[Mission 2022] INSIGHTS DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS + PIB SUMMARY 08 June 2022

GS Paper 2:

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

Context:

On June 10, the Assemblies of 4 states will elect 16 MPs to Rajya Sabha.

Rajya Sabha – Key facts:

• It is also called the Upper House and the Council of States.
• It is a permanent House and cannot be dissolved.
• To ensure continuity, one-third of its members retire after every second year, under Article 83(1) of the Constitution, and “biennial elections” are held to fill these vacancies.
• A nominated member may join a party within six months of taking a seat.

Composition:

Out of the 245 members, 12 are nominated by the President and 233 are representatives of the States and Union territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

Term:

• The term of a member is six years.
• Vacancies arising due to resignation, death or disqualification are filled up through bypolls, and those elected serve out the remainder of their predecessors’ term.

Roles and functions of Rajya Sabha:

• Any Bill, barring those designated as Money Bills by the Lok Sabha Speaker, needs the assent of the second chamber to become law.
• It cannot amend a Money Bill, but can recommend amendments within a stipulated time, and Lok Sabha may either accept or reject all or any of these.

Election:

Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by MLAs through an indirect election.

• Article 80(4) provides that members shall be elected by the elected members of state Assemblies through a system of proportional representation by means of a single transferable vote.
• The Fourth Schedule to the Constitution provides for allocation of Rajya Sabha seats to the states and Union Territories, on the basis of the population of each state.

How are the votes counted?

The number of votes a candidate requires depends on the number of vacancies and the strength of the House.

Under the Election Commission’s Conduct of Election Rules, 1961::

• If there is only one vacancy, the required quota is calculated by taking the number of votes polled, dividing it by 2, and adding 1.
• If there is more than one vacancy, the equation is based on an assigned value of 100 for every first-preference vote. The values of the votes credited to all candidates are totalled. The total is divided by 1 more than the number of vacancies, and 1 is added to this quotient.

For example, if 100 members of an Assembly vote for 3 Rajya Sabha vacancies, the required quota by any candidate would be

• (100 × 100)/(3 + 1) + 1 = 2501.

Second-preference votes:

If for any seat, candidates fail to get the specified number, the second-preference votes will be taken into account, but with a lower value.

Special powers enjoyed by Rajya Sabha:

1. If it passes a resolution by a majority of not less than two-thirds of members present and voting, Parliament becomes empowered to make a law on a subject.
2. When it passes a resolution recommending creation of one or more All India Services common to the Union and the states. Parliament becomes empowered to create such services.
3. Emergency proclamation has to be approved by both Houses of Parliament within a stipulated period.
4. If a proclamation is issued at a time when Lok Sabha has been dissolved or the dissolution of Lok Sabha takes place within the period allowed for its approval, then the proclamation remains effective, if the resolution approving it is passed by Rajya Sabha within the period specified under Articles 352, 356 and 360 of the Constitution.

Insta Curious:

Rajya Sabha has 245 seats. Did you know that no party has reached the halfway mark of 123 so far?

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Elections to Rajya Sabha.
2. Composition.
3. Powers and functions of Rajya Sabha.

Mains Link:

How are Rajya Sabha members punished for misconduct in the House? Discuss.

Q. 1) Consider the following statements:

1. Rajya Sabha MPs are elected by MLAs through an indirect election.
2. Emergency proclamation has to be approved by both Houses of Parliament within a stipulated period.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only.
2. 2 only.
3. Both.
4. None.

Sources: Indian Express.

GS Paper 2:

Syllabus: Government Policies and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context:

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has published a fresh draft of amendments to the Information Technology Rules, 2021.

What are IT Rules, 2021?

1. Significant social media firms have to appoint a chief compliance officer and have a nodal contact person who can be in touch with law enforcement agencies 24/7.
2. A grievance officer: Social media platforms will also have to name a grievance officer who shall register the grievance within 24 hours.
3. Removal of content: If there are complaints against the dignity of users, particularly women – about exposed private parts of individuals or nudity or sexual act or impersonation etc – social media platforms will be required to remove that within 24 hours after a complaint is made.
4. A monthly report: They also will have to publish a monthly report about the number of complaints received and the status of redressal.

What is a significant social media intermediary and benefits obtained under it?

Social media companies with more than 50 lakh registered users will be considered ‘significant social media intermediaries’, as per the new norms.

