Breach of previlege.
A breach of privilege is a violation of any of the privileges of
MPs/Parliament (Article 105) or MLAs/Both thehouses of State Legislators
(Article 194).
Any act that obstructs or impedes either House of the state
legislature in performing its functions is treatedas breach of privilege.As
there is no law enacted by the Parliament, breach of privileges are governed by
the British Parliamentary conventions.
What is Parliamentary
Privilege?
Parliamentary privilege refers to rights, immunities and
exemptions enjoyed by Parliament as an institution and MPs in their individual
capacity, without which they cannot discharge their functions as entrusted upon
them by the Constitution.
When any of these rights and immunities are disregarded, the
offence is called a breach of privilege and is punishable under law of
Parliament.
A notice is moved in the form of a motion by any member of either
House against those being held guilty of breach of privilege
The Constitution (Article 105) mentions two privileges,i.e.
freedom of speech in Parliament and right of publication of its proceedings.
Rule No 222 in Chapter 20 of the Lok Sabha Rule Book and
correspondingly Rule 187 in Chapter 16 of the Rajya Sabha rulebook governs
privilege.
A member may, with the consent of the Speaker or the Chairperson,
raise a question involving a breach of privilege either of a member or of the
House.
The rules mandate that any notice should be relating to an
incident of recent occurrence and should need the intervention of the House.
What is the Privileges
Committee?
In the Lok Sabha, the Speaker nominates a committee of privileges
consisting of 15 members as per respective party strengths.
A report is then presented to the House for its consideration.
The Speaker may permit a half-hour debate while considering the
report.
The Speaker may then pass final orders or direct that the report
be tabled before the House.
A resolution may then be moved relating to the breach of privilege
that has to be unanimously In the Rajya Sabha, the deputy chairperson heads the
committee of privileges, that consists of 10 members.
What is the Role of the
Speaker/Rajya Sabha Chair?
The Speaker/RS chairperson is the first level of scrutiny of a
privilege motion.
The Speaker/Chair can decide on the privilege motion himself or
herself or refer it to the privileges committee of Parliament.
If the Speaker/Chair gives consent under Rule 222, the member
concerned is given an opportunity to make a short statement.
Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme
(TUFS) scheme.
The Government has reopened a window for online submission of documentation for subsidy claims under the previous versions of the Technology Upgradation Fund Scheme (TUFS) scheme.
TUFS was introduced in 1999 for providing credit linked capital investment subsidy for making globally competitive to the Indian textile industry and it has to reduce the capital cost for the textile industry.
In 2015, amended TUFS was launched with Aim of 'Make in India' and
'Zero Defect and Zero Effect' in manufacturing.
U.N. Advisory Committee on
Administrative and Budgetary Questions.
Vidisha Maitra anIndian diplomat has been elected to the UN’s
Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ).
• India has won with 126 UN members supporting her candidature for
the only post for the Asia-Pacific group while 64 voted for the opposing candidate
who was from Iraq.
• India’s permanent representative to the UN, TS Tirumurthy
confirmed the news on Twitter.
• India has been a member of the committee since its inception in
1946. It is recognised as one of the most covetedcommittee in the United
Nations system as it controls the financial and budgetary purse of the UN.
• India’s win in this committee comes as India also prepares to
take a seat as one of 10 non-permanent members in the UN Security Council for a
two-year period starting 1 January 2021.
• The ACABQ performs several functions including the examination
of the budget submitted by the UN Secretary-General to the General Assembly and
advising the Assembly on administrative and budgetary matters referred to it.
• The ACABQ is a crucial component in ensuring that resources of
the Member states are used to good effect and that mandates are properly
funded.
1982 Myanmar Citizenship Law .
The Myanmar Army Chief has said that the issue of the citizenship
of Rohingya is solely a matter of domestic law.
• He said that the citizenship process in Myanmar is subject to
the 1982 citizenship law which identifies only 135 indigenous ethnic groups and
Bengalis or Rohingya are not among these.
• He further said that Myanmar does not object to the Rohingya
living inside the Myanmar territory.
• Refusing to accept international intervention, he said Myanmar
is proceeding according to its own domestic law on this issue.
AIM–Sirius Innovation Programme 3.0.
