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Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud agreed to list in due course a writ petition to reconsider the collegium system of judicial appointments to the Supreme Court and the High Courts.
The petition sought the revival of the National Judicial Appointments Commission or NJAC, which briefly gave the government an equal role along with the judiciary in the appointment of judges to the constitutional courts before it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015.
The petitioner-in-person, advocate Mathews J. Nedumpara, with other lawyers, said the Constitution Bench judgment of October 2015 had thwarted the “will of the people” by striking down the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act which introduced the NJAC mechanism.
The petition said the 2015 judgment should be rendered void ab initio as it had revived the collegium system. The petitioners called the collegium system a “synonym for nepotism and favoritism”.
It said repeated representations to the Centre to evolve an alternative mechanism to the collegium system fell on deaf ears, prompting the petitioners to approach the Supreme Court.
Centre seeks review of SC order releasing Rajiv Gandhi case convicts (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Centre moved the Supreme Court seeking a review of its order prematurely releasing six convicts serving life imprisonment for the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991.
The Union government contended that the court did not afford it adequate opportunity of hearing before ordering the immediate release of the convicts.
The government said the convicts had not made the Union a respondent in the Supreme Court despite being a “necessary and proper party” in the litigation.
This procedural lapse on the part of the petitioners resulted in non-participation of Union of India in subsequent hearings of the case absence of Union of India’s assistance to the Supreme Court while adjudication of the matter has resulted into admitted and glaring breach of principles of natural justice and has, in fact, resulted in the miscarriage of justice.
The government further argued that it was “extremely crucial” to highlight that out of the six convicts who were granted remission, four were Sri Lankan nationals.
Granting remission to terrorists of a foreign nation, who had been duly convicted in accordance with the law of the land for the gruesome offence of assassinating a former Prime Minister of the country, was a matter which had international ramifications and therefore fell squarely within the sovereign powers of the Union of India.
In such a sensitive matter the assistance of Union of India was of paramount importance as the matter has huge repercussions on the public order, peace, tranquility and criminal justice system of the country.
It contended that the “principles of natural justice, the aim of which is to secure justice or to put it negatively to prevent miscarriage of justice have been grossly compromised by the order of November 11.
States
India can be a sizable player in electronics: Minister (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India has a great scope to emerge as a sizable player in electronics and semiconductor products manufacturing as part of China-plus-one diversification strategy, said Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
We are well-positioned to become a trusted global partner under China-plus-one strategy and hopeful of becoming part of Global Value Chains (GVCs) for logic semiconductors, chip sets and other electronic products, while speaking at the 25th edition of Bengaluru Technology Summit, Karnataka’s annual tech exposition.
Elaborating on the opportunities for India currently, he said electronics and semiconductor products today was a $1.5 trillion industry with China solely accounting for almost 75% of it and having enjoyed a monopoly in the sector for over two decades now.
However, the pandemic has brought tectonic changes in the global electronics and semiconductor industry and they triggered huge chip shortages and a shift in GVCs.
Global economies are no longer dependent only on China and a China-plus-one diversification plan is clearly underway.According to the Minister, the country’s electronics and semiconductor products manufacturing sector has witnessed a quantum growth in the last almost a decade.
For instance, in 2014 some 92% of the mobile devices sold in the country were imported while in 2022 some 97% of mobile devices were manufactured in the country.
Editorial
Opaque political financing could cost democracy dear (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The discourse around political finance in India usually revolves around the issue of corruption. We see this in the political contestation over the introduction of electoral bonds.
It is either presented as a pious instrument for ‘cleansing’ politics, by routing funding through legal channels, or as a murky mechanism for legitimating ‘institutionalised corruption’.
Thus, the corruption frame locks the issue of political funding into a superficial binary of ‘clean’ versus ‘dirty’, expressed in moral or legal terms.
This framing precludes any focus on the structural relationship between the nature of political funding and the shape of our political system — conveniently so, for the relationship implicates almost every political party, whether it is ruling or in the Opposition. Corruption is merely one symptom of this structural relationship, rather than being a driving factor.
In any country, the nature of political finance is an important determinant of the structure of political competition. The structure of political competition can be studied around three axes: institutional (the regulation of competition between ruling and Opposition parties); organisational (the regulation of competition within a party); and ideological (the role of ideas in determining competition between parties).
All the three axes of political competition are substantially influenced by the nature of political finance. One, the degree of transparency of political funding informs the efficacy of institutional safeguards.
For example, the inherent opacity of electoral bonds renders the power of the Election Commission of India (ECI) irrelevant in terms of ensuring a level-playing field.
Weighing in on PMGKAY, the free grains scheme (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Food Security)
The extension of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY), a scheme to distribute free foodgrains to the poor, for another three months, comes as a surprise for many reasons.
First, in the months prior to the latest extension made in late September 2022, there was much debate on the relevance of freebies. Second, there were reports in June that the Expenditure Department at the Centre did not favour it, citing a funds crunch. It also held the view that such a scheme was no longer needed “in non-pandemic times”.
This has to be viewed in the context of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, raging since February 2022, and its adverse impact on the world’s food and energy sectors.
Even more surprising is the Government’s reason: that it wanted to support the poor and the vulnerable, estimated to be 80 crore, during the festival season between October and December.
No such consideration was shown when the scheme was discontinued between December 2020 and April 2021, another important time for festivities.
The country had still to recover from the effects of the first COVID-19 wave, which was the trigger for the launch of the scheme in April 2020.
Critics of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party point out that the scheme’s extension is with an eye on the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat, respectively.
