Daily Current Affairs : 11th June

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. National Party & State Party Status
2. Presidents Rule
3. Cyclone Vayu
4. Project Sashakt
5. Facts for Prelims : Habeaus Corpus, Insider Trading

1 . National Party & State Party Status

Context : Last week, Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma tweeted that his party, the National People’s Party, has been recognised as a “national party”. The NPP is the eighth party to get that recognition — after Congress, BJP, BSP, NCP, CPI, CPI(M) and Trinamool Congress — and the first from the Northeast.

About National Party Status

• The Election Commission lists political parties as “national party”, “state party” or “registered (unrecognised) party”. The conditions for being listed as a national or a state party are specified under the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968. A party has to satisfy any one of a number of these conditions.
• For recognition as a national party, the conditions specified under Paragraph 6B of the 1968 Order are:
  • a 6% vote share in the last Assembly polls in each of any four states, as well as four seats in the last Lok Sabha polls; or
  • 2% of all Lok Sabha seats in the last such election, with MPs elected from at least three states; or
  • recognition as a state party in at least four states.

About State Party Status

• For recognition as a state party, any one of the following five conditions needs to be satisfied.
  • two seats plus a 6% vote share in the last Assembly election in that state; or
  • one seat plus a 6% vote share in the last Lok Sabha election from that state; or
  • 3% of the total Assembly seats or 3 seats, whichever is more; or
  • one of every 25 Lok Sabha seats (or an equivalent fraction) from a state; or
  • an 8% state-wide vote share in either the last Lok Sabha or the last Assembly polls.

Source : Indian Express

2 . Presidents Rule

Context : West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi, who met Home Minister Amit Shah said no discussion was held to impose President’s Rule in the State.

What is President’s Rule in the Indian context?

• The imposition of Article  356 of the Constitution on a State following the failure of constitutional machinery is called President’s Rule in India. 
• Once the President’s Rule has been imposed on a state, the elected state government will be temporarily dissolved, and the Governor, who is appointed by the government at the Centre, will replace the Chief Minister as the chief executive of the State.
• The state will fall under the direct control of the Union government, and the Governor will continue to be head the proceedings, representing the President of India – who is the Head of the State.
• Article 356 is inspired by sections 93 of the Government of India Act, 1935, which provided that if a Governor of a province was satisfied that a situation had arisen in which the government of the province cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the said Act, he could assume to himself all or any of the powers of the government and discharge those functions in his discretion.
• The imposition of the President’s rule requires the sanction of both the houses of Parliament. If approved, it can go on for a period of six months. However, the imposition cannot be extended for more than three years, and needs to be brought before the two houses every six months for approval.

When can President’s Rule be imposed on a state?

• State Legislature is unable to elect a leader as Chief Minister
• If the ruling party or coalition does not have numbers to prove majority in the Assembly.
• If the breakdown of law and order situation takes place in the state.
• Loss of majority in the state assembly
• If elections are postponed due to inevitable reasons.

President’s Rule: Some interesting facts

• Article 356 has been widely criticised for giving provisions for the party/coalition in the Centre to misuse democratic powers for political gains. Dr BR Ambedkar called it ‘the death letter of Indian Constitution’. The rival parties running governments in various states were dissolved by those at the Centre by making use of the Article. The dismissal of the EMS Namboodiripad-led Communist government in Kerala by Jawaharlal Nehru in July 1959, and the 21 instances during the period 1975-1979 are often considered as examples of the misuse of the President’s Rule.
• Uttar Pradesh is the Indian state upon which the President’s Rule has been imposed for the most number of times. When UP went under it for a record nine times, Bihar comes second with eight times. The Governor’s Rule imposed on Jammu and Kashmir for a span of six years (19 January 1990 – 9 October 1996) is the longest one the country has ever witnessed. Chattisgarh and Telangana are the only Indian states that have never slipped to President’s rule.
• Indira Gandhi tops the chart of Indian Prime Minister’s who imposed the most number of President’s rule upon states. During her tenure as the Indian PM from 1966- 77, and 1980- 84, it was imposed for a total of fifty times. The two-year term of Morarji Desai from 1977-79 saw the provision being imposed for sixteen times.
• In 1994, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgement in the SR Bommai vs Union of India case, introducing certain guidelines to check the unwarranted intrusion of the central government and the imposition of Article 356 for political gains.

Source : New Indian Express / Hindu

3 . Cyclone Vayu

Context : Just over a month after the powerful cyclone Fani devastated large areas of Odisha, another cyclone Vayu is headed towards India, this time towards the Gujarat coast.

About Vayu

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned that the deep depression in the Arabian Sea is developing into a severe cyclonic storm, named cyclone Vayu, and will cause heavy rainfall in the coastal areas of Saurashtra region in the coming days.

Reasons for less cyclones originating in Arabian Sea compared to Bay of Bengal

• Most of Indian coasts lie in tropical region. Tropical cyclones need a temperature of around 25-27 degree Celsius. Greater the temperature over sea, more powerful is cyclone.
• The Arabian Sea is relatively cooler than this temperature range, which the Bay of Bengal offers. This is why Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha and West Bengal face more cyclones than Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra and Gujarat.
• Greater frequency of Bay of Bengal cyclones and more strength to them come from a foreign source as well. Neighbouring Pacific Ocean seas are more prone to cyclones. Typhoons originating in near Philippines, China, Thailand and Malaysia enter the Andaman Sea of Bay of Bengal after they weaken in their native regions.
• Most of the cyclones in the Arabian Sea are local. They collapse a little after making landfall as there is no back-up supply. Recent Ockhi cyclone was one of the exceptions that remained strong for some time even after hitting Maharashtra and Gujarat coasts.
• Also, the hills along the eastern coasts are not high enough to stop cyclones making much inroad into the coastal states. The Western Ghats run almost the entire distance of the western coasts preventing the cyclonic storms to go in the hinterland.

