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Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the vision of Kempe Gowda, credited with founding the city of Bengaluru, whose 108-feet statue he unveiled near the Kempegowda International Airport. He said his government was committed to ensure that Bengaluru is developed as Kempe Gowda envisaged.
The unveiling of the statue and the ensuing public rally was suffused with homage to Kempe Gowda and efforts of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to woo the Vokkaliga community, which has remained elusive for the party, ahead of 2023 Assembly polls was apparent.
The event had all the Vokkaliga faces of the BJP, including former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, besides two prominent seers of the community — NirmalanandaNatha Swami and Nanjavadutha Swami — on the stage.
Mr. Modi was presented with a headgear resembling the one adorning the statue of Kempe Gowda, which he wore through most of the function. Significantly, NirmalanandaNatha Swami of the powerful Adichunchanagiri mutt compared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kempe Gowda.
A country can prosper only if its human resources are properly utilised. Kempe Gowda understood this 500 years ago, and set up petes for each of these skills and developed the city into a commerce hub.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has understood this and has given the motto of Skill India, Reskill and Upskill India. There is also a saying that only he who knows the culture of the country will derive strength and energy to rule it.
Like Kempe Gowda, Narendra Modi has understood the culture and spirituality of this country, gaining enough strength from it,” said the seer.
The seer also said contrary to what Plato proposed that a philosopher must be a king, both Kempe Gowda, and Narendra Modi had shown “karma jeevana”, action and work, were also important qualities of a king.
In his speech, Mr. Modi thanked the swami for his blessings and went on to talk about Kempe Gowda’s great vision for the city.
He developed the city with focus on commerce, culture and convenience. The old pete area that he built as a hub of commerce and skill still continues to be a primary market hub serving the city even to this day.
Editorial
In EWS verdict, a discrimination antithetical to equality (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
In its more than 70-year-old history, the Supreme Court of India has delivered a plethora of judgments touching on the fundamental tenets governing the Constitution of India’s guarantee of equal treatment.
On occasion, its verdicts have contradicted each other, with different Benches championing different meanings to the Constitution’s text and values.
Some of this conflict is understandable. After all, the Constitution’s most important promises — among them, the rights to equal treatment, personal liberty, and freedom of expression and religion — are couched in abstract language.
The job of interpreting the Constitution’s words, of fleshing out their real meaning, lies with the courts. Judges perform this task by looking not only at the text of the provisions but also by appealing to the Constitution’s finest moral vision, by studying its history, and by applying rules and codes that have formed over time through an accretion of precedent.
Naturally, in construing the guarantees of the Constitution, judges can arrive at varying conclusions on how the document must be read.
These differences assume especial salience when the Court is called on to deliberate over the features that qualify as part of the Constitution’s basic structure.
Still, as Justice S. Ravindra Bhat holds in his powerful dissenting opinion in Janhit Abhiyan vs Union of India(November 2022), the Court’s jurisprudence has pointed to certain underlying canons at the heart of the right to equality: notable among them the idea that caste-based or community-based exclusion is impermissible.
But today this norm stands subverted. For the Court, in Justice Bhat’s words, has “for the first time, in the seven decades of the republic, sanctioned an avowedly exclusionary and discriminatory principle,” by upholding the 103rd Amendment to the Constitution.
The amendment, introduced in early 2019, altered Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution, and granted to the state a power to provide for up to 10% reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for “economically weaker sections of citizens [EWS]”.
The change also mandated that the seats reserved for EWS would only apply to citizens other than the classes that are already eligible for reservation.
Hence, persons belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) and persons who are not part of the creamy layer of the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) would not be allowed to occupy seats in the newly earmarked quota.
Since 1973, when a 13-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, delivered its ruling in Kesavananda Bharati vs State of Kerala, it has been clear that Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution is not plenary.
Autonomy oils the wheels of higher education excellence (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
It is sad but not surprising why none of India’s institutions of higher education appears in the list of top 100 universities of the world. The fact is that the best universities in the world are flush with funds.
