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Domestic Systemically Important Banks (D-SIBs)
According to the central bank, D-SIBs are financial institutions that are large enough where they cannot be allowed to fall.
A failure of any of these banks can lead to systemic and significant disruption to essential economic services across the country and can cause an economic panic.
Therefore, y. In events of distress, the government supports such banks.
In order to be listed as a D-SIB, a bank needs to have assets that exceed 2 percent of the national GDP.
ICICI and HDFC are in first slab while SBI is in third. Bucket five represents the most important D-SIBs.
2. HARBINGER 2021 – Innovation for Transformation
Theme: ‘Smarter Digital Payments’
RBI’s first global hackathon that invites participants to develop solutions that have the potential to make digital payments accessible, Enhance security of digital payments, Enhance ease of payments.
In order to be listed as a D-SIB, a bank needs to have assets that exceed 2 percent of the national GDP.
ICICI and HDFC are in first slab while SBI is in third. Bucket five represents the most important D-SIBs.
3. NEO BANKS
A neobank is a digital bank that does not have any branches. It is entirely online.
Neobanks bridge the gap between the services that traditional banks offer and the evolving expectations of new-age customers. they tie up with RBI lesenced banks to provide services like Banking, Loans, Credit card etc.
Neobanks bridge the gap between the services that traditional banks offer and the evolving expectations of new-age customers.
4. Central Bank Digital Currency
CBDC or Central Bank Digital Currency is a legal tender issued by the Reserve Bank of India.
It is an electronic record or digital token of a country’s official currency, which fulfils the basic functions as a medium of exchange, unit of account, store of value, and standard of deferred payment.
It is same as the currency issued by RBI(Physical form) in digital manner.
It can be exchanged by Cash well.
CBDC will eliminate the need for interbank settlement.
5. Co Lending or Co Originating Model
is a set-up where banks and non-banks enter into an arrangement for the joint contribution of credit for priority sector lending.
Benefits: Lower cost and Greater Reach.
NBFCs are required to retain at least a 20 per cent share of individual loans on their books. This means 80 per cent of the risk will be with the banks — who will take the big hit in case of a default.
NBFCs will be the single point of interface for consumers and they enter into loan agreements with the borrowers.
6. Renewable Energy Certificates
Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) are a market-based instrument that certifies the bearer owns one megawatt-hour (MWh) of electricity generated from a renewable resource.
The REC received can then be sold on the open market as an energy commodity.
REC acts as a tracking mechanism for solar, wind, and other green energies as they flow into the power grid.
In India, RECs are traded on two power exchanges — Indian Energy Exchange (IEX) and Power Exchange of India (PXIL).
7. Waterfall Approach, Agile Approach and Barbell Strategy
Waterfall: an upfront analysis of the issue, detailed planning and finally meticulous implementation.
Agile framework is based on feed-back loops, real-time monitoring of actual outcomes, flexible responses, safety-net buffers and so on.
Barbell Strategy is a dual approach that combines two extremes, one safe and one speculative, and typically emphasizes the requirement for antifragility.
8. Inverted Duty Structure
An inverted duty structure comes up in a situation where import duties on input goods are higher than on finished goods.
In other words, the GST rate paid on purchases is more than the GST rate payable on sales.
When manufacturers cannot set off the taxes paid on raw materials against the tax on the final product, the excess tax paid on inputs gets built into the price of the product.This makes an Indian-made product more expensive than the imported finished product, affecting the competitiveness of Indian makers.
9. Credit Deposit Ratio
As the name suggests that it is the ratio which shiows how much a Bank lends out of its deposits it has mobilised.
High ratio means more dependency on deposits for lending purpose as well as high utilisation. Low ratio means Banks are not utilising the deposits properly or they are not earning as much as they can.
Mains is the most important stage of the UPSC exam. It’s also becoming more and more unpredictable, analytical and dynamic than ever before.
Mains essential Program (MEP) 2023 is your solution to practicing Mains Answer writing. Don’t procrastinate answer writing, developing a skill does not happen magically after you clear prelims.
