DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS
1 – Judges appointment should have more diversity: GS II – Judiciary-related issues
Context:
- The Law Minister informed Lok Sabha that 454 of the 604 High Court justices hired since 2018 belong within the general category.
Choosing the judges:
- In accordance with the Memorandum of Procedure for Appointment of Judges in the Supreme Court and High Courts, the government only appoints people who have received a recommendation from the Supreme Court Collegium.
- There are no provisions for caste or class discrimination in the Indian Constitution’s Articles 124, 217, and 224, which regulate the nomination of judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts.
- According to the recommenders’ information, 458 of the 604 High Court justices who have been appointed from 2018 up to this point come under the General Category.
What makes it difficult for the judiciary to protect social diversity?
- A study by the American Bar Association’s Center for Human Rights describes the “persisting implicit biases” that judges from upper castes hold toward their Dalit colleagues. It quotes a former Chief Justice of a high court who claimed that “he faced resistance from his upper-caste colleagues whenever he considered a Dalit lawyer for appointment as a judge in that High Court.”
- The highest levels of the judiciary, according to a retired upper caste Supreme Court justice quoted in the story, are biased against Dalit justices since they are hired through reservation, making them less deserving of promotion.
The legislature’s attempts to ensure racial diversity in the judiciary are described as:
- In this regard, the Parliamentary Committee on the Welfare of SCs and STs recommended in its 2001 Report that the Constitution’s Articles 124 and 217 be appropriately amended to include the judiciary within the scope of reservation and that, concurrently, a Judiciary Act be enacted to set forth the guiding principles for the proper functioning of the judiciary.
- The Department Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice thoroughly investigated this issue, as it does with recruitment to all other public services in the country, and in its 2006 report it categorically recommended reservation in favor of the SC, ST, and OBCs in the higher judiciary.
- Another option is to establish an All-India Judicial Service to hire judges for the nation’s inferior courts, with reservation being applied to the position of District Judge in all states. There have been significant federalism-related arguments against this proposal, though.
Source The Hindu
2 – ‘Impose President’s Rule in Manipur’ Opposition demands: GS III – Internal Security
Context:
- A number of groups have demanded the imposition of President’s Rule in the State due to suspected and proven biases in the State administration and security forces.
- According to video evidence, sexual abuse against women occurs in Manipur.
What is the President Rule?
- The President of India has the power to impose President’s rule in any state of the country if “he is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution,” as stated in Article 356 of the Indian Constitution.
- The governor is now the recognized head of state, and the state is directly governed by the federal government.
- Even the Council of Ministers wouldn’t exist.
- The Vidhan Sabha is either postponed or dissolved.
- Even the job of chief minister will be vacant after six months, forcing the election authority to call another election.
What happens once President’s Rule is declared?
- The governor is still in charge of overseeing state issues on the President’s behalf. He or she is assisted by the state’s chief secretary and any other administrators or consultants they choose.
- The Parliament will serve as the state legislature’s legislative body, the President may declare.
- The state legislative assembly would either be suspended or dissolved by the president.
- When the Parliament is not in session, the President may pass laws that deal with state administration.
When is President’s Rule put into effect?
If any of the following has occurred, it has been noticed that the President’s Rule will be put into effect:
- The state governor forbids the state assembly from choosing a leader to act as the Chief Minister for a set amount of time.
- When a coalition in the state legislature fails, the CM only receives backing from a small number of legislators and is unable to show his majority in the governor’s allocated period.
- The majority of the legislative assembly being defeated by a no-confidence vote.
- A conflict, an epidemic, or a natural disaster that necessitates postponing elections.
Source The Hindu
3 – Online portal launched to report violation of ban on e-cigarettes: GS II – Health related issues
Context:
- Experts in tobacco control caution that people under the age of 18 can still purchase electronic cigarettes through e-commerce websites.
In relation to e-cigarettes:
- The e-cigarette is the most widely used kind of electronic nicotine delivery system (ENDS).
