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Wondering
why the Centre “is hesitating to spell out its stand” on a plea seeking
directions to regulate distribution of freebies by political parties using
public money, the Supreme Court asked it to consult the Finance Commission
whether it is possible to check this by regulating allocation of revenue to
states.
Please
find out from the Finance Commission,” Chief Justice of India N V Ramana,
heading a three-judge bench hearing a petition that seeks directions to stop
distribution of freebies since it is draining the exchequer, told Additional
Solicitor General K M Nataraj after Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal suggested that
the Finance Commission would be the appropriate body to do something on the
issue.
The bench,
also comprising Justices Krishna Murari and Hima Kohli, said it will see to
what extent it can or cannot intervene to stop political parties from
distributing irrational freebies and asked the ASG to inform it, which
authorities should be prodded to at least start a debate on the subject.
The
Supreme Court had issued notice to the Centre and Election Commission of India
on the plea by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay in January this year.
Responding
to the notice, the ECI said it has no power to regulate the same or take action
against parties making such poll promises.
In an
affidavit, the poll body said “offering/distribution of any freebies either
before or after election is a policy decision of the party concerned, and
whether such policies are financially viable or its adverse effect on the
economic health over the state is a question that has to be considered and decided
by the voters.
The Election
Commission of India cannot regulate state policies and decisions which may be
taken by the winning party when they form the government.
A similar
petition challenging freebies, filed by Pentapati Pulla Rao who contested as a
candidate of the Janasena Party from Eluru Parliamentary constituency
in Andhra Pradesh in 2019, has also been pending in the Supreme Court since
2019. In that matter too, while the ECI took a similar stand, the Centre is yet
to file a response.
Battle lines harden as 19 Opposition MPs suspended from Rajya Sabha for a week (Page no. 1)
(GS
Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Deepening
the political divide and setting the stage for more stormy days in the monsoon
session of Parliament, 19 Opposition MPs were suspended for a week
from Rajya Sabha, a day after four Congress MPs were suspended
from Lok Sabha for the remainder of the current session for alleged
misconduct.
The 19
MPs, suspended for disrupting House proceedings while pressing for an urgent
discussion on price rise and the hike in GST rates, are Sushmita Dev, Mausam
Noor, Shanta Chhetri, Dola Sen, Santanu Sen, Abhi Ranjan Biswar and Md. Nadimul
Haque (all 7 from TMC); M Hamamed Abdulla, S Kalyanasundaram, R Girranjan, N R
Elango, M Shanmugam and Kanimozhi (all 6 from DMK); B Lingaiah Yadav,
Ravichandra Vaddiraju, Damodar Rao Divakonda (all 3 from TRS); A A Rahim and V
Sivadasan (both from CPM); and, Santhosh Kumar P from CPI.
Deputy
Chairman Harivansh repeatedly asked the Opposition MPs to return to their seats
but when they refused, he asked the treasury benches to move a motion for their
suspension.
Minister
of State for Parliamentary Affairs V Muraleedharan moved a motion to suspend 10
MPs from the sitting of the House for the remainder of the week for their
“misconduct” by showing “utter disregard to the House and authority of the
chair”. But when Harivansh put the motion to vote, he read out the names of 19
members.
The
suspended MPs refused to leave, leading to three adjournments — first for 15
minutes by Harivansh, then for an hour and finally, for the day by Bhubaneswar
Kalita, who was in the chair.
Union
Minister Piyush Goyal, Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha, said the
decision to suspend the 19 Opposition MPs was taken with a “heavy heart” as
they repeatedly ignored the Chair’s appeals to let the House function and
infringed on the rights of other members.
The
government is ready for a debate on price rise once Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recovers (from Covid) and returns to
Parliament. Members of the Opposition called the suspension decision
“deplorable.
In Parliament
Lok
Sabha passes family courts Bill (Page no. 6)
(GS
Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Lok
Sabha passed the Family Courts (Amendment) Bill, 2022 that seeks to amend
the Family Courts Act, 1984 to establish family courts in Himachal Pradesh with
effect from February 15, 2019 and in Nagaland with effect from September 12,
2008.
