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External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hit out at Russia and China, without naming them, as he spoke at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) session on Ukraine. This is one of his toughest statements on Russia in the last seven months, since the invasion of Ukraine.
Recalling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis to Russian President Vladimir Putin that “this cannot be an era of war”, Jaishankarsaid: “Let me emphasise that even in conflict situations, there can be no justification for violation of human rights or of international law.
Where any such acts occur, it is imperative that they are investigated in an objective and independent manner. This was the position we took with regard to the killings in Bucha, and this is the position we take even today.
The Council will also recall that we had then supported calls for an independent investigation into the Bucha incident.”
He also flagged that the “nuclear issue is a particular anxiety”, in the backdrop of Putin’s thinly-veiled threat of nuclear options.
In a reference to Beijing’s decision to block the listing of terrorists, Jaishankarsaid: “The fight against impunity is critical to the larger pursuit of securing peace and justice.
The Security Council must send an unambiguous and unequivocal message on this count. Politics should never ever provide cover to evade accountability.
Nor indeed to facilitate impunity. Regrettably, we have seen this of late in this very chamber, when it comes to sanctioning of some of the world’s most dreaded terrorists.
If egregious attacks committed in broad daylight are left unpunished, this Council must reflect on the signals we are sending on impunity. There must be consistency if we are to ensure credibility.”
Earlier this month, China put a hold on a proposal moved at the United Nations by the US and co-supported by India to designate Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist Sajid Mir, wanted for his involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks, as a global terrorist.
In August, China had put a hold on a proposal by the US and India to blacklist Abdul Rauf Azhar, the brother of Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar and a senior leader of the Pakistan-based terror organisation. Abdul Rauf, born in 1974 in Pakistan, was sanctioned by the US in December 2010.
DGCA raises concern over 5G rollout, writes to telecom department (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
As India’s telecom operators prepare for rollout of 5G services, the country’s aviation safety regulator has written to the telecom department flagging concerns over the likely interference of 5G C-Band spectrum with aircraft radio altimeters.
A radio altimeter is an instrument that provides direct height-above-terrain information to various aircraft systems. The primary concern of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) emerges from the fact that these altimeters as well as a part of the 5G telecom services operate in the C-Band.
For telecom service providers, the C-Band presents a sweet spot for rolling out 5G services, ensuring coverage as well as high bandwidth, resulting in faster internet speeds. For aircraft operations, the use of altimeters in this band ensures highly precise measurements of the plane’s altitude.
The DGCA is working in close coordination with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and has apprised it of its concerns over likely interference of 5G C-Band spectrum with aircraft radio altimeters.
These red flags are based on concerns raised by the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) over the last one year since telecom operators in the US, such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile etc, began rolling out 5G services.
In the US, an agreement between the FAA and the telecom operators resulted in a delay in rollout of 5G services in the C-Band near airports that were assessed to be difficult for pilots to make visual approaches.
The radio altimeters pick up the faintest signals reflected off the ground in the assigned frequencies to achieve highly accurate results. This makes it possible for the instruments to pick up what are known as ‘out-of-band’ signals. These out-of-band signals could significantly impair functions of a radio altimeter.
A third official at the DoT, however, played down the impact. “We have auctioned C-Band spectrum in the frequency ranging from 3.3 GHz to 3.6 GHz (in India).
Aircraft radio altimeters mainly use frequencies ranging from 4.2-4.4 GHz. So, there is a significant 500 MHz gap between the two frequency ranges. Having said that, the telecom department has taken note of the concerns flagged by DGCA, and we are working together.
The official said the issue in the US became significant because operators there are deploying 5G services in the 3.7-3.98 GHz frequencies, which is closer to the radio altimeter frequencies.
Soren seeks EC opinion sent to Gov, poll panel says ‘privileged’ (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Constitution)
The Election Commission (EC) has turned down Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s request to disclose its opinion shared with the state Governor in the disqualification matter against him.
Soren’s legal counsel had written to the EC on September 15 stating that the hearings held before the poll panel were judicial in nature, so a copy of the opinion tendered to Governor Ramesh Baisshould be shared with his client.
In its reply, EC said any communication between the EC and a Governor is “privileged” under Article 192 (2) of the Constitution and revealing it before an order is passed by the Governor would amount to “breach of constitutional propriety”.
