CURRENT AFFAIRS 29 SEPTEMBER 2019

CURRENT AFFAIRS 

29 SEPTEMBER 2019

BY SUMIT BHARDWAJ

1.Bench System in Indian Courts(gs-2)

Context: Five­judge Bench to hear pleas against dilution of Art. 370

 A five judge Bench, led by Justice N.V. Ramana, is learnt to have been formed to start hearing from October 1 petition challenging the reading down of Article 370 to strip Jammu & Kashmir of its special status and the bifurcation of the State into two Union Territories. The other judges on the Bench are Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R. Subhash Reddy, B.R. Gavai and Surya Kant.

History of Bench Strength

•  When Supreme Court of India began functioning in the year 1958, it started with eight judges (the Chief Justice and seven other judges). They used to sit in 2-3 judges per Bench. The question of five or more judges sitting for questions of constitutional importance first came up in the deliberations of the Drafting Committee in 1948 with proviso in Article 121(2) (now Article 145(3)) that provided ‘it shall be the duty of every judge to sit for deciding any case involving a substantial question of law to the interpretation of this Constitution.’ Justice Felix Frankfurter of US had also advised Sir BN Rau that the Supreme Court should sit in such a manner that the finality and authoritativeness of its decisions is ensured for the future issues. But as the Supreme Court started entertaining a variety of matters starting from disputes concerning original jurisdiction to those involving appellate jurisdiction, an increase in the number of judges became a necessity.
•  At present, the Court has a strength of 34judges . 
• The Bench usually sits in 2 or 3 judges per Bench except in case of Constitutional matters wherein Article 145(3) of the Constitution clearly states that there must be five judges Bench for deciding questions of Constitutional importance. 
• But the incidence of 2-3 judges Bench has taken a toll over the last 10 years with Constitutional Benches sitting at only 8 in a year as compared to 100 five judge or larger benches in a year in the later 1960s. Importance of Bench Strength The Constitutional Benches play a very key role in shaping the future polity and rights of the people in a country.
• A good example of this can be illustrated in the matters coming up under Article21 like the Naz Foundation case on LGBT rights, constitutionality of levying entry tax etc. 
• The importance of larger Benches of the Constitution was also highlighted in the 229th Report of the Law Commission in 2009 by stating that constitutional adjudication involves questions of politics, economics and social policies apart from the disputes that involve purely legal matters, so there is a need to increase the number of Constitution Benches. 

Current Position in India 

• As stated earlier, the recent years have witnessed a significant decline in larger Constitutional Benches, with Court preferring to deal with matters of less Constitutional importance. Witnessing this position Nick Robinson of US has called Supreme Court of India as polyvocal owing to the fact that it speaks through several individual Benches and does not have a single voice unlike the US Supreme Court. A polyvocal court is a court wherein every Bench has a different interpretation of law than the other. This has an impact on both the litigants and the lawyers. Some of the problems that arise out of this are:

 Problems in the lower courts 

• The lower courts which depend on the decisions of the Supreme Court for precedence suffer a lot as a result of inconsistency in the decisions of the ape court owing to small judge benches. One example is the matter relating to the levying of entry tax. Different benches have come out with different opinions.
•  Based on the different opinions, the High Court of Calcutta concluded that entry tax is unconstitutional but the Allahabad High Court found the same constitutional. Owing to these widespread confusions the Apex Court finally constituted a five judge Bench to decide on the interpretation of Part XIII of the Constitution in the case of Jaiprakash Associates Ltd. v State of Madhya Pradesh.
•  Variation in arguments Lawyers have often been found to have used this situation to argue before multiple Benches comprising of different judges in order to try their luck. This not only increases the pendency of cases but also increases the financial burden on the litigants. 

• Thus, it has resulted in judgement trade-off with atleast one Bench giving a favourable opinion to the lawyer. It also puts some well-to-do litigants on a higher platform who can seek the help of multiple Benches than the poor ones who need to be satisfied with one judgement even if it is against their interest. 
• This leads to serious implications on the legitimacy of the Court as an icon for rendering justice. 

Pendency of cases 

If a single issue is argued before different forums, the dispute keeps stretching without arriving at a finality on the decision. These disputes finally reach a Constitutional Bench but not before a sufficient backlog of cases have been created.

