Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 2- Judicial pendency
Context
Recently, the Chief Justice of India, in his own mild way, protested against the attack on judges. One can understand his pain and agony, but he too knows that judges do not, and should not live in ivory towers.
Questioning and analysing actions of the judiciary
- As the judiciary is one of the pillars of democracy, and the Constitution entrusts judges with the task of protecting the constitutional rights of the people, especially the right to life and liberty, the consumer of justice has every right, and would be fully justified in critically examining, and commenting upon each and every word of the judges spoken or written, howsoever unpalatable it may be.
- It appears that it is in the above spirit that MP Shashi Tharoor, speaking in Parliament on the High Court and Supreme Court Judges (Salaries and Conditions of Service) Amendment Bill said that the judiciary had failed to stem the tide of militant majoritarianism.
- He alleged that the “judiciary’s inaction almost always favours those in power”.
- He has raised pertinent questions, and has brought out the glaring failings of the judiciary in matters concerning the protection of the constitutional rights of citizens.
- Pendency of important cases such as the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, the Citizenship Amendment Act, electoral bonds, and many petitions under the preventive detention laws highlights this issue.
Issues in functioning of collegium system
- As regards the functioning of the collegium system, judges are transferred without any seeming justification, and in some cases re-transferred, justifying neither their initial transfer nor the re-transfer.
- Some elevations of judges raise eyebrows, while some are ignored.
- Should the collegium not be more transparent than it has been in the past in the matter of the elevation and transfers of judges?
Conclusion
Judges cannot be shielded from citizens’ questions. After all, as a consumer of justice, the citizen has a right to know.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Not much
Mains level: Paper 3- Regulating cryptocurrencies and challenges ahead
Context
The government has decided to introduce a bill that seeks to prohibit all private cryptocurrencies in India.
Background of the bill
- In 2018, the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court set aside the RBI circular that prevented crypto exchanges from dealing with the formal financial system on grounds of proportionality.
- Purpose of the bill: The current bill now attempts to define the rules of the game so that the RBI, tax authorities, SEBI and other agencies have much better legal guidance in deciding the course of action with respect to VCs in their respective domains.
- The rules can, therefore, range from a ban to controlled interaction with the formal financial system.
Issues involving cryptos
- Issues involving cryptos can be seen at three levels, each of which is equally important.
- The first is its impact on sovereignty.
- The second is its interaction with financial markets.
- Third is the value proposition that the entire concept of crypto brings to the economic debate.
- Incorporation of price stability mechanism: Some of the variants of cryptos such as the stable coin clearly indicate that these are attempts to create systems of money that incorporate features of price stability that imply a parallel monetary system.
- Diluting the sovereign function of money creation: Unrestricted co-opting of VC clearly dilutes the sovereign function of money creation, clearly impacting the revenues of RBI.
- Concerns pertaining to money laundering, terrorist threats and narco-trading also come under this category given the high value and anonymity offered by cryptocurrencies.
Challenges in cryptocurrencies interaction with the formal system
- As of now cryptos have been recognised as assets or commodities and as a medium of exchange. Their role as units of account or legal tender is rather limited.
- They may offer a store of value given their short supply. From a banking point of view, certain issues do arise.
- Since VCs are not legal tenders, they cannot be used in the discharge of debt.
- Thus, banks cannot accept VCs to close a loan account.
- Second, can banks lend in fiat by accepting VCs as collateral assuming the VC is an asset?
- Incompatible with the fractional system of banking: At a deeper level, the very idea of VCs and the way they are designed are incompatible with the fractional system of banking.
- The fluctuations in interbank liquidity require that money supply adjusts to system requirements.
- If money supply undergoes compositional change in favour of VCs, this ability will be curtailed thus accentuating the crisis.
- In financial markets, crypto such as ICOs bring another set of issues.
- The ICO is a creature that disrupts the very concept of limited liability in corporate finance.
- ICOs are, at times, designed in such a way that the beneficial owner identity is concealed.
- SEBI is yet to convey a position on various issues surrounding this idea.
- Issues with making VCs medium of exchange: VCs have emerged as a medium of exchange and many countries have permitted VC ATMs.
- But how does this proposition fare given that considerable advances have been made in the payment systems domain in India.
- Is it worthwhile that additional competition is introduced in a market that is hyper-competitive?
- It will have impact on existing investments in mobile payment and UPI technology.
- Impact on poor states: It is well known that the Indian population exhibits significant behavioural divergences in their savings and credit behaviour across regions.
- Such wide behavioural changes have profound implications on bank strategies and product designs.
- In the past, there have been several instances of states having low per capita income being more prone to chit fund investments that have negatively impacted the savings of many poor households.
