The Prime Minister has extended his venerations to Thiruvalluvar on the Thiruvalluvar Day.
Read everything about Sangam Literature from your basic sources.
Who was Thiruvalluvar?
Thiruvalluvar is fondly referred to as Valluvar by Tamils was born during 4th -5th century CE.
His ‘Thirukkural’, a collection of 1,330 couplets (‘kurals’ in Tamil), are an essential part of every Tamil household.
It holds importance in the same way the Bhagavad Gita or the Ramayana are in traditional North Indian Hindu households.
Thiruvalluvar is revered as an ancient saint, poet, and a philosopher by Tamils, irrespective of their religion.
He is an essential anchor for Tamils in tracing their cultural roots; Tamils are taught to learn his couplets word-for-word and to follow his teachings in their day-to-day living.
The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) has launched Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) 3.0.
Note the differences between all three versions of PMKVY.
PMKVY 3.0
PMKVY 3.0 envisages training of eight lakh candidates over the scheme period of 2020-2021.
This phase three will focus on new-age and COVID-related skills.
The 729 PM Kaushal Kendras (PMKKs), empanelled non-PMKK training centres and more than 200 industrial training institutes under Skill India will be rolling out under it.
On the basis of the learning gained from PMKVY 1.0 and PMKVY 2.0, the MSDE has improved the newer version of the scheme to match the current policy doctrine and energize the skilling ecosystem.
Implementation
PMKVY 3.0 will be implemented in a more decentralized structure with greater responsibilities and support from States/UTs and Districts.
District Skill Committees (DSCs), under the guidance of State Skill Development Missions (SSDM), shall play a key role in addressing the skill gap and assessing demand at the district level.
The new scheme will be more trainee- and learner-centric addressing the ambitions of aspirational Bharat.
PMKVY 2.0 broadened the skill development with the inclusion of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) and focus on training.
With the advent of PMKVY 3.0, the focus is on bridging the demand-supply gap by promoting skill development in areas of new-age and Industry 4.0 job roles.
Back2Basics: PMKVY 1.0
PMKVY is a skill development initiative scheme of the Government of India for recognition and standardization of skills launched on16 July 2015;.
The aim of the scheme is to encourage aptitude towards employable skills and to increase the working efficiency of probable and existing daily wage earners, by giving monetary awards and rewards and by providing quality training to them.
For this qualification plans and quality, plans have been developed by various Sector Skill Councils (SSC) created with the participation of Industries.
National Skill Development Council (NSDC) has been made coordinating and driving agency for the same.
This December, we commemorated the 30th anniversary of the HDI.
Out of 189 countries, India has ranked 131 on the Human Development Index 2020 prepared by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). With an HDI value of 0.645, the country fell in the medium human development category.
People are the real wealth of a nation. The basic objective of development should be to create an enabling environment for people to live long, healthy and creative lives. This may appear to be a simple truth.
Background
The human quest for knowledge has been sustained by an unspoken assumption: that the answers to life’s questions can be found if we try hard enough.
And when we do, we will be able to reorganize society in rational ways, free from superstition, dogma, and oppression.
Yet, the ideas that liberate one generation become the shackles of the next. It is the relentless march of ideas that add to the beauty, sense and the meaning of life.
One such simple, but the transformational idea was the Human Development Index (HDI) as a measure of progress.
The Human Development Index
The HDI combines indicators of life expectancy, education or access to knowledge and income or standard of living, and captures the level and changes to the quality of life.
The index initially launched as an alternative measure to the gross domestic product, is the making of two acclaimed economists from Pakistan and India, namely Mahbub ul Haq and Amartya Sen.
It stresses the centrality of human development in the growth process and was first rolled out by the United Nations Development Programme in 1990.
Dimensions of the Human Development Index
The idea that progress should be conceived as a process of enlarging people’s choices and enhancing their capabilities is the central premise of the HDI.
Since its launch, the HDI has been an important marker of attempts to broaden measures of progress. The HDI considers three main dimensions to evaluate the development of a country:
1. Long and healthy life
The long and healthy life dimension is measured by life expectancy at birth. The life expectancy at birth is a statistical measure that an average individual is expected to live based on certain demographic factors such as the year of birth and current age.
2. Education
This is a second dimension in the HDI. The indicators of education are the expected years of schooling and the mean years of schooling. According to the UN, the average maximum years of schooling is 18 years, while the mean maximum years of schooling is 15 years.
