Mizoram Maintenance of Household Registers Bill, 2019

 

News Flash

The Mizoram Assembly unanimously passed a Bill to create registers containing the names, details and photographs of every resident of the state, on a household basis. This aims to detect illegal foreigners staying and “eating away” benefits of development schemes.

 

Why the Bill

• Mizoram shares border with Myanmar and Bangladesh. The problem faced by the border-state in the Northeast India due to large scale influx of foreigners and their malatide assimilation with the permanent resident in the villages of Mizoram, thereby resulting in an abnormal increase in population, which also poses a serious threat to law and order and internal security of the state.
• It created a fear of losing benefit of development and welfare programmes to such “foreigners” who illicitly stayed back and got assimilated in the people of the state.

 

Provisions

• Once the information prescribed by the state government is received, the concerned registering authority will compile the details in two distinct registers- one for the citizen residents and another for non-citizen residents of a village/area/town.
• Bill says that all government departments and police may use the household registers for administrative purposes, during implementation of development schemes and law enforcement.
• The Bill seeks to detect foreigners illegally residing in the State of Mizoram which shares over 700-km-long border with Bangladesh and Myanmar.

 

Problems with such a move

• Other states also can start such move, which will result in deprivation of some communities in that particular state.
• It will promote strong exclusivist policies and it’s against the spirit of federal Indian polity.

Source: Economic Times

 

 

Human Embryo Smuggling

 

News Flash

Indian authorities (DRI) are investigating a possible smuggling ring after discovering a live human embryo in a suitcase at Mumbai’s airport.

• A Malaysian national was allegedly found with the embryo in a canister concealed in his luggage on 16 March.

DRI The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) is the apex anti-smuggling agency of India, working under the Central Board of Indirect Taxes & Customs, Ministry of Finance, Government of India. It is tasked with detecting and curbing smuggling of contraband, including drug trafficking and illicit international trade in wildlife and environmentally sensitive items, as well as combating commercial frauds related to international trade and evasion of Customs duty.

 

The illegal import of embryos is meant for the market for surrogacy

• For foreign or Indian couples who wish to have an Indian surrogate mother to reduce costs .
• For IVF procedures in which the parents want a child with “non-Indian looks”.
• Malaysia does not permit surrogacy under Islamic law. IVF experts, however, believe Malaysian couples may be exporting their embryos for illegal surrogacy in India.
• However in India, The Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2016, passed by the Lok Sabha in 2018, bans commercial surrogacy but permits altruistic surrogacy.

 

In vitro fertilization (IVF)

IVF, which has become increasingly popular in India in recent years, is the process whereby an egg is fertilised in a laboratory and then implanted into the womb.

• Embryos can be frozen and stored for several years, with some people donating them to other would-be parents.
• However, it is illegal to import embryos into India without a permit from the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Provisions of Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill 2016 The bill is providing surrogacy to only Indian citizens. Thus, Foreigners, NRI and PIOs are not allowed. The Bill allows only altruistic surrogacy (by relatives) for married couples. Homosexuals and Single parents are also not allowed for surrogacy and bars the couple who already have children. The bill provides that women can only surrogate once in her lifetime in age between 25 to 35. The couple who intend for surrogacy should be aged between 23 to 50 years and married for at least 5 years. The Bill also has safeguards built in against sex selection of the baby. For details : https://www.prsindia.org/billtrack/surrogacy-regulation-bill-2016

Source: The Hindu

 

 

 

RBI governor calls for permanent status to finance commissions

 

News Flash

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das said there should be more consistency among various finance commissions.

• He also called for a ‘permanent status to finance commissions’ where the old commission continues to implement schemes till the next commission starts functioning

 

Why Permanent status

• It will ensure consistencies and continuity between the successive finance commissions.
• It will create consistency in the policies and the ways funds are allocated to the states.
• Broad and long- term development and fiscal understanding.
• During the intervening period, it can also address issues arising from implementation of the recommendations of the finance commission.

 

Emerging issues

• Geopolitical risks have necessitated higher expenditure on defence and internal security.
• Natural calamities and disasters have called for higher expenditure on relief and rehabilitation.
• Aspirations of people and the country as a whole have required that the government spends more on developmental programmes.

 

Solutions to issue or challenges

• Successive finance commissions have made efforts to address the emerging issues.
• Finance commissions have over the past several decades adopted different approaches with regard to principles of tax devolution, grants to be given to states and fiscal consolidation issues.

