Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
Identifying corruption and nepotism as the key challenges for the next 25 years in India’s journey to mark 100 years since Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that there is a need to take “corrective steps” in time before these twin threats become “formidable”.
Addressing the nation from the ramparts of Red Fort on the 76th Independence Day, the Prime Minister also called for a resolve to respect women. It hurts me to say that we have witnessed a perversion in our day-to-day speech, behaviour.
We have been casually using language and words that are insulting to women. Can we not pledge to get rid of everything in our behaviour, culture and everyday life that humiliates and demeans women?
The pride of women will be a huge asset in fulfilling the dreams of the nation. I see this women’s power (“naari shakti”) and therefore I insist on it,” he said.
He laid out five key resolutions, which he called the “Panch Pran”, including the “big resolution” of making India a developed country.
Detailing the challenges that the country faces in the period leading to the centenary year, Modi said, “I do not want to discuss everything but would definitely want to focus on two issues.
One is corruption and the other is nepotism (“bhai-bhatijawad”) and the dynasty system (“parivarwad”)…If we do not take corrective steps in time, these can become formidable.”
In his 82-minute speech, which started at 7.35 am, the Prime Minister also spoke about a range of other key issues that, he said, need to be addressed: self-reliance (“Atmanirbhar Bharat”); need for innovation (“anusandhaan”); cleansing (“shuddhikaran”) of politics and institutions from a “family mentality”; ensuring cooperative federalism that is also competitive; and, respect for women.
His “Panch Pran” included making India a developed country by 2047; abandoning the mentality of servitude; taking pride in the country’s heritage; ensuring unity and solidarity; and, performing the duty of citizens.
Modi said the occasion is also “an opportunity to also solemnly acknowledge” the debt of those who fought for India’s freedom and “pledge to fulfil their dreams at the earliest with deep resolve”.
Listing several personalities in this context, he said: “All the countrymen are deeply indebted to Pujya Bapu (Mahatma Gandhi), Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Veer Savarkar, who devoted all their life on the path of duty towards the nation.”
Collegium led by CJI Ramana cleared over 250 for HCs; vacancies now lowest since 2016 (Page no: 3)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court collegium led by Justice N V Ramana as Chief Justice of India (CJI) made more than 250 recommendations for high court judge appointments, helping bring vacancies down to their lowest level since 2016.
According to data from the Ministry of Law and Justice, there are 380 vacancies against the sanctioned strength of 1,108 judges in 25 high courts as of August 1.
The average vacancy since January 2016 has been 418 judges. The highest vacancy level in this time was 478 in August 2016.
Justice Ramana, who took charge in April 2021, will demit office on August 26. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit will take charge as CJI the following day.
During CJI Ramana’s tenure, the collegium also made 11 judge recommendations for the Supreme Court. The five-member collegium ended a 22-month deadlock, making nine recommendations to the top court at once in August 2021.
The list included, for the first time, three women — Justices Hima Kohli, B V Nagarathna and Bela Trivedi. Justice Nagarathna is in line to be the first woman CJI in 2027.
The collegium led by Justice Ramana’s predecessor, CJI S A Bobde, made 109 high court judge recommendations in his 17-month tenure. Justice Bobde, who was CJI from November 18, 2019 to April 23, 2021, retired without making a Supreme Court single judge recommendation.
The CJI Ranjan Gogoi-led collegium (his tenure was from October 3, 2018 to November 17, 2019) made 130 recommendations for the high courts and 14 for the Supreme Court.
CJI Ramana’s tenure also saw the most appointments being cleared by the government. While the government appointed 266 judges to the high courts in Justice Ramana’s time as CJI, only 104 appointments were made when Justice Bobde was CJI and 107 when Justice Gogoi held the post. The government Sunday appointed 11 additional judges to the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
A three-member collegium makes recommendations for judge appointments to high courts and a five-member collegium makes recommendations for the Supreme Court.
The CJI Ramana-led collegium for high court appointments comprised Justices Lalit (CJI-designate) and A M Khanwilkar, who retired on July 29. The next collegium headed by Justice Lalit will also include Justices D Y Chandrachud and Sanjay Kishan Kaul.
The Supreme Court’s strength will be at 30 when CJI Ramana retires on August 26. Three more judges, Justices Lalit, Indira Banerjee and Hemant Gupta, are expected to retire this year.