3. Standard of living
The standard of living is usually measured by the gross national income (GNI) per capita. The GNI indicates the total domestic and foreign output created by the residents of a certain country.
Major highlights of the 2020 Report
Out of 189 countries, Norway, Ireland and Switzerland are in the top three rungs.
The size of economic resources, as usual, has been a key factor affecting human development; the distribution and allocation of these resources also play a major role in determining the level of human development.
The 2019 HDI ranks India with a per capita income of $6,681 in the 131st position, a notch lower than its 130th rank in 2018, which puts it in the medium human development category.
What India has achieved over the years?
The report stated that since 1990, the HDI value of India has increased to 0.645 from 0.429, registering an increase of over 50%.
During the same period, the life expectancy at birth in India rose by nearly 12 years, while mean years of schooling witnessed an increase of 3.5 years.
During this while, the expected years of schooling also rose by 4.5 years.
Moreover, during this period, GNI per capita of India also increased, registering a rise of nearly 274%.
India has gained but still lags far behind
However, trends for the last three decades indicate that India has raised its HDI score at an annual average rate of 1.42%, almost a third higher than the 1% growth clocked by developing countries as a whole.
But India’s gains still lag behind many other Asian nations like China (1.47%), Bangladesh (1.64%), Cambodia (1.66%) and Myanmar (1.86%).
And a closer look at the other composite indices from the family of development indices shows that India falters badly in many areas, especially on the gender and income distribution fronts.
All of which isn’t surprising given that it was in 1991 that India initiated economic liberalisation. The HDI improvement over this period essentially captures the benefits that accrued to Indian society from that historic decision.
Decline in Infant Mortality Rate & Maternal Mortality Rate.
Increased Immunization.
Better housing, sanitation and education.
Smaller families, growing income.
Improved public healthcare infrastructure, particularly, preventive healthcare.
Very often has been insisted on the inadequacy of income as the sole indicator of welfare and augmented, that measuring income is losing its utility, becoming more puzzling and contributes only insignificantly to human development.
Limitations of HDI
HDR has been always disputable and has caught the public-eye, whenever it was published. It has many reasons.
One of them is that the concept of human development is much deeper and richer than what can be caught in any index or set of indicators. Another argument is that its concept has not changed since 1990 when it was also defined in the first.
(1) An incomplete indicator
Human development is incomplete without human freedom and that while the need for qualities judgement is clear; there is no simple quantitative measure available yet to capture the many aspects of human freedom.
HDI also does not specifically reflect quality of life factors, such as empowerment movements or overall feelings of security or happiness.
(2) Limited idea of development
The HDI is not reflecting the human development idea accurately.
It is an index restricted to the socio-economic sphere of life; the political and civil spheres are in the most part kept separate.
Hence there is a sub-estimation of inequality among countries, which means that this dimension is not being taken into consideration appropriately.
(3) A vague concept
Concerning data quality and the exact construction of the index HDI is conceptually weak and empirically unsound.
This strong critic comes from the idea that both components of HDI are problematic. The GNP in developing countries suffers from incomplete coverage, measurement errors and biases.
The definition and measurement of literacy are different among countries and also, this data has not been available since 1970 in a significant number of countries.
(4) Data quality issues
The HDI, as a combination of only four relatively simple indicators, doesn’t only raise a questions what other indicators should be included, but also how to ensure quality and comparable input data.
It is logical that the UNDP try to collect their data from international organizations concentrating in collecting data in specific fields.
Quality and trustworthiness of those data is disputable, especially when we get the information from UN non-democratic members, as for example Cuba or China.
(5) A tool for mere comparison
The concept of HDI was set up mainly for relative comparison of countries in one particular time.
HDI is much better when distinguishing between countries with low and middle human development, instead of countries at the top of the ranking.
Therefore, the original notion was not to set up an absolute ranking, but let’s quite free hands in comparison of the results.
(6) Development has to be greener
The human development approach has not adequately incorporated environmental conditions which may threaten long-term achievements on human development. The most pervasive failure was on environmental sustainability.
However, for the first time in 2020, the UNDP introduced a new metric to reflect the impact caused by each country’s per-capita carbon emissions and its material footprint.
