Daily Current Affairs : 4th February 2022

Daily Current Affairs for UPSC CSE

1. Reservation in Private Companies based on domicile
2. Powers of Governor
3. Chandrayaan 3
4. Facts for Prelims

1 . Reservation in Private Companies based on domicile

Content : The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday granted an interim stay on the controversial law for reservation of 75% jobs in private companies, societies and trusts for local Haryana candidates.

About the Case

• Around eight petitioners, including different industrial associations and individuals, moved the court last December against the law, pleading that it was against the provisions of the Constitution and the basic principle of meritocracy that acted as the foundation for businesses to grow and remain competitive.
• The court had then issued notice to the government seeking a reply.

Background

• In November 2020, the state Assembly passed the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 paving way for more employment opportunities for locals in the private sector.
• Law implemented from January 15 requires firms with 10 or more employees to adhere to it.

About the law

• According to the law, 75 per cent of private sector jobs in the state, till a certain salary slab will be reserved for local candidates.
• The Act will cover jobs that pay up to Rs 30,000 as gross monthly salary. In the draft Bill, the salary limit had been set at Rs 50,000, according to NDTV.
• The law apply to companies, societies, trusts, limited liability partnership firms, partnership firms located across Haryana.
• Those who are domiciled in Haryana will be able to avail the benefits of the act. To have domicile status, a person should be born in the state or should have lived in there for at least 15 years.
• Companies have the option to hire people from outside if they cannot find suitable candidates in Haryana. But they would have to inform the government about this decision.

Constitutional provisions on reservation

• Article 14 of the Constitution guarantees equality before law and equal protection of laws to everyone.
• Article 16(1) and 16(2) assure citizens equality of opportunity in employment or appointment to any government office.
• Article 15(1) generally prohibits any discrimination against any citizen on the grounds of religion, caste, sex or place of birth.
• Article 29(2) bars discrimination against any citizen with regard to admission to educational institutions maintained by the government or receiving aid out of government funds on grounds of religion, race, caste etc.
• Articles 15(4) and 16(4) state that these equality provisions do not prevent the government from making special provisions in matters of admission to educational institutions or jobs in favour of backward classes, particularly the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and the Scheduled Tribes (STs).
• Article 16(4A) allows reservations to SCs and STs in promotions, as long as the government believes that they are not adequately represented in government services.

Is this reservation Bill violative of Article 16 of the Constitution of India?

• Andhra Pradesh’s decision of introducing 75 per cent reservation for local candidates was challenged in the Andhra Pradesh High Court which observed that “it may be unconstitutional”.
• The Andhra Pradesh High Court had asked state government to inform if the quota-law was enacted as per the Constitution.
• For mandating reservation in public employment, the state draws its power from Article 16(4) of the Constitution.
• It says that the right to equality in public employment does not prevent the state from “making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
• The Constitution has no manifest provision for private employment from which the state draws the power to make laws mandating reservation.
• Haryana government claims that while Article 16 talks about the “public employment”, the Bill only pertains to “private sector employment”.

Arguments in favor of reservation in private sector for Locals

• This will fulfill the main purpose of reservation to allow unemployed locals or backward classes to be employed.
• Reservation in private secor can help get rid of the problem of joblessness. 
• Many private sector firms get government aid and tax benefits. Then why not they have a provision for quota in their jobs?
• In metros, the hiring rate of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes by multi-national companies (MNCs) is almost negligible because of concerns over technical skills and English-speaking abilities. If reservation is introduced in the sector, they will get a fair chance of representation and learning.

