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  • Sri Lanka’s Constitution – Strides in the Right Direction

    What is the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, and why is it contentious?

    7 September 2020 | | International Relations
    Mains Paper 2: Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and agreements involving India

    After the Rajapaksas’ win in the November 2019 presidential polls and the August 2020 general election, the spotlight has fallen on two key legislations in Sri Lanka’s Constitution.

    Sri Lankan amendments in news

    • One, the 19th Amendment was passed in 2015 to curb powers of the Executive President, while strengthening Parliament and independent commissions.
    • The Rajapaksa government has already drafted and gazetted the 20th Amendment.
    • The other legislation under sharp focus is the 13th Amendment passed in 1987, which mandates a measure of power devolution to the provincial councils established to govern the island’s nine provinces.

    What is the 13th Amendment?

    • It is an outcome of the Indo-Lanka Accord of July 1987, signed by the then PM Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R. Jayawardene, in an attempt to resolve the ethnic conflict and civil war.
    • The 13th Amendment, which led to the creation of Provincial Councils, assured a power-sharing arrangement to enable all nine provinces in the country, including Sinhala majority areas, to self-govern.
    • Subjects such as education, health, agriculture, housing, land and police are devolved to the provincial administrations.
    • But because of restrictions on financial powers and overriding powers given to the President, the provincial administrations have not made much headway.
    • In particular, the provisions relating to police and land have never been implemented.

    Why is it contentious?

    • The 13th Amendment carries considerable baggage from the country’s civil war years. It was opposed vociferously by both Sinhala nationalist parties and the LTTE.
    • The opposition within Sri Lanka saw the Accord and the consequent legislation as an imprint of Indian intervention.
    • It was widely perceived as an imposition by a neighbour wielding hegemonic influence.
    • The Tamil polity, especially its dominant nationalist strain, does not find the 13th Amendment sufficient in its ambit or substance. However, some find it as an important starting point, something to build upon.

    Why is it significant?

    • Till date, the Amendment represents the only constitutional provision on the settlement of the long-pending Tamil question.
    • In addition to assuring a measure of devolution, it is considered part of the few significant gains since the 1980s, in the face of growing Sinhala-Buddhist majoritarianism.

    Its criticism

    • Critics argue that in a small country, the provinces could be effectively controlled by the Centre.
    • The opposition camp also includes those fundamentally opposed to sharing any political power with the Tamil minority.
    • All the same, all political camps that vehemently oppose the system have themselves contested in provincial council elections.
    • The councils have over time also helped national parties strengthen their grassroots presence and organisational structures.

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  • International Criminal Court (ICC)

    7 September 2020 | IOCR | International Relations
    Mains Paper 2: International Institutions

    The U.S. has announced sanctions including asset freezes and visa bans against two officials of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague.

    International Criminal Court

    • The ICC is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal that sits in The Hague, Netherlands.
    • It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
    • It is intended to complement existing national judicial systems and it may therefore exercise its jurisdiction only when national courts are unwilling or unable to prosecute criminals.
    • The ICC lacks universal territorial jurisdiction, and may only investigate and prosecute crimes committed within member states, crimes committed by nationals of member states, or crimes in situations referred to the Court by the UNSC.

    Issues with ICC

    The ICC has faced a number of criticisms from states and society, including objections about-

    • its jurisdiction, accusations of bias, questioning of the fairness of its case-selection and trial procedures, and doubts about its effectiveness

    Implications of US sanction

    • The US action is perceived as a setback to the international rules-based multilateral order, and the decision to sanction anybody assisting the ICC will deter victims of violence in Afghanistan from speaking out.
    • The unilateral sanctions would encourage other regimes accused of war crimes to flout the ICC’s rulings.

    B2BASICS

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  • Indian Army Updates

    Assam Rifles and the tussle between MoD and MHA

    7 September 2020 | Prelims Only | Internal Security
    Mains Paper 3: Various Security Forces, Agencies & Their Mandates

    The Delhi High Court has granted 12 weeks to the Union government to decide on whether to scrap or retain the dual control structure for Assam Rifles. Presently it comes under both the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

    What is the Assam Rifles?

    • Assam Rifles is one of the six central armed police forces (CAPFs) under the administrative control of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
    • The other forces being the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the Border Security Force (BSF), the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB).
    • It is tasked with the maintenance of law and order in the North East along with the Indian Army and also guards the Indo-Myanmar border in the region.
    • It has a sanctioned strength of over 63,000 personnel and has 46 battalions apart from administrative and training staff.

