THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. NO CLEAR DEFINITION FOR LYNCHING UNDER IPC

THE CONTEXT: The Union Home Ministry informed Parliament in 2019 that there was “no separate” definition for lynching under the IPC, adding that lynching incidents could be dealt with under Sections 300 and 302 of the IPC, pertaining to murder

THE EXPLANATION:

What is Lynching?

• lynching, a form of violence in which a mob, under the pretext of administering justice without trial, executes a presumed offender, often after inflicting torture and corporal mutilation. The term lynch law refers to a self-constituted court that imposes sentence on a person without due process of law.

Anti-mob lynching bills passed by 4 Assemblies at various levels of non-implementation:

1. In 2018, the Manipur Assembly passed the The Manipur Protection from Mob Violence Bill, recommending life imprisonment for those involved in mob violence if it led to death. The bill is still being examined by the Ministry.
2. On August 5, 2019, the Rajasthan Assembly passed the Rajasthan Protection from Lynching Bill, 2019, providing for life imprisonment and a fine from ₹1 lakh to ₹5 lakh to those convicted in cases of mob lynching leading to the victim’s death.
3. On August 30, 2019, the West Bengal Assembly passed a legislation- the West Bengal (Prevention of Lynching) Bill, 2019 that proposes a jail term from three years to life for those involved in assaulting and injuring a person and also defines terms such as “lynching” and “mob.” The government also proposed the West Bengal Lynching Compensation Scheme.
4. On December 22, 2021 the Jharkhand Assembly passed the Prevention of Mob Violence and Mob Lynching Bill, 2021, providing for punishment from three years to life imprisonment. The Bill awaits the Governor’s nod.

Why are the bills pending?

Most bills have been reserved by the Governor for consideration of the President.

The President has to go with the advice given by the Council of Ministers, in the case of such legislations, represented by the MHA.

The Union Home Ministry examines the State legislation’s on three grounds-

• Repugnancy with Central laws
• Deviation from national or central policy and
• Legal and constitutional validity

Supreme Court on Lynching:

• In July 2017, the Supreme Court, while pronouncing its judgment in the case of Tahseen s. Poonawala v. UOI, had laid down several preventives, remedial and punitive measures to deal with lynching and mob violence. States were directed to set up designated fast track courts in every district to exclusively deal with cases involving mob lynching’s.
• The court had also mooted the setting up of a special task force with the objective of procuring intelligence reports about the people involved in spreading hate speeches, provocative statements and fake news which could lead to mob lynchings. Directions were also issued to set up Victim compensation schemes for relief and rehabilitation of victims.

2. THE DIGITAL MAPS OF ALL VILLAGES

THE CONTEXT: According to the Ministry of Science and technology India plans to prepare digital maps of all its 6,00,000 villages and pan-India 3D maps will be prepared for 100 cities

THE EXPLANATION:

• An ongoing scheme, piloted by the Panchayati Raj Ministry, called SVAMITVA (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas) was launched in 2020.
• The updated guidelines help private companies prepare a variety of maps without needing approvals from a host of Ministries and make it easier to use drones and develop applications via location mapping. The “trinity of geospatial systems, drone policy and unlocked space sector will be the hallmark of India’s future economic progress”.
• The complete geospatial policy would be announced soon as the liberalisation of guidelines had yielded very positive outcomes within a year’s time. The geographical information-based system mapping would also be useful in forest management, disaster management, electrical utilities, land records, water distribution, and property taxation.
• Also, the Ministry noted, estimated the size of the Indian geospatial market in 2020 to be ₹23,345 crore, including ₹10,595 crore of export which was likely to grow to ₹36,300 crore by 2025.
• According to current information on the SVAMITVA portal: So far, drone surveys have covered close to 1,00,000 villages and maps of 77,527 villages had been handed over to States. Property cards have been distributed to around 27,000 villages.

