14 Jan 2021 CNA:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY
1. Adultery law must stay for military: govt.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. A strong India would act as ‘counterbalance’ to China: U.S.
HEALTH
1. SC takes cognisance of contamination of rivers
C. GS 3 Related
ECONOMY
1. RBI forms working group on digital lending
MOBILIZATION OF RESOURCES
1. Loan apps: Chinese among 2 arrested
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
ECONOMY
1. Farm laws, their constitutional validity, and hope
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Final blow
F. Prelims Facts
G. Tidbits
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Nothing here for today!!!

Category: POLITY

1. Adultery law must stay for military: govt.

Context: SC Bench has referred the petition filed by the Ministry of Defence to Chief Justice of India.

Details:

• The Ministry of Defence petition seeks an exemption of armed forces personnel from the adultery judgement that was delivered by the Supreme Court.
• Government has reasoned as to why there is a need to look into the earlier Supreme Court judgement and a need to look at the army personnel as a “distinct class”.

Supreme Court judgement

• IPC Section 497 states, “Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery.”
• The Constitutional Bench deemed that Section 497 (adultery) of the Indian Penal Code cannot “command” married couples to remain loyal to each other for the fear of penal punishment.
• The Supreme Court scrapped the pre-independence provision of adultery law under Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), ruling the law arbitrary and against the constitutional ideals of liberty, equality and freedom.

Defence Ministry plea for exemption

• The government has reasoned that there is a possibility of doubts arising in the minds of the army personnel who are serving far away from their families over any untoward activity.
• The Centre said that decriminalizing adultery may cause ‘instability’ within the armed forces as defence personnel are expected to stay separated from their families.
• The government further added 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.
• The three Acts have termed that adultery amounted to unbecoming conduct and a violation of discipline.
• The 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.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. A strong India would act as ‘counterbalance’ to China: U.S.

Context:

• The outgoing US President-led administration has chosen to declassify a sensitive document on the U.S. strategic framework for the Indo-Pacific from 2018.
• The document has details regarding the objectives and strategies with regard to China, North Korea, India and other countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

Details:

• The document gives a sneak-peak into the US foreign policy objectives and what the foreign policy intends to achieve.
• The US foreign policy has in the recent past been excessively focused upon two theatres, i.e, West Asia and the Indo-Pacific.

Indo-Pacific region

• The document talks about the need to maintain “U.S. strategic primacy” in the region and promoting a “liberal economic order” while stopping China from establishing “illiberal spheres of influence” as the U.S.’s first national security challenge.
• The US sees China as a strategic competitor bent on circumventing international rules and norms and a key security concern across the Indo-Pacific region.
• The Indo-Pacific region has enjoyed growing popularity in the recent years as a geographical and strategic construct in the foreign and security policy discourse in Japan, the United States, Australia, India, France and some Southeast Asian states.
• The US-China tussle encompasses several dimensions, beginning from military threat, conflicts in trade policy, political-ideological aspects and competing ideas on regional order.

Act-East policy

• As a matter of strategy, the US seeks to promote a peaceful resolution of disputes and transparent infrastructure-debt practices. The infrastructure-debt practices appear to be an indirect reference to China’s maligned ‘debt-trap’ infrastructure projects.
• It is also a reference to alternatives to financing by China’s Belt Road Initiative, which has put the borrowing countries in precarious positions with regards to debt scenario.
• India’s ‘Act East‘ policy is a diplomatic initiative to promote economic, strategic and cultural relations with the vast Asia-Pacific region at different levels.
• The U.S. aims to support India’s “Act East” policy and its aspiration to be a leading global power, highlighting its compatibility with the U.S., Japanese and Australian vision of the Indo-Pacific.
• A coalition of a strong India and other like-minded countries would act as a counterbalance to China’s aggressive manoeuvres.

