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The Supreme Court laid down that a Governor cannot sit on key Bills passed by a State Legislature after casting doubts on the validity of the Assembly session in which the proposed laws were passed with overwhelming majority by the elected representatives of the people.
The apex court settled the law in a writ petition filed by the Punjab government, represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, complaining that Governor Banwarilal Purohit has held back crucial Bills on Sikh gurdwaras, the police and higher education passed in a special sitting of the Budget Session of the Vidhan Sabha on June 19 and June 20.
Warning the Governor that “you are playing with fire”, the court directed him to take a decision on the long-pending Bills presented to him for assent.
“Real power vests with the elected representatives of the people in a parliamentary form of democracy. The Governor, as an appointee of the President, is a titular head of the State.
The Governor acts on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers save in areas where the Constitution gives him discretion.
The power to take decisions affecting the governance of the State or the nation is essentially entrusted to the elected arm of the state.
India, U.S. in agreement on strategic issues: Rajnath (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India and the United States increasingly find themselves in agreement on strategic issues, including countering China’s aggression, promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific, and addressing regional security challenges, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said in the opening remarks of his bilateral meeting with U.S. Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin.
During the talks, there was a particular focus on enhancing defence industrial cooperation and getting both sides to co-develop and co-produce defence systems, the Defence Ministry said.
Mr. Austin welcomed India’s decision to become a full member of the Combined Maritime Forces, a multilateral construct headquartered in Bahrain.
Editorial
Revamping the criminal justice system to fit the bill (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Government has introduced three Bills to replace the core laws, i.e., the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act (IEA), 1872, which form the basis of the criminal justice system.
These Bills are being examined by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs. (The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill will replace the IPC; the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill will be in place of the CrPC, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill will replace the IEA.)
As these Bills replace the entire Acts — and are not merely Amendment Bills to fix some gaps — they provide an opportunity for an overhaul of the laws underlying the criminal justice system.
This raises the following questions — Do they update the law to reflect the concepts of modern jurisprudence? How do these Bills relate to various special laws? Do they help unclog the criminal justice system? Are various definitions and provisions drafted well without ambiguity?
The U.S.’s signal of a huge digital shift (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
When Thomas L. Friedman triumphantly declared in 2005 that the world was flat, with the opportunities having been equalised globally, it was considerably premised on new digital developments.
This new geopolitical and geo-economic ideology was led by the United States, home to most of the world’s Big Tech. It first sought to redefine development through the field of ICT4D (Information and Communication Technologies for Development), and then herald a new dawn for democracy globally, most characterised by colour revolutions in East Europe and the so-called Arab Spring.
Behind it all of course was a new plan to employ the global reach of digital tentacles, and later data-enabled controls, for economic expansionism.
Some called it digital colonisation, due to its extractive nature. The U.S. thereby sought to prempt alarmed national regimes from reconstructing boundaries to contain digital globalisation.
It devised a set of digital trade proposals seeking binding commitments from countries to essentially prevent any effective future regulation of Big Tech.
For some years now, such digital trade proposals have been the hottest agenda at various plurilateral trade negotiations and at the World Trade Organization (WTO).
News
BRO says Amarnath road project will help pilgrims’ movement (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Infrastructure)
Facing outcry from the Jammu and Kashmir-based political parties, the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) clarified that the ongoing road project to the Amarnath cave shrine was towiden the tracks for pedestrian traffic, keeping in view the environmental concerns.
The court in 2012 issued the directions for sufficient widening of tracks to facilitate pedestrian traffic and address congestion on the track, improvement of critical stretches of the existing track, provide safety railings and retaining walls along the vulnerable stretches etc. keeping in view the environmental concerns.
I&B Ministry releases draft Broadcasting Services Bill (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting released the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023, which aims to bring in a new regulatory framework in keeping with technological advancements in the sector.
The Ministry has invited feedback and comments on the draft Bill from stakeholders within 30 days from the date of its release.
This pivotal legislation modernises our broadcasting sector’s regulatory framework, replacing outdated Acts, Rules, and Guidelines with a unified, future-focused approach.
It adapts to the dynamic world of OTT, Digital Media, DTH, IPTV, and more, promoting technological advancement and service evolution,” I&B Minister Anurag Thakur said on X.
The draft Bill provides for a framework to regulate the broadcasting services in the country and seeks to replace the existing Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act, 1995, and other policy guidelines currently governing the broadcasting sector in the country.
The Bill comprises six Chapters, 48 Sections and three Schedules.
Aadhaar verification downtime very low, says Union Minister (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Aadhaar authentication downtime represented only 0.85% of the year till September, Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said on X.
Mr. Chandrasekhar was responding to The Hindu’s news article that reported that Aadhaar authentication services have been down for a collective 54 hours and 33 minutes in 2023 till September.
“Over a total of 266 days and total use time of 6,384 hrs, these glitches of 54 [hours] 33 mins spread over 266 days as reported by @UIDAI represent only 0.85% glitches and 99.15% of uptime,” Mr. Chandrasekhar said, referring to the Unique Identification Authority of India, which administers the Aadhaar programme.
Some of this very small downtime/glitches were planned for system upgrades and even during these very limited downtimes, other means of authentication were always available to authenticating agencies, posting screenshots of the Right to Information response provided to the Aadhaar agency.
Business
Sept. IIP growth falls to 5.8% (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s industrial output growth slid to a three-month low of 5.8% in September from a 14-month high of 10.3% in August, with manufacturing growth halving to 4.5% from the 9.3% recorded in the previous month.
Consumption demand appeared weak with consumer durables’ production rising just 1% while non-durables’ production grew 2.7% in September, despite a beneficial base effect from last year when both segments tanked by 5.5% and 5.7%, respectively.
Electricity and mining growth also moderated to 9.9% and 11.5%, respectively. Spliced on the basis of usage, primary goods grew the fastest at 8%, cooling from 12.4% in August, followed by infrastructure and construction goods that were up 7.5% and capital goods, which rose 7.4%.
Intermediate goods output grew 5.8%. While only seven of 23 manufacturing sectors had clocked a contraction in August, nine segments saw drops in output in September, led by furniture (-20.2%). The apparel segment contracted 17.9%, worse than the 17.1% decline clocked in August.