[Mission 2022] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 24 MARCH 2022

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered: Indian Constitution.

Context:

Congress party in West Bengal has demanded that the law and order situation in West Bengal is completely broken and Article 355 should be invoked to ensure the State is governed as per the provisions of the Constitution.

What’s the issue?

On 21st March 2022, there was a violent fight between two groups of the ruling party in Bogtui village in Birbhum district.

• The Deputy Pradhan, Shri Bhadu Sheikh was killed and in retaliation houses in the area were attacked and set on fire resulting in 12 deaths including that of women and children. All the members belong to the minority community.

What is Article 355?

Article 355 refers to the provision in the Constitution that states that “It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”.

There are several angles to the second part of this duty – to ensure that the Government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

1. The law & order angle:

The “public order” and “police” are state subjects and states have exclusive power to legislate on these matters.

1. Alleged justification of emergency:

Although this article has been seldom used; it is seen as an instrument to justify imposition of emergency under articles 352 and 356.

While article 352 empowers the centre to impose emergency when an armed rebellion occurs, such proclamation cannot be for internal disturbance – thus said SC in SR Bommai Case.

• So, the Supreme Court interpretation was that article 355 itself does not give power to the centre to impose emergency because mere internal disturbance short of armed rebellion cannot justify a proclamation of emergency under Art. 352 nor can such disturbance justify issuance of proclamation under Art.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

Context:

Pushkar Singh Dhami recently took took oath as the 12th chief minister of Uttarakhand.

• Since, according to the constitution, the chief minister is appointed by the governor, the swearing in is done before the governor of the state.

Appointment of CM:

The Chief Minister is appointed by the governor.

• 164 of the Constitution provides that there shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at its hand to aid and advise the governor.

Who can be a Chief Minister?

After general election to the State Legislative Assembly, the party or coalition group which secures majority in this House, elects its leader and communicates his name to the Governor. The Governor then formally appoints him as the Chief Minister and asks him to form his Council of Ministers.

• When no party gets a clear majority in the State Legislative Assembly, the Governor normally asks the leader of the single largest party to form the government.

Tenure:

Theoretically, the Chief Minister holds office during the pleasure of the Governor. However, in actual practice the Chief Minister remains in office so long as he continues to be the leader of the majority in the State Legislative Assembly.

• The Governor can dismiss him in case he loses his majority support.
• The State Legislative Assembly can also remove him by passing a vote of no-confidence against him.

Powers and Functions of the Chief Minister:

• To Aid and Advice the Governor.
• The Chief Minister is at the Head of the Council of Ministers.
• He is the Leader of the House.
• He has to communicate to the Governor all the decisions of the council of ministers relating to the administration of the states.
• All the policies are announced by him on the floor of the house.
• He recommends dissolution of legislative assembly to the Governor.
• He advises the Governor regarding summoning, proroguing the sessions of State Legislative Assembly from time to time.

Insta Curious:

Did you know that Section 11 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, allows the Election Commission to reduce or remove disqualification “for reasons to be recorded”? Know more about this here.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Who can be a Chief Minister?
2. Role of Governor in appointing a Chief Minister.
3. Council of Ministers.
4. Powers.
5. Functions.
6. Tenure.

Mains Link:

Discuss the roles and functions of a Chief Minister.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered: Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions.

Criminal justice reforms:

Context:

Aiming to make comprehensive changes in criminal laws, the government has initiated the process of amendment to laws such as Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act in consultation with all stakeholders.

Suggestions invited:

The Ministry of Home Affairs has sought suggestions from Governors, Chief Ministers, Lieutenant Governors and Administrators of Union Territories, Chief Justice of India, Chief Justices of various High Courts, Bar Council of India, Bar Council of various States, various universities, law institutes and all MPs regarding comprehensive amendments in criminal laws.

Current concerns/challenges:

1. The delay in disposal of cases was leading to human rights violations of the under-trials and convicts.
2. Despite the Supreme Court’s directions on police reforms, there had been hardly any changes on the ground.
3. Court orders convicting a person are also taking years to implement.

