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GS Paper: GS2

  • [pib] National Food Security Act, 2013

    The Department of Food &Public Distribution has issued directions to States/UTs to include all eligible disabled persons under the National Food Security (NFS) Act 2013.

    Try this question:

    Q.In the ongoing crisis, maintaining the level of food security has become one of the most essential needs. In light of the above statement, critically examine the priority areas for maintaining food security in the country. Suggest measures to make accessibility and availability of food easier for all.

    National Food Security (NFS) Act

    • The NFS Act, 2013 aims to provide subsidized food grains to approximately two-thirds of India’s 1.2 billion people.
    • It was signed into law on 12 September 2013, retroactive to 5 July 2013.
    • It converts into legal entitlements for existing food security programmes of the GoI.
    • It includes the Midday Meal Scheme, Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme and the Public Distribution System (PDS).
    • Further, the NFSA 2013 recognizes maternity entitlements.
    • The Midday Meal Scheme and the ICDS are universal in nature whereas the PDS will reach about two-thirds of the population (75% in rural areas and 50% in urban areas).
    • Under the provisions of the bill, beneficiaries of the PDS are entitled to 5 kilograms per person per month of cereals at the following prices:
    1. Rice at ₹3 per kg
    2. Wheat at ₹2 per kg
    3. Coarse grains (millet) at ₹1 per kg.
    • Pregnant women, lactating mothers, and certain categories of children are eligible for daily free cereals.

    Implementation

    • Section 38 of the Act mandates that the Central Government may from time to time give directions to the State Governments for effective implementation of the provisions of the Act.

  • Thinking through the Nepal policy

    Unilateral actions by Nepal

    • Minor dispute involving territory around the Kalapani springs, was expanded to claim a large wedge of Indian territory towards the east, measuring nearly 400 square kilometres.
    • The expanded claim was incorporated into Nepal through a constitutional amendment and a revised official map.

    Future course of action

    • India should be willing to engage in talks with Nepal on all aspects of India-Nepal relations.
    • But any talks on the Kalapani issue should be limited to the area which was the original subject for negotiations and Susta.
    • Borders which have been accepted by both sides for more than 100 years and which have also been reflected on their official maps cannot be unilaterally altered by one side coming up with archival material which has surfaced in the meantime.
    • This would make national boundaries unstable and shifting, and create avoidable controversies between countries as is the case now between India and Nepal.

    Some historical background

    • The Treaty of Sugauli of 1816 sets the Kali river as the boundary between the two countries.
    • There was no map attached to the treaty.
    • Nepal is now claiming that the main tributary of the Kalapani river rises east of the Lipu Lekh pass from the Limpiyadhura ridgeline and hence should serve as the border.
    • Even if the lengthiest tributary may be one principle for a riverine boundary, it is not the only one.
    • There are many boundaries which do not follow any geographical principle at all but are the result of historical circumstances, mutual agreement and legal recognition.
    • British surveys of the region consistently showed the India-Nepal border heading due north of Kalapani springs.
    • This alignment never changed in subsequent years and was also reflected in Nepali official maps.
    • It has been argued by Nepal that it was the East India Company and successor governments “cartographic chicanery” to shift the source of the Kali river towards the east.
    • But Nepali government never contested such actions.
    • In 1969, the then Prime Minister of Nepal demanded that India military personnel manning 17 villages along the Nepal-Tibet border since the early 1950s be withdrawn.
    • If Lipu Lekh and Kalapani were on Nepali territory then why were they omitted from the list?
    • The Chinese, at least since 1954, have accepted Lipu Lekh Pass as being in Indian territory.
    • In the Nepal-China boundary agreement of 1960, the starting point of the boundary is clearly designated at a point just west of the Tinker Pass.

    Consider the question “Nepal’s newfound aspiration has led to the introduction of friction in India-Nepal ties, what is needed is recognition of each others’ concerns. Comment.”

