CURRENT BULLETIN - DECEMBER 2019 CBS IAS ......2020/05/04 · CURRENT BULLETIN - DECEMBER 2019 CBS...

CURRENT BULLETIN - DECEMBER 2019 CBS IAS ACADEMY

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GOVERNMENT SCHEMESParliament Passes Bill To Ban E-CigarettesContext : Parliament has passed the Prohibition of

Electronic Cigarettes (Production,Manufacture, Import, Export, Transport,Sale, Distribution, Storage andAdvertisement) Bill, 2019.

Explanation :Provisions of the bill: The Bill categorizes production, manu-

facture, import, export, transport, sale,distribution, storage, and advertisement ofe-cigarettes and similar devices ascognizable offences.

The bill stipulates that persons found inviolation of the law for the first time willface a jail term of up to one year or a fine ofup to one lakh rupees, or both. Forsubsequent offences, a jail term of up tothree years and fine uptoRs 5 lakh.

It further punishes storage of e-cigaretteswith imprisonment up to six months or afine of up to Rs 50,000, or both.

Once the Bill comes into force, theowners of existing stocks of e-cigaretteswill have to declare and deposit thesestocks at the nearest office of an authorizedofficer.

E-cigarettes are battery powereddevices that work by heating a liquid intoan aerosol (suspension of fine solidparticles/liquid droplets in air) that theuser inhales and exhales.

Electronic-cigarettes include all forms ofElectronic Nicotine Delivery Systems(ENDS), Heat Not Burn Products, e-

Hookah and the like devices. The main components of the liquid

vaporized are nicotine, propylene glycol orglycerol, and flavourings.

e-cigarettes have documented adverseeffects on humans including DNA damage,carcinogenic, cellular, molecular andimmunological toxicity, respiratory, cardio-

What is an e-cigarette?


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vascular and neurological disorders andadverse impact on fetal development andpregnancy.

Reason for ban Highly addictive nature of nicotine Safety concern of flavours in combination

with nicotine Risk of use of other psychoactive subst-

ances through these devices Initiation of nicotine or psychoactive

substances by non-smokers, especiallyadolescents and youth

Dual use of e-cigarettes and conventionalcigarettes

Scant scientific evidence for use of e-cigarettes as effective tobacco cessationaids;

Threat to country’s tobacco control efforts; Hindrance in achieving the targets

envisaged under Sustainable DevelopmentGoals, National Monitoring Framework forPrevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases and NationalHealth Policy, 2017

Prohibition of Nicotine

Nicotine is prohibited for use Food Safetyand Standards (Prohibition and Food Safetyand Standards Act 2006.

Nicotine and Nicotine Sulphate are listedas hazardous chemicals in the Manu-facture, Storage and Import of HazardousChemical Rules, 1989 made under theEnvironment (Protection) Act, 1986.

Nicotine is also Listed as an insecticide inthe Schedule of insecticides under the

Insecticide Act 1968. However, The Drugs and Cosmetics Act,

1940 & Rules, 1945 permit the use ofNicotine up to 2 mg and 4 mg in gums,Iozenges and strips, which may be used asaids for Nicotine Replacement Therapy(NRT).

Arguments against e-cigarettes E-cigarettes contained not only nicotine

solution, which is highly addictive, but alsoharmful ingredients such as flavoring agentsand vaporizers.

While e-cigarettes typically have fewerchemicals than regular cigarettes, they maystill contain heavy metals like lead whichis poisonous.

Quitting of tobacco due to the usage of e-cigarettes have not been firmlyestablished.

There is evidence that there is risk ofpeople continuing to use both them as wellas tobacco products. In fact, dual users areat greater risk of heart attacks.

Various flavors and attractive designs areadding to the allure the users. There is anincreasing trend for the use of e-cigarettesamong youth and adolescents in manycountries which is harmful to their health.

These devices could encourage non-smokers to get addicted to tobacco.

Studies have found that youths using e-cigarettes and other such devices are morelikely to use regular cigarettes later.

Even though warnings on many ENDSproducts clearly indicate that they cannotprovide alternative to smoking, e-cigarettes are often falsely promoted asalternative to smoking.

The Tobacco industry claims that the saleof ENDS products does not violate anyregulations despite the fact that thecompanies are in clear violation of WHO’sFramework Convention on TobaccoControl which prohibits the sale of anyproduct that appeals to minors.


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E-cigarettes have caused fires andexplosions resulting in injuries, loss of livesand property. Further, their accidentalingestion by children has also caused somedeaths.

Argument in favour of e-cigarattes E- cigarettes produce far fewer carcinogens

than traditional cigarettes. Since e-cigarettes use vapor technology, theyexpose users to fewer carcinogens.

In multiple studies and surveys, e-cigarettes have been shown to potentiallyhelp smokers to reduce their habit or to quitaltogether.

The second-hand effects (unintentionalinhalation of vapor by a person fromanother person using e-cigarettes) are farless harmful than traditional cigarettes.Though second-hand vapor exists, thelevels of smoke and second-hand effectsof vaping are magnitudes lower thantraditional smoking.

They are more socially acceptable and donot smell. E-cigarettes provide the sameexperience and sensation for smokers butcan be used in far more places.

They are a cheaper alternative to smoking.While this has not been extensivelyresearched, studies in the U.K. and the U.S.show that vaping habits can be up to 40percent less expensive than cigarettesmoking habits.

ENDS and vaping products are sold acrossabout 70 countries around the world andthere are clear laws that regulate ENDS.

The Delhi High Court and the Bombay HighCourt in their orders of March 2019 and July2019 respectively have held that ENDS arenot drugs and therefore cannot be bannedunder the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940and hence no proceedings can be initiatedagainst the manufacturers, sellers andimporters of ENDS.

NPS Traders SchemeContext : Recently, in written reply to a question in

LokSabha, an information was given aboutthe National Pension Scheme for Tradersand Self Employed Persons (NPS TradersScheme).

Explanation :About National Pension Scheme for

Traders and Self Employed Persons It is a voluntary and contributory pension

scheme for entry age of 18 to 40 years witha provision for minimum assured pensionof Rs 3,000 monthly on attaining the age of60 years.

The Central Government shall give 50% share of the monthly contribution andremaining 50% contribution shall be madeby the beneficiary.

The enrolment under the scheme is free ofcost for the beneficiaries.

The enrolment is based upon self-certification.

Eligibility For self-employed shop owners, retail

owners and other vyaparis Entry Age between 18 to 40 years


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Annual turnover should not exceed Rs 1.5crore

Should not be Covered under any National Pension

Scheme An income tax payer Enrolled under Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi

Maandhan Yojana / Pradhan Mantri KisanMaandhan Yojana

Significance An estimated 3 crore Vyaparis in the

country are expected to be benefittedunder the pension scheme.

Primitive Tribals in Hilly/Forest AreasContext : The Union Minister of Tribal Affairs recently

informed about the funds released underthe PVTGs scheme, to the Parliament.

Explanation :Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs):

Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups(PVTG) are more vulnerable among thetribal groups.

In 1975, the Government of India initiatedto identify the most vulnerable tribalgroups as a separate category called PVTGsand declared 52 such groups, while in 1993an additional 23 groups were added to thecategory, making it a total of 75 PVTGs outof 705 Scheduled Tribes, spread over 18states and one Union Territory (A&N Islands)in the country (2011 census).

Among the 75 listed PVTG’s the highestnumber are found in Odisha (13), followedby Andhra Pradesh (12).

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs implementsthe Scheme of “Development ofParticularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups(PVTGs)” exclusively for them.

Under the scheme, Conservation-cum-Development (CCD)/Annual Plans are to beprepared by each State/UT for their PVTGsbased on their need assessment, which arethen appraised and approved by the ProjectAppraisal Committee of the Ministry.

Priority is also assigned to PVTGs under theschemes of Special Central Assistance (SCA)to Tribal Sub-Scheme (TSS), Grants underArticle 275(1) of the Constitution, Grants-in-aid to Voluntary Organisations workingfor the welfare of Schedule Tribes andStrengthening of Education among ST Girlsin Low Literacy Districts.

How PVTGs are identified? PVTGs are identified by Union Government

according to procedure in which stategovernments or UT governments submitproposals to Union Ministry of TribalWelfare for identification of PVTGs.

After ensuring the criteria is fulfilled, theTribal Ministry selects those groups asPVTGs.

Criteria followed for determination ofPVTGs are as under:* A pre-agriculture level of technology.* A stagnant or declining population.* Extremely low literacy.* A subsistence level of economy.

Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana(MKSP)Context : Union Minister of Agriculture said that govt

is working hard to empower women inagriculture by making systematicinvestments to enhance their participationand named Mahila Kisan Sashakti karanPariyojana (MKSP) as the central agency todo so.


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Explanation :About Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana


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Launched in 2010-11, Mahi la K isanSashaktikaran Pariyojana (MKSP) seeks toimprove the present status of women inAgriculture, and to enhance theopportunities available to empower them.

It is a sub component of the DeendayalAntodaya Yojana-NRLM (DAY-NRLM).

The focus of MKSP is on capacitatingsmallholders to adopt sustainable climateresilient agro-ecology.

It focuses mainly on two themes:Sustainable agriculture and enhancelivelihood of Non-timber forest producers(NTFP).

The central to state share in funding is75:25.

Its objective is to strengthen smallholderagriculture through promotion ofsustainable agriculture practices such asCommunity Managed SustainableAgriculture (CMSA), Non-PesticideManagement (NPM), Zero Budget NaturalFarming (ZBNF), Pashu-Sakhi model fordoorstep animal care services, Sustainableregeneration and harvesting of Non-Timber Forest Produce.

Implementation The program is being implemented by DAY-

NRLM in partnership with State RuralLivelihood Missions/ Community BasedOrganizations (CBOs)/NGOs, as implemen-ting partners (PIAs).

Need More than 80% of rural women are engaged

in agriculture activities for theirlivelihoods. About 20 % of farm livelihoodsare female headed due to widowhood,desertion, or male emigration.

