The Indian Council for Historical Research (ICHR) has deferred its decision on a recommendation to remove the 1921 Malabar Rebellion martyrs, including Variamkunnaathu Kunhahamad Haji and Ali Musliyar, from the list of India’s freedom fighters.
Malabar Rebellion
The Malabar Rebellion in 1921 started as resistance against the British colonial rule and the feudal system in southern Malabar but ended in communal violence between Hindus and Muslims.
There were a series of clashes between Mappila peasantry and their landlords, supported by the British, throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries.
It began as a reaction against a heavy-handed crackdown on the Khilafat Movement, a campaign in defence of the Ottoman Caliphate by the British authorities in the Eranad and Valluvanad taluks of Malabar.
The Mappilas attacked and took control of police stations, British government offices, courts and government treasuries.
Who was Variyankunna Kunjahammed Haji?
He was one of the leaders of the Malabar Rebellion of 1921.
He raised 75000 natives, seized control of large territory from the British rule and set up a parallel government.
In January 1922, under the guise of a treaty, the British betrayed Haji through his close friend Unyan Musaliyar, arresting him from his hideout and producing him before a British judge.
He was sentenced to death along with his compatriots.
Back2Basics: “Dictionary of Martyrs” Project
The project for compilation of “Dictionary of Martyrs” of India’s Freedom Struggle was commissioned by the Ministry of Culture, to the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) to commemorate the 150th anniversary of uprising of 1857.
In this dictionary a martyr has been defined as a person who died or who was killed in action or in detention, or was awarded capital punishment while participating in the national movement for emancipation of India.
It includes ex-INA or ex-military personnel who died fighting the British.
Information of about 13,500 martyrs has been recorded in these volumes.
Who are included?
It includes the martyrs of 1857 Uprising, Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (1919), Non-Cooperation Movement (1920-22), Civil Disobedience Movement (1930-34), Quit India Movement (1942-44), Revolutionary Movements (1915-34), Kissan Movements, Tribal Movements, Agitation for Responsible Government in the Princely States (Prajamandal), Indian National Army (INA, 1943-45), Royal Indian Navy Upsurge (RIN, 1946), etc.
Five Volumes
Volume 1: In this volume, more than 4400 martyrs of Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have been listed.
Volume 2: In this volume more than 3500 martyrs of Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir have been listed.
Volume 3: The number of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 1400. This volume covers the martyrs of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Sind.
Volume 4: The numbers of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 3300. This volume covers the martyrs of Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland and Tripura.
Volume 5: The number of martyrs covered in this volume is more than 1450. This volume covers the martyrs of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
Try this question from CSP 2020:
Q. With reference to the history of India, “Ulgulan” or the Great Tumult is the description of which of the following event?
(a) The Revolt of 1857
(b) The Mappila Rebellion of 1921
(c) The Indigo Revolt of 1859-60
(d) Birsa Munda’s Revolt of 1899-1900
[wpdiscuz-feedback id=”do699luzvz” question=”Please leave a feedback on this” opened=”1″]Post your answers here.[/wpdiscuz-feedback]
Pakistan’s opposition parties are ready to move a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan. The country is facing a recurring financial crisis and Khan is accused of mismanaging the economy.
What is the real issue?
Anger against the govt: Pakistan’s economy was already facing a crisis that Khan has been unable to resolve. He has been accused of mismanaging the economy and the country’s foreign policy.
Pakistan military’s stance: When Khan came to power, he had the complete support of the military. As pressure grows on Khan, Pakistan’s powerful military is said to have withdrawn support to the government.
Support within his government: Ahead of the crucial no-confidence vote, Khan’s cabinet ministers are resigning. Khan is losing support quickly and it is unlikely that he will survive the no-confidence vote.
Pakistan has a history of political crisis
Political instability has been endemic with the country alternating between military interventions and civilian rule.
Inherent motives of elite class: Reforms that could have transformed the country and placed its economy on a high-growth were repeatedly postponed as they would have threatened the ruling elite’s privileges and hold on power.
Complicating the quest to address persistent economic, governance and security challenges was the impact of global and regional developments.
Reasons for the political conflict in Pakistan: The political conflict in Pakistan is because of the gap between –
the modern state and traditional society,
between institutional design and practice and
between “a ‘Western’ framework of authority and Islamic norms and practices”.
Governance failures and the ruling elite’s resistance to reform have marked Pakistan’s political history.
An Establishmentarian Democracy: Pakistan’s present hybrid regime is democratic only in form and not substance. There is also a long history of manipulation of elections by extra-parliamentary forces to shape outcomes.
Pakistan leaning toward a failed state
Advance by Taliban: Concerns about stability in Pakistan became more acute when the Taliban began their advance out of Swat towards Punjab. The Taliban had come within 100 miles of Islamabad.
A collapsed Pakistan will be a nightmare for the US and the region: The US fears that Al Qaeda could launch attacks against the US from Pakistani territory.
An even greater fear is that Pakistani nuclear weapons may fall into the hands of radicals. Thus, it is imperative for the US to stabilize Pakistan.
Pakistan’s approach towards terrorism: Despite military action against the Taliban, Pakistan’s attitude towards terrorism remains ambiguous.
It has done precious little to bring to book the perpetrators of the Mumbai terror attacks. Terror groups from Punjab and PoK are regarded as assets against India.
Seeds of long-term instability have sown: The military has once again become stronger after the Swat operations although.
