Out of my mind: People or Parliament
sovereign? (The Hindu)
Mains Paper 2 : Polity
Prelims level : Parliament sovereign
Mains level : Role of Parliament
Context
The crisis in the UK yields an interesting contrast concerning the
question ‘Who Rules?’ Boris Johnson as Prime Minister chose to prorogue
Parliament, truncating the number of days it could meet.
Judges failed to agree
The High Court in Scotland judged the prorogation illegal but the
English High Court said it could not rule on a political matter.
The Supreme Court of 11 judges unanimously ruled that prorogation was
illegal because it prevented Parliament from doing its work. Parliament was
Sovereign.
The Court cited a judgment from 1611 which said that the King “hath no
prerogative but that which the law of the land allows him”.
This was even when the King was the sole Executive. Johnson had misled
the Queen. Prorogation was illegal and void.
The UK Supreme Court distinguished between the Executive (Absolute King
or elected Prime Minister) and Parliament, declaring Parliament to be
sovereign. The Unwritten Constitution of the UK relies on old judgments and
established conventions.
Way forward
The Indian president is chosen by legislators at the Centre and in
states. In effect, the president is chosen by the prime minister. In the UK,
the Head of State is not chosen effectively by the ruling party but is a
hereditary monarch.
This is why Indira Gandhi got away with promulgating Emergency signed by
the president.
Ramakrishna Mission’s move to make
residents take ownership of their waste is sociologically transformative (The
Hindu)
Mains Paper 3 : Environment
Prelims level : Mangaluru
Mains level : waste management and pollution control
Context
The Ramakrishna Mission in Mangaluru may have invented the most
ingenious method to address an attitudinal problem embedded in the
collective Indian psyche.
During a cleanliness drive that the Mission organised, the volunteers
identified individuals who dumped their household trash at 300 different
locations in Mangaluru.
The volunteers followed garbage-throwers and returned the waste at their
doorstep. People threw their house trash despite the Mangaluru City
Corporation’s door-to-door waste collection policy.
But when the volunteers started returning their trash, 90 per cent
people stopped throwing it in the open.
Way ahead
The everyday reality is that disposal of waste or cleaning is a menial,
“dirty” task performed by someone other than the one who generates it.
This is an all-pervasive psychology which prevents an individual from
taking responsibility for the waste he and his household generate on an
everyday basis.
The challenge of disposing around 62 million tonnes of municipal solid
waste per annum in 7,935 towns and cities is at the institutional as well as
individual level.
While municipal authorities have to step up their solid waste disposal
mechanisms, individuals have to ensure proper segregation of waste at source
and its recycling.
Conclusion
By forcing people to take responsibility for their household waste, the
Mission has performed a sociologically transformative service.
Besides equipping municipalities and provincial administration with
enhanced technical and financial support, such efforts need to be replicated
if Swachh Bharat has to translate from slogan to reality.
Mains Paper 2 : International Relations
Prelims level : Lotus tower
Mains level : Recent developments in China-Sri Lanka ties
Context
The magnificent Lotus Tower in Colombo, considered to be the latest
symbol of Sri Lanka-China ties, was opened to the public recently.
In this backdrop, here is a comparison of China and India on developing
ties with Sri Lanka in the Sirisena years.
What is the Lotus tower?
An agreement to build the Lotus Tower was signed by China and Sri Lanka
in 2012.
It was to serve as a multi-functional telecommunication tower.
What are the recent developments in China-Sri Lanka ties?
Maithripala Sirisena had showed a strong anti-China mood since coming
into power.
Nevertheless, Colombo-Beijing ties have stood the test of time.
China has been able to resolve all the controversies over the projects
such as Colombo Port City and Hambantota port.
The Port City’s execution is underway without any major hitch.
When it is completed, it will stand beside the Colombo port, which
serves as a major transhipment hub for India.
A Chinese company has got Hambantota on lease for 99 years along with
associated land of 15,000 acres.
More importantly, Sri Lanka is a member-country of the Belt and Road
Initiative of China. Some raise concerns that economic ties with China are
driving Sri Lanka into a “debt trap.” But, despite this, the bilateral
relationship among the two countries on the economic front is only becoming
stronger.
