06 Feb 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 6 Feb 2020:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Trust formed for Ram temple construction: PM
2. Centre moves SC in Nirbhaya case
3. Supreme Court panel recommends several prison reforms
4. Surrogate mother need not be a close relative, Rajya Sabha committee 
recommends
C. GS 3 Related
ECONOMY
1. Cooperative banks to come under Reserve Bank regulation
2. Govt. reviewing dividend tax rules for real estate, infra investment trusts
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. CPCB pulls up 14 coal plants
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
POLITY
1. Course correction for the Speaker’s office
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
1. Reverse Osmosis (RO) water filters
F. Tidbits
1. Service index hits 7-year high in January
2. Budget disappoints global financial majors
3. LIC IPO will certainly happen next year: Economic Affairs secretary
4. Navy will have its third Scorpene sub this year
G. Prelims Facts
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. Trust formed for Ram temple construction: PM

Context:

• The Cabinet has approved a scheme for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya by setting up an autonomous trust, the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra, to take forward the process as per the Supreme Court’s orders.
• The Supreme Court-mandated three-month deadline to set up a trust was to end on February 9, 2020.

Details:

• It has been decided that the whole of the approx 67.703 acres acquired land will be transferred to the newly created Sri Ram Janma Bhoomi Tirtha Kshetra trust.
• The Uttar Pradesh government has given its approval for 5 acres to be allotted to Sunni Waqf Board, as ordered by the Supreme Court.
• There will be 15 trustees in Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust out of which one trustee will always be from Dalit society.
• The trust will also be an independent body, capable of taking all decisions regarding the construction of the temple.
• Two prominent practising Hindus will be nominated by the board of trustees. Two Hindu IAS officials below the rank of Joint Secretary to the government will be appointed by the Centre and the U.P. government. Ayodhya District Collector will be the ex-officio trustee.

2. Centre moves SC in Nirbhaya case

Context:

The Centre has appealed to the Supreme Court within hours of the Delhi High Court’s rejection of its plea to separately execute the death sentence of the Nirbhaya gang-rape convicts.

Issue:

• The High Court judgment held that the Delhi Prison Rules of 2018 observe that the pendency of any application filed by one convict would necessarily require the postponement of the death sentences of all his co-convicts, even those whose mercy plea had been rejected.
• The convicts have to be executed together and not separately, the High Court held.

Details:

• The Centre had challenged the decision of the sessions court to postpone the issuance of fresh death warrants against the four convicts, especially Mukesh Kumar Singh, whose mercy petition had already been declined by the President.
• The government has argued in the Supreme Court that under the Delhi Prison Rules of 2018 the pendency of legal remedies or mercy petitions of other co-convicts would have no bearing on the fate of a convict whose plea for mercy has already been rejected.
• The government has argued that the 2018 Rules do not prohibit the execution of death sentence of co-convicts, one by one, on the rejection of their respective mercy petitions.

This issue has been covered in the 1^st February 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis.

3. Supreme Court panel recommends several prison reforms

Context:

A Supreme Court-appointed committee to reform prisons has given out several recommendations.

Background:

• The court had, in September 2018, appointed the Justice Roy Committee to examine the various problems plaguing prisons, from overcrowding to lack of legal advice to convicts to issues of remission and parole.
• Besides Justice Roy, a former Supreme Court judge, the members include an IG, Bureau of Police Research and Development, and the DG (Prisons), Tihar Jail.
• The decision was in reaction to a letter written by former Chief Justice of India R.C. Lahoti highlighting the overcrowding of prisons, unnatural deaths of prisoners, gross inadequacy of staff and the lack of trained staff.

