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The Union government restricted all imports of laptops, tablets, and all-in-one and small-factor personal computers (PCs), requiring licences for these products to be brought into the country and sold to consumers.
The move is expected to particularly impact short-term laptop availability from laptop brands that rely on assembly abroad, such as Dell, HP, Lenovo and Apple. The notification may entail longer wait times for individual products to be cleared for import and sale in India.
The said restriction shall not be applicable to imports under Baggage Rules,” the Directorate General of Foreign Trade said in its notification announcing the curbs, indicating that travellers may be free to bring one of these products back with them from overseas without attracting penalties.
Laptops can still be purchased online from overseas, the government clarified; however, when these are imported by individual buyers, the import duty and shipping fees may make this an expensive prospect, as tax may also have to be paid in the country from where the laptop is purchased.
Over nine lakh trees likely to be axed for Great Nicobar Project (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The Centre’s ambitious ₹72,000-crore Great Nicobar Project may see 9.64 lakh, and not 8.5 lakh, trees felled to enable the construction of a trans-shipment port, an international airport, a township, and a 450- MVA gas- and solar-based power plant on the Great Nicobar island.
There is also a possibility that fewer trees may be axed, he indicated. The Great Nicobar Project, which is likely to come up over 130 square km of pristine forest, has been accorded environmental clearance by an expert committee.
However, this was challenged in the National Green Tribunal (NGT), following which it set up an expert committee in April to investigate aspects of the clearance.
Though details of a project being appraised for environmental clearance are usually made available on a public portal maintained by the Environment Ministry, details on the Great Nicobar Project have not been put up, it is learnt, following instructions from the Union Home Ministry that has classified the project as one of “strategic importance”.
SC: can you equate Article 370 with Basic Structure? (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court asked whether Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, is being equated with the Basic Structure of the Constitution.
A Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud was reacting to senior advocate Kapil Sibal’s submission that there was no constitutional process available to revoke Article 370, and the provision had attained a “permanent character” after 1957 when the J&K Constituent Assembly dissolved, leaving the Article unchanged.
“The abrogation of Article 370 was a purely political act. There was nothing within the constitutional structure which empowered the President or the Parliament to abrogate Article 370.
Editorial
Nuclear signalling, the need for new guard rails (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International)
The conflict in Ukraine and the recourse to nuclear rhetoric have revived concerns about nuclear escalation management between the major nuclear powers.
Since the end of the Cold War, the United States-Russia nuclear rivalry had taken a back seat. Instead, North Korea, Iran and India-Pakistan got attention, with many analysts getting nostalgic about ‘nuclear stability’ during the Cold War.
But, as it is becoming clear now, in today’s changed political environment the escalation management lessons of the Cold War no longer seem to work for the U.S. and Russia.
In June 2021, U.S. and Russian Presidents, Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, met in Geneva. Nuclear arms control was a high priority item on the agenda but no progress proved possible.
As concerns grew about the Russian troop presence in Belarus on the Ukrainian border, Central Intelligence Agency Director Bill Burns flew to Moscow in November to spell out the consequences of aggression. In January 2022, U.S. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva to reiterate the message.
On February 24, Russia began its “special military operation” in Ukraine. U.S. attempts to deter Russian aggression had failed.
Even as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders met to decide their response, Mr. Biden made it clear that the U.S. was determined to avoid a Third World War or allowing the conflict to escalate into a NATO-Russia conflict.
After the freezing of Russian reserves and a slew of financial, energy-related and political sanctions, other elements of military assistance, lethal and non-lethal, began to take shape. Intelligence sharing and restoring Internet connectivity was the first step.
The second was the supply of ammunition and some weapon systems which the Ukrainian forces were familiar with. NATO deepened its military involvement by providing gradually more and more sophisticated weapon systems, beginning with the Javelin and Stinger missiles, and moving on to Patriot missile defence batteries, long-range Himars,
India needs evidence-based, ethics-driven medicine (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The recent push to integrate ‘AYUSH’ medicinal systems into mainstream health care to achieve universal health coverage and ‘decolonise medicine’ is a pluralistic approach that would require every participating system to meet basic safety and efficacy standards.