Suggested Reforms:

• Special laws and fast-track courts could replace certain offences under the Indian Penal Code in order to reduce the piling up of cases at every police station.
• Digitisation of documents would help in speeding up investigations and trials.
• The construction of new offences and reworking of the existing classification of offences must be guided by the principles of criminal jurisprudence which have substantially altered in the past four decades.
• The classification of offences must be done in a manner conducive to management of crimes in the future.
• The discretion of judges in deciding the quantum and nature of sentence differently for crimes of the same nature should be based on principles of judicial precedent.

Criminal law in India:

The Criminal law in India is contained in a number of sources – The Indian Penal Code of 1860, the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

• Criminal Justice System can impose penalties on those who violate the established laws.
• The criminal law and criminal procedure are in the concurrent list of the seventh schedule of the constitution.
• Lord Thomas Babington Macaulay is said to be the chief architect of codifications of criminal laws in India.

Need for reforms:

1. Colonial era laws.
2. ineffectiveness.
3. Pendency of cases.
4. Huge undertrials.

Committee For Reform In Criminal Law:

• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has constituted a national level committee for reform in criminal law.
• The committee has been constituted under Ranbir Singh and several other members.
• The committee would be gathering opinions online by consulting with experts and collating material for their report to the government.

Previous committees:

Madhav Menon Committee: It submitted its report in 2007, suggesting various recommendations on reforms in the Criminal Justice System of India (CJSI).

Malimath Committee Report: It submitted its report in 2003 on the Criminal Justice System of India (CJSI).

Insta Curious:

Read about the 2006 Supreme Court ruling on police reforms here.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Malimath Committee is associated with?
2. Criminal law under 7th schedule of the constitution.
3. Who codified criminal laws in India?
4. Controversial IPC laws.
5. Ranbir Singh Committee was recently constituted for?

Mains Link:

Write a note on criminal justice reforms in India.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 2:

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

Context:

A Foreigners’ Tribunal in Assam’s Cachar district has served a notice to a deceased person, asking him to appear before it by March 30 as he had failed to produce valid documents to prove his Indian citizenship.

What is a Foreigners tribunal?

Foreigners’ Tribunals are quasi-judicial bodies established as per the Foreigners’ Tribunal Order, 1964 and the Foreigners’ Act, 1946.

Composition: Advocates not below the age of 35 years of age with at least 7 years of practice (or) Retired Judicial Officers from the Assam Judicial Service (or) Retired IAS of ACS Officers (not below the rank of Secretary/Addl. Secretary) having experience in quasi-judicial works.

Who can set up these tribunals?

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has amended the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964, and has empowered district magistrates in all States and Union Territories to set up tribunals (quasi-judicial bodies) to decide whether a person staying illegally in India is a foreigner or not.

• Earlier, the powers to constitute tribunals were vested only with the Centre.

Who can approach?

The amended order (Foreigners (Tribunal) Order, 2019) also empowers individuals to approach the Tribunals.

• Earlier, only the State administration could move the Tribunal against a suspect.

Who is a declared foreigner?

A declared foreigner, or DF, is a person marked by Foreigners’ Tribunal (FT) for allegedly failing to prove their citizenship after the State police’s Border wing marks him or her as an illegal immigrant.

Insta Curious:

Do you know the differences between NRC and NPR? Reference:

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Illegal Migrants (Determination by Tribunal) (IMDT) Act vs Foreigners Tribunal (Order) 1964.
2. Burden of proof under this order.
3. Powers to approach the tribunal and kind of cases to be decided by the tribunal.
4. Composition of the tribunal.
5. Tribunals vs Courts.
6. Geographical location of Assam and other NE states.
7. Refugee vs illegal Migrants.
8. Fundamental Rights available for Foreigners and other constitutional provisions wrt to Foreigners.
9. Human Rights vs Fundamental Rights.

Mains Link:

Discuss briefly the laws that are in place to tackle illegal non-citizens in the country. Why was the Foreigners (Tribunals) Order, 1964 amended? Explain.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 2:

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

Context:

Congress President Sonia Gandhi Wednesday made a strong demand for restarting mid-day meals in schools as they open after the long closure due to the Covid pandemic.

