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GS Paper: GS2

  •  Assam-Mizoram Boundary Dispute

    The recent violence and tension on the Assam-Mizoram border underline the differences the two States have had since 1972 when Mizoram was carved out of Assam as a Union Territory.

    Try answering this:

    Q.Assam has had boundary problems with almost all of its north-eastern neighbours. Discuss.

    *Also note the states bordering Assam.

    What is the Dispute?

    • Mizoram was carved out of Assam as a Union Territory in 1972. In 1987, it became a full-fledged state.
    • The two states have sparred over where the border lies in the past, leading to the occasional violence.
    • The disagreement stems from differing views on which border demarcation to follow.
    • Mizoram’s perception of the border is based on an 1875 notification that flows from the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873.
    • The Act demarcated the Lushai Hills from the plains and valleys in the North East, restricting free travel between the two zones. The hills were deemed to be “excluded areas”.
    • Assam, for its part, goes by a 1933 notification by the state government that demarcated the Lushai Hills, as Mizoram was then known, from the province of Manipur.

    The Assamese problem

    • Assam has had boundary problems with all its north-eastern neighbours, except Manipur and Tripura that had existed as separate entities.
    • The primary reason is that the other States, a part of Assam during the British rule, have contested the boundaries since they became States, beginning with Nagaland in 1963.
    • Assam has accepted several recommendations of border commissions set up by the Supreme Court, but other States have been sticking to “historical boundaries” that go back to the period before 1826.
    • However, the border residents have to bear the brunt of the unrest unless an acceptable solution is arrived at.

  • UAE’s Golden Visa Program

    The United Arab Emirates will extend its “golden” visa system — which grants 10-year residency in the West Asian nation — to certain professionals, specialised degree-holders and others.

    Do you know?

     India is the world’s top recipient of remittances with its diaspora sending a whopping $79 billion back home in 2018 a/c to the World Bank.

    Golden Visa Programme

    • The “Golden Card” programme is open to investors and “exceptional talents” such as doctors, engineers, scientists, students and artists.
    • The visa categories include:
    1. General investors who will be granted a 10 years visa
    2. Real estate investors, who can get a visa for 5 years Visa
    3. Entrepreneurs and talented professionals such as doctors, researchers and innovators: 10 years Visa
    4. Outstanding students — will also be permitted residency visas for 5 years
    • All categories of visas can be renewed upon expiry.

    Benefits for India

    • The Indian expatriate community is reportedly the largest ethnic community in the UAE, constituting roughly about 30 per cent of the country’s population of around nine million.
    • Though most of the Indians living in the UAE are employed, about 10 per cent of the Indian population constitutes dependent family members, according to the Indian Embassy.

  • Issues with the regulation of digital media by government

    The article deals with the recent decision of the government to regulate digital media through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and issues with it.

    Regulating the press

    • Recently, government put the online news and current affairs portals along with “films and audio-visual programmes made available by online content providers” under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
    • Through the move, government is clubbing the only sector of the media which has pre-censorship, namely films  with the news media which has so far, at least officially, not been subject to pre-censorship.
    • The move hijacks matters before the Supreme Court of India relating to freedom of the press and freedom of expression to arm the executive with control over the free press, thereby essentially making it unfree.
    • It also hijacks another public interest litigation in the Supreme Court relating to content on “Over The Top” (OTT) platforms not being subject to regulation or official oversight to bring that sector too under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
    • The move creates an artificial distinction between the new-age digital media which is the media of the future, the media of the millennial generation — and the older print and TV news media.

    Reasons given by the government and issues with it

    • The explanation given is that the print media have the oversight of the Press Council of India and the TV media of the News Broadcasters Association (NBA).
    • Therefore the digital media needed a regulatory framework — no less than that of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
    • However, there is no comparison between the Press Council of India and the NBA as professional bodies on the one hand and the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting on the other.
    • The fate of the digital media under the control of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting leaves little scope for hope.

    Consider the question “Regulation of digital media while solving some chronic issues gives rise to concerns over the freedom of press and expression. In light of this, examine the need for regulation of digital media by government and issues in it.”

    Conclusion

    The government regulations would be counterproductive for both the media practitioner and the media entrepreneur and for the startups that have been the new vibrant face of contemporary journalism.

  • Contempt of Court and A-G’s consent

    Attorney-General gave his consent for the initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against the stand-up comedian for his tweets following a Supreme Court’s decision to grant interim bail to a news anchor.

    Note important power, functions and limitations of AGI. A bluff can be created with the dicey statements in the prelims.

