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THE POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

1.HIJAB NOT AN ESSENTIAL PRACTICE OF ISLAM: KARNATAKA HIGH COURT

THE CONTEXT: A three-judge Bench of the High Court of Karnataka pronounced its verdict on the petitions related to the row over wearing hijab in educational institutions.

THE EXPLANATION:

According to the High Court of Karnataka, wearing of hijab (head scarf) by Muslim women does not form a part of essential religious practices in Islamic faith and it is not protected under the right to freedom of religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution of India.

The court ruled that prescription of school uniform does not violate either the right to freedom of speech and expression under Article 19(1) (a) or the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution, and the restriction against wearing of hijab in educational institutions is only a reasonable restriction constitutionally permissible, which the students cannot object to.

What are the issues?

• The main question that arises is whether students can be kept out of educational institutions merely because they are wearing a piece of clothing indicating their religion. Is the denial of entry a violation of their freedom of conscience and freedom to practise their religion under Article 25?
• The question of whether educational institutions can bar religious attire as part of their power to prescribe uniforms for students is also linked to the constitutional question of whether the ban on such attire will come within the power to restrict freedom of religion in the interest of public order, health, and morality.
• Yet another question is whether the denial of entry into schools amounts to a violation of the student’s right to education under Article 21A.
• From the Muslim students’ point of view, they have a fundamental right to wear a hijab as part of their right to practise their religion. Going by precedent on a right asserted in contrast to the general rule, as well as arguments advanced in court on their behalf, the issue may boil down to a finding on whether the wearing of hijab is essential to the practice of their faith.

How is religious freedom protected under the Constitution?

• Article 25(1) of the Constitution guarantees the “freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practise and propagate religion”. It is a right that guarantees negative liberty — which means that the state shall ensure that there is no interference or obstacle to exercising this freedom.
• However, like all fundamental rights, the state can restrict the right for grounds of public order, decency, morality, health and other state interests.
• Over the years, the Supreme Court has evolved a practical test of sorts to determine what religious practices can be constitutionally protected and what can be ignored.
• In 1954, the Supreme Court held in the Shirur Mutt case that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practices “integral” to a religion. The test to determine what is integral is termed the “essential religious practices” test.
• Bijou Emmanuel vs. State of Kerala (1986) pertained to three children belonging to the Jehovah’s Witnesses sect refusing to sing the national anthem during the morning assembly. The Supreme Court ruled in the students’ favour, holding that their expulsion violated their freedom of expression under Article 19(1)(a).

What is the Essential Practice of Religion?

• It was held that practice is considered essential to a religion if it is essential to the community following the religion. Furthermore, Article 25(1) and 26(b) offers protection to religious practices. Affairs that are purely secular may be regulated by statute without infringing the aforesaid articles.
• In order that the practices in question should be treated as a part of the religion they must be regarded by the said religion as its essential and integral part; otherwise, even purely secular practices which are not an essential or an integral part of religion are apt to be clothed with a religious form and may make a claim for being treated as religious practices within the meaning of Article 26.

How do we draw the line between matters of religion and matters other than religion?

• In Sardar Syedna Taher Saifuddin Saheb vs. Bombay (1962), the Supreme Court struck down a law that prohibited the head of the Dawoodi Bohra community from excommunicating members. The majority ruled that the power of ex-communication exercised by the religious head-on religious grounds was part of the management of affairs on religious matters, and the Act infringed on the community’s rights.
• In the Sabarimala case (2018), the majority ruled that the bar on entry of women in the age group of 10 to 50 was not an essential or integral part of the religion, and denied the status of a separate religious denomination of devotees of Lord Ayyappa. However, in a dissenting judgment, Justice Indu Malhotra, said they constituted a distinct denomination and that the restriction on women of a particular age group is an essential part of their faith and is constitutionally protected.

What is the criticism against the essential practice test?

• Jurists have criticised the continuing emphasis on applying the essential practice test to determine the constitutionality of state action against any religious practice that claims protection despite being either discriminatory or exclusionary.
• The first criticism is that it was never intended to be a test to find out if a particular practice is essential to the practice of the religion but was only made to distinguish a matter of religion from a matter other than religion. However, a long line of judicial decisions seems to endorse the application of this test to dispose of cases.
• The second criticism is that the doctrine of essentiality appears to allow courts to go deeply into the scriptures and tenets of a religion or a religious denomination to find out if the practice or norm that is at the heart of the issue is essential. This is seen as a theological or ecclesiastical exercise, which courts are forced to wade into.

What is the way forward?

• A more reasonable approach will be to apply the test of constitutional morality and legitimacy to the issue at hand. Applying the principles of equality, dignity and civil rights to a particular practice may be better to decide the constitutionality of a practice than a theological enquiry.
• The action of some pre-university colleges in Karnataka refusing entry to Muslim girl students wearing hijabs, or head-scarves, has now become a national controversy
• From the Muslim students’ point of view, they have a fundamental right to wear a hijab as part of their right to practise their religion.

