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India and Pakistan engaged in a diplomatic spat in New York as External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar slammed Pakistan for being the “epicentre of terrorism” and Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the 2002 Gujarat riots.
Responding to a Pakistani journalist’s question on how long South Asia was going to see terrorism disseminating from New Delhi, Kabul and Pakistan, Jaishankar said, “You know, you are asking the wrong Minister when you say how long will we do this? Because it is the ministers of Pakistan who will tell you how long Pakistan intends to practice terrorism.”
“At the end of the day, the world is not stupid, the world is not forgetful. And the world does increasingly call out countries and organisations and people who indulge in terrorism,”.
“By taking that debate elsewhere, you are not going to hide it. You are not going to confuse anybody anymore. People have figured it out. So, my advice is, please clean up your act. Please try to be a good neighbour.”
“Please try and contribute to what the rest of the world is trying to do today, which is economic growth, progress, and development,” Jaishankar said. “I hope through your channel that message goes.”
Bilawal Bhutto responded sharply, telling a press conference in New York: “I would like to remind Mr Jaishankar that Osama bin Laden is dead, but the butcher of Gujarat lives, and he is the Prime Minister… He was banned from entering this country (the US). These are the Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of the RSS, which draws inspiration from Hitler’s SS.”
Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the MEA, said, “These comments are a new low, even for Pakistan. The Foreign Minister of Pakistan has obviously forgotten this day in 1971, which was a direct result of the genocide unleashed by Pakistani rulers against ethnic Bengalis and Hindus. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not seem to have changed much in the treatment of its minorities. It certainly lacks credentials to cast aspersions at India.”
Duty to step in even in small matters, guard liberty: CJI after Rijiju’s remark (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Two days after Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, pointing to the high pendency of cases, said if the Supreme Court “starts hearing bail applications… all frivolous PILs” it will add “a lot of extra burden on the Court”, a bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud remarked “it is in the seemingly small and routine matters involving grievances of citizens that issues of the moment, both in jurisprudential and constitutional terms, emerge”.
The bench, also comprising Justice P S Narasimha, said that “right to personal liberty is a precious and inalienable right recognised by the Constitution” and lack of intervention by the Court can even lead to “serious miscarriage of justice”.
The CJI also announced that the Supreme Court will not have any vacation bench during the winter recess starting December 19. “There will be no benches available from tomorrow till January 2, 2023”.
A day earlier, Rijiju had told Rajya Sabha “there is a feeling among people of India that the long vacation which the courts obtain is not very convenient for justice-seekers” and it is his “obligation and duty to convey the message or sense of this House to the judiciary”.
As per practice, the Supreme Court usually has vacation benches only during the long summer vacation between March and July but has no such bench during the winter recess.
The CJI’s remark on the “right to personal liberty” being “a precious and inalienable right” came in an order directing that the sentence imposed on a man, convicted under the Electricity Act, will run concurrently and not consecutively.
The offender, one Iqram, had been sentenced in nine cases for theft of electricity equipment belonging to the Uttar Pradesh electricity department. He had been sentenced to two years’ simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1000 in each of the nine cases.
Govt &Politics
Nation will always be indebted to armed forces:PM on Vijay Diwas (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
President DroupadiMurmu, Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar and Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tributes to the Indian forces on Friday on the occassion of Vijay Diwas, which commemorates India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 War.
President Murmu remembered the “exceptional valour” displayed by the armed forces. “On Vijay Diwas, we remember with gratitude the exceptional valour displayed by our armed forces during the 1971 war. Stories of their unparalleled courage and sacrifice for the nation continue to inspire every Indian”.
Vice-President Dhankhar remembered their bravery and sacrifice. “On Vijay Diwas, I join the nation in remembering the bravery and sacrifice of our armed forces, who led to our triumph in the 1971 war. I pay my tributes to the martyrs, who lost their lives in the service of our nation,” he said.
PM Modi said India would always be indebted to the armed forced for their role in keeping the country safe. “On Vijay Diwas, I pay homage to all those brave armed forces personnel who ensured India attained an exceptional win in the 1971 war. Our nation will always be indebted to the armed forces for their role in keeping the country safe and secure”.
On the eve of Vijay Diwas, President Murmu, PM Modi and Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud among others attended the ‘At Home’ reception at Army House in New Delhi.
On Friday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh laid a wreath and paid homage to the personnel who lost their in the war, at the National War Memorial in New Delhi.
Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, Army Chief General Manoj Pande, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari and Vice Chief of Indian Navy Vice Admiral SN Ghormade also laid wreaths at the National War Memorial.
Union ministers Nitin Gadkari, Dr Jitendra Singh and Prahlad Joshi among others also paid their tributes to the armed forces.
In Parliament
Lok Sabha clears Bill to give ST status to Himachal’s Hattee community (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Third Amendment) Bill, 2022, aimed at inclusion of the Hattee community of Trans Giri area in Himachal Pradesh’s Sirmaur district in the Scheduled Tribes list, was passed by Lok Sabha.
