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  • Issues over Parliament Canteen Subsidy

    Food served in Parliament canteen is set to cost more as it will no longer be subsidised, Lok Sabha Speaker has informed.

    I say there is no darkness, but ignorance.

    -William Shakespeare

    Why in news?

    • The low rate of food in the Parliament canteen has often attracted controversy, with critics objecting to lawmakers enjoying a cheap meal at the taxpayers’ expense.
    • Others have pointed out that the subsidy doesn’t benefit just MPs, as a host of other Parliament staff and security personnel also take their meals at the canteen.
    • However, in 2019, all MPs had unanimously decided to do away with the subsidy.
    • The annual revenue from Parliament catering was to the tune of Rs 15 to Rs 18 crore. It could annually save more than Rs 8 crore with the subsidy coming to an end.

    Parliament Canteen Subsidy

    • A major furore over the subsidy had erupted in 2015 when a reply to an RTI query which revealed that the canteen got a subsidy of Rs 14 crore every year.
    • The item list received under the RTI Act revealed that items like ‘fish fried with chips’ were available at Rs 25, mutton cutlet at Rs 18, boiled vegetables at Rs 5, mutton curry with bone at Rs 20 and masala dosa at Rs 6.
    • These were the rates subsidised by 63 per cent, 65 per cent, 83 per cent, 67 per cent and 75 per cent respectively.
    • The caterers were being paid by the Ministry of Finance through Parliament.

    Was the entire amount being spent on MPs’ food?

    • Apart from food, the subsidy is used for other expenses, like salaries of canteen staff. Also, many other people apart from the MPs use the canteen.
    • In fact, when the RTI query had been filed in 2015, the sales in the canteen for when Parliament was in session and when it wasn’t were almost the same.
    • Of the total subsidy of Rs 14 crore revealed by the RTI query, about Rs 11-12 crore would go towards the salary of the staff manning the canteen.

  • Celebration of Parakram Diwas

    The Union Culture Ministry has announced that January 23, birth anniversary of Subhash Chandra Bose, would be celebrated as “Parakram Diwas” — the day of courage — every year.

    Try this PYQ

    Q.Highlight the difference in the approach of Subhash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi in the struggle for freedom. (150 W)

    Subhash Chandra Bose (1897-1945)

    • Bose was an Indian revolutionary prominent in the independence movement against British rule of India.
    • He also led an Indian national force from abroad against the Western powers during World War II.
    • He was a contemporary of Mohandas K. Gandhi, at times an ally and at other times an adversary.
    • He was highly influenced by a socialist ideology that acquired popularity as consequences of the Russian Revolution.

    Forget not that the grossest crime is to compromise with injustice and wrong. Remember the eternal law: You must give if you want to get.

    – Netaji

    Association with INC

    • In 1927, after being released from prison, Bose became general secretary of the Congress and worked with Jawaharlal Nehru for independence.
    • In late December 1928, Bose organised the Annual Meeting of the Indian National Congress (INC) in Calcutta.
    • Subsequently, Bose wanted to get elected as Congress President in a subsequent session of 1939 convened at Tripuri.
    • However, his candidature was challenged by Mahatma Gandhi who wanted to prevent socialist orientation to the Indian National Movement.
    • Gandhi proposed Pattabhi Sitaramaya for this candidature.
    • In this election, Bose emerged victorious by a huge margin which was not acceptable to Mahatma Gandhi.
    • Congress leader supported Mahatma Gandhi and forced Subhash Chandra Bose to step down from Presidentship.
    • Under such collective pressure, Bose not only resigned from the Congress members. Thereafter he established a separate political party known as “Forward Bloc”.

    Escape to Germany

    • On the outbreak of WW-II, Bose advocated a campaign of mass civil disobedience to protest against Linlithgow’s decision to declare war on India’s behalf without consulting the Congress leadership.
    • Having failed to persuade Gandhi of the necessity of this, he was house arrested from where he escaped to Germany.
    • He then went to several countries of Europe and finally landed in a region of Singapore in “South East Asia”.

