no “locus standi” in the matter regarding the queries.
  • A Transparency Audit report submitted to the Central Information Commission (CIC) in November 2018 sought feedback from 2,092 PAs under the CIC to evaluate implementation of Section 4 of the Act.
  • Only 838 (40%) responded and even here, 35% of the PAs fared poorly with little transparency in parameters such as organisation and functions, budget and programme, e-governance, and other information disclosures.

Locus standi:

  • This argument by the CJI is difficult to accept as the RTI Act explicitly rejects the need for locus standi in Section 6(2) — “an applicant making request for information shall not be required to give any reason for requesting the information...”.
  • This clause is present for vital reasons — seeking locus standi in order to respond to public requests could result in a chilling effect as public authorities (PAs) could choose to deny information to general citizens on subjective grounds.
  • Besides, information commissioners and public officials have the authority to reject requests based on criteria that enable exemption from information disclosure.
  • Data on RTI requests since 2005 show that the yearly rejection rate (requests rejected as a percentage of those received) has come down steadily to 4.7% in 2018-19.
  • A change in the Act that seeks locus standi as a criterion could dramatically increase this number.

Way ahead:

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 18 December 2019 (Time to resolve student loan stress (The Hindu))

Time to resolve student loan stress (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: Education
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Higher education problems in India

Context:

  • A recent report noted that priority sector education loans disbursed by banks registered a year-on-year decline of 5.6 per cent in November 2019, following a 4.7 per cent drop in 2018 and a 3.3 per cent per cent dip in 2017.
  • The children’s education remains the top priority for aspirational Indian households and that sought-after higher degrees are far from affordable for most folk.

Demand side problem:

  • It is inconceivable that shrinking education loan disbursements represent a demand-side problem.
  • Lenders appear to be stepping back from this category owing to their adverse credit experience with it.
  • Data from the government earlier this year showed that 9 per cent of education loans had turned into non-performing assets (NPAs) for public sector banks by March 2018.
  • Banks cannot be wholly blamed for letting commercial considerations override social objectives when it comes to lending decisions.
  • Rising defaults on student loans are a symptom of the uncertain job and income prospects facing students who graduate from all but a handful of premier institutions in India.

Lacking education infrastructure:

  • Such as engineering or management, where there’s no dearth of physical infrastructure put up by private promoters, graduates are found to be lacking in the basic skill-sets sought by recruiters.\
  • Fees at these mid-rung institutions have risen in inverse proportion to the placement prospects of their students, landing unemployed graduates and those in low-paying jobs in a debt trap.
  • The Centre’s own attempts at making premier institutions such as the IITs and IIMs self-sustaining by sharply hiking their course fee have had a role to play in this anomalous situation.
  • With education loans turning unsustainable both for lenders and borrowers, it is high time it reviewed its fee structures for higher education to better align them with income levels and market realities on entry-level compensation.
  • Public investments in higher education are also imperative for India to rein in the immense brain-drain as well as dollar-drain, from an increasing number of parents choosing to send their wards abroad even for basic under-graduate studies.

Way ahead:

  • The crying need for student loans in India’s current demographic context, banks need to be pushed too, to make these loans more borrower-friendly.
  • Their current practice of unofficially insisting on collateral or personal guarantees, rigid loan tenors and repayment terms and the whimsical powers that bank officers seem to enjoy in turning away deserving candidates, results in student loans being accessible largely to those who can do very well without them.
  • The fact that banks’ aggregate education loan portfolio stood at just ₹67,000 crore by October 2019 at 0.8 per cent of gross bank credit, is ample proof that they haven’t met even a fraction of the demand.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 18 December 2019 (The UN climate ministerial has failed to live up to civil society expectations (The Hindu))

The UN climate ministerial has failed to live up to civil society expectations (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 3: Environment
Prelims level: COP25
Mains level: Highlights of the UN Emissions Gap report

Context:

  • UN climate meet at Madrid yielded little by way of concrete commitments on emission reductions.
  • Despite mounting pressure on governments the world over to act fast.

About the meetings:

  • The two principal mechanisms that were supposed to make emission reductions happen namely, a market for carbon credits and the transfer of funds from the rich to poor countries have not worked.
  • While the delegates managed to kick the can down the road to the next ministerial at Glasgow, to be held a year later, they would surely know that public pressure would bear down on them harder than ever when they convene again.
  • The reasons for this change in public mood, represented by a surge in protests across the developed world, are not hard to seek.
  • While the nasty effects of global warming are increasingly being felt and realised — from Arctic melt to thunderstorms and hurricanes, and more so the imminent migration of populations from low lying regions and islands that may disappear below the sea — the recent UN and IPCC reports have also set alarm bells ringing.

