Insights SECURE SYNOPSIS: 05 JANUARY 2018

SECURE SYNOPSIS: 05 JANUARY 2018

NOTE: Please remember that following ‘answers’ are NOT ‘model answers’. They are NOT synopsis too if we go by definition of the term. What we are providing is content that both meets demand of the question and at the same time gives you extra points in the form of background information.

Topic:   Salient features of world’s physical geography.  

1) What do you understand by “bomb cyclone” or “weather bomb” ? Examine why Eastern parts in Norm America are experiencing unusually extremely cold conditions these days. (250 Words)

BBC

NYT

Bomb cyclone:-

• A “bomb cyclone” or “weather bomb” is an unofficial term for what is known as explosive cyclogenesis.
• it actually refers to an extratropical surface cyclone: a storm occurring outside of tropics, usually between 30 and 60 degrees latitude if it happens in the Northern Hemisphere
• This occurs when the central pressure of a low pressure system falls by 24 millibars in 24 hours and can result in violent winds developing around the system.
• The winds can be strong enough to bring down trees and cause structural damage.
• It resembles a winter hurricane which could be the eastern US’s most intense in decades.
• The major storm is expected to develop along the eastern seaboard of the US, bringing strong winds, rain, sleet and snow

Eastern parts of North America are experiencing extreme cold conditions because:-

• The occurrence and severity of “warm-West/cold-East” winter events, which is also called North American winter temperature dipole, increased significantly between 1980 and 2015.
• This is partly because winter temperature has warmed more in the West than in the East.
• It also has been driven by the increasing frequency of a “ridge-trough” pattern, with high atmospheric pressure in the West and low atmospheric pressure in the East producing greater numbers of winter days with extreme temperatures in large areas of the West and East at the same time.
• Particular atmospheric configuration connects the cold extremes in the East to the occurrence of warm extremes ‘upstream’ in the West. So Some regions can experience colder than normal temperatures associated with anomalous circulation patterns that drive cold air from the poles to the mid-latitudes
• Human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases are likely driving this trend.
• Nor’easter:-
  • A nor’easter is a storm that mainly affects the northeastern part of the United States. These storms form along the East coast as warm air from over the Atlantic Ocean clashes with arctic cold to the north and west. Hurricanes have a narrow field of strong winds with a concentration around the center, whereas a nor’easter’s winds are spread out
• Polar vortex:
  • Mass of air expands and gets pushed south, carried along with the jet stream, a stream of wind that extends around the hemisphere and divides the air masses in the polar region from those further south.
  • The air circulation coming with this imminent storm could help pull the jet stream and even more arctic air south, bringing temperatures to parts of the US that are simply  too cold for people to safely be outside.

General Studies – 2

Topic:   Parliament and State Legislatures – structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these. 

2) Should MPs and MLAs be barred from practising law? Discuss the issues involved. (250 Words)

The Hindu

Introduction :-

• Recently public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court to ban public servants, elected representatives and members of judiciary from simultaneously practicing other professions and declare it as criminal misconduct.

Yes,they should be barred :-

• According to Rule 49 of the Bar Council of India any full-time salaried employee, whether he or she belongs to a corporation, private firm, or the government, cannot practise as a lawyer before a court of law.
• The work of a MP/MLA and lawyer is a full-time activity. MP/MLA ‘s are full-time members of Parliament and Assemblies. They have to take part in the proceedings of the House, meet people in their constituencies, and address people’s issues. So dual jobs is not justified.
  • Haniraj Chulani vs. Bar Council of Maharashtra – Legal profession requires full time attention
• MPs and MLAs who are practising lawyers take a fee from the petitioner and get their salary from the respondent which is the Central or State government. This is professional misconduct, as they end up enjoying the benefits of both.
• There is also a conflict of interest as MPs and MLAs have the power to initiate impeachment proceedings against a judge which means that they can pressurise the judge to give a favourable verdict when they plead before him or her in a case.
• This is a violation of Articles 14, 15, and 21 which deal with the right to equality, prohibition of discrimination, and protection of life and personal liberty   

They need not be barred:-

• There is no merit in a petition to ban legislators from practising other professions, especially law as there are doctors who became IAS officials and engineers who are diplomats
• Good knowledge of law will help elected representatives for good law making.

What can be done ?

• There is a need for a uniform policy relating to conflict of interest for public servants, people representatives and members of judiciary in spirit of Article 14 of the Constitution and declare the conflict of interest as the criminal misconduct.
• There is also need to define the key roles and responsibilities of the people representatives and public servants to make the Indian democracy more transparent and effective in spirit of Preamble of the Constitution of India.

Topic:  Mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections.

