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An Amnesty Scheme for one-time settlement of default in export obligation, a push towards e-commerce exports, and incentives to exports that are paid for by rupee, are the key focus areas of the government’s new foreign trade policy announced by Union Commerce, Industry and Textiles Minister Piyush Goyal.
The new foreign trade policy also proposes to reduce export licence fee for MSMEs along with allowing merchanting trade, involving shipment of goods from one foreign country to another without touching Indian ports but involving an Indian intermediary.
Under the amnesty scheme, an online portal will be launched for registration and a six-month window till September 30 will be available to exporters to avail the scheme. It will cover all pending cases of default in export obligation of authorisations – these can be regularised on payment of all customs duties exempted in proportion to unfulfilled export obligation.
The maximum interest is capped at 100 percent of such duties exempted, and no interest is payable on the portion of additional customs duty and special additional customs duty. Cases under investigation for fraud and diversion are not eligible under this scheme.
Govt. and Politics
Govt to ease rules on construction around protected monuments (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, Government Policies and Interventions)
The government will soon liberalise construction activity in the vicinity of protected monuments across the country.
Currently, construction up to 100 metres around protected monuments is prohibited, while an area up to 200 metres beyond the prohibited area is regulated, under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological sites and Remains (AMASR) Act, and has stringent rules in terms of construction-related permit.
No construction work or related activity is generally permitted in prohibited and regulated areas around all 3,696 protected monuments across the country, unless a specific approval is taken from the National Monuments Authority (NMA).
This system is set to change, according to a submission by Union Culture Minister G Kishan Reddy in Parliament.
The government has taken a decision to examine the legal issues affecting construction-related activities around centrally protected monuments and sites in order to allow for infrastructure (related work), and, at the same time, preserve the rich heritage of the country.
The Idea Page
For court, red lines are bright (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Over the last few years, issues relating to tradition, culture and society have often landed before the constitutional courts of the country in the form of public interest litigation with the expectation that courts will perform the role of societal arbiters when society or the legislature or the executive fail to do so.
Notwithstanding such expectations from public interest litigants and “civil society groups” (which often drive such litigation directly or indirectly), constitutional courts must pause and ponder as to whether the role of societal arbiters falls within the ambit of their constitutional mandate.
One of the most elementary and fundamental sequiturs of subscribing to constitutional morality is that every statist organ is expected to ask itself whether it has the authority/jurisdiction to discharge a particular role, no matter how noble the ostensible ends may be.
Such an expectation — rather, constitutional obligation — exists for good reason, namely, to preserve the sanctity of the doctrine of separation of powers and its sound democratic and republican undergirding.
On the face of it, the doctrine, which is part of the basic structure of the Constitution according to the Supreme Court itself, is meant to preserve the respective turfs of the legislature, executive and judiciary.
In other words, although the judiciary has the power of review over the other two organs, such power too has limitations which must respect the institutional independence and competence of such organs.
Critically, the power of judicial review must not be interpreted as judicial supervision or superintendence over the legislature or executive.
This position is especially applicable in matters of policy where domain expertise is called for, and in matters of societal experimentation where the festival of democracy must play itself out through the process of interaction and consultation between the electorate and the elected.
Clearly, the doctrine of separation of powers is not meant merely to massage the territoriality of institutional egos, but to truly facilitate participative democracy in letter and spirit by not usurping the right of the public, rather the majority, to give effect to its will through the legislature.
Explained
Gamosa: a marker of Assamese identity (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 1, Art and Culture)
Earlier this week, a scarf became the site of controversy in Assam. A newly formed Bangla Sahitya Sabha Assam (BSSA) used a hybrid creation — an Assamese gamosa and a Bengali gamcha, each cut in half and sewn together — to felicitate guests at a function on Sunday (March 26), and this did not go down well with a section of Assamese society.
Protests broke out in different parts of the state, particularly by Assam nationalist organisations and student groups, claiming that this creation was an insult to the Assamese gamosa. Subsequently, the BSSA had to issue an apology for “hurting anyone’s sentiments unintentionally”.
One half of the controversial scarf was a red-and-white floral Assamese gamosa, or a phulam gamosa, and the other half was a red-and-white chequered pattern gamcha, used by Bengalis. In its apology statement, the BSSA stated that the idea behind this creation was “symbolic harmony”.
However, this backfired, simply because there is a fundamental difference in the nature of the two garments which had been stitched together, and equating the two touched a raw nerve.
The phulam gamosa is steeped in emotive weight and is considered to be a symbol of Assamese cultural identity. According to Sunil Pawan Baruah, retired professor of history, the reverence associated with the gamosa extends in multiple directions.
It has a deep symbolic value in Assam, be it religiously, socially or culturally. Socially, it is gifted as a symbol of mutual respect and solidarity.
It also has a special relationship with the Vaishnavite culture in Assam. The axon, the main place of worship, is considered incomplete without one. So, there’s a lot of emotion attached to it,” he said.
‘Hue and Cry (Page no. 17)
(Miscellaneous)
While informing the Punjab and Haryana High Court that despite “best efforts” it has not been able to arrest Amritpal Singh, the Punjab government said Amritsar Rural police has issued a “hue and cry notice” against the fugitive pro-Khalistan preacher.
The notice with Amritpal’s photograph describes his appearance and says that he is “6 feet” tall with “fair wheatish complexion”, and “if any person is having any knowledge/information about his whereabouts, they may inform police”. The notice has been sent to district police heads across the country.
The Indian Express explains the origin of the term “hue and cry” and how it became a part of policing lexicon in the country.
The phrase ‘hue and cry’ in contemporary terms is often associated with a strong protest or public anger or disapproval on any issue.
However, in policing terms, the phrase traces its origin to 1285 when England’s King Edward I signed the “Statute of Winchester” to deal with security and peacekeeping on a local level by revamping the existing police system.
The Statute made it a law stating that “if citizens saw a crime, they not only had to report it, but take up a cry to alert the police.
The ‘hue and cry’ rule simply meant that if a suspect or a criminal was running down the street in front of some bystanders, then each of them had to yell to help the police identify and catch them.
The Statute said that “anyone, either a constable or a private citizen, who witnessed a crime shall make hue and cry, and that the hue and cry must be kept up against the fleeing criminal from town to town and from county to county, until the felon is apprehended and delivered to the sheriff.