Brief of newspaper articles for the day bearing
relevance to Civil Services preparation
- GS PAPER 2
- Personal law draws authority from the Koran, says Islamic body – {Civil and Personal Laws}
- Prepare manual on juvenile offenders: SC – {Juvenile Justice}
- Nuclear suppliers let off hook: Left – {Civil Liability Nuclear Damage Bill}
- U.S. to address India’s concerns – {Defense Manufacturing}
- Vocabulary of justice and being – {H1B Visa Fees }
- No proof required: MGNREGA does not help poor – {Welfare Schemes – MNREGA}
- GS PAPER 3
- Indian basmati rice all set to get GI tag – {Geographical Indicator – IPR }
- Made in India is costlier; joint development is mere purchase– {Make in India}
- As customs duty exemption goes, 76 life-saving drugs to get costlier – {Drug Pricing}
- Low oil, commodity prices helped spur growth pace: FM– {Trade and Economic Growth }
- No nod for GM Mustard Now– {Trade and Economic Growth }
GS PAPER 2
[1]. Personal law draws authority from the Koran, says Islamic body
The Supreme Court’s met its first challenge when Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, a Maharashtra-based organisation, on Friday said the
Context:-
The Supreme court had suo motu registered a public interest litigation (PIL) petition called “Muslim women’s quest for equality”, empowering itself to find out if the current practices under the Muslim personal law were violative of the fundamental rights of equality and dignity.
It was done to scrutinise gender discrimination in Islamic laws of marriage and divorce.
Source of personal laws:-
Reacting to this a Maharashtra based Muslim organisation said that their personal law drew its authority from the Koran and not from the Constitution.
It said the factum that personal law was outside the ambit of fundamental rights had been settled by the apex court in past judgments.
Personal laws do not derive their validity on the ground that they have been passed or made by a legislature or other competent authority.
The foundational sources of personal law are their respective scriptural texts.
The Mohammedan law is founded essentially on the Holy Koran, and thus, it cannot fall within the purview of the expression ‘laws in force’ as mentioned in Article 13 of the Constitution.
[2]. Prepare manual on juvenile offenders: SC
Context:-
The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Ministry of Women and Child Development to prepare a manual exclusively for juvenile offenders in custody under the new juvenile law.
The new manual should be fashioned after the Model Prison Manual being prepared by the Union Home Ministry for adult prisoners.
Purpose:-
The purpose is to require a manual to be prepared taking into consideration the living conditions and other issues pertaining to juveniles who are in Observation Homes or Special Homes or Places of Safety in terms of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015
The Model Prison Manual:-
It is a “composite document” on custodial management, medical care, education of prisoners, vocational training and skill development programmes, legal aid, welfare of prisoners, aftercare and rehabilitation, Board of Visitors, prison computerisation, etc.
The sum and substance … is that prisoners, like all human beings, deserve to be treated with dignity.
[3]. Nuclear suppliers let off hook: Left
Context:-
The Union government has decided to ratify the Convention on Supplier Compensation (CSC) at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna .
The External Affairs Ministry called the move “a conclusive step in the addressing of issues related to civil nuclear liability in India.
Reason:-
The move has been among steps that the U.S. government and private nuclear suppliers GE and Westinghouse have been demanding before they conclude any talks on setting up nuclear reactors in India after they raised concerns over two sections of the Indian law.
Within the four corners of law:-
insist that the decision to ratify the CSC does not violate the domestic Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act (CLNDA), 2010, Clauses 17(1)(B) and 46.
The government of India has maintained from the beginning that the liability solution is within the four corners of our law.
Controversial Provision:-
According to the understanding, the MEA has conveyed to the U.S. government that India’s Nuclear Power Company (NPCIL) could, in its contract with the foreign supplier, provide an exemption to the supplier from being sued.
Unilateral decision:-
Opposition claimed that it would not allow “any attempt to absolve suppliers of liability.”
Calling the decision unilateral it also said that it will not allow the government to make any amendments in order to bring the domestic law in line with its international commitments
They said that the lack of transparency over an issue of nuclear safety and compensation is troubling.
[4]. U.S. to address India’s concerns
Context:-
U.S. President Barack Obama has assured Prime Minister Narendra Modi that his administration would soon look into India’s concerns over the recent move to increase visa fees.
Impact:-
India (Indian tech firms) will be the most affected by the decision as it is the largest user of H1B visas (67.4 per cent of the total 161,369 visas issued in FY14 went to Indians), and is also among the largest users of L1 visas (Indians received 28.2 per cent of the 71,513 L1 visas issued in FY14).
The CII, an industry body, had said the visa fee increase was discriminatory and punitive and was aimed at India and Indian-centric technology companies.
Political Rhetoric:-
Issues related to tightening of the visa and immigration regime and the fear-mongering about American jobs going to foreigners have been part of the political rhetoric before presidential elections (including the coming one) in the U.S.