However, Agriculture support system inIndia encourages the exclusion of womenfrom their entitlements as agricultureworkers and cultivators. As agriculturalworkers, women are paid lower wage thanmen.

Cabinet approves Maintenance andWelfare of Parents and Senior CitizensBill, 2019Context : Union Cabinet approved a Bill to provide

for the maintenance and welfare ofparents and senior citizens for ensuringtheir basic needs, safety and securityamong others.

Explanation :Background The Maintenance and Welfare of Parents

and Senior Citizens Act, 2007 make it a legalobligation for children and heirs toprovide maintenance to senior citizens andparents, by monthly allowance. It alsoprovides mechanism for the protection oflife and property of the older persons.

Highlights of Maintenance and Welfare of Parentsand Senior Citizens Bill, 2019 Definition of “children” and ‘parents’ has

been expanded. Definition of ‘maintenance’ and

‘welfare’ has been expanded. Mode of submission of application for

maintenance has been enlarged. Ceiling of Rs. 10,000 as maintenance

amount has been Preference to dispose of applications of

senior citizens, above 80 years of age, earlyhas been included.

Registration of Senior Citizens CareHomes/Homecare Service Agencies havebeen included.

Minimum standards for senior citizen carehomes has been included in the Bill.

Appointment of Nodal Police Officers forSenior Citizens in every Police Station andDistrict Level Special Police Unit for SeniorCitizens has been included.

Need India today has the second-largest

population of senior citizens. The fast-paced and ever-changing life of

today is continuously widening the gapbetween generations.


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SPG Act amendment Bill getsParliament nodContext : Parliament passed Citizenship

(Amendment) Bill 2019, that will allow SPGcover to the Prime Minister and formerPrime Ministers for a period of five yearsafter leaving office.

Explanation :About the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2019 The Bill amends the Special Protections

Group Act, 1988. The Act provides for theconstitution and regulation of the SpecialProtection Group (SPG) to provide securityto the Prime Minister, former PrimeMinisters, and their immediate familymembers.

Highlights of amendmentUnder the SPG Act, 1988 SPG provides security to the Prime Minister

and to his immediate family members. Italso provides security to former PrimeMinisters and their immediate familymembers for a period of one year from thedate on which they cease to hold the office.Beyond this period, the SPG security isprovided based on the level of threat asdecided by the central government.

Amendment The Bill amends this provision to state that

the SPG will provide security to the PrimeMinister, and members of his immediatefamily residing with him at his officialresidence. It will also provide security toany former Prime Ministers, and hisimmediate family members residing withhim at the residence allotted to him. Thissecurity will be provided for a period of 5years from the date on which he ceases tohold the office of Prime Minister.

Under the SPG Act, 1988 The Act provides that if the SPG security is

withdrawn from a former Prime Minister,it will also be withdrawn from hisimmediate family members, unless the

level of threat faced by the immediatefamily member warrants such security.

Amendment The Bill removes this condition to state that

if the SPG security is withdrawn from aformer Prime Minister, it will also bewithdrawn from his immediate familymembers.

What is Special Protection Group? The Special Protection Group is an elite

armed force that providesproximate security to the Prime Ministerof India and his or her family members.

It is a force of roughly 3,000 activepersonnel.

When SPG was formed? It was formed in 1985 following

the assassination of former Prime MinisterIndira Gandhi by her own bodyguards in1984.

Background In 1985, the BirbalNath Committee set up

by the Home Ministry recommendedraising a Special Protection Unit (SPU). SPUwas then re-christened SPG.

Earlier, Delhi police (before 1981) andSpecial Task Force (raised by theIntelligence Bureau in 1981) providedresidence and proximate security to thePM. Ti ll 1988, SPG functioned underexecutive orders. In 1988, Parliamentpassed the SPG Act.

In 1989, the government withdrew SPGprotection given to former prime minister.However, after Rajiv Gandhi’s assassinationin 1991, the SPG Act was amended to offerprotection to all former PMs and theirfamilies for at least 10 years.

In 2003, the government again amendedthe SPG Act to bring the period of automaticprotection down from 10 years to a periodof 1 year and beyond one year based onthe level of threat as decided by thegovernment.


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Central drugs regulator asks states, UTsto stop online sale of medicinesContext : Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) has

asked all states/UTs to prohibit sale of drugsby online pharmacies as per the Delhi HighCourt order.

Explanation :Background The Delhi High Court, while hearing a PIL in

December 2018, had ordered the ban onsale of illegal or unlicensed online sale ofmedicines till the government drafts rulesto regulate e-pharmacies.

Currently, online pharmacies are operatingin India without a drug licence as there areno rules framed for the sector.

Arguments of PIL on banning unlicensedonline sale of medicines Online illegal sale of medicines would lead

to a drug epidemic, drug abuse and misuseof habit forming and addictive drugs.

It also affects right to a safe and healthylife under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Ministry of Health, Central Drugs StandardControl Organisation and an expertcommittee appointed by the drugconsultative committee have alreadyconcluded that the online sale of medicinesis in contravention of the provisions ofDrugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940.

Some of the drugs/medicines containnarcotic and psychotropic substances andsome can even cause antibiotic resistant-bacteria.

Highlights of the Draft Rules


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Mandatory registration of e-pharmacies Cannot sell drugs without valid

prescriptions. Mandatorily required to have 24/7 call

centres. E-pharmacies are required to maintain

details of both patients and practitionersin order to avoid misuse.

Psychotropic substances, habit-formingmedicines like cough syrup and sleepingpills, schedule x drugs will not be soldonline.

Each E pharmacy has to appoint pharmacistswith customer care.

The premises from where the e-pharmacybusiness is conducted will be inspected,every two years, by a team of officersauthorised by the Central LicensingAuthority.

Have to deliver the drugs in the specifictime that will be told to the patient duringthe time of purchase.

Cannot advertise any drug on television/internet/print or any other media for anypurpose.

Key Facts Indian retail pharmacy is estimated to be

worth $18 billion, and is expected to reacha size of $50 billion by 2025.

E-pharmacies currently constitute around3 % of the Indian pharmaceutical marketand are growing rapidly.

Absentee MPs likely to lose spot onstanding committeeContext : Persistent absenteeism from meetings of

department-related standing committeesshould cost MPs their spot on theseparliamentary panels, a strong view thatemerged during a meeting of chairpersonsof the committees with Vice President ofIndia.

Explanation :What are Parliamentary Committees? Parliamentary Committees are of two kinds

- Standing Committees and ad hocCommittees. Standing Committees areelected or appointed every year orperiodically and their work goes on, moreor less, on a continuous basis. The ad hoccommittees are appointed on an ad hocbasis as need arises and they cease to existas soon as they complete the task assignedto them.

Parliamentary Committee works under thedirection of the Speaker/Chairman.

Parliamentary committees draw theirauthority from Article 105 (on privileges ofParliament members) and Article 118 (onParliament’s authority to make rules forregulating its procedure and conduct ofbusiness).

Bills that are referred to committees arereturned to the House with significantvalue addition by committees. Parliamentis not bound by the recommendations ofcommittees.

Need for Parliamentary Committees In a parliamentary democracy, Parliament

has broadly two functions, whichare lawmaking and oversight of theexecutive branch of the government.Committees fulfil the oversight function onexecutive branch.

The practice of regularly referring bills tocommittees began in 1989 aftergovernment departments started formingtheir own standing committees. Prior tothat, select committees or jointcommittees of the houses were only setup to scrutinize in detail some veryimportant bills.

Standing Committees can be broadlyclassified as Standing Committees of theHouse and Department-relatedParliamentary Standing Committees.

Departmental Standing Committees Departmental Standing Committees (DSCs)

were set up in the Parliament in 1993. Theywere 17 earlier and after adding 7 more in2004, they are now 24 in number (8 under


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RajyaSabha and 16 under LokSabha). They were set up as per the

recommendation of the Rules Committeeof the LokSabha.

It aims to secure more accountability of theExecutive (i.e., the Council of Ministers) tothe Parliament, particularly financialaccountability, and to assist the Parliamentin debating the budget more effectively.

These committees cover under theirjurisdiction all the ministries/departmentsof the Central Government.

Each standing committee consists of 21members from LokSabha and 10 membersfrom RajyaSabha, all nominated by speakerand chairman of LokSabha and RajyaSabharespectively from amongst their members.

The Ministers are not nominated and incase if a member is appointed as a ministerafter he was nominated, then he ceases tobe a member of the committee.

The term of office of each standingcommittee is one year from the date of itsconstitution.

The recommendations of thesecommittees are advisory in nature andhence not binding on the Parliament.

Functions: To consider the Demands for Grants of the

related Ministries/Departments and reportthereon. The report shall not suggestanything of the nature of cut motions.

To examine Bills, pertaining to the relatedMinistries/Departments, referred to theCommittee by the Chairman or theSpeaker, as the case may be, and reportthereon.

To consider the annual reports of theMinistries/Departments and reportthereon.

To consider national basic long term policydocuments presented to the Houses, ifreferred to the Committee by the Chairmanor the Speaker, as the case may be, andreport thereon.

Odisha reduces Kalia assistance to Rs4,000 from Rs 10,000Context : Odisha government has reduced the

financial assistance given to farmers underthe Kalia scheme to Rs 4,000 per annumfrom Rs 10,000.

Explanation :About merging Kaliya scheme with PM-KISAN The decision to reduce the Kalia assistance

was taken after the Odisha govern-ment merged the Kalia scheme with theCentres Pradhan Mantri Kisan SammanNidhi (PM-KISAN).

Keeping the parity of both the schemes,the small farmers/marginal farmers will begiven with Rs 5,000 for 2019- 20 and Rs 4,000per year from 2020-21, so that they will getRs 10,000 annually i.eRs 6,000 from PM-KISAN and Rs 4,000 from KALIA.

Farmers residing under urban local bodieswill not be considered for both theschemes. Both PM-Kisan and Kalia will havecommon exclusion criteria.

About KALIA scheme

Krushak Assistance for Livelihood andIncome Augmentation (KALIA) scheme waslaunched by the Government of Odisha.