- The issue of consumer protection needs to be addressed and the current laws may have to be reviewed considering this innovation.
Conclusion
The bill must meet many important objectives. While there are obvious concerns of money laundering and benami transactions, there are equal concerns with respect to company laws, payment systems and banking, securities and other commercial laws.
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Back2Basics: About Stablecoin
- Stablecoins bridge the worlds of cryptocurrency and everyday fiat currency because their prices are pegged to a reserve asset like the U.S. dollar or gold.
- This dramatically reduces volatility compared to something like Bitcoin and results in a form of digital money that is better suited to everything from day-to-day commerce to making transfers between exchanges.
What is ICO?
- ICO stands for “initial coin offering,” and refers to a formerly popular method of fundraising capital for early-stage cryptocurrency projects.
- In an ICO, a blockchain-based startup mints a certain quantity of its own native digital token and offers them to early investors, normally in exchange for other cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin or ether.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Section 124A IPC
Mains level: Sedition law and Free speech
Law Minister has informed the Parliament that there is no proposal to scrap sedition from the IPC despite severe remarks by the Supreme Court about the chilling effect of the “colonial law” which suppresses the freedoms of ordinary people.
What does Section 124A of the IPC say?
- The section deals with the offence of sedition, a term that covers speech or writing, or any form of visible representation, which brings the government into hatred or contempt, or excites disaffection towards the government, or attempts to do so.
- It is punishable with three years in prison or a life term.
- “Disaffection”, it says, includes disloyalty and feelings of enmity.
- However, it also says expressing disapproval of government measures or actions, with a view to getting them changed by lawful means, without promoting hatred or disaffection or contempt towards the government will not come under this section.
What is its origin?
- Colonial past: Sedition was introduced in the penal code in 1870, a decade after the Indian Penal Code came into force.
- It was a colonial law directed against strong criticism of the British administration.
- Putting curb on Freedom fighters: Its most famous victims included Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Mahatma Gandhi.
- Gandhiji called it “the prince among the political sections of the IPC designed to suppress the liberty of the citizen”.
Is it constitutionally valid?
- Violative of FRs: Two high courts had found it unconstitutional after Independence, as it violated the freedom of speech and expression.
- Reasonable restrictions: The Constitution was amended to include ‘public order’ as one of the ‘reasonable restrictions’ on which free speech could be abridged by law.
- Kedar Nath Case: Thereafter, the Supreme Court, in Kedar Nath Singh v. State of Bihar (1962) upheld its validity.
Why the controversy now?
- Frequent use: In recent times, the resort to this section is seen as disturbingly frequent.
- Curbing dissent: Activists, cartoonists and intellectuals have been arrested under this section, drawing criticism from liberals that it is being used to suppress dissent and silence critics.
- Misuse for propaganda: Authorities and the police who invoke this section defend the measure as a necessary step to prevent public disorder and anti-national activities.
- Irrelevance: Many of them have also been detained under the National Security Act and UAPA.
What is being debated about it?
- Liberals and rights activists have been demanding the scrapping of Section 124A.
- It is argued that the provision is “overbroad”, i.e., it defines the offence in wide terms threatening the liberty of citizens.
- The Law Commission has also called for a reconsideration of the section.
- It has pointed that Britain abolished it more than a decade ago and raised the question of whether a provision introduced by the British to put down the freedom struggle should continue to be law in India.
- Some argue that a presumption of constitutionality does not apply to pre-constitutional laws as those laws have been made by foreign legislature or bodies.
What has the apex court observed?
- Justice D.Y. Chandrachud had flagged the indiscriminate use of the sedition law against people who aired their grievances about the government’s COVID management.
- People have been charged even for seeking help to gain medical access, equipment, drugs and oxygen cylinders, especially during the second wave of the pandemic.
- Justice U.U. Lalit, in his recent judgment, quashed a sedition case against a person for his alleged remarks about the PM and the Union Government.
Way forward
- The time is long past when the mere criticism of governments was sufficient to constitute sedition.
- The right to utter honest and reasonable criticism is a source of strength to a community rather than a weakness, the CJI has recorded.
Try answering this PYQ:
Q.With reference to Rowlatt Satyagraha, which of the following statements is/are correct?
- The Rowlatt Act was based on the recommendations of the ‘Sedition Committee’.
- In Rowlatt Satyagraha, Gandhiji tried to utilize the Home Rule League.
- Demonstrations against the arrival of Simon Commission coincided with Rowlatt Satyagraha.
Select the correct answer using the code given below:
(a) 1 only
(b) 1 and 2 only
(c) 2 and 3 only
(d) 1, 2 and 3
Post your answers here.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Bank Deposit Insurance Programme
Mains level: Bank distress and failure
The PM has addressed depositors during a programme titled ‘Depositors First: Guaranteed Time-bound Deposit Insurance Payment up to ₹5 Lakh’.