Critically, they insist and get a great degree of academic, administrative and financial autonomy. Autonomy is regarded as a necessary and sufficient condition to attain excellence.
In tandem, they allow a fairly high degree of autonomy to institutions under their jurisdiction. Their colleges and schools work as a ‘university within the university’, and the top leadership of the university has no qualms about this.
In India, there are significant pieces of evidence to this effect. The 2023 edition of the QS world university ranking reckons that three of India’s higher educational institutions amongst the top 200 of the world. Another three are counted among the top 300 whereas two more in the top 400.
The Times Higher Education (THE) ranking places only one Indian institution among the top 400 of the world. It is the same with the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU).
Barring one of the most eminent public-funded deemed universities of the country, all the rest are Institutions of National Importance (INIs) — the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), to be specific.
They are not only better funded but also generally self-governed, enjoying a greater degree of autonomy as they fall outside the regulatory purview of the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).
In contrast, the best-ranked university in the country falls in the rank brackets of 521-30 by the QS, in the 801-1000th bracket by THE, and in the 601-700th bracket by the ARWU.
Funded through the University Grants Commission (UGC), universities are all subject to a very strict regulatory regime. Abiding by UGC regulations and AICTE guidelines, encompasses almost all aspects of their functioning be it faculty recruitment, student admission and the award of degrees. In many cases, they are micro-managed by the regulatory authorities.
Therefore, most of them have become so comfortable with the practice that they rarely assert their autonomy. Central universities in the country are also ranked on the basis of their ‘obedience’ to regulatory compliances.
Even in the academic domain, many of them are comfortable in publicly stating that they have adopted the model curricula, pedagogy and syllabi prescribed by the regulatory bodies, even though the same may have been only indicative.
On the contrary, the best universities in the world are continuously sensitised about the importance of their autonomy and are trained and enabled to make their own decisions.
News
Govt starts drafting Bill to add Hattees to ST list in Himachal Pradesh (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
The Union government is now pushing to deliver as soon as possible on the promise to add the Hattee community of Himachal Pradesh to the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list along with three other communities in Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh, as approved by the Union Cabinet in September this year.
The Ministry of Tribal Affairs (MoTA) has now initiated the process to draft the Bill to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950 accordingly for this, adding that the Ministry is aiming to introduce the Bill in Parliament as soon as possible.
Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda had on September 14 announced that the Cabinet had cleared a proposal to add the Hattee community in the Trans-Giri region of the Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh to the ST list.
This announcement had come a month before the dates for the Assembly elections in the State were announced by the Election Commission of India. The State is set to vote on Saturday, November 12.
Besides the Hattees, the Bill being drafted by the MoTA will also include the addition of the Narikoravan and Kurivikkaran hill tribes to the ST list of Tamil Nadu and the Binjhia community to the ST list of Chhattisgarh.
The Bill will also include the addition of synonyms for 11 tribes in Chhattisgarh and one tribe in Karnataka so that variations in their spellings and pronunciations do not result in people being left out of beneficiary schemes – as announced by Mr. Munda in September.
While making the announcement, Mr. Munda’s colleague and Himachal MP Anurag Thakur had said that the move to add Hattees to the ST list was a “historic” one and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for it. The move is set to add 1.6 lakh Hattee people of the Sirmaur district in Himachal Pradesh to the ST list.
The move has drawn flak from Scheduled Caste communities of Sirmaur district (which has two Assembly seats reserved for SCs) and the Gujjar community, who are currently the only ST community in the district, as reported by The Hindu on October 29.
Civil courts should take up suit against hate speech (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Describing the Fundamental Duty of fraternity as the only Constitutional method of assuring the dignity of every citizen and the unity and integrity of the nation, former Supreme Court Judge Rohinton Fali Nariman said civil suits against hate speech leading to the award of punitive damages should be taken up by courts.