Super 100 Mains Program 2023 is a Mentor guided comprehensive and intensive program for GS Mains papers. The focus is on making students understand the requirement of Mains Question, its elements, using information, and imparting answer writing skills for that.
In 2020, 80% of students in our smash mains programwere able to clear the mains examination.
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Why Early Start to Mains is Needed?
Let us answer this with a story
Guru Dronacharya had instructed the cook at the ashram to not serve his students food at night. One day, however, the dinner got delayed. While everyone was eating at night, suddenly, the lights went off. As Arjuna ate in the dark, he realized that there was automatic coordination between his hands and mouth. He did not require vision to put his hand into his mouth. This was an amazing discovery for him. This meant that he could orient himself to shoot the target even in the night, through his other senses. He immediately took up his bow and arrow to practice in the dark. And from then on, the entire month, he would practice day and night!
Day and night- just practice.
If you want to ace your mains answer writing, then PRACTICE is your only option. Arjuna had practiced for decades before his real test in the Mahabharata war. Even you need to start your answer writing from day one and not leave it for “after the prelims” approach.
Be Arjuna of Answer writing!
Year long Answer writing Program is helpful:
Your knowledge is tested through your answers: If you have not learned the art to articulate your thoughts on paper, then that’s a disaster waiting to happen. Studying and writing answers is a symbiotic relationship and one reinforces the other.
Helps you retain concepts, facts, and figures.
Learning the trick to formulate the structure of the answer.
Helps to revise things and learn new things not covered by conventional books.
Improves your writing speed, and handwriting.
Avoid these common mistakes with our program
Let me first develop enough knowledge to write answers: This is the biggest lie we tell ourselves. There is no such thing as “ENOUGH” in UPSC preparation. It is better to train ourselves from Day 1 – How to apply the knowledge that I have?
Not understanding the demand of the Question: Words like ‘Examine’, ‘Comment’, or ‘Discuss’ are used for a reason in the questions. Why would UPSC use different words if it wants the same structure from each question?
Structure a Mental Framework: If you lack the practice then, you are not able to create a mental framework. This leads to poor answers- you write points as you remember in a haphazard manner. This completely compromises your presentation.
Introduction, body, and conclusion: This is the ideal structure for the mains answer. One very common mistake is that students have a tendency to generalize the introduction and conclusion. Along with this, the scope of dimensions in the body is limited.
Low hanging fruits: Some elements in your answer like a diagram, reports/commissions, and supreme court judgments can uplift the quality of your answers. Students have a tendency to skip them.
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KNOW HOW OUR MAINS TEST PROGRAM STANDS APART?
1. Personalised Mentorship to correct you at each step
We believe in personalised individual attention. A one-to-one discussion with your Mentor will not only highlight your weaknesses but will also help in tracking your improvements over the subsequent tests. It will also ensure consistency, continuity, and progressive improvement.
Individual Mentorship helps one to understand and discuss even small integrate details in answer writing. Take for example:
It is commented that Electoral bonds instead of cleansing India’s electoral system distort India’s democracy. Do you agree? Critically analyse.
Students usually get swayed by only seeing the theme of the question. Question is not about electoral bonds only. Many aspirants write everything they know about electoral bonds. You need to first mention how it will cleanse India’s electoral system. After that, link it with democracy. How it violates key features of democracy like transparency, accountability and level playing field. Writing only Pros and Cons will not fetch you marks.
Just schedule a call with our mentor to clear all your doubts and queries.
2. Quality standards of questions in our test series
Our Test series questions have consistently proven to be similar to UPSC standards.
Even our students have appreciated the quality of our questions
3. Check how mentorship have helped toppers and students across
One can better understand our process with the results we have produced, so here a look at how toppers have improved over the course of time with our mentorship intervention,
This is how the UPSC Toppers scored in test series before CD’s intervention —
12 Sectional tests: The whole syllabus will be divided into portions like history, economics, and geography. The test will be spread for a period of 8 months. This will ensure that your basic static preparation happens on a continuous basis alongside your mains answer writing program. Killing two birds with one stone!
