08 July 2023

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – American Freedom Struggle: GS I – World History

Context:

• The United States recently celebrated its hard-won liberation from the British Empire and its onerous taxation regime.

The American Revolutionary War:

• Between 1765 and 1783, British America underwent an ideological and political change known as the American change.
• The colonies won their freedom from the British Crown during the American Revolutionary War, which raged from 1775 to 1783, and created the United States as the first sovereign nation-state built on the liberal democracy and constitutionalism of the Enlightenment.
• Nationalist revolutions in other British colonies in the East were substantially different from the American war for independence.
• The British settlers in America were the ones who got into a heated argument with British government officials.
• On the other hand, the locals unitedly revolted against the oppression of the Western rulers in colonies like India or the West Indies.

The Gandhi Connection:

• Mahatma Gandhi frequently referenced and took inspiration from the American revolution in his appeal to Indians to oppose British dominance.
• When Gandhi began the infamous Dandi march in March 1930 to protest the oppressive salt tax levied by the British government, his cause bore parallels to the illustrious Boston Tea Party.

About the Boston Tea Party:

• A crucial occasion known as the Boston Tea Party occurred on December 16, 1773, in Boston, Massachusetts, just before the American Revolution.
• The British Parliament approved the Tea Act of 1773, which gave the East India Company a monopoly on the sale of tea in the American colonies and reduced the tax on their tea.
• The Revolt:
• The Tea Act was opposed by many colonists because they believed it was an attempt by the British government to keep control and the tax on tea.
• Samuel Adams and other well-known colonial individuals organised opposition to the Tea Act under the banner of the Sons of Liberty.
• the occasion
• Three British ships that were berthed in Boston Harbour were boarded by a group of colonists who were dressed as Native Americans.
• The East India Company’s tea, totaling around 342 chests and weighing about 92,000 pounds (or nearly 46 tonnes), was then dumped into the harbour.

Consequences:

• The Intolerable Acts or Coercive Acts were a series of punitive actions taken by the British government in response to the Boston Tea Party to punish the colonists and reassert British dominance.
• These laws included the Massachusetts Government Act, which restricted colonial self-governance, and the Boston Port Act, which shut down the port of Boston until the cost of the damaged tea was reimbursed.

Relationship to the American Revolution:

• The Boston Tea Party sparked increased resistance to British rule and added to the mounting unrest that ultimately sparked the American Revolutionary War.
• The Boston Tea Party, which stands for colonial resistance against British taxes and tyranny, is largely acknowledged as a pivotal moment in American history.

Source The Hindu

2 – Alluri Sitarama Raju: GS I – Modern Indian History

Context:

• The 125th birth anniversary of Alluri Sitarama Raju was recently celebrated in Hyderabad, and the President of India spoke at the closing ceremony.

Alluri Sitharama Raju’s biography:

• Raju is thought to have been born in 1897 or 1898 in the region of Andhra Pradesh that exists today.
• When he turned 18, he allegedly became a sanyasi and developed a supernatural aura among the hill and tribal peoples.
• In 1986, the Indian Postal Department released a stamp in Raju’s honour and in recognition of his assistance in the country’s independence movement.

Battle with the British:

• Raju used the dissatisfaction of the hill people to organise a fierce guerilla uprising against the British.
• The traditional podu (shifting) farming of the indigenous people was under danger due to colonial control because the government wanted to protect forest lands.
• The harvesting of minor forest products like roots and leaves was prohibited by the Forest Act of 1882, and tribal people were coerced into working for the colonial authority.
• He was the charismatic “Manyam Veerudu” or “Hero of the Jungle” and was the leader of the Rampa or Manyam Rebellion.
• Finally, he was apprehended and put to death.

Link with Mahatma Gandhi:

• Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement and the Rampa Rebellion were place at the same time.
• Raju praised Mahatma Gandhi and cited the Non-Cooperation Movement as an inspiration.
• He convinced people to give up drinking and wear khadi.
• However, he also maintained that force, not nonviolence, was required to liberate India.

