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  • Scientific temper

    Context

    • India has not produced any Nobel Prize winner in science in the last 85 years — largely because of the lack of a scientific environment in the country.

    What is scientific temper?

    • Jawaharlal Nehru coined the term ‘scientific temper’; he defines it as an attitude of logical and rational thinking. An individual is considered to have scientific temper if she employs the scientific method when making decisions.

    Why it is important?

    • Scientific temper is very important for bringing forth a progressive society. It is free from superstitions. Irrational practices in developing the nation are in all aspects like political, economic and social.

    Its components

    • The vital parts of scientific temper are discussion, argument, and analysis. Various elements like fairness, equality, and democracy. The most important characteristic of a scientific temper is: – untiring search for truth with an open mind and spirit of inquiry.

    Constitutional mandate of scientific temper

    • In 1976, the Government of India reemphasised its commitment to cultivate scientific temper through a constitutional amendment (Article 51A).
    • Article 51A in the 42nd Amendment of the Constitution in 1976 says “It shall be the duty of every citizen of Indian to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of enquiry and reform.”

    Importance of scientific temper in nation building

    • Formation of public policy: Scientific temperament can become a part of the policy formation and plan through analyzing the performance of our nations, especially all the hardships and shortfalls that occurred in the past years.
    • Self -Reliance: There is a relationship between scientific temperament and becoming self-reliant. Our country is becoming self-reliant with the available technology and industrial infrastructure.
    • Quality education: It will help the children to assimilate the knowledge acquired through the practical observations in a scientific framework; thus, laying down a basis for the growth of a scientific perspective in the children.

    scientific temperChallenges before scientific temper

    • Political unwillingness: Most of the policymakers and the politicians to increase their vote banks include the stagnant ideologies and beliefs of the people in their public policies, and the government tends to give away in the popular public opinion rather than try to improve their thinking by including a more scientific approach to the various societal problems.
    • Prevalent orthodoxy: In India, people still have an orthodox ideology and will not adhere to the scientifically obtained solutions.
    • Low budget: Even after seventy years of independence, Indian Scientists are working on tight budgets, and they don’t have resources like other nations for conducting scientific research.
    • Pseudoscience: Pseudoscience is everywhere, whether in denying the science of climate change or the evolution theory that explains the secret of diversity that we see around us.

    Value addition / case study / Innovation

    An IIT Kanpur alumni Mr.Arvind Gupta tries to inculcate a spirit of inquiry among children through toys made from inexpensive everyday items.


    What can be done?

    • Directional efforts: Activities focused on school children can be undertaken like nature walks, visit to museums etc. ‘Science Express’, a collaborative effort of Ministry of railways and Ministry of Environment & Forests & Climate Change, is a progressive step because it provides a platform that can expose children and common people in far-flung areas of the country to scientific aspects of our everday life.
    • Policy initiatives: Children’s Science Congress organized by National Council for Science & Technology Communication (NCSTC) is a good way to encourage scientific temper in children.
    • Public initiative: Civil Society organizations like, Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (KSSP) and Delhi Science Forum, which are People’s Science Movement, can also go a long way in boosting scientific temper amongst the community.
    • From Sensationalism to Sensible Science Journalism:The media must monitor the content to discourage and limit superstition and blind belief.
    • Scientific journalism: Science communicators do the critical job of bridging the gap between science, society, and policymakers. Science journalism should be promoted at the university level. Science agencies should fund science communication activities in their domains.
    • From Exclusive to Inclusive Science: Inequitable participation concerning gender and social diversity must be eliminated. The ‘open source science’ or ‘open science’ movement includes, at the core, open access, open data, open-source, and available standards that offer unfettered dissemination of scientific discourse.
    • Open science: Government has a significant role in facilitating open science and promoting and preserving a free-thinking, open-minded society.

    Conclusion

    • Let’s hope that someday all cultures free themselves from the shackles of blind faith  with science likely to play a major hand in this endeavour. Unto a similar goal, we should celebrate India’s constitutional provision for the scientific temper and vigorously safeguard it.

    Mains question

    Q. The shrinking space for scientific temper in India today is worrisome for some reasons. Do you think so? Identify these reasons and suggest way forward for scientific future of India.

