[Mission 2022] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 16 FEBRUARY 2022

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Anti-mob lynching bills:

Context:

Bills passed against mob lynching in the past four years by at least four States have not been implemented with the Union government taking a view that lynching is not defined as a crime under the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

• These states include Jharkhand, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Manipur.

Why have the bills been delayed?

In 2019, the MHA informed the Lok Sabha that it had received the bills passed by the State legislatures that have been reserved by the Governor for consideration of the President.

• The President has to go with the advice given by the Council of Ministers, in the case of such legislation, represented by the MHA.
• The Ministry examines the State legislations on three grounds— repugnancy with Central laws, deviation from national or central policy and legal and constitutional validity.

Recent incidents of mob lynching:

• In December 2021, a man was lynched to death by the Sikh Sangat (Sikh devotees) in Shri Harmandir Sahib Gurudwara (Golden Temple) in Amritsar over an alleged attempt to disrespect the holiest book of Sikh religion, Shri Guru Granth Sahib Ji.
• In 2021 in Assam, a 23-year-old student leader was allegedly killed by a mob.
• In 2021 October a man was allegedly lynched, his limbs cut off and left to die at the Singhu Border, site of the farmers’ protest against the three farm laws.
• In 2021 August, a bangle seller in Indore was reportedly beaten up by a mob for allegedly hiding his identity.
• The man survived and was sent to judicial custody.
• In 2021 May, a 25-year-old Gurugram man was allegedly lynched when he went out to buy medicines.

What is meant by Lynching?

Any act or series of acts of violence or aiding, abetting (encouraging) such act/acts thereof, whether spontaneous or planned, by a mob on the grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth, language, dietary practices, sexual orientation, political affiliation, ethnicity or any other related grounds.

How are these cases handled?

There is “no separate” definition for such incidents under the existing IPC. Lynching incidents can be dealt with under Section 300 and 302 of IPC.

• Section 302 provides that whoever commits murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to fine. Offence of murder is a cognisable, non- bailable and non-compoundable offence.

SC guidelines:

• There should be a “separate offence” for lynching and the trial courts must ordinarily award maximum sentence upon conviction of the accused person to set a stern example in cases of mob violence.
• The state governments will have to designate a senior police officer in each district for taking measures to prevent incidents of mob violence and lynching.
• The state governments need to identify districts, sub-divisions and villageswhere instances of lynching and mob violence have been reported in the recent past.
• The nodal officers shall bring to the notice of the DGP about any inter-district co-ordination issues for devising a strategy to tackle lynching and mob violence related issues.
• Every police officer shall ensure to disperse the mob that has a tendency to cause violence in the disguise of vigilantism or otherwise.
• Central and the state governments shall broadcast on radio, television and other media platforms about the serious consequences of mob lynching and mob violence.
• Despite the measures taken by the State Police, if it comes to the notice of the local police that an incident of lynching or mob violence has taken place, the jurisdictional police station shall immediately lodge an FIR.
• The State Governments shall prepare a lynching/mob violence victim compensation scheme in the light of the provisions of Section 357A of CrPC.
• If a police officer or an officer of the district administration fails to fulfill his duty, it will be considered an act of deliberate negligence.

Need of the hour:

• Every time there is a case of honor killing, hate crimes, witch hunting or mob lynching we raise demands for special legislation to deal with these crimes.
• But, the fact is that these crimes are nothing but murders and the existing provisions under IPC and CrPC are sufficient to deal with such crimes.
• Coupled with the guidelines laid down in Poonawala’s case, we are sufficiently equipped to deal with mob lynching. However, what we lack is due enforcement of the existing laws and accountability of the enforcement agencies.

Insta Curious:

Do you know there is something like the United Nations Strategy and Plan of Action on Hate Speech? Reference: read this.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. States which have passed laws against mob lynching.
2. What is Poonawala’s case?
3. What are the provisions available against mob lynching under IPC?

Mains Link:

Mob Lynching has become a recurring phenomenon in India which is surging hate violence targeting religious and caste minorities. Explain the causative factors and suggest ways to address it.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered: Important International Institutions.

Context:

India  has condemned the “motivated and misleading statement” made by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which expressed deep concerns over what it called “continued attacks on Muslims in India” and called upon the international community to take necessary measures.

What’s the issue?

OIC had expresses deep concern over recent public calls for genocide of Muslims by the ‘Hindutva’ proponents in Haridwar in the state of Uttarakhand and reported incidents of harassment of Muslim women on social media sites as well as banning of Muslim girl students from wearing hijab in the state of Karnataka.