3) What are the areas of concern in the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill? Are the provisions of this Bill consistent with the observations made by the Supreme Court on Triple Talaq? Critically examine. (250 Words) 

The Hindu

Background:

• Triple Talaq has been an issue affecting Indian Muslim women since a long time. In the recent SC judgement it made this practice unconstitutional bringing the sense of relief to may Muslim women.
• Acting on this the government introduced the bill in the Parliament to take action on this practice.

SC judgement:

• SC declared that practice was arbitrary and declared it to be unconstitutional and consequently void. 
• Such a practice is otherwise abhorrent and considered illegal in various Muslim countries around the world and taking note of the stand of the Muslim Personal Law Board deprecating the practice, it should be discontinued.
• Consequently, they granted an injunction against the practice of triple talaq for a period of six months from the date of judgment, enabling Parliament to legislate on the subject.

Bill Provisions are consistent with the SC observations:-

• At first glance, these developments come across as a classic example of collaboration the between Judiciary and legislature.The Supreme Court made a decision, the government conceptualised a Bill to reinforce the court’s decision, and Parliament is now in the process of enacting that Bill into law.

No Bill is not in consistent with the SC judgement because:

• However, this narrative collapses when the issue is considered more closely, as the Bill is at odds with the very judgment that it purports to reinforce
  • The statement of objects and reasons accompanying the Bill indicates that it is meant to give effect to the court’s judgment, which it claims had failed to produce any deterrent effect in reducing the practice of triple talaq across the country shows there was no effective collaboration.
  • The statement speaks of “illegal divorce” and is therefore a contradiction in terms . Triple talaq is simply not a divorce in the first place
  • Criminalisation of Triple talaq does not emanate from any part of any of the three judgments rendered by the Supreme Court.
• The victim of triple talaq is entitled to subsistence allowance and custody of minor children.The question of custody or allowance does not arise where couple remains married. This again goes against the basic purpose of court’s judgement
• One of the significant questions that arose before the Court was whether it would be appropriate to defer to Parliament on this issue. While the two judges in the minority favoured imposing a six-month injunction to enable Parliament to enact legislation on the subject, the judges in the majority specifically chose not to do so.
• In future there is an even chance that the court may decide that a law criminalising the use of three words violates the right to equality under the Constitution.

Concerns with the bill:-

• Muslim husband pronouncing triple talaq is criminally culpable
• Had this legislation not been initiated, the practice would still be void. Therefore, the legislation to this extent does no more than restate an existing statement of law.
• Drafting of the bill had been done in a haste, without taking into confidence any of the stakeholders.
• Would lead to wide-scale distress for women, making them even more vulnerable. It would force them to put up with abusive husbands for the fear of them being jailed.
• It would subject an otherwise functional Muslim couple to the moral policing of outsiders, since the crime has been made into a cognisable and non-bailable offence. 
• No plead insanity clause is attached which means that a basic right to freedom, dignity, mental condition, and whether or not a Muslim is fit to stand trial, have not been taken into account .
• There is no provision that the wife alone can file a complaint alleging that an offence of triple talaq has been committed. A third person can also do it based on which the husband is arrested.
• Being non-bailable, only a court is entitled to grant bail which raises several implications like
  • Despite marriage being intact and the wife not wishing to complain ,the wife has to suffer the consequences of her husband being sent to jail. That affects her husband’s capacity to provide for the family
  • The complaint may be based on a lie, yet the husband may land in jail
  • It is not understood why the husband needs to go to jail when the marriage is subsisting and valid.
• The concept of subsistence allowance and the right of a woman to custody of her minor children in the event of pronouncement of talaq by her husband do not hold logic when marriage which is subsisting and intact

Topic:  Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health

4) National Medical Commission Bill must address the needs of the consumer rather than the interests of medical practitioners and quacks. Comment. (250 Words)

The Indian Express

National medical commission bill :-

• The national medical commission bill is the product of the NITI Aayog and was drafted following a scathing standing committee report in 2016 on the corrupt functioning of the Medical Council of India (MCI) 
• The bill if passed would repeal the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956

Features of the bill that address the consumer needs are:

• The Bill attempts to tackle two main things on quality and quantity which ultimately affect the consumer : Corruption in medical education and shortage of medical professionals.
• The Bill aims to overhaul the corrupt and inefficient Medical Council of India, which regulates medical education and practice and replace with National medical commission.
• Entry test:
  • It replaces multiple MBBS entrance exams conducted by state universities, thus providing a level playing field to aspirants across the board irrespective of educational or social background.
  • There will be a uniform National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to under-graduate medical education in all medical institutions governed by the Bill.  The NMC will specify the manner of conducting common counselling for admission in all such medical institutions.
• Exit test:-
  • In the light of management quota seats in private medical colleges and quality of medical professionals deteriorating there will be a National Licentiate Examination for the students graduating from medical institutions to obtain the license for practice. 
  • This Examination will also serve as the basis for admission into post-graduate courses at medical institutions.
• There will also be a medical assessment and rating board which will grant permissions for new colleges and penalise institutions which don’t follow the prescribed standards.
• It mainly focuses on outcome based monitoring which was neglected before.