THE SOCIAL ISSUES AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

3. BAN ON ONLINE GAMING PLATFORMS

THE CONTEXT: The division bench of the Karnataka High Court delivered a judgment striking down major portions of the Karnataka Police (Amendment) Act, 2021, a new law that was introduced by the State government to ban online gambling and skill-based gaming platforms like rummy, poker and fantasy sports that involved any wagering or risking of money on an uncertain event.

THE EXPLANATION:

Apart from Karnataka, a similar law introduced by the Tamil Nadu government was struck down by the Madras High Court in August 2021. In September 2021, the Kerala High Court had also quashed a notification issued by the State government specifically banning the game of online rummy when played for stakes.

On what grounds did the Karnataka High Court strike down the online gaming law?

The Karnataka High Court struck down the amendments to the Karnataka Police Act on three major grounds: violation of fundamental rights of trade and commerce, liberty and privacy, speech and expression; the law being manifestly arbitrary and irrational insofar as it did not distinguish between two different categories of games, i.e. games of skill and chance; and lastly lack of legislative competence of State legislatures to enact laws on online skill-based games.

Is regulation of online gaming a better solution?

Experts believe that instead of a complete ban, one could look at licensing and regulating the industry with various checks and balances such as diligent KYC and anti-money laundering processes, barring minors from accessing real money games, placing weekly or monthly limits on the money that can be staked or time that can be spent, counselling for addictive players and allowing self-exclusion of such players etc.

4. THE PHENSEDYL SMUGGLING

THE CONTEXT: The Border Security force (BSF) has seized 630 bottles of Phensedyl worth Rs.1,09,905 in two incidents and apprehended two phensedyl smugglers, while they were trying to illegally cross the international border from India to Bangladesh.

THE EXPLANATION:

According to BSF officials, it was difficult to contain the smuggling because Phensedyl is smuggled in low quantities from India to Bangladesh. “In the past few years, BSF has stopped factories in the hinterland that were manufacturing Phensedyl. Sometimes farmers smuggle it, at other times people throw it over the fence on the other side of the border”.

Why Phensedyl?

• Bangladesh had a majority Muslim population, the religious faith prohibited consumption of liquor and cough syrups with codeine phosphate were an easy way for people to get high. Since liquor is banned in Bangladesh, the drug became a popular alternative for alcohol.
• Phensedyl used to contain codeine phosphate along with hydrochloride ephedrine and promethazine, a unique combination for addiction. This is what made it a popular drug of abuse and unfortunately the trend still continues even after the chemical formulation was changed.A bottle costs about ₹200 in India and the moment it crosses the border, the price goes up to thousands.

YABA TABLETS- The Madness Drug

• Along with Phensedyl another narcotic that is smuggled in huge quantities along the international border is Yaba tablets. According to investigative agencies, these tablets usually originate in Myanmar and come to India from Bangladesh.
• Yaba is a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine sold as cheap red or pink pills and works as stimulant to the central nervous system. In 2021, the BSF south Bengal Frontier seized about 14,147 tablets when it was allegedly being smuggled into India. The seizure in 2019 by the same frontier was 53,763 Yaba tablets.
• The ratio of caffeine to methamphetamine inevitably varies; however, the potent drug makes up approximately 20% of yaba. There is also a crystalline form of this narcotic known as ice, which can almost entirely be made up of methamphetamine.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

5. THE INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON COMBATING MARINE PLASTIC POLLUTION

THE CONTEXT: The Government of India, in partnership with the Government of Australia and the Government of Singapore, conducted an international workshop on combating marine pollution focusing on marine plastic debris on February 14-15, 2022.

THE EXPLANATION:

• It aimed to discuss research interventions toward monitoring and assessing marine litter and plausible sustainable solutions to address the global marine plastic pollution issue.
• The workshop had four major sessions; the magnitude of the marine litter problem-monitoring program and research on plastic debris in the Indo-Pacific Region; best practices and technologies; solutions to prevent plastic pollution; and polymers and plastics: technology and innovations and opportunities for regional collaboration to remediate or stop plastic pollution.
• The sessions involved panel discussions and interactive break-out sessions to encourage discussion amongst participants from East Asia Summit countries.

