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The Supreme Court said acts of charity or good work to help a community or the poor should not cloak an intention to religiously convert them as payback.
A Bench led by Justice M.R. Shah said conversion on the basis of a voluntarily felt belief in the deity of a different faith is different from belief gained through allurement.
The court said it would examine such veiled intentions behind religious conversions through allurement by offering food, medicines, treatment, etc.
The court posted for final hearing on Monday the "very serious issue" of forcible or deceitful conversions in the country.Everybody has a right to choose their faith but that does not mean luring somebody by giving something.
If you believe that a particular community needs help, you help it. It is charity. But the purpose of charity should not be conversion. Every charity or good work is welcome, but what requires to be considered is the intention.
Charity, help, everything is welcome, but within the framework. The intention should be very clear. That is what we will consider.
When senior advocate Sanjay Hegde pointed out that people could choose to renounce their faith for various reasons, Justice Shah intervened to point out that “belief is a different thing… Belief by allurement, that is very dangerous”.
At this point, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre, said it was therefore that a “statutory mechanism” was in place.
A neutral authority will decide whether it is in lieu of grains, medicines, treatment offered that a person is converting or whether there is a religious or philosophical change of heart.
India, Germany ink migration agreement; Jaishankar defends Russian oil purchase (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
India’s consumption of Russian oil was just one-sixth of European consumption and should not be compared unfavourably, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, defending the government’s decision to increase its intake of Russian oil since the war in Ukraine, that was discussed in his talks with visiting German Foreign Minister AnnalenaBaerbock.
Ms. Baerbock’s visit coincided with the launch of an “oil price cap” plan by the G-7 and European Union countries to withdraw shipping and insurance services to countries that buy Russian oil above the price of $60 per barrel.
In the months following the Ukraine war, European countries have imported more Russian fossil fuel than the next ten countries combined, when asked by a German journalist if India would consider decreasing oil imports, especially as it assumes the G20 presidency.
The two sides said they held talks on bilateral issues, including Germany’s assistance to India on renewable energy and energy transitions, as well as international issues like their Indo-Pacific strategy, and spoke about China, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
At the end of talks, India and Germany signed a comprehensive partnership on migration and mobility meant to ease travel for research, study and work for people in both countries, which Mr. Jaishankar said would be the “basis for a more contemporary partnership” to relations.
However, the two governments did not appear to make any headway on the contentious issue of 22-month old “Baby Ariha”. Ariha Shah was taken into childcare by German authorities in September 2021, alleging that she had been abused at home, a charge her father, a software employee posted in Germany, and mother deny.
While the criminal investigation was closed without charges against the parents, German Youth Welfare department overseeing the case has not released the child to the parents until a court adjudicates the custody case.
Editorial
The COVID-19 pandemic, food and socialising (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 1, Society)
Arthur Schopenhauer, a famous German philosopher, observed, “Life swings like a pendulum backward and forward between pain and boredom.”
Perhaps he was right but he overlooked that in a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, pain and boredom occur together. Lay-offs of the employed and deaths on a massive scale not just caused enormous pain and trauma but also mobility restrictions and closure of cinema halls, restaurants and restrictions on the scale of wedding ceremonies, and other forms of socialising during the lockdowns subjected large segments to unrelenting boredom.
Our study, based on eight waves of CMIE-CPHS (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy which conducts Consumer Pyramids Household Surveys) before and during the pandemic (16th wave for the period January-April 2019 to the 23rd wave for the period May 2021-August 2021), is innovative as it simultaneously determines the incidence of COVID-19 and shares of food expenditure and socialising.
The incidence of COVID-19 is driven largely by the source of transmission and the length/speed of transmission. The COVID-19 incidence determines the share of food expenditure and the two together determine the share of socialising expenditure of a household.
As mass lay-offs and interrupted food supply chains caused substantial income losses and food price spikes, low-income households barely maintained their subsistence while others made substantial adjustments to their allocation of household expenditure.
However, food being a priority, Engel’s law suggests that the share of food expenditure rises as income falls. This is further aggravated by food price spikes.
The two together cause the share of food expenditure to rise. Given the budget constraint, a higher share of food expenditure is expected to lower that of socialising expenditure.
However, budgets vary with resilience to income and price shocks. So, if the (relatively) affluent absorb these shocks and still have a large share of discretionary funds, their socialising expenditure may rise to break out of a monotonous and boring lifestyle.
Climate talks as shortchanging international law (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Fraud in public law is the deliberate attempt to avoid provisions of the statute. In the climate negotiations for instance, areas of interest to developing countries are not covered or sparsely covered, while other areas are over-regulated.
Equitable sustainable development is not even discussed. At COP27, the policy debate was no longer legitimised by science. There seems to be a concerted effort to fraudulently change the basic structure of the Climate Treaty.
