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NATIONAL

  [1[.Air quality to get worse before Diwali

The Hindu

Context

The day before Diwali, levels of PM2.5 and PM10 were forecast to remain between very poor and severe – the highest warning level.

High level of particulate matter

Concentration levels of harmful particulate matter were on average three times the standards. According to the SAFAR index of the Ministry of Earth Science, the average level of PM2.5 was 211 micro grams per cubic metre, while the level of PM10 was 369.9 – both categorised as “very poor”

While these pollution levels are dangerous, they are not unusual for this time of the year. With temperatures falling, the pollution levels spike going into the winter season.

Air quality index (AQI)

• The AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you. The AQI focuses on health effects you may experience within a few hours or days after breathing polluted air.
• EPA calculates the AQI for five major air pollutants regulated by the Clean Air Act:
• Ground-level ozone
• Particle pollution (also known as particulate matter)
• Carbon monoxide
• Sulphur dioxide
• Nitrogen dioxide

For each of these pollutants, EPA has established national air quality standards to protect public health.

• Ground-level ozone and airborne particles are the two pollutants that pose the greatest threat to human health in this country.
• The greater the level of air pollution and the greater the health concern.
• To make it easier to understand, the AQI is divided into six categories:

                                                                                              Air Quality Index

Each category corresponds to a different level of health concern. The six levels of health concern and what they mean are:

• “Good” AQI is 0 to 50. Air quality is considered satisfactory, and air pollution poses little or no risk.
• “Moderate” AQI is 51 to 100. Air quality is acceptable; however, for some pollutants there may be a moderate health concern for a very small number of people. For example, people who are unusually sensitive to ozone may experience respiratory symptoms.
• “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” AQI is 101 to 150. Although general public is not likely to be affected at this AQI range, people with lung disease, older adults and children are at a greater risk from exposure to ozone, whereas persons with heart and lung disease, older adults and children are at greater risk from the presence of particles in the air.
• “Unhealthy” AQI is 151 to 200. Everyone may begin to experience some adverse health effects, and members of the sensitive groups may experience more serious effects.
• “Very Unhealthy” AQI is 201 to 300. This would trigger a health alert signifying that everyone may experience more serious health effects.
• “Hazardous” AQI greater than 300. This would trigger a health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected.

 

[2].IMD plans to move its weather data to the cloud

The Hindu

 Context

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is looking to transfer its massive troves of data into the cloud for functional efficiency .

News

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is looking to transfer its massive troves of data into the cloud. If IMD’s plans materialise, it would be among the largest data storage centres in the country

Purpose

1. to have more centralised control with its regional centres across the country
2. To be able to make it easier for research arms to access weather-related data

Investment

• IMD has already announced that it will be investing Rs. 400 crore in a supercomputer facility, which will process about 10 peta flops per second, and be used to make a dynamical monsoon forecast. These forecasts factor in evolving, global weather conditions to improve the accuracy of monsoon forecasts.

 What is meant by cloud- based storage?

Cloud-based storage usually means that organisations store their data on third-party servers or access applications without physically storing them on their premises.

[3].WHO seeks special U.N. session on TB

The Hindu

Context

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is calling for the first United Nations General Assembly on TB the deadly but curable infection.

 Lack of political will

The World Health Organisation (WHO) is Frustrated with a lack of political will shown by nations with a high burden of tuberculosis and is calling for the first United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on TB.

 Backdrop

The development follows the release of the Global TB report, in which the WHO had to significantly revise the global burden of TB after a 34 per cent increase in cases reported from India.

India is estimated to have the highest burden of 2.2 million cases a year.

 Nearly 2,40,000 people die of TB each year.

61,000 develop an untreatable form of the disease, called multi-drug resistant TB (MDR TB).

 The UNGA meeting on TB is a copy of HIV model.

In HIV model the member states adopted a political declaration to fast-track progress in combating the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

 Countries adopted a set of time-bound targets towards combating the worldwide scourge of HIV/AIDS over five years and ending the epidemic as a public health threat by 2030.

 Dialogue on TB

Russia and South Africa have initiated a dialogue on TB on WHO’S urgingBoth Russia and South Africa are high burden countries.