    Discuss the importance of scientific temper, what kind of public culture is needed to advance it? 10 Marks

    Q.4 Explain why superstitious beliefs and practices abound in India. In this context, discuss the importance of inculcating scientific temper to remove superstitions. (10 Marks)

     

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  • Forest rights act

    forest right actContext

    • There is a surge in demand by forest communities to not only access the resources of their habitat, but also to establish their ownership over forests as forest rights act in not meeting its objective.

    What is the news?

    • Residents of 18 villages in Chhattisgarh’s Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve blocked the busy National Highway 130C.

    What tribal people say?

    • “We need forest resources for survival. Being a tiger reserve, we already lead a life with many restrictions. There is no power supply, access to grazing lands is non-existent and we cannot undertake construction works,” says Arjun Nayak of Nagesh, one of the 18 villages in Gariaband district.

    forest right actWhat is forest rights act 2006?

    • The Forest Rights Act (FRA), 2006 recognizes the rights of the forest dwelling tribal communities and other traditional forest dwellers to forest resources, on which these communities were dependent for a variety of needs, including livelihood, habitation and other socio-cultural needs.
    • It aimed to protect the marginalised socio-economic class of citizens and balance the right to environment with their right to life and livelihood.

    forest right actWhat are individual rights under FRA act?

    • The Act encompasses Rights of Self-cultivation and Habitationwhich are usually regarded as Individual rights.

    What are community forest rights under FRA act?

    • Community Rights as Grazing, Fishing and access to Water bodies in forests, Habitat Rights for PVTGs, Traditional Seasonal Resource access of Nomadic and Pastoral community, access to biodiversity, community right to intellectual property and traditional knowledge, recognition of traditional customary rights and right to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any community forest resource for sustainable use.

    Case study / Value addition

    Chargaon village, Dhamtari district, Chhattisgarh

    Migration has drastically reduced due to economic benefits after getting CFRR. Success in improving quality of tendu leaves with better management practices, increasing income.

    forest right actIssues with Forest rights act

    • Non responsive states: The forest rights claims of these tribes and forest-dwellers are mostly rejected by the States.
    • Improper claims: Being poor and illiterate, living in remote areas, they do not know the appropriate procedure for filing claims.
    • Low awareness: The gram sabhas, which initiate the verification of their claims, are low on awareness of how to deal with them.

    forest right actWhy are forest rights important for tribals?

    • Justice: Aimed at undoing the “historic injustice” meted out to forest-dependent communities due to curtailment of their customary rights over forests, the FRA came into force in 2008.
    • Livelihood: It is important as it recognises the community’s right to use, manage and conserve forest resources, and to legally hold forest land that these communities have used for cultivation and residence.
    • Conservation: It also underlines the integral role that forest dwellers play in the sustainability of forests and in the conservation of biodiversity.

    Conclusion

    Despite the contentious and debatable nature of this law, the importance and necessity of the FRA, 2006 can not be negated completely. The law assumes even more significant importance when the country is a developing economy and is full-fledged following the path of capitalism, thus making it even more substantial to provide a redressal mechanism for vulnerable and marginalised communities and groups, such as the Adivasis and the other similar tribes, from the necessary evil of development and infrastructural growth while also safeguarding their traditions, heritage and identity that forms an important part of the nation’s cultural diversity as well.

    Mains question

    Q. There is a surge in demand by forest communities to not only access the resources of their habitat, but also to establish their ownership over forests. In this context analyse the issues with working of FRA 2006.

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  • [Burning Issue] Bilkis Bano Case

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    Context

    • Recently, the Gujarat government released 11 convicts who were sentenced to life imprisonment for the heinous murder and gang rape of women during the Gujarat communal riots of 2002.
    • The action by the government has received heavy criticism from all sections of society with more than 130 former civil servants writing an open letter to the Chief Justice of India (CJI) against the action and asking for its revocation.
    • The case has again highlighted the issues regarding crimes against women in India and prisoner’s conviction remission policies of states.

    About the Bilkis Bano Case

    • Bilkis Bano is a gangrape survivor of the 2002 riots in Gujarat. Rioters brutally attacked Bilkis and her family, raped the women and killed many of them.
    • Her case was taken up by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and Supreme Court. Later, the Supreme Court transferred the investigation to the CBI and the case to Mumbai to facilitate a free and fair trial.
    • Eleven men were convicted by the trial court and sentenced to life. The Bombay High Court confirmed their life terms in 2017.
    • In 2019, the Supreme Court awarded compensation of Rs 50 lakh to Bilkis — the first such order in a case related to the 2002 riots.

