02 May 2023

DAILY QUESTIONS & MODEL ANSWERS

Q1. 2. At the regional and local levels, monsoon predictions are becoming more complex due to climate change. Give a brief explanation of how the Monsoon mission will advance knowledge of the phenomenon in this context. (250 Words)

Paper & Topic: GS III – Climate Change

Model Answer:

Introduction:

• Modern weather and climate prediction models were created as part of the Monsoon Mission by the Ministry of Earth Sciences and are currently in use. These models cover seasonal (up to one season), extended range (10 days to 30 days), and short to medium range (1 to 10 days). Over the past three years, the models created as part of the National Monsoon Mission (NMM) have demonstrated exceptionally high proficiency in forecasting significant weather events on various time scales.
• With climate change, it is getting harder and harder to anticipate when the monsoon will arrive and other seasonal whims.

Body:

Climate change and monsoon forecasting problems:

• Scientists have been able to reconstruct the behaviour of the monsoon over the past 60 years with the help of the climate and rainfall records that are accessible in India, and the results have been complex and surprising.
• However, with climate change and occurrences like La Nina and El Nino, it is getting harder to predict weather conditions like cloudbursts and other phenomena.

Concerning the National Monsoon Mission:

• In 2012, the National Monsoon Mission was initiated.
• It attempts to provide a cutting-edge dynamical monsoon rainfall prediction system on various time scales.
• The Ministry of Earth Sciences is in charge of the mission.
• The Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, is charged with carrying out and organising the mission.
• The fundamental modelling system for long-range forecasting (seasonal prediction of the Indian Monsoon) has been recognised as the Climate Forecast System (CFS) of NCEP, USA. Additionally, the United Kingdom Meteorological Office (UKMO), UK, has identified the Unified Model (UM) for short- to medium-range prediction.
• The following goals are to be achieved: creation of a seamless prediction system employing the monsoon mission model, on several time scales, including seasonal (for the whole monsoon season), extended range (up to 4 weeks), and short range prediction (up to 5 days).
• Establish and oversee a collaboration between Indian and foreign institutions to create a framework for extreme weather and climate applications.
• Create and execute a system for climate applications that have an impact on society, such as those related to agriculture, flood forecasting, predicting extreme occurrences, wind energy, etc.
• High quality data are prepared for model predictions using an advanced data assimilation system.

Significant successes as a result of the monsoon mission:

• A sophisticated forecasting system is being set up for seasonal, long-range, and extremely high-resolution short-range forecasting.
• launching a Global Ensemble Forecast System (GEFS) for 12-kilometer-range short- and medium-range forecasting.
• Over the past three years, there has been a consistent improvement in the Cyclone track and intensity prediction.
• The Monsoon Mission Dynamic Model (MMCFS) was operationalized to create operational seasonal forecasts of monsoon rainfall and temperatures over India during the hot and cold seasons.
• In accordance with WMO-recognized Regional Climate Centre and South Asia Seasonal Climate Outlook Forum (SASCOF) operations, MMCFS and extended range prediction system are used to prepare regional seasonal forecast outlook for south Asia.
• the creation of an algorithm to track and forecast the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) and Monsoon Intra-seasonal Oscillations (MISO) over a wider region.
• creation of a forecasting index for tropical cyclone generation and progression, as well as other cyclonic disturbances, over the northern Indian Ocean.
• Over the entire Indian River Basin, probabilistic quantitative precipitation forecasts have been operationally implemented.
• Extreme wind and precipitation forecasts are now probabilistic (percentile-based).
• GFS/GEFS predictions have been heavily utilised to guide the wind and solar energy sectors as well as potential forest fires.
• IMDAA, a regional reanalysis product with a very high resolution of 12 km, is being developed.

Conclusion:

• Through the Monsoon Mission Programme, several scientists have received modelling and forecasting training, and capacity building activities have been carried out through targeted trainings. Particularly in the short- to medium-term, forecasting skill has shown a notable development.

Q2. One of the most frequently mentioned issues in judicial reform is the pervasive delay in Indian courts. Examine. Mention the actions required to enhance the judicial institutions in this regard as well. (250 Words)

Paper & Topic: GS II – Judiciary-related issues

Model Answer:

Introduction:

• According to the Constitution, the justice system in any democracy is designed to serve the public without “fear or favour, affection or ill-will” insofar as judges are concerned. The judiciary in India is becoming more and more crucial to the functioning and leadership of this nation. The number of cases pending in courts around the nation serves as a gauge of the justice delivery system. The state of this element has significantly declined.

Body:

According to data from cases still pending as of December 31, 2021, in India:

• The Supreme Court had 65,086 cases pending as of January 2021.
• Pendency increased by 7.3% by December 2021.
• The Supreme Court is now hearing about 73,000 cases, and there are roughly 44 million cases pending across all Indian courts.
• The SC’s case backlog climbed by 7.3% in 2021.
• There were 1,05,560 cases that have been pending in the courts for more than 30 years as of January 2021.
• According to a 2018 Niti Aayog strategy paper, it would take more than 324 years to clear the backlog of cases in our courts at the time that rate of case disposition was in place. And there were 29 million cases pending at the time.

