Daily Current Affairs : 12th October 2022

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. IMF World Economic Outlook
2. RTI
3. CJI
4. Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme
5. ONDC
6. Facts for Prelims

1 . IMF World Economic Outlook

Context: According to the International Monetary Fund, the world, including India, will experience an overall slowdown in the next year owing to the impact of the Russia-Ukraine war, tightening monetary conditions globally, the highest inflation in decades, and lingering effects of the pandemic.

About the Report

• IMF World Economic Outlook is a Survey by the IMF staff usually published twice a year.
• It presents IMF staff economists’ analyses of global economic developments during the near and medium term.
• Chapters give an overview as well as more detailed analysis of the world economy; consider issues affecting industrial countries, developing countries, and economies in transition to market; and address topics of pressing current interest.

 Key Findings

• India is projected to grow at 6.8% in the current fiscal year, following 8.7% growth in fiscal year that ended March 31.
• Growth rate for this year for India has been revised downward by 0.6 percentage points relative to the IMF’s June 2022 forecast, following a weaker output in the second quarter, and subdued external demand.
• The forecast for the next fiscal year remains unaltered at 6.1%.
• India has been doing well in 2022 and is expected to continue growing fairly robustly in 2023.
• Inflation in India was above the RBI’s target. The fiscal and monetary policy should be “probably be on the tightening side”.
• The IMF has projected 6.9% consumer price inflation this year and 5.1% next year.
• The IMF expects inflation in India to return to the inflation tolerance band in fiscal year 2023-24 and additional monetary tightening is going to ensure that that happens.

Findings on global economy

• For the world as a whole, growth will slow down from 6.0% in 2021 to 3.2% in 2022 and 2.7% in 2023. This is reflective of a U.S. GDP contraction in first half of 2022, a Euro Area contraction in second half, extended COVID-19 outbreaks in China and a property sector crisis.
• The U.S. is expected to grow at 1.6% this year followed by a slowing down to 1.0% growth next year. The Euro Area is expected to grow 3.1% this year and 0.5% next, while China is forecast to grow at 4.4% next year, followed by a projected 3.2 % this year.
•  The three largest economies, the United States, China, and the euro area will continue to stall.
• Overall, this year’s shocks will re-open economic wounds that were only partially healed post-pandemic. In short, the worst is yet to come and, for many people, 2023 will feel like a recession.
• Monetary policy that seeks to restore price stability is the starting point to mitigating these risks.
• It cautioned against fiscal policy working at cross purposes with the monetary authorities’ actions to curb inflation.
• Fiscal policy can assist economies to adapt to a volatile environment by investing in human capital, supply chain diversification, digitization, green energy.
• The energy crisis, especially in Europe, is not a transitory shock. The geopolitical realignment of energy supplies in the wake of the war is broad and permanent
• Countries should target fiscal support towards the vulnerable via temporary transfers rather than focus on price controls, untargeted subsidies and export bans.

2 . RTI

Context: After 17 years of the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the transparency regime in the country remains a mirage with nearly 3.15 lakh complaints and appeals pending with 26 information commissions across India.

 Key Highlights

• According to a report by Satark Nagrik Sangathan, the backlog of appeals or complaints is increasing in commissions every year.
• The number of appeals and complaints pending in 2019, from data obtained from 26 information commissions was 2,18,347.
  • In 2020, the number climbed up to 2,33,384 with data obtained from 23 information commissions, in 2021 the number was 2,86,325 with data from 26 commissions and in 2022, it was 3,14,323.
• The highest number of pending cases was in Maharashtra at 99,722, followed by Uttar Pradesh at 44,482, Karnataka at 30,358, the Central Information Commission at 26,724 and Bihar at 21,346.

Key issues mentioned in the report

• Defunct Commissions – The report says two information commissions—Jharkhand and Tripura—out of 29 across the country have been completely defunct for 29 months and 15 months respectively.
• Staff Shortage – Manipur, Telangana, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh are without chiefs at the moment. Only 5% of all positions in commissions are being occupied by women.
  • Several information commissions, including the Central Information Commission, are working at reduced capacity with less than the stipulated number of members in office.
  • According to a separate report by the Transparency International, one-fourth information commissioner posts are vacant and there are only 5% (only 8) women information commissioners in the country.
  • Out of a total of 165 posts of information commissioners, 42 are vacant, including two chief State information commissioners.
• Backlog of cases : Under RTI law, information commissions are the final appellate authority and are mandated to safeguard and facilitate people’s right to information. The report shows that in several commissions a large backlog of cases has built up, resulting in a long waiting time for disposal, as governments have failed to make appointments of information commissioners in a timely manner.

