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  • Appointment of Judges: A case of confrontation between the Centre and judiciary

    Appointment

    Context

    • Recently, there has been confrontation between the Centre and judiciary on the interpretation of Article 124 (2) and 217 (1) of the Constitution.

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    Provisions related to the appointment of judges to the supreme court and high court

    • Article 124 (2): It highlights that every judge of the Supreme Court will be appointed by the president after consultation with such of the judges (in particular, the chief justice) of the Supreme Court and of the high courts in the states as necessary.
    • Article 217 (1): Similarly, for high courts, Article 217 (1) highlights that every judge of a high court will be appointed by the president after consultation with the Chief Justice of India, the governor of the state, and the chief justice of the high court.
    • Judicial independence and Collegium system: Judicial interpretation in SP Gupta vs Union of India (1981), The Supreme Court Advocates-on Record Association vs Union of India (Second Judges case) (1993) and Article 143(1) vs Unknown (Third Judges Opinion) (1998) has further evolved the principle of judicial independence and led to a collegium system for recommending judges.
    • Role of central government: Currently, the Centre can accept or reject recommendations made by the collegium system however, if a recommendation was reiterated, the government was obliged to accept it.

    Appointment

    What the ongoing tussle is all about?

    • More recently established consensus has given way to a stalemate, as the Centre stalls recommendations reiterated by the Collegium.
    • The Supreme Court pulled up the government for not following timelines laid down in the Second Judges Case.
    • The Standing Parliamentary Committee on Law and Personnel has also highlighted its disagreement with the Department of Justice that the time for filling vacancies cannot be indicated.

    Appointment

    What will be the impact of this tussle?

    • Decline in the capacity of India’s judicial system: The net effect of this historic tussle between the independent judiciary and overweening Centre has been a decline in the capacity of India’s judicial system
    • Vacancies in higher judiciary: There were approximately three vacancies (of 34) in the Supreme Court, along with about 381 (of 1,108) vacancies for judges in the high courts.
    • In lower judiciary: The lower judiciary had about 5,342 (of 24,631) seats vacant, accounting for 20 per cent of its capacity.
    • Impact on judicial efficiency: Such vacancies, particularly in the high courts of Bombay, Punjab & Haryana, Calcutta, Patna and Rajasthan are bound to have an impact on judicial efficiency (with about four crore cases pending, as of August 2022)

    Appointment

    A study: Process of appointment of judges in other countries and by political institutions

    • In Italy: Here, appointments to the Constitutional Court are made by the president, the legislature and the Supreme Court, with each entity allowed to nominate five judges.
    • In US: Supreme Court justices are nominated (for life) by the president and then approved by Senate via a majority vote. Whereas, the state governor appoints state judges based on recommendations provided by a merit commission.
    • In Germany: The German Constitutional Court is appointed by the Parliament (each House gets four appointments in each of the Court Senates) with a supermajority vote (2/3). Naturally, this can lead to a partisan judiciary.
    • In Iraq: All judges are graduates of a Judicial Institute, with all applicants undergoing written and oral tests, along with an interview with a panel of judges.
    • In Japan: The Supreme Court Secretariat controls lower-level judicial appointments, along with their training and promotions.
    • Judicial elections to enhance the accountability of judiciary: Judicial elections have also been utilised to enhance the accountability of the judiciary a variety of states in the US using elections for judicial appointments to the State Supreme Courts.
    • Judicial councils: Other countries have experimented with judicial councils (often comprising of existing judges, representatives of the Ministry of Justice, members of the bar association, laymen etc)

    Appointment

    Appointments through Judicial Commission

    • Centres push Judicial Commission: for Recently, the Centre pushed for judicial appointments to be conducted via a Judicial Commission (National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014).
    • Supreme court says collegium system open to greater transparency: The Supreme Court struck down the NJAC Act (2014) with a 4:1 majority, while highlighting that it was open to greater transparency in the collegium system in particular, making the collegium more transparent, fixing eligibility criteria for appointing judges and debating whether an empowered secretariat was required to appoint judges.

    In this scenario what are suggested reforms?

