UPSC Daily Current Affairs- September 23, 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly PDF Download

GS-II

Context

The Supreme Court decided to live stream its proceedings in crucial Constitution Bench cases. Following the SC’s decision, Gujarat High Court began live streaming its proceedings in July 2021.

• Currently, the Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, and Patna High Courts live stream their proceedings.

Methods of live streaming

• Synchronous: real-time live streaming
• Asynchronous: uploading recordings after certain delay such as the next day

The Example of Gujarat HC

• The High Court of Gujarat implemented an in-house technical solution for live streaming of the Court Proceedings using computer systems, web cameras, digital audio interface and public address systems.
• The Court is now equipped with microphones and speakers.
• The live streaming is being done on the official YouTube Channel of the High Court which is now touching a subscriber base of 75000 and total cumulative views of 53 lacs.

Global Perspective

• Brazil: Allowed live video and audio broadcast including deliberations and voting process. A public television channel, a radio channel, and YouTube channels have been set up apart from broadcasting proceedings live.
• South Africa: Allowed broadcasting as an extension of the right to freedom of expression
• Canada: Proceedings are broadcast live on Cable accompanied by explanations of each case, overall processes, and powers of the court.
• United Kingdom: Proceedings are broadcast live but coverage can be withdrawn in sensitive appeals.
• USA: Supreme Court has rejected pleas for broadcast of its proceedings but allowed audio recording and transcripts of oral arguments.

Concerns

• Video clips of proceedings from Indian courts are already on YouTube and other social media platforms with sensational titles that creates fears of irresponsible or motivated use of content and spread of misinformation among the public.
• Justices may behave like politicians when given free television time, they act to maximize their individual exposure (as per a 2018 paper by titled ‘Television and Judicial Behaviour in Brazilian Supreme Court)
• Broadcast of proceedings corresponded with a growth in the frequency of filibustering.
• A judge must not be swayed by popular opinion and public gaze.

Significance

• Help in addressing gendered disruptions in oral arguments, with women being interrupted at disproportionate rates by their male colleagues.
• Help in improving transparency and greater access to justice system.
• It will lead to de-congestion of courts and improving physical access to courts.
• It is crucial for dissemination of information, free speech, and fundamental rights.

Way forward – AGI’s Recommendations

• Introduce live streaming as a pilot project and only in Constitution Bench cases.
• The court must retain the power to withhold broadcasting, and to also not permit it in sensitive cases like matrimonial matters, juveniles matter and matters of national security.
• Ensure that victims, witnesses, or defendants can depose truthfully and without any fear. Special protection must be given to vulnerable or intimidated witnesses such as face distortion.
• Protect privacy and security of victims and witnesses such as relating to sexual assault or rape matters or in cases which may provoke sentiments and arouse passion and provoke enmity among communities.

Context

Supreme Court of India (SC) has made several observation and comment against the inefficient functioning of the CBI and still this is continuing without much improving the situation.

• In 2013, the SC once again made strong observations against the functioning of the CBI and referring to the “Vineet Narain” judgment, said that nothing had improved since 1997, when this judgment was delivered.
• CBI, ED must be reformed if they are not to be used as instruments of intimidation, blackmail by governments.

What Challenges are Faced by the CBI?

• Political Interference: The Supreme Court of India has criticised the CBI by calling it a “caged parrot speaking in its master’s voice”, due to excessive political interference in its functioning.
• Delayed Investigations: It has been accused of enormous delays in concluding investigations – For example, the inertia in its probe against the high dignitaries in Jain hawala diaries case [of the 1990s].
• Loss of Credibility: Improving the image of the agency is one of the biggest challenges till now as the agency has been criticised for its mismanagement of several cases involving prominent politicians and mishandling of several sensitive cases like Bofors scandal, Hawala scandal, Sant Singh Chatwal case, Bhopal gas tragedy, 2008 Noida double murder case(Aarushi Talwar).
• Lack of Accountability: CBI is exempted from the provisions of the Right to Information Act, thus, lacking public accountability.
• Acute shortage of personnel: A major cause of the shortfall is the government’s sheer mismanagement of CBI’s workforce, through a system of inefficient, and inexplicably biased, recruitment policies – used to bring in favoured officers, possibly to the detriment of the organisation.
• Limited Powers: The powers and jurisdiction of members of the CBI for investigation are subject to the consent of the State Govt., thus limiting the extent of investigation by CBI.
• Restricted Access: Prior approval of Central Government to conduct inquiry or investigation on the employees of the Central Government, of the level of Joint Secretary and above is a big obstacle in combating corruption at higher levels of bureaucracy.