Recommendations:

• Every new prisoner should be allowed a free phone call a day to his family members to see him through his first week in jail.
• The court said overcrowding is a common bane in the under-staffed prisons. Both the prisoner and his guard equally suffer human rights violations.
  • The undertrial prisoner, who is yet to get his day in court, suffers the most, languishing behind bars for years without a hearing.
  • Speedy trial remains one of the best ways to remedy the unwarranted phenomenon of over-crowding.
• It said that the Prison Department has a perennial average of 30%-40% vacancies. The shortage has lingered over the years.
• Another recommendation is for the use of video-conferencing for trial.
  • “Physical production in courts continued, which however remains far below the aspired 100% in several States, mainly because of unavailability of sufficient police guards for escort and transportation,” it said.
• The report described the preparation of food in kitchens as primitive and arduous. The kitchens are congested and unhygienic and the diet has remained unchanged for years now.

Read more about Prison Reforms.

4. Surrogate mother need not be a close relative, Rajya Sabha committee recommends

Context:

15 major changes have been suggested in a report presented by the Select Committee on Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill.

Background:

• The Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha in August 2019, but had to be referred for re-assessment to the select committee in November 2019, as several Rajya Sabha members found certain clauses contentious such as allowing only altruistic surrogacy with a near relative as a surrogate.
  • The bill provides to prohibit commercial surrogacy and allow only altruistic surrogacy.
• The committee held nine sittings for a detailed examination of the bill that included discussions with various key stakeholders such as the Department of Health Research, National Human Rights Commission, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, etc.

Details:

• “Surrogacy per se and The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019, in particular, is a unique amalgamation of social, ethical, moral, legal and scientific issues and it is necessary to harmonise the conflicting interests inherent in the process of surrogacy to ensure betterment of child while protecting rights of surrogate mother,” the committee observed in its report.
• While commercial surrogacy ban has been endorsed, the committee has recommended keeping an option for compensating the surrogate mother beyond medical expenses and insurance coverage that includes taking care of her nutritional food requirements, maternity wear, etc. that is vital for the wellbeing and upkeep of the surrogate mother.
• The controversial clause of “close relative” has been done away with and instead the committee has recommended the term to be replaced with a “willing woman”.
• Single women, including a widow and divorcee, between the ages of 35 and 45 years, should be able to opt for surrogacy, it said.
• It has suggested deleting the definition of ‘infertility’ as the inability to conceive after five years of unprotected intercourse on the ground that it was too long a period for a couple to wait for a child.
• Also suggested is, increasing insurance cover for the surrogate mother from the 16 months proposed in the Bill to 36 months.
• Meanwhile, in order to protect the interests of the child born through surrogacy, the Committee recommended that the order regarding the parentage and custody of the child, issued by a Magistrate, shall be the birth affidavit for the surrogate child.
• As a general recommendation, the Select Committee said that the Assisted Reproductive Technologies (Regulation) Bill (ART), which is awaiting Cabinet approval, may be taken up before the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, since the ART Bill primarily deals with technical, scientific and medical aspects, including the storage of embryos, gametes, oocytes, etc. as contained in the Surrogacy Bill.

Read more about Surrogacy Regulation Bill.

C. GS 3 Related

Category: ECONOMY

1. Cooperative banks to come under Reserve Bank regulation

Context:

• The Union Cabinet has approved amendments to the Banking Regulation Act to bring 1,540 cooperative banks under the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) regulation.

Background:

• The amendments come in the wake of the recent Punjab & Maharashtra Cooperative (PMC) Bank crisis.
• In the PMC Bank case, the RBI had to step in after massive irregularities in its loan accounts were detected.
  • The bank had allegedly loaned about 6,500 crores to the Housing Development & Infrastructure Limited, amounting to more than 73% of its overall exposure, which was not repaid.
  • It is alleged that over 21,000 fake accounts were created to conceal the bad loans.
• The regulator had to place a withdrawal limit for account holders, which led to major public strife and protests by them.

Details:

• Cooperative banks have 8.6 lakh account holders, with a total deposit of about Rs. 5 lakh crore.
• The proposed amendments, along with the government’s decision to increase the insurance cover on bank deposits from Rs. 1 lakh to Rs. 5 lakh, have been brought to strengthen the financial stability of cooperative banks and boost public confidence in the banking system.

