Daily Current Affairs : 30th and 31st October 2020

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

Topics Covered

1. Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas
2. Periodic Labour Force Survey
3. Central Information Commission
4. Index of Core Industries
5. Public Affairs Index-2020
6. Draft model Act and rules for states for regulation on conclusive land titling
7. Star Campaigner
8. Facts for Prelims

1 . Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.

Context : Centre has constituted a “permanent” body — the Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas.

About the Commission

• Commission for Air Quality Management in National Capital Region and Adjoining Areas. will replace the 22-year-old Environmental Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) that has so far addressed air pollution in Delhi
• Encompassing Delhi, Punjab, Rajasthan, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, the all-powerful body assumes several powers to coordinate action among States, levy fines — ranging up to ₹1 crore or five years of prison — to address air pollution.
• New Commission would be empowered to constitute special investigative groups for stricter implementation but the letter of the ordinance has no detail on the creation of new cadre or groups tasked with implementation.
• Brought in via an ordinance on Thursday, it awaits formal perusal by the Supreme Court before it can be brought into effect.
• As per the Ordinance, only NGT, and not civil courts, is authorised to hear cases where the commission is involved.

Role of the Commission vis-à-vis states

• The ordinance makes it clear that state as well as central bodies will not have jurisdiction over matters related to air pollution: “No other individual, or body, or authority, constituted either under the law enacted by Parliament or by state government or nominated in terms of judicial order shall act upon or have jurisdiction in relation to the matters covered by this ordinance.”
• The ordinance says the Commission will look at coordination between states, planning and execution of policy and interventions, operations of industry, inspections, research into the causes of pollution etc. Experts say the ordinance means that the power to issue fines may also lie with the new Commission.
• Commission will, in a way, erase the relevance of state pollution control bodies mainly to matters related to air pollutionsince they do not have the powers to make any autonomous decisions anymore.

Composition

• There will be at least six permanent members and it will be headed by a former or incumbent Secretary to the Government of India, or a Chief Secretary to a State government.
• It has members from several Ministries as well as representatives from the States.

Effect on other regulators

• The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and its State branches have the powers to implement provisions of the Environment Protection Act for air, water and land pollution. Their powers continue. However, in case of dispute or a clash of jurisdictions, the Commission’s writ will prevail specific to matters concerning air pollution.

Need of the commission

• A major weakness, environmentalists and experts have said, in tackling air pollution in Delhi and the surrounding region, has been the inability of agencies such as the CPCB and the EPCA to consistently enforce rules on the ground.
• Rules to, for instance, factor in stubble burning or prevent pollution from thermal plants do exist, but these are often not strongly enforced always in States due to political considerations.

Achievements of EPCA

• Notification of the Graded Response Action Plan that lists out measures to be taken in case of worsening pollution, the construction of the Regional Rapid Transport System and early adoption of BS-VI fuel standards

Challenges / Limitation

• EPCA had almost similar powers but failed miserably in cleaning the air even after being in force for more than 20 years. The question of whether it’s a positive move or just a distraction and wasteful exercise will be decided on the fact whether the ordinance changes the status quo when it comes to ground implementation and strict action on polluters or not
• The effectiveness of the Commission will be determined by the choice of its permanent members, especially its Chairperson as these members have the capability to bind together the States into air quality solutions that can and will solve our air quality problems.”
• Lack of diversity in representation : Of the 15 members, only three members representing NGOs have been included. The Commission has been given power to co-opt members, but the majority are Ministries which are engaged in actions which contribute towards pollution — the Ministry of Power, Housing and Urban Affairs; Road Transport and Highways; Petroleum and Natural Gas. The only exception is the Ministry of Agriculture. Crucial Ministries missing are the Ministry of Rural Development, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Labour

2 . Periodic Labour Force Survey

Context : As per the quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey, urban joblessness in the 15-29 age group was 19.2% in October-December, below 20.6% in July-September 2019.

About Periodic Labour Force Survey

• Considering the importance of availability of labour force data at more frequent time intervals, National Statistical Office (NSO) launched Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) on April 2017. The objective of PLFS is primarily twofold:
  • to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Worker Population Ratio, Labour Force Participation Rate, Unemployment Rate) in the short time interval of three months for the urban areas only in the Current Weekly Status (CWS)
  • to estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both usual status  (principal activity status + subsidiary economic activity status) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually
    • Principal activity status– The activity status on which a person spent relatively long time(major time criterion) during 365 days preceding the date of survey, was considered the usual principal activity status of the person.
    • Subsidiary economic activity status– The activity status in which a person in addition to his/her usual principal status, performs some economic activity for 30 days or more for the reference period of 365 days preceding the date of survey, was considered the subsidiary economic status of the person.

