CNA 22nd April 2021:- Download PDF Here
TABLE OF CONTENTS
A. GS 1 Related B. GS 2 Related POLITY AND GOVERNANCE 1. Centre steps in to restore oxygen supplies to Delhi 2. SC paves way for ad-hoc judges in HCs INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 1. India should be a ‘country of particular concern’: U.S. panel C. GS 3 Related D. GS 4 Related E. Editorials GOVERNANCE 1. Strengthening the process of choosing the police chief HEALTH 1. A recipe for vaccine inequity ECONOMY 1. A fresh push for green hydrogen F. Prelims Facts 1. India at 142nd rank on press freedom index 2. Exporters fret over delay in rebate rates G. Tidbits H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
A. GS 1 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
B. GS 2 Related
Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Centre steps in to restore oxygen supplies to Delhi
Context:
With the growing number of COVID-19 cases, oxygen stocks at several hospitals in the national capital dipped to alarming lows following disruption of supplies.
Issue:
- Hospitals are overcrowded and there is a severe dearth of medical oxygen in several hospitals across the country.
- During the first wave of the pandemic, the demand for liquid medical oxygen was much lower at 2,800 metric tonnes per day (MTPD) which has increased to 5,000 MTPD.
- Uneven distribution through supply and logistic chains.
Note:
India’s oxygen production is currently at 7,000 metric tons, which is higher than the daily oxygen requirement.
Steps taken by the Government:
- The centre has sanctioned the setting up of 162 Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) oxygen plants at public health facilities with a capacity of 15419 MT. Out of these, 33 have already been installed.
- The Centre has banned the supply of oxygen for industrial purposes.
- Supply for industries that make ampoules and vials, pharmaceuticals, refineries, steel plants, nuclear energy facilities, oxygen cylinder, wastewater treatment plants, food and water purification would continue.
Read more on the Industrial applications of oxygen.
- The Indian Railways announced the commencement of ‘Oxygen Express’ via a green corridor carrying oxygen cylinders across the country.
- Green corridors have been set up to ensure the smooth passage of oxygen trucks.
2. SC paves way for ad-hoc judges in HCs
Context:
The Supreme Court activated a dormant constitutional provision to pave way for the appointment of retired High Court judges as ad-hoc judges for a period of two to three years to clear the backlog.
Details:
- SC said retired judges who had handled certain disputes and fields of law for over 15 years could deal with them faster if brought back into harness as ad-hoc judges.
- The SC also came out with guidelines to regulate appointments.
- Article 224A, used rarely, deals with the appointment of ad-hoc judges in High Courts.
- Under the Article, the Chief Justice of a High Court for any State may at any time, with the previous consent of the President, request any person who has held the office of judge of that court or of any other High Court to sit and act as a judge of the High Court for that State.
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. India should be a ‘country of particular concern’: U.S. panel
Context:
The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has recommended for the second year in a row that the State Department put India on a list ‘Countries of Particular Concern’ (CPCs) for the worst violations of religious freedoms in 2020.
Recommendations:
- The administration must impose targeted sanctions on Indian individuals and entities for severe violations of religious freedom.
- Another recommendation was for the administration to promote inter-faith dialogue and the rights of all communities at bilateral and multilateral forums such as Quad.
Note:
- USCIRF is an independent bi-partisan commission.
- It was created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.
- USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.
- The USCIRF recommendations are non-binding and the Trump administration had rejected the USCIRF recommendation to designate India a CPC in 2020.
- Pakistan and China along with Myanmar, Eritrea, Iran, Nigeria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan were placed in the CPC list for engaging in or tolerating systematic, ongoing, egregious violations of religious freedom.
- The US also designated al-Shabaab, al-Qaida, Boko Haram, Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the Houthis, ISIS, ISIS-Greater Sahara, ISIS-West Africa, Jamaat Nasr al-Islam wal Muslimin and the Taliban as ‘Entities of Particular Concern’.
C. GS 3 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
D. GS 4 Related
Nothing here for today!!!
E. Editorials
1. Strengthening the process of choosing the police chief
Context
- Param Bir Singh has been removed as the Mumbai Police Commissioner. The removal has put the focus on the process of appointing and removing police chiefs.
Problems in Police Personnel Administration
- Absence of any prescribed procedure in law about the appointment and the removal.
