comprehensive current affairs 26 july 2020

Lockdown in J&K for over 11 months led to ‘across-the-board human rights violations’.

The lockdown in Jammu and Kashmir, which has been in place for over 11 months now, has caused numerous violations of human rights, including “bail, and fair and speedy trial”, a report by the Forum for Human Rights in Jammu and Kashmir said. The members of the forum include former Supreme Court Justice Madan B Lokur as co-chair along with Radha Kumar, the former member of Group of Interlocutors for the erstwhile state.

Counter-insurgency concerns have been given absolute priority over public, civilian and human security, leading to an across-the-board violation of human rights, including the vitiation of protections...” the report, tiled “Jammu and Kashmir: The Impact of Lockdowns on Human Rights” read. “There has been denial of the right to bail and fair and speedy trial, coupled with misuse of draconian legislation, such as the Public Safety Act (PSA) and the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), to stifle dissentdissent, even authorities also undermined the right to life and liberty of people.

The lockdown brought on frequent shutdowns, “harassment at barricades and checkpoints”, and restrictions on communication. The report added that these have “enormously impacted, public health, and caused trauma and mental stress amongst the people of Jammu and Kashmir, violating the rights to health and medical care under the Indian, and Jammu and Kashmir, constitutions”.

Chandra Shekhar Azad's Birth anniversary observed on 23rd july.

Azad was an Indian revolutionary who reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA)  under its new name of Hindustan Socialist Republican Army (HSRA) .He often used the pseudonym "Balraj" when signing pamphlets issued as the commander in chief of the HSRA .

Azad was Born on July 23, 1906, at Bhavra, Alirajpur District in present-day Madhya Pradesh.

He took part in non-cooperation movement when he was 15.

After the suspension of the non-cooperation movement in 1922 by Gandhi, Azad joined Hindustan Republican Association (HRA).

Azad was involved in the 1925 Kakori Conspiracy.

He died at Azad Park in Allahabad on 27th February 1931.

Other cases Azad was involved in include the 1926 attempt to blow up the viceroy’s train, and the shooting of J P Saunders in 1928. Saunders was assassinated to avenge the death of Lala Lajpat Rai. He was arrested because of his participation in the non-cooperation movement. When produced by the magistrate, he proudly announced his name as ‘Azad’, his father’s name as ‘Swatantrata’ and his place of dwelling as ‘Jail’. It was from then the name ‘Azad’ was associated to him.

India Opens New Routes to strengthen Trade ties with Neighbours.

In a bid to boost its economic and connectivity linkages with its neighbours, two new  routes for trade with Bangladesh and Bhutan have been opened up.

Engagement with Bhutan:

• A new trade route is opened under the Jaigaon Land Station on India - Bhutan Border through Ahllay near Pasakha in southeastern Bhutan.

• Trade between India and Bhutan through the Jaigaon-Phuentsholing border trade point amounts to approximately Rs. 6,000 crores annually.

• Bhutan’s trade with countries other than India through this border trade point is an additional Rs. 1,400 crores annually.

• The India-Bhutan Agreement on Trade, Commerce and Transit which was last renewed in 2016 allows for free trade and commerce between India and Bhutan.

The pact provides for about 21 entry or exit trade points between India and landlocked Bhutan.

• This includes 10 trade points with Land Customs Stations (LCS) at the Indo-Bhutan border.

• Bhutan uses some of these to trade with Third Countries.

• The route for movement of industrial raw materials and goods destined for Pasakha Industrial Estate will boost bilateral trade and commerce and lead to decongestion of vehicular traffic along the Jaigaon - Phuentsholing route.

• These efforts will further have a positive effect on the trade growth with North Eastern States of India.

• Besides the new trade point, India is also looking at fast tracking a railway link between Mujnai in West Bengal and Nyoenpaling in Bhutan.

Engagement with Bangladesh:

• India recently flagged off the first trial of container ship from Kolkata to Agartala through

Chattogram port of Bangladesh.

• This is the outcome of a pact signed by the two countries on coastal shipping in 2015 and another in October 2018 on the use of Chittagong and Mongla Ports for trans-shipment of

goods to and from India.

• Eight routes have been provided under the 2019 pact which will enable access to India's northeastern region via Bangladesh.

• The routes identified includes -

✓ Chattogram or Mongla Port to Agartala in Tripura via Akhura,

✓ Chattogram or Mongla Port to Dawki in Meghalaya via Tamabil,

✓ Chattogram or Mongla Port to Sutarkandi in Assam via Sheola and

✓ Chattogram or Mongla Port to Srimantpur in Tripura via Bibirbazar.