- Essentially, these devices don’t burn or consume tobacco leaves.
- The user does so by inhaling the vapor.
- The major components of the solution are propylene glycol, with or without glycerol, and flavoring agents, along with nicotine when it is present.
- Electronic cigarettes and related devices are powered by batteries, and they work by heating a substance (in a liquid or solid state) that contains nicotine and frequently flavors to create an aerosol that may be breathed.
- In response to the harmful effects of electronic cigarettes and the alarming rise in their usage among young people, the Union government passed the Prohibition of Electronic Cigarettes (Production, Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport, Sale, Distribution, Storage and Advertisement) Act, 2019.
Effects on health:
- It may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease and aggravate pregnancy problems.
- It could accelerate the development of malignancies.
- Nicotine seems to fundamentally affect neurodegeneration and the biology of malignant disorders.
The Ethical Puzzle:
- To market and gain popularity for ENDS—more especially, e-cigarettes—it was asserted that they were effective in helping users stop using tobacco.
- However, there aren’t any definitive large-scale studies showing their effectiveness in helping smokers stop.
- Meanwhile, proponents of e-cigarettes have come under fire from health activists who call for a complete ban on tobacco usage. They claim that these things “undermine the efforts to de-normalize tobacco use”.
Source The Hindu
4 – India forex reserves rise to 15-month maximum level: GS III – Indian Economy
Context:
- India’s foreign exchange reserves recorded their greatest weekly increase in four months, climbing by $12.74 billion to $609.02 billion, according to a statement from the Reserve Bank of India.
Supporting Factors:
- The export of software services across key sectors like IT services, business process management (BPM), and engineering research and design (ER&D) saw substantial growth thanks to an expansion in global capability centers.
- The benefits of revaluation brought on by the weaker dollar and falling U.S. currency have mostly been responsible for the growth in foreign exchange reserves week over week. yields on treasuries.
- growth in both foreign portfolio investments and foreign direct investments (FDIs).
- Remittances and overseas travel-related dollar outflow have considerably declined.
Why increasing foreign exchange reserves is important:
- Appreciation of the rupee – As foreign exchange reserves have increased, the rupee has become stronger in relation to the dollar.
- It aids in the government’s ability to carry out its obligations regarding foreign exchange and external debt.
- Crisis management serves as a safety net in the event of a balance-of-payments (Bop) crisis in the economy.
- Market Confidence: Reserves will provide markets and investors with some reassurance that a government can uphold its responsibilities on a global scale.
Source The Hindu
5 – SE Asian Countries in negotiation with India to have a pact on Green Power Trade: GS II – International Relations
Context:
- India is negotiating with several Southeast Asian nations, notably Singapore and Thailand, to trade renewable energy (RE) electricity across borders.
- India’s international sales of power will greatly increase as a result of the measure. Current cross-border connections with Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, and Myanmar allow for the transfer of a total of 4,423 MW of electricity.
- In addition, New Delhi is considering power exchanges with countries in West Asia like the UAE.
- By 2030, India plans to boost its current 177 GW capacity for large-scale hydropower and renewable energy to 500 GW. The expected source of a sizable share of the increased capacity is solar parks.
- According to ministry officials, the project may reduce reliance on fossil fuels by increasing the hours that solar electricity is available.
- India presently sells a small quantity of power to Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan, as well as a very small amount to Myanmar, but this will greatly grow under the new plan.
Source The Hindu
6 – Gyanvapi mosque’s Survey to be conducted by ASI: Varanasi District Court: GS I – Indian Culture
Context:
- The mosque must be surveyed by the Archaeological Society of India, with the exception of the prohibited “wazukhana” where Hindu petitioners claimed to have found a “shivling,” per the court’s instructions.
- The wazukhana, a small pool inside the mosque where Hindu petitioners claim a shivling is placed, will not be part of the research. This is so because the area has previously been declared protected by the Supreme Court.
Source The Hindu
