Today’s Important Articles for Geography (17-11-2023)
Today’s Important Articles for Sociology (17-11-2023)
Today’s Important Articles for Pub Ad (17-11-2023)
- On the sub-categorisation within castes READ MORE
- Should elections be state funded? READ MORE
- Challenging the Electoral Bond Scheme READ MORE
- Branded, generic and the missing ingredient of quality READ MORE
- Freebies, a surefire recipe for disaster READ MORE
- Don’t revert to old pension system READ MORE
WSDP Bulletin (17-11-2023)
(Newspapers, PIB and other important sources)
Prelim and Main
- Biden, Xi restore military ties but remain apart on wider flashpoint of Taiwan READ MORE
- T.N. House special session to readopt Bills returned by Governor READ MORE
- Food prices pose risk to aligning inflation to 4% target: RBI officials READ MORE
- Trade Deficit to narrow from October peak, but will still be over H1 average of $20 billion READ MORE
- How was the first vaccine for chikungunya approved? | Explained READ MORE
- Nearly a billion children globally exposed to extremely high water stress: UNICEF report READ MORE
- Climate hazard: Heat-related deaths in elderly population to increase by 370% midcentury in a warming world READ MORE
- Sand and dust storms are increasing, human activities contribute 25% emissions: UNCCD READ MORE
- New species of small life forms recorded from northeast READ MORE
Main
GS Paper- 1
- What can a domestic violence survivor do when the justice system lets her down? READ MORE
- Challenges to curbing community-based prostitution READ MORE
GS Paper- 2
POLITY AND GOVERNANCE
- On the sub-categorisation within castes READ MORE
- Should elections be state funded? READ MORE
- Challenging the Electoral Bond Scheme READ MORE
- Branded, generic and the missing ingredient of quality READ MORE
- Freebies, a surefire recipe for disaster READ MORE
SOCIAL ISSUES
- Toilets in schools: SC pushes for well-being of students READ MORE
INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
- Biden-Xi summit: Thaw in bilateral ties is welcome READ MORE
- Peace pipe READ MORE
- India-US dialogue focuses on conflicts READ MORE
GS Paper- 3
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
- India’s economic rise: How to capitalise on the moment READ MORE
- State vs state fights, on taxes READ MORE
- Don’t revert to old pension system READ MORE
- Gentrification of consumer demand, global capitalism READ MORE
- Roadmap for spurring agriculture towards sustainability READ MORE
- Circular economy: A win-win for all READ MORE
ENVIRONMENT AND ECOLOGY
- What a US-China climate deal means for COP28 READ MORE
- High road to Dubai COP28: Scientists join group in saying 1.5°C warming limit too high READ MORE
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
- The first chikungunya vaccine could be a game changer in global health READ MORE
INTERNAL SECURITY
- Widening divide: Peace in Manipur cannot be restored by half-measures READ MORE
- Do it via UIDAI: States shouldn’t create separate biometric databases. Multiple datasets increase security risk READ MORE
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
- Expert Explains: What led to the Uttarakhand tunnel collapse — and how it could have been avoided READ MORE
GS Paper- 4
ETHICS EXAMPLES AND CASE STUDY
Questions for the MAIN exam
- Public funding of elections will certainly bring transparency to the poll process. Critically examine.
- State governments’ committed expenditure under OPS would shrink their commitment to the FRBM Act. Critically comment.
- Increasing debt is not only creating fiscal imbalance but also affecting the ability of state governments to run welfare schemes and blocking the path for the development of the country. In light of the statement, analyse why freebie schemes are a recipe for fiscal disaster.
QUOTATIONS AND CAPTIONS
- Power is no blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent.
- Public funding of elections can certainly bring transparency in the poll process, but it depends on how it is done.
- If there is to be any public funding of elections would insist on complete transparency about the money spent by the party or the candidate in the election.
- With the constitutionality of electoral bonds being contested more strongly, the citizen must push for a more level-playing field in the next round of elections.
- The recourse to a money bill to amend the relevant laws subverted the legislative scheme envisaged in the Constitution.
- To ensure affordable medicines for all under Universal Health Care, free medicines and free diagnostics are acceptable policy, but implementation needs to be monitored.