Arguments against reservation in private sector for Locals

• Private sector runs on talent and abilities. And it is a bitter fact that talent will be compromised in the reservation system.
• Private sector is about profit making enterprises. The new law states that if locals with the necessary skills are not there, companies will have to train local workers in conjunction with the state government and then hire them, which could lead to more hassles and expenses for businesses.
• This policy will set a bad national precedent. Now those states can cite this law as a precedent and have their own. Karnataka and Maharashtra, which have plenty of workers from Andhra Pradesh, have been thinking of making similar laws. This might lead to extreme regionalism.
• Reservation policy has not yielded the desired results in the past and implementing a backfired policy is disastrous for the country.
• This might become a disincentive for industries. Now with the ‘mandatory’ local labour that puts a cap on ‘competing outside labour’, the bulk of workers can work less and demand higher remunerations.
• People from other states may not get adequate employment opportunities. As in the 2014 case—Charu Khurana vs. Union of India—when a trade union had declined membership to a make-up artist because she had not lived in Maharashtra for at least five years, as per the union’s rules. Though the trade union lost the case but the said person was discriminated against. 
• Such provision of reservation could hinder the state’s economic growth by affecting the ease of doing business. Ease of recruiting talent is a major aspect that influences the index. The end result can be loss of confidence in the industry and business moving elsewhere.

Concerns

• The law could trigger an exodus of large domestic and multinational investors across sectors such as auto, IT that rely on highly skilled manpower.
• The 75% reservation will result in moving out of tech and automotive companies, especially MNCs as these are highly skilled manpowerbased companies.
• The law is already tilting the scales for large firms, particularly in ecommerce, IT & ITeS and new manufacturing sectors, who had chosen Gurugram as a hub for their businesses.
• Moreover, imposing the reservations on gig and platform companies could create a crippling talent crunch.
• If other States take Haryana’s cue and follow suit, there would surely be an extreme level of talent crunch across industries and across the country.

States in favour of reservation in private sector for locals

• Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries/Factories Bill, 2019 passed by the Andhra Pradesh government. As per this law, 75% of jobs in industries are to be reserved for locals.
• Even the Madhya Pradesh government had announced 70% reservation for locals in industries. 
• The Karnataka government has also insisted that private companies provide 80% reservation in jobs for locals (Kannada-speaking people) in all categories and for this the government has already amended the Karnataka Industrial Employment (Standing Orders) Rules, 1961, to reserve 100% for group ‘C’ and group ‘D’ jobs for locals in the private sector. 

2 . Article 200

Context : Tamil Nadu Governor R.N. Ravi has returned to the Assembly Speaker a Bill seeking to dispense with NEET-based admissions for undergraduate medical degree courses, the Raj Bhavan said on Thursday.

Background

• The Bill adopted by the Assembly in September sought to admit students to UG medical degree programmes on the basis of Plus Two scores.
• After a detailed study of the Bill and the report of the high-level committee constituted by the State government, the Governor was “of the opinion that the Bill is against interests of the students specially the rural and economically poor students,” a press release from the Raj Bhavan said.
• Hence, the Governor has returned the Bill to the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly on February 1, 2022, giving “detailed reasons, for its re-consideration by the House,” it said.
• It said the Supreme Court in Christian Medical College, Vellore Association Vs. Union of India (2020) also has comprehensively examined the issue specially from the social justice perspective and upheld NEET as it prevents economic exploitation of poor students and was in furtherance of social justice.

Constitutional Provisions

 Article 200 deals with powers of the Governor with regard to assent given to bills passed by the State legislature 

• Article 200 provides that when a Bill passed by the State Legislature, is presented to the Governor, the Governor shall declare—
  • (a) that he assents to the Bill; or
  • (b) that he withholds assent therefrom; or
  • (c) that he reserves the Bill for the President’s consideration; or
  • (d) the Governor may, as soon as possible, return the Bill (other than a Money Bill) with a message for re-consideration by the State Legislature. But, if the Bill is again passed by the Legislature with or without amendment, the Governor shall not withhold assent therefrom (First Proviso); or
  • (e) if in the opinion of the Governor, the Bill, if it became law, would so derogate from the powers of the High Court as to endanger its constitutional position, he shall not assent to but shall reserve it for the consideration of the President (Second Proviso).