Deposit Insurance Programme
- The bank savings are insured under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC) Act providing full coverage to around 98 per cent of bank accounts.
- Earlier, account holders had to wait for years till the liquidation or restructuring of a distressed lender to get their deposits that are insured against default.
- Last year, the government raised the insurance amount to Rs 5 lakh from Rs 1 lakh.
- Prior to that, the DICGC had revised the deposit insurance cover to Rs 1 lakh on May 1, 1993 — raising it from Rs 30,000, which had been the cover from 1980 onward.
What are new changes?
- Earlier, out of the amount deposited in the bank, only Rs 50,000 was guaranteed, which was then raised to Rs 1 lakh.
- Understanding the concern of the poor, understanding the concern of the middle class, we increased this amount to Rs 5 lakh.
- If a bank is weak or is even about to go bankrupt, depositors will get their money of up to Rs five lakhs within 90 days.
Significance of the scheme
- Earlier account holders could not access their own money for up to 8-10 years after financial stress at banks.
- The new changes would give confidence to depositors and strengthen the banking and financial system.
- Now, depositors can get insurance money within 90 days, without waiting for the eventual liquidation of the distressed banks.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Role of Governors in State Universities
Mains level: Issues with role of Governor
A controversy has erupted in Kerala over the reappointment of a person as the Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University, with Governor saying he approved the decision against his “better judgment” as Chancellor.
Role of Governors in State Universities
- In most cases, the Governor of the state is the ex-officio chancellor of the universities in that state.
- Its powers and functions as the Chancellor are laid out in the statutes that govern the universities under a particular state government.
- Their role in appointing the Vice-Chancellors has often triggered disputes with the political executive.
A disputed case
- In Kerala’s case, the Governor’s official portal asserts that while as Governor he functions with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
- While acting as Chancellor he acts independently of the Council of Ministers and takes his own decisions on all University matters.
- In marked contrast, the website of Rajasthan’s Raj Bhawan states that the “Governor appoints the Vice-Chancellor on the advice/ in consultation with the State Government”.
What about Central Universities?
- Under the Central Universities Act, 2009, and other statutes, the President of India shall be the Visitor of a central university.
- With their role limited to presiding over convocations, Chancellors in central universities are titular heads, who are appointed by the President in his capacity as Visitor.
- The VCs too are appointed by the Visitor from panels of names picked by search and selection committees formed by the Union government.
- The Act adds that the President, as Visitor, shall have the right to authorize inspections of academic and non-academic aspects of the universities and also to institute inquiries.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: 5G technology
Mains level: Issues with 5g rollout
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has issued directives to create a framework as well as gather more information about the potential effects of 5G on crucial aviation safety equipment.
What is 5G technology?
- 5G or fifth generation is the latest upgrade in the long-term evolution (LTE) mobile broadband networks.
- It mainly works in 3 bands, namely low, mid and high-frequency spectrum — all of which have their own uses as well as limitations.
Three bands of 5G
- The low band spectrum has shown great promise in terms of coverage and speed of internet and data exchange, the maximum speed is limited to 100 Mbps (Megabits per second).
- This means that while telcos can use and install it for commercial cellphones users who may not have specific demands for very high-speed internet, the low band spectrum may not be optimal for specialised needs of the industry.
- The mid-band spectrum, on the other hand, offers higher speeds compared to the low band but has limitations in terms of coverage area and penetration of signals.
- Telcos and companies, which have taken the lead on 5G, have indicated that this band may be used by industries and specialised factory units for building captive networks that can be moulded into the needs of that particular industry.
- The high-band spectrum offers the highest speed of all the three bands, but has extremely limited coverage and signal penetration strength.
- Internet speeds in the high-band spectrum of 5G have been tested to be as high as 20 Gbps (gigabits per second), while, in most cases, the maximum internet data speed in 4G has been recorded at 1 Gbps.
What is the issue?
- There is a threat of potential radar altimeter interference from 5G cellular in the 3700 MHz-3800 MHz frequency or the C-band.
- The 3700-4200 MHz band is close to the 4200 MHz-4400 MHz range used by aircraft radio altimeters.
Potential impacts
- Operations by aircraft including large jets could be limited or prohibited from using certain landing and navigation systems in places where there is scope for potential interference from new 5G cellular networks.
- The restrictions could be severe for smaller aircraft and helicopters.
- Overall, these could result in flight cancellations, delays or diversions in 46 places where these towers are, according to an aviation report.
What is the aircraft equipment that can be affected?