    Azad Hind Fauj

    • The SE Asia region was under the control of Japan where a large number of “Indian Prisoners of War” was confined.
    • When Subhash Chandra Bose reached Singapore in1943 this army was led by a prominent revolutionary Ras Behari Bose whose cadre was known as “Indian National Army”.
    • Subhash Chandra Bose reorganized and expanded this force in order to liberate India. This force was renamed as “Azad Hind Fauj” by him.

    The Azad Hind Government

    • The Provisional Government of Free India, or, more simply, Free India (Azad Hind), was an Indian provisional government established in occupied Singapore in 1943.
    • C. Bose was the leader of Azad Hind Government (AHG) and also the Head of State of this Provisional Indian Government-in-exile.
    • It was a part of the freedom movement, originating in the 1940s outside India with a purpose of allying with Axis powers to free India from British rule.

    Its collapse and INA Trials

    • INA under the leadership of Bose got defeated severely at Rangoon due to lack of support of Japanese.
    • Bose was suggested to leave Burma to continue his struggle for Indian independence and returned to Singapore before the fall of Rangoon.
    • The AHG govt in the islands collapsed when the island garrisons of Japanese and Indian troops were defeated by British troops and the islands themselves retaken.
    • The Provisional Government of Free India ceased to exist with the deaths of the Axis, the INA, and Bose in 1945.
    • It was followed by the Famous Trials at Red Fort.

    Also read:

    In news: 1946 Royal Indian Navy Mutiny

  • 1776 Commission report of the White House

    The White House has released the 1776 Commission report, just days before president-elect Joe Biden would take his oath in office.

    Read about anti-apartheid movement from your World History sources.

    What is the news?

    • Earlier, Trump has signed an executive order to set up a “national commission to promote patriotic education” in the country.
    • The initiative dubbed the ‘1776 Commission’, is an apparent counter to The 1619 Project, a Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of essays on African American history of the past four centuries.
    • It explores the Black community’s contribution to nation-building since the era of slavery to modern times.
    • The name marks the independence of 13 US colonies from the British Empire in 1776.

    What is Trump’s 1776 Commission?

    • With this move, Trump sought to activate his right-wing supporters by doubling down on what he described as “cancel culture”, “critical race theory” and “revisionist history”.
    • Looking at the racial attacks, trump had said that Americans are inundated with critical race theory.
    • This was a Marxist doctrine holding that America is a wicked and racist nation, that even young children are complicit in oppression.
    • Trump wanted to reform this idea and wanted to portray himself as a defender of traditional American heritage against “radical” liberals.”

    What was the 1619 Project?

    • The Project is a special initiative of The New York Times Magazine, launched in 2019 to mark the completion of 400 years since the first enslaved Africans arrived in colonial Virginia’s Jamestown in August 1619.
    • The project aimed to reframe US history by considering what it would mean to regard 1619 as America’s birth year.

  • [pib] Exercise Desert Knight-21

    Indian Air Force and French Air and Space Force will conduct a bilateral Air exercise, Ex Desert Knight-21 at Air Force Station Jodhpur.

    All-time generic question seeking ‘match the pairs’ can be asked from the news as such.  Click here for more exercises.

    Ex. Desert Knight-21

    • The French side will participate with Rafale, Airbus A-330 Multi-Role Tanker Transport (MRTT), A-400M Tactical Transport aircraft and approximately 175 personnel.
    • The IAF aircraft participating in the exercise will include Mirage 2000, Su-30 MKI, Rafale, IL-78 Flight Refuelling Aircraft, AWACS and AEW&C aircraft.
    • The exercise marks an important milestone in the series of engagements between the two Air forces.
    • As part of Indo-French defence cooperation, Indian Air Force and French Air and Space Force have held six editions of Air Exercises named ‘Garuda’, the latest being in 2019.
    • Presently, the French detachment for Ex Desert Knight-21 is deployed in Asia as part of their ‘Skyros Deployment’ and will ferry in forces to Air Force Station Jodhpur.