Way ahead

• There is a need to ensure broad consistency between finance commissions so that there is some degree of certainty in the flow of funds, especially to the states.
• The principle of decentralisation works better when powers and capacities are assigned based on which level of administration is most appropriate to satisfy that responsibility.
• It is essential that State Finance Commissions are constituted every five years.

280. Finance Commission (1) The President shall, within two years from the commencement of this Constitution and thereafter at the expiration of every fifth year or at such earlier time as the President considers necessary, by order constitute a Finance Commission which shall consist of a Chairman and four other members to be appointed by the President. (2) Parliament may by law determine the qualifications which shall be requisite for appointment as members of the Commission and the manner in which they shall be selected. (3) It shall be the duty of the Commission to make recommendations to the President as to- (a) the distribution between the Union and the States of the net proceeds of taxes which are to be, or may be, divided between them under this Chapter and the allocation between the States of the respective shares of such proceeds; (b) the principles which should govern the grants-in-aid of the revenues of the States out of the Consolidated Fund of India; [(bb) the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Panchayats in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State;] [(c) the measures needed to augment the Consolidated Fund of a State to supplement the resources of the Municipalities in the State on the basis of the recommendations made by the Finance Commission of the State;] [(d)] any other matter referred to the Commission by the President in the interests of sound finance.

Source: Livemint

 

 

 

West Nile fever

 

News Flash

A six-year-old boy died in Kozhikode from West Nile Virus infection. This has caused some alarm because the virus is relatively unknown in India.

• West Nile virus can cause a fatal neurological disease in humans.
• However, approximately 80% of people who are infected will not show any symptoms. One in five people develops symptoms and requires medication. One in 150 people may go on to develop serious illness, or even die. However, WNV is dreaded because of the effects, often irreversible, that it has on the brain.

 

Vectors

• West Nile virus is mainly transmitted to people through the bites of infected mosquitoes. It has so far been detected in almost all kinds of mosquitoes, not just the common three — Anopheles, Culex and Aedes — but also in lesserknown types such as Culiseta, Mansonia and Psorophora.
• WNV can also spread through blood transfusion, from an infected mother to her child, or through exposure to the virus in laboratories.
• The virus may also be transmitted through contact with other infected animals, their blood, or other tissues.
• The virus can cause severe disease and death in horses.
• Vaccines are available for use in horses but not yet available for people.
• Birds are the natural hosts of West Nile virus.

 

Spread and origin

• The virus is commonly found in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America and West Asia. The World Health Organization (WHO) documents that it was first isolated in a woman in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937.
• According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, WNV is the leading cause of mosquito-borne diseases in the continental United States.
• This is not the first case of West Nile disease in India, but this could be the first death reported. In Kerala itself, in 2018 one case of West Nile fever’s reported.

 

Steps to control the spread

• Vector control.
• Better diagnosis
• Monitoring the cases of Japanese Encephalitis and Yellow fever as these related illnesses cause severe and fatal conditions.
• Awareness

Source: The Hindu

 

 

 

Need for a New Nuclear Restraint Theory

 

News Flash

Classical theory of Nuclear restraint says that if two opponents have nuclear weapons to destroy each other, this mutual capacity restrains them to use nuclear weapons and compels them to return to the peace.

 

But New danger in Our Time

• Digital age provided space to the micro agents to act or to provoke to act in a manner which doesn’t take into account the full consequences of that act.
• These micro-agents use impulsive emotions rather than fact to form any opinion on any course of action.
• Our main political protagonist are elected by these millions of micro- agents so they have to react on these provocations. This can trigger the mishap of nuclear war.
• Arm Control agreements being consigned to history.
• Nuclear science and technology have matured over the last 70 years, and it is now easier to access and acquire them, generating new proliferation risks and challenges.
• Developments in artificial intelligence, growing space, and cyber vulnerabilities, have given rise to more uncertainties
• Many countries are modernising their nuclear arsenals with tactical and low yield weapons, increasing the likelihood of their use.
• Nuclear deterrence theories, developed to deal with the US–USSR Cold War rivalry, are being redefined by strategic thinkers in a world grappling with the threats of rising nationalism, extremism and terrorism.

