| International Relations | Mains Paper 2: Effect Of Policies & Politics Of World On India'S Interests

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Countervailing duty

Mains level: India-US trade disputes

The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) has published a notice, amending lists of developing and least-developed countries that are eligible for preferential treatment with respect to countervailing duties (CVD) investigations.

New classification by US

To harmonise U.S. law with the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) Agreement, the USTR had, in 1998, come up with lists of countries classified as per their level of development.
These lists were used to determine whether they were potentially subject to U.S. countervailing duties. The 1998 rule is now “obsolete” as per the USTR notice.
Countries not given special consideration have lower levels of protection against a CVD investigation.
A CVD investigation must be terminated if the offending subsidy is de minimis (too small to warrant concern) or if import volumes are negligible.
The de minimis thresholds and import volume allowance are more relaxed for developing and least-developed countries.

Criteria set by US

The USTR used the following criteria to determine whether a country was eligible for the 2% de minimise standard:

(1) Per capita Gross National Income or GNI

(2) share of world trade

(3) other factors such as Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) membership or application for membership, EU membership, and Group of Twenty (G20) membership.

Delisting India

India was, until February 10, on the developing country list and therefore eligible for these more relaxed standards. It has now been taken off of that list.
India, along with Brazil, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam were taken off the list since they each have at least a 0.5% share of the global trade, despite having less than $12, 375 GNI (the World Bank threshold separating high-income countries from others).
India was taken off the list also because — like Argentina, Brazil, Indonesia and South Africa — it is part of the G20.
Given the global economic significance of the G20, and the collective economic weight of its membership (which accounts for large shares of global economic output and trade), G20 membership indicates that a country is developed a/c to USTR.

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Modern Indian History-Events and Personalities

Conservation plan for Konark Sun Temple

| History and Art & Culture | Mains Paper 1: Arts & Culture

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Konark Sun Temple

Mains level: Temple architecture of India

A plan to restore and preserve the nearly 800-year-old Konark Sun Temple in Odisha would be drawn up soon. Among the potential choices before the government would be to fill in more sand or to remove all the sand andput in place alternate support.

Konark Sun Temple

Konark Sun Temple is a 13th-century CE Sun temple at Konark about 36 kilometres northeast from Puri on the coastline of Odisha, India.
The temple is attributed to king Narasinga Deva I of the Eastern Ganga Dynasty about 1250 CE.
Dedicated to the Hindu Sun God Surya, what remains of the temple complex has the appearance of a 100-foot (30 m) high chariot with immense wheels and horses, all carved from stone.
Once over 200 feet (61 m) high, much of the temple is now in ruins, in particular the large shikara tower over the sanctuary; at one time this rose much higher than the mandapa that remains.
The structures and elements that have survived are famed for their intricate artwork, iconography, and themes, including erotic kama and mithuna scenes.
Also called the Surya Devalaya, it is a classic illustration of the Odisha style of Architecture or Kalinga Architecture.
Declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1984 it remains a major pilgrimage site for Hindus, who gather here every year for the Chandrabhaga Mela around the month of February.

Earlier restoration efforts

It had been filled with sand and sealed by the British authorities in 1903 in order to stabilize the structure, a/c to ASI.
A scientific study was carried out by the Roorkee-based Central Building Research Institute from 2013 till 2018 to ascertain the temple’s structural stability as well as the status of the filled-in sand.
The sand filled in over 100 years ago had settled, leading to a gap of about 17 feet. However the structure was found to be stable.

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Climate Change Impact on India and World – International Reports, Key Observations, etc.

‘Future of Earth, 2020’ Report

DOMR | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 1: Climatic Change

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Highlights of the report

Mains level: Various global threats and their mitigation

The “The Future of Earth, 2020” Report was recently released.

About the report

The report is released by the South Asia Future Earth Regional Office, Divecha Centre for Climate Change, Indian Institute of Science.
The report was prepared with the aim of reducing carbon footprint and halting global warming below 2 degree Celsius by 2050.

Highlights of the report

Five global risks that have the potential to impact and amplify one another in ways that may cascade to create global systemic crisis have been listed by report.
It listed the following as five global risks:

failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation
extreme weather events
major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse
food crises; and
water crises

Offering examples of how the interrelation of risk factors play a role, scientists say extreme heatwaves can accelerate global warming by releasing large amounts of stored carbon from affected ecosystems, and at the same time intensify water crises and/ or food scarcity.
The loss of biodiversity also weakens the capacity of natural and agricultural systems to cope with climate extremes, increasing our vulnerability to food crises, they point out.

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Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

In news: Two-child Norm

Bills/Act/Laws | Governance | Mains Paper 1: Population & Associated Issues

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Art. 47

Mains level: Population explosion in India

A Rajya Sabha MP has introduced a Private Member’s Bill on two-child norms.

Key propositions of the Bill

Essentially, the Bill aims to amend the Constitution in order to incentivise limiting families to two children by offering tax concessions, priority in social benefit schemes and school admissions, among other things.
It proposes incentives in taxation, education and employment for people who limit their family size to two children.

Article 47A

The Bill has sought the incorporation of a new provision, Article 47A in Part IV of the Constitution, to withdraw all concessions from people who fail to adhere to the “small-family” norm.
Article 47A says the following:

“47A. The State shall promote small family norms by offering incentives in taxes, employment, education etc. to its people who keep their family limited to two children and shall withdraw every concession from and deprive such incentives to those not adhering to small family norm, to keep the growing population under control.”

Note: Article 47 of the Indian Constitution is one of the DPSP which directs the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health as among its primary duties and, in particular, the State shall endeavour to bring about prohibition of intoxicating drinks and drugs which are injurious to health.

Why such Bill?

The Bill’s Statement of Object and Reasons states that the fact that India’s population has already crossed 125 crore is “really frightening”.
It goes on to say that India’s population has doubled in the last 40 years and that it is expected to unseat China as the world’s most populous nation in the next couple of decades.
Despite the fact that we have framed a National Population Control Policy, we are the second most populous country in the world.
Further, the population explosion will cause “many problems” for our future generations.
The Bill also makes a reference to “overburdened” natural resources that are overexploited because of overpopulation.

Statewide policies relating to two-child norms

Assam Cabinet has recently decided that those with more than two children will be ineligible for government jobs from 2021. Other states with similar norms:

Rajasthan: For government jobs, candidates who have more than two children are not eligible for appointment.