This is Planetary Pressures-adjusted HDI or PHDI. It measured the amount of fossil fuels, metals and other resources used to make the goods and services it consumes.
(7) Wealth can never equate welfare
Higher national wealth does not indicate welfare. GNI may not necessarily increase economic welfare; it depends on how it is spent.
For example, if a country spends more on military spending – this is reflected in higher GNI, but welfare could actually be lower.
Significance of HDI
Social measures of development ought to be factored in to calculate a country’s overall level of development. Some believe that additional factors such as human rights and happiness are very important. But still, HDI is a relevant factor.
It is one of the few multidimensional indices as it includes indicators such as literacy rate, enrollment ratio, life expectancy rate, infant mortality rate, etc.
It acts as a true yardstick to measure development in real sense.
Unlike per capital income, which only indicates that a rise in the per capital income implies economic development; HDI considers many other vital social indicators and helps in measuring a nation’s well-being.
It helps as a differentiating factor to distinguish and classify different nations on the basis of their HDI ranks.
Lessons for India
Global experiences offer India a way out of this predicament.
Studies show that high growth accompanied by more effective income distribution and female empowerment strategies can help enhance human development, even with moderate social expenditures.
Clearly, India’s HDI scores can also be substantially enhanced if a politically committed government rolls out inclusive policies that strengthen public health, education and nutrition, and end gender discrimination to usher in a more egalitarian order.
Way forward: It lies in Sustainable Development
Both sustainable development and poverty eradication are both long-term and urgent endeavours, requiring not only the gradual and substantial redirection of country policies but a rapid response to pressing problems.
Ideally, sustainable development could provide an overarching framework within which all sub-goals (eg poverty eradication, social equality, ecosystem maintenance, climate compatibility) are framed.
It is not a subset of development; it is development (in a modern world of resource limits).
Environmental issues are not one factor among many but the meta-context within which poverty and other goals are sought.
Investing more in public research could lead to technological solutions to poverty and sustainability problems becoming more rapidly and openly available.
Developed nations owe it to all
To engage the broad coalition of support required to maintain high levels of development co-operation, rich countries will have to appeal to mutual benefit, not just charity.
There is a serious danger that poor countries may come under pressure to compromise on poverty reduction objectives for the sake of the planet – “green aid conditionalities” could emerge.
It should be made explicit that the poorest countries should follow whatever path best brings them out of poverty, including engaging in dirty growth if that means eradicating poverty faster.
Not to forget
From its beginnings, the HDR has argued for taking seriously the role of local specificity in thinking about economic and social development.
This recognition underlines the inherent limitations of global indicators and rankings. Such indicators can only help prompt focus and consideration relative backwardness.
Conclusion
To sum up, the introduction of the HDI three decades ago was an early attempt to address the shortcomings in conventional measures of wellbeing.
The HDI has continued to attract widespread attention and motivates the work of activists, scholars and political leaders around the world.
The HDI compels us to ask what matters more, the quantitative expansion of an economy, or the qualitative improvement in the capabilities of society.
Indeed the revival of interest in this subject at the highest levels of government is the need of the hour.
If a metaphor is used, human development accounting represents a house and the HDI is the door to the house. One should not mistake the door to be the house and one should not stop at the door, rather one should enter the house.
The article suggest the approach to deal with the problems banking in India faces.
Banking sector under stress
Along with the other sectors, pandemic dealt a severe blow to the banking sector.
Stress tests reported in the Financial Stability Report (FSR) indicate that the low ratio of capital to risk-adjusted-assets (CRAR) is likely to decline further.
To revive the economy and resume sustained high growth, bold structural reforms will have to be combined with strong fiscal and monetary measures.
Declining credit growth: monetary challenge
India’s credit-to-gross domestic product ratio is around 51%.
51% not too low compared to other countries at comparable levels of per capita income.
However, the worry is that credit growth is declining rapidly.
It is mainly attributable to rising risk aversion among lenders, reflecting the high and rising level of NPAs.
Risk aversion spiked during the economic contraction.
Rising NPA of Public Sector Banks
The FSR stress tests now indicate that the gross NPA ratio is likely to go up to as much as 13.5% by September 2021 in the report’s baseline case and 14.8% in the ‘severe stress’ case.
Within the banking sector, conditions are much worse in public sector banks (PSBs) compared to private banks (PBs) or foreign banks (FBs).
