17 Mar 2020: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

17 March 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Bill on Central status to 3 Sanskrit deemed universities passed
2. Lok Sabha passes Appropriation Bill
3. Getting the hang of death penalty
HEALTH
1. Coronavirus: West Bengal invokes Epidemic Diseases Act
2. Experts say India still in second transmission stage
C. GS 3 Related
ECONOMY
1. In U-turn, govt. moots 20-year window to clear telco dues
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. From virtual conferencing to real leadership
HEALTH
1. Fight for the finite
F. Prelims Facts
1. No proposal to ban short selling: exchanges
G. Tidbits
1. To track virus, Israel to tap cellphone data
2. Rajasthan moves SC against CAA
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

2. Lok Sabha passes Appropriation Bill

Context:

The Lok Sabha passed the Appropriation Bill 2020-21 that empowers the government to draw over Rs. 110 lakh crore from the Consolidated Fund of India for its working, as well as for the implementation of its programmes and schemes.

Details:

  • Speaker Om Birla applied “guillotine” — the Parliamentary tool to club all other pending subjects for discussion — after the discussion on the demand for grants to the Ministry of Tourism was completed.

Appropriation Bill:

  • Appropriation Bill gives power to the government to withdraw funds from the Consolidated Fund of India for meeting the expenditure during the financial year.
  • Post the discussions on Budget proposals and the Voting on Demand for Grants, the government introduces the Appropriation Bill in the Lok Sabha.
  • It is intended to give authority to the government to withdraw from the Consolidated Fund, the amounts so voted for meeting the expenditure during the financial year.

Also read: Types of Funds in India

3. Getting the hang of death penalty

Context:

  • The hanging of the four convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case has been deferred multiple times, marked by apparent delaying tactics by the condemned prisoners.
  • The debate over the death sentence has been going on for a long time. Those in favour of capital punishment see it as a deterrence against such types of crimes while others opine that it has not had any such effect.

Stages in death sentence cases

Capital Punishment:

Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is a government-sanctioned practice whereby a person is put to death by the state as a punishment for a crime.

First initiative:

  • In British India’s Legislative Assembly, the first time an issue was raised regarding capital punishment was in 1931.
  • It was then that one of the Members from Bihar sought to introduce a bill to abolish the death penalty for offences under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
  • However, this was defeated.
  • At the time of Independence, India retained several laws put in place by the British colonial government, including capital punishment for various crimes under the IPC.
    • A crucial change in the law was made in 1955 when the Parliament repealed Section 367(5) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which until then mandated the courts to record reasons where it decided not to impose a sentence of death for offences where the death penalty was an option.
    • The CrPC was re-enacted in 1973 where several changes were made, notably to Section 354(3) mandating judges to provide special reasons for why they imposed the death sentence.
  • In 1967, the 35th Report of the Law Commission had argued for the retention of capital punishment in India.
    • The report stated that retribution should not be understood as an “eye for an eye”, but in its refined form as a public denunciation of crime.
    • It also stated that there are a category of individuals who are “cruel and wicked”, and are not capable of reform.
    • A major reason stated in the report for the retention of capital punishment was the unique condition of India, and the society then prevalent.
  • About half-a-century later, the Law Commission, in its 262nd Report, highlighted that the death penalty does not serve the penological goal of deterrence any more than life imprisonment.
  • The commission, in its report published in 2015, recommended that the death penalty be abolished for all crimes other than terrorism-related offences and waging war against the State.

Rarest of rare cases

  • The first legal challenge to the constitutionality of the death penalty came in the 1973 case of Jagmohan Singh vs State of Uttar Pradesh in which the petitioners argued that the death penalty was against the Constitution.
  • The Supreme Court, however, found that the death penalty was a permissible punishment.
  • This was followed by the 1980 landmark verdict of the top court in the Bachan Singh case where it upheld the constitutionality of the death penalty but confined its application to the ‘rarest of rare cases’, to reduce the arbitrariness of the penalty.

International scenario

  • Internationally, countries are classified on their death penalty status based on four categories: abolitionist for all crimes, abolitionist for ordinary crimes, abolitionist de facto, and retentionist.
  • At the end of 2014, seven countries were abolitionist for ordinary crimes. Only 98 countries were abolitionist for all crimes, and 35 were abolitionist in practice.
  • This brought the number of countries which are abolitionist in law or practice to 140.
  • At the same time, 58 countries are regarded as retentionist, who still have the death penalty on their statute book and have used it in the recent past. This list includes some of the most populous nations in the world, including India, China, Indonesia and the United States.
  • Neighbouring countries such as Nepal officially abolished the death penalty in 1990 and did not reintroduce it even in the aftermath of the civil war.
  • Sri Lanka, despite a long civil war, has maintained a moratorium on the penalty, the commission report said.