The army has about 20 per cent Pushtuns. The operations against the Taliban who are also Pushtuns may affect the morale within the army.
Failure of CPEC
China has played the game: China will largely be benefitted by CPEC at the cost of Pakistan. Pakistan is slowly moving towards a financial doomsday.
Negative Economic Growth of Pakistan: Almost half of the time has passed and CPEC has not been able to contribute even a single penny towards the GDP of Pakistan.
At the same time, Chinese debts are mounting and the re-payment of these loans and interests is causing holes in the Pakistan economy.
CPEC failed to generate even a single job except for casual labour for the construction of some of the projects.
No accountability for delay/cost escalations: Except early harvest power projects, not even a single CPEC project was completed in time. Each and every project is running late with major cost escalations.
Ceding of strategic assets: Pakistan has already ceded two islands and is in the process of ceding a few more assets including the entire Gwadar Free Trade Zone to China.
In mid-2020, Pakistan also gave total mining rights at its Saindak Mines to China at a throwaway price of just 350 Million USD.
Military Aspects of CPEC: Military have been ruling the country ever since its inception in 1947 and will continue to do so.
Also, Pakistan is facing the wrath of US and other international powers because of its involvement in terror-related activities.
Pakistan needs military hardware and at this point of time, China is the only source.
Industrial output in Chinese Hands: China is slowly acquiring Pakistani industries.
As such there is negative growth in the Industrial output of Pakistan in the last 5 years, handing over key industries to China will invariably put China in the driving seat of its economic growth.
China is never going to use it for benefit of Pakistan but will make all efforts to achieve maximum profits in the least possible time. It will put a serious strain on Pakistan’s Economy and overall GDP.
Pakistan is fast turning into a Chinese colony: China is known for its aggressive policies and debt-trap diplomacy. Their union has created a serious impact on the foreign relations of Pakistan.
Recently, Pakistan lost all its rapport among the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) especially Saudi Arabia and UAE and one of the major reasons is the dirty association of China-Pakistan.
Balochistan’s Uprising
During the British withdrawal from the Indian subcontinent, the Kingdom of Balochistan was given the choice of joining India, Pakistan, or remaining independent.
Balochistan’s king chose to remain independent, and the country did remain independent for over a year.
In 1948, the Pakistani government used a combination of military and diplomatic means to seize control of the region and incorporate it into Pakistan.
The insurgency in Balochistan has been active since 1948, owing to a lack of development and the human rights violations in the province by the Pakistani military and terror groups.
Pakistan claims that India has provided arms and intelligence to these rebel fighters.
Back to Basics: About Balochistan
Balochistan is one of Pakistan’s four provinces. Despite being the largest province in terms of land area, it is the least populated.
It is populated by ethnic Baloch people who can be found across modern-day Iran and Afghanistan, while Balochistan has the majority of the Baloch population.
Balochistan is one of Pakistan’s most important areas, rich in natural gas and oil reserves.
India’s position in Balochistan
India has alwaysmaintained a stance of not intervening in Pakistan’s or any other country’s internal affairs.
Despite Pakistan’s repeated references to the Kashmir issue over the years, India has remained silent on the Balochistan issue.
In 2016, however, comments about Balochistan were made in the immediate aftermath of Pakistan’s Independence Day celebrations, which were dedicated to the independence of Kashmir.
The government of India is now making an issue of annexed areas like Baluchistan should be given back to their people along with independence.
It is now for the first time taking about such issues a bold step in the right direction, and gets their people the human rights denied to them for long. Pakistan and its Army has not dreamt of this changed India.
By invoking Balochistan freedom struggle, PM targeted both Pakistan & China, whose CPEC depends on safe passage from Gwadar.
Area of conflict with Afghanistan
Durand line conflict: Durand line is separating Afghanistan and Pakistan, forced by the British dividing the Pashtun people between Pakistan and Afghanistan, is not endorsed by any Afghan government including the Taliban.
Independent Pashtunistan can also soon be a reality with areas from Afghanistan and Pakistan making up their country. The Pashtun people are Sunni Muslims.
Independent Kurdistan freedom movement: The actions in the area for an Independent Kurdistan are also having ramifications on freedom movements of other ethnic groups divided by history.
The Kurds are much ahead than all other freedom movements in the area, as they are backed by oil wealth from the region under their control.
The Kurds are also divided into three parts: one part with Syria, the second part with Turkey and the third part with Iraq.
Shia-Sunni Divide in Pakistan
The origin of Shia–Sunni relations can be traced back to a dispute over the succession to the Islamic prophet Muhammad as a caliph of the Islamic community.
After the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad in 632, a group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Sunnis, believed that Muhammad’s successor should be Abu Bakr whereas a second group of Muslims, who would come to be known as the Shia, believed that his successor should have been Ali.
Recently, thousands of Deobandi followers seen chanting anti-Shia slogans in Pakistan, referring to the community as ‘kafir’ (non-Muslim) and calling upon the state to ban Ashura, the Shias’ main religious event to mourn the death of Prophet Muhammad’s grandson Hussain in 680 AD.
The Pakistan government tried to contain any outbreak of violence, because Shias in Pakistan are a sizeable minority. They represent about 21% of the total Muslim population, the highest number in a country after Iran.