The following steps can be taken to improvement of the functioning of the CBI under the supervision of the CVC, can be improved in order to enhance efficiency:

• One, the CVC Act should be amended, providing for a five/seven-member Central Vigilance Commission, which could broadly assume the role visualised for the Lokpal
  • The selection process of the CVC members should be broader based to prevent favouritism or from controversial persons being appointed.
  • Currently, three members are drawn from the IAS, IPS and the Banking services. It should include one retired judge of the Supreme Court appointed by the CJI in consultation with the next four senior most judges.
  • Since the legislative wing of our democracy is crucial for matters of governance, it would be worthwhile to include one Member of Parliament, selected from those who have been members of either House for the longest duration.
  • In addition, two to three members should have engineering expertise, to assess the scams like the Commonwealth Games and one person should have a chartered accountancy background to examine financial scams. These selections should be made as transparent as possible.
• Two, the CVC should constitute an advisory committee of at least 11 members drawn from criminologists and forensic science experts.
  • This will augment the professional input in its functioning. Further, to reduce the burden on the CVC, it should be given the power to go to any expert or professional to assist it in screening complaints
• Three, the jurisdiction of CVC, which presently covers all employees of the central government and the CPSUs, should remain unchanged.
  • There is already an administrative arrangement to delegate the vigilance administration over class II and lower formations to the ministries/departments concerned.
  • To make this arrangement more effective, it would be important that the CVC exercises complete control over the selection, appointment and functioning of the CVOs.
• Four, the CVC should have an adequately experienced team to technically examine and assess the gravity of a complaint, which can then be assigned to the CBI for investigation or can be investigated by this team.
  • After assessing a complaint by this broad-based CVC, there should be no need to seek prior permission from the government.
• Five, in the cases assigned to it by the CVC, the CBI should be made functionally and financially independent of the controls of any government ministry/department.
  • The professional supervision over the investigations of the CBI should rest only with the CVC.
• Six, the manner of the appointment of the CBI Director should be broad based as in the case of the CVC members, whereas the other inductions/appointments in the CBI should be brought under the overarching supervision of the CVC.
• Seven, to achieve better synergy between anti-corruption laws and grievance handling, the laws relating to the whistle-blowers and grievance redressal should be placed within the jurisdiction of the CVC.
• Eight, effective administration of anti-corruption laws at the grass roots is the key to responsible governance. The state and their anti-corruption agencies would, therefore, need to be equally insulated from the state government’s interference on similar lines.

Conclusion

• As, the CBI, DRI and income tax agencies would do their duty, ensure proper investigations, and take the case to its logical conclusion, therefore it become necessary that they perform their functions in transparent manner without fear and favour to individual or group or party
• It is for the national interest that the country’s premier investigating agencies like the CBI, income tax authorities and the ED are not used as instruments of blackmail and intimidation by the government of the day. Rather they should work with complete objectivity and in the interest of the nation.

Context

Recently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) released its report “Invisible Numbers — The True Extent of Non-communicable Diseases and What To Do About Them”, which stated that every two seconds, one person under the age of 70 dies of a non-communicable disease (NCD) with 86% of those deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

What are the Key Highlights of the Report?

• Globally, one in three deaths – 17.9 million a year – are due to cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).
• Two-thirds of the people with hypertension live in low- and middle-income countries, but almost half of the people with hypertension are not even aware they have it, it currently affects around 1.3 billion adults aged between 30 and 79.
• Major Diseases
  • Diabetes: One in 28 deaths - 2.0 million people a year – is due to diabetes.
    • More than 95% of diabetes cases globally are of type 2 diabetes.
  • Cancer: It causes one in six deaths – 9.3 million people a year, a further 44% of cancer deaths could have been prevented or delayed by eliminating risks to health.
  • Respiratory Disease: It indicated that 70% of deaths due to chronic respiratory diseases could have been prevented or delayed by eliminating risks to health.
• Further, Covid-19 highlighted the links between NCDs and infectious disease, with serious impacts on NCD care. In the early months of the pandemic, 75% of countries reported disruption to essential NCD services.
• As per WHO portal only a handful of countries were on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal target to reduce early deaths from NCDs by a third by 2030.