• For India, the use of the Bangladesh ports would cut the time required for transportation by allowing three landlocked northeastern Indian states access open sea trade routes from

Chattogram and Mongla ports via Indian ports.

• For Bangladesh, the spinoffs come in the form of job creation, boosting prospects for investment in the logistics sector, supply chain integration and promotion of business services like finance, transportation and insurance, says Industry Representatives.

Asian Elephants.

• Researchers from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) an autonomous institute of the Department of Science & Technology, Government of India found that Asian Elephant calves develop handedness (right or left-side bias) in trunk usage quite early.

• Analogous to human infants showing right-handedness or left-handedness soon after birth.

Highlights:

• The study was published recently in the International Journal of Developmental Biology.

• The team of researchers observed 30 unique calves from 11 distinct clans (female social groups) in Kabini Elephant Project in Nagarahole and Bandipur National Parks from  December 2015 to  

December 2017 to look at the development of trunk motor control, laterality in trunk usage, and various social and non-social behaviours.

Distribution;

• The Asian elephant is distributed throughout the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, from India in the west, Nepal in the north, Sumatra in the south, and to Borneo in the east.

• In India, Elephants are found in the states of Karnataka, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Meghalaya, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.

• Their habitat ranges from wet tropical evergreen forests to semi-arid thorn and scrub forests.

• Elephants are mega-herbivores and require vast tracts of forests, rich in food and water to survive.

• Threats: loss of habitat, habitat degradation, fragmentation and poaching.

• IUCN Status: Endangered

Conservation Measures by India:

• The Government of India has declared Indian elephant as National Heritage Animal.

• It is provided with the highest degree of legal protection by listing it in Schedule I of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Project Elephant:

Project Elephant was launched in 1992 to provide financial and technical support of wildlife management efforts by states for wild Asian Elephants.

✓ It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests.

✓ Presently, the project is being implemented in 22 States/UTs.

 Objectives:

✓ To protect elephants, their habitat & corridors

✓ To address issues of man-animal conflict

✓ The welfare of captive elephants.

India’s relay gold in Asiad ratified.

India’s year-long wait for an official ratification of its 4x400m mixed relay Asian Games gold has finally ended with World Athletics updating the results and rankings on its website.

The Indian quartet of Mohammed Anas Yahiya, M.R. Poovamma, Hima Das and Arokia Rajiv had finished second in 2018.

A four-year dope ban on KemiAdekoya of first-placed Bahrain last year put India on road to gold but there had been no confirmation of the same till now.

Athletics Federation of India president Adille J. Sumariwalla confirmed the updated rankings.​​

General Financial Rules:

Indian government has amended the General Financial Rules, 2017,imposing restrictions on public procurement from bidders of countries that share a land border with India, citing grounds of defence and national security.

The central government has also directed state governments to implement this order for all public procurement Changes.

Novel Changes

➡Bidders from these countries will be eligible only if they are registered with the Registration Committee constituted by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

➡They will also be required to take mandatory political and security clearance from the ministries of External Affairs and Home.

Exceptions:

Relaxation will be provided for procurement of Covid medical supplies till December 31.

Also, the order for prior registration will not apply for countries to which the government extends lines of credit or provides development assistance, even if they share a land border with India.

Background:

These measures follow a series of steps that have been taken in recent months to prevent influx of Chinese products and investments into India.

On June 23, the government made it mandatory for sellers on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal to clarify the country of origin of goods when registering new products.

In April, the government amended FDI rules mandating prior approval for investment by entities in countries that share land borders with India.

What are GFRs?

➡They are set of rules that deal with matters that involve public finances.

➡They were first issued in 1947bringing together all the existing orders.

➡They are instructions that pertain to financial matters.➡They lay down the general rules applicable to Ministries / Departments, and detailed instructions relating to procurement of goods

are issued by the procuring departments broadly in conformity with the general rules, while maintaining flexibility to deal with varied situations.

UN’s Zero Hunger Challenge by 2030.

Recently, a study titled State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World, hunger and malnutrition are increasing around the world. In this scenario, achieving the Sustainable

Development Goal (2) of ‘Zero Hunger’ by 2030 will be very difficult.

• It is the most authoritative global study tracking progress towards ending hunger and malnutrition.

• It is produced jointly by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the International Fund for Agriculture (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

• The study estimates that almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019 – up by 10 million from 2018, and by nearly 60 million in five years (2014-2019). It is an uncomfortable or painful physical sensation caused by insufficient consumption of dietary energy.

