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The Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary, P.K. Mishra, described India taking over the G-20 presidency as a “watershed moment” and said it is our responsibility to showcase the country in “the most rightful ways befitting her stature and glory”.
Holding G-20 meetings at 56 locations across the country will ensure that the pan-Indian nature of the event is truly showcased, adding that every State government, Union Territory and citizen is a stakeholder in the process of India’s presidency.
India has as much uniqueness as it has diversity. We have a responsibility to bring out the best traditions of India before the world.
Spotlight
The battle to bring freshwater turtles back from the brink (Page no. 4)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
On November 27, West Bengal Police seized 270 kg of turtle calipee (a gelatinous layer found in the lower shells of turtles, believed to be used in traditional Chinese medicine) in Malda district.
The consignment was meant to be smuggled to Bangladesh.
Ten days earlier, Uttar Pradesh Forest Department officials recovered a total of 789 Indian flapshell turtles and softshell turtles near Amethi.
Another large consignment of 143 live turtles, meant to be smuggled to Bangladesh, was recovered by the Border Security Force (BSF) in West Bengal’s Murshidabad district in January this year.
These incidents of turtle smuggling are among the many reported across various States by international trafficking networks, which have kept law enforcement agencies on their toes for the past several years.
Experts say the consignments intercepted by law enforcement agencies may be just a fraction of the actual volume of illegal trade. The demand for freshwater turtles and their body parts sees a spike every year during winter when it is easier to transport animals for extended periods.
In a move to curb turtle trafficking, earlier this month, the Conference of the Parties (COP) adopted India’s proposal to transfer two species of freshwater turtles found in the country — the red-crowned roofed turtle (Batagur kachuga) and the Leith’s Softshell Turtle ( Nilssonia leithii) — to Appendix I (which lists the most endangered species that need the highest level of protection) of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES).
Conservation experts and law enforcement agencies have welcomed CITES (an international treaty to ensure that trade in wild animals and plants does not threaten their survival) upgrade of the two species at a time when illegal trade is threatening their natural habitats.
Editorial
Laying the ground to delegitimise the Supreme Court (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
Achange of guard at the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) on November 9 seems to have triggered a reorientation of the Union government’s strategy towards the Supreme Court. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, the new CJI, carries a reputation of being a liberal judge with a strong and independent voice, notwithstanding his role in the 2019 Ayodhya-Babri Masjid case judgment that handed the Bharatiya Janata Party its biggest legal and political victory.
The Union Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju, seems to have discovered his voice to coincide with the new CJI’s appointment.
In the last few weeks, he has displayed a keen sense of urgency in his attempts to set right the democratic deficit that has for three decades plagued the process of appointments to the higher judiciary.
In parallel, the Supreme Court has taken up the question of inaction on the part of the Union government in notifying recommendations made by the collegium, which is a flagrant violation of the law settled by the court in two cases in the 1990s. The Bench expressed displeasure at some of the comments Mr. Rijiju had made about the appointments, news emerged that the Union government had returned 19 recommendations to the collegium hours before the proceedings.
It is a fact that the Supreme Court remains obstinately committed to the collegium system of appointing judges with little regard for criticism from within and outside the legal fraternity.
Safer roads for a greener, more sustainable environment (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Infrastructure/Environment)
The impact of road safety goes a long way. In addition to ensuring an easier, comfortable, and more secure commute, safer roads also have a positive impact on the environment.
In 2021, India reported 4,03,116 crashes, each of which adversely impacted the environment in various ways and in different degrees.
Most vehicles contain toxic metals such as lead, mercury, cadmium or hexavalent chromium, which are detrimental to the environment. Fuel and fluid leaks are seen at crash sites.
Severe road crashes lead to automobile wreckage, which becomes a part of unusable end-of-life vehicles. This gives rise to scrappage.
India is estimated to have about 22.5 million end-of-life vehicles by 2025. Despite being one of the largest car and light commercial vehicle markets in the world, India’s National Automobile Scrappage Policy, launched in 2021, is still in its nascent stages.
With the absence of widespread, systematic facilities dedicated to their proper recycling, vehicles after road crashes as well as old end-of-life automobiles are left to rot by the wayside.
Some end up at landfills or at informal recycling facilities where rudimentary hand tools are utilised to unscientifically dismantle them.
This leads to the leakage of hazardous constituents such as oils, coolants and glass wool. Vehicle landfills turn into automobile graveyards leading to wasteful and sub-optimal land usage and water and soil pollution for decades.
Opinion
Should there be a panel to appoint Election Commissioners? (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
With a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court hearing a batch of petitions on having a neutral mechanism for the appointment of members of the Election Commission of India, the debate on having a collegium-like panel to select Election Commissioners has been revived.
The presence of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha (LoP) in the collegium particularly would lend credence to the selection process. Of course, the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is important also. But the LoP politically has a lot more importance and significance if he or she is signatory to the appointment.
Whether it is of the Prime Minister, LoP and CJI, or there are also one or two other people. A broader base and consultative system would obviously be [better].
There is no comparison with the current system where the government of the day appoints ECs on its own, with nobody knowing how it is being done. So, any change of that kind will be very, very useful.
The government has been resisting because no government wants to let go of this power, which is why they have not taken any action.
As far as the judiciary’s power to look into the issue goes, the judiciary is the guardian of the Constitution, and a free and fair election is [part of] the basic structure of the Constitution.