Conceptual Framework of Key Employment and Unemployment Indicators

ThePeriodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) gives estimates of Key employment and unemployment Indicators like the Labour Force Participation Rates (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Unemployment Rate (UR), etc. These indicators are defined as follows:

• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
• Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
• Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.
• Activity Status- Usual Status: The activity status of a person is determined on thebasis of the activities pursued by the person during the specified reference period. When the activity status is determined on the basis of the reference period of last 365 days preceding the date of survey, it is known as the usual activity status of the person.
• Activity Status- Current Weekly Status (CWS): The activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person.

Key Findings

• Unemployment rate in urban areas continued to ease to 7.9 per cent in October-December 2019 from 8.4 per cent in July-September 2019, 8.9 per cent in April-June 2019 and 9.9 per cent in October-December 2018
• Urban unemployment in the age group 15-29 years was 19.2 per cent in October-December 2019, below 20.6 per cent in July-September and 23.7 per cent in the same period the previous year.
• Female unemployment rate marginally inched up to 9.8 per cent in October-December 2019 from 9.7 per cent in July-September the same year, but lower than 11.3 per cent in April-June 2019 and 12.3 per cent in October-December 2018. Unemployment rate for males moderated to 7.3 per cent in October-December last year from 8.0 per cent in July-September, as against 8.3 per cent in the previous quarter and 9.2 per cent in October-December 2018.
• Labour force participation rate rose to 37.2 per cent in October-December 2019 from 36.8 per cent in the previous quarter and 36.3 per cent in the same period the previous year, the data showed.
• State-wise breakup showed that urban unemployment rate was higher than the national average in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and Andhra Pradesh.

3 . Central Information Commission

Context : Former diplomat and Central Information Commissioner Yashvardhan Kumar Sinha is tipped to be appointed as the country’s next Chief Information Commissioner (CIC), two months after the position at the top transparency watchdog fell vacant, sources said on Thursday.

How is Central Information Commission constituted?

• Under the provision of Section-12 of RTI Act 2005 the Central Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette,constitute a body to be known as the Central Information Commission.
• The Central Information Commission shall consist of the Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) and such number of Central Information Commissioners not exceeding 10 as may be deemed necessary.

What is the eligibility criteria and what is the process of appointment of CIC/IC?

• Section 12(3) of the RTI Act 2005 provides as follows.
  • The Prime Minister, who shall be the Chairperson of the committee;
  • The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha ; and
  • A Union Cabinet Minister to be nominated by the Prime Minister.
• Section 12(5) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that the Chief Information Commissioner and Information Commissioners shall be persons of eminence in public life with wide knowledge and experience in law, science and technology,social service, management, journalism, mass media or administration and governance.
• Section 12(6) of the RTI Act 2005 provides that Chief Information Commissioner or an Information Commissioner shall not be a Member of Parliament or Member of the Legislature of any State or Union Territory as the case may be , or hold any other office of profit or connected with any political party or carrying on any business or pursuing any profession.

What is the term of office and other service conditions of CIC?

• The new rules have given discretion to government to decide on allowances or service conditions not specifically covered by the 2019 rules which would be “binding”. The government has also kept powers to relax any of these rules.
• The tenure of the commissioners has been cut to three years in the new rules. The 2005 Act gave them a fixed tenure of five years or a retirement age of 65 years, whichever is earlier.
• This was done to ensure that Information Commissioners can use their powers even with the senior-most officers of the administration without any fear of their jobs
• The salary of Chief Information Commissioner has been fixed at Rs 2.50 lakh while that of Information Commissioners at 25,000 less.

What are the powers and functions of Information Commissions?