Why RTI?

• The Government of India has implemented the RTI in order to see that the Indian citizens are enabled to exercise their rights to ask some pertinent questions to the Government and different public utility service providers in a practical way.
• RTI Act replaced the Freedom of Information Act 2002. The objective of this act was to help the citizens avail of quicker services from the government agencies since the act enables them to ask questions like why a particular application or an official proceeding gets delayed. Mainly the act aims at achieving a corruption-free India.

What is mandated by the RTI Act?

• The RTI Act mandates that any Indian citizen is free to seek any information from any public or government authority and the authority is under liability to respond to such a request within a period of 30 days from the date of receiving such an application. However, the information sought must not be related to defense, national security, or personal details.
• Before the advent of the RTI act, the disclosure of information in India was restricted by the Official Secrets Act and some other special laws. The RTI Act relaxed many such laws in the country.
• The RTI act has also made it mandatory for computerizing the records for the purpose of wide spread relay so that any information sought by the public can be processed quickly aided by the information categorization.

Applying for RTI

• Applying for RTI is a simple process and can be done either online or offline. Nevertheless, some states have not still effected the online option. One can apply for RTI through the official website of the RTI. For different states and departments, the rules for filing RTI is different.

What Information can be sought under the RTI Act?

• Any Indian citizen is free to seek answers from a Government Authority like applying for a delayed IT refund, driving license or passport, or details of a repair or infrastructure project completed or going on. Information sought can also be related to the funds allotted under the different kinds of relief funds in the country. The act enables students to get copies of answer sheets from the universities under this act.

The background of RTI Act

• In 1987, a few laborers In Rajasthan were refused their wages on charges of inconsistent performance. Mazdoor Kissan Shakti Sanghatan (MKSS), an activist group fought for these workers and demanded that the government produced the necessary proof to verify the worker’s performance records. After a series of protests, the MKSS got the copies of rolls, which also brought to surface the corruption existed among the officials. Provoked by such discrepancies, the MKSS protested for the RTI. This protest turned into a national event leading to the passing of the Freedom of Information Act 2002 which became the RTI Act 2005. A Pune police station received the first RTI application in the year 2005.

Right to Information

• The Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information.
• It is an initiative taken by Department of Personnel and Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to provide a– RTI Portal Gateway to the citizens for quick search of information on the details of first Appellate Authorities, PIOs etc. amongst others, besides access to RTI related information / disclosures published on the web by various Public Authorities under the government of India as well as the State Governments

3 . Chief Justice of India

Context: Chief Justice of India nominated Justice D.Y. Chandrachud as his successor in the presence of all judges of the court.

Key highlights

• CJI’s recommendation to the government would start the process for appointment of Justice Chandrachud as the 50th Chief Justice of India.
• If the government approval comes through, Justice Chandrachud would be the first second-generation CJI.
• His father, Justice Y.V. Chandrachud, was the 16th CJI and one of the longest servings.

About Chief Justice of India

• The chief justice of India is the chief judge of the Supreme Court of India as well as the highest-ranking officer of the Indian federal judiciary.
• The Constitution of India grants power to the president of India to appoint, in consultation with the outgoing chief justice, the next chief justice, who will serve until they reach the age of sixty-five or are removed by impeachment.
• As per convention, the name suggested by the incumbent chief justice is almost always the next senior most judge in the Supreme Court.
• However, this convention has been broken twice.
  • In 1973, Justice A. N. Ray was appointed superseding 3 senior judges.
  • Also, in 1977 Justice Mirza Hameedullah Beg was appointed as the chief justice superseding Justice Hans Raj Khanna.
• As head of the Supreme Court, the chief justice is responsible for the allocation of cases and appointment of constitutional benches which deal with important matters of law.
• In accordance with Article 145 of the Constitution of India and the Supreme Court Rules of Procedure of 1966, the chief justice allocates all work to the other judges who are bound to refer the matter back to them (for re-allocation) in any case where they require it to be looked into by a larger bench of more judges.
• On the administrative side, the chief justice carries out functions of maintenance of the roster, appointment of court officials and general and miscellaneous matters relating to the supervision and functioning of the Supreme Court.
• The 49th and present chief justice is U. U. Lalit. He was sworn in as the 49th Chief Justice of India on 27 August 2022.