    • Empower secretariat to select and recommend candidates: The Collegium system can continue; however, a secretariat may be empowered to select and recommend candidates, with the Executive continuing to hold power to appoint judges.
    • Greater representation of our society in the judiciary: The secretariat could be staffed with current judges, members of the bar association, representatives of the law ministry and laymen and should push for greater representation of our society in the judiciary. There were only three women and two SC judges in the Supreme Court.
    • New Court of appeal: Beyond judicial appointments, there is a clear need for having a new Court of Appeal (refer PIL by V Vasanthakumar). The Supreme Court was never intended to be a regular court of appeal against orders in high courts (Bihar Legal Society vs Chief Justice of India, 1986) the Supreme Court should not be hearing bail applications.
    • Federal court of Appeal: Instead, as recommended by the Law Commission, we need to have a Federal Court of Appeal, with branches in major metros.
    • Transform Supreme court into constitutional court: The Supreme Court should be transformed into a Constitutional Court (via a constitutional amendment) doing this would mean fewer cases (about 50, anecdotally) being kept pending at the highest level.
    • Defined retirement age for all judges: There need a push for a defined retirement age, say 65, for all judges, whether at a high court or Supreme Court level post retirement, there should also be a mandatory cooling off period for judges to be nominated to roles in government.

    Conclusion

    • Judicial independence continues to be important for the health of India’s democracy. A credible and impartial system of appointing judges is necessary to achieve judicial independence. Any appointment must ensure judicial accountability, fostering a judiciary which, at an individual and systemic level, is independent from other branches of government.

    Mains Question

    Q. What is the process of appointment of Supreme Court and High Court Judges? What is the Government’s position on the appointment of judges? What measures are suggested for judicial appointments?

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  • Divyang Friendly Physical and Digital Interface of buildings

    Friendly

    Context

    • Among the various disadvantages we poorly equipped to support people with disabilities about access to parliament. It is time to make the physical and digital interface of parliament and other buildings more disabled-friendly.

    What are the common suggestions about disabled friendly parliament?

    • Accessibility Committee: To attend to the access needs of the disabled.
    • Providing sign language: For interpretation for Parliamentary proceedings.
    • Audit of website: Ordering an accessibility audit of Parliament’s websites.

    Friendly

    What is the accessible India campaign?

    • Disable friendly facilities: In December 2015, the Government of India launched the Accessible India Campaign (AIC) to make the built environment, ICT ecosystem and transport facilities more disabled-friendly.
    • Lack of enforcement: A strong enforcement mechanism is unfortunately absent in the AIC, led by people with disabilities and accessibility professionals, to ensure that ambitious milestones are set and pursued to their meaningful conclusion.

    Recommendations of report by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy

    • Make every building accessible: A report by the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, titled “Beyond Reasonable Accommodation” points out, the requirement to make every new building accessible before it is granted an Occupancy Certificate.
    • Integration of laws: The relevant provisions of the Harmonised Guidelines and Standards for Universal Accessibility in India, 2021 must be integrated into local bye-laws and state planning laws.
    • Sensitivity about compliance: Municipal authorities must have the know-how and sensitivity to gauge compliance with the norms to make the built environment accessible and access to competent accessibility professionals who can provide appropriate inputs at every stage.
    • Professions to enforce compliance: The list of empanelled professionals maintained by municipal authorities must also consist of accessibility professionals, and this requirement must be codified in model building bye-laws and the National Building Code.

    Digital

    What parliament can do?

    • Accessibility committee: Parliament must set up an accessibility committee urgently that must be tasked with delivering recommendations in a time-bound fashion on making every aspect of the Parliamentary process more disabled-friendly.
    • Taking cue from supreme court: The constitution of an Accessibility Committee by the Supreme Court recently may be a good reference point for Parliament.

    What can centre and states do?

    • Accessibility criteria in procurement: Central and state level procurement laws and policies must incorporate accessibility criteria in public procurement of physical, digital and transport infrastructure.
    • Accessible tenders and documents: These must be replicated in agreements between procurement agencies and bidders/contractors. In addition, tender documents must set out applicable accessibility standards.

    Conclusion

    • Disable people suffers from structural disadvantage at every stage of governance including building infrastructure. Parliament should start from itself to give larger message of about sensitivity towards disabled friendly buildings.

    Mains Question

    Q. Explain the limitations of accessible India campaign? Suggest the way towards more disable friendly buildings in India.

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  • Latest round of commander-level talks at Line of Actual control (LAC)

    talks

    Context

    • A week after the clash in Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh, convening of the 17th round of India-China corps commander-level talks at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point in eastern Ladakh is a positive development. But unfortunately, it does not inspire confidence about Chinese intentions vis a vis the Line of Actual Control.

