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The Supreme Court said that hate speech “is happening because the State is impotent, State is powerless, State doesn’t act in time”, and will stop “the moment politics and religion are segregated”.
The bench’s remarks drew a sharp response from Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who said the Centre was not silent, that states like Kerala were silent when genocidal calls were made against Hindus and Christians at a PFI rally in May 2022. He wondered why the court did not take suo motu cognisance when it knew about it.
Appearing for the Centre, Mehta told the court that in Tamil Nadu, “a spokesperson of DMK” said “whatever Periyar says should have been done… if you want equality, you must butcher all Brahmins”.
As Justice Joseph laughed, Mehta said, “It’s not a laughing matter. I wouldn’t laugh it away. This man does not face FIR. Not only that, he continues to be the spokesperson of a recognised political party. Mehta said he knew who Periyar was, and that hate speech cannot be justified just because someone great said it.
He sought the court’s permission to play a clip from Kerala where a child, during a PFI rally in May 2022, had allegedly raised genocidal slogans against Hindus and Christians, but the bench did not oblige.
In Parliament
No let up in House logjam, Lok Sabha passes Competition (Amendment) Bill (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Logjam in Parliament continued as both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha were adjourned for the day amid uproarious scenes with the Opposition members protesting against the ‘disqualification’ of Rahul Gandhi, and demanding a JPC into the Adani issue. However, the treasury benches managed to pass the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the Lower House amid the din. Corporate Affairs and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman moved the Bill for consideration and passage, and it was passed without a debate.
When the Lower House met in the morning, the Congress, DMK, BRS and Left members, who had come to the House clad in black as a mark of protest, rushed to the well of the House raising slogans and holding banners that read “On a false case, MP disqualified”; “Save Democracy”; “Democracy in Danger”; and “We want JPC”.
Bhartruhari Mahtab, who was in the Chair at the time, asked the members to take the seat and allow the Question Hour. Although he called for the Question Hour to begin, the MPs continued with sloganeering. In two minutes, Mahtab adjourned the House till 12 noon amid the noisy protest.
Editorial
How west is hijacking G20 (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
The current world order is undergoing tectonic changes. The model catering to the interests of the so-called “North” as a result of colonialism has ceased to exist.
The world structure is transitioning to multipolarity and a more equal distribution of power. The voice of developing countries influencing global processes is becoming louder.
Many nations have been increasingly advocating strategic autonomy and independence in making decisions.
The reaction of Western countries accustomed to a privileged position in the global political system is unsurprising. All of a sudden, the existing world order based on international law and the UN Charter that proclaims the equality of all states does not suit them.
Instead, a hazy formula of a “rules-based order” is being actively promoted, supposedly a set of better standards, that are naturally Western.
The newly-discovered partners of choice are cunningly invited to join in while the rest of the world is shunned unless they become like-minded.
No wonder this strongly resembles the colonial tactic of divide and rule. It seems as if the West cannot sustain itself without creating alienation lines.
Not just rations (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Food Security)
The National Food Security Act, 2013 (NFSA), governs the country’s largest beneficiary-centric programme. The Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) provides food security to 81.35 crore persons every month.
As the Centre has begun moving towards the implementation of the Scheme for Modernisation and Reforms through Technology in Public Distribution System (SMART-PDS) to prevent leakage of foodgrains, increasing the efficiency of the distribution chain and ensuring the availability of such provisions for migrants, a lot of data is being generated and stored every day by states/UTs. Data Analytics on the TPDS ecosystem is allowing us to generate critical information about the beneficiaries, their food security needs and patterns of migration.
The lack of credible and dynamic data on consumption and mobility patterns was always a big challenge for planners to ensure efficient delivery of critical central welfare schemes to the most vulnerable sections of our society.
It was felt that the data generated can be leveraged for the delivery of many other central schemes and welfare programmes. The SMART-PDS initiative of the Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) to implement data-driven decision-making will go a long way in addressing this deficit.
Convergence and integration with the use of AI can really be a game changer for people as well as governments in bringing accountability across all programmes. The national leadership deserves credit for pushing through these vital trans-ministerial convergences.
Explained
2020-2030: possible” lost “decade (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Reports)
From the perspective of the global economy, the year 2023 started off on a mildly optimistic note. As top policymakers and CEOs met in Davos, there was a sense that the global economy might be able to dodge the chances of a recession in 2023.
The IMF’s World Economic Outlook in January provided a salutary stamp to that notion. However, the recent collapses in the banking sector had yet again ratcheted up the apprehensions of a recession.
In this context, a new research publication by the World Bank, titled “Falling Long-Term Growth Prospects”, argues that the current decade (2020-2030) “could be a lost decade in the making—not just for some countries or regions as has occurred in the past—but for the whole world.”
Simply put, the World Bank has found that the overlapping crises of the past few years — Covid-19 pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the resultant spike in inflation as well as monetary tightening — have ended a span of nearly three decades of sustained economic growth.
Starting in 1990, productivity surged, incomes rose, and inflation fell. Within a generation, about one out of four developing economies leaped to high-income status.
Today nearly all the economic forces that drove economic progress are in retreat,” writes David Malpass, President, The World Bank Group.