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There is disquiet in the scientific fraternity that for the first time since it was instituted in 1958, the country’s top annual science prize, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards, that have celebrated and nurtured the best science talent under 45, have been put on hold.
The list of awardees for 2022 — for work done between 2017-21 — had been decided but was not announced on September 26, the CSIR (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) Foundation Day, as it used to happen every year.
A day later, Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh said that the government had decided to withhold the Bhatnagar Awards as part of efforts to “rationalise” the awards given by science ministries and departments.
Ten months on, with the CSIR Foundation Day approaching, there’s still no word from the Government. When asked by about the delay and the fate of the awards, a spokesman for CSIR, which gives these awards.
A government official said the new “structure of science awards would be “announced soon”. Asked why there was a need to do away with the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Awards, the official declined to comment.
The Bhatnagar awards for 2022 haven’t been announced and, this year, too, there is no sign that the awards will be re-instated.
Govt & Politics
Army to buy 650 HMVs with cranes for mobility along LAC, Pak border (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
The Army is looking to procure 650 high mobility vehicles (HMV) 6X6 with material handling crane to help transport ammunition and heavy equipment in the mountainous areas along the LAC in Ladakh and Sikkim, as well as in the desert terrains along the Pakistan border.
It comes amid a scaling up of infrastructure and operational deployments along the northern borders in the last three years following the standoff with China in May 2020.
Officials said that while the HMVs will boost the Army’s capability of transporting heavy ammunition across terrains, the material handling crane (MHC) will make loading and unloading of vehicles faster and reduce manual effort.
Till now, this configuration only existed with the Scania ammunition carrier trucks that were part of the Bofors Artillery System,” an official said, adding that while the Scania trucks are ageing, the other trucks — Tatra and KrAZ — do not have the MHC.
Another official explained that HMVs are also used in operations, especially in deserts, to ferry Infantry troops and to help them keep pace with the rapidly advancing Armoured columns, to tow guns and carry artillery ammunition.
In Parliament
Data protection bill passed by Rajya Sabha as Opp stages walk out (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Rajya Sabha passed the Digital Personal Data Protection Bill-2023 with a voice vote even as the Opposition members staged a walkout over the Manipur issue.
The Bill comes after six years of the Supreme Court declaring “Right to Privacy” as a fundamental right has provisions to curb the misuse of individuals’ data by online platforms.
Introducing the Bill in Rajya Sabha, I&T Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said: “We received inputs from 48 organisations and 39 ministries and a total of 24,000 comments on the Bill.
For the first time, citizens of the country who have been using digital services have been given rights and organisations that have been mining data have been given obligations.’’
Vaishnaw said that the bill has been centred on broad principles including legality (a person’s data cannot be used for any other purpose than the one intended), principle of purpose, data minimisation, accuracy, storage limitation (in which the data company must delete the data after its stated use has been completed), and accountability.
Express Network
CAG: Govt diverted funds of pension schemes for publicity of other schemes (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) diverted funds from the National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP), which includes old age pension schemes, for publicising some of its other schemes, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) has said.
The CAG report, on the performance audit of the NSAP from 2017-18 to 2020-21, was tabled in Lok Sabha.
The allocation under NSAP to the states/ UTs were meant for disbursal of pension under various sub-schemes of NSAP. Out of the total allocation to a state/ UT, three per cent fund was meant for administrative expenditure. During audit, instances of diversion of funds by ministry and states/ UTs out of allocated funds for NSAP were noticed.
“The Ministry of Rural Development in January 2017 decided to campaign through hoardings in states and UTs for giving due publicity to all programmes/ schemes of the ministry.
Administrative approval and financial sanction of Rs 39.15 lakh was taken (June 2017) for publicity campaign through hoardings, with a limit of 10 hoardings at each capital city of the state and UT. Administrative approval and expenditure sanction of Rs 2.44 crore was taken (August 2017) for campaigning (for) Gram Samriddhi, Swachh Bharat Pakhawada and publicity material of multiple schemes of the ministry through five hoardings in each district of 19 states.
“Work orders were issued to DAVP (Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity) in June and September 2017. Publicity campaigns were to be undertaken in September 2017.
