Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
In a major escalation of tensions between the Opposition and the government, 78 MPs were suspended from both Houses of Parliament, taking the total number of suspended MPs in this session to 92. Opposition leaders termed it a “murder of democracy”.
Those suspended include the leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury; Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam floor leader T.R. Baalu; former Union Minister Dayanidhi Maran; and Trinamool Congress leader Saugata Roy.
In the Rajya Sabha, almost 50% of the Opposition strength has been depleted. 14 MPs were suspended — 13 from the Lok Sabha and one from the Rajya Sabha.
Omnibus Telecom Bill in Lok Sabha, legislation to streamline regulation (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Telecommunications Bill, 2023, introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday, proposes the first comprehensive rewrite of telecommunications law in 138 years, consolidating spectrum rules, right of way, dispute resolution between service providers and the Department of Telecommunications or local governments, and other aspects of telecom regulation into one fresh statute. The Bill will replace the Telegraph Act, 1885.
Previous changes have been enabled by other laws and incremental amendments to the Act.
Instead of licensing, the Bill refers only to “authorisations” that will have to be obtained by telecom operators and other providers of telecom services, which have been defined as “transmission of any messages, by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems, whether or not subjected to rearrangement, computation or other processes”. This wide definition could potentially include within its ambit a range of Internet-based communications services.
Editorial
A blow for the rights of the legislature, in law making (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
In a landmark judgment delivered on November 10, 2023, in the State of Punjab vs Principal Secretary to the Governor of Punjab and Another, the Chief Justice of India (CJI), D.Y. Chandrachud, gave a creative interpretation to Article 200 of the Constitution of India which relates to the options before a Governor when a Bill, after being passed by the State Legislature, is presented to him for his assent.
The new interpretation relates to the real meaning of the first proviso to Article 200 which says that the Governor may send the Bill back to the Assembly with a request for re-consideration of the Bill as a whole or certain provisions thereof.
It further says that if the Assembly after such re-consideration passes the Bill with or without the amendments, the Governor shall not withhold assent from the Bill.
There has been a considerable amount of confusion about the meaning of Article 200 and this proviso. Most of the commentators of the Constitution, like D.D. Basu and others, have held the view that the Governor’s power to withhold assent under this Article has a finality about it, and once assent is withheld, the Bill dies a natural death.
They were also of the view that the option of sending the Bill back to the Assembly for reconsideration under the first proviso is discretionary and not mandatory. Thus, there was a presumption that the Governor’s power to withhold assent from a Bill is absolute.
Grass-root democracy as a bulwark against Maoists (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
The Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh are done and dusted. Equations in the context of tribal votes did matter immensely in the calculations of each political party, given the proportion of the tribal population in the State.
As in the politics of Chhattisgarh, it is said that the party with which the tribal voter goes forms the government in the State as tribal voters have a 34% of the vote share in the State.
Maoist insurgency in the country presently thrives in the tribal regions of Chhattisgarh, particularly in Bastar. Tribals form the main cadre base of the movement.
Elections in these Maoist strongholds, that are Schedule Five areas, have always been affected by violence in the backdrop of boycott calls by the Maoists. And this year was no different.
To begin with, and as reported by the media, voter turnout in Maoist-affected areas such as Bijapur and Konta was as low as 3% to 4%.
The dismal turnout could be inferred as the writing on the wall, subject to our inclination to acknowledge it. There were several issues that shaped the issues on which political parties contested. However, no single issue addressed the challenge of resolving the Maoist conundrum.
Opinion
The hollowing out of the anti-defection law (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
It is highly unlikely that political defections as well as India’s anti-defection law will ever not be a part of public discourse.
The Speaker of the Maharashtra Assembly, Rahul Narwekar, is currently juggling his responsibilities of presiding over the Assembly’s winter session alongside hearing the disqualification petitions against the rival factions of the Shiv Sena.
The anti-defection law, found under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, was enacted to curb frequent floor-crossing by legislators.
It provides for the disqualification of elected legislators from the legislature in instances where they voluntarily switch parties or vote against the party’s direction.
But when two-thirds of elected members of a party agree to “merge” with another party, they become exempt from disqualification.
Before 2003, there was a provision where, if as a result of a split in the original party, one-third of the members of the legislature moved out of the party, they were exempt from disqualification. However, given its excessive misuse, the provision was omitted by the 91st Amendment to the Constitution.
Text & Context
What does COP-28 mean for cities? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The 28th Conference of Parties (COP-28) in Dubai has been described by some as being a mixed bag. Even though it could not come up with a profound statement of ending fossil fuels, at least a discussion was triggered.
A few ambitious delegates described it as the “beginning of the end of an era of fossil fuels”. This was an important COP owing to the Global Stock Taking (GST) over the Paris climate deals of keeping global temperatures below 1.5 degree Celsius and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Likewise, the Loss and Damage Fund was also cleared. The focus was therefore, on both mitigation and adaptation strategies.
When the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) initiated the COP in 1995, 44% of people lived in cities.
Currently, 55% of the global population is urban and this is expected to reach 68% by 2050. The urban world today consumes nearly 75% of primary energy and is responsible for roughly 70% of CO2 (76% of total GHG) emissions. Hence, the desired results of the Paris commitments are not possible without addressing urban issues.