The gross NPA figure is forecast to rise to 16.2% for PSBs as compared to 7.9% and 5.4% for PBs and FBs in the baseline case.
Clearly, high NPAs are primarily a problem for PSBs, which still account for 60% of India’s total bank credit.
Expanding banking sector: bypass PSBs and give a big push to private banking
The recent report on Ownership and Corporate Structure for Indian Private Sector Banks submitted by an RBI internal working group (IWG) espouses this approach.
The IWG’s main recommendation is to enable large corporations and industrial houses to acquire banking licences.
The proposal has been strongly opposed by former governors and deputy governors of RBI, several former chief economic advisers, a former finance secretary, and, most significantly, all save one of the many experts the IWG consulted.
Four issues with the push to private banking
1) With an industry CRAR of only 12%, the proposed raising of the promoter share cap to 26% could potentially leverage the promoter’s investment by 32 times.
The very high risk appetite generated by such leveraging would subject depositors to a high level of systemic risk, given the limited deposit insurance provided in India.
2) Excessive risk appetite would lead to imprudent lending, especially connected lending to group companies. Conglomerates always find ways around regulatory restrictions against such connected lending.
3) Three, a conglomerate’s bank would have access to insider information on borrower companies that compete with its group companies.
4) Conglomerate banks would lead to massive concentration of economic power and political influence against not just competing companies, but even the regulator.
Way forward
A safer and cleaner option would be to help the country’s banking sector grow through simultaneous privatization and recapitalization of PSBs.
However, these options do not change the ownership and governance structure of PSBs, which is what primarily is to blame for their poor performance.
A better option is for PSBs to recapitalize themselves by raising fresh equity.
It would be more prudent financially and also more acceptable politically to test this approach with one or two small PSBs.
Conclusion
Government should try to adopt the approach which reduces the risks associated with giving push to private players in the banking sector while making the PSBs more efficient.
Back2Basics: CRAR-Capital to risk-adjusted-assets
The CRAR is the capital needed for a bank measured in terms of the assets (mostly loans) disbursed by the banks.
Higher the assets, higher should be the capital by the bank.
A notable feature of CRAR is that it measures capital adequacy in terms of the riskiness of the assets or loans given.
The article explains the working of Hybrid Annuity Model in the road construction and the risks involved in the model.
Investment in road sector
The central government has set a target of increasing the investment in infrastructure to over Rs 111 lakh crore over the period FY20-FY25.
Within the transportation segment, projects worth Rs 36.7 lakh crore, constituting 55% of transportation infra, are for the road sector.
The large investments planned in the road sector signifies its importance—it has a multiplier effect on the economy and provides large employment opportunities.
Models for the road sector
Out of HAM (Hybrid Annuity Model) and BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer)—toll developers prefer the relatively lower risk HAM model.
This is due to its various positives like lower equity requirements, provision for mobilisation advances, better right of way availability, inflation-linked adjustments for bid project cost, termination payments during the construction period and de-linking construction and operations.
These HAM features have garnered a favourable response and mix of HAM awards has increased from 10% in FY16 to 48% in H1FY2021.
How HAM works and risks involved
During the operations period for a HAM project, the recovery from authority is in the form of fixed annuity payments along with interest on balance accumulated annuity payments (calculated @300 bps over prevailing bank rate)
The only major risk for HAM is the prevailing low bank rates adversely affecting the overall project viability and returns.
Such interest receipts account for around 45% of total inflows.
Low bank rate would thus reduce the overall inflows for a HAM project, thereby adversely affecting its debt coverage metrics and returns to the investors.
The second problem is related to delayed and inadequate interest rate transmission—there is a transmission lag for the project loan (linked to MCLR of banks).
Changes in model concession agreement
As per revised concession agreement dated November 10, 2020, interest rate on annuities will be equal to the average MCLR of top 5 scheduled commercial banks plus 1.25% instead of bank rate.
With the average MCLR replacing the bank rate, there will be a natural hedge between the annuity inflows and interest costs,
This will reduce the interest rate risks to a large extent, and that too without any delay.
The other major revision is the grant payment from the authority which will now be paid in 10 instalments instead of five.
The other major revision is the grant payment from the authority which will now be paid in 10 instalments instead of five.
Thus, the spacing between the payment milestones is reduced.