Myth:-
Industry sources say that since these visas are for short-term work, Nasscom has asked American lawmakers not to confuse it with immigration or spread the “myth that hiring of foreign tech workers is hindering employment of local professionals.”
Nasscom has said that due to skill shortages, unemployment in the U.S. tech sector is historically lower than the national average.
It is a myth that foreign talent is being hired at lower salaries in the U.S and also that the Indian tech industry pays equivalent wages to U.S. nationals and foreign workers.
[5]. Vocabulary of justice and being
Context:-
The article discusses how the supreme court judgement in Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation (2014) overruling the Delhi High Court’s decision is a glaring injustice.
Recent Developments:-
The Supreme Court has now admitted a curative petition regarding the same and has decided to refer the matter to a constitutional bench.
In December 2015, Shashi Tharoor attempted to introduce a private member’s bill in Parliament to amend Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code and give effect again to the overruled Delhi High Court decision. The bill was supported by a grand total of 24 MPs, a good indication that it is unlikely that we will see any reform of the law in Parliament in the near future.
Basis of the curative petition:-
Sexuality is a matter of serious constitutional importance and that the Koushal decision impinges on the liberty of individuals, violates their fundamental identity and has the ability to affect not just current but also future generations.
The decision to refer the matter to a constitutional bench (which should have heard it in the first instance) is therefore a welcome corrective after the glaring wrongness of theKoushal judgment.
The wrongs of Koushal judgement:-
Koushal got many things wrong most of them are its constitutional failures.
It was one of the few times that a court narrowed down the scope of fundamental rights after they have been expanded by the judiciary.
It was a flawed presumption of the constitutionality of a pre-constitutional colonial law.
It also involved a narrow technical claim that Section 377 merely criminalises an act and not identity and hence not violative of the doctrine of “reasonable classification” in Article 14.)
But none was as problematic as their characterisation of sexual minorities as a “minuscule minority”.
Minuscule Minority:-
The reference to the size of a vulnerable community is simultaneously a matter of legal as well as political and ethical perspective.
The Delhi High Court saw that “the criminalisation of homosexuality condemns in perpetuity a sizeable section of society and forces them to live their lives in the shadow of harassment, exploitation, humiliation, cruel and degrading treatment at the hands of the law enforcement machinery”
The Supreme Court reduced not just the population of sexual minorities but also managed to shrink our collective vocabulary of person-hood.
Right decision:-
The reference of the issue to a constitutional bench affords the court an opportunity to articulate a political vocabulary of dignity and person-hood which is good not just for sexuality minorities but for all minorities who have been historically discriminated against.
South African case the judges ruled, “It is clear that the constitutional protection of dignity requires us to acknowledge the value and worth of all individuals as members of our society. ..Human dignity rests on recognition of the physical and spiritual integrity of the human being, his or her humanity, and his value as a person, irrespective of the utility he can provide to others”
Conclusion:-
By referring the matter to a constitutional bench, we can only hope that the court recognises that a grave injustice was done, not just to sexuality minorities but to a judgment that had articulated a rich and nuanced understanding of what it means to achieve full personhood.
[6]. No proof required: MGNREGA does not help poor
Context:-
The article discusses about the flaws and corruption involved in MNREGA.
Poverty alleviation schemes:-
India has suffered two droughts in a row, and there is obvious concern about rural incomes, especially incomes of the poor. To alleviate poverty, Indian governments have experimented with various schemes, and two that have survived the test of time are the public distribution system (PDS) and the MGNREGA.
Corruption:-
In terms of corruption per se, both poverty reduction programmes are equally bad, but the PDS is a much larger corrupt programme and has been there for longer.
These Schemes while involving unbridled corruption, have escaped censure for two reasons.
- First, the programmes are targeted to the poor, and so are “noble” in intent, if not in execution.
- Second, in a large, diverse country like India, there will be some states where corruption is low and scheme performance is high. This leads the defenders to cite the exception as the rule.
From a policy point of view, we should be interested in the efficiency of transferring incomes to the poor.
What is the goal of the MGNREGA?
To provide income support to any family that seeks jobs .
Work given involvel “back-breaking” work like digging ditches, construction of roads, etc.
The primary target of this programme is very, very poor families.
Working of MNREGA:-
Inconsistency in the number of work days provided:-
The government (ministry of rural development, MoRD) stated that in the first full year of the MGNREGA, 2009-10, a drought year that badly affected poor incomes (like 2015-16), there were 2.84 billion workdays created.
On crosschecking with the NSS household survey, which explicitly asked households about the number of days of MGNREGA work the household members obtained. The answer: 1.47 billion workdays or about half (52 per cent) the magnitude claimed by the MoRD.
