18 December 2023

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – Women in Indian Judiciary: GS II – Judiciary-related issues:

Context:

• The first Indian woman to serve as a judge on the Supreme Court, Justice Fathima Beevi, passed away suddenly in Kollam, Kerala.
• Justice Beevi made history in 1989 when she was appointed to the Supreme Court, becoming the first Muslim woman judge and the first female justice in Asia.

There are now just three women of the 34 justices of the Supreme Court in office:

• Hima Kohli
• Bela Trivedi, together with
• BV Nagarathna
• With their appointment in 2021, the number of women on the Supreme Court reached four, a record for its greatest number in history.
• In 2027, Justice Nagarathna is also expected to become the first female Chief Justice of India, albeit for a mere 36 days.
• The history of India’s highest court has seen the appointment of 11 female judges.
• This indicates that only 4% of the 268 judges who have presided over the supreme court throughout its history have been women.

Among the eleven female justices are Justices:

• Hima Kohli
• Bela Trivedi,
• Manohar Sujata,
• Ruma Pal
• Gyan Sudha Misra
• Desai Ranjana,
• Banumathi, R.
• Malhotra Indu, and
• Banerjee Indira.

High Court Circumstances:

• With a total sanctioned strength of 1,114 judges, India has 25 high courts.
• Only 785 of these are occupied; the remaining 329 positions are unfilled.
• Merely 107 judges, or 13% of the total of 785, are female.
• There is now only one female chief judge among the 25 HCs in the nation.
• Justice Sunita Agarwal was named Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court by the collegium.

The state of the subordinate judiciary:

• The percentage of women appointed to lower courts is approximately 27%, although it decreases as they move up to become district judges and then high court justices.
• According to a survey, there were 15,806 judges in the lower court in July 2017 compared to March.
• The proportion of female judges only reached 60% in three of the smallest states: Goa, Meghalaya, and Sikkim, which together have just 103 judges.
• Regardless of geography, cultural reasons, or other variables, the percentage of women judges stayed below 40% for all states except Telangana and Puducherry.
• Several states have established quotas for women in the lower judiciary, even though there is no reserve for them in the upper judiciary.

These states include:

• The state of Andhra Pradesh
• The Assam state
• Bihar
• State of Chhattisgarh
• Jharkhand
• karnataka
• Specifically, Odisha
• Rajasthan
• Tamil nation
• The state of Telangana
• Uttar Pradesh.
• Thirty to thirty-five percent of the workforce in these states is reserved for direct appointment hiring.
• More recently, the India Justice Report (IJR) 2022 study found that the proportion of female judges is only 13% in high courts and 35% in lower courts.
• Goa had the greatest percentage of female district court representatives (70%), followed by Meghalaya (62.7%), Telangana (52.8%), and Sikkim (52.4%).

Source The Hindu

2 – Saurauia Punduana plant: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions:

Context:

• Saurauia Punduana, a critically endangered plant species, was discovered for the first time in Manipur.

Important information:

• The Saurauia Punduana plant was identified in a recent field survey for the Rapid Biodiversity Assessment (RBA).
• Rapid biodiversity assessment (RBA) describes time-efficient methods for gathering data on the current state of biodiversity in a particular area.
• One species of plant in the Actinidiaceae family is Saurauia punduana.
• It is located in Manipur’s Tamenglong district.
• When Saurauia Punduana flowers ripen, they change from white to pink.
• In veterinary medicine, its fruits are utilised.
• This species’ natural range extends from Bhutan to southeast Tibet.
• This plant is referred to as Anoibang locally.
• IUCN classification: Very endangered.

Source The Hindu

3 – How Mumbai terror attacks changed India’s security infrastructure: GS III – Internal Security:

Context:

• India was compelled by the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai to recognise and concentrate on its security problems with its neighbours. It also revealed India’s lack of readiness to handle such a large-scale asymmetric conflict.

