Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE
Topics Covered
- Village defence Committees & Salwa Judum
- Defence Acquisition Procedures
- Reservation in Local Bodies
- Andhra Pradesh Capital issue
- Facts for Prelims
1 . Village Defence Committees
Context : The Union government will re-establish village defence committees (VDCs) in Jammu to fight militancy, provide hi-tech weapons and ensure equal salary to its members, top leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have said in Jammu.
About the News
- VDCs will be re-established with a changed nomenclature. They will be called ‘village defence groups’ now.
About VDCs
- The VDCs were constituted in 1995 in 10 districts of the Jammu region to fight militants in far-off places.
- The VDCs consist of villagers as well as police officers. Troubled regions of far flung villages of Jammu and Kashmir were heavily manifested with militancy and there were no police or army pickets near these inaccessible villages. VDCs were setup and were trained by security forces, provided with weapons and wireless sets to counter terrorist attacks.
- All the members are trained by security forces personnel in elementary battle craft, field craft and weapon handling.
- VDCs act as small defensive units that have helped in reduction of terrorism, but regular inputs by villagers also helped in identifying and curbing the infiltration routes often used by terrorists, he said.
- It is pertinent to mention that the first woman VDC was setup in twin villages of Marrah and Kulali, which became a role model for others. Women of such areas have established fine examples when it comes to save lives of not only own family but also the entire village.
- Most of the VDCs were disbanded after its members were accused of violence.
Salwa Judum
- Salwa Judum is similar to VDC. Salwa Judum was mobilised in 2005 and deployed in parts of Chhattisgarh. Those in favour of the idea claim that the Judum was a “spontaneous uprising” of tribal people against Maoist violence in Bastar, and helped in countering Naxals in the region. Yet, by the time the force was banned by the Supreme Court in 2011, it had acquired a bloody and controversial reputation.
- The state government allegedly supplied arms and tacit support to the Judum, which had turned into a vigilante group, recruiting poorly trained youth as “Koya Commandos”, or “SPOs (Special Police Officers)”. Many of the volunteers were former Maoists.
- Many people were killed, there were numerous allegations of the Judum entering and burning villages, several accusations of sexual assault, and of thousands being displaced from their homes. For the trapped villagers in Bastar’s forests, there were only two options: either stay put and be declared a Maoist, or move to Salwa Judum camps set up by the state. Thousands left their homes never to return. These camps still dot Bastar, with settlements in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well, and many are still too afraid to return to their villages for fear of Maoist reprisals.
2 . Defence Acquisition Procedures
Context– The Collegiate Committee of Defence Ministry has Accorded-In-Principle (AIP) approval to four projects under Make-I, Government funded, and Make-II, industry funded categories of Defence Acquisition Procedure 2020. “The industry will be provided financial support for prototype development of these projects
About the News
- The projects which were accorded the AIP by the Collegiate Committee of the MoD include IAF Communication Equipment with Indian security protocols (routers, switches, encryptors, VoIP phones and their software), airborne electro-optical pod with ground-based system, airborne stand-off jammer and light tank for the Army.
- The AIP has also been accorded to the following five projects under industry–funded Make-II procedure which include full motion simulator for Apache and Chinook helicopters and wearable robotic equipment for aircraft maintenance for the IAF.
- The Army’s projects include integrated surveillance and targeting system for mechanised forces and autonomous combat vehicle. Projects under ‘Make-II’ category involve prototype development of equipment, system, platform or their upgrades or their sub-systems, sub-assembly, assemblies and components primarily for import substitution and innovative solutions, for which no government funding will be provided for prototype development
Significance
- For the first time since launch of DAP 2020, Indian Industry has been involved in the development of big-ticket platforms such as light tank and communication equipment with Indian security protocols
About Defence Procurement Procedure
- The first Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) was promulgated in the year 2002 and has since been revised periodically to provide impetus to the growing domestic industry and achieve enhanced self reliance in defence manufacturing. Recent version of DAP is the DAP-2020.
- DAP 2020 has been aligned with the vision of the Government of Atmanirbhar Bharat and empowering Indian domestic industry through Make in India initiative with the ultimate aim of turning India into a global manufacturing hub. With the new Foreign Direct Investment policy announced, DAP 2020 has adequately included provisions to encourage FDI to establish manufacturing hubs both for import substitution and exports while protecting interests of Indian domestic industry.
Make Category of Capital Acquisition in Defence Procurement Procedure
- The provision of ‘Make’ category of capital acquisition in Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP) is a vital pillar for realising the vision behind the ‘Make in India’ initiative of the Government, by fostering indigenous capabilities through design & development of required defence equipment/product/systems or upgrades/ sub-systems/components /parts by both public and private sector industry/organization in a faster time frame.
- ‘Make’ Procedure has following two sub-categories:
- Make-I (Government Funded): Projects under ‘Make-I’ sub-category will involve Government funding of 90%, released in a phased manner and based on the progress of the scheme, as per terms agreed between MoD and the vendor.