Replying to the debate on the Bill, Tribal Affairs Minister Arjun Munda said the Bill seeks to provide justice and facilities to those who have been deprived for years. The Bill, introduced in Lok Sabha on December 9, was soon passed by a voice vote.
The government’s move to introduce the Bill came after the Himachal Pradesh government requested the Centre to include the Hattee community in the ST list.
Based on the state’s recommendation, the Centre introduced the Bill and proposed to modify the ST list with respect to Himachal Pradesh by amending the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order, 1950, and including the Hattee community.
Munda said people of the community lived in a remote, inaccessible, and hilly terrain near the Uttarakhand border. While the community was listed as ST in Uttarakhand, those living in Himachal Pradesh were excluded, so the government introduced this Bill, he added.
Earlier, participating in the debate, BJP member Ram Kripal Yadav demanded that people of Lohar community, who are known as Lohara in many parts of the country, should also get the benefits of reservation.
Congress member Abdul Khaleque said the government should collate the demands of different communities from all states for tribal status and consider those together.
National Conference member Hasnain Masoodi said many communities remain deprived and disempowered even after getting tribal status. Therefore, the focus should be doing fundamental work for their welfare.
Editorial
Funding the transition (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Extreme weather events are becoming more prevalent with each passing year and countries are increasingly taking cognisance of this. Yet, there remains a rift between developing and developed countries, largely on account of asymmetries between the incidence of and the financial responsibility assumed for climate change.
It is estimated that 92 per cent of excess historical emissions are attributable to developed countries. Yet the economic impact of climate change is disproportionately borne by vulnerable developing countries.
The 58 vulnerable countries (or V20) account for 5 per cent of global emissions while the costs incurred are significant. An example of this is the recent flood in Pakistan that cost the country more than $30 billion.
UNEP estimates that efforts on climate adaptation would require $160-340 billion by 2030. But, current financial flows are inadequate, with developing countries receiving only a third of what is required.
The dual costs of shifting away from fossil fuels and that of climate catastrophes are expected to further chip away at fiscal resilience as developing countries reel under the pressures of slowdown, inflation and excess sovereign debt.
Recognising these challenges, COP27 underscored the need to accelerate finance. In its draft decision, the UN highlighted that to meet the scale of funding will require a transformation of the financial systems, structures and processes.
It will require engaging with all financial actors. The recognition is not novel and is self-evident from estimated gaps in finance. Yet, the inadequacy in response persists as the 2009 commitment of $100 billion in transfers remains unmet.
The frustration of developing countries, especially small island developing states (SIDS), was palpable at COP27. In the past there have been funding facilities such as the Green Climate Fund, which were meant to support adaptation and mitigation.
But, there is wide discontent with the pace and extent of access to such facilities. The announcement of a Loss and Damage (L&D) fund stole the attention and is hailed as a victory for SIDS. However, reflections from past experiences are essential.
The institutional architecture of multilateral funds has been demonstrably slow to deliver. Then there is the visible reluctance to contribute among the big economies.
Ideas page
Keeping the net neutral (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
The ease of living enabled by digital technologies has turned digital innovations into essential services for the common public. Considered a novelty earlier, the internet has become a necessity for most day-to-day affairs.
To enable access to the internet, various gateways have come up in the last few decades in the form of telecom service providers, personal computers and smartphones, operating systems, etc.
However, when these gateways enable and restrict access to other gateways or networks, the openness of the internet is threatened.
They then shift roles from being a facilitator to a regulator, from being a gateway to a gatekeeper. Hence, the need for a code of conduct or regulation arises to keep the playing field level and accessible to all.
Telecom companies have been instrumental in providing a gateway to essential communication services such as voice calls, internet data, and text messages.
We have seen governments across the world take measures from time to time to regulate these entities to ensure democratic access for the public. The breaking up of AT&T in the 1980s is one such example.
If this code of conduct was not enforced on these gateway providers, the internet would not be what it is today. These providers would have turned into gatekeepers, and the internet would have been controlled by them, thwarting innovation and its democratic expansion.
Closer home, another example of the enforcement of this code on providers was when the Indian government came out with the policy on Net Neutrality which, inter-alia, stipulates that telecom networks should be neutral to all the information being transmitted through it.
In other words, networks should treat all communication passing through them equally, independent of their content, application, service, device, sender, or recipient address.
Adopting Net Neutrality ensured that we took a democratic stance against Big Tech. But for this policy, we would have had the likes of Facebook offering its Free Basics only to see the internet being partitioned into walled gardens controlled by telcos and Big Tech companies.
Fast forward to today, India is one of the largest consumers of wireless internet, with over 800 million users. As we plan to roll out 5G, the sky is the limit for innovation. The internet must remain an open and permissionless platform for a digitally empowered India.
Explained
Hooch (Page no. 15)
(Miscellaneous)
Over 30 people have died in a hooch tragedy in the Saran district of Bihar, where alcohol is prohibited. The incident has created a political furore, with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar drawing charges of insensitivity over his reaction to the tragedy. In a statement, Nitish said, “If someone consumes alcohol, they will die.