Concerns :-

• To fix corruption, the Bill recommends replacing one body with another. It proposes instituting a National Medical Commission (NMC) instead of the MCI. 
• A bridge course allowing alternative-medicine practitioners to prescribe modern drugs   is mentioned in the bill.
  • Unscientific mixing of systems and empowering of other practitioners through bridge courses will only pave the way for substandard doctors and substandard medical practice. This will seriously impact patient care and patient safety
• Indian Medical Association (IMA)opposed the bill that it will cripple the functioning of medical professionals by making them completely answerable to the bureaucracy and non-medical administrators.
• The bill allows private medical colleges to charge at will, nullifying whatever solace the NEET brought.
  • The private medical colleges will be allowed to decide the fee for 60 per cent of their seats, while previously it was 15 per cent.
  • This will increase the cost of medical education
• The nexus between the unqualified practitioners or RMPs (Rural not-Registered medical practitioner) is apparent but bill neglects this.
• There are apprehensions whether allopathic or AYUSH doctors will be willing to work in villages

Suggestions:-

• Clear guidelines are required indicating the circumstances and diseases where traditional practitioners can prescribe allopathic medicines.
• Community-level accredited practitioners  after training should be equipped to provide the first line of care for acute conditions and to make referrals to a regular doctor within a GPS-supervised system.
• A new system of community-based trained health workers (not government employees) who are enrolled on the state medical register is needed. This can only be done if the medical education law provides for it.
• The new Bill should promote integrative medicine enabling people to access multiple choices but available under one roof, particularly for chronic conditions. 
• To bolster healthcare delivery there can be a three-year diploma for rural medical-care providers, along the lines of the Licentiate Medical Practitioners who practised in India before 1946. 
• NMC shouldn’t open gates to overseas doctors to regularly practice medicine or perform surgery without qualifying the National Licentiate Examination or induct Ayush colleagues without clearing NEXT.

Conclusion:-

• The Bill needs to confront reality and address it, keeping consumer interest paramount otherwise the new law will make little difference to people’s lives. 

General Studies – 3

Topic:  Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization of resources, growth, development and employment. 

5) Write a critical note on the objectives and provisions of the Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2017. (150 Words)

The Hindu

Negotiable instruments (Amendment)bill 2017:-

• In a move to prevent unscrupulous elements from holding back payment through litigation in cheque bounce cases, the government has come up with a series of amendments to the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.

• The Negotiable Instruments (Amendment) Bill, 2017 was introduced in Lok Sabha on January 2, 2018.  It seeks to amend the Negotiable Instruments Act, 1881.  The Act defines promissory notes, bills of exchange, and cheques.  It also specifies penalties for bouncing of cheques, and other violations with respect to such negotiable instruments.

• Interim compensation: 
  • The Bill inserts a provision allowing a court trying an offence related to cheque bouncing, to direct the drawer (person who writes the cheque) to pay interim compensation to the complainant. 
  • This interim compensation may be paid under certain circumstances, including where the drawer pleads not guilty of the accusation. 
  • The interim compensation will not exceed 20% of the cheque amount, and will have to be paid by the drawer within 60 days of the trial court’s order to pay such a compensation. 
• Deposit in case of appeal: 
  • The Bill inserts a provision specifying that if a drawer convicted in a cheque bouncing case files an appeal, the appellate court may direct him to deposit a minimum of 20% of the fine or compensation awarded by the trial court during conviction. 
  • This amount will be in addition to any interim compensation paid by the drawer during the earlier trial proceedings. 
• Returning the interim compensation:
  • In case the drawer is acquitted (during trial or by the appellate court), the court will direct the complainant to return the interim compensation (or deposit in case of an appeal case), along with an interest.  This amount will be repaid within 60 days of the court’s order

Advantages:-

• To discourage frivolous and unnecessary litigation which would save time and money.
• The proposed amendments will strengthen the credibility of cheques as a financial instrument.
• This  is being done to help trade and commerce, particularly the MSME sector
• The move follows representations from the public and the trading community regarding the injustice caused to payees as a result of pendency of cheque dishonour case
• Amendments in the Act will have implications for over 18 lakh cheque bounce cases pending in various courts
• promote less-cash economy

Concerns:-

• Judiciary is already suffering with huge pendency of cases.
• The aggrieved person is at a disadvantage as he has to bear all the charges and fight the case
• The 20% threshold mentioned in the bill may be detrimental for the people who is not involved in the cheque bouncing deliberately.