Madhya Pradesh: The state follows the two-child norm since 2001. Under Madhya Pradesh Civil Services (General Condition of Services) Rules, if the third child was born on or after January 26, 2001, one becomes ineligible for government service. The rule also applies to higher judicial services.

Telangana: Under Section 19 (3) read with Sections 156 (2) and 184 (2) of Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, a person with more than two children shall be disqualified from contesting election. However, if a person had more than two children before May 30, 1994, he or she will not be disqualified. The same sections in the Andhra Pradesh: AP Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, apply to Andhra Pradesh, where a person having more than two children shall be disqualified from contesting election.

Gujarat: In 2005, the government amended the Gujarat Local Authorities Act. The amendment disqualifies anyone with more than two children from contesting elections for bodies of local self-governance — panchayats, municipalities and municipal corporations.

Maharashtra: The Maharashtra Zilla Parishads And Panchayat Samitis Act disqualifies people who have more than two children from contesting local body elections (gram panchayats to municipal corporations). The Maharashtra Civil Services Rules, 2005 states that a person having more than two children is disqualified from holding a post in the state government. Women with more than two children are also not allowed to benefit from the Public Distribution System.

Karnataka: The Karnataka (Gram Swaraj and Panchayat Raj) Act, 1993 does not bar individuals with more than two children from contesting elections to local bodies like the gram panchayat. The law, however, says that a person is ineligible to contest “if he does not have a sanitary latrine for the use of the members of his family”.

Odisha: The Odisha Zilla Parishad Act bars those individuals with more than two children from contesting.

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Air Pollution

Global cost of air pollution from fossil fuels

IOCR | Enviro & Biodiversity | Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

A new Greenpeace report has estimated the global cost of air pollution from fossil fuels at around $2.9 trillion per year, or $8 billion per day — 3.3% of the world’s GDP.

Cost of air pollution

India is estimated to bear a cost of $150 billion, or 5.4% of the country’s GDP, which is the third-highest absolute cost from fossil fuel air pollution worldwide.

China and the US are estimated to bear the highest absolute costs from fossil fuel air pollution, respectively at $900 billion and $600 billion.

Loss of lives

Globally, air pollution is estimated to cause 4.5 million premature deaths each year.
This includes 3 million deaths attributable globally to PM2.5, which is one of the principal pollutants in northern Indian cities including Delhi.
Globally, PM2.5 is also estimated to cause the loss of 62.7 million years of life, 2.7 million emergency room visits due to asthma, 2 million preterm births and 1.75 billion work absences.
The 2 million preterm births include 981,000 in India and over 350,000 in China.

Economic cost

In India, exposure to fossil fuels also leads to a loss of around 490 million workdays, the report said.

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Animal Husbandry, Dairy & Fisheries Sector – Pashudhan Sanjivani, E- Pashudhan Haat, etc

[pib] ‘Apiary on Wheels’ Initiative

PIB | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Economics Of Animal-Rearing

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: ‘Apiary on Wheels’, Apiculture

Mains level: Apiculture sector of India

‘Apiary on Wheels’ was recently flagged off today by the Union Minister of MSME.

‘Apiary on Wheels’

It is a unique concept designed by KVIC for the easy upkeep and migration of Bee Boxes having live Bee colonies.
It is a platform which can carry 20 Bee Boxes from one place to another without any difficulty.
It is like an attachment which can be easily connected with a Tractor or a Trolley and may be pulled to any suitable destination.
Specially, in summers, the beekeepers usually adopted crude methods to feed the bees and many bees used to die in the process.
This concept of migration, cooling with the help of solar panels and sugar drips with zero risk to the lives of bees, will prevent any damages to the bee boxes or bee colonies and help produce quality honey.

How it works?

Two large wheels on either side of the Apiary and 4 separate compartments with independent doors, having 5 bee boxes each help the platform to remain intact without disturbing the live bee colonies.
It is also connected with a solar panel system which automatically triggers a fan inside the compartment as soon as the temperature reaches 35 degree centigrade or above.

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Telecom and Postal Sector – Spectrum Allocation, Call Drops, Predatory Pricing, etc

Missed call

| Economics | Mains Paper 3: Effects Of Liberalization On The Economy, Changes In Industrial Policy and their effects on Industrial Growth

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much.

Mains level: Paper 3- AGR issue and its impact on the telecom sector of the country.

Context

As the dust settles after the Union budget and the Supreme Court’s decision to not provide relief to telcos from their licence fee liabilities, it is an appropriate moment to step back and examine how we got here.

The issue over the definition of AGR (Aggregate Gross Revenue)

What is AGR issue: Since the New Telecom Policy of 1999 (NTP 1999), operators were required to pay a percentage of their AGR to the government as licence fees instead of a one-time licence fee.
- License fee based on earnings: This was done in exchange for moving operators from fixed licence fee-based on irrationally exuberant bids they had made in the mid-nineties-to a regime that determined licence fee based on revenue earned, thereby de-risking the obligation.
- Why it matters? What constitutes AGR is important for the purpose of the computing licence fee and thousands of crore are dependent on this.
Consequences of ambiguity over the definition of AGR: Bundling – a pervasive phenomenon in most telecom markets have not taken off in India.
- What is bundling? Product bundling is a marketing strategy that involves offering several products and/or services for sale as one combined product.
- The fear is that handset sales will also come under the purview of AGR. Handsets, it could still be argued are part of the service offering.
- Dividend on earning is considered as the part of AGR: Interest and dividend earnings on investments have also been included in AGR.

Unfair practices and cancellation of licences by the court

Controversy over conversion charges: In 2003, “limited” mobility service was converted into a fully mobile service with a one-time payment of Rs 1,658 crore as “conversion” charges, generating controversy. It was labelled as a “back door entry” to full mobility.
Disguising international calls as domestic: Around the same time, the DoT used to levy a fee of Rs 4.75 per minute on international calls known as “access deficit charge” (ADC) to fund universal coverage. It is well known that an operator disguised international calls as domestic to bypass ADC.
Showing call revenue as internet services revenue: For some time, internet services attracted lower or no licence fee and it became expedient for operators to indulge in license fee “arbitrage” by showing more revenue from internet services.
Inflating subscriber numbers: Another manoeuvre was to inflate subscriber numbers to gain access to scarce spectrum in the days when fresh spectrum was administratively assigned based on subscriber numbers.
First come first serve policy: Finally, the shameful spectacle was the battle fought by operators to jump the queue to deposit earnest money for gaining rights over the spectrum that was oddly sought to be assigned by a method called “first come first served” and whose definition itself was quite elastic.
Cancellation of licence by the Court: Thereafter, in the litigation that inevitably followed, the Court cancelled 122 telecom licences and mandated allocation of spectrum by auction.