12 Full-length tests: After the prelims, it is time to go full gear.
Personalized discussion:You doubt why you are scoring less or how you can improve your score for the next paper. No worries! Just schedule a call with our mentor to clear all your doubts and queries.
Civilsdaily’s handholding: You will be provided membership to Mains 2023 club on Habitat. There you can put up your doubts and queries. Also can be used to interact with peers on strategies to improve your mains writing. You can also contact mentors like Sajal sir, Sukanya ma’am, Sudhanshu sir and Poornima Ma’am. They all have interview-level experience, so utilize their experience to your benefit.
Civilsdaily magazine: Your current affairs will be covered with access to our 1-year subscription.
Our Philosophybehind MEP 2023
1. Question Formulation
It happens under a team of experienced Civilsdaily’s faculty. Questions framed are from the most important UPSC relevant themes and papers are based on the latest pattern of UPSC.
Our questions specifically state:
Whether they are straightforward or thought-provoking/analytical.
Whether they have subparts.
Why this question – similar previous year questions, the importance of the theme, etc.
CD Innovation – Red-green highlight – to let you know about the necessary and innovative points.
2. One-to-One Discussion
We believe in personalized individual attention. This is the biggest reason why you should join our TS. Students can schedule a call within 2 days of receiving their checked copies.
A one-to-one discussion with your Mentor will not only highlight your weaknesses but will also help in tracking your improvements over the subsequent tests. It will also ensure consistency, continuity, and progressive improvement.
3. Answer Checking
Our evaluation focusses on multiple dimensions and parameters like structure, flow, presentation, contextuality, relevance to question, analytical excellence, and cross-domain inter-linkages than simply on superficial, memory-based lapses.
More than just simply providing information, our model answers cover all the aspects of a question and provide enriching points to the student. They also include:
For ‘thought-provoking/analytical’ type of questions, we’ll provide the best way to approach them.
Alternate introductions
Sub-headings and categorization to enhance readability and answer structure.
Colour coding for main arguments, reports, data, scholars, etc. OTB – Out of the box points for additional marks
The Hindu covers Civilsdaily Successful smash mains program
5. Civilsdaily’s Handholding
You’ll be assigned to a special group on Civilsdaily’s Habitat, there you can interact with different mentors like Sajal Sir, Sukanya ma’am, Ajay Sir, Sudhanshu sir, and others.
Civilsdaily’s Habitat – Desktop and Mobile view
6. Value-added material
Current affairs magazines – Civilsdaily’s Magazines are the best in terms of comprehensive coverage, superb design, and high readability.
Listicles and other relevant study material – Supplementary content provided will be helpful in covering multiple related questions.
Sukanya ma’am has firsthand experience of 4 mains and 2 interviews of UPSC. In 2019, she scored 140 in ethics. She has also appeared in the State PCS interview. Before she has worked as a Probationary officer in Canara bank. Now at Civilsdaily, she heads Mains program and engaged in core team of Civilsdaily.
As per need we will also involved our Civilsdaily core mentors like Swatantra sir, Suhel sir etc.
The Supreme Court’s action in ordering the release of A G Perarivalan, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has resulted in mixed reactions.
Background
After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, the assailants were tried under the notorious Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, 1987 (TADA).
All 26 accused were given the death sentence by the Special Court for various offences, including under TADA (1998).
Fortunately, the SC held that the offences under TADA were not made out since there was no case to proceed for acts of terrorism.
It also modified the death penalty for 22 persons and confirmed the same only for Nalini, Perarivalan, Murugan and Santhan (1999).
Petition for mercy under Article 161: They petitioned the governor of Tamil Nadu for mercy under Article 161.
The then governor of Tamil Nadu dismissed their petition without any advice from the cabinet.
The Madras High Court ruled that the governor cannot exercise the power of pardon without the advice of the council of ministers.
The cabinet advised the governor to give reprieve only to Nalini Sriharan and rejected the case of the other three, including Perarivalan.
Perarivalan and the two other convicts appealed to the president with a mercy plea under Article 72.