A day later, Nitish said, “No compensation will be given to people who died after drinking…We have been appealing — if you drink, you will die… those who talk in favour of drinking will not bring any good to you…”
However, what killed people in Saran was spurious liquor, qualitatively different from the standard alcoholic products sold in the market. A look at what hooch is, how it is prepared, and why it can be very deadly.
Hooch is a commonly used term for poor quality alcohol, derived from Hoochinoo, a native Alaskan tribe that was known to produce very strong liquor. Unlike branded liquor which is produced in factories with sophisticated equipment and rigorous quality control, hooch is made in more crude settings without any quality checks.
All that matters is to produce alcohol that will intoxicate, and hooch surely does that. The only problem is that if prepared incorrectly, it can kill.
Alcohol is produced using two basic processes: fermentation and distillation. When heated, yeast reacts with sugar (from grain, fruits, sugarcane, etc.) to ferment and produce a mixture containing alcohol.
However, as this process continues and the alcohol levels rise (with more of the sugar getting converted to alcohol), the conditions become toxic for the yeast itself, eventually ending the process of fermentation.
Thus, to make anything stronger than beer or wine (above 14-18% ABV or alcohol by volume), distillation is key.
Distillation is the process of physically separating the alcohol from the rest of the mixture using evaporation and condensation. Since different parts of the mixture have different boiling points, theoretically, if one heats the mixture up to a correct temperature, it will be possible to separate only the alcohol from the water and other remnants.
This will be far more potent than any fermented beverage. All spirits (such as whiskey, vodka, gin, etc) are made using this technique.
When Courts go on vacations (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud said on Friday that the Supreme Court will not have a vacation bench when it breaks next week for its annual winter vacation.
The announcement came the day after Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju criticised the judiciary for taking long vacations even as pending cases rise to record levels every year.
Responding to questions relating to pendency, Rijiju said the issue cannot be resolved until a “new system” on the appointment of judges is evolved.
He also said that “there is a feeling among people of India that the long vacation which the courts obtain is not very convenient for justice-seekers”, and that it is his “obligation and duty to convey the message or sense of this House to the judiciary”.
The Supreme Court has 193 working days a year for its judicial functioning, while the High Courts function for approximately 210 days, and trial courts for 245 days. High Courts have the power to structure their calendars according to the service rules.
The Supreme Court breaks for its annual summer vacation which is typically for seven weeks — it starts at the end of May, and the court reopens in July. The court takes a week-long break each for Dussehra and Diwali, and two weeks at the end of December.
While this judicial schedule has its origins in colonial practices, it has come under criticism for quite some time now.
Generally, a few judges are available for hearing urgent cases even when the court is in recess. The combination of two or three judges, called “vacation benches”, hear important cases that cannot wait. Cases such as bail, eviction, etc. often find precedence in listing before vacation benches.
It is not uncommon for courts to hear important cases during vacation. For example, in 2015, a five-judge Bench of the Supreme Court heard the challenge to the constitutional amendment setting up the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) during the summer vacation.
In 2017, a Constitution Bench led by then CJI J S Khehar held a six-day hearing in the case challenging the practice of triple talaq during summer vacation.
Economy
Airtel-Tech M’s private 5g network': What does it signify (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
Bharti Airtel has partnered with Tech Mahindra to deploy a ‘captive private network’ at Mahindra & Mahindra’s Chakan facility in Maharashtra. The two claim that the partnership makes it the first 5G-enabled auto manufacturing unit in India.
Industry analysts are surprised by Airtel’s move as it signals the extent of participation that could be possible between telecom companies and other enterprises for 5G use cases.
With it, Airtel has also stolen a march over the Adani Group, which had purchased spectrum exclusively to offer such services, analysts said.
A private 5G network, also called a captive non-public network (CNPN) essentially is a network that is set up solely for a firm’s own use. Unlike a public network, it is closed to external communication.
The network relies on high-frequency, low-wavelength airwaves and is therefore ideal for institutions like factories, manufacturing plants, hospitals, universities etc.
According to industry analysts, private 5G networks are expected to bring in a large chunk of the revenue for companies deploying them, given that consumer adoption of 5G could take time and may not draw in as much revenue given the typically low tariff rates in India.
The partnership could mean that, for now, Airtel has stolen a march over the Adani Group which had bought spectrum during the auction earlier this year specifically to deploy private 5G networks.
In the auction, the Adani Group, through its subsidiary Adani Data Network had acquired 400 MHz of spectrum in the 26 GHz band for a total of Rs 212 crore.
The conglomerate has maintained that it was not bidding for spectrum for the consumer space, but to develop its own private network to deploy at its business verticals including airport, ports and logistics, power generation, transmission, distribution, and various manufacturing operations.
At the same time, the group has not ruled out building private 5G networks for other enterprises but is yet to make an announcement to that end.