Daily Current Affairs : 11th and 12th July 2022

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Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

  1. Article 72
  2. World Population Prospect
  3. Mediation Bill
  4. Rupee Conversion
  5. National Emblem
  6. Facts for Prelims

1 . Article 72

Context : The Supreme Court on Monday held that the Centre was “bound to advise” the President to remit the life sentence of gangster Abu Salem in the 1993 Mumbai blasts case on his completion of 25 years of his jail term in view of the national commitment made to Portugal during his extradition.

About the News

  • According to SC Centre could itself consider remission on the completion of 25 years’ sentence in terms of Sections 432 and 433 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.
  • The 25-year period would be calculated from his detention on October 12, 2005.
  • Central government is bound to advise the President for the exercise of his powers under Article 72 of the Constitution and to release the appellant in terms of the national commitments and the principles based on the comity of courts SC ordered in the judgment.

Pardoning Powers of the President

  • The President shall have the power to grant pardons, reprieves, respites or remissions of punishment or to suspend, remit or commute the sentence of any person convicted of any offence :
    • in all cases where the punishment or sentence is by a court Martial;
    • in all cases where the punishment or sentence is for an offence against any law relating to a matter to which the executive power of the Union extends;
    • in all cases where the sentence is a sentence of death

Pardon, Reprieve, Respite, Remission & Commute

  • Pardon : Completely absolves the offender. However, the governor cannot pardon the death sentence which only the Indian President can do.
  • Reprieve : Temporary suspension of the sentence
  • Respite : Awarding a lesser sentence on special ground
  • Remission : Reducing the amount of sentence without changing its character
  • Commute : Substitution of one form to another ie replace the punishment with less severe punishment. For example for Rigorous imprisonment with simple imprisonment.

2 . World Population Prospect

Context : According to the 2022 edition of the United Nations’ World Population Prospects (WPP), released on Monday, India is projected to surpass China as the world’s most populous country in 2023. It also projected the world’s population to reach 8 billion on November 15, 2022.

What is the World Population Prospects?

  • The Population Division of the UN has been publishing the WPP in a biennial cycle since 1951.
  • Each revision of the WPP provides a historical time series of population indicators starting in 1950.
  • It does so by taking into account newly released national data to revise estimates of past trends in fertility, mortality or international migration.

What are the main takeaways for the global population?

  • The world’s population continues to grow, but the pace of growth is slowing down: The global population is expected to grow to around 8.5 billion in 2030, 9.7 billion in 2050 and 10.4 billion in 2100. In 2020, the global growth rate fell under 1% per year for the first time since 1950.
  • Rates of population growth vary significantly across countries and regions: More than half of the projected increase in global population up to 2050 will be concentrated in just eight countries: the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines and the United Republic of Tanzania. Disparate growth rates among the world’s largest countries will re-order their ranking by size. The 46 least developed countries (LDCs) are among the world’s fastest-growing. Many are projected to double in population between 2022 and 2050, putting additional pressure on resources and posing challenges to the achievement of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  • The population of older persons is increasing both in numbers and as a share of the total: The share of the global population aged 65 years or above is projected to rise from 10% in 2022 to 16% in 2050. As such, the report warns that countries with ageing populations should take steps to adapt public programmes to the growing proportion of older persons, including by improving the sustainability of social security and pension systems and by establishing universal health care and long-term care systems. Source: World Population Prospects 2022, UN Dept of Economic & Social Affairs
  • A sustained drop in fertility has led to an increased concentration of the population at working ages (between 25 and 64 years), creating an opportunity for accelerated economic growth per capita: This shift in the age distribution provides a time-bound opportunity for accelerated economic growth known as the “demographic dividend”. “To maximize the potential benefits of a favourable age distribution, countries need to invest in the further development of their human capital by ensuring access to health care and quality education at all ages and by promoting opportunities for productive employment and decent work,” the UN report says.
  • International migration is having important impacts on population trends for some countries: For high-income countries between 2000 and 2020, the contribution of international migration to population growth (net inflow of 80.5 million) exceeded the balance of births over deaths (66.2 million). Over the next few decades, migration will be the sole driver of population growth in high-income countries. For 10 countries, the estimated net outflow of migrants exceeded 1 million over the period from 2010 through 2021. In many of these countries, the outflows were due to temporary labour movements, such as for Pakistan (net flow of -16.5 million), India (-3.5 million), Bangladesh (-2.9 million), Nepal (-1.6 million) and Sri Lanka (-1.0 million). In other countries, including the Syrian Arab Republic (-4.6 million), Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) (-4.8 million) and Myanmar (-1.0 million), insecurity and conflict drove the outflow of migrants over this period.

How reliable is the UN projection, and how do they compare with India’s Census?

  • In India the Registrar General comes out with a population projection based on the Census. The last such projection was released in 2019 and it was based on Census 2011. “The Census projection is slightly lower than the UN projection.

What is the significance of India overtaking China?