Appointment

• As the incumbent chief justice approaches retirement, the Ministry of Law and Justice seeks a recommendation from the incumbent chief justice.
• Consultations with other judges might also take place.
• The recommendation is then presented to the prime minister, who passes the advice on to the president.

Removal

• Article 124(4) of Constitution of India lays down the procedure for removal of a judge of Supreme Court which is applicable to chief justices as well.
• Once appointed, the chief justice remains in the office until the age of 65 years.
• There is no fixed tenure provided in the constitution.
• He can be removed only through a process of removal by Parliament as follows:
• Article 124(4): A Judge of the Supreme Court shall not be removed from his office except by an order of the President passed after an address by each House of Parliament supported by a majority of the total membership of that House and by a majority of not less than two-thirds of the members of that House present and voting has been presented to the President in the same session for such removal on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity.

4 . Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Scheme

Context: Expanding the mandate of the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme, the Central government announced the inclusion of skilling of girls in non-traditional livelihood (NTL) options in its flagship programme.

Key highlights

• The scheme will now also focus on increasing the enrolment of girls in secondary education, particularly in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects.
  • Women have been historically under-represented areas such as technology.
• Announcing the new inclusion in the scheme, Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani emphasized the importance of convergence between various departments for providing quality education to empower girls.
• A Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministries of Women and Child Development, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Minority Affairs.
  • It emphasises convergence between Ministries and Departments to ensure adolescents complete their education, build skills, and enter the workforce in a diverse range of professions, including in STEM fields.
• An operations manual to implement the scheme in districts was also launched at the event.
• A national committee headed by the Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development will be the apex committee to review the implementation of the scheme at regular intervals with State governments and Union Territory administrations.

About Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ scheme

• In 2015, the Indian government introduced the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao (BBBP) scheme to address concerns of gender discrimination and women empowerment in the country.
• The name Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao translates to ‘Save the girl child, educate the girl child’.
• The scheme aims to educate citizens against gender bias and improve the efficiency of welfare services for girls.
• It was launched with an initial funding of Rs. 100 crore (US$ 13.5 million).
• The scheme is divided into three components –
  • Advocacy campaigns were launched to address the issue of declining CSR and SBR;
  • Multi-sectoral interventions were planned and are being implemented in gender-critical districts across the country; and
  • A financial incentive-linked scheme—Sukanya Samriddhi scheme—was launched to encourage parents to build a fund for female children.

Need for the scheme

• The scheme was launched after the national census results for 2011 revealed detraction in key gender metrics – Child Sex Ratio (CSR) and Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB).
  • CSR is defined as the number of girls per 1,000 boys aged 0-6 years.
• This ratio has shown a steady decline, from 945 in 1999 to 927 in 2001. This declined further to 918 girls for every 1,000 boys in 2011.
• Detailed evaluation of the decline showed that SRB was the principal factor.
• Dip in these ratios is a significant indicator of gender discrimination and women disempowerment, reflecting both pre-birth discrimination through gender-biased, sex selective abortion and post-birth discrimination by neglecting health, nutrition, and educational needs of the girl child.
• Research concluded that the strong socio-cultural and religious preference for boys was the root cause of the problem, and this provided impetus for launch of the BBBP initiative.

Objectives of the Scheme

• The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana aims to achieve the following goals:
  • Improve the child sex ratio
  • Ensure gender equality and women empowerment
  • Prevent gender-biased, sex selective elimination
  • Ensure survival and protection of the girl child
  • Encourage education and participation of girl child

Governing Bodies

• The Beti Bachao Beti Padhao Yojana is a national initiative run jointly by the Ministry of Women & Child Development (MoWCD), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoH&FW) and Ministry of Education.
• Each body is accountable for different aspects of the scheme.
• Budgetary control and administration of the BBBP falls under the MoWCD’s purview.
• However, capacity building and quality control are the responsibilities of the MoH&FW and community engagement programmes have been allocated under Mo Education.

5 . Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC

Context: The Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC), which is a government-backed project aimed at enabling small merchants and mom-and-pop stores in parts of the country to access processes and technologies that are typically deployed by large e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Flipkart, is expected to extend beta testing in Delhi after having commenced services in Bengaluru.

What is ONDC?

