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Saying that “forced” religious conversions are “very dangerous” and may “affect the security of the nation and freedom of religion and conscience”, the Supreme Court on Monday asked the Centre to step in and make “very serious and sincere efforts” to tackle the issue.
The issue with respect to the alleged conversion of religion, if it is found to be correct and true, is a very serious issue which may ultimately affect the security of the nation as well as the freedom of religion and conscience of the citizens.
Therefore, it is better that the Union government may make their stand clear and file counter on what steps can be taken by Union and/ or others to curb such forced conversion, maybe by force, allurement or fraudulent means.
The Bench was hearing a petition filed by Advocate Ashwini Upadhyay seeking directions to the Centre and states to take stringent steps to check such conversions.
Asking the Centre why it had not filed its response to the petition, the Bench said: “Why have you not filed counter? Very dangerous thing.
Everyone has freedom to choose religion but not through force or coercion”. The court had, on September 23, sought responses from the Centre and others to the plea.
The Bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the Centre, that “very serious and sincere efforts are to be made” to check such conversions.
Mehta said the issue was debated in the Constituent Assembly too, with conversions being referred to as “propagate”. He said some states had come up with laws against forced conversions, and the Supreme Court had upheld these.
The petition sought a declaration that fraudulent religious conversion by “intimidation, threatening, deceivingly luring through gifts and monetary benefits” offends Articles 14, 21, 25 of the Constitution.
It also sought directions to the Centre and states to take stringent steps to control such conversions, and direction to the Law Commission to prepare a report and a Bill to check religious conversions by intimidation and through monetary benefits.
The injury caused to the citizens is extremely large because there is not even one district which is free of religious conversion by ‘hook and crook and the carrot and the stick.
The petition said that every week, incidents are reported throughout the country “where conversion is done by intimidating, threatening, deceiving, luring through gifts and monetary benefits and also by using black magic, superstition, miracles but the Centre has not taken any stringent steps to stop this menace”.
Need trillions of dollars to meet net-zero target by 2070: India (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
India would need “tens of trillions of dollars by 2050” to transition to a low-carbon development path that would take it to the promised net-zero status by 2070.
Separately, nearly two trillion dollars would be required just for adaptation purposes in the short term between now and 2030, it said, in its long-term strategy document that was released at the climate change meeting here.
Every country has to submit its long-term strategy, showing how it plans to reach its net-zero target. Developed countries have to reach net-zero status by 2050, China has decided to get there by 2060, while India has set 2070 as its target year.
India has provided details of the kind of transitions it is seeking to make in electricity, transport, building and forests sectors, along with the research and development efforts and finance that would be required to make these transitions.
Unlike some other countries that have submitted their long-term strategies, India has avoided mentioning specific details like numbers, mid-term targets, scenarios, pathways or projections in its journey towards the net-zero goal.
For example, for the transport sector, India has said it will achieve decarbonisation through improved fuel efficiency, adoption of electric vehicles and cleaner fuels, and promotion of public transport. But it does not mention any mid-term goals or the amount of money that it plans to invest to make this work.
The 121-page strategy document has nothing that can be treated as interim targets. India’s climate targets, as for everyone else, is only till 2030.
These are what are known as nationally determined contributions, or NDCs, which have to be renewed for a further five-year period every five years.
Environment Minister Bhupendra Yadav emphasised that India’s long-term strategy towards a low-carbon development must be seen in the context of its “right to equitable and fair share of the global carbon budget”. He said the concepts of “climate justice” and “sustainable lifestyle” were incorporated into the strategy.
The journey to net-zero is a five-decade-long one and India’s vision is therefore evolutionary and flexible, accommodating new technological developments and developments in the global economy and international cooperation. Our document also makes it clear that this effort to transform India’s economy would require huge financial resources.
The long-term strategy paper says there were various estimates of finance needed for India’s transition to a low-carbon economy compatible with a 2070 net-zero status.
These vary widely and are not comparable, but “are in all cases substantial and of the order of tens of trillions of dollars by 2050.
The City
With over 2,500 exhibitors, India International Trade Fair kicks off (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Based on the theme ‘Vocal for Local and Local to Global’, The India International Trade Fair (IITF) was inaugurated at Pragati Maidan Monday.
According to India Trade Promotion Organisation’s PRO Vivekanand Vivek, states like Bihar, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh will be a special focus, and over 2,500 exhibitors from across the country will take part in the fair.
Stalls from 29 states and union territories, 14 foreign countries and 36 stalls from central ministries, commodity boards, PSUs and private companies like Jindal Steel, Tata Steel, Titan etc, are participating in the fair.
