UPSC Exam Comprehensive News Analysis Oct13

A. GS1 Related

B. GS2 Related

Context

• Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi’s advice that the Chief Justices of the High Courts should ensure that fellow judges do not take leave on working days and remain in court during working hours to clear the backlog of cases, drew a counter-suggestion from one of his predecessors. Former Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha said the Supreme Court ought to be the first to “set an example” in the matter.
• “The Supreme Court should first set the example, not just the CJI but the entire court of 24 judges,” said Justice Lodha, who had during his term as CJI mooted a 365-day work calendar for the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
• “Charity begins at home. Such initiatives should be objectively implemented by the Supreme Court, then it will percolate to the High Courts,” Justice Lodha told.
• “Firstly, the CJI, or for that matter, the Supreme Court has no administrative control over the High Courts in a federal structure. That is our constitutional scheme. CJI cannot give orders, he can only advice” Justice Lodha said.
• “It has to be left to the High Courts concerned to ensure that the advice is properly implemented.”
• The former CJI said the effort to trim the backlog should be “collective, collaborative and consensual” among the CJI, Supreme Court judges and the Chief Justices of the various High Courts.
• Justice Lodha said the successive short tenures of CJIs also impeded implementation of their plans. Changes for the better should be institutionalised.

Reasons for Judicial Delays at a glance

• Large number of unfilled judicial vacancies
• A long drawn judicial process: This is compounded by the fact that often witnesses are not willing to come forward. The process concerning criminal cases also takes time; this is exacerbated by the fact that it takes time for reports such as medical reports, forensic reports, etc. to be given. There are at times even strikes in Courts that delay the process.
• Fast growing population
• Lack of Infrastructure: Chief Justice, Dipak Misra has described that the lack of infrastructure, as one of the causes.
• Lack of good quality judges
• Salaries and Perks of judges: If better salaries and better perks are provided, then better lawyers would be interested in becoming judges. Today, the quality of lawyers interested in becoming judges is poor, because of which the quality of judges is down and because of which the justice delivery system is also suffering.
• An increasing number of states and central laws
• Mounting number of appeals
• Shortage of judges in courts
• Delay in hearing of cases of common civil rights in High Courts
• Increase in Appeals in High Courts against the orders of the quasi-judicial bodies
• The Petition for revision and appeal in a case
• Continuous adjournment
• Indiscriminate utilisation of writ rights
• Inadequate system of monitoring cases
• Difficulties in tracking trials
• Efforts to prevent a case during hearing
• Lack of will and capability to decide cases
• Apart from these, there are delays during pre-trial and trial of cases

Context

• The government will set up a committee of judges and lawyers to examine the existing legal and institutional framework to deal with complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace, Minister for Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi announced on Friday.
• The Minister said the expert committee will advise the Ministry to strengthen the existing framework.

Views of the Minister on this issue

• “I believe in the pain and trauma behind every single complaint. Cases of sexual harassment at work must be dealt with a policy of zero tolerance. The Ministry will be setting up a committee of senior judicial & legal persons to examine all issues emanating from the #MeTooIndia movement,” Ms. Gandhi tweeted.
• “It takes a lot for women to come out like this. These cases have been elephants in the rooms for the last 25 years. The question here is how can they prove these after all these years… they have faced verbal assault, they have been touched, pinched, their clothes have been pulled,” Ms. Gandhi told the news agency PTI in an interview.
• “The first thing to do is naming and shaming these monsters. Naming and shaming will go a long way in lessening the pain these women have been carrying,” Ms. Gandhi said.

What is #MeToo movement?

• The Me Too movement (or #MeToo movement), with many local and international alternatives, is a movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault.
• #MeToo spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace.
• It followed soon after the sexual misconduct allegations against Harvey Weinstein.
• Tarana Burke, an American social activist and community organizer, began using the phrase “Me Too” as early as 2006, and the phrase was later popularized by American actress Alyssa Milano, on Twitter in 2017.
• Milano encouraged victims of sexual harassment to tweet about it and “give people a sense of the magnitude of the problem”.
• This was met with success that included but was not limited to high-profile posts from several American celebrities, including Gwyneth Paltrow, Ashley Judd, Jennifer Lawrence, and Uma Thurman.

