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The Supreme Court asked tough questions of Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, as it resumed hearing the Tamil Nadu government's plea against delays in clearing bills. These bills were pending since 2020.
The court - hearing similar pleas by the Punjab and Kerala governments - also raised a point of law - "can a Governor withhold assent on a bill without sending it back to the Assembly?
The court's strong observations come days after Mr Ravi returned ten bills - two of which were passed by the earlier AIADMK government.
A furious Tamil Nadu Assembly then held a special session on Saturday to re-adopt all ten bills, which were sent back to the Governor for his assent.
The court this morning noted this development and said, "Assembly has passed the bills again and sent it to the Governor. Let us see what Governor does," as it adjourned the matter till December 1.
The Tamil Nadu government has accused the BJP-appointed Governor of deliberately delaying the bills' clearance and scuttling the state's development by "undermining the elected administration".
Express Network
India, Australia discuss defence ties at 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
India and Australia held 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue to step up defence cooperation and deepen the strategic relationship in sectors such as critical minerals and trade and investment.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles and Foreign Minister Penny Wong as part of the second India-Australia 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue.
In a post on X, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “Ministers will exchange views on deepening multifaceted India-Australia ties, including in areas of defence and security, trade & investment, critical minerals, energy, climate change, S&T, space, education and people to people linkages.
Regional and global issues are also on agenda.” Ahead of the meeting, Wong and Marles visited the National War Memorial to pay respects to those who sacrificed their lives.
Courts can give limited pre-arrest bail in FIRs from outside state: SC (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Judiciary)
The Supreme Court ruled that a Sessions Court or the High Court in a state can grant “limited” anticipatory bail to an accused though the FIR is registered outside their jurisdiction.
“Considering the constitutional imperative of protecting citizen’s right to life, and personal liberty, the High Court/Sessions Courts should grant limited anticipatory bail in the form of interim protection under Section 438 of the CrPC in the interest of justice with respect to FIR registered outside the territorial jurisdiction of the said court,” a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan said in its judgement.
The bench was of the view that an interpretation leading to an absolute bar on the jurisdiction of a Sessions Court or a High Court from granting such interim relief may lead to an anomalous and unjust consequence for bona fide applicants who may be victims of wrongful, mala fide or politically motivated prosecution.
1.5 deg celsius threshold breached on 86 days this year: UN report (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
As many as 86 days this year so far have already breached the 1.5-degree Celsius temperature threshold, as global greenhouse gas emissions scaled a record high in 2022, a new UN report stated.
The report noted that with current climate policies of countries, the world was set to become warmer by at least 3 degree Celsius by the end of the century.
The world, together, emitted 57.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2022, a 1.2 per cent increase over the previous year and higher than the previous record achieved in 2019, according to the Emissions Gap Report, an annual publication by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) ahead of the year-ending climate change conference.
The Covid pandemic had caused a dip in global emissions in 2020, due to the abrupt shock to economic activities, but the 2021 emissions had climbed back almost to the 2019 levels.
Editorial
Of for and by the west (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
November 21 marks 10 years since protests erupted in Kyiv — referred to as “Euromaidan”. This was a watershed moment for Ukraine and the current tragedy.
Few now deny that it was largely orchestrated by Washington and Brussels after then-President Viktor Yanukovich decided to put on hold the association agreement with the EU.
Presented by the global media as an inspiring democratic revolution, “Euromaidan” was in fact a violent anti-constitutional coup d’état.
This, however, is not the only case in point. The worst of it was that the new Ukrainian leaders — hijacked by motley neo-Nazi elements — unleashed a widespread terror campaign. Harassment, humiliation and murder became tools against undesired politicians, journalists and activists.
Torchlight Nazi processions became a regular affair. Investigations of ugly crimes, like the so-called “sniper case” or the cold-blooded massacre in Odessa in May 2014, haven’t led to the prosecution of the guilty to date.
Ukraine’s chauvinist leadership polarised the country. The people of the southeast were labelled separatists and terrorists, and were subject to ethnic cleansing and eviction.
Ideas Page
Reining in the governor (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Constitution)
Governor of Tamil Nadu R N Ravi has once again reminded us of the constitutional folly of retaining the colonial institution of governor.
After the Supreme Court’s rebuke, reminding him that he is not an elected authority and should not presume to sit in judgement of the elected government, he returned all 10 bills sent to him for assent by the Tamil Nadu state legislature.
A special session was called by the speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly to pass these Bills again, ensuring that Governor Ravi will have to give assent to them.
Similarly, decisions of the state government relating to sanction for prosecution of AIADMK ministers, appointment to the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission and premature release of prisoners have been held up by Ravi for no apparent reason.
Lest I be misunderstood, this piece is not about the personal conduct of Ravi — someone who clearly had a distinguished service record as a police officer and negotiator before he was appointed governor of Nagaland first, and then Tamil Nadu.
The problem is that India’s Constituent Assembly chose, amid much opposition, to retain the colonial office of the governor to be the head of state but appointed by the Union government.
Although the governor is supposed to be the president’s analogue at the state government, the reality is that they have been, and continue to be, the agents of the Union government, sent to keep a check on popularly elected state governments.
Explained
Why law of averages can’t explain India’s World cup loss (Page no. 13)
(Miscellaneous)
As the Indian cricket team’s unprecedented dominant run came to a tame end on Sunday evening, many commentators — followers and detractors alike — blamed the result on the “law of averages”.
In fact, as India approached the last few matches in the league stage, many had claimed that it may be a good thing if India lost a match at that stage instead of entering the knock-outs (which involved just two matches — the semi-final and the final) undefeated.
Simply put, the contention was that since no team can continue to win forever, sooner or later India “had” to lose a match.
As such, it would be best for India to lose a match during the league stage so that the dreaded law of averages doesn’t ruin its chances in the knock-out stages.
As it turned out, India beat all the teams participating in the tournament to enter the semi-finals with a perfect record of 9 wins out of 9 matches. When India beat New Zealand in the semis to make it 10-0, these worries heightened further.
Even though India had beaten every team quite comprehensively — almost shockingly comprehensively — and even though none of the former players and cricket experts were able to find any real weakness, there was always a nagging suspicion that India might lose the final just because of the law of averages.
Economy
GDP growth may decline marginally to 6.3% in 2024: Goldman Sachs (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India’s real GDP growth rate is likely to moderate marginally to 6.3 per cent in 2024 from estimated 6.4 per cent growth for 2023, according to a report from Goldman Sachs.
However, it is likely to be a tale of two halves, the report said. “Subsidies and transfer payments as we head into the general elections in Q2 2024 will likely be the growth driver in the first half. Post-elections, we expect investment growth to re-accelerate, especially from the private side.
While we expect the government to continue its focus on capital spending, given the medium-term fiscal consolidation path, the rate of growth in capex will likely decrease from next fiscal year.
Risks around the growth outlook are evenly balanced in our view with the main domestic risk emanating from political uncertainty with elections approaching in Q2 2024.
Goldman Sachs said repeated supply shocks along with stable growth are likely to keep inflation above the central point of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) target of 4.0 per cent in 2024.
We forecast headline CPI inflation to decline to 5.1 per cent year-on-year (average) in 2024, above the RBI’s and consensus forecast of 4.7 per cent year-on-year, from an estimated 5.7 per cent in 2023.
We expect the government to intervene through subsidies or other measures to keep a lid on food prices in an election year. While core goods inflation declined in line with our expectation in 2023, the decline in core services inflation took us by surprise, especially given resilient growth.