    Conclusion

    For India, more than the exemplary inter-state relationship, it is the unique people-to-people relations between India and Nepal; and, fortunately, inter-state relations have been unable to undermine the dense affinities that bind our peoples together. While India should reject the Nepali state’s ill-conceived territorial claims, it should do everything to nurture the invaluable asset it has in the goodwill of the people of Nepal.

  • Office of the Attorney General and its role in contempt cases

    Attorney General of India has refused consent to a plea to initiate criminal contempt action against an actor for “scandalizing” the Supreme Court.

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

    What is the case for prior approval in Contempt Cases?

    • The prior consent in writing of the Attorney General is required for the Supreme Court to initiate criminal contempt action in a case a/c to the Contempt of Court Act, 1971.
    • AGI consent in a form of check on the much-debated suo-motu power of criminal contempt.

    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.

    Powers

    • The AG can accept briefs but cannot appear against the Government.
    • They cannot defend an accused in the criminal proceedings and accept the directorship of a company without the permission of the Government.
    • The AG is to be consulted only in legal matters of real importance and only after the Ministry of Law has been consulted.
    • All references to the AG are made by the Law Ministry.

    Limitations

    The AG:

    • should not advise or hold a brief against the Government of India
    • should not defend accused persons in criminal cases without the permission of the government of India
    • should not accept appointment as a director in any company without the permission of the government

    Global precedence

    • Unlike the Attorney General of the United States, the AGI does not have any executive authority.
    • Those functions are performed by the Law Minister of India.
    • Also, the AG is not a government servant and is not debarred from private legal practice.

  • National Council for Transgender Persons

    The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment has constituted the National Council for Transgender Persons.

    Try this question for mains:

    Q.Discuss the salient features of the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill, 2019. What are its various shortcomings?

    National Council for Transgender Persons

    • It has been a requirement under the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Act, 2019.
    • The Social Justice Minister would be the chairperson of the Council.
    • The members would include officials of the Ministries of Health, MHA, MoHUA, Minority Affairs, HRD etc. among others.
    • The council also includes five nominated members from the transgender community.

    Its mandate

    • The council would work with States to ensure that transgender welfare boards are set up in all States and essential needs of the community, like housing, food, healthcare and education are met.

    Also read:

    https://www.civilsdaily.com/news/parliament-passes-transgender-persons-protection-of-rights-bill-2019/

  • Increasing age of marriage will be exercise of carceral power by state

    The article examines the issue of the age of marriage of girls and its relation with their education level and economic status.

    Trends in early marriage

    • The National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) data 2015-16 points to certain trends in early marriages:
    • That rural women are likely to marry earlier than their urban counterparts.
    • The higher up a woman is on the wealth quintile, the later she marries.
    • Most importantly, it establishes a direct causal link between education levels and delayed age of marriage.
    • Women with 12 years or more of schooling are most likely to marry later.
    • Only 8 per cent rural girls who drop out in the age group 6 to 17 years cite marriage as the reason.

    Impact on STs and SCs

    • According to the wealth quintile data, the poorest households are concentrated in rural India.
    • The lowest quintile, which is most likely to marry off their girls early out of socio-economic necessities, have 45 per cent of the Scheduled Tribe (ST) and 25.9 per cent Scheduled castes.
    • The NFHS-4 data on women aged 15-49 by number of years of schooling completed shows that 42 per cent ST women and 33 per cent SC women have received no schooling.

    Issues

    • Marriages in India are governed by various personal laws which set varying minimum ages for girls as also the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006, where it is 18 years for girls and 21 for boys.
    • This is compounded by The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, that increased the age of consent, from 16 years to 18 years.
    • Several studies have shown how this has criminalised self-arranged adolescent marriages as parents often misuse it to punish couples marrying without their approval, especially in cases of inter-caste marriages.

    Way forward

    • The National Human Rights Commission showed how higher education levels lead to a lower likelihood of women being married early and recommended that the Right to Education Act, 2009, be amended to make it applicable up to the age of 18 years.
    • Noting the law’s patriarchal underpinnings, the 18th Law Commission report (2008) asked for uniformity in the age of marriage at 18 years for both men and women and lowering the age of consent to 16 years. Government could act on such a recommendation.

