Answers: Mains Marathon – UPSC Mains Current Affairs Questions – January 18, 2019

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Q.1) Recently, Manipur became the first to pass a law against lynching. Discuss the significance and limitations of the Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Bill, 2018

Answer:

The Manipur Assembly recently passed the Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Bill, 2018, becoming the first state in India to pass a law on mob lynching.

Provisions of the bill:

1. It defines mob lynching as “any act or series of acts of violence or aiding, abetting such act/acts thereof, whether spontaneous or planned, by a mob on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation, ethnicity or any other related grounds”.
2. The law states that if an act of mob violence leads to death of the victims, the offenders would be punished with rigorous life imprisonment and fine.
3. Anyone who creates hostile environment against people of the community who have been lynched will be punished.
4. It lays down the duty and responsibility of the State government to make arrangements for the protection of victims and witnesses against any kind of intimidation, coercion, inducement, violence or threats of violence.
5. It calls for creating a nodal officer to control such crimes in every districts. He is mandated to form a special task force to procure intelligence reports about people likely to commit such crimes or have been previously engaged in such crimes
6. The law makes provisions to hold police officers accountable for failing to prevent lynching and make them guilty of dereliction of duty.

Significance of the bill:

1. The law provides a very comprehensive definition of lynching covering many forms of hate crimes.
2. It creates a new crime of dereliction of duty of public officials and holds them accountable in case of failure to prevent mob violence. Thus, it removes the protection otherwise extended to public officials.
3. It provides for the provision on rehabilitation.
4. It does away with the requirement of prior state sanction before acting on a hate crime thus making action against such crimes effective and non-partisan.

Limitations:

1. It does not include deliberately protecting criminals during investigation after the hate crime as crimes of dereliction of duty
2. Provisions for rehabilitation are not comprehensive and does not include gender-sensitive reparation
3. It has no provisions to combat incitement on social media, fake news on social media platforms which may lead to mob lynching cases.

Q.2) The NSQF intends to objectify the scattered pedagogy and skill trainings in India. But the challenges faced by NSQF might hinder the goals of Skill India Mission. Examine.

Answer:

India’s skill agenda got a push when the government introduced the National Skills Qualification Framework (NSQF). This organises all qualifications according to a series of levels of knowledge, skills and aptitude, just like classes in general academic education.

Challenges:

1. Unlike general academic education, where certain level of certification is required before further progression is permitted, there is no clear definition of the course curriculum within the NSQF that enables upward mobility.
2. There is no connection of the tertiary level vocational courses to prior real knowledge of theory or practical experience in a vocational field.
3. Efforts to introduce new Bachelor of Vocation and Bachelor of Skills courses were made, but the alignment of these courses was not completed.
4. Lack of alignment between the HRD Ministry (responsible for the school level and Bachelor of Vocation courses) and the Ministry of Skill Development (responsible for non-school/non-university-related vocational courses).
5. There are too many Sector Skill Councils in India and each is not comprehensive, like we have four SSCs for manufacturing but they are treated as one in World Skills courses.

Q.3) Ease of Doing Business is a crucial measure of government’s ability to attract and retain business. In the light of this statement highlight the recent efforts taken by government to improve EoDB in India.

Answer:

India’s ease of doing business rank jumps 23 places to 77 in World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 survey.

Steps taken:

1. In paying taxes, GST is the biggest taxation reform. The number of returns and forms that were required to be filled has come down drastically, from 495 in the pre-GST regime to just 12 now.
2. Starting a business was made easier through consolidation of multiple application forms and introduction of a goods and services tax (GST). For starting a Business, time reduced from 30 to 16 days in Delhi and 29.5 to 17 days in Mumbai. Its rank improved from 156 to 137.
3. Getting electricity was made faster and cheaper.
4. Strengthening access to credit. In access to credit, rank improved from 29 to 22.
5. In grant of construction permits, India’s rank improved from 181 in 2017 to 52 in 2018. This is done by reducing time for processing permit applications, streamlining procedures, and improving transparency among other measures. The single-window clearance system in Delhi and online building permit approval system in Mumbai streamlined and centralized construction permitting process
6. In ‘Trading across Borders’, India’s rank improved by 66 positions moving from 146 in 2017 to 80 in 2018. Efforts include upgrades in port infrastructure, electronic sealing of containers, upgrading of port infrastructure and allowing electronic submission of supporting documents with digital signatures under National Trade Facilitation Action Plan 2017-2020.

Q.4) The Coastal Regulation Zone 2018 notification seeks to balance the needs of economic development with environmental conservation. Critically examine.

Answer:

Regulations:

1. permit current Floor Space Index (FSI) or Floor Area Ratio (FAR) in urban areas coming under CRZ-II
2. does away with the restrictions on construction which date back to the Development Control Rules of 1991
3. CRZ-II urban category pertains to areas “that have been developed up to or close to the shoreline”, and are legally designated municipal limits already provided with roads, water supply, sewerage connections and so on
4. For rural areas, it adds a sub-category to CRZ-III; new provision, CRZ-III A, applies development restrictions to a much smaller area of 50 metres from the high tide line, compared to the 200 metres that was earmarked as the no development zone (NDZ) earlier for densely populated areas. These are defined as places with a population of 2,161 per sq km as per the 2011 Census. Areas with a population density below that will continue to have 200 metres as the NDZ.
5. However, for tourism expansion, the new scheme will allow temporary facilities such as shacks, toilet blocks and changing rooms, maintaining only a slim margin of 10 metres from the high tide line.
6. The system of granting clearances has also been changed. States will have the authority to approve proposals for urban (CRZ-II) and rural (CRZ-III) areas. The Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change will grant clearances for ecologically sensitive areas (CRZ-I), and areas falling between the low tide line and 12 nautical miles seaward.
7. The modifications also include demarcation of a 20-metre no development zone for all islands and guidelines to deal with sensitive areas.

Need for development

1. relaxation of development controls along the coastline  to encourage construction of buildings and launch tourism activities
2. affordable housing availability and tourism will grow if restrictions on coastal zones are relaxed