The Bill
also seeks to insert a new Section 3A to retrospectively validate all actions
under the said Act taken by the State Government of Himachal Pradesh and
Nagaland and the Family Courts of those states prior to the commencement of the
Family Courts (Amendment) Act, 2022.
Replying to
the debate on the Bill, Rijiju said that 11.49 lakh cases were pending in 715
family courts across 26 states and Union Territories at the beginning of May
2022.
Rijiju
said the government has called a meeting of the district judges on July 30.
This is the first time that a meeting of district judges has been called, he
said, adding that the Prime Minister, Chief Justice of India and other judges
of the Supreme Court will be present in the conference. Many issues including
matter related to family courts will be discussed.
Discussing
the issue of judges’ appointment, he said the government can not approve the
appointment of judges without “due diligence”.
The
Supreme Court’s collegium doesn’t have that system. The information we have
like judges’ background, their activities, their achievements, all these
information is available with the government. If we did not approve a name, it
is because we had a valid reason. We don’t do this to suppress or stop someone.
The Law
Minister expressed concerns over increasing number of pending court cases,
which is about to touch the 5 crore mark.
In all 21
members participated in the debate on the Bill that was passed by a voice vote.
Several members from the Opposition parties like Congress were not present in
the House.
Initiating
the debate, BJP member Sunita Duggal raised the issue of pending
court cases. She said the pending cases should be disposed by appointing more
and more judges.
JD (U)
member Kaushalendra Kumar observed a family court should be established for 10
lakh population in a district but the district population in Bihar and other
states now exceeds 20 lakh.
Supporting
the Bill, BJD member Bhartruhari Mahtab said that under the 1984 law, states
can open a court or a number of courts but the ultimate notification has to be
done by the Central Government.
Govt. and Politics
Third
countries in CPEC projects: India slams China Pak (Page no. 7)
(GS
Paper 2, International Relations)
India
criticised China and Pakistan for their efforts to encourage third countries
to join projects relating to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) —
a multi-billion dollar connectivity corridor that passes through PoK.
China and
Pakistan are making efforts to extend the CPEC to Afghanistan. Ministry of
External Affairs’ spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said such activities under the
CPEC are “inherently illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable”, and will be
treated accordingly by India.
New Delhi
has consistently been critical of “projects in the so-called CPEC”, which are
in Indian territory “illegally occupied by Pakstan”.
At a
meeting of the CPEC Joint Working Group on International Cooperation and
Coordination on Friday, Pakistan and China decided to welcome interested third
countries to join CPEC initiative.
Bagchi
said: “We have seen reports on encouraging proposed participation of third
countries in so-called CPEC projects. Any such actions by any party directly
infringe on India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
India
firmly and consistently opposes projects in the so-called CPEC, which are in
Indian territory that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan.”
Such activities are inherently illegal, illegitimate and unacceptable, and will be treated accordingly by India. CPEC was launched in 2013 to improve Pakistan’s road, rail and energy transport infrastructure, besides connecting its deep-sea port of Gwadar with China.
Express Network
UAE is
our third largest trading partner; there are huge economic stakes in ties with
it’ (Page no. 9)
(GS
Paper 2, International Relations)
Many
people in India don’t understand how important the relationship with West Asia,
in particular the larger arc of Gulf countries, is from an Indian perspective.
The first
dimension of this relationship is historical. If we go back a hundred years,
the only point of reference for people here was Bombay, which they came to for
trade, education, healthcare and tourism much before they discovered London,
Paris and New York with the oil boom.
We need to
reclaim that space, which we lost for some decades after our independence in
1947. The trauma of Partition blinded us to the reality that we had
traditionally been a maritime nation.
Around 25
years ago, the Government started the Look East Policy, by which we improved
our relationship with Southeast Asia and now we have the Look West policy to
reclaim our relationship with the Gulf countries.
Our trade
ties anchor this relationship. While the US is our number one trading partner,
China is number two and the UAE is number three. During the 2021-2022 financial
year, trade was $72 billion. Our trade with the GCC countries — Saudi Arabia,
Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, UAE and Kuwait — is larger than our trade with the
European Union. Last year, our exports to UAE alone were about $32 billion,
which is our second-largest destination of exports after the US.