    Making of the regiment

    • Assam Rifles is the oldest paramilitary force raised way back in 1835 in British India with just 750 men.
    • Since then it has gone on to fight in two World Wars, the Sino-Indian War of 1962 and used as an anti-insurgency force against militant groups in the North East.
    • Raised as a militia to protect British tea estates and its settlements from the raids of the NE tribes, the force was first known as Cachar Levy.
    • It was reorganized later as Assam Frontier Force as its role was expanded to conduct punitive operations beyond Assam borders.

    How is it unique?

    • It is the only paramilitary force with a dual control structure. While the administrative control of the force is with the MHA, its operational control is with the Indian Army, which is under the MoD.
    • This means that salaries and infrastructure for the force is provided by the MHA, but the deployment, posting, transfer and deputation of the personnel is decided by the Army.
    • All its senior ranks, from DG to IG and sector headquarters, are manned by officers from the Army. The force is commanded by Lt. General from the Indian Army.
    • The force is the only central paramilitary force (CPMF) in a real sense as its operational duties and regimentation are on the lines of the Indian Army.
    • However, its recruitment, perks, promotion of its personnel and retirement policies are governed according to the rules framed by the MHA for CAPFs.

    Why do both MHA and MoD want full control?

    • MHA has argued that all the border guarding forces are under the operational control of the ministry and so Assam Rifles coming under MHA will give border guarding a comprehensive and integrated approach.
    • MHA sources also say that Assam Rifles continues to function on the pattern set during the 1960s and the ministry would want to make guarding of the Indo-Myanmar border on the lines of other CAPFs.
    • The Army, for its part, has been arguing that there is no need to fix what isn’t broken.
    • Sources say the Army is of the opinion that the Assam Rifles has worked well in coordination with the Army and frees up the armed forces from many of its responsibilities to focus on its core strengths.
    • It has argued that giving the control of the force to MHA or merging it with any other CAPF will confuse the force and jeopardize national security.

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  • Industrial Sector Updates – Industrial Policy, Ease of Doing Business, etc.

    State Reforms Action Plan Rankings 2019

    7 September 2020 | DOMR | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Andhra Pradesh has bagged the first rank among all the states in the country in the state business reforms action plan-2019 (BRAP-2019), representing ease of doing business for Atmanirbhar Bharat.

    About the Ranking

    • It is the annual ease of doing business index of states and UTs of India based on the completion percentage scores of action items points of annual Business Reforms Action Plan (BRAP) under the Make in India initiative.
    • This ranking is based on the implementation of the business reform action plan.
    • Some of the key focus areas are access to information and technology, the setting up of a single-window system, construction permit enablers and land administration, according to DPIIT.
    • It based on the progress of states in completing annual reform action plan covering 8 key areas.

    The top ten states under the State Reform Action Plan 2019 are:

    1. Andhra Pradesh
    2. Uttar Pradesh
    3. Telangana
    4. Madhya Pradesh
    5. Jharkhand
    6. Chhattisgarh
    7. Himachal Pradesh
    8. Rajasthan
    9. West Bengal
    10. Gujarat

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  • Tax Reforms

    Reforming tax system

    7 September 2020 | op-ed snap | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    The article discusses two recent measures announced by the government to bring in the transparency in the tax system.

    Issue of lower tax collection and way out

    • An economic contraction this year will severely impact tax collections.
    • Changing tax rates or the tax base in response is difficult and a hurried approach can have wider consequences.
    • So, the only tool available is to urge voluntary compliance.
    • Compliance is achieved through a fine balance between enforcement and encouragement.
    • Despite enforcement-driven measures in the past the taxpaying population has remained at only 6 per cent.
    • Thus, the only way to boost collections is to build trust between the administration and the taxpayer.

    Relation between complexity of system and compliance

    • A taxpayer has to interact with the tax system at numerous instances.
    • While interacting, if the taxpayer perceives the system to be complex, such perception affects compliance.
    • Perceived complexity can discourage individuals from filing returns.
    • This could reflect simply in the difference between the number of taxpayers and the returns filed: which is around 20 million.
    • Such behaviour is bound to impact tax collection.

    Recent government measures to bring transparency

    1) New taxpayer’s charter with some new features

    • The charter is a document that lists a taxpayer’s rights and obligations.
    • A taxpayer’s charter is often perceived as a means to build taxpayer’s trust.
    • The rights and obligations mentioned in India’s new charter are in line with global practices.
    • There are 3 interesting additions in the new charter: 1) commitment to reducing compliance costs 2) holding its authorities accountable 3) publishing a periodic report of service standards.
    • A tax ombudsman can ensure that some of these standards are met, however, in 2019, the cabinet approved the abolition of the quasi-judicial post.