Conclusion

Erosion of trust between the public and private sector in general and in the telecom sector, in particular, has been a negative externality of the reform process.
Restoration of trust between public and private sector is necessary: In this context, the appeal made by the finance minister during her budget speech for the restoration of “vishwaas” between the public and private sectors and between citizens and government is critical

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Digital India Initiatives

Riding on data for mobility

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: E-Governance

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much.

Mains level: Paper 2- Applying digital revolution to transform governance.

Context

Data-based governance can assist in reducing traffic congestion, as illustrated by a pilot study in Hyderabad.

How the Digital revolution is transforming lives

Seamless and efficient interaction: The digital revolution has made interactions between humans and machines, and among citizens, governments and businesses, seamless and efficient.
Helping efficient delivery of services: Today, e-governance enables and empowers citizens to directly engage with the state, thereby eliminating barriers in the delivery of public services.
The next wave of transformation: The next wave of transformation in digital governance is at the intersection of data and the public good.
- Data as a strategic asset: The key to this transformation lies in incorporating data as a strategic asset in all aspects of-
- Policy.
- Planning.
- Service delivery and-
- Operations of the government.

Transportation system improvement by leveraging Digital revolution

Loss caused by the congestion
- Congestion caused an estimated $24 billion to the four metro cities in India in 2018.
- Given the limited land resources available, the key to solving congestion lies in improving the efficiency of existing transportation systems.
How can Digital revolution help tackle the problem?
- An efficient transportation system would help ease congestion, reduce travel time and cost, and provide greater convenience.
- How it will work? Data from multiple sources such as-
- CCTV cameras.
- Automatic traffic
- Map services and-
- Transportation service providers could be used.
Results of the previous studies
- London example: A study by Transport for London estimates that its open data initiative on sharing of real-time transit data has helped add £130 million a year to London’s economy by improving productivity and efficiency.
- Results from China: In China, an artificial intelligence-based traffic management platform developed by Alibaba has helped improve average speeds by 15%.

Hyderabad Open Transit Data portal

Hyderabad Open Transit Data, launched by Open Data Telangana, is the country’s first data portal.
- What does it do? It publishes datasets on bus stops, bus routes, metro routes, metro stations, schedules, fares, and frequency of public transit services.
The objective of the portal: The objective is to empower start-ups and developers to create useful mobility applications.
- The datasets were built after an intensive exercise carried out by the Open Data Team and Telangana State Road Transport Corporation to collect, verify and digitise the data.
Collaboration with the private sector: Hyderabad has also begun collaborating with the private sector to improve traffic infrastructure.
- MoU with Ola Mobility Institute: One such partnership followed a Memorandum of Understanding signed between the Telangana government and Ola Mobility Institute.
- Monitoring the quality of roads in the city: Under this collaboration, Ola has developed a tool, Ola City Sense, to provide data-based insights that can monitor the quality of Hyderabad’s roads and identify bad quality patches.
- Other areas in which the data is used: The information thus given is useful not only for carrying out road repairs, it also helps officials take initiatives to improve road safety, monitor quality of construction, and study the role of bad roads in causing congestion.
A pilot project to prioritisation of repairs: A pilot was implemented in a municipal zone to gauge the efficacy of the data in supporting road monitoring and prioritisation of repairs.
- The early results of this pilot project were encouraging. The dashboard helped city officials plan the pre-monsoon repair work and budget for repairs last year.

Conclusion

The willingness of the government to apply data-based insights: The Hyderabad project and the pilot demonstrated the willingness of government departments to apply data-based insights for better decision making.
- This could also serve as a model for other cities to emulate.
Making the departments data-centric: The Hyderabad example also shows that governments can make their departments data-centric by-
- Institutionalising data collection.
- Building technology platforms.
- And helping the departments develop the capacity to handle the insights generated from the data.
- Smart cities as a starting point: Command and control centres under the ‘smart cities’ initiative can be an ideal starting point.
- Data security and privacy: Such interventions, however, also need to address genuine concerns around data security and privacy.

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Hunger and Nutrition Issues – GHI, GNI, etc.

Nutrition and the Budget’s fine print

op-ed snap | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Government Scheme/Policies,Poverty & Hunger

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh

Mains level: Paper 2- Despite having many schemes to address the malnutrition the problems still looms large, why?

Context

There are well-equipped schemes to address the malnutrition, plugging the policy gaps is the problem.

Nutrition and hunger in India

Global Hunger Index rank 102: A few months ago, the Global Hunger Index, reported that India suffers from “serious” hunger, ranked 102 out of 117 countries.
Only one-tenth of children getting proper diet: Just a tenth of children between six to 23 months are fed a minimum acceptable diet.
Urgency reflected in the budget: The urgency around nutrition was reflected in the Union Finance Minister’s Budget speech, as she referred to the “unprecedented” scale of developments under the scheme for Holistic Nutrition, or POSHAN Abhiyaan, the National Nutrition Mission with efforts to track the status of 10 crore households.
The Economic Survey notes that “Food is not just an end in itself but also an essential ingredient in the growth of human capital and therefore important for national wealth creation”.
How malnutrition affects? Malnutrition affects cognitive ability, workforce days and health, impacting as much as 16% of GDP (World Food Programme and World Bank).

Addressing Nutrition through Agriculture

Multiple dimension of malnutrition: There are multiple dimensions of malnutrition that include-
- Calorific deficiency.
- Protein hunger.
- Micronutrient deficiency.
Addressing the issue through Agriculture: An important approach to address nutrition is through agriculture.
- The Bharatiya Poshan Krishi Kosh which was launched in 2019 is a recent attempt to bridge this gap.
- The krishi kosh was launched by Ministry of Women and Child Development along with Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
- Existing schemes can well address India’s malnutrition dilemma. Following is the analysis of budgetary allocation and expenditure in the previous year.