• It is an initiative aimed at promoting open networks for all aspects of exchange of goods and services over digital or electronic networks.
• ONDC is to be based on open-sourced methodology, using open specifications and open network protocols independent of any specific platform.
• It is being developed as a counter to the current stranglehold of two big players in the Indian e-commerce market, which is largely dictated by Amazon and Walmart-owned Flipkart.
• In May, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) went live with a test run of ONDC in cities like Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, Coimbatore, Bhopal, and Shillong where it plans to onboard 150 sellers.
• ONDC is expected to expand beta testing into areas with strong delivery and logistics footprint of its network participants, as well as the capacities of these logistics players that can be deployed.
• Further, the segments to be launched initially are expected to be electronics, home decoration and fashion.

How does ONDC work?

• The ONDC platform lies in the middle of the interfaces hosting the buyers and the sellers.
• So far, the buyer side interface is being hosted by Paytm, whereas the seller side interface is being hosted by other players like GoFrugal, etc.
• When a buyer searches for an item on the Paytm app, from where ONDC has gone live, the app will connect to the ONDC platform, which will connect it to seller side interfaces that will list all the companies from where you can buy the particular item.
• On ONDC, there will be several other backend partners such as logistics service providers, enterprise resource planners, e-commerce store hosting service providers, etc.

What are the challenges ONDC aims to address?

• An ONDC strategy paper published earlier this year has flagged the rising dominance of global players in India’s e-commerce ecosystem, pointing out that the large quantum of investment required to build competitors to the integrated solutions offered by the big players has become an entry barrier for digital marketplaces.
• It also flagged the inability of marketplace sellers to move out of the platform ecosystem, given that the value created by these small players is stored with the larger platforms.
• With this in mind, ONDC aims to transform the marketplace ecosystem from an operator-driven platform-centric model to a facilitator-driven interoperable decentralised network.
• Industry players also point to multiple gaps in the arrangement, including clarity over data handling, end-to-end linkages and supplier liability.

6 . Interpol

Context : The Interpol has rejected a second request by India to issue a Red Corner Notice against Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, the Canada-based founder and legal advisor of the pro-Khalistan outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), whom the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has listed as a “terrorist” under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).

Reasons provided for Rejection of Red Corner Notice

• The Interpol has said India has failed to provide sufficient information to support its case, and that the UAPA has been criticised for being “misused” to target minority groups and human rights activists without “respecting” their right to due process and a fair trial
• While acknowledging that Pannun is a “high-profile Sikh separatist”, the Interpol has said that his activities have a “clear political dimension”, which cannot be the subject of a Red Corner Notice according to Interpol’s Constitution.

About Interpol

• International Criminal Police Organization is an inter-governmental organization. Currently there are 194 member countries, and interpol help police in all of them to work together to make the world a safer place.
• To do this, they enable them to share and access data on crimes and criminals, and offer a range of technical and operational support.
• The General Secretariat coordinates day-to-day activities to fight a range of crimes. Run by the Secretary General, it is staffed by both police and civilians and comprises a headquarters in Lyon, a global complex for innovation in Singapore and several satellite offices in different regions.
• In each country, an INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB) provides the central point of contact for the General Secretariat and other NCBs.
• In India CBI is the central Point of Contact

Functions

• The General Secretariat provides a range of expertise and services to member countries. Interpol manages 17 police databases with information on crimes and criminals (from names and fingerprints to stolen passports), accessible in real-time to countries.
• Offer investigative support such as forensics, analysis, and assistance in locating fugitives around the world. Training is an important part of the function so that officials know how to work efficiently with our services.
• Expertise supports national efforts in combating crimes across three global areas; terrorism, cybercrime and organized crime.
• Officials working in each specialized crime area run a variety of different activities alongside member countries. This can be investigative support, field operations, training and networking.
• Research and development in international crime and trends.

Interpol Notices

• INTERPOL Notices are international requests for cooperation or alerts allowing police in member countries to share critical crime-related information.
• Notices are published by the General Secretariat at the request of a National Central Bureau and are made available to all our member countries. Notices can also be used by the United Nations, International Criminal Tribunals and the International Criminal Court to seek persons wanted for committing crimes within their jurisdiction, notably genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
• Most Notices are for police use only and are not made available to the public. However, in some cases, for example to alert the public, or to request help from the public, an extract of the Notice can be published on the website. United Nations Special Notices are public.

