16 Nov 2021: UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis

CNA 16 Nov 2021:- Download PDF Here

TABLE OF CONTENTS

A. GS 1 Related
B. GS 2 Related
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. ‘Centre will look into our concerns on river linking’
JUDICIARY
1. Will examine validity of special courts for MPs, MLAs, says SC
SOCIAL ISSUES
1. PM reaches out to tribal people, unveils schemes
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
1. Biden to discuss ‘guardrails’ for U.S. and China, with Xi: official
C. GS 3 Related
ECONOMY
1. Centre to disburse ₹95,082 cr. to States to sustain recovery
D. GS 4 Related
E. Editorials
ECOLOGY
1. Batting for an important yet misunderstood species
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
1. Pegasus inquiry must reverse the Chilling effect
F. Prelims Facts
1. India coffee output hit by rains
2. Bid to get heritage status for jackfruit tree
G. Tidbits
1. Deadline for e-auto permits for women extended
2. No liquor here, say two village panchayats
3. Temple assets to be monetised
4.  Now, autopsy can be done after Sunset
H. UPSC Prelims Practice Questions
I. UPSC Mains Practice Questions

Category: JUDICIARY

1. Will examine validity of special courts for MPs, MLAs, says SC

Context: 

Recently, the Supreme Court decided to examine questions regarding the legal jurisdiction of the special courts for Members of Parliament and State Legislative Assemblies for various offences.

Details:

• The Madras High Court, in a recent report of the Criminal Rules Committee, had raised the issue of the “constitutional validity” of the special courts for MPs/MLAs.
• The committee had even said it was not “legally permissible” to create such special courts and special courts “can only be offence-centric and not offender-centric”. 

Additional Information:

What are special courts?

• Special courts are unique structures designed to assist the state judiciary in specialised areas in order to ensure fair trials.
• Even before independence, special courts have operated in the subordinate judiciary.
• A special court is one that deals with certain sorts of matters in a streamlined and simplified manner.
• Between 1950 and 2015, around 25 special courts were established through various central and state laws.

Category: SOCIAL ISSUES

1. PM reaches out to tribal people, unveils schemes

Context: 

Recently, the Prime Minister inaugurated the Birsa Munda museum in Ranchi on ‘Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas’ or tribal pride day. 

Details:  

Janjatiya Gaurav Divas:

The Central government has announced that Birsa Munda’s birth anniversary (November 15) will be celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Divas.

Who was Birsa Munda?

• Birsa Munda, known to tribal people as ‘Bhagwan,’ was the head of India’s ‘Ulgulan’ Tribal movement. He was also famously called ‘Dharti Abba’.
• He was born in the tribal area of undivided Bihar in 1875.
• On October 1st, 1894, Birsa Munda began his protest to safeguard tribals, asking for the remission of forest dues.
• Munda led the tribals primarily to prevent non-tribals from acquiring land and forcing them to work as bonded labourers on their territory.
• In the little village of Chotanagpur, he organised tribals and terrorised the British rulers. 
• Birsa Munda was the driving force behind the anti-British campaign, calling for ‘Ulgulan’ (Revolution).
• Birsa Munda, who died in Ranchi jail in 1900, rallied tribals against British colonial control and conversion operations.

Also read: Tribal Uprisings in the 18th and 19th Centuries
Category: INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

1. Biden to discuss ‘guardrails’ for U.S. and China, with Xi: official

Context: 

U.S.-China Presidents are about to discuss guardrails to their dynamics in a virtual meeting. 

Details: 

• The two Presidents plan to discuss divergences between the two countries.
• Among the topics to be discussed are China’s “coercive and confrontational behaviour” toward Taiwan, human rights, China’s “exceptional” governmental support of firms, and its operations in cyberspace.

Read more on this issue covered in  Nov 2rd, 2021 CNA.

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. Pegasus inquiry must reverse the Chilling effect

Context:

The article discusses the Pegasus controversy, the silence of the government, and various aspects of the issue.

Background:

• The purchase of a very expensive Israeli software named Pegasus by the Government of India and its misuse has shaken the whole world.
• The government refused to answer any query on this issue and also allowed a whole Parliamentary session to be washed away as the discussion on the subject was denied.
• The Pegasus Scandal has a similarity with the Watergate scandal of the USA in which US President Richard Nixon was brought down in the 1970s.
• The Royal Courts of Justice Strand, London made a judgment in the case in which a Princess has claimed that the Pegasus spyware has been installed in her phone as well in the phones of her personal assistant, solicitors, etc. by her husband for the sake of the welfare of their children. This shows that royal phones can also be hacked by the Pegasus.
• The United States blacklisted the NSO group by putting it on an ‘entity list’ because they found that Pegasus was not complying with the foreign policy and national security interests of the US.
• But, in India, no action has been taken against hackers.

The Supreme Court:

• Denial of right to information, no response to the Public Interest Litigation (PIL), unanswered questions in the Parliament, and no action from the government have compelled the Supreme Court of India to intervene.
• A three-member committee was appointed by the Supreme Court to look into allegations of unauthorized surveillance using Pegasus, spyware developed by Israeli firm NSO Group.
• This is the first-ever inquiry called by the Chief Justice of India.

A worrying silence:

• The silence of the Union government on invading the privacy of Indian citizens and the use of collected intelligence is extremely worrisome.
• The government of India requested the Supreme Court to set up an inquiry committee but the Supreme Court has denied it because it will violate the judicial principle against bias which says that  ‘justice must not only be done but also be seen to be done’.

