Daily Current Affairs : 13th, 14th and 15th November

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Presidents Rule
2. APMC and e Nam
3. CJI’s under RTI Act
4. Disqualification as per RPA
5. Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change
6. Sabarimala Review
7. Facts for Prelims : BRICS Bond Fund, Butterfly Survey, Pneumonia, Brahmaputra Pushkaram

1 . Presidents Rule

Context : President Ram Nath Kovind on Tuesday approved a proclamation imposing President’s Rule in Maharashtra, following a recommendation from Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari.

About Presidents Rule

• 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.

How long President’s Rule can last

• A proclamation of President’s Rule can be revoked through a subsequent proclamation in case the leader of a party produces letters of support from a majority of members of the Assembly, and stakes his claim to form a government. The revocation does not need the approval of Parliament.

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.

2 . E-NAM and APMC

Context : States were being “cajoled to reject” the agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC) system in favour of a pan-India electronic trading portal that creates a unified national market for agricultural commodities, according to Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. So far, the Centre had been focussed on reforming APMCs, allocating funds to upgrade them, and persuading States to adopt a model APMC Act.

About APMC

• Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC) is a statutory market committee constituted by a State Government in respect of trade in certain notified agricultural or horticultural or livestock products, under the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act issued by that state government.

APMCs are intended to be responsible for:

• ensuring transparency in pricing system and transactions taking place in market area;
• providing market-led extension services to farmers;
• ensuring payment for agricultural produce sold by farmers on the same day;
• promoting agricultural processing including activities for value addition in agricultural produce;
• Publicizing data on arrivals and rates of agricultural produce brought into the market area for sale; and
• Setup and promote public private partnership in the management of agricultural markets

Legal Background of APMCs

• Under Constitution of India, agricultural marketing is a state (provincial) subject. While intra-state trades fall under the jurisdiction of state governments, inter-state trading comes under Central or Federal Government (including intra-state trading in a few commodities like raw jute, cotton, etc.). Thus, agricultural markets are established and regulated mostly under the various State APMC Acts.
• The purpose of these Acts is basically the same i.e. regulation of trading practices, increased market efficiency through reduction in market charges, elimination of superfluous intermediaries and protecting the interest of producer-seller.

Functioning

• The whole geographical area in the State is divided and each one is declared as a market area which is managed by the Market Committee (APMC) constituted by the State Government.
• States also constitute a Market Board which supervises these market committees. APMCs generally consist of representatives of farmers, traders, warehousing entities, registrar of cooperative societies etc. Market Boards generally consists of chairmen of all APMCs, representatives from the relevant Government Departments etc.
• Once a particular area is declared as a market area and falls under the jurisdiction of a Market Committee, no person or agency is allowed to freely carry on wholesale marketing activities.
• APMC Acts provide that first sale in the notified agricultural commodities produced in the region such as cereals, pulses, edible oilseed, fruits and vegetables and even chicken, goat, sheep, sugar, fish etc., can be conducted only under the aegis of the APMC, through its licensed commission agents, and subject to payment of various taxes and fee. The producers of agricultural products are thus forced to do their first sale in these markets.

Issues

• The APMC system was introduced to prevent distress sale by farmers to their creditors, to protect farmers from the exploitation of intermediaries and traders and to ensure better prices and timely payment for their produce through the auctions in the APMC area.
• However, APMC Acts restrict the farmer from entering into direct contract with any processor/ manufacturer/ bulk processor as the produce is required to be routed through these regulated markets.  Over a period of time, these markets have acquired the status of restrictive and Monopolistic markets, harming the farmers rather than helping them to realise remunerative prices.
• The APMC Act treats APMC as an arm of the state and the market fee as the tax levied by the state, rather than as a fee charged for providing services, which acts as a major impediment in creating a national common market. APMCs charge a market fee from buyers, and a licensing fee from the commissioning agents who mediate between buyers and farmers. They also charge small licensing fees from a whole range of functionaries Statutory levies/mandi tax, VAT etc. all add up to hefty amounts, create market distortions with cascading effects and  strong entry barriers.
• Multiple licences are necessary to trade in different market areas in the same State. All this has led to a highly fragmented and high-cost agricultural economy, which prevents economies of scale and seamless movement of agri goods across district and State borders.
• APMC operations are hidden from scrutiny as the fee collected is not under State legislature’s approval.  Agents in an APMC may get together to form a cartel. This creates a monoposony (a market situation where there is only one buyer who then exercises control over the price at which he buys) situation. Produce is procured at manipulatively discovered price and sold at higher price, defeating the very purpose of APMCs. 
• Further, APMCs play dual role of regulator and Market. Consequently, their role as regulator is undermined by vested interest in lucrative trade. Generally, member and chairman are nominated/elected out of the agents operating in that market.
• Exporters, processors and retail chain operators cannot procure directly from the farmers as the produce is required to be channelised through regulated markets and licensed traders. There is, in the process, an enormous increase in the cost of marketing and farmers end up getting a low price for their produce.
• Monopolistic practices and modalities of the state-controlled markets have prevented private investment in the sector. Thus, the monopoly of Government regulated wholesale markets has prevented development of a competitive marketing system on a pan-India basis, providing no help to farmers in direct marketing, organizing retailing, a smooth raw material supply to agro-processing industries and adoption of innovative marketing system and technologies.