    2) Faceless assessment

    • This relates to the frequent complaint of taxpayers about corruption and delay.
    • To end personal interface, e-assessment was introduced in 2019.
    • Developing this idea further, faceless assessment now seeks to further automate the case selection and the distribution function of the assessing officer.
    • The intent is to divest and distribute the functions of a single assessing officer so that assessment is carried out in a fair manner.

    Consider the question “What are the factors responsible for low tax compliance in India? What are the steps taken by the government to increase compliance?

    Conclusion

    If the commitment to a fair and impartial system and a time-bound resolution of matters is to be met, the new processes, with reviews and anonymity, must ensure efficiency in case selection and consistency in assessment.

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  • Civil Services Reforms

    Our civil services need a reboot

    5 September 2020 | op-ed snap | Governance
    Mains Paper 2: Civil Service

    The Mission Karmayogi seeks to overhaul the bureaucracy in the country. The article discusses its aims and the challenges it could face.

    Context

    • The Union cabinet’s approval of Mission Karmayogi has raised the hope of a national bureaucracy that is adequately responsive to the country’s needs.

    Need for the overhaul

    • The system’s focus needs to be role- rather than rule-specific,
    • Coordination should prevail over battles for control, and IAS officers ought to be enablers instead of red-tape wrappers. 
    • There has been a near consensus in the country that our system of policy implementation needs an overhaul.

    What  is Mission Karmayogi

    • It is an upskilling initiative for government officials that aims to fix and galvanize India’s administration.
    • As envisaged, the Karmayogi training mechanism will cover an estimated 4.6 million officials at all levels.
    • Due to the scale of the exercise elaborate multi-tier command structure is expected to be put in place for it.
    • At its apex would be a Human Resource Council, headed by the Prime Minister.
    • Human Resource Council shall approve and monitor various skill-enhancing programmes as well as review the performance of employees routinely.

    Challenges

    • Given the way our bureaucracy has operated for decades, Mission Karmayogi is likely to prove disruptive.
    • The idea of being subject to continuous evaluation by a central authority could unsettle some officers.
    • There has been some disquiet within IAS ranks over the Centre’s lateral induction of people for senior roles, perhaps the new mission will resolve such disgruntlement.

    Conclusion

    Gentralized supervision of such large numbers does not promise to be easy. Globally, centralization has been observed to militate against diversity of thought. And that’s vital to the governance of a country like India.

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  • Parliament – Sessions, Procedures, Motions, Committees etc

    Scrutinising government’s work in limited monsoon session

    5 September 2020 | op-ed snap | Polity
    Mains Paper 2: Parliament & State Legislatures

    The article analyses the impact of pandemic on the functioning legislatures and issues its implications.

    Context

    • Due to coronavirus pandemic, several States have held very short sessions in which they ratified a number of ordinances and hardly questioned any executive action over the last few months.

    Role of Parliament and Court

    • The government has the mandate to take decisions and perform various public tasks.
    • Government in turn is accountable to the legislature which can question it, and, as an extreme step, even replace it.
    • The legislature is accountable to citizens through regular elections.
    • Finally, constitutional courts are expected to ensure that all actions are made within the boundaries of the Constitution and laws made by the legislature.

    Dilution of the role of Parliament in  India

    • Indian Parliament has allowed its role to be diluted over the last few decades.
    • It has not questioned and monitored the activity of the executive.
    • Comparison with British Parliament: The United Kingdom’s joint parliamentary committee on human rights examined the proposals of a contact tracing app.
    • The committee recommended that an app could be used only if there was specific primary legislation to enable it. 
    •  India, in contrast, rolled out Aarogya Setu through executive decision, and has created a grey zone on whether it is mandatory or not.
    • Parliament should recover lost ground by fulfilling its constitutionally mandated role.

    Lack of parliamentary oversight during pandemic

    • Parliament will be meeting after 175 days.
    • 175 days’ is the longest gap without intervening general elections and just short of the six-month constitutional limit.
    • During the pandemic, over 900 central and nearly 6,000 State government notifications have been issued
    • Parliamentary committees did not meet for about four months.
    • This is unlike many other countries where both the plenary and committees have adopted technology to enable members to participate from home.

    Judicial intervention in policy issues

    • The lack of parliamentary oversight has been compounded by judicial intervention in many policy issues.
    •  For example, the government’s actions related to the lockdown should have been questioned by Parliament.
    • However, this was taken to the Supreme Court, which is not equipped and mandated to balance policy options.
    • Directions of the Court have to be followed which removes flexibility needed to tackle evolving issues with implementation.
    • Consider another case, Court decided to limit the period in which telecom companies have to pay their dues to the government, and overruled a cabinet decision.
    • This is a policy matter that balances interests of telecom companies, consumers and banks.
    • This issue is best judged by the government with oversight by Parliament.
    • And court should step in if there is an illegality.