    Issues highlighted by the case

    (A)Crimes against women

    • Crime against women increased 7.3 per cent from 2018 to 2019 says the annual National Crime Record Bureau’s “Crime in India” 2019 report.
    • Majority of cases under crime against women under IPC were registered under ‘cruelty by husband or his relatives (30.9%), followed by an assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty (21.8%), kidnapping & abduction of women (17.9%) and ‘rape’ (7.9%).
    • UP reported the highest number of crimes against women (59,853), accounting for 14.7 percent of such cases across the country.
    • It was followed by Rajasthan (41,550 cases; 10.2 per cent) and Maharashtra (37,144 cases; 9.2 per cent).
    • The problem of underestimation of gender-based crime is compounded by the failure of the justice system of the country in securing convictions.

    Various types of crimes against women in India

    [I] Domestic violence

    • Domestic violence is abuse by one partner against another in an intimate relationship such as dating, marriage, cohabitation or a familial relationship.
    • It is also categorized as domestic abuse, spousal abuse, battering, family violence, dating abuse and intimate partner violence (IPV).

    [II] Killings

    (a) Female infanticide and sex-selective abortion

    • Female infanticide is the elected killing of a newborn female child or the termination of a female fetus through sex-selective abortion.
    • In India, there is an incentive to have a son, because they offer security to the family in old age and can conduct rituals for deceased parents and ancestors.
    • In contrast, daughters are considered to be a social and economic burden

    (b) Dowry deaths

    • Dowry death is the murder or suicide of a married woman caused by a dispute over her dowry.
    • In some cases, husbands and in-laws will attempt to extort a greater dowry through continuous harassment and torture which sometimes results in the wife committing suicide.

    (c) Honor killings

    • An honor killing is a murder of a family member who has been considered to have brought dishonor and shame upon the family.
    • Examples of reasons for honor killings include the refusal to enter an arranged marriage, committing adultery, choosing a partner that the family disapproves of, and becoming a victim of rape.
    • Village caste councils or khap panchayats in certain regions of India regularly pass death sentences for persons who do not follow their diktats on caste or gotra.

    (d) Witchcraft accusations and related murders

    • Witchcraft is the practice of what the practitioner believes to be magical skills and abilities, and activities such as spells, incantations, and magical rituals.
    • Murders of women accused of witchcraft still occur in India.  Poor women, widows, and women from lower castes are most at risk of such killings.

    [III] Sexual Abuse/ Molestation/ Rape

    • Rape is one of the most common crimes in India.
    • According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is raped every 20 minutes in India.
    • In India, marital rape is not a criminal offense.  
    • India is one of fifty countries that have not yet outlawed marital rape.

    (b) Forced Marriage

    • Girls are vulnerable to being forced into marriage at young ages, suffering from a double vulnerability: both for being a child and for being female.
    • Child brides often do not understand the meaning and responsibilities of marriage.

    [V] Harassment

    (a) Trafficking and forced prostitution

    • Human trafficking, especially of girls and women, often leads to forced prostitution and sexual slavery.

    (b) Online abuse

    • As the internet becomes an increasingly important part of human existence to make their voices heard, a woman’s inability to feel safe online impedes her freedom.
    • Women are regularly subject to online rape threats, online harassment, cyber-stalking, blackmail, trolling, slut-shaming and more.

    (c) Harassment at the workplace

    • The #MeToo movement is aimed at demonstrating how many women have survived sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.
    • Scores of women, many journalists, came out with accounts of sexual harassment at the workplace, mostly comprising of indecent remarks, unwanted touches, demands for sex, and the dissemination of pornography.

    (B) Issues with Remission Procedure

    What is Remission?