Violence is inevitable: Deobandi ideology has been given a freer hand, as demonstrated by the passing of the Tahaffuz-e-Bunyad bill in July 2020 in the provincial Punjab Assembly.
The bill is problematic due to its lack of consensus on key religious concepts between Sunnis and Shias.
Pakistan has reportedly witnessed the killing of approximately 4,847 Shias in incidents of sectarian violence between 2001 and 2018. Karachi saw the targeted killing of Shia doctors and lawyers in 1999, even before 9/11.
The Barelvis who are known for greater sympathy with the Shias also seem to have turned against them in recent times.
The state of Pakistan’s economy
Forex and currency crises: Pakistan has repeatedly run into macroeconomic crises- runaway inflation, current account and trade deficits, depleting foreign reserves, and currency devaluations.
The two immediate threats to the country’s economy come from the build-up of inflationary pressures, and a payments crisis that stems from a combination of global and domestic factors.
Foreign exchange reserves crisis: Pakistan’s Forex reserves are plummeting continuously.
Currency devaluation: A persistently high deficit can potentially lead to an excess supply of a country’s currency in its foreign exchange market, which eventually negatively impacts the value of the currency.
The IMF bailout: As growth fell and debt services obligations mounted, the country has been faced with a potential balance-of-payments crisis.
Pakistan imports most items of domestic consumption, making it more vulnerable to these pressures; the increasing debt servicing obligations have added to the pressure.
In exchange for a $6 billion funding package, Pakistan had to commit to structural reforms and reducing public debt. But the funding plan stalled earlier this year over issues related to reform commitments.
Pakistan Army and the State
The army disregarded the development of the people in order to control more assets.
In order to justify its existence, it converted Pakistan into a security-seeking State (over-emphasizing the threat from India) where a strong army was considered a necessity for the existence of the country.
The first military coup happened early in its history — Pakistan President Iskander Mirza abrogated the Constitution and declared martial law on 27 October 1958, and appointed General Ayyub Khan as chief martial law administrator.
After this incident, the army in Pakistan has always been in control. They have controlled defense and external affairs portfolios since then.
The Pakistani army is essentially meant to handle external threats, but it is also involved in domestic affairs of the State.
New dynamic Pakistan has to face
As the US withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, Pakistan is eager to build a relationship with Washington that is not tied to US stakes in Afghanistan.
Pakistan does not want to be totally alienated from U.S. in the new geopolitical jousting between the US and China.
How Pakistan copes with the new dynamic between the US and China as well as manages the deepening crisis in Afghanistan would be of great interest to India.
Pakistan’s approach to alliances
Pakistan’s insecurities in relation to India meant it was eager for alliances.
And as the Anglo-Americans scouted for partners in the crusade against global communism, Pakistan signed a bilateral security treaty with the US and joined the South East Asia Treaty Organisation and Central Treaty Organisation in the mid-1950s.
Rather than target Pakistan’s alliance with a West that was intensely hostile to Beijing in the 1950s, Chinese premier Zhou Enlai saw room to exploit Pakistan’s insecurities on India.
While Pakistan’s ties with the US went up and down, its relationship with China has seen steady expansion.
Pakistan’s relations with the US flourished after the Soviet Union sent its troops into Afghanistan at the end of 1979.
The US and Pakistan reconnected in 2001 as Washington sought physical access and intelligence support to sustain its intervention in Afghanistan following the attacks on September 11.
Now the US wants Pakistan to persuade the Taliban to accept a peaceful transition to a new political order in Afghanistan.
Pakistan’s ability to adapt to shifting geopolitical trends
Pakistan worries that its leverage in U.S. will diminish once the US turns its back on Afghanistan and towards the Indo-Pacific.
Pakistan does not want to get in the Indo-Pacific crossfire between the US and China.
It would also like to dent India’s growing importance in America’s Indo-Pacific strategy.
India should not underestimate Pakistan’s agency in adapting to the shifting global currents.
Pakistan has been good at using its great power alliances to its own benefit.
Way Forward
Despite the democratic elections in Pakistan, the military wields real power in the country. This holds true, especially on matters of defense, national security and foreign policy.
Pakistan’s Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), consisting for personnel from Pakistan Armed Forces, is often accused of supporting and training separatist militant groups operating in India.
Thus, a strong political reform in Pakistan, one that focuses on the welfare of the Pakistani nationals is vital to improving its relations with India.
There is a need to focus on trade to revive the economy for Pakistan. It need to understand that China is present only for its economic gains and accordingly steps need to be taken.
Solutions of the problem of mass illiteracy and economic inequities and the imperatives of national integration and national security will determine the degree of political stability, or instability in Pakistan in future.
Support from the IMF and friendly countries like Saudi Arabia, China, and the UAE will only provide some breathing room in the short term to its shattered economy.
Promoting manufacturing by creating a more investment-friendly environment, broadening its tax base, and encouraging innovation and modernization in export-led industries are just some of the most urgent measures the government can take to address the growing fiscal and current account deficit.
It is essential for Pakistan to do away with supporting terrorism and terrorist activities as the people of Pakistan are becoming the main victims of their policies.
The Supreme Court wants to fix foolproof parameters to determine if a person belongs to a Scheduled Tribe and is entitled to the benefits due to the community as it is no longer sure about an “affinity test”.
What is the Affinity Test?
Affinity Test is used to shift through anthropological and ethnological traits to link a person to a tribe.