Cyclone Warning System

• The cyclone warnings are issued to state government officials in four stages. The First Stage warning known as “PRE CYCLONE WATCH” issued 72 hours in advance contains early warning about the development of a cyclonic disturbance in the north Indian Ocean, its likely intensification into a tropical cyclone and the coastal belt likely to experience adverse weather. This early warning bulletin is issued by the Director General of Meteorology himself and is addressed to the Cabinet Secretary and other senior officers of the Government of India including the Chief Secretaries of concerned maritime states.
• The Second Stage warning known as “CYCLONE ALERT” is issued at least 48 hrs. in advance of the expected commencement of adverse weather over the coastal areas. It contains information on the location and intensity of the storm likely direction of its movement, intensification, coastal districts likely to experience adverse weather and advice to fishermen, general public, media and disaster managers. This is issued by the concerned ACWCs/CWCs and CWD at HQ.
• The Third Stage warning known as “CYCLONE WARNING” issued at least 24 hours in advance of the expected commencement of adverse weather over the coastal areas. Landfall point is forecast at this stage. These warnings are issued by ACWCs/CWCs/and CWD at HQ at 3 hourly interval giving the latest position of cyclone and its intensity, likely point and time of landfall, associated heavy rainfall, strong wind and storm surge alongwith their impact and advice to general public, media, fishermen and disaster managers.
• The Fourth Stage of warning known as “POST LANDFALL OUTLOOK” is issued by the concerned ACWCs/CWCs/and CWD at HQ at least 12 hours in advance of expected time of landfall. It gives likely direction of movement of the cyclone after its landfall and adverse weather likely to be experienced in the interior areas.

Colour Code

Different colour codes as mentioned below are being used since post monsoon season of 2006 the different stages of the cyclone warning bulletins as desired by the National Disaster Management.

How Cyclones are Named

• Each Tropical Cyclone basin in the world has its own rotating list of names.
• For cyclones in the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea, the naming system was agreed by eight member countries of a group called WMO/ESCAP and took effect in 2004.
• These countries submitted eight names each, which are arranged in an 8×8 table
• The first cyclone after the list was adopted was given the name in the first row of the first column — Onil, proposed by Bangladesh.
• Subsequent cyclones are being named sequentially, column-wise, with each cyclone given the name immediately below that of the previous cyclone.
• Once the bottom of the column is reached, the sequence moves to the top of the next column.
• So far, the first seven columns have been exhausted, and Fani (again proposed by Bangladesh) is the top name in the last column.
• The next cyclone will be named Vayu. The lists will wind up with Cyclone Amphan, whenever it comes.

When the lists end

• After the 64 names are exhausted, the eight countries will propose fresh lists of names.
• The lists for storms is not rotated in Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal however in the Atlantic and Eastern Pacific basins are, however, rotated. Exception are made in certain cases — if a storm causes excessive death and destruction, its name is considered for retirement and is not repeated; it is replaced with another name.

4 . Project Sashakt

What is Project Sashakt?

• Project Sashakt is a five-pronged strategy to resolve bad loans, with the larger ones going to an asset management company (AMC) or an alternative investment fund (AIF).
• Project Sashakt was proposed by a panel led by PNB chairman Sunil Mehta.
  • Bad loans of up to ₹ 50 crore will be managed at the bank level, with a deadline of 90 days.
  • For bad loans of ₹ 50-500 crore, banks will enter an inter-creditor agreement, authorizing the lead bank to implement a resolution plan in 180 days, or refer the asset to NCLT.
  • For loans above ₹ 500 crore, the panel recom­mended an independent Asset Management Company, supported by institutional funding through the Alternate Investment Fund.
• The idea is to help consolidate stressed assets.

How will the national AMC work?

• According to the committee, banks will have to set up an AMC under which there will be multiple sector-specific AIFs. These funds will invest in the stressed assets bought by existing ARCs, such as ARCIL.
• The ARCs will use the funds to redeem security receipts issued to banks against the bad loans.
• Other AMC-AIFs and ARCs will be allowed to bid for these assets, and match the pricing offered by ARCIL or the national AMC.
• The AMC will be responsible for the operational turnaround of the asset.

Who will own the stressed asset?

• The ARC after buying the asset from lenders will transfer ownership to the AIF. The new owner, the AMC-AIF, will hold a stake of at least 76%.

Source : Indian Express & Mint

5 . Facts for Prelims

Writ of Habeas Corpus

• A writ of habeas corpus is in the nature of an order calling upon the person who has detained another, to produce the latter before the Court in order to let the Court know on what ground she/ he has been confined and to set him/her free if there is no legal justification for the imprisonment.
• The words ‘habeas corpus’ literally mean ‘you may have the body’. The writ may be addressed to any person whatever, an official or a private person who has another person in his custody and disobedience to the writ is met with punishment for the contempt of the court.
• The different purposes for which the writ of habeas corpus can be issued are: (a) for the enforcement of fundamental rights, (b) to decide whether the order of imprisonment or detention is ultra vires the statute that authorises the imprisonment or detention.

Insider Trading

• Insider trading is defined as a malpractice wherein trade of a company’s securities is undertaken by people who by virtue of their work have access to the otherwise non public information which can be crucial for making investment decisions.