    Consider the question “What are the advantages of increasing the minimum age of marriage for girls. Also, examine the issues with the move.

    Conclusion

    The median age at first marriage for both men and women in India has registered a significant decadal improvement with more people now marrying later than ever before. Any attempt to leapfrog through quick-fix and ill-conceived punitive measures will only considerably reverse these gains.

  • Naga peace process

    The article analyses the issue of Naga peace process and the problem of identifying the stakeholders in the process.

    Naga Polity and aspirations

    • The  Nagas family comprises over 25 tribes.
    • Each of these is a proud owner and inheritor of a distinct culture, language, tradition and geography, supporting a distinct world view.
    • However, many Nagas aspire to Naga unity, and they view those tribal loyalties as residues of a premodern past and an obstacle to Naga solidarity.
    • Naga nationalism is connected with the idea Naga homeland  that includes contiguous areas in a number of Northeastern states, and even parts of Myanmar.

    “Unique history” formulation

    • The source of the phrase can be traced back to a joint communiqué that NSCN-IM General Secretary Thuingaleng Muivah and former Home Secretary K Padmanabhaiah signed in Amsterdam on July 11, 2002.
    • Meaning of the phrase “unique history” is not self-explanatory.
    • Despite the lack of clarity, it is adopted by officials and political leaders intended to accept two things-
    • (a) the characterisations long favoured by security bureaucrats of the Naga political struggle as a separatist insurgency or a terrorist movement that makes false claims to Naga unity, are inaccurate and
    • (b) rejecting those labels [ such as separatist insurgency or terrorist movement] is a necessary condition for negotiations based on mutual respect.
    • Those are significant achievements that should not be allowed to wither away.

    Negotiating with NSCN-IM and issues with it

    • NSCN-IM had declared the Shillong Accord of 1975 a sellout, and a betrayal of the Naga cause.
    • But it emerged as a serious political force precisely because it stood for Naga unity.
    • However, it is argued that NSCN-IM’s appeal is limited to the Tangkhul tribes of Manipur only.

    Consider the question “The issues of identifying the stakeholders in the Naga peace process is at the root of the solution to the peace problem. Also, examine the other factors which make the resolution elusive. Suggest the measures to resolve the issue.”

    Conclusion

    That a more nuanced negotiating strategy is now emerging is a positive development. But the fundamental question about who all the stakeholders in the Naga conflict are, still needs a satisfactory answer, one that is based on an in-depth mapping of the conflict. Only then can we expect peaceful dialogue and patient negotiations to end the conflict and bring about a durable peace.

  • Explained: Pakistan-Saudi Rift

    The rift between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia over Jammu and Kashmir is out in the open after a delegation led by Pak Army Chief was denied a meeting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS).

    Try this question:

    Q. Discuss the new geopolitical realignment in the Arab world and India’s role in it.

    Take a look after how the ties emerged and deteriorated:

    Saudi-Pakistan ties: A Recap

    • The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan was most prominent during the 1971 war between India and Pakistan.
    • Saudi Arabia is also reported to have transferred arms and equipment including the loan of some 75 aircraft to Pakistan.
    • After the war, Saudi Arabia consistently supported the call for the return of Pakistan’s prisoners of war and for dropping the Dacca (Dhaka) Trial against 195 of them.
    • After the war, Saudi Arabia gave loans to Pakistan enabling it to buy arms worth about $1 million by 1977, including F-16s and Harpoon missiles from the US.
    • Saudi oil and dollars have kept Pakistan’s economy on its feet after sanctions following the nuclear tests.
    • Over the last two decades, Saudi Arabia has provided oil on deferred payments to Pakistan whenever it ran into economic difficulty.
    • Saudi funding of madrasas has also led to their mushrooming, later giving rise to religious extremism.
    • In 1990, Pakistan sent its ground forces to defend Saudi Arabia against Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait.

