Doubt Clearance Thread: UPSC 2021
"When in doubt, observe and ask questions. When certain, observe at length and ask many more questions."
Created this thread as a one stop solution for all members so that all the doubts wherein any conceptual clarification is required can be solved here.
One quick questions for thinking people.
#1 Can a member of ruling party present a private member's bill? Is presidential permission needed for private members bill?
Yes. Any Member of Parliament who is not a minister in Union Cabinet is a private member and can present a PMB. Presidential permission is not required.
In news in 2020: LS Speaker amended the 'Directions by Speaker', the guidelines to be followed by the presiding officer, to cap the private members' bills a member can introduce in a session. Capped at 3.
GaryVee,
a) who determines whether a territory is a State or not? Is it a bilateral thing? What is its significance?
b) Israel and Palestine don't recognise each other as States. However, the occupation of West Bank is illegal under international law. However, according to the modes of acquisition under international law, a State can occupy an unoccupied land only and an unoccupied land could be uninhabited or an unrecognised State. So the illegality arises from the documents signed under the UN framework between the two governments, right?
Thank you!
Doubt : International Law and 'State'
a) who determines whether a territory is a State or not? Is it a bilateral thing? What is its significance?
b) Israel and Palestine don't recognise each other as States. However, the occupation of West Bank is illegal under international law. However, according to the modes of acquisition under international law, a State can occupy an unoccupied land only and an unoccupied land could be uninhabited or an unrecognised State. So the illegality arises from the documents signed under the UN framework between the two governments, right?
Thank you!a)
1. Nobody does. State recognition is usually accorded if the following things are present: a) Population; b) Definite territory; c) A government or some form of political organisation; d) Said government/political organisation exercises political control over said territory and population; e) This political control is not temporary and tends towards permanence. If its temporary, a state of belligerency may be recognised; f) Said state is able and willing to perform obligations under international law.
States can be generally recognised as legal entities if they have the above qualities. However, there is no body which approves this. Reason is: sovereignty is never given or taken, it is alwaysasserted.This is why Palestine for example is recognised as a Country by a number of countries, and not recognised as so by others. Recognition is usually granted on the basis of political considerations.
Now, if a "State" fulfils the above six conditions, do other states have a duty to recognise it? That is a moot question, and the jury is out on that. So, I can't give you a straight answer on that without going into unnecessary details.
2. What clothes a State with personality, and what is its significance?
Two important theories: a)Constitutive theory: Other States recognising this new State gives it rights and duties under international law. This act of other States is what clothes it with personality.b)Declaratory theory:The act of other states in recognising this new State ismerely a recognitionof already existing rights and duties under International law. In other words, when the above six conditions are satisfied, Statehood is automatic and the act of other states in recognising this State is merely a declaration or recognition of existing circumstances.
Specific question of Israel/West Bank:
A number of UNGA resolutions and ICJ also has observed that Israeli occupation of the west bank isinconsistentwith international law. However, this by itself does not prevent it from being a State in the eyes of other parties, or even by the metrics of international law. Nothing can in fact prevent other States from recognising Israel's occupation as valid and legal despite these resolutions/judgements. This is because the fundamental basis of international law is the principle of sovereign equality of States. Sovereignty, by its very nature is absolute and an external body cannot impose restrictions on it without that other body being superior. If that other body is superior, then it violates the principle of sovereign equality of parties. See the conundrum? International law is considered a weak law for exactly this reason; it can have no enforcement mechanism (weak enforcement mechanism) because such a mechanism would fundamentally alter the character of international law.
Occupation may be illegal, but as long as the above six conditions are present, itmay continue to be a Statein the eyes of other parties or for the purposes of international organisations. Illegality may arise from a number of reasons including those you mentioned, and from customary international law. Even basis the UN charter, illegality may be found. In an advisory opinion in 2004, the ICJ found possession to be illegal, basis the above. That being so, such a judgement cannot divest Israel of its sovereignty or prevent other States from recognising Israel's occupation as a valid exercise of its sovereignty. This is because, as I already quoted J. Chelameswar (Enrica Lexie, 2013), "sovereignty is never given or taken, it is always asserted."
GaryVee,tanvi_vats
On Tuesday, the National Statistical Office (NSO) released the first advance estimates of the national income that projected growth in India’s GDP at market prices for 2019-20 at 4.98% in “real” terms, the lowest since the 3.89% in the global financial crisis year of 2008-09.
https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/simply-put-the-nominal-gdp-worry-6205194/
What does GDP at market prices in 'real' terms mean? Is this the same as real GDP?
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