• For decades, FAO has used the prevalence of undernourishment indicator to estimate the extent of hunger in the world, thus “hunger” may also referred to as undernourishment.

• The Chronic Hunger has been no change in the hunger trend since 2000, After steadily diminishing for decades, chronic hunger slowly began to rise in 2014 and continues to do so. Asia remains home to the greatest number of hunger (381 million). Africa is second

(250 million), followed by Latin America and the Caribbean (combined 48 million).

• The Rate of Hunger is the rate of undernourishment (hunger) in Africa is double compared

to Asia and it is expected that by 2030, Africa will be home to more than half of the world’s chronically hungry.

• Impact of Covid-19 could also push over 130 million more people into chronic hunger by the end of 2020. The High costs and low affordability was the main reason behind the hunger.

About Increasing Malnutrition:

• The study estimates that 3 billion people or more cannot afford a healthy diet. In sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia, this is the case for 57% of the population.

• The main reason behind malnutrition is the high cost of nutritious foods and the low affordability of healthy diets for vast numbers of families.

• A healthy diet costs far more than USD 1.90/day, which is the international poverty threshold. It puts the price of even the least expensive healthy diet at five times the price of filling stomachs with starch only.

• The Impact on Children in 2019, nearly a third of children under five (191 million) were stunted (too short) or wasted (too thin). Another 38 million under-fives were overweight.

Suggestions:

• A global switch to healthy diets would help check the backslide into hunger while delivering enormous savings. Shift to a healthy diet will reduce the health costs associated with unhealthy diets.

• The diet related social cost of greenhouse gas emissions, estimated at USD 1.7 trillion, could also be cut by up to three-quarters by 2030.

• The transformation of food systems will not only reduce the cost of nutritious foods but also increase the affordability of healthy diets.

The study calls on Governments:

• To mainstream nutrition in their approaches to agriculture.

• Work to cut cost-escalating factors in the production, storage, transport. distribution and marketing of food – including by reducing inefficiencies and food loss and waste.

• Support local small-scale producers to grow and sell more nutritious foods and secure their access to markets.

• The Prioritize children’s nutrition as the category in greatest need. Foster behaviour change through education and communication; Embed nutrition in national social protection systems and investment strategies.

Way Ahead:

 It is the reminder that such a huge percentage of humanity is still going hungry and should be a wakeup call for the government in particular and society in general.The Innovative strategies such as shifting towards Smart Food is the need of the hour, which is highly nutritious and will certainly help to Reduce Hunger.

India develops its first in-orbit space debris monitoring and tracking system.

A Space start up called the Digantara has developed India’s first in-orbit space debris monitoring and tracking system.The system works on LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technology.

The system developed by the start up will provide global real-time earth surveillance. This is to be achieved by deploying a constellation of cost-efficient nano satellites in the Low Earth Orbit. A Low Earth Orbit lies at an altitude of less than 1000 km.

The system will help international space agencies to track and map space debris. This will aid to minimize the major threats of future space exploration.

HIL supplied  DDT to South Africa  to support its malaria Control Programme.

HIL (India) Limited was formerly known as Hindustan Insecticides Limited (HIL).

• It is a PSU under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers The company was incorporated in the year 1954 to manufacture and supply  Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT)   to Government of India’s Ministry of

Health and Family Welfare for the malaria control programme.

• The company has diversified into agro-inputs to meet the requirements of the agriculture sector.

• HIL (India) is the sole manufacturer of DDT globally.

• The Company will be supplying DDT 75% WP to Zimbabwe (128 MT) and Zambia (113 MT) in the current FY 2020-21.

• The shareholding of the Government of India in the company is 100%.

National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme:

• Launched in 2003-04, the National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) is concerned with prevention and control of vector-borne diseases namely Malaria,

Filariasis, Kala-azar, Dengue and Japanese Encephalitis (JE).

• The Directorate of NVBDCP is the nodal agency for implementation. This Directorate provides technical assistance and support in terms of cash and commodity to the various

states/UTs.

• The programme implementation is the responsibility of the states/UTs.

Form 26AS the Faceless hand-holding of the Taxpayers.

Form 26AS is a consolidated annual tax statement that includes information on tax deducted/collected at source, advance tax, self-assessment that is available on the Income Tax website against a taxpayer’s Permanent Account Number (PAN).

 The Budget for 2020-21 had announced the revised Form 26AS giving a more comprehensive profile of the taxpayer going beyond the details of tax collected and deducted at source.