What are the amendments?

• The administrative matters would continue to be under the Registrar, of the Cooperative Bank.
• However, cooperative banks would be regulated under the RBI’s banking guidelines.
• Their auditing would also be done as per RBI norms.
• Qualifications would be laid down for appointments, including that of Chief Executive Officers.
• Prior permission from the RBI would be required for the appointment of key positions.
• RBI would deal with issues such as loan waivers.
• The RBI would also have powers to supersede the board of any cooperative bank in financial distress.

Read more about PMC Bank Crisis.

2. Govt. reviewing dividend tax rules for real estate, infra investment trusts

Context:

The government is reviewing the negative implications of the scrapping of the Dividend Distribution Tax, announced in the Union Budget 2020-21, for investors in real estate investment trusts and infrastructure investment trusts, also known as REITs and InvITs.

Details:

• Dividend income was tax-free in the hands of REIT and InvIT investors so far, making it attractive for high-net worth investors to put money in these trusts.
• Now, the dividend income will be rendered taxable in the hands of the investors.

Concerns:

• Over the last several union budgets, the government has been incentivising InvITs and REITs while acknowledging the need to rationalise the tax regime for them and developing a new investment asset class.
• It is believed that the recent move will likely hit both global investment inflow into these assets and local retail investors’ participation.
• It has been pointed out that InvITs and REITs are mandated by the capital market regulator Securities & Exchange Board of India (SEBI) to pay out 90% of net distributable cash flows as dividends to unitholders. Hence, unlike all the other listed companies, they don’t have the option to retain surplus income for growth of their portfolio instead of distributing it as dividend, which would now be subject to tax and reduce the yield to investors.
• Also, the analysts claim that the move could result in multiple stage taxation of these instruments.

Category: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. CPCB pulls up 14 coal plants

Context:

The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) has pulled up 14 thermal power plants for not complying with a December 31, 2019 deadline to limit sulphur dioxide emissions.

Background:

• To limit particulate matter, sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide emission from thermal plants, India put in place a phased-approach that directs 440 coal-fired units — responsible for about 166,000 MW of power — to put in place measures to limit pollution by December 2022.
• However, 11 plants in a 300 km radius of Delhi were to comply by December 31, 2019 because of the poor air quality in the city as well as the surrounding Gangetic plain.
• Some of them claimed to have set in place the process for acquiring flue-gas desulphurisation technology whereas others said they were yet to award tenders. Only one of these plants has actually implemented technology to limit emissions.

Plea in National Green Tribunal (NGT):

• Non-compliance by the thermal power plants is an ongoing dispute being contested at the National Green Tribunal.
• There is an ongoing case in the Supreme Court regarding the extensions given to these plants.
• The 14 plants have been asked to explain to the CPCB why they have not complied with the norms and why action should not be taken.
• The CPCB has the power to impose steep fines or shut a unit under the provisions of the Environment Protection Act.

Details:

• Flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) is a set of technologies used to remove sulphur dioxide (SO₂) from exhaust flue gases of fossil-fuel power plants, and from the emissions of other sulphur oxide emitting processes.
  • It is a control device that absorbs and reacts using the alkaline reagent to produce a solid compound.
  • For a typical coal-fired power station, flue-gas desulfurization (FGD) may remove 90 percent or more of the SO₂ in the flue gases.
• As per Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) estimates, these norms can help reduce PM emissions by about 35%, NOx emission by about 70%, and SO2 emissions by more than 85% by 2026-27 against a business-as-usual scenario with no pollution control technologies.

D. GS 4 Related

Nothing here for today!!!

E. Editorials

Category: POLITY

1. Course correction for the Speaker’s office

Background

CNA dated Jan 23, 2020

Article 93 of the Indian Constitution speaks about the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of the People

• The House of the People (Lok Sabha) shall, as soon as may be, choose two members of the House to be respectively Speaker and Deputy Speaker thereof and, so often as the office of Speaker or Deputy Speaker becomes vacant, the House shall choose another member to be Speaker or Deputy Speaker, as the case may be.