    • Life imprisonment normally means convicts remain in jail for the whole of their life. However, they can be released by the State and Central governments at some point, but not before they complete 14 years, by remitting the remaining prison term. This act by governments is called remission.
    • Article 72  and Article 161 of the Constitution deals with the judicial power of the President and Governor to grant pardon. It also includes the remission of sentences by the two dignitaries.
    • Judicial decisions advocate both subjective and objective norms for remission. Courts have ruled that remission should be informed, fair and reasonable, and not arbitrary; that it should not undermine the nature of the crime.
    •  In Laxman Naskar vs Union of India (2000), the Supreme Court laid down five considerations: whether the offense is an individual act of crime that does not affect society; whether there is a chance of the crime being repeated in the future; whether the convict has lost the potentiality to commit a crime; whether any purpose is being served in keeping the convict in prison; and socio-economic conditions of the convict’s family.
    • However, recently the Supreme Court took notice of the remission issue and referred to a seven-judge bench the issue of whether states can grant the benefit of remission to convicts under the Constitution by laying down a common policy. The bench will take into consideration whether states can use remission powers without consulting the Governor.
    • The bench will also visit Section 433-A of CrPC, according to which, a person, serving a life term, cannot be granted remission benefit without completing 14 years in prison.

    Remission in this case

    • The outcry over the remission granted in this case is largely due to the brutal and horrific nature of the crime. However, lawyers and activists have highlighted possible legal infirmities.
    • For one, the remission has been granted by the Gujarat government without consulting the Centre. Under Section 435 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), in a case investigated by the CBI, such consultation is mandatory before remission. The Supreme Court has also ruled that ‘consultation’ means ‘concurrence’ in this regard.
    • The opinion of the judge who conducted the trial or in charge of the district should be taken too. But in this case, it was not taken.
    • Section 432(7) of the CrPC says the appropriate government will be “the State within which the offender is sentenced or the said order is passed”. Thus, in this case, it should be Maharashtra Government.
    • Commentators have also pointed out that the current remission policy of the Gujarat Government bars those found guilty of heinous crimes from being given remission. Their release under a 1992 policy (because it was the one prevailing during their conviction) may also be subjected to legal scrutiny.
    • The remission policy of states was also brought under the scanner when the Tamil Nadu government passed an order for the remission of the sentence of A.G Perarivalan, a convict in former PM Rajiv Gandhi’s murder case.

    Some Government initiatives for Women’s safety

    • Nirbhaya Fund for projects for the safety and security of women
    • One-Stop Centre Scheme to provide integrated support and assistance to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces under one roof
    • Online analytic tool for police called “Investigation Tracking System for Sexual Offences” to monitor and track time-bound investigations in sexual assault cases in accordance with Criminal Law (Amendment) Act 2018.
    • National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO) to facilitate the investigation and tracking of sexual offenders across the country by law enforcement agencies
    • In order to coordinate various initiatives for women safety, MHA has set up a Women Safety Division.

    Way forward

    • Gender-based violence, an especially violent crime like rape, is a multifaceted problem.
    • To address this, it is essential to tackle various other concurrent issues that act as contributing factors and thus play an equally important role.
    • Although the incorporation of stringent laws and stricter punishments are important to deter people from committing such crimes, the solution to this is much more than just promulgation.
    • It is important to acknowledge that judicial reform is only one aspect; there is a more humane side to this whole issue.
    • For the remission of sentence issue, the state governments must consider the parameters given by Supreme court diligently before granting any remission.

    Conclusion

    Thus, the Bilkis Bano Case has multiple dimensions, especially social and legal aspects. The need is to carefully examine all aspects, strengthen our vow to secure women’s rights in the nation and at the same time make necessary changes to remission policies to not let any undeserved person set free.

    Also read

    [Burning Issue] Women’s Safety and India

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  • Concerns around Aadhaar-Voter ID linkage

    Reports have surfaced online of instances where block level officers have asked individuals to link their Aadhaar with their Voter IDs, failing which their Voter IDs could be cancelled.

    What is the news?

    • This furore comes in the aftermath of the Election Commission’s (EC) campaign to promote the linkage of Voter ID and Aadhaar that began on August 1.
    • In the first ten days since its launch, the campaign saw almost 2.5 crore Aadhaar holders voluntarily submitting their details to the EC.

    Aadhaar-Voter ID linkage: Why does the government want this?