Important information:

• Ten gunmen from Lashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) crossed the Arabian Sea in 2008 to reach Mumbai, where they went on a four-day spree.
• It revealed the glaring gaps in India’s internal security system, the insufficiency of its local police force and counterterrorism infrastructure, and the weaknesses in its marine security.
• The government made a number of important security-related decisions shortly after the assaults.
• Among them were:
• the heightened level of maritime safety,
• closing of the intelligence grid’s gaps,
• bolstering the judicial system to combat terrorism, and
• establishing separate agencies to look into situations of terrorism.

Locations targeted by terrorist attacks:

Modifications to India’s security framework:

Redesigning maritime security:

• The Indian navy assumed overall command of maritime security following September 26, 2011.
• Along India’s coastline, hundreds of new marine police stations sprang up, and the Indian Coast Guard was tasked with managing territorial waters and coordinating with them.
• Additionally, the government mandated that every vessel longer than 20 metres have an Automatic identify System (AIS) installed, which broadcasts the vessel’s identify along with other information.
• This was on top of the international rule that requires any vessel above 300 gross tonnes to have AIS.

Coordination of intelligence:

• The Multi Agency Centre (MAC) of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) was decided to be strengthened.
• Coordination of intelligence sharing amongst state police, the armed forces, and federal agencies is its main responsibility.
• Formerly dormant subsidiary MACs were revitalised.
• For the purpose of exchanging information and analysis in real time, regular meetings were mandated.

Law changes: NIA Act and UAPA:

• The term of terrorism was expanded via an amendment to the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
• Parliament enacted the National Investigation body (NIA) Act to establish the nation’s first genuinely federal investigative body.
• Police force modernization
• The modernization of state police forces was the Center’s primary objective.

The MHA gave state governments more funding to:

• create cutting-edge police stations,
• Give kids access to contemporary technology,
• teach their police officers to handle the difficulties of contemporary policing, such as terrorism, and
• to equip them with more advanced weaponry.
• Aside from this, all police agencies were tasked with developing crack commando units.
• Four regional centres have been built nationwide by the National Security Guard (NSG).
• collaboration with the West
• The readiness of the West to work with India on security issues, however, was the greatest effect of the 26/11 assaults.
• Not only did the United States of America (USA) supply real-time intelligence during the attacks, but the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also gathered copious amounts of evidence that might be used in court to prove Pakistan’s guilt and cause them international shame.
• The true achievements were in uniting the international community, severing ties with Pakistan, and achieving successful counterterrorism collaboration with the LeT.
• Saudi Arabia and the Persian Gulf countries started to provide India with unprecedented cooperation, and China also started to reply to inquiries for data about these groups.
• Pakistan was placed on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list in 2018, which compelled the nation to take action against the terror infrastructure of the LeT and Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM). This was made possible by the international community’s spirit of cooperation and understanding regarding the need to combat terrorism sponsored by Pakistan.

There are still obstacles to overcome:

• There are still holes in the security grid notwithstanding these achievements.
• State police units are nonetheless underfunded, undertrained, and subject to ongoing political meddling.
• There are few ways for maritime security to track ships that don’t send out AIS signals.
• There are not many transponders on India’s smaller cargo vessels.
• Of the 2.9 lakh fishing vessels in India, over 60% are smaller than 20 metres, and the majority of them lack transponders, according to a security establishment officer.

Source The Hindu

4 – Conference of the Parties (COP): GS III – Environmental Conservation:

Context:

• The 28th Conference of the Parties, or COP, is the world’s largest climate conference, and it will be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

About COP:

A yearly gathering:

• The annual United Nations (UN) climate meeting is called COP.
• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is a multilateral agreement that was signed by 154 nations during the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.
• Its goal was to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations at a point where hazardous anthropogenic (caused by humans) disruption of the climate system would not occur.
• Two years after the treaty’s ratification, member nations of the UNFCCC have been meeting annually at various locations.
• There are currently 198 “parties,” or Convention signatories.

global agreements on a common framework:

• Strong faith in the ability of international accords to address environmental issues led to the creation of COP.
• At the time, decision-makers supported a united front in the fight against climate change.
• The 1987 Montreal Protocol, an international convention aimed at preserving the ozone layer, and the 1991 US-Canada bilateral deal that limited sulphur dioxide (SO2) emissions, which helped prevent acid rain, reinforced their beliefs.