- The radio altimeter measures height (not altitude) of the aircraft above the surface immediately below the plane. It transmits a radio signal directly below.
- There are various other systems that depend on inputs from the radio altimeter — for example, predictive wind shear, ground proximity warning system, traffic collision avoidance system, and auto land.
- These effects are only when the aircraft is close to the ground, i.e. up to 2,500 ft above ground level (depending on the aircraft make).
- Any disturbance to internal radio altimeter readings caused by 5G or other equipment transmitting in frequency bands close to it can result in disastrous effects on crucial systems during approach/landing.
Impact of mobile phones
- 5G devices can interfere with aircraft altitude instruments and recommended that they should be turned off (or put to flight mode) during flight.
- Experts believe that electrical interference from a mobile phone could have been a factor in the crash of a small aircraft.
- The navigation system of the small aircraft could be disrupted by mobile phone signals.
- But up until now, there has been no evidence of a mobile phone having caused a crash.
What about the implications for India?
- Pilots in India are aware of the implications of 5G in the country.
- However, in India, 5G could be rolled out in the 3.2 GHz-3.6 GHz band, which may not have the potential to interfere with aircraft operations.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Chaperone Protein
Mains level: NA
Chaperones are a functionally related group of proteins assisting protein folding in the cell under physiological and stress conditions.
What are Chaperones?
- DNA is a linear chain of nucleotides, portions of which are faithfully transcribed into linear messenger RNA.
- The message in this RNA is translated into strings of amino acids – proteins.
- Proteins need to take a precise three-dimensional shape to become functional entities.
- This protein folding does not happen all by itself, at least most of the time.
- A special bunch of proteins called molecular chaperones assist in correctly folding the protein.
Functions of chaperone proteins
- In biological systems, Chaperones play crucial roles.
- Many molecular chaperones belong to the class of “heat shock” proteins (or stress-response proteins).
- This is because whenever an organism is subjected to elevated temperatures – a heat shock – proteins in the system begin to lose their native shapes, and chaperones are produced in large quantities to restore order.
General need of chaperones
Chaperones are needed under physiological conditions too, for normal cellular function since misfolding of proteins can cause a number of diseases.
- Alpha-synuclein protein, present in neurons, is wrongly folded in Parkinson’s disease.
- Brains of Alzheimer’s patients have plaques formed from aggregates of amyloid beta-peptide.
- This accumulation of amyloid fibrils is toxic, leading to widespread destruction of neurons – a ‘neurodegenerative’ disorder.
- Aberrant folding of crystallins of the eye lens leads to cataracts.
Types of Chaperones
- Major chaperones in humans include HSP70, HSC70 and HSP90: the numbers express the size of the proteins in kilodaltons.
- In normal cells 1%–2% of all proteins present are heat shock proteins.
- This number rises threefold during stressful conditions.
HSC70: The molecular thermometer
- HSC70 appears to be more like a molecular thermometer, with an ability to sense cold temperatures.
- It is induced by heat, whereas HSC70 is always present at high levels in normal cells.
- This knowledge comes from the study of an intriguing set of disorders, exemplified by Familial Cold Autoinflammatory Syndrome (FCAS).
HSC70 and HSP90: Role in Cancer
- Cancer cells divide at a break-neck pace, and heat shock proteins are very important in maintaining the stressful cancerous state.
- An overabundance of heat shock proteins in cancer cells is an indicator of a poor prognosis. Cancerous cells accumulate mutations in proteins that would normally suppress tumours.
- HSP70 and HSP90 play the roles of villains, as they continue to fold the mutated proteins, thus allowing tumor progression.
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Note4Students
From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :
Prelims level: Buxa Tiger Reserve
Mains level: Success of Tiger Conservation
In a major success for tiger conservation, a photograph of a tiger was captured in a camera trap in West Bengal’s Buxa Tiger Reserve since 1998.
Locate all major tiger reserves in India.
Buxa Tiger Reserve
- Buxa Tiger Reserve is a tiger reserve in northern West Bengal, India, covering an area of 760 km2 (290 sq mi).
- In altitude, it ranges from 60 m in the Gangetic Plains to 1,750 m bordering the Himalayas in the north.
- Its northern boundary runs along the international border with Bhutan.
- The Sinchula hill range lies all along the northern side of BTR and the eastern boundary touches that of the Assam state.
Key features of BTR
- It is the easternmost extension of extreme bio-diverse North-East India and represents highly endemic Indo-Malayan region.
- The fragile “Terai Eco-System” constitutes a part of this reserve.
- The Phibsoo Wildlife Sanctuary of Bhutan is contiguous to the north of BTR.
- It serves as an international corridor for Asian elephant migration between India and Bhutan.
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