    • The EC conducts regular exercises to maintain an updated and accurate record of the voter base.
    • A part of this exercise is to weed out duplication of voters.
    • There have been migrant workers who may have been registered more than once on the electoral rolls in different constituencies or for persons registered multiple times within the same constituency.
    • As per the government, linkage of Aadhaar with voter IDs will assist in ensuring that only one Voter ID is issued per citizen of India.

    Is the linking of Aadhaar with one’s Voter ID mandatory?

    • In December 2021, Parliament passed the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021 .
    • This was to amend the Representation of the People Act, 1950 and Section 23(4) was inserted in the RP Act.
    • It states that the electoral registration officer may require voters to furnish their Aadhaar numbers to verify Authencity of voters list.

    Why is it making headlines now?

    • There has been the use of discretionary language throughout the amendments.
    • This has been accompanied by assurances that linkage is optional by both the government and the EC.
    • Alternative is provided to only who does not have an Aadhaar number.
    • To that extent, the limited element of choice that has been incorporated in the amendments seem to be negated or at the very least thrown into confusion.

    Why there is such proposal for linking?

    The preference to use Aadhaar for verification and authentication, both by the state and private sector, stems from few reasons:

    • Increase in UID-holders: First, at the end of 2021, 99.7% of the adult Indian population had an Aadhaar card.
    • Most versatile document: This coverage exceeds that of any other officially valid document such as driver’s licence, ration cards, PAN cards etc. that are mostly applied for specific purposes.
    • Reliable source of authentication: Since Aadhaar allows for biometric authentication, Aadhaar based authentication and verification is considered more reliable, quicker and cost efficient when compared to other IDs.

    Issues with mandatory linking: Puttaswamy judgment highlights

    • Puttaswamy judgment: The above reasons do not suffice the mandating of Aadhaar except in limited circumstances as per the Puttaswamy judgment.
    • Indispensability of the purpose: It needs to be considered whether such mandatory linkage of Aadhaar with Voter ID would pass the test of being “necessary and proportionate” to the purpose of de-duplication which is sought to be achieved.
    • Constitutional ambiguity: In Puttaswamy, one of the questions that the Supreme Court explored was whether the mandatory linking of Aadhaar with bank accounts was constitutional or not.
    • Against informational autonomy: It is the right to privacy which would allow a person to decide which official document they want to use for verification and authentication.

    Other judicial observations: Lal Babu Hussein (1995) Case

    • The Supreme Court had held that the Right to vote cannot be disallowed by insisting only on four proofs of identity.
    • The voters are entitled to rely on any other proof of identity and obtain the right to vote.

    What are the operational difficulties?

    • Aadhaar is not a citizenship proof: The preference to Aadhaar for the purposes of determining voters is puzzling as Aadhaar is only a proof of residence and not a proof of citizenship.
    • Excluding non-citizens is not easy: Verifying voter identity against this will only help in tackling duplication but will not remove voters who are not citizens of India from the electoral rolls.
    • Estimate of error rates in biometric based authentication: This certainly differs. As per the UIDAI in 2018, Aadhaar based biometric authentication had a 12% error rate.
    • Disenfranchisement of existing voters: Errors have led to the disenfranchisement of around 30 lakh voters in AP and Telangana before the Supreme Court stalled the process of linkage.

    Key concern: Right to Privacy

    • Some civil societies has highlighted that linking of the two databases of electoral rolls and Aadhaar could lead to the linkage of Aadhaar’s “demographic” information with voter ID information.
    • This could lead to violation of the right to privacy and surveillance measures by the state.
    • This would leave the EC with the option of verifying its information only through door-to-door checks.
    • There is a lack of enforceable data protection principles that regulate how authentication data will be used.

    What lies ahead?

    • Even as the amendments have been made and the EC has launched a campaign for linkage, a writ petition has filed with the Supreme Court challenging the same.
    • It challenges the amendments as being violative of the right to privacy.
    • The Supreme Court has transferred the writ to the Delhi High Court.
    • In the meantime, it is important that the government clarifies through a correction in Form 6B that the linking is not mandatory.
    • The govt should expedite the enactment of a data protection legislation that allays concerns of unauthorized processing of personal data held by the government.

     

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  • Russia blocks agreement on Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)

    Russia has blocked the agreement on the final document of a four-week review of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

    Why in news?