Why is it important ?

• Plastic pollution is a widespread problem affecting the marine environment. It threatens ocean health, the health of marine species, food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change.
• The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for action to ‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources’ (Goal 14) and ‘By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, particularly from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution’ (Target 14.1).

According to IUCN:

• Over 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year for use in a wide variety of applications.
• At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, and plastic makes up 80% of all marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.
• Plastic pollution threatens food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change.

Impacts on marine ecosystems

The most visible impacts of plastic debris are the ingestion, suffocation and entanglement of hundreds of marine species. Marine wildlife such as seabirds, whales, fish and turtles mistake plastic waste for prey; most then die of starvation as their stomachs become filled with plastic.

What can be done?

• Efforts should be made to adhere to and strengthen existing international legislative frameworks that address marine plastic pollution. The most important are the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and Other Matter (the London Convention), the 1996 Protocol to the London Convention (the London Protocol) and the 1978 Protocol to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).
• Governments, research institutions and industries need to work collaboratively to redesign products, and rethink their use and disposal to reduce microplastic waste from pellets, synthetic textiles and tyres. Consumers and society must shift to more sustainable consumption patterns.
• More funding for research and innovation should be made available to provide policymakers, manufacturers and consumers with the evidence needed to implement technological, behavioural and policy solutions to address marine plastic pollution.

THE HEALTH AND COVID CORNOR

6. LASSA FEVER CLAIMS 3 LIVES IN UK

THE CONTEXT: For a world grappling with the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the news of a fresh virus has spared concern. The Lassa fever has claimed three lives in the United Kingdom, and the country’s health officials have said that it has “pandemic potential”. Eight cases of the Lassa fever have been reported in the UK since the 1980s, with the last two coming in 2009.

THE EXPLANATION:

What is Lassa fever?

According to United States’ Centers for Disease Control (CDC), it is an animal-borne, or zoonotic,acute viral illness. The haemorrhagic illness is caused by Lassa virus, a member of the arenavirus family of viruses.

How does it infect the humans?

According to World Health Organization (WHO), humans usually become infected with Lassa virus through exposure to food or household items contaminated with urine or faeces of infected Mastomys rats. The disease is endemic in the rodent population in parts of West Africa.

Person-to-person infections and laboratory transmission can also occur, particularly in health care settings in the absence of adequate infection prevention and control measures, according to further information about the disease from WHO.

When was the first case of Lassa virus reported?

The illness was discovered in 1969 and is named after the town in Nigeria where the first cases occurred. According to CDC, an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 infections of Lassa fever occur annually, with approximately 5,000 deaths.

Treatment: Ribavirin, an antiviral drug, has been used with success in Lassa fever patients.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY 16^TH FEBRUARY 2022

Q. Consider the following statements about SVAMITVA scheme:

1. It is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme of Ministry of Panchayati Raj.
2. The Scheme is implemented with the collaborative efforts of the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, State Revenue Department and Survey of India.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

a 1 only

b 2 only

c Both 1 and 2

d Neither 1 nor 2

ANSWER FOR 15^TH FEB 2022

Answer: B

Explanation:

• Statement 1 is incorrect: It is a polar satellite launched with the help of PSLV C-52 and put in sun-synchronous orbit.

Statement 2 is correct: It is a radar imaging satellite is designed to provide high-quality images in all weather conditions for applications such as agriculture, forestry, plantation, flood mapping, soil moisture and hydrology.