     Background

    • Disengagement at Gogra Hot springs in last round of talks: The last round of talks was held in July, and in September, the government announced that the two sides had finished disengaging at Gogra Hot Springs, as had been agreed in the 16th round.
    • Beijing reluctant for further rounds of talks: Beijing appeared reluctant to accede to Delhi’s push for another round,
    • No return to the status quo: China signals that there is nothing more to discuss about the situation in eastern Ladakh, and certainly not a return to the status quo that existed before its incursions in April-May 2020.

    What is outcome of the latest round of talks and the current status?

    • No mutually acceptable resolution on remaining issues: A joint statement that the two sides agreed to keep talking through military and diplomatic channels toward a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest suggests that there was no outcome from this round. It is also not clear if the remaining issues have been agreed upon by both sides.
    • India facing an altered status quo: Apart from the fact that India now faces an altered status quo and that the PLA is rapidly building war-like infrastructure on its side, for India, the remaining issues are the presence of Chinese troops in the Depsang plains, and intrusions in the Demchok area.
    • Tensions seems manageable but situation is unpredictable: The sector-wise compartmentalisation makes the tensions seem manageable, but the reality appears to be that there is no predicting which part of the 3,500 km of the line will flare up suddenly, as it did recently.
    • Situation is very serious: Minister of External Affairs S Jaishankar flagged the seriousness of the situation when he told Parliament that the Indian deployment at the LAC is at its highest level.
    • Despite the advanced surveillance, no clarity on Army’s preparedness: From the short statement by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, it is unclear how prepared the Army was for the transgression at Tawang, despite the advanced Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance devices that have reportedly been installed in that area.

    talks

    Why China has opened new front in Tawang?

    • Status quo along the boundary not only limited to the Western Sector: China has traditionally been active in areas close to Ladakh given the significance of the Xinjiang-Tibet region in its domestic narrative. However, with its sights on an ageing Dalai Lama, and the issue of his succession, Beijing will want to bring into focus its claims on Tawang, and the rest of Arunachal Pradesh.
    • Huge investment in infrastructure in eastern sector: China has invested in infrastructure in the Eastern Sector over many years. This includes rail, road, and air connectivity, better telecommunications, as well as improved capacity to station and supply troops and artillery.
    • Centrality of the boundary issue in the India-China relationship: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has repeatedly asserted that it is no longer possible to separate the boundary question from the overall relationship and that peace and tranquillity on the LAC is the key to restoring relations. However, China is likely to keep up the pressure on the ground along the LAC, even as they continue to suggest that the two countries look beyond the differences, much like Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s comments during his March 2022 visit when he claimed that the two sides need to “inject more positive energy” into the relationship.

    talks

    Way ahead

    • Delhi should make a push for talks at the diplomatic level even as it ramps up military preparedness.
    • Whatever the facts on the ground and regardless of how the tensions will unfold, the government would be well advised to take the Opposition parties into confidence at the earliest.
    • A wide political consensus is what the country needs when confronted with tensions at the borders and it is the government’s task and responsibility to build it.

    Conclusion

    • Delhi should make a push for talks at the diplomatic level even as it ramps up military preparedness. Whatever the facts on the ground and regardless of how the tensions will unfold, the government should take the Opposition parties into confidence at the earliest. A wide political consensus is what the country needs when confronted with tensions at the borders

    Mains Question

    Q. China has opened new front in the eastern sector. Even after the commander level talks multiple times, frictions between the two continues at LAC. Discuss.

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  • What is Adjournment Sine Die?

    Both houses of the Parliament were adjourned sine die, six days ahead of their schedule.

    Session of Parliament and Related Terminologies

    • During a session, both the Houses meet almost daily barring holidays to transact business be it to discuss a matter of public matters, frame laws, amend laws, place Standing Committee reports and pass financial bills among others.
    • The Houses are in session thrice a year: Budget Session (February to May); Monsoon Session (July to September); and Winter Session (November to December).

    Terminating the session

    • During a session of Parliament, usually, there are two sittings: morning sitting from 11 am to 1 pm and post-lunch sitting from 2 pm to 6 pm.
    • The sitting of the Parliament in both the Houses can be terminated only by adjournment, adjournment sine die, prorogation and dissolution (not applicable for Rajya Sabha).
    • Technically, a session of the Parliament means the period between the first sitting of a House and its prorogation or dissolution.
    • The period between the prorogation of a House and its reassembly in a new session is called a recess.