India’s response:

Issues in India are considered and resolved in accordance with our constitutional framework and mechanisms, as well as democratic ethos and polity.

Concerns over these remarks:

This is not the first time that the OIC has commented on India’s internal matters.

• The OIC had asked India to reverse its decision of scrapping Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, during the sidelines of 76th UN General Assembly.

About OIC:

• It is an international organization founded in 1969, consisting of 57 member states.
• It is the second largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations.
• The organisation states that it is “the collective voice of the Muslim world” and works to “safeguard and protect the interests of the Muslim world in the spirit of promoting international peace and harmony “.
• The OIC has permanent delegations to the United Nations and the European Union.
• Permanent Secretariat is in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Significance of OIC for India:

OIC’s growing economic and energy interdependence with India has become important in recent times.

• Individually, India has good relations with almost all member nations. Ties with the UAE and Saudi Arabia, especially, have improved significantly in recent years.
• The OIC includes two of India’s close neighbours, Bangladesh and Maldives.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. OIC- objectives.
2. Functions.
3. Members.
4. Subsidiary organisations.

Mains Link:

Write a note on OIC.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered: Important International institutions, agencies and fora, their structure, mandate.

Russia-Ukraine crisis:

Context:

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said he had declared February 16, which U.S. officials had said could be the date of a Russian attack, as a day of “national unity”.

• However, Russia has clarified that it has no plans to invade Ukraine.

What does Russia want now?

• Talks to discuss implementation of previous commitments on NATO expansion.
• NATO troops moving out of Post-Soviet States.
• A commitment that Ukraine will not be given NATO members.
• Security guarantees for the future.

What do US and European states that form NATO want?

• Russian troops to pull back from borders.
• Russia to stop war games in neighbouring countries like Belarus.
• Willing to discuss security guarantees, but no commitment on independent states joining NATO – according to a letter leaked to a Spanish newspaper.
• Wants guarantees that Russia will not invade Ukraine- Russia has said it has no intention to —but troops amassed are worrying.

India’s greatest concerns are:

1. World War scenario: Any conflict- where the U.S. and its European allies are ranged against Russia will impact the whole world- economically and in terms of security, and India, as a partner to both Moscow and Washington will either have to take sides, or be prepared to deal with unhappiness from both sides.
2. S-400 delivery and US waiver: The crisis comes precisely as India’s purchase of the Russian S-400 missile system is under way- and New Delhi hopes for a waiver of U.S. sanctions on this. Conflict will complicate both the delivery of the system, and the possibility of a presidential waiver.
3. Moves focus from China: Just as U.S. and Europe had grown more focussed on their Indo-Pacific strategy that puts India centre-stage, and India grapples with Chinese aggression and land-grab at the Line of Actual Control, and 100,000 troops along the boundary on both sides, the world’s attention is diverted from China to Russia.
4. Brings Russia China closer- the Crisis will make Moscow more dependent on friends like China, and build a regional bloc of sorts that India is not a part of. In Beijing this week, the future seems evident- as India has announced a diplomatic and political boycott of the Olympic games- while Putin, Central Asian Presidents, and Pakistan PM Imran Khan are all in Beijing to stand in solidarity with Xi Jinping.
5. Energy crisis: In any conflict- Europe worries Russia will turn down gas and oil supplies- driving energy prices up. Already tensions have pushed oil prices up 14% in a month past $90 and analyst say they could hit $125 a barrel if the situation is not resolved.

What is the conflict all about?

Tensions between Ukraine and Russia, both former Soviet states, escalated in late 2013 over a landmark political and trade deal with the European Union. After the pro-Russian then-President, Viktor Yanukovych, suspended the talks, weeks of protests in Kiev erupted into violence.

• Then, in March 2014, Russia annexed Crimea, an autonomous peninsula in southern Ukraine with strong Russian loyalties, on the pretext that it was defending its interests and those of Russian-speaking citizens.
• Shortly afterwards, pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions declared their independence from Kiev, prompting months of heavy fighting. Despite Kiev and Moscow signing a peace deal in Minsk in 2015, brokered by France and Germany, there have been repeated ceasefire violations.

Insta Curious:

Germany has warned Russia that the Nord Stream pipeline would be stopped if they were to invade Ukraine. Where is the Nord Stream pipeline? Reference: read this.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. NATO- genesis and headquarters.
2. What is NATO Allied Command Operations?
3. Who can become members of NATO?
4. Overview of the Washington Treaty.
5. Countries surrounding the North Atlantic Ocean.
6. Latest NATO member.