What’s the issue?

The mid-day meal scheme was stopped when schools were shut down due to the Covid pandemic. Children were given dry rations during the pandemic and food grains were also provided under the National Food Security Act. But for children, dry ration is no substitute for hot cooked meals.

About the Mid-Day meal scheme:

The scheme guarantees one meal to all children in government and aided schools and madarsas supported under Samagra Shiksha.

• Students up to Class VIII are guaranteed one nutritional cooked meal at least 200 days in a year.
• The Scheme comes under the Ministry of HRD.
• It was launched in the year 1995 as the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NP – NSPE), a centrally sponsored scheme. In 2004, the scheme was relaunched as the Mid Day Meal Scheme.
• The Scheme is also covered by the National Food Security Act, 2013.

Objective:

Address hunger and malnutrition, increase enrolment and attendance in school, improve socialisation among castes, provide employment at grassroot level especially to women.

The MDM rules 2015, provide that:

• The place of serving meals to the children shall be school only.
• If the Mid-Day Meal is not provided in school on any school day due to non-availability of food grains or any other reason, the State Government shall pay food security allowance by 15th of the succeeding month.
• The School Management Committee mandated under the Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 shall also monitor implementation of the Mid-day meal Scheme.

Nutritional norms:

In terms of calorie intake, as per the MDM guidelines, the children in primary schools must be provided with at least 450 calories with 12 grams of protein through MDM while the children in upper primary schools should get 700 calories with 20 grams of protein, as per MHRD.

The food intake per meal by the children of primary classes, as provided by MHRD is 100 grams of food grains, 20 grams of pulses, 50 grams of vegetables and 5 grams of oils and fats. For the children of upper-primary schools, the mandated breakup is 150 grams of food grains, 30 grams of pulses, 75 grams of vegetables and 7.5 grams of oils and fats.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Origin of MDMS.
2. When was it renamed?
3. Difference between centrally sponsored and Central sector schemes? What kind of scheme of the MDMS?
4. Financing under the scheme.
5. Nutritional norms prescribed.
6. Coverage under the scheme.
7. Responsibility to pay food security allowance under the scheme.

Mains Link:

Discuss the significance of Mid-Day Meal scheme.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 2:

Topics Covered: Population and associated issues, poverty, and developmental issues.

Context:

According to the parliamentary standing committee report on water resources:

• Only 12% of the villages that were supposed to get infrastructure for liquid waste management this year have achieved their goal under the second phase of the Swacch Bharat Mission.
• The implementation of solid waste management infrastructure also lagged behind, with only 22% of target villages covered during 2021-22 until February 7.

Background:

In its first phase, the Swacch Bharat Mission aimed to provide a toilet in every rural household and claimed to have achieved its goal in 2019.

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 (SBM-U):

• To make all cities 100% ‘garbage free’ from current 70%.
• Ensure grey and black water management in all cities other than those covered under AMRUT.
• Make all urban local bodies as ODF+ and those with a population of less than 1 lakh as ODF++.
• Focus on source segregation of solid waste by utilizing the principles of 3Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle).
• Scientific processing of all types of municipal solid waste and remediation of legacy dumpsites for effective solid waste management.

Insta Curious:

Do you know how women contribute to the success of Swachh Bharat Abhiyan? Read Here.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. What are the targets and timelines for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan 2.0 and Amrut 2.0?
2. Which ministries will be involved in its implementation?
3. What will be the contribution of the State government and their responsibilities?
4. What parameters will be used to monitor the scheme?

Mains Link:

What are the major causes of Man – wildlife conflicts? What are the ways to prevent human-animal conflicts? Explain. (250 words)

Sources: PIB.

GS Paper 3:

Topics Covered: Conservation related issues.

Context:

• Observed on 22 March every year.
• Observed since
• Coordinated by UN-Water – the UN’s inter-agency collaboration mechanism for all freshwater related issues – in collaboration with governments and partners.
• The World Water Development Report is also released by the UN every year around World Water Day.
• Theme of World Water Day 2022: “Groundwater, making the invisible visible” is the theme for this year’s World Water Day.