    (1) Adjournment sine die

    • Adjournment sine die means terminating a sitting of Parliament for an indefinite period, that is, when the House is adjourned without naming a day for reassembly, it is called adjournment sine die.
    • The power of adjournment sine die lies with the presiding officer of the House.
    • However, the presiding officer of a House can call a sitting of the House before the date or time to which it has been adjourned or at any time after the House has been adjourned sine die.

    (2) Adjournment

    • An adjournment results in the suspension of work in a sitting for a specified time, which may be hours, days or weeks.
    • In this case, the time of reassembly is specified as an adjournment only terminates a sitting and not a session of the House.
    • The power of adjournment lies with the presiding officer of the House.

    (3) Prorogation

    • The term prorogation means the termination of a session of the House by an order made by the President under Article 85(2)(a) of the Constitution.
    • The prorogation terminates both the sitting and session of the House and is usually done within a few days after the House is adjourned sine die by the presiding officer.
    • The President issues a notification for the prorogation of the session. However, the president can also prorogue the House while in session.
    • It must be noted that all pending notices except those for introducing bills lapse.

    (4) Dissolution

    • Whenever a dissolution happens, it ends the very life of the existing House and a new House is constituted after the General Elections.
    • However, only the Lok Sabha is subject to dissolution as the Rajya Sabha, being a permanent House, is not subject to dissolution. The dissolution of the Lok Sabha may take place in two ways:
    1. Automatic dissolution: On the expiry of its tenure: five years or the terms as extended during a national emergency.
    2. Order of President: If the President is authorised by the Council of Ministers, he or she can dissolve Lok Sabha, even before the end of the term. The president may also dissolve Lok Sabha if the Council of Ministers loses confidence and no party is able to form the government. Once the Lok Sabha is dissolved before the completion of its normal tenure, the dissolution is irrevocable.

    Impact on legislation process

    • When the Lok Sabha is dissolved, all business including bills, motions, resolutions, notices and petitions that are pending before it or its committees lapse.
    • Summoning: Summoning is the process of calling all members of the Parliament to meet.

    When does a Bill lapse in Indian Parliament? 

    Depending on the status of the pending legislation, and where it originated, there are certain cases in which the Bill lapses on dissolution of Assembly.

    1. Bills originated in Lok Sabha
    • Any Bill that originated in the Lok Sabha, but could not be passed, lapses.
    • A Bill originated and passed by the Lok Sabha but pending in the Rajya Sabha also lapses
    1. Bills originated in Rajya Sabha
    • The Constitution also gives MPs in Rajya Sabha the power to introduce a Bill.
    • Therefore a Bill that originated in Rajya Sabha and was passed by it, but remains pending in Lok Sabha also lapses.
    • A Bill originated in the Rajya Sabha and returned to that House by the Lok Sabha with amendments and still pending in the Rajya Sabha on the date of the dissolution of Lok Sabha lapses.

    When a Bill does not lapse

    1. Not all Bills, which haven’t yet become law, lapse at the end of the Lok Sabha’s term.
    2. A Bill pending in the Rajya Sabha, but not passed by the Lok Sabha, does not lapse.
    3. A Bill passed by both the Houses but pending assent of the President of India, does not lapse.
    4. A Bill passed by both Houses but returned by the President of India for reconsideration of the Parliament does not lapse.
    5. Some pending Bills and all pending assurances that are to be examined by the Committee on Government Assurances also does not lapse on the dissolution of the Lok Sabha.

     

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  • 81 crore people to get free foodgrains for one year under NFSA

    The government discontinued the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and has decided to provide free foodgrains to all 81 crore beneficiaries covered under the National Food Security Act (NFSA) for one year.

    About PMGKAY

    • PMGKAY is a food security welfare scheme announced by the GoI in March 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
    • The program is operated by the Department of Food and Public Distribution under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.
    • The scale of this welfare scheme makes it the largest food security program in the world.

    Targets of the scheme

    • To feed the poorest citizens of India by providing grain through the Public Distribution System to all the priority households (ration card holders and those identified by the Antyodaya Anna Yojana scheme).
    • PMGKAY provides 5 kg of rice or wheat (according to regional dietary preferences) per person/month and 1 kg of dal to each family holding a ration card.

