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GS Paper: GS2

  • Legal challenges the Farm Acts could face

    Farm Acts passed by the Parliament could face the legal hurdle in the court when challenged on its constitutional basis. This article explains the issue.

    Background

    • Recently, Parliament passed three acts related to agriculture. These Acts are-
    • 1) The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020.
    • 2) The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020.
    • 3) The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
    • This has led to the question: Does the Union government have the authority to legislate on what are rightfully the affairs of States?

    Why agriculture is considered as States’ prerogative

    • Agriculture is a State subject in the Constitution, listed as Entry 14 in the State List (List II).
    • Entry 26 in the State List refers to “trade and commerce within the State”.
    • Entry 27 in the State List refers to “production, supply and distribution of goods”.
    • Entry 28 refers to “markets and fairs”.
    • For these reasons, intra-State marketing in agriculture was always considered a legislative prerogative of States.

    What was the legal basis used by the Parliament to pass the Farm Acts

    • The central government invoked Entry 33 in the Concurrent List (List III).
    • Entry 26 and 27 in List II are listed as “subject to the provisions of Entry 33 of List III”.

    Entry 33 in List III: Trade and commerce in, and the production, supply and distribution of, — (a) the products of any industry where the control of such industry by the Union is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest, and imported goods of the same kind as such products; (b) foodstuffs, including edible oilseeds and oils; (c) cattle fodder, including oilcakes and other concentrates; (d) raw cotton, whether ginned or unginned, and cotton seed; and (e) raw jute.

    Historical background of  “Entry 33” of Concurrent List

    • Entry 33, in its present form, was inserted in List III through the Constitution (Third Amendment) Act, 1954 after heated constitutional debates.
    • The contention of the dissent was the following:
    • As per Article 369 in the original version of the Constitution, the responsibility of agricultural trade and commerce within a State was temporarily entrusted to the Union government for a period of five years beginning from 1950.
    • The 1954 Amendment attempted to change this into a permanent feature in the Constitution.
    • According to dissident “if matters enumerated in Article 369 in were placed in List III, State autonomy would be rendered illusory and State powers and rights would be progressively pulverised…”.
    • While another dissident argued that “passage of the Bill would transform the Indian Constitution into a “unitary Constitution” instead of a “federal Constitution” and reduce “all the States’ powers into municipal powers”.
    • Notwithstanding the strong dissenting voices, the Bill was passed.

    Let’s look into the related Supreme Court Judgments

    • In many of its judgments after 1954, the Supreme Court of India has upheld the legislative powers of States in intra-State agricultural marketing.
    • Most notable was the ruling of the five-judge Constitution Bench in I.T.C. Limited vs. Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) and Others, 2002.
    • The Tobacco Board Act, 1975 had brought the development of the tobacco industry under the Centre.
    • However, Bihar’s APMC Act continued to list tobacco as an agricultural produce.
    • In this case, the question was if the APMC in Monghyr could charge a levy on ITC for the purchase of unprocessed tobacco leaves from growers.
    • An earlier judgment had held that the State APMC Act will be repugnant to the Central Act, and hence was ultra vires.
    • But the Constitution Bench upheld the validity of the State APMC Act, and ruled that market fees can be charged from ITC under the State APMC Act.

    Consider the question “Examine the validity of legal basis used by the Parliament to pass the Farm Acts. Why it could face the legal challenge?”

    Conclusion

    It was unwise on the part of the Centre to use Entry 33 in List III to push the Farm Bills. Such adventurism weakens the spirit of federal cooperation that India needs in this hour of crisis. Second, agriculture is exclusively a State subject.

    Back2Basics: Read more about 3 Agricultural Acts passed by the Parliament here-

    [Burning Issue] Agricultural Reform Bills, 2020

     

  • [pib] Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation (CEPI)

    Translational Health Science And Technology Institute (THSTI), an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, has now been recognized by Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation (CEPI) as one of the Global Network of Laboratories for centralized assessment of COVID 19 Vaccines.

    Note: CEPI is neither a WHO subsidiary nor a UN body .