Water, a human right:

• In 2010, the UN recognized “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.”
• The human right to water entitles everyone, without discrimination, to sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water for personal and domestic use; which includes water for drinking, personal sanitation, washing of clothes, food preparation, and personal and household hygiene.

People are left behind without safe water for many different reasons. Some of them include:

1. Sex and gender.
2. Race, ethnicity, religion, birth, caste, language, and nationality.
3. Disability, age and health status.
4. Property, tenure, residence, economic and social status.
5. Other factors, such as environmental degradation, climate change, population growth, conflict, forced displacement and migration flows can also disproportionately affect marginalized groups through impacts on water.

Why conserve groundwater?

1. Groundwater reserves are already under pressure as the global population explodes and crop production rises in lockstep.
2. Extreme weather events such as drought and record rainfall — have both made worse by our heating planet — could have another long-lasting impact on how quickly reserves replenish.
3. Only half of all groundwater supplies are likely to fully replenish or re-balance within the next 100 years — potentially leading to shortages in drier areas.
4. The process through which rainwater is filtered through bedrock and accumulated underground can take centuries and varies greatly by region.
5. As climate change delivers longer droughts and bigger superstorms, the extremes of rainfall become more pronounced, impacting groundwater reserves for generations to come.

Insta Curious:

• Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) aims to ensure availability and sustainable management of water for all by 2030. By definition, this means leaving no one behind.
• In addition to it, the International Decade for Action on Water for Sustainable Development (2018-2028) is being observed.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. World water day – date.
2. Significance.
3. Theme.
4. Historical background.
5. About UN Water.

Mains Link:

Discuss the significance of the World Water Day.

Sources: Indian Express.

GS Paper 3:

Topics Covered: Conservation related issues.

Context:

Consensus is building among various stakeholders meeting in Bali, Indonesia, to adopt a non-binding declaration that will enhance international cooperation and coordination for combating illegal trade in mercury, a major pollutant globally.

• The Government of Indonesia as well as the United Nations have sought support and commitment from parties to the Minamata Convention for a Bali Declaration on combating Global Illegal Trade of Mercury.

The non-binding declaration calls upon parties to:

1. Develop practical tools and notification and information-sharing systems for monitoring and managing trade in mercury.
2. Exchange experiences and practices relating to combating illegal trade in mercury, including reducing the use of mercury in artisanal and small-scale gold mining.
3. Share examples of national legislation and data and information related to such trade.

Basics- about Mercury:

Sources: Mercury is a naturally occurring element that is found in air, water and soil. Released into the atmosphere through natural processes such as weathering of rocks, volcanic eruptions, geothermal activities, forest fires, etc. Mercury is also released through human activities.

Mercury may have toxic effects on the nervous, digestive and immune systems, and on lungs, kidneys, skin and eyes.

Chemical of major public health concern- Mercury is considered by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as one of the top ten chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern.

Minamata Disease: A disorder caused by methylmercury poisoning that was first described in the inhabitants of Minamata Bay, Japan and resulted from their eating fish contaminated with mercury industrial waste.

About the Minamata Convention:

• The Minamata Convention on Mercury is a global treaty to protect human health and the environment from the adverse effects of mercury and its compounds.
• It was agreed at the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee in Geneva, Switzerland 2013. It entered into force in 2017.
• Controlling the anthropogenic releases of mercury throughout its lifecycle is one of the key obligations under the Convention.
• It is a UN treaty.
• The Convention also addresses interim storage of mercury and its disposal once it becomes waste, sites contaminated by mercury as well as health issues.
• India has ratified the Convention.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. About Mercury- Source, contamination and effects on health.
2. About Minamata disease.
3. What is Minamata convention?
4. What is WHO ten chemicals or groups of chemicals of major public health concern?
5. Meaning of Ratification of a convention.

Mains Link:

Write a note on mercury contamination and discuss international efforts to address the issue.

Sources: the Hindu.