    Success of the scheme

    • Pandemic mitigation: It was the first step by the government when pandemic affected India.
    • Wide section of beneficiaries: The scheme reached its targeted population feeding almost 80Cr people.
    • Support to migrants: It has proven to be more of a safety net to migrant people who had job and livelihood losses.
    • Food and Nutrition security: This has also ensured nutrition security to children of the migrant workers.

    Limitations of the scheme

    • Corruption: The scheme has been affected by widespread corruption, leakages and failure to distribute grain to the intended recipients.
    • Leakages: Out of the 79.25 crore beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act (NFSA), only 55 crore have so far received their 5 kg.
    • Inaccessibility: Many people were denied their share due to inability to access ration cards.
    • Low consumption: Livelihood losses led to decline in aggregate demand and resulted into lowest ever consumption expenditure by the people owing to scarcity of cash.
    • Resale of subsidized grains: This in turn led to selling of the free grains obtained in the local markets for cash.

    Back2Basics: National Food Security (NFS) Act

    • The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
    • It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.
    • It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the GoI.
    • It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
    • Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
    • The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
    • Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.

    Key provisions of NFSA

    • The NFSA provides a legal right to persons belonging to “eligible households” to receive foodgrains at a subsidised price.
    • It includes rice at Rs 3/kg, wheat at Rs 2/kg and coarse grain at Rs 1/kg — under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS).
    • These are called central issue prices (CIPs).

     

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  • [pib] The Urban Learning Internship Programme (TULIP)

    tulip

    More than 25,000 internship opportunities have been advertised under the TULIP programme so far.

    TULIP Program

    • TULIP is a portal jointly developed by the Ministry of HRD, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, and All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
    • It helps reap the benefits of India’s demographic dividend as it is poised to have the largest working-age population in the world in the coming years.
    • It helps enhance the value-to-market of India’s graduates and help create a potential talent pool in diverse fields like urban planning, transport engineering, environment, municipal finance etc.
    • It furthers the Government’s endeavors to boost community partnership and government-academia-industry-civil society linkages.

    Why need such a program?

    • India has a substantial pool of technical graduates for whom exposure to real-world project implementation and planning is essential for professional development.
    • General education may not reflect the depth of productive knowledge present in society.
    • Instead of approaching education as ‘doing by learning,’ our societies need to reimagine education as ‘learning by doing.’

     

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  • Hurdles in Judicial Infrastructure Upgrade

    Judicial

    Context

    • With every new Chief Justice, India’s judicial infrastructure returns to the spotlight. It was Justice S.H. Kapadia who in 2010, first tried to have a systematic plan to examine the conditions of existing infrastructure and realize the future needs of district judiciary.

    Attempt at judicial Infrastructure upgrade from Judiciary

    • Magistrate infrastructure: We have had Justice T.S. Thakur publicly lament the poor conditions in which magistrates’ function.
    • Vacancy in district judiciary: Then Justice Ranjan Gogoi successfully streamlined filling up of vacancies in district judiciary.
    • National judicial infrastructure authority: Justice N.V. Ramana initiated a discussion on creation of a national judicial infrastructure authority, which has been rejected.
    • Strengthening district judiciary: And now we have Justice D.Y. Chandrachud raising the issue of strengthening the district judiciary.

    Judicial

    Attempt of Government of India in upgrading Judicial infrastructure

    • Allocation of funds: The Centre has been attempting to improve infrastructure at the district level in a consistent manner by allocating funds.
    • Centrally sponsored schemes: Since 1993-94, a centrally sponsored scheme (CSS) of the Union government has tried to address the issue of bringing judicial infrastructure up to par.
    • Contribution from states: Through the scheme, the Centre has been earmarking funds with contributions from respective state governments in the ratio of 60:40 (90:10 for North-eastern states and union territories), including monitoring progress of initiated projects.
    • No improvement in district courts: Despite the scheme spearheaded by the Ministry of Law and Justice, there hasn’t been any considerable improvement in the physical state of our district courts, leaving successive Chief Justices to lament about the poor state of affairs.