Inaugurating the fair, Minister of Commerce & Industry Piyush Goyal said efforts should be made to make it a huge event. “Let us make an effort that we should have another equally grand annual fair whose theme is (based) on India’s self-reliance, on indigenous strength and on quality, and that people who do not get a chance to reach big fairs, get an opportunity.
Meanwhile, Delhi L-G VK Saxena inaugurated the Delhi Pavilion set up by the Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. The main attraction of the Delhi Pavilion was the mahilamohalla clinic, where women can come for gynaecological issues.
This year, entrepreneurs based out of Delhi have been facilitated and given the opportunity to participate in the Delhi Pavilion by setting up stalls at subsidised rates.
Entrepreneurs have set up stalls under various categories like food products, gems and jewellery, handicraft and handloom, textiles, electric appliances and electric vehicles etc.The state’s education, transport and environment department, and the Delhi Jal Board have also set up their stalls.
Speaking to The Indian Express, garment manufacturer Raman Baweja, who has set up a stall, said he is expecting good results from the trade fair since Covid cases are under control and more buyers are expected to visit this time.
Dheeraj, a traditional wall-clock maker from Rajasthan’s Jodhpur, also hoped for a better income this time: “We didn’t come last year, and we are hoping to get more buyers this year.”
Several international stalls, including from Afghanistan, Iran and Vietnam, have also been set up. According to Yung, a Vietnamese saleswoman at the embassy’s stall, they are selling products made out of a bird’s nest, which is considered beneficial in improving mental stability, life expectancy and digestive system. This is the first time we have come to India, and we are selling products made out of Swiftlets bird’s nests which are of high nutritional value.
The Editorial Page
Asia after Ukraine (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
Russian President Vladimir Putin is not joining the “season of summits” in Asia, but the consequences of his faltering aggression against Ukraine are bound to reshape Asian geopolitics.
While the calls for peace talks to end the Ukraine war have grown and the upcoming harsh winter in the European steppe has increased the prospects for a frozen conflict, Ukraine’s continuing gains on the battlefield are reducing the incentive for early Western concessions.
Moscow retreated last week from Kherson, which it recently proclaimed as an integral part of Russia. This withdrawal from the only regional capital it had seized in the last eight months weakens Russia’s hand in any peace negotiations with Ukraine and the US.
As Moscow goes on the backfoot, expect Kyiv and the West to intensify pressure on it. If and when the negotiations do begin, expect the Western terms for peace with Putin to be rather hard. Meanwhile, Putin’s Ukraine gamble is producing at least five major consequences for Asia.
First, Russia’s misadventure will have an important bearing on the triangular dynamic between Moscow, Beijing and Washington.
It might be recalled that US President Joe Biden, who has sought to focus on the China challenge since the beginning of his term, met Putin in Geneva in June 2021 to explore the prospects of a reasonable bilateral relationship.
But Putin chose to go with Xi Jinping. Days before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Putin and Xi announced a partnership with “no limits” and “no forbidden areas”.
Underlying the new alliance was a shared interest in countering the US and the West. If Russia had gained control over Ukraine in the last eight months, it would have enormously strengthened the hands of Putin and Xi in dealing with the US. But Putin’s looming failure in Ukraine gives Biden the upper hand in dealing with Xi.
On the strategic front, realists in China will fear that a weakened Putin will embolden Washington to turn up the heat against Xi. On the tactical front, the unexpected good showing of the Democratic Party in the midterm elections will compel Xi to show some respect, if grudgingly, to Biden.
The immediate compulsions on Xi to stabilise the US relationship can only grow in the near term. That, in turn, will strengthen Biden’s hand against Russia.
Second, Putin and Xi were not alone in betting that “America’s decline was terminal’’ and “China’s rise was inexorable”. Many in Asia had bought into the Russian and Chinese propaganda about the “new power of the East” and the “pathetic dysfunction in the West”. This rhetoric on Western decline was reinforced by the chaotic withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan last August.
Staying safe online (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
India has one of the youngest youth demographics in the world (27 per cent are Gen Z while 34 per cent are Millennials) and among the most active online.
As online interactions increase, more and more content is created and shared among people, helping them form new and wonderful connections. Sometimes, however, these interactions also make them vulnerable to harm.
Women are often particularly vulnerable. “What should I do, I can’t tell my family!” is a common refrain, heard from young women across the country when they grapple with the fallout of their private pictures being leaked online — sometimes from a hacked account, other times because of a soured relationship.
In a culture where mobile phones sell because of the quality of their cameras, it should be no surprise that young men and women are exploring new ways to express their sexuality and navigate relationships, including through the taking and sharing of intimate images.