1. HC strikes down law banning online gaming READ MORE
2. Reforming for a qualitative democracy READ MORE
3. The Unequal Republic READ MORE

1. To Be Or Not To Be – Secular READ MORE
2. Time to Criminalise Marital Rape READ MORE

1. The Quest To Understand How Earth’s Magnetic Field Shows Birds the Way READ MORE
2. Indian agriculture: The route post-CoP 26 READ MORE

1. A lesson from the Mahabharata READ MORE
2. Diverse beliefs, theories, faiths and attitudes READ MORE

(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)

Prelim and Main

1. India, Australia, and Singapore come together to address marine pollution with a focus on plastic debris READ MORE
2. India to prepare digital maps of all villages READ MORE
3. ‘Communal Mindset’: India Slams OIC for Statement on Hijab Row, Muslims in India READ MORE
4. Sansad TV YouTube channel hacked READ MORE
5. Public order: A constitutional provision for curbing freedoms READ MORE
6. New IPCC report will strengthen science on links between biodiversity loss, climate change: UNEP READ MORE
7. Lassa Fever Claims 3 Lives in UK: All You Need To Know About It READ MORE

 Main Exam    

GS Paper- 1

1. To Be Or Not To Be – Secular READ MORE

GS Paper- 2

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1. HC strikes down law banning online gaming READ MORE
2. Reforming for a qualitative democracy READ MORE
3. The Unequal Republic READ MORE

SOCIAL ISSUE

1. Time to Criminalise Marital Rape READ MORE

 INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

1. India may come under pressure on Russia READ MORE  
2. To counter China, invest in regional deterrence READ MORE

GS Paper- 3

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1. RBI’s gamble on banks’ balance sheets READ MORE
2. Job Security READ MORE

ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY  

1. The Quest To Understand How Earth’s Magnetic Field Shows Birds the Way READ MORE
2. Indian agriculture: The route post-CoP 26 READ MORE

SECURITY

1. Phensedyl smuggling remains a challenge on the India-Bangladesh border READ MORE

GS Paper- 4

ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY

1. A lesson from the Mahabharata READ MORE
2. Diverse beliefs, theories, faiths and attitudes READ MORE

Questions for the MAIN exam

1. ‘Rape laws aim to protect not just physical safety but also preserve the sexual autonomy of women; they exist to also acknowledge the unique nature of this offence and its ubiquity’. In the light of the statement discuss the need for the criminalize marital rape.
2. How far do you agree with the view banning on online games a ban will militate against individual freedom? Justice your view.

QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS

• And empty words are evil.
• The existence of marital rape exemption encourages the subordination of women within their private lives. It also means that the State has legitimised men’s illegitimate control over women, to the extent that it can even allow routinized sexual assault on them in order to secure this control.
• The authority of the chair and its subsequent abuse by the person sitting in it and uttering ‘no’ is slowly destroying the power of knowledge and accountability in our society.
• To avoid delay in approving poll reforms by Parliament, the EC should be empowered to implement the reforms by giving one-year notice to it.
• The first industrial plastic — celluloid — was created partly with environmental conservation in mind, replacing ivory in the making of billiard balls.
• India’s relationship with ASEAN, a key cornerstone of our foreign policy, may be finally consolidated by addition of this critical security dimension that ASEAN members have sought from India’s leadership for a long time.
• Raising policy rates to curb inflation and using unconventional policy to rein the yield curve would have been a better option.
• No signifier has the ability to produce meaning in isolation. Its signifying capability is determined by its place among all of other signifiers.
• All legislation that assumes that sections of society require the hand of the state to guide and support them have some populist appeal. And there is an addictive element to online gaming, but that does not mean there is no individual freedom and choice at all.

50-WORD TALK

• Another ‘bank fraud’, India’s biggest involving Rs 22,842 crore and leading lender being ICICI Bank, not a PSU, shows how deep the NPA rot runs. A bad bank or recapitalising banks can’t fix this. More forensic audits, enforcement, better corporate governance are needed. Indian economy needs a healthy banking system.
• Having lectured India on the right to protest, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is using emergency powers to crush anti-vaccine demonstrators. Less than a third of Canadians support the far-Right protests, but they have paralysed the economy and everyday life. Ensuring law and order, Trudeau’s learned, is tougher than scoring points.