• If the Governor reserves a Bill for President’s consideration, the enactment of the Bill then depends on the assent or refusal of assent by the President.
• In the case of a reserved Bill, the President shall, under Article 201—, either declare his assent or withhold his assent thereto. Instead of following either of these courses, the President may (if the Bill is not a Money Bill) direct the Governor to return the Bill together with a message to the State Legislature for reconsideration. The State Legislature shall then reconsider the Bill within 6 months of its receipt and, if it is again passed, it shall be presented again to the President for his consideration. In contrast with the power of the Governor regarding a reconsidered Bill, it is not obligatory for the President to give his assent to a reconsidered Bill.

State Bills reserved for President’s Consideration

• State Bills reserved for Presidents’s consideration under the Constitution, may be classified as follows:—
• Bills which must be reserved for President’s consideration In this category come Bills—
  • Which so derogate from the powers of the High Court, as to endanger the position which that Court is by this Constitution designed to fill (Second Proviso to Article 200);
  • Which relate to imposition of taxes on water or electricity in certain cases, and attract the provisions of Clause (2) of Article 288; and
  • Which fall within clause (4) (a) (ii) of Article 360, during a Financial Emergency.
• Bills which may be reserved for President’s consideration and assent for specific purposes
  • To secure immunity from operation of Articles 14 and 19. These are Bills for—
    • Acquisition of estates, etc. [First Proviso to Article 31A(I)];
    • Giving effect to Directive Principles of State Policy (Proviso to Article 31C).
  • A Bill relating to a subject enumerated in the Concurrent List, to ensure operation of its provisions despite their repugnancy to a Union law or an existing law, by securing President’s assent in terms of Article 254(2).
  • Legislation imposing restrictions on trade and commerce requiring Presidential sanction under the
    • Proviso to Article 304(b) read with Article 255.
  • Bills which may not specifically fall under any of the above categories, yet may be reserved by the Governor for President’s consideration under Article 200.

3 . Chandrayaan – 3

Context : India plans to execute the Chandrayaan-3 mission this August, Minister Jitendra Singh told the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Though the government had stated that the mission was scheduled for 2022, this is the first time that a specific month has been announced.

About Chandrayaan – 3 mission

• The Chandrayaan-3 mission is a follow-up of Chandrayaan-2 of July 2019, which aimed to land a rover on the lunar South Pole.
• Based on the learnings from Chandrayaan-2 and suggestions made by the national level experts, the realisation of Chandrayaan-3 is in progress. Many related hardware and their special tests are successfully completed. The launch is scheduled for August 2022
• The third mission will carry only a modified lander and rover and will use the orbiter of the Chandrayaan 2 mission to communicate with the earth.

About Chandrayaan 2

• Chandrayaan-2 was India’s second mission to the moon. It comprised a fully indigenous Orbiter, Lander (Vikram) and Rover (Pragyan). The Rover Pragyan was housed inside Vikram lander.
• The mission objective of Chandrayaan-2 was to develop and demonstrate the key technologies for end-to-end lunar mission capability, including soft-landing and roving on the lunar surface.
• On the science front, this mission aimed to further expand our knowledge about the Moon through a detailed study of its topography, mineralogy, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics and atmosphere leading to a better understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon.
• Chandrayaan-2 had several science payloads to facilitate a more detailed understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon. The Orbiter carried eight payloads, the lander carried three, and the rover carried two. Besides, a passive experiment was included on the lander.
• Unfortunately during the 15-minute powered descent from a 100 km round orbit around the moon to its surface, which the then chief of Isro referred to as the 15 minutes of terror, the reduction in the velocity was actually more than planned which resulted in the spacecraft crash landing.
• Had the mission been successful, it would have been the first time a country landed its rover on the moon in its maiden attempt.

4 . Facts for Prelims

Belarus

• Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, and historically Byelorussia, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe.
• It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest.

Purchasing Managers Index

• Covered under – https://iassquad.in/2022/01/07/daily-current-affairs-6th-january-2022/