Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
By ruling that a citizen can seek enforcement of the fundamental rights to freedom of speech not just against the state, the Supreme Court has, effectively, extended the ground for seeking these rights against other citizens.
A fundamental right under Article 19/21 can be enforced even against persons other than the State or its instrumentalities.
The court took this view while ruling that the right of free speech and expression guaranteed under the Article 19(1)(a) cannot be curbed by any additional grounds other than those already laid down in Article 19(2).
One of the questions before the court was whether “a fundamental right under Article 19 or 21 of the Constitution of India be claimed other than against the ‘State’ or its instrumentalities?”
Article 19 which guarantees freedom of speech and expression is a right invoked against the state. Some fundamental rights such as those prohibiting untouchability, trafficking and bonded labour are explicitly against both the state and other individuals.
The court, extending free speech against private citizens, opens up a range of possibilities in Constitutional law.This interpretation could also bring an obligation on the state to ensure private entities also abide by Constitutional norms.
These questions could hypothetically range from seeking enforcement of privacy rights against a private doctor to seeking the right to free speech against a private social media entity.
The original thinking of this court that these rights can be enforced only against the State, changed over a period of time. The transformation was from ‘State’ to ‘Authorities’ to ‘instrumentalities of State’ to ‘agency of the Government’ to ‘impregnation with Governmental character’ to ‘enjoyment of monopoly status conferred by State’ to “deep and pervasive control” to the “nature of the duties/functions performed,”.
The Court relied on the 2017 verdict in Puttaswamy where a nine-judge bench unanimously upheld privacy as a fundamental right. One of the key arguments by the government was that privacy is a right enforceable against other citizens and, therefore, cannot be elevated to the status of a fundamental right against the state.
Green hydrogen mission gets Cabinet nod, initial outlay Rs 19,744 crore (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Energy/Environment)
With the aim to make India energy independent and decarbonise major sectors of the economy, the Union Cabinet on approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission (NGHM), with an initial outlay of Rs 19,744 crore.
A flagship programme of the Centre, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had first announced the NGHM in his Independence Day speech in 2021, after which the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) was tasked with formulating a draft plan.
Announcing the Cabinet decision, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said the programme aims to make India a global hub for production and export of green hydrogen and its derivatives.
The plan is to provide incentives to promote the manufacturing of low-cost green hydrogen in a bid to cut emissions. Green hydrogen will play a huge role in countering climate change in the coming years, said Thakur.
The target is to bring in an investment of Rs 8 lakh crore by 2030, and create over 6 lakh jobs.Nearly 50 MMT (million metric tonne) per annum of CO2 emissions is also expected to be averted with this by 2030.
The NGHM is a key component in India’s attempt at energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables, with the government having announced its new nationally determined contributions after COP 26 in Glasgow.
The government had committed to reduce emissions intensity of GDP by 45 per cent by 2030 (from its 2005 level) and achieve about 50 per cent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030.
Green hydrogen is produced by splitting water through electrolysis, using an electrolyser that is powered by renewable energy. Green hydrogen has specific advantages.
One, it is a clean burning molecule, which can decarbonise sectors including iron and steel, chemicals, and transportation. Two, renewable energy that cannot be stored or used by the grid can be channelled to produce it.
Govt & politics
Cabinet nod for Rs 2,500-cr scheme to raise infra of DD, AIR (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Announcing approval of the Central scheme to boost public-sector broadcasting in the country, the Union government on Wednesday announced plans to expand coverage of All India Radio’s FM channels to more than 80 per cent of the population, and distribute 8 lakh DD Free Dish DTH set-top boxes (DTBs) to people living in remote areas.
These, the government clarified, include areas with tribal population, Left-Wing Extremism-affected regions as well as border areas.
The plan is part of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry’s scheme Broadcasting Infrastructure and Network Development (BIND), with an outlay of Rs 2,539 crore for 2022-26.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) approved the proposal on BIND, aimed at infrastructure development of the Prasar Bharati, which includes AIR and DD.
The BIND scheme is the vehicle for providing financial support to Prasar Bharati for expenses related to expansion and upgrade of its broadcasting infrastructure, content development and civil work related to the organisation.
Another priority area of the scheme is to develop high-quality content for both domestic and international viewers, and to ensure availability of diverse content to accommodate more channels.
Purchase of OB (outside broadcast) vans and digital upgrade of DD and AIR studios to make them HD-ready will also be done as part of the project.
Doordarshan at present operates 36 TV channels, including 28 regional ones; AIR runs more than 500 broadcasting centres. The BIND scheme will increase the coverage of AIR FM transmitters in the country to 66% by geographical area and 80% in terms of population, up from 59% and 68%, respectively.