There are three problems with the current negotiating process. First, citizens in developed countries are not even aware that two-thirds of their national emissions of carbon dioxide come from their diet, transport, and residential and commercial sectors, which together constitute the major share of their GDP; the consumption sectors are not independent silos but reflect their urban lifestyles.
Second, the process ignores that global well-being will also follow urbanisation of the developing country’s population, requiring fossil fuels for infrastructure and energy to achieve comparable levels.
Third, the need for vast quantities of cement and steel in developing countries for infrastructure — constituting essential emissions, as they urbanise — is not being considered.
As late urbanisers, developing countries account for more than half the annual emissions and most emissions growth. They cannot affordably access many of the new technologies to decarbonise quickly.
The result is a shrinking of their policy space and human rights, endangering efforts to achieve comparable levels of well-being with those who developed earlier without any constraints. Such discussions are not taking place in the climate negotiations because of the way the agenda is set.
The foundation of the Climate Treaty in international environmental law is questionable. In the run-up to the Stockholm Conference on the Environment (1972), the United States Secretary of States’ Advisory Committee stated that “urbanization has changed the nation with seventy five percent of its people living in the urban area.
Opinion
No uniformity in parole and furlough rules (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
There was a huge uproar in the media when Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, a convict serving a 20-year prison sentence for raping two disciples, was seen organising an online ‘satsang’ while on a 40-day parole in October.
On the other hand, S. Nalini, a convict in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, who was serving life imprisonment, was given several extensions of parole from December 2021 until her release.
The Prisons Act, 1894, and the Prisoners Act, 1900, did not contain any specific provision pertaining to parole and/or furlough. However, Section 59 of the Prisons Act empowers States to make rules inter alia “for the shortening of sentences” and “for rewards for good conduct”. Since “prisons, reformatories…” fall in the State List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, States are well within their reach to legislate on issues related to prisons.
The Uttar Pradesh rules provide for the ‘suspension of sentence’ (without mentioning the term parole or furlough or leave) by the government generally up to one month.
However, the period of suspension may exceed even 12 months with prior approval of the Governor. Maharashtra’s rules permit release of a convict on ‘furlough’ for 21 or 28 days (depending upon the term of sentence), on ‘emergency parole’ for 14 days, and on ‘regular parole’ for 45 to 60 days.
The recently revised rules of Haryana (April 2022) permit ‘regular parole’ to a convict up to 10 weeks (in two parts), ‘furlough’ for three to four weeks in a calendar year, and ‘emergency parole’ up to four weeks. Ram Rahim is on his regular parole.
Though the Tamil Nadu rules of 1982 permit ‘ordinary leave’ for a period of 21 to 40 days, ‘emergency leave’ is permitted up to 15 days (to be spread over four spells).
However, in exceptional circumstances, the government may extend the period of emergency leave. Till recently, Nalini was on extended emergency leave owing to her mother’s illness.
Surprisingly, the Andhra Pradesh rules specifically prohibit such extension on account of the continued illness of a relative of a prisoner.
They permit ‘furlough’ and parole/emergency leave up to two weeks, except that the government may extend parole/emergency leave in special circumstances.
Explainer
The lingering crisis of labour post-pandemic (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) recently released two reports that gave an indication of the global employment scenario post-pandemic.
The ‘Global Wage Report 2022-2023: The Impact of inflation and COVID-19 on wages and purchasing power’ discuss the twin crises, inflation and economic slowdown, which created a “striking fall” in real monthly wages around the globe.
The report blames the war in Ukraine and the global energy crisis for this situation. Another report, the ‘Asia-Pacific Employment and Social Outlook 2022: Rethinking sectoral strategies for a human-centred future of work’ stated that the Asia-Pacific region lost about 22 million jobs in 2022.
ILO Director-General Gilbert F. Houngbo said the decrease in wages is placing millions of workers in a dire situation. “Income inequality and poverty will rise if the purchasing power of the lowest paid is not maintained.
The ILO report on wages looked at the real and nominal wages of employees. The word “wage”, was defined as the total gross remuneration including regular bonuses received by employees during a specified period for time (monthly for the report) worked as well as for time not worked, such as paid annual leave and paid sick leave.
The nominal wage data shows the adjusted figures after accounting for consumer price inflation while real wage growth refers to the year-on-year change in real average monthly wages of all employees.
In each edition of the Global Wage Report the objective is to collect wage data from as many countries and territories (about 190) which are then grouped into five separate regions.
In India, the nominal wages rose to ₹17,017 per month in 2021 from ₹4,398 in 2006. The data was taken from the Government of India’s Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
But when inflation is factored in, the real wage growth in India plunged to -0.2% in 2021 from 9.3% in 2006. In China, the growth decreased from 5.6% in 2019 to 2% in 2022.