This will improve the cash conversion cycle for the contractors executing the HAM projects as their payments are back to back in nature.
However, these changes will be applicable for new awards, and the fate of the existing HAM projects is hanging in the balance.
Conclusion
With improved attractiveness, HAM is expected to remain the mainstay for public-private partnership projects in the road sector.
IAS pre-2021 preparation must start with the previous year’s paper analysis as the first step. Not only it’ll give you an understanding of UPSC’s expectations, trend, etc. but also awareness about your prep level at this point in time.
Sudhanshu sir will be conducting a session on Habitat club where he’ll be discussing IAS pre papers for the year 2019 and 2020.
It is a holistically designed crash course for the UPSC IAS prelims exam. To make it more efficient and outcome-oriented we’ve integrated it with Habitat.
Decimate Prelims 2021 @ Habitat is a three-phased program that ensures full coverage of current affairs syllabus, related static parts, tests, intensive discussions, and revision.
We’re going more intensive and comprehensive to make sure that you comfortably go beyond 130+ marks and literally decimate prelims.
UPSC is evolving, are you? Bury the old ways of IAS Prelims preparation.
How daily Habitat classes will be held?
Since we’re going to be comprehensive and effective, we’ve planned Habitat classes twice a day (2+2 hrs/day) as per a schedule.
Forenoon session: 10am – 12:30pm
You’ll be provided with the base notes and reading material beforehand. In the Habitat class the focus will be on:
Explanation and conceptual clarity.
Making linkages with static part.
Relevance of the topic or its components for the prelims exam.
The kind of questions that could be asked from a particular topic.
Things you need to focus on and the things you can avoid.
You’ll get a video summary lecture of this discussion covering the most important and relevant aspects of the topic.
A discussion session on Habitat
Evening session: 7pm – 9pm
In the second session, we’ll be focussing on the application and utilization of the information part:
Doubts resolution
Daily mini-tests (MCQs) based on day’s discussions
Explanation, discussion, and Tikdams
Revision of the day’s topics
After this session, you’ll be provided with the PDFs of mini-tests, notes for the next session, and reference material (if required).
Habitat sessions will continue till Prelims 2021 in the next two phases as well.
MCQ discussion on Habitat
Decimate Prelims 2021 progression
Phase 1: Course coverage- 7 weeks
In the first 50 days, we are going to cover 2+ yrs current affairs, associated static topics, and prelims worthy issues. These will be covered in 4+ hours daily classes on Habitat.
1. Notes and Habitat video lectures
Crisp but comprehensive notes are going to cover these current affairs on a preliminary level. These will be followed by discussion sessions on Habitat.
2. Daily Habitat classes
Habitat classes will be conducted by the subject-specific mentors twice a day. Here in the first session, you’ll be having an in-depth discussion and analysis of the scheduled topics. Why a particular topic is important and how it could be asked in prelims will be discussed. In the second session of Habitat class, you’ll be attempting MCQs, resolving doubts, and revising.
By the end of the discussion, you will be provided with video summary lectures, MCQs, mindmaps, and reference material, etc.
Phase 2: Tests and Assessment, Discussion, Tikdams- Till May
In the second phase of Decimate Prelims 2021, we’re going to focus on the application of information; testing and evaluation; doubts resolution and course correction; and learning smart ways of attempting the paper through Tikdams sessions.
1. Test series and discussions
Since learning must be accompanied by regular assessment, Decimate Prelims includes 8 Full-Length tests, 10 Current affairs tests, and 4 CSAT tests. These are high-quality tests covering the most relevant issues for IAS prelims 2021.
Tests will be followed by discussion and analysis on Habitat will help in finding out the mistakes you are committing to and how to address them in a most effective manner.
2. Tikdams and Score boosting sessions
We’ve perfected Tikdams or the art of intelligent elimination. It has the potential of raising your score by 30 marks or more. Score boosting sessions, in this phase, will prepare you and enhance your ability to perform under pressure (& lack of information).
3. Revision and discussion
We’re going to have scheduled revision and doubt resolution sessions on Habitat. These 4+hrs sessions will ensure thorough coverage of the IAS Prelims syllabus.
Phase 3: Probable questions discussion, intensive revision – till prelims
We’ll be providing 300+ most probable topics to you and will be having a discussion session on Habitat around these topics.
Moreover, intensive revision based on listicles, reports, and important topics will continue till your prelims.