    Way forward

    • Several events have taken place over the last six months that need thorough discussion.
    • This includes ways to tackle the spread of the coronavirus, economic growth which has had a sharp fall in the first quarter of this fiscal year.
    • This has far-reaching implications for creating jobs, stability of the banking system, and government finances.
    • The government is likely to bring in a supplementary budget; indeed, a fresh look at the Union Budget may be required given the changes in basic assumptions since January.
    • The situation at the China border also needs to be discussed.

    Consider the question “Anlyse the impact of pandemic on the key organs of the democracy.”

    Conclusion

    Parliamentarians have a duty towards Indian citizens to fulfil their role in scrutinising the work of the government and guiding policy. Despite the curtailed session and the constraints due to the coronavirus, they should make the best of the limited time to do so. They need to wrest back their rightful role in our democracy.

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  • RBI Notifications

    Priority Sector Lending (PSL)

    5 September 2020 | | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    The RBI has released a revised priority sector lending guidelines to augment funding to segments including start-ups and agriculture.

    New Priority Sector Lending (PSL) guidelines

    • Bank finance of up to ₹50 crores to start-ups, loans to farmers both for installation of solar power plants for Solarization of grid-connected agriculture pumps and for setting up compressed biogas (CBG) plants have been included as fresh categories eligible for finance under the priority sector.
    • This has come to align it with emerging national priorities and bring a sharper focus on inclusive development, after having wide-ranging discussions with all stakeholders.
    • It will enable better credit penetration to credit deficient areas, increase the lending to small and marginal farmers and weaker sections, boost credit to renewable energy, and health infrastructure
    • The targets prescribed for ‘small and marginal farmers’ and ‘weaker sections’ are being increased in a phased manner.
    • Higher credit limit has been specified for farmer producer organisations (FPOs)/farmers producers companies (FPCs) undertaking farming with assured marketing of their produce at a pre-determined price.

    Back2Basics: Priority Sector Lending

    • PSL is an important role given by the (RBI) to the banks for providing a specified portion of the bank lending to few specific sectors like agriculture and allied activities, micro and small enterprises, poor people for housing, students for education and other low-income groups and weaker sections.
    • This is essentially meant for an all-round development of the economy as opposed to focusing only on the financial sector.
    • The broad categories of priority sector for all scheduled commercial banks are as under:
    1. Agriculture and Allied Activities (Direct and Indirect finance)
    2. Small Scale Industries (Direct and Indirect Finance)
    3. Small Business / Service Enterprises
    4. Micro Credit
    5. Education loans
    6. Housing loans

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  • Health Sector – UHC, National Health Policy, Family Planning, Health Insurance, etc.

    What counts as ‘Act of God’?

    5 September 2020 | | Economics
    Mains Paper 3: Indian Economy

    Amid disruptions caused by Covid-19, the Finance Minister has referred to an Act of God while businesses are looking at a legal provision, force majeure, to cut losses.

    Note the key differences between the Act of God and Force Majeure.

    Evoking “Act of God”

    • The force majeure or “Act of God” clause has its origins in the Napoleonic Code.
    • The finance ministry had issued an office memorandum inviting attention to the force majeure clause (FMC) in the 2017 Manual for Procurement of Goods issued by the Department of Expenditure.
    • It clarified that the pandemic should be considered a case of natural calamity and FMC may be invoked, wherever considered appropriate.

    What is a force majeure clause?

    • The law of contracts is built around a fundamental norm that the parties must perform the contract.
    • When a party fails to perform its part of the contract, the loss to the other party is made good.
    • However, the law carves out exceptions when the performance of the contract becomes impossible for the parties.
    • A force majeure clause is one such exception that releases the party of its obligations to an extent when events beyond their control take place and leave them unable to perform their part of the contract.
    • FMC is a clause that is present in most commercial contracts and is a carefully drafted legal arrangement in the event of a crisis.
    • When the clause is triggered, parties can decide to break from their obligations temporarily or permanently without necessarily breaching the contract.
    • Companies in such situations use the clause as a safe exit route, sometimes in opportunistic ways, without having to incur the penalty of breaching the contract.

    Difference between the two

    • Both concepts elicit the same consequences in law.
    • Generally, an “Act of God” is understood to include only natural unforeseen circumstances, whereas force majeure is wider in its ambit and includes both naturally occurring events and events that occur due to human intervention.