In Pakistan, the growth is -3.8%. Figures of Sri Lanka were not available. The negative growth in India started after the pandemic.
Why are fisherfolk protesting the Vizhinjam port project? (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Infrastructure)
Vizhinjam has been on the boil for the past four months with protesters mainly fisherfolk and their families laying siege to the under-construction Vizhinjam port.
The protestors led by the Latin Archdiocese have been demanding the halting of the construction work of the port by Adani Vizhinjam Port Private Limited.
According to protesters, the port work has aggravated the coastal erosion along the coast of Thiruvananthapuram. They have raised seven demands which include, a scientific study to assess the impact of the port work on the shoreline after stopping the construction of the port.
Further, around 300 families along the coastline were shifted to relief camps after their houses were destroyed due to high-intensity coastal erosion.
The protesters demand a comprehensive rehabilitation package for the fisherfolk in the region, an assured minimum wage when the sea turns rough due to inclement weather, and subsidised kerosene for boats.
All types of construction work along a coast, aggravate sea erosion (loss of beach) and accretion (gain of beach). Any structure — be it groyne, seawall, or breakwater — intensifies erosion on one side and accretion on the other.
Although coastal erosion is dominant in all coastal districts of Kerala, it is more severe along the coastline of Thiruvananthapuram.
A study conducted by the National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management, Society of Integrated Coastal Management, and the Ministry of Environment and Forest had noted that the erosion is minimum at Thrissur (1.5 %) and maximum at Thiruvananthapuram (23%), even before the port construction.
In Kerala’s case, the seasonal shoreline changes would be more severe during monsoon months due to the high-energy short storm waves that lash the coast almost in a perpendicular position moving the sand offshore.
Text &Context
The enigma of arrival: how Ambedkar completed his educational journey (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 1, Significant Personalities)
Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar passed away on December 6, 1956. In this article dated April 14, 2018, A.R. Venkatachalapathy elaborates on Ambedkar’s educational journey and how he came to complete it.
B.R. Ambedkar’s educational journey began in impossibly challenging conditions. With the help of a modest scholarship granted by the Maharaja of Baroda, he joined Columbia University, New York, in July 1913.
After completing his M.A., he went on to write a thesis that ultimately led to the conferment of a PhD degree. In mid-1916, he was admitted to Grays’ Inn in London to appear for the bar. When his scholarship ended in 1917, he was forced to return to India.
The First World War which was raging at the time forms the backdrop for the paper trail. On May 17, 1916, Ambedkar addressed two letters to the British Consul in New York, from Livingston Hall, Columbia University.
He wanted a passport to go to London. Apparently, he had made enquiries at the British consulate, through a friend, regarding the requirements.
New war-time regulations were in force and a passport could not be issued without permission from the India Office in London. Ambedkar indicated that he intended to leave America on June 3, 1917 by S.S. St. Paul.
This gave him barely two weeks time to complete the formalities. He was in a hurry because he wanted “to meet certain professors of the English Universities before they disperse[d] for the summer vacation”.
To this letter he added a postscript: if the time was too short for processing his application he was willing to pay for a cabled reply from London.
Ambedkar appended a letter of application giving “the required personal information”: “My full name is Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, son of Ramji Maloji Ambedkar.”
News
Catching small fry is not enough, nab masterminds of drugs smuggling: FM (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on December 5 urged investigative agencies like the Department of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) to capture the masterminds behind the proliferating smuggling of drugs like cocaine into the country, stressing that just nabbing mules and peddlers is not enough to engender public confidence in actions against the drug menace.
Flagging the rising detection of smuggled cocaine into the country, Ms. Sitharaman asked the DRI to examine if this was being driven by India becoming ‘a consuming country for the drug’ rather than a transit route for smugglers.
Speaking at the DRI’s Foundation Day, Ms. Sitharaman also said there seemed to be a correlation between high gold imports and the periods when higher smuggled gold is intercepted.
When smuggling of gold gets detected in big numbers, either before it or after it, there seems to be a very high import of gold. I do not know if there is a tendency or a cyclical impact of high imports but data shows that in March and July of 2021, we had very high imports of gold and before or after that, there seems to also be a higher detection of smuggling.
While some detection may be due to ‘actionable intelligence’ or officials being more alert during periods of high imports or festivals like Akshaya Tritiya, Ms. Sitharaman said: “I don’t know what works. But if in our country, 800 kilograms of gold is being detected on an average per year, I am sure this is the elephant in the room’.
The argument that gold smuggling rises when import duties are high doesn’t hold water, the minister said, mooting more data-backed mapping of what drives such smuggling. “Smuggling seems to have its own cycle and pattern, not only in gold, but also in drugs.”
For ordinary citizens reading reports about seizures of drugs like cocaine, the question that comes to mind is ‘who is actually the big fish behind it and what happened to them’, the Minister pointed out.