Mentorship
Mentorship is an important component of Decimate Prelims 2021. It is essential for guiding your preparation towards the most effective path so that you can make the most out of this program.
On Habitat, you will get mentorship by subject-specific mentors and teachers. You can reach out to them whenever you want and get your doubts resolved as soon as you get them.
Notes and study material
As mentioned above high-quality PDF notes of current affairs, daily MCQs, discussion summaries, etc. are going to be provided. You’ll also be getting an annual subscription to Civils Digest, our monthly magazine.
Other reference material, listicles, etc. will be provided as and when required.
A UK think-tank ‘Royal Institute of International Affairs’ has listed India in ‘Difficult 4’; clubs India with China, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey.
This newscard helps analyse the Western esp. that of the EU’s perception of India and its global image under the present regime.
What is the news?
A report called ‘Global Britain, Global Broker’ has warned the UK government to consider India as more of a rival that a cooperative partner.
It accepts the fact that India is set to be the largest country in the world by population very soon and will have the third-largest economy and defence budget at some point in this decade.
But it cautions that gaining direct national benefit from the relationship, whether economically or diplomatically, will be difficult for the UK government.
The report also accepts India’s importance to the UK as being “inescapable”.
The ‘Difficult Four’
Clubbing India with China, Saudi Arabia and Turkey as the “difficult four”, the report says the Johnson government should be more realistic about developing deeper ties with India.
They may be important to the UK’s commercial interests, but they will be rivals or, at best, awkward counterparts on many of its global goals, the report warns.
India is now classed as a country, destined to count among the UK’s “rivals” or “awkward counterparts” as it pursues its global goals.
India has had bitter (colonial) past
The think-tank strikes a note of caution over the two countries’ shared colonial history proving a stumbling block to the promise of a deeper relationship.
India has a long and consistent record of resisting being corralled into a ‘Western’ camp.
As a result, India is always on the list of countries with which a new UK government commits to engage.
But it should be obvious by now that the idea of a deeper relationship with India always promises more than it can deliver.
The legacy of British colonial rule consistently curdles the relationship.
Indian flaws
The report points to India’s “complex, fragmented domestic politics”, which make it one of the countries resistant to open trade and foreign investment.
It highlights concerns raised by domestic groups as well as the UN over a “crackdown on human rights activists and civil society groups” not being actively challenged by the judiciary.
It raises concern over India’s pursuance of extreme right-winged policies. Indian domestic politics also has entered a more ethnic-nationalist phase, the report argues.
Against this backdrop, the report reflects on the prospect of including India within any new Democratic 10 or D10 coalition of 10 leading democracies.
Try this question from 2019 CS Mains:
Q.What are the challenges to our cultural practices in the name of secularism? (150W)
UK’s resentment
In a critique of India’s diplomatic behaviour, the report points out that despite border clashes with China, “India did not join the group of countries that criticized China at the UN in July 2019 over HR violations in Xinjiang.
India has also been muted in its criticism of the passage of the new national security law in Hong Kong.
The Supreme Court has admitted a petition filed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) seeking to exempt armed forces personnel from the ambit of a Constitution Bench judgment of 2018 that decriminalized adultery.
Q. Personnels of the Indian Armed Forces constitute a ‘Distinct Class’.
Discuss this statement in context to the extension of IPC section 497 to the Armed forces.
What was the 2018 historic Judgment?
The Supreme Court had struck down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalized adultery.
It also declared Section 198 of the Criminal Procedure Code as unconstitutional, which deals with the procedure for filing a complaint about the offence of adultery.
Important observations of the judgment
Section 497 was unconstitutional and is violative of Article 21 (Right to life and personal liberty) and Article 14 (Right to equality).
The court observed that two individuals may part if one cheats, but to attach criminality to infidelity is going too far. How married couples deal with adultery is absolutely a matter of privacy.
Besides, there is no data to back claims that abolition of adultery as a crime would result in “chaos in sexual morality” or an increase of divorce.
Any provision of law affecting individual dignity and equality of women invites the wrath of the Constitution.
It’s time to say that a husband is not the master of the wife. Legal sovereignty of one sex over other sex is wrong, ruled the court.
Marriage does not mean ceding autonomy of one to the other. Ability to make sexual choices is essential to human liberty. Even within private zones, an individual should be allowed her choice.