What are Non-Communicable Diseases?

• About
  • Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), also known as chronic diseases, tend to be of long duration and are the result of a combination of genetic, physiological, environmental and behavioural factors.
  • The main types of NCD are cardiovascular diseases (such as heart attacks and stroke), cancers, chronic respiratory diseases (such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma) and diabetes.
• Causes: Tobacco use, unhealthy diet, harmful use of alcohol, physical inactivity and air pollution are the main risk factors contributing to these conditions.
• Status of Non-Communicable Diseases in India
  • According to WHO, over 60.46 lakh people died due to NCDs in India in 2019.
  • Over 25.66 lakh deaths in 2019 in the country were due to cardiovascular diseases while 11.46 lakh deaths were due to chronic respiratory diseases.
  • Cancer led to 9.20 lakh deaths while 3.49 lakh deaths in the country were attributed to diabetes.
• Indian Initiatives
  • National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS) is being implemented under the National Health Mission (NHM).
  • The Central Government is implementing the Strengthening of Tertiary Care Cancer facilities scheme to support the setting up of State Cancer Institutes (SCI) and Tertiary Care Centres (TCCC) in different parts of the country.
  • Oncology in its various aspects has a focus in case of new AIIMS and many upgraded institutions under Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Suraksha Yojana (PMSSY).
  • Affordable Medicines and Reliable Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) Deendayal outlets have been opened at 159 Institutions/Hospitals with an objective to make available Cancer and Cardiovascular Diseases drugs and implants at discounted prices to the patients.
  • Jan Aushadhi stores are set up by the Department of Pharmaceuticals to provide generic medicines at affordable prices.
• Global
  • Agenda for Sustainable Development: As part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, heads of state and government committed to develop ambitious national responses, by 2030, to reduce by one third premature mortality from NCDs through prevention and treatment (SDG target 3.4).
    • WHO plays a key leadership role in the coordination and promotion of the global fight against NCDs.
  • Global action Plan: In 2019, the World Health Assembly extended the WHO Global action plan for the prevention and control of NCDs 2013–2020 to 2030 and called for the development of an Implementation Roadmap 2023 to 2030 to accelerate progress on preventing and controlling NCDs.
    • It supports actions to achieve a set of nine global targets with the greatest impact towards prevention and management of NCDs.

Context

Recently, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has rejected the idea of a ‘permanent president’ for a party. A party from Andhra Pradesh reportedly elected states’ Chief Minister as its president for life.

• As per the ECI, such a step is inherently anti-democratic.

What is ‘Internal Democracy’ or ‘Intra-party democracy’?

• It refers to the level and methods of including party members in the decision making and deliberation within the party structure.
• It is usually known to nurture citizens’ political competencies and/or producing more capable representatives which in turn ensures that the party produces better policies and political programmes.
• Any party that participates in a democratic process, and wants to govern and legislate, should include formal and periodic election of office-bearers as part of the way it functions as an association.
• At present, in India and South Asia, almost all political parties are centralised. They are family-controlled parties, and dynastic politics has become a norm.

Reason behind centralised control in a party

• The fragmentation of India’s polity into a federalised, multi-party system has also given way to domination by “charismatic” individuals or their families, mainly because of the nature of support that these parties enjoy or due to their financing structures which necessitates centralised control by a single coterie or a family.
• Because of this, several political parties do not insist on thoroughgoing internal elections to secure their leadership; and even if they do conduct polls, they lack sufficient contestation and are done to reaffirm the dominance of the high command.

Framework to ensure Intra-party democracy

• RPA,1951: ECI uses guidelines issued for registration of parties under Section 29A, RPA,1951 to remind parties to conduct elections and to ensure that their leadership is renewed, changed, or re-elected every five years.
• Constitution: All rules and regulations apply more to candidates than to political parties in India.
  • Nothing in Article 324, or Section 29A, RPA,1951 tells us that the ECI can actually regulate internal structures, organisations, or elections of the party.
• However, ECI does not have any statutory power to enforce internal democracy in parties or to mandate elections.
  • The ECI does not question the result or the procedure the parties followed.
  • The ECI expects political parties to abide by their constitution, a copy of which is also submitted to the commission when the parties are registered. It is not for the commission to step in or criticise if anyone is elected unopposed.
• In the 1990s, when N. Sheshan was at the helm at ECI, by an executive order political parties were ordered to conduct organisational elections.

