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Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud gave the Centre leeway to claim it had converted Jammu and Kashmir into a Union Territory for a “stipulated period” in order to protect national security, but pushed the government to commit to a time frame by which it will be restored to a full-fledged State.
The Centre said the Union Territory status of Jammu and Kashmir was not a permanent feature. “We will make a positive statement the day after tomorrow [August 31] on Jammu and Kashmir.
Ladakh will, however, remain a Union Territory,” Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta informed the court in the post-lunch session of the hearing. He said elections in Ladakh would be over in September.
During the hearing, the Chief Justice had asked the Solicitor-General, and Attorney-General R. Venkataramani, to secure instructions from the government on the period of time within which Jammu and Kashmir would return to being a State.
The government has to make a statement before us that the progression back to Statehood will take place within a time… that this is not a Union Territory permanently,” Chief Justice Chandrachud had told the Centre.
Gujarat hikes OBC quota in local bodies from 10% to 27% (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The BJP government in Gujarat increased reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from the existing 10% to 27% for elections to the panchayats and urban local bodies.
Based on the recommendation of the Justice Jhaveri Commission report, the decision is expected to pave the way for holding local body polls, which were postponed due to pending quota issues after the Supreme Court mandated that reservation for OBCs should be made on the basis of their population.
The State government-appointed commission headed by former Gujarat High Court Judge K.S. Jhaveri was set up in July last year.
However, in areas notified under the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) (PESA) Act — most of them with substantial tribal populations — the reservation for OBCs in local bodies will continue to be 10%.
Also, the existing quota for Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes will remain unchanged and there has been no breach of the 50% reservation ceiling, the Gujarat government clarified. The PESA notified areas include 50 predominantly tribal talukas in eight districts of the State.
The latest announcement would pave the way for elections in as many as 7,000 village panchayats, two district panchayats and 70 municipalities across the State.
We have increased the quota for OBCs as recommended by the commission,” Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel said while announcing the government’s decision.
States
‘Reroute rail track through gibbon sanctuary’ (Page no. 4)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Primatologists have suggested rerouting a 1.65-km long railway track that has divided an eastern Assam sanctuary dedicated to the western hoolock gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) into two unequal parts.
Their report in Science, a journal, follows that of the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) on designing an artificial canopy bridge to facilitate the movement of the hoolock gibbons across the broad-gauge line within the Hollongapar Gibbon Sanctuary. The track is yet to be electrified.
The authors of the study are Rohit Ravindra Samita Jha and Gopi Govindan Veeraswami of the Dehradun-based WII, Dilip Chetry of Assam-based biodiversity conservation group Aaranyak, and Nandha Kumar of Assam’s Department of Environment and Forests.
Housing about 125 hoolock gibbons, India’s only ape, the sanctuary in the Jorhat district covers an area of 21 sq. km.
Like the other 19 gibbon species on earth, it is marked endangered due to habitat loss and habitat fragmentation.
The sanctuary has become a ‘forest island’, having lost connectivity with surrounding forest patches. Since gibbons are exclusively arboreal animals inhabiting the forest’s upper canopy, they are particularly sensitive to canopy gaps,” the WII’s technical report on May 2023, advising an artificial canopy across the railway track in the Hollongapar protected area, said.
Gibbon families on both sides of the railway track have thus been effectively isolated from each other, thereby compromising their population’s genetic variability and further endangering their already threatened survival in the sanctuary.
Editorial
The Election Commission — autonomy in the crosshairs (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Of late, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has been a focal point of differences between the government and the judiciary. This time, the clash of opinions is over its appointment.
The Supreme Court of India, in a judgment on March 2, directed that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and the Election Commissioners (EC) will be appointed by the President of India based on the advice of a committee made up of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha or the leader of the single largest Opposition party and the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
This judgment of the Constitution Bench was a major step towards broadbasing the ECI and enhancing its constitutional status. Article 324 of the Constitution contains a provision for such a law to be enacted by Parliament.
The significance of this judgment also lies in the fact that this was a unanimous judgment of a five-judge Bench. So far, the top officers of the ECI have been appointed by the President of India on the advice of the central government. However, the government of the day, in an unambiguous move, introduced a Bill in the Rajya Sabha on August 10 which if passed will overturn this verdict.
The Bill seeks to replace the Chief Justice of India from the high-powered selection committee, meaning the committee will be made up of the Prime Minister (Chairperson), Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha (Member) and a Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister (Member).
All for small (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
Trade and investment Ministers of the G-20 nations, representing 80% of the world economy’s output, three-quarters of trade flows and three-fifths of the population, concluded their deliberations under India’s presidency of the bloc last week.