Indian angle

• India has emerged as a vital plank in US.’s regional strategy, for the document talks about US.’s plans of partnering India on security issues and about the cooperation of the two countries in the maritime domain to offset any China-led preponderance of power.
• The U.S. wants India to play a more proactive role in the region; it looks at India as a net security provider in the region. It also envisages greater leadership roles for India in forums like the East Asia Summit and the ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus.
• The document speaks about solidifying a lasting strategic partnership with India, it mentions that a strong Indian military will be helpful in effectively collaborating with the U.S and its regional partners.
• The two powers will have to bring about a synergy through enhanced defence cooperation and interoperability.
• The document throws light on how the US sees India-China dynamics over territorial claims at the border, in the maritime domain, trade, etc.
• The document talks of offering support to India via military, diplomatic and intelligence channels in a bid to assist India in dealing with issues such as the border dispute with China and access to water, including the Brahmaputra and other rivers facing diversion by China.
• This declassification has come at a very crucial point of time, with India and China involved in exchange along the Line of Actual Control in 2020.

Russia and North Korea

• The other two challenges are ensuring that North Korea does not threaten the U.S. and advancing U.S. economic leadership globally.
• The document, while referring to Russia, says the country will “remain a marginal player” in the region relative to the U.S., China and India, however, this cannot be definitive.
• Russia has taken decisive steps in the region with port calls by Russian warships in Sri Lanka and Pakistan, and two new naval drills with China taking place off the Cape of Good Hope with South Africa and in the northern Indian Ocean with Iran.
• Apparently, Russia’s increasing interest in the Indian Ocean region is driven by the two new frontiers of its foreign policy – the Middle East and Africa.
• The document talks of a very highly unlikely option at the present moment, it talks about convincing Kim of North Korea that the lone way of survival is by relinquishing North Korea’s nuclear arsenal.

Conclusion:

The document outlines what the US strategy appears to be like, however with the change in personnel, the US strategy in the future doesn’t have to be any similar or different to what the document reveals.
Category: HEALTH

1. SC takes cognisance of contamination of rivers

Context: The Supreme Court of India appears to have taken up the issue of river contamination and its effect on public health.

Details:

• The untreated sewage effluents are major culprits in river contamination, the SC noted the lapses of the municipal bodies in carrying out their duties.

‘Right to life’

• Access to clean, potable water is essential to lead a dignified living and also to ensure a healthy population.
• The deterioration of the quality of freshwater will have dire consequences on public health.
• The Right to Life under Article 21 of the Constitution encompasses the right to clean environment, and further, pollution-free water.
• The Bench was hearing a petition filed by the Delhi Jal Board (DJB) to “immediately stop” Haryana from discharging pollutants into the Yamuna, which is causing an alarming increase in ammonia levels in the water.
• The Board said the increased ammonia levels have impaired its water treatment plants and a drinking water crisis looms large in Delhi.
• The petition triggered the court to step in to protect rivers in similar peril as the Yamuna.
• It also sought response from Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Conclusion:

• Open surface water resources including rivers are the lifeline of human civilization, thus attention has to be given on factors that are aiding deterioration of water quality from rivers.

Category: MOBILIZATION OF RESOURCES

1. Loan apps: Chinese among 2 arrested

Context:

• Continuing their probe into the alleged financial irregularities by instant loan app companies, the Rachakonda police announced the arrest of one more Chinese national and his Indian associate.

Details:

• The proliferation of several unauthorised digital lending platforms/mobile apps has become a cause for concern.
• Several suicides are being reported from Telangana following alleged harassment by personnel of digital lending platforms.
• These platforms have been indulging in high-handed recovery practices that have driven people to take the extreme step.
• Read more about this in CNA dated Jan 9, 2021.

Modus operandi

• The accused is from China, he along with his Indian associates, operated over 30 instant loan mobile apps, through which money was disbursed.
• They further forged a partnership with Jia Liang Infotech Private Limited, Pune, for recovery of the loan amounts.
• Initially, they ran call centres as a means to recover the loan amounts from the borrowers and after that, they tied up with Jia Liang.
• If there arose a scenario wherein any borrower does not respond or defaults on payment, the firms would instruct Jia Liang to start abusing the borrowers and threaten them to repay the due amounts.

Usurious interest rates

• The call centre staff made calls to the borrowers and his/her inner circle such as their relatives, friends and insisted that they repay the loan amounts with abnormal interest added by the companies.
• The police have frozen ₹30 crores in various bank accounts of the companies in question and more accounts are being verified.