Overburdened Court

•  One of the key reasons for not constituting larger Benches is due to the number of cases before the Courts as compared to the number of judges. 
• So there is a preference to distribute the work as much as possible to dispose them faster. The Supreme Court in recent years has almost been placed to a position of court of appeal with every matter rushing to its doorsteps. Blatant inconsistency The inconsistency in the lower Bench judgements was clearly highlighted in two instances-in the matter of Right to Education Act, 2009 (Pramati Educational and Cultural Trust and Ors. v Union of India) and legalizing euthanasia (Aruna Ramchandra Shanbaug v Union of India) wherein the Constitutional Bench of five judges had to interfere in the end. But the matters which could have been solved in one go by the larger Bench got delayed owing to trial and error by the Benches.

2.Scorpene submarine Khandesi, Nilgiri-class frigate (2019)(gs-3)

Context:Navy can deliver much bigger blow than 1971, Rajnath Singh warns Pakistan

Defence Minister recalls the “exceptional role” played by the Navy during the war

Recalling the “exceptional role” played by the Navy in the 1971 war when Operation Trident and Operation Python “broke the backbone” of the Pakistan Navy, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said the Indian Navy was now capable of delivering a “much bigger blow,” if need be. He said this after commissioning the second Scorpene submarine Khanderi into the Navy in Mumbai.

He later inaugurated an aircraft carrier dry dock and launched the first of the seven Project 17A frigates, Nilgiri, into water.

Scorpene submarine Khanderi:

Regarded as a prestigious induction, INS Khanderi is among the most potent platforms to have been constructed in India. The new Khanderi carries forward the legacy of her namesake, a Soviet Foxtrot Class, which was India's second submarine and rendered yeoman service to the nation for 21 years.

Construction of the new Khanderi, designated as MDL Yard 11876, began with the first cutting of steel in April 2009. The submarine was initially constructed in five separate sections.

"Scorpene is one of most advanced conventional submarines available in the world and in India we call it call it Kalvari class submarines as the first Scorpene submarine we commissioned in 2017 is called the INS Kalvari. Khanderi is the second Scorpene submarine and we can fire torpedoes, missiles and mines. We have heavyweight anti-ship and anti-submarine torpedoes. Stealth technology is very advanced and the machinery is very quiet and it prevents enemies from detecting the submarine," Captain Dalbir Singh said.

Khanderi was first put to sea on June 1, 2017. Since then, it has since undergone comprehensive sea trials. The submarine has undertaken multiple torpedo and missile firing to validate its fighting capability. On completion of trials, the boat was delivered to the Indian Navy by MDL on on September 19.

The submarine's undersea warfare capability comprises a cluster of integrated advanced weapons and sensors. The sonar suite enables long range detection and classification. When identified, INS Khanderi may choose to engage the enemy by utilising either missiles or torpedoes.

INS Khanderi's motif is inspired by the fish "Kanneri" found in the Arabian Sea, which is known for hunting while swimming close to the bottom of the ocean using the barbells to find their prey and use their long serrated saw to kill and shred their prey before eating it.

COMMENT

The project of building six Scorpene-class submarines in India has seen delays, but finally, things are picking up with Mazgaon Docks Shipbuilders Limited delivering two of the six submarines. The other four are under various stages of construction

Nilgiri-class frigate (2019):

The Nilgiri-class frigate or Project 17A is a follow-on of the Project 17 Shivalik-class frigate for the Indian Navy. A total of seven ships will be built at Mazagon Dock and GRSE. The ships have been named after the first major warships to be built in India, which in turn were named after hill ranges in India. The construction of the first ship started in 2017 and the first ship is expected to delivered by 2022. The anticipated cost for each vessel is above rs 4,000 crore (US$579 million) and the total deal is expected to be worth more than rs 6,400 crore (US$926 million). The vessel will incorporate the latest stealth features

3.Garo, Khasi and Jaintia(gs-1,2,3)

Context:Meghalaya minor tribes fear exclusion from Sixth Schedule

Meghalaya’s bid to exclude “unrepresented tribes” from the provisions of the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution has left minor tribes in the hill State edgy.

Meghalaya is divided into autonomous councils in the names of the three major matrilineal communities — Garo, Khasi and Jaintia. The minority tribes include the Hajong, Koch, Rabha, Boro and Mann.

Parts or the whole of the four northeastern States — Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura — fall under the Sixth Schedule, which makes special provisions for “tribal areas”.

These groups were the Meghalaya Hajong Welfare Association (MHWA), Meghalaya Koch Association, Meghalaya Rabha Jatio Sewa Sangha, All Bodo Students’ Union, Bodo Sahitya Sabha, All Meghalaya Mann Welfare Society and All Rabha Students’ Union. Leaders of these organisation said the outcome of the meeting was not to their expectations

Hills in North East

A portion in the lower Himalayan mountains range is known as Assam Himalaya between the border of Bhutan and the Great Bend of the Tsangpo River. 