The Commission is also learnt to have cited a recent case before the Supreme Court (DD Thaisii Vs Election Commission of India) regarding the EC’s opinion on a complaint seeking disqualification of 12 BJP MLAs from the Manipur Assembly.
In this matter, the EC has said, the apex court did not order it to disclose its opinion after the counsel for the poll panel informed the court that disclosure of privileged communication would be improper.
The EC also said that any document pertaining to a reference received from the Governor under Article 192(2) is also exempt from disclosure under the RTI Act unless a final order is passed by the Governor.
On August 25, the poll panel, in its opinion sent to Bais, had recommended Soren’s disqualification under Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, for allegedly misusing his position to allot a stone-mining lease to himself last year.
Section 9A prohibits elected representatives from entering into any contract with the government for “supply of goods” or “execution of any works undertaken” by it.
The state is in political turmoil as Bais hasn’t officially apprised the state government of the EC’s view on Soren’s eligibility to continue as MLA. Meanwhile, the JMM has alleged attempts by the BJP to poach the ruling alliance’s MLAs.
Before writing to the EC, the party had asked the Governor to announce his decision based on the Commission’s opinion. The JMM memorandum to the Governor had stated that “purported selective leaks from your (the Governor’s) office” on the issue have led to a “state of chaos, confusion and uncertainty, which vitiates the administration and the governance of the State”.
Govt. and Politics
Freeing the caged parrot (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Indian Constitution)
Despite several observations made by the Supreme Court of India (SC) against the inefficient functioning of the CBI nothing has happened to improve the situation.
It has been almost 30 years since I petitioned the SC regarding the criminal negligence of the CBI in a militancy and corruption related matter.
The case is popularly known as the Jain Hawala case. My expectation was that under the monitoring of the apex court, the CBI, DRI and income tax agencies would do their duty, ensure proper investigations and take the case to its logical conclusion.
It was a difficult fight against the 115 most powerful people in the country, who had allegedly taken money in a clandestine manner from the same source, which was funding HizbulMujahideen in J&K. Due to the initiative of the SC the matter did progress to some extent but for various reasons, could not reach its logical conclusion.
In 2013, the SC once again made strong observations against the functioning of the CBI and referring to the “VineetNarain” judgment, said that nothing had improved since 1997, when this judgment was delivered.
Encouraged by this remark, I again petitioned the SC, reminding them that 22 names mentioned in the Jain Diary had not been decoded/deciphered by the CBI till that date.
Who knows whether these payees were hardened militants, narcotic operators or anti-national people? Doesn’t it prove that there was criminal neglect on the part of the CBI?
Despite the hype around the Jain Hawala case, the CBI acted in an irresponsible manner. During the course of that case, I had filed two affidavits on April 8, 1995 and January 9, 1996, in which I had given the numbers of the case files that were not presented by the CBI to the apex court.
These files would have exposed the chronology of the suppression of this case and those in the CBI responsible for the said suppression.
The evidence regarding the dilution of investigation and how the beneficiaries mentioned in the diary were spared is available but not a single delinquent CBI official, responsible for the inaction from June 1991 to March 1995, was even asked to explain his conduct.
Despite the intervention of the SC, the CBI kept the investigation in cold storage for more than 40 months and all the accused persons were spared. However, the “famous” judgment was pronounced in 1997, which gave hope to the nation that things may change in the future.
Had the offenders been punished, the misconduct may not have been repeated. In the absence of any deterrence, the agency continued to disregard the directions of the SC with impunity.
In the same petition in 2013, I gave a series of suggestions for the improvement of the functioning of the CBI under the supervision of the CVC. Those recommendations are still relevant.
Bringing beijing to book (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Around 10 million people, in the western region of Xinjiang in the People’s Republic of China (PRC), including those exposed to mass forced labour and living in internment camps, may never hear what the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in its 48-page report.
But they would agree that it is an understatement to say that “serious human rights violations have been committed” by the “government’s application of counter-terrorism and counter-‘extremism’ strategies”.
They would also be familiar with the triumphant denial machine of the PRC which refuses to admit any human rights violations.