Source The Hindu

3 – Gift Nifty: GS III – Indian Economy

Context:

• The well-known Singapore Exchange (SGX) NIFTY was recently renamed GIFT NIFTY and began trading from GIFT City in Gujarat.

Key information:

• The capital markets of Singapore and India are now connected for the first time across international borders.
• In accordance with this agreement, National Stock Exchange (NSE) IX shall be prohibited from concluding agreements of a comparable nature with any other exchange.
• Upon the expiration of the initial five-year period, this Agreement may be renewed for a further period of two years.

Regarding GIFT NIFTY:

• Singapore’s SGX NIFTY trading has recently come to an end, and the whole trading volume and liquidity have completely migrated to GIFT IFSC.
• As a result, it was given the new name GIFT Nifty.

There are four goods available right now:

• Nifty Fifty Gift
• Bank GIFT Nifty
• Financial Services GIFT Nifty and
• IT derivatives contract called GIFT Nifty

Relevance to India:

• A significant accomplishment for GIFT IFSC’s outreach to overseas investors and improvement of the capital market environment in GIFT City is GIFT Nifty.
• SGX has served as India’s gateway to the outside world for the past 20 years.
• It has ties to two of the world’s economies that are expanding the quickest.
• With trading and matching taking place in India and clearing and settlement in Singapore, this trading relationship is a first of its kind.

Regarding Gift City:

• Gujarat’s GIFT City is a master-planned commercial area.
• It is a brand-new business location that gives financial services and tech-related businesses a competitive edge.
• An SEZ with a variety of services is located within the 886-acre GIFT city.
• Domestic Tariff Area (DTA) and India’s first International Financial Services Centre are both located there.

Source The Hindu

4 – The legality of the Delhi Ordinance: GS II – Constitution related issues

Context:

• The President’s recent ordinance revising the GNCTD Act, which governs the government of Delhi’s national capital territory, removed certain services from its purview.

Regarding the SC ruling:

• According to the Constitution Bench’s decision, the Delhi government has the power to pass laws and manage the civil service in the nation’s capital.
• The court limited the Lieutenant Governor’s (LG) authority to bureaucrats in three specific fields:
• public peace,
• cops, and

The ordinance’s details:

• The Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 was introduced by the federal government as a result of the judgement.
• Only when the Indian parliament is not in session may the President of India promulgate an ordinance as a law.
• On the union cabinet’s advice, the president issues an ordinance.

The Delhi Ordinance’s purpose is:

• By creating a permanent National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA), the Delhi Ordinance seeks to regulate the civil services in the nation’s capital.
• The Chief Minister will serve as its chairman, and
• Its members are the Principal Home Secretary and the Chief Secretary.
• Except for those who work in public order, police, and land, the civil services officers employed by the Delhi government would be subject to NCCSA control.
• The NCCSA will vote on all civil servant-related issues, including postings, transfers, prosecution, punishments, and more by casting a majority vote of the members present. In the event of a disagreement, the LG’s decision shall be final.
• In situations where the Delhi Legislative Assembly lacks the authority to pass laws, the Lieutenant Governor (LG) is permitted to make decisions.
• However, the LG should have been given these matters, or
• When the LG must exercise his discretion or carry out any judicial or quasi-judicial duties as required by law.

Challenges:

The SC’s ruling cannot be overturned by Parliament:

• The first concern is whether the Court’s ruling can be overturned by a President-issued Ordinance or a Bill approved by Parliament.
• The Supreme Court has ruled in numerous cases that because Parliament lacks judicial authority, it cannot overturn the court’s ruling without altering the decision’s foundation.
• The Ordinance does not provide any justification for overturning the court’s ruling.
• No one may be told by a higher authority that a court order is invalid or should not be followed.
• Additionally, the Ordinance is no longer tenable in court because it offers no fresh justification for overturning the ruling.