Different Notices

• Red Notice: To seek the location and arrest of wanted persons wanted for prosecution or to serve a sentence.
• Yellow Notice: To help locate missing persons, often minors, or to help identify persons who are unable to identify themselves.
• Blue Notice: To collect additional information about a person’s identity, location or activities in relation to a crime.               
• Black Notice: To seek information on unidentified bodies.
• Green Notice: To provide warning about a person’s criminal activities, where the person is considered to be a possible threat to public safety.
• Orange Notice: To warn of an event, a person, an object or a process representing a serious and imminent threat to public safety.
• Purple Notice: To seek or provide information on modus operandi, objects, devices and concealment methods used by criminals.
• INTERPOL–United Nations Security Council Special Notice: Issued for groups and individuals who are the targets of UN Security Council Sanctions Committees.       

7 . Facts for Prelims

Public Accounts Committee

• The Committee on Public Accounts is constituted by Parliament each year for examination of accounts showing the appropriation of sums granted by Parliament for expenditure of Government of India, the annual Finance Accounts of Government of India, and such other accounts laid before Parliament as the Committee may deem fit such as accounts of autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies (except those of Public Undertakings and Government Companies which come under the purview of the Committee on Public Undertakings).
• The Committee on Public Accounts is the oldest Parliamentary Committee and was first constituted in 1921. 
• The Committee consists of 22 Members, 15 Members are elected by Lok Sabha and 7 Members of the Rajya Sabha are associated with it. 
• The Speaker is empowered to appoint the Chairman of the Committee from amongst its members.
• It is also the duty of the PAC:-
  • To examine the statement of accounts showing the income and expenditure of State Corporations, trading and manufacturing schemes, concerns and projects together with the balance sheets and statements of profit and loss accounts which the President may have required to be prepared or are prepared under the provisions of statutory rules regulating the financing of a particular corporation trading or manufacturing scheme or concern or project and the report of the C&AG thereon;
  •  To examine the statement of accounts showing the income and expenditure of autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies, the audit of which may be conducted by the C&AG of India either under the directions of the President or by a statute of Parliament; and
  •  To consider the report of the C&AG in cases where the President may have required him to conduct an audit of any receipts and to examine the accounts of stores and stocks.

Lifestyle for Environment

• At the 2021 UN Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP26), Prime Minister of India announced Mission LiFE, to bring individual behaviors at the forefront of the global climate action narrative.
• LiFE envisions replacing the prevalent ‘use-and-dispose’ economy—governed by mindless and destructive consumption—with a circular economy, which would be defined by mindful and deliberate utilization.
• The Mission intends to nudge individuals to undertake simple acts in their daily lives that can contribute significantly to climate change when embraced across the world.
•  LiFE plans to leverage the strength of social networks to influence social norms surrounding climate.
• The Mission plans to create and nurture a global network of individuals, namely ‘Pro-Planet People’ (P3), who will have a shared commitment to adopt and promote environmentally friendly lifestyles.
• Through the P3 community, the Mission seeks to create an ecosystem that will reinforce and enable environmentally friendly behaviours to be self-sustainable.
• LiFE Global Call for Ideas and Papers: The LiFE Global Call for Ideas and Papers is an initiative of the Government of India to invite papers/ ideas from across the world aimed at individuals, households and communities to drive climate-friendly behaviours.

SWAMITVA Scheme

• The acronym SVAMITA stands for Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areas.
• It is a Central Sector Scheme aimed at “providing ‘record of rights’ to village household owners possessing houses in inhabited rural areas in villages and issuance of property cards to the property owners.”
• The plan is to survey all rural properties using drones and prepare GIS based maps for each village.
• The scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on National Panchayati Raj Day, April 24, earlier this year and distribution of property cards began on October 11.
• The scheme is being implemented as a pilot project in about 1 lakh villages across 8 states – Maharashtra, Karnataka, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab and Rajasthan. The aim is to cover all 6.62 lakh villages in the country by the end of financial year 2023-24.
• Benefit of the scheme: It will benefit rural residents in many ways.
  • It will enable rural households to use their property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits.
  • It will help in determination of property tax, which would accrue to the Gram Panchayats directly in states where they are empowered to collect such taxes.
  • The cards will help increase liquidity of land parcels in the market and increase the financial credit availability to the village.
  • The scheme will also pave the way for the creation of accurate land records for rural planning.
  • All the property records and maps will be available at Gram Panchayat, which will help in taxation of villages, construction permits, elimination of encroachments, etc.