Two successive presidents of India – K R Narayanan and APJ Abdul Kalam — did not pass any mercy orders.
But all of a sudden, their mercy pleas were rejected after a delay of 11 years by President Pratibha Patil.
When they were about to be executed, the convicts moved the Madras HC challenging the execution of the death warrant issued against them.
The cases were transferred to the SC, which decided that the president’s action in not considering the mercy plea within a reasonable time was improper and since the three prisoners had been on death row for 11 years, it was a fit case for commuting their sentence to life imprisonment.
Meanwhile, on February 19, 2014, the TN cabinet advised the governor to grant reprieve to all seven accused.
Once again, all of them applied for remission from the governor.
The state cabinet also advised the governor to grant pardon.
WhenPerarivalan’s mother, filed a case for parole, the court noting the inordinate delay observed: “the Governor of T N, a constitutional authority, cannot sit on the state’s recommendation on the release of all seven life convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for so long” (July 2020).
The court was informed that the governor was awaiting the final report of the CBI’s Multi-Disciplinary Monitoring Agency (MDMA).
Role of MDMA
The role of MDMA itself came up for criticism by the SC in January 2018 and it observed that the agency did not appear to have made “much headway”.
The court observed that the question of reopening the case against them will not arise as they had been already convicted for murder and conspiracy.
Article 20(2) of the Constitution guarantees that no person can be prosecuted and punished for the same offence more than once.
Use of powers under Article 142 by the Supreme Court
Once again, the process of granting mercy to the seven accused began with a resolution passed by the T N Assembly on September 9, 2018.
On the same day, the state cabinet advised the governor to give reprieve to all seven prisoners.
On being compelled by the court, the governor stated that the matter was to be dealt with by the President.
It was at this stage the matter went back to the SC.
It was finally decided that the authority to grant pardon is with the governor and he is bound by the advice of the state government.
The court also ruled that the action of the governor in delaying the matter for more than 2.5 years was unacceptable.
Exercising its power under Article 142 as well as considering all the relevant circumstances, the SC ordered Perarivalan’s release.
Limitations on governor’s power
Giving reprieve to persons sentenced to the death penalty, even in the exercise of the plenary powers by a governor, has limitations.
In 1978, Parliament amended the Criminal Procedure Code and introduced Sec 433A by which in such cases, prisoners cannot be released from prison unless they had served a minimum of 14 years in prison.
Reformatory penal system of India
India’s penal system is undoubtedly reformatory and not retributive.
The SC ruled on this issue by stating “a barbaric crime does not have to be visited with a barbaric penalty.”
It is also surprising that the successive governments at the Centre appeared to be guided in this case by geopolitical considerations rather than this country’s laws.
Conclusion
The question now is whether the six other prisoners will receive the same relief or will there be a confrontation between the state government and governor once again. Let us hope that wisdom prevails and the governor’s office is not manipulated for narrow political considerations.
In April this year, the Union government released a guidance document on the setting up of a ‘public health and management cadre’ (PHMC) as well as revised editions of the Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS) — for ensuring quality health care in government facilities.
Background
The need for a public health cadre and services in India rarely got any policy attention.
Limited understanding: The reason was that even among policymakers, there was limited understanding on the roles and the functions of public health specialists and the relevance of such cadres, especially at the district and sub-district levels.
However, the last decade and a half was eventful.
The initial threat of avian flu in 2005-06, the Swine flu pandemic of 2009-10; five more public health emergencies of international concern between years 2009-19; the increasing risks and regular emergence and re-emergence of of new viruses and diseases (Zika, Ebola, Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic fever, Nipah viruses, etc.) in animals and humans, resulted in increased attention on public health.
National Public health Act: In 2017, India’s National Health Policy 2017 proposed the formation of a public health cadre and enacting a National Public Health Act.
The COVID-19 pandemic changed the status quo.
In the absence of trained public health professionals at the policy and decision making levels, India’s pandemic response ended up becoming bureaucrat steered and clinician led.