Thakur said modernising and expanding the broadcast infrastructure also has the potential to generate indirect employment by way of manufacturing and services related to supply and installation of equipment.
The expansion of the reach of DD Free Dish is also expected to generate employment opportunities in manufacturing of DTH boxes.
As the country’s public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati engages to inform, educate, entertain and engage people, especially in remote areas, through DD and AIR.
Ideas page
No city for women (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
The horrendous case of a young woman being dragged by five men in a car for several kilometers on January 1 is a terrible start to 2023.
There are so many elements of this incident that are problematic. First, the men were reported to be inebriated to such an extent that they could drive for 4 km, dragging a woman by their car without realising it (or being bothered by it).
Second, the driver of the car hit the woman who was riding a two-wheeler, but did not bother to stop or help her. Instead, he drove away quickly. According to one report, the men stopped the car later, removed the woman’s body, and fled.
They were callous and insensitive, with no concern for having caused a death. They left her to die on the road because they were more worried about protecting themselves than saving another person.
The police were intimated of the incident by passersby. The car was identified through CCTV cameras on the street. Further, since the woman was found lying naked on the road, the likelihood of sexual assault is under investigation.
The woman was a 20-year-old returning home from work. It is heartbreaking to think of this horrific death and the predicament of her mother and other family members. Road safety is a big concern in India, and the more vulnerable face greater danger. There are many cases of people being hit or run over by speeding cars when sitting or sleeping on the pavement.
Over 1.5 lakh people died from road accidents just in 2021, and this has been the trend for several years. According to NCRB data from 2021, driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol contributed to 1.9 per cent of deaths from accidents.
These accidents have resulted in injuries to 7,235 persons and caused 2,935 deaths in the country. Further, nearly 90 per cent of deaths on the road were due to speeding, overtaking, and dangerous driving. According to the World Bank’s data from 2019, India ranked first among the top 20 countries for road accidents.
In addition, for women the fear of sexual assault is another cause for concern when they traverse public spaces after dark. While there may be no sexual assault proven in this case yet, the fact that it is a possibility speaks to the reality of assault as an added worry for every woman in this country. It is pertinent to mention that the National Commission for Women has specifically asked that this angle be looked into here as well.
Violence significantly affects women’s choices and abilities to access opportunities that the city offers. Research from the UN and ICRW confirms that women face multiple forms of violence and sexual harassment in cities such as catcalling, groping, and stalking along with more serious crimes like rape and sexual assault.
Turning the spotlight on health (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
India has demonstrated its digital prowess by building digital public goods (DPG) — the digital identity system Aadhaar, the DPGs built on top of Aadhaar and the Unified Payments Interface.
While Aadhaar has become central to India’s public service delivery architecture, UPI has transformed how payments are made. Our digital public infrastructure has reached the last mile, enabled by 1.2 billion wireless connections and 800 million internet users.
India leveraged information and communications technologies (ICTs) during the pandemic. Digital health solutions played a crucial role in bridging the gap in healthcare delivery as systems moved online to accommodate contactless care.
Some examples of DPGs developed during the pandemic include the Covid Vaccine Intelligence Network (CoWIN) and the AarogyaSetu application. CoWIN propelled India to adopt a completely digital approach to its vaccination strategy.
AarogyaSetu provided real-time data on active cases and containment zones to help citizens assess risk in their areas. Telemedicine platforms saw a steep increase in user acquisitions, as 85 per cent of physicians used teleconsultations during the pandemic, underscoring the need to better incorporate cutting-edge digital technologies into healthcare services.
Although the impact of the pandemic on health services put the spotlight on the benefits of digital innovation and technology-enabled solutions, private entities, health technology players, and the public sector have been driving digitisation in the sector for some time now.
It has become clear that a comprehensive digital healthcare ecosystem is necessary to bring together existing siloed efforts and move toward proactive, holistic, and citizen-centric healthcare.
Recognising this need, the government has created shared public goods for healthcare and developed a framework for a nationwide digital health system. This brought healthcare to a turning point in India.
The PM launched the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) on September 27, 2021, under the aegis of the National Health Authority. Within a year of its launch, ABDM has established a robust framework to provide accessible, affordable, and equitable healthcare through digital highways.
India assumes the G20 presidency this year. The G20 Global Initiative on Digital Health calls for the creation of an institutional framework for a connected health ecosystem to bring together global efforts for digital health. It also calls for the scaling-up of technologies such as global DPGs to accelerate Universal Health Coverage.
The ABDM has implemented vital building blocks to unite all stakeholders in the digital healthcare ecosystem. The Ayushman Bharat Health Account (ABHA) creates a standard identifier for patients across healthcare providers.