THE ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY

2. EXPLAINED: INDIA’S SOLAR CAPACITY: MILESTONES AND CHALLENGES

THE CONTEXT: As on 28 February 2022, India has surpassed 50 GW of cumulative installed solar capacity. This ranks the country fifth in solar power deployment.

THE EXPLANATION:

• India added a record 10 Gigawatt (GW) of solar energy to its cumulative installed capacity in 2021. This has been the highest 12-month capacity addition, recording nearly a 200% year-on-year growth. India has now surpassed 50 GW of cumulative installed solar capacity, as on 28 February 2022. This is a milestone in India’s journey towards generating 500 GW from renewable energy by 2030, of which 300 GW is expected to come from solar power. India’s capacity additions rank the country fifth in solar power deployment, contributing nearly 6.5% to the global cumulative capacity of 709.68 GW.
• Even as India continues down this impressive journey, there are some areas of concern to highlight. First, of the 50 GW installed solar capacity, an overwhelming 42 GW comes from ground-mounted solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, and only 6.48 GW comes from roof top solar (RTS); and 48 GW from off-grid solar PV.

Why is India falling short in roof-top solar installations?

• The large-scale solar PV focus fails to exploit the many benefits of decentralised renewable energy (DRE) options, including reduction in transmission and distribution (T&D) losses.
• One of the primary benefits of solar PV technology is that it can be installed at the point of consumption, significantly reducing the need for large capital-intensive transmission infrastructure.
• However, there is limited financing for residential consumers and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) who want to install RTS. Coupled with lukewarm responses from electricity distribution companies (DISCOMS) to supporting net metering, RTS continues to see low uptake across the country.

What are the challenges to India’s solar power capacity addition?

• Despite significant growth in the installed solar capacity, the contribution of solar energy to the country’s power generation has not grown at the same pace. In 2019-20, for instance, solar power contributed only 3.6% (50 billion units) of India’s total power generation of 1390 BU.
• The utility-scale solar PV sector continues to face challenges like land costs, high T&D losses and other inefficiencies, and grid integration challenges. There have also been conflicts with local communities and biodiversity protection norms. Also, while India has achieved record low tariffs for solar power generation in the utility-scale segment, this has not translated into cheaper power for end-consumers.

What’s the state of India’s domestic solar module manufacturing capacity?

• Domestic manufacturing capacities in the solar sector do not match up to the present potential demand for solar power in the country.
• Crisil’s report on the subject highlights that as on March 31, 2021, India had 3 GW capacity for solar cell production and 8 GW for solar panel production capacity. Moreover, backward integration in the solar value chain is absent as India has no capacity for manufacturing solar wafers and polysilicon.
• In 2021-22, India imported nearly $76.62 billion worth solar cells and modules from China alone, accounting for 78.6% of India’s total imports that year. Low manufacturing capacities, coupled with cheaper imports from China have rendered Indian products uncompetitive in the domestic market.
• This situation can, however, be corrected if India embraces a circular economy model for solar systems. This would allow solar PV waste to be recycled and reused in the solar PV supply chain. By the end of 2030, India will likely produce nearly 34,600 metric tonnes of solar PV waste.
• The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) estimates that the global value of recoverable materials from solar PV waste could exceed $15 billion.
• Currently, only the European Union has taken decisive steps in managing solar PV waste. India could look at developing appropriate guidelines around Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which means holding manufacturers accountable for the entire life cycle of solar PV products and creating standards for waste recycling. This could give domestic manufacturers a competitive edge and go a long way in addressing waste management and supply side constraints.

What are the key takeaways from India’s solar story?

• India has grown from strength to strength in overcoming barriers to achieve the 50 GW milestone in Feb 2022. The destination is clear, and the journey is progressing. As India attempts to deal with some of the shortcomings identified above, India’s solar story will continue to provide important lessons for other developing countries that are looking to transition to clean energy.
• In addition to an impressive domestic track record, through the International Solar Alliance (ISA) established by India and France at COP-21 in 2015, there is a global platform to bring countries together to facilitate collaboration on issues such as mobilising investments, capacity building, program support and advocacy and analytics on solar energy. Technology sharing and finance could also become important aspects of ISA in the future, allowing a meaningful cooperation between countries in the solar energy sector.

3. AN EFFORT TO SAVE THE ENIGMATIC OWLS IN INDIA

THE CONTEXT: In February 2022, Traffic and WWF-India launched ID cards for owl species to highlight common threats and assist officials and other organisations working to protect the birds.

THE EXPLANATION:

• Owls are commonly found in the illegal wildlife trade in India due to various superstitions and taboos attached to them. Despite the immense ecological role of owls in our ecosystem, these endangered birds are trapped in large numbers for sacrifice and use in multiple rituals often promoted by local mystic practitioners.
• In light of this, TRAFFIC and WWF-India’s new identification (ID) tools for strengthening owl protection were launched on 3 March 2022 on the occasion of World Wildlife Day.
• The Identification (ID) cards have been issued to enable law enforcement authorities to accurately identify 16 commonly found owl species in illegal trade. The ID cards available in English and Hindi, will be distributed free to wildlife law enforcement agencies across India.