Atal Innovation Mission (AIM) and Sirius, Russia, launched
‘AIM–Sirius Innovation Programme 3.0’– a 14-day virtual programme for Indian
and Russian schoolchildren.
The first Indo-Russian bilateral youth innovation initiative, the
AIM–Sirius programme seeks to develop technological solutions (both web- and
mobile-based) for the two countries.
Innovations developed by the student teams will leverage
21st-century technologies such as app development, artificial intelligence,
blockchain, machine learning, data analytics and visualization, UI/UX, virtual
reality, augmented reality, gamification, 3D design, and rapid prototyping,
among others.
AIM and Sirius’ mentors from the industry and academia will work
closely with the teams.
Pardoning Powers of Governor
The Supreme Court has recently said that the investigation into
the conspiracy behind Ex-PMs assassination in 1991 need not deter the Governor
from deciding the plea for pardon of Convicts.
What did the Court Say Exactly?
• The court made it clear that it was reluctant to exercise its
Jurisdiction when the Governor was already seized of convict’s plea for a
pardon under Article 161 of the Constitution
Pardoning Powers of
Governor:
• Article 161 deals with the Pardoning Power of the Governor.
• The Governor can grant pardons, reprieves, respites and
remissions of punishments or suspend, remit and commute the sentence of any
person convicted of any offence against any law relating to a matter to which
the executive power of the state extends.
• The Governor cannot Pardon a Death Sentence. (The President has
the power of Pardon a death Sentence).
• Pardon: means completely absolving the person of the crime and
letting him go free. The pardoned criminal will be like a normal citizen.
• Commutation: means changing the type of punishment given to the
guilty into a less harsh one, for example, a death penalty commuted to a life
sentence.
• Reprieve: means a delay allowed in the execution of a sentence,
usually a death sentence, for a guilty person to allow him some time to apply
for Presidential Pardon or some other legal remedy to prove his innocence or
successful rehabilitation.
• Respite: means reducing the quantum or degree of the punishment
to a criminal in view of some special circumstances, like pregnancy, mental
condition etc.
• Remission: means changing the quantum of the punishment without
changing its nature, for example reducing twenty-year rigorous imprisonment Ten
Years.
Himachal Pradesh’s law against
religious conversion.
Haryana Home Minister said that his government is considering a
law against forced religious conversions and has sought information about such
a law already in force in Himachal Pradesh.
• Last year, the Himachal Pradesh assembly passed the Freedom of Religion
Bill, 2019.
• According to the Act, “no person shall convert or attempt to
convert, either directly or otherwise, any other person from one religion to
another by use of misrepresentation, force, undue influence, coercion,
inducement or by any fraudulent means or by marriage; nor shall any person abet
or conspire such conversion”. The Act does not cover a person re-converting to
his “parent religion”.
• It further says that any marriage done for the sole purpose of
religion conversion may be declared null and void by a court on a petition by
either party.
What happens if anyone
wants to convert to any other religion?
As per the Act, anyone who wishes to convert to any other religion
will give a declaration to the district authorities at least one month in
advance, specifying that one is doing so as per his/her “own volition or free
consent”.
In fact, even the religious priest who performs the conversion ceremony has to inform the authorities at least one month in advance. The district magistrate will then conduct an inquiry regarding the “intention, purpose and cause of proposed conversion”. The conversion will be rendered illegal if the authorities are not informed in advance.
The Act says that the burden of proof as to whether a religious
conversion was not effected through force or fraud lies on the person so
converted, or the person who has facilitated the conversion.
Provisions for
punishment:
All offences under the Act are cognizable and non-bailable.
The violator can be punished with a prison term ranging from one
to five years, along with a fine.
In case the victim is a minor, woman or member of a Scheduled
Caste or Tribe, the imprisonment may extend up to seven years. Failure to
declare the conversion in advance can also result in an imprisonment of up to
two years.
Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana.
The Ministry of Labour and Employment said, for the beneficiaries
of Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana, the Employee State Insurance Corporation
(ESIC) has done away with the requirement of submitting the claim on an
Affidavit form, in a release.
The decision was taken after reports of many beneficiaries facing
problems in submitting the claim on the Affidavit form emerged, the statement
added.
The beneficiaries who have from now submitted their claims online
under the Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana and submitted the scanned copies of
their Aadhar card and other bank details will no longer be needed to file the
claim on the Affidavit form.