    Also read:

    [Burning Issue] Free Speech Vs. Contempt of Court

    What is Contempt of Court?

    • According to the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971, contempt of court can either be civil contempt or criminal contempt.
    • Civil contempt means wilful disobedience of any judgment, decree, direction, order, writ or another process of a court, or wilful breach of an undertaking given to a court.
    • Criminal contempt, on the other hand, is attracted by the publication (whether by words, spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representations, or otherwise) of any matter or the doing of any other act whatsoever which:

    (i) Scandalizes or tends to scandalise, or lowers or tends to lower the authority of, any court; or

    (ii) Prejudices, or interferes or tends to interfere with, the due course of any judicial proceeding; or

    (iii) Interferes or tends to interfere with, or obstructs or tends to obstruct, the administration of justice in any other manner

    • In 2006, the government brought in an amendment, which now provides “truth” as defence provided it is bona fide and in the public interest.

    Why is the A-G’s consent needed to initiate contempt proceedings?

    • In cognizance of criminal contempt, The Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 has a provision under Subsection 1 of Section 15.
    • It reads that- in the case of criminal contempt, (other than contempt in the face of the Supreme Court or a High Court), the related court may take action on its own motion or on a motion made by (a) the Advocate-General, or (b) any other person, with the consent in writing of the Advocate-General.

    Back2Basics: Attorney General of India (AGI)

    • The AGI is the Indian government’s chief legal advisor and is a primary lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.
    • They can be said to be the advocate from the government’s side.
    • They are appointed by the President of India on the advice of Union Cabinet under Article 76(1) of the Constitution and holds office during the pleasure of the President.
    • They must be a person qualified to be appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court ( i.e. a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the President and must be a citizen of India.).

    Functions and duties

    • The AGI is necessary for advising the Government of India on legal matters referred to them.
    • They also perform other legal duties assigned to them by the President.
    • The AGI has the right of audience in all Courts in India as well as the right to participate in the proceedings of the Parliament, though not to vote.
    • The AGI appears on behalf of Government of India in all cases (including suits, appeals and other proceedings) in the Supreme Court in which GoI is concerned.
    • They also represent the Government of India in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution.
    • The AG is assisted by a Solicitor General and four Additional Solicitors General.

  • Issues with legal language in India

    Context

    •  Recently, a PIL was filed in the Supreme Court regarding the use of legal language.
    • Reacting to the plea, the Supreme Court has asked the Ministry of Law and Justice and Bar Council to respond.

    Wha the PIL is about?

    • The PIL (Subhash Vijayran vs Union of India) wants the legislature and executive to use plain English in drafting laws, the Bar Council to introduce plain English in law curricula and the Supreme Court to only allow concise and precise pleadings.
    • He begins the synopsis to the writ petition in the following way. “The writing of most lawyers is: (1) wordy, (2) unclear, (3) pompous and (4) dull.

    Way forward

    • When asking the Ministry of Law and Justice and Bar Council to respond, the Chief Justice of India referred to Anthony Burgess’s book (1964) Language Made Plain.
    • George Orwell set out six principles, which could be used while drafting.
    • Copy editors routinely use these principles, but not the judiciary.
    • The Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy produced a manual on plain language drafting in 2017.

    Conclusion

    The Ministry of Law and Justice make use of the opportunity provided by the PIC to come up with the set of principles to make the legal language easier for all.

  • Governing OTT Platforms

    In a move that will have a far-reaching impact, the Union government has brought Over The Top (OTT) platforms, or video streaming service providers under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).

    Try answering this

    Q.What is Over the Top (OTT) media services? Critically analyse the benefits and challenges offered by the OTT media services in India.

    Background

    • The MIB has found a vast swathe of unregulated content, namely news online and Over the top (OTT) platforms which had escaped any architecture of regulation.
    • The print was regulated by the Press Council of India and Television, both News and Entertainment were being regulated by the Cable Networks Regulation Act (2005).
    • However, the content on online, the Government felt, fell into a black hole with no oversight.

    What are OTT Media?

    • An over-the-top (OTT) media service is a streaming media service offered directly to viewers via the Internet.
    • OTT bypasses cable, broadcast, and satellite television platforms, the companies that traditionally act as a controller or distributor of such content.
    • The term is most synonymous with subscription-based video-on-demand (SVoD) services that offer access to film and television content.
    • They are typically accessed via websites on personal computers, as well as via apps on mobile devices (such as smartphones and tablets), digital media players, or televisions with integrated Smart TV platforms.