Ghost days:-
Also First, 48 per cent of workdays are ghost days; that is, unaccounted for by households themselves. In other words, while the government has doubt, paperwork to support their claims of the MGNREGA work done (and monies paid), the population (middle class, poor or poorest) has no recollection of receiving these MoRD payments.
These ghost jobs are called “leakage
Was it targetted?
Only 42 per cent went to the poor. In other words, 58 per cent of the MGNREGA payments went to the not-poor.
For 2011-12, we have the results from the University of Maryland-NCAER household survey. The results of this survey indicate that of every 100 MGNREGA jobs provided, an overwhelming proportion, 75 per cent, went to the not-poor.
Did it alleviate poverty?
Note that MGNREGA income to the poor may not be sufficient for them to escape poverty.
In NSS 2009-10, the MGNREGA was able to reduce poverty by 2.2 percentage points; in 2011-12, despite reaching a much lower fraction of the poor (25 versus 42 per cent), the Maryland-NCAER study claims that the MGNREGA was able to reduce poverty by 6.7 percentage points. Or more than three times the achievement level reached just two years earlier.
Unnecessary Spending:-
The average poverty gap (difference between average incomes of the poor and the poverty line) is Rs 1,700 a year. The government spends, via the MGNREGA alone, Rs 32,500 a year or 19 times (32,500/1,700) what is needed to make an average poor person non-poor.
Stated differently, but equivalently, with perfect targeting (275 million poor receive Rs 1,700 each), the government needs to spend Rs 47,000 crore to eliminate Tendulkar poverty on an annual basis — or about what it spends on the MGNREGA alone.
Conclusion:-
It is better to provide cash transfers to all the poor rather than just the odd poor person that falls into the well-intentioned MGNREGA net.
GS PAPER 3
[1]. Indian Basmati rice all set to get GI tag
Context:-
Geographical Indication tag is given for Indian basmati rice grown in some States by the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) after seven years of delay.
States falling under GI Tag:-
Basmati rice cultivated in the Indo-Gangetic Plains on the foothills of the Himalayas, covering areas of the rice grown in Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Western U.P. and two districts of Jammu and Kathua, will now be issued the GI tag.
Reason for delay:-
The application has been stuck in litigation after farmers and exporters and Madhya Pradesh wanted to be included in the list of States approved by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), the statutory body responsible for export promotion and development of certain scheduled products.
Delay in Filing Evidence:-
The appellant miserably failed to comply with the mandatory requirements of filing the evidence in support of opposition within the time frame stipulated under Rule 44 (1) of G.I. Rules, 2002.
The assistant registrar has now been asked to ’reconsider the matter afresh’ and listen to arguments of both parties — APEDA and the respondents — and pass an order within the next six months.
Markets for Basmati rice:-
India exports a major quantity of basmati rice to Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Kuwait
IPAB:- The Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) was formed in the year 2003 to hear the appeals against the Registrar under the Trade Marks Act and Geographical Indications of Goods Act. The headquarters of IPAB is located in Chennai and it has sittings in other cities like Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi, and Ahmedabad. The appeals in the various high courts in the country which are pending are transferred to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board.
APEDA:- The Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) was established by the Government of India under the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority Act passed by the Parliament in December, 1985. For more details: Read Here
[2]. Made in India is costlier; joint development is mere purchase
Context:-
What was supposed to be cheaper when made in India is much costlier. What was supposed to be a joint development programme has been reduced to a purchase from abroad. That is among the key findings of internal government audits of major aerospace projects in recent years.
Costlier when made in India:-
HAL was originally tasked by the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) with undertaking licence production of 140 Sukhoi-30 fighters under transfer of technology from Russia, with conditions including: indigenous manufacture of the aircraft at a cost lower than that of the imported aircraft.
But the actual cost of phase IV aircraft has always been higher than that of the imported aircraft.
More Man hours:-
The report also indicts HAL for taking 2-3 times more man-hours than those taken by Russians.
Low levels of indigenisation:-
An audit of the Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) project of HAL from 2001 to 2009 carried out by the Controller-General of Defence Accounts (CGDA) pointed out: As against the envisaged indigenisation level of 50 per cent, about 90 per cent of the value of material used in each helicopter is procured from foreign suppliers.
The audit said that during the production of the helicopter, despite gaining experience of making 90 of them, the labour hours remained almost double of what was prescribed by the consultant.
The Air Marshal Matheswaran report on the aeronautical sector points out that the Shakti engine used in the helicopter “only has an indigenous name with hardly any self-reliance or technology control.”
The Matheswaran report points out that in 2003, a decision was taken to allow the services to meet their operational requirements of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs), till 2010, by acquiring through the “buy global” route because the development of the indigenous Akash and Trishul missile systems was delayed.
Foreign purchase and not joint development:-
The DRDO and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) started a Joint development of a long-range SAM (LRSAM) for the Navy in 2005. In 2007, they started work on developing a medium-range SAM (MRSAM) for the IAF under a separate contract.