The Initial COP:

• Berlin, Germany hosted the first COP in 1995.
• The UNFCCC’s implementation was the topic of discussion at the inaugural COP.
• It was decided at the meeting to get together yearly to talk about addressing climate change and cutting emissions.
• The Kyoto Protocol was created in the next two years, imposing international responsibilities on a group of wealthy and developed nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by certain percentages.
• At the COP-3, the Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan.

The CoP’s objective is:

• Aim of COP meetings is to assess advancements made towards the overarching objective of reducing climate change.
• The purpose of the yearly meeting is to negotiate a worldwide accord to reduce greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere.
• It mostly focuses on discussions and bargaining.
• New agreements and treaties are occasionally the outcome of COP, frequently with the intention of establishing enforceable agreements like the Kyoto Protocol, defining norms, or improving aims.

The function of distinct nations:

• Every member nation describes its approach to combating climate change.
• The examination of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) is an essential component of the COP meetings.
• To reduce emissions and prepare for the effects of climate change, an NDC is essentially a climate action plan.
• Every five years, it is updated and submitted by the member nations that are also parties to the Paris Agreement (2015).

Source The Hindu

5 – Constitution is not a mere lawyers’ document… its spirit is always the spirit of Age: GS II – Constitution related issues:

Context:

• On November 26, in observance of Constitution Day, the President of India dedicated a statue honouring Dr. BR Ambedkar at the Supreme Court building in New Delhi.

Important information:

• The Indian Constitution was drafted by Ambedkar, who served as its chairman. It was approved on November 26, 1949, and went into force on January 26, 1950.

The Constituent Assembly was what?

• On December 9, 1946, the Constituent Assembly, which was tasked with drafting the Indian Constitution, convened for the first time.
• It had 389 members at first:
• By means of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies, 292 members were chosen;
• The Chief Commissioners’ Provinces (British Baluchistan, Delhi, Ajmer-Merwara, Coorg, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) were represented by four members.
• As per the Cabinet Mission of 1946’s suggested scheme, members of the Provincial Legislative Assemblies elected through the 1946 elections choose the members indirectly.
• But once India gained her independence and was divided, the strength was just 299 strong.
• The assembly spent more than 114 days deliberating just the draft’s content during the course of its three-year constitution-writing process.

The discussions surrounding the Constitution:

• There was discussion on basic matters like citizenship, the name of the nation, and the official language of the Indian government.
• It was not a good idea, according to PS Deshmukh, who would later become the first Union Minister of Agriculture, to make it difficult to change constitutional provisions.
• It was thought that making amendments more difficult to pass—say, requiring two-thirds of the votes—would render the Constitution antiquated and foster a public opinion that it is unworthy of being upheld.
• However, Ambedkar contended that allowing for easy modification of any amendment would expose the text to arbitrary modifications at the whim of lawmakers and go against the wishes of the states.

Ambedkar’s justifications:

• Ambedkar illustrated his point that there was no single method for making revisions by citing the processes for amendments found in the Canadian, Australian, Irish, and other constitutions.
• Regarding India, he recommended three options for the committee to consider:
• a collection of articles that may be changed with the support of a simple parliamentary majority,
• a second set that calls for a special majority of two thirds, and
• a couple more that needed to be approved by half of the states and a two-thirds majority.
• Whether the Articles addressed issues pertaining to the Centre or to the states as well as the Centre would determine this.
• Not only should a constitution establish the State’s organs, but it should also place restrictions on their power since, in the absence of such restrictions, total oppression and tyranny would reign.
• Any law may be drafted by the legislature.
• Any decision may be made by the executive.
• The Supreme Court could be able to interpret the law anyway it pleases.
• It would lead to complete chaos.

Source The Hindu