    Regulating OTT

    • Currently, there is no law or autonomous body governing digital content. The recent move will give the government control over OTT platforms, which were unregulated till now.
    • From time to time, the government had indicated the necessity to monitor these platforms.
    • In October 2019, the government had indicated that it will issue the “negative” list of don’ts for the video streaming services like Netflix and Hotstar.
    • It also wanted the platforms to come up with a self-regulatory body on the lines of the News Broadcasting Standards Authority.

    Self-regulation is not sufficient

    • Anticipating the government’s intervention, in January 2019, video streaming services had signed a self-regulatory code that laid down a set of guiding principles for content on these platforms.
    • The code adopted by the OTTs prohibited five types of content:
    1. Content that deliberately and maliciously disrespects the national emblem or national flag,
    2. Any visual or storyline that promotes child pornography
    3. Any content that “maliciously” intends to outrage religious sentiments
    4. Content that “deliberately and maliciously” promotes or encourages terrorism and
    5. Any content that has been banned for exhibition or distribution by law or court
    • The government had refused to support this code.

    What lies ahead?

    • The government had been giving enough hints from time to time that it wanted to regulate digital media but the exact nature of the regulation it wanted to bring was not clear.
    • The government considers digital media and digital aggregators in the same breath but they are different things.
    • It is unclear whether it is looking at licensing or entry barriers, or any other curbs in digital media.
    • However, monitoring content 24×7 has its own challenges. Whether the Ministry will set up a committee involving the public to look into complaints received remains to be seen.

  • Home Ministry amends FCRA rules

    The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has relaxed FCRA norms for farmer, student, religious and other groups who are not directly aligned to any political party to receive foreign funds if the groups are not involved in “active politics”.

    Must read:

    What is Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, and how does it control donations?

    What is the FCRA?

    • The Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), 2010 regulates foreign donations and ensures that such contributions do not adversely affect the internal security of our country.
    • The Act, first enacted in 1976, was amended in the year 2010 when a slew of new measures was taken by the Union Home Ministry to regulate foreign donations. It was again amended in September this year.
    • It is applicable to all associations, groups and NGOs which intend to receive foreign donations. It is mandatory for all such NGOs to register themselves under the FCRA.
    • The registration is initially valid for five years and it can be renewed subsequently if they comply with all norms.

    What are the new rules?

    • The new rule says- the organisations specified under clauses (v) and (vi) of sub-rule (1) shall be considered to be of political nature, if they participate in active politics or party politics, as the case may be.
    • The 2011 rules on said clauses dealt with “guidelines for the declaration of an organisation to be of a political nature, not being a political party”.
    • It said that the Central government could specify an organisation as that of political nature based on six criteria.

    Defining ‘Political group’

    • Clause V of Rule 3 (FCRA 2011) qualified a political group as, “organisations of farmers, workers, students, youths based on caste, community, religion, language or otherwise, which is not directly aligned to any political party, but whose objectives or activities, include steps towards advancement of political interests of such groups.
    • The activities include: habitually engagement in or employ common methods of political action like rasta roko, jail bharo, rail roko, bandh or hartal in support of public causes.

    Why such a move?

    • As per the FCRA, members of legislatures, political parties, government officials, judges and media persons are prohibited from receiving any foreign contribution.
    • The new rules make new FCRA registrations more stringent.

  • Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO)

    In an indirect reference to the Chinese infrastructure projects in PoK, our PM has urged members of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) to respect “territorial integrity” and “sovereignty”.

    What is SCO?

    • After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the then security and economic architecture in the Eurasian region dissolved and new structures had to come up.
    • The original Shanghai Five were China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.
    • The SCO was formed in 2001, with Uzbekistan included. It expanded in 2017 to include India and Pakistan.
    • Since its formation, the SCO has focused on regional non-traditional security, with counter-terrorism as a priority.
    • The fight against the “three evils” of terrorism, separatism and extremism has become its mantra. Today, areas of cooperation include themes such as economics and culture.

    Try this PYQ now:

    Q. In the context of the affairs of which of the following is the phrase “Special Safeguard Mechanisms” mentioned in the news frequently?

    (a) United Nations Environment Programme

    (b) World Trade Organization

    (c) ASEAN- India Free Trade Agreement

    (d) G-20 Summits

    India’s entry to the SCO

    • India and Pakistan both were observer countries.
    • While Central Asian countries and China were not in favour of expansion initially, the main supporter — of India’s entry in particular — was Russia.
    • A widely held view is that Russia’s growing unease about an increasingly powerful China prompted it to push for its expansion.
    • From 2009 onwards, Russia officially supported India’s ambition to join the SCO. China then asked for its all-weather friend Pakistan’s entry.