• Complaints
  Section-18. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall be the duty of the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, to receive and inquire into a complaint from any person,—
  • Who has been unable to submit a request to a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, either by reason that no such officer has been appointed under this Act, or because the Central Assistant Public Information Officer or State Assistant Public Information Officer, as the case may be, has refused to accept his or her application for information or appeal under this Act for forwarding the same to the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer or senior officer specified in sub-section (1) of section 19 or the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as the case may be;
  • Who has been refused access to any information requested under this Act;
  • Who has not been given a response to a request for information or access to information within the time limit specified under this Act;
  • Who has been required to pay an amount of fee which he or she considers unreasonable;
  • Who believes that he or she has been given incomplete, misleading or false information under this Act; and
  • In respect of any other matter relating to requesting or obtaining access to records under this Act.
• Where the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission,as the case may be, is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to inquire into the matter, it may initiate an inquiry in respect thereof.
• The Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, shall, while inquiring into any matter under this section, have the same powers as are vested in a civil court while trying a suit under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908, in respect of the following matters, namely:—
  • Summoning and enforcing the attendance of persons and compel them to give oral or written evidence on oath and to produce the documents or things;
  • Requiring the discovery and inspection of documents;
  • Receiving evidence on affidavit;
  • Requisitioning any public record or copies thereof from any court or office;
  • Issuing summons for examination of witnesses or documents; and
  • Any other matter, which may be prescribed.
• Notwithstanding anything inconsistent contained in any other Act of Parliament or State Legislature, as the case may be, the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as the case may be, may, during the inquiry of any complaint under this Act, examine any record to which this Act applies which is under the control of the public authority, and no such record may be withheld from it on any ground.
• Appeals
  Section-19 –
  • (1) Any person who, does not receive a decision within the time specified
    in sub-section (1) or clause (a) of sub-section (3) of section 7, or is aggrieved by a
    decision of the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer,as the case may be, may within thirty days from the expiry of such period or from thereceipt of such a decision prefer an appeal to such officer who is senior in rank to theCentral Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer as the case may be, in each public authority: Provided that such officer may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of thirty days if he or she is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
  • Where an appeal is preferred against an order made by a Central Public
    Information Officer or a State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, under
    section 11 to disclose third party information, the appeal by the concerned third party shall be made within thirty days from the date of the order.
  • A second appeal against the decision under sub-section (1) shall lie within
    ninety days from the date on which the decision should have been made or was
    actually received, with the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission: Provided that the Central Information Commission or the State Information Commission, as the case may be, may admit the appeal after the expiry of the period of ninety days if it is satisfied that the appellant was prevented by sufficient cause from filing the appeal in time.
  • If the decision of the Central Public Information Officer or State Public
    Information Officer, as the case may be, against which an appeal is preferred relates to information of a third party, the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the case may be, shall give a reasonable opportunity of being heard to that third party.
  • In any appeal proceeding, the onus to prove that a denial of a request was
    justified shall be on the Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, who denied the request.
  • An appeal under sub-section (1) or sub-section (2) shall be disposed of within
    thirty days of the receipt of the appeal or within such extended period not exceeding a total of forty-five days from the date of filing thereof, as the case may be, for reasons to be recorded in writing.
  • The decision of the Central Information Commission or State Information
    Commission, as the case may be, shall be binding.
  • In its decision, the Central Information Commission or State Information
    Commission, as the case may be, has the power to—
    (a) Require the public authority to take any such steps as may be necessary to
    secure compliance with the provisions of this Act, including—
    • By providing access to information, if so requested, in a particular form;
    • By appointing a Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, as the case may be;
    • By publishing certain information or categories of information;
    • By making necessary changes to its practices in relation to the maintenance, management and destruction of records;
    • (v) By enhancing the provision of training on the right to information for its
      officials;
    • (vi) By providing it with an annual report in compliance with clause (b) of subsection (1) of section 4; (b) Require the public authority to compensate the complainant for any loss or other detriment suffered; (c) Impose any of the penalties provided under this Act; (d) Reject the application.
  • The Central Information Commission or State Information Commission, as the
    case may be, shall give notice of its decision, including any right of appeal, to
    the complainant and the public authority.)
  • The Central Information Commission or State Information
    Commission, as the case may be, shall decide the appeal in accordance with
    such procedure as may be prescribed.
• Penalties
  Section-20 –
• (1) Where the Central Information Commission or the State Information
  Commission, as the case may be, at the time of deciding any complaint or appeal is of the opinion that the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public Information Officer, as the case may be, has, without any reasonable cause, refused to receive an application for information or has not furnished information within the time specified under sub-section (1) of section 7 or malafidely denied the request for information or knowingly given incorrect, incomplete or misleading information or destroyed information which was the subject of the request or obstructed in any manner in furnishing the information, it shall impose a penalty of two hundred and fifty rupees each day till application is received or information is furnished, so however, the total amount of such penalty shall not exceed twenty-five thousand rupees:
  Provided that the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public
  Information Officer, as the case may be, shall be given a reasonable opportunity of
  being heard before any penalty is imposed on him
  Provided further that the burden of proving that he acted reasonably and
  diligently shall be on the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public
  Information Officer.
• (2) Where the Central Information Commission or the State Information
  Commission, as the case may be, at the time of deciding any complaint or appeal is
  of the opinion that the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public
  Information Officer, as the case may be, has, without any reasonable cause and
  persistently, failed to receive an application for information or has not furnished
  information within the time specified under sub-section (1) of section 7 or malafidely
  denied the request for information or knowingly given incorrect, incomplete or
  misleading information or destroyed information which was the subject of the request
  or obstructed in any manner in furnishing the information, it shall recommend for
  disciplinary action against the Central Public Information Officer or the State Public
  Information Officer, as the case may be, under the service rules applicable to him.