Under the scheme, Rs 10,180 crorewill bespent over three years until 2020-21 inproviding financial assistance to cultivatorsand landless agricultural labourers.

The focus of the scheme is not on farmingloan waiverbut to support farming on asmall scale, sharecropping, fishing, animal


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herding, which are caught in debt traps setup by local moneylenders.

Out of a total of 75 lakh farm families to beincluded in the Kalia scheme, 50 lakhs willbe small and marginal farmers and

sharecroppers while the remaining 25lakhs will be landless agriculturalhouseholds.

It would benefit about 92% of thefarmersin the State.

Benefits

Assistance for Cultivation: Financial aid ofRs. 25,000 per farm family over five seasonsto small and marginal farmers.

Assistance for Livelihood: Financialassistance of Rs 12,500 to each landlessagricultural household for agricultural

allied activities such as goat rearing, smalllayer poultry units, duckery units etc.

Assistance for Vulnerable AgriculturalHousehold: Financial assistance of Rs 10,000per family per year to the vulnerablecultivators/landless agricultural labourers


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and to the vulnerable cultivator/landlessAgricultural Laborers who are in old age,having disability/ disease and arevulnerable for any other reason.

Life Insurance for Cultivators & LandlessAgricultural Laborers: Life insurance coverof Rs. 2.00 lakh to all savings bank accountholder of age between 18-50 years.

Interest Free Crop Loan: Vulnerablelandless laborers, cultivators, sharecroppers and agricultural familiesidentified by Gram Panchayats will beprovided with cop loans up to Rs 50,000made available at 0% interest.

Eligibility Small and Marginal Farmers Landless agricultural households Vulnerable agricultural household covering

vulnerable cultivators/landless agriculturallabourers

Who is a small and marginal farmer? A small farmer is a cultivator who owns 2.5

acres to 5 acres of arable land. A marginalfarmer is one who owns less than 2.5 acresof arable land.

What is a Farm Family? A farm family constitutes a farmer and his/

her spouse along with their dependentchildren.

Any farmer wanting to get information onKALIA scheme can register for ‘KaliaBarta’.

About the PM-KISAN In the Interim budget of 2019-20,

Government has announced the‘PradhanMantriKisanSammanNidhi (PM-KISAN)’ for providing an assured incomesupport to the small and marginal farmers.

Highlights of Programme

Under this programme, vulnerablelandholding farmer families, havingcultivable land upto 2 hectares, will beprovided direct income support at the rateof Rs. 6,000 per year.

This income support will be transferreddirectly into the bank accounts ofbeneficiary farmers, in three equalinstalments of Rs. 2,000 each.

Funded by Government of India, thisprogramme will entail an annualexpenditure of Rs. 75,000 crores.

Small and marginal landholder family comprisesof

Husband, wife and minor children up to 18years of age, who collectively owncultivable land up to two hectare as per theland records of the concerned states.

Significance of Programme

Around 12 crore small and marginal farmerfamilies are expected to benefit.

PM-KISAN would not only provide assuredsupplemental income to the mostvulnerable farmer families, but would alsomeet their emergent needs especiallybefore the harvest season.

PM-KISAN would pave the way for thefarmers to earn and live a respectable living.


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Implementation

So far, over 8 crore Indian farmers havebeen enrolled in PM-Kisan, even thoughthere are around 14.5 crore landholdingfarmers in India.

Among the States where the enrolment isless than half are Madhya Pradesh (49 percent), Tamil Nadu (47 per cent), Kerala (40per cent) and Bihar (26 per cent).

Key Fact Odisha offers free healthcare to elderly

under the BijuSwasthyaKalyanYojana.

Missing boy traced within 24 hours afterregistering Zero FIRContext : The Kanchikacherla police registered a

‘Zero FIR’ following a missing personcomplaint lodged by a BC Welfare Hostelwarden of Veerulapadu, which is locatedunder the limits of Veerulapadu policestation. The investigation was taken up

immediately and the boy was traced within24 hours.

Explanation :What is Zero FIR? Normally, an FIR is registered by a serial

number in the police station havingterritorial jurisdiction to investigate theCrime.

A Zero FIR can be registered in the Policestation where the information about aCognizable Offence is received,irrespective of whether it has got territorialjurisdiction or not. Zero FIR can only beregistered but not numbered.

Such unnumbered FIR is then forwarded tothe concerned police station where it getsnumbered and then proceeded forinvestigation.

Justice Verma Committee Reportrecommended the provision of Zero FIR,after the December 2012 gang rape of a 23-year old girl in Delhi.

Section 166A IPC As per Section 166A(c) of Indian Penal Code,

Whoever being a Public Servant fails torecord any information given to him shallbe punished with rigorous imprisonmentfor a term which shall not be less than sixmonths but which may extend to two years,and shall also be liable to fine.

SatvinderKaur case In SatvinderKaur v. Govt. of NCT, Delhi, the

Supreme Court held that, (i) The Station House Officer (S.H.O.) has

statutory authority under Section 156 of theCriminal Procedure Code to investigate anycognizable case for which an FIR is lodged.

(ii) At the stage of investigation, there is noquestion of interference on the ground thatthe investigating Officer has no territorialjurisdiction.

(ii i) After investigation is over, if theInvestigating Officer arrives at theconclusion that the cause of action forlodging FIR has not arisen within his


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territorial jurisdiction, then he is requiredto submit a report and to forward the caseto the Magistrate empowered to takecognizance of the offence.

Ramesh Kumari v. State (NCT of Delhi) The Court held that, in case, an officer-in-

charge of a police station refused toexercise the jurisdiction vested upon himto register a case on the information of acognizable offence reported, the personaggrieved by such refusal can send theinformation to the Superintendent ofPolice concerned, should either investigatethe case himself or direct an investigationto be made by any police officer.

Anglo-Indians left out as Bill to extendquota in legislature gets nodContext : The Union Cabinet approved a proposal to

do away with the provisions that allowedrepresentation of the Anglo-Indiancommunity in the LokSabha even as itextended the reservation of ScheduleCastes (SC) and Schedule Tribes (ST) by 10years.

Explanation : The reservation for SC/ST communities and

the Anglo-Indian community was to expirein January 2020, but the new Bill will extendthe reservation for SC and ST communitiesby 10 years, till January 25, 2030.

Who is an Anglo-Indian person? An Anglo-Indian is a person whose father

or any of whose other male progenitors inthe male line is or was of European descentbut who is domiciled within the territoryof India and is or was born within suchterritory of parents habitually residenttherein and not merely established therefor temporary purposes.

Provision related to Anglo-Indian communityin parliament Under Article 331, the President can

nominate 2 members of the Anglo-Indian

community to the LokSabha, if thecommunity is not adequately represented.Simi larly, the governor of a state cannominate one member of the Anglo-Indiancommunity to the state legislativeassembly, if the community is notadequately represented.

Originally, these two provisions ofreservation and special representationwere to operate for ten years (i.e., up to1960) only. But this duration has beenextended continuously since then by tenyears each time.

Now, under the 95thAmendment Act of2009, these two provisions of reservationand special representation are to last until2020.

The reasons for the extension of the abovetwo provisions are as follows: Article 334 of the Constitution lays down

that the provisions of the Constitutionrelating to the reservation of seats for theSC and ST and the representation of theAnglo-Indian community by nomination inthe House of the People and theLegislative Assemblies of the States shallcease to have effect on the expiration ofthe period of 60 years from thecommencement of the Constitution.

Although the SC and ST have madeconsiderable progress in the last sixty years,the reasons which weighed with theConstituent Assembly in making provisionswith regard to the aforesaid reservation ofseats and nomination of members havenot ceased to exist. It is, therefore,proposed to continue the reservation forthe SC and ST Tribes and the representationof the Anglo-Indian community bynomination for a further period of tenyears.

The reason for this special representationto the Anglo-Indians is: “Anglo-Indiansconstitute a religious, social, as well as alinguistic minority. These provisions werenecessary, for, otherwise, being


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numerically an extremely small community,and being interspersed all over India, theAnglo-Indians could not hope to get anyseat in any legislature through election.”

Special Provision in Services and EducationalGrants for Anglo-Indians: Before independence, certain posts were

reserved for the AngloIndians in therailway, customs, postal and telegraphservices of the Union. Similarly, the Anglo-Indian educational institutions were givencertain special grants by the Centre and thestates. Both the benefits were allowed tocontinue under the Constitution on aprogressive diminution basis and finallycame to an end in 1960.

Cabinet approves InternationalFinancial Services Centres Authority Bill,2019Context : The Union Cabinet has approved

establishment of a unified authority forregulating all financial services inInternational Financial Services Centres(IFSCs) in India through InternationalFinancial Services Centres Authority Bill,2019.

Explanation :Highlights of the BillCoverage The Bill will apply to all International

Financial Services Centres (IFSCs) set upunder the Special Economic Zones Act,2005.

International Financial Services CentresAuthority The Bill sets up the International Financial

Services Centres Authority. It will consistof nine members, appointed by the centralgovernment.

Members of the Authority will include: (i)the Chairperson, (ii) one member each tobe nominated from the RBI, the Securitiesand Exchange Board of India (SEBI), theInsurance Regulatory and Development

Authority of India (IRDAI), and the PensionFund Regulatory and DevelopmentAuthority (PFRDA), (iii) two members fromamong officials of the Ministry of Finance,and (iv) two members to be appointed onthe recommendation of a SearchCommittee. Members will have a term ofthree years, subject to reappointment.

Functions of the Authority Regulate financial products (such as

securities, deposits or contracts ofinsurance), financial services, and financialinstitutions which have been previouslyapproved by any appropriate regulator(such as RBI or SEBI), in an IFSC.

Recommending any other financialproducts, financial services, or financialinstitutions to the central government,which may be permitted in an IFSC.

International Financial Services CentresAuthority Fund The Bill sets up the International Financial

Services Centres Authority Fund. i) Allgrants, fees and charges received by theAuthority, and (ii) all sums received by theAuthority from various sources, as decidedby the central government is added to fund.