Category: ECONOMY

1. Farm laws, their constitutional validity, and hope

Context:

• The honourable Supreme Court of India has put brakes on the farm laws and also has set up a committee consisting of experts to negotiate between the two parties, namely the farmers and the government.

Details:

• The judicial intervention marks a new phase of the farm agitations, that have been at a full cry since December.
• There appear to be several unresolved issues, like the continuation of MSP, contract farming, the status of APMC mandis, etc.
• Staying of farm laws provides an opportunity for the government to revisit the laws.

Committee of experts

• The farmers’ unions have expressed their displeasure at the composition of the committee.
• The nominated experts have all been known to be staunch backers of the laws and have more than once expressed their criticism of the ongoing agitations.
• Impartiality of the committee members is a sine qua non to lead an objective scrutiny of laws and submit reports.
• If the committee of experts does not start with a ‘clean slate’, then it is foolhardy to expect a different outcome.
• For conducting negotiations with both the government and the farmers, the members of the committee ought to and should be known to having an open mind on the core issues, which alone will create necessary confidence in the parties concerned.
• The farmers have been steadfast in their approach, they want nothing less than new laws which cater to their grievances. This would mean that the agitations are not coming to an end any time soon.
• The Supreme Court will decide upon the constitutional validity of farm laws, however, this presents a very tricky picture, the farmer agitation will not conclude if Supreme Court upholds the validity of the laws, as the demand from the farmers has been for new laws.
• The farmers’ demands for repeal of the laws has not gone down well with the government. Though the process of repealing is simple the government changing course to repeal the laws after such a long standoff doesn’t yet appear to be on the horizon.

Not in accordance with rules

• The legal challenge to the laws is around the legislative competence of the Parliament to enact these laws, the item of agriculture falls in the state list.
• Any ordinary bill to be made law must pass through the two houses of the parliament.
• It is said that the voting on the Farm Bills in the Rajya Sabha was not done in accordance with the rules of the House.
• The rules of the house place an obligation on the Chair to order for the recording of votes (division) by members even if one member demands it.
• The Deputy Chairman of the House, who was chairing the sitting, did not order division even at the request of many members of the house.
• The excuse of disorder in the house cannot be justified for passing the bill without division of votes.
• Thus, there was a violation of the rules of the House in passing the Bills by voice vote when there was a demand for the division.

Voice vote is unrecognised

• The issue in hand is more than mere subversion of rules of the house. It involves the violation of the Constitution itself.
• Article 100 says that all questions at any sitting of either House shall be determined by a majority of votes of the members present and voting.
• The majority can be determined only in terms of number, the Constitution does not recognise voice vote to determine the majority in a legislature. However, deciding a question by voice vote is a practice prevailing in all legislatures.
• Voice vote is for matters of convenience and when there is an overwhelming majority or consensus of the issue.
• But when a member demands voting in the House, the Chair has, then, no option but to order the actual voting.
• Since this was not done and the Bills were all passed by voice vote, there is a violation of the rules as well as the Constitution.

Options before the judiciary

• Article 122 of the Constitution provides for protection to the proceedings of the house from judicial review. However, this protection is available only when the proceedings are challenged on the irregularity of procedure and violation of the Constitution is not a mere irregularity of procedure.
• The Supreme Court in Raja Ram Pal’s case had laid down that the proceedings can be challenged on substantive grounds like a violation of the constitutional provisions but not on mere procedure irregularity.
• Therefore, the Farm Bills were passed in the Rajya Sabha in violation of Article 100 of the Constitution and can be challenged in the Supreme Court on that ground.
• Article 107 says that the bill is not deemed to have been passed unless it has been agreed to by both Houses.
• This paves the way for the Court to strike down the laws as the requirement of Article 107 has not been fulfilled.
• The Court may also choose to invalidate the proceedings of the Rajya Sabha and send the three ‘Acts’ back to that House for further proceedings in accordance with the constitutional provisions. If this happens, it may provide a good opportunity for the government to revisit these laws.
• These can then be referred to a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha which can invite the farmers and all other stakeholders and finally produce better Bills.
• The above-mentioned scenario provides both the parties a way out of this impasse. Such an opportunity is invaluable in the present circumstances when the government is facing virtually a no-win situation.