A comprehensive communiqué was scuttled as China and Russia blocked a reference to geopolitical issues arising from the conflict in Ukraine, as has been the case since last year’s G-20 Bali summit.
Yet, amid flailing prospects for global trade and investment in the near-term, the G-20 nations did agree to take joint actions to reaffirm the world’s faith in cross-border commerce and investment flows as a route to prosperity and growth for all.
The government counted five concrete and action-oriented deliverables from the meet, including a dialogue on global standards to bridge regulatory divergences across countries and a compendium on best practices for mutual recognition of qualifications for professional services such as medicine, law and nursing.
Asserting that the trade track outcomes were the most significant so far in the G-20 parleys, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal highlighted the other three deliverables as new elements that hold importance for India.
A generic framework to map global value chains, essentially to identify the weakest links and mitigate any shocks like those seen during the pandemic, is a good idea that may prove tricky to execute.
Digitalisation of trade documents to ease flow of goods and services is welcome, but the principles identified in the pact pertain to paperwork on transactions such as transport, insurance, and storage, “not necessarily” to government filings for cross-border trade.
Opinion
Gig Workers Bill: reading between the lines (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
In a first of its kind, the Rajasthan government introduced the Rajasthan Platform-Based Gig Workers (Registration and Welfare) Bill, 2023, with the aim of ensuring social security for gig workers.
Despite its good intent and noteworthy features, the Bill appears wanting in important aspects. We identify four major issues that could possibly constrict the remit and reach of the Bill.
The first issue arises from the definitions of a gig worker and aggregator in the Bill. Drawing largely on the Code on Social Security, 2020, the Bill defines a gig worker as a ‘person who performs work or participates in a work arrangement and earns from such activities outside of traditional employer-employee relationships and who works on a contract that results in a given rate of payment’.
It defines an aggregator as a ‘digital intermediary... and includes any entity that coordinates with one or more aggregators for providing the services’. These definitions are far from clear and binding in treating the aggregator as employers.
This lacking has a crucial bearing, as gig workers would then be seen as contractors or self-employed and not as employees by the aggregator.
Whether a gig worker and aggregator can be considered an employee and employer, respectively, has been a thorny issue globally.
In fact, whether a gig worker can be considered an employee and not an independent contractor is at the core of the ABC Test.
Currently integrated into California’s labour code, the test was developed as a response to a case involving delivery drivers for a same-day delivery company called Dynamex.
It states that the delivery people employed by the company shall be considered as employees rather than independent contractors unless the company demonstrates that the person is free from control by the company in terms of performance of work, in deciding working hours, etc.
News
India protests over China’s new map; ‘complicates’ border dispute, says MEA (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
India on Tuesday lodged a “strong protest” with China over the publication of a new map released by the Chinese government, showing all of Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin, and other parts of Indian territory within its borders. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called it “absurd claims”.
The map, which had in the past claimed Indian territories as well, was published just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with Chinese President Xi Jinping and discussed resolving the boundary situation.
We reject these claims as they have no basis. Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question,” said the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson in a statement, responding to media queries.
The spokesperson said that India has lodged “a strong protest through diplomatic channels” with the Chinese side on the so-called 2023 “standard map” that was released by the Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources.
According to Chinese state media, the map was released during what is being called “National Mapping Awareness Publicity Week” in China, and would be followed by other digital and navigational maps.
The publication of the map was met with outrage by experts on social media, and criticised by the Opposition Congress party. Speaking to NDTV, Mr. Jaishankar, who served as Ambassador to China (2009 to 2013) said that this was an “old habit” of the Chinese government.
41.1% NREGS workers out of Aadhaar-based wage system (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The fourth extension for mandatory payments under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) through the Aadhaar-based Payments System (ABPS) ends on August 31. As the numbers stand, out of the total 26 crore job card holders, 41.1% are still not eligible for this mode of payment.
The Ministry of Rural Development has ruled out any more extensions, saying that of the 14.4 crore who are active workers, only 18.3% are ineligible.
The ABPS uses the worker’s unique 12-digit Aadhaar number as his or her financial address. The worker’s Aadhaar details must be seeded with the job card and bank account.
Aadhaar details should be mapped with the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) database. The bank’s institutional identification number (IIN) must itself be mapped with the NPCI database.
An analysis done by the non-profit organisation LibTech India shows that even among the active workers, the percentage of ineligibility varies from State to State.
From the top five States — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan — with active MNREGS workers, 1.2 crore will no longer be eligible for payments because they do not have ABPS-enabled accounts.