Express Network
India gifts aircraft to Sri Lanka, day before China ship docks (Page no: 7)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
India gifted a Dornier maritime reconnaissance aircraft to Sri Lanka, a day before a high-tech Chinese missile and satellite tracking ship docks at the island nation’s strategic Hambantota port.
Vice Chief of Indian Navy Vice Admiral S N Ghormade, who is on a two-day visit to Sri Lanka, accompanied by Indian High Commissioner in Colombo Gopal Baglay, handed over the aircraft to the Sri Lanka Navy at the Sri Lanka Air Force base in Katunayake, adjoining the Colombo international airport. Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe was also present at the handover ceremony.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Monday that the aircraft would act as a force multiplier, enabling Sri Lanka to tackle multiple challenges such as human and drug trafficking, smuggling and other organised forms of crime in its coastal waters more effectively. Induction of the aircraft is timely in view of the current challenges to Sri Lanka’s maritime security.
Speaking on the occasion, High Commissioner Baglay emphasised that induction of the aircraft will help in creating a peaceful environment for progress and prosperity of the people of India and Sri Lanka.
Gifting of the Dornier aircraft underscores the cooperation between the two maritime neighbours in defence and security spheres. Such cooperation is envisaged to add further capability and capacity to Sri Lanka and is in line with the vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR), the statement said.
It also noted that maritime security has been identified as a key pillar of the Colombo Security Conclave. Security of India and Srilanka is enhanced by mutual understanding, mutual trust and cooperation. Gifting of Dornier 228 is India’s latest contribution to this cause.
In his address, President Wickremesinghe thanked India for gifting the Dornier aircraft to Sri Lanka and said it will help start cooperation between the Sri Lanka Air Force and Sri Lanka Navy with the Indian Navy in maritime surveillance.
This is the start of cooperation between the Sri Lanka Air Force, Sri Lanka Navy with the Indian Navy in maritime surveillance.
The aircraft is being provided to Sri Lanka from the inventory of the Indian Navy to help the country meet its immediate security requirement.
The Indian Navy has already provided extensive training to a team from Sri Lanka’s Navy and the Air Force to operate the maritime surveillance aircraft.
The Editorial Page
Diplomacy for Viksit Bharat (Page no: 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The new ambition outlined by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to make India a developed country, “Viksit Bharat”, by 2047 will demand significant changes in Indian foreign policy tradition.
Some of those changes, already set in motion in recent years, must now acquire greater purpose and speed. But can India’s foreign policy community get out of its old mindset?
Our diplomatic discourse remains trapped in a framework that emerged when India was weak and vulnerable 75 years ago. The fears of a “developing nation” can’t be the guiding principles for the diplomacy of a “developed nation”.
Your global perspectives must necessarily change when you move from the bottom of the scrum and to the top of the heap. While the geographic imperatives of a nation endure over time, the changing nature of the Indian economy, evolution of external conditions, emergence of new regional challenges, and shifts in the global power hierarchy all demand new foreign policy strategies.
While India is well on its way to becoming the third-largest economy in the next few years, that does not necessarily make it a developed nation.
Many of the tasks of becoming a developed nation are indeed domestic — promoting social justice, internal unity, economic modernisation, resilient political institutions, and deep bases of science and technology.
Three major foreign policy tasks present themselves in the hopeful journey to a Viksit Bharat. The first is the need to overcome the residual legacies of Partition that continue to undermine Delhi’s geopolitical position.
Resolving the problems left over by Partition on India’s northwestern frontier looks quite hard despite the efforts by successive PMs in the last three decades.
Deterring the dangers from across the Western frontier must remain a major priority until Pakistan is ready for a productive relationship with India.
Meanwhile, Delhi must continue to build on the recent good work in overcoming the bitter legacies of Partition in the east – including the settlement of the boundary dispute with Bangladesh.
If Partition weakened India, Delhi struggled to retain the regional primacy it had inherited from the British Raj in the Subcontinent and the Indian Ocean.
The reclaiming of a prominent role for India in the region can’t be by fiat, but by making cooperation with Delhi more attractive to the neighbouring elites in the Subcontinent and beyond.