Defiance of the Chief Minister:

• After removing the services from the Delhi government, the Ordinance grants the National Capital Civil Services responsibility responsibility over posting, transfer, and disciplinary actions.
• The Chief Secretary and the Home Secretary are added as members, with the Chief Minister serving as chairman.
• The quorum is two members, and those two members have the authority to make all decisions.
• The Chief Minister’s viewpoint appears to be worthless.
• The Delhi Lieutenant Governor will then receive these decisions, and his or her choice will be final.

The Supreme Court v. Centre:

• The SC’s decision, which stated that civil services should be “neutral” and should enable elected ministers in carrying out their daily duties, contrasts with the NCCSA’s perspective.
• The NCCSA plans to release the services from the control of the elected officials.

Added authority for the secretary:

• If the secretary to the council of ministers believes that a cabinet decision violates the law or the rules of procedure, he may bring it to the Lieutenant Governor’s attention for a decision.
• The secretary effectively has the authority to reverse a cabinet decision.
• The cabinet decision may be overturned by the Lieutenant Governor.
• New summons and proroguing procedures:
• The Ordinance establishes a new process for calling and prorating an Assembly session.

Existing system:

• The government makes the choice to call a session of the legislature under the current constitutional framework.
• The governor then receives it and signs the summons.

New system being proposed:

• According to this new procedure, the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister must first be consulted for their “opinion” before the summons to the Assembly is issued.
• Regardless of his opinion, the Lieutenant Governor cannot choose to call the House on his own.
• The Chief Minister and his ministers determine whether to call the House to order as a whole.
• It is therefore nonsensical to call for consulting the Chief Minister or the Lieutenant Governor before issuing the summons.

Moving ahead:

• The Supreme Court can still conduct a judicial review of an ordinance.
• If the 2023 Ordinance is challenged independently, the Union will need to demonstrate the extraordinary or emergency circumstance that forced it to publish an Ordinance just days after a Constitution Bench decided the case.
• In DC Wadhwa v. State of Bihar, a Constitution Bench ruled that the Executive’s authority to promulgate an Ordinance should not be abused for political reasons.

Source The Hindu

5 – Mo Jungle Jami Yojana: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions

Context:

• The government of Odisha declared the beginning of a programme to increase forest rights for tribal people and those who live in the state’s forests throughout its districts.

Regarding the plan:

• The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act, 2006, or FRA, and the program are intended to work in tandem.
• If adopted, Odisha would be the first state in India to recognise both individual and collective forest rights, as proposed by the Centre.
• The programme is designed to fill in the gaps and deal with pressing issues that have not been addressed by the central programme (FRA) in the fifteen years since its inception.
• Individual forest rights are currently recognised by the central system, but the state plan provides the same benefits for community rights and community forest rights (CFR), which are lacking in the current scheme.
• The programme aims to provide the Scheduled Tribes and those who live in forests with a means of subsistence and access to food.
• The beneficiaries of the scheme will receive ownership of land and access to forest resources in accordance with their rights, and the scheme’s implementation will integrate them into the government’s primary development activities.
• Land titles will be issued to all qualified claimants, mostly single women and PVTGs, and all title holders’ records will be corrected.
• The conversion of all unsurveyed, forest, and zero area villages into revenue villages will give all households access to water supplies, road connectivity, educational opportunities, and healthcare.
• Additionally, the state would set up Forest Rights Cells in each district for ongoing evaluation of the programme.

Concerning the Forest Rights Act:

• The Forest Rights Act (FRA), passed in 2006, recognises the rights of traditional forest inhabitants and tribal people to forest resources.

The Act gives forest residents more power:

• to utilise the forest resources in the manner to which they were accustomed traditionally,
• to preserve, maintain, and protect forests; to shield forest residents from forcible evictions; and
• fundamental infrastructure for the community of forest dwellers to access amenities for infrastructure, education, health, and nutrition.

Source The Hindu