Framework in other countries

• In the U.S. election, the selection of the candidate to be the presidential nominee is done via debate, in which the contenders condemn and criticise each other.
• Something similar is seen in the U.K. Democracy.

Suggestions in this regard

• 1999 Law Commission Report: It strongly recommended that India should have some mechanism for internal regulation of political parties.
• The CEC in 2011 also submitted a draft on this to the Union Law Ministry.
• New interpretation of the existing laws by the ECI, as happened in the 1990s.

Conclusion

• Political parties don’t have to be homogeneous in terms of both ideas and leadership. Political parties are aggregations of interests, so, there are going to be differences within.
  • Having these internal elections, meetings and contests of ideas is important.
• The lack of substantive power with ECI only leads to parties carrying out the ECI’s edicts in a mechanical manner.
  • However, with dynasticism and a lack of internal democracy becoming a matter of public debate, perhaps public pressure would finally bear upon parties to do the right thing. Internal elections are key for upward mobility.

Context

The Central Government recently appointed Ratan Tata, a veteran industrialist, former Supreme Court judge K.T. Thomas and former Deputy Lok Sabha Speaker Kariya Munda as trustees of the PM CARES Fund.

About the PM CARES Fund

• The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created as a dedicated fund in March 2020 (and registered as a Public Charitable Trust), following the COVID-19 pandemic in India.
• The stated purpose of the fund is for combating, containment and relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar emergency or distress situations in the future.
• The fund is administered on an honorary basis by a Joint Secretary (Administration) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) as Secretary to the fund.

Constitution of the Trust

• Although the documentation for the constitution of the fund has not been made public, the Government of India has stated that the Prime Minister is the ex-officio Chairman of the PM CARES Fund.
• The Minister of Defence, Minister of Home Affairs and Minister of Finance are ex-officio Trustees of the Fund.
• The Chairperson of the Board of Trustees (the Prime Minister) shall have the authority to appoint 3 trustees to the Board of Trustees.
• Any Trustee appointed shall serve on a non-profit
• The PMO provides the Trustees with administrative and secretarial support for the Trust’s management and administration as needed.

Other details of the Fund

• The fund consists entirely of voluntary contributions from individuals or organisations and does not get any budgetary support.
• Donations to PM CARES Fund would qualify for 100% exemption under the Income Tax Act, 1961.
• Donations to PM CARES Fund will also qualify to be counted as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) expenditure under the Companies Act, 2013.
• PM CARES Fund has also got exemption under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) and a separate account for receiving foreign donations has been opened.
• This is consistent with respect to the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF).
• PMNRF has also received foreign contributions as a public trust since 2011.
• According to the most recent audited statement, the PM CARES Fund’s corpus nearly tripled to 10,990 crores in the 2020-21 fiscal, while disbursals increased to 3,976 crores.

Performance out of the Fund till now

• So far, an amount of ~ Rs. 4000 Crore has been allocated from PM CARES Fund for the following activities –
• ₹2000 Crore: For supply of 50,000 ‘Made-in India’ ventilators to Government Hospitals run by Centre/States/UTs.
• ₹1000 Crore: For care of migrant labourers (funds allotted to State/UT Governments).
• Over ₹1,392 crore for procurement of Covid vaccine doses.
• With the help of the PM CARES Fund, the PM CARES for Children scheme was launched. At present this scheme supports 4,345 children.
• The PM CARES for Children scheme was launched on 29th May 2021.
• It was launched to support children who have lost both the parents or legal guardian or adoptive parents or surviving parent to COVID-19 pandemic during the period starting from 11th March 2020.

Controversies about the Fund

• Lack of transparency and accountability in relation to its establishment, functioning and accounts.
• The total amount donated and the names of donors have not been made public, and the fund is being audited privately.
• Even though the Fund uses government infrastructure and national emblem, the Government initially claimed that the fund is a private fund and is outside the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2005.
• Later, the Government reversed its stance, admitting that the PM CARES Fund was a public fund but still refusing to disclose information about it under the RTI Act 2005.

GS-III

Context

Recently, the American meteorologist Vernon Dvorak passed away, on whom Dvorak Technique was named to forecast Weather.

• Dvorak was an American meteorologist best credited for developing the Dvorak (read as Do-rak) technique in the early 1970s.

What is the Dvorak technique?