Some offences which carry capital punishment in IPC

A case for abolition:

  • “The notion of “an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” has no place in our constitutionally mediated criminal justice system. Capital punishment fails to achieve any constitutionally valid penological goals,” the Law Commission, in its 262nd Report had said.
  • It pointed out that even the Supreme Court has on numerous occasions expressed concern about arbitrary sentencing in death penalty cases.
  • The commission had stated that the constitutional regulation of capital punishment attempted in the Bachan Singh case has failed to prevent death sentences from being “arbitrarily and freakishly imposed”.
  • The commission had put a case for the abolition of the death penalty, except in terrorism-related offences and waging war, noting, “Retribution has an important role to play in punishment. However, it cannot be reduced to vengeance”.

Category: HEALTH

1. Coronavirus: West Bengal invokes Epidemic Diseases Act

Context:

The West Bengal government has invoked the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 and extended the closure of educational institutions from March 31 to April 15.

Details:

  • The Centre has advised States and Union Territories to invoke provisions of Section 2 of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 so that all advisories being issued from time to time are enforceable.

Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 has been comprehensively covered in 12th March 2020 Comprehensive News Analysis. Click here to read.

2. Experts say India still in second transmission stage

Context:

Senior scientists and health officials have said that India currently is in the second transmission stage. The country is showing no evidence of any community transmission and that enough tests were being done to pick up any early indication of third stage transmission.

Details:

  • India is in stage II of the Covid-19 outbreak – where disease transmission is limited to those with travel history to the affected countries and others in contact with the infected persons – and government’s efforts are geared towards halting or at least delaying the progression to the next stage, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has said.

Stages of a Pandemic:

4 stages of a pandemic

E. Editorials

Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. From virtual conferencing to real leadership

Context:

Background:

SAARC’s origin:

  • The idea of SAARC was initiated by General Zia Ur Rehman of Bangladesh.
  • The first summit of the seven leaders of the region from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka was held in Dhaka in 1985. Afghanistan joined SAARC in 2007.
  • SAARC’s secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. 

SAARC’s failure:

  • In the nearly 35 years of its existence, SAARC has not lived up to its potential.
    • South Asia is the world’s least integrated region with only less than 5% of inter-regional trade between the SAARC countries.
    • The South Asia Free Trade Agreement (SAFTA), signed in 2006 is often highlighted as a prominent outcome of SAARC, but that too is yet to be implemented.
    • SAARC has had no summit-level meeting since 2014. The last SAARC summit, scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November 2016, was postponed after the terrorist attacks in Uri.
  • India had shifted focus to other regional groupings that do not include Pakistan and bilateral agreements to ensure cooperation among the neighbours, resulting in SAARC becoming marginal in India’s diplomatic efforts.

Reasons for SAARC’s failure:

  • The India-Pakistan tensions have undermined SAARC.
    • Bilateral issues cannot be discussed in SAARC since the organization relies on the principle of unanimity for all major decisions. This has allowed Pakistan to often undermine even the most laudable initiatives by India. The SAARC satellite offer was rejected by Pakistan.
    • For India, Pakistan’s use of terror as an instrument of foreign policy has made normal business impossible under SAARC and India has continuously demanded an end to Pakistan’s continued support to cross-border terrorism.
  • The asymmetry between India and other member countries in terms of geography, economy, military strength and influence in the global arena make the smaller countries apprehensive. The smaller neighbouring countries, therefore, have been reluctant to implement various agreements under SAARC. While SAARC was intended to enhance regional cooperation in South Asia, from its very inception, member countries treated it with suspicion and mistrust.
  • SAARC does not have any arrangement for resolving disputes or mediating conflicts. All contentions and bilateral issues between member states are not discussed in the SAARC owing to Article 10 of the SAARC charter which states that “Bilateral and contentious issues shall be excluded from the deliberations.” This article has rendered the SAARC insignificant. Disputes among the member countries often hamper consensus building, thus slowing down the decision-making process.
  • The infrastructure deficit in the member countries, leading to a lack of connectivity among member states is another weakness of the SAARC. This has limited the trade possibilities between its members. The poor trade performance of SAARC stands in marked contrast with that of the neighbouring regional alliance – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

Details:

  • SAARC has acquired a new lease of life since the recent videoconference of the heads of member countries, wherein they have agreed to work together to combat the threat posed by the COVID-19 health pandemic.
  • The initiative represents India’s desire to reach out to all the countries and also reassure the public in the SAARC region.