Conclusion

• The judiciary in this case can only adjudicate on the constitutional validity of the laws but cannot offer a way out of this deadlock.
• The role of the parliament has gained prominence in this scenario, once the Court decides the legality or constitutionality of a law, the political and legislative aspects of the issue will have to be dealt with only by Parliament.
• Parliament and its systems alone can produce a satisfactory solution. The only condition is that the government which is accountable to Parliament should genuinely demonstrate its faith in those systems.

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Final blow

Context:

• The Trump administration announced it was returning Cuba to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, a move that could complicate any efforts by the incoming Biden administration to revive Obama-era detente with Havana.

Details:

• The Trump administration’s decision has been seen as a political move lacking any strategic and moral reasoning.
• The U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has justified such a move on the back of Cuba’s hosting of 10 Colombian rebels, a few American fugitives and its backing for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
• To categorise such an event as evidence for rendering support for acts of international terrorism lacks sound reasoning.

What does it mean?

• The designation now puts the Caribbean country with Iran, North Korea and Syria, and would trigger fresh sanctions, making it more difficult for Cuba to do business.
• The designation reimposes major restrictions on Cuba, including barring most travel between Cuba and the United States, as well as the transfer of money between the two countries.

Cuba’s point of view

• Cuba believes that returning the Colombian rebels would endanger the peace process in which it is a mediator.
• The leaders of the National Liberation Army (ELN), the largest active guerrilla group in Colombia, travelled to Havana as part of peace negotiations that collapsed after the attack.
• Cuba has received plaudits in the past for hosting the successful peace talks between the Colombian government and the former FARC rebel army.
• In the context of Venezuela, Cuba is pursuing a foreign policy which it believes serves the interest of Cuba, irrespective of what Washington has to say.
• Cuba is witnessing a spate of domestic protests recently for freedom of expression, but none of the protests would point fingers at the single-party communist government for being hand-in-glove with actors that indulge in terrorist activities.
• The timing of the decision has been questioned by many, with the swearing-in ceremony of the President-elect fast approaching, it is taking important foreign policy decisions that are going to have ramifications for the new regime.

History

• America’s acrimony towards Cuba can be traced back to the era of the Cold War, however, all seemed forgotten when the former U.S. President Barack Obama extended the olive branch to Cuba during his presidency.
• Obama chose a more realistic approach towards the Cubans than his predecessors. The U.S. previously tried to strongarm Cuba for decades with harsh sanctions, hoping that the Castro regime would eventually collapse.
• But the reality was far from what was hoped by the US establishments prior to the Obama administration.
• With the fall of the USSR, cold war slowly dissipating and a new generation of Americans demanding a reset in foreign policy, Mr Obama re-established ties, opened the American embassy and travelled to Havana, marking a new beginning.
• The re-establishment of ties revolved around taking more confidence-building measures between the two countries and working towards a gradual normalisation of ties.
• The move of Donald Trump to deviate from the well-established precedent has undone all the good work done by the previous regime.
• There is an anomaly here that the U.S., the world’s largest military power that had cooperated with communist China since the early 1970s, still treats this tiny communist country that lies off the Florida coast as an enemy.

Conclusion

• In the run-up to the elections, Mr Biden, who coincidentally served under Obama, had criticised the Trump administration’s Cuba policy and promised a more open approach.
• The president-elect can undo Donald Trump’s decision but that will require time and the damage could have already been done to the nascent goodwill that was brewing between the two countries.
• Biden shouldn’t be deterred by the policy reversal on Cuba by the Trump administration.

Nothing here for today!!!

Nothing here for today!!!

Q1. Global Findex report is released by

Q2. Consider the following about Quadrilateral Coordination Group (QCG):

Q3. Consider the following:

Q4. Consider the following statements about Judicial Review:

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

1. What are the new geopolitical challenges and strategic dilemmas that India will encounter in the Indo-Pacific? (15 marks, 250 words) [GS-2, International Relations]
2. Discuss the importance of Parliamentary committees taking into context the recently enacted farm laws. (10 marks, 150 words) [GS-3, Economy]

14 Jan 2021 CNA:- Download PDF Here