    • The NPT review conference is supposed to be held every five years but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
    • This marked the second failure of its 191 state parties to produce an outcome document.
    • The last review conference in 2015 ended without an agreement because of serious differences over establishing a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction.

    About Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT)

    • Between 1965 and 1968, the treaty was negotiated by the Eighteen Nation Committee on Disarmament, a United Nations-sponsored organization based in Geneva, Switzerland.
    • Opened for signature in 1968, the treaty entered into force in 1970.
    • The NPT is an international treaty whose objective is
    1. To prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology
    2. To promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and
    3. To further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament
    • The treaty defines nuclear-weapon states as those that have built and tested a nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967; these are the United States (1945), Russia (1949), the United Kingdom (1952), France (1960), and China (1964).

    Non-members of the treaty

    • Four UN member states have never accepted the NPT, three of which possess or are thought to possess nuclear weapons: India, Israel, and Pakistan.
    • In addition, South Sudan, founded in 2011, has not joined.

    Issues in Nuclear Disarmament

    • Notion of Nuclear ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-Nots’: The proponents of disarmaments are themselves nuclear armed countries thus creating a nuclear monopoly.
    • Concept of Peaceful Nuclear Explosion (PNE): conducted for non-military purposes such as mining.

    Why didn’t India join NPT?

    • India is one of the only five countries that either did not sign the NPT or signed but withdrew, thus becoming part of a list that includes Pakistan, Israel, North Korea, and South Sudan.
    • India always considered the NPT as discriminatory and had refused to sign it.
    • India maintains that they are selectively applicable to the non-nuclear powers and legitimised the monopoly of the five nuclear weapons powers.

    India’s commitment for de-nuclearization

    India has always batted for a universal commitment and an agreed global and non-discriminatory multilateral framework.

    • It has outlined a working paper on Nuclear Disarmament submitted to the UN General Assembly in 2006.
    • India participated in the Nuclear Security Summit process and has regularly participated in the International Conferences on Nuclear Security organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
    • India is also a member of the Nuclear Security Contact Group (but has signed off the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)).
    • India has expressed its readiness to support the commencement of negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT).
    • India couldn’t join the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) due to several concerns raised by India.
    • India has piloted an annual UNGA Resolution on “Measures to Prevent Terrorists from Acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction” since 2002, which is adopted by consensus.

    Way forward

    • India has actively supported and contributed to the strengthening of the global nuclear security architecture.
    • There is a need for the international community to pay closer attention to the illicit proliferation of networks of nuclear weapons, their delivery systems, components and relevant technologies.
    • India hopes that the international community will continue to work towards realising our collective aspiration for a nuclear weapon-free world.

     

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  • Lifetime perks for former CJIs, SC Judges

    The Centre amended the Supreme Court Judges Rules the second time in a week to provide chauffeurs (car driver) and domestic help for retired Chief Justices of India and Supreme Court judges for their entire lifetime.

    Perks for Retired CJs

    • Retired CJIs would also get secretarial assistants.
    • The staff would be paid the salary and allowances of regular employees of the Supreme Court.
    • The first series of amendments in the Rules on August 23 had allowed retired Chief Justices of India and Supreme Court judges chauffeurs, secretarial assistants and security cover only for a year.
    • There was no mention of “domestic help”, who would be an employee in the level of junior court assistant.

    What else?

    • The judiciary had recently raised concerns about attacks on judges.
    • Hence the benefit of 24-hour security cover has been extended to five years for retired Chief Justices and three years for retired judges of the Supreme Court.
    • Besides, former CJIs and retired judges of the top court can get their monthly mobile phone and Internet bills reimbursed to the extent of ₹4,200.
    • A retired CJI is also entitled to a rent-free Type VII accommodation, other than the designated official residence, in New Delhi for six months immediately after retirement.

    Why such move?

    • The government is one of the biggest litigants in the Supreme Court.
    • There has been public debate on whether post-retirement benefits dangled by the government could influence the judicial work of serving judges.

     

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  • What is a Full Court Meeting?

    Within hours of taking over, the new Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit called a meeting of the ‘full court’ where the judges discussed how to deal with issues relating to listing and backlog of cases.

    What is a Full Court Meeting?

    • A full court meeting literally means one which is attended by all the judges of the court.

    When is it held?

