Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
With over four years having passed since the 21st Law Commission issued a consultation paper on ‘reform of family law’, the government Thursday said views were being sought afresh on the Uniform Civil Code by the 22nd Law Commission given its relevance and importance.
The 21st Law Commission of India had issued a consultation paper on ‘reform of family law’ on 31.08.2018, however, it had not submitted any report.
Since more than four years of lapse from the date of issuance of the said consultation paper, the 22nd Law Commission decided to solicit views and ideas of the public at large and religious organisations, bearing in mind the relevance and importance of the subject matter and also various court orders on the subject of uniform civil code,” Union Minister of State for Law and Justice Arjun Ram Meghwal said in written replies to the Rajya Sabha.
Responding to another question on modalities of the UCC, Meghwal said since the law panel was in the process of holding consultations, “the question of modalities does not accrue at this stage”.
Govt & Politics
Raise fishermen’s issues with Lanka President: Stalin to PM (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to take up key issues with Sri Lanka President Ranil Wickremesinghe, including the matter of Katchatheevu island, the detention of Indian fishermen by Sri Lankan authorities, and the aspirations of the Tamil-speaking section of the island nation’s populace.
Citing the demand to retrieve Katchatheevu, Stalin’s letter said the island has historically been a part of India, and that fishermen from Tamil Nadu have traditionally fished in the waters around this island.
The transfer of Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka, by the Union government, without the state government’s consent, has deprived Tamil Nadu fishermen’s rights and adversely impacted their livelihoods.
Stalin also mentioned the attempts by former chief minister M Karunanidhi, including an appeal to the then PM in 2006, for the retrieval of Katchatheevu in order to create “congenial conditions for Tamil Nadu fishermen to lead a peaceful life”.
Our fishermen face highly restricted access to traditional fishing grounds, increased harassment by the Sri Lankan Navy, and arrests by the Sri Lankan Navy on trespassing charges.
Restoring the right to fish in the traditional fishing grounds of Palk Bay has always been among the top priorities of the government of Tamil Nadu.
Parliament
Rule 176 vs Rule 267: What govt agrees to, what opp demands (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
The opening day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament was disrupted after the government and the Opposition differed on the format of the discussion on the Manipur situation.
While the government agreed for a short-duration discussion, the Opposition insisted that the Prime Minister make a suo motu statement followed by a discussion, suspending all business under Rule 267.
According to the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Council of States, Rule 267 relates to suspension of rules. It says, “Any member, may, with the consent of the Chairman, move that any rule may be suspended in its application to a motion related to the business listed before the Council of that day and if the motion is carried, the rule in question shall be suspended for the time being: Provided further that this rule shall not apply where specific provision already exists for suspension of a rule under a particular chapter of the Rules.”
Short-duration discussion, on the other hand, is a brief discussion not exceeding two-and-a-half hours under Rule 176.
Express Network
India bans export of non-basmati white rice (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India banned “with immediate effect” the export of non-basmati white rice (Semi-milled or wholly milled rice, whether or not polished or glazed), by amending the export policy of the commodity from “Free” to “Prohibited”.
A notification to this effect was issued by the Directorate of Foreign Trade (DGFT), which comes under the Department of Commerce.
Explaining the reasons behind the move, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution said, “In order to ensure adequate availability of non-basmati white rice in the Indian market and to allay the rise in prices in the domestic market, Government of India has amended the Export Policy of the above variety from ‘Free with export duty of 20%’ to ‘Prohibited’ with immediate effect.”
Domestic prices of rice are on an increasing trend. Retail prices have increased by 11.5% over a year and 3% over the past month.
The statement said, “Export duty of 20% on non-basmati white rice was imposed on 8.09.2022 to lower the price as well as ensure availability in the domestic market.”
“However, the export of this variety increased from 33.66 LMT (Sept-March 2021-22) to 42.12 LMT (Sept-March 2022-23) even after imposition of 20% export duty,” it said.
As per the statement, “In the current FY 2023-24 (April-June), about 15.54 LMT of this variety of rice was exported against only 11.55 LMT during FY 2022-23 (April-June), i.e. an increase by 35%.
This sharp increase in exports can be ascribed to high international prices due to geo-political scenario, El Nino sentiments and extreme climatic conditions in other rice producing countries, etc.”