The picture from Northeast India too is dismal. In Assam, which has more than 63 lakh workers, 61.2% are not eligible and in Nagaland with 6 lakh beneficiaries, nearly 80% lack an ABPS account.
India, Kenya sign MoU for shipbuilding collaboration (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
Goa Shipyard Ltd. and Kenya Shipyard Ltd. signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Tuesday for capacity building and collaboration in ship design and construction.
The MoU was signed as Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Defence Aden Bare Duale discussed defence industry cooperation during talks.
Both the Ministers agreed that the defence relationship between the two countries has evolved from being training-centric to include more strategic aspects.
The two Ministers also concurred on the need for deeper cooperation in maritime security of the Indian Ocean region,” a Defence Ministry statement said.
As a token of friendship, Mr. Singh presented 15 pairs of parachutes (main and reserve) manufactured by Gliders India Ltd. to the Kenyan Cabinet Secretary for Defence for use by the Kenyan forces.
India also extended support towards setting up of an advanced CT scan facility in Kenya.
Cyclone frequency may rise over Indian coast due to warming of pacific: study (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
Tropical cyclones that originate near the Equator, while being devastating, have been unusually subdued in recent decades. The last major cyclone of this kind in India was Cyclone Okchi, which devastated parts of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka in 2017.
However, a combination of global warming and a cyclical event called the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) that repeats every 20 to 30 years, could make such cyclones more frequent in the coming years.
The number of such equatorial-origin cyclones was 43% less in the period from 1981 to 2010 compared with 1951 to 1980, and this was because the PDO was in a ‘warmer’ or positive phase.
A warming of the Central Equatorial Pacific, called an El Nino, often corresponds to reduced rainfall over India whereas cooler-than-normal temperatures, or a La Nina, is linked to excessive rainfall.
This pattern, collectively called the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon, repeats in the Pacific over two to seven years.
However, the PDO is not an annual occurrence and, on an average, corresponds to a warmer than average Western Pacific Ocean and relatively cooler Eastern Pacific, though this plays out over much longer time scales.
However, unlike an ENSO, a ‘positive’ or ‘warmer phase’ of a PDO can be known only after several years of measuring ocean temperatures and their interaction with the atmosphere.
Pragyan confirms sulphur near south pole of moon; search on for hydrogen (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Pragyan, the rover of the Chandrayaan-3 mission, has confirmed the presence of sulphur on the moon’s surface, near its south pole, and is still searching for hydrogen, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) instrument aboard the rover has made the first-ever in-situ measurements on the elemental composition of the lunar surface near the south pole.
These in-situ measurements confirm the presence of Sulphur (S) in the region unambiguously, something that was not feasible by the instruments aboard the orbiters.
The LIBS is a scientific technique that analyses the composition of materials by exposing them to intense laser pulses. A high-energy laser pulse is focused onto the surface of a material, such as a rock or soil, and generates localised plasma.
The collected plasma light is spectrally resolved and detected by charge coupled devices. Since each element emits a characteristic set of wavelengths of light when in a plasma state, the elemental composition of the material can be determined.
Preliminary analyses have unveiled the presence of Aluminum (Al), Sulphur (S), Calcium (Ca), Iron (Fe), Chromium (Cr), and Titanium (Ti) on the lunar surface. Further measurements have revealed the presence of manganese (Mn), silicon (Si), and oxygen (O).
Business
‘Monsoon woes may lift food prices’ (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Weak rainfall this month with wide spatial and temporal variations over the monsoon season, could hit crop output and rural incomes while spurring food prices higher, according to economists.
In August so far, rainfall is 32% below the long period average (LPA) for the month, dragging the southwest monsoon’s overall tally to 8% below its long-term average. Kharif sowing for crops like pulses (-8.3%), jowar (-7.7%) and oilseeds (-0.9%) remains lower than last year, and lower reservoir levels (currently below the 10-year average) may also impact the overall rabi crop which has greater dependency on irrigation.
As kharif sowing activity is expected to be over by the end of August, the sowing of these crops is unlikely to improve drastically.
A drop in yield due to irregular monsoon and a lower acreage can lead to a demand-supply mismatch, further increasing inflationary pressures in the food basket,” they noted, adding that pulses and cereals were already seeing double-digit inflation.
A rise in food inflation could further destabilise the feeble rural demand recovery, they reckoned, stressing that the weaker monsoon could hit crop yields and farm incomes while virtually stagnant wages, which account for 49% of rural household incomes, also pose a risk.