So there
are huge economic stakes in the relationship. The large sovereign funds like
PIF in Saudi Arabia, the Qatar Investment Authority in Doha and the Abu Dhabi
Investment Authority are investing billions of dollars in the Indian economy
and this is the kind of patient, long-term capital that the Indian economy
needs.
The Abu
Dhabi Investment Authority is the world’s second-largest sovereign wealth fund
with assets of almost $900 billion and they’ve put money into our national
infrastructure fund. They’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars into
renewable energy, highways, logistics and a range of new sectors.
Nearly 60
per cent of India’s imports from GCC countries are crude and natural gas. In
the longer term, oil from the Gulf will always be more economically viable than
the temporary situation with Russian oil. Therefore, our energy security is
critically dependent on Gulf countries.
Close to
80 lakh Indians call one or another country in the Gulf their home. Unlike, the
Indian diaspora in the US, Canada or elsewhere, virtually all of these are
Indian passport holders, placed at top-end groups like Lulu and Landmark.
They are now investing in India. According to the Word Bank, our total remittances globally last year were about $84-85 billion, two-thirds from the Gulf.
Editorial Page
Tipping
point (Page no. 10)
(GS
Paper 2, Governance)
Last week,
the Delhi High Court stayed the operation of guidelines issued by the
Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), which prohibited hotels and
restaurants from adding a component of service charge to their
bills.
The
guidelines stated that collection of service charge as a pre-condition to
placing an order of food and beverages amounts to a restrictive trade practice
as per Section 2 (41) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.
Under
Article 226 of the Constitution, the application of an order passed by the
Delhi HC ought to only be confined to the national capital territory (NCT) of
Delhi.
However,
in view of the decision passed by the Supreme Court in Kusum Ingots and Alloys
Ltd. v. Union of India (2004), any order passed by a high court on the
constitutionality of central legislation will have effect throughout the
country.
With the
Consumer Protection Act being an enactment of Parliament, it is safe to say
that the order clears the way for hotels and restaurants across the country to
restore their practice of levying a service charge.
The
practice of levying a service charge has been followed by the hospitality
industry since Independence. The first formal validation for service charge
came in 1958, when the Hotel Standards and Rate Structure Committee under the
chairmanship of Dewan Chaman Lal recommended that there be a uniform charge of
10 per cent on the customer’s bill throughout India.
The
committee condemned the practice of solicitation of tips, calling it injurious
to the dignity of the worker and causing harassment to the customer. It further
called for the introduction of comprehensive legislation, which would provide a
minimum-wage structure, uniform rate of service charge and most importantly,
the utilisation and apportionment of the service charge for the benefit of the
staff.
The report
emphasised the need for regulating the working conditions of the unskilled and
semi-skilled staff working at hotels and restaurants and suggested that a
portion of the service charge so collected may be utilised to provide benefits
such as provident funds, pensions and life insurance.
Thereafter
in 1964, a Wage Board was constituted by the Chief Commissioner, Delhi which
accepted the practice of levying a service charge ranging between 5-10 per cent
on a customer’s bills.
It even provided for the apportionment of the service charge collected, of which 45 per cent was to be allocated for the staff working at the establishment.
Economy
IMF
cuts FY 23 India GDP forecast by 80 bps to 7.4 % (Page no. 13)
(GS
Paper 2, International Relations)
The
International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut global growth forecasts again on Tuesday,
warning that downside risks from high inflation and
the Ukraine war were materializing and could push the world economy
to the brink of recession if left unchecked.
Global
real GDP growth will slow to 3.2% in 2022 from a forecast of 3.6% issued in
April, the IMF said in an update of its World Economic Outlook.
The IMF
added that world GDP actually contracted in the second quarter due to downturns
in China and Russia. The Fund cut its 2023 growth forecast to 2.9% from the
April estimate of 3.6%, citing the impact of tighter monetary policy.
World
growth had rebounded in 2021 to 6.1% after the COVID-19 pandemic
crushed global output in 2020 with a 3.1% contraction.
The Fund
said its latest forecasts were “extraordinarily uncertain” and subject to
downside risks from Russia’s war in Ukraine spiking energy and food prices
higher.
This would
exacerbate inflation and embed longer-term inflationary expectations that would
prompt further monetary policy tightening.
