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Front Page / NATIONAL [The Hindu]
- Make justice system sympathetic to sexual abuse victims, says SC
- ‘Need to link Aadhaar with details of voters’
- INTERNATIONAL [The Hindu]
- Editorial/OPINION [The Hindu]
- ECONOMY [The Hindu]
- Lesser cash will help cut deficit, raise defence spending
- Withdrawal of notes will boost credit flow
- Indian Express
- Live Mint
Click here to Download 9 PM Daily Brief PDF (26th Dec. 2016)
Front Page / NATIONAL [The Hindu]
[1] Make justice system sympathetic to sexual abuse victims, says SC
Context
The time has come for criminal justice system to mold a survivor-centric approach in dealing with cases of sexual violence, especially for victims of child abuse for whom the trauma will scar them for life, the Supreme Court observed.
Backdrop
The court was restoring the conviction of a man found guilty of raping his nine-year old niece in 2009. He was sent to jail for 12 years
- The court found, in this case, positive proof and a credible sequence of events linking the man to the crime.
Appeal was filed by: Himachal Pradesh government
A more sympathetic approach
A Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and A.M. Sapre said the criminal justice system needed significant reforms to institutionalize a more sympathetic approach in which the sexual abuse survivor was the focus.
Court observed that
- Social stigma: It was not easy to file a complaint in such cases due to the fear of social stigma which unfortunately still prevails in our society
[2] ‘Need to link Aadhaar with details of voters’
The Hindu
Context
Noting that “there is an emergent need to link Aadhaar with the electoral details of voters”, the Election Commission of India has given a mixed response to the Supreme Court on providing absentee voting rights, like electronic voting and proxy voting, to over 300 million domestic migrants in the country, saying there is no foolproof mechanism to verify their identity and block duplicity.
What is absentee voting?
Absentee voting or absentee ballot refers to the method by which a qualified voter who is temporarily absent from his/her place of domicile will be permitted to cast his/her vote in the general elections. It is privilege granted to voters.
Panel’s study
In 2015 Election Commission of India had set up a committee to study the possibility of amending the electoral law to empower voters who have migrated to other States within the country.
Why the panel was set up?
Voting rights for inter-state migrants: The Supreme Court had asked the Election Commission to study the possibility on the basis of an application by an UAE-based doctor Shamsheer V.P., represented by advocate HarisBeeran, for electoral reforms to allow inter-State migrants voting privileges like postal ballot available to government servants
What the panel found out?
After almost a year’s study, the Election Commission concluded that “domestic migrants” do not constitute a “uniquely identifiable and countable class.” It said there was no reliable information or documentation on the number of domestic migrants in the country. The last one on them is the 15-year-old 2001 Census data of 314.5 million.
Issue with granting absentee voting rights
As per Election commission,
- Logistical nightmare: Any provision of absentee voting rights to the “loosely defined term domestic migrants” would become a logistical nightmare for the Commission, that is, for example, they are so spread out that an election in one Assembly constituency would mean electoral arrangements in 4,120 Assembly constituencies
- Enforcement of Model Code of Conduct would suffer
- National parties would gain undue advantage
Linking Aadhaar details
Election Commission has said that following reasons have given rise to multiple entries of voters,
- Multiple vernacular data
- Varying patterns of spelling
- Difficulty in ascertaining the date of birth of voters
- Frequent change of place of residence
Thus there is a need to ensure that a voter was enrolled only once in the electoral roll by linking his Aadhaar number with the electoral detail
Way ahead
ECI absentee voting rightsmight be extended only to a small subset of migrants who formed an identifiable and countable class of electors not delinked from their present place of registration and only “temporarily absent” from their place of ordinary residence.
INTERNATIONAL [The Hindu]
[1] ‘Soft border approach can bring India into CPEC’
Context
A focus on establishing “soft borders” between India and Pakistan, rather than a final settlement of boundaries in Kashmir, can lead to New Delhi’s rapid integration into an expanded China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Soft borders
You can read about this concept here
Not a new concept
The concept of “soft borders” as a pragmatic solution to the Kashmir dispute is not new. In 2005, shortly after a bus service from Srinagar and Muzaffarabad had started, Pakistan’s former President Pervez Musharraf had called the opening of cross-border transport routes as “the first step towards converting [the Line of Control] into a soft border”. His remarks followed similar observations by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
“Short of secession, short of re-drawing boundaries, the Indian establishment can live with anything,” he told columnist Jonathan Power in a 2004 interview. He added that “we need soft borders — [as] then borders are not so important. People on both sides of the border should be able to move freely.”
The new proposition
Prof Li has extended the idea of “soft borders” to both Kashmir and Afghanistan in order to impart regional inclusiveness to China’s ‘Belt and Road’ connectivity project, manifested in the CPEC.