What is E-NAM

• E-NAM i.e. National Agriculture Market is a pan-India electronic trading (e-trading) portal which seeks to network the existing physical regulated wholesale market (known as APMC market) through a virtual platform to create a unified national market for agricultural commodities.
• e-NAM platform promotes better marketing opportunities for the farmers to sell their produce through online competitive and transparent price discovery system and online payment facility.
• It also promotes prices commensurate with quality of produce. The e-NAM portal provides single window services for all APMC related information and services.
• This includes commodity arrivals, quality & prices, buy & sell offers & e-payment settlement directly into farmers’ account, among other services.
• Farmers can access the information on e-NAM easily through their mobile phones from anywhere.
• e-NAM now has the ability of inter-State trade between mandis of two different States. Earlier trade used to happen either within the APMC or between two APMCs situated within same state.
• Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Govt. of India has appointed Small Farmers’ Agribusiness Consortium (SFAC) as the Lead Implementing Agency of eNAM. SFAC will operate and maintain the eNAM platform with the help of a Strategic Partner, presently NFCL

Conditions for Joining e-NAM

States interested to integrate their mandis with eNAM are required to carry out following three reforms in their APMC Act.

• Single trading license (Unified) to be valid across the state
• Single point levy of market fee across the state; and
• Provision for e-auction/ e-trading as a mode of price discovery

Difference between E NAM and APMC

• eNAM is not a parallel marketing structure but rather a device to create a national network of physical mandis which can be accessed online.
• It seeks to leverage the physical infrastructure of the mandis through an online trading portal, enabling buyers situated even outside the Mandi/ State to participate in trading at the local level.

3 . CJI’s office under RTI Act

Context : The Office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) is a ‘public authority’ under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi declared

Background of the Case

• The judgment pertained to three cases based on requests for information filed by Delhi-based RTI activist Subhash Agarwal, all of which eventually reached the Supreme Court.
• While the CPIO of the Supreme Court said the office of the CJI was not a public authority under the RTI Act, the matter reached the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) directed disclosure of information.
• The Supreme Court approached the Delhi High Court against the CIC order. High Court held on September 2, 2009 that “the office of the Chief Justice of India is a public authority under the RTI Act and is covered by its provisions”.
• The Supreme Court then approached a larger Bench comprising then Chief Justice of Delhi High Court Ajit Prakash Shah, Justice Vikramjit Sen, and Justice S Muralidhar, which passed its judgment on January 13, 2010 holding that the judgment of Justice Bhatt was “both proper and valid and needs no interference”.
• The Supreme Court in 2010 petitioned itself challenging the Delhi High Court order. The matter was placed before a Division Bench, which decided that it should be heard by a Constitution Bench. 

Details of the Judgement and Key observations

• The main judgment of the Constitution Bench authored by Justice Sanjiv Khanna said the Supreme Court is a ‘public authority’ and the office of the CJI is part and parcel of the institution. Hence, if the Supreme Court is a public authority, so is the office of the CJI.
• Transparency and accountability should go hand-in-hand. Increased transparency under RTI was no threat to judicial independence
• Judicial independence is not secured by the secrecy of cloistered halls”.
• Judicial independence was the basis of the trust public reposes in the judiciary. Only the right dose of transparency should be calibrated with judicial independence.
• Supreme Court held that RTI cannot be used as a tool of surveillance and that judicial independence has to be kept in mind while dealing with transparency. 

About Public Authority under RTI Act

• Under the RTI Act, 2005, every public authority has to provide information to persons requesting for the information under the Act.
• Public Authority includes the body constituted by or under the Constitution. Article 124 of the Constitution deals with the establishment of the Supreme Court of India.

Note : While the office of the CJI is now under the RTI’s ambit, the CBI is exempt.

4 . Disqualification of MLA’s

Context : The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the disqualification of 17 dissident Congress and Janata Dal (Secular) legislators by then Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) but held that their ouster is no bar from contesting repolls.