India’s role:

  • The initial steps announced by India include the following:
    • The proposal to set up the COVID-19 Emergency Fund for SAARC countries, with India making an initial offering of $10 million.
    • The formation of a Rapid Response Team comprising of doctors, specialists, testing equipment and attendant infrastructure would be put at the disposal of the SAARC.
  • The success of this SAARC initiative will largely depend on India, which is the dominant power of the region.
  • The recent initiative by India must become an assertive expression of its new willingness to stabilize the region through cooperative mechanisms, without being distracted by other differences.

India’s stakes:

  • Pandemics do not recognize political borders, and in times of trouble, reaching out to neighbouring countries is the most obvious course of action.
  • If India can demonstrate that it has the capacity, the political will to institutionalize and lead a mutually beneficial cooperative regime in the region, it could help marginalize Pakistan’s attempts to scuttle SAARC’s initiatives. This is often referred to as hegemonic stability by international relations theorists.
    • Hegemonic stability theory which is rooted in research from the fields of political science, economics, and history, indicates that the international system is more likely to remain stable when a single nation-state is the dominant world power or a hegemon.
  • This moment thus provides a rare opportunity for India to establish its influence over the region and help secure an abiding partnership in the immediate neighbourhood.
  • The tragedy of COVID-19 may provide an opportunity for India to demonstrate its compassionate face to secure a region at peace with itself.

COVID-19 concerns in South Asia:

  • Afghanistan and Pakistan have specific challenges as they share long borders with Iran, which has emerged, after China and Italy, as a major hub of the virus.
  • Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, and Sri Lanka worry about the impact on tourism, which is a mainstay of their economies.
  • Though South Asia, with around 300 positive cases, presently accounts for a small fraction of the total number of confirmed cases of COVID-19, there are fears of an escalation in the numbers given the density of population in the region. While SAARC member-states occupy just 3% of the world’s landmass, they account for 21% of its population.
  • Other concerns are about under-reporting, as fewer people are being tested in much of South Asia, and whether public health services can cope.

For more information on this topic refer:

CNA dated March 16, 2020

Category: HEALTH

1. Fight for the finite

Context:

  • COVID-19 pandemic.

Details:

COVID-19:

  • The number of SARS-CoV-2 positive cases is on the rise, and the number of deaths is also going up.
  • The pandemic will exert pressure on the limited resources of India.
    • In China, the rapidly increasing number of cases went far beyond the capacity of the country’s renowned industry and the health systems struggled to cope.
    • In Italy, the strain on the health systems has been massive.

The public health system in India:

  • With India crossing 100 positive cases, questions are being raised on whether the health system is robust enough to meet the health emergency.
  • The main concerns are whether national and state health systems will be able to cope with ever-rising demands — for testing kits, hospital beds, ventilators, and even simple supplies like masks and hand sanitizers.
  • The healthcare resources are very limited in India considering the huge population it has to support.

Public Health expenditure in India:

  • India’s health expenditure as a percentage of GDP has been abysmally low at about 1% over the years.
    • As per the National Health Profile, 2019, collated by the Central Bureau of Health Intelligence Unit of the Directorate General of Health Services, there has been no significant change in healthcare expenditure since 2009-2010.
  • Though the National Health Profile, 2019 records that per capita public expenditure on health in nominal terms went up from ₹621 in 2009-10 to ₹1,112 in 2015-16, a WHO bulletin of 2018 records that out-of-pocket payments in India, was estimated as 62% of the total health expenditure in 2014. These incremental efforts towards public health seem insufficient.
  • Another major concern is the substantial differences among the different States in terms of public sector health infrastructure and resources.

Way forward:

  • Given the fact that there is evidence to show that increased public spending on health care has resulted in less financial hardship for communities and better health outcomes, there is a need for enhancing budgetary allocation to public health.
  • The current government’s resolve to increase public health spending to 2.5 % of GDP by 2025 is, therefore, a welcome move. The government should treat the current epidemic as an opportunity to scale up budgetary allocations for health to facilitate the expansion of state capacity in the health domain.

F. Prelims Facts

1. No proposal to ban short selling: exchanges

What’s in News?

The stock exchanges clarified that the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is not considering any proposal regarding a ban on short-selling to curb the on-going volatility and equity sell-off.