What about Armed forces?
The judgment of 2018 created “instability”. It allowed personnel charged with carrying on an adulterous or illicit relationship to take cover under the judgment.
The bench had then referred the case to the CJI to pass appropriate orders to form a five-judge Bench to clarify the impact of the 2018 judgment on the armed forces.
This case is now being under the observation of the apex court.
Govt. stance over this
The MoD has sought for an exemption to this decriminalization in the petition.
It said that there will always be a concern in the minds of the Army personnel who are operating far away from their families under challenging conditions about the family indulging in untoward activity.
The petition goes on to say that personnel of the Army, Navy and the Air Force were a “distinct class”. They were governed by special legislation, the Army Act, the Navy Act and the Air Force Act.
Adultery amounted to unbecoming conduct and a violation of discipline under these three Acts.
Unlike Section 497, the provisions of the three Acts did not differentiate between a man and a woman if they were guilty of an offence.
Constitutional backing for an exception
These special laws imposed restrictions on the fundamental rights of the personnel, who function in a peculiar situation requiring utmost discipline.
The three laws were protected by Article 33 of the Constitution, which allowed the government to modify the fundamental rights of the armed forces personnel.
The core idea behind govt. proposition
One has to remember that the armed forces exist in an environment wholly different and distinct from civilians. Honour is a sine qua non of the service.
The provisions of the Acts should be allowed to continue to govern the personnel as a “distinct class”, irrespective of the 2018 judgment.
This is because, the discipline necessary for the performance of duty, crucial for national safety, would break down.
It said the court would not, at the time, have been appraised of the different circumstances under which the armed forces operated.
Back2Basics: Article 33 of the Indian Constitution
It deals with the power of Parliament to modify the rights conferred by this Part III in their application etc.
Parliament may, by law, determine to what extent any of the rights conferred by this Part shall, in their application to-
(a) the members of the Armed Forces; or
(b) the members of the Forces charged with the maintenance of public order; or
(c) persons employed in any bureau or other organisation established by the State for purposes of intelligence or counterintelligence; or
(d) persons employed in, or in connection with, the telecommunication systems set up for the purposes of any Force, bureau or organisation referred to in clauses (a) to (c), be restricted or abrogated so as to ensure the proper discharge of their duties and the maintenance of discipline among them
Important Announcement: Topics to be covered on 18th January
GS-1 History of the world will include events from 18th century such as industrial revolution, world wars, redrawal of national boundaries, colonization, decolonization.
Reviews will be provided in a week. (In the order of submission- First come first serve basis). In case the answer is submitted late the review period may get extended to two weeks.
*In case your answer is not reviewed in a week, reply to your answer saying *NOT CHECKED*. If Parth Sir’s tag is available then tag him.
For the philosophy of AWE and payment, check here: Click2Join
The Mars rover ‘Curiosity’ has completed 3,000 Martian days.
Try this PYQ:
Q.Which region of Mars has a densely packed river deposit indicating this planet had water 3.5 billion years ago?
(a) Aeolis Dorsa
(b) Tharsis
(c) Olympus Mons
(d) Hellas
Curiosity Rover
Curiosity is an SUV-sized Mars rover designed to explore the Gale crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) mission
The main mission of Curiosity was “to search areas of Mars for past or present conditions favourable for life, and conditions capable of preserving a record of life.”
It has a suite of instruments:
A gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, a tunable laser spectrometer, X-ray diffraction, fluorescence instrument help study the rocks
The Mars Hand Lens Imager (for close-up pictures) and a Mast Camera (to take photos of the surroundings)
An instrument named ChemCam to vaporize thin layers of Martian rocks.
Radiation Assessment Detector to study the radiation environment at the surface of Mars
Rover Environmental Monitoring Station to measure atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity, winds, plus ultraviolet radiation levels
Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument to measure subsurface hydrogen
Back2Basics: Martian Day/ Sol
Coincidentally, the duration of a Martian day aka ‘Sol’ is within a few per cent of that of an Earth day, which has led to the use of analogous time units.
A sol is slightly longer than an Earth day. It is approximately 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds long.
A Martian year is approximately 668 sols, equivalent to approximately 687 Earth days.
Mars has an axial tilt and a rotation period similar to those of Earth.
Thus, it experiences seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter much like Earth.