- State governments’ committed expenditure under OPS would surge, discretionary expenditures, particularly capital expenditure, would shrink given their commitment to the FRBM Act.
- The investment risk of the pension fund shall be borne by the employees. These concerns need to be addressed through market-driven solutions.
- The FDA’s approval of a chikungunya vaccine brings hope to regions facing the highest risk of the mosquito-borne virus that has affected over 110 countries.
- INDIA needs to radically re-examine its agricultural policy so that it serves current national imperatives and also looks after its farmers.
- While the country needs to remain self-sufficient in food, it needs to be examined if it should remain a food exporter.
- A water-scarce country exporting water-guzzling crops amounts to exporting water.
- In a world grappling with environmental challenges and resource scarcity, the concept of a circular economy has emerged as a beacon of hope.
- India, like the US, faces a tough challenge, being in a democratic set-up, where they have to carefully articulate their foreign policy goals, while not hurting domestic influence groups. Both countries also face a tough electorate next year, as the incumbent federal governments seek re-election.
- Only through unity within and among Arab countries can Palestinians achieve a life of dignity. Palestinians need life, like those in prosperous Arab countries.
- Increasing debt is not only creating fiscal imbalance but is affecting the ability of state governments to run welfare schemes and is also blocking the path for the development of the country and industry in particular.
ESSAY TOPIC
- Power is no blessing in itself, except when it is used to protect the innocent.
50-WORD TALK
- Joe Biden-Xi Jinping meeting on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit is no cause for anxiety. It’s a good thing that the two big powers aren’t at odds with each other and are talking. Superpower contestations have and will always be there. Even during the Cold War, there was engagement.
- Strong protests by southern states have forced National Medical Commission to defer the plan of linking approval of new medical colleges and increasing the number of MBBS seats to a state’s population. It punishes performing states and is another way of introducing the Centre’s delimitation exercise. Backlash was only natural.
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 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.
SHOULD ELECTIONS BE STATE FUNDED?
RELEVANCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS: GS 2: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE: ELECTORAL BONDS; POLITICAL FUNDING; PROBITY IN GOVERNANCE; ELECTORAL REFORMS
THE CONTEXT
The Constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, recently reserved its judgment on petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme. The proceedings focused on arguments pertaining to the voters’ right to information vis-a-vis the right to confidentiality of donors. Transparency in election funding has become the central issue here.
POSITIVES OF STATE FUNDING OF ELECTIONS
Transparency: Public funding of elections can certainly bring transparency in the poll process with proper mechanism laid out. It would certainly be better than the existing system where candidates and political parties spend from their own pocket, and a lot of black money goes into election campaigning.
Level playing field: State funding of elections ensures that some influential people or groups don’t have undue influence over electoral processes. It enables a level playing field for the promotion of healthy competition by ensuring equality between large, well-known political parties and small parties and independent candidates.
Citizen centric decision: State funding of election will abstain political parties from the influence of crony capitalism and It can break up the corporate-political connection. If political parties are not financially influenced by the huge corporate sector, citizen-centric decisions will be encouraged.
Viable to economy: State funding of elections can cut down the huge expenditure spent on elections as only funds accounted by state funding will be used. Indrajit Gupta Committee Report, which is most often quoted in support of public funding of elections, it says state funding should be done only in kind and not in cash. However, it says State funding is viable only if parties are internally democratic in their functioning, transparent in their financial affairs.
ISSUES IN STATE FUNDING OF ELECTIONS
Unclear mechanism: There is no clear mechanism of how state funding of elections can work to maximize its potential. Also, for it being success there is need to bring in other electoral reforms in place.
Functioning of political parties: Political parties nowadays mostly function as corporates. Their business is to win elections and make money to be able to win the next elections. So, this functioning of political parties as corporate entities or as family-run corporate entities is the fundamental problem which needs to be addressed.
Diversion of expenditure: The state expenditure on many essential public goods such as primary health care and public health engineering is already very small. Given this situation, the public resources have to be channeled towards and not diverted from such essential services, and that too to finance something that already gets abundantly financed.
Not prevent from additional financing: The state funding of elections will not prevent parties from lobbying and getting undisclosed supplementary private funding, with associated implications. Also, public funding may influence many people to enter politics solely to receive state subsidies rather than run for office and engage in development work.