Incidentally, LRSAM & MRSAM is the same missile, the report says.
The report says IAI remains the design authority for the complete system. “IAI is doing the role of supplier and the DRDO is the buyer, which is contrary to the DRDO role of design agency.” “No transfer of technology (ToT) has been taken as part of the contract.
We will remain dependent on IAI for its share as the intellectual property rights (IPRs) remains with the design authority.
Conflict of Interest:-
The report also tears into the Department of Defence Production.
The DDP, which on behalf of the Services and the MoD would have been the instrument of indigenisation, became primarily a custodian of a large collection of ordnance factories and de-facto owner of shipyards, aircraft factories etc.
This resulted in a conflict of interest.
[3]. As customs duty exemption goes, 76 life-saving drugs to get costlier
Context:-
The Finance Ministry has withdrawn exemption of 76 medicines from customs duties and this move could inflate the cost of essential life-saving imported drugs.
The list includes 10 HIV drugs and at least four cancer drugs, but haemophilia patients are likely to be the most affected by the decision.
This is a move to boost domestic competition among Indian drug-makers.
Impact:-
The pressure will be on patients who do not have an alternative source. They already pay out of pocket and piling duty on them seems a move that has not been well-thought out.
Haemphilia:-
Haemophilia is a genetic disorder in which the patient tends to bleed excessively. Anti-haemophilic factor concentrates (VIII & IX) that are given to patients to control the bleeding are off the list.
These concentrates are proteins that help the blood clot. Indian patients depend on American pharmaceutical company Baxter International for the proteins.
Lack of alternatives:-
The two drugs — one is blood-based and it is a bad product from an Indian company. The other Indian alternative is a company that makes only IX but does not make factor VIII.
No issues regarding cancer and HIV medicines:-
Meanwhile, the withdrawal of exemption for anti-cancer and anti-retroviral (HIV/AIDS) medicines will not affect patients or drug prices as generic versions of these drugs are made in India.
Putting old HIV or cancer medicines out of the list makes no difference as the generic versions are available in India at cheaper rates.
[4]. Low oil, commodity prices helped spur growth pace: FM
Context:-
India remained one of the fastest-growing economies in the world despite the global economy remaining uncertain.
Global slow down:-
All the major economic organisations, including IMF, have predicted low growth for the world economy in the coming year.
These developments have implications on India’s economy as our exports are also affected. However, the silver lining is low international commodity and oil prices which, in turn, have helped in a better macroeconomic situation in the country.
Fiscal deficit target:-
The government was on track to meet the 3.9 per cent of GDP target set for the financial year.
OROP and Seventh Pay commission Liability:-
During 2016-17, the government had to make provision for around Rs. 1.10 lakh crore to meet the liabilities on account of implementation of Seventh Pay Commission recommendations and One Rank One Pension (OROP) Scheme.
Consultative committee of the Finance Ministry Suggestions:-
Tax Reforms:-
One major suggestion by the Committee regarding taxation was to raise the tax exemption limit for middle and salaried class from Rs.2.5 lakh to Rs. 4 lakh. In addition, greater emphasis is to be laid on widening the tax base and punishing tax evaders.
The Committee also suggested that the threshold limit for mandatory PAN card requirement for transaction be raised to Rs.5 lakh and above from the current limit of Rs.2 lakh and above.
Further, it was suggested that the service tax exemption limit be raised from Rs.10 lakh to Rs.25 lakh.
Agri sector:-
Other important suggestions made by the Committee included more allocations for agriculture sector and the setting-up of an Indian Council for Veterinary Research (ICVR) to boost to milk production.
Another suggestion was to bring in more clarity to and awareness about the government’s new crop insurance schemes.
Environment:-
Regarding the environment, the Committee suggested that the forthcoming budget give relief to industries to set-up sewage and effluent treatment plants. Other suggestions included more allocations for drip irrigation systems to save water.
Rural employment:-
Some members also suggested that greater focus be given on providing employment opportunities in rural areas.
[5]. No nod for GM Mustard now
Context:-
Amid growing outrage by farmer groups and green activists against commercialisation of the country’s first genetically modified (GM) food crop, mustard, the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) decided to put on hold any decision on it for now.
The ministry said that research could not be stopped as it might have long-term implications on food security issues.
Who developed ?
Deepak Pental from the Genetics Department at Delhi University, developed the transgenic variety with funds from the government and the National Dairy Development Board.
Issues:-
Officers claimed that it would at least be a couple of months before the trial and safety data, which ran into nearly 4,000 pages, could become ready to be publicly available.
Protests:-
‘Sanson Satyagraha’ held a symbolic protest outside the Environment Ministry and demanded the government not to proceed with the process of the environmental release application of GM mustard.
By: ForumIAS Editorial Team
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