The Fund will be used for: (i) salaries,allowances and other remuneration ofmembers and employees of the Authority,and (ii) expenses incurred by the Authority. Further, the central government mayprovide grants to the Authority for theregulation of IFSCs.

Performance Review Committee The Authority will constitute a

Performance Review Committee to reviewits functioning. The Review Committeewill consist of at least two members of theAuthority.

It will review whether: The Authority has adhered to the

provisions of the applicable laws whileexercising powers or performing functions,

The regulations made by the Authority


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promote transparency and best practicesof governance, and

The Authority is managing risks to itsfunctioning in a reasonable manner.

Transaction in foreign currency All transactions of financial services in

IFSCs will be in such foreign currency asspecified by the Authority, in consultationwith the central government.

Need Currently, the banking, capital markets and

insurance sectors in IFSC are regulated bymultiple regulators, i.e. RBI, SEBI and IRDAI.

However, the dynamic nature of businessin the IFSCs necessitates a high degree ofinter-regulatory coordination. It alsorequires regular clarifications and frequentamendments in the existing regulationsgoverning financial activities in IFSCs. Thedevelopment of financial services andproducts in IFSCs would require focussedand dedicated regulatory interventions.

What is International Financial ServicesCentres (IFSC)? An IFSC enables bringing back the financial

services and transactions that are currentlycarried out in offshore financial centers byIndian corporate entities and overseasbranches / subsidiaries of financialinstitutions to India by offering regulatoryenvironment that is comparable to otherleading international financial centers inthe world.

It would provide Indian corporates easieraccess to global financial markets.

IFSC would also compliment and promotefurther development of financial marketsin India.

Government wants Supreme Court toreconsider stand on SC/ST creamy layerContext : The government has asked the Chief Justice

of India to refer a September 26, 2018judgment of a Supreme Court in JarnailSingh versus LachhmiNarain Gupta to a

larger Bench of seven judges for a reviewof its stand on SC/ST creamy layer.

Explanation : In Jarnail Singh, the court had agreed with

earlier verdict in the M. Nagaraj case thatthe creamy layer should be applied to SCsand STs.

Background On December 2, the Central government

asked the Supreme Court of India thequestion whether the creamy layerconcept should apply (or not) to ScheduledCastes and Scheduled Tribes while givingthem reservation in promotions.

What does the government want? The government wants the Supreme Court

to reconsider its stand that Cream layer ofScheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) communities should be excluded fromthe benefits of reservation in governmentservices.

What is “Creamy layer”? The ‘creamy layer’ first finds expression in

the Supreme Court’s landmark judgmentin IndraSawhney versus Union ofIndia (1992).

It defined creamy layer as:“Some members of a backward class whoare highly advanced socially as well aseconomically and educationally. Theyconstitute the forward section of thatparticular backward class. They get all thebenefits of reservations meant for thatclass, without allowing benefits to reachthe truly backward members of that class”.

The IndraSawhney judgmenthad upheld the government’s move, basedon the Mandal Commission report, to give27% reservation to Other Backward Classes.But it held that the creamy layer must beexcluded from backward classes.

The term creamy layer and non-creamylayer was also used in the recommendationof the Sattanathan Commission in 1971.

The Sattanathan commission came to a


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conclusion that creamy layer candidates ofthe Other Backward Classes (OBC) shouldnot get any benefits from the centralgovernment pointing towards thereservation or quota in the governmentjobs.

How was the creamy layer made applicableto SC/ST members? The IndraSawhney verdict had held that

there would be reservation only in initialappointments and not in promotions. TheCentre introduced Article 16(4A) throughthe Constitution (Seventy-seventhAmendment) Act in 1995 to overcome theeffect of this judgment and continue withits policy of extending quotas for SCs andSTs in promotions, reasoning that theirrepresentation in States’ services has notreached the required level.

Article 16(4B) was also introduced in theConstitution to carry forward unfil ledvacancies in subsequent years and notapply the 50% cap on reservation to thesevacancies.

Article 335 of the Constitution wasamended in 2001 to allow relaxations inqualifying marks and lowering of standardsin favor of SCs/STs. The amendments werechallenged in Nagaraj case.

Nagaraj case It upheld reservations for OBCs. It also held

that reservations in appointments, underArticle 16(4) of the constitution, do notapply to promotions.

Supreme court also laid down threeconditions for promotion of SCs and STs inpublic employment.

The court held that the government cannotintroduce quota in promotion for its SC/STemployees unless it proves that The particular community was backward, Inadequately represented and Providing reservation in promotion would

not affect the overall efficiency of publicadministration.

The judgment in Nagaraj also held that the creamy

layer was applicable to SCs and STs in governmentpromotions.Criticism of Nagraj case judgement It failed to recognise that the SCs and STs

continued to suffer from centuries ofdiscrimination, by requiring the state toreassess their backwardness in the case ofreservations in promotions.

The supreme court erroneously andimpliedly overruled decision inIndraSawhney, which clearly held that SCsand STs are homogenous and could not besub-categorised.

These criticisms against Nagaraj werereviewed by another five-judge bench inJarnail Singh vsLachhmiNarain Gupta in2018 which again condemned thatjudgement.

B.K. Pavitra I case In 2002, the Karnataka passed Reservation

Act 2002 which provided for consequentialseniority to roster-point promotees basedon the length of service in a cadre.

In 2017, Supreme Court had declared a 2002legislation invalid (B.K. Pavitravs Union ofIndia-I) on the ground that Karnataka hadnot collected data on the three parameters– inadequacy of representation,backwardness and the impact on overallefficiency – before making reservations inpromotions.

After the decision of the Supreme Court inB.K. Pavitra I, the Karnataka government setup the RatnaPrabha Committee to submita report on the backwardness andinadequacy of representation of SCs andSTs in the state civil services. On the basisof the RatnaPrabha Committee report, thestate assembly passed the KarnatakaExtension of Consequential Seniority toGovernment Servants Promoted on theBasis of Reservation Bill, 2017.

The 2018 Act was challenged in theSupreme Court in B.K. Pavitra II.

B.K. Pavitra II (2019) Supreme Court upheld a reservation in


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promotion policy. It upheld 2018 KarnatakaReservation Act on the ground that theState had furnished sufficient data todemonstrate both that SC/STs areinadequately represented and that thepolicy would not adversely affectefficiency.

Court introduced a new inclusivedefinition of administrative efficiencyunder Article 335. Explaining Article 335,the bench held that special measures needto be adopted for considering the claims ofSCs and STs in order to bring them to a levelplaying field.

Eligibility criteria for OBC non-creamy layer If the income of OBC person is below Rs. 8

Lakhs, the person would belong to non-creamy layer category.

Except for the Tamil Nadu Government,every state government has made itmandatory to obtain an Other BackwardClasses (OBC) certificate for the peoplewho fall under this category while applyingfor central government jobs.

The certificate is valid only for a year’stime from the date of receiving of thecertificate.

RashtriyaVayoshriYojana for DisabledPersonsContext : RashtriyaVayoshriYojana is a scheme of

Ministry of Social Justice andEmpowerment for providing Physical Aidsand Assisted-living Devices for Seniorcitizens belonging to BPL category.

Explanation :More about Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana:


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This is a Central Sector Scheme, fully fundedby the Central Government.

The expenditure for implementation of thescheme will be met from the “SeniorCitizens’ Welfare Fund”.

The Scheme duration is for period of the 3years ie. upto 2019-20.

The Scheme is implemented through thesole implementing agency – Artificial LimbsManufacturing Corporation (ALIMCO), aPSU under the Ministry of Social Justice andEmpowerment.

Under the Scheme Aids and Assisted-LivingDevices will be provided to eligible elderlybeneficiary senior citizens such as Walkingsticks, Elbow crutches, Walkers, HearingAids, Wheelchair, Artificial Dentures andSpectacles.

Eligibility Senior Citizens, belonging to BPL category

and suffering from any of the age relateddisability/infirmity viz. Low vision, Hearingimpairment, Loss of teeth and Locomotordisability is provided with such assisted-living devices which can restore nearnormalcy in their bodily functions.

About Assistance to Disabled Persons forPurchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances(ADIP)’ Department of Empowerment of Persons

with Disabilities is implementing‘Assistance to Disabled Persons forPurchase/Fitting of Aids and Appliances(ADIP)’ Scheme.

Under this scheme, aids and assistivedevices are distributed to eligibleDivyangjan for their empowerment.

Eligibility An Indian citizen of any age. Holds a 40% Disablement Certificate. Has monthly income from all sources not

exceeding Rs. 20,000/- per month. In caseof dependents, the income of parents/guardians should not exceed Rs. 20,000/-per month.

Who have not received assistance duringthe last 3 years for the same purpose fromany source. However, for children below12 years of age, this limit would be oneyear.

Social Security Code Bill introduced inLokSabha Context : Labour minister introduced the Social

Security Code Bill, 2019 in LokSabha, pavingway for universalisation of social securityfor 50 crore workers in the country.

Explanation : The Code on Social Security, 2019 once in

place will merge eight exiting labour lawsincluding Employees’ Compensation Act,1923; Employees‘ State Insurance Act, 1948,Employees‘ Provident Funds andMiscellaneous Provisions Act, 1952;Maternity Benefit Act, 1961; Payment ofGratuity Act, 1972; Cine Workers WelfareFund Act, 1981; Building and OtherConstruction Workers Cess Act, 1996 andUnorganized Workers‘ Social Security Act,2008.

Highlights of the Social Security Code Bill


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Social security fund The Bill proposes setting up a social security

fund using corpus available under corporatesocial responsibility. This fund will providewelfare benefits such as pension, medicalcover, and death and disablement benefitsto all workers, including gig workers.

Reducing employee PF contribution The bill provides option of reducing

provident fund contribution (currently at12% of basic salary) and therefore increaseworkers take-home pay.

The rationale for allowing lower employeePF contribution is that higher take-homepay may boost consumption. The Bill,however, retains employers’ PFcontribution at 12%.

Gratuity for fixed-term contract workers Currently, workers are not entitled to

gratuity before completing five years ofcontinuous service, as prescribed in thePayment of Gratuity Act, 1972.