Prof Li’s views
- If Kashmir has a ‘soft border’, I think CPEC could unlock Kashmir and make it a part of a much grander regional transportation network, with Srinagar as one of its important nodes. Remember, in earlier times Kashmir used to be the terminal of the Silk Road — it was part of the route pursued by diplomats, connecting Central Asia, Kashgar, Ladakh and Delhi
- There should be a common initiative by China and India to impart stability to Afghanistan
- Sister ports: Instead of developing as a rival hubs, Prof. Li “strongly supported” the Iranian port of Chabahar, and Gwadar as “sister-ports”. Chabahar, which is being jointly developed by Iran, India and Afghanistan, and Gwadar, are separated from each other by only around 100 km
Read More: Soft Borders
[2] Two U.S. howitzers arriving for tests
The Hindu
Context
In a first, India is buying 145 M-777 artillery guns made by BAE Systems, in a $737-million deal.
Give the article a go-through once.
Editorial/OPINION [The Hindu]
[1] A goods and services tangle
Context
The Centre is determined to introduce the GST from April 1, 2017.
Article is a brief commentary about issues that still need to be sorted out by GST Council before GST is implemented from 1st April 2017
Give it a go through once.
[2] Speak up for the Rohingyas
The Hindu
Context
How India responds to the crisis will give a clue to its aspirations as a South Asian power.
Rohingya Crisis has been covered in the brief dated 24th November 2016
Author’s contention
While leaders of the European Union have proactively debated and responded quite positively to finding a humane solution to the European migration crisis, emerging leaders in Asia such as China and India have remained mostly passive on the long-standing Rohingya refugee crisis in spite of the fact that it has direct geopolitical implications for both countries.
Selective help
Author points out the cases of selective help offered by India,
- To Hindu minorities in Bangladesh: In June, when a priest from Bangladesh’s Ramakrishna Mission received a death threat, allegedly from the Islamic State, India swung into action, and the issue was given high priority by the Ministry of External Affairs. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangladesh was immediately contacted by the Indian High Commission in Dhaka
- To Hindu minorities in Pakistan: In the last five years, around 1,200 Hindus facing persecution in Pakistan have been provided shelter in Delhi
Plight of the Rohingyas in Myanmar
In spite of them living in Myanmar for decades,
- Illegal settlers: the Rohingyas have no legal standing and are seen as illegal settlers from Bangladesh
- Restrictions on Rohingyas:There are restrictions on them in areas such as land ownership, marriage, employment, education, and movement
- No Recognition via Census:In the 2014 census, the first in three decades, Myanmar officials said they would not accept those who registered themselves as Rohingyas. Buddhist nationalists threatened to boycott the Census over fears that it could lead to official recognition for the Rohingyas. The temporary ID cards which were given to the minority community were also revoked in 2015 as result of protests from Buddhist majority groups
- Most persecuted minorities in the world: lack of access to bare minimum human rights goes against the principles of the universal declaration of human rights. The UN has declared the group as one of the most persecuted minorities in the world.
Rohingyas living in Delhi
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there are around 9,000 Rohingyas registered in Delhi and thousands more unregistered living in other parts of the country.
A time when India took note
In 2012, civil society groups urged the then Indian Prime Minister to end violence against the Rohingyas by engaging with Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democratic National League for Democracy party.
Why India should intervene?
There are many reasons,
- Vested economic interests: India shares a border with Myanmar and has vested economic interests in the country owing to trade and investment ties
- Project itself as a global leader: Author points out that if India wants to project itself as a regional leader, it has to rise above narrow economic and geopolitical interests and take a stance consistent with the moral and spiritual values with which it identifies
- Security implications: The crisis bears security implications for India and the region. The persecuted Rohingya Muslims are likely to provide fertile recruiting grounds for extremist groups. There have already been reports of Saudi Arabia and Pakistan funding terrorist outfits in Myanmar.
Good track record
Author cites the example of 1971 war wherein India provided shelter to millions of East Pakistani refugees. At the end of the war refugees returned peacefully to their land from India.
This shows that India has a good track record of providing humanitarian assistance and facilitating smooth repatriation of refugees from the neighbourhood.
Conclusion
Author concludes by stating that the crisis if not properly tended to, threatens to spiral out of control posing a security and economic risk to its neighbors.
ECONOMY [The Hindu]
[1] Lesser cash will help cut deficit, raise defence spending
Context
‘Fake currency, terrorism results of heavy dependence on cash economy’.
Finance minister said
- Less-cash economy will result in reduced fiscal deficit: moving to an economy with lower amounts of cash in circulation will help the country reduce its fiscal deficit and increase budgetary allocations for defence and rural infrastructure
- Better and clean economy: Long-term economic impact of the demonetisation move for a country like India will lead to a “better and cleaner” economy. “From counterfeit currency to terrorism, everything is a result of heavy dependence on the cash economy.
Fiscal deficit
Fiscal deficit refers to the excess of total expenditure over total receipts (excluding borrowings) during the given fiscal year. Fiscal Deficit = Total Expenditure – Total Receipts excluding borrowings. The extent of fiscal deficit is an indication of how far the government is spending beyond its means.
[2] Withdrawal of notes will boost credit flow
The Hindu
Context
The demonetisation move would also enable banks to channel these to productive assets and offer differentiated interest rates to borrowers while lowering the risk of bad loans in the future.
Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)’s view on demonetization
The move would enable banks to channel the money deposited in the saving accounts to productive assets and offer differentiated interest rates to borrowers while lowering the risk of bad loans in the future.
