UPSC Daily Current Affairs- January 27, 2022 | Current Affairs: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - CLAT PDF Download

GS-I

Context

In Arunachal Pradesh, the Chakma and Hajong people are feeling heat since the State government decided to conduct a special census in December 2021.

About News

• The North-Eastern States have had a history of being paranoid about outsiders outnumbering the indigenous communities and taking their land, resources and jobs. 
• The threat from “non-locals” in a specific area has also been perceived to be from communities indigenous elsewhere in the region. 
• This has often led to conflicts such as the recent attacks on non-tribal people in Meghalaya’s capital Shillong or an Assam-based group’s warning to a fuel station owner in Guwahati against employing Bihari workers.

Who are the Chakmas and Hajongs?

• The Chakmas and Hajongs of Arunachal Pradesh are migrants from the Chittagong Hill Tracts of erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh. 
• Displaced by the Kaptai dam on the Karnaphuli River in the 1960s, they sought asylum in India. 
• They settled in relief camps in the southern and south-eastern parts of Arunachal Pradesh from 1964 to 1969. 
• A majority of them live in the Changlang district of the State today. 
• Mizoram and Tripura have a sizeable population of the Buddhist Chakmas while the Hindu Hajongs mostly inhabit the Garo Hills of Meghalaya and adjoining areas of Assam.

Why was a special census of the two communities planned?

• The Arunachal Government has cited to resolve the protracted issue of racial antagonism.
• It seeks to rehabilitate the Chakma-Hajongs in other States.
• The census plan was however dropped after the Chakma Development Foundation of India petitioned the PMO.

Issues with the census

• Chakma organizations said the census was nothing but racial profiling of the two communities because of their ethnic origin and violated Article 14 of the Indian Constitution.
• It is against Article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, ratified by India.

What is their citizenship status?

• Members of the two communities had been settled in Arunachal Pradesh six decades ago with a rehabilitation plan, allotted land and provided with financial aid depending on the size of their families.
• Although local tribes claim the population of the migrants has increased alarmingly, the 2011 census says there are 47,471 Chakmas and Hajongs in the State.
• They are granted citizenship by birth under Section 3 of the Citizenship Act, 1955, after having been born before July 1, 1987, or as descendants of those who were born before this date.

GS-II

Context

Recently, a petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking a direction to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to seize the election symbol or deregister a political party that promises or distributes “irrational freebies” from public funds before elections.

• The petition argued that the recent trend of political parties to influence voters by offering freebies with an eye on elections is not only the greatest threat to the survival of democratic values but also injures the spirit of the Constitution.

About Freebies in Indian Politics
Political parties promise to offer free electricity/water supply, monthly allowance to unemployed, daily wage workers and women as well as gadgets like laptops, smartphones etc. in order to secure the vote of the people.

About the Petition

• Petitioner submits that arbitrary promises of irrational freebies violate the ECI's mandate for free and fair elections.
• Distributing private goods-services, which are not for public purposes, from public funds clearly violates Articles 14 (equality before law), 162 (executive power of a State), 266(3) (expenditure from Consolidated Fund of India) and 282 (Discretionary grants)of the Constitution. 
• The petition also sought the Supreme Court to give a direction to the Union to enact a law in this regard. 
• It sought a direction to the ECI to insert an additional condition in the relevant paragraphs of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order 1968. 
  • It deals with conditions for recognition as a state party, that a "political party shall not promise/distribute irrational freebies from the public fund before the election".

Arguments in Favor of Freebies

• Essential for Fulfilling Expectations: In a country like India where the states have (or don’t have) a certain level of development, upon the emergence of the elections, there are expectations from the part of people which are met by such promises of freebies.
  • Moreover, there are also comparative expectations when the people of the adjoining/other states (with different ruling parties) get freebies. 
• Helps Lesser Developed States: With the states that have comparatively lower level of development with a larger share of the population suffering from poverty, such kind of freebies become need/demand-based and it becomes essential to offer the people such subsidies for their own upliftment.

Associated Issues With ‘Freebies’

• Economic Burden: This places a huge economic burden on the exchequer of the state as well as centre.
• Against Free and Fair Election: The promise of irrational freebies from public funds before elections unduly influences the voters, disturbs the level playing field and vitiates the purity of the poll process.
  • It amounts to an unethical practice that is just like giving bribes to the electorate. 
• Against Equality Principle: Distribution of private goods or services, which are not for public purposes, from public funds before the election violates several articles of the Constitution, including Article 14 (equality before law).

SC Judgement
The Supreme Court in S Subramaniam Balaji vs Government of Tamil Nadu 2013 case held that unrealistic poll promises and freebies are a serious issue that disturbs the level-playing field in elections.

• The court also held that promises in the election manifesto cannot be construed as “corrupt practice“ under the Representation of People Act or under any other prevailing law and hence, distribution of freebies can’t be stopped when the ruling party uses public funds for this purpose through passage of Appropriation Acts in state assembly.
• At the same time, the court noted that there is no enactment that directly governs the contents of the election manifesto, and directed ECI to frame guidelines for the same in consultation with all the recognised political parties.