There is the likelihood that contact with other cultures, migration and modernization would have erased the traditional characteristics of a tribe.
The claim by an applicant that he is a part of a Scheduled Tribe and is entitled to the benefit extended to that tribe, cannot per se be disregarded on the ground that his present traits do not match his tribes.
These include peculiar anthropological and ethnological traits, deity, rituals, mode of marriage, death ceremonies, method of burial of dead bodies etc.
Worship is an integral part of the life of a community and tribes have specific modes which need to be ascertained by the officers who decide the claims (for ST status).
Who are the Scheduled Tribes?
The term ‘Scheduled Tribes’ first appeared in the Constitution of India.
Article 366 (25) defined scheduled tribes as “such tribes or tribal communities or parts of or groups within such tribes or tribal communities as are deemed under Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the purposes of this constitution”.
Article 342, which is reproduced below, prescribes procedure to be followed in the matter of specification of scheduled tribes.
The first specification of Scheduled Tribes in relation to a particular State/ Union Territory is by a notified order of the President, after consultation with the State governments concerned.
These orders can be modified subsequently only through an Act of Parliament.
The above Article also provides for listing of scheduled tribes State/Union Territory wise and not on an all India basis.
What did the Supreme Court say?
It has been considered it best to refer the question of fixing the parameters to a larger Bench.
The Bench emphasized that the issue was a “matter of importance” when it came to the issuance of caste certificates.
The affinity test may be used to corroborate the documentary evidence and should not be the sole criteria to reject a claim the apex court had warned.
Why discuss this?
The Supreme Court has decided to refer the question to a larger Bench for an authoritative decision.
It realised that the courts were faced with varied opinions about the efficacy of the affinity test.
Status of STs in India
The Census 2011 has revealed that there are said to be 705 ethnic groups notified as Scheduled Tribes (STs).
Over 10 crore Indians are notified as STs, of which 1.04 crore live in urban areas.
The STs constitute 8.6% of the population and 11.3% of the rural population.
Precursor to this Judgements
On one side, a full Bench of the Bombay High Court in Shilpa Vishnu Thakur v State of Maharashtra accepted the “relevance and importance of the affinity test”.
The full Bench, in a decision in 2009, held that the affinity test was an “integral part” of the verification process for caste certificates.
Scrutiny committees could easily determine the authenticity of a claim by running an affinity test on the basis of ethnicity and anthropology.
The HC had said that the term ‘affinity’ meant the ‘association’ of the applicant for a caste certificate with a Scheduled Tribe into which he or she has been born.
However, two years later, in 2011, the Supreme Court adopted a cautionary note. It indicated that the affinity test may have run its course.
The Union Government was exploring the possibility of allowing online voting for non-resident Indians (NRI).
Why in news?
The matter of to ease voting for NRIs comes in the wake of a proposal made by the Election Commission of India (ECI).
The Law Ministry in November 2020 decided to extend the facility of postal ballots to eligible NRIs for the various State Assembly elections to be held in 2021.
The ECI then, had proposed amending the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, in order to allow this facility.
NRI vs. OCI
The term NRI is a residential statusdesigned by the Income Tax Department of the Indian government and has efficiency only during filing Income Tax returns.
On the other hand, OCI is an immigration status or special visa in layman’s language provided to foreign nationals of Indian origin by the Indian government to work or live indefinitely.
How can overseas voters currently vote in Indian elections?
Prior to 2010, an Indian citizen who is an eligible voter and was residing abroad for more than six months, would not have been able to vote in elections.
This was because the NRI’s name was deleted from electoral rolls if he or she stayed outside the country for more than six months at a stretch.
After the passing of the Representation of the People (Amendment) Act, 2010, eligible NRIs who had stayed abroad beyond six months have been able to vote, but only in person at the polling station where they have been enrolled as an overseas elector.
Just as any resident Indian citizen above the age of 18 years) is eligible to vote in the constituency where she/he is a resident, overseas Indian citizens are also eligible to do so.
In the case of overseas voters, their address mentioned in the passport is taken as the place of ordinary residence and chosen as the constituency for the overseas voter to enroll in.
How has the existing facility worked so far?
Hike in voters: From merely 11,846 overseas voters who registered in 2014, the number went up to close to a lakh in 2019. But the bulk of these voters (nearly 90%) belonged to just one State — Kerala.
Section 20-1A, Part III of the RP Act: It addresses this to some extent by qualifying “a person absenting himself temporarily from his place of ordinary residence shall not by reason thereof cease to be ordinarily resident therein.
Proxyprovisions: The Bill provided for overseas voters to be able to appoint a proxy to cast their votes on their behalf, subject to conditions laid down in the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961.
Electronically Transmitted Postal Ballot System: The ECI then approached the government to permit NRIs to vote via postal ballots similar to a system that is already used by service voters, (a member of the armed Forces of the Union; or a member of a force to which provisions of the Army Act, 1950 (46 of 1950) which is ETPBS. The ECI proposed to extend this facility to overseas voters as well.
What is ETPBS and how does it function?
The Conduct of Election Rules, 1961 was amended in 2016 to allow service voters to use the ETPBS.
Under this system, postal ballots are sent electronicallyto registered service voters.
The service voter can then download the ETPB (along with a declaration form and covers), register their mandate on the ballot and send it to the returning officer of the constituency via ordinary mail.
The post will include an attested declaration form (after being signed by the voter in the presence of an appointed senior officer who will attest it).