The initiatives of the last few years on intensifying connectivity, trade ties, and security partnerships with the neighbours will need a sustained push in the coming years. India also needs to double down on strengthening regional and trans-regional institutions.
As the world’s third-largest economy that wants to be a developed state, India must look beyond the immediate neighbourhood to more effectively engage with Africa, Latin America and Oceania where Delhi’s footprint remains light, despite some recent initiatives.
The Idea Page
Walk back from the extremists (Page no: 9)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
India at 100, to me, is an incredibly powerful thought. When I look at the Bay of Bengal, the sea stretches to touch the horizon, and from this shore, my wishlist reaches to touch the sky.
Naturally, there are a lot of questions. How inclusive will the growth be? Would the shift in society be along the lines of social justice? How central will equality be to the dynamics of the society? Rooted in these questions, the growth and forward movement of our society become a complicated affair.
I do not doubt that India will be one of the most decisive forces in several spheres of influence by that time. It is an essential voice in some global conversations, but I sense the voice will only grow louder by several hundred decibels by 2047.
Considering global challenges like climate change, increased levels of inequality, and fluctuations in geopolitical blocs, the camaraderie needed within the Indian Union cannot be explained in simple terms.
There is a price that the India project will have to pay for this journey, though. It’s an expensive deal. Well, one can say that the top one per cent, which contributes 33 per cent of the wealth in the country with1.4-billion-people country, can take care of it. With my years of public life, I’ve now understood that it just won’t be enough. The cost that India has to pay can only be achieved by every single person contributing towards it. All hands on deck!
This brings to the fore two of the critical drivers of growth for any nation — inclusivity and social justice. This moment in history is a clarion call to the common sense of the society to stand against the might of majoritarian forces.
Riding on draconian laws, fragments of society are being driven to the extremes. The top 10 per cent of India makes up 64.6 per cent of the country’s wealth, whereas the bottom 50 per cent makes a mere 5.9 per cent.
Economic growth that is not inclusive will extend this asymmetry and guide the India project to a very different place, one where the ramifications can be compared to the dark ages of history.
Social justice ensures equality. It tells the citizens of this Union that for the next 25-odd years and every single day after that, the catalyst for a positive change in the society is the promise of holistic growth.
Tamil Nadu’s growth in the past few decades is a testament to the success of setting up a strong base for development grounded in social justice.
Our leaders, including Thanthai Periyar, Kamarajar, C N Annadurai and Kalaignar M Karunanidhi have been proponents of the inclusive character of democracy. Take, for example, the initiative led by Kalaignar in setting up government medical colleges in Tamil Nadu that opened opportunities for everyone back in the day.
With low fees, they made sure the medical dream of any young child is accessible. In the present day, the NEET has entered as a disruptor in the system. We have stood against oppression and imposition in the past for the collective good and now our Chief Minister M K Stalin is championing this fight.
Explained Page
I-Day Focus: Corruption, nepotism (Page no: 11)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
In his Independence Day address from the ramparts of the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted corruption and nepotism and dynastic politics, which he identified as formidable challenges facing the nation.
While Modi has referred to bhrastachar (corruption) in all his Independence Day speeches since 2014 barring the one in 2020, bhai-bhatijawad (nepotism) and parivarwad (dynasty system) found prominence in 2022.
In his 1-hour-and-22-minute speech, Modi mentioned bhrastachar 14 times, parivarwad 11 times, and bhai-bhatijawad six times. He framed his observations better than in earlier Independence Day speeches, and appeared to focus more sharply on his political rivals.
I do not want to discuss everything, but I would definitely like to focus on two issues. One is corruption, and the other is nepotism and the dynasty system,” Modi said. He seemed to point to the recovery of cash during raids by the Enforcement Directorate on the premises of Trinamool Congress leaders:
He also attacked the Congress: “We have seized the properties of those who fled the country after looting banks during the tenure of the previous government… Some have been forced to go behind bars. We are trying to ensure that those who looted the country are compelled to return.”
The PM indirectly referred to protests by the Congress over the ED’s questioning of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. “Although the abhorrence of corruption is visible and expressed, sometimes generosity is shown towards the corrupt, which is not acceptable in any country,” he said.
Unless there is hatred towards filth in society, the consciousness for cleanliness does not arise, unless we develop hatred towards the corrupt and corruption, until we socially shame these people, this mentality will not change. That is why we need to be very aware of corruption and corrupt people.