The bill says that fixed-term contractworkers will be eligible for gratuity on apro-rata basis.

It proposes to offer gratuity to fixed termemployees after one year of service on apro-rata basis as against the current practiceof five years.

Exemption It will empower the central government to

exempt select establishments from all orany of the provisions of the code and makesAadhaar mandatory for availing benefitsunder various social security schemes.

Insurance, PF, life cover for unorganized sectoremployees: Central Government shall formulate and

notify, from time to time, suitable welfareschemes for unorganised workers onmatter relating to life and disability cover;health and maternity benefits; old ageprotection; and any other benefit as maybe determined by the central government.

Accessible India campaign’s deadlineextended Context : The deadline for the government’s

Accessible India campaign that aims atmaking public spaces friendly for personswith disabilities has been extended due toslow progress, the Ministry of Social Justiceand Empowerment has informed theLokSabha.

Explanation :About Accessible India Campaign (AIC)

Accessible India Campaign (SugamyaBharat Abhiyan) is a nation-wide Campaignlaunched by Department of Empowermentof Persons with Disabilities (DEPwD) toprovide universal accessibility to personswith disabilities.

It has the following components: 1. Built Environment Accessibility 2. Transportation System Accessibility 3. Information and Communication Eco-

System Accessibility Persons with Disabilities (Equal

Opportunities, Protection of Rights and FullParticipation) Act, 1995

This Act categorically provides for non-discrimination in transport, non-discrimination on the road and non-discrimination in built environmentrespectively.


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Under this Act, the States are required toprovide for – Ramps in public buildings; Adaptation of toilets for wheel chair users; Braille symbols and auditory signals in

elevators or lifts; Ramps in hospitals, primary health centres

and other medical care and rehabilitationinstitutions

Section 44 and 45 of the said Act castresponsibility on the States to takemeasures to make public transportaccessible for PwDs and also makeprovision for auditory signals at red lightsin public roads, curb cuts and slops inpavements, engraving on the surface atzebra crossings etc.

Key Facts

India is a signatory to the UN Conventionon the Rights of Persons withDisabilities (UNCRPD). Article 9 of UNCRPDcasts an obligation on all the signatorygovernments to take appropriate measuresto ensure to persons with disabilitiesaccess, on an equal basis with others, tothe physical environment, totransportation, to information andcommunications, including informationand communications technologies andsystems, and to other facilities and servicesopen or provided to the public, both inurban and in rural areas.

AtalBhujalYojana (ABHY)Context : AtalBhujalYojana (ABHY) is a Rs. 6,000 Crore

Central Sector Scheme, for sustainablemanagement of ground waterresources with community participation.

Explanation : The scheme aims to improve ground water

management in priority areas in the countrythrough community participation. Thepriority areas are in Gujarat, Haryana,Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,


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Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. These Statesrepresent about 25% of the total numberof overexploited, critical and semi-criticalblocks in terms of ground water in India.They also cover two major types ofgroundwater systems found in India – alluvial and hard rock aquifers.

The Expected Outcome Render a focused community-based

approach to tackle issues connected withgroundwater depletion.

Provide sustainable groundwatermanagement through the convergence ofcurrent governmental schemes.

Facilitate adoption of efficient water usepractices that limit the use of water forirrigation.

Augmentation of groundwater resources intargeted areas.

Priority areas: The priority areas identified under the

scheme fall in the states of Gujarat,Haryana, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh,Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

These States represent about 25% of thetotal number of over-exploited, critical andsemi-critical blocks in terms of groundwater in India.

They also cover two major types ofgroundwater systems found in India –alluvial and hard rock aquifers- and havevarying degrees of institutional readinessand experience in groundwatermanagement.

Implementation of the scheme:

The funding pattern is 50:50 betweenGovernment of India and World Bank.

Funds under the scheme will be providedto the states for strengthening theinstitutions responsible for ground watergovernance, as well as for encouragingcommunity involvement for improvingground water management to fosterbehavioural changes that promoteconservation and efficient use of water.

The scheme will also facilitate convergence


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of ongoing Government schemes in thestates by incentivizing their focussedimplementation in identified priority areas.

Andhra Pradesh Assembly unanimouslypasses Disha Act-2019Context : Days after the rape and murder of the 26-

year-old veterinarian in Hyderabad, AndhraPradesh Legislative Assembly passed theAndhra Pradesh Disha Bill, 2019 (Now,Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law(Amendment) Act 2019). It provides forawarding death sentence for offences ofrape and gangrape and expediting trials ofsuch cases to within 21 days.

Explanation : Disha is the name given to a veterinarian

who was raped and murdered in Hyderabadon in November.

Highlights of the Andhra Pradesh Disha Act2019: The objective of the Act is to ensure

expeditious trial of the accused arrested inconnection with the specified offenceperpetrated against women.

Provides for establishment of publicaccessible register in electronic form, to becalled the ‘Women & Children OffendersRegistry’. The government of India haslaunched a National Registry of Sexualoffenders but the database is not digitizedand is not accessible to the public.

Exclusive punishment of death penalty forrape crimes At present, provision for punishing an

offender in a rape case is a fixed jail termleading to life imprisonment or the deathsentence.TheDisha Act 2019 has prescribedthe death penalty for rape crimes wherethere is adequate conclusive evidence.

Reducing the judgment period to 21 days The existing judgment period as per the

Nirbhaya Act, 2013 and CriminalAmendment Act, 2018 is 4 months (twomonths of investigation period and twomonths of trial period).

Disha Act reduced it to 21 working daysfrom date of offence in cases of rape crimeswith substantial conclusive evidence. (7days for investigation and 14 for trial).

Stringent punishment for sexual offencesagainst children In cases of molestation/sexual assault on

children under the POCSO Act, 2012,punishment ranges from 3 to 7 years ofimprisonment. Disha Act, apart from rape,prescribes life imprisonment for othersexual offences against children.

Punishment for harassment of womenthrough social media In cases of harassment of women through

social or digital media, the Act states twoyears’ imprisonment for the first convictionand four years for second and subsequent.

Establishment of exclusive special courts inevery district of Andhra Pradesh Government will establish special courts,

which will exclusively deal with cases ofoffences against women and children.

Andhra Pradesh introduced the ‘AndhraPradesh Special Courts for SpecifiedOffences against Women & Children Act,20192 .

Reducing appeal to 3 months for disposal ofrape cases At present, the period for disposal of

appeal cases related to rape cases against


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women and children is six months. DishaAct reduced to three months.

Constitution of special police teams andappointment of the special public prosecutorin special courts There is no such provision in existing laws.

Disha Act provides for special police teams atthe district level to be called District SpecialPolice Team for investigation of offencesrelated to women and children. Thegovernment will also appoint a special publicprosecutor for each exclusive special court.

Areas of concernCriticism over provision of 21-day period

The perception that the convictedwould be executed in 21 days after theenactment comes is flawed for thefollowing reasons:

Can the defence party defend his/herclient efficiently in such a short duration?Denial of fair trial is one of the primaryreasons cited for challenging the deathsentence of the Nibhaya convicts beforethe Supreme Court of India.

As per the Act, the appeal must be decidedin 45 days which categorically means thatthe right to appeal of the convicts isallowed. Once the appeal is decided by theHigh Court, the convicts may prefer anappeal in the Supreme Court by takingrecourse to the Special Leave Petition(Criminal) further delaying theirexecution. The appeal made in 2014 beforethe apex court in the Nirbhaya case was onlydecided in 2018.

Clemency petitions if fi led beforethe President to grant pardon could take itsown time before which the person whosought clemency should not be executed.

Other criticism : Punishment for abdication of responsibility

on the part of law enforcement agencies,in dealing with “specified offence”, is notmentioned in the Act.

The act does not provide for creatingawareness among the public against

atrocities perpetrated on women. Witness protection scheme also finds no

mention in the Act. Compensation to the victim from the fund

exclusively created for the purpose on thelines of Nirbhaya Fund also finds nomention in the Act.

Right to Speedy Trial Vs. Right to Fair Trial Right to Speedy Trial in criminal cases is a

right under Article 21 of the Constitutionas laid down by the Supreme Court of Indiain Katar Singh vs. the State of Punjab.

However, Right to Fair Trial is also inherentin Article 21 and in the case of ZahiraHabibullah Sheikh &Gujarat, the SupremeCourt held that fair trial means:a) Trial before an impartial judge;b) A fair prosecutor;c) Atmosphere of judicial calm; andd) A fair trial means a trial in which bias orprejudice for or against the accused, thewitnesses, or the cause which is being triedis eliminated.

Way forward Paying complete heed to the “Justice

delayed is justice denied” without payingdue regard to “Justice hurried is justiceburied” would not yield desired dividends.Therefore, legislation enacted even with abona fide intention should strike areasonable balance between the twopossibly contradictory rights.

Maternity scheme exclusionary, needbenefits for allContext : Three years after a pan-India maternity

benefit programme, the chorus on its manyexclusions is growing louder.

Explanation : The scheme has led to single women and

young brides being left out of its purview.Activists urge for a need for reviewing thescheme and making it universal byremoving restrictions on the number ofchildren as well as including all women.


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Reason for many exclusions under PMMVY To get PMMVY benefits, mother have

to show the Aadhaar card of her husband.Women who are living with men they arenot married to, single mothers and thosewho may be staying at their natal homewere not able to shown her husband’sAadhaar card and were excluded from thescheme.

Women must also have the address of theirmarital home on their Aadhaar card, which

often results in newly married couplesbeing either left out or forced to travel.

Long delays in transferring the cashamount to the beneficiaries

Requirement of PMMVY that theapplicant has to be at least 19 years old alsoleaves out younger brides, who hesitate ingetting their marriages registered as thelegal age of marriage is 18 years.

Also, The PMMVY requires separateundertakings from the woman and herhusband that the child for whom they areseeking the benefit is the first living childfor both of them, further making itprohibitive.

Some women have to pay ahefty bribe during the PMMVY applicationprocess.

Long documentation procedures. This islikely to result in many women living onthe margins, such as women in custody,migrant and those living in post-conflictsituations unable to claim benefits.