    Why it is special?

    • The exercise is unique as it includes fielding of Rafale aircraft by both sides and is indicative of the growing interaction between the two premiers Air Forces.
    • It will put into practice operational experience gained across terrains and spectrums and endeavour to exchange ideas and best practices to enhance interoperability.

  • Issues with treating mineral sale proceeds as revenue or income

    The rate at which we are extracting mineral and spending the proceeds from it without consideration for the future generation needs a rethink. The article deals with this issue.

    The principle of Intergenerational Equity

    • We cannot compromise the ability of future generations to meet their needs, and this is reflected in the aim for the sustainable economy.
    • The principle of Intergenerational Equity would make it imperative for us to ensure future generations inherit at least as much as we did.
    • If we are successful in abiding by intergenerational equity, our children will be at least as well off as we are.

    Issues with our mineral policy

    • India’s National Mineral Policy 2019 states: “natural resources, including minerals, are a shared inheritance where the state is the trustee on behalf of the people to ensure that future generations receive the benefit of inheritance.”
    • The extraction of oil, gas, and minerals is effectively the sale of this inheritance.
    • Unfortunately, governments everywhere treat the mineral sale proceeds as revenue or income which is basically a sale of inherited wealth.
    • This results in governments selling minerals at prices significantly lower than what they are worth, driven by lobbying, political donations, and corruption.

    Error in accounting

    • Proceeds received by the government are treated as “revenue” and spent.
    • This is just not sustainable.
    • There is growing empirical evidence of large losses in mining from around the world.
    • There is also growing evidence from the International Monetary Fund that many governments of resource-rich nations face declining public sector net worth, i.e., their governments are becoming poorer.
    • Due to the high profits involved, the extractors are keen to extract as quickly as possible and move on.
    • More mining would make a bad situation significantly worse.
    • The Government Accounting Standards Advisory Board needs to correct this error in the standards for public sector accounting and reporting for mineral wealth.

    Way forward

    • If we extract and sell our mineral wealth, the explicit objective must be to achieve zero loss in value; the state as trustee must capture the full economic rent.
    • Any loss is a loss to all of us and our future generations, and makes some rich; that is patently unfair.
    • India’s National Mineral Policy 2019 says: “State Governments will endeavor to ensure that the full value of the extracted minerals is received by the State.”
    • Like Norway, the entire mineral sale proceeds must be saved in a Future Generations Fund.
    • The Future Generations Fund could be passively invested through the National Pension Scheme framework.
    • The real income of a fund of this nature may be distributed only as a citizens’ dividend, equally to all as owners.
    • For the Indian economy, this is sustainable — capital has been maintained; the savings rate would rise, making available more long-term domestic capital; it diversifies risk while likely improving returns.

    Consider the question “What are the issues with our mining policies? Suggest the changes to make it more sustainable.”

    Conclusion

    Through these changes, let us be the generation that changes the course of history for the better, not the one that consumed the planet.

  • Task force on Age of Marriage for Women submits its report

    The task force set up to take a re-look at the age of marriage for women has submitted its report to the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of Women and Child Development.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.The different minimum age of marriage for women and men is a discriminatory provision. Analyse.

    What is the issue?

    • PM in his I-Day speech last year spoke about a panel formed to decide on the “right age of marriage” for women.
    • The minimum age of marriage, especially for women, has been a contentious issue.
    • The law evolved in the face of much resistance from religious and social conservatives.
    • Currently, the law prescribes that the minimum age of marriage is 21 years and 18 years for men and women respectively.

