26 Jul 2022: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

B. GS 2 Related

Category: POLITY

1. Droupadi Murmu is President of India

Syllabus: Indian Constitution – Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive 

Mains: Powers and functions of the President of India.

Context: Ms. Droupadi Murmu was sworn in as the 15th President of India, and became the first tribal head of state and the second woman to occupy the country’s highest constitutional post. 

• Ms. Murmu has become the youngest President at 64.
• In her speech, she laid out her vision of sabka prayas (everyone’s effort) and sabka kartavya (everyone’s duty) to fulfil the expectations of freedom fighters and citizens of independent India. 

Read more on the Powers and Functions of the President of India.

Nut graf:

Ms.Murmu should be looked at as the President of 1.3 billion people of India and not merely as a “tribal president” for the real success of our democracy. The symbolism behind this election can be realised only if the administration backs it up with policies and actions countering the wider disempowerment of tribespeople, justice and fairness to all.

E. Editorials

Category: POLITY

1. Reform bail law, but make the right diagnosis first

Syllabus: Criminal Justice System in India/Important Supreme Court Judgments

Mains: Criminal Justice system in India- Challenges/concerns and recommendations

Background:

• The Supreme Court of India recently in the Satender Kumar Antil vs CBI case took note of the ineffectiveness of India’s bail system. The Supreme Court lamented that despite comprehensive guidelines regarding granting of bail, such as setting timelines for the disposal of bail applications, these guidelines are not being followed. This the Court argued goes against the principle of ‘presumption of innocence’ and ‘bail not jail’ as the norm.
  • India’s criminal justice system is plagued by serious challenges. Over 75% of India’s prison population are undertrials while overcrowding in Indian prisons stands at 118%.
• The Supreme Court has also called for new and separate legislation regarding bail.

Challenges:

• Before making any attempts to formulate separate legislation for bail, there is a need to first understand the nature of the problem contributing to this crisis.

Lack of safeguards against arbitrary arrests:

• People especially from the disadvantaged sections of society like migrants, the poor, and those who don’t have a family or who do not own any assets, lack sufficient safeguards against arrests. There is also a lack of effective enforcement of safeguards against arbitrary arrest.
• Also, clauses such as the arrest of a person are justified as ‘necessary’ if the police have ‘reasons to believe’ that it is required to ensure their presence in court put disadvantaged sections at higher risk of arrest because of their socio-economic conditions.

Issues with bail adjudication:

• The power to grant bail is largely based on the court’s discretion.
• Despite clear guidelines by the Supreme Court on the exercise of discretion by courts in deciding bail applications, these guidelines continue to be overlooked by the lower courts.
• The guidelines lay stress upon the need to release applicants on bail. However, courts rarely exercise their discretion for granting bail and generally take a stringent approach against the release on bail. Also, the offence-based and person-based considerations in deciding bail applications remain unclear.
• As a result, some are either denied bail or granted bail with onerous conditions. Bail conditions in the nature of cash bonds, surety bonds, proof of property ownership and solvency, place a disproportionate burden on the disadvantaged sections of society.

Challenges in bail compliance:

• A large number of undertrials continue to remain in prison despite being granted bail due to challenges in complying with bail conditions.
• Lack of means to arrange for money/property and local sureties, lack of residence and identity proof, severely undermine an undertrial’s ability to comply with bail conditions.

Nut Graf:

There is an urgent need for bail reform and coming up with a new bail law as suggested by the Supreme Court is the need of the hour. However, for any bail law to effectively provide relief, a careful re-evaluation of the existing challenges is necessary.

Category: ENVIRONMENT

1. Backsliding on climate action

Syllabus: Conservation, Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Environmental Impact Assessment.

Mains: Failure of the developed countries to adhere to their climate commitments- concerns.

Background:

Failing climate action commitments:

• Western nations seem to be reneging on their promised climate action under the Paris deal.
  • Countries in Europe seem to be moving back towards carbon-intensive fossil fuels like coal. There also seems to be growing resentment among the citizenry against imposed emission cuts in sectors such as agriculture and industry which they feel could undermine economic growth and development. The economic disruption caused by the pandemic has resulted in a recession-like situation in Europe and the appetite for climate action seems to be waning.
  • Fossil fuels are making a quiet comeback in the U.S. too. Having pushed to make a choice between concentrating on the economy to get it back into recovery mode and fighting hard against climate change, climate action seems to be taking a back seat.
• There seem to be attempts to reinterpret the Paris deal aimed at downgrading the 2030 commitments made under the Paris Agreement.
  • The developing countries by calling for a global net zero seem to be deflecting attention away from the concept of Common But Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR). There seems to be a clear attempt at misinterpreting the concept of net zero by developed countries.
  • Also, the calls for early peaking of carbon emissions tend to overlook the provisions laid out in the Paris Climate Agreement. This would result in undue pressure on developing countries to peak early.
  • Article 4 of the Paris Agreement defines ‘Global Peaking’ thus: “In order to achieve the long-term temperature goal set out in Article 2, Parties aim to reach global peaking of greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, recognizing that peaking will take longer for developing country Parties.”
• The developed countries have not kept up their promise of mobilising $100 billion per year by 2020 for climate action in developing countries. They have also failed to ensure sufficient transfer of technology to facilitate a transition towards less carbon-intensive economy in developing countries.

Concerns:

• The downgrading of the commitments made by the carbon-intensive developed countries would render the achievement of the target of limiting global warming to below 2°C almost impossible.
• Also, the Global South could be forced to compensate for the shortfall in climate action if and when the developed countries downgrade their pledges of climate action. This will adversely impact the economic and social developments in such countries.

Recommendations:

• The developed countries, given their historical emissions, will have to peak first with more time for developing countries.
• Also the developing countries must be given more time to achieve net zero later than developed countries. In fact, the developed countries should be pushed to adopt a net negative carbon emissions target to compensate for their historical emissions. The developed countries should reach net zero earlier than 2050 in order to achieve the overall global net-zero target by around mid-century.

Nut Graf

The “global stocktake” of the Paris Agreement will be done in 2023 to assess the world’s collective climate action. Developing countries like India should hold the countries of the developed world accountable to their climate action commitments made under the Paris Climate Agreement.