About PradhanMantriMatruVandanaYojana(PMMVY) It is a Maternity Benefit Programme that is

implemented in accordance with theprovision of the National Food Security Act,2013.


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It was previously known as Indira GandhiMatritva Sahyog Yojana (IGMSY).

This programme has been in force from 1stJanuary 2017.

Objectives Providing partial compensation for the

wage loss in terms of cash incentive so thatthe woman can take adequate rest beforeand after delivery of the first living child.

Eligibility Lactating mothers and pregnant women in

case of the birth of the first child in thefamily.

Benefits

It is a direct benefit transfer (DBT)scheme under which cash benefits areprovided to pregnant women in their bankaccount directly to meet enhancednutritional needs and partially compensatefor wage loss.

Under the scheme, Pregnant Women andLactating Mothers (PW&LM) receive a cashbenefit of INR 5,000 on fulfill ing therespective conditionality.

The eligible beneficiaries also receive INR1000 under JananiSurakshaYojana (JSY).Thus, on an average, a woman gets INR6,000 in three instalments.

Implementation PMMVY is implemented using the platform

of Anganwadi Services scheme of UmbrellaIntegrated Child Development Services(ICDS) under Ministry of Women and ChildDevelopment.

Funding Under the scheme, the cost sharing ratio

between the Centre and the States & UTswith Legislature is 60:40, for North-EasternStates & three Himalayan States, it is 90:10and 100% Central assistance for UnionTerritories without Legislature.

Key Facts In India, every third woman is under

nourished and every second woman isanemic.

Destruction of public property: Whatthe law says, what SC directedContext : While agreeing to hear petitions on alleged

police excesses on students inJamiaMilliaIslamia and Aligarh MuslimUniversity, a Supreme Court Benchexpressed displeasure over rioting anddestruction of public property.


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Explanation :About The Prevention of Damage to Public

Property Act, 1984 The Prevention of Damage to Public

Property Act, 1984 punishes anyone “whocommits mischief by doing any act inrespect of any public property” with a jailterm of up to 5 years and a fine or both.

What is a public property? Public property under this Act includes “any

building, installation or other propertyused in connection with the production,distribution or supply of water, light, poweror energy; any oil installation; any sewageworks; any mine or factory; any means ofpublic transportation or oftelecommunications, or any building,installation or other property used inconnection therewith”.

K T Thomas and Fali Nariman committee In 2007, the court took suomotu cognizance

of various instances where there was largescale destruction of public and privateproperties in the name of agitations, bandhsand the like, and set up two Committeesunder K T Thomas and FaliNariman tosuggest changes to the law.

Supreme court said that the law must beamended to give the court the power todraw a presumption that the accused isguilty of destroying public property, and itwould then be open to the accused to rebutsuch presumption.

K T Thomas Committee The K T Thomas Committee recommended

reversing the burden of proof againstprotesters. Accepting the suggestion, thecourt said that the prosecution should berequired to prove that public property hadbeen damaged in direct action called by anorganisation, and that the accused alsoparticipated in such direct action.

Fali Nariman Committee The Nariman Committee’s recommen

dations dealt with extracting damages for

destruction. Accepting the recommen-dations, the court said the rioters wouldbe made strictly liable for the damage, andcompensation would be collected to “makegood” the damage.

Moreover, Supreme court also issuedguidelines including directing High Courtsto order suomotu action, and to set up amachinery to investigate the damagecaused and award compensation wherevermass destruction to property takes placedue to protests. However, these guidelineshad a limited impact because theidentification of protesters remainsdifficult, especially in cases where there isno leader who gave the call to protest.

Government launches NationalBroadband MissionContext : The government promised broadband

access in all villages by 2022, as it launchedthe ambitious National Broadband Missionentailing stakeholder investment of Rs 7lakhs crore in the coming years.

Explanation :Objectives of National Broadband Mission Broadband access to all villages by 2022. Laying of incremental 30 lakhs route km of

Optical Fiber Cable and increase in towerdensity from 0.42 to 1.0 tower per thousandof population by 2024.


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Develop a Broadband ReadinessIndex (BRI) to measure the availability ofdigital communications infrastructure andconducive policy ecosystem within a State/UT.

Creation of a digital fiber map of the DigitalCommunications network andinfrastructure, including Optical FiberCables and Towers, across India.

Investment from stakeholders of USD 100billion (Rs 7 Lakh Crore) including Rs 70,000crore from Universal Service ObligationFund (USOF).

Significance Facilitate universal and equitable access to

broadband services for across the countryand especially in rural and remote areas.

It will fast track growth of digitalcommunications infrastructure, bridge thedigital divide, facilitate digitalempowerment and provide affordable anduniversal access of broadband for all.

It will lay emphasis on universality,affordability and quality of services. TheCentre will work with the states and UTsfor having consistent policies pertaining toexpansion of digital infrastructure,including for Right of Way (RoW) approvalsrequired for laying of optical fibre cable.

Mission on urban renewal extended by2 yrs to 2022Context : Unable to meet set targets for urban

renewal in 500 cities, the Centre hasdecided to extend the mission period ofits flagship initiative Atal Mission forRejuvenation and Urban Transformation(AMRUT) by two more years. AMRUT wasaimed at completing its mission period inMarch 2020.

Explanation :About Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban

Transformation (AMRUT) AMRUT, Centrally Sponsored Scheme, was

launched in 2015 for the transformation of

500 cities and towns into efficient urbanliving spaces.

The total outlay for AMRUT is INR 50,000crore for five years from 2015-16 to 2019-20. Almost 50% of the total mission outlayhas been allocated to water supply sector.

Objective To ensure that every household has access

to a tap with assured supply of water and asewerage connection

To increase the amenity value of cities bydeveloping greenery

To reduce pollution by switching to publictransport or constructing facilities for non-motorized transport e.g. walking andcycling

The Mission has 5 Thrust Areas:

Water Supply Sewerage and septage management Storm Water Drainage to reduce flooding Non-motorized Urban Transport Green space/parks

Selection Criteria for AMRUT All cities and towns with a population of

over one lakh with notified Municipalities,


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including Cantonment Boards (Civilianareas)

All capital cities/towns of states/ UTs, notcovered in the above mentioned category

All cities/ towns classified as heritage citiesunder the HRIDAY Scheme

13 cities and towns on the stem of the mainrivers with a population above 75,000 andless than 1 lakh

10 Cities from hill states, islands and touristdestinations (not more than one from eachState).

Smart Cities Mission and AMRUT The two missions that were

simultaneously launched – Smart CitiesMission and AMRUT are interlinked. AMRUTadopts a project approach to ensure basicinfrastructure services in 500 cities andtowns. Smart Cities Mission adopts an areabased approach in 100 cities with focus oncore infrastructure services like: Adequateand clean Water supply, Sanitation andSolid Waste Management etc.

Phase-III of PradhanMantri GramSadakYojana launchedContext : Rural Development Minister launched

Phase-III of PradhanMantri GramSadakYojana in New Delhi to furtherenhance connectivity of villages withhospitals, schools and agricultural markets.

Explanation :About PMGSY-III scheme PMGSY-III scheme, announced by Finance

Minister, proposed to consolidate 1,25,000Km road length in various states.

The Scheme will also include throughroutes and major rural links that connecthabitations to Gramin Agricultural Markets(GrAMs), Higher Secondary Schools andHospitals.

About PradhanMantri Gram SadakYojana-I(PMGSY): The PradhanMantri Gram SadakYojana

(PMGSY) was launched by the Govt. of India


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in 2000 to provide connectivity tounconnected Habitations as part of apoverty reduction strategy.

It is a 100% Centrally Sponsored Scheme. It is a 5-year projecte., 2019-20 to 2024-25. It aims to provide single all-weather road

connectivity to eligible unconnectedhabitation of designated population size(500+ in plain areas and 250+ in North-East,hill, tribal and desert areas as per Census,2001).

PMGSY – Phase II Approved in 2013, under PMGSY phase II,

the roads already built for vil lageconnectivity was to be upgraded toenhance rural infrastructure.

Implementation National Rural Roads Development

Agency (NRRDA) (formed by Ministry ofRural Development) and State Rural RoadsDevelopment Agency (SRRDA) in variousstates.

Funding Ratio of 60:40 between the Centre and

State for all States except for 8 NorthEastern and 3 Himalayan States (Jammu &Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh &Uttarakhand)for which it is 90:10.

Road Connectivity Project for Left WingExtremism Area (RCPLWEA) In 2016, Government launched Road

Connectivity Project for Left WingExtremism affected Areas in as a separatevertical under PMGSY to provide all-weather road connectivity with necessaryculverts and cross-drainage structures in 44districts which are critical from security andcommunication point of view.


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After West Bengal, now Kerala putspopulation register update on holdContext : Following the footsteps of West Bengal,

the Kerala Government has decided to puton hold all proceedings for updating theNational Population Register (NPR). Thedecision comes in the wake ofapprehension that updating the NPR wouldeventually lead to the preparation of theNational Register of Citizens (NRC).

Explanation :About the National Population Register (NPR) The National Population Register (NPR) is

a Register of usual residents of India.

The objective of the NPR is to create acomprehensive identity databaseof everyusual resident in the country includingdemographic as well as biometricparticulars along with Aadhaar number.

It is being prepared at the local (Village/sub-Town), sub-District, District, State andNational level.

The NPR will collect both demographic dataand biometric data. Demographic data has15 categories, ranging from name and placeof birth to education and occupation. ForBiometric data, Aadhaar details of theresidents will be fetched.

A resident is defined for the purposes ofNPR as a person who has resided in a localarea for the past 6 months or more or aperson who intends to reside in that areafor the next 6 months or more.

The NPR was conducted earlier in twophases in 2010 and 2015.

Significance of NRP Every country must have a comprehensive

identity database of its residents withrelevant demographic details.