RECOMMENDATIONS ON STATE FUNDING FOR ELECTIONS
The Indrajit Gupta Committee on State Election Funding (1998)
- To create a level playing field for parties with limited resources, the Indrajit Gupta Committee recommended state funding of elections in 1998.
- The Committee advised placing two restrictions on state funding.
- Firstly, only national and state parties with a symbol should receive state funding. Independent candidates should not.
- Secondly, only recognized political parties and their candidates should get short-term state funding in kind in the form of specific infrastructure.
- The Committee noted that at the time of the report, the nation’s economic climate was only conducive to partial, not complete, public funding of elections.
Law Commission Report on Electoral Law Reform (1999)
- According to the Law Commission of India’s 1999 report, state funding of elections is “desirable” as long as political parties are not allowed to accept money from other sources.
- Additionally, it strongly recommended that the appropriate regulatory framework should be put in place.
- The Commission agreed with the Indrajit Gupta Committee that, given the economic situation of the nation at the time, only partial public assistance was practicable.
The National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution, 2002
- It did not endorse state funding of elections.
- But it agreed with the 1999 Law Commission report that there is a need for an appropriate framework for the regulation of political parties.
- It needs to be implemented before the state funding is taken into consideration.
Second Administrative Reforms Commission (2008)
- The Second Administrative Reforms Commission’s “Ethics in Governance” report from 2008 advocated partial state funding of elections to cut down on “illegitimate and excessive funding” of election costs.
GLOBAL COMPARISON
- There are some 34 countries where state funding of elections is available in some form or the other. But there are different models. In some countries only parties get the fund, candidates do not. There are countries where it’s the other way round.
- The highest proportion of state funding of elections is in Norway, which is about 74% of the total expenses on the election.
- In most countries where there is public funding of elections, there are also strict transparency requirements. In the U.S., there is a rule that if the presidential candidate raises X amount of money, they are eligible to receive an equal amount of money from the government.
- But this is subject to certain conditions. In the last two or three presidential elections, no candidate has accepted government money. They have said that they do not want to accept these conditions and that they are able to raise enough money on our own.
THE WAY FORWARD
Evolving an efficient mechanism: For effective implementation of state funding of election an efficient mechanism needs to be devised. It can be done by proper stakeholder consultation of all the parties concerned. For example, Part-public funding of election campaigns is a practice in some countries. e.g. United States and Britain. There is a need to evolve our own version.
Realistic campaign spending: In India, the main reason for the prevalence of black money in election spending is the unrealistically low limits set by the Election Commission of India on campaign spending by political parties and candidates. More realistic campaign spending limits should be set where Election Commission could determine the actual expenditure and ask the parties to show the source of income.
Strict monitoring: The strict monitoring of expenditure by political parties and their functionaries at every level, starting with the panchayat, polling booth area and municipal ward should be done. For example, every party should disclose its expenditure every month at every level. This should be open to challenge by rival parties, media, etc.
Involvement of political parties: Political parties need to be part of the decision-making process. Political parties have to be made accountable to the public. They have to be democratic institutions if they are to deserve public money.
THE CONCLUSION
There is an ongoing debate on transparency in political funding, as there is unnecessary expenditure by political parties in elections. In this regard, the idea of state funding of elections is a concept long debated to reduce corruption by funding elections with government money as opposed to individual campaign contributions. It has potential to bring new and growing parties in par with the established parties, thus ensuring fair elections.
PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS
- The Indian party system is passing through a phase of transition which looks to be full of contradictions and paradoxes.” Discuss. (2016)
- To enhance the quality of democracy in India, the Election Commission of India has proposed electoral reforms in 2016. What are the suggested reforms and how far are they significant to make democracy successful? (2017)
MAINS PRACTICE QUESTIONS
- State funding of elections can be the best way to achieve transparency in political funding. Comment.
Refer to the main focus article for more:
SOURCE: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/should-elections-be-state-funded/article67540233.ece
REGULATING OTT: DRAFT BROADCASTING REGULATION BILL MAY BE AN ATTEMPT TO CONTROL DIGITAL INFRASTRUCTURE
RELEVANCE TO UPSC SYLLABUS: GS2: POLITY AND GOVERNANCE: FREEDOM OF MEDIA, REGULATION OF MEDIA.