The postal ballot must reach the returning officer by 8 a.m. on the day of the counting of results.
In the case of NRI voters, those seeking to vote through ETPBS will have to inform the returning officer at least five days after notification of the election.
Will this facility be available to all overseas voters across countries?
There were news reports that the ECI had indicated to the Ministry of External Affairs that it would want postal voting introduced on a pilot basis in non-Gulf countries.
But the ECI had asked the Law Ministry to explore the possibility of extending postal ballots to overseas electors and not restrict it to any particular country.
In March 2021, the Ministry of External Affairs informed ECI that the implementation could require to overcome “huge logistical challenges” and needs “a realistic assessment of requirements”
Are postal ballots a viable means of voting?
The ETPBS method allowed for greater turnout among service voters in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
With the increasing mobility of citizens across countries for reasons related to work, the postal ballot method has been internationally recognized.
A postal ballot mechanism that allows for proper authentication of the ballot at designated consular/embassy offices and an effective postal system should ease this process for NRIs.
Back2Basics: NRI vs OCI
Non-Resident Indian (NRI)
To mention it, NRI is someone who is not a resident of India.
However, the law is much more complicated and must be delved deeper to gain an inclusive insight into the sector.
A person is considered a resident of India if he/she has been staying in India for a minimum tenure of 182 days during the previous financial year of a particular year. OR
A person living in India for a total of 365 days during the previous four financial years and a minimum of 60 days during the last financial years is considered a citizen for a particular year.
Now an NRI or a non-resident of India is eligible to pay charges for only the first two situations, which means either the income received or earned in India.
Therefore, the NRI status also influences the enjoyable rights of that person.
Overseas Citizen of India (OCI)
OCI is a card issued by the government of India that denotes that a non-resident or foreigner has been permitted to stay and work within Indian boundaries.
Hence, this card provides foreigners with an immigration status without any limited tenure.
There are cases where PIOs of specific categories are allowed for OCI cards that have migrated from India to foreign countries (except Pakistan and Bangladesh) if the other government agrees for dual citizenship.
An individual holding an OCI card can be an overseas citizen of India in the layman’s language.
So an OCI is not a citizen of India, but the Indian government has given the cardholder permission to reside and work within the boundaries of India.
Residents migrating from Pakistan and Bangladesh are not eligible for holding the OCI card. Even if their parents are citizens of both countries, the applicants will be denied having an OCI card.
A new study from Wuhan has studied the role of T-Cell Immunity against prolonged and sever COVID-19.
What are T-Cells?
Like B cells, which produce antibodies, T cells are central players in the immune response to viral infection.
For your immune system to fight off any kind of invader, such as a virus, you need a kind of white blood cell called a B cell, which makes antibodies, and a similar-looking white blood cell called a T cell.
T cells can play different roles altogether.
They can act as “killer cells”, attacking cells which have been infected with a virus or another kind of pathogen, or they can act as “helper cells” by supporting B cells to produce antibodies.
How do they function?
Alongside antibodies, the immune system produces a battalion of T cells that can target viruses.
Some of these, known as killer T cells (or CD8+ T cells), seek out and destroy cells that are infected with the virus.
Others, called helper T cells (or CD4+ T cells) are important for various immune functions, including stimulating the production of antibodies and killer T cells.
T cells do not prevent infection, because they kick into action only after a virus has infiltrated the body. But they are important for clearing an infection that has already started.
In the case of COVID-19, killer T cells could mean the difference between a mild infection and a severe one that requires hospital treatment.
What did the latest research find?
The researchers found that neutralising antibodies were detectable even 12 months after infection in “most individuals”.
It remained stable 6-12 months after initial infection in people younger than 60 years.
The researchers found that “multifunctional T cell responses were detected for all SARS-CoV-2 viral proteins tested”.
And most importantly, the magnitude of T cell responses did not show any difference immaterial of how severe the disease was.
While the ability of antibodies to neutralise was nearly absent against the Beta variant, it was reduced in the case of the Delta variant.
Neutralizing antibodies
SARS-CoV-2-specific neutralising antibody and T cell responses were retained 12 months after initial infection.
Neutralising antibodies to the D614G, Beta, and Delta were reduced compared with those for the original strain, and were diminished in general.
Memory T cell responses to the original strain were not disrupted by new variants.
The findings show that robust antibody and T cell immunity against SARS-CoV-2 is present in majority of recovered patients 12 months after moderate-to-critical infection.
Robustness of antibodies
The study reveals the durability and robustness of the T cell responses against variants, including Delta, even after one year of infection.
Most importantly, the robust and longstanding T cell responses were seen in people who have not been reinfected or vaccinated.
This would mean even in the absence of vaccination, a person who has been infected by the virus even one year ago would have robust immune responses.
It would offer protection against disease progressing to a severe form requiring hospitalization.
About 2.45 lakh Olive Ridley sea turtles crawled ashore on the Nasi-II beach of the Gahirmatha Marine Sanctuary along the Odisha coast for laying eggs, marking one of the largest opening day arrivals of turtles at the site.
Olive Ridley Turtles
The Olive Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea), also known as the Pacific ridley sea turtle, is a medium-sized species of sea turtle found in warm and tropical waters, primarily in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
In the Indian Ocean, the majority of olive ridleys nest in two or three large groups at Rushikulya rookery near Gahirmatha in Odisha.
