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Front Page / NATIONAL (The Hindu)
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Delhi HC dismisses plea for ban on burqa in public places
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Centre increases MSP for rabi crops
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HC allows rape victim to terminate pregnancy
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INTERNATIONAL(The Hindu)
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India, Israel to scale up counter-terror cooperation
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Russia-Pak.-China forum clouds Afghan donor meet
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Editorial/OPINION (The Hindu)
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Live Mint
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The two-step Trump dance
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Thailand’s lessons for the healthcare system
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Helping consumers win the telecom wars (Live Mint)
Click here to Download 9 PM Daily Brief PDF (16th November 2016)
Front Page / NATIONAL (The Hindu)
[1] Delhi HC dismisses plea for ban on burqa in public places
Context
The Delhi High Court has declined to ban burqas and other veils in public places in the Capital.
Backdrop
A Bench of Chief Justice G. Rohini and Justice Sangeeta Dhingra Sehgal refused to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) petition demanding ban on veils in public places
- The petition sought a ban on wearing face veils, including burqas, helmets, hoods, etc., at places such as public transport, government buildings and heritage sites in the national capital on ground of threat from terror activities
- Petitioner’s argument: the use of face coverings and wearing of full body cover like the burqa is a serious security issue and citizens are put to constant risk and fear in the capital which is in violation of Article 21 [protection of life and personal liberty] of the Constitution of India. Face veils, burqas can be used to prevent identification at border checkposts, etc. Further, criminals and extremists can use burqas to skip checking at police posts and barricades
Bench’s view
- The PIL made was not in the public interest and the issue involved a policy decision.It is not an issue which deserves consideration by this court under the Article 226
Article 226 is concerned with power of High courts to issue writs
[2]Centre increases MSP for rabi crops
Context
To boost production of pulses and oilseeds their respective MSPs has been increased
Increase in MSP
- Centre has increased its minimum support price (MSP) by up to Rs. 550 per quintal, including the bonus, while increasing the MSP for wheat by Rs. 100 to Rs. 1,625 per quintal for the rabi 2016-17 season
- The MSP increase for pulses, such as masoor (lentil), to Rs. 3,950 per quintal from Rs. 3,400/q last season while the MSP for gram has been fixed at Rs. 4,000 per quintal against Rs. 3,500/q last year
- The support price for rapeseed-mustard seed, including bonus, has been fixed at Rs. 3,700 per quintal against Rs. 3,350/q last year, while that of sunflower has been increased to Rs. 3,700 per quintal from Rs. 3,300/q last season
[3] HC allows rape victim to terminate pregnancy
Context
In a rare move, the Kerala High Court has allowed a rape survivor to terminate her over 20-week pregnancy under Section 5 of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971.
What has happened?
The court, while allowing a writ petition filed by a rape victim from Kasaragod, directed the Kozhikode Medical College Superintendent to take necessary steps for carrying out the medical termination in accordance with the provisions of the Act, and after obtaining permission from the petitioner or any of her close relatives.
- The court also directed the Superintendent to preserve sufficient material for conducting a DNA test to facilitate the investigation in the case registered on the petitioner’s complaint
Backdrop
The petitioner had approached the medical college and the Kasargod government hospital who refused MTP as the pregnancy period had exceeded 20 weeks
Legal position
The court pointed out that under the Act, a pregnancy could be terminated if it did not exceed 12 weeks. A pregnancy that exceeded 12 weeks but did not exceed 20 weeks could be terminated if two registered medical practitioners opined that it would not pose a risk to the life of the woman or cause grave injury to her physical or mental health.
Section 5
As per Section 5 of the Act, these conditionswere not applicable if two medical practitioners were of the opinion that the MTP was necessary to save the woman’s life.
- The court observed that the petitioner was not mentally prepared to give birth to a child and this could cause immeasurable mental stress. These circumstances were to be treated as the ones under Section 5 of the Act.
INTERNATIONAL(The Hindu)
[1]. India, Israel to scale up counter-terror cooperation
Context
Article talks about the Israeli President’s visit to India
Agreements made
Both sides agreed to,
- intensify counter-terror efforts to deal with “constant” security threats posed by terrorism
- To work together in areas such as agriculture and water resource management.