Homoeopathy does not meet these standards. But its supporters have argued in The Lancet Regional Health – Southeast Asia recently for expanding its use by citing demand and decolonisation, disregarding its flaws.
Evidence on homoeopathy’s efficacy is weak. The first carefully conducted and well-reported double-blind randomised controlled trial (RCT), the Nuremberg Salt Test (1835), noted that “the symptoms or changes which the homeopaths claimed to observe as an effect of their medicines were the fruit of imagination, self-deception and preconceived opinion — if not fraud.”
In the evidence-based medicine ladder, the topmost rung is systematic reviews and meta-analyses that exhaustively pool and critically appraise evidence from existing studies.
Multiple systematic reviews and meta-analyses have found that, across ailments, population groups (adults versus children), study types (placebo-controlled versus other trial types), and treatment regimes (individualised versus non-individualised), homoeopathic treatments lack clinically significant effects. Reviews that somewhat support homoeopathy’s efficacy also caution over the low evidence quality and raise concerns about its clinical use.
Opinion
Should the age of consent be revised in India? (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Recently, while hearing an appeal by a man who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for maintaining a consensual relationship with a minor girl, the Bombay High Court said that it is high time India considered reducing the age of consent for sex.
The court pointed out that after the enactment of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, many adolescents are being prosecuted for consensual relationships with minor girls.
Often, the criminalising approach of the law, especially if you look at the POCSO Act, also prevents us from having a more holistic discussion on the subject. The moment you come to know about any instance, you have to report it.
So, not only can you not help the adolescent in case they need help, whether it’s psychological or mental social support, but you also can’t study trends.
So, a lot of the discussions that we’re having now are either anecdotal, or based on evidence from other countries. And that completely misses the cultural context of India, which is so important.
Explainer
Coups in Niger; causes and concerns (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
On July 26, Niger’s military staged a coup, ousting President Mohamed Bazoum. The head of Niger’s presidential guard, Abdourahmane Tchiani proclaimed himself as the head of the transitional government.
The military’s spokesperson announced that it has decided to “put an end to the regime due to the deteriorating security situation and bad governance.” The constitution is dismissed, all institutions suspended, and the national borders closed.
The military has blamed worsening insecurity and economic crisis for ousting the President. Despite the presence of the U.S. and French troops, Niger was unable to address the insurgency situation that was worsening.
Groups linked to al-Qaeda, the Islamic State and Boko Haram operate in the south-west near Malian and southeast near the Nigerian borders.
According to the Global Terrorism Index 2023, 198 people died in insurgent attacks in 2022, with Niger holding the sixth-highest civilian death toll.
Niger also was facing inflation, corruption and food insecurity. Mr. Bazoum came to power in 2021 through Niger’s first democratic elections, promising to address all the issues.
The UN, the U.S., Germany and France have condemned the coup. The UN has suspended humanitarian operations in Niger, while the EU has halted all security cooperation.
The U.S. has announced “unflagging support” for Mr. Bazoum calling for his immediate release. France called for an immediate reinstation of “constitutional order and democratically elected civilian government.”
Following an attack on the French embassy in Niger, Emmanuel Macron said that any attacks on France’s interests in Niger would not be tolerated and France would take swift and uncompromising action.
Why is the Biological Diversity Bill facing opposition? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
On 1st August, the Rajya Sabha passed the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 amid a walk-out by the opposition parties, about a week after it was cleared by the Lok Sabha.
The Act aims to conserve biodiversity, promote its sustainable use and equitable sharing of benefits that arise therein. Amendments proposed in the Bill however are at odds with this aim.
During discussions in Rajya Sabha, the Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, explicitly spoke of “ease of doing business” and promotion of the AYUSH industry (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homeopathy) as reasons why the government is bringing forth the amendments.
The Bill exempts "codified traditional knowledge" and the AYUSH industry from benefit sharing, denying local communities benefits from accessing biological resources.
The term "codified traditional knowledge" lacks a clear definition, leading to potential exploitation. Experts regard this exemption as regressive because a reason why the legislation was enacted in the first place was to ensure “fair and equitable sharing of benefits. It decriminalises offences and proposes monetary penalties instead, raising concerns over resource exploitation.
It is important to bear in mind that the proposed relaxations come at a time when the Act hasn’t even been implemented in full.