The coast of Odisha in India is the largest mass nesting site for the olive ridley, followed by the coasts of Mexico and Costa Rica.
The species is listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List, Appendix 1 in CITES, and Schedule 1 in Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.
Special feature: Mass nesting
They are best known for their behavior of synchronized nesting in mass numbers, termed Arribadas.
Interestingly, females return to the very same beach from where they first hatched, to lay their eggs.
They lay their eggs in conical nests about one and a half feet deep which they laboriously dig with their hind flippers.
They hatch in 45 to 60 days, depending on the temperature of the sand and atmosphere during the incubation period.
The Draft India Data Accessibility and Use Policy 2022 released in February for public consultation, is silent on the norms, rules, and mechanisms to bring to fruition its vision.
Aims of the policy
The Draft Policy aims for harnessing public sector data for informed decision-making, citizen-centric delivery of public services, and economy-wide digital innovation.
It seeks to maximise access to and use of quality non-personal data (NPD) available with the public sector, overcoming a number of historical bottlenecks.
This GovTech 3.0 approach — to unlock the valuable resource of public sector data — does upgrade the OGD vision of the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP), 2012.
It seeks to harness data-based intelligence for governance and economic development.
What is lacking in the draft policy?
Lacking in norms and rules: The Draft Policy is silent on the norms, rules, and mechanisms to bring to fruition its vision of data-supported social transformation.
Ignores the canons of RTI: Any attempt to promote meaningful citizen engagement with data cannot afford to ignore the canons of the Right to Information (RTI), and hence, the need for certain citizen data sets with personal identifiers to be in the public domain, towards making proactive disclosure meaningful.
The unfinished task of the NDSAP in bringing coherence between restrictions on the availability of sensitive personal information in the public domain and India’s RTI, therefore, has been lost sight of.
Risks to group privacy: With respect to government-to-government data sharing for citizen-centric service delivery, the Draft Policy highlights that approved data inventories will be federated into a government-wide, searchable database.
But even in the case of anonymised citizen data sets (that is no longer personal data), downstream processing can pose serious risks to group privacy.
Lack of data trusteeship framework: The Draft Policy adheres to the NDSAP paradigm of treating government agencies as ‘owners’ of the data sets they have collected and compiled instead of shifting to the trusteeship paradigm recommended by the 2020 Report of the MEITY Committee of Experts on non-personal data governance.
The lack of a data trusteeship framework gives government agencies unilateral privileges to determine the terms of data licensing.
Suggestions
Taking on board a trusteeship-based approach, the proposed Draft Policy must pay attention to data quality, and ensure that licensing frameworks and any associated costs do not pose an impediment to data accessibility for non-commercial purposes.
Create common and interoperable data spaces: In the current context, where the most valuable data resources are held by the private sector, it is increasingly evident to policymakers that socioeconomic innovation depends on the state’s ability to catalyse wide-ranging data-sharing from both public and private sector actors across various sectors.
The European Union, for instance, has focused on the creation of common, interoperable data spaces to encourage voluntary data-sharing in specific domains such as health, energy and agriculture.
Mandatory data sharing arrangement: Creating the right conditions for voluntary data-sharing is a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for democratising data innovation.
In this regard, the data stewardship model for high-value data sets proposed by the MEITY’s Committee of Experts in their Report on Non-Personal Data Governance (2020) is instructive.
In this model, a government/not-for-profit organisation may request the Non-Personal Data Authority or NPDA for the creation of a high-value data set (only non-personal data) in a particular sector, demonstrating the specific public interest purpose.
Once such a request is approved by the NPDA, the data trustee has the right to request data-sharing from all major custodians of data sets corresponding to the high-value data set category in question – both public and private.
Conclusion
What we need is a new social contract for data whereby:
a) the social commons of data are governed as an inappropriable commons that belong to all citizens;
b) the government is the custodian or trustee with fiduciary responsibility to promote data use for public good; and
c) democratisation of data value is ensured through accountable institutional mechanisms for data governance.
The Calcutta High Court has ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the killings in West Bengal’s Birbhum district, where eight persons were burnt alive.
About CBI
The Bureau of Investigation traces its origins to the Delhi Special Police Establishment, a Central Government Police force, which was set up in 1941 by the Government of India.
It then aimed to investigate bribery and corruption in transactions with the War and Supply Department of India.
It then had its headquarters in Lahore.
After the end of the war, there was a continued need for a central governmental agency to investigate bribery and corruption by central-government employees.
The DSPE acquired its popular current name, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), through a Home Ministry resolution dated in 1963.
Mandate of the CBI
The CBI is the main investigating agency of the GoI.
It is not a statutory body; it derives its powers from the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946.
Its important role is to prevent corruption and maintain integrity in administration.
It works under the supervision of the CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) in matters pertaining to the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.
The CBI is also India’s official representative with theINTERPOL.
Cases to investigate
Cases connected to infringement of economic and fiscal laws
Crimes of a serious nature that have national and international ramifications
Coordination with the activities of the various state police forces and anti-corruption agencies.
It can also take up any case of public importance and investigate it
Maintaining crime statistics and disseminating criminal information.
How does the CBI take up cases?
Unlike the NIA, CBI cannot take suo motu cognizance of a case in a state — whether in a matter of corruption involving government officials of the Centre and PSU staff, or an incident of violent crime.