First- Calorific deficiency

The Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme provides a package of services including-
- Supplementary nutrition.
- Nutrition and health education.
- Health check-ups and
- Referral services addressing children, pregnant and lactating mothers and adolescent girls, key groups to address community malnutrition, and which also tackle calorific deficiency and beyond.
- Underutilisation of funds: For 2019-20, the allotment was ₹27,584.37 crore but revised estimates are ₹24,954.50 crore, which points to an underutilisation of resources.
- Which area needs the emphasis: The allocation this year is marginally higher, but clearly, the emphasis needs to be on implementation.
Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Another pathway to address hunger is the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, to enhance the nutrition of schoolchildren.
- Here too, the issue is not with allocation but with expenditure.
- The 2019-20 Budget allocation was ₹11,000 crore and revised estimates are only ₹9,912 crores.

Second-Protein Hunger

Contribution of pulses: Pulses are a major contributor to address protein hunger.
- Underutilisation of funds: A scheme for State and Union Territories aims to reach pulses into welfare schemes (Mid-Day Meal, Public Distribution System, ICDS) has revised estimates standing at just ₹370 crores against ₹800 crore allocation in the 2019-20 Budget.

Third-micronutrient deficiency

Horticulture Mission: The Horticulture Mission can be one of the ways to address micronutrient deficiency effectively, but here too implementation is low.
- Revised estimates for 2019-20 stand at ₹1,583.50 crores against an allocation of ₹2,225 crores.
National Millet Mission: In 2018-19, the Government of India launched a national millet mission which included renaming millets as “nutri-cereals” also launching a Year of Millets in 2018-19 to promote nutritious cereals in a campaign mode across the country.
- This could have been further emphasised in the Budget as well as in the National Food Security Mission (NFSM) which includes millets.
- Under-utilisation of funds: The NFSM strains to implement the allocation of ₹2,000 crores during 2019-20, as revised expenditures stand at ₹1,776.90 crore.
- Need to sustain the momentum: As millets have the potential to address micronutrient deficiencies, the momentum given to these cereals needs to be sustained.

POSHAN Abhiyan and issues involved

72% expenditure on technology: The National Nutrition Mission which is a major initiative to address malnutrition, had 72% of total expenditure going into “Information and Communication Technology.
- Misplaced focus: The focus of the bulk of the funding has been on technology, whereas, actually, it is a convergence that is crucial to address nutrition.
- Under-utilisation of funds: Only 34% of funds released by the Government of India were spent from FY 2017-18 to FY 2019-20 till November 30, 2019.
- Limiting the possibility of an increase in the allocation: With underspending, allocations for subsequent years will also be affected, limiting the possibility of increasing budgets and the focus on nutrition schemes.

Agriculture-nutrition link

The agriculture-nutrition link is another piece of the puzzle.
Link not explicitly mentioned: While agriculture dominated the initial Budget speech, the link between agriculture and nutrition was not explicit.
- Why the link is important: The link is important because about three-fifths of rural households are agricultural in India (National Sample Survey Office, 70th round)
- The malnutrition rates, particularly in rural areas are high (National Family Health Survey-4).
- Need for greater emphasis: Agriculture-nutrition linkage schemes have the potential for greater impact and need greater emphasis.

Way forward

Focus: Focus on nutrition-related interventions, beyond digitisation.
Bring all departments in one place: Intensify the convergence component of POSHAN Abhiyaan, using the platform to bring all departments in one place to address nutrition.
Nutrition based activities by farmer-producer: Direct the announcement to form 10,000 farmer producer organisations with an allocation of ₹500 crores to nutrition-based activities.
Youth schemes: Promotion of youth schemes to be directed to nutrition-agriculture link activities in rural areas.
Emphasis on fund allocation: Give explicit emphasis and fund allocation to agriculture-nutrition linked schemes.
Early disbursement and utilisation of funds: Ensure early disbursement of funds and optimum utilisation of schemes linked to nutrition.

Conclusion

Nutrition goes beyond just food, with economic, health, water sanitation, gender perspectives and social norms contributing to better nutrition. This is why the implementation of multiple schemes can contribute to better nutrition.

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Pharma Sector – Drug Pricing, NPPA, FDC, Generics, etc.

Medical Devices (Amendment) Rules, 2020

Explained | Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Medical Devices (Amendment) Rules, 2020

Mains level: Regulation of medical devices in India

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has notified changes in the Medical Devices Rules, 2017 to regulate medical devices on the same lines as drugs under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

Medical Devices (Amendment) Rules, 2020

These rules are applicable to devices intended for internal or external use in the diagnosis, treatment, mitigation or prevention of disease or disorder in human beings or animals” (as notified by the ministry).
It requires online registration of these devices “with the Central Licensing Authority through an identified online portal established by the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation for this purpose.
Among the information that the manufacturer has to upload are “name & address of the company or firm or any other entity manufacturing the medical device along with name and address of manufacturing site.
It also need to upload certificate of compliance with respect to ISO 13485 standard accredited by National Accreditation Board for Certification Bodies or International Accreditation Forum.
This would mean that every medical device, either manufactured in India or imported, will have to have quality assurance before they can be sold anywhere in the country.
After furnishing of the above information a registration number will be generated. Manufacturer shall mention the registration number on the label of the medical device.

What are the items covered under the new Rules?

A large number of commonly used items including hypodermic syringes and needles, cardiac stents, perfusion sets, catheters, orthopaedic implants, bone cements, lenses, sutures, internal prosthetic replacements etc are covered under the new rules.
For some items such as sphygmomanometers (used to monitor blood pressure), glucometers (to check blood sugar), thermometers, CT scan and MRI equipment, dialysis and X-ray machines, implants etc, different deadlines for compliance have been set.
For example for the first three, it is January 2021, for the others it is April next year. For ultrasound equipment, it is November 2020.

Is this a sudden move?

This has been in the offing for some time now.
In October last year, the ministry had circulated copies of the then proposed notification for public comments following recommendations of the Drugs Technical Advisory Board (DTAB), which is the highest technical body for these decisions and has experts among its members.
In April last year, the DTAB had recommended that all medical devices should be notified as “drugs” under the drug regulation law to ensure they maintain safety and quality standards.
The notification makes it clear that the government has issued it in consultation with the DTAB.

Why was the move required?