Of course, DilxatRaxit of the World Uyghur Congress recently expressed the regret that the OHCHR did not “characterise these extreme atrocities in China as genocide” but his wishes have been fulfilled by the USA’s prompt condemnation of the “genocide”. However, this allegation is very difficult — almost impossible — to prove, as readers will know very well from the International Court of Justice’s verdict in the Bosnian Genocide case.
China will also deny other charges in the Uyghur matter, such as “ethnic cleansing” or even “racial discrimination” because it has always officially maintained that it is only engaged in anti-terror or counter-insurgency operations, as if such gross mass violations of human rights are permitted by international law.
Human rights defenders and groups throughout the world have consistently maintained that the continuing detention of an entire ethnic minority in camp-like and slave labour conditions cannot but be called a massive, ongoing, and flagrant violation of basic human rights.
To label this as “propaganda” is itself an act of State “counter-propaganda” — an act of a superpower hegemony which adds insult to injury.
In contrast to China’s official hyper-reaction, the OHCHR was excessively moderate. As she ended her term in office in August, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, released a short report which merely said, “The extent of arbitrary and discriminatory detention of members of Uyghur and other predominantly Muslim groups… may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity,” and there were “credible indications of violations of reproductive rights through the coercive enforcement of family planning policies since 2017”.But she added that “a lack of government data” disabled the OHCHR from drawing “conclusions on the full extent of current enforcement of these policies and associated violations of reproductive rights”.
Editorial Page
A short story of PFI (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2/3, Governance/Internal Security)
The massive searches and raids that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) has carried out on properties linked to the Popular Front of India (PFI) are related to five Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967 (UAPA) cases registered against the body, including one on April 13 this year.
The case registered in April is a broad investigation following “credible information’” gathered by the central government that office bearers and members of the PFI were collecting funds from India and abroad to “committing terrorist acts”.
On Thursday (September 22), the NIA searched and raided 93 locations across the country and arrested at least 45 people linked to the PFI.
The NIA had received a court warrant dated September 20, 2022 to carry out the raids, which was executed on Thursday morning. The states where the raids were held are Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi, Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Goa, West Bengal, Bihar and Manipur.
Of the arrested, 19 are from Kerala, 11 from Tamil Nadu, seven from Karnataka, four from Andhra Pradesh, two from Rajasthan, and one each from UP and Telangana.
While seeking the remand of some of these people, the NIA claimed the PFI has been involved in “recruiting Muslim youth to proscribed organisations like ISIS”. The PFI has also been accused of providing training to its members to carry out acts of terror.
Sources said during the raids, the NIA was accompanied by officials of the Enforcement Directorate (ED). In June this year, the ED after filing prosecution complaints against the PFI and attaching Rs 68.62 lakh under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2022, had claimed that the “PFI was covertly mobilising funds through well-organised networks in Gulf countries”.
The ED said that funds were being sent to India through illegal channels and “foreign remittances into the bank accounts of sympathisers/office bearers / members and their relatives /associates in India, and thereafter these funds were transferred to the bank accounts of PFI, RIF (Rehab India Foundation) and other individuals/entities”. The funds were being “used to carry out various unlawful activities”, the ED alleged.
The PFI was created in 2007 through the merger of three Muslim organisations in southern India — the National Democratic Front in Kerala, the Karnataka Forum for Dignity, and the ManithaNeethiPasarai in Tamil Nadu.
Dvorak technique (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
On Tuesday (September 20), the American meteorologist Vernon Dvorak passed away at the age of 100. In the era of advanced satellite technology, Machine Learning (ML), Artificial Intelligence (AI), this key technique, named after him, continues to be widely relied upon by forecasters till date.
Dvorak was an American meteorologist best credited for developing the Dvorak (read as Do-rak) technique in the early 1970s.
The technique has been upgraded multiple times since then, and after a recent software update in May this year, it has been named the Advanced Dvorak Technique (ADT), coined by the National Hurricane Centre of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The updated technique, the American meteorologists had said, would improve the tropical storm forecasts by many folds as they would have access to sharper and detailed images than ever before.
Dvorak was educated at the University of California, Los Angeles. His Master’s degree thesis in 1966 was titled ‘An investigation of the inversion-cloud regime over the subtropical waters west of California’. He worked with the National Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service of NOAA.