Different cadres and its implications
Lack of career progression opportunities: At present, most Indian States (with exceptions such as Tamil Nadu and Odisha) have a teaching cadre (of medical college faculty members) and a specialist cadre of doctors involved in clinical services.
This structure does not provide similar career progression opportunities for professionals trained in public health.
Limited interest: It is one of the reasons for limited interest by health-care professionals to opt for public health as a career choice.
The outcome has been costly for society: a perennial shortage of trained public health workforce.
Public health cadre
The proposed public health cadre and the health management cadre have the potential to address some of these challenges.
With the release of guidance documents, the States have been advised to formulate an action plan, identify the cadre strengths, and fill up the vacant posts in the next six months to a year.
A public health workforce has a role even beyond epidemics and pandemics.
A trained public health workforce ensures that people receive holistic health care, of preventive and promotive services (largely in the domain of public health) as well as curative and diagnostic services (as part of medical care).
Revised version of IPHS and significance
This is the second revision in the IPHS, which were first released in 2007 and then revised in 2012.
The regular need for a revision in the IPHS is a recognition of the fact that to be meaningful, quality improvement has to be an ongoing process.
The development of the IPHS itself was a major step.
The revised IPHS is an important development but not an end itself.
In the 15 years since the first release of the IPHS, only a small proportion — around 15% to 20% — of government health-care facilities meets these standards. .
If the pace of achieving IPHS is any criteria, there is a need for more accelerated interventions.
Opportunities such as a revision of the IPHS should also be used for an independent assessment on how the IPHS has improved the quality of health services.
Implementation challenges
The effective part of implementation is interplay: policy formulation, financial allocation, and the availability of a trained workforce.
In this case, policy has been formulated.
Financial allocations: Then, though the Government’s spending on health in India is low and has increased only marginally in the last two decades; however, in the last two years, there have been a few additional — small but assured — sources of funding for public health services have become available.
The Fifteenth Finance Commission grant for the five-year period of 2021- 26 and the Pradhan Mantri Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM) allocations are available for strengthening public health services and could be used as States embark upon implementing the PHMC and a revised IPHS.
Availability of trained workforce: The third aspect of effective implementation, the availability of trained workforce, is the most critical.
As States develop plans for setting up the PHMC, all potential challenges in securing a trained workforce should be identified and actions initiated.
Conclusion
The public health and management cadres and the revised IPHS can help India to make progress towards the NHP goal. To ensure that, State governments need to act urgently and immediately.
Back2Basics: Indian Public Health Standards (IPHS)
IPHS are a set of uniform standards envisaged to improve the quality of health care delivery in the country.
The IPHS documents have been revised keeping in view the changing protocols of the existing programmes and introduction of new programmes especially for Non-Communicable Diseases.
Flexibility is allowed to suit the diverse needs of the States and regions.
These IPHS guidelines will act as the main driver for continuous improvement in quality and serve as the bench mark for assessing the functional status of health facilities.
The Supreme Court has held that Union and State legislatures have equal, simultaneous and unique powers to make laws on Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the recommendations of the GST Council are not binding on them.
What is the case?
The apex court’s decision came while confirming a Gujarat High Court ruling that the Centre cannot levy Integrated Goods and Services Tax (IGST) on ocean freight from Indian importers.
Key takeaways of the Judgment
The recommendations of the GST Council are the product of a collaborative dialogue involving the Union and the States.
They are recommendatory in nature. They only have a persuasive value.
To regard them as binding would disrupt fiscal federalism when both the Union and the States are conferred equal power to legislate on GST.
Basis of the Judgment
The court emphasised that Article 246A of the Constitution gives the States power to make laws with respect to GST.
It treats the Union and the States as “equal units”.
It confers a simultaneous power (on Union and States) for enacting laws on GST.
Article 279A, in constituting the GST Council, envisions that neither the Centre nor the States are actually dependent on the other.
What are the articles added/modified to the Constitution by the GST Act?
(1) Article 246A: Special Provision for GST
This Article was newly inserted to give power to the Parliament and the respective State/Union Legislatures to make laws on GST respectively imposed by each of them.