For much of the last one year, the health sector has been at the centre of attention following revelations about faulty hip implants marketed by pharma major Johnson & Johnson.
This has caused major embarrassment to the government, too, as it exposed the lack of regulatory teeth when it came to medical devices.
The matter dragged on, exposing the regulatory loopholes until finally the company agreed in court to pay Rs 25 lakh each to the 67 people who had had to undergo revision surgeries because the implants were defective.
That is really where the discussion started about regulation of medical devices.

What are the penal provisions under Indian law?

There are various penal provisions under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 for various kinds of offences. Manufacture or sale of substandard items is punishable with imprisonment of at least 10 years, which may extend to imprisonment for life.
There is also a provision for fine that will “not be less than Rs 10 lakh rupees or three times value of the confiscated items”.

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Terrorism and Challenges Related To It

Conviction of Hafiz Saeed

| Security Issues | Mains Paper 3: External State & Non-State Actors: Challenges To Internal Security.

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: FATF

Mains level: Terror funding

The Lashkar-e-Taiba founder (LeT) and Jamat-ud Dawa (JuD) chief Hafiz Saeed was convicted by a Pakistan court in two terror-financing cases and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison concurrently.

Why such move?

With pressure from the international community building up, Pakistan has been trying to convince the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to prevent it getting blacklisted.
Saeed’s conviction is perhaps a reflection of Pakistan’s changing approach towards its treatment of terror groups, given the FATF’s actions and warnings.

Who is Hafiz Saeed?

Hafiz Saeed is the founder and leader of the fundamentalist terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), which is a group that follows an extreme interpretation of religious texts.
It was founded in 1990 and its goals include conducting jihad, preaching the true religion and training the new generation along true religious lines.
Some of its goals are aligned with that of Pakistan, including the liberation of Kashmir from India.

Why his conviction matters?

Saeed is also the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks.
Other attacks that LeT has been involved in include the 2001 shootout at Parliament House in New Delhi, and, most recently, the 2016 attack on the military headquarters in Uri.
In 2012, in order to support India in its attempt to extradite Saeed, the US State Department offered a bounty of up to $10 million for information that could lead to his arrest or conviction.
Moreover, the US Department of the Treasury has marked Saeed as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist since 2012.
ISI and the Pakistani government too help the LeT bring in funds, and it is believed to have fund-raising offices in Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and the Gulf region.

A shield against FATF actions

The FATF placed Pakistan in the grey list in July 2018 nonetheless.
Before Saeed’s arrest, the FATF had warned Pakistan to deliver on its commitments to curb terror financing. Pakistan feared being a part of FATF’s “Grey List”.
Significantly, if Pakistan did not follow up on FATF’s warnings, it could potentially be downgraded to the Black List, which would make things more difficult for the country.
FATF is de facto run by the US Treasury Department.

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RBI Notifications

New Umbrella Entity (NUE) for Retail Payment Systems

| Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: NUE

Mains level: Payments regulation measure by RBI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed to set up a new pan-India new umbrella entity (NUE) or entities focussing on retail payment systems with a minimum paid-up capital of Rs 500 crore.

New Umbrella Entity (NUE)

The proposed entity will set up, manage and operate new payment systems especially in the retail space.
It would comprise of but not limited to ATMs, white label PoS, Aadhaar-based payments and remittance services, develop payment methods, standards and technologies, monitor related issues and internationally.
It would take care of developmental objectives like enhancement of awareness about the payment systems.
The RBI retains the right to approve the appointment of directors as also to nominate a member on the board of the NUE.
The NUE should conform to the norms of corporate governance along with ‘fit and proper’ criteria for persons to be appointed on its board.

Functions

It will:

operate clearing and settlement systems
identify and manage relevant risks such as settlement, credit, liquidity and operational and preserve the integrity of the system
monitor retail payment system developments and related issues in the country and internationally to avoid shocks, frauds and contagions that may adversely affect the system and the economy in general

Terms of reference

The entity eligible to apply as promoter or the promoter group for the NUE should be ‘owned and controlled by residents’ with 3 years’ experience in the payments ecosystem as Payment System Operator (PSO) or Payment Service Provider (PSP) or Technology Service Provider (TSP).
The shareholding pattern should be diversified.
Any entity holding more than 25 per cent of the paid-up capital of the NUE will be deemed to be a promoter.

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Coronavirus – Health and Governance Issues

Novel Coronavirus renamed as COVID-19 by WHO

| Governance | Mains Paper 2: Health & Education,International Institutions

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Coronavirus, Pneumonia

Mains level: Threats posed by coronavirus outbreak

The World Health Organization (WHO) gave an official name to the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The death toll from the virus has now crossed 1,000 and the disease has infected tens of thousands of people, the majority of them in China.

COVID-19

The disease will be called “COVID-19”; the “CO” stands for coronavirus, “VI” for virus and “D” for disease.
The coronavirus itself is called “nCoV-2019”.

WHO nomenclature

The WHO, in consultation with the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), has identified best practices for naming new human diseases.

These best practices apply to a new disease:
That is an infection, syndrome, or disease of humans;
That has never been recognised before in humans;
That has potential public health impact; and
Where no disease name is yet established in common usage

Names that are assigned by the WHO may or may not be approved by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) at a later stage.
The ICD, which is also managed by the WHO, provides a final standard name for each human disease according to standard guidelines that are aimed at reducing the negative impact from names while balancing science, communication and policy.

Terms to avoid

The agreed best practices include advice on what the disease names should not include, such as geographic location (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, Spanish Flu, Japanese encephalitis).
Disease names should not include people’s names (Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Chagas disease), the species or class of animal or food (swine flu, monkeypox etc.), cultural or occupational references (miners, butchers, cooks, nurses etc.) and terms that incite “undue fear” such as death, fatal and epidemic.
The use of names such as “swine flu” and “Middle East Respiratory Syndrome” has had “unintended negative impacts” by stigmatising certain communities and economic sectors.

Terms to include

The best practices include using generic descriptive terms such as respiratory diseases, hepatitis, neurologic syndrome, watery diarrhoea.
They include using specific descriptive terms that may indicate the age group of the patients and the time course of the disease, such as progressive, juvenile or severe.
If the causative pathogen is known, it should be used as part of the disease name with additional descriptors such as the year when the disease was first reported or detected.
The names should also be short (rabies, malaria, polio) and should be consistent with the guidelines under the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Content Model Reference Guide.
As per the WHO, “severe” should be used only for those diseases that have a very high initial case fatality rate. “Novel” can be used to indicate a new pathogen of a previously known type
In the case of the novel coronavirus, “recognizing that this term will become obsolete if other new pathogens of that type are identified”, the WHO has now changed its name.