Parivarwad and bhai-bhatijawad were “good reasons for corruption”, Modi said. “Nepotism has gripped many of our institutions today. This is sadly harming the immense talent pool of our country.”
ATAGS, India made howitzer used in 21-gun salute on 15 August (Page no: 11)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
In a first, an indigenously developed howitzer gun, ATAG, became part of the 21-gun salute during the Independence Day ceremony at the Red Fort. Developed by the DRDO, the Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) was used alongside the traditional British-origin ’25 Pounders’ artillery guns.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also referred to the gun while speaking about the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative of the Centre during his Independence Day speech.
Today, for the first time in 75 years since Independence, a Made-in-India artillery gun was used in the 21-gun salute that is given to the tricolour.
All Indians will be inspired and empowered by this sound. And that is why, today, I want to thank our Armed forces for carrying the responsibility of Atmanirbharta on their shoulders in an organized manner.
When the National Anthem is played by the Military Band after the unfurling of the Tricolour at the Red Fort by the Prime Minister, a 21-volley gun salute is fired by a ceremonial battery from an artillery regiment.
The tradition of gun salutes originates from the Western navies where guns from the ports and those from incoming ships used to be fired in a particular manner to convey that there was no belligerent intention.
This tradition was carried forward as a way of paying respects or for according official welcome to the Crown, royals, military commanders and heads of states.
India inherited the tradition from the British rulers who had gun salutes comprising 101 volleys, 31 volleys and 21 volleys, and so on depending on the hierarchy.
In India, artillery gun salutes are fired on the Republic Day, the Independence Day and also at the time of oath taking ceremony of the President, among other occasions.
Over the years, this 21-gun salute — which are blanks — was fired by the World War era howitzers of British make known as ‘Ordnance Quick Fire 25 Pounder’ or just ’25 Pounder’.
This year, two Advanced Towed Artillery Gun System (ATAGS) howitzers joined the battery that fired along with other 25 Pounders.
The ATAGS is an indigenous 155 mm x 52 calibre howitzer gun developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) with its Pune-based facility Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) being the nodal agency.
Postal Identification Number (PIN) (Page no: 11)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The 75th Independence Day coincides with another milestone in the country’s history — it was on August 15, 1972, that the Postal Index Number (PIN) was introduced in India. As the PIN code turns 50 on Monday, we look at its history and evolution.
According to the Department of Posts, there were 23,344 post offices, primarily in urban areas, in India at the time of Independence. But, the country was growing rapidly and the postal network had to keep pace.
The PIN code was meant to ease the process of mail sorting and delivery in a country where different places, often, have the same or similar names, and letters are written in a wide variety of languages.
The PIN is made up of six digits. The first number indicates the postal region — Northern, Eastern, Western, Southern; and number 9, which signifies the Army Postal Service.
The second number denotes a sub-region, and the third represents the sorting district. The remaining numbers narrow the geography further to the specific post office making the delivery.
The person behind the initiative was Shriram Bhikaji Velankar, additional secretary in the Union Ministry of Communications and a senior member of the Posts and Telegraphs Board.
Velankar was also a Sanskrit poet of eminence who had been conferred the President’s Award for Sanskrit in 1996, three years before he died in Mumbai. Among Velankar’s 105 books and plays in Sanskrit was the Viloma Kavya, which is considered a literary masterpiece because it comprises verses in praise of Lord Rama when read from one side and, when read backwards, it transformed into verses dedicated to Lord Krishna.
Velankar had set up a cultural group in Mumbai, called the Dev Vani Mandiram, which worked to create awareness about Sanskrit in India and foreign countries.
Velankar was also the chairman of the World Philatelic Exhibition, called Indipex, which was held in New Delhi in 1973 and featured 120 countries. He retired from his government service on December 31, 1973.
Globally, in the US, the Zone Improvement Plan (ZIP) code was introduced July 1, 1963, under the aegis of the Postal Service Nationwide Improved Mail Service plan to improve the speed of mail delivery.
According to the Library of Congress, “Under the old system letters went through about 17 sorting stops – the new system was going to be considerably less time-consuming utilizing newer, more mechanical systems”.