    Alignment over Kashmir

    • The alignment over Kashmir at the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) crystallized since 1990 when the insurgency in J&K began.
    • While the OIC has issued statements over the last three decades, it became a ritual of little significance to India.
    • Last year, after India revoked Article 370 in Kashmir, Pakistan lobbied with the OIC for its condemnation of India’s move.
    • To Pakistan’s surprise, Saudi Arabia and the UAE issued statements that were nuanced rather than harshly critical of New Delhi.
    • Over the last year, Pakistan has tried to rouse the sentiments among the Islamic countries, but only a handful of them — Turkey and Malaysia — publicly criticised India.

    The Saudi perspective

    • Saudi Arabia’s change in position has been a gradual process under Crown Prince MBS.
    • As it seeks to diversify from its heavily oil-dependent economy, it sees India as a valuable partner in the region.
    • New Delhi, for its part, has wooed the Arab world over the last six years.
    • From Saudi Arabia to the UAE, it worked the diplomatic levers through high-level visits and dangled opportunities for investment and business
    • MBS, who is looking to invest in India, has taken a realistic view, along with UAE’s crown prince Mohammed bin Zayed.

    Energy connection to India

    • Saudi Arabia is India’s fourth-largest trade partner (after China, US and Japan) and a major source of energy: India imports around 18% of its crude oil requirement from the Kingdom.
    • Saudi Arabia is also a major source of LPG for India.
    • And, with India stopping oil imports from Iran due to the threat of US sanctions, Saudi Arabia is key in this respect as well.

    Saudi-Pakistan tension

    The tension between Saudi Arabia and Pakistan has been brewing for some time.

    • In 2015, Pakistan’s Parliament decided not to support the Saudi military effort to restore an internationally recognised government in Yemen.
    • Later, Pakistan’s then army chief General Raheel Sharif led the Saudi-led Islamic Military Alliance to Fight Terrorism, comprising 41 Muslim countries.
    • In February 2019, after the Pulwama terror attack, it was Saudi Arabia and the UAE that pulled their weight to get Wing Commander Abhinandan released, apart from the US.
    • The Saudi Crown Prince visited Pakistan and India at that time and made it clear that he valued economic opportunities. He did not wade into the Kashmir issue in India or the terrorism issue in Pakistan.

    Frustration over Kashmir

    A year after Article 370 was revoked, Qureshi belled the cat.

    • Pak accuses that Saudi Arabia has failed to deliver on the Kashmir and OIC had not played a leadership role in backing Pakistan against India.
    • This angered Saudi Arabia, which in November 2018 had announced a $6.2 billion loan package for Pakistan.
    • The package included $3 billion in loans and an oil credit facility amounting to $3.2 billion.
    • Riyadh demanded the return of the $3 billion loans and refused to sell oil to Islamabad on deferred payment. Pakistan immediately returned $1 billion, displaying the rift.
    • But, in the current economic situation, Pakistan is unable to pay the next tranche.
    • What has also angered Saudi Arabia is that Pakistan has been trying to pander to Turkey and Malaysia.

    The China factor

    • Pakistan and China have called themselves “all-weather allies” and “iron brothers” (during FMs meet).
    • Over the last year, Beijing has supported Pakistan on Kashmir, raising the issue at the UN Security Council thrice.
    • China has also emerged as Pakistan’s biggest benefactor through its funding of the CPEC.
    • Saudi Arabia too has invested in CPEC projects, to the tune of $10 billion, but Pakistan now looks towards Beijing for both diplomatic and economic support.

    Implications for India

    • Saudi’s silence on J&K as well as CAA-NRC has emboldened the Indian government.
    • At a time when India and China are locked in a border standoff, India has to be wary of Pakistan and China teaming up.
    • But with Saudi Arabia in its corner, for now, it may have leverage over Pakistan — Riyadh would not want a conflict and regional instability.
    • What is key to India’s calculus is that the Pakistan-China and the Pakistan-Saudi axes are not fused together at the moment: It is not a Saudi-Pakistan-China triangle.

