Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Judicial Review
- Solidarity and Stability Deal
- Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report
- Toy Hackathon
- Asian Waterbird census
- Facts for Prelims
1 . Judicial Review
Context : The Supreme Court, in a majority judgment, gave its go-ahead to the multi-crore Central Vista redevelopment project, which proposes to build a new Parliament three times bigger than the existing 93-year-old heritage building and modify the use of 86.1 acres of land, home to India’s power corridor in the national capital. Majority opinion dismissed notions that the project was “sui generis” (unique) and deserved a “heightened judicial review”.
Key Observations made by the Court
- The Supreme Court refused to treat the Central Vista project as a unique one requiring greater or “heightened” judicial review.
- A majority view of the Supreme Court said the government was “entitled to commit errors or achieve successes” in policy matters without the court’s interference as long as it follows constitutional principles.
- Judicial review is never meant to venture into the mind of the government and thereby examine validity of a decision
- The majority judgment said there was absolutely no legal basis to “heighten” the judicial review by applying a yardstick beyond the statutory scheme, especially when the government itself had accorded no special status to the project. The court said the government had gone through the ordinary route of development projects under law in the Central Vista proposal too. It was up to the government to decide whether or not to accord a unique, or sui generis, status to a project.
- According to the court once the government decides to construct a new space for its sitting or to construct a highway or water dam or school or university and follows the procedure prescribed under law commensurate with the nature of project, then the court cannot act as a multiplier of regulations and add its own notion as to what ought to be additional essential procedure for going ahead with a particular project
What is Judicial Review
- Judicial review is the process by which the court declares any law which goes against the constitution as void. We have adopted this feature from the United States Constitution.
- Judicial Review can be of Constitutional Amendments, Legislative actions and of Laws made by the legislature.
Constitutional Provision
- The power to interpret the Constitution of India to its full extent lies within the Judiciary. It is the protector of the Constitution of India. Power of Judicial Review is vested in many articles such as 13, 32,131-136, 143, 226, 145, 246, 251, 254 and 372.
- Under Article 13(2) of the Constitution of India, any law made by the parliament that abridges the right conferred to the people under Part 3 of the constitution is void-ab-initio. Article 13(2) further talks about any law made by the parliament after the commencement of the constitution shall be declared null and void by the Court.
- Article 372(1) talks about Judicial review of the pre-constitutional laws that were in force before the commencement of the Constitution of India.
- The Supreme Court and High Court are said to be the guarantors of Fundamental given by the constitution. If any person’s Fundamental right is violated he/she can approach the court under Article 32 or Article 226 of the constitution.
- Article 251 and 254 states that if there is any inconsistency between the union and state law, the law of union shall prevail and the state law shall be deemed void.
2 . Solidarity and Stability Deal
Context : AL-ULA: Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman said Tuesday that the Gulf states had signed an agreement on regional “solidarity and stability” at a summit aimed at resolving a three-year embargo against Qatar.
Background of the Crisis
- Qatar has long practised an ambitious foreign policy with different priorities to its neighbours but there are two key issues which have angered them in recent years.
- One is Qatar’s support for Islamist groups. Qatar acknowledges that it has provided assistance to some, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, but denies aiding militant groups linked to al-Qaeda or so-called Islamic State (IS).
- The other key issue is Qatar’s relations with Iran, with which it shares the world’s largest gas field. The Shia Muslim power is Sunni Muslim-ruled Saudi Arabia’s main regional rival.
Blockade
- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain severed relations with Qatar on 5 June. They also gave Qatari citizens 14 days to leave their territory and banned their own citizens from travelling to or residing in Qatar.
- Egypt also cut diplomatic ties but did not impose restrictions on its 180,000 citizens living in Qatar.
- Yemen, the Maldives and Libya’s eastern-based government later followed suit.
- Qatar’s only land border was also closed by Saudi Arabia and ships flying the Qatari flag or those serving Qatar were banned from docking at many ports.
- Two states in the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) did not cut ties with Qatar – Kuwait and Oman. Kuwait has offered to mediate in the dispute.
Solidarity and Stability Deal
- Saudi Arabia will open its airspace and land border to Qatar on Monday evening in the first step toward ending a years-long diplomatic crisis that deeply divided U.S. defence partners, frayed societal ties and tore apart a traditionally clubby alliance of Gulf states.