Mains Link:

Discuss the objectives and significance of NATO.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 3:

Topics Covered: Major crops cropping patterns in various parts of the country, different types of irrigation and irrigation systems storage, transport and marketing of agricultural produce and issues and related constraints; e-technology in the aid of farmers.

Context:

The government has said that it plans to prepare digital maps of all its 6,00,000 villages and pan-India 3D maps will be prepared for 100 cities under SVAMITVA scheme.

• So far drone surveys have covered close to 1,00,000 villages and maps of 77,527 villages had been handed over to states.
• Property cards had been distributed to around 27,000 villages.

Overview and key features of the SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) Yojana’:

Launched on Panchayati Raj Diwas (April 24th, 2020). Last year, it was extended to all states. Earlier, it was launched only for 9 states.

• The scheme seeks to map residential land ownership in the rural sector using modern technology like the use of drones.
• The scheme aims to revolutionize property record maintenance in India.
• The scheme is piloted by the Panchayati Raj ministry.
• Under the scheme, residential land in villages will be measured using drones to create a non-disputable record.
• Property card for every property in the village will be prepared by states using accurate measurements delivered by drone-mapping. These cards will be given to property owners and will be recognised by the land revenue records department.

Benefits of the scheme:

• The delivery of property rights through an official document will enable villagers to access bank finance using their property as collateral.
• The property records for a village will also be maintained at the Panchayat level, allowing for the collection of associated taxes from the owners. The money generated from these local taxes will be used to build rural infrastructure and facilities.
• Freeing the residential properties including land of title disputes and the creation of an official record is likely to result in appreciation in the market value of the properties.
• The accurate property records can be used for facilitating tax collection, new building and structure plan, issuing of permits and for thwarting attempts at property grabbing.

Need for and significance of the scheme:

The need for this Yojana was felt since several villagers in the rural areas don’t have papers proving ownership of their land. In most states, survey and measurement of the populated areas in the villages has not been done for the purpose of attestation/verification of properties. The new scheme is likely to become a tool for empowerment and entitlement, reducing social strife on account of discord over properties.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. When and why is Panchayati Raj Diwas is celebrated?
2. As per the scheme, who issues property cards?
3. Various benefits under the scheme.
4. Nodal Ministry to implement the scheme.

Mains Link:

Discuss the need for and significance of the scheme.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 3:

Topics Covered: Internal security related issues.

Why did the govt ban more China-linked apps?

Context:

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has banned 54 more apps which have either originated in China or have some Chinese connection.

• These apps were banned for being a threat to national security.

Provisions in this regard:

The new apps have been banned using emergency powers under Section 69 of the Information Technology Act. Most of these apps were operating as clones or shadow apps of the apps that had earlier been banned by the government.

Which other apps have been banned by the government in the past?

In total so far, close to 300 apps and their proxies have been banned by the IT ministry.

• In its reasoning then, the ministry has said that these apps were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

Why was this necessary? (Arguments by the government):

1. Government had received many complaints from various sources including several reports about misuse of some mobile apps available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users’ data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.
2. The compilation of these data, its mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of India, which ultimately impinges upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, is a matter of very deep and immediate concern which requires emergency measures.
3. The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps.

Section 69A of IT act:

Section 69A of the IT Act, empowers the Central Government to order that access to certain websites and computer resources be blocked in the interest of the defense of the country, its sovereignty and integrity, the security of the State, friendly relations with foreign States, public order or for preventing incitement to the commission of an offence.

Implications of this move:

The blocking of a hundred more Chinese mobile applications suggests that the Indian government wants to make it amply clear that it will not shy away from leveraging its position as a massive market for technology in dealing with potentially dangerous geopolitical issues.

What has China’s response been to the ban?

China has said that it suspects India’s actions could be in violation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) rules.

• The Chinese Government said “India’s measure selectively and discriminatorily aims at certain Chinese apps on ambiguous and far-fetched grounds, runs against fair and transparent procedure requirements, abuses national security exceptions, and [is suspected] of violating the WTO rules.”

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Section 69A of the IT Act is related to?
2. Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre- administrative setup and functions.
3. What is Line of Actual Control?
4. LAC vs LOC.
5. Where is Chushul Valley?

Mains Link:

The Centre’s recent move to block 59 Chinese apps has brought to the fore the inherently tricky ‘national security versus digital rights’ question. How do you view this? Give your opinion.

Sources: the Hindu.