    What situations legally qualify for use of force majeure?

    • While some contracts have clauses with standard circumstances, some contracts would have specific circumstances that are more focused.
    • For example, a shipping contract would have a force majeure clause that could cover a natural disaster like a tsunami.
    • If an event is not described, then it is interpreted in a way that it falls in the same category of events that are described.
    • An FMC is negotiated by parties, and events that could potentially hamper the performance of the contract are catalogued.
    • It is not invoked just by expressing that an unforeseen event has occurred.
    • In case a contract does not have a force majeure clause, there are some protections in common law that can be invoked by parties.
    • For example, the Indian Contract Act, 1872 provides that a contract becomes void if it becomes impossible due to an event after the contract was signed that the party could not prevent.

    Global precedents dealing with COVID-19 pandemic

    • In China, where the Covid-19 outbreak originated, the Council for Promotion of International Trade is issuing force majeure certificates to businesses.
    • China’s Supreme People’s Court had recognised the 2002 SARS outbreak as a force majeure event.
    • Singapore enacted the Covid-19 (Temporary Measures) Act in April to provide relief to businesses that could not perform their contractual obligations due to the pandemic.
    • The Paris Commercial Court in July ruled that the pandemic could be equated to a force majeure event.
    • In the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority has brought in a test case before the High Court to look into business insurance contracts and interpret the standard wordings in such contracts.
    • The International Chamber of Commerce has developed a Model Code on the force majeure clause reflecting current international practice.

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  • Wildlife Conservation Efforts

    What is Project Dolphin?

    5 September 2020 | Species | Environment
    Mains Paper 3: Conservation, Environmental Pollution & Degradation, Eia

    In his Independence Day Speech this year, PM has announced the government’s plan to launch a Project Dolphin. The proposed project is aimed at saving both river and marine dolphins.

    Project Dolphin

    • The Project will be on the lines of Project Tiger, which has helped increase the tiger population.
    • So far, the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), which implements the government’s flagship scheme Namami Gange, has been taking some initiatives for saving dolphins.
    • Now, Project Dolphin is expected to be implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

    About Gangetic Dolphin

    • The Gangetic river system is home to a vast variety of aquatic life, including the Gangetic dolphin (Platanista gangetica).
    • It is one of five species of river dolphin found around the world.
    • It is found mainly in the Indian subcontinent, particularly in Ganga-Brahmaputra-Meghna and Karnaphuli-Sangu river systems.
    • An adult dolphin could weigh between 70 kg and 90 kg. The breeding season of the Gangetic dolphin extends from January to June.
    • They feed on several species of fishes, invertebrates etc.

    Why is it important to save dolphins?

    • The construction of dams and barrages and increasing pollution has led to a decline in the population of aquatic animals in the rivers in general and of dolphins in particular.
    • Aquatic life is an indicator of the health of river ecosystems.
    • As the Gangetic dolphin is at the top of the food chain, protecting the species and its habitat will ensure

    Aquatic life as an indicator of the health of a river system

    • Globally, there have been such examples. For instance, the Rhine Action Plan (1987) of the International Commission for the Protection of the Rhine (ICPR) brought back the salmon.
    • The return of the migratory fish is taken as an indicator of the river’s improved health.
    • Salmon used to migrate from the North Sea to the Rhine every year and reproduce, but this stopped when pollution increased in the river.
    • After a chemical accident in 1986 that caused the death of fish and microorganisms, the Action Plan was launched.
    • This led to an improvement in the quality of the river water, and the salmons began to return.

    What has been done to save Gangetic dolphins so far?

    • Although efforts to save them were started in the mid-1980s, the estimates suggest the numbers have not risen as a result.
    • The Gangetic dolphin remains listed as Endangered by the IUCN.
    • After the launch of Ganga Action Plan in 1985, the government on November 24, 1986, included Gangetic dolphins in the First Schedule of the Indian Wildlife (Protection), Act 1972.
    • This was aimed at checking hunting and providing conservation facilities such as wildlife sanctuaries. For instance, Vikramshila Ganges Dolphin Sanctuary was established in Bihar under this Act.

    Conservation so far

    • The government has prepared The Conservation Action Plan for the Ganges River Dolphin 2010-2020.
    • It identified threats to Gangetic Dolphins and impact of river traffic, irrigation canals and depletion of prey-base on Dolphins populations.
    • On October 5, 2009, the then PM declared the Gangetic river dolphin as the national aquatic animal.
    • A notification was issued by the MoEFCC the following year. Now, the National Mission for Clean Ganga celebrates October 5 as National Ganga River Dolphin Day.

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