- The lifting of the embargo by Saudi Arabia paves the way for Qatar’s ruler to attend an annual summit of Gulf leaders that will be held in the kingdom’s ancient desert site of Al-Ula.
3 . Global Economic Prospect
Context : Global economic output is projected to grow by 4% in 2021 assuming widespread roll-out of a COVID-19 vaccine throughout the year, as per the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects (GEP) report
About Global Economic Prospect
- Global Economic Prospects is a World Bank Group flagship report that examines global economic developments and prospects, with a special focus on emerging market and developing economies.
- It is issued twice a year, in January and June. The January edition includes in-depth analyses of topical policy challenges while the June edition contains shorter analytical pieces. Commodity Markets Outlook is now released as its own report, also contained in this collection.
Key Observation of the Report
- GEP projection is still 5% below pre-pandemic levels. India is expected to grow at 5.4% in fiscal year 2021/22 and 5.2% in fiscal 2022/23 after an expected contraction of 9.6% in fiscal 2020/21.
- India’s expected contraction in the current fiscal year is due to a sharp decline in household spending and private investment. There was severe income loss in the informal sector which accounts for 4/5ths of employment, as per the GEP report. However, recent data indicate that recovery in manufacturing and services is gaining momentum.
- In 2021, the rebound from the low base is expected to be countered by subdued private investment growth due to financial sector weakness
- The South Asian region’s economy is expected to contract by 6.7 % in 2020 due to the pandemic. This was led by India’s deep recession, where the economy was already weakened by the stress in non-bank financial corporations, the report says.
- Growth in South Asia is expected to be 3.3 % in 2021 and 3.8% in 2022 – significantly lower than pre-pandemic projections. Downside risks to growth predominate, as per the report, and include financial distress caused by abrupt tightening, widespread corporate bankruptcies, weaker than expected recoveries across sectors, extreme weather and climate chang
4 . Toy Hackathon
Context : Centre launched a hackathon for students, teachers and start-ups to design and develop toys and games “based on Indian culture and ethos, local folklore and heroes, and Indian value systems.”
Need
- Toy market in India is worth $1 billion but 80% toys are imported.
About toycathon
- The hackathon is an initiative of the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Women and Child Development Ministry of Textile, Ministry of Commerce and Industries, Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and All India Council for Technical Education.
- The goal of the “toycathon” is to promote India as a global toy manufacturing hub.
- The Toycathon has nine themes, including fitness and sport and rediscovering traditional Indian toys.
5 . Asian Waterbird census
Context : The two-day Asian Waterbird Census-2020 commenced in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday
About Waterbird census
- Every January, thousands of volunteers across Asia and Australasia visit wetlands in their country and count waterbirds. This citizen science programme is the Asian Waterbird Census (AWC).
- The AWC is an integral part of the global waterbird monitoring programme, the International Waterbird Census (IWC), coordinated by Wetlands International. It runs in parallel with other regional programmes of the International Waterbird Census in Africa, Europe, West Asia, the Neotropics and the Caribbean.
- The AWC was initiated in 1987 in the Indian subcontinent and since has grown rapidly to cover major region of Asia, from Afghanistan eastwards to Japan, Southeast Asia and Australasia. The census, thus covers the entire East Asian – Australasian Flyway and a large part of the Central Asian Flyway.
- Waterbird census in India is conducted under the aegis of experts from the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), covering at least two dozen sites, including Coringa Wildlife Sanctuary, Kolleru Lake and Krishna Sanctuary.
About Waterbirds
- Wetlands International (WI) has defined waterbirds as species of bird that are ecologically dependent on wetlands.
- Waterbirds are well-known indicators of the quality of certain types of wetlands.
- Any wetland site which regularly holds one per cent or more of a waterbird population qualifies as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, according to WI.
6 . Facts for Prelims
Clinical Trial Mode
- Clinical trial mode implies that there would be no placebo shots. A placebo is a medicine or procedure prescribed for the psychological benefit to the patient rather than for any physiological effect. It is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value, including inert injections, pills, or any other kind of fake treatment.
- Everyone eligible would be given the actual vaccine and followed up for reports on adverse events, as in a trial.
Airports Authority of India Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited
- The AAICLAS — the Airports Authority of India Cargo Logistics and Allied Services Company Limited — will be the nodal body for co-ordinating air transportation of the vaccines among various stakeholders of the aviation sector.