Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Issues related to use of AFSPA
Context
The death of civilians in Nagaland in a security operation has revived the debate about AFSPA.
Demand for repeal of AFSPA
- Some years ago, all the northeastern states had come together to demand the annulment of this Act.
- That remained in the realm of yet another “demand”.
- In 1997, after Nagaland’s most enduring insurgent outfit, the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN), led by Isak Swu and T H Muivah, first decided to talk peace with the Indian government, the Naga Peoples’ Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) had approached the Supreme Court for revocation of the Act.
- Enabling legislation: The apex court had then upheld its constitutionality and said it was an enabling legislation that confers minimum powers on the army to operate in situations of widespread internal disorder.
Way forward
- Talk to the other groups: Many are wondering if the peace talks between the NSCN (IM) and the government of India now lie in tatters.
- The media has focussed exclusively on the NSCN (IM) and ignored the other Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs), who have been brought on board because they are Nagaland-based and speak exclusively for Nagaland.
- The NNPGs and the Gaon Bura Association of Nagaland doubt NSCN(IM)’s ability to bring lasting peace in Nagaland.
- Since 2015, the Nagaland Gaon Bura Association, the apex body of Nagas which includes all the 16 recognised tribes and the NNPGs barring the NSCN (IM), have sent several memorandums to the government.
- These representatives of the Naga people do not demand a separate flag or constitution because they understand these are tenuous demands.
- These groups have also never raised the sovereignty issue.
- The working committee of the seven NNPGs, roped in to join the peace talks, are also opposed to the idea of changing interlocutors as and when the NSCN (IM) decides.
- Reconsider use of AFSPA: There is a need to reconsider the use of the army and AFSPA when killings have reduced considerably.
- The apex body has specifically mentioned that they want to be delivered from the gun culture.
- Check the misuse of FMR: Countering insurgency in the Northeast is fraught also because of the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between India and Myanmar.
Conclusion
The government need to reconsider the use of AFSPA and also focus on other measures to ensure peace and stability in these regions.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Suspension of MPs
Context
Twelve members of the Rajya Sabha were suspended for their alleged involvement in the grave disorder in the House on the last day of the previous session.
What do Rajya Sabha’s rules of procedure say about the suspension of a member?
- Rule 256 of Rajya Sabha’s rules of procedure provides for the suspension of a member who disregards the authority of the chair or abuses the rules of the council by persistently and willfully obstructing the business of the House.
- Persistent and willful obstruction of the business of the House is the crux of the offence.
- What is the maximum period of suspension? Suspension can be for a period not exceeding the remainder of the session.
- This would mean that if the member is suspended on the last day of the session, the period of suspension will be only a day.
- So, even if a government would like to suspend such a member for a longer period. it would not be possible under the present rule.
- Unless the House itself revokes the suspension nothing can be done about it.
- The decision of the House is final.
- Every legislature has the power to suspend its members if they cause disorder and obstruct the business of the House.
- But the rule of suspension is rarely invoked in parliaments in mature democracies.
Whether the existing rules permit such a course of action?
- Rule 256 says that the chairman may, if he deems it necessary, name a member who either disregards the authority of the chair or abuses the rules of the House by persistently and willfully obstructing the business of the House.
- Sub Rule 2 of this rule is of very great importance in the context of the main question, namely, whether a member can be suspended in the next session for creating disorder in the previous session.
- No adjournment is allowed: It clearly says no adjournment is allowed, which means the matter of suspension cannot be adjourned to a later period.
- It needs to be decided then and there.
- A member who abuses the rules of the House by persistently and willfully obstructing its business needs to be punished swiftly.
- No adjournment is allowed at all.
The powers of the House to regulate its internal matters
- It can be said that the rule under which the members were suspended does not actually permit it.
- Absolute power to interpret rule: The House is supreme in these matters and the chair has absolute powers to interpret the rules.
- The judiciary has time and again clarified that the House has absolute powers to regulate its internal matters.
- Suspension of a member is such a matter.