“The moment a citizen petitions a court against hate speech, the court cannot only issue a declaration and an injunction, because of the fundamental duty, it can also award punitive damages... it would go a long way towards preserving and protecting fraternity.
Nothing hurts more than that which hurts the purse,” he said while delivering the 13th V.M. Tarkunde Memorial Lecture.
Justice Nariman said the cardinal principle of fraternity prescribed that every citizen honored the other citizen in the spirit of brotherhood, transcending religious, sectarian, and other fissiparous tendencies.
The other great precepts were the Fundamental Duty of abjuring violence, looking up to and respecting the country’s composite culture, which is crucial as far as India is concerned, “particularly at this time”.
Stating that the criminal law was sometimes put in motion selectively, he suggested the remedy of civil suits. He said given that the Fundamental Duties chapter of the Constitution, unlike both the Fundamental Rights and the Directive Principles, was silent on what the court’s role was, “you can fill it in”.
Justice Nariman noted that a recent Supreme Court order went out of its way to say that every authority must act the moment there was hate speech and if they did not, there would be contempt of court.
Quoting Justice Jackson’s words in The Jehovah’s Witnesses’ Cases judgment (1943), in which he had upheld the right to refuse to salute the American flag on the grounds of serious and conscientious objection, Justice Nariman said they applied all the more in the case of India due to its massive diversity unlike America.
If there is any fixed star in our constitutional constellation, it is that no official, high or petty, can prescribe what shall be orthodox in politics, nationalism, religion, or other matters of opinion or force citizens to confess by word or act their faith therein.
Justice Nariman said: “If only when no official is allowed to interfere, that diversity becomes unity, not otherwise”. He also quoted the words of Justice Chinnappa Reddy, from the Bijoe Emmanuel &Ors vs State Of Kerala &Ors (1986) judgment related to National Anthem, saying: “our tradition teaches tolerance; our philosophy preaches tolerance; our Constitution practices tolerance; let us not dilute it”.
Altitude decides simian attitude to diet (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Differences in altitude make a primate species in the same Himalayan habitat choose between flowers and fruits as food options beyond their staple menu of leaves, a new study has revealed.
The Himalayan Gray Langur or the Chamba Sacred Langur ( Semnopithecus ajax) is a colobine, meaning leaf-eating monkey. It is considered an endangered species globally as its population is estimated to be less than 1,500 mature individuals in 15-20 groups.
Three primatologists studied the diet composition of five such groups in and around the Kalatop-Khajjiar Wildlife Sanctuary in Himachal Pradesh between September and November 2020.
They especially concentrated on two groups, one inhabiting the Kalatop forest at an average altitude of 2,396 metres, and the other based in the Khajjiar forest at an average altitude of 2,188 metres.
The domains of the two groups were only 208 metres apart, but the altitudinal gap made a huge difference when the monkeys took a break from feeding on the leaves of some 20 species of plants, primarily the Himalayan ivy (Hedera nepalensis) and the Himalayan oak ( Quercus oblongata).
While the Kalatop group satisfied their craving for something different by feeding on flowers, the Khajjiar group ate fruits for a change of taste. Flowers and fruits constituted 11.11% and 15.49% of the diet of the two groups respectively.
The preference for fruits or flowers “may depend upon the difference in their distribution in terms of elevation and availability of a particular plant part”, said the study published in the Journal of Threatened Taxa.
The study was conducted by Rupali Thakur and Kranti Yardi of the Pune-based Bharati Vidyapeeth Institute of Environment Education and Research, and P. Vishal Ahuja of the Wildlife Information Liaison Department and Zoo Outreach Organisation based at Hardaspura in Himachal Pradesh’s Chamba district.
Apart from recommending a census for the Himalayan Gray Langur in the district, the trio of scientists advocated a further long-term study for a comparison of the diet and behaviour in the forested groups and the urbanised groups of this primate species. This can help formulate specific conservation action for both the groups.