With the ABHA and its associated Personal Health Record (PHR) app, citizens can link, store, and share their health records to access healthcare services with autonomy and consent. With more than 300 million ABHAs and 50 million health records linked, the mission is growing at a massive rate.
Express network
Meeting on SYL ends in stalemate as Punjab, Haryana stick to old stance (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
No consensus could be reached on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal water-sharing issue between Punjab and Haryana during a meeting that Union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat held with the chief ministers of the two states in New Delhi on Wednesday.
After the meeting, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann said his state does not have “even a single drop of water” to share, while his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar in a statement said the full construction of the canal and getting water through it was a matter of “right” for his state.
“The Punjab government is not even accepting the decision of the Supreme Court that scrapped the Punjab’s (Termination of Waters Agreement) Act-2004.
The Punjab CM says that the 2004 Act still exists which is unconstitutional. SYL canal should be built and the Haryana government will apprise the Supreme Court about Punjab’s reluctant attitude over the issue. We will accept the decision of the Supreme Court in this regard,” Khattar said in a statement after the meeting.
Speaking to the media, Mann said the Supreme Court had asked the states [Punjab and Haryana] to find a amicable solution or look for an alternative.
The SYL canal, once completed, will enable sharing of the waters of the rivers Ravi and Beas between Punjab and Haryana. Punjab was opposed to sharing the waters of the two rivers with Haryana, citing riparian principles.
On April 8, 1982, then PM Indira Gandhi launched the construction of the canal with a ceremony in Kapoori village in Patiala. A stretch of 214 km was to be constructed, of which 122 km was to cross Punjab and 92 km in Haryana.
But SAD launched an stir in the form of Kapoori Morcha against the construction. In 1990, a chief engineer and a superintending engineer who were working on the canal were killed by militants. The construction came to a halt.
He also demanded a tribunal to assess the availability of water afresh, claiming that Haryana, despite being a 40 per cent shareholder against Punjab’s 60 per cent, was already getting more water.
How 50 centrally protected monuments went ‘missing’, what next (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 1, Art and Culture)
Fifty of India’s 3,693 centrally protected monuments have gone missing, the Ministry of Culture has told Parliament. The submissions were made by the ministry on December 8 to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture as part of a report titled ‘Issues relating to Untraceable Monuments and Protection of Monuments in India’.
The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (AMASR Act) regulates the preservation of monuments and archaeological sites of national importance.
The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), which is under the aegis of the Union Ministry of Culture, functions under this Act. The Act protects monuments and sites that are more than 100 years old, including temples, cemeteries, inscriptions, tombs, forts, palaces, step-wells, rock-cut caves, and even objects like cannons and mile pillars that may be of historical significance.
According to the provisions of AMASR Act, ASI officials are supposed to regularly inspect the monuments to assess their condition.
Apart from various conservation and preservation operations, ASI officials can also file police complaints, issue show cause notices for the removal of encroachments, and communicate to the local administration the need for demolition of encroachments.
The ASI was founded in 1861 by Alexander Cunningham, when he realised the need for a permanent body to oversee archaeological excavations and conservation.
But while the body remained largely dysfunctional in the 19th century owing to fund crunch, in the decades preceding Independence, it became very active.
But in the decades after independence, the focus of successive governments was on health, education and infrastructure, rather than protecting heritage.
Even within the scope of heritage, the aim was to uncover more monuments and sites, instead of conservation. So in due course, ASI officials said, many monuments and sites were lost to activities like urbanisation, construction of dams and reservoirs, and even encroachments.
As per the ASI submission in Parliament, 14 monuments have been lost to rapid urbanisation, 12 are submerged by reservoirs/dams, while 24 are untraceable, which brings the number of missing monuments to 50.
Explained
India’s green hydrogen push (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
The government has formally approved the National Green Hydrogen Mission with a stated aim of making India a global hub for the production of green hydrogen.
A mission outlay of Rs 19,744 crore was cleared by the Union Cabinet on Wednesday, aimed at the creation of export opportunities for green hydrogen and its derivatives; decarbonisation of the energy sector and use in mobility applications in a bid to lower the dependence on imported fossil fuels; and the development of indigenous manufacturing capacities.
The ultimate aim is to fuel key sectors of the economy using hydrogen that is made by splitting water through an electrical process called electrolysis, using a device called electrolyser that is powered entirely by renewable energy.
Hydrogen, the most common element in nature, exists only in combination with other elements, and has to be extracted from naturally occurring compounds like water (which is a combination of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom). Hydrogen is a clean molecule, but the process of extracting it is energy intensive.
While hydrogen’s potential as a clean fuel source has a history of nearly 150 years, it was only after the oil price shocks of the 1970s that the possibility of hydrogen replacing fossil fuels came to be considered seriously.