In the Lok Sabha, the Lower House of the Indian Parliament, both Presiding Officers—the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker – are elected from among its members by a simple majority of members present and voting in the House. As such, no specific qualifications are prescribed for being elected the Speaker.

Functions performed by the Speaker

The speaker is guided by the provisions of the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha.

• The Speaker is benefitted from the Directions issued by the predecessors which are compiled periodically.
• The Speaker is assisted by the Secretary-General of the Lok Sabha and senior officers of the Secretariat on parliamentary activities and on matters of practice and procedure.

The office of the Speaker occupies a pivotal position in our parliamentary democracy. It has been said of the office of the Speaker that while the members of Parliament represent the individual constituencies, the Speaker represents the full authority of the House itself.

• The Speaker is the head of the Lok Sabha.
• The Speaker is the guardian of the rights and privileges of the House, its Committees and members.
  • The Speaker decides the duration of debates, can discipline members and even override decisions by committees.
• While facilitating the business of the House and to maintain decorum in the House, the Speaker has ‘extensive functions to perform in matters regulatory, administrative and judicial, falling under their domain. The Speaker enjoys vast authority under the Constitution and the Rules, as well as inherently’.
• The Speaker is the ultimate interpreter and arbiter of those provisions which relate to the functioning of the House. The decisions taken by the Speaker is final and binding and ordinarily cannot be easily challenged.

Jawaharlal Nehru, one of the chief architects of India’s freedom and a moving force behind its Constitution, describes the position as: “The Speaker represents the House. She represents the dignity of the House, the freedom of the House and because the House represents the nation, in a particular way, the Speaker becomes a symbol of the nation’s freedom and liberty. Therefore, that should be an honored position, a free position and should be occupied always by persons of outstanding ability and impartiality.”

The nature of duties of the Speaker, technically as an “arbiter” or a “quasi-judicial body” should not be limited exclusively to matters under the Tenth Schedule; rather, it extends to a range of its functions.

Speaker’s role has been questioned on the allegation of bias

• The Supreme Court has observed in Jagjit Singh versus State of Haryana that, “…Without meaning any disrespect for any particular Speaker in the country, but only going by some events of the recent past, certain questions have been raised about the confidence in the matter of impartiality on some issues having political overtones which are decided by the Speaker in his capacity as a Tribunal.”
• As a minority view, Justice J.S. Verma in Kihoto Hollohan vs Zachillhu and Others observed: “The Speaker being an authority within the House and his tenure being dependent on the will of the majority therein, likelihood of suspicion of bias could not be ruled out.”

Speakers as impartial and apolitical

• The role and impartiality of the Speaker currently resonates with his personal image and character.
• Even if the speaker wants to stay neutral, be apolitical and non-partisan, the structural issues in the system, the manner of appointment of the Speaker and tenure in office, will not allow the Speaker to completely dissociate from the party considerations as the electoral system and conventions in India have ‘not developed to ensure protection to the office’.
• A member is appointed to the office of the Speaker if a motion nominating an individual is carried in the House.
  • Elections are not always by consensus and there have been cases when different parties have fielded their own candidates.
  • All political parties campaign in the constituency of the Speaker. Even if the Speaker is re-elected to the House, the office of the Speaker in India is still open for elections’.
• Therefore, what is required is not merely incidental changes in the powers of the Speaker; rather a major revamp in the structure of the office itself.
• It is suggested that a scheme should be brought wherein Speakers should renounce all political affiliations, membership and activity once they have been elected, both within the Assembly and in the country as a whole.