Things to Remember:

• For prelims-related news try to understand the context of the news and relate with its concepts so that it will be easier for you to answer (or eliminate) from given options.
• Whenever any international place will be in news, you should do map work (marking those areas in maps and also exploring other geographical locations nearby including mountains, rivers, etc. same applies to the national places.)
• For economy-related news (banking, agriculture, etc.) you should focus on terms and how these are related to various economic aspects, for example, if inflation has been mentioned, try to relate with prevailing price rises, shortage of essential supplies, banking rates, etc.
• For main exam-related topics, you should focus on the various dimensions of the given topic, the most important topics which occur frequently and are important from the mains point of view will be covered in ED.
• Try to use the given content in your answer. Regular use of this content will bring more enrichment to your writing.

[WpProQuiz 161]

THE CONTEXT: In the wake of Covid-19, climate changes and other important global issues such as globalization, cold war, trade, war, the world is facing several issues and the UN nearly just seems an audience in most of them. Hence, the demand is whether the world needs a global parliament for dealing with global issues. This article discusses this issue in detail.

WHAT IS WORLD PARLIAMENT?

The world should establish parliament to resolve the global issue and make the rules for International issues such as the pandemics, stockpiles of nuclear weapons, deadly biological weapons, natural disasters, climate change, loss of control over artificial intelligence, terrorism, serious imbalances in international trade, influence, intelligence, greed for power and a host of other threats.

It is obvious that these threats cannot be tackled by any one country alone and a united action at local, regional, and international levels alone can rid the world of these dangers.

THE ISSUES FACED BY MANKIND IN RECENT TIMES

• Amid ever-increasing threats facing humanity, it’s high time to initiate steps at the governance level to make the world a safer place for mankind.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has provided the impetus to the idea of a global democratic government and underlined the necessity of a world organization to tackle the dangers facing mankind in a more effective manner.
• These include — pandemics, stockpiles of nuclear weapons, deadly biological weapons, natural disasters, climate change, loss of control over Artificial Intelligence, terrorism, and so on.

NEED FOR THE WORLD PARLIAMENT

Transcending the Nation-State: There is nobody that represents the interest of the world community at Even if a treaty is concluded and ratified, a state can withdraw again. The international order recognizes no higher authority for decision or enforcement.

Social disparities between citizens: The world is witnessing the emergence of global social strata that are giving rise to vertical social tensions. The dividing line will no longer be between rich and poor countries, but between the super-rich and the rest everywhere.

Immigrationsemerged as a major issue: The promise of the “global village” is only valid for the rich. But for the poor people and minor communities of many countries face harassment and seek asylum in neighboring countries. As there is no world policy to resolve these issues they are facing many issues.

Addressing environmental threats: Humanity now shares a common destiny. The dangers posed by nuclear war, global pandemics, environmental devastation, biodiversity loss, or climate change affect everybody. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere knows no borders.

Global ruling in a proper way: The supply of important public goods like food security or the stability of the financial and economic system depends on how well global structures are working. Regulating research and development in fields such as artificial intelligence, genetics, biotechnology or autonomous weapons must be on the global agenda. Based on the collaboration of 193 nominally sovereign states, global regulation will never work well.

WHY DOES THE WORLD NEED WORLD PARLIAMENT DESPITE HAVING UNITED NATIONS?

Presently a world body already exists known as United Nations Organization (UNO). Formed after world war II in 1945 to prevent and eliminate recurrence of wars and to maintain peace all over the world, it was also mandated in broader terms to look after some aspects of areas like economic, social, and cultural development.

PAST RECORD OF UN:

• The organization has been beneficial to mankind in many ways, but looking back at its record during the last over seventy-five years of its existence, there is not much to feel proud about.
• Soon after its formation in 1945, it had to face a cold war between the western Block and the Soviet Block headed by the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR) which lasted till the collapse of the Soviet Block in 1991.
• It could not prevent local and regional wars in the Korean peninsula, Asia, Africa, and even in Europe and Latin America.
• It could not stop Chinese aggression against India in 1962 and the Cuban missile crisis between the then Soviet Union and the USA.
• Mostly because of the cold war, politics, and its attitude, it failed to take bold united action.
• Its response to natural disasters and epidemics at the national or international level also fell far short of its expectations.