    Coalition of Epidemic Preparedness for Innovation (CEPI)

    • The CEPI is a foundation that takes donations to finance independent research projects to develop vaccines against emerging infectious diseases (EID).
    • It is focused on the WHO’s “blueprint priority diseases.
    • These diseases include the Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (MERS-CoV), the SARS coronavirus 2 the Nipah virus, the Lassa fever virus, and the Rift Valley fever virus, as well as the Chikungunya virus and the hypothetical, unknown pathogen “Disease X”.
    • CEPI investment also requires “equitable access” to the vaccines during outbreaks.
    • CEPI was conceived in 2015 and formally launched in 2017 at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.

  • Narco Test and the Issue of Consent

    Involuntary administration of narco or lie detector tests is an “intrusion” into a person’s “mental privacy,” a Supreme Court judgment of 2010 has held.

    Try this question:

    Q.What are the ethical issues associated with the Lie-detection tests?

    Various Lie detector tests

    (1) Polygraph Test

    • A polygraph test is based on the assumption that physiological responses that are triggered when a person is lying are different from what they would be otherwise.
    • Instruments like cardio-cuffs or sensitive electrodes are attached to the person, and variables such as blood pressure, pulse, respiration, change in sweat gland activity, blood flow, etc., are measured as questions are put to them.
    • A numerical value is assigned to each response to conclude whether the person is telling the truth, is deceiving, or is uncertain.

    (2) Narcoanalysis

    • Narcoanalysis, by contrast, involves the injection of a drug, sodium pentothal, which induces a hypnotic or sedated state.
    • In such a state, the subject’s imagination is neutralized, and they are expected to divulge information that is true.
    • The drug, referred to as “truth serum” in this context, was used in larger doses as anaesthesia during surgery and is said to have been used during World War II for intelligence operations.

    Why these tests are so (in)famous?

    • Investigating agencies seek to employ these tests in the investigation, and are sometimes seen as being a “softer alternative” to torture or “third degree” to extract the truth from suspects.
    • These tests put into consideration the international norms on human rights, the right to a fair trial, and the right against self-incrimination under Article 20(3) of the Constitution.

    Legal status in India

    • In ‘Selvi & Ors vs State of Karnataka & Anr’ (2010), a Supreme Court Bench comprising CJI ruled that no lie detector tests should be administered “except on the basis of the consent of the accused”.
    • Those who volunteer must have access to a lawyer, and have the physical, emotional, and legal implications of the test explained to them by police and the lawyer, the Bench said.
    • It said that the ‘Guidelines for the Administration of Polygraph Test on an Accused’ published by the National Human Rights Commission in 2000, must be strictly followed.
    • The subject’s consent should be recorded before a judicial magistrate, the court said.

    What was the latest Judgement?

    • Involuntary administration of narco or lie detector tests is an “intrusion” into a person’s “mental privacy,” a Supreme Court judgment of 2010 has held.
    • The consequences of such tests on “individuals from weaker sections of society who are unaware of their fundamental rights and unable to afford legal advice” can be devastating.
    • It may involve future abuse, harassment and surveillance, even leakage of the video material to the Press for a “trial by media.”
    • Such tests are an affront to human dignity and liberty and have long-lasting effects.
    • “An individual’s decision to make a statement is the product of a private choice and there should be no scope for any other individual to interfere with such autonomy,” the apex court had held.

    Legal status of its outcome

    • The results of the tests cannot be considered to be “confessions”, because those in a drugged-induced state cannot exercise a choice in answering questions that are put to them.
    • However, any information or material subsequently discovered with the help of such a voluntarily-taken test can be admitted as evidence, the court said.
    • Thus, if an accused reveals the location of a murder weapon in the course of the test, and police later find the weapon at that location, the statement of the accused will not be evidence, but the weapon will be.

  • Conference on Disarmament (CD)

    India has supported the holding of negotiations on a Comprehensive Nuclear Weapons Convention at the Conference on Disarmament (CD). It reiterated its commitment to the disarmament of nuclear weapons in a step-by-step non-discriminatory process.