- To take “practical and specific” measures such as cyber-security cooperation and agreed to expand defence ties
[2]. Russia-Pak.-China forum clouds Afghan donor meet
Context
After helicopter sales, and military exercises with Pakistan, India’s traditional ally, Russia, is working on a regional partnership on Afghanistan that includes Pakistan and China.
What has happened?
Russia has announced the meeting of ‘Russia-China-Pakistan’ consultations to be held in Moscow in December
- Russia has said that the meeting would “lay the ground” for a regional project centered around Afghanistan
Timing is significant
The announcement comes just ahead of the 13-nation ‘Heart of Asia’ donor conference for Afghanistan, due to be held in Amritsar on December 3 and 4
Heart of Asia (HoA) conference
The Heart of Asia – Istanbul process was established to provide a platform to discuss regional issues, particularly encouraging security, political, and economic cooperation among Afghanistan and its neighbors.
- This region-led dialogue was launched in November 2011 to expand practical coordination between Afghanistan and its neighbors and regional partners in facing common threats, including counterterrorism, counter-narcotics, poverty, and extremism
- The annual Heart of Asia (HoA) conference is held by turns in one of the member countries that include Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz, Russia, Saudi, Arabia, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and United Arab Emirates
- India’s participation: The last summit, held in Islamabad in December 2015, was attended by Foreign Ministers of most of those countries, including External Affairs minister who had used the visit to announce the resumption of India-Pakistan comprehensive dialogue which was, however, derailed because of the Pathankot attack
A new scenario
There is speculation that a new axis might be developing in the Asian geopolitical space between Russia, Pakistan & China.
Editorial/OPINION (The Hindu)
[1]. Back to the collegium
Context
In recent times, there has been an unusually public conflict between the judiciary and the executive over the shortage of judges in various high courts.
Article is just a commentary on the recent conflict between judiciary & centre over the judicial appointments. It offers no new insight into any possible solutions.
Latest development in the ongoing conflict is that centre has returned 43 names out of the 77 sent by the collegium. Now, collegium can either review those names or sent the entire 43 names as it is to the centre and centre would have to accept those names.
Give it a go through.
[2]. Searching for an equilibrium
Context
Article raises questions about the limits of judicial intervention in the matter of policy decisions wrt executive and legislative domains.
Author begins by listing out some transformation judgement of the Supreme Court,
Maneka Gandhi (1978) – SC established the procedural fairness and reasonableness test in this case to determine the constitutionality of the exercise of executive power
- Nagaraj(2006) – SC declared in this case that Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (right to fundamental freedoms) and 21 (right to life) “stand at the pinnacle of the hierarchy of constitutional values.
- Markendeya (1989)– SC recognised as fundamental the citizens’ right to food, health, education and clean environment, etc. & deemed the Directive Principles of State Policy as “the conscience of the Constitution” which give shape and meaning to fundamental rights.
(KesavanandaBharati, 1973) – The court declared that judicial review was a “constituent power” and an integral component of the basic structure of the Constitution
Expanding review jurisdiction
Here, author states that in present time courts’ review jurisdiction has expanded to domains otherwise regarded as the exclusive preserve of the executive and legislatures. He lists out following instances,
- 2G spectrum & Coal mine allocation case: Court questioned major decisions of the government concerning policy choices
- (NabamRebia, 2016): Challenge to proceedings of legislative assemblies and decisions of the Speaker entertained by the court
- NJAC Judgement: Court voids the constitutional amendment that sought to alter the procedure for judicial appointment
- AFSPA (Armed Forces Special Powers Act) case: Exercising its review powers court has held in AFSPA case that use of excessive force by the Manipur Police or the armed forces of the Union was not permissible
Caution by SC
In recent judgements, SC has itself cautioned against the ever increasing expectations from it.