  • Mulgaonkar principles in Contempt Cases

    In the criticism against the Supreme Court’s ruling that held advocate Prashant Bhushan guilty of contempt of court, his counsel has invoked the ‘Mulgaonkar Principles’, urging the court to show restraint.

    Try this MCQ:

    Q. The Mulgaonkar principles recently seen in news are related to:

    Diplomacy/ Economy/ Judiciary/ Environment

    The Mulgaonkar principles

    • S Mulgaonkar v Unknown (1978) is a case that led to a landmark ruling on the subject of contempt.
    • By a 2:1 majority, the court held Mulgaonkar not guilty of contempt although the same Bench had initiated the proceedings.
    • Justices P Kailasam and Krishna Iyer formed the majority going against then CJI M H Beg.
    • Justice Iyer’s counsel of caution in exercising the contempt jurisdiction came to be called the Mulgaonkar principles.

    What was the case about?

    • An article by A G Noorani in the newspaper about certain judicial decisions during the Emergency period, especially the Habeas Corpus case, had displeased then CJI Beg.
    • The Habeas Corpus case, often referred to as the “Supreme Court’s darkest hour” upheld the detention law, citing that even the right to life can be suspended during an emergency.
    • Justices A N Ray, Beg, Y V Chandrachud and P N Bhagwati formed the majority while Justice H R Khanna was the sole dissenter.

    What did the ruling say?

    • The first rule in the branch of power is a “wise economy of use by the Court of this branch of its jurisdiction”.
    • The Court will act with seriousness and severity where justice is jeopardized by a gross and/or unfounded attack on the judges, where the attack is calculated to obstruct or destroy the judicial process.
    • The court is willing to ignore, by a majestic liberalism, trifling and venial offenses-the dogs may bark, the caravan will pass.
    • The court will not be prompted to act as a result of an easy irritability.

     

  • Increasing the age of marriage for girls and related issues

    The article analyses the issues with objectives of increasing the age of marriage for girls.

    Poverty of mother: Important factor

    • Raising the age of marriage is the could be the way to improve the health and nutritional status of mothers and their infants.
    • An article published in the journal The Lancet Child and Adolescent Health analyses data on stunting in children and thinness in mothers in the latest round of the National Family Health Survey 4 (2015-16).
    •  The authors examine the strength of the association between many different causal factors.
    •  As it turns out, the poverty of the mother plays the greatest role of all by far.
    • Instead of early pregnancy causing malnourishment, they may both be the consequences of poverty.
    • The best way to go about breaking such a cycle would be to pick the factors perpetuating it, it would be the poverty of the mother in this case.

    Declining fertility rate in India

    • India’s fertility rates have been declining to well below replacement levels in many States, including those with higher levels of child marriage.
    • This could be the reason for the shift from fuelling fears about booming populations to expressing concern for the undernourishment of children.
    • So, the problem of “populations explosion” is not the real problem as the demographic data suggests.

    Concern

    • The change in the marriage age will leave the vast majority of Indian women who marry before they are 21 without the legal protections.

    Conclusion

    The proposal and the objective to be achieved through raising the age of marriage needs reconsideration for the reasons cited above.

  • China twist in Teesta Challenge

    Bangladesh is discussing an almost $1 billion loan from China for a comprehensive management and restoration project on the Teesta river. These discussions with China come at a time when India is particularly wary about China following the standoff in Ladakh.

    Try this question from our AWE initiative:

    Teesta River has become an important factor in India – Bangladesh relations. What are the hindrances in successful implementation of river water sharing agreement and what are its possible implications on India-Bangladesh relations? What could be the possible solutions?

    Teesta Project

    • The project is aimed at managing the river basin efficiently, controlling floods, and tackling the water crisis in summers.
    • India and Bangladesh have been engaged in a long-standing dispute over water-sharing in the Teesta.