News
India has evidence of terror financing through social media platforms: NIA chief (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
India has evidence of social media platforms using crowdfunding measures to fund terror activities, Dinkar Gupta, Director-General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said.
The chief of the federal anti-terror agency said the misuse of social media platforms was an issue that needed to be discussed at the third “No Money for Terror Conference” (NMFT) which India would be hosting from November 18-19.
Mr. Gupta, while sharing the details of the conference that is to be attended by representatives of 78 countries, said Pakistan and Afghanistan were not attending the event while a confirmation from China was awaited.
The use of crowdfunding platforms to finance terrorist activities and weak control mechanisms of social media platforms were one of the four main agendas to be discussed at the conference.
Mr. Gupta said the aim was to build an integrated approach to countering terrorism. Ministers from 20 countries had confirmed participation and there would be 450 representatives in all, including representatives from Interpol, Europol and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
The meet will build on gains and learnings of previous two conferences (held in Paris in April 2018 and in Melbourne in November 2019) and will work towards enhancing global cooperation to deny finances to terrorists and access to permissive jurisdictions to operate
Terrorism is an important topic for India. Almost all countries will get an opportunity to present their points. There will be no limitations,” Mr. Gupta said, adding that there had been a considerable reduction in number of terror incidents in all areas.
Rhino horns trafficked with impunity: report (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The seizure of rhino horns by weight has increased after 2017 despite a reduction in poaching, a global threat assessment report presented at a convention of the conservation agencies in Panama City.
The investigation has also led to the “prolific” Vietnamese and Chinese criminal networks driving the trafficking of the horns throughout the supply chain.
But what has alarmed the wildlife crime fighters is the audacity with which the smugglers transport the rhino horns unconcealed, indicating that the “corrupt elements” help the traffickers move the horn shipments without bothering to disguise the products.
A comprehensive analysis titled ‘Executive Summary of the Rhino Horn Trafficking as a Form of Transnational Organised Crime (2012-2021): 2022 Global Threat Assessment’, was presented at the meeting of the Conference of Parties organised by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The 12-day meeting will end on November 25.
Supported by the World Wide Fund for Nature, the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) prepared the document on the rhino horn trafficking during the decade from January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2021.
The threat assessment was compiled from the analysis of 674 rhino horn seizure incidents that had occurred globally during this decade, in addition to seven years of criminal intelligence and findings from the WJC investigations into the rhino horn trafficking, conducted since 2015.
The report said six countries and territories have dominated the rhino horn trafficking routes from the source to the destination locations although more than 50 countries and territories were implicated in the transnational crime.
These countries were South Africa, Mozambique, Malaysia, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Vietnam, and China.
Army’s first LCH squadron moves to Missamari in Assam (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
The Army has moved its first Light Combat Helicopter (LCH) squadron to Missamari, Assam, in the eastern sector near the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The LCH, India’s first indigenously designed and developed attack helicopter, is also the first dedicated attack helicopter operated by the Army.
Two helicopters have moved there on November 1. The third helicopter will move by November-end and fourth by mid-December. Army will receive the 5 th LCH by January-end. The squadron will be fully operational by then. The Air Force raised its first LCH squadron at Jodhpur in October.
The Army raised the 351 Army Aviation Squadron to operate the LCH on June 1, 2022 at Bengaluru and received the first LCH end-September. The shortest aerial distance of the LAC from Missamari is around 250 km.
The Army LCH will be armed with 20 mm nose gun, 70 mm rockets, helicopter-launched anti-tank guided missile and a new air-to-air missile different from the ‘Mistral-2’ from MBDA on the IAF LCH.
However, as of now, both the missiles are yet to be deployed on the LCH. The Army plans to embed attack helicopters with all pivot formations to provide them with close anti-armour support.
Business
FM asks NIIF to guide private capital into Infrastructure (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has urged the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) to expand its operations and explore ways to crowd in private capital for projects under the National Infrastructure Pipeline, PM Gati Shakti and National Infrastructure Corridor.
The loan book of two major infrastructure focused non-banking finance companies, where the government-funded NIIF has a majority stake, has grown from ₹4,200 crore to ₹26,000 crore in three years with no loans turning into non-performing assets till date, the NIIF informed its governing council chaired by Ms. Sitharaman.
The NIIF has proposed setting up its first bilateral fund, an “India Japan Fund” with contributions from the government, and signed a memorandum of understanding on November 9 with the Japan Bank for International Development, the council was informed.
Ms. Sitharaman also exhorted NIIF to explore opportunities under the National Infrastructure Pipeline and PM Gati Shakti, to try and crowd in commercial capital for the ‘big pool of investible greenfield and brownfield investment projects’ covered by these programmes.
Sugar output nears 20 lakh tons: ISMA (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Sugar production in the current season (October 2022 to September 2023) till November 15 stands at 19.9 lakh tonnes, according to the Indian Sugar Mills’ Association (ISMA).
This is slightly lower than the 20.8 lakh tonnes produced last year as several mills in the western States are said to have begun production belatedly this season.
ISMA had estimated the total production this season at 365 lakh tonnes after diversion of 45 lakh tonnes for ethanol.
According to data available from ports, contracts had been entered for exports of about 35 lakh tonnes of sugar so far. Of this, about two lakh tonnes had been shipped last month.
ISMA said that several traders had entered into export contracts for the 2022-2023 season before the Centre announced the export policy. Since then, there had been an upward trend in international prices of sugar and sugar mills are re-negotiating export contract prices.