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Human Rights Issues

‘2 Billion Kilometers to Safety’ campaign

IOCR | Trivia | Mains Paper 2: Important International Institutions

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: '2 Billion Kilometers to Safety' campaign

Mains level: Refugees issue across the world

The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR has announced a new global campaign urging people worldwide to cover the total distance travelled by refugees each year – 2 billion kilometers – by running, jogging or walking.

About the campaign

The “2 Billion Kilometers to Safety” campaign vies to encourage people to support refugees by championing individual acts of solidarity.
The goal is to acknowledge the resilience and strength of refugees.
It calls on the public to show their solidarity with refugees by running, walking or cycling to collectively cover two billion kilometers.
Participants can use their fitness apps or the campaign website to log the kilometers and contribute to the global total.

Distance covered by refugees

UNHCR traced the journeys of refugees around the world and calculated that, collectively, people forced to flee travel approximately two billion kilometers every year to reach the first point of safety.
This is roughly the distance that separates Earth from somewhere between the planets Saturn and Uranus.
According to UNHCR estimates, Syrian refugees travelled over 240 kilometers each to reach Turkey.
South Sudanese refugees travelled more than 640 kilometers to reach Kenya. Rohingya refugees from Myanmar travelled approximately 80 kilometers to reach Bangladesh.

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New Species of Plants and Animals Discovered

In news: Yaravirus

Prelims Only | Science Tech | Mains Paper 3: S&T - Applications In Everyday Life

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Yaravirus

Mains level: NA

In a lake in Brazil, researchers have discovered a virus that they find unusual and intriguing.

Yaravirus

The Yaravirus infects amoeba and has genes that have not been described before, something that could challenge how DNA viruses are classified.
It has a puzzling origin and phylogeny (evolutionary relationship).
Because of the Yaravirus’s small size, it was unlike other viruses that infect amoeba and they named it as a tribute to Yara, the “mother of waters” in the mythological stories of the Tupi-Guarani indigenous tribes.
The virus does not infect human cells, according to the researchers.

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Corruption Challenges – Lokpal, POCA, etc

Six years on, Lokpal is a non-starter

| Governance | Mains Paper 2: Statutory, Regulatory & Various Quasi-Judicial Bodies

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much.

Mains level: Paper 2- Institution of Lokpal is yet prove its efficacy to deal with the corruption. What are the reasons for not starting function as stated in the law.

Context

More than six years after the Lokpal law received the President’s assent, the institution of the Lokpal is yet to play any significant role in tackling corruption in the country.

Delay in appointment

Five-year delay in appointment: For more than five years, the chairperson and members of the Lokpal were not appointed.
- LoP issue: The government claimed that since no one could be recognised as the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) after the 2014 general election, the committee responsible for selecting members of the Lokpal could not be constituted.
- This malady could have been easily remedied by either recognising the leader of the single largest party in Opposition in the Lok Sabha as the LoP, or by amendment as was done for the selection committee of the CBI Director.
- However, neither recourse was taken.

Truncated appointment committee

Special invitee: The leader of the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha was invited for meetings of the selection committee as a ‘special invitee’.
- Which he declined on grounds that it was mere tokenism.

Non-starter

More than 10 months later, however, evidence suggests that the Lokpal is a non-starter.
No rules prescribing the form: Till date, the government has not made rules prescribing the form for filing complaints to the Lokpal.
No rules regarding asset disclosure: The Central government has also failed to formulate rules regarding asset disclosure by public servants.
In order to ensure independent and credible action on allegations of corruption, the Lokpal was empowered under the law to set up its own inquiry wing headed by a Director of Inquiry and its own prosecution wing headed by a Director of Prosecution.
The Inquiry and prosecution wing not set up yet: The inquiry and prosecution wings of the anti-corruption ombudsman are yet to be set up.
- The Lokpal has also not appointed the Director of Inquiry or Prosecution.
- Regulations for inquiry and investigation not made: Regulations which the Lokpal was obligated to make under the law are yet to be made, including those specifying the manner and procedure of conducting preliminary inquiry and investigation.
Legal veracity of the decisions uncertain: Since necessary procedures to operationalise the law are yet to be put in place, the legal veracity of the decisions of the Lokpal could potentially be challenged in a court of law.

Conclusion

The failure to operationalise the Lokpal in an effective manner lays bare the lack of will of the government. It took nearly half a century for the Lokpal law to be enacted from the time the need for the oversight institution was first articulated. The government must act to have an effective, independent and empowered Lokpal.

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US policy wise : Visa, Free Trade and WTO

A new approach on investment

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much.

Mains level: Paper 2- Trade deal with the US, issues involved.

Context

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi welcomes U.S. President Donald Trump to India this month the two leaders are expected to sign a first-ever trade agreement.

What will be on the agenda of the trade deal?

GSP issues: The restoration of India’s Generalised System of Preferences benefits,
Pricing of medical devices.
And agriculture trade are all important.
Incremental outcomes: If the two sides continue efforts to achieve incremental outcomes, the start of negotiations on a comprehensive free trade agreement (FTA) could even be a credible scenario. Presently, this is not the case.

What could be the incremental outcomes?

The most obvious candidates are-
- Intellectual property rights (IPR).
- IPR has historically been an area of contention between the two, but discussions on IPR have progressed well in recent years.
- Digital trade.
- Both are grappling with the appropriate scope and approach for regulating electronic commerce issues in this digital age.
- Ideally, there should be room to seriously consider better ways to encourage skilled professionals to work in the other’s economy.
Progress on the investment

There are already some shared interests in the area of investment.

For example, India invests in the U.S. and continues to seek U.S. investment in India.
FDI issue: Foreign direct investment (FDI), this is an important moment to do more to encourage it than simply welcoming it.
Need to negotiate o investment: Ideally, the two sides should move ahead to negotiate an agreement on investment matters that can provide greater transparency, predictability, and regulatory certainty to investors from the other country.
Negotiation on FDI off the table: It appears that the traditional approach through which countries pursue commitments on FDI, bilateral investment treaties, or ‘BITs’ (bilateral investment treaties) is off the table.
The Trump administration has put a hold on negotiating additional BITs and appears to be suspicious of how well they balance U.S. interests.
The Indian government is similarly sceptical of BITs, having cancelled all existing ones soon after it came into office.