The main motive of this dialogue is to involve

·         Health Ministers

·         Ministers of Justice (As TB is a common problem among prisoners)

·         Finance Ministers for financial viability

 Note: Russia is also hosting the ministerial conference on TB

[4]. No total bar on religion in speeches, says SC

The Hindu

Context

Asked to bar invocation of religion in political speeches, a seven-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court said it could not be expected to give an “exhaustive list” of dos and don’ts to follow in political speeches

 

Backdrop

The Bench, is examining a reference from a five-judge Bench on the 1995 ‘Hindutva’ judgment of the apex court

 Bench’s view

• Bench expressed that its mandate did not include going into the “permissibility of using religion in political speeches”
• Rather than a blanket bar on religion in political speeches, these political addresses should be individually judged in the context each one was made
• Not concerned with the question of a total bar on religion in political speeches. The enquiry undertaken by the Bench was limited to determining if the bar on invoking religion under Article 123 (3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, in political speeches was limited to the religion of the candidate and his agent or extended to the religion of the voters also
• Each political address should be judged in the context it was made

 

EDITORIAL

[1]. How to judge the judges

The Hindu

Context

Article stresses on evolving new methods for performance evaluation of judges in India

Backdrop

Recently in Gujarat 17 judges from various cadres in lower courts, were made to retire for their unsatisfactory performance. These judges were issued notices to improve their performance but their failure to heed to these warnings led to the government taking this drastic step.

Existing system is mired in problems

Author states that while the practice of holding judges accountable through performance evaluation is gaining momentum but the entire system of evaluation itself is plagued with problems. Moreover, higher judiciary is not subject to such performance review

 How the judges are evaluated in lower judiciary?

Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs): Lower court judges in India are evaluated through a system of Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs), which are completed by the senior-most judges of the lower court, and reviewed by the State High Court.

Problem: ACRs are neither filled up regularly nor is the evaluation process transparent

 Amending the procedure

The idea for amending and improving existing methods for evaluating judges’ performance was floated in 2013, when the Law Ministry acknowledged the need for a more scientific method of performance appraisal of judges.

• The Ministry also admitted that there was a lack of uniformity of judicial performance appraisal across States. But there have been no significant changes since these observations were made

 Views of legal community

The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy recently surveyed the legal community for its views on judicial performance evaluation.

• Almost all the individuals surveyed said that there should be a system of performance appraisal of judges, particularly of the higher judiciary
• Most survey respondents believed that such appraisal would lead to greater accountability, transparency and better and efficient functioning of judges

Origin of system of periodic evaluation

Evaluating judges’ performance through periodic reviews and evaluations is a common practice across jurisdictions.

• JPE: Formally known as “Judicial Performance Evaluation” (JPE), the system of periodic assessment of judicial performance originated in the S.

Method: Sitting judges were evaluated to inform voters about a judge’s performance record for ‘retention elections’. Retention elections allow the public to vote for or against the continuing tenure of judges.

JPEs became institutionalised over time, and are now regularly followed across the U.S., with most States incorporating provisions for evaluating judges in their constitutions

• Studies of JPE programmes suggest that parameters for evaluating judicial performance may be qualitative as well as quantitative.
• These include the rate of disposal of cases by a judge, the quality of judgments and legal reasoning, knowledge of the law, behaviour towards lawyers in court proceedings, independence and transparency.
• JPE programmes initially tend to use objective criteria to evaluate judges, eventually moving towards more qualitative criteria when systems have evolved sufficiently to reduce likelihood of bias and subjectivity in assessment processes.

• In the European Union, the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice conducts a periodic performance review of court systems of different member states. This country-wise study collects data on various parameters, including the efficiency of courts in justice disposal, the costs per case, and the budget of courts. The outcome of this exercise is the “EU Justice Scoreboard”, published annually, rating the working of justice systems across member states

 

JPEs should be implemented in India

• Process in India: Judges in India are nominated or appointed through examination processes and not elected as in the U.S. Therefore, JPE programmes here would not work the same way as in the U.S., where they were formulated to give voters information on judges before retention elections.
• However, studies of JPEs show that besides providing information to voters, these programmes also serve the purpose of increased transparency and accountability of the judiciary.
• A regular review of judicial performance ensures that once appointed, judges are mindful of their accountability to the institution of the judiciary.

Counter argument to performance evaluation

Experts view that a performance evaluations could compromise the independence of the judiciary.

Solution:To avoid this, a JPE programme should be devised by the judiciary itself, instead of by the government

A step in right direction

The Madras High Court, for the first time, has come out with qualitative as well as quantitative performance assessment of its judges in 2016.