Express Network
To meet threat from China, working on long-range artillery with India says US (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
The US is working with India on proposals to co-produce extended-range artillery and infantry vehicles to meet its operational requirements along its border with China and address its “coercion and harassment.
The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an over-three-year confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh.
This is part of the unprecedented steps being undertaken by the Biden administration to enable its allies and partners to contribute to deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region, in prepared opening remarks for his Congressional hearing on China.
The hearing is taking place at a time when relations between the US and China have been hit badly amid disputes over human rights, access to technology, China’s territorial claims in the South China and East China seas and threats against self-governing Taiwan.
Pentagon, is supporting Japan’s efforts to acquire counter-strike capabilities, working with Australia as it develops an indigenous capacity to manufacture guided weapons and explosive ordnance, implementing a new inaugural technology initiative with India focused on co-development and co-production of major defence platforms and working with Southeast Asian countries to acquire asymmetric capabilities suited to combatting China’s coercion and harassment, and more.
Most recently with India, we concretised our commitment to co-produce jet engines and strengthen cutting-edge technology and defence industrial cooperation during Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi’s state visit.
The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in an over-three-year confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.
Explained
Tomato prices are sky-high and yet the inflation rate of its prices is negative. Why? (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Tomato prices have been spiralling out of control for the better part of two months. Just within June, prices went four-fold to touch Rs 100 a kg mark.
While commenting on this matter earlier in the month, Piyush Goyal, the Union Minister of Commerce & Industry, Consumer Affairs and Food & Public Distribution, said something quite interesting and revealing.
As things stand, various governments are trying to provide tomatoes at subsidised prices (of around Rs 80 a kg), even as market prices are now closer to Rs 200 a kg.
But quite interestingly, if one looks at the inflation rate in tomato prices, it is negative. In other words, the inflation rate suggests that tomato prices are crashing.
It shows that Tomato prices fell by a whopping 35% in June (as against the prices in June 2022). In fact, tomato prices have been experiencing “deflation” (the opposite of inflation) since November 2022.
Perhaps the picture might change when the data for July comes next month, but as things stand, one can argue both ways. How can tomato prices be sky-high and crashing at the same time?
Inflation rate is based on the value of an index. For each commodity there is an index, which works like a proxy of the market prices. Since market prices can vary depending on where one looks, it is always better to go with the value of a pre-decided index.
Further, inflation rate is calculated on a year-on-year basis in India. That means the June inflation rate of a commodity will look at the index value for June 2023 and compare it with the value of the index in June 2022.
World
Wagner launches joint training with Belarus army near Polish border (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Mercenaries from Russian military company Wagner launched joint drills with the Belarusian military, almost a month after their short-lived rebellion against Moscow. Poland built up troops on its border with Belarus in response to the war games.
The maneuvers followed a pledge by Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin to help protect Belarus from a potential incursion and to bolster its military.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry said the weeklong drills would take place at a firing range near Brest, a city on the Polish border.
Economy
India’s reliance on imported crude oil increases to 88.3% in April – June (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s reliance on imported crude inched up to 88.3 per cent in April-June from 86.5 per cent a year ago as consumption of fuels and other petroleum products rose while domestic oil production declined slightly, as per data released by the Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell (PPAC) of the oil ministry.
The reliance on imported crude in the first quarter (Q1) of the current financial year (FY24) was also higher than the previous fiscal’s 87.4 per cent–the highest-ever for a full year.
While the government wants to reduce India’s high dependency on imported crude oil, sluggish domestic oil output in the face of continually growing domestic demand has been the biggest obstacle.
In early 2015, the government had set a target to reduce reliance on oil imports to 67 per cent by 2022 from 77 per cent in 2013-14, but the dependence has only grown.
Heavy reliance on imported crude oil makes the Indian economy vulnerable to global oil price volatility, apart from having a bearing on the country’s foreign trade deficit, foreign exchange reserves, rupee’s exchange rate, and inflation.
At 60.1 million tonnes, the volume of India’s oil imports in April-June was a tad lower than 60.7 million tonnes in the year-ago period.
However, reliance on imported crude still rose as the country’s petroleum product exports declined to 14.7 million tonnes from 16.6 million tonnes in the year-ago quarter.
The computation of import dependency is based on the domestic consumption of petroleum products and excludes petroleum product exports as those volumes do not represent India’s demand.