NRP will, help the government formulate its policies

better and also aid national security. help target government beneficiaries in a

better way and further cut down paperworkin a similar manner that Aadhaar has done.

streamline data of residents across variousplatforms.

help residents to not to show various proofsof age, address and other details in officialwork.

eliminate duplication in voter lists

What is the controversy around NPR? NPR comes in the backdrop of the National

Register of Citizens (NRC of Assam)excluding 19 lakh people from NRC list.

Even as a debate continues on Aadhaar and


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privacy, the NPR intends to collect a muchlarger amount of personal data onresidents of India.

The idea of conducting a nationwide NRCwould only happen on the basis of theupcoming NPR. After a list of residents iscreated, a nationwide NRC could go aboutverifying the citizens from that list.However, there is yet no clarity on themechanism for protection of this vastamount of data.

Key Facts India, with a current population size of 1.37

bill ion, is the second-most populouscountry in the world.

India’s birth rates are falling but thepopulation continues to grow due to thefact that more than 30 % of the populationis young and in the reproductive age group.

Draft Bill proposes autonomy forNational Statistical CommissionContext : Stating the need for creation for an

independent “apex advisory body forofficial statistics”, the government hasplaced a draft National StatisticalCommission (NSC) Bill for public commentsthat seeks to establish NSC as the nodal andautonomous body for all core statisticalactivities.

Explanation : Highlights of the draft National Statistical

Commission (NSC) Bill

NSC as autonomous body Establish NSC as the nodal and autonomous

body for all core statistical activities.

Change in composition Seeks to change the composition of NSC

by replacing NITI Aayog CEO with theFinance Ministry’s Chief Economic Advisoras the ex-officio member along with givingmember status to Chief Statistician of Indiafrom the current status of secretary to theNSC.

As per Bill, NSC will have a Chairperson,five whole time members along withDeputy Governor of RBI, Chief Statisticianof India (CSI) as other members and ChiefEconomic Advisor, Ministry of Finance, asthe ex-officio member. The Chairman andthe members of the Commission areappointed by the central government onthe recommendation of a searchcommittee.

Powers NSC will have power to review the

statistical system of any governmentagency. However, Government (state/central) has power to not accept the adviceof NSC by stating its reasons.

National Statistical Commission (NSC) The Government of India, in 2005, set up

the National Statistical Commission (NSC)after accepting the recommendations ofthe Rangarajan Commission.

The NSC was constituted in 2006 with amandate to evolve policies, priorities andstandards in statistical matters.

Chief statistician of India is the chairmanof NSC. The NSC has four Members besidesa Chairperson.

Union ministers unveils NagpurResolutionContext : The ‘Nagpur Resolution- A holistic

approach for empowering citizens’ wasadopted during the Valedictory session ofthe Regional Conference on ‘ImprovingPublic Service Delivery – Role ofGovernments’, in Nagpur, Maharashtra. Theconference was organised by the


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Department of Administrative Reforms andPublic Grievances (DARPG).

Explanation :Nagpur Resolution

Government of India and MaharashtraState Commission for Right to PublicServices and the participating StateGovernments shall collaborate to:

To empower the citizens by policyinterventions for better servicedelivery through timely updation ofcitizens charters, implementation ofenactments and benchmarking standardsfor continuous improvement;

To empower citizens by adopting a bottom-up approach to bring massiveimprovements in quality of grievanceredressal and reduction in timelines ofgrievance redressal;

To adopt a holistic approach of publicgrievance reforms through improvedmapping, formulation of monitoringmatrix, data collection and evaluation inquality of grievance redressal;

To provide an enabling environment forStates and Ministries/ Departments of theGovernment of India for creating webportals

To focus on dynamic policy making andstrategic decisions, monitoring ofimplementation, appointment of keypersonnel, coordination and evaluation;

To achieve a sense of common identity byexchange of technical expertise in the areasof Improved Service Delivery between thepaired States under the Ek Bharat – ShreshtBharat Program;

To work towards long-term engagementsin the areas of Improved Service Deliveryfor Empowering Citizens through greatercooperation between the DARPG and theparticipating States and,

To ensure timely publication of GoodGovernance Index to identify governancein 10 sectors especially those pertaining towelfare and infrastructure at the Union,State and District levels.

Key Facts Earlier, Shillong Declaration and Jammu

Resolution have also been adopted forgood governance.

Mission Shat PratishatContext : The Punjab Education Department recently

launched Mission Shat Pratishat to achieve100 % result in classes 5, 8, 10, and 12 ofgovernment schools.

Explanation :About Mission Shat Pratishat The Mission Shat Pratishat was launched in

September 2019 by the Punjab educationdepartment to further improve the resultsof classes 5, 8, 10, and 12 of governmentschools as compared to 2018.

Salient Features Simplified material of each and every

subject to make the teaching-learningprocess easy, and effective.

E-content of syllabus for different classesas well subjects

The Smart Class Rooms have been set upin several government schools along withLED projectors to execute the e-content atthe grass root level.

Practical examinations for differentsubjects (i.e., holding a Map Day everyweek to provide practical knowledge on themaps).


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The teachers and students are beingsensitised about the structure of thequestion papers through Edusat (EducationSatelite).

Criticism There are hundreds of government

schools, mostly primary and middle, thatdo not have enough teaching staff.

Cabinet approves funds for 10 projectsin SwadeshDarshan SchemeContext : The Union Cabinet has given its approval to

release funds to the tune of Rs. 627.40 crorefor the 10 projects sanctioned during 2018-19 and additional Rs. 1854.67 crore forsanctioning of new projects during 2019-20in SwadeshDarshan Scheme.

Explanation : SwadeshDarshan Scheme:

Ministry of Tourism launched this schemefor integrated development of themebased tourist circuits in India in 2014-15.

The duration of SwadeshDarshan Schemeis till the 14thFinance Commission Periodi.e. March 2020.

The scheme is completely funded by thecentral government of India.

This scheme is envisioned to synergise withother Government of India schemes likeSwachh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill India, Makein India etc.

Objective of scheme: Develop circuits having tourist potential in

a planned and prioritized manner. Follow community based development

and pro-poor tourism approach. Creating awareness among the local

communities about the importance oftourism.

To make full use of the potential in termsof available infrastructure and nationalculture.

What is Tourist Circuit? Tourist Circuit is defined as a route having

at least three major tourist destinationswhich are distinct and apart.

Circuits should have well defined entry andexit points. A tourist who enters should getmotivated to visit most of the placesidentified in the circuit.

A Circuit could be confined to a State orcould be a regional circuit covering morethan one State/Union Territory. Thesecircuits may have one dominant theme andother sub-themes.

13 themes of tourist circuits are: Buddhist,Coastal, Desert, Eco, Heritage, Himalayan,Krishna, North East, Ramayana, Rural,Spiritual, Sufi, Tirthankar, Tribal andWildlife.

PM Modi launches AtalJalYojana aimedat improving groundwater levelContext : Prime Minister of India urged farmers to

opt for less water intensive crops andirrigation methods that will help conservewater, as he launched the AtalJalYojana.


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Explanation :Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY)

Atal Bhujal Yojana (ABHY), also knownas AtalJal, is a Rs. 6,000 Crore Central SectorScheme, for community led sustainablemanagement of ground water resources.

It will be implemented over a period of fiveyears (2020-2021 to 2024-2025).

The scheme aims to improve ground watermanagement in priority areas throughcommunity participation. The priority areasare in Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, MadhyaPradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and UttarPradesh. These States represent about 25%of the total number of overexploited,critical and semi-critical blocks in terms ofground water in India. They also cover twomajor types of groundwater systems foundin India – alluvial and hard rock aquifers.

Components Atal Bhujal Yojana has two major components

Institutional strengthening and capacitybuilding for sustainable ground watermanagement

Incentivising the states for achievements inimproved groundwater managementpractices namely data dissemination,preparation of water security plans,

implementation of management interve-ntions through convergence of ongoingschemes etc.

Features Promote panchayat-led ground water

management and behavioral change withprimary focus on demand-side manage-ment.

Provide sustainable groundwater manage-ment through the convergence of currentgovernmental schemes.

Facilitate adoption of efficient water usepractices

Doubling farmers’ incomes, improvingcropping pattern and promoting equitableuse of ground water resources

Funding pattern: The funding pattern is 50:50between

Government of India and World Bank.

The Recycling of Ships Bill, 2019becomes an Act after receiving assentof President of IndiaContext : The Recycling of Ships Act has come into

force with President of India giving assentto the law which provides for safe andenvironmentally sound recycling of ships.

When the Hong Kong InternationalConvention for Safe and EnvironmentallySound Recycling of Ships, 2009 comes intoforce, its provisions will be implementedunder the provisions of the Recycling ofShips Act, 2019.

Explanation : About Recycling of Ships Act, 2019 The act aims to provide for the regulation

of recycling of shipsby setting certaininternational standards.


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Features

Prohibits hazardous material Restricts and prohibits the use or

installation of hazardous material, whichapplies irrespective of whether a ship ismeant for recycling or not.

For new ships, such restriction orprohibition on use of hazardous materialwill be immediate, while existing shipsshall have a period of five years forcompliance. Restriction or prohibition onuse of hazardous material would not beapplied to warships and non-commercialships operated by Government.

· The Act imposes a statutory duty on shiprecyclers to ensure environmentally soundremoval of hazardous wastes from ships.

Recycling facilities Ship recycling facilities are required to be

authorized and ships shall be recycled onlyin such authorized ship recycling facilities.

Ship-specific recycling plan Ships shall be recycled in accordance with

a ship-specific recycling plan. Ships to berecycled in India shall be required to obtaina Ready for Recycling Certificate inaccordance with the Hong KongInternational Convention (HKC).

What is Hong Kong International Convention? The Hong Kong International Convention

for the safe and environmentally soundrecycling of shipsis a multilateralconvention adopted in 2009.

It hasnot entered into force yet. It is aimed at ensuring that ships, when

being recycled after reaching the end oftheir operational lives, do not pose anyunnecessary risk to human health andsafety or to the environment.

Regulations in the Convention cover thedesign, construction, operation andpreparation of ships.

Upon entry into force of the Hong KongConvention, ships to be sent for recyclingwill be required to carry an inventory ofhazardous materials, which will be specificto each ship.