- The political executive in the state enjoys enormous discretion and wield unregulated power to select and appoint officers of their choice as the heads of their police forces and remove them when they are not found to be aligned with the Government.
- Lack of independent processes has led to appointment and removal the basis of which is questionable and even if the procedure has been laid, the proceedings are opaque.
- While the principles of democratic accountability necessitate the police chief to remain answerable to the elected government at all times, the moot reform issue is in ensuring the right balance between conditioning the government’s legitimate role in appointing or removing the police chief with the need to safeguard the chief’s operational autonomy.
Police Reforms
- Independent police oversight body
- Shifting the responsibility of appointment and removal from the government alone to a bipartisan, independent oversight body of which the government is one part.
Background
- The National Police Commission (NPC) was appointed by the Government of India in 1977.
- This was the first commission appointed at the national level after independence.
- Since the power to appoint its head and to remove becomes highly important from the point of view of controlling the force, it had suggested that the head of the police force should be selected from a panel.
- This position was later reaffirmed by the Supreme Court of India in its judgment in 2006, in Prakash Singh.
- The SC in the past had issued directives to the State Government restraining their powers of appointment. It had directed the states to first consult the Union Public Service Commission to ensure that the entire selection process is not only transparent but also corruption-free.
- The Model Police Bill, 2015 places the responsibility with a multiparty State Police Board, also referred to as the State Security Commission (SSCs).
- Made up of government officials, the Leader of the Opposition as well as independent members from civil society, the board provides the additional safeguard of civilian oversight over the appointment process.
Gaps in SSCs
- New police acts were created by a few states, some have made changes to existing acts and a few states have passed executive orders to establish SSCs but not a single state adheres to the balanced composition suggested by the SC.
- Some do not include the Leader of the Opposition; others neither include independent members nor follow an independent selection process of the members.
- In essence, the commissions remain dominated by the political executive.
- Moreover, in as many as 23 States, governments retain the sole discretion of appointing the police chief.
- Assam, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Meghalaya and Mizoram are the only States where, on paper, the SSC is given the responsibility of shortlisting candidates.
- Whether this process is followed in practice each time remains to be verified.
- The second element critical to police reforms is instituting an independent and transparent selection and decision-making process around appointment and removal.
Appointments
- On appointments, the Court and the Model Police Act require the UPSC/SSC to shortlist candidates on the basis of length of service, service record, and range of experience and a performance appraisal of the candidates over the past 10 years.
- Unanswered Questions
- What qualifies as a “good” range of experience?
- How is the integrity of a candidate measured during appraisals?
- What is the process required to be followed by the SSC in reviewing the suitability of candidates?
- Should not interviews with the candidates be considered as a requirement, for instance?
Removal
- The NPC had required State governments to seek the approval of the State Security Commission before removing the police chief before the end of term.
- This important check was diluted under the Prakash Singh judgment that only requires governments to consult the SSC.
- Concerns
- Most States omit even this cursory step.
- Broad terms such as “on administrative grounds” or “in the public interest” continue to be retained in police acts to justify the government’s power to remove the police chief. Such terms remain liable to misuse.
T.P. Senkumar vs Union of India (2017)
- The Supreme Court has emphasised that “prima facie satisfaction of the government” alone is not a sufficient ground to justify removal from a tenure post in government.
- The rule of law requires such decisions to be for compelling reasons and based on verifiable material that can be objectively tested.
Way forward
- To prevent politically motivated adverse actions, clear cut rules, regulations, specific benchmarks have to be integrated into decision-making processes, both on appointments and removals.
- The United Kingdom (UK) example can be adopted:
- The UK had passed the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act, 2011, which introduced public confirmation hearings as an additional layer of check for the appointment of the heads of their police forces known as Chief Constables (outside of London city).
- Such steps can help ensure fairness in administrative decisions and need to be considered in our context as well in order to protect the political neutrality of the police.
Conclusion
- Any further delay in implementing reforms in this area will continue to demoralise the police and cripple the rule of law.
1. A recipe for vaccine inequity
Context
- The Central government has announced the Phase 3 strategy for vaccinations against the coronavirus.
Details
- As part of the ‘liberalised and accelerated Phase 3 strategy of Covid-19 vaccination’, all persons above the age of 18 years will be eligible to get Covid-19 vaccine jabs.