    Reasons for non-progress in judicial Infrastructure

    • Non-utilization of funds: Most of the funds allocated under the scheme remain unutilised because states do not come forward with their share, leading to lapse of annual budgetary allocation. Sample this: a total of Rs 981.98 crore were sanctioned in 2019-20. Ultimately, only Rs 84.9 crore came to be spent, leaving 91.36% funds unutilised. In 2020-21, of the sanctioned Rs 594.36 crore, Rajasthan emerged on the top by utilising Rs 41.28 crore but again substantial funds lapsed due to non-utilisation.
    • No ownership of scheme: There is no single ownership of the scheme. Lack of one coordinating agency prevents its successful execution. The CSS, in its current form, visualises a separate state- and central-level monitoring committees.
    • No representation of judiciary in central committees: In the central committee, there is no representation of the judiciary as an institution. So, the ultimate consumer of the scheme is absent from the entire process.
    • Lack of planning: Lack of planning for the future also has its casualties. At present, the central scheme does not plan to cater to future requirements. So, there is no discussion on the foreseeable workload of district judiciary in the coming 10-20 years.
    • No single agency to implement: The lack of a single agency prevents from realising both the short-term and long-term objectives. Short-term objectives such as constructing courtrooms for the existing judicial strength as opposed to sanctioned strength, record rooms, computer service rooms, etc. suffer in the absence of a single agency that could measure progress of planned initiatives and nudge the stakeholders into acting.

    Judicial

    What is the way forward?

    • Single dedicated institution: A single permanent body as proposed by Justice Ramana would bring a cohesive approach with ensuring that when states submit action plans for upgrading/establishing judicial infrastructure, they also deposit their share of funds with the authority.
    • Working with state government: While the actual work is carried out in partnership with the states, it will ensure that one agency is responsible for mapping out objectives and achieving them.

    Conclusion

    • Justice is keystone of healthy society and just Nation. India cannot move ahead to its economic prosperity without upgrading its judiciary. Upgrading the judicial infrastructure should be priority for the judiciary as well as government.

    Mains Question

    Q. Enlist the historical attempt at upgrading judicial infrastructure. Despite so much attempts, what are the major reasons for lack of judicial infrastructure?

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  • Virtual Digital Assets (VDA) and Terror Financing

    Digital

    Context

    • No Money for Terror conference hosted by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs concluded with a commitment from the 93 participating nations to end all financing of terror, including through the use of emerging digital technologies such as VDAs.

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    Concerns regarding virtual digital assets

    • VDAs for illicit activities: The concerns around the misuse of VDAs for illicit activities require careful legislative responses and forward-looking regulatory guardrails.
    • Non reporting and non-transparency: On a fundamental level, these concerns stem from a lack of reporting and transparency norms, and an absence of international consensus on regulatory design.
    • Lack of reliable data: The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) Deputy Director highlighted the difficulty in regulating VDAs, given the lack of reliable data on VDA transactions.
    • Unregulated transactions: This allows bad actors to engage in unchecked transactions and defraud investors, as evinced by one of the (erstwhile) largest VDA exchanges FTX.

    Digital

    India’s role in regulating the VDA

    • Leveraging G20 Presidency: As one of the highest-ranked countries in terms of VDA adoption, and now with the G20 presidency, India has a critical role to play in shaping the global regulatory environment.
    • Empowering anti-money laundering authorities: In the short term, a viable approach for India is in taking the industry and the investor into confidence by allowing anti-money laundering (AML) authorities visibility over VDA transactions, and the power to impose controls upon them and prosecute in the event of any misuse.
    • India should adopt FATF guidelines: There are several international templates to this effect. The Financial Action Task Force Guidelines on Virtual Asset Transactions (FATF Guidelines) are a case in point, which have been adopted by various jurisdictions, including the EU, Japan and Singapore.

    Digital

    FATFs Guideline regarding VDA regulation

    • Minimum anti-money laundering standards: The FATF prescribes minimum Anti-money laundering standards that countries should employ to prevent the likelihood of misuse, and the FATF Guidelines prescribe the same for VDA transactions.
    • Licensing and reporting of VDAs: The Guidelines are applicable to VDA service providers of member states like India. Key features of the FATF Guidelines include licence/registration requirements and extensive reporting and record-keeping obligations for VDA service providers.
    • Travel rule obligations: One such obligation is the Travel Rule, which requires service providers to record the originator and beneficiary’s account details, transaction amount, and purpose of transaction for all wire transfers.
    • Verifying identity above certain threshold: Customer due diligence obligations, which include verifying the customer and beneficiary’s identities should be conducted for all transactions exceeding $1,000.
    • Obligation on service provider: The FATF Guidelines also require VDA service providers to perform enhanced due diligence obligations (such as corroborating the customer’s identity with a national database or potentially tracing the customer’s IP address to ensure there are no links to illicit activities) when a transaction is with a higher-risk country.