Latest amendments:

1. Appeal committees: Government-appointed appeal committees will be created that will be able to veto content-moderation decisions taken by social media intermediaries like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
2. Composition of Appeal committees: Appellate Committees shall consist of a Chairperson and such other Members, as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
3. Additional responsibilities will be placed on grievance officers appointed by social media companies. Grievance officers will now have to expeditiously dispose the complaints within 72 hours (Earlier, it was 15 days).

What it means for an user?

In case a user is not satisfied with the content moderation decision taken by a company’s grievance officer, they can appeal that decision before the proposed government-appointed appeals committee.

Need for the amendments:

• So far, the only recourse a user had against companies’ content decisions is to approach the courts.
• Also, there have been many instances that grievance officers of intermediaries either do not address the grievances satisfactorily and/or fairly.

The amendments will ensure that “Constitutional rights of Indian citizens are not contravened by any big tech platform by ensuring new accountability standards”.

Concerns associated:

The proposal to set up government-appointed committees has triggered concerns about the government overriding social media platforms’ content decisions.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Overview of the new rules.
2. Who are intermediaries as per the definition?
3. What is safe harbour protection?
4. Grievance redressal mechanism as provided under the new rules.

Mains Link:

What are the concerns being raised against the new IT rules? Discuss ways to address these concerns.

Q. 2) As per IT Rules, 2021:

1. Social media platforms will also have to name a grievance officer.
2. Significant social media firms have to appoint a chief compliance officer.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only.
2. 2 only.
3. Both.
4. None.

Sources: Indian Express.

GS Paper 2:

Syllabus: Government Policies and associated issues.

Context:

The Union ministry of civil aviation (MoCA) announced the country’s first national air sports policy (NASP 2022).

• It has been launched to improve the state of aero sports in India, with a vision to make India a hub for air sports in the world by 2030.
• It aims to provide a safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable air sports ecosystem in India.

Highlights of the Policy:

Four-tier governance structure: The air sports in India will be under a four-tier governance structure. This includes: 1) Air Sports Federation of India (ASFI) as the apex governing body, 2) National associations for individual air sports or a set of air sports, 3) Regional or state and union territory level units of the national air sports associations and 4) District-level air sports associations.

About ASFI: The ASFI will be an autonomous body under the Ministry of Civil Aviation and will represent India at the Lausanne-headquartered Fédération Aéronaautique Internationale (FAI) and other global platforms related to air sports. It will be chaired by the Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation.

Functions: It will provide governance over various aspects of air sports, including regulation, certification, competitions, awards and penalties, etc.

Rules and Functions of Each air sports association: Lay down its safety standards for equipment, infrastructure, personnel and training, and specify the disciplinary actions to be taken in case of non-compliance. Inability to do so may lead to penal action by the ASFI.

Coverage: It will cover 13 air sports activities like aerobatics, aeromodelling, amateur-built and experimental aircraft, ballooning, drones, gliding, hang gliding, paragliding, microlighting, paramotoring, skydiving, and vintage aircraft.

Significance of the Policy:

• Besides the revenue from air sports activities, multiplier benefits in terms of growth in travel, tourism, infrastructure and local employment, especially in hilly areas of the country, are much greater.
• Creating air sports hubs across the country will bring in air sports professionals and tourists from across the world.

Need for:

The aerosports industry has expressed its displeasure that the government was not doing enough to encourage aero sports in the country despite the fact that there is a tremendous potential in the country keeping in view the diverse scenic locales.

• Aerosports create significant opportunities for growth of tourism, employment generation and interest in aviation activities.
• A growth-oriented NASP may help attract investments in latest aerosports technology, infrastructure and best practices.

Insta Curious:

Did you know that the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland is the world governing body for air sports?

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Highlights of the Policy.
2. About ASFI and its roles and functions.
3. About FAI.

Mains Link:

Discuss the need for and significance of an Aerosports policy.

Q. 3) Consider the following statements:

1. India’s first national airports policy was unveiled in 2020.
2. It was unveiled by the Ministry of Defence.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only.
2. 2 only.
3. Both.
4. None.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 2:

Syllabus: Important International Institutions.

Context:

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar recently said that India looks forward to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) by overcoming political impediments.

About NSG:

The 48-member NSG is an elite club of countries that deals with the trade-in nuclear technology and fissile materials besides contributing to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

• Brought in 1974– in response to the Indian nuclear test (smiling Buddha).
• It is a Group of nuclear supplier countries that seek to prevent nuclear proliferation by controlling the export of materials, equipment and technology that can be used to manufacture nuclear weapons.
• The NSG first met in November 1975 in London, and is thus popularly referred to as the “London Club”.
• Its guidelines are not binding.