    • There are no written rules dealing with this.
    • As per convention, full-court meetings are called by the Chief Justice of India to discuss issues of importance to the judiciary.
    • The senior designations of practising advocates in the Supreme Court and high courts are also decided during the full court meetings.

    What is the significance of a full court meeting?

    • The basic idea is to take everyone along.
    • Full court meetings are an ideal occasion to arrive at common solutions to deal with problems that beset the country’s legal system and to make any amends, if necessary, in the administrative practices of the court.

    How frequently is it held?

    • As a full court meeting is convened at the discretion of the Chief Justice of India, it does not follow any particular calendar.
    • Full court meetings have been held many times in the past.
    • In March 2020, it was convened to discuss demands by associations of lawyers to close the court till further notice following the Covid-10 outbreak.
    • Also, a full court meeting held on May 7, 1997 decided that “every Judge should make a declaration of all his/her assets in the form of real estate or investment” held in own name or in the name of spouse or any person dependent.

    Do you know?

    Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India on Saturday, will be the sixth head of the Indian judiciary to have a tenure of less than 100 days.

    Lalit will demit office on November 8 with a tenure of 74 days.

    Justice Kamal Narain Singh, who was the CJI between November 25, 1991 and December 12, 1991, had a tenure of 18 days.

    Justice S Rajendra Babu had a tenure of 30 days as the chief justice of India between May 2, 2004 and May 31, 2004.

    Justice J C Shah had a tenure of 36 days when he was the CJI between December 17, 1970 and January 21, 1971.

    Justice G B Patnaik had a 41-day tenure as the head of the Indian judiciary when he held the office of the CJI from November 8, 2002 to December 18, 2002.

    Justice L M Sharma had a tenure of 86 days as the CJI when he was in office between November 18, 1992 and February 11, 1993.

    Tap to read more about appointment of CJIs.

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  • What is Positive Indigenisation List (PIL)?

    In line with the effort to promote self-reliance in defence manufacturing, the Defence Minister has approved the third Positive Indigenisation List (PIL) of 780 strategically important line replacement units (LRU).

    What is a Positive Indigenisation List (PIL)?

    • The positive indigenisation list essentially means that the Armed Forces—Army, Navy, and Air Force—will only procure the listed items from domestic manufacturers.
    • The manufacturers could be private sector players or Defense Public Sector Undertakings (DPSUs).
    • This concept was rolled out in the Defence Acquisition Procedure (DAP) 2020.

    Why in news?

    • This third list is different from the three PILs announced for the armed forces.
    • This list is in continuation to the two PILs of LRUs, sub-systems, assemblies, sub-assemblies and components that were published in December 2021 and March 2022.
    • These lists contain 2,500 items which are already indigenised and 458 (351+107) items which will be indigenised within the given timelines.
    • Out of the 458 items, 167 items (163 from the first PIL, and four from the second PIL) have been indigenised, so far, it stated.

    Other steps taken by the Centre to boost defence production

    • Licensing relaxation: Measures announced to boost exports since 2014 include simplified defence industrial licensing, relaxation of export controls and grant of no-objection certificates.
    • Lines of Credit: Specific incentives were introduced under the foreign trade policy and the Ministry of External Affairs has facilitated Lines of Credit for countries to import defence product.
    • Policy boost: The Defence Ministry has also issued a draft Defence Production & Export Promotion Policy 2020.
    • Budgetary allocation: In addition, a percentage of the capital outlay of the defence budget has been reserved for procurement from domestic industry.
    • Defence Industrial Corridors: The government has also announced 2 dedicated Corridors in the States of TN and UP to act as clusters of defence manufacturing that leverage existing infrastructure, and human capital.
    • Long-term vision: The vision of the government is to achieve a turnover of $25 bn including export of $5 bn in Aerospace and Defence goods and services by 2025.
    • Push for self-reliance: The govt has identified the Defence and Aerospace sector as a focus area for the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ or Self-Reliant India initiative.