  • That India would overtake China has been known for a while. Moreover, in the past, when the world population was still at 5-billion or 6-billion levels, there was a concern about overcrowding. Those concerns no longer exist because the global population is already 8 billion and several countries (including India) have achieved a replacement rate of fertility. “The concern now is not about the absolute numbers — India’s population is already 1.4 billion and may go up to 1.6 billion before declining — but the quality of life for the people alive. The focus now has shifted to whether we can reduce poverty, provide healthcare facilities, education etc.
  • Looking at the India data, it is clear that as things stand, cohorts of 0-14 years and 15-24 years will continue to decline while those of 25-64 and 65+ will continue to rise for the coming decades.

So, what are the policy implications arising out of these two trends?

  • For those already in the 25-64 age bracket, need for skilling is necessary. “Although the educational attainment of those already in this bracket is lower than what today’s generation has, they can’t be brought back to school. Skilling is the only way to ensure they are more productive and have better incomes. This is the major policy challenge for this cohor
  • The 65+ category is going to grow quite fast and it faces several challenges. Provisioning of social security is obviously a big challenge. This will stretch the resources of the future governments. If the aged stay within the family set-up, the burden on the government could be reduced. “If we go back to our roots and stick around as families, as against the western tendency to go for individualism, then the challenges would be less

3 . Mediation Bill

Context : The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law and Justice, headed by BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi, has recommended substantial changes to the Mediation Bill, meant for institutionalisation of mediation and establishment of the Mediation Council of India. The panel cautioned against making pre-litigation mediation compulsory, and warned the Centre against the provision to give higher courts the power to frame rules for mediation.

Key Features of the Mediation Bill

  • The Bill requires persons to try to settle civil or commercial disputes through mediation before approaching any court or tribunal.  A party may withdraw from mediation after two mediation sessions.   The mediation process must be completed within 180 days, which may be extended by another 180 days by the parties. 
  • The Mediation Council of India will be set up.  Its functions include registering mediators, and recognising mediation service providers and mediation institutes (which train and certify mediators). 
  • The Bill lists disputes that are not fit for mediation (such as those involving criminal prosecution, or affecting the rights of third parties).   The central government may amend this list. 
  • If the parties agree, they may appoint any person as a mediator.  If not, they may apply to a mediation service provider to appoint a person from its panel of mediators. 
  • Agreements resulting from mediation will be binding and enforceable in the same manner as court judgments.  

Key Issues with the bill

  • The Bill makes participation in pre-litigation mediation mandatory.  Mediation is a voluntary dispute resolution process.   The question is whether it is appropriate to mandate parties to attempt pre-litigation mediation.   On one hand, this could lead to more out of court settlements and reduce the pendency in courts.  On the other hand, mandating mediation goes against its voluntary nature. 
  • The Mediation Council, established to regulate the profession of mediators, may not have representation of practising mediators with adequate experience.  This is unlike other professional regulators such as the Bar Council of India.   
  • The Mediation Council requires prior approval from the central government before issuing regulations related to its essential functions.  It is not clear why such prior approval is required.   This may also be questioned since the central government may be a party to mediations.  
  • The Bill applies to international mediations only if they are conducted in India.  It does not provide for enforcement of settlement agreements resulting from international mediation conducted outside India.

Concerns Raised by Standing Committee

  • Members deliberated upon 20 key issues in the Bill, including the “mandatory and coercive nature of pre-litigation mediation.
  • By making pre-litigation mediation mandatory may actually result in delaying of cases and may prove to be an additional tool in the hands of truant litigants to delay the disposal of cases. According to the Standing committee members not only pre-litigation mediation should be made optional but also be introduced in a phased manner instead of introducing it with immediate effect for all civil and commercial disputes. As a starting point, the challenges faced in implementing pre-litigation mediation under the Commercial Courts Act, 2015, should be studied before mandating it across other case categories
  • Clause 26 of the Bill provides that court annexed mediation including pre-litigation mediation in court annexed mediation centre shall be conducted in accordance with the practice, directions or rules by whatever name called by the Supreme Court or the High Court. But the panel objected to this as it is against the spirit of the Constitution. In the countries which follow common law system of jurisprudence, it is healthy tradition that in the absence of any specific statutes, the judgments or decisions taken by apex courts has the same bearing as that of a statute. But the moment any law is made on the subject, that becomes the guiding force. Here, the Bill proposes a clause giving the powers to court to make rules for ‘court annexed mediation’, which is unconstitutional. Hence, we recommended that specific provisions should be made about court-annexed mediation in place of existing provisions of clause 26,” the member added.
  • The members questioned the non-applicability of the provisions of the Bill to disputes/matters of non-commercial nature involving the Government and its agencies. The member said the panel will insist that the Chairperson and full time Members to have ‘shown capacity’ and ‘knowledge and experience’ in ‘mediation.’ According to the provisions, people dealing with problems relating to ‘Alternative Dispute Resolution’ can become members and chairman of the council. “We have also decided to recommend that the appointment of the Chairperson and Members of the Mediation Council of India should be made by a selection Committee constituted by the Centre

4 . Currency Convertibility

Context : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has put in place a mechanism to facilitate international trade in rupees (INR), with immediate effect.