THE CONTEXT
After the much debated and controversial introduction of the IT Rules 2021, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) released the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023 on November 10.
KEY FEATURES OF THE DRAFT BROADCASTING SERVICES(REGULATION) BILL, 2023
- The Bill provides regulatory provisions for various broadcasting services under a single legislative framework.
- It seeks to replace the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Act of 1995 and other policy guidelines currently governing the broadcasting sector in India.
- The Bill extends its regulatory purview to encompass broadcasting OTT content, digital news and current affairs currently regulated through the IT Act, 2000.
- The Bill consists of six chapters, 48 sections and three Schedules.
- The Bill provides comprehensive definitions for contemporary broadcasting terms along with other important technical terms to be defined in the statute for the first time.
- It introduces content evaluation committees for self-regulation and Broadcast Advisory Council to advise the central government on programme code and advertisement code violations.
- The Bill provides statutory penalties like advisory, warning, censure, or monetary penalties for operators and broadcasters.
- Provision for imprisonment and/or fines is also there, but only for very serious offences, such as obtaining registration with a false affidavit.
- Monetary penalties and fines are linked to the financial capacity of the entity, taking into account their investment and turnover to ensure fairness and equity.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BILL
It addresses a long-standing need of consolidating and updating the regulatory provisions for various broadcasting services under a single legislative framework.
It introduces comprehensive definitions for contemporary broadcasting terms and incorporates provisions for emerging broadcasting technologies.
It enhances self-regulation with the introduction of ‘Content evaluation committees’ and evolves the existing Inter-Departmental Committee into a more participative and broader ‘Broadcast Advisory Council’.
The bill addresses the specific needs of persons with disabilities by providing for enabling provisions for issue of comprehensive accessibility guidelines.
CRITICISM OF THE BILL
The broad and ambiguous framing of point 36 in the draft bill raises concerns. It gives the authorized officer the ultimate power to prohibit the transmission of any program or channel not in conformity with prescribed codes or likely to promote disharmony.
The proposed bill could lead to the erasure or selective representation of Indian minority communities.
Experts have expressed concerns about the potential influence of the government in the regulatory process and the independence of the authorized officer working under government directions.
THE CABLE TELEVISION NETWORK(REGULATION)ACT (CTNR) 1995
It was introduced to curb the menace of illegal cable television networks and regulate the programming and advertising content on television.
Under the CTNR Act, cable providers were compulsorily required to register themselves and transmit two Doordarshan channels, besides adhering to content regulation.
ISSUES WITH THE IT RULES 2021
Violating privacy: The rules have a traceability requirement which mandates significant social media intermediaries like WhatsApp to “enable the identification of the first originator of the information on its computer resource.
Increasing censorship: It could lead to censorship by the government. Content posted on social media platforms at times includes criticism of the establishment, which might not be very pleasing for the elected government.
Unclear Safe Harbor Protection: The lack of clear safe harbor protection could lead to criminal liability for employees of intermediaries who fail to comply with the rules.
Fear of Misuse: There are concerns that the rules could be misused to silence dissent and curb news coverage.
THE WAY FORWARD
The bill should establish an independent regulatory body to oversee content regulation.
The Indian government has been ineffective in addressing conflicts of interest in the media industry, particularly the relationships between MSOs (Multi-Service Operators), politicians, and vertical integration. This has caused a loss of trust and the issues with the CTRN Act demonstrate a significant lack of faith in the government. As such, a regulation on conflicts of interest is essential to restore public trust.
To foster a more responsible and informed media landscape, it is crucial to invest in media literacy programs that educate the public about responsible media consumption.
THE CONCLUSION
The proposed Broadcasting Services Bill raises concerns about excessive government control over digital infrastructure and content consumption. Addressing conflicts of interest is paramount to ensuring fair and ethical business practices and the government should prioritize establishing regulations in this area.
PREVIOUS YEAR QUESTIONS
Q) How can the ‘Digital India’ programme help farmers to improve farm productivity and income? What steps has the Government taken in this regard? (2015)
MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION
Q) Critically discuss the key features of the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill, 2023.