In order to take up corruption cases involving central government staff, it either needs general consent (see last question) of the state government, or specific consent on a case-to-case basis.
For all other cases, whether involving corruption in the state government or an incident of crime, the state has to request an investigation by the CBI, and the Centre has to agree to the same.
In case the state does not make such a request, the CBI can take over a case based on the orders of the High Court concerned or the Supreme Court.
Can the CBI decline to take up a case for investigation?
After a state makes a request for an inquiry by the CBI, the Centre seeks the opinion of the agency.
If the CBI feels that it is not worthwhile for it to expend time and energy on the case, it may decline to take it up.
In the past, the CBI has refused to take over cases citing lack of enough personnel to investigate, and saying it is overburdened.
What is the CBI’s workload currently?
According to the latest Annual Report of the Central Vigilance Commission, the CBI registered 608 FIRs in 2019 and 589 FIRs in 2020.
In 2020, a total 86 cases related to demands for bribes by public servants for showing favour, and 30 cases for possession of disproportionate assets were registered.
Out of 676 cases in the year (including FIRs and Preliminary Enquiries), 107 cases were taken up on the directions of constitutional courts and 39 on requests from state governments/ Union Territories.
Also, there are over 1,300 vacancies in the CBI.
What is the CBI’s progress on cases?
At the end of 2020, the CBI had 1,117 cases (both FIRs and PEs) pending investigation. In 2019, this number stood at 1,239.
During 2020, investigation was finalised in 693 FIRs and 105 PEs.
The conviction rate during the year was 69.83% against 69.19% in 2019.
At the end of 2020, 9,757 cases were pending in various courts.
The conviction rate in corruption cases was slightly lower at 67% in 2020.
Almost 2,000 corruption cases are pending trial for more than 10 years.
What is the role of state consent in an investigation by the CBI?
Since 2015, as many as nine states — Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Mizoram and Meghalaya — have withdrawn general consent to the CBI.
Opposition-ruled states have alleged the CBI has become its master’s voice, and has been unfairly targeting opposition politicians.
Withdrawal of general consent means that to probe any case in these states, CBI would have to take prior permission from the state government.
Recently, the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill, 2022 was introduced in Lok Sabha. The Bill seeks to amend the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957 passed by Parliament. The Act was earlier amended in 2011 by Delhi Legislative Assembly to trifurcate the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi into:
North Delhi Municipal Corporation
South Delhi Municipal Corporation
East Delhi Municipal Corporation
The Bill seeks to unify the three corporations.
What are the key features of the Bill?
(1) Unification of Municipal Corporations in Delhi:
The Bill replaces the three municipal corporations under the Act with one Corporation named the Municipal Corporation of Delhi.
(2) Powers of the Delhi government:
The Act as amended in 2011 empowers the Delhi government to decide various matters under the Act.
These include:
Total number of seats of councillors and number of seats reserved for members of the Scheduled Castes,
Division of the area of corporations into zones and wards,
Delimitation of wards,
Matters such as salary and allowances, and leave of absence of the Commissioner,
Sanctioning of consolidation of loans by a corporation, and
Sanctioning suits for compensation against the Commissioner for loss or waste or misapplication of Municipal Fund or property
Similarly, the Act mandates that the Commissioner will exercise his powers regarding building regulations under the general superintendence and directions of Delhi government.
The Bill instead empowers the central government to decide these matters.
(3) Number of councilors:
The Act provides that the number of seats in the three corporations taken together should not be more than 272.
The 14th Schedule to the Act specifies 272 wards across the three Corporations.
The Bill states that the total number of seats in the new Corporation should not be more than 250.
(4) Removal of Director of Local Bodies:
The Act provides for a Director of Local Bodies to assist the Delhi government and discharge certain functions which include:
Coordinating between Corporations,
Framing recruitment Rules for various posts, and
Coordinating the collecting and sharing of toll tax collected by the respective Corporations.
The Bill omits this provision for a Director of Local Bodies.
(5) Special officer to be appointed by the central government:
The Bill provides that the central government may appoint a Special Officer to exercise powers of the Corporation until the first meeting of the Corporation is held after the commencement of the Bill.
(6) E-governance system for citizens:
The Bill adds that obligatory functions of the new Corporation will include establishing an e-governance system for citizen services on anytime-anywhere basis for better, accountable, and transparent administration.
(7) Conditions of service for sweepers:
The Act provides that a sweeper employed for doing house scavenging of a building would be required to give a reasonable cause or a 14 day notice before discontinuing his service.
The Bill seeks to omit this provision.
What is the need for this unification?
Creating compact municipalities in Delhi to provide more efficient civic services to the public has not been achieved.
Instead, owing to inadequacies in resources and uncertainty in fund allocation and release, the three corporations have been facing huge financial hardships.
This was making it difficult for them to maintain the civic services in Delhi at the desired levels.
Trifurcation of the erstwhile Municipal Corporation of Delhi was uneven in terms of territorial divisions and revenue generating potential.
As a result, there was a huge gap in the resources available to the three corporations compared to their obligations.
It says that the gap has grown, leading to delay in the payment of salaries and retirement benefits which have resulted in frequent strikes.
What are the concerns, if enacted?
New delimitation exercise: Reducing the number of seats means a new delimitation exercise will have to be conducted, which experts say will take at least three months, but is more likely to take six months.
Bureaucratization: Appointing a Special Officer means that until the elections are concluded, the Centre will likely appoint an officer to run the corporation.