• Mixed reviews: This exercise was met with mixed reactions from lawyers, some of whom felt that this could unduly pressurise judges to dispose of cases, and encourage indiscriminate disposal rather than delivering justice

Way forward

• A joint consultation could be held with stakeholders, including judges, lawyers, academics and members of civil society to understand how best to initiate such a system in India.
• Any codified system that emerges from these discussions, say, in the form of guidelines or regulations, must be reviewed to ensure minimum bias and maximum transparency

All these steps would help India work towards higher standards and greater accountability in judicial functioning.

 

[2]. Situating law in the land

The Hindu

Context

Author suggests that instead of a blanket ban, the Supreme Court can delegitimise polygyny in India for not being in conformity with the Koranic procedure, just as it invalidated instant triple talaq in the Shamim Ara case

Author states that,

• Triple Talaq invalidated: In the Shamim Ara case (2002) the Supreme Court, relying on several earlier rulings, had invalidated instant triple talaq and, by that decision, rendered even halala redundant and equally illegal.

 What is Halala?

Halala is the un-Islamic temporary marriage a victim of instant talaq is forced to undergo with another man to remarry her first husband.

As is clear frm the Shamimara judgement, the invalidation of triple talaq makes halala unnecessary & illegal too

Polygyny in Islamic context

Polygamy includes both polygyny and polyandry. Author states that,

• The Koran categorically prohibits polyandry and therefore, it is polygyny that the Supreme Court will be ruling on in the present case

Why Koran allowed polygyny?

Social remedy: In historical times when polygyny was legitimised, Muslim community were suffering from heavy causalities of life in defending the nascent Islamic community in Medina. So, Koran allowed conditional polygyny, mainly to protect orphans and their mothers from an exploitative society

Such conditions do not exist in India, so polygyny is not permissible here. The Supreme Court would therefore be justified in delegitimising polygyny practised for reasons other than those mentioned in the Koran just as it invalidated instant triple talaq in the Shamim Ara case for not being in consonance with the Koranic procedure.

A conditional polygyny

Koran allows a polygyny based on some conditions.

• Verse 4:2 warns caretakers against overtaking the assets of orphans either by merging them with their own or substituting their “worthless properties for the good ones” of the orphans. Condition: And, if the caretakers “fear that they may not be able to do justice” to the interests of the orphans in isolation, the next verse allows them to marry their widowed mothers — on the condition that the new family would be dealt justly on a par with the existing one. For those who are not up to it, the instruction of the Koran is: “Then [marry] only one.”

 

Muslim polygyny v. Hindu bigamy

Hindu Bigamy continues: Latest census data and impact studies conducted by researchers show that bigamy continues to prevail among the Hindus despite the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 outlawing it, and Section 494 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) declaring it a punishable offence.

Stats: As per 2011 census, among Hindus (not including Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains) married women outnumber married men by 43.56 lakh

 Inference: The only inference that could be drawn from these figures is that 43,56,294 Hindu women are in bigamous relationships with Hindu men unless of course it can be proved they are mostly married to non-Hindus.

 Rights of the second wife: The “second wife” cannot claim rights on a par with the first wife under the Hindu law even if the first wife consents to her husband taking another wife and the “second wife” is informed of the existence of the first before marriage.

• This seriously compromises the equality guaranteed to her as a citizen under Article 14, and the right to life with dignity assured under Article 21 of our Constitution

 SC’s judgement on Hindu Bigamy

1. In the RameshchandraRampratapjiDaga v. RameshwariRameshchandraDaga case of 2004, the Supreme Court, while justifying the granting of maintenance to a second wife and her daughter, observed: “…a bigamous marriage may be declared illegal being in contravention of the provisions of the [Hindu Marriage] Act but it cannot be said to be immoral so as to deny even the right of alimony or maintenance to a spouse financially weak and economically dependent.”
2. This view was fully endorsed in 2013 by another Supreme Court Bench in the matter of Badshah v. Sou. Urmila BadshahGodse&Anr where it was emphasised that “just as change in social reality is the law of life, responsiveness to change in social reality is the life of the law

 

Main issues is: Rights of the second wife

Author states that if polygyny is abruptly declared illegal for Muslims, without first identifying and addressing the causes of failure of Hindu law in preventing bigamy, it would end up creating the same confusions in the Muslim law, especially with regard to the rights of the “second wife” under Articles 14, 15 and 21.