However, it is increasingly evident that these new social norms have created new forms of abuse, as intimate images are being used to blackmail, shame, coerce, and control. Women are usually the victims.
Often, crimes that disproportionately impact women devolve into mass panic and lead to an all too predictable top-down discourse around the need to “protect our sisters and daughters”.
This reaction, however well intentioned, will end up denying women their freedom and agency by their so-called “protectors”, many of whom are simply telling women to go offline, to be ashamed of expressing themselves, to stay in their lane.
Fortunately, leading academics — many of them women — are spearheading research around the topic, so that we may more accurately discuss and grapple with the evolution of technology-facilitated abuse, including intimate image abuse. Industry, too, has a role to play.
If platform providers could be more responsive to the concerns and experiences of women then, to some extent, better design can help mitigate such issues.
A simple example is that of “unwanted contact”, one of the reasons why women avoid online spaces. This could mean design choices that help women stay in control of who they engage with, thereby reducing unwanted messages or advances.
It could also mean leveraging open source technology that detects and blurs lewd images so that women don’t need to see unsolicited pictures.
Therefore, focussing on safety tools and features — across the spectrum of websites and apps — could bring forward more ideas for creating a safer internet experience.
Express Network
World Bank:India needs to spend $840 billion to meet urban population needs (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
To meet the needs of the growing urban population, India needs to increase its annual investment in city infrastructure from an average of $10.6 billion a year in the past decade to an average of $55 billion a year for the next 15 years, a World Bank report released Monday said.
The report, titled ‘Financing India’s Infrastructure Needs: Constraints to Commercial Financing and Prospects for Policy Action’, estimated that India would need $840 billion over the next 15 years.
By 2036, 600 million people will be living in urban cities in India, representing 40% of the population. This is likely to put additional pressure on the already stretched urban infrastructure and services of Indian cities – with more demand for clean drinking water, reliable power supply, efficient and safe road transport amongst others.
Currently, the central and state governments finance over 75% of city infrastructure, while urban local bodies (ULB) finance 15% through their own surplus revenues.
About half of the investment needed – $450 billion – in the next 15 years was in the basic municipal services sector that includes water supply, sewerage, solid waste management, roads and streetlights, while most of the remaining amount was to address urban transport requirements.As of now, only 5 per cent of the urban infrastructure investments were coming from the private sector.
With government’s current (2018) annual urban infrastructure investments topping at $16 billion, much of the gap will require private financing.
The report studied the ULBs of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, where it found that all-India trends for financing were reflected. Over three-quarters of the total urban capital expenditure in the two states came from the Union and state governments. About 70 per cent of the urban capital expenditure in Tamil Nadu and 55 per cent in Gujarat came from the state governments.
Commercial financing was negligible in Gujarat, contributing only 1% of total ULB capex state-wide. ULBs in Tamil Nadu, on the other hand, raised as much as 12% of their total capex from commercial financing – primarily loans from state-controlled FIs.
The report said the relatively low charges for municipal services and a weak regulatory framework were adding to the challenges.
Between 2011 and 2018, urban property tax stood at 0.15% of GDP compared to an average of 0.3-0.6% of GDP for low and middle-income countries.
Explained
G20 Summit: What’s at stake? (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, International Groupings)
Heads of state and governments belonging to 20 of the world’s major advanced and emerging economies will commence a two-day summit meeting in Bali, Indonesia.
This is the 17th annual summit, and will be a culmination of numerous ministerial meetings and working groups that have been working for the past one year on key priority areas.
At the end of the meeting, India, represented by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, will assume charge of the G20 presidency. The 18th summit will be held in India next year.
The Bali summit will have three key priorities.
1. Global Health Architecture: This involves deliberations towards strengthening global health resilience and making the global health system more inclusive, equitable, and responsive to crises.
2. Digital Transformation: Deliberations here have centred on achieving the full potential of rapid digitalisation of the global economy by creating a new landscape of cooperation among nations.
3. Sustainable Energy Transition: Under this rubric, the discussions have focussed on ways to accelerate the transition towards cleaner energy sources. In particular, since any such transition requires substantial investments, the efforts have been focussed on finding a platform for such investments.
Since the October 2021 summit in Rome, prospects of the global economy have worsened. Between themselves, the G20 countries account for 60 per cent of the world’s population, 80 per cent of the world’s GDP and 75 per cent of the world’s exports. As such, they contain the engines of global growth.
However, as the Chart sourced from a recent report of the International Monetary Fund on G20 countries shows, most of the G20 constituent countries have suffered significant output losses since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. India, for instance, would have lost almost 14 per cent of its total output — the highest loss among all G20 countries.
There are many reasons why global growth and the promise of globalisation have received a severe setback.