Series of events:

• The software was noticed by Whatsapp in May 2019 and Whatsapp claimed that Pegasus infiltrated the devices of many users. 
• In November 2019, the Minister of Law acknowledged that the details of Indians have been affected by Pegasus.
• On 15th June 2020, Amnesty International and Citizen’s Lab reported that nine individuals in India were targets of Pegasus.
• On 18th July 2021, the investigation of 17 media organizations came up with the report that a list of over 50,000 phone numbers in more than 45 countries have been potentially targeted for surveillance by misusing Pegasus. 
• Out of 50,000 phone numbers, over 300 numbers were reported to be of Indians. This included the numbers of journalists, doctors, lawyers, political persons, and even court staff.
• Whatsapp claimed that it had notified the government that 121 Indian citizens are targets of Pegasus but received no response.

Right to privacy:

• In 2017, the Supreme Court declared privacy as an integral component of Part III of the Constitution of India, and protecting this privacy is the responsibility of the court.
  • Part III of the Constitution lays down our fundamental rights, ranging from rights relating to equality, freedom of speech and expression, freedom of movement, protection of life and personal liberty, and others. 
• Snooping can be justified only on three counts:
  • the restriction must be by law; 
  • it must be necessary and only if other means are not available, and proportionate (only as much as needed); and 
  • it must promote a legitimate state interest (e.g., national security), according to paragraph 325 of the nine-judge Bench judgment on privacy).
• If the government wants to use the above-mentioned cases as an excuse for the use of Pegasus then it must have to establish the justification because the surveillance directly violates the right to privacy.
• If the Government wants to justify the surveillance as authorized then it has to answer the question of whether anybody has been prosecuted for terrorism with evidence procured by snooping.
• Without providing accurate information, the government cannot rely on the excuse of ‘national security’ because the victims can raise the issue of misuse of surveillance power.

Freedom of Speech:

• It is observed by the bench led by the Chief Justice of India that surveillance hurts the freedom of speech. 
• In the context of the press, it undermines the ability of the press to provide accurate and reliable information which is needed for people to know about the acts of their elected government.
• The ignorance of the government about the dangers or difficulties created by Pegasus is worse than its alleged involvement that needs to be probed.

Inquiry by the bench:

• The bench of Chief Justice of India N V Ramana, Justices Surya Kant, and Hima Kohli said “the Petitioners have placed on record certain material that prima facie merits consideration by this Court”. 
• There has been no specific denial of any of the facts averred by the Petitioners by the Respondent (Union of India). There has only been an omnibus and vague denial in the ‘limited affidavit’ filed by the Respondent (Union of India), which cannot be sufficient. 
• In such circumstances, the bench has no option but to accept the prima facie case made out by the Petitioners to examine the allegations made.
• The Supreme Court made it clear that the State cannot get “a free pass every time the spectre of national security is raised”. The reasons that compelled the Court to act are as follows:
  • Right to privacy and freedom of speech are alleged to be impacted, which needs to be examined.
  • The entire citizenry is affected by such allegations due to the potential chilling effect.
  • No clear stand was taken by the Respondent-­Union of India regarding actions taken by it.
  • Seriousness accorded to the allegations by foreign countries and involvement of foreign parties.
  • The possibility that some foreign authority, agency, or private entity is involved in placing citizens of this country under surveillance.
  • Allegations that the Union or State Governments are parties to the rights.

Way Forward:

• The use of criminal spyware not only violates the fundamental rights of the citizens but also injures freedom of the press, expression of dissent by the Opposition, and fearlessness of lawyers to challenge in courts the unconstitutional actions of the state.
• It weakens democracy and also converts elected officials into absolute dictators. 
• The burden of protecting the constitutional laws is on the shoulders of the Supreme Court Committee and the bench.

Conclusion:

The Pegasus controversy has shaken the confidence of the citizens in the government and it is expected that the bench by the Chief Justice of India will come up with a fair judgment.

2. Bid to get heritage status for jackfruit tree

Context: 

A jackfruit tree, aged around 250 years, in Karnataka is striving to get “heritage tree” status.

Additional Information

Jackfruit: 

• Scientific Name: Artocarpus heterophyllus.
• Jackfruit is a multi-flowered fruit with fleshy petals made up of hundreds to thousands of individual blooms.
• India, Thailand, Indonesia, and Nepal are the world’s top producers of Jackfruit.
• Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, and Assam are India’s major Jackfruit production states. 
• Kerala is the world’s largest jackfruit producer.
• Kerala and Tamil Nadu have it as their state fruit.

2. No liquor here, say two village panchayats

• Recently, two villages in Rajasthan have utilised a legal route to abolish alcoholism.
• The villages voted overwhelmingly for the permanent closure of liquor shops following a prolonged campaign launched by women against liquor consumption in the region.

3. Temple assets to be monetised

• Recently, the Tamil Nadu government has announced plans to put the assets of religious organisations overseen by the Department of Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments to productive use in order to monetize them.
• The temples will retain ownership of the properties under the idea, while developers will be granted development rights for a defined amount of time. 
• The monetisation proceeds will be utilised to further the development of the individual temples.

4. Now, autopsy can be done after Sunset

• Recently, the Union Health Ministry revised the post-mortem protocols.
• The revised post-mortem protocols allow for conducting the procedure after sunset.
• The main aims of the revised protocol are: 
  • Aiding the family of the deceased
  • Promoting organ donation 
  • Stipulating organ transplant process

Q.1 ‘SITMEX’, recently seen in the news, refers to -

Q.2 Which of the following statements is/are correct?

Q.3 Rani Kamlapati belonged to which tribal community?

Q.4 Which of the following statements is/are correct?

Q. 5 The economic cost of food grains to the Food Corporation of India is Minimum Support 
Price and bonus (if any) paid to the farmers plus

CNA 16 Nov 2021:- Download PDF Here