UPSC Exam: Comprehensive News Analysis - December 21

A. GS1 Related

B. GS2 Related

• The government informed Parliament that there was no proposal as of now for abolition of Articles 35A and 370 which give special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Article 35A and the PIL:

• Article 35A was added to the Constitution by a presidential order in 1954 and it empowers the State legislature to define the State’s “permanent residents” and their special rights and privileges.
• Article 35A was challenged by an NGO before the Supreme Court by seeking its abrogation.
• The PIL said the Jammu and Kashmir government, under the guise of Articles 35A and 370, was discriminating against non-residents who are debarred from buying properties, getting a government job or voting in the local elections.
• Petitioners contention: Article 35 A is against the “very spirit of oneness of India” as it creates a “class within a class of Indian citizens”. Restricting citizens from other States from getting employment or buying property within Jammu and Kashmir is a violation of fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19 and 21 of the Constitution.

• Uttar Pradesh Control of Organized Crime Act, 2017 (UPCOCA)
• Opposition claim: UPCOCA could potentially be used as a tool to suppress rivals, settle political vendetta and target specific communities.
• Government’s claim: the proposed law is a remedy against organised crime.

Features of the UPCOCA:

• The UPCOCA law would give special powers to the police to arrest offenders and members of the crime syndicates.
• The State would be empowered to seize the property of such people after taking the consent of a special court constituted to hear the cases.
• Properties acquired through illegal activities and organised crime would also be seized.
• Some of the crimes defined under the UPCOCA are: land grab [government and non-state property], illegal mining, manufacture and sale of illegal medicines and illicit liquor, money laundering, wildlife smuggling, extortion, abduction syndicate, hafta collection, murder and conspiracy to murder and white-collar offences.
• If found guilty, offenders would face a minimum jail term of three years and a maximum of life imprisonment or even death sentence.
• The accused will not be granted bail for six months after the arrest.

• A huge number of obsolete Acts remained in the law books despite losing their relevance and utility.
• It has been only in the last three years that nearly 1,800 obsolete laws have been repealed.
• In the latest round, 235 outdated Acts and nine pre-Independence Ordinances have been repealed.
• These pieces of legislation may have been relevant and necessary at the time they were introduced, but in the absence of a periodic review they continue to burden the statutory corpus.
• These laws are archaic mainly because the social, economic and legal conditions that required their enactment does not obtain today; they are also not in tune with the progress of democracy since Independence.

Some Archaic Laws

• Among the Acts repealed are the Prevention of Seditious Meetings Act, 1911, the Bengal Suppression of Terrorist Outrages (Supplementary) Act, 1932, and the Preventive Detention Act, 1950.
• The country still has a body of ‘anti-terror’ legislation as well as preventive detention laws. Although such laws remain in the statute books, these particular enactments are redundant.
• Other questionable legal provisions, for example, those on ‘sedition’ or exciting disaffection against the state, remain; so do ‘adultery’ and ‘sex against the order of nature’.Such obsolete concepts and notions that underlie law-making also require an overhaul.

Committees Recommendations

• In a 2014 interim report, the first of four such reports on obsolete laws, the Law Commission noted that the panel had been identifying Acts for repeal in many of its reports in the past.
• Its 96th and 148th Reports recommended a good number of such laws. In 1998, the P.C. Jain Commission recommended the withdrawal of a large body of legislation, and also noted that as many as 253 Acts identified earlier for withdrawal still remained on the statute book.
• Nine ordinances issued by the Governor-General between 1941 and 1946, covering subjects such as war injuries, war gratuities and collective fines, are being removed from the statute book only now.
• It is odd that the Howrah Offences Act, 1857, the Hackney-Carriage Act, 1879, and the Dramatic Performances Act, 1876, have been in force well into the current century.

Why Should Archaic Laws be repealed?

• The problem with not removing archaic laws is that they could be invoked suddenly against unsuspecting and otherwise law-abiding citizens.
• It is a welcome sign for good governance that the present government is updating and trimming the statute book.