    Tap to read more about SCO

  • What is OPEC+?

    Oil prices jumped by close to 10% for its biggest daily gain in almost six months after news of a highly effective vaccine against COVID-19 and Saudi Arabia’s assurance that an OPEC+ oil output deal could be adjusted to balance the market.

    About OPEC

    • OPEC stands for Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
    • It is a permanent, intergovernmental organization, created at the Baghdad Conference in 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela.
    • It aims to manage the supply of oil in an effort to set the price of oil in the world market, in order to avoid fluctuations that might affect the economies of both producing and purchasing countries.
    • It is headquartered in Vienna, Austria.
    • OPEC membership is open to any country that is a substantial exporter of oil and which shares the ideals of the organization.
    • Today OPEC is a cartel that includes 14 nations, predominantly from the middle east whose sole responsibility is to control prices and moderate supply.

    What is OPEC+?

    • The non-OPEC countries which export crude oil along with the 14 OPECs are termed as OPEC plus countries.
    • OPEC plus countries include Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Brunei, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Mexico, Oman, Russia, South Sudan and Sudan.
    • Saudi and Russia, both have been at the heart of a three-year alliance of oil producers known as OPEC Plus — which now includes 11 OPEC members and 10 non-OPEC nations — that aims to shore up oil prices with production cuts.

    Why OPEC plus came into existence?

    • When Russia concluded the Vienna Agreement in 2016, the Russian leadership believed that it would help prepare the country for the Russian presidential elections in March 2018.
    • Higher oil prices ensured the Kremlin’s financial capacity to lead a successful electoral campaign.
    • This changed the regime’s priorities – from satisfying the needs of the general population to ensuring the sustainability of the Kremlin’s alliance with powerful tycoons, including that controlling oil production.
    • For Saudi Arabia, turning what had been an ad hoc coalition into a formal group provides a hedge (protection) against future oil-market turbulence.
    • For Russia, the formalization of the group helps expand Putin’s influence in the Middle East
    • However, both reportedly aimed at causing a drop in oil prices in order to hit US shale producers, who have continued to benefit from OPEC production cuts by expanding their market share.

  • Armenia, Azerbaijan agree on peace deal

    Armenia and Azerbaijan agreed on a deal with Russia to end fierce clashes over Nagorno-Karabakh after a string of Azerbaijani victories in its fight to retake the disputed region.

    Ending up the bloodshed

    • During the course of the conflict, over 1200 have lost their lives as per the Nagorno-Karabakh authorities, while thousands have been displaced.
    • Since the conflict started in September, multiple ceasefire agreements have been signed between the two sides, but none so far have been successful.
    • The deal is meant to end the conflict between the two nations.
    • Russia’s role in the conflict has been somewhat opaque since it supplies arms to both countries and is in a military alliance with Armenia called the Collective Security Treaty Organisation.

    What is the Nagorno-Karabakh region?

    • Straddling western Asia and Eastern Europe, Nagorno-Karabakh is internationally recognised as part of Azerbaijan, but most of the region is controlled by Armenian separatists.
    • It has been part of Azerbaijan territory since the Soviet era.
    • When the Soviet Union began to collapse in the late 1980s, Armenia’s regional parliament voted for the region’s transfer to Armenia; the Soviet authorities turned down the demand.
    • Years of clashes followed between Azerbaijan forces and Armenian separatists.
    • The violence lasted into the 1990s, leaving tens and thousands dead and displacing hundreds of thousands.
    • In 1994, Russia brokered a ceasefire, by which time ethnic Armenians had taken control of the region.

    Consider this PYQ:

    Q.The area is known as ‘Golan Heights’ sometimes appears in the news in the context of the events related to: (CSP 2015)

    a) Central Asia
    b) Middle East
    c) South-East Asia
    d) Central Africa

    Who controls it?

    • While the area remains in Azerbaijan, it is today governed by separatist Armenians who have declared it a republic called the “Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast”.
    • While the Armenian government does not recognise Nagorno-Karabakh as independent, it supports the region politically and militarily.

    Ethnicity and the conflict

    • Ethnic tensions from decades ago have a crucial role in the dispute.
    • While the Azeris claim that the disputed region was under their control in known history, Armenians maintain that Karabakh was a part of the Armenian kingdom.
    • At present, the disputed region consists of a majority Armenian Christian population, even though it is internationally recognised as a part of Muslim-majority Azerbaijan.