UK Model

• In the UK Model, the Speaker resigns from the party and remains politically neutral. He abstains from expressing any political views and he never voices an opinion on party issues.
• As a result, they have developed a convention in which the Speaker is elected unopposed.
  • Political parties do not field their candidates against the Speaker in the general poll.
  • The major political parties usually at the time of general elections as a matter of convention, support the Speaker as an independent candidate.
• Thus he is re-elected as the Speaker of the House on account of strict impartiality and nonalignment to party politics.

But in India, usually, the Speaker is elected from the majority party. The Speaker’s continuation or re-election in Parliament depends on the existence of the Government. Hence, the speaker owes his allegiance to the political party from which he was elected.

Conclusion

• Impartiality, fairness and autonomy in decision-making are the hallmarks of a robust institution.
• It is the freedom from interference and pressures which provide the necessary atmosphere where one can work with an absolute commitment to the cause of neutrality as a constitutional value.
• At a time when India’s fall in ranks in the latest Democracy Index has evoked concern, it is expected that Parliament will pay heed to the reasoning of the Supreme Court and take steps to strengthen the institution of the Speaker.

Category: ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

1. Reverse Osmosis (RO) water filters

Context

• The Central government has drawn up plans to ban the use of Membrane-based Water Purification Systems (MWPS) – primarily Reverse Osmosis (RO) systems in areas where the water supplied meets the Bureau of Indian Standards norms.

Background

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) prohibited the use of RO purifiers in areas where Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) levels are below 500 mg per litre.
• NGT sought a ban on RO filters because they waste water and in the process of removing salts, “they often deprived drinking water of essential salts”.
  • Home filters waste nearly 80% of the water during treatment.
  • Some research has shown that the process can cut the levels of calcium and magnesium, which are vital nutrients.

RO process

• Reverse Osmosis (RO) is a water treatment process that removes contaminants from water.
  • It uses pressure to force water through a membrane that retains the contaminants on one side and allows the pure water to pass to the other side.
  • RO purification units involve two processes. The unit consists of two filters:
    • A carbon or sediment filter, also called Pre-Filter and
    • A semi-permeable membrane.
  • The Pre-Filter removes large particles from the water before it passes through the semi-permeable membrane.
  • The Membrane allows water to pass through but traps pollutants and bacteria in its porous surface.
• In RO, the TDS in water — which covers trace chemicals, certain viruses, bacteria and salts — can be reduced, to meet potable water standards.
• Issues with the system: The storage tank must be cleaned periodically.
  • Damaged membranes are not easily detected, so it is hard to tell if the system is functioning normally and safely.

Purpose of the draft

The government’s draft notification prohibits RO purifiers in areas where water quality meets BIS standards.

• The aim is to ensure that after 2022, no more than 25% of water being treated is wasted.
• For residential complexes to reuse the residual waste water for other activities, including gardening.
• Once the rules are finalized, RO machine manufacturers will have to tweak their designs to meet the new parameters so that the system does not discharge water beyond the prescribed limit during the purification process.
• As far as monitoring and enforcement are concerned, the draft left it for BIS to develop a system to monitor, assess and certify in consultation with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) within six months of final notification.
• Enforcement will largely be the responsibility of CPCB and State Pollution Control Boards (SPCBs).

The notification thus implies these filters are only prohibited if the home gets water supply that conforms to the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) for drinking water.

Concerns

• Although several State and city water boards claim BIS standards, the water at homes falls short of the test parameters.
  • The BIS in 2019, ranked several cities on official water supply quality.
  • Delhi was last on the list and only Mumbai met all the standards.
  • In the 28 test parameters, Delhi failed 19, Chennai 9, and Kolkata 10. The BIS norms are voluntary for public agencies that supply piped water but are mandatory for bottled water producers.
  • Moreover, most of the country does not have the luxury of piped water.
• The Composite Water Management Index (CWMI) of NITI Aayog says that 70% of water supply is contaminated. India is ranked 120th among 122 countries in an NGO, WaterAid’s quality index.
• The case for restricting people’s choices on the means they employ to ensure potable water is thus weak.