    List out various factors which are preventing the nuclear disarmaments amongst the nations.

    About the Conference on Disarmament (CD)

    • The CD is a multilateral disarmament forum established by the international community to negotiate arms control and disarmament agreements based at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
    • The Conference meets annually in three separate sessions in Geneva.
    • The Conference was first established in 1979 as the Committee on Disarmament as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.
    • It was renamed the Conference on Disarmament in 1984.

    Recent developments from India

    • India has not revised its key principles regarding the weapons in its arsenal.
    • Raksha Mantri has earlier hinted at a possibility of changing the No First Use (NFU) principle by declaring that ‘circumstances’ will determine the “No First Use” stance.

    India stands committed

    • India believes that nuclear disarmament can be achieved through a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed multilateral framework.
    • India remains convinced of the need for meaningful dialogue among all states possessing nuclear weapons, for building trust and confidence.
    • India also remains committed to negotiations regarding a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty in the CD on the basis of the report of the Special Coordinator or CD/1299 which dates to March 24, 1995.

    B2BASICS

    India’s No first use doctrine

    For India, Nuclear weapons are political weapons and not weapons of war and their sole purpose is to deter the use of nuclear weapons by India’s adversaries. India has nit only established itself as a responsible nuclear state, but guided the world about how to be a responsible nuclear state through No first use policy.

    Features of India’s nuclear doctrine:

    1. Building and maintaining a credible minimum deterrent.
    2. A “No First Use” policy i.e. nuclear weapons to be used only in case of any nuclear attack on Indian territory or on Indian forces anywhere.
    3. Non use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states.
    4. Nuclear retaliatory attacks to be authorised only by civilian political leadership through the Nuclear Command Authority.
    5. Nuclear retaliation to a first strike will be massive and designed to inflict unacceptable damage.
    6. India may retaliate with nuclear weapons to retaliate against attack  with biological or chemical weapons.
    7. Strict controls on export of nuclear and missile related materials and technologies.
    8. A commitment to goal of nuclear weapon free world.

  • Swachh Bharat Puraskar (PIB)

    What are Swachh Bharat Puruskar ?

    • he Swachh Bharat (2020) Awards were conferred to the best performing States/UTs, districts, blocks, GPs and others in various categories marking six years of the Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) launch.
    • The awards were given by Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS).
    • Top Awards were conferred upon Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab& others.
    • Gujarat was felicitated with the first prize in the state category; Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu as best district; Khachrod, Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh as best block; and Chinnaur, (Salem) as the best Gram Panchayat for Swachh Sundar Samudayik Shauchalaya (SSSS) campaign organized from 1st Nov 2019 to 30th April 2020.
    • For the week-long Gandagi Se Mukt campaign launched by Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 8th August 2020, Telangana received the top award for maximum Shramdaan participation.

     

  • CBD Oil

    Context- Earlier this week, late actor Irrfan Khan’s wife Sutapa Sikdar made an appeal to legalise CBD oil in India for its potential to treat cancer. Her appeal followed the criticism of actor Rhea Chakrabaorty after it was reported that she had administered CBD oil, used as a pain reliever for some, to Sushant Singh Rajput when he was alive.

    About CBD oil ?

    • CBD oil is an extract from the cannabis plant. The two main active substances in it are cannabidiol or CBD and delta-9 tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC.
    • The high that is caused by the consumption of cannabis is due to THC. CBD, however, does not cause a “high” or any form of intoxication.
    • CBD oil is made by extracting CBD from the cannabis plant, then diluting it with a carrier oil like coconut or hemp seed oil.
    • Cannabidiol can reduce pain and anxiety. It also reduces psychotic symptoms associated with conditions such as schizophrenia as well as epilepsy.
    • There is not enough robust scientific evidence to prove that CBD oil can safely and effectively treat cancer.
    • CBD oil manufactured under a license issued by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 can be legally used. However, the use of cannabis as a medicine is not much prevalent in India.