    Invoking ‘Majority’

    • The minimum age of marriage is distinct from the age of majority which is gender-neutral.
    • An individual attains the age of majority at 18 as per the Indian Majority Act, 1875.
    • The law prescribes a minimum age of marriage to essentially outlaw child marriages and prevents the abuse of minors.

    About the Committee

    • The Union Ministry for WCD had set up a task force to examine matters pertaining to the age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering Maternal Mortality Ratio and the improvement of nutritional levels among women.
    • The task force would examine the correlation of age of marriage and motherhood with health, medical well-being, and nutritional status of the mother and neonate, infant or child, during pregnancy, birth and thereafter.
    • It will also examine the possibility of increasing the age of marriage for women from the present 18 years to 21 years.

    How common are child marriages in India?

    • UNICEF estimates suggest that each year, at least 1.5 million girls under the age of 18 are married in India.
    • It makes our country home to the largest number of child brides in the world — accounting for a third of the global total.
    • Nearly 16 per cent adolescent girls aged 15-19 are currently married.

    Provisions for the minimum age for marriage

    • Personal laws of various religions that deal with marriage have their own standards, often reflecting custom.
    • For Hindus, Section 5(iii) of The Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, sets 18 years as the minimum age for the bride and 21 years as the minimum age for the groom.
    • However, child marriages are not illegal — even though they can be declared void at the request of the minor in the marriage.
    • In Islam, the marriage of a minor who has attained puberty is considered valid.
    • The Special Marriage Act, 1954 and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006 also prescribe 18 and 21 years as the minimum age of consent for marriage for women and men respectively.
    • Additionally, sexual intercourse with a minor is rape, and the ‘consent’ of a minor is regarded as invalid since she is deemed incapable of giving consent at that age.

    Evolution of the law

    • The IPC enacted in 1860 criminalised sexual intercourse with a girl below the age of 10.
    • The provision of rape was amended in 1927 through The Age of Consent Bill, 1927, which declared that marriage with a girl under 12 would be invalid.
    • The law faced opposition from conservative leaders of the Indian National Movement, who saw the British intervention as an attack on Hindu customs.
    • A legal framework for the age of consent for marriage in India only began in the 1880s.

    Comes in: The Sarda Act

    • In 1929, The Child Marriage Restraint Act set 16 and 18 years as the minimum age of marriage for girls and boys respectively.
    • The law, popularly known as the Sarda Act after its sponsor Harbilas Sarda, a judge and a member of Arya Samaj, was eventually amended in 1978 to prescribe 18 and 21 years as the age of marriage for a woman and a man respectively.

    Contention over different legal standards

    • There is no reasoning in the law for having different legal standards of age for men and women to marry. The laws are a codification of custom and religious practices.
    • The Law Commission consultation paper has argued that having different legal standards “contributes to the stereotype that wives must be younger than their husbands”.
    • Women’s rights activists have argued that the law also perpetuates the stereotype that women are more mature than men of the same age and, therefore, can be allowed to marry sooner.
    • The international treaty Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), also calls for the abolition of laws that assume women have a different physical or intellectual rate of growth than men.

    Why is the law being relooked at?

    • Despite laws mandating minimum age and criminalizing sexual intercourse with a minor, child marriages are very prevalent in the country.
    • From bringing in gender-neutrality to reduce the risks of early pregnancy among women, there are many arguments in favour of increasing the minimum age of marriage of women.
    • Early pregnancy is associated with increased child mortality rates and affects the health of the mother.

    Upholding the Constitution

    • Petitioners, in this case, had challenged the law on the grounds of discrimination.
    • It is argued that Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution, which guarantee the right to equality and the right to live with dignity, were violated by having different legal ages for men and women to marry.
    • Two significant Supreme Court rulings can act as precedents to support the petitioner’s claim.
    • In 2014, in the ‘NALSA v Union of India’ case, the Supreme Court, while recognising transgenders as the third gender, said that justice is delivered with the “assumption that humans have equal value and should, therefore, be treated as equal, as well as by equal laws”.
    • In 2019, in ‘Joseph Shine v Union of India’, the Supreme Court decriminalized adultery, and said that “a law that treats women differently based on gender stereotypes is an affront to women’s dignity”.

