7 May 2024, The Indian EXPRESS
HC: Photos of Laden, ISIS flags in phone not enough to brand one member of terrorist organization
Page no- 3
GS3- Role of External State and Non-state Actors in creating challenges to Internal Security
- Granting bail to a man accused in a UAPA case, the Delhi High Court said Monday that merely because the mobile device of the man was “found carrying incriminating material, including photographs of terrorist Osama bin Laden, ISIS flags etc.,” would not be sufficient to brand him a member of a terrorist organisation.
- A division bench of Justice Suresh Kumar Kait and Justice Manoj Jain, in its order, said, “Merely because the mobile device of the appellant was found carrying incriminating material, including photographs of terrorist Osama bin Laden, Jihad Promotion, ISIS flags etc., and he was also accessing lectures of hard-liner/Muslim preachers, would not be enough to brand him as a member of such terrorist organization, much less his being acting in furtherance of its cause.”
Maharashtra: HC stays exemption to pvt schools from RTE admissions
Page no- 9
GS2- Issues Relating to Development and Management of Social Sector/Services relating to Education
- The Bombay High Court on May 6 stayed a notification issued by the Maharashtra government that exempted private unaided schools from admitting students under Right to Education (RTE) quota if there is a government-run school within a 1 kilometre radius.
- A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor said the issue concerned "overwhelming public interest" and that the impugned notification, issued on February 9, contravened provisions of Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, also known as RTE.
EC to parties: Don’t post deepfake, misleading info on social media
Page no- 9
GS2- Salient Features of the Representation of People’s Act.
- The Election Commission on Monday issued an advisory to all recognised political parties to not use deepfakes and misinformation in their social media posts and to take down any such fake audios and videos within three hours of coming to know of it.
- While the advisory did not mention any specific complaints or posts, it said its attention had been drawn to “certain violations of Model Code of Conduct and the extant legal provisions by political parties/their representatives while using social media for election campaigning, which need to be regulated in the interest of transparency, ethical campaigning and level playing field during the elections.”
To auction or not
Page no- 11
GS3- Infrastructure
- The 3G spectrum auction of 2010, held in the wake of the 2G scandal of 2008, was a blessing at the time, for it achieved two objectives for the beleaguered process of air wave assignment to telecom operators.
- One, it ensured transparency in the process of allocation of scarce spectrum and two, it resulted in a revenue windfall for the government. The auction Rs 67,718.95 crore as per the government.
- This was a massive amount, even if significantly less than the notional — and, if I might add, illusory — Rs 1,76,000 crore that was estimated as loss to the government by the then CAG, when spectrum was given away on a “first-come-first-served basis” (FCFS).
- Reams have been written about this. What was a blessing then, has turned into a curse now, but it is not my intention to delve into the past.
- Rather, the purpose is to argue that auctions, in the current format, are inimical to the sector’s growth and downstream competitiveness and that the historical lack of institutional integrity is adding to the challenge.
The Muslim quota question
Page no- 13
GS2- Welfare Schemes for Vulnerable Sections of the population by the Centre and States and the Performance of these Schemes
- In election season, India is debating fundamental constitutional questions around reservation.
- Can a secular country like India have religion-based reservation? Have Muslims ever been given reservation by reducing the quota for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), or Other Backward Classes (OBCs)?
- Does reservation for SCs that is limited to only certain religious denominations amount to reservation based on religion?
FM: GST exemplifies cooperative federalism, empowering states
Page no- 15
GS2- Issues and Challenges Pertaining to the Federal Structure
- Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) have reached pre-GST levels, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday.
- Underlining the milestones achieved under the GST regime, Sitharaman said it is a myth that all GST collections are “pocketed by the Centre”, adding that GST contributes significantly to state revenues.
- The statement by Sitharaman came on the day of her having administered the oath to Justice (Retd) Sanjaya Kumar Mishra as the President of the GST Appellate Tribunal (GSTAT).
- Mishra’s appointment marks the beginning of the operationalisation of the GSTAT, a crucial body for resolving GST-related disputes that has come after a long gap of nearly seven years of rollout of the indirect tax regime in July 2017.
Draft project finance norms: Banks may need 0.5-3% additional provisioning
Page no- 15
GS3- Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development
- The Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) proposed norms to tighten project financing, which has recommended an increased standard asset provisioning of up to 5 per cent on loans, is likely to result in an additional provisioning of 0.5-3 per cent of banks net worth.
- Last week, the RBI released a draft framework for lenders who undertake project finance.
- The framework proposed to tighten monitoring and guidelines for restructuring and to maintain a general provision of 5 per cent of the funded outstanding on all existing as well as fresh exposures on a portfolio basis.
- At present, the standard asset provisioning is 0.4 per cent for project finance.