The funds for the said campaign were stated to be available under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme and were approved by the competent authority to be incurred under the same head; however, audit observed that funds were actually incurred from social security welfare-NSAP schemes.
J&K instrument of accession no fetter to Parliamentary power after 1957 says SC (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Supreme Court said that after the 1948 Instrument of Accession (IoA) of Jammu and Kashmir to India is subsumed in the J&K Constitution, which came into effect in 1957, the IoA cannot be said to place any fetters on Parliament’s power to make laws regarding the erstwhile state.
Heading a five-judge Constitution Bench hearing a clutch of petitions challenging changes made by the Centre to Article 370, Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud said this as the bench posed questions about the status of IoA to Senior Advocate Gopal Subramaninum.
Once the Constitution of J&K recognises that J&K accedes to the dominion status of India, that it becomes a part of India, would it be correct to say that the IoA ceases to exist as an independent document in that sense? What would be the status of the IoA once the Constituent Assembly of J&K designed and promulgated the J&K Constitution? Would it be subsumed in the state Constitution?”
The IoA was for a very limited purpose at that time. But later on, [when] there was the Constituent Assembly, the accession was complete and the Constitution of J&K itself declared that integration to be complete.”
Editorial
Some laptop questions (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
India’s decision to introduce import restrictions on personal computers, laptops, and a range of goods, has set up a furious debate over the shape of India’s industrial policy.
Critics think of these restrictions as a throwback to the days where the Indian economy was hobbled by the licence permit raj and ruled by arbitrary, imperious and corrupt bureaucrats.
Citizens were condemned to scarcity, second rate goods or subverting government regulation. The way in which the government announced the scheme, then revised the deadlines, certainly raised the familiar worry about bureaucrats “breaking first and asking questions later”.
On the other hand, advocates of the policy argue this was long overdue. Whatever the other successes of India’s liberalisation, the fact is that India failed to build a manufacturing base, and prematurely de-industrialised.
No country in the world has industrialised merely by deregulation. Industrial policy is necessary for the structural transformation of the economy. Well-chosen import restrictions can be an element in that policy arsenal.
The global context requires serious industrial policy. Every other country is resorting to it, and the nature of geo-politics and security requires that we take manufacturing seriously.
Explained
Why Assam rifles personnel are facing increased hostiliy in Manipur (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Tasked with manning “buffer zones” between Meitei- and Kuki-Zomi-dominated territories in Manipur, the Assam Rifles is facing heat from the Meiteis, with some even demanding its removal from the state.
Most recently, the Assam Rifles was embroiled in a row when its vehicles blocked state police personnel from the Meitei-dominated Bishnupur district from crossing over into a Kuki-Zomi-dominated territory.
Police claimed they were pursuing “suspected Kuki militants” who had killed three Meitei men that day, and actions of the Assam Rifles personnel allowed them to flee. The police also filed an FIR against the central force.
Normally, there are 20 battalions of the Assam Rifles in Manipur, with the primary mandate of counter-insurgency and border guarding.
Since ethnic violence erupted in the state on May 3, two more battalions were moved in, senior officers told and their deployment was readjusted to create a “gap” between territories dominated by the two communities in conflict.
This means that the Assam Rifles and the Army have been placed in “fringe locations”, where Meitei-dominated areas in the valley meet Kuki-Zomi-dominated areas in the hills, with an aim to stop troublemakers from crossing over.
Officers said this is what has aggrieved members of the Meitei community, some of whom also harbour the impression that Assam Rifles favour the Kuki-Zomi.
World
Biden to restrict investments in china, cites security threats (Page no. 22)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
President Joe Biden signed an executive order aimed at regulating new U.S. investments and expertise that supports Chinese development of sensitive technologies.
The new measure, which is expected to be implemented next year, targets investment in semiconductors and microelectronics, quantum computing and certain artificial intelligence capabilities.
Biden warned in the executive order that certain American investments may contribute to “the development of sensitive technologies and products in countries that develop them to counter United States and allied capabilities.”
I find that countries of concern are engaged in comprehensive, long-term strategies that direct, facilitate, or otherwise support advancements in sensitive technologies and products that are critical to such countries’ military, intelligence, surveillance, or cyber-enabled capabilities.
The executive order will also require outbound U.S. investors to provide notifications to the Treasury Department.