- Vaccines will be provided free of cost to the eligible population i.e. Health Care Workers (HCWs), Front Line Workers (FLWs) and all people above 45 years of age.
- Under Phase 3 of the Covid vaccination strategy, vaccine manufacturers would supply 50 per cent of their monthly Central Drugs Laboratory released doses to the Government of India and would be free to supply the remaining 50 per cent doses to state governments and in the open market.
- The Government of India, from its share, will allocate vaccines to states/UTs based on criteria of the extent of infection (number of active Covid cases) and performance (speed of administration).
- The division of vaccine supply, ie, 50 per cent to the Centre and 50 per cent to state government or private buyers, is only mandatory for the vaccines manufactured in India. The sale of all imported vaccines will be allowed in the open market without restrictions.
Criticism
- The Central government has failed to fulfil its responsibility to ensure equity in vaccine availability by clearly stating that free vaccination would be limited to healthcare and frontline workers and people above 45 years of age.
- The government’s projected population for the year 2021 for the 18-44 years age group is 595 million. This huge population has not been included in priority groups to have access to vaccines, and it would be covered solely by State governments and the private sector.
- While the private sector may be able to cater to a small percentage of the population that can afford to pay a higher price per dose, the States must buy vaccines and administer them for free for a huge number of people.
- Countries like the USA whose healthcare is highly privatized is offering vaccines free of cost to adults. On the contrary, India is limiting free vaccines only to few sections of society.
- A bigger issue is that with States required to procure 50% of vaccines directly from manufacturers, the governments will end up competing with each other and with private players.
- The Central government, by allowing States to procure vaccines directly from manufacturers, has deftly shifted any future blame to State governments.
Conclusion
- The second wave has amply demonstrated that unlike 2020, more people in the age group of 18-40 years have been symptomatically infected, with many requiring hospitalisation. Hence, a policy that promotes vaccine inequity based on age bands is a dangerous proposition.
1. A fresh push for green hydrogen
National Hydrogen Energy Mission (NHEM)
Read more on the mission in the link.
A look at stats
- Currently, India consumes around 5.5 million tonnes of hydrogen, primarily produced from imported fossil fuels.
- In 2030, according to an analysis by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), green hydrogen demand could be up to 1 million tonnes in India across application in sectors such as ammonia, steel, methanol, transport and energy storage.
Challenges
- First, decentralised hydrogen production must be promoted through open access of renewable power to an electrolyser (which splits water to form H2 and O2 using electricity).
- Currently, most renewable energy resources that can produce low-cost electricity are situated far from potential demand centres. If hydrogen were to be shipped, it would significantly erode the economics of it.
- A more viable option would be wheeling electricity directly from the solar plant.
- Second, we need mechanisms to ensure access to round-the-clock renewable power for decentralised hydrogen production.
- Therefore, as we scale up to the target of having 450 GW of renewable energy by 2030, aligning hydrogen production needs with broader electricity demand in the economy would be critical.
- Third, we must take steps to blend green hydrogen in existing processes, especially in the industrial sector.
- Improving the reliability of hydrogen supply by augmenting green hydrogen with conventionally produced hydrogen will significantly improve the economics of the fuel.
- This will also help build a technical understanding of the processes involved in handling hydrogen on a large scale.
- Fourth, policymakers must facilitate investments in early-stage piloting and the research and development needed to advance the technology for use in India.
- The growing interest in hydrogen is triggered by the anticipated steep decline in electrolyser costs.
- India should not be a mere witness to this. Public funding will have to lead the way, but the private sector, too, has significant gains to be made by securing its energy future.
- Finally, India must learn from the experience of the National Solar Mission and focus on domestic manufacturing.
- Establishing an end-to-end electrolyser manufacturing facility would require measures extending beyond the existing performance-linked incentive programme.
- India needs to secure supplies of raw materials that are needed for this technology.
- Further, major institutions like the DRDO, BARC and CSIR laboratories have been developing electrolyser and fuel-cell technologies.
- There is a need for a manufacturing strategy that can leverage the existing strengths and mitigate threats by integrating with the global value chain.
F. Prelims Facts
1. India at 142nd rank on press freedom index
What’s in News?
India has been ranked 142nd on the press freedom index.
Details:
- In 2016, India’s rank was 133, which has steadily climbed down to 142 in 2020.