• The Dvorak technique is a Cloud Pattern Recognition Technique (CPRT) based on a concept model of the development and decay of the tropical cyclone.
• It was first developed in 1969 and tested for observing storms in the northwest Pacific Ocean.
• In this methodology, available satellite images obtained from polar orbiting satellites are used to examine the features of the developing tropical storms (hurricanes, cyclones and typhoons).
  • During day time, images in the visible spectrum are used while at night, the ocean is observed using infrared images.
• From the satellite images the technique helps forecasters do a pattern recognition from the observed structure of the storm, locate its eye and estimate the intensity of the storm.
• Although it cannot help make any predictions, measure wind or pressure or any other meteorological parameters associated with the cyclone, it is a guide to estimate the storm’s intensity and possible intensification — which is crucial for local administration in planning evacuation measures of coastal or other nearby residents.

Why is Technique still Widely in Use?

• Even having an improved network of land-based meteorological observations, ocean observations still remain limited.
• There are many regions across the four oceans that have not been fully examined with meteorological instruments.
• Ocean observations are mostly taken by deploying buoys or dedicated ships, but the number of observations from the seas is still not sufficient across the world.
• That is why meteorologists have had to depend more on satellite-based imageries, and combine it with the available ocean-data at the time of forecasting the intensity and wind speed of the tropical cyclones.
• The Dvorak technique has undergone several advancements since its inception. Even in the present day, when forecasters have access to several state-of-the-art tools like model guidance, animations, artificial intelligence, machine learning and satellite technology, it is the advanced versions of the Dvorak technique that continues to be widely used.

Additional Important News

Context

A 14^th century ceremonial sword that was sold in Hyderabad to a British General in the early 20th century is set to return to India.

• The sword is among the seven objects being repatriated by Glasgow Life, which manages Glasgow’s museums.

What do we Need to Know about the Sword?

• History of Sword
  • The sword was exhibited by Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI, Nizam of Hyderabad (1896-1911) at the 1903 Delhi or Imperial Durbar, a ceremonial reception held to commemorate the coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra as Emperor and Empress of India.
  • The tulwar (sword) was purchased in 1905 by General Sir Archibald Hunter, Commander-in-Chief, Bombay Command (1903-1907), from Maharaja Sir Kishen Pershad Bahadur Yamin us-Sultanat, the Prime Minister of Hyderabad.
    • Kishen Pershad hailed from the family of Maharaja Chandoo Lal, who was the prime minister for Nizam Sikander Jah twice.
    • Kishen Pershad was known for his munificence where he was known to throw out coins to people chasing his motorcar.
  • The tulwar was donated by Sir Hunter’s nephew, Mr. Archibald Hunter Service, to Glasgow Life museums’ collections in 1978.
• Features: The sword, shaped like a snake, has serrated edges and a damascene pattern, with gold etchings of an elephant and tigers.
• Other Indian Objects at Glasgow: Six of the items include several 14^th Century carvings and 11^th Century stone door jams. They were stolen from shrines and temples in the 19^th Century.

Context

According to a recent study, a pre-existing moon named Chrysalis likely left Saturn with its bright rings and extreme tilt.

What are the Key Highlights of the Study?

• Substantial Tilt: Saturn has a tilt of 26.73 degrees and is unlikely to have had a tilt during its formation stages.
  • Currently, gas giants Neptune, Uranus and Saturn have a substantial tilt, suggesting that this feature did not arise during the formation stages.
• Reason for Tilt: Various theories suggest that Saturn got its tilt due to gravitational interactions with its neighbour Neptune.
  • But the new study argues that Saturn is no longer under Neptune’s gravitational influence.
  • Further, it stated that instead, Titan — Saturn’s largest satellite — may have been responsible, as per observations from NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which orbited Saturn from 2004-2017.
  • Titan’s Migration: Titan is migrating from Saturn at about 11 centimetres per year, 100 times faster than previous estimates.
    • Titan’s fast migration caused the planet to tilt further, reducing Nepturn’s gravitational influence on Saturn.
  • Role of Former Moon (Chrysalis): Scientists conducted simulations of the planet’s axis of rotation and how it has changed over time, it revealed that a former moon could be involved, as removing the moon gives Saturn its tilt, according to the model.
    • Chrysalis likely orbited Saturn for several billion years, roughly 160 million years ago, Chrysalis became unstable and came too close to its planet. This encounter likely pushed the moon away or destroyed it.