On anything to ensure a free and fair election, the judiciary comes in very much. And in any case, the judiciary is pointing out that Article 324 requires that Parliament will pass an Act about the procedure of appointment and things like that.
It has not happened in the last 72 years. So, the Supreme Court is fully justified in pointing this out. In any case, the Supreme Court has not jumped in suo motu.
Explainer
How will global layoffs impact India? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Effects of policies of Developed countries on India’s Interests)
Over the past two months, a slew of U.S. multinational companies including tech giants Amazon, Meta, Intel, Twitter and financial behemoths like Citi and Morgan Stanley, announced massive layoffs.
According to a global placement and coaching firm, the layoffs crossed 60,000 in September and October. These developments are bound to have an impact, on India’s export prospects, especially in the information technology (IT) sector.
Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai had warned of a coming winter in the tech sector earlier this year. In an all-hands meeting in September this year, one of his responses to staff queries on budget cuts was: “We don’t get to choose the macroeconomic conditions always.”
A potential economic recession is a big red flag. With inflation soaring in most parts of the world, central banks have been scrambling since March this year to rein it in by increasing rates so as to make it more costly to borrow and consume. This will eventually affect economic growth and jobs.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cited forecasts for global GDP growth in both 2022 and 2023 as gloomy, given the pandemic and ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. Setting aside the 2008 financial crisis numbers, estimates for this calendar and the next by the IMF are the weakest since 2001.
The Conference Board measure of CEO confidence showed top honchos in the West haven’t been this downbeat since the 2007-2009 recession.
The survey asked 136 CEOs what economic conditions they are preparing to face over the next 12-18 months. An overwhelming majority— 98% — said they were preparing for a U.S. recession; while 99% said they were preparing for an EU recession.
The Indian IT services firms are among the largest employers in the organised sector and any global economic trend is bound to have an impact on their growth projections.
How do personality rights protect celebrities? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Delhi High Court recently passed an interim order to prevent the unlawful use of Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan’s name, image and voice. The court, through its order, restrained persons at large from infringing the personality rights of the actor.
Personality rights refer to the right of a person to protect his/her personality under the right to privacy or property.
These rights are important to celebrities as their names, photographs or even voices can easily be misused in various advertisements by different companies to boost their sales. Therefore, it is necessary for renowned personalities/celebrities to register their names to save their personality rights.
A large list of unique personal attributes contribute to the making of a celebrity. All of these attributes need to be protected, such as name, nickname, stage name, picture, likeness, image and any identifiable personal property, such as a distinctive race car.
Personality rights are different from publicity rights. Personality rights consist of two types of rights — firstly, the right of publicity, or the right to keep one’s image and likeness from being commercially exploited without permission or contractual compensation, which is similar (but not identical) to the use of a trademark; and secondly, the right to privacy or the right to not have one’s personality represented publicly without permission.
However, under common law jurisdictions, publicity rights fall into the realm of the ‘tort of passing off’. Passing off takes place when someone intentionally or unintentionally passes off their goods or services as those belonging to another party.
Often, this type of misrepresentation damages the goodwill of a person or business, resulting in financial or reputational damage. Publicity rights are governed by statutes like the Trade marks Act 1999 and the Copyright Act 1957.
News
Centre to cut funds if land is not allotted for housing scheme (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Welfare Schemes)
States unable to provide land to landless beneficiaries of the Central Government’s flagship housing scheme by December 15 will find their targets for this financial year redistributed to other States, the Centre warned recently.
This means that the Centre will withdraw its share of funds allocated to errant States under the centrally sponsored Pradhan Mantri Gramin Awas Yojana (PMAY-G). More than a fifth of such landless beneficiaries are in Tamil Nadu.
The scheme was launched in April 2016 with a goal of building 2.95 crore houses for the rural poor by March 2022, with the target figure derived from the Socio-Economic Caste Survey 2011.
Due to the COVID pandemic, the deadline was extended by two-years till March 2024. As per the statistics available with the Union Ministry of Rural Development, 2.06 crore houses had been constructed till November 2022.
With the scheme entering its final phase, the construction of houses for at least 2.5 lakh landless beneficiaries across the country is one of the last impediments.
Providing land to the landless PMAY-G beneficiaries for the construction of the houses is of utmost importance since they are among the most deserving beneficiaries in the permanent wait list of the scheme.
The original figure of 4.48 lakh landless beneficiaries has shrunk to 2.56 lakh since the beginning of the scheme because of financial assistance provided to purchase land. However, 43% of landless beneficiaries are yet to be provided with land.
Tamil Nadu, with 56,709 landless beneficiaries still on the wait list, is the worst offender, followed by Maharashtra (48,272), Assam (23,064), Odisha (19,869) and Bihar (16,943).
Tamil Nadu has been particularly slow in providing help -- it started out with 57,680 landless beneficiaries, and has provided land to only 971 over the course of the scheme, according to the Ministry’s data.
Several States that began with a shorter list of landless beneficiaries have managed to achieve the target, such as Uttar Pradesh, only had 2080 such beneficiaries at the beginning of the scheme, or Uttarakhand which had only 539.
There are success stories too, as in the case of Madhya Pradesh, which began with a list of 37,519 such beneficiaries, and has only 1,364 unresolved cases as on date.