Benefits associated with NSG membership- Once admitted, an NSG member state gets:

1. Timely information on nuclear matters.
2. Contributes by way of information.
3. Has confirmed credentials.
4. Can act as an instrument of harmonization and coordination.
5. Is part of a very transparent process.

Opposition of NSG membership bid:

China, one of the five nuclear-weapon states, stridently opposes India’s NSG bid primarily on the grounds that New Delhi is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

• Its opposition has made India’s entry into the group difficult as the NSG works on the principle of consensus.

Besides, India’s capacity to project its military power beyond the Indian Ocean region is still to be tested. Further, India heavily relies on weaponry imports from US and Russia for its military requirements.

Insta Curious:

Did you know that there are certain Criteria for membership of NSG? Reference: read this.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. About NSG.
2. Composition.
3. Functions.

Mains Link:

Discuss the need for reforms in NSG.

Q. 4) India is a part of:

1. MTCR (Missile Technology Control Regime).
2. Australia Group.
3. The Wassenaar Arrangement.

Choose the correct answer using the codes given below:

1. 1 only.
2. 2 and 3 only.
3. 1 and 2 only.
4. All of the above.

Sources: the Hindu.

GS Paper 3:

Syllabus: Conservation related issues.

Context:

During his speech on the occasion of World Environment Day, PM Modi highlighted India’s efforts to create ‘green jobs’.

What are ‘green jobs’?

• They are a class of jobs that directly have a positive impact on the planet, and contribute to the overall environmental welfare.
• They’re aimed at reducing the negative environmental impact of economic sectors and furthering the process of creating a low-carbon economy.

Jobs involving renewable energy, conservation of resources, ensuring energy efficient means are categorised under the same.

Significance:

For India ‘green jobs’ can prove immensely useful to the country with sectors like renewable energy, waste management, green transport and urban farming all having great potential to employ  a trained workforce.

Efforts by India in this regard:

Skill Council for Green Jobs:

• Launched on October 1, 2015.
• It was set up to be a not-for-profit, independent, industry-led initiative.
• It was aligned to the National Skill Development Missions.
• Promoted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
• Aim: To help manufacturers and other service providers in India’s ‘green business’ sector.

Green Jobs Initiative:

The International Labour Organisation, the International Trade Union Confederation, the United Nations Environment Programme and the International Employers Organisation collectively launched the Green Jobs Initiative in 2008.

• It is aimed at bettering placements, training and creating opportunities for individuals to work in ‘green jobs’.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. What are green jobs?
2. What is the carbon footprint?
3. About carbon sequestration.

Mains Link:

What are green jobs? Discuss their significance.

Q. 5) Green Jobs Initiative was launched by:

1. International Labour Organisation.
2. International Trade Union Confederation.
3. United Nations Environment Programme and the International Employers Organisation.
4. All A, B and C.

Sources: Indian Express.

GS Paper 3:

Syllabus: Conservation related issues.

Context:

The usage of the term ‘carbon bombs’ picked up after an investigative project of The Guardian this year.

• The project reported the plans of countries and private companies all over the world to engage in 195 ‘carbon bomb’

What are carbon bombs?

Definition by the Guardian: It is “an oil or gas project that will result in at least a billion tonnes of CO2 emissions over its lifetime.”

• In total, around 195 such projects have been identified world over, including in the US, Russia, West Asia, Australia and India.
• According to the report, they will collectively overshoot the limit of emissions that had been agreed to in the Paris Agreement of 2015.

What is the plan for ‘defusing’ carbon bombs?

The network working towards this goal is called Leave It In the Ground Initiative (LINGO).

• Its mission is to “leave fossil fuels in the ground and learn to live without them.”
• It believes the root of climate change is the burning of fossil fuels, and the 100% use of renewable energy sources is the solution.
• LINGO aims to organise ground support for protesting such projects, challenge them through litigation, and conduct analysis and studies for the same.

Q. 6) Consider the following statements regarding the Leave It In the Ground Initiative (LINGO):

1. Its mission is to leave fossil fuels in the ground and learn to live without them.
2. It was launched by UNEP in 2022.

Which of the above statements is/are correct?

1. 1 only.
2. 2 only.
3. Both.
4. None.

Sources: Indian Express.