THE ISSUE OF REPRESENTATION:

• Apart from the cold war, politics, other main causes responsible for its failure to meet expectations have been the lack of its full representative character and its failure to reform itself.
• Also, it has not restructured itself to keep up with the needs of changing world.
• Under these circumstances, its attitude towards enormous problems and threats and deviant forces facing mankind has been almost inflexible.
• Despite repeated calls by many countries, it has more or less continued with its inequitable representative character.
• A glaring example of this has been that India with over 1.38 billion population which constitutes about eighteen percent of the total world population has no permanent representation on its most important decision-making organ UN Security Council.
• While more basic structural changes in the organization will take years and years if not decades, it has to reform itself urgently to make itself fully representative to tackle the pressing problems.
• The urgency of such a step can also be gauged by the fact that last year in June out of 192 votes cast in the UN General Assembly,184 countries voted in favour of India for two-year non-permanent membership of UNSC which started from January this year.
• The world body has also to change its responses so that threats facing mankind are attended to promptly.

BIASED NATURE:

• In a world full of diversities and ideological differences, such an institution will have to be free from biases and prejudices and will have to transcend the diversities and differences to acquire a truly representative and independent profile.
• But it is evident in the recent past and in the past seventy-five years that the UN is facing business issues. It took actions against small countries, but against powerful countries, its peaceful appeal had no impact.

AN OLD CONCEPT: 

• One of the key challenges of modern cultural evolution is the time lag between rapid technological development and slow political adaptation.
• The United Nations that represents the best governance model humanity could come up with for the management of global affairs is now frozen in time.
• Its underlying principle of national sovereignty goes back to 1648, a hundred years before the industrial revolution even started.
• Today we live in the 21st century, the world population is approaching eight billion and technological development continues to accelerate.
• The need for global governance to catch up with the accelerating pace of change is more urgent than ever before.

HOW THE GLOBAL PARLIAMENT SHOULD WORK FOR BETTER OUTCOMES?

• In a world full of diversities and ideological differences, such an institution will have to be free from biases and prejudices and will have to transcend the diversities and differences to acquire a truly representative and independent profile.
• The parliament of the world body could be elected directly by proportional representation based on the population of each member nation or nation-state.
• The challenges facing mankind, as also the matters of economic and financial governance can be dealt with in a far better way by a Global Parliament.
• Such an institution will strengthen democracy, justice, and equity throughout the world and help in curbing fundamentalist and radical ideologies.
• Proper attention to all threats facing mankind could ensure the safety and survival of intelligent life on earth. But to realize it, the member countries will have to shed a few shades of their sovereignty which could democratically authorize and enable such a World Government to prevent deadly nuclear and biological wars at the local, regional, or international levels.
• At present, there are already scores of organizations in Africa, America, Europe, and elsewhere, and some of these are popularly elected.

WAY FORWARD

• The idea regarding the deep structural changes to turn the UN into a democratic World Government will take more time to come somewhat into shape.
• Moreover, in a world full of diversities and ideological differences, such an institution will have to be free from biases and prejudices and will have to transcend the diversities and differences to acquire a truly representative and independent character.
• Recently, with advancements in human civilization and thought, the necessity for such a global institution has been felt immensely at various stages.
• After the deeper restructuring of the existing world body, contours for a democratic World Government can be established and Parliament of the world body could be elected directly by proportional representation based on the population of each member nation.

CONCLUSION

The experience of democratic regimes teaches us that no parliament can govern a country alone. A government is necessary. So the World Parliament must be seen as a crucial milestone on the way toward forming a democratic government endowed with the necessary powers to enforce the laws approved by the World Parliament.