The beneficiaries who have not even submitted the claim online can
submit the print out of the claim after duly signing the required documents.
About:
The scheme was started in 2018 as a pilot scheme for a period of
two years.
The Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana provides a fraction of the
daily wages for a period of up to 90 days as a relief payment to those
employees who have lost their jobs.
All the employees who are covered under Section 2(9) of the ESI
Act can claim benefits under the scheme.
The World Science Day for Peace and Development is celebrated
every 10 November.
• It highlights the significant role of science in society and the
need to engage the wider public in debates on emerging scientific issues.
• It also underlines the importance and relevance of science in
our daily lives.
• The Day offers the opportunity to mobilize all actors around the
topic of science for peace and development – from government officials to the
media to school pupils.
• UNESCO strongly encourages all to join in celebrating World
Science Day for Peace and Development by organizing your own event or activity
on the day.
• To celebrate the 2020 World Science Day, UNESCO is organizing an
online roundtable on the theme of “Science for and with Society in dealing with
COVID-19.
Plastic contamination in drinking tea
from disposable paper cups.
Disposable paper cups are not safe for drinking tea.
According to IIT Kharagpur study, a person drinking three cups of
tea in them will end up ingesting 75,000 tiny microplastic particles.
The research has confirmed contamination of the hot liquid served
in paper cups due to the degradation of microplastics and other hazardous
components from the lining material of the cup.
Paper cups are usually lined by a thin layer of hydrophobic film
which is made of mostly plastic (polyethylene) and sometimes co-polymers to
hold the liquid in the paper cup. Within 15 minutes this microplastic layer
degrades as a reaction to hot water.
According to study, 25,000 micron-sized (10 μm to 1000 μm)
microplastic particles are released into 100 mL of hot liquid (85 — 90 degrees
C) residing in the paper cups for 15 minutes. Thus, an average person drinking
3 regular cups of tea or coffee daily, in a paper cup, would be ingesting
75,000 tiny microplastic particles which are invisible to the human eye.
The researchers followed two different procedures - in the first
process, hot ultrapure (MilliQ) water (85—90 degrees C) was poured into the
disposable paper cups, and it was allowed to sit for 15 minutes.
The scientists explained that the homogeneously mixed water was then analysed for the presence of microplastics as well as additional ions that may have leached into the liquid from the paper cups. In the second process, paper cups were initially dipped in lukewarm (30—40 degreesC) MilliQ water.
WWF Water Risk Filter.
Nearly a third of the 100 cities in the world susceptible to
‘water risk’ — defined as losses from battling droughts to flooding — are in
India, according to the WWF Water Risk Filter.
What is Water Risk Filter?
• This is an online tool, co-developed by the Worldwide Fund for
Nature that helps evaluate the severity of risk places faced by graphically
illustrating various factors that can contribute to water risk. Launched in
2012, it is a practical online tool that helps companies and investors assess
and respond to water-related risks facing their operations and investments
across the globe.
• After a major upgrade in 2018, the Water Risk Filter 5.0 enables
companies and investors to Explore, Assess, Value and Respond to water risks.
• Lately, the Water Risk Filter provides scenarios of water risks
for 2030 and 2050, integrating climate and socio-economic changes in Different
Pathways.
Highlights of the Recent Analysis:
• It reported 30 Indian cities that would face a ‘grave water
risk’ by 2050 due to a dramatic increase in their population percentage to 51
per cent by 2050, from 17 per cent in 2020.
• Jaipur topped the list, followed by Indore and Thane. Mumbai,
Kolkata and Delhi also featured on the list.
• The global list includes cities such as Beijing, Jakarta,
Johannesburg, Istanbul, Hong Kong, Mecca and Rio de Janeiro. China accounts for
almost half the cities.
Major Recommendations:
• The future of India’s environment lies in its cities. As India
rapidly urbanizes, cities will be at the forefront both for India’s growth and
for sustainability.
• For cities to break away from the current vicious loop of
flooding and water scarcity, nature-based solutions like restoration of urban
watersheds and wetlands could offer solutions.
• Urban watersheds and wetlands are critical for maintaining the
water balance of a city, flood cushioning, micro-climate regulation and
protecting its biodiversity, the report notes.
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