31 October 2023

DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

1 – Copyright for Spiritual Writings: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions

Context:

• The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust publishes books and commentaries on Indian religious philosophy and spiritualism, particularly traditional Vaishnava classics. The Delhi High Court found widespread infringement in the copying of these works online.

Important information:

• The court permitted the trust to request takedown orders against those who replicate copyrighted works on the Srimad Bhagavad Gita from tech giants Google and Meta.
• In 1970, Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (also known as Srila Prabhupada) founded the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.
• In addition, he established the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), usually referred to as the Hare Krishna Movement, a Gaudiya Vaishnava religious organisation.

Do religious texts have copyright protection?

• Scriptures that are religious in nature are public domain, and under copyright law, creative works that are in the public domain are not entitled to any exclusive intellectual property rights.
• Therefore, copyright does not protect the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, or the King James Version (KJV), which is one of the most extensively used Bible translations.
• However, because they are the translators’ original creative works, many contemporary translations of the Bible are shielded by copyright laws.
• For instance, the 1978-released New International Version (NIV) is shielded by copyright.
• To use the NIV text for any other purpose would require permission or adherence to the conditions stipulated by the copyright holder.
• The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are not copyrighted, however B R Chopra’s Mahabharata and the Ramanand Sagar television series are both transformational works that are.

India’s copyright legislation:

• Original work, or creative and independently developed expression fixed in a tangible medium, is protected under Indian copyright law.
• The exclusive right to use, reproduce, distribute, perform, and exhibit one’s own work is granted by law to the creator or author of the piece.
• Additionally, creative and artistic works that take preexisting materials (texts, music, artwork) and significantly alter, reinterpret, or build upon them to produce something new and unique are protected by the law.

The petitioner Bhaktivedanta Book Trust’s case:

• The trust claimed that the religious texts and books had been made easily understandable for the general public by its founder through the publication of his works in numerous Indian and international languages.
• After his death in 1977, the trust would become the owner of the rights to his works.
• The trust asserted that it was being violated by specific websites, mobile applications, and Instagram handles that were posting numerous of its copyrighted works virtually verbatim on various internet platforms without authorization.

What was said by the HC?

• The court stated in its temporary ruling that any modification to the scriptures—such as their interpretation, meaning, or explanation—would be protected by copyright.
• The court ruled that this is the case because the writers themselves created these original works.
• Therefore, there is no reason to oppose to the real translation of the Srimad Bhagavad Gita or other spiritual texts.
• The original portions of literary works that preach, teach, or explain the scripture would be protected by copyright, notwithstanding the variations in how many gurus and spiritual teachers interpret the same.
• The works cannot be duplicated without authority, licence, or permission from the trust since Srila Prabhupada personally gave over the copyrights to be managed by the trust.
• The High Court discovered that the defendant entities had replicated the shlokas in Prabhupada’s works together with their tatparya (intention) and anuvaad (translation).
• The court acknowledged that the trust would suffer a significant loss of income if such piracy went unchecked.

Source The Hindu

2 – RapidX high-speed train: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions

Context:

• Following its inauguration, the RapidX high-speed train will operate on a 17-kilometer section of the Delhi-Meerut Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).

Important information:

• The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) in Delhi runs the semi-high-speed RapidX regional rail system, which is also referred to as the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS).
• Creating a dedicated rail transit network between Delhi and the other NCR cities is the aim of the RapidX project.
• Decongestion of Delhi within a 100–200 km radius is the primary goal of RapidX.
• The RRTS services were rebranded as RapidX in 2023.

Source The Hindu

3 – Kati Bihu: GS I – Indian Culture

Context:

• India’s prime minister wishes the people of Assam a happy and prosperous Kati Bihu.

Regarding Kati Bihu:

• It is regarded as one of the three principal festivals of Bihu.
• The rice saplings are moved at the time of Kati Bihu.
• The celebration is also called Kongali (Poor), which represents a granary that is empty and the scarcity of food at that time of year.
• Because of this, Kati Bihu is not observed with the same flamboyance as the other two Bihu holidays.
• Offerings are made to Goddess Tulsi, and prayers are said for the family’s well-being and a bountiful harvest.
• In their paddy fields, people also light a unique lamp known as a “Akash Banti” or “Sky candle.”

Source The Hindu

4 – OBCs and their subdivisions: GS II – Government Policies and Interventions

Context:

• Andhra Pradesh’s Minister for Welfare of the Backward Classes announced that the state will start a census of the backward classes.

The Other Backward Classes (OBCs) are who are they?