Significance:

• “India is home to about 36 species of owls, all protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. However, very little information is available on the status of species level counts, thus making them vulnerable.
• According to reports, at least 20 seizure incidences related to poaching and trafficking of owls have been reported across India since 2019. But many more go unreported. The new ID tools provide essential information related to the species’ legal status, habitat, and distribution. They provide valuable tips on identifying the owls at species level and highlight common threats.
• Through the identification tool, it highlights the need to protect these enigmatic creatures and assist officials and other organizations working for conservation in identification of owl species”.

Threats& Conservation:

• Hunting, trading, or any other form of utilization of owls is a punishable offense as per the provisions of the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972; all owl species found in India are enlisted in Appendix IIunder the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which restricts their international trade.
• The recently rediscovered Forest Owlet is listed under Schedule I of the Act while all other owl species are covered under Schedule IV.
• IUCN categorized Forest Owlet as

Value Addition:

Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF):

• It is international non-governmental organization working in the field of the wilderness preservation and reduction of human impact on the environment.
• It was formerly named World Wildlife Fund.
• It is world’s largest conservation organization with over five million supporters worldwide, working in more than 100 countries, supporting around 1,300 conservation and environmental projects.
• It was founded in 1961 and is headquartered in Gland, Switzerland.
• WWF aims to stop degradation of planet’s natural environment and build future in which humans live in harmony with nature.
• Currently, its work is organized around these six areas: food, climate, freshwater, wildlife, forests, and oceans.
• It publishes Living Planet Report every two years since 1998 and it is based on Living Planet Index and ecological footprint calculation.

TRAFFIC

• TRAFFIC is an NGO (CITES on the other hand is a multilateral treaty) working globally on trade in wild animals and plants in the context of both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
• TRAFFIC is a joint programme of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and IUCN.
• Traffic is complimentary to CITES.
• The programme was founded in 1976, with headquarters now located in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
• TRAFFIC’s mission is to ensure that trade in wild plants and animals is not a threat to the conservation of nature.
• It investigates and analyses wildlife trade trends, patterns, impacts and drivers to provide the leading knowledge base on trade in wild animals and plants.

THE MISCELLANEOUS

4. INTERNATIONAL DAY TO COMBAT ISLAMOPHOBIA

THE CONTEXT: As the U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution to proclaim March 15 as International Day to Combat Islamophobia, India expressed concern over phobia against one religion being elevated to the level of an international day, saying there are growing contemporary forms of religiophobia, especially anti–Hindu, anti–Buddhist and anti–Sikh phobias.

THE EXPLANATION:

• The resolution, introduced by the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), was co–sponsored by Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, the Maldives, Mali, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Uganda, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Yemen.
• Reacting to the adoption of the resolution, India’s Permanent Representative to the U.N. Ambassador noted in the General Assembly that India hopes the resolution adopted “does not set a precedent” which will lead to multiple resolutions on phobias based on selective religions and divide the United Nations into religious camps.India condemns all acts motivated by anti–semitism, Christianophobia or Islamophobia, such phobias are not restricted to Abrahamic religions only.
• The word ‘Islamophobia’ with meaning of ‘unseasonable and imaginary fear and hatred towards Islam’ entered into common usage in 1997. The 2004 UN conference later entitled ‘Confronting Islamophobia’, forced international recognition of ‘Islamophobia’ as a specific expression.

Value Addition:

About Organization of Islamic Cooperation:

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) is the second largest inter-governmental organisation after the United Nations, with the membership of 57 states, covering four continents. The OIC is the collective voice of the Muslim world to ensure and safeguard their interest on economic socio and political areas. Headquartered at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

THE PRELIMS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUESTIONS OF THE DAY 16^TH MARCH  2022

Q. Consider the following statements with respect to International Solar Alliance:

1. The primary objective of the alliance is to work for efficient consumption of solar energy the reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
2. Countries that do not fall within the Tropics can join the alliance and enjoy all benefits as other members, with the exception of voting rights
3. The ISA is headquartered in France.

Which of the statements given above is/are incorrect?

a) 1 and 2 only

b) 2 and 3 only

c) 3 only

d) 1,2 and 3

ANSWER FOR 15^TH MARCH 2022

ANSWER: A

EXPLANATION:

• Tied grants are referred to projects which are earmarked for national priorities like drinking water supply, rainwater harvesting and sanitation. Hence the statement 1 is correct.
• The total grant-in-aid earmarked for Panchayati Raj institutions, 60 per cent is earmarked for national priorities like drinking water supply, rainwater harvesting and sanitation (referred as tied grants), while 40 per cent is untied and is to be utilised at the discretion of the Panchayati Raj institutions for location-specific felt needs.Hence the statement 2 is incorrect.