Three carmakers — Japan’s Honda and Toyota, and South Korea’s Hyundai — having since moved decisively to commercialise the technology, albeit on a limited scale.
The sources and processes by which hydrogen is derived are categorised by colour tabs. Hydrogen produced from fossil fuels is called grey hydrogen, which constitutes the bulk of the hydrogen generated today.
Hydrogen generated from fossil fuels with carbon capture and storage options is called blue hydrogen, while hydrogen generated using electrolysers powered by renewable power sources is called green hydrogen.
Green hydrogen has specific advantages. One, it is a clean burning molecule that can decarbonise a range of sectors including iron and steel, chemicals, and transportation. Two, renewable energy that cannot be stored or used by the grid can be channeled to produce hydrogen.
Green hydrogen is not commercially viable at present. The current cost in India is around Rs 350-400 per kg; it is likely to become viable only at a production cost of under Rs 100/ kg. This is what the Hydrogen Energy Mission aims for.
Mercury soars Europe in winter: what is a heat dome? (Page no. 16)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Several parts of Europe witnessed an unprecedented winter heat wave over New Year’s weekend, The Washington Post reported on Monday. Calling it an “extreme event”, experts said that temperatures increased 10 to 20 degrees Celsius above normal.
According to the report, at least seven countries recorded their hottest January weather ever. These included Poland, Denmark, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Belarus, Lithuania and Latvia.
Climatologists suggested that the temperatures surged to summer or springtime levels. For example, at Korbielów, a small village in Poland, the mercury reached 19 degree Celsius – a temperature the region is more used to in May, and 18 degree Celsius above the one degree Celsius yearly average for January, The Guardian said in its report.
Meanwhile, in parts of Belarus, where temperatures usually remain around zero degree Celsius, they peaked at 16.4 degree Celsius on January 1.
According to The Washington Post report, the continent is experiencing an extreme warm spell because of the formation of a heat dome over the region. The Indian Express looks at what it is and how it is formed.
A heat dome occurs when an area of high-pressure traps warm air over a region, just like a lid on a pot, for an extended period of time. The longer that air remains trapped, the more the sun works to heat the air, producing warmer conditions with every passing day.
Heat domes generally stay for a few days but sometimes they can extend up to weeks, which might cause deadly heat waves.
Scientists suggest that any region of high pressure, whether a heat dome or not, forces air to sink and once it reaches the ground, it gets compressed and becomes even warmer. Moreover, when air sinks, it gets drier and further raises the temperature of the area.
The heat dome’s formation is related to the behaviour of the jet stream — an area of fast-moving air high in the atmosphere. The jet stream is believed to have a wave-like pattern that keeps moving from north to south and then north again.
When these waves get bigger and elongated, they move slowly and sometimes can become stationary. This is when a high-pressure system gets stuck and leads to the occurrence of a heat dome.
Although heat domes are likely to have always existed, researchers say that climate change may be making them more intense and longer.
They suggest with the rising temperatures, it is expected that the jet stream will become more wavy and will have larger deviations, causing more frequent extreme heat events.
Economy
Complaints received under ombudsman schemes rises 9.39% (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The volume of complaints received under the Reserve Bank of India’s ombudsman schemes and consumer education and protection cells stood at 4,18,184 in 2021-22, an increase of 9.39 per cent compared to the previous year.
Of the total complaints received in 2021-22, about 42 per cent were related to the digital modes of payment and transactions, according to the annual report of Ombudsman Schemes, 2021-22.
Reserve Bank – Integrated Ombudsman Scheme (RB-IOS) was launched on November 12, 2021. The three erstwhile ombudsman schemes of RBI – the Banking Ombudsman Scheme, 2006; the Ombudsman Scheme for Non-Banking Financial Companies, 2018; and the Ombudsman Scheme for Digital Transactions, 2019 were integrated with RB-IOS with effect from November 12, 2021.
Of the total complaints received in the previous fiscal, 3,04,496 were handled by the 22 Offices of RBI Ombudsman (ORBIOs), including the complaints received under the three erstwhile Ombudsman Schemes till November 11, 2021, the annual report showed.
The rate of disposal of complaints by RBIOs improved to 97.97 per cent in 2021-22 from 96.59 per cent in 2020-21. Majority (63.63 per cent) of the maintainable complaints were resolved through mutual settlement or conciliation or mediation.
During the fiscal 2022-23, the RBI said it will review the guidelines on ‘Strengthening of grievance redress framework for banks’ issued in January 2021.
It will also extend the RBI–IOS, 2021 and Internal Ombudsman Scheme to more regulated entities that are not covered presently.