Yarlung Tsangpo River originates from Lake Manasarovar in Mount Kailash and known as "Dihang river" in Arunachal Pradesh. Yarlung Tsangpo is the upper stream of Brahmaputra River that flows through its origin, Tibet, known by its Tibetan name. It originates at Angsi Glacier in western Tibet southeast of Mount Kailash and Lake Manasarovar. It later forms the South Tibet Valley and Yarlung Tsangpo Grand Canyon before passing through the state of Arunachal Pradesh, India, where it is known as Siang. Downstream from Arunachal Pradesh the river becomes wider and at this point is called the Siang. After reaching Assam, the river is known as Brahmaputra. From Assam, the river enters Bangladesh at Ramnabazar. 

Siang and its Tribhutaries: Lohit, Kameg, Dikrong, Tirap, Dibang, Subansiri, Dihing, Kamlang flow through Brahmaputra River.

Namcha Barwa is the highest mountain peak of Assam Himalaya range.

Most the part of Arunachal Pradesh is covered by the great Himalayas and rest of the part with by the Patkai hills. 

Gorichen peak is the highest Himalayan peak in the region, located between Tawang and West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh. 

Namdapha National Park, Mouling National Park are two national parks in Arunachal Pradesh.

The patkai mountain range also known as Purvanchal Range, one of the eight mountain range in India and the major of India’s North Eastern states. 

Patkai Range consists of the three major hills, the Patkai-Bum,the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia and Lushai Hills. 

Pangsau mountain Pass is the best place to see its conical peaks, steep slopes and deep valleys.

The Lushai Hills also known as Mizo Hills is one of the three part of Patkai mountain range, located partially in Mizoram and Tripura. 

Mizo Hills is highly covered with dense bamboo jungle and open grass covered slopes.

Blue mountain is the highest peak of Lushai Hills.

The hills of Khasi is the part of major Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya and also the part of the Patkai mountain ranges. Khasi Hills got its name by Khasi tribes of the region. 

Cherrapunji-the wettest place in the world is situated in the East Khasi Hills and Lum Shyllong is the highest peak near to Shillong.

The Garo Hills is located in Meghalaya state and part of Garo-Khasi range,The region is known as one of the wettest places on earth. 

Garo Hills highest peak is known as Nokrek Peak and home to many places of interest such as cloud covered Tura peak, Imilchang Dar waterfall,Balpakram Wildlife Park,Naphak Lake and most famous limestone caves of Siju,one of the longest in Asia.

The Naga Hills are actually part of Indian Territory mountain ranges of Arakan Mountains between the western Burma and the Naga Hills district. Naga Hills is one of the major tribal region of Nagaland state and inhabited by Naga people.

The Jampui hill range is one of the most famous place in northeast state of Tripura and habitants are mainly Mizo or Lushai. 

Jampui Hills is famous for its unique Orange Festival,view of rising and setting sun and excellent panoramic views of the deep valley and villages around.

The Chin Hills is a range of mountains extends northward from Manipur to Chin State of Myanmar. 

Chin Hills are the part of Arakan Mountain Range with an highest peak of Nat Ma Taung with 3,053 m(10,500 feet). 

Chin Hills are very close to Lushai Hills of Patkai Range and offers a wide range of flora and fauna.

SIXTH SCHEDULE OF INDIAN CONSTITUTION

What it means?

• The cabinet approves landmark amendment to Article 280 and Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. The amendments will significantly improve the financial resources and powers of the autonomous districts councils in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Tripura.
• The move would mean that close to 1 crore people in 10 autonomous district councils would have more access to funds for local development.

Proposed Amendments

• Panchayat and Municipal body elections in these districts will be conducted by the state election commissions.
• One third of the seats in the local body will be reserved for women. So far the village councils were headed by traditional village heads.
• The village councils will be empowered to prepare plans for economic development and social justice, including those related to agriculture, land improvement, implementation of land reforms, minor irrigation, water management, animal husbandry, rural electrification, small scale industries and social forestry.
• The amendment also provides for transfer of additional 30 subjects including departments of Public Works, Forests, Public Health Engineering, Health and Family Welfare, Urban Development and Food and Civil Supply to Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council and Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council in Assam.
• The Finance Commission would be mandated to recommend devolution of financial resources to the councils. Till now, the autonomous councils have depended on grants from Central Ministries and the State governments for specific projects.
• The amendment proposes renaming the existing autonomous councils as Karbi Anglong Autonomous Territorial Council (KAATC), Dima Hasao Autonomous Territorial Council (DHATC), Garo Hills Autonomous Territorial Council (GHATC), Khasi Hills Autonomous Territorial Council (KHATC), Jaintia Hills Autonomous Territorial Council (JHATC) and Tripura Tribal Area Autonomous Territorial Council (TTAATC) as the present jurisdiction of these councils extend to more than one district.