Features of India’s Nuclear Doctrine Building and maintaining a credible minimum deterrent. A “No First Use” policy – nuclear weapons to be used only “in retaliation against a nuclear attack on Indian territory or on Indian forces anywhere” Nuclear retaliation to first strike will be “massive” and designed to inflict “unacceptable damage”. Nuclear retaliatory attacks to be authorized only by civilian political leadership through the Nuclear Command Authority. Non use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states. India to retain option of retaliating with nuclear weapons in the event of a major attack against it with biological or chemical weapons. Continuance of strict controls on export of nuclear and missile related materials and technologies, participation in Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty (FMCT) negotiations, continued moratorium on testing Continued commitment to goal of nuclear weapon free world, through global, verifiable and nondiscriminatory disarmament.

Source: Indian Express

 

 

 

Goldman Sachs (GS) upgraded its view on India to “overweight”

 

News Flash

Foreign inflows into Indian equities soared to their highest in 15 months at $2.42 billion in February, a big swing from 2018’s net outflows of $4.4 billion.

• Hopes for deeper economic reforms and more monetary policy easing have helped bring back foreign investors to India.
• The risk/reward appears favourable for India once again.

 

Background

GS had downgraded India to “marketweight” in September, citing near-term risks related to macro factors and earnings, st retched valuations and election- related uncertainties.

• The brokerage also upgraded its view on state-run banks, industrials and auto sectors to “overweight”.
• Meanwhile, it downgraded technology, metals and non-banking financial sectors to “underweight”.

Overweight as part of a three-tiered rating system, along with “underweight” and “equal weight”, is used by financial analysts to indicate a particular stock’s attractiveness. If a stock is recommended to be “overweight”, the analyst opines that the stock is better value for money than others.

Source: Deccan chronical

 

 

Article 370 and Presidential orders for J&K

 

News Flash

Three weeks after President Ram Nath Kovind issued an executive order amending The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954 to extend the provisions of the 77th and 103rd Amendments to the state, the Centre’s move has been challenged in the Jammu & Kashmir High Court.

 

Background

J&K negotiated the terms of its entry into the Indian Union. When Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947, Indian Union was given power only on three subjects: Defence, Foreign Affairs, Communications.

A separate Constituent Assembly of J&K was planned to frame the J&K Constitution, and to work out J&K’s constitutional relationship with New Delhi.

 

Presidential Orders

• Article 370 provides that other provisions of the Indian Constitution can apply to J&K “subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by order specify”, and with the concurrence of the state government.
• Thus, a Presidential Order was issued on January 26, 1950 itself, with the state government’s concurrence. But till this time State constituent assembly was not convened so the Maharaja Hari Singh with the advice of council of ministers at that time approved it. On November 5, 1951, J&K’s Constituent Assembly was convened. So this order has to be replaced by The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954.
• This Order applied provisions of Part-III of the Indian Constitution that relates to fundamental rights to J&K and introduced Article 35A.
• Article 35A protects the laws passed by the state legislature of J&K in respect of permanent residents from any challenge on the ground that they violated any of the fundamental rights.
• The Constituent Assembly of J&K ratified it before dispersing on November 17, 1956.
• Subsequently, the Indian government have issued 42 Presidential orders, all amendments to the 1954 mother order. But none of these amendments to the 1954 Order have fulfilled the requirement of ratification by the J&K Constituent Assembly (as it wasn’t in existence after 1956). The Centre has argued that an elected state government’s consent is enough.
• 94 out of the 97 entries in the Union List, and 26 out of the 47 in the Concurrent List have been extended to J&K, and through this order 260 out of the 395 Articles of the Indian Constitution were made applicable to J&K.

 

Problem with the latest order

The latest order has the consent of the Governor without the requisite aid and advice of the Council of Ministers. In a situation of Central rule (under article 356), the Governor acts only as a nominee of the Union government and does not meet the definition of state government as laid down by Article 370 and the Supreme Court.

 

Issues with Presidential Orders

• Kashmiri political class and civic organisation always criticise the way presidential orders have extended almost all of the provisions of Indian Constitution to the state. In this way autonomy of the state has been reached to a great extent.
• In 2012 three member interlocutor group (headed by Dilip Padgaonkar, appointed in 2010) also recommended review of every extension of the laws to the state of J&K through presidential orders.

Source: Indian Express

 

 

ATTENTION

Special Stamps on Ice Stupa Released

India Post released a special stamp cover on Ice Stupa to create awareness about depleting glaciers and affect on the ecology around the Himalayas.

Ice Stupa refers to the artificial glaciers which freeze and hold the water that keeps flowing and wasting away down the streams and into the rivers throughout the winter.