However, the Parliament of India is given the exclusive power to make laws with respect to inter-state supplies.
The IGST Act deals with inter-state supplies. Thus, the power to make laws under the IGST Act will rest exclusively with the Parliament.
Further, the article excludes the following products from the scope of GST until a date recommended by the GST Council:
Petroleum Crude
High-Speed Diesel
Motor Spirit
Natural Gas
Aviation Turbine Fuel
(2) Article 269A: Levy and Collection of GST for Inter-State Supply
While Article 246A gives the Parliament the exclusive power to make laws with respect to inter-state supplies.
The manner of distribution of revenue from such supplies between the Centre and the State is covered in Article 269A.
It allows the GST Council to frame rules in this regard. Import of goods or services will also be called as inter-state supplies.
This gives the Central Government the power to levy IGST on import transactions.
Import of goods was subject to Countervailing Duty (CVD) in the earlier scheme of taxation.
IGST levy helps a taxpayer to avail the credit of IGST paid on import along the supply chain, which was not possible before.
(3) Article 279A: GST Council
This Article gives power to the President to constitute a joint forum of the Centre and States called the GST Council.
The GST Council is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of GST in India.
(4) Article 286: Restrictions on Tax Imposition
This was an existing article which restricted states from passing any law that allowed them to collect tax on sale or purchase of goods either outside the state or in the case of import transactions.
It was further amended to restrict the passing of any laws in case of services too.
Further, the term ‘supply’ replaces ‘sale or purchase’.
(5) Article 366: Addition of Important definitions
Article 366 was an existing article amended to include the following definitions:
GST means the tax on supply of goods, services or both. It is important to note that the supply of alcoholic liquor for human consumption is excluded from the purview of GST.
Services refer to anything other than goods.
State includes Union Territory with legislature.
Back2Basics: GST Council
The GST Council is a federal body that aims to bring together states and the Centre on a common platform for the nationwide rollout of the indirect tax reform.
It is an apex member committee to modify, reconcile or to procure any law or regulation based on the context of goods and services tax in India.
The GST Council dictates tax rate, tax exemption, the due date of forms, tax laws, and tax deadlines, keeping in mind special rates and provisions for some states.
The predominant responsibility of the GST Council is to ensure to have one uniform tax rate for goods and services across the nation.
How is the GST Council structured?
The GST is governed by the GST Council. Article 279 (1) of the amended Indian Constitution states that the GST Council has to be constituted by the President within 60 days of the commencement of the Article 279A.
According to the article, the GST Council will be a joint forum for the Centre and the States. It consists of the following members:
The Union Finance Minister will be the Chairperson
As a member, the Union Minister of State will be in charge of Revenue of Finance
The Minister in charge of finance or taxation or any other Minister nominated by each State government, as members.
Terms of reference
Article 279A (4) specifies that the Council will make recommendations to the Union and the States on the important issues related to GST, such as the goods and services will be subject or exempted from the Goods and Services Tax.
They lay down GST laws, principles that govern the following:
Place of Supply
Threshold limits
GST rates on goods and services
Special rates for raising additional resources during a natural calamity or disaster
The Supreme Court has exercised the power conferred on it under Article 142 of the Constitution to order the release of former Prime Minister’s assassination convict.
Article 142 titled ‘Enforcement of decrees and orders of the Supreme Court and orders as to discovery, etc.’ has two clauses:
[1] Article 142(1)
The Supreme Court in the exercise of its jurisdiction may pass such decree or make such order as is necessary for doing complete justice in any cause or matter pending before it.
Any decree so passed or order so made shall be enforceable throughout the territory of India.
It may be in such manner as may be prescribed by or under any law made by Parliament and, until provision in that behalf is so made, in such manner as the President may by order prescribe.
[2] Article 142(2)
The Supreme Court shall have all and every power to make any order for the purpose of securing the attendance of any person, the discovery or production of any documents, or the investigation or punishment of any contempt of itself.
History of Article 142
When a draft Constitution was prepared by the drafting committee and placed before the Constituent Assembly, Article 142 was actually numbered as Article 118.