• India was elected to the United Nations’ top human rights body on Friday for a period of three years beginning January 1, 2019, getting 188 votes in the Asia-Pacific category, the highest number of votes among all candidates.
• The 193-member UN General Assembly held elections here for new members to the UN Human Rights Council. The 18 new members were elected by absolute majority through a secret ballot. Countries needed a minimum of 97 votes to get elected to the Council.
• In the Asia Pacific category, India got 188 votes followed by Fiji with 187 votes, Bangladesh 178, Bahrain and Philippines 165 each.
• India had previously been elected to the Geneva-based Human Rights Council for the 2011-2014 and 2014-2017 terms.

UNHRC

• It is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations system
• It is responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe and for addressing situations of human rights violations and make recommendations on them.
• It was created by UNGA on 15 March 2006 to promote human rights globally.
• It had replaced former UN Commission on Human Rights.
• It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland.
• Members: UNHRC is made up of 47 UN member states which are elected by UN General Assembly (UNGA) with specific number of seats allocated for each region of the globe.
• The term of each seat is three years, and no member may occupy a seat for more than two consecutive terms.

 Functions

• Members of the council work to engage countries on improving human rights.
• They make decisions ranging from exposing violations to recommending that UN Security Council make referral to International Criminal Court (ICC).
• UNHRC does not have authority to take action but can exert significant pressure on violating country.
• It can also set up special persons with mandate to investigate and report human-rights violations and abuses.
• The council works closely with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and engages the United Nations’ special procedures.
• The General Assembly can suspend the rights and privileges of any Council member that it decides has persistently committed gross and systematic violations of human rights during its term of membership.

C. GS3 Related

Context

• The current manner in which the GDP is measured needs an overhaul as it provides an incomplete estimation of economic activity, a report by the Estimates Committee of Parliament pointed out in a draft report.
• The committee noted that the GDP calculation does not measure the depletion of natural resources, a point several economists including former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian have pointed out.
• The report said the current measure of GDP did not incorporate the economic contributions of women in running households and maintaining accounts; nor did it have any measure of whether an increase in GDP resulted in an increase in happiness.
• “The Chief Economic Adviser [Arvind Subramanian], in this context, has candidly expressed before the Committee that GDP, the most frequently used indicator for measuring growth of the economy, has many deficiencies and it has been elevated and given sanctity that, may be, it does not deserve,” it said.

Parliamentary Committees

There are different types of parliamentary committees

• Consultative committees for different ministries which provide a forum for discussion on the policies and the working of the ministry
• The Select or Joint select Committees on individual bills for investigation or inquiry.
• The Parliament may appoint a committee for specific purpose of studying a particular subject matter for example, a committee for the welfare of Scheduled caste and scheduled tribes.
• There are committees to inquire into the various matters like the Committee of Petitions and the Committee of Privileges, the Committee to Scrutinize or the Committee of Government assurance and Committee on Subordinate Legislation.
• There are also committees of administrative character relating to the business of House such as Committee on absence of Members from the sittings of the House, Business Advisory Committee and Rules Committee.
• A few committees are concerned with the facilities of a Member of Parliament like the House Committee and Library committee. However, one of the most important committees include the financial committees such as Estimates committee, Public Accounts Committee and the Committee on Public Undertakings.

The Estimate Committee

• The Government of the day formulates the economic policies and present demands to the Parliament for carrying out the policies.
• In order to scrutinize the expenditure proposed by the Government in an informal atmosphere disregarding party lines, an Estimate Committee is constituted after the budget is presented before the Lok Sabha.

This committee of the Lok Sabha examines the estimates in order to make suggestion in regard to—

• Economy and improvement in organizational efficiency or administrative reform consistent with policies underlying the estimates.
• Suggest alternative policies for bringing efficiency and economy in administration.
• Examine whether the money is well laid out within the limits of the policy.
• To suggest the form in which the estimates are to be presented to the Parliament.

The committee functions would not include a Government undertaking which has been referred to the Committee on Public Undertakings.

Constitution of the Committee

• The committee shall not have more than 30 members. The members are elected by proportional representation by means of single transferable vote.
• A Minister cannot be elected to the committee and if after election a person is appointed a Minster, he ceases to be a member of the committee.
• The members are appointed for a period not exceeding one year. The report of the committees is not debated in the House.
• The committee keeps on working throughout the year and places its views before the House. The demand for grants made by the Government does not wait for the report of the Estimates committee.
• The Estimates Committee makes useful suggestion and checks Government’s extravagance in making demands for the next financial year.