What is Reporting Procedure

• Section 25 of the RTI Act 2005 provides that (1) the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission ,as the case may be, shall ,as soon as practicable after the end of each year, prepare a report on the implementation of the provisions of this Act during that year and forward a copy thereof to the appropriate Government.
• (2)Each Ministry or Department shall, in relation to the Public Authorities within their jurisdiction, collect and provide such information to the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission ,as the case may be, as is required to prepare the report under this section and comply with the requirements concerning the furnishing of that information and keeping of records for the purposes of this section.
• Each report shall state in respect of the year to which the report relates-
  • The number of request made to each public authority;
  • The number of decisions where applicants were not entitled to access to the document pursuant to the requests, the provision of this act under which these decisions were made and number of times such provisions were invoked;
  • The number of appeals referred to the the Central Information Commission or State Information Commission ,as the case may be, for review, the nature of appeals and outcomes of the appeals;
    Particulars of any disciplinary action taken against any officer in respect of the administration of this Act;
  • The amount of charges collected by each public authority under this Act;
  • Any facts which indicate an effort by the public authorities to administer and implement the spirit and intention of this Act;
  • Recommendations for reform, including recommendations in respect of particular public authorities, for the development, improvement, modernization, reforms or amendments to this Act or other legislation or common law or any other matter relevant for operationalising the right to access information.

4 . Index of Core Industries

Context :  Office of Economic Adviser within the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade released the Index of Eight Core Industries (ICI) for September 2020.

Key Observations

When compared to September 2019, the ICI contracted by 0.8 per cent in September 2020. In terms of cumulative growth in the first half of the current financial year — that is, between April 2020 to September 2020 — this index contracted by 14.9 per cent

About Index of core Industries

• Index of core industries is an index of the eight most fundamental industrial sectors of the Indian economy and it maps the volume of production in these industries.
• Following table gives the details of these eight sectors — namely Coal, Natural Gas, Crude Oil, Refinery Products (such as Petrol and Diesel), Fertilisers, Steel, Cement and Electricity. 

Calculation

• The index gives different weights to each of these sectors to arrive at a final figure. Following table provides the growth rates for each sector along with the weights assigned to each sector. 
• As can be seen from this Table, Refinery Products have the largest weight while Cement has the lowest weight. Steel and Electricity are the other heavyweights.

Importance

• Since these eight industries are the essential “basic” and/or “intermediate” ingredient in the functioning of the broader economy, mapping their health provides a fundamental understanding of the state of the economy.
• In other words, if these eight industries are not growing fast enough, the rest of the economy is unlikely to either.

5 . Public Affairs Index-2020

Context : Kerala was adjudged the best governed State in the large States category, while Uttar Pradesh ended at the bottom, in the Public Affairs Index-2020 released by the Public Affairs Centre

About Public Affairs Centre

• It is a not-for-profit organisation, headed by former Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K. Kasturirangan
• Report ranks states on governance performance based on a composite index in the context of sustainable development. According to the PAC, the governance performance is analysed in the context of sustainable development defined by the three pillars of equity, growth and sustainability.

Details of the Ranking

• Four southern States — Kerala (1.388 PAI Index point), Tamil Nadu (0.912), Andhra Pradesh (0.531) and Karnataka (0.468) stood in the first four ranks in the large State category in terms of governance
• Uttar Pradesh(-1.461), Odisha (-1.201) and Bihar (-1.158 ) were at the bottom of the ranking.
• In the small State category, Goa ranked first with 1.745 points, followed by Meghalaya (0.797) and Himachal Pradesh (0.725). The worst performers with negative points were Manipur (-0.363), Delhi (-0.289) and Uttarakhand (-0.277)
• Chandigarh emerged at the top in the category of Union Territories with 1.05 PAI points, followed by Puducherry (0.52) and Lakshadweep (0.003). Dadar and Nagar Haveli (-0.69), Andaman, Jammu and Kashmir (-0.50) and Nicobar (-0.30) were the worst performers.