Context

The government has tweaked spending norms for Contingency Fund of India, allowing 40% of the total corpus to be placed at disposal of the Expenditure Secretary.

What are the proposed changes?

• Budget 2021-22 proposed to enhance the Contingency Fund of India from ₹500 crore to ₹30,000 crore through Finance Bill. 
• An amount equivalent to 40 per cent of the Fund corpus shall be placed at the disposal of the Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Department of Expenditure. 
• This would serve the purpose of meeting unforeseen expenditure.

About Contingency Fund of India

• Contingency is a negative event which may occur in future, like recession or pandemic. 
• The Constitution has a provision for a contingency fund. Its corpus is always kept intact. 
• Article 267 of the Constitution mandates formation of a corpus under Contingency Fund of India to deal with any emergency situation. 
• It is placed at the disposal of the President of India. 
• Government cannot withdraw funds from it without authorization of the Parliament. 
• And the corpus has to be replenished with the same amount later.

Management of the fund

• The fund is held by the Department of Economic Affairs on behalf of the President of India and it can be operated by executive action. 
• The fund can be increased through a Finance Bill when Parliament is in the session. 
• Or through Ordinance if the House is not in session and situation warrants. 
• Withdrawal from the fund takes place with the approval of the Secretary of Department of Economic Affairs, in terms of the Contingency Fund of India Act, 1950. 
• An amount equivalent to 40% of the corpus has now been placed at the disposal of the Expenditure Secretary. 
• All further Contingency Fund releases beyond this limit will require the approval of the Expenditure Secretary in addition to the Economic Affairs Secretary’s approval.

Context

The 2021 Corruption Perception Index by Transparency International places India 85th on a list of 180 countries, one position above last year.

About Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI)

• The CPI is an index which ranks countries “by their perceived levels of public sector corruption, as determined by expert assessments and opinion surveys.” 
• The CPI generally defines corruption as an “abuse of entrusted power for private gain”. 
• The index is published annually by the non-governmental organisation Transparency International since 1995. 
• The index ranks 180 countries and territories by their perceived levels of public sector corruption according to experts and business people. 
• It uses a scale of 0 to 100 to rank CPI, where 0 is highly corrupt and 100 is very clean.

What kind of corruption does the CPI measure?
The data sources used to compile the CPI specifically cover the following manifestations of public sector corruption: 

• Bribery 
• Diversion of public funds 
• Officials using their public office for private gain without facing consequences 
• Ability of governments to contain corruption in the public sector 
• Excessive red tape in the public sector which may increase opportunities for corruption 
• Nepotistic appointments in the civil service 
• Laws ensuring that public officials must disclose their finances and potential conflicts of interest 
• Legal protection for people who report cases of bribery and corruption 
• State capture by narrow vested interests 
• Access to information on public affairs/government activities 

The CPI does NOT cover: 

• Citizens’ direct perceptions or experience of corruption 
• Tax fraud 
• Illicit financial flows 
• Enablers of corruption (lawyers, accountants, financial advisors etc) 
• Money-laundering 
• Private sector corruption 
• Informal economies and markets

Highlights of the 2021 Report

• The top-performing countries were Denmark, Finland and New Zealand — all having a corruption perceptions score of 88 — followed by Norway, Singapore and Sweden, all of them scoring 85. 
• In contrast, the worst-performing countries were South Sudan with a corruption perceptions score of 11, followed by Syria (13), Somalia (13, Venezuela (14) and Afghanistan (16).

India’s performance

• In 2021, India ranked 86th with the same CPI score of 40. 
• The report highlighted concerns over the risk to journalists and activists who have been victims of attacks by the police, political militants, criminal gangs and corrupt local officials. 
• Civil society organizations that speak up against the government have been targeted with security, defamation, sedition, hate speech and contempt-of-court charges, and with regulations on foreign funding.

Context

Republic Day (73^rd) is celebrated every year on 26th January to commemorate the adoption of the Indian Constitution, which came into effect on this day in 1950.

• The Constitution is the supreme law of the land and citizens are expected to abide by it.

Significance of Republic Day 2022

• Republic day is a monumental day in Indian history because it was on this day that India adopted its own Constitution and declared its own laws of the land.
• The British colonial Government of India Act (1935) was finally replaced and the country was set to make a fresh start. 
• Additionally, it was also on this day that the Preamble of the Constitution of India came into effect. 
  • The Preamble is largely a comprehensive statement that presents the key principles of the Constitution. 
• On this day India shed the last relic of the colonial system and effected a new dawn by becoming a Sovereign Democratic Republic. 
• The day is an occasion to commemorate the values of our democracy and Republic, to reaffirm our commitment to liberty, fraternity and equality across our society and among all our citizens. 
• The day celebrates the desire of a huge nation that wants to be governed through one single constitution giving another example of India’s unity in diversity.