It was placed before the Constituent Assembly on May 27, 1949 for debate but got adopted on the same day without any debate.
This was possibly because everyone agreed that in order to ensure judicial independence, the highest court of the country must be empowered with plenary power to do complete justice.
Articles invoked in Perarivalan Case
In the case of Perarivalan, the Supreme Court invoked Article 142(1) under which it was empowered to pass any order necessary to do complete justice in any matter pending before it.
It held that it was not a fit case to be remanded to the Governor for his consideration under Article 161 of the Constitution.
Important instances when Article 142 was invoked
Bhopal Gas tragedy case: The SC awarded a compensation of $470 million to the victims and held that “prohibitions or limitations or provisions contained in ordinary laws cannot, ipso facto, act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article 142.”
Babri Masjid demolition case: The Supreme Court ordered framing of a scheme by the Centre for formation of trust to construct Ram Mandir at the Masjid demolition site in Ayodhya.
Liquor sale ban case: The Supreme Court banned liquor shops within a distance of 500 metres from National as well as State highways in order to prevent drunken driving.
Try this PYQ from CSP 2019:
Q.With reference to the Constitution of India, prohibitions or limitations or provisions contained in ordinary laws cannot act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article 142. It could mean which one of the following?
a. The decisions taken by the Election Commission of India while discharging its duties cannot be challenged in any court of law.
b. The Supreme Court of India is not constrained in the exercise of its powers by laws made by the Parliament.
c. In the event of grave financial crisis in the country, the President of India can declare Financial Emergency without the counsel from the Cabinet.
d. State Legislatures cannot make laws on certain matters without the concurrence of Union Legislature.
After nearly three months of debate within the two countries, Finland and Sweden have formally applied for membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
What is NATO?
NATO is a military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949.
It sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.
Its original members were Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
NATO has spread a web of partners, namely Egypt, Israel, Sweden, Austria, Switzerland and Finland.
Expansion of NATO: Transforming Europe
The war in Ukraine has already changed the geopolitics of Europe and the world.
The admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO would bring about a transformation in the continent’s security map by giving NATO a contiguous long frontier in western Russia.
Finland and Russia share a 1,300-km border — and doubling it from the present 1,200 km, parts of it in northern Norway, Latvia and Estonia, and Poland and Lithuania.
In addition, Sweden’s island of Gotland in the middle of the Baltic Sea would give NATO a strategic advantage.
Furthermore, when Sweden and Finland join NATO, the Baltic Sea — Russia’s gateway to the North Sea and the Atlantic Ocean — would be ringed entirely by NATO members.
Why Nordic countries are willing to join NATO?
Although the debate over joining NATO was ongoing in both countries for nearly three decades, Russia’s annexation of Crimea pushed both towards NATO’s “open door” policy.
Still, there was little political consensus in either country, especially in Sweden where the Social Democrats have long been against the idea.
However, February 24 changed everything the date on which Russia invaded Ukraine.
A knee jerk reaction?
If Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was meant to deter NATO’s eastward expansion, the war has had the opposite effect.
If admitted, Sweden and Finland will become its 31st and 32nd members.
Russian response
Back in March, Russia had evoked a threatening response to take retaliatory measures by stationing its nuclear and hypersonic weapons close to the Baltic Sea.
Russia denounced the problems with Finland and Sweden but the NATO’s expansion at the expense of these countries does not pose a direct threat to us.
But the expansion of military infrastructure into this territory will certainly provoke their response, warned Mr Putin.
Sweden had already said it would not allow NATO bases or nuclear weapons on its territory.
Hurdles for Finland, Sweden
At the moment the main obstacle to their applications in Turkey, a member since 1952 and which has NATO’s second-largest army after the US.
Turkish president Erdogan has objected to their applications on the ground that the two countries had provided safe haven to the leaders of the Kurdish group PKK.
Many Kurdish and other exiles have found refuge in Sweden over the past decades.
PKK is an armed movement fighting for a separate Kurdistan, comprising Kurdish areas in Turkey, Iraq, Iran and Syria.