    Digital

    What are India’s current laws to regulate VDA?

    • PMLA includes reporting obligation: India’s existing Anti-money laundering framework under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA) already applies these regulatory tools over traditional financial institutions. Notably, the PMLA also includes reporting obligations for overseas transactions that fall under the ambit of “suspicious transactions” under the framework.
    • PMLA doesn’t apply to VDAs: Currently, the PMLA does not apply to the VDA industry.
    • government can bring VDA under PMLA: The government has the power to notify any “designated business or profession” as a reporting entity under the PMLA and can issue a notification that classifies VDA service providers as a designated business.

    Conclusion

    • With the Digital Data Protection Bill and the Digital India Act already in the pipeline, Indians and digital businesses will soon have a coherent rights and responsibility framework to operate within. The time is ripe to extend regulatory oversight over the VDA industry so as to ensure that tech-innovation flourishes in a responsible, accountable manner.

    Mains Question

    Q. How virtual digital assets and terror financing are interlinked? What is the role of PMLA act in regulation of VDA in India?

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  • World Ayurveda Congress: Aligning traditional medicine with modern medicines

    modern

    Context

    • Prime Minister Narendra Modi commended the recent growth of traditional medicine (TM), and Ayurveda in particular, while addressing the World Ayurveda Congress 2022 (WAC) earlier this month. Noting the lag in evidence despite considerable research, he gave a clarion call “to bring together medical data, research, and journals and verify claims (benefit) using modern science parameters”.

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    All you need to know about World Ayurveda Congress (WAC)

    • Platform by World Ayurveda foundation: The World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) is a platform established by World Ayurveda Foundation to propagate Ayurveda globally in its true sense.
    • Platform to connect various stakeholders in medicine: World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) is a platform to connect Ayurveda practitioners, medicine manufacturers, enthusiasts and academicians.
    • What is the mandate: World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) & Arogya Expo monitors progress and initiate missions and collect feedbacks.

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    World Ayurveda Congress (WAC), 2022

    • 9th edition of WAC held at Panjim, Goa: The 9th edition of World Ayurveda Congress (WAC) & Arogya Expo was organized at PANJIM, GOA.
    • Organised by Ministry of AYSUSH on the principle of whole government approach (WGA): The WAC organised by the Ministry of AYUSH on the ‘Whole Government Approach’ (WGA) to foster and strengthen the research ecosystem for AYUSH systems.
    • What is Whole System Approach (WSA): The concept of WGA is in consonance with the “Whole System Approach” (WSA). WSA encompasses integrated and network participation of several stakeholders (including patients and the community) for better solutions (treatment outcomes) in a challenging and complex situation. IM is an important component of WSA in the current context.
    • Active Participation: The event witnessed the active participation of more than 40 countries and all states of India.
    • PM’s vision: To transform the healthcare system of the country and to develop a healthy society, there is a need to think holistically and integrate the Traditional medicine (TM) and modern medicine system (MM).

    World Ayurveda Foundation (WAF)

    • Aim of WAF: WAF is an initiative by Vijnana Bharati aimed at global propagation of Ayurveda, founded in 2011.
    • Objective and core principle: The objectives of WAF reflect global scope, propagation and encouragement of all activities scientific and Ayurveda related are the core principles.
    • Focus Areas: Support to research, health-care programmes through camps, clinics and sanatoriums, documentation, organization of study groups, seminars, exhibitions and knowledge initiatives to popularize Ayurveda in the far corners of the world are the broad latitudes of focus at WAF.

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    What is Traditional Medicine?

    • According to WHO: The WHO describes traditional medicine as the total sum of the “knowledge, skills and practices indigenous and different cultures have used over time to maintain health and prevent, diagnose and treat physical and mental illness”.
    • Culmination of multiple ancient practices: Its reach encompasses ancient practices such as acupuncture, ayurvedic medicine and herbal mixtures as well as modern medicines.
    • Percentage of people use traditional medicine: of According to WHO estimates, 80% of the world’s population uses traditional medicine.

    Traditional medicine in India

    • It is often defined as including practices and therapies such as Yoga, Ayurveda, Siddha that have been part of Indian tradition historically, as well as others such as homeopathy that became part of Indian tradition over the years.
    • Ayurveda and yoga are practised widely across the country.
    • The Siddha system is followed predominantly in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
    • The Sowa-Rigpa System is practised mainly in Leh-Ladakh and Himalayan regions such as Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Darjeeling, Lahaul & Spiti.