He was bestowed with the United States Department of Commerce Meritorious Service award in 1972. In 2002, he received a Special Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Weather Association.
It was first developed in 1969 and tested for observing storms in the northwest Pacific Ocean. Forecasters used the available satellite images obtained from polar orbiting satellites to examine the features of the developing tropical storms (hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons).
During day time, images in the visible spectrum were used while at night, the ocean would be observed using infrared images.
The Dvorak technique was a cloud pattern recognition technique based on a concept model of the development and decay of the tropical cyclone, according to a 2006 research paper published in the journal of American Meteorological Society.
Through this statistical technique, scientists are able to measure the cyclone’s convective cloud pattern — curved bands, eye and central dense or cold region and shear.
New account settlement system from October 1: what changes (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Beginning October 1, the new account settlement system for the stock broking industry will kick in. Under the new guidelines issued by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) in July and effective from October 1, the trading members will have to settle the accounts on a monthly or quarterly basis on the first Friday of the month or quarter.
The market regulator mandates stockbrokers to settle i.e., transfer the available credit balance from trading account to bank account, at least once in a quarter (90 days) or 30 days.
The process of transferring the unutilised funds back into the bank account is called ‘Running Account Settlement’ or ‘Quarterly Settlement of Funds’ and the funds are transferred back to the primary bank account of the customer that is linked to the trading account.
As per the latest guidelines, the settlement will now be done on the first Friday of the quarter or the month depending upon the option selected by the customer.
On July 27, market regulator SEBI issued new guidelines on running accounts of client funds and securities lying with the broker. As per the new guidelines, with effect from October 1, 2022, the settlement of running account of clients’ funds will be done by the trading members after considering the end of the day (EOD) obligation of funds as on the date of settlement across all the exchanges on the first Friday of the quarter (i.e., Apr-Jun, Jul-Sep, Oct-Dec, Jan–Mar) for all the clients. It further said that if the first Friday of the quarter is a trading holiday, then “such settlement shall happen on the previous trading day”.
In cases where the client has opted for a monthly settlement process, then the running account shall be settled on the first Friday of every month.
October 7 will be the first Friday when the new system will become operational. As it will be the first Friday for the industry, brokers are anxious as they feel that bunching of all settlements on one day (as against individual settlement dates for different clients in 30 or 90 days) may create challenges for the industry as a whole.
“Brokers will have to organise cash which could otherwise be in their working capital. It will also lead to a decline in volumes in the following trading session as clients will have to transfer funds from their bank accounts to their trading accounts in order to trade,” said the head of a leading financial services firm.
Draft Telecom Bill, and changes it aims to bring (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
In a bid to do away with British-era laws governing the telecom sector, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) issued the draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022.
The proposed Bill aims to bring in sweeping changes to how the telecom sector is governed, primarily by giving the Centre more powers in several areas to do so.
Through the Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, the Centre aims to consolidate and amend the existing laws governing the provision, development, expansion and operation of telecommunication services, telecom networks and infrastructure, in addition to assignment of spectrum.
The draft Bill, which was published by the DoT, consolidates three separate acts that govern the telecommunications sector — Indian Telegraph Act 1885, Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933, and The Telegraph Wires, (Unlawful Protection) Act 1950.
One of the key changes is inclusion of new-age over-the-top communication services like WhatsApp, Signal and Telegram in the definition of telecommunication services.
As per the draft law, providers of telecommunication services will be covered under the licensing regime, and will be subjected to similar rules as other telecom operators.
This issue has been under contention for several years now with telecom service providers seeking a level-playing field with OTT apps over communication services such as voice calls, messages, etc. where operators had to incur high costs of licences and spectrum, while OTT players rode on their infrastructure to offer free services.
The Centre is also looking to amend the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act (TRAI Act) to dilute the sectoral watchdog’s function of being a recommendatory body.
The current TRAI Act mandates the telecom department to seek the regulator’s views before issuing a new licence to a service provider. The proposed Bill does away with this provision.
It has also removed the provision that empowered TRAI to request the government to furnish information or documents necessary to make this recommendation.
Additionally, the new Bill also proposes to remove the provision where if the DoT cannot accept TRAI’s recommendations or needs modification, it had to refer back the recommendation for reconsideration by TRAI.