According to the 2018 annual report of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka,
imports from China accounted for 18.5%, just a little less than the 19% from
India.
How has India’s contribution to Sri Lanka been?
Unlike China, India has not accomplished much in Sri Lanka in the
Sirisena years despite the “neighbourhood first” policy since 2014.
India has made a joint venture deal recently with Japan and Sri Lanka to
develop the East Container Terminal at the Colombo Port.
Besides this, India has not taken up any major infrastructure project in
Sri Lanka.
Not much is known about the status of a project to renovate the
Kankesanthurai harbour in the Northern Province.
[India has provided over $45 million in early 2018 for this project.]
There is also little progress in India’s proposals to develop the Palaly
airport in the North.
Also, the Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement, an improved
version of the existing bilateral Free Trade Agreement, has been shelved
In recent years, only a couple of social sector projects of the Indian
government gathered momentum.
These include building 60,000 homes for Tamils of the civil war-torn
Northern and Eastern Provinces as well as those in the hill country region.
India has also contributed for the provision of ambulance services all
over the island.
Recently, an agreement was signed to upgrade a key railway segment,
connecting the north and the south, at $91 million.
However, given its potential and willingness to do more in development
cooperation, India’s track record has much to be desired.
What strained the India-Sri Lanka ties?
China-funded infrastructure projects in Sri Lanka may look great, but
India-Sri Lanka ties are deeper and more complex.
Despite the deep ties, India and Sri Lanka have seen some unpleasantness
in bilateral relations in contemporary times.
The anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983 dragged India into the Sri Lankan Tamil
question.
The Indian Peace Keeping Force was withdrawn in March 1990.
India’s former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in May 1991.
These events distanced India from Sri Lanka till the final phase of the
civil war.
In the last 5 months of the war (ended in May 2009), India repeatedly
conveyed to Sri Lanka that the rights and welfare of the civilian population
should not get disturbed with hostilities against the LTTE.
What does Sri Lanka need now?
The Rajiv Gandhi-Jayawardene Accord of 1987 and the 13th Amendment to
the Sri Lankan Constitution was finalized.
The Amendment envisaged devolution of powers for provinces.
With all their shortcomings, these two still provided a solid framework
to address the ethnic question.
But apart from a political settlement, the Northern and Eastern
provinces, which account for less than 10% of Sri Lanka’s GDP, require
economic development.
Way ahead
With Sri Lanka getting a new President soon, India must coordinate with
the new leadership.
India’s priority should be to not just get expeditious approvals for
pending infrastructure projects but also contribute to a holistic
development of Sri Lanka’s youth.
Also, India should sustain its interest on developmental issues
concerning the hill country Tamils, regarded as the most backward in Sri
Lanka.
Mains Paper 3 : Economy
Prelims level : Not much
Mains level : Storage facilities for farm produce
Context
Ever since the Delhi government was ousted in 1998 by popular outrage
over a spurt in onion prices, politicians have been wary of this vegetable.
The political response should solve, not structurally worsen, the
problem that lies at the root of the occasional shortage of the vegetable.
Ban on onions export
The ban on export of onions that the central government has imposed
follows in a traditional route and ignores the need for the farmer to get
better terms of trade, paving the way for future shortage.
Onion is a relatively small crop, a little over 15 million tonnes in
India.
China cultivates a lower area, but is the world’s largest producer,
because its yield is about half as much higher than in India.
Hurting many
Bangladesh is very unhappy with India’s export ban,because that has
worsened the shortage there.
Sudden export bans shut off the possibility of the farmer getting a
bumper price for his crop, something that he feels he is entitled to, as the
obverse of the distress sale he often has to undertake.
The sensible course is proper storage at times of harvest and steady
decumulation of stocks over the year.
This will not help, however, in case of a sudden shortfall in output,
thanks to flooding or unseasonal rains, as has happened this year.
Conclusion
Instead of banning exports, the government should encourage export of
onion in its raw and processed forms.
The govt. must invest in food technology that would permit farmers to
increase output without fear of distress sales, onion offtake assured
because of its storage in a processed state.
As Xi comes a-calling, a footprint
without traction (The Hindu)
Mains Paper 2 : International Relations
Prelims level : Nepal Communist Party
Mains level : Geo-Political movement and relations between Nepal and China