 Details in Form 26AS?

• The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) in a statement said the Income Tax Department used to receive information like cash deposit/withdrawal from saving bank accounts,sale/purchase of immovable property, time deposits, credit card payments, purchase of shares, debentures, foreign currency, mutual funds, buyback of shares, cash payment for goods and services, etc. under Section 285BA of Income-tax Act, 1961 from “specified  persons” like banks, mutual funds, institutions issuing bonds and registrars or sub-registrars etc., with regard to individuals having high-value financial transactions since the financial year 2016.

• Now, all such information under different SFTs will be shown in the new Form 26AS

• As per Section 285BA of the Income-tax Act, filers are required to furnish a Statement of Financial Transaction for specified transactions during the financial year to the income-tax authority or such other prescribed authority.

• Banks and other prescribed reporting financial institutions in their SFTs record details of transactions involving cash deposits aggregating to Rs 10 lakh or more in a financial year, in one or more accounts (other than a current account and time deposit), cash payments made by any person totalling over Rs 1 lakh, payments of bills for one or more credit card of Rs 10 lakh or more by a person in a financial year.

• Also, investment in bond/debentures, shares, mutual funds, buyback of shares exceeding Rs 10 lakh in a financial year along with purchase or sale of immovable property for Rs 30 lakh and above by a person will be recorded in the SFTs.

Benefits:

• This would help the honest taxpayers with updated financial transactions while filing their  returns, whereas it will desist those taxpayers who inadvertently conceal financial transactions in their returns.

• The new Form 26AS would also have information of transactions which used to be  received up to Financial Year 2015-16 in the Annual Information Returns (AIR).

 

Focus on UPSC Mains ; Polity

 

Judicial indiscipline: On Rajasthan political crisis.

Context:

The Rajasthan High Court’s order of directing that status quobe maintained in the disqualification proceedings against 19 legislators borders on judicial indiscipline.

It also held a legal challenge to the Rajasthan Assembly Speaker’s notice under the anti-defection law to be maintainable.

The order does not give any reason for admitting the petition and overruling objections to its admissibility, except for saying legal questions have arisen, including one on the validity of a sub-clause in the Tenth Schedule.

It is as if the mere fact that some questions have arisen is enough to disregard the doctrine of precedent.

Doctrine of precedent:

It means two things.

First, that ‘such precedents. Are reported, may be cited and may probably be followed by courts.

Second, that the precedent under certain circumstances must be followed.

Specific provision:

There is a specific prohibition in a Constitution Bench verdict of the Supreme Court on courts intervening in disqualification matters at a stage prior to a presiding officer giving a ruling.

Of the 13 questions the Division Bench has framed, purporting to arise from the Speaker C.P. Joshi’s notices to 19 Congress members in the Sachin Pilot camp, the last one itself shows it cannot entertain the petition.

The question is whether the Supreme Court’s judgment in Kihoto Hollohan (1992) is a bar on the High Court examining the issues.

It is illogical that the Bench holds that the petition is maintainable even while proposing to examine whether a Constitution Bench judgment binds it or not. In other words, a petition has been declared maintainable on the ground that the court proposes to examine its maintainability.

PARA 2:

The 1992 judgment upheld the validity of the Tenth Schedule to the Constitution, the anti-defection law.The law also declared that Para 2 — a part of which is now under challenge and is the ostensible reason for the High Court to entertain the petition — does not violate the freedom of speech, vote or conscience of elected members.

Para 2(1)(a) deals with disqualifying lawmakers who “voluntarily give up membership” of their party.

Yet, the High Court is now venturing to find out whether Para 2(1)(a), has been examined by the apex court from the point of view of “intra-party democracy”.

If at all the provision’s validity is to be tested, it can only be done in a case arising out of it.

When no decision has been rendered by the Speaker, it is beyond comprehension how the court entertained arguments on the issuance of the notice and on whether dissidents can be disqualified for questioning the party line.

Para 2(1)(a) has been used by Speakers for years, and many such disqualification orders have been upheld by the Supreme Court, including as recently as November 2019 in a Karnataka case.

Admitting a matter without explaining how the law laid down by the Supreme Court does not bind a High Court raises grave questions of judicial propriety.However, even as the political crisis plays out on the lawns of Raj Bhavan, the top court itself appears to be raising the question whether dissent within a party can attract disqualification proceedings. 

Conclusion:

Whatever the circumstances, the SC should not condoneimproper and premature judicial intervention.Rajasthan HC has disregarded law laid down by SC while admitting plea by Pilot camp.