Conclusion

• The government can come up with changes in the method of water purification but it must delay the crackdown on ROs in so-called “safe supply” areas until consistent evidence through regular and well-publicized water quality tests can convince the skeptical public.
• Therefore, the need is to first reassure public about water quality, then regulate the use of RO purifiers.

2. Budget disappoints global financial majors

• The recently presented Union Budget 2020-21 has received a subdued response from global financial majors who feel that it did not offer any major stimulus, as a result of which economic growth may remain muted longer than expected.
• They also feel that execution would be the key challenge as the government has unveiled an ambitious privatisation plan, which faces many challenges.
• It is largely felt that the Budget had provided no stimulus to revive rural consumption — a key factor for the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) sector — as the total budgeted rural expenditure is largely flat year-on-year.

3. LIC IPO will certainly happen next year: Economic Affairs secretary

What’s in News?

The government has decided to get LIC listed on the markets as part of its disinvestment initiative. The announcement was made by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in her Budget Speech.

• Currently, the government holds the entire 100 per cent stake in insurance behemoth LIC, which is a big investor in share sales, including IPOs of state-run companies.
• In April 2019, LIC acquired a controlling stake in state-run lender IDBI Bank, thereby making it a private sector bank.
• The Centre has indicated that it may need to push through an amendment in the LIC Act, 1956 before the stake sale.

4. Navy will have its third Scorpene sub this year

• The third Scorpene submarine, Karanj, will be delivered to the Indian Navy by December 2020 and all six submarine deliveries would be completed by 2022.
• Discussions are on to fit Air Independent Propulsion (AIP) modules on all Scorpenes beginning 2023.
• The Scorpene submarine has the ability to be equipped with an AIP system.
• Karanj was launched into water in January 2018 and is currently in advanced stages of sea trials.
• The first Scorpene, Kalvari, was commissioned in 2018.
• The second Scorpene Khanderi was inducted in September 2019.

G. Prelims Facts

Nothing here for today!!!

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Consider the following statements:

1. India joined the exclusive group of submarine constructing nations with the commissioning of the first French origin Scorpene-class submarines, in 2018.
2. INS Kalvari is the first of the French origin Scorpene-class submarines built indigenously.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

a. 1 only
b. 2 only
c. Both 1 and 2
d. Neither 1 nor 2

Q2. Consider the following statements with respect to River Beas:

1. It originates near the Rohtang Pass, on the southern end of the Pir Panjal Range.
2. River Beas meets River Satluj at Harike in Punjab.
3. Under the Indus Water Treaty, Pakistan has control over the water flowing in River Beas.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

a. 1 and 2 only
b. 1 and 3 only
c. 3 only
d. 1, 2 and 3

Q3. Consider the following statements with respect to Real Estate Investment 
Trusts (REITs):

1. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) are securities that can be traded on stock exchanges.
2. The money collected under Real estate investment trusts is deployed in income-generating real estate only.
3. India has only four listed REITs.

Which of the given statement/s is/are incorrect?

a. 1 only
b. 2 and 3 only
c. 1 and 2 only
d. 3 only

Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to Brihadishvara Temple:

1. The Temple is located at the South bank of River Kaveri in Thanjavur in Tamil Nadu.
2. The construction of this temple was inaugurated by the Chola King, Rajaraja I.
3. It is also known as “Dakshina Meru” in the inscriptions.

Which of the given statement/s is/are correct?

a. 1 only
b. 2 and 3 only
c. 1 and 2 only
d. 1, 2 and 3 only

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. For Speakers to do their job effectively, insulation from political pressure is essential. Discuss the various issues surrounding the office of the Speaker. Should India follow the UK model? Suggest measures. (15 Marks, 250 Words)
2. Examine the need for Prison Reforms in India. Also, discuss the recommendations of the Justice Roy committee on Prison Reforms. (15 Marks, 250 Words).

Read previous CNA.

CNA 6 Feb 2020:- Download PDF Here