Why ship recycling is hazardous toenvironment and workers? Ships sold for scrapping may contain


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environmentally hazardous substancessuch as asbestos, heavy metals,hydrocarbons, ozone depletingsubstancesand others.

Shipbreaking is carried out mainly in theinformal sector and is rarely subject tosafety controls or inspection.

Large amounts of carcinogens and toxicsubstances not only intoxicate workers butare also dumped into the soil and coastalwaters.

An average size ship contains up to 7 tonnesof asbestos which is often sold in the localcommunities after scrapping. Asbestos,particularly used in engine rooms becauseof its thermal insulation, when breaks intofine fibres, suspends in the air for longperiods of time and can lead to fataldiseases such as lung cancer if inhaled.

Majority of shipyards have no wastemanagement systemsto prevent pollution.

Background India is the leader in the global ship

recycling industry, with a share of over 30%of the market.

The ship-recycling industry is a labour-intensive sector, but it is susceptible toconcerns on environmental safety.

Key Fact 90 % of ship-breaking in the world is carried

out in Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistanand Turkey.

India handles around 5 million ship grosstonnage (MnGT) annually, which is around25% share of the world’s ship recyclingindustry. The Indian government plans tonearly double this by 2024, at around 9MnGT.

Good Governance Index launched Context :

A good governance index (GGI) was launchedby the central government to assess thestate of governance in the country.

Explanation :About Good Governance Index (GGI)

GGI is a uniform tool across States to assessthe Status of Governance and impact ofvarious interventions taken up by the StateGovernment and UTs.

The objectives of GGI are to providequantifiable data to compare the state ofgovernance in all states and UTs, enablethem to formulate suitable strategies forimproving governance.

Another significant contribution of the GGIwould be contributing in tracking theprogress of Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDGs) at state -level.


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Sectors taken into consideration whilecalculating GGI

The GGI takes into consideration ten sectors:

1. Agriculture and Allied Sectors2. Commerce & Industries3. Human Resource Development4. Public Health5. Public Infrastructure & Utilities6. Economic Governance7. Social Welfare & Development8. Judicial & Public Security9. Environment10. Citizen-Centric Governance

These Sectors are measured on total 50indicators. The states and UTs are divided into three

groups: a). Big States, b). North-East & HillStates and c). UTs. The states and UTs areranked on all indicators separately, at thesame time composite ranking is alsocalculated for these states and UTs.

The Good Governance Day is observed onthe birth anniversary of former PrimeMinister ShriAtalBihari Vajpayee.

Highlights of Good Governance Index 2019 Top 3 states:

i) Tamil Naduii) Maharashtraiii) Karnataka

Tamil Nadu has achieved excellence in all

the sectors except in sectors l ikeagriculture and allied sectors, commerceand industries, social welfare anddevelopment. Tamil Nadu has top-scoredparticularly in sectors like publicinfrastructure and law and order.

In the North-East and Hill states, HimachalPradesh has topped the list. ArunachalPradesh and Nagaland are the leastperforming states.

Simi larly, among Union Territories,Pondicherry, Chandigarh, and Delhi leadthe ranking, with Lakshwadeep at thebottom.

PM Modi to release operationalguidelines for JalJeevan MissionContext : The Centre’s most recent flagship scheme

– JalJeevan Mission (JJM) to providedrinking water to 14.6 crore ruralhouseholds- is set to be operationalizedwith Prime Minister to release theOperational Guidelines on GoodGovernance Day.

The new guidelines will emphasisethe critical role of the gram panchayatlevel – paanisamiti or village committee torun and maintain the water supply system


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in their community and also bring insystems for water use charges.

Explanation : About JalJeevan Mission

It aims to ensure Functional Household TapConnection (FHTC) for every household inIndia by 2024.

It also aims to create local infrastructure forrainwater harvesting, groundwaterrecharge and management of householdwaste water for reuse in agriculture.

The Har Ghar Nal Se Jalprogramme,announced by Finance Minister recently,forms a crucial part of the JalJeevanMission.

The JalJeevan Mission is based ona community approach to wateras itincludes information, education andcommunication as key components.

The Mission is based on various waterconservation efforts like point recharge,desilting of minor irrigation tanks, use ofgreywater for agriculture and sourcesustainability.

The Mission will converge with otherCentral and State Government Schemes toachieve its objectives of sustainable watersupply management across the country.

Current status of clean drinking wateraccessibility in India India has 16 % of the world population but

has only 4 % of world’s freshwaterresources.


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Out of 17.87 Crore rural households in thecountry, about 14.6 Crore which accountsfor 81.67% are yet to have household watertap connections.

In 1980, just 1% of India’s rural areas hadaccess to safe, usable water but by 2013,that had increased to 30%.

The Asian Development Bank has forecastthat by 2030, India will have a water deficitof 50 %.

A WaterAid report in 2016 ranked Indiaamong the worst countries in the world forthe number of people without safe water.

The Union Ministry of Water Resources hasestimated India’s current waterrequirements to be around 1100 billioncubic metres per year, which is estimatedto be around 1200 billion cubic metres forthe year 2025.

MGNREGA trends: fewer jobs since July,wider demand-supply gapContext : Jobs generated under the Mahatma Gandhi

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act(MGNREGA) have shown a dip comparedto last year after July. This comes even as2018-19 saw a record number of householdsdemanding as well as being providedemployment under rural public worksprogramme.

Explanation :Demand vs actual work provided underMGNREGA

However, in 2019, there was a clear dip inthe person-days of employment underMGNREGA, which is visible after July.Significantly, in all the months before, thework provided exceeded thecorresponding levels for 2018.

This is due to the onset of the southwestmonsoon. Rainfall during the 2019 monsoonseason was 10% above the historicalaverage whereas it was 9.4% below averagein 2018. An above-normal monsoon meantthere was lower demand for MGNREGAwork.

From above graph, it can be seen that thegap between the number of householdsdemanding MGNREGA work and thenumber who were provided work has beenthe highest in 2019-20. This indicates thateven if demand fell, supply of work felleven more.

Lack of Funds For 2019-20, the government has allocated

Rs 60,000 crore towards MGNREGA.


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However, only about Rs 9,500 crore wouldbe required for clearing the liabilities ofwages, material and administrative costsfor previous years.

The cost of providing a day’s work to asingle person has been taken at an averageof Rs 249.86 for 2019-20. The MGNREGAlabour budget alone for 2019 is roughly Rs67,514 crore. However, the total budgetaryallocation, which also includes provisiontowards material and administrativeexpenses, has been only Rs 60,000 crore.

Meanwhile, the Centre has revisedupwards its original plan of providing 260crore person-days of work for 2019-20 to316.73 crore person-days, following adecision to augment the number of days ofemployment per household from 100 to 150in flood-affected districts of states such asKarnataka.

Decline of Other support schemes Besides MGNREGA, Pradhan Mantri Kisan

Samman Nidhi, a farm income supportscheme, is alsofacing slowdown. The totalamount disbursed under the incomesupport scheme in 2019-20 is Rs 32,320crore, which is significantly short of the Rs75,000 crore budgeted for it. Further, outof total allocated budget since theinception of PM-KISAN, only half budget isused.

Even the number of rural houses built underPM AwasYojana-Gramin, which hadrecorded a sharp rise in 2015-18, saw a dropin 2019-20.

About Mahatma Gandhi National RuralEmployment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) The MGNREGA, also known as Mahatma

Gandhi National Rural EmploymentGuarantee Scheme (MNREGS) was enactedin 2005.

The MGNREGA provides a legal guaranteefor 100 days of employment in everyfinancial year to adult members of any ruralhousehold wi lling to do public work-related unskilled manual work at thestatutory minimum wage.

Prejudging offence to deny bail is againstthe right of an accused to a fair trialContext : A tendency among government agencies

to hand over documents in sealed coversto courts in every case coupled with aninclination among judges to verbatimreproduce their contents as judicialfindings to deny bail is against the right ofan accused to a fair trial, Supreme Courtheld in its Chidambaram judgment.

Explanation : The Supreme Court reacted sharply to the

recent trend of agencies like the CBI andthe Enforcement Directorate trying to pressdocuments in sealed covers on the courts.

Background In September 2019, the Delhi high court

denied bail to Chidambaram based on theexact information provided by CBI.However, Supreme Court disapproved itsaying that a judge can receive thematerials collected during the investigationin order to either confirm that investigationis proceeding on the right lines or to grant


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bail, the judge cannot reproduce thematerial as his own findings in a judicialorder.

RajyaSabha discusses Bill to scrap pollspend limitContext : The RajyaSabha discussed two private

members’ Bills to do away with the cap onelection spending by candidates and toestablish a committee on foreigninvestment to prevent threats to nationalsecurity.

Explanation :What is the Current Expenditure limit in the

LokSabha and Assembly Elections? As per law, the total election expenditure

should not exceed the maximum limitprescribed under Rule 90 of the Conduct ofElection Rules, 1961.

A candidate can spend upto Rs.70 lakhs foreach LokSabha constituency in biggerstates and Rs 54 lakhs in smaller states.

Reason for discussion on removing cap onelection spending

Real expenditure on elections was higherthan the limits and black money was stillprevalent.

There was money being spent on“ illegitimate purposes,” including “paidnews” by candidates.

Government launches web portal toblock stolen, lost mobile phonesContext : The government has launched a web

portal, ‘Central Equipment IdentityRegister (CEIR).

Explanation : About Central Equipment Identity Register

(CEIR) It is a web portal launched by The

Department of Telecommunications (DoT)to enable blocking as well as tracing ofstolen or lost mobile phones in Delhi.

Besides blocking of stolen or lost mobilephone, the launch of the project in Delhiwill facilitate sharing of traceability datawith the Police and allowing services toother existing customers having mobilephones with the same International MobileEquipment Identity (IMEI) number.

What is IMEI number? International Mobile Equipment Identity or

IMEI is a unique identifier for every mobilephone ever manufactured.

It is a 15-digit number that is used toidentify the device. It also reveals themanufacturer and model number.

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