• The term “OBC” was created to refer to underprivileged and marginalised communities and castes that were not members of Scheduled Tribes (STs) or Scheduled Castes (SCs).
• It is acknowledged that caste position has historically directly contributed to social backwardness in India, and that this initial disadvantage has given rise to many forms of backwardness.
• Article 16(4) grants the state the authority to reserve positions or appointments for any historically underrepresented citizen class that it deems to be underrepresented in state-run services.

Who among the OBCs are the “Backwards”?

• OBCs have often been classified according to their occupation:
• farming on one’s own land
• tenancy farming
• labour in agriculture
• growing and distributing vegetables
• flowers and fruits
• caring for cattle
• cleaning garments
• cabinetry
• ironworker
• crushed oilseeds
• ceramics
• cutting stone, etc.
• The numerous OBC castes are marginalised to varying degrees.
• Upon first inspection, the OBCs can be divided into two main categories:
• those who possess land (Kurmis and Yadavs in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, for example), and
• As the perception has grown that a few upper OBCs have reaped the most of the benefits of the 27% reservation that came with the implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations more than 30 years ago, the demand for reservation for the backwards among OBCs has gathered momentum.

EBCs: Bihar’s situation:

• According to the Bihar caste survey, 36% of people were classified as “atyant pichhda,” or Extremely Backward Classes, or EBCs, and 27% of people as “pichhda,” or backward.
• The Bihar government had compiled a list of 109 castes as early as 1951, of which 79 were considered to be “more backward” than the other 30.
• The Patna High Court declared the two lists to be unlawful in 1964.
• The Mungeri Lal Commission was established by the Bihar government in 1970, and in its 1976 report, it listed 128 “backward” communities, 94 of which were classified as “most backward.”
• The Mungeri Lal Commission’s recommendations were carried out by the government.
• According to the so-called Karpoori Thakur Formula, there was a 26% reservation, of which OBCs received 12%, economically disadvantaged OBCs received 8%, women received 3%, and the impoverished from “upper castes” received 3%.
• As of right now, BC-I, BC-II, and OBC Women are the three groups that make up Bihar’s OBC reservation pie.
• This might alter if and when the caste survey’s results are put into practise.

Two Commissions of OBC:

First Commission:

• Jawaharlal Nehru’s administration formed the panel, which was led by Kaka Kalelkar, in 1953, and it turned in its findings in 1955.
• The commission decided on the following standards to determine which classes were socially and educationally backward:
• Poor social status within Hindu society’s ancient caste system;
• Lack of progress in general education for the majority of the caste or community;
• Insufficient or nonexistent representation in public service; and
• Insufficient representation in business, trade, and industry.
• Of the 2,399 backward castes or communities in the nation, 837 were designated as “most backward” by the First OBC Commission.
• Additionally, the Commission suggested counting castes in the 1961 census, granting reservations of 25–40% for certain government posts, and 70% for admission to technical and professional schools.
• The report was never used, and it was never considered in Parliament.

Second Commission:

• This was the B P Mandal Commission, which the Janata administration of Morarji Desai appointed in 1979.
• The Singh government did not announce its adoption until 1990.
• The Mandal Commission suggested a 27% reservation in government positions and admittance to all government-run scientific, technological, and professional institutions. It also recognised 3,743 castes and groups as OBCs, estimating their population at 52%.
• There were no acknowledged subcategories under the 27% OBC quota.
• In his dissent, L R Naik, one of the members, stated that OBCs ought to be divided into depressed and intermediate backward groups.

States’ subcategories:

• State governments have been allocating quota advantages among the many categories of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) based on their own criteria for decades, even prior to the Center’s implementation of the Mandal recommendations.

Source The Hindu

5 – Proxy Advisory Firms: GS II – Indian economy-related issues

Context:

• Two proxy advice companies are opposing the plan to add Anant Ambani to the board of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL).

Proxy advice firms: what are they?

• As independent businesses, proxy advisory services advise institutional investors, minority shareholders, and individual shareholders on how to exercise their ownership rights in a corporation.
• It contains suggestions for ballot questions or offers made to the public.
• The purpose of proxy advice firms is to inform investors.
• Investors are not required to follow the proxy advisors’ suggestions.

What is the number of proxy advice firms in India?

• A few of the nation’s leading proxy advice companies are Stakeholders Empowerment Services (SES), InGovern, and IiAS.
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), the market regulator, oversees proxy advisors.

Importance of firms providing proxy advice:

• Proxy consulting businesses provide shareholders with rights advice while keeping a close eye on the performance and resolutions of listed companies.
• They act in the best interests of shareholders, who may not always be able to assess the ramifications of a resolution that a business has adopted.
• These businesses advise investors to cast ballots in favour of or against any company actions.
• Additionally, proxy consulting firms assist businesses in enhancing their corporate governance procedures.

Source The Hindu