Background

• Karnataka Assembly Speaker K.R. Ramesh Kumar disqualified rebel MLAS till the end of the Assembly term

Details of the Judgement

• Neither under the Constitution nor under the statutory scheme it is contemplated that disqualification under the Tenth Schedule would operate as a bar for contesting re-elections. Section 36 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 does not contemplate such disqualification.
• Referring to the provisions introduced in the 91st Constitutional Amendment, it said they were brought in specifically to ensure that a legislator disqualified for defection was not appointed as a government Minister or to any remunerative post from the date of his disqualification either till the expiry of his term of office or till he was re-elected to the legislature, “whichever is earlier”.
• “In the light of the existing constitutional mandate, the Speaker is not empowered to disqualify any member till the end of the term. However, a member disqualified under the Tenth Schedule shall be subjected to sanctions provided under Articles 75(1B), 164(1B) and 361B of Constitution, which provides for a bar from being appointed as a Minister or from holding any remunerative political post from the date of disqualification till the date on which the term of his office would expire or if he is re-elected to the legislature, whichever is earlier”
• Order of the Speaker under the Tenth Schedule could be subject to judicial review only on four grounds: mala fide, perversity, violation of the constitutional mandate and order passed in violation of natural justice. He referred to the Constitution Bench decision in the Kihoto Hollohan case in this context.
• A member may choose to resign for a variety of reasons and his reasons may be good or bad but it is his sole prerogative to resign. An elected member cannot be compelled to continue his office if he chooses to resign,” the judgment observed.
• Speaker’s enquiry on a resignation should be confined to whether it was a voluntary and genuine act. The Speaker had the discretion to reject a resignation but his decision should be based on “objective material” and not just ipse dixit (an assertion).

About 91st Amendment Act

• 91st Amendment act of Indian constitution also state that person who is disqualified under anti-defection law (Schedule 10th of Indian constitution) shall not be appointed as a minister nor hold and remunerative political post from the period of disqualification.

5 . Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change

Context : Climate change is already damaging the health of the world’s children and is set to shape the well-being of an entire generation, unless the world meets the target to limit warming to well below 2˚C, according to a major new report published in The Lancet.

About the Report

• ‘The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change’ is a comprehensive yearly analysis tracking progress across 41 key indicators, demonstrating what action to meet Paris Agreement targets — or business as usual — means for human health.
• The project is a collaboration between 120 experts from 35 institutions, including the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, University College London, and the Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Details of the Report

• Climate change is already damaging the health of the world’s children and is set to shape the well-being of an entire generation, unless the world meets the target to limit warming to well below 2˚C.
• As temperatures rise, infants will bear the greatest burden of malnutrition and rising food prices — average yield potential of maize and rice has declined almost 2% in India since the 1960s, with malnutrition already responsible for two-thirds of under-5 deaths. 
• Children will suffer most from the rise in infectious diseases — with climatic suitability for the Vibrio bacteria that cause cholera rising 3% a year in India since the early 1980s.
• With its huge population and high rates of healthcare inequality, poverty and malnutrition, few countries are likely to suffer from the health effects of climate change as much as India.
• Diarrhoeal infections, a major cause of child mortality, will spread into new areas, whilst deadly heatwaves, similar to the one in 2015 that killed thousands of people in India, could soon become the norm.

Increased vulnerability of Children to Climate Change

• Children are particularly vulnerable to the health risks of a changing climate. Their bodies and immune systems are still developing, leaving them more susceptible to disease and environmental pollutants.
• The damage done in early childhood is persistent and pervasive, with health consequences lasting for a lifetime.
• As temperatures rise, harvests will shrink — threatening food security and driving up food prices. This will hit infants hardest.They would also feel deadliest impact of disease outbreaks.
• If the world follows a business-as-usual pathway, with high carbon emissions and climate change continuing at the current rate, a child born today will face a world on average over 4˚C warmer by their 71st birthday, threatening their health at every stage of their lives.

Way Forward

• Over the past two decades, the Government of India has launched many initiatives and programmes to address a variety of diseases and risk factors. But the public health gains achieved over the past 50 years could soon be reversed by the changing climate.
• For the world to meet its UN climate goals and protect the health of the next generation, the energy landscape will have to change drastically, and soon.
• Nothing short of a 7.4% year-on-year cut in fossil CO2 emissions from 2019 to 2050 will limit global warming to the more ambitious goal of 1.5°C.
• Without immediate action from all countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions, gains in wellbeing and life expectancy will be compromised, and climate change will come to define the health of an entire generation.

6 . Sabarimala Review

Context : A majority judgment delivered by a five-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Ranjan Gogoi on Thursday kept a final decision on the Sabarimala review and writ petitions in abeyance till a larger Bench of seven judges delivers an “authoritative pronouncement” on the exact role a non-epistolary court can play in deciding whether a particular practice is essential or integral to a religion.