In the UK, the sorting of mail started getting mechanised in the mid-1960s. “The key to mechanisation is an alphanumeric postal code that provides for sorting by machine at every stage of handling, including the carrier’s delivery route.
The coding equipment translates the postal code into a pattern of dots by means of which machines can sort mail at eight times the speed of manual sorting,” informs Encyclopedia Britannica. Japan created its postal code address system in July 1968, and automatic postal code reader-sorters exist in major post offices of the country.
Brief history of South Korea’s basement homes made fabulous by parasite (Page no: 11)
(Miscellaneous)
South Korea’s capital Seoul has announced a phase-out of semi-basement flats after 13 people died during flooding earlier this week, and three died stranded in such homes.
The country witnessed record rainfall this week, the heaviest in 80 years, resulting in severe flooding and damage to public and private property.
These semi-basement homes gained prominence following the release of Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning 2019 movie ‘Parasite’, that depicted the lives of people in a low-income family who had been compelled by their socio-economic circumstances to live in a semi-basement home in Seoul, called ‘banjiha’ in Korean.
According to a CNN report, banjihas were first built in the 1970s to serve as bunkers as tensions between South Korea and North Korea increased.
Although these spaces had not been built for residential purposes, that changed when Seoul grew as a metropolis over the following decades to accommodate the inflow of migrant workers.
The unsuitability of these banjihas for residential purposes is apparent in how their occupants are constantly battling problems like inadequate ventilation, drainage, mould, lack of sunlight etc, some of which were also depicted in ‘Parasite’. The spaces are extremely cramped, though they sometimes also accommodate families.
But the demand for these types of accommodation have grown because of how unaffordable Seoul’s real estate has become, particularly for the young, working class. During the last elections, unaffordable housing as a critical election issue.
According to a Reuters report from March this year, just before the elections, the average price of an apartment in Seoul more than doubled in the past five years to $963,000, making it less affordable than cities like New York, Tokyo and Singapore, relative to income. In contrast, the monthly rent for a banjiha would be around $450, making it relatively more affordable for salaried workers in their 20s earning a monthly salary of around $1,700.
But although the rents are cheap, the banjihas come attached with social stigma, one that its residents are conscious of, and ‘Parasite’ highlights this stigma and its associated problems.
Conversations around safety concerns of banjihas came up in 2010 as well as in 2011, during periods of extreme flooding, with the government implementing laws and promising to prohibit banjihas in areas prone to extreme flooding.
However, according to a report by The Korea Herald newspaper, instead of tackling the issue, tens of thousands banjihas were built after the law passed, due to loopholes in local laws.
Economy
DigiYatra betta rollout :How contact less check in works (Page no: 12)
(GS Paper 2, Government Policies & Interventions)
The Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL), run by GMR, Monday announced the soft launch of the Centre’s DigiYatra initiative, rolling out the beta version of its app for Android platforms.
DigiYatra , the passenger processing system based on facial recognition technology, has been piloted at the Delhi airport and has had the required infrastructure set up at the airport’s Terminal 3.
DigiYatra envisages that travellers pass through various checkpoints at the airport through paperless and contactless processing, using facial features to establish their identity, which would be linked to the boarding pass.
With this technology, the entry of passengers would be automatically processed based on the facial recognition system at all checkpoints – including entry into the airport, security check areas, aircraft boarding, etc.
To use this facility, passengers will need to first download the DigiYatra app. The Android version of the app is out, while the iOS version is expected to be released in the coming weeks.
Users can register on the app using Aadhaar credentials, followed by a selfie with the Aadhaar card. After this, vaccination details using CoWIN credentials will have to be added to the app.
Then, the person will have to scan his or her boarding pass with the QR code or Bar code, after which the credentials will be shared with the airport.
For entry into the airport, passengers will need to scan their boarding passes at the e-gate and look into the facial recognition system camera installed there. A similar method will be applicable for entry into other checkpoints.
Last month, the Consultative Committee of the Ministry of Civil Aviation met to discuss the DigiYatra project. The project is being implemented by the DigiYatra Foundation — a joint-venture company whose shareholders are the Airports Authority of India (26% stake) and Bengaluru Airport, Delhi Airport, Hyderabad Airport, Mumbai Airport and Cochin International Airport. These five shareholders equally hold the remaining 74% of the shares.