Why has a survey been approved at the Shahi Idgah? (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 1, Culture)
The Shahi Idgah, a three-domed mosque, in Mathura will be surveyed following the decision of the Allahabad High Court which permitted an application seeking appointment of a court commission to inspect the Shahi Idgah mosque that stands adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura.
The order of inspection of the Shahi Idgah was pronounced by Justice Mayank Kumar Jain who maintained that “during the execution of the commission, the sanctity of the campus can be directed to be maintained strictly.”
The plea for a survey was filed on behalf of the Hindu deity, Shri Krishna and seven others, who in their original suit pending before this court claimed that the mosque was built over the birthplace of Shri Krishna on the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in 1670.
Since the Babri Masjid judgment in 2019, nine cases related to the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi and Shahi Idgah Masjid, have been filed in the Mathura court.
Earlier in May this year, the Allahabad High Court transferred to itself all the suits pending before the Mathura Court on various reliefs pertaining to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque dispute.
News
PMLA accused can be given copy of grounds of detention within 24 hours: SC (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court has clarified in a judgment that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) need not furnish a person accused under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) with a copy of the grounds of detention at the time of his arrest.
A Bench headed by Justice Bela M. Trivedi held that the written communication of the grounds of arrest need to be provided only within a “reasonable period” of the arrest, that is, within 24 hours of the arrest.
The judgment comes amid debate that non-communication of the grounds of arrest was a violation of Article 22(1) of the Constitution, which upholds the fundamental right of any person who is in custody to be informed as to why he has been arrested.
House pane bats for more representation on SC Board (Page no. 15)
A House panel has pointed out that only two of the 15 Directors on the Board of the National Scheduled Castes Finance and Development Corporation (NSFDC) are from Scheduled Caste communities, adding that it is not satisfied with the “vague” response on this matter.
The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes noted in a report tabled in the House, “The Committee strongly feels that induction of an SC candidate on the Board of Directors would prove to be a catalyst in shaping the overall functioning of NSFDC.”
In its response to the panel, the Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry said that a proposal for four directors from the SC community has been approved by the Minister but the parliamentary panel, headed by BJP MP Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, called the reply “vague” and unconvincing.
India’s first winter Arctic expedition begins; Raman Research Institute team to hold study (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The Raman Research Institute (RRI) here is participating in the first winter Indian expedition to the Arctic region.
The institute said, the day when Earth Sciences Minister Kiren Rijiju flagged off the expedition, that its researchers would examine the characterisation of the radio frequency environment in the Svalbard region of the Arctic in Norway.
The survey will help astronomers assess the suitability of this uniquely located region for carrying out precision astronomy measurements.
India has been running its own research station, Himadri, in Svalbard since 2008. The winter expedition is a bid to maintain a year-long presence at the station.
A team of four scientists will embark on the journey on to India’s research station in Alesund town on the Brogger peninsula, where research institutes from 10 countries have laboratories.
Business
Direct taxes swell, exceed 75% of BE (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s net direct tax collections had grown 20.7% by December 17 to cross ₹13.70 lakh crore, the Finance Ministry said, indicating that 75.15% of the year’s direct tax target had been met.
As of November 30, the net direct tax kitty stood at ₹10.64 lakh crore or 58.34% of Budget estimate, so collections have risen by ₹3.06 lakh crore so far in December as per the latest provisional numbers.
“The net direct tax collection of ₹13,70,388 crore (as on 17.12.2023) includes Corporation Tax (CIT) at ₹6,94,798 crore (net of refund) and Personal Income Tax (PIT) including Securities Transaction Tax (STT) at ₹6,72,962 crore (net of refund).
Total Advance Tax collections so far this year stood at ₹6,25,249 crore, reflecting a growth 19.94% so far this year, with corporate taxes of ₹4,81,840 crore and personal income tax of ₹1,43,404 crore.
World
Hopes of Gelephu project, and economy revival dominate voters in Bhutan (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The Gelephu “mindfulness” mega-city project or Special Administrative Region (SAR) announced by Bhutan’s King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, as well as fixing the economy and reversing youth migration trends will be the major tasks for the next Prime Minister after the January 9 elections.
The contenders, former Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay, whose PDP (People’s Democratic Party) lost the last elections in 2018, and former top civil servant Pema Chewang, whose BTP (Bhutan Tendrel Party) is the newest entrant in Bhutanese politics, began their campaign last week for the second round of elections, after defeating former PM Lotay Tshering’s DNT party in the first round held in November.
Science
Customised mRNA is the next frontier in personalised medicine (Page no. 20)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
While using mRNA as medicine is new, mRNA has been inside you for your entire life. The cells in your body create mRNAs that serve as instructions to make specific proteins you need to function. Researchers can create new mRNAs to correct those instructions when they aren’t working.
A molecular biologist who studies how cells control their mRNAs to make the proteins they need, a basic question of how life works at the cellular level.
While most scientists studying mRNAs are not creating new drugs, this fundamental understanding of how mRNA works laid the foundation for other scientists to create effective mRNA medicines like COVID-19 vaccines.
By tweaking these instructions, scientists can create powerful new medicines to repair a variety of problems in your cells.
To understand what the mRNAs in your cells are doing for you, let’s start with its more well-known relative, DNA.