For one, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not only created massive geopolitical uncertainty but also spiked global inflation, thanks to supply bottlenecks and curbs across a whole host of commodities.
The associated sanctions by the West have further queered the pitch. Persistently high inflation — at historic highs in several countries — has eroded purchasing power across these countries, thus dragging down economic growth.
Permacrisis (Page no. 18)
(Miscellaneous)
The Collins Dictionary’s word of the year for 2022 is “permacrisis”. As accolades go, the managing director of Collins Learning, Alex Beecroft, has said that this one “sums up quite succinctly how truly awful 2022 has been for so many people”.
The word, most widely understood as a portmanteau of “permanent” and “crisis”, has been in use for a little longer. In April 2021, policy analysts in Europe saw it as defining the era in which we live. Some in Britain inevitably ascribe the genesis of that era to Brexit. Others point to the pandemic.
For others still, it was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that made the word indispensable. As the writer, David Shariatmadari has put it: “Permacrisis” is a term that perfectly embodies the dizzying sense of lurching from one unprecedented event to another, as we wonder bleakly what new horrors might be around the corner.”
This represents a shift from the way the notion of crisis has been defined until now. However, digging into the philosophical roots of the word reveals that a crisis is not necessarily awful, but may, in the long term, prove a necessary and beneficial corrective.
Philosophers have long defined a crisis as a situation that forces an individual or group to a moment of thoughtful critique – to a point where a new path is mapped out in relation to some issue of pressing concern.
This definition stems from the ancient Greek term κρῐ́σῐς or krisis, which describes a medical or political moment of opportunity that bifurcates into life or death, victory or defeat.
However, as philosopher of history Reinhart Koselleck has shown, in modern philosophy, that ancient Greek notion of crisis undergoes a semantic shift.
Its meaning changes radically, to refer to a contradiction between opposing forces that accelerates the transition of past into future. This can be seen in Karl Marx’s description of capitalism as a crisis-ridden economic system.
In struggling to tame its forces of production, labour and machinery, Marx contends, this system causes crises of overproduction: an excess of supply that cannot be met with an equivalent demand.
These crises in turn foster opportunities for cultural, social and political innovation, the best 20th-century example of which is the creation of the welfare state.
Question of intent: Why SC didn’t find Rajiv Gandhi case convicts guilty of terror (Page no. 18)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The release of six convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case (the seventh was released earlier) has divided opinion on the rights and wrongs of the decision.
A less debated aspect of the case is the Supreme Court’s unanimous view in its 1999 judgment — which confirmed the death sentences of four convicts and life terms for three — that the killing by the LTTE was not a terrorist act.
The prosecution failed to convince the court of charges under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, the anti-terrorism law in force at the time.
The suicide bomber used for the killing in May 1991 was a first-of-its-kind weapon — and one that has since been used countless times by terrorist groups around the world.
Chennai: Nalini Sriharan, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, speaks to reporters during a press conference after being released from prison yesterday, in Chennai, Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)
The matter came before the SC in 1998, when the TADA court that sentenced all 26 accused to death, sought confirmation of the sentence.
The convicts too had filed appeals against their conviction and sentencing. The court clubbed the cases and heard them together.
The three judges on the Bench differed on the level of involvement of the 26 convicts, as well as on the quantum of sentence, and gave separate judgments.
* Justice K T Thomas found seven of the 26 guilty and acquitted the rest. But he confirmed the death sentence of only Santhan, Murugan, and Perarivalan, and sentenced Nalini, Robert Payas, Jayakumar, and Ravichandran to life imprisonment.
* Justice D P Wadhwa found only four persons guilty — Nalini, Santhan, Murugan, and Perarivalan — and confirmed their death sentences, and acquitted everyone else.
* Justice S S M Quadri, like Justice Thomas, found the same seven persons guilty, but he agreed with Justice Wadhwa that Nalini deserved the death sentence.
However, the three judges were unanimous that the “horrific” crime, carried out through a “diabolic” conspiracy, attracted only the relevant IPC sections of murder (302) and conspiracy (120-B), and that the provisions of TADA could not be applied to any part of the crime.
Section 3(1) of TADA said: “Whoever with intent to overawe the Government…or to strike terror in people or any section of the people or to alienate any section of the people or to adversely affect the harmony amongst different sections of the people does any act” using explosives or any hazardous substance that could cause, death or injuries or damage/destroy property etc. commits a terrorist act.
The court said that under this definition, “intent” was critical. “It is not enough that the act resulted in any of the four consequences,” Justice Thomas wrote in his judgment, relying on previous rulings of the Supreme Court — the four consequences being overawing Government; striking terror in the people; alienating a section of the people; adversely affecting social harmony.