  • [pib] Second edition of India Innovation Index 2020

    NITI Aayog is set to release the second edition of the India Innovation Index 2020 tomorrow.

    *Statewise rankings will be updated tomorrow.

    Updated on 21st Jan, Thursday.

    India Innovation Index (III)

    • The release of the second edition of the index—the first was launched in October 2019—demonstrates the Government’s continued commitment towards transforming the country into an innovation-driven economy.
    • The index attempts to create an extensive framework for the continual evaluation of the innovation environment of 29 states and seven UTs in India.
    • It intends to perform the following three functions-
    1. Ranking of states and UTs based on their index scores
    2. Recognizing opportunities and challenges, and
    3. Assisting in tailoring governmental policies to foster innovation
    • The India Innovation Index 2019 is calculated as the average of the scores of its two dimensions – Enablers and Performance.
    • The states have been bifurcated into three categories: major states, north-east and hill states, and union territories/city-states/small states.

    Significance

    • The study examines the innovation ecosystem of Indian states and union territories.
    • The aim is to create a holistic tool which can be used by policymakers across the country to identify the challenges to be addressed and strengths to build on when designing policies.

  • New ideas needed for online privacy policies

    The article discusses challenges posed by online privacy policies and suggests some ideas to make them more user friendly.

    Issues with online privacy policies

    • Such policies are not designed for easy reading.
    • These policies are full of legal jargon and most are difficult to read.
    • Most policies are exclusively in English, which is clearly inadequate in a country where no more than 12 per cent are comfortable with the language.
    • A human-centric study across India found that even people who couldn’t read or write, when made aware of what they were consenting to, cared deeply about it.
    • Online consent is, therefore, a false choice for most Indians.

    Importance of consent in data ecosystem

    • Consent is also the fulcrum of India’s fast-growing data ecosystem.
    • The Data Protection Bill under consideration by Parliament lists consent as a legal ground for data processing.
    • Last year, NITI Aayog sought public comments on the Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA), a system that will connect an individual’s financial, health, telecom and other data so that it can be moved from one provider to another.
    • DEPA intends to use consent to ensure that users remain in control of their data.

    New ideas needed to give users greater control

    1) Business as steward of consumer trust

    • Businesses need to become more responsible stewards of consumer trust.
    • Experiments suggest that making consumers read privacy policies by getting them to stay on the “privacy policy” page for a few minutes, led to increased trust in businesses and greater data sharing.
    • Businesses can adopt such ideas to make users trust them more.

    2) Regulatory bodies need to guide consumers

    • Consumers do not have the time or knowledge to go through privacy policies.
    • The food regulator’s food safety certifications and the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE)’s rating guides have become part of our everyday lives.
    • Similarly, a “privacy rating” for apps can help individuals make more informed choices about their data.
    • Such “rule of thumbs” can help them cut through the jargon, trust businesses more and share more data.

    3) Running awareness campaign

    • Governments and industry associations can play an enabling role by running innovative awareness campaigns that leverage local contexts, and relatable narrative styles.
    • The campaign should include awareness about messages logging off from public computers, and not sharing phone numbers easily.

    4) Some other ideas

    • The “burden of proof” on privacy should rest with providers rather than consumers.
    • Businesses should act as fiduciaries of user data and act in the best interest of the user than simply maximising profits.

    • Regulators can create a new class of intermediaries that warn consumers about dangerous practices, represent them, and seek recourse on their behalf.

    Consider the question “What are the issues with the consent to the online privacy policies? Suggest the measures to give users greater control over their digital destinies.

    Conclusion

    By educating and empowering every Indian, we will enable her to participate fully in India’s digital economy, and thereby create a meaningful digital life for every Indian. Only then will the true potential of Digital India be realised.