CII recommends creation of database
- Identification of credible borrowers: The data for small and medium enterprises as well as corporates is present in the system. It is possible, therefore, to create an interlinked database that will help banks to identify credible borrowers. Similarly, it will help corporates to access cheaper credit.
Indian Express
[1] Old faultlines, new crisis
Context
The recent violence in Manipur is a result of years of pent-up anger against the United Naga Council’s divisive politics.
Manipur Crisis has been covered in the brief dated 22nd December 2016
Give the article a go through once.
[2] The Parched Nation
Indian Express
Context
Pakistan may be heading towards a water crisis that could be a tipping point.
Article covers the worsening water crisis in Pakistan. It further discusses the reasons for the decline in water availability in Pakistan.
The only point important from examination point of view seems to be in the 2nd last paragraph wherein author has stated,
No water terrorism by India as claimed by Pakistan: Pakistan blames India for its water woes and accuses it of “water terrorism”. The matter has been set to rest by a report made to the Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power on July 9, 2015 that held that India was using less than its allocated share under the Indus Waters Treaty and was not responsible for water shortage in Pakistan.
Live Mint
[1] Privacy without principles
Context
Privacy principles born in the 1970s that still inform the law globally are now on the verge of obsolescence
Issue: Consumer privacy
Situation in India
In 2012, a group appointed by the Planning Commission and chaired by Justice Ajit Prakash Shah proposed an extended version of the principles for India.
- Here the principles mean the privacy principles born in the early 1970s in Europe and the US
- Author states that the though above principles have worked well for over 40 years for India, they are approaching obsolescence
9 Shah Principles
The nine Shah principles pertain to
- Notice
- Choice
- Collection limitation
- Purpose limitation
- Disclosure
- Access
- Security
- Openness
- Accountability
Notice Choice model
The first two together create a “Notice Choice Model of Consumer privacy” wherein a service provider provides notice in the form of a privacy policy and a consumer exercises choice by clicking the “I Agree” button.
- Belief behind the model: Author states that in a free market, it was believed that, service providers would compete to offer the best privacy terms for consumers to select.
- Actual situation: Privacy policies are too convoluted to understand. Choice is meaningless because there are no popular alternatives to mainstream data practices
- Failed model:The model has failed to create an informed consumer base to demand better privacy from service providers
Explanation: How many of us read what we are actually agreeing to when we click the “I Agree button? We value our privacy but sacrifice it for short-term convenience. Thus, this notice choice model has failed to create a user base which dictates a better privacy policy.
Big Data
Big data endangers the principle of collection limitation i.e. principle number 3
What is Big data?
Broadly speaking, big data refers to the massive amount of data collection taking place on a daily basis.
Variety of uses: New uses are found for that data beyond the purposes for which it was collected. For instance, roving location data collected from phones could help cities plan efficient mass transportation. More data means more uses, so more data is collected. But the principle of collection limitation, which restricts the amount of collectable data, directly conflicts with big data. The principle of purpose limitation, which restricts how data can be used, prevents that data from being repurposed for new uses.
Smart Data
It refers to the operational element of Big Data. Example: Internet of Things (IoT)
Internet of Things (IoT)
So far, data collection sensors—cameras, radio frequency identification readers, and such—have been unconnected. In the Internet of Things (IoT), sensors will be present everywhere, connected, and freed from human interaction. Your phone, fridge and television will talk to each other without your input.
- Violation of principle of sharing: Eventually, there will be connections between a body area network of wearable devices, a local area network of home devices, a remote network of cars, and a very wide area network of municipal infrastructure. In a system designed to simultaneously share data, the principle of disclosure, which restricts data sharing, will be violated
- Violation of Principle of security: As more and more devices enter into the network, the possibility of them getting hacked will rise at a commensurate rate, thus leading to insecurity instead of security
- Violation of principle of access:The principle of access, which calls for people to be able to review their personal data, will become unworkable as data is continuously collected
Note: Smart Data will be integrated into Smart City project.
Future of privacy
The Shah principles were designed for a pre-big data economy.
- Solution: The solution is to modify the principles where possible and, where not, devise a new approach.
Example:The notice and choice model does not work. It focuses on data collection even though people blindly agree to collection and multiple uses. Only a model focused on data use will work
Use-focused model
Author suggests two ways,
- Use-focused model: A use-focused model will categorize data uses on the basis of harm. Data can be tagged at the moment of its creation with a list of permissible uses. Discriminatory uses are clearly harmful unlike urban planning which is not.
- Context-based integrity: Data tagging will code context-based integrity into the system. For instance, your phone’s roving location can be shared in real time with other phones to plot travel times, but not with your employer
- Privacy by Design: Designing devices that minimize data collection but are compatible with the IoT is another solution. “Privacy by design” offers a better chance of success given people uncomprehendingly sacrifice privacy for convenience
- Default state should be non-collection: Author questions that, What about people who simply do not want any part of smart data?
At present their data is collected by default. That should be changed so that the default mode is non-collection unless consumers opt in
Read More: A simple explanation of Internet of Things (IoT).
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