    Issues retarding defence indigenization

    • Excess reliance on Public Sector: India has four companies (Indian ordnance factories, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL)) among the top 100 biggest arms producers of the world.
    • Policy delays: In the past few years, the government has approved over 200 defence acquisition worth Rs 4 trillion, but most are still in relatively early stages of processing.
    • Lack of Critical Technologies: Poor design capability in critical technologies, inadequate investment in R&D and the inability to manufacture major subsystems and components hamper the indigenous manufacturing.
    • Long gestation: The creation of a manufacturing base is capital and technology-intensive and has a long gestation period. By that time newer technologies make products outdated.
    • ‘Unease’ in doing business: An issue related to stringent labour laws, compliance burden and lack of skills, affects the development of indigenous manufacturing in defence.
    • Multiple jurisdictions: Overlapping jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Industrial Promotion impair India’s capability of defence manufacturing.
    • Lack of quality: The higher indigenization in few cases is largely attributed to the low-end technology.
    • FDI Policy: The earlier FDI limit of 49% was not enough to enthuse global manufacturing houses to set up bases in India.
    • R&D Lacunae: A lip service to technology funding by making token allocations is an adequate commentary on our lack of seriousness in the area of Research and Development.
    • Lack of skills: There is a lack of engineering and research capability in our institutions. It again leads us back to the need for a stronger industry-academia interface.

    Way forward

    • Reducing import dependence: India was the world’s second-largest arms importer from 2014-18, ceding the long-held tag as the largest importer to Saudi Arabia, says 2019 SIPRI report.
    • Security Imperative: Indigenization in defence is critical to national security also. It keeps intact the technological expertise and encourages spin-off technologies and innovation that often stem from it.
    • Economic boost: Indigenization in defence can help create a large industry which also includes small manufacturers.
    • Employment generation: Defence manufacturing will lead to the generation of satellite industries that in turn will pave the way for a generation of employment opportunities.

     

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  • Places in news: Taiwan Strait

    India has for the first time referred to what it called “the militarization of the Taiwan Strait”, marking a rare instance of New Delhi appearing to comment on China’s actions towards Taiwan.

    What is the news?

    • Two American warships have recently sailed very close to China through Taiwan Strait.
    • This has intimidated the China which is already fuming due to the visit of Nancy Pelosi.

    Taiwan Strait

    • The Taiwan Strait is a 180-kilometer wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental China (and Asia of course).
    • The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north.
    • The narrowest part is 130 km wide.

    Issues over Taiwan Strait

    • The Taiwan Strait is itself a subject of an international dispute over its political status.
    • China claims to enjoy sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the Taiwan Strait” and regards the waterway as “internal territorial waters” instead of being international waters.
    • This means that the Chinese government denies any foreign vessel having the freedom of navigation in the strait.
    • This position has drawn strong objections from the western World.

    India’s change of stance

    • India has followed a “One China policy” since its recognition of the PRC in 1949, and only maintains trade and cultural relations with Taiwan.
    • India routinely reiterated this policy until 2008 after which it stopped mentioning it in official statements.
    • This is a demand that China usually asks of most countries in official declarations.

    Why is India shifting its stance?

    • China often make provocative statements claiming Arunachal Pradesh.
    • It often moves to issue “stapled visas” to Indian citizens in Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal.

     

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  • 29th August 2022| Daily Answer Writing Enhancement(AWE)

    Topics for Today’s questions:

    GS-1        Social empowerment, communalism, regionalism & secularism.

    GS-2        Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate. 

    GS-3        Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

    GS-4        Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India and the world.

    Question 1)

     

    Q.1 Recognising unpaid work of women is a necessary but challenging task. Discuss. (10 Marks)

     

    Question 2)

    Q.2 State the functions of the United Nations Human Rights Council. Also, discuss the issues faced by the Council in the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe. (10 Marks)

    Question 3)

    Q.3 As the world copes with the repercussions of carbon emissions, there is growing pressure to achieve climate-compatible growth. In this context what do you understand by the term green finance? Discuss how it will help to achieve climate-compatible growth along with limitations of green finance. (10 Marks)

    Question 4)  

    Q.4 The teachings of Arya Samaj present key ethical lessons for present day India. Discuss. (10 Marks)

     

    HOW TO ATTEMPT ANSWERS IN DAILY ANSWER WRITING ENHANCEMENT(AWE)?

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    4.  Upload the scanned answer in the comment section of the same question.

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    6. If you upload the answer on the same day like the answer of 11th  February is uploaded on 11th February then your answer will be checked within 72 hours. Also, reviews will be in the order of submission- First come first serve basis

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