12 August 2024, The Hindu
Hindenburg report on SEBI chief raises political storm
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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
Anti-terror operation continues in J&K’s Anantnag; civilian succumbs to injuries
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GS 3: Role of external state and non-state actors in creating challenges to internal security
- The search operations by security forces in Kokernag, in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag District, continued for the third consecutive day on Monday (August 12, 2024).
- At least two soldiers and a civilian were killed during a gunfight between the terrorists and the security forces in Anantnag on Saturday.
Tungabhadra dam gate swept away in Karnataka, flood warning issued
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GS 1: Important Geophysical phenomena
- “The 19th gate of the Tungabhadra reservoir in Hospet of Karnataka State was swept away by floodwaters on Saturday midnight (August 10, 2024),” officials observed, in the early hours of Sunday (August 11, 2024).
- This resulted in the release of a significant volume of water to the tune of lakhs of cusecs from that gate.
- The incident occurred as the chain link of the 19th gate broke and was washed away while the gates were being closed the previous night due to the receding flood level in the reservoir.
Railways to lay track connecting tribal areas in A.P., Odisha, and Telangana
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GS 1: Social empowerment
- The South Central Railway (SCR) has taken up a new project connecting the tribal habitations in Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and Telangana States.
- The new railway line will be an additional corridor to coastal areas of the existing Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam-Bhubaneswar-Kolkata main line.
Rule and exception
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GS 2: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary
- The Supreme Court of India’s order granting bail to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia is a reminder to judges that they cannot deny bail as a form of punishment.
- It is also a reminder that the fundamentals of bail law are quite simple. Where a case turns mainly on documentary evidence, bail is the norm, and it is to be denied only if the suspect is a flight risk and is unlikely to appear before the court for trial, or is in a position to influence witnesses and tamper with evidence.
- The possibility of the trial not beginning anytime soon or that it may be a protracted one is also a circumstance warranting grant of bail.
- In times when Opposition political leaders are targeted and investigative agencies have no compunction about being seen as branches of the ruling party, the mere act of releasing a person on conditional bail after giving enough time for the completion of the investigation is seen as something extraordinary.
- In the Delhi liquor policy case, Mr. Sisodia was arrested by the CBI and then the Enforcement Directorate in early 2023.
- Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s turn came this year, but he managed to get interim bail in the ED’s case concerning money-laundering charges, while he is still in custody in connection with the CBI’s corruption case.
Perfunctory panacea
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GS 2: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary
- Later this month, 33 scientists will be awarded the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP), the current government’s revamped approach to independent India’s long tradition of annually awarding scientists with promise.
- The rejig is in doing away with the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar (SSB) awards, once awarded to scientists under 45 by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).
- It comprised a certificate, a cash prize and some additional monetary benefits.
- The RVP replaces it with a medal and a certificate and, renaming it the Vigyan Yuva-SSB.
- There are also other RVP awards — the Vigyan Shri, Vigyan Ratna and Vigyan Team awards.
- The latter will be for scientists over 45 who have made distinguished contributions in science and technology over their entire career as well, as for teams of scientists and technologists with exceptional contributions.
Parties, serious crimes and the need for judicial clarity
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GS 2: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary
- Two recent observations from two different Benches of the Supreme Court of India in the bail petitions of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia deserve in-depth analysis.
- The first was the observation from the Bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna.
- The judge asked the government lawyer whether in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) involving leaders of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the party too is not involved.
- What is the role of the political party? Can it be made an accused party? These questions from the Bench prompted the Enforcement Directorate to make AAP too an accused party in Mr. Kejriwal’s case.
- It is perhaps for the first time that a political party is being made as an accused under the PMLA.
- In a parliamentary democratic system, where political parties play a pivotal role in mobilising people on the basis of ideologies and political programmes and run a government, making them the accused in serious criminal cases is fraught with grave problems.
Data on quota is a Pandora’s box
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GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
- Politics over reservation in education and public employment is nothing new to Tamil Nadu.
- The State is one of the early movers with regard to the quota, having introduced it over 100 years ago.
- But, the absence of quantifiable data on community-wise representation under Backward Classes (BC) and Most Backward Classes (MBC)-Denotified Communities (DNC) categories has been a subject matter of debate since the quantum of reservation was hiked to 50% in 1980.
- In the State, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes have 18% and 1% reservations, respectively.
- The overall 69% quota was, through a 1994 Act, protected under the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
On amendments to the Waqf Act
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GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
- The Union government on Thursday (August 8) introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the 1995 Waqf Act (1995 Act).
- The proposed amendments seek to significantly reform the law by enhancing the Centre’s regulatory authority over waqf properties and, for the first time, permitting the inclusion of non-Muslim members in Waqf Boards.
- The draft legislation, proposed to be renamed the Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development Act, 2024, is heralded by the government as a comprehensive overhaul aimed at enhancing “the efficiency of the administration and management of the waqf properties.”
What is the Google ‘monopoly’ antitrust case and how does it affect consumers?
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GS 3: Awareness in the fields of IT
- Google’s payments to make its search engine the default option on smartphone web browsers violate US antitrust law, a federal judge ruled on Monday (August 5, 2024), handing a key victory to the Justice Department.
- Judge Amit Mehta in Washington said that the Alphabet Inc. unit’s $26 billion in payments effectively blocked any other competitor from succeeding in the market.
- “Google’s distribution agreements foreclose a substantial portion of the general search services market and impair rivals’ opportunities to compete,” Mehta said in a 286-page ruling.
Constitution does not have provision for creamy layer among SC/STs: Law Minister
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- GS 2: Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population by the Centre and States and the performance of these schemes
- Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal has accused the Opposition of creating confusion among people over the Supreme Court’s “observation” on a creamy layer among SCs and STs and asserted that the Constitution given by B. R. Ambedkar has no provision of a creamy layer.
- In an interview with PTI Videos, he said the BJP-led NDA government would follow Ambedkar’s Constitution and would continue the reservation system for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as provided in it.
Jaishankar concludes three-day key visit to Maldives
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GS 2: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.
- External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Sunday (August 11, 2024) concluded a crucial visit to Male, assuring the country’s top leadership that the Maldives remains an important partner of India in maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the Indian Ocean region.
- Mr. Jaishankar’s three-day visit to the Maldives was the first high-level trip from New Delhi after President Mohamed Muizzu, seen as a pro-China leader, assumed office in November last year.
- India’s relationship with the Maldives soon came under severe strain due to the actions of the new government here.
Biotechnologists detect difference in use of nitrogen by rice varieties
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GS 3: Awareness in the fields of IT - Bio-technology
- Biotechnologists at the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGU) in New Delhi have discovered a wide variation among popular varieties of rice in India in their ability to use nitrogen.
- This knowledge can be used to develop newer varieties that use less nitrogen and are high-yielding, thus slashing expenditure on imported fertilizers and reducing nitrogen-linked pollution.
- “Cereals consume two-thirds of all urea in India, led by rice. Poor fertilizer nitrogen-use efficiency (NUE) wastes N (nitrogen)-fertilizers worth ₹1 trillion a year in India and over $170 billion per year globally,” N. Raghuram, Professor at GGU, and lead author of the paper, said, reporting these findings.