- In a substantive judgment in Santosh Singh (2016), a Division Bench of the court declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a mandamus (a judicial writ issued as a command to an inferior court or ordering a person to perform a public or statutory duty) for the inclusion of moral science as a compulsory subject in the syllabus of school education
- NJAC case: Justice Chelameswar, the lone dissenting judge on the SC bench which decided the NJAC case, has said that to assume that judiciary alone is concerned with the preservation of liberties and does that job well is a flawed assumption
- Presidential reference: In its opinion in a Presidential Reference, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had earlier opined that “Parliament and the legislatures, composed as they are of the representatives of the people, are supposed to know and be aware of the needs of the people and what is good and bad for them. The Court cannot sit in judgment over their wisdom”
Author states that this whole debate on the limits of judicial review is centered on philosophical issues concerning the nature of representative democracy and the need to protect the fundamental freedoms form the excesses of the majority.
Conclusion
Author concludes by stating that an erosion of faith of people in the parliament as the highest forum of democracy coupled by a loss of trust in the political class as a whole has rightfully placed the onus on the shoulders of the court resulting in an expansion of scope of judicial review.
[3]. Coordinates of safety
Context
Author talks about the rising crime rate against women and what might be the key reason behind it.
In the first few paragraphs author lists out stats which show that crimes against women have increased during 2001-2015. As per NCRB data,
- Rise in crimes rate: incidence of serious crimes against women rose from 237 per day in 2001 to 313 per day in 2015
- Vulnerable to serious crimes: Higher incidence of crimes during 2001-2015 coupled with low conviction rate of 21 per cent of cases reported suggests that women are more vulnerable to serious crimes
- Variation across states: Women’s vulnerability varies enormously across States. Incidence of serious crimes was as high as 75 per lakh women in Delhi in 2015 as against approximately 5 per lakh women in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu
- Worst performers: Delhi, Assam & Haryana (In 2011 – Delhi, Haryana & Assam)
- Best performers: Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu & Sikkim (In 2011 – Nagaland, Meghalaya & Sikkim)
Factors behind inter-state variations
- Why have crimes against women risen between 2001 and 2015?
- What are the factors associated with huge inter-State variation in these crimes in 2015?
Author states that answers to these questions lie in the interplay of affluence of a State, religion, demographics including female/male ratio, employment opportunities for women, their literacy, rural/urban population ratio, quality of governance in the State and media exposure.
- Increased affluence: A 1 per cent increase in State GDP (per capita) is associated with a 0.42 per cent reduction in the incidence of serious crimes. It follows that greater affluence is accompanied by a reduction in such crimes. If alcoholism and substance abuse are lower among men, or if these addictions are better treated in more affluent States, sexual or physical assaults on women are less likely.
- Sex imbalance:A one per cent increase in the sex ratio lowers serious crimes against women by 8 per cent. A skewed sex ratio overtakes affluence of a state. So, affluent states like Delhi & Haryana on account of having poor sex ratio continue to be worst performers.
- Female literacy & labour force participation: Bargaining power of women depends on both their literacy and outside employment. Exit options in case of violence are viable for those women who are literate and are employed
- Rural/urban population: Higher the rural/urban population, the higher the incidence of serious crimes against women. A one per cent decline in the rural/urban population ratio is associated with a reduction of 0.4 per cent in the incidence of such crimes.
- Religion:Classifying the populations into Hindus and Muslims, it is found that in both groups women are vulnerable to serious crimes but more so among the former. A one per cent increase in the share of the Hindus increases such crimes by 1.64 per cent — double the incidence among Muslims. A greater frequency of wife-beating and dowry-related violence among Hindus — in extreme cases “bride burning” — still persists.
- Exposure to media:a one per cent increase in readership is associated with a 1.9 per cent reduction in such crimes. The Delhi gang rape case of 2012, for example, wouldn’t have sparked a national uproar and led to the speedy arrest of the perpetrators without sustained media activism.
Governance
Nobel laureate Amartya Sen has emphasized that
“Rape and other serious crimes against women are closely intertwined with inefficient policing and judicial systems, and callousness of society”.
Ranking states based on governance
Author states that in a recent but ambitious study this year led by economist SudiptoMundle, 19 States have been ranked on the basis of a composite indicator of governance in 2001 and 2012.
Indicator is based on following criteria,
- Infrastructure
- Social services
- Fiscal performance
- Justice
- Law and order
- Quality of the legislature
Result: Without taking into account the rampant political corruption & the year 2015, based on above criteria it has been found that the incidence of serious crimes against women declines with better governance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if the crimes against women rose despite greater affluence and a slight increase in the sex ratio during 2001-15, the answer must lie in likely deterioration of governance and persistence of low sex ratios in certain States. Illustrative cases include Bihar, Delhi and Maharashtra.