  • Changes in the labour laws needs to discussed and debated

    Increase in the jobs without employment security

    • Between 2004-05 and 2017-18, the share of salaried workers outside agriculture without any written contract increased from 60 per cent to 71 per cent.
    • Even in private and public limited companies, this share increased from 59 per cent to 71 per cent.
    • In the government and the public sector the share of such workers increasing from 27 per cent to 45 per cent over the period.
    • Many of the wage jobs in the organised sector came through contractors.
    • In organised manufacturing, the reported share of contract labour increased from 13 per cent in 1995-06 to 36 per cent in 2017-18.

    Policy response

    • A policy to deal with the problem of employment security was much needed.
    • The response came in the form the three revised labour Code Bills — on Industrial Relations, Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions, and Social Security.
    • These were introduced in Parliament in the Monsoon Session, and approved on September 23.
    • These three labour codes, along with the Code on Wages approved earlier, touch the lives of every Indian worker.

     “Fixed term” worker

    • In 2018, the government amended the Standing Orders on Employment Act and introduced the category of “fixed term” worker.
    • That category creates a permanent cadre of temporary workers, with no prospects of career growth and job security.

    Changes and issues with the Bills

    • 1) Government had rationalised fixed-term employment by arguing that industries had resorted to the third-party engagement of contract labour to get around the rigidities in firing workers.
    • But that has not stopped the Codes from further liberalising the provisions relating to employment of contract labour and making their regulation applicable only in establishments employing 50 or more workers, instead of 20 or more.
    • 2) The key provisions which regulate the employment of inter-state migrant workers have been further diluted and made applicable only to establishments employing 10 or more such workers, compared to five earlier.
    • 3) Along with the provisions of retrenchment, the applicability of the Standing Orders, which regulate the categorisation as well as the terms of employment of workers in establishments, has also been raised from 100 to 300 workers.
    • 4) The threshold for factories has now been doubled — from 10 to 20 workers with power — thereby eliminating a large number of important regulatory provisions for the smaller factories.
    • 5) Relevant governments have been given much more leeway in exempting establishments from the applicability of a whole range of provisions in the Code.
    • 6) Inspection provisions have been diluted in all the Codes and will no longer even be complaints based.
    • 7)  The changes have also made legal industrial action a virtual impossibility, and the presence of unions less possible.

    Conclusion

    Informality contributes to inequality and to conditions which make sustainable growth impossible, and economic recovery more difficult. It also creates conditions in which employers under-invest in workers’ capacities and workers are not invested in a company’s future — leading to low productivity and lack of competitiveness.

  • Quad

    The article discusses the future course of action for the Quad and issues it faces in the present circumstances.

    Evolution of the Quad

    • In 2007, the Quad (the United States, Japan, India, and Australia) was an idea whose time had not yet come.
    • The global financial crisis was yet to happen as America continued to enjoy its ‘unipolar moment’.
    • The American still expected China to become a ‘responsible stake-holder’.
    • America required Chinese goodwill in handling issues with North Korea and Iran, and the War on Terror.
    • Japan and Australia were riding the China Boom to prosperity.
    • If India was ambivalent at the time, it was because this mirrored the uncertainties of others.

    China’s reaction and naval expansion

    • When the idea of Quad was barely on the table; the Chinese, labelled it as an Asian version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
    • The real reason for China’s hyperreaction was out of concern that such a grouping would “out” China’s plans for naval expansion by focusing on the Indo-Pacific maritime space.
    • Once the idea of Quad 1.0 had died down, China advanced a new claim — the Nine-Dash Line — in the South China Sea.
    • It undertook the rapid kind of warship building activity
    • It built its first overseas base in Djibouti.
    • It started systematically to explore the surface and sub-surface environment in the Indian Ocean beyond the Malacca Straits.
    • China’s dismissal of the Arbitral Award in the dispute with the Philippines on the South China Sea and its militarization of the islands has given a second chance to the Quad.