A Permanent Commission

• Given that legislation is quite a prolific activity, especially in the State Assemblies, it would be advisable to have a permanent commission to review the existing body of law and identify those that require repeal as often as possible

In news:

• India is considering buying several second-hand Russian-made Mi35s for the Afghan National Defence Security Forces (ANDSF) from other countries
• This particular move indicates the closer cooperation between New Delhi and Moscow on Afghanistan.
• The plan will see New Delhi cooperating with Russia on military support for Afghanistan, with the U.S. on development support, and with Iran on trade cooperation for goods to Afghanistan.

Key Facts:

• India is already training military officers including a batch of women officers at its military academies
• Afghanistan is in the midst of a full transition from its old hardware, and Soviet–era generals, to U.S. hardware, and a next-generation NATO-model Army by 2022.

• India signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Myanmar.
• The MoU will help create conditions for the return of the displaced Rohingya
• It also includes building of pre-fabricated homes for the displaced population.

• The draft resolution on the status of Jerusalem will be presented before the UNGA.
• The resolution calls for “the final status of Jerusalem to be resolved through negotiations”.
• It expresses deep “regret” on the US’ stated position on Jerusalem.

In news:

• International lobbying has intensified to get India on board for the session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).
• UN is likely to adopt a resolution in opposition to U.S. President Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

India’s stance:

• India’s position on Palestine is independent and consistent. It is shaped by our views and interests, and not determined by any third country.

Expert’s opinion: India should stay away from the voting to show its opposition to the “exclusivist” approach by both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides.

4. India –US Security Cooperation

National Security Strategy

• U.S. President Donald Trump announced the National Security Strategy (NSS) for his country during his tenure.
• NSS has used some positive words in the strategy paper representing an affirmation of India’s stature, and acknowledge India’s emergence as a leading global power.
• It mentions plans to encourage Indian economic assistance in the region, and outlines U.S. support to India’s leadership role in Indian Ocean security and throughout the broader region as a priority.

How other countries see it?

• US’s views of China’s assault on the “sovereignty” of South Asian nations and of Pakistan’s continued support to terror groups are closely aligned with India’s concerns in the neighbourhood.
• It is significant that the U.S. has highlighted them. In its response, New Delhi has appreciated the strategic importance given to India as well as the common objectives that India and the U.S. now share.
• Predictably, the five countries singled out by the U.S. for criticism have not been as warm in their response.
• China has accused the U.S. of pursuing what it calls a cold war mentality and the zero-sum game.
• Russia has said that the strategy reeks of imperialism as the NSS accuses China and Russia of using their military might to deny America access to what it calls critical commercial zones.Pakistan, Iran and North Korea have also been dismissive.

Should India go ahead?

• India must be mindful that in welcoming the U.S.’s categorisations of its security threats, it doesn’t unthinkingly get swept into an American clinch.
• To begin with, the U.S. articulation of its perceived challenges has swung wildly over the past year of the Trump administration.
• It would be wise to await a stabilisation in Mr. Trump’s policies, or at least concrete action to back its words.
• For example, while the U.S. has talked of countering China’s influence in South Asia, it has not backed this with actual financial assistance for infrastructure critical to the region.
• Equally, while Mr. Trump’s words on Pakistan and terrorism are sharp, the U.S. has yet to show its hand, either in terms of military action or withholding of coalition support funds.
• While the U.S. strategy deals with global concerns, the past year has seen American withdrawal from pacts ranging from the Trans-Pacific Partnership to the Paris agreement on climate change.
• A tough U.S. security strategy can only be realised through cogent policymaking — whether it is on Israel-Palestine, North Korea, Iran or Afghanistan, Mr. Trump has been publicly at odds with his key advisers.
• A watch-and-wait stance is still India’s best option to preserve the autonomous and pluralistic nature of its engagement in areas where the U.S. faces its greatest challenges.

C. GS3 Related

• This year, a new legal framework for wetlands was passed, the Wetland (Conservation and Management) Rules, 2017, replacing the earlier Rules of 2010.

Role of Judiciary

• Recently, a judgment by the Uttarakhand High Court, stating that Ganga and Yamuna rivers are “living entities”, captured the national imagination.
• Also this year, the Supreme Court passed an order directing States to identify wetlands in the country within a stipulated timeframe.
• At the same time, the Supreme Court order directs States to come forward and notify wetlands.
• For example, as lagoons like Chilika (Odisha) and Pulicat (Tamil Nadu/Andhra Pradesh) are characterised by a mix of saline and fresh water, the flows of each type need to be maintained; river floodplains contain wetlands that require conservation so they can refuel the river with fish and other aquatic life during flooding.