[4]. Assisting the injured
Context
Author talks about public apathy towards accident victims in India, actual reason behind it and how a Good Samaritan law will help in this regard preventing loss of life.
Alarming situation
Research published in the Indian Journal of Surgery suggests that 80 per cent of victims fail to receive emergency medical care in the ‘golden hour’ after the accident. The WHO has projected that by 2020, road accidents will be one of the biggest killers in India.
Why people don’t help?
The World Health Organisation (WHO) in its report titled ‘Prehospital trauma care systems’ lists factors that may prevent bystanders from helping the injured. These include
- A lack of knowledge about what to do
- Fear of legal consequences if one’s actions are ineffective or harmful
- Fear of involvement in a subsequent investigation.
Empowering bystanders
SC issues directions: Supreme Court issued directions empowering bystanders to help accident victims, in a historic judgment on March 30.
In SaveLife Foundation v. Union of India, the court said, “It is absolutely necessary that Good Samaritans feel empowered to act without fear of adverse consequence.” It also observed that “people have the notion that touching the body could lend them liable for police interrogation. Passerby plays safe and chose to wait for the police to arrive whereas injured gradually bleeds to death.
Why bystanders’ help is critical?
Generally in pre-hospital settings, people do not die even of severe injury. They die of airway obstruction. As soon as somebody becomes unconscious, the airway is threatened immediately. A bystander can easily open the airway through simple methods like jaw thrusting or chin lifting.
Implementing guidelines
The court in its judgment had directed the Centre and the States to widely publish guidelines through electronic and print media to spread awareness and encourage people to act.
Karnataka is set to become the first State to have a Good Samaritan law and other States must follow its lead.
Way ahead
Guidelines from SC came 8 months earlier but nothing substantial is being seen on ground. Situation has not improved. So, author proposes that,
- A campaign must begin to make people aware about their legal rights as Good Samaritans. This campaign must be on the lines of the polio eradication and iodized salt carried out by the government in the media.
More info: Read the Hindu article on SC guidelines here
Live Mint
[1]. The two-step Trump dance
Context
Article talks about the possible future of Indo-US bilateral engagement with the new president elect at the helm
Areas of common interest: Civil nuclear partnership and defence acquisitions will be pursued as aggressively by the incoming administration as the outgoing one. Security, strategic affairs, defence cooperation are likely to be smooth sailing because both countries have some convergence of interest here.
Uncertainty: there’s still uncertainty about Trump’s outlook towards Pakistan, Russia and China and their effects on India, but it is clear that the India-US geo-strategic alliance will persevere in some form.
Problem areas
Trade: Author states that Trump’s presidential campaign was directed against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and US-China trade relations but India’s $30Billion Trade surplus with US can be a cause of concern for the new administration
Problem over subsidies: The US has issues with subsidies in the Indian textile sector
Dispute settlement mechanism: India and the US have been indecisive over signing a bilateral investment deal, the main issue being the contentious investor-state dispute settlement mechanism
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR): Both sides have widely divergent views regarding IPR issue
Opportunity
Trump had publicly expressed its distaste against TTP and TTIP leaving TISA (Trade in Services Agreement) out. Service industry is India’s major strength and it can use it to gain entry into APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, a forum for 21 Pacific Rim member economies that promotes free trade throughout the Asia-Pacific region).
[2]. Thailand’s lessons for the healthcare system
Context
Author talks about the lessons which India can learn from Thailand in ensuring universal health coverage
Why, Thailand?
Because of various demographic and economic similarities it shares with India like,
Health expenditure as a share of GDP: For Thailand it is 4.4% and for India it is 4.1%.
Similar expenditure different outcomes
- In Thailand, the under 5 years’ age mortality is 12.3 per 1,000 live births; maternal mortality, 20 per 100,000 live births.
- By contrast, the numbers in India are higher: 47.7 and 174.
Author states that Thai government launched Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in 2002 but it made sure to match it with structural reforms too. This might be the key difference explaining the varied outcomes for similar GDP expenditure on health in both countries.