    Quad: A plurilateral mechanism

    • The Quad nations need to better explain that the Indo-Pacific Vision is an overarching framework being discussed in a transparent manner.
    • They should also explain that the objective of Indo-Pacific vision is of advancing everyone’s economic and security interests.
    • The Quad is a plurilateral mechanism between countries that share interest on specific matters.
    • In 2016, China itself established a Quadrilateral Cooperation and Coordination Mechanism with Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
    • The Quad is no exception.

    Way forward

    • The forthcoming Ministerial Quad meeting will be an opportunity to define the idea and chart a future path.
    • Needless provocation of China should be avoided.
    • Other countries might be invited to join in the future.
    • An outreach to the Indian Ocean littoral states is especially important since there are reports from some quarters suggesting that India is seeking to deny access to some extra-regional countries through the Indian Ocean.

    Conclusion

    A positive agenda built around collective action in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, monitoring shipping for search and rescue or anti-piracy operations, infrastructure assistance to climatically vulnerable states, connectivity initiatives and similar activities, will re-assure the littoral States that the Quad will be a factor for regional benefit, and a far cry from Chinese allegations that it is some sort of a military alliance.

  • Should India have one national Language?

    The article discusses the issues with excessive attention given to Hindi and how the neglect of another language could lead to the loss of language and the way of life associated with it as well.

    Debate in Constituent Assembly and issues in the adoption of Hindi

    • The issue of adopting a national language could not be resolved when the Constituent Assembly began drafting India’s Constitution.
    • Members from the Hindi-speaking provinces who moved a number of pro-Hindi amendments and argued for adopting Hindi as the sole national language.
    • Widespread resistance to the imposition of Hindi led to the passage of the Official Languages Act of 1963, which provided for the continued use of English for all official purposes.
    • Hindi became the sole working language of the Union government by 1965 with the State governments free to function in the language of their choice.
    • The constitutional directive for the Union government to encourage the spread of Hindi was retained within Central government entities in non-Hindi-speaking States.

    Issues with the Eighth Schedule

    • According to the 2001 Census, India has 30 languages that are spoken by more than a million people each.
    • The Constitution lists 22 languages and protects them in the eighth schedule.
    • Many languages are kept out of this schedule even if they deserve to be included.
    • This includes Tulu which is spoken by over 1.8 million people and has inscriptions dating back to the 14th and 15th centuries.
    • While Hindi, a much younger Indo-Aryan language, has been gaining prominence since before independence.
    • When a refined language loses its status in literary and daily interactions, the way of life associated with it also vanishes.
    • The Census found that while Hindi is the fastest growing language, the number of speakers of other languages has dropped.

    Way forward

    • While discussing Hindi and its use, let us also focus on the merit of other Indian languages.
    • Instead of focusing on one national language, we should learn a language beyond the mother tongue and get to know a different way of life too.

    Conclusion

    If we don’t protect and promote other well-evolved or endangered and indigenous languages, our future generations may end up never understanding their ‘real’ roots and culture

  • Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission (PIB)

    Union Social Justice Minister launched the Ambedkar Social Innovation and Incubation Mission(ASIIM) under Venture Capital Fund for SCs, with a view to promoting innovation and enterprise among SC students studying in higher educational institutions.

    What is ASIIM ?

    • Under Ambedkar Social Innovation Incubation Mission initiative, one thousand SC youth will be identified in the next four years with start-up ideas through the Technology Business Incubators in various higher educational institutions.
    • They will be funded 30 lakh rupees in three years as equity funding to translate their start-up ideas into commercial ventures.
    • Successful ventures would further qualify for venture funding of up to five Crore rupees from the Venture Capital Fund for SCs.

    Venture Capital Fund for SCs:

    • The Social Justice Ministry had launched the Venture Capital Fund for SCs in 2014-15 with a view to developing entrepreneurship amongst the SC and Divyang youth and to enable them to become job-givers.
    • The objective of this fund is to provide concessional finance to the entities of the SC entrepreneurs. Under this fund, 117 companies promoted by SC entrepreneurs have been sanctioned financial assistance to set up business ventures.