Need for the new approach on the investment issues

Until they resume their work on BITs, the two sides may find common ground in devising a new approach to investment issue.
What the new approach involve?
Taking cues from their respective FTAs: A starting point should be to review what they have done in their recent FTAs.
Abandonment of investor-state dispute settlement: The recently concluded U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement contains a novel approach on investment notably its abandonment of investor-state dispute settlement with respect to the U.S. and Canada.
- Similarly, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, which India had been negotiating with ASEAN, Australia, China, Japan, Korea, and New Zealand, does not include investor-state dispute settlement.
- While India chose not to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership when it was concluded at the end of last year, it appears to have been on board with the FTA’s investment provisions.
Where the agreement focus as of now? For now, however, both countries should focus on what is doable. A U.S.-India investment agreement could focus on-
- Fair treatment for investors from the other country.
- Regulatory transparency and predictability.
- And approaches for resolving concerns short of investor-state dispute settlements.
At a later stage: At a later stage-
- Most likely when the two are prepared to negotiate a more comprehensive bilateral FTA, they can go further on investment matters.

Conclusion

A new, hybrid approach on investment would be a substantial step in the right direction. It will be critical to sustaining momentum coming out of a first trade deal when the two leaders meet in Delhi. If India and the U.S. fail this test, the trade relationship is more likely to languish than blossom.

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Government Budgets

Shun fiscal adventurism

op-ed snap | Economics | Mains Paper 3: Government Budgeting

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not much.

Mains level: Paper 3- Why fiscal stimulus is not the elixir as it is made out to be?

Context

In the run-up to the budget, there was enormous pressure on the finance minister to launch a fiscal stimulus so as to pump-prime the economy. That she did not succumb to the temptation is a big relief.

Why fiscal stimulus is unwarranted?

There is already considerable stimulus in the system.
Excessive fiscal deficit: To her credit, the finance minister took a step towards transparency by admitting to off-balance-sheet borrowings of 0.8 per cent of GDP for both the current and next fiscal year.
- Acknowledging that the fiscal deficit would actually be higher at 4.6 per cent and 4.3 per cent of GDP respectively. This is already excessive.
Unrealistic projection of revenue growth: Add to this the unrealistic projections of revenue growth and disinvestment proceeds for next year and we have a potentially unsustainable fiscal situation.
- Any stimulus on top of this would have been clearly

Possibility of undermining the RBI’s efforts

Fiscal pressure could harm the RBI’s efforts to revive the economy in the following ways-

Harming long term investment rates: Fiscal pressures will undermine the Reserve Bank of India’s struggle to revive investment by bringing down long-term interest rates.
Rating downgrades: It could result in a sovereign rating downgrade and jeopardise efforts to attract foreign capital.
Increase in inflationary pressure: It can stoke inflationary pressures, something we cannot afford when inflation is above the RBI’s target rate.
Pressure on the external sector: And most importantly, it can lead to pressures on the external sector.
Past experiences: The balance of payments crisis of 1991 and the near crisis of 2013 in the wake of taper tantrums were, at their heart, a consequence of extended fiscal profligacy.

Counter-arguments of the supporters of the stimulus and fallacies in it

Low Debt-to-GDP ratio: It is argued that our debt-to-GDP ratio is low in international terms.
- Misleading comparison: The data don’t bear this out. In any case, our experience, as well as research, shows that international comparisons of debt-to-GDP ratios, without reference to other parameters, are misleading.
Debt in domestic currency: It is also argued that we do not need to worry because our debt is mostly in domestic currency unlike that of many emerging economies.
- The fallacy in this argument: Our debt in the domestic market didn’t protect us from previous crises, and there is no reason to believe that it will protect us from the next one, especially as our foreign debt is proportionally higher than before.
Robust foreign exchange reserves: It is argued that our foreign exchange reserves are robust and a balance of payments crisis is improbable. Such complacency is misplaced.
- Fallacy- No forex is large enough in bad times: We should not forget the lesson that in good times any amount of forex reserves looks like it is too large, but in bad times no amount of reserves is large enough.

Quality of fiscal consolidation

Quality a cause for concern: As much as the headline fiscal deficit numbers are a cause for concern, the underlying quality of fiscal consolidation is a bigger concern.
Increasing revenue deficit: Conveniently off the radar, the revenue deficit, far from coming down, is actually going up.
- Two-third borrowing to finance revenue expenditure: This year, more than two-thirds of what the government is borrowing is going to finance current expenditures like salaries, pensions, interest payments and subsidies.
- That ratio will rise to three-quarters next year.
- Crowding out of the expenditure: This debt-financed revenue expenditure is simply unsustainable as it will increasingly crowd out capital expenditure.
Red flags on the state finances.
- Another dimension of the quality of fiscal consolidation is the combined fiscal position of states which is, in fact, the big elephant in the room.
- Together, states spend one-and-a-half times more than the Centre.
- Larger development impact than Centre: Studies show that how efficiently states spend their money has a much greater development impact as compared to the Centre.
- Red flags by the RBI on states finances: The states are not doing a good job. In its latest annual report on state finances, the RBI raised several red flags on state finances-
- states’ increasing weakness in their own revenue generation.
- Their unsustainable debt burdens.
- And their tendency to retrench capital expenditures in order to accommodate fiscal shocks such as farm loan waivers, power sector loans under UDAY and a host of income transfer schemes.
- Consequences in the market: The market will penalise mismanagement of public finances; it does not care who is responsible — the Centre or states — for an unsustainable fiscal stance.

Conclusion

The fear of one-off fiscal stimulus becoming permanent: By far the biggest fear about a fiscal stimulus is that it is tempting to plunge into a spending programme saying it is a one-off and will be withdrawn when the pressure eases. Experience shows that it is very difficult to bail out. It is good that the finance minster avoided doing any such thing.
- As Milton Friedman famously said, there is nothing more permanent than a temporary government programme.
Need to kick-start the private investment: What the economy needs for a sustained turnaround is kick-starting private investment.
- Implementation of reforms: A necessary condition for inspiring investor confidence is the implementation of structural and governance reforms. This will be a long-haul.
- That the budget did not launch the journey is a big disappointment. But, at least, the budget did not make a bad situation worse by embarking on fiscal adventurism.
- It’s better, as Keynes said, to be roughly right than precisely wrong.