Key Findings:
- The RSF report says India is one of the world’s most dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their job properly.
- It states that the journalists in the country are exposed to every kind of attack, even police violence against reporters, ambushes by political activists, and reprisals instigated by criminal groups or corrupt local officials.
Note:
- In February 2020, fearing such an adverse assessment, a cell was set up in 18 Ministries to find ways to improve the position on 32 international indices.
- The Information and Broadcasting Ministry was delegated to look at the freedom of press index.
World Press Freedom Index:
- World Press Freedom Index is published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a French non-governmental organisation.
- The Index ranks 180 countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists.
- It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country and region.
- It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking, nor is it an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country or region.
2. Exporters fret over delay in rebate rates
What’s in News:
Exporters are concerned about the delay in notifying the rates of taxes under the scheme under the Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme.
Remission of Duties and Taxes on Export Products (RoDTEP) scheme:
- It is a WTO-compliant scheme for rebating taxes and duties to the export sector.
- It replaced the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS), which is available for all physical exports.
- The scheme came into effect on January 1, 2021.
Read more on the RoDTEP scheme covered in 16th February 2021 CNA.
G. Tidbits
Nothing here for today!!!
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
Q1. Consider the following statements:
- U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) recommends to the US State Department, the names of countries as well as non-state actors engaging in or tolerating violation of religious freedom.
- USCIRF recommendations are non-binding.
Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?
- 1 only
- 2 only
- Both 1 and 2
- Neither 1 nor 2
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- USCIRF is an independent bi-partisan commission.
- It was created by the International Religious Freedom Act (IRFA) of 1998.
- USCIRF’s principal responsibilities are to review the facts and circumstances of violations of religious freedom internationally and to make policy recommendations to the President, the Secretary of State, and the Congress.
- In its Annual Report, USCIRF describes threats to religious freedom around the world and recommends to the State Department countries for designation as “countries of particular concern” (CPCs) for engaging in or tolerating “systematic, ongoing, egregious violations.”
- USCIRF also recommends to the State Department that non-state actors cited for similarly severe violations be designated as “entities of particular concern” (EPCs).
- The USCIRF recommendations are non-binding.
Q2. Arrange the following from West to East:
- Hambantota Port
- Trincomalee Port
- Colombo Port
- Galle Port
Choose the correct option:
- 3, 4, 1, 2
- 3, 1, 2, 4
- 2, 1, 4, 3
- 3, 2, 4, 1
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: a
Explanation:
Arrangement of the major ports of Sri Lanka from West to East: Colombo Port, Galle Port, Hambantota Port, Trincomalee Port.
Q3. Consider the following statements about the World Press Freedom Index:
- It is published annually by Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
- It is an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country or region.
- It does not rank public policies.
Which of the given statement/s is/are INCORRECT?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 3 only
- 2 only
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: d
Explanation:
- World Press Freedom Index is published every year since 2002 by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a French non-governmental organisation.
- The Index ranks 180 countries and regions according to the level of freedom available to journalists.
- It is a snapshot of the media freedom situation based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country and region.
- It does not rank public policies even if governments obviously have a major impact on their country’s ranking.
- It is not an indicator of the quality of journalism in each country or region.
Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA):
- It is a technology used to separate some gas species from a mixture of gases under pressure.
- It makes use of cryogenic distillation techniques of gas separation.
- The process takes place at very low temperatures.
Which of the given statement is/are correct?
- 1 and 2 only
- 2 and 3 only
- 1 only
- 1, 2 and 3
CHECK ANSWERS:-
Answer: c
Explanation:
- Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a technology used to separate some gas species from a mixture of gases under pressure.
- PSA operates at near-ambient temperatures (temperature relating to the immediate surroundings) and differs significantly from cryogenic distillation techniques of gas separation.
- Cryogenic separation is a commercial process that takes place at very low temperature.
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions
- A balance needs to be struck between the government’s legitimate role and the police chief’s operational autonomy. Examine. (10 Marks, 150 Words) [GS-2, Governance]
- Discuss the key features of the National Hydrogen Energy Mission. What challenges must India address to enhance commercial-scale operations of Hydrogen? (15 Marks, 250 Words) [GS-3, Economy]
Read the previous CNA here.
CNA 22nd April 2021:- Download PDF Here
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