Causes of the massive backlog of cases:

SC’s shifting role:

• The Supreme Court’s transformation from a court of appeals to a regular court of appeals is the primary cause of the growing number of cases that are still pending.
• Legal experts claim that the majority of the cases the Supreme Court hears on a daily basis are either appeals from other high courts or cases involving flagrant violations of a person’s fundamental rights. But the supreme court was never intended to play this role.

A lack of judges:

• There were roughly four times as many Supreme Court justices in 1921 as there were in 1950. Case pending rates have risen continuously ever since.
• The subordinate courts have 5,580 open positions, or 25% of all available positions, which contributes to India’s low judge-to-population ratio of 20 judges per million people. 50 judges per million were earlier Law Commission’s suggested ratio.
• Frequently taking breaks:
• Over 50% of the cases being heard by courts do not follow the established procedure of allowing a maximum of three adjournments per case, which increases the number of cases that are pending.

A lack of funding resulting in inadequate infrastructure:

• Only about 9% of India’s GDP is used to maintain the judicial system.
• The country’s subordinate courts have a terribly poor infrastructure, which prevents them from rendering accurate decisions.
• According to a Supreme Court study from 2016, only 15,540 of the 20,558 judicial officers authorised for all of India could be accommodated by the current infrastructure.

Caseload on the government:

• According to data from LIMBS, the Centre and the States were in charge of more than 46% of the cases that were still outstanding in Indian courts.

Petition for special leave:

• 40% of the court’s cases are currently pending in the Supreme Court.
• The majority of the judiciary’s time is consumed by pointless PILs and other government programmes that are being opposed by the public.

Judges’ Holiday:

• While apex court rules require a minimum of 225 days of work, Supreme Court justices work an average of 188 days per year.

Court management systems are not present:

• To enhance court operations, streamline case processing, and maximise judicial time, courts have established specific positions for court managers.
• However, few courts have so far filled these positions.

Inadequate investigation:

• As a result of a lack of current, scientific means to gather evidence, police are frequently unable to conduct effective investigations.

Actions required:

Infrastructure development for superior justice:

• The Parliamentary Standing Committee’s report on strengthening subordinate courts and developing infrastructure made the following recommendations:
• States should offer suitable land for establishing courthouses and other structures. Given the lack of available land, vertical construction should be undertaken.
• A timeline for computerising all courts has been established as a prerequisite for the establishment of electronic courts.

Taking on the Vacancies Issue:

• By determining the ideal judge strength to handle the cases now pending in the system, you can ensure that the appointments of the judges are made efficiently.
• The 120th Law Commission of India report created a judge strength fixation formula for the first time.
• Supreme Court and High Courts should appoint efficient and experienced judges as Ad-hoc judges in accordance with the Constitution.
• All India Judicial Service, which would benefit the subordinate judiciary by increasing quality of judges and help reduce the pendency.

Timeframe to dispose of cases:

• Having a definite time frame to dispose the cases by setting annual targets and action plans for the subordinate judiciary and the High Courts. The judicial officers could be issued a strict code of conduct, to ensure that the duties are adequately performed by the officials.
• Strict regulation of adjournments and imposition of exemplary costs for seeking it on flimsy grounds especially at the trial stage and not permitting dilution of time frames specified in Civil Procedure Code.
• Better Data Collection & Court Management System:
• For this categorization of cases on the basis of urgency and priority along with bunching of cases should be done.

Use of Information technology (IT) solutions:

• The use of technology for tracking and monitoring cases and in providing relevant information to make justice litigant friendly.
• All of the nation’s courts must immediately transition to a hybrid virtual form and begin adjudicating cases.

Process redesigning:

• Involves redesigning of core business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in productivity and quality by incorporating the use of technology in court rules. It will include:
• Electronic filing of cases: e-Courts are a welcome step in this direction, as they give case status and case history of all the pending cases across High courts and Subordinate courts bringing ease of access to information.
• Revamping of National Judicial Data Grid by introducing a new type of search known as elastic search, which is closer to the artificial intelligence.

Alternate dispute resolution (ADR):

• As stated in the Conference on National Initiative to Reduce Pendency and Delay in Judicial System- Legal Services Authorities should undertake pre-litigation mediation so that the inflow of cases into courts can be regulated.
• The Lok Adalat should be organized regularly for settling civil and family matters.
• Gram Nyayalayas, as an effective way to manage small claim disputes from rural areas which will help in decreasing the workload of the judicial institution.
• Village Legal Care & Support Centre can also be established by the High Courts to work at grass root level to make the State litigation friendly.

Conclusion:

• The fundamental requirement of a good judicial administration is accessibility, affordability and speedy justice, which will not be realized until and unless the justice delivery system is made within the reach of the individual in a time bound manner and within a reasonable cost. Therefore, continuous formative assessment is the key to strengthen and reinforce the justice delivery system in India.