Neither of these countries have a clear, open attitude towards terrorist organisation.
What could Turkey gain?
Turkey is expected to seek to negotiate a compromise deal to seek action on Kurdish groups.
Erdogan could also seek to use Sweden and Finland’s membership to wrest concessions from the United States and other allies.
Turkey wants to return to the US-led F-35 fighter jet program — a project it was kicked out of following its purchase of Russian S-400 missile defense systems.
Alternatively, Turkey is looking to purchase a new batch of F-16 fighter jets and upgrade its existing fleet.
How does this affect Turkey’s image in the West?
Turkey is reinforcing an image that is blocking the alliance’s expansion for its own profit.
It also risks damaging the credit it had earned by supplying Ukraine with the Bayraktar TB2 armed drones that became an effective weapon against Russian forces.
Is Turkey trying to appease Russia?
Turkey has built close relations with both Russia and Ukraine and has been trying to balance its ties with both.
It has refused to join sanctions against Russia — while supporting Ukraine with the drones that helped deny Russia air superiority.
On 11 May, two judges of the Delhi High Court handed down separate judgments in RIT Foundation v Union of India.
Background
Section 375 of the IPC defines “rape” as when a man has sex with a woman without her consent.
Exception to Section 375 of IPC: An exception to Section 375 provides that it is not rape for a husband to have sex with his wife, regardless of consent.
The two judgements
1] Violation of rights:
In his judgment, Justice Rajiv Shakdher concluded that the marital rape exception violated the rights to life, equality, non-discrimination, and freedom of speech and expression under the Constitution.
There is no reasonable basis to distinguish between married and unmarried women.
Marriage is a relationship of equals, and women do not forfeit their agency and sexual autonomy upon marriage.
2] Issues with Constitutional validity of exception
Justice C Hari Shankar took a different view, concluding that the marital rape exception is constitutionally valid.
First, the judge held that it is the wrong starting point to assume that a husband who has sex with his wife without her consent “commits rape”.
1] Exclusion from definition argument: The judge noted that the effect of the exception to Section 375 of the IPC is that any sex between a husband and wife, whether or not consensual, is excluded from the definition of rape.
That analysis does not bear scrutiny.
It makes little difference whether the starting point is that non-consensual sex within marriage should be characterised as rape or, for example, sexual assault.
The critical question is whether it is unconstitutional to exclude non-consensual sex from the definition of rape.
2] Preservation of marital institution argument: The judge held that the marital rape exception was “aimed at preservation of the marital institution, on which the entire bedrock of society rests”.
The difficulty with that proposition is obvious — is it the policy of the law that marriage is to be preserved at all costs?
If so, does that withstand constitutional scrutiny?
3] Impact argument: the judge rejected the challenge to the martial rape exception based on the right to equality on the spurious assumption that the impact on a woman who is raped by her husband cannot “be equated with the impact of a woman who is raped by a stranger”.
No evidence is cited in support of those claims.
They also defy logic. Being raped by someone in whom you have reposed trust is likely to have an indelible emotional impact.
4] Reluctance to file complaint: The judge concluded that, as a practical matter, a “majority of Indian women” would be reluctant to file a complaint of rape against their husbands in any event.
Even if that were true, it is no reason to disempower, by the operation of the law, women who do have the resolve to make a rape complaint against their husbands from doing so.
5] Creation of new offence: Justice Shankar held that it is not within the court’s power to create a new offence, and striking down the marital rape exception would have that effect.
There is no question of creating a new offence — the court would simply be striking down an exception carved out of an existing offence.
The only principled basis for the judge’s objection is that it may be unfair to punish someone for rape for conduct that was excluded from the definition of rape when it was undertaken.
But that is not a reason to avoid striking down the marital rape exception.
The easy solution is for the court to declare that its judgment will apply only to conduct after the date of the judgment.
Conclusion
Whether the marital rape exception violates fundamental rights under the Constitution is a question that falls within the Court’s core competency. There is only one reasonable answer to that question.