Who will benefit from the move?

• Three districts in Assam-Karbi Anglong, North Kachar Hills Autonomous District Council, Bodo Autonomous District Council, three in Meghalaya; Khasi, Garo and Jaintia Hills, three in Mizoram; Lai, Chakma and Mara, and one in Tripura- Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council will benefit from the move.

4. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the mid­day meal scheme,Food insecurity(gs-2,3)

Context:With the introduction of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the mid­day meal scheme, there has been an increase in the number of children enrolling in schools. But new research says that Indian children are not able to perform well in their studies due to widespread food insecurity at home. An international team from U.K. and India looked at data collected by Young Lives, a UK­ and India Based research study of over 1,900 schoolchildren in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The team examined how the experience of food insecurity at home at ages 5, 8 and 12 years affected children’s performance in studying maths, reading the local language, vocabulary skills and English ability in adolescence (12 years old).

Sarva Sikhsa Abhiyan (SSA)

SSA is being implemented since 2001 for universalization of elementary education. After enactment of Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009 which confers the right to elementary education on all children, in the age group of 6-14 years, SSA became the central programme to fulfil its objectives.

The Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry has received 35 complaints from 15 States and Union Territories (UTs) regarding substandard food quality in mid-day meals in the past three years.

The Midday Meal Scheme 

• The Midday Meal Scheme comes under the HRD Ministry’s Department of School Education and Literacy.
• Launched in the year 1995 as a centrally sponsored scheme, it provides that every child within the age group of six to fourteen years studying in classes I to VIII who enrolls and attends the school, shall be provided hot cooked meal having nutritional standards of 450 calories and 12 gm of protein for primary (I- V class) and 700 calories and 20 gm protein for upper primary (VI-VIII class), free of charge every day except on school holidays.
• The scheme covers all government and government aided schools and also Madarsa and Maqtabs supported under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).
• The last Mid Day Meal Rules were notified in the year 2015 under the National Food Security Act, 2013 but amendments have been made from time to time.
• The rules provide that 
• The place of serving meals to the children shall be school only.
• The meal shall be prepared in accordance with the Mid Day Meal guidelines issued by the Central Government from time to time.
• The latest guidelines provide instructions on procuring AGMARK quality items for preparation of midday meals, tasting of meals by two or three adult members of the school management committee, including at least one teacher, before serving to children.
• If the Mid-Day Meal is not provided in school on any school day due to non-availability of food grains or any other reason, the State Government shall pay food security allowance by 15th of the succeeding month.
• The School Management Committee mandated under Right to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 shall also monitor implementation of the Mid-day meal Scheme.
• The State Steering-cum Monitoring Committee (SSMC) shall oversee the implementation of the scheme including establishment of a mechanism for maintenance of nutritional standards and quality of meals.
• The government provides financial support to the eligible schools/implementing agencies in the form of free food grains and by bearing cooking related costs.

The underlying causes of food insecurity

(An article by fao.org)

Drought and conflict are the main factors that have exacerbated the problem of food production, distribution and access. High rates of population growth and poverty have also played a part, within an already difficult environment of fragile ecosystems. The fact that almost 80 percent of the population of the countries of the region is rural, and depends almost exclusively on agriculture for its consumption and income needs, means that measures to address the problems of poverty and food insecurity must mainly be found within the agricultural sector.

The Horn of Africa presents perhaps the most difficult challenge anywhere in the world to achieving the goal set out in the UN Secretary-General's Millennium Report -to halve the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015. At the FAO World Food Summit in 1996, world leaders committed themselves, in the Rome Declaration and Plan of Action, to reducing by half the numbers of hungry and undernourished people in the world by 2015. Today, it is estimated that more than 50 percent of the people in the region survive on less than US$1 per person per day.9 In each country, different poverty lines have been set, reflecting in monetary terms the resources needed to purchase a diet that provides the minimum acceptable energy requirements, but the overall picture is similar and it is one of very widespread and deep deprivation.