Short selling:

  • Short selling occurs when an investor borrows a security and sells it on the open market, planning to buy it back later for less money.
  • Short-sellers bet on, and profit from, a drop in a security’s price.
  • Short selling has a high risk/reward ratio: It can offer big profits, but losses can mount quickly and infinitely.

G. Tidbits

1. To track virus, Israel to tap cellphone data

What’s in News?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has authorised the country’s internal security agency to tap into a vast and previously undisclosed trove of cellphone data to retrace the movements of people who have contracted the COVID-19 and identify others who should be quarantined because their paths crossed.

  • The unprecedented move to use data secretly gathered to combat terrorism for public health efforts has been authorised.
    • But it must still be approved by Parliament’s Secret Services Subcommittee before its existence lapses, upon the swearing-in of a new legislature.
  • The existence of the data trove and the legislative framework under which it is amassed and used have previously not been reported.
  • It is the existence of the cellphone metadata trove and its use to track patients and carriers that privacy advocates say poses the greatest test of Israeli democracy at a fragile moment.

2. Rajasthan moves SC against CAA

The Rajasthan government has moved the Supreme Court challenging the validity of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) contending that the law was against the country’s secular fabric and violated fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution.

  • Rajasthan is the second State after Kerala to challenge the CAA in the top court.
    • The Left Democratic Front government of Kerala had filed the plea under Article 131 seeking the declaration of the CAA as violative of constitutional provisions.
  • The Rajasthan government’s suit under Article 131, said the States had a stake in the impugned Central legislation because it was going to affect the citizens by its arbitrary provisions.
  • The petition said that it was a dispute between the Centre and the State that needs to be adjudicated by the highest court of the land.

H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions

Q1. Which among the following is the latest addition to the list of Classical languages in
India?
  1. Odiya
  2. Malayalam
  3. Marathi
  4. Telugu
See
Answer

Answer: a

Explanation:

Six languages enjoy the ‘Classical’ status in India. Tamil (declared in 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014).

Q2. The Parliament of India can exercise control over the functions of the Council of 
Ministers through which of the following?
  1. Adjournment motion
  2. Question hour
  3. Supplementary questions

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 3 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3
See
Answer

Answer: d

Explanation:

Indian Parliament exercises control over the Council of Ministers through adjournment motion, no-confidence motion, discussions, questions hour, etc. Supplementary questions are asked in the question hour.

Q3. Consider the following statements:
  1. Short selling occurs when an investor borrows a security and sells it on the open market, planning to buy it back later for less money.
  2. Short-sellers bet on, and profit from a drop in a security’s price.
  3. Short selling has a low risk/reward ratio.

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

  1. 1 only
  2. 1 and 3 only
  3. 1 and 2 only
  4. 1, 2 and 3 only
See
Answer

Answer: c

Explanation:

  • Short selling occurs when an investor borrows a security and sells it on the open market, planning to buy it back later for less money.
  • Short-sellers bet on, and profit from, a drop in a security’s price.
  • Short selling has a high risk/reward ratio: It can offer big profits, but losses can mount quickly and infinitely.
Q4. Consider the following statements with respect to “guillotine”:
  1. When guillotine is applied, all the outstanding demands for grants, whether discussed or not, are put to vote at once.
  2. It is a parliamentary tool that can be applied by the speaker of the house only.

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

  1. 1 only
  2. 2 only
  3. Both 1 and 2
  4. Neither 1 nor 2
See
Answer

Answer: d

Explanation:

  • Guillotine refers to the exercise vide which the Speaker of the House, on the very last day of the period allotted for discussions on the Demands for Grants, puts to vote all outstanding Demands for Grants at a time specified in advance.
  • The aim of the exercise is to conclude discussions on financial proposals within the time specified.
  • All outstanding demands for Grants must be voted by the House without discussions once the guillotine is invoked.

 

I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

  1. In the nearly 35 years of its existence, SAARC has not lived up to its potential. Comment. What are the reasons for this? Suggest suitable measures to revive this critical regional grouping. (15 marks, 250 words)
  1. In the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, discuss the general challenges to the south Asian region and India in particular. (10 marks, 150 words)

Read the previous CNA here.

 

17 March 2020 CNA:- Download PDF Here

IAS General Studies Notes Links
Santhal Rebellion Stock Exchange In India
Chittaranjan Das Eia Full Form
Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient Inside The Earth
UPSC Question Paper 2021 Mysore Painting
Unification Of Italy Ashgabat

Comments

Leave a Comment

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published.

*

*