The Bill also does away with the provision of appointing a Director of Local Bodies by the Delhi government.
Central hegemony: The other significant change is the replacement of the word “government” with “Central government” in all places.
The bill hence seeks to curtail the powers of the elected govt of New Delhi by introducing central hegemony.
But this is not the first time that there is a political tussle between the Delhi government and the center. There are various issues earlier which are important from the exam point of view. Let us discuss them.
Jurisdictional conflict in the running of Delhi
Delhi Government had accused Lieutenant Governor (LG) of referring the decisions of an elected government to President and thus causing hurdles in governance
The Centre, which appoints the L-G, contends that “for any Centrally administered territory and especially Delhi responsibility is on the Union Government”.
Also, Delhi, being a Union territory, does not have a cadre of officers of its own and is part of a common cadre shared with other UTs. Thus, the elected government of Delhi has less control over its officers.
Supreme Court on Delhi Governance Structure
Supreme Court view: Delhi Lieutenant Governor cannot act independently and must take the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
All decisions by Delhi’s council of ministers must be communicated to the L-G but that does not mean his concurrence is required.
Except for issues of public order, police and land, the Lieutenant Governor is bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
TheLG has no independent authority to take decisions except in matters under Article 239 or matters outside the purview of the government.
L-G cannot act as an obstructionist and can refer issues to the President when there is the difference of opinion on any matter(Article 239AA(4)).
This should happen only in exceptional matters and not as a general rule
The government need not obtain LG concurrence in every issue of day-to-day governance. The national capital enjoys a special status and is not a full state.
Government of National Capital Territory (GNCT) of Delhi (Amendment) Act, 2021
The Act defines the responsibilities of the elected government and the L-G along with the “constitutional scheme of governance of the NCT” interpreted by the Supreme Court in recent judgments regarding the division of powers between the two entities.
Provisions of the GNCT of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2021
It amended the Sections 21, 24, 33 and 44 of the 1991 Act.
States that the “government” in the National Capital Territory of Delhi meant the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi.
It gives discretionary powers to the L-G even in matters where the Legislative Assembly of Delhi is empowered to make laws.
It seeks to ensure that the L-G is “necessarily granted an opportunity” to give her or his opinion before any decision taken by the Council of Ministers (or the Delhi Cabinet) is implemented.
It bars the Assembly or its committees from making rules to take up matters concerning day-to-day administration, or to conduct inquiries in relation to administrative decisions.
Way Forward
Greater transparency, improved governance, and more efficient delivery of civic service
According to Article 239AA of the Constitution of India, the Parliament has the power to amend or form laws on any matter formulated by the Delhi Assembly.
At the time when the MCD was trifurcated, the expectation was that it would lead to Delhi’s progress. It was thought that the services provided by the MCDs will improve and there will be welfare of its workers. But, the result was unsatisfactory in the last 10 years.
The Bill has been introduced for greater transparency, improved governance and more efficient delivery of civic service for the people of Delhi, and also to ease the financial crisis faced by MCDs at present.
Delhi cannot be unitary
What distinguishes Delhi from other federal districts is sheer size. Its population would subsume the populations of the above-mentioned cities.
Its closest peer is Mexico City. In a significant development, Mexico City was upgraded from federal district to the country’s 32nd state in 2016.
This was driven by the desire to provide more responsive government for residents.
Decentralization of decision-making is important
There are alternative ways in which both the central government as well as state authorities can partake jointly in the management of the city.
This might be achieved by a two-tier metropolitan authority.
Control over police
Control over-policing has been a major point of contention in Delhi.
With the lone exception of Abuja, in other federal districts, the local governments have jurisdiction over at least some aspects of policing.
The envoys to India of nine Eastern European countries called Bucharest Nine jointly wrote to acquaint the Indian public with the basic facts on the ground” about the “premeditated, unprovoked and unjustified Russian aggression in Ukraine”.
What is Bucharest Nine?
The “Bucharest Nine” is a group of nine NATO countries in Eastern Europe that became part of the US-led military alliance after the end of the Cold War.
The Bucharest Nine or Bucharest Format, often abbreviated as the B9, was founded on November 4, 2015, and takes its name from Bucharest, the capital of Romania.
The group was created on the initiative of Klaus Iohannis, who has been President of Romania since 2014, and Andrzej Duda, who became President of Poland in August 2015.
Composition
The B9 are, apart from Romania and Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and the three Baltic republics of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
All members of the B9 are part of the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
All nine countries were once closely associated with the now dissolved Soviet Union, but later chose the path of democracy.
Romania, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria are former signatories of the now-dissolved Warsaw Pact military alliance led by the Soviet Union.
The other Warsaw Pact countries were the erstwhile Czechoslovakia and East Germany, and Albania. Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania were part of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).
Functions of B9
The B9 offers a platform for deepening the dialogue and consultation among the participant allied states, in order to articulate their specific contribution to the ongoing processes across the North-Atlantic Alliance.
It works in total compliance with the principles of solidarity and indivisibility of the security of the NATO Member States.
Opposition to Russian expansion
The B9 countries have been critical of President Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine since 2014, when the war in the Donbas started and Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula.
After the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the B9 met in Warsaw.
Ukraine’s President has also appealed to the B9 for defense aid, sanctions, pressure on the aggressor Russia and create one anti-war coalition.