Threats to Indian Democracy

• Although India has made a place for itself as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it loses behind a lot in the name of growth. 
• Poverty remains the biggest challenge of present day India, the majority of the people continue to live below the poverty line with a huge divide between the rich and the poor. 
• Gender discrimination remains at all level with skewed female ratio, few economic opportunities, disparities in wages, violence, malnutrition etc. 
• Communalism and religious fundamentalism have acquired a very dangerous form and alarming proportion in India. It is an affront to India’s nationalist identity and a tragic setback to its evolving secular culture. 
• Indian democracy also struggles with regionalism which is primarily an outcome of regional disparities and imbalances in development. Continued feeling of inequality both among and within state creates a feeling of neglect, deprivation and discrimination. 
• Elections which serve as the most evident expression of democracy are affected by money and muscle abuse by politicians and political parties. 
• Most of the politicians have pending criminal cases against them, source of funding for elections remains questionable.

GS-III

Context

A nematode infestation has led to mass mortality of spot-billed pelicans (Pelicanus philippensis) at Telineelapuram Important Bird Area (IBA) in Andhra Pradesh.

About Spot-billed Pelicans

• The spot-billed pelican (Pelecanus philippensis) or grey pelican is a member of the pelican family. It breeds in southern Asia from southern Iran across India east to Indonesia.
• It is a bird of large inland and coastal waters, especially large lakes.
• The breeding population of these pelican species is limited to India, Sri Lanka and Cambodia. 
• In the non-breeding season they are recorded in Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.

Conservation status

• IUCN status: Near Threatened
• Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972: Schedule IV (Hunting prohibited but the penalty for any violation is less compared to the first two schedules)

Context

Recently, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed Delhi and Haryana to enforce the Environment Management Plans (EMP) that the two governments have prepared for the rejuvenation and protection of the Najafgarh jheel, a transboundary wetland.

About Wetland

• Wetland is transitional land between terrestrial and aquatic eco-systems where water table is usually at or near surface or it may be land covered by shallow water. 
• Importance– Wetlands supports rich biodiversity and provides wide range of ecosystem services such as water storage and purification, flood mitigation, erosion control, aquifer recharge etc. 
• In India there are 115 wetlands officially identified by Central Government.
• Out of these, 26 have identified as wetlands of international importance under Ramsar Convention designated as Ramsar sites. 
  • The Ramsar list is a list of wetland sites that are deemed to be of “international importance” under the Ramsar Convention, 1971 (India is a signatory to it) 
  • The list aim “to develop and maintain an international network of wetlands which are important for the conservation of global biological diversity and for sustaining human life through the maintenance of their ecosystem components, processes and benefits”.

About Najafgarh jheel/Marsh wetland

• Najafgarh Lake, fed by Sahibi River, used to be a vast lake in the south west Delhi.
• It was connected to the river Yamuna by a natural shallow nullah or drain called the Najafgarh nullah. 
• The presence of 281 bird species, including several threatened ones such as Egyptian vulture, Sarus Crane, Steppe Eagle, Greater Spotted Eagle, Imperial Eagle and those migrating along the Central Asian Flyway has been reported at the lake.
• It is  the second largest water body in Delhi-NCR after the Yamuna.
• The lake is largely filled with sewage from Gurugram and surrounding villages of Delhi.

About NGT

• It is a statutory body established in 2010, as per the National Green Tribunal Act.
• It is a specialised judicial body equipped with expertise solely for the purpose of adjudicating environmental cases in the country.
• The chairperson of the NGT is a retired judge of the Supreme Court.
• It shall not be bound by the procedure laid down under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 but shall be guided by principles of natural justice.
• Tribunal’s orders are binding and it has power to grant relief in the form of compensation and damages to affected persons.

Context

Europe’s push for renewable energy at the cost of conventional fuel may end up causing a global food crisis.

About Consequences of fuel shortage in Western Europe

• Since August 2021, Western Europe has faced a problem with renewable energy – the wind doesn’t always blow when needed and the sun doesn’t always shine.
• Commodity markets across the world operate on a balance of demand and supply — even seemingly “small” changes in either side of a few percentage points can push the prices up or down sharply.
• High energy bills: Higher gas prices have pushed up energy bills for households and are expected to impact household spending and consumption as well.
• High urea prices: Natural gas is used to produce urea – if gas prices go up, fertiliser also becomes expensive.
• Some poor and middle-income countries are already starting to face problems of fertiliser availability — there are reports from several Indian states as well.
• High food prices: The impact of expensive fertiliser will be felt some months down the line as expensive fertiliser and reduced harvests push up food prices.
• India is relatively less affected as the share of natural gas in the country’s energy mix is low but will still face problems due to high food prices.
• In 2007-08, when oil prices were high, there was a push to use “biofuels” led by the US and Europe.
• The effects of the 2008 food price crisis were felt around the world, especially by the poor.

Lessons for India

• Cheap and reliable energy sources should not be abandoned until the alternatives have been stringently stress tested.
• India will be especially hard hit if oil prices spike as it imports close to 1.4 billion barrels of oil annually.

Conclusion
A blind push to shut down traditional sources of energy and move to less reliable “clean” energy can have second and third-order effects.