    How has the Teesta dispute progressed?

    • The two countries were on the verge of signing a water-sharing pact in September 2011, when PM Manmohan Singh was going to visit Bangladesh.
    • But, West Bengal CM objected to it, and the deal was scuttled.
    • After the regime change in 2014, the government hoped that it could reach a “fair solution” on the Teesta through cooperation between central and state governments.
    • Five years later, the Teesta issue remains unresolved.

    Trends in India’s relationship with Bangladesh

    • New Delhi has had a robust relationship with Dhaka, carefully cultivated since 2008, especially with the Sheikh Hasina government at the helm.
    • Security: India has benefited from its security ties with Bangladesh, whose crackdown against anti-India outfits has helped the Indian government maintain peace in the eastern and Northeast states.
    • Trade: Bangladesh has benefited from its economic and development partnership. Bangladesh is India’s biggest trade partner in South Asia.
    • Bilateral trade has grown steadily over the last decade: India’s exports to Bangladesh in 2018-19 stood at $9.21 billion, and imports from Bangladesh at $1.04 billion.
    • Visas:India also grants 15 to 20 lakh visas every year to Bangladesh nationals for medical treatment, tourism, work, and just entertainment.

    Recent irritants in ties

    • There have been recent irritants in the relationship.
    • These include the proposed countrywide National Register of Citizens (NRC) and the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) passed in December last year.
    • Bangladesh had insisted that while the CAA and the proposed nationwide NRC were “internal matters” of India, the CAA move were “not necessary”.

    Chinese affinity with Bangladesh

    • China is the biggest trading partner of Bangladesh and is the foremost source of imports.
    • In 2019, the trade between the two countries was $18 billion and the imports from China commanded the lion’s share. The trade is heavily in favour of China.
    • Recently, China declared zero duty on 97% of imports from Bangladesh. The concession flowed from China’s duty-free, quota-free programme for the Least Developed Countries.
    • This move has been widely welcomed in Bangladesh, with the expectation that Bangladesh exports to China will increase.
    • China has promised around $30 billion worth of financial assistance to Bangladesh.
    • Additionally, Bangladesh’s strong defence ties with China make the situation complicated. China is the biggest arms supplier to Bangladesh and it has been a legacy issue — after its liberation.
    • Recently, Bangladesh purchased two Ming class submarines from China.

    India’s engagement post CAA

    • Over the last five months, India and Bangladesh have cooperated on pandemic-related moves.
    • Hasina supported Modi’s call for a regional emergency fund for fighting Covid-19 and declared a contribution of $1.5 million in March 2020. India has also provided medical aid to Bangladesh.
    • The two countries have also cooperated in railways, with India giving 10 locomotives to Bangladesh.
    • The first trial run for trans-shipment of Indian cargo through Bangladesh to Northeast states under a pact on the use of Chittagong and Mongla ports took place in July.
    • Bangladesh gave its readiness to collaborate in the development of a Covid-19 vaccine, including its trial, and looks forward to early, affordable availability of the vaccine when ready.

    Among other issues

    • The two sides agreed that Implementation of projects should be done in a timely manner and that greater attention is required to development projects in Bangladesh under the Indian Lines of Credit.
    • Bangladesh sought the return of the Tablighi Jamaat members impacted by the lockdown in India.
    • Bangladesh requested for the urgent reopening of visa issuance from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, particularly since many Bangladeshi patients need to visit India.
    • India was also requested to reopen travel through Benapole-Petrapole land port which has been halted by the West Bengal government in the wake of the pandemic.

    Way forward

    • While the Teesta project is important and urgent from India’s point of view, it will be difficult to address it before the West Bengal elections due next year.
    • What Delhi can do is to address other issues of concern, which too are challenging.
    • Now, the test will be if India can implement all its assurances in a time-bound manner.
    • Or else, the latent anti-India sentiment in Bangladesh, which has been revived after India’s CAA -NRC push can permanently damage the historic ties.

    Back2Basics: Teesta Water Dispute