 

Solution: Author suggests that the most optimum way out is to impose Koranic conditions on the practice of polygyny

• 8 out of the 10 countries cited approvingly in the government’s affidavit supporting invalidation of Triple Talaq have regulated polygyny by making it conditional

 

INERNATIONAL

[1]. Russia to destroy chemical weapon stockpile by 2017

 The Hindu

 Context

A top Russian official has said his country will destroy all of its chemical weapons by the end of next year, a year earlier than previously announced.

Signatory to ICW Convention

As a signatory of the International Chemical Weapons Convention, Russia already has destroyed about 93 per cent of its chemical weapons.

• Russia had to build several plants in the past two decades to dispose of the world’s largest chemical weapons arsenal

The Chemical Weapons Convention

• The Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) is a multilateral treaty that bans chemical weapons and requires their destruction within a specified period of time. The treaty is of unlimited duration and is far more comprehensive than the 1925 Geneva Protocol, which outlaws the use but not the possession of chemical weapons
• CWC negotiations started in 1980 in the UN Conference on Disarmament.  The convention opened for signature on January 13, 1993, and entered into force on April 29, 1997
• The CWC is implemented by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is headquartered in The Hague
• The CWC is open to all nations and currently has 192 states-parties. Israel has signed but has yet to ratify the convention.
• A key non-signatory includes North Korea, which is believed to possess chemical weapons.
• Syria acknowledged it had chemical weapons in 2012, and used them on multiple occasions
• Egypt also has not signed the accord
• India is a signatory to the convention

Prohibitions under the convention

The Chemical Weapons Convention prohibits:

• Developing, producing, acquiring, stockpiling, or retaining chemical weapons
• The direct or indirect transfer of chemical weapons
• Chemical weapons use or military preparation for use
• Assisting, encouraging, or inducing other states to engage in CWC-prohibited activity
• The use of riot control agents “as a method of warfare

 

ECONOMY

[1]. Trade, transit pact with Bhutan gets approval

The Hindu

Context

The Cabinet has approved a new agreement on trade, commerce and transit between India and Bhutan

The pact

The pact provides for a free trade regime between two countries, and duty free transit of Bhutanese merchandise for trade with third countries.

• As per the pact, bilateral trade between will continue to be transacted in Indian Rupees and Bhutanese Ngultrums
• Renewed: The agreement was renewed on 29th July 2006 for ten years. The validity of this agreement was extended, with effect from 29th July 2016, for one year or till the new agreement comes into force, through exchange of diplomatic notes

Bhutan & India

• Support for India: Bhutan was among the SAARC nations that had shared the concerns of India in the wake of the Uri attack, and expressed solidarity with New Delhi saying it was not conducive to hold the SAARC Summit in Islamabad under the situation that prevailed then.
• Part of BIMSTEC: Bhutan is also part of the BIMSTEC grouping that had recently held talks with BRICS nations including India to boost ties.

Corpus of Bilateral trade

• The bilateral trade had grown by 55 per cent year-on-year in FY’16 to $750 million, with India’s exports increasing 40.4 per cent to $469 million, while imports from Bhutan rose 87 per cent to $281 million.

 

[2]. Centre for in-principle share sale in ‘some’ PSUs

The Hindu

Context

The Centre made a cautious move towards large scale disinvestment of public sector units with the Cabinet agreeing ‘in-principle’ to a ‘case-by-case’ examination of just ‘some’ of the 20-odd firms and units recommended for strategic sale by its think-tank NITI Aayog

 Case by case basis: No timeline

The strategic sale of such public sector units with the transfer of management control to a private entity, will be taken up subsequently by the cabinet on a case-by-case basis after consultations with their respective administrative ministries, but there’s no timeline set for the process

Target

The Centre had set a target to raise Rs.20,500 crore in 2017-18 through strategic sales of public sector firm and another Rs.36,000 crore is to be raised from the sale of minority stakes in PSUs.

• Sale of loss making units: In September, the Cabinet granted an ‘in-principal nod’ for the sale of loss-making Allahabad-based firm Bharat Pumps and Compressors Limited – the first such approval since the sale of Kolkata-based Jessop & Co. in 2003-04.

NITI Aayog: Disinvestment in SAIL

NITI Aayog’s disinvestment proposals include loss-making units of public sector steel major SAIL

Government’s view: Discussions are underway and there is a need to understand the factors plaguing specific units of SAIL such as high power tariffs. If they are unviable owing to such factors, change of management won’t help.

Transparency

The settled valuation procedures will be followed in a transparent process for such transactions

• If there is a unit with large chunks of immovable property, even if it is loss-making, the valuation would take into account the property.