The connection between poverty and food insecurity is important. Food production is significant because, for the majority of the poor, agriculture is the main source of livelihood and some 76 percent of the IGAD population is classed as agricultural. However, it is only when poverty can be alleviated or diminished that the level of food insecurity is reduced. Consequently, the long-term solution to food insecurity lies beyond the production of additional food and includes the need to address rural livelihoods in general. Social safety nets of various sorts are also part of the solution to absolute poverty and food insecurity, not only in exceptional circumstances such as drought, but also over the long periods required to arrive at socially inclusive sustainable solutions.

5.Sundarbans Wetlands(gs-1,3)

Context:Bio­restoring degraded patches of Sunderbans

Lack of essential nutrients and increasing salinity were main 

reasons for decline

Increasing anthropogenic activities along with natural stresses have led to massive degradation of one of India’s World Heritage Site — the Sunderbans. A team of researchers from West Bengal State University, Kolkata, set out with the herculean task of identifying the major reasons for the decline and also devising new restoration strategies. They surveyed 19 shoreline mangrove patches, collected soil and water samples and studied them. The results published in Hydrobiologia highlight that lack of essential nutrients and increasing salinity were the main problems in Sunderbans. Cause of decline “Nutrient depletion especially phosphorus and nitrogen was found to be directly connected with the decline in forest cover. We are now trying to understand what is causing nutrient depletion. We have also planned to expand this analysis to a larger area, so as to cover the whole mangrove region and get a complete picture,” says Rajojit Chowdhury, Ph.D. scholar at the university and the fi??rst author of the paper. They also saw a change in the species distribution — salt­sensitive ones such as Heriteira fomes, Xylocarpus species and Phoenix paludosa were not able to cope up with the increase in the salinity and declined while the tolerant varieties thrived. After understanding the state of the degraded region, the team started the bio­restoration process. “We initially stabilised the site of restoration by planting four native salt­tolerant varieties of grass. These grasses proved to exhibit the highest survival in the lower and middle intertidal zone. During the last fi??ve years (2014– 2019) almost about one­hectare area of the degraded patch has been restored by the growth of these grasses,” explains Krishna Ray, team leader of the Environmental Biotechnology Group of the university and corresponding author of the work. The grass rhizosphere also provided a nutritive atmosphere to the colonizing mangroves because this root zone decomposes microbes and helps release more nutrients in the mud float soil. In addition, these grasses also provided protection from high energy waves and subsequent erosion of soil. The team also used native plant growth­promoting bacteria to enrich the degraded land.

Sundarbans Wetlands

• The Indian Sundarban met four of the nine criteria required for the status of ‘Wetland of International Importance’ — presence of rare species and threatened ecological communities, biological diversity, significant and representative fish and fish spawning ground and migration path.
• The Indian Sundarban, also a UNESCO world heritage site, is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.
• The Ramsar website points out that the Indian Sundarban is also home to a large number of “rare and globally threatened species, such as the critically endangered northern river terrapin (Batagur baska), the endangered Irrawaddy dolphin (Orcaella brevirostris), and the vulnerable fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus).
• Two of the world’s four horseshoe crab species, and eight of India’s 12 species of kingfisher are also found here.
• Recent studies claim that the Indian Sundarban is home to 2,626 faunal species and 90% of the country’s mangrove varieties.

Importance of Ramsar recognition

• The Ramsar status will help to highlight conservation issues of the Sundarbans at the international level.
• The part of the Sundarban delta, which lies in Bangladesh, was accorded the status of a Ramsar site in 1992, and with Indian Sundarban getting it too, international cooperation between the two countries for the protection of this unique ecosystem will increase.
• This could lead to a better conservation strategy for flagship species such as the tiger and the northern river terrapin.

Various threats

• While the Indian Sundarban is a biodiverse preserve, over four million people live on its northern and northwestern periphery, putting pressure on the ecosystem.
• Concerns have been raised about natural ecosystems being changed for cultivation of shrimp, crab, molluscs and fish.
• The Ramsar Information Sheet lists fishing and harvesting of aquatic resources as a “high impact” actual threat to the wetland.
• The other threats are from dredging, oil and gas drilling, logging and wood harvesting, hunting and collecting terrestrial animals.
• Salinity has been categorised as a medium and tourism as a low impact actual threat in the region.
• Along with anthropogenic pressures, it is also vulnerable to climate change and requires better management and conservation practices.