New Mechanism for International Trade in Rupees

  • In order to promote growth of global trade with emphasis on exports from India and to support the increasing interest of global trading community in INR, it has been decided to put in place an additional arrangement for invoicing, payment, and settlement of exports / imports in INR,” the RBI said in a notification.
  • “The RBI’s move… would facilitate trade with countries under sanction like Iran and Russia,” said EEPC India Chairman Mahesh Desai.
  • Banks acting as authorised dealers for such transactions would have to take prior approval from the regulator to facilitate this.

Benefits

  • “As a result of the trade facilitation mechanism payment issues with Russia will ease.
  • The move would also reduce the risk of forex fluctuation specially looking at the Euro-rupee parity.
  • This can also be considered as a first step towards 100% convertibility of rupee.

What Is Currency Convertibility?

  • Convertibility is the ease with which a country’s currency can be converted into gold or another currency through global exchanges. It indicates the extent to which the regulations allow inflow and outflow of capital to and from the country. Currencies that aren’t fully convertible, on the other hand, are generally difficult to convert into other currencies.
  • Currency convertibility is an important part of global commerce because it opens up trade with other countries. Having a convertible currency allows a government to pay for goods and services in a currency that may not be the buyer’s own. Having a nonconvertible currency makes it harder for a government to participate in the international market because these transactions generally take longer to execute.
  • Indian rupee is a partially convertible currency. This means that although there is a lot of freedom to exchange local and foreign currency at market rates, a few important restrictions remain for higher amounts, and these still need approval.
  • Full convertibility would mean the rupee exchange rate would be left to market factors without any regulatory intervention. There may be no limit on inflow or outflow of capital for various purposes including investments, remittances, or asset purchases/sales.

5 . National Emblem

Context : Recently, Prime Minister Modi unveiled India’s national emblem cast placed on the roof of the new Parliament building. 

What is the National Emblem?

  • The National Emblem serves as the Republic’s seal and is one of the most visible symbols of national identity.
  • By definition, an emblem is “a heraldic device or symbolic object as a distinctive badge of a nation, institution, or family.” A seal that is only to be used for official purposes by the state is the national emblem of a nation. A nation’s emblem serves as both a symbol of authority and the foundation of the country’s constitutional philosophy.
  • On January 26, 1950, it was adopted from the Lion Capital of one of the Ashoka Pillars. The motto “Satyamev Jayate,” which means “truth always wins,” was added to the emblem, taken from the Mundaka Upanishad.
  • The National Motto was engraved below the Lion Capital that originally graced the top of the Ashok Stambh or Ashoka Pillar at Sarnath

Background

  • The Lion Capital of Ashoka is an ancient sculpture that was first carved back in 280 BCE, during the rule of the Mauryan Empire.
  • A single block of yellow sandstone was used to chisel the Lion Capital, which is a sculpture of four Asiatic lions seated back-to-back and graces the Ashok Pillar.
  • In contrast to the new model, which is made of metal casting, the original structure was built from Chunar sandstone.

How is the emblem structured?

  • The emblem features four lions facing four different directions mounted back to back on a round abacus. They stand for courage, pride, power, and confidence.
  • A bull, a horse, and an elephant are engraved on a circular abacus that the lions are seated on. The other animals, including the lions, are believed to represent the four phases of Gautam Buddha’s life. Lions represent the level of enlightenment.
  • The bull represents Taurus, the sign of the Buddha’s horoscope. The elephant represents his origin. The horse represents his journey from the citadel, where he gave his first sermon, to his home.
  • Animals are separated by Dharmachakras or Ashok Chakras. The inverted lotus, India’s official flower, serves as the foundation for the mentioned structure. It does not, however, form a component of the Emblem.

6 . Facts for Prelims

National Clean Air Programme

  • The Central Government launched National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) as a long-term, time-bound, national level strategy to tackle the air pollution problem across the country in a comprehensive manner with targets to achieve 20% to 30% reduction in Particulate Matter concentrations by 2024 keeping 2017 as the base year for the comparison of concentration.
  • Under NCAP, 122 non-attainment cities have been identified across the country based on the Air Quality data from 2014-2018. 
  • The city specific action plans have been prepared which, inter-alia, include measures for strengthening the monitoring network, reducing vehicular/industrial emissions, increasing public awareness etc. Implementation of the city specific action plans are regularly monitored by Committees at Central and State level namely Steering Committee, Monitoring Committee and Implementation Committee.
  • Air quality of cities is monitored by State Pollution Control Boards which publishes their results from time to time. Some Smart Cities have established Integrated Command and Control Centres (ICCCs) which are also connected to Air Quality Monitors (AQMs) for effective monitoring.

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