UN Emissions Gap report:

  • The United Nations ‘Emissions Gap’ report brought out this year says that, since the world has consistently faltered on its emission reduction targets over the last two decades.
  • The future targets will have to be really ramped up (7.6 per cent emission reduction annually till 2030) for the temperature rise to be restricted to 1.5 degrees centigrade vis-a-vis pre-industrial levels.
  • The report observes that “based on today’s commitments, emissions are on track to reach 56 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent by 2030, over twice what they should be.”

Need to improve emission requirement:

  • Carbon markets cannot work unless the commitments to emission reduction improve, with the US too joining the league.
  • As the world’s second largest emitter, accounting for 15 per cent of total emissions, walks out on the Paris accord, the rest of the world cannot be expected to do all the heavy-lifting.
  • Expected to rest on EU28, China (the biggest emitter, accounting for 27 per cent of all emissions), Japan, Russia and India.

Way ahead:

  • India has rightly said in Madrid that the developed world must fulfil its annual commitment towards providing $100 billion in climate finance.
  • Besides meeting their emission reduction goals for which the cut-off year is 2020, with respect to 2005, before expecting emerging economies to do more.
  • India has succeeded in reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP, its renewable energy capacity now accounting for about 22 per cent of its power capacity, against the goal of touching 40 per cent by 2030. The shift to EVs will make a difference.

Conclusion:

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 18 December 2019 (The General in trouble (The Hindu))

The General in trouble (The Hindu)

Mains Paper 2: International Relations
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Death penalty of Mr. Pervez Musharraf

Context:

  • A Pakistani special court’s decision to hand down the death penalty to former dictator Pervez Musharraf is perhaps one of the most consequential decisions by the country’s judiciary in recent years.

Background:

  • Mr. Musharraf, who captured power through a bloodless coup in 1999, was found guilty, under Article 6, of high treason for declaring a state of emergency in 2007.
  • Then, Mr. Musharraf, faced with massive protests against his regime, suspended rights, carried out a nationwide purge against rivals and placed key figures under house arrest.
  • The high treason case was filed by the Nawaz Sharif government in 2013.
  • The court, in a 2-1 verdict, stated that Mr. Musharraf was guilty of violating and subverting the Constitution and gave him the highest punishment under the High Treason (Punishment) Act of 1973.

Appeal from Mr. Musharraf:

  • Mr. Musharraf, currently in Dubai, can appeal. If the Supreme Court upholds the death penalty, he could still seek presidential pardon.
  • While the legal battle can continue, what is clear is that the ruling is a setback to the military and the government.
  • The Imran Khan government had earlier moved the Islamabad High Court, asking it to restrain the special court from passing the final judgment in the Musharraf trial.
  • The High Court delayed the verdict and allowed the government’s prosecution team to present fresh arguments. But none of these came to his rescue.

Why the verdict is significant?

  • This is the first time in Pakistan’s history that a military chief has been found guilty of treason and given the death sentence.
  • It is significant given the complex institutional power dynamics in which the military has always held great sway.
  • In a country that has seen coups and was ruled directly by the military for over three decades in total, it is not easy to stand up to the interests of the establishment.
  • Still, that is what the judiciary is doing in recent days.
  • Last month, the Supreme Court cut to six months the Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s three-year extension given by the government.
  • If he has to continue beyond the six-month period, Parliament has to pass new legislation in that regard, according to the court. If that was a challenge to the military-government nexus, the death penalty awarded to Mr. Musharraf, the once-all-powerful leader, has struck a blow against the establishment. It could act as a legal deterrent against any military intervention in civilian affairs.

Way forward:

  • It also strengthens the judiciary as an institution further, redrawing the institutional equilibrium in Pakistan’s power dynamics.
  • The civilian authorities should seize the moment to alter the balance in civil-military relations.
  • Mr. Musharraf’s fate should be is up to the higher courts to decide. But the spirit of the special court’s judgment is to hold the men in uniform accountable for their actions and enforce the primacy of the Constitution. That is good news for democracy.

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THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 18 December 2019 (The cost of food (Indian Express))

The cost of food (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 3: Economy
Prelims level: Food inflations
Mains level: Impact of food inflation on economy

Context:

  • Retail food inflation crossing 10 per cent, the first time in nearly six years.
  • The suddenness of the increase (from under 3 per cent in August to 10 per cent-plus in November) and the fact that the Narendra Modi government’s tenure has been marked by low consumer food prices (an average rise of hardly 3.3 per cent year-on-year during its first term from June 2014 to May 2019) makes it all the more unsettling.
  • That “core” consumer inflation — which excludes price increases in the more “volatile” food and energy components — is still only 3.5 per cent cannot be any consolation.
  • Food prices strongly shape the inflation expectations of Indian households and, in turn, their spending behaviour.
  • The monetary policy’s overarching concern is price stability.
  • The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has to pay as much attention to inflation expectations as actual inflation. Food inflation, in other words, cannot be dismissed as “non-core”.