Conclusion:-

• As India is moving faster on the path of digital transactions and cheque payments, government needs to ensure the payees of dishonoured cheques are able to realise the payments. The amending of the Negotiable Instruments Act suitably is necessary.

Topic:  Challenges to internal security through communication networks, role of media and social networking sites in internal security challenges

6) The social media platforms such as twitter are increasingly polarising the world and their claim of being neutral facilitators of online communication is dubious. Comment. (250 Words)

The Hindu

Background:-

• Social networking sites have integrated into the daily routine of millions of Indian users. Though social media platforms have been used successively for mobilising people for movements like Arab uprising, India against corruption movement etc they are largely coming under scanner .

Social media platforms polarize and are dubious because:-

• Political:
  • Use of technology to alter voters attitude regarding the election:
    • A news site investigation in  the Philippines’s 2016 presidential election discovered a machine of paid trolls, fallacious reasoning and propaganda techniques that had helped shift attitudes towards both candidates.
    • During US elections there was use of these platforms by Russian hackers and others to spread misinformation and skew elections.
  • Social media as the main channel of hoax dispersal in Indonesia. These findings reaffirm the powerful role of digital technology in manipulating political dynamics.
  • Social media has transformed into a platform where post-truth politics and computational propaganda overlap
  • Irresponsible utilization of social media as a political tool will further intensifies divisions between political groups, and even worse, magnifies narrow-mindedness among society. 
• Social effect:-
  • Rumours that confirm people’s biases are now believed and spread among millions of people
  • People tend to only communicate with people that they agree with
  • Online discussions quickly descend into angry mobs
  • Because of the speed and brevity of social media, people are forced to jump to conclusions and write sharp opinions.
  • The networks make information run so fast that it outruns fact-checkers ability to check it. Misinformation spreads widely before it can be downgraded in the algorithms.
  • The target group especially youth prefers spending an abundant amount of time on these social networking sites which keeps them away from their own purpose of existence and interacting with their own natural surroundings.
  • Their social gatherings are hampered because surfing these social networking sites keep them more involved for which they are bound to ignore other significant social events in their lives.. 
  • Terrorist organizations using social media platforms to propagate their ideas and radicalize youth.
  • Cyber bullying, cyber stalking, misusing social media platforms for extortion of money, misusing photos of women has been on rise showing that social media is polarizing the world.

Suggestions:

• The ability to filter vast amount of digital information should be a pre-requisite for all internet users in a world where social media is intertwined with electoral politics.
• Social media platforms need to come together and take action against fake news circulation and be accountable
• Germany, which witnessed a disturbing rise in racist, anti-immigrant hate speeches, enacted a law that would force social media companies to crack down on hate speech on their digital platforms.
  • The new German law aims at regulating social media platforms to ensure they remove hate speech within set periods of receiving complaints.
  • Fines of up to €50 million can be imposed on social media platforms that fail to comply
  • India must learn from and build on this model.

General Studies – 4

Topic:   Ethical concerns and dilemmas in government and private institutions;

In the given situation the ethical dimensions involved are:-

• Emotional intelligence
• Resolving ethical dilemmas
• Providing peace to the society and see that violence is not taken place.
• Avoid religious conflict leading to riots.

Keeping in mind the above ideas the SP has the following choices:

1.To allow either community to hold rally or allow both groups:

• Merits:-
• The respect on the police machinery as perpetuators of justice will increase.
• Demerits:
  • It is the duty of the police to investigate who desecrated till then rally need not be allowed even though peaceful.
  • The rally even though peaceful can lead to violence leading to riots.
  • Majority community might not be happy with permitting minority for the rally and try to influence your job postings.
  • Also majority community does not have any grievances so there is no need for permitting bandh organized by them.
  • As the place is also a commercial hub bandh and rally would only lead to inconvenience for the society and affect trade and commerce.
  • Allowing both groups at the same time can lead to violent clashes and severe law and order problem might be created.

2.To not allow both the communities to hold rally:-

• Merits:
  • Leads to peaceful resolution of the issue.
  • Both sides arguments will be heard .
  • The trade and commerce will not be affected.
  • Public disturbance will not be there.
  • Political neutrality is upheld
• Demerits:-
  • Chances of deadlock might arise
  • The communities might not be ready to negotiate

Final decision:

As SP I would go with the second alternative as the issue is a very sensitive and effective utility of emotional intelligence is necessary. Also my duty as a SP is to uphold peace and harmony in the society and this possibility is realized only by the second alternative.