  • UK invites India to attend G7 Summit

    The United Kingdom has invited PM Modi to attend the G7 summit that is scheduled to be held in June.

    Note the members of G7 and G20. UPSC may puzzle you asking which G20 nation isn’t a member of G7.

    G7 Countries

    • The G-7 or ‘Group of Seven’ includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
    • It is an intergovernmental organisation that was formed in 1975 by the top economies of the time as an informal forum to discuss pressing world issues.
    • Initially, it was formed as an effort by the US and its allies to discuss economic issues.
    • The G-7 forum now discusses several challenges such as oil prices and many pressing issues such as financial crises, terrorism, arms control, and drug trafficking.
    • It does not have a formal constitution or a fixed headquarters. The decisions taken by leaders during annual summits are non-binding.
    • Canada joined the group in 1976, and the European Union began attending in 1977.

    Evolution of the G-7

    • When it started in 1975—with six members, Canada joining a year later—it represented about 70% of the world economy.
    • And it was a cozy club for tackling issues such as the response to oil shocks.
    • Now it accounts for about 40% of global GDP.
    • Since the global financial crisis of 2007-09, it has sometimes been overshadowed by the broader g20.
    • The G-7 became the G-8 in 1997 when Russia was invited to join.
    • In 2014, Russia was debarred after it took over Crimea.

    Significance of G7 for India

    • India will get more voice, more influence, and more power by entering the G7.
    • After the UN Security Council (UNSC), this is the most influential grouping.
    • If the group is expanded it will collectively address the humongous issues created by the Wuhan virus,
    • Diplomatically, a seat at the high table could help India further its security and foreign policy interests, especially at the nuclear club and UN Security Council reform as well as protecting its interests in the Indian Ocean.

    Back2Basics: The G-20

    • The G-20 is a larger group of countries, which also includes G7 members.
    • The G-20 was formed in 1999, in response to a felt need to bring more countries on board to address global economic concerns.
    • Apart from the G-7 countries, the G-20 comprises Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, and Turkey.
    • Together, the G-20 countries make up around 80% of the world’s economy.
    • As opposed to the G-7, which discusses a broad range of issues, deliberations at the G-20 are confined to those concerning the global economy and financial markets.
    • India is slated to host a G-20 summit in 2022.

  • UN Adaptation Gap Report, 2020

    The United Nations Adaptation Gap Report, 2020 was recently released by the UNEP.

    Must read edition: Five years of Paris Agreement

    UN Adaptation Gap Report

    • UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has managed the production of UN Environment’s Adaptation Gap Report series since its first edition in 2014.
    • The aim of the reports is to inform national and international efforts to advance climate change adaptation.

    Behind the concept: Adaptation Cost

    • Adaptation Cost includes costs of planning, preparing for, facilitating and implementing the climate change adaptation measures.
    • It thus derives benefits as the avoided damage costs or the accrued benefits following the adoption and implementation of adaptation measures.

    Highlights of the 2020 report

    • The annual cost of adaptation to the effects of climate change for developing countries is estimated to at least quadruple by 2050, according to the United Nations Adaptation Gap Report, 2020.
    • The current cost for developing countries is in the range of $70 billion (Rs 5.1 lakh crore) and may rise to $140-300 billion in 2030 and $280-500 billion in 2050.

    Funding gaps

    • The ever-increasing adaptation cost has also outpaced the growth in adaptation finance that refers to the flow of funds to developing countries to help them tide over the damages caused by climate change.
    • This, in turn, has kept the adaptation finance gap from closing with the current efforts, although the fund flow has increased, the report said.
    • Adaptation costs, in actual terms, are higher in developed countries but the burden of adaptation is greater for developing countries in relation to their gross domestic product.
    • These countries, especially in Africa and Asia, which are least equipped to tackle climate change will also, be the most impacted by it, the report noted.