6 . Draft model Act and rules for states for regulation on conclusive land titling

Context : The NITI Aayog released the draft model Act and rules for states for regulation on conclusive land titling, providing for a state government to order establishment of title registration for all or any type of immovable properties.

Need of Land Titling

• The move towards a land titling framework is aimed at reducing land-related litigations and improved land acquisition for infrastructure projects.
• In a conclusive titling system, the government provides guaranteed titles for the land, and compensation in case of any ownership disputes.

Details of the Draft

• The draft Act — as released by the government think tank — provides that any person aggrieved by an entry in the Record of Titles may file an objection before the Title Registration Officer within three years from the date of such notification, following which the Title Registration Officer make an entry in Register of Titles and in the Register of Disputes and refer the case to the Land Dispute Resolution Officer.
• A party aggrieved with an order of Land Dispute Resolution Officer may file an appeal before the Land Titling Appellate Tribunal within 30 days of passing of such an order, according the draft by NITI Aayog.
• A special bench of the high court shall be designated to deal with appeals against the orders passed by the Land Titling Appellate Tribunal, with the Act providing for a 30-day window to appeal before the High Court, the draft .

7 . Star Campaigner

Context : Citing repeated violation : EC revokes Nath’s star campaigner status

Who is a star campaigner?

• A recognised political party can have 40 star campaigners and an unrecognised (but registered) political party can have 20.
• The list of star campaigners has to be communicated to the Chief Electoral Officer and Election Commission within a week from the date of notification of an election.
• The expenditure incurred on campaigning by such campaigners is exempt from being added to the election expenditure of a candidate. However, this only applies when a star campaigner limits herself to a general campaign for the political party she represents.

What if a star campaigner campaigns specifically for one candidate?

• If a candidate or her election agent shares the stage with a star campaigner at a rally, then the entire expenditure on that rally, other than the travel expenses of the star campaigner, is added to the candidate’s expenses.
• Even if the candidate is not present at the star campaigner’s rally, but there are posters with her photographs or her name on display, the entire expenditure will be added to the candidate’s account.
• This applies even if the star campaigner mentions the candidate’s name during the event. When more than one candidate shares the stage, or there are posters with their photographs, then the expenses of such rally/meeting are equally divided between all such candidates.

Does removal from the star campaigner’s list bar from campaigning?

• Removal from the star campaigner’s list does make campaigning difficult. This is because whichever constituency they now hold their election meeting or rally at, irrespective of whether they limit themselves to general party propaganda or not, the entire expenditure of the event will be added to the account of the candidate contesting from that seat. Since candidates cannot afford to breach their expenditure limit they would not want such campaign in their constituency.

8 . Facts for Prelims

Green Delhi App

• Green Delhi app will involve citizen participation and ensure timely action in the government’s fight against pollution.
• The app enables citizens to register complaints, report pollution sources and violations of anti-pollution norms.
• Citizens can take photos, videos and audio of local causes of pollution such as garbage burning, industrial pollution and construction dust among others and upload on the app.
• For the effective resolution of the complaints, constant monitoring will be done at the Delhi government’s Green War Room. Complaints lodged on the app will be received by the departments concerned and will have to be resolved in a time-bound manner as per specified timelines.
•  Citizens will also have the option of reopening complaints if they feel they have not been addressed adequately. When the issue is resolved, the department will also upload a picture that should show that the complaint has been resolved in a specified timeline.
• For the monitoring of the complaints, 70 Green Marshals are deployed. For instance, if a complaint is being registered repeatedly despite being resolved, the green marshals will visit the location to inspect the situation for any false reporting
• Around 21 departments, including civic bodies, DDA, DJB, Delhi Police, DSIDC, Delhi government departments, are attached to the app and every department has a nodal officer along with a senior officer who is in charge of all the complaints registered related to the department.
• Around 12 coordinators have been assigned to the green war room who will check every complaint and overlook the resolution of all the complaints as per the timeline, especially a specified timeline of 48 hours. If the complaints are not resolved within 48 hours, they will coordinate with the senior officials of the departments and work to resolve the complaints

Code on Wages Act

• Those indulging in sexual harassment of any form could run the risk of losing out on bonus dues from their employers, thanks to a provision in the Code on Wages that the government is currently framing rules for.
• Among other things, the Code on Wages lays down norms for annual bonus dues that accrue to employees, replacing the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965. The new Code, expected to become operational once the government notifies the rules, includes ‘conviction for sexual harassment’ as a ground for denying bonus payouts to employees.
• As per the extant law, bonus dues are barred only in case of employees dismissed for fraud, violent conduct and theft or sabotage.