- The judiciary will intervene only when a patently unconstitutional act is done by the House.
Conclusion
The solution to disruptions does not lie in suspension. That is the lesson we should learn from past experience.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Cancer related fatality in India
Tobacco use is known to be a major risk factor for several non-communicable diseases in India.
Tobacco abuse in India
- In India, 28.6% of adults above 15 years and 8.5% of students aged 13-15 years use tobacco in some form or the other.
- This makes the country the second-largest consumer of tobacco in the world.
Concern: No action against Tobacco
- India bears an annual economic burden of over ₹1, 77,340 crores on account of tobacco use.
- There has been no major increase in taxation of tobacco products to discourage the consumption of tobacco in the past four years since the introduction of GST.
- Only in 2020-21, the Union Budget had the effect of increasing the average price of cigarettes by about 5%.
- Yet, the excise duty on tobacco in India continues to remain extremely low.
A worrying trend
- No increase in tax: The absence of an increase in tax means more profits for the tobacco industry and more tax revenue foregone for the government.
- Revenue losses: This revenue could have easily been utilized during the COVID-19 pandemic.
- Losses due to GST: There has been a 3% real decline in GST revenues from tobacco products in each of the past two financial years.
Present governance of Tobacco
- GST slab: Tobacco at present is a highly taxed commodity. It is kept in the 28% GST slab (other than for tobacco leaves which is taxed at 5%).
- Heavy cess: Tobacco and its various forms are also subject to a heavy burden of cess, given that the commodity is seen as a sin good.
- Statutory warning: The government also uses pictures of cancer patients on the packages of cigarettes to discourage its use.
Federal issues
- Excise taxes on many tobacco products used to be regularly raised in the annual Union Budgets before the GST.
- Similarly, several State governments used to regularly raise value-added tax (VAT) on tobacco products.
- During the five years before the introduction of the GST, most State governments had moved from having a low VAT regime on tobacco products to having a high VAT regime.
Implication of such policies
- Increased consumption: The lack of tax increases in post-GST years might mean that some current smokers smoke more now and some non-smokers have started smoking.
- Reverse trend in decline: This could potentially lead to a reversal of the declining trend in prevalence.
- Affordability: Tobacco products are more affordable post-GST as shown in recent literature from India.
- Missing up national target: This might jeopardise India’s commitment to achieving 30% tobacco use prevalence reduction by 2025 as envisaged in the National Health Policy of 2017.
Way forward
- Several countries in the world have high excise taxes along with GST or sales tax and they are continuously being revised.
- We must adhere to the WHO recommendation for a uniform tax burden of at least 75% for each tobacco product.
- The Union government should take a considerate view of public health and significantly increase excise taxes — either basic excise duty or NCCD — on all tobacco products.
- Taxation should achieve a significant reduction in the affordability of tobacco products to reduce tobacco use prevalence and facilitate India’s march towards sustainable development goals.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: US-China Rivalry
The US Government has decided not send any official representation to the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing announcing what is being called a “diplomatic boycott” of the games.
What is a ‘diplomatic boycott’?
- A “diplomatic boycott” means no US official will be present at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
- This stops short of a complete boycott, which would have meant the non-participation by US athletes.
- As such, the absence of official representation will not impact the games as much as an athletic boycott would have.
What led to the US boycott?
Ans. Uyghurs Genocide
- The decision was taken because of China’s gross human rights abuses and atrocities in Xinjiang.
- This is the latest clash adding to a long list of differences on trade, Taiwan, human rights and the South China Sea.
- Xinjiang Uyghurs have been sent by Chinese authorities to “re-education” camps, a network of which were constructed beginning in 2016 to house thousands of detainees.
- Beijing initially denied the existence of the camps, but subsequently claimed the centres were for “vocational training”.
Who else is ‘diplomatically boycotting’ the games?
- So far, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand have also announced that their officials will not be present at the games.
- None, however, has said their athletes will not attend, which means the games themselves are unlikely to be impacted.