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Minority Issues – SC, ST, Dalits, OBC, Reservations, etc.

SC uphold changes in SC/ST Atrocities Law

SC Judgements | Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution - historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Not Much

Mains level: Protection of SCs and STs against caste based atrocities

The Supreme Court has upheld the SCs/STs (Prevention of Atrocities) Amendment Act of 2018, which nullified it’s own controversial March 20, 2018 judgement. Earlier judgment had diluted the original 1989 legislation, saying they were using its provisions to file false criminal complaints against innocent persons.

Why such ruling?

The 2018 Act had nullified a March 20 judgment of the Supreme Court, which allowed anticipatory bail to those booked for committing atrocities against Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes members.
The original 1989 Act bars anticipatory bail.
The Supreme Court verdict saw a huge backlash across the country. Several died in ensuing protests and property worth crores of rupees was destroyed.
The government reacted by filing a review petition in the Supreme Court and subsequently amended the 1989 Act back into its original form.
The government had enacted the Amendments, saying the SCs and STs continued to face the same social stigma, poverty and humiliation which they had been subjected to for centuries.

Why was the SC/ST Act enacted?

Since crimes against SCs and STs are fundamentally hate crimes, the Rajiv Gandhi enacted the Act in 1989.
It gave furtherance to the provisions for abolition of untouchability (Article 17) and equality (Articles 14, 15).

Why it was amended?

The Bench reasoned that human failing and not caste is the reason behind the lodging of false criminal complaints.
The Supreme Court condemned its own earlier judgment, saying it was against “basic human dignity” to treat all SC/ST community members as “a liar or crook.”
Caste of a person cannot be a cause for lodging a false report, the verdict observed.
Members of the SCs and STs, due to backwardness, cannot even muster the courage to lodge an FIR, much less, a false one, the judgment noted.

The Subhash Kashinath Mahajan case

Mahajan was Director of Technical Education in Maharashtra.
Two non-SC officers had made an adverse entry on the character and integrity of a Dalit employee, whom Mahajan in 2011 denied sanction for prosecution against those officers.
The denial was challenged on the ground that the state government and not the director was the competent authority.
The apex Court held that safeguards against blackmail are necessary as by way of rampant misuse, complaints are largely being filed against public servants with oblique motive for the satisfaction of vested interests.

In what manner had the 2018 judgment diluted provisions for arrest?

ANTICIPATORY BAIL

In section 18 of the Act, Parliament had laid down that the provision of anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the CrPC of 1973 will not be available to an accused under the Act.
The provision of anticipatory bail was introduced for the first time on the recommendation of 41st Law Commission in 1973.
It is a statutory right, not part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 of the Constitution, and thus there is no fundamental right to anticipatory bail.
In the 2018 judgment, the Court laid down safeguards, including provisions for anticipatory bail and a “preliminary enquiry” before registering a case under the Act.
While review the Bench said Section 18 was enacted to instil a sense of deterrence and relied on Kartar Singh (1994) in which the court had held that denial of anticipatory bail does not violate Article 21.

FIR

The court had observed that “liberty of one cannot be sacrificed to protect another”, and the “Atrocities Act cannot be converted into charter for exploitation or oppression by unscrupulous persons or by police for extraneous reasons”.
He ordered that neither is an FIR to be immediately registered nor are arrests to be made without a preliminary inquiry by an SSP.
An arrest can only be made if there is “credible” information and police officer has “reason to believe” that an offence was committed.
In the review judgment, Justice Mishra said public servants already have a remedy in false cases under CrPC Section 482 and can get such FIRs quashed by High Courts.
He rejected the need of an SSP’s approval for arrest.

PERMISSION

In 2018, the court had said that even if a preliminary inquiry is held and a case registered, arrest is not necessary, and that no public servant is to be arrested without the written permission of the appointing authority.
The court extended the benefit to other citizens and said they cannot be arrested without the written permission of the SSP of the district.
In review the court said that the decision on arrest is to be taken by the investigating authority, not the appointing authority.

Were other provisions diluted?

The court had observed that interpretation of Atrocities Act should promote constitutional values of fraternity and integration of the society.
This may require ‘check on false implication of innocent citizens on caste lines’.
Observing that the law should not result in caste hatred, the court overlooked the fact that the Act had to be enacted due to caste hatred.
The review judgment said that such riders for registering a report are wrong and it would give an advantage to upper castes whose complaints can be registered without any such inquiry.

How frequently do SCs/STs face atrocities?

A crime is committed against an SC every 15 minutes. Six SC women are raped every day on an average.
Between 2007 and 2017, there was a 66 per cent growth in crimes against SCs.
Data from the National Crime Record Bureau, which the 2018 judgment was based on, showed cases of rape of SC women had doubled in 10 years.

Assist this newscard with:

[Burning Issue] SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act

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Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

Private Members Bill

| Polity | Mains Paper 2: Indian Constitution - historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure,Parliament & State Legislatures

Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: Private Members Bill

Mains level: Difference between private and government Bills

A member in Rajya Sabha appeared to abandon his plan of introducing a private member’s Bill on the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), a code that would be applicable to all religious communities in personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance and adoption.

Private Member’s Bill

A private member’s Bill is different from a government Bill and is piloted by an MP who is not a minister. An MP who is not a minister is a private member.
Individual MPs may introduce private member’s Bill to draw the government’s attention to what they might see as issues requiring legislative intervention.

Difference between private and government Bills

While both private members and ministers take part in the lawmaking process, Bills introduced by private members are referred to as private member’s Bills and those introduced by ministers are called government Bills.
Government Bills are backed by the government and also reflect its legislative agenda.
The admissibility of a Private Bill is decided by the Chairman in the case of the Rajya Sabha and the Speaker in the case of the Lok Sabha.
Before the Bill can be listed for introduction, the Member must give at least a month’s notice, for the House Secretariat to examine it for compliance with constitutional provisions and rules on legislation.
While a government Bill can be introduced and discussed on any day, a private member’s bill can only be introduced and discussed on Fridays.

Has a private member’s bill ever become a law?

No private member’s Bill has been passed by Parliament since 1970.
To date, Parliament has passed 14 such Bills, six of them in 1956.
In the 14th Lok Sabha, of the over 300 private member’s Bills introduced, roughly four per cent were discussed, the remaining 96 per cent lapsed without a single dialogue.
The selection of Bills for discussion is done through a ballot.

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