The Himalayan Gray Langur was once considered a sub-species of the Semnopithecus entellus, commonly known as the Bengal Sacred Langur or Hanuman Langur, but it was separated as a species in 2005.
Twin engine carrier-based Navy fighter by 2031-32 (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
As indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant gears up for aviation trials, the project to develop a Twin Engine Deck Based Fighter (TEDBF), to operate from carriers in the near future is taking shape.
The project under development is expected to get approval from the Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) by mid-2023 and TEDBF could be inducted into the Navy by 2031-32, according to officials from the Aeronautical Development Agency (ADA).
Separately, officials expressed confidence that a selection between Boeing F/A-18 and Dassault Aviation Rafale-M, under evaluation by the Navy to operate from the carriers in the interim, could be made by December-end. It is expected to be procured through the Government-to-Government route.
We expect CCS clearance by mid-2023 and from then another 1.5-2 years for the prototype. The TEDBF is a replacement for the Mig-29K fighters in service and should be inducted with the Navy by 2031-32.
Currently high speed modelling to test the supersonic characteristics is underway with internal funds by the Defence Research and Development Organsiation (DRDO) and the project will be up for Preliminary Design Review, an important milestone, by March next year.
While the development is underway, ADA has prepared an estimate and sent it to the Navy and once it comes back with comments to DRDO, it will be put up to the CCS for clearance, he added.
The TEDBF is envisaged as a twin-engine medium weight fighter with an all-up weight of 26 tonnes and wing folding, ADA officials had stated earlier.
In January 2020, DRDO had demonstrated successful arrested landing of Naval LCA on INS Vikramaditya and subsequently, 18 take-offs and landings were conducted in five days. The TEDBF is being taken up from the experience of the Naval LCA.
In 2017, the Navy had floated Request For Information (RFI) to procure 57 twin-engine carrier fighter which is now set to be downsized to around 26 including a few twin-seater trainer variants, with the TEDBF in the pipeline.
The Navy had contracted 45 Mig-29K aircraft from Russia for INS Vikramaditya, few of which have been lost in crashes and given the availability rates, there won’t be enough aircraft to operate from both the carriers.
Business
Yellen Pushes for global cooperation on the regulation of cryptocurrency (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy/Science and Technology)
United States’ Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman discussed issues relating to cryptocurrency regulation during her maiden official visit to India, with Ms. Yellen mooting international cooperation to set high regulatory standards for crypto assets and reduce the cost of cross-border payments.
Cryptocurrency regulation has been a ‘tremendous focus’ of the Biden-Harris administration in the U.S. and ‘a good deal of progress’ has been made in ‘at least dealing with issues of illicit financing through crypto currencies, but conceded there is still some way to go.
With respect to cryptocurrencies, there are some pools where we have inadequate market consumer and investor protection issues that need to be dealt with. But this is an area where we had some discussion in our meetings today, where international cooperation is really important among public authorities, the private sector and public stakeholders need high regulatory standards globally,” she said at an interaction with industry leaders after the conclusion of the Ninth U.S. India Economic and Financial Partnership meeting.
We need to take steps to reduce the cost of cross border payments. And we’re very actively working within the context of the Financial Stability Board, the Financial Action Task Force, the multilateral development banks, the IMF and bilateral exchanges to really address on a global basis, the risks and some of the benefits from crypto currencies.
The Treasury Secretary, who visited Microsoft’s India development centre earlier in the day, called for stronger trade and investment ties between the India and the U.S., stressing that apart from ‘significant economic benefits’, this will also bolster the two nations’ resilience and national security at a time of global turmoil.
Ms. Yellen said India was a key part of the United .States.’ ‘friendshoring’ approach to diversify supply chains away from disruptive players like Russia, whose ‘brutal war’ has claimed countless Ukrainian lives and livelihoods as well as exacerbated food and energy security around the world, and China, where forced labour was being used to produce certain solar panel materials.
Highlighting a $500 million debt finance from the U.S.’s development finance institution to build a solar module production facility in Tamil Nadu, Ms.