- It remains to be seen if the boycott will gain traction beyond US allies and partners.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin will travel to Beijing for the opening of the Winter Olympics.
- China has been garnering support from countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
How is China reacting to the boycott?
- Beyond the statements decrying the “politicization” of sports, there is certainly a domestic political undercurrent to the games.
- China’s media, meanwhile, has been largely playing down the reports of the boycotts, underlining how the authorities are going all-out to ensure the games are conducted without a hurdle.
What will be the impact on US-China relations?
- Much recently, the US and Chinese Presidents committed to “responsibly” managing their growing competition amid increasing conflicts.
- Both nations called common-sense guardrails to ensure that competition does not veer into conflict.
- China emphasized the “need to treat each other as equals” and warned against “drawing ideological lines”, calling on the US “to meet its word of not seeking a ‘new Cold War’”.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: CAA
Mains level: CAA debate
This newscard is an excerpt from the ‘Letter and Spirit’ section in the print edition of TH, which is a new column that will focus on explaining and understanding basic Acts and Articles enshrined in our Constitution.
Context
- With the contentious farm laws repealed, the discussions turn to the second most politically and legally resisted legislation of recent times, The Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019.
- The citizenship question finds its retro-reflection in the Constituent Assembly debates which serve as the undeniable autobiography of India’s basic law.
Debate over CAA, yet again
- CAA asserts that only people belonging to some faiths are victims of persecution and violence and the doors of the country can be legitimately shut to any other instance of persecution and ethnic violence.
A ‘headache’ for the Drafting Committee
- The citizenship question had been one of the most difficult tasks confronted by the drafting committee as admitted by Dr B.R.Ambedkar.
- He moved a set of consolidated amendments to the citizenship provisions of the original draft.
- He said that the task had given the drafting committee “such a headache” and multiple “drafts were prepared” and “destroyed” before arriving at a consensus.
The critics
- The draft did not satisfy all but to the most due to its secular and liberal provisions.
- It was fiercely contested on the floor of the Constituent Assembly on religious, ethnic and hyper-nationalistic considerations.
- The Article 5 of the draft constitution was criticized for its lack of exclusive and preferential provisions on religious lines regarding the declaration as to who shall be the citizen of India during commencement of the Constitution.
- Then Article 5A (today’s Article 7 of the Constitution) sought to grant citizenship rights to the migrants of Pakistan who had returned to India under a permit for resettlement granted by Indian authorities.
The ‘Jus Soli’ Principle
- This principle is premised on the automatic grant of citizenship based on the place of birth provided the person is domiciled in India, qualifying it with religious identity.
- It was in fact a proposal to ingrain religion into the bedrock of the Constitution.
- Dr P.S.Deshmukh from the Central Provinces and Berar proposed changes to Article 5 of the draft by proposing to replace the universally honoured “jus soli” principle by qualifying it with a religion.
- He went on to state that every person who is a Hindu or a Sikh by religion and is not a citizen of any other State, wherever he resides shall be entitled to be a citizen of India.
Issue over indiscriminate grant of citizenship
- The concern of Dr. Deshmukh justifying the exclusion of people belonging to other religions, as echoed in his question- Is it then wise that we should throw opens our citizenship so indiscriminately?
- It found fraternal support from members who opined that Hindus and Sikhs have no other home but India.
- This finds its resonance today in the presumptive base of the CAA.
The defenders
- Some highlighted the fact of panic driven migration without certain intention to settle down in Pakistan was left unanswered with precision.
- Some retorted that mentioning the name of some communities will make other communities feel that they were being ignored.
What did Nehru opine?
- Nehru stated that we cannot have rules for Hindus, for Muslims and for Christians only.
- He stressed upon the possibility of the second wave of migration including non-Hindus and non-Sikhs who were part of the first wave influx.
- Hence, in his view, foreclosing the doors fearing the influx of some may deprive others of exercising their choice.
Ambedkar on Pakistan returnees
- Ambedkar clarified that the principal thrust of Article 5A was to declare that persons who migrated to Pakistan after 1st of March 1947 due to internal disturbances.