Under a
“plausible” alternative scenario that includes a complete cut-off of Russian
gas supplies to Europe by year-end and a further 30% drop in Russian oil
exports, the IMF said global growth would slow to 2.6% in 2022 and 2% in 2023,
with growth virtually zero in Europe and the United States next year.
Global
growth has fallen below 2% only five times since 1970, the IMF said, including
the 2020 COVID-19 recession.
The IMF
said it now expects the 2022 inflation rate in advanced economies to reach 6.6%,
up from 5.7% in the April forecasts, adding that it would remain elevated for
longer than previously anticipated. Inflation in emerging market and developing
countries is now expected to reach 9.5% in 2022, up from 8.7% in April.
Explained Page
Johar
(Page no. 14)
(Miscellaneous
)
The 15th
President of India, Droupadi Murmu, assumed office Monday with a ‘Johar’
greeting to the country. ‘Johar’, which essentially means ‘salutation and
welcome’, is used within the tribal communities of Jharkhand, and in parts of
Chhattisgarh and Odisha.
According
to several tribal leaders from Jharkhand, the word ‘Johar’ also means ‘paying
respect’. Tribal communities are nature worshippers and follow Sarna religion
code, although it is not an official religion.
There are
32 tribal communities in Jharkhand who speak different dialects. Almost all,
including tribal Christians, use the word ‘Johar’ along with some other words
for salutation.
Johar, is
predominantly used by Santhali, Munda and Ho communities that share some
similarities. People belonging to the Oraon community use the word ‘Jai
Dharam’, apart from Johar, as a salutation.
There are
at least four types. One of them is ‘Doboh Johar’, which is used between people
where one among them has a higher standing. Ratan Tikrey, a former member of
Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) said that in ‘Doboh Johar’ there is a ritual
where the person with a tumbler full of water bows in front of the person of
higher standing.
The person who bows will touch the earth and
in return the other person will wash his/her hand (using water in the tumbler)
and let the water drop on the earth. The entire exercise means that the
hospitality being shown has been accepted.
Leaders
from the tribal communities say that the greeting has been in use since ‘time
immemorial’, adding that it is hard to pinpoint when it actually began.
Ranveer’s
photoshoot and laws covering obscenity in India (Page no. 14)
(GS
Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Based on a
complaint by a Mumbai-based NGO, the Mumbai Police registered an FIR
against actor Ranveer Singh on Tuesday (July 26) for sharing photographs
from an apparently nude photoshoot that he did with ‘Paper’ magazine.
What is the case about, and what sections of the law is he supposed to have
broken?
Two individuals,
a lawyer and a person running an NGO, approached the police separately to
complain against Ranveer. Chembur police registered the FIR based on
the statement of one Lalit Tekchandani (50), who has told the police that he
runs the Shyam Mangaram Foundation, which works with widows and children of
farmers who have committed suicide. In his statement, Tekchandani has said that
he is a private contractor.
Tekchandani
has said that on July 24, a friend sent him images of Ranveer that the actor
had shared on Instagram and Twitter. He was wearing no clothes in the pictures.
Tekchandani has said that when he zoomed in on one of the photographs, he
realized that the actor’s private parts were visible.
The photo
had gone viral, Tekchandani has said. He has said that India is a land of
culture, and such photos could influence children who have a “craze” for movie
actors and actresses.
According
to the complainant, upon inquiring, he had found that Ranveer had done the
photoshoot for ‘Paper’ magazine, and would have earned a lot of money from it.
He added
that it would also influence youngsters struggling to get into the industry to
resort to similar measures to earn money and fame. Based on Tekchandani’s
statement, the Chembur police registered an FIR in the matter.
The police
have invoked Sections 292, 293 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), along
with Section 67A of the IT Act.
Section
292 (Sale, etc. of obscene books, etc) says that “a book, pamphlet, paper,
writing, drawing, painting, representation, figure, or any other object shall
be deemed to be obscene if it is lascivious or appeals to the prurient
interest” or, “if its effect, or (where it comprises two or more distinct
items) the effect of any one of its items, is, if taken as a whole, such as to
tend to deprave and corrupt persons” who are likely to read, hear, or see it.