Measures taken by Thai government to implement UHC
- Purchaser-provider split (PPS) model: A PPS model was implemented wherein payments were done on the basis of services and performance and not inputs like beds and staff, as is the case in India.If doctors and nurses did not perform, they were not paid
- Both public and private providers were brought into the system, though private providers remain at a relatively low level of around 25%
- Cigarette tax: New revenue was brought into the system with imposition of Cigarette Tax. This new revenue was used in part for health promotion and disease prevention programmes—from HIV to diabetes to hypertension
- Serving in remote areas: Proper incentives and administrative rules were framed to make providers (doctors etc) to serve in remote areas for some minimum tenure. Candidates passing out fresh from the medical schools were focussed upon under this measure.
- Quality: An independent accreditation body was set up which developed a 3 step system of quality improvement
- Technology assessment: The government established a world-class technology assessment process to bring in the new and cost-effective, while eliminating obsolete and unsafe drugs, devices and procedures
- Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF):Thailand’s Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF), used to measure the quality of health services, offers immense learning opportunities for India
- Early investments on information technology: Government made early investments into setting up information technology infrastructure under which now most district hospitals run their own hospital management systems, which are connected to linked primary care units (PCUs). PCUs use an online supply management system with automated reordering to ensure they are always well-stocked
- National civil registration database: Through this database Thai government has ensured that a beneficiary is not enrolled in two health schemes
Challenges
Author lists out the challenges that Thai healthcare system still faces like
- The distribution of providers across urban and rural areas remains inequitable
- Most records are still maintained in paper form, some as electronic medical records (EMRs), but not shareable across facilities
- Further, the EMRs are not stored on the national ID smart cards, which would have made the ID a coverage verification tool
[3]. Helping consumers win the telecom wars
Context
A well-functioning market relies on competitive pressures to incentivize producers.
Author states that a well-functioning market relies on competitive pressures to incentivize producers to constantly better themselves on both prices and quality—failure to do so should cost them customers. This model can work only if two critical components are in place.
- Ability to switch: Users should have the ability to smoothly switch from one service provider to another, at a minimal cost. This is the basis for mandating mobile number portability (MNP)
- Information availability: Consumers need access to appropriate information on which to base their switching decisions and the ability to utilize it.
Presently, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) frames QoS (Quality of Services) standards for different categories of services based on various technical parameters and service-level norms but there are few problem areas with respect to these reports,
- They contain data which is averaged over time and is not specific to individual station as it applies to service area as a whole but it is evident that the quality of service differs from user to user depending upon his exact location. It should be noted here that a service area contains multiple stations.
- Highly technical data is very difficult to comprehend for a common user.
Remedial steps
TRAI has taken action to make the dissemination of the information easy.
- QoS analytics portal: This portal launched in August 2016 offers operator-wise information about call-drop rates down to the level of each base transceiver station (BTS). It also provides the status of 2G network utilization in different areas
- MySpeed app: This app launched by TRAI allows users to test their own Internet speeds. TRAI pools this data to create a crowd-sourced map of operator and technology-wise speed levels across the country.
- Tarang Sanchar portal: Department of telecommunications is working with the industry on its Tarang Sanchar portal to provide BTS (Base Transceiver Station) -level data on a host of parameters
For above initiatives to succeed, author states that following things need to happen,
- Enabling operators to update data: Operators should be able to electronically update detailed information on the status of their networks on a real-time basis. This will require technology upgrades both at the end of the service providers and the collecting agency
- Expanding the scope of information: The parameters on which information is provided need to be expanded over time to go beyond call drops and data speeds. The idea should be to capture all types of information that could potentially influence a consumer’s transactional decision on voice, data and broadcasting services
- Independent third parties: We need an ecosystem of independent third parties—analytics firms, researchers and consumer groups—who will develop innovative solutions that can make the available data more relevant for the needs of consumers.
Suggestions
- A third party ranking mechanism: Developers could use data already available to put together a tool that ranks the services available in any particular area based on rates as well as network performance.
Conclusion
Author concludes saying that above mentioned steps would help consumers in shaping their purchase and switching decisions. Ultimately, an informed user segment would create a competitive pressure on service providers leading to overall improvement in the quality of services.
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