Changes in Policy

• The 2017 Wetland Rules have been criticised for doing away with strong wetland monitoring systems and omitting important wetland types.
• The 2010 and 2017 Rules for wetlands both emphasise that the ecological character of wetlands ought to be maintained for their conservation.
• ‘Ecological character’ refers to processes and components which make the wetland a particular, and sometimes unique, ecosystem.
• Under the new Rules, no authority to issue directions, which are binding in nature to desist from any activity detrimental to wetland conservation, has been prescribed to State wetland authorities.

Challenges in the New Policy

• There are challenges ahead in identifying wetlands – multiple and competing use is just one of them.
• Understanding the historic spread and ecological character will be important.
• In the 2010 Rules, some related criteria were made explicit, such as natural beauty, ecological sensitivity, genetic diversity, historical value, etc. These have been omitted in the 2017 Rules. There are a few reasons why this is problematic.
• First, there is multiple interest around wetlands. Multiple interests also have governance needs, and this makes it absolutely necessary to identify and map these multiple uses.
• Secondly, it is crucial to identify ecological criteria so that the wetlands’ character can be maintained.
• The key to wetland conservation is but conserving or managing the integrity of the wetland ecosystem.
• Finally, restriction of activities on wetlands will be done as per the principle of ‘wise use’, determined by the State wetland authority. Whether wise use will include maintaining ecological character remains to be seen.
• Salt pans are an example how one use (of making salt) has trumped the other (of environmental balance). Salt pans as ‘wetlands’ have been omitted from the new Rules.
• They were identified as wetlands in the 2010 Rules, as they are often important sites of migratory birds and other forms of biodiversity.
• The omission in the 2017 Rules suggests that while saltpans do exist as wetlands, they do not require any conservation or ecological balance.
• The inference can also be that it would be acceptable to tip the environmental balance or integrity of such a wetland, which could lead to damage and pollution.

Deepor Beel: A Case study

• The issue of wetlands being multiple-use areas and subsequently being abused due to clashes of interest found centre-stage this year with the observations of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in the case of Deepor Beel.
• Deepor Beel is a Ramsar site and a part of it is also wildlife sanctuary in Guwahati, Assam. (‘Ramsar Sites are designated because they meet the criteria for identifying wetlands of international importance.’)
• This wetland harbours a wide variety of biodiversity, and also suffers from intense man-made pressure — the city’s municipal waste is dumped close to the Beel.
• Large, meat-eating storks (Greater adjutant storks) are ironically found eating from the mountains of garbage at the site. Potential impacts of contamination or poisoning from the garbage are still unknown. This January, 26 storks died.
• The fact that Deepor Beel (Beel means water body) exists as a wetland does not prevent garbage dumping; this is a fate faced by many wetlands.
• The NGT’s observations on Deepor Beel are interesting and symptomatic of what is happening in several wetlands.
• In an inspection done by the judicial member of the Tribunal, it was noted that waste was being dumped “not beyond the site but within it,” and “demarcations are made by drying out areas or cutting off water sources”.
• The Tribunal has asked for the “traditional” spread of the wetland.Given all the modern uses of wetlands, or the use of the wetland only for its land, looking at traditional cartography may be one way to understand catchments of wetlands.
• It may also be a way of restoring some modicum of ecological character, identity or ‘rights’ to wetlands, as the river judgment suggested.

Category: ECONOMY

1. The Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance Bill

2. Oil Market

About Tejas:

• The HAL Tejas is an Indian single-seat, single-jet engine, multirole light fighter designed by the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA) and Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) for the Indian Air Force and Navy.
• The aircraft has a tail-less compound delta-wing configuration, which provides for high maneuverability
• It came from the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) programme, which began in the 1980s to replace India’s ageing MiG-21 fighters.
• In 2003, the LCA was officially named “Tejas”, which means “Radiant” in Sanskrit.

D. GS4 Related

E. PRELIMS FACT

F. Practice Questions for UPSC Prelims Exam

1. Positive discrimination is at the heart of “Equal protection of the laws”. Discuss.

GS Paper III

Also, check previous Daily News Analysis