Impact of transient inflation:

  • The impact of it has been felt most in vegetables, which have registered the highest inflation of almost 36 per cent for November. But since the extended rainfall has also helped fill up reservoirs and substantially recharge groundwater aquifers, one can expect a production rebound in the current rabi crop due for harvesting from March-end.
  • However, there’s reason to believe that the inflation apparent or likely in pulses, milk (Amul and Mother Dairy have just raised prices) and even sugar is not one-off.
  • Most agri-commodities have gone through a protracted bear phase, with consumer food inflation during the period between September 2016 and August 2019 not only averaging a mere 1.4 per cent, but consistently trailing overall retail inflation.
  • At some point, prices have to play catch-up and it’s quite possible that’s beginning to happen.

Way ahead:

  • If food prices are simply correcting from lows, neither the government nor the RBI should do much to stop that.
  • Rather than resorting to export bans, subsidised imports or stockholding restrictions — these will only discourage investments in modern warehousing, cold storage, processing and farm extension support.
  • The focus of policymakers should be on removing structural impediments to the production and free movement of agri-produce.

Conclusion:

THE GIST of Editorial for UPSC Exams : 18 December 2019 (Sound and fury (Indian Express))

Sound and fury (Indian Express)

Mains Paper 2: International
Prelims level: Rohingya crisis
Mains level: Role of ICJ to resolve disputes

Context:

  • From December 10 to 12, Nobel laureate and Myanmar’s State Counsellor and de-facto foreign minister, Aung Sung Suu Kyi, appeared before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to defend her country against charges of committing genocide.

About the incident:

  • The case at ICJ revolves around proving genocidal intent and commission of actual genocide by Myanmar in October 2016 and August 2017, when more than 80,000 and 7,40,000 members of the Rohingya community left Myanmar’s Rakhine state for Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh.
  • Apart from alleged cases of sexual violence against women, surveys conducted by Médecins Sans Frontières in Bangladeshi refugee camps estimated that at least 9,000 Rohingya died in Rakhine state, between August 25 and September 24, 2017.

Highlights about the hearing at ICJ:

  • The three-day ICJ hearing offered few surprises: Similar arguments had been made at multiple forums in the past.
  • On such occasions, Myanmar has denied the charge of genocidal intent and Bangladesh, a country where Rohingya fled to in 2016 and 2017, has charged Myanmar of continuing with the “decades-long state practice of deprivation, disenfranchisement and atrocities”.
  • At the ICJ, as expected, Suu Kyi disputed the allegations of genocide and called it an “incomplete and misleading factual picture of the situation in Rakhine state in Myanmar”.
  • Repeating the military’s position, Suu Kyi stated it was the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA), an extremist group of some members of Rohingya community, that first carried out attacks on military posts.
  • Aware of the domestic sensitivities, she didn’t use the term “Rohingyas” but addressed them as “Muslims”.
  • In Myanmar, the usage of the term is an indicator on which side of the debate one stands.
  • The Rohingya are officially called Bengalis by the authorities whereas Rohingya have repeatedly asserted their right to self-identify.
  • In her defence at the ICJ, Suu Kyi admitted that “it cannot be ruled out that disproportionate force was used by members of the defence services in some cases in disregard of international humanitarian law, or that they did not distinguish clearly enough between ARSA fighters and civilians”.
  • She also expressed unhappiness over the military’s pardon of four officers and three soldiers who were sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labour for executing 10 Rohingyas in Inn Din village.

International Investigative Mechanism:

  • International Investigative Mechanism (IIM) established on September 27, 2018 by the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council is gathering prosecutorial evidence, making use of the information handed over to it by the Fact Finding Mission established in March 2017.
  • At the UN, Myanmar has mentioned there were at least seven mechanisms at the UN “with a focus on Myanmar with a total spending of more than $35 million from the precarious regular budget resources (of the UN)”.
  • It has stated that it will not engage with the IIM because “the country does not accept double standards and, selective and discriminatory application of human rights”.

Way ahead:

  • At the ICJ, only “provisional measures” to protect the Rohingya can be imposed before the case can potentially be heard in full.
  • The Security Council has struggled to come out with a united response for several weeks.
  • By then, only around half a million Rohingyas were left in Rakhine; the rest had crossed over to Bangladesh.
  • Therefore, the provisional measures being demanded carry less weight. The approximate number of Rohingya living in Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, India, the UAE and Malaysia are as follows: 9,47,000, 5,00,000, 3,50,000, 40,000, 50,000 and 1,50,000.
  • Those living outside Myanmar are scared to return and several efforts involving Myanmar and Bangladesh for repatriation of refugees have failed.

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