A 2022 investigation by the Centre for Science and Environment showed that in many States, there was no data available on money received from companies and traders for access and benefit sharing and in cases where money was collected, the same wasn’t shared with local communities.
A 2016 study by legal researchers also showed that many difficulties have cropped up in many States when it comes to implementing provisions of the Act, especially those related to access and benefit sharing. Some of these issues were also challenged in high courts and the National Green Tribunal.
News
Endangered Himalayan vulture, bred in captivity for the first time in India (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Researchers have recorded the first instance of captive breeding of the Himalayan vulture (Gyps himalayensis) in India at the Assam State Zoo, Guwahati.
Categorised as ‘near threatened’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of threatened species, the Himalayan vulture is a common winter migrant to the Indian plains, and a resident of the high Himalayas.
Details of the successful breeding were recently published in a paper titled “Breeding of Himalayan Vulture Gyps himalayensis Hume, 1869 (Aves: Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) in the Assam State Zoo, Guwahati, Assam, India” in the Journal of Threatened Taxa.
The paper states that the successful hatching was noted on March 14, 2022 and the nestling was shifted to the artificial brooding facility on March 15.
“During first month, the nestling was kept in the brooder made up of a plastic box (1 x 1 x ½ f) with a mat for the grip. The temperature was maintained around 30-35 C with a lamp, a water bowl and it was monitored with a thermo-hygrometer. The nestling was provided with sufficient space to move towards and away from the heat source.
Along with the housing for nestling, the paper says, the food, frequency of feed, and the growth and colouration of the nestling were observed.
Sachin Ranade, lead author of the publication, said: “Breeding the species in Guwahati was a daunting task as, in nature, this species breeds in snow-clad mountains.
But as these birds were kept in zoo for a long time, they acclimatised to the tropical environment, and we helped them rear the young ones, which led the whole process to this unique success. The two co-authors of the paper are Jay Gore, and Ashwini Kumar, Director of the Guwahati Zoo.
World
Pakistan approves signing of security pact with U.S. (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Pakistan’s Cabinet has quietly approved the signing of a new security pact with the U.S., a move that indicates a fresh start in defence cooperation after years of distrust between the two nations and may open avenues for Islamabad to get military hardware from Washington.
Through a circulation summary, the Cabinet gave its seal of approval to sign the Communication Interoperability and Security Memorandum of Agreement, known as the CIS-MOA, between Pakistan and the US, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.
However, there was no official announcement from either side about the signing of the agreement. According to the report, Federal Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb was approached but did not respond.
The development comes days after Pakistan and the U.S. agreed to further enhance their bilateral relations, including in the defence field, at a meeting between U.S. Central Command chief Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla and Pakistan's Chief of Army Staff Gen.
Asim Munir. CIS-MOA is a foundational agreement that the U.S. signs with its allies and countries with which it wants to maintain close military and defence ties.
It also provides legal cover to the U.S. Department of Defence for ensuring the sale of military equipment and hardware to other countries. The signing of the CIS-MOA means the two countries are keen to maintain the institutional mechanism.
The agreement, first signed between the Joint Staff Headquarters of Pakistan and the U.S. Department of Defence in October 2005 for 15 years, expired in 2020. The two sides have now renewed that arrangement which covers joint exercises, operations, training, basing and equipment.
The signing of the CIS-MOA indicates that the U.S. might sell some military hardware to Pakistan in coming years, a source in Washington was quoted as saying in the report.
However, a retired senior Army played down the development and said it was not easy for Pakistan to buy military hardware from the U.S. despite this agreement.
Business
‘Services PMI hit 13-year high in July, lifted by export surge’ (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s services sector output, measured by the S&P Global India Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), rebounded from June’s three-month low to a 13-year high of 62.3 in July.
Output levels rose at the sharpest pace since June 2010 as per the survey-based index, with firms citing strong demand and new business gains.
However, the pace of job creation remained “slight” and on par with the previous two months. Input costs rose at the fastest pace in 13 months, driven mainly by food, labour and transportation costs, while output prices increased at the slowest rate in three months as firms seemed to be wary of losing fresh contracts.
Firms reported the second-fastest rise in export orders since the index was introduced in 2014, as Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and the UAE emerged as key sources of growth.