    How TM modalities (such as Ayurveda or homoeopathy) can scientifically align with MM for a better outcome?

    • Remarkable success in treating neurological diseases: A recently established Department of IM in NIMHANS continued to show remarkable success in treating difficult neurological diseases with a team of Ayurvedic and MM physicians and carefully planned and monitored IM strategy.
    • CRD projects: Modern rheumatology practice in the Centre for Rheumatic Diseases (CRD) model includes critical elements of TM and Ayurveda, which have shown unequivocal evidence in CRD research projects
    • Evaluation based on other protocols: Several controlled protocols-based evaluations of standardised Ayurvedic drugs and other TM modalities (such as diet, exercise, yoga, and counselling), often in conjunction with MM, in arthritis patients, were completed.
    • Sustained clinical improvement in patients suffering from active Rheumatoid arthritis (RA): RA is a severely painful crippling lifelong autoimmune condition, mostly seen in women, and universally acknowledged as difficult to treat. Supervised and monitored IM intervention (including Ayurvedic drugs) over several years showed a consistently superior and sustained clinical improvement in patients suffering from active RA.

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    Relationship between AYUSH and Modern medicines

    • AYUSH systems include Ayurveda, Homeopathy, Unani, Siddha, and other TM.
    • AYUSH systems and MM differ radically in several ways or so it seems.
    • Modern scientific research in Ayurveda is often at variance with classical Ayurveda.
    • Unlike MM, TM has at its core a personalised approach. MM is dominantly reductionist.
    • The ambitious futuristic programme of TM and IM by AYUSH is well-intended and in the right direction.

    Conclusion

    • TM and Ayurveda need to respond to the new world order, which has changed substantially recently. It is reasonably certain that MM and TM in the current format will continue to treat several medical disorders and altered health states. But evidence-based medicine will become the new mantra. Also, informed and empowered patients and people will continue to make the right choices.

    Mains question

    Q. What is World Ayurveda congress? What is tradition medicines? How Traditional medicines can align with modern medicines to treat several serious medical disorders.

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  • Mapping: Great Lakes

    lake

    Scientists are building a sensor network to detect the trends in the water chemistry of Lake Huron, one of the five Great Lakes of North America.

    What is the Acidification of water bodies?

    • Acidification of oceans or freshwater bodies takes place when excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere gets rapidly absorbed into them.
    • Scientists initially believed this might be a good thing, as it leaves less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
    • But in the past decade or so, it has been established that absorption of carbon dioxide leads to a lowering of the pH, which makes the water bodies more acidic.

    What are Great Lakes?

    • The Great Lakes are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River.
    • There are five lakes, which are Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario and are in general on or near the Canada–US border.
    • Hydrologically, lakes Michigan and Huron are a single body joined at the Straits of Mackinac.
    • By itself, Lake Huron is the world’s third largest freshwater lake, after Lake Superior and Lake Victoria.
    • The Great Lakes Waterway enables modern travel and shipping by water among the lakes.

    Why are they significant?

    • The Great Lakes contain a fifth of the world’s total freshwater, and is a crucial source of irrigation and transportation.
    • They also serve as the habitat for more than 3,500 species of plants and animals.

    Acidification of Great Lakes

    • Scientists are developing a system that would be capable of measuring the carbon dioxide and pH levels of the Great Lakes over several years.
    • It is known that the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide has caused the world’s oceans to turn more acidic.
    • Recently, it has been observed that by 2100, even the Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario — might approach acidity at around the same rate as the oceans.
    • Researchers hope the data from the Lake Huron project would add to scientific information on the subject.

    Consequences of acidification

    • The Great Lakes are believed to have been born some 20,000 years ago, when the Earth started to warm and water from melting glaciers filled the basins on its surface.
    • However, this rich ecosphere is under threat as the five lakes would witness a pH decline of 0.29-0.49 pH units — meaning they would become more acidic — by 2100.
    • This may lead to a decrease in native biodiversity, create physiological challenges for organisms, and permanently alter the structure of the ecosystem, scientists say.
    • It would also severely impact the hundreds of wooden shipwrecks that are believed to be resting at the bottom of these lakes.

     

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