- He declared that some migrants from Pakistan were allowed to return on the basis of the agreements between both the Governments and on the basis of an ordinance promulgated.
Conclusion
- The Constituent Assembly debates on citizenship showed that in the rousing of sentiments of ethnicity and distrust, sagacity had an upper hand, leading to the saner denouement of toleration.
- History is known to set examples.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Non-convertible Debentures
Mains level: Not Much
Several companies have announced public issues to raise funds through non-convertible debentures.
What are Debentures?
- Debentures are long-term financial instruments issued by a company for specified tenure with a promise to pay fixed interest to the investor.
- They can be held by individuals, banking companies, primary dealers other corporate bodies registered or incorporated in India and unincorporated bodies.
- Their types include:
- Convertible debentures (CDs): They are a type of debentures that can be converted into equity shares of the company.
- Non-convertible debentures (NCDs): They are defined as the type of debentures that cannot be converted into equity shares of the company.
What are NCDs?
- Some debentures have a feature of convertibility into shares after a certain point of time at the discretion of the owner.
- The debentures which can’t be converted into shares or equities are called non-convertible debentures (or NCDs).
- They are debt financial instruments that companies use to raise medium- to long-term capital.
Benefits offered by NCDs
- At a time when fixed deposit rates are in low single digits, these NCD offerings look lucrative.
- NCDs offer interest rates between 8.25–9.7%.
Risks posed
- Although NCDs are generally considered safe fixed-income instruments, some recent defaults have made investors cautious.
- NCDs can be either secured by the issuer company’s assets, or unsecured.
- Certain issuers, with credit rating below investment grade, had in the past issued both a secured NCD and another unsecured one through the same offer document, with different credit ratings.
- The risk is high in the case of unsecured NCDs, even though they offer high-interest rates.
- Credit rating of the issuer is a key factor to consider before investing in any NCD.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Global Health Security Index, 2021
Mains level: Health security
Countries across all income levels remain dangerously unprepared to meet future epidemic and pandemic threats, according to the new 2021 Global Health Security (GHS) Index.
About GHS Index
- The GHS Index is the first comprehensive assessment and benchmarking of health security and related capabilities across the 195 countries that make up the States Parties to the International Health Regulations.
- It is a project of the Johns Hopkins Centre for Health Security, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and was first launched in October 2019.
- It assesses countries across 6 categories, 37 indicators, and 171 questions using publicly available information.
- It benchmarks health security in the context of other factors critical to fighting outbreaks, such as political and security risks, the broader strength of the health system, and country adherence to global norms.
Parameters assessed
The report is based on a questionnaire of 140 questions, organized across 6 categories, 34 indicators, and 85 sub-indicators. The six categories are:
- Prevention: Prevention of the emergence or release of pathogens
- Detection and Reporting: Early detection and reporting for epidemics of potential international concern
- Rapid Response: Rapid response to and mitigation of the spread of an epidemic
- Health System: Sufficient and robust health system to treat the sick and protect health workers
- Compliance with International Norms: Commitments to improving national capacity, financing plans to address gaps, and adhering to global norms
- Risk Environment: Overall risk environment and country vulnerability to biological threats
Global performance
- In 2021, no country scored in the top tier of rankings and no country scored above 75.9, the report showed.
- The world’s overall performance on the GHS Index score slipped to 38.9 (out of 100) in 2021, from a score of 40.2 in the GHS Index, 2019.
- This, even as infectious diseases are expected to have the greatest impact on the global economy in the next decade.
- Some 101 countries high-, middle- and low-income countries, including India, have slipped in performance since 2019.
Indian scenario
- India, with a score of 42.8 (out of 100) too, has slipped by 0.8 points since 2019.
- Three neighboring countries — Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives — have improved their score by 1-1.2 points.
Conclusion
- Health emergencies demand a robust public health infrastructure with effective governance.
- The trust in government, which has been a key factor associated with success in countries’ responses to COVID-19, is low and decreasing, the index noted.
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