- Make-II (Industry Funded): Projects under ‘Make-II’ category will involve prototype development of equipment/ system/ platform or their upgrades or their sub-systems/ sub-assembly/assemblies/ components, primarily for import substitution/innovative solutions, for which no Government funding will be provided for prototype development purposes.
- Make III (Indigenously Manufactured) category for manufacture of equipment/platforms or spares/assemblies/sub-assemblies for enabling import substitution.
3 . Reservation in Local Bodies
Context– the State Cabinet of Maharashtra passed a resolution to not hold polls till the quota is restored. The resolution has been passed despite the Supreme Court’s refusal to accept the interim report filed by the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission recommending 27% reservation for OBCs in local bodies
Background of the case
- Maharashtra had constituted a Commission to ascertain the backwardness of OBCs in June 2021. But without waiting for an empirical report, an ordinance was promulgated to amend the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads Act, Panchayat Samitis Act and the Maharashtra Village Panchayat Act so as to conduct local body elections with OBC reservation. This was struck down by the Supreme court.
- Reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local body elections sans empirical base can no more be sustainable in law and the apex court’s latest order in Rahul Ramesh Wagh v. State of Maharashtra &Ors. makes it mandatory that the principles laid down by the Supreme Court for providing reservation to OBCs in local bodies shall be scrupulously followed across the country.
- Following the SC order, the government appointed a dedicated commission for empirical data of OBCs and promulgated ordinance in September. A bill was subsequently passed in the winter session of the state legislature for 27 per cent OBCs reservation in local bodies without exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling limit of the reservation. However, empirical data was not collected
- Supreme Court refused to accept the interim report because report by the state government itself states that it was prepared in absence of empirical study and research by the commission. It is not possible to permit any authority, much less the State Election Commission, to act upon the recommendations made in the said report.
3 Conditions for Providing Reservation in Local Bodies
- A five-judge Constitution Bench in the K. Krishnamurthy (Dr.) v. Union of India (2010) judgment said that barriers to political participation are not the same as barriers to education and employment. Though reservation to local bodies is permissible, the top court declared that the same is subject to three conditions:
- 1) to set up a dedicated Commission to conduct empirical inquiry into the nature of the backwardness in local bodies
- 2) to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body-wise
- 3) such reservation shall not exceed aggregate of 50% of the total seats reserved for SCs/STs/OBCs taken together.
4 . Capital of Andhra Pradesh
Context– The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Thursday directed the State government to construct and develop Amaravati, the capital city of the State, and the capital region within six months.
Background of the Case
- Landowners of Amaravati filed a writ petition in Andhra Pradesh High Court to declare that the State government had no legislative competence to change the capital or remove Amaravati from being the capital of the three civic wings — legislature, executive and judiciary — of the State.
- Counsel for the petitioners contended that the State has failed to deliver on its promise to return the developed plots as per the final master plan within a period of three years even after the deadline expired on January 20.
Ruling of the court
- In a significant observation, the High Court held that the State legislature lacked the competence to make any legislation for shifting, bifurcating or trifurcating the capital.
- The court directed the government and the Capital Region Development Authority (CRDA) to discharge their duties enshrined under the A.P. CRDA Act and Land Pooling Rules
- It directed the State to develop the reconstitutional plots belonging to land owners and hand them over to landowners within three months held the view that the agreement signed between the farmers and the CRDA in Form9.14 is a Development Agreement cum Irrevocable General Power of Attorney
- According to the judgement it is a statutory contract, and the violation of terms and conditions by the respondents — State and AP CRDA — warrants interference of this court.
- The State was also directed to pay costs of ₹50,000 to each of the petitioners.
Andhra Pradesh Capitals-
As per the Andhra Pradesh Decentralisation and Inclusive Development of All Regions Bill, 2020, Andhra Pradesh has three capitals
- Vishakapatnam- Executive capital
- Kurnool as judicial capital
- Amravati as legislative capital
Issues
- This three capital formula has been challenged in legal battles
- It reverses the previous government’s Idea of making Amravati as world-class greenfield capital city
5 . Facts for Prelims
Letter of Credit
- A letter of credit, also known as a documentary credit or bankers commercial credit, or letter of undertaking, is a payment mechanism used in international trade to provide an economic guarantee from a creditworthy bank to an exporter of goods
Soft Loan
- A soft loan is a loan with a below-market rate of interest. This is also known as soft financing. Sometimes soft loans provide other concessions to borrowers, such as long repayment periods or interest holidays. Soft loans are usually provided by governments to projects they think are worthwhile.
Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank
- The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is a multilateral development bank with a mission to improve social and economic outcomes in Asia.
- Headquartered in Beijing,it began operations in January 2016 and have now grown to 104 approved members worldwide. The U.S. and Japan are not among its 104 members.
- It mainly invests in sustainable infrastructure and other productive sectors in Asia and beyond
- India is a founding member of AIIB China is its biggest shareholder and India is the second-largest.
- Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel has been appointed vice-president of the Beijing-based Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).