About the Temple

• Lord Ayyappan is the presiding deity. Ayyappan is believed to have been found as a baby by the river, and raised by the King and Queen of Pandalam. According to legend, the Prince later renounced the kingdom and the King built a shrine for him atop a hill, 3,000 ft above sea level, at Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. While various routes lead to Pamba, including an arduous one through forest, the journey from Pamba to the temple is an uphill trek. The temple is administered by the Travancore Devaswom Board, an autonomous authority under the state government.
• Ayyappan is worshipped as celibate, and pilgrims assume his identity once they take the initiation vows; they are expected to practice celibacy and abstinence during the 41-day vratam. This belief is linked to a legend around Ayyappan’s relations with Malikapurathamma, a minor deity, who resides close to his abode. Malikapurathamma wanted him to marry him but he had vowed to remain a brahmachari; he promised that he would marry her the year no kanni ayyappan (first-time pilgrim) would visit him.

High Court Vedict

• In 1991 a devotee wrote a petition stating that the the temple board in collusion with the government was violating Temple practice by allowing women into the sanctum and according special treatment to be VVIP. Since the Judgment affect a large number of people it was considered as a PIL.
• In a substantial judgment the division bench of Kerala High Court said that women between the ages of 10 to 50 not be allowed to enter as per the existing Traditions
• Age limit was specified by The Travancore Dewasom board in charge of the administration of the Temple.
• The court also wondered if the Ayyapa devotees formed a special religious denomination
• In 2006 the Indian young Lawyers Association escalated the issue directly to the Supreme Court. This was not an appeal of the 1991 judgment nut it did call that judgment to question.
• Specifically it challenged Rule 3 of Kerala Hindu places of public worship at 1965 and said all the Hindus have the right to enter the temple and denying them was a form of untouchability.

Supreme Court Judgement

• In 2006 the Indian young Lawyers Association escalated the issue directly to the Supreme Court. This was not an appeal of the 1991 judgment but it did call that judgment to question.
• Specifically it challenged Rule 3 of Kerala Hindu places of public worship act 1965 and said all the Hindus have the right to enter the temple and denying them was a form of untouchability.
• The court addressed five issues which are as follows
  • Is it not unconstitutional to reserve the entry on the basis of gender?
  • How do you strike a balance between the rights of menstruating women to enter the temple and the rights of the temple to reserve entry?
  • Is Ayyapa temple a separate religious denomination? If so how can a state funded entity indulge in practice that violates morality?
  • Does Kerala Hindu places of public worship at 1965 ban the entry of women into the temple?
  • Does the said rule violates Part 3 of the constitution?
• The SC’s landmark judgment came on 28 September, and declared the ban on women ages 10-40 entering the temple ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘discriminatory’. 
• The 4:1 judgment was delivered by a five-judge bench consisting then CJI Dipak Misra and Justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, with Malhotra dissenting.

About the Review

Current Proceedings of the Review

• As per the Judgement restriction of women into religious places is not limited to Sabarimala temple and said a seven-judge bench will decide all such religious issues relating to the temple, entry of women in mosques and practice of female genital mutilation in the Dawoodi Bohra community. However, Justices R F Nariman, D Y Chandrachud gave dissenting verdict in the case.
• Chief Justice Gogoi, delivering the majority opinion framed a series of questions for the seven-judge Bench to examine.These include
  • Whether a court can probe whether a practice is essential to a religion or should the question be left to the respective religious head including the “apparent conflict” between rulings in the Shirur Mutt case and Ajmer Durgah Committee
  • Should “essential religious practices” be afforded constitutional protection under Article 26 (freedom to manage religious affairs);
  • What is the “permissible extent” of judicial recognition a court should give to PILs filed by people who do not belong to the religion of which practices are under the scanner.
  • Entry into a mosque/durgah by Muslim women and into an agyari by Parsi women married to non-Parsis
  • Interplay between freedom of religion under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution and other provisions in Part III, particularly Article 14
  • Definition of constitutional morality.

7 . Facts for Prelims

BRICS Bond Fund

• BRICS Bond Fund will help member countries conduct intra-BRICS trade in national currencies, avoiding the U.S. dollar. 

Butterfly Survey

• The Western Ghats is still home to a kaleidoscope of butterflies. A survey that ended in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary (WWS) could sight 191 species, 12 of which are endemic to the biodiversity-rich region.
• The first-time sighting of Silver forget me not, Common three ring, and Brown onyx was also recorded. The sighting of Silver forget me not was reported only from the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary in Idukki district of the State.
• The three-day survey was done jointly by the Forest and Wildlife Department in association with the Ferns Nature Conservation Society (FNCS).

Pneumonia

• Pneumonia is an infection that inflames the air sacs in one or both lungs.
• The air sacs may fill with fluid or pus (purulent material), causing cough with phlegm or pus, fever, chills, and difficulty breathing.
• A variety of organisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, can cause pneumonia

BRICS Brasilia Summit

• Brasilia will become the first city to host its second BRICS summit

Brahmaputra Pushkaram

• Brahmaputra Pushkaram is a festival to mark the transit of the planet Jupiter.
• The Festival is celebrated in Guwahati