D. GS4 Related

E. Editorials

Note to Students:

1. This is an analysis-based article that examines the Government’s measures for arresting the rupee’s slide. The article asserts that the approach which has been adopted so far needs a rethink.
2. UPSC aspirants would benefit from these points as they can use much of this content to present answers on the topic in case it is asked in the UPSC Mains Examination, be it as a part of the General Studies- III paper or the Essay paper.
3. Besides many narratives, this article also touches upon the idea of ‘Rupee Depreciation’. We at BYJUs have covered a detailed topic on ‘Rupee Depreciation’ as part of our YouTube video release series. Students are advised to go through the below link:
   

Larger Background:

Role of the Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance

• The Reserve Bank of India and the Ministry of Finance do have a number of options for stabilisation.

These include the following:

1. overtly intervening in the forex market,
2. selling non-resident Indian bonds (as last done in 2013) and
3. conducting a sovereign bond issuance

Editorial Analysis:

An analysis of the Government’s approach:

• It is important to note that when the crude prices-current account deficit-rupee macroeconomic equation had started becoming unfavourable, the government’s early arguments focussed on external factors that lay outside its control.

These include factors such as a) oil prices, b) U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy, c) turmoil in the international currencies, etc.

• • Currently we observe that the Finance Minister, Arun Jaitley, reassured markets that the fiscal correction target would be met without a cutback in capital expenditure. However, this assurance did not change market expectations. All in all, the response measures could not turn the tide. The depreciation continues, and we currently face a reality where the rupee may figure 75-to-a-dollar very soon.

• Experts believe that a durable solution to this issue would be to attract stable, long-term capital, and not hot money chasing arbitrage differentials.

• It is important to note that the move to raise the import tariffs on select ‘non-essentials’ confers protection on local industries with competitive disadvantage vis-a-via imports.
• However, certain questions arise:

Were the items really chosen through serious analysis of the current account deficit? Import duties were raised up on washing machines, but only on those ‘less than 10 kg’.

Critics raise many questions, for example: would the government be able to explain as to why it considers imports of washing machines ‘10 kg and more’ essential? This is socialist-era redux. The rupee’s tumble has brought out the controlling tendencies that were retired in the 1990s.

Another question that arises is as to why have markets have not bought the government’s reading of the macroeconomic situation?

• Currently, the government has taken the position that the rupee’s troubles are due to international developments beyond its control- that these include a) rising U.S. interest rates and b) global crude prices.
• It is important to note that these short-term difficulties have certainly touched what are traditional vulnerabilities.
• The twin (fiscal and current account) deficits get stressed whenever crude prices surge or there is a dollar-investments sell-off. A short period of rupee volatility follows.
• The markets are readjusting their expectations of the twin deficits. The depreciation underway is confirmation that things have not changed, as is evident from the frequent use of stop-gap plugs rather than long-term fixes.
• When we do a critical study of the four years since 2014, the current government has reduced the fiscal deficit by just one percentage point, despite the huge bonanza from the fuel taxes.
• The policy, as conceived, was to tax when crude prices are low, use the proceeds so raised to balance the fiscal books, and whenever prices rise, reduce the tax rates. When this policy is done right, it could mitigate retail prices volatility and fiscal imbalances. However, the government dithered on expenditure reforms, and so its dependence on the fuel taxes has grown.

Concluding Remarks

• Currently, the Government finds itself caught between voter and market expectations. The Finance Minister, Mr. Jaitley has currently decided to trim fuel tax rates, accepting a minor revenue loss for a cosmetic price relief.
• Further, he ensured state-controlled oil marketers also cut retail prices and absorbed the losses. This has destroyed the discipline of deregulation being practised since 2010 for a trivial giveaway of Rs. 1 a litre. The reform reversed had held for the past eight years.
• The markets looked back to the RBI (with no result) for bringing a pause in the rupee’s slide. The burden of expectations tested the RBI’s commitment to the new monetary policy framework. The mandate of the monetary policy framework is to target inflation.
• Its exchange rate management duties are limited to subduing rupee volatility. In not hiking the policy interest rate last week, the RBI has remained duty-bound and within mandate.
• What the RBI can do, as it has in the past too, is to open special windows for the forex needs of crude oil importers. Taking this considerable source of demand-side pressures off the forex market could provide the rupee some relief.

Category: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. By extension (NRC Assam)

Question 1. With reference to “Oxytocin”, recently in news, which of the following statement(s) 
is/are incorrect? 

Question 2. With reference to “Global Innovation Index (GII)”, recently in news, which of the 
following statement(s) is/are correct?

Question 3. With reference to “Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve” which of the following 
statement(s) is/are correct?