DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS 10 SEPTEMBER 2019

   IMPORTANT TOPICS FOR TODAY

         

BY SUMIT BHARDWAJ                          10 September 2019

1.India to raise target for restoring degraded land: PM Modi(GS-3)

• CONTEXT: Speaking at the 14th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Narendra Modi said between 2015 and 2017, India’s tree and forest cover increased by 0.8 million hectares
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday announced that India would raise its target for restoring degraded land from 21 million hectares to 26 million hectares by 2030.
• Speaking at the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Mr. Modi said between 2015 and 2017, India’s tree and forest cover increased by 0.8 million hectares.
• This January, India became part of the “Bonn Challenge”, a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of the world’s deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020, and 350 million hectares by 2030. At the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP) 2015 in Paris, India also joined the voluntary Bonn Challenge and pledged to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by 2020, and an additional 8 million hectares by 2030. India’s pledge was one of the largest in Asia.
• India faces a severe problem of land degradation, or soil becoming unfit for cultivation. About 29% or about 96.4 million hectares are considered degraded.

14th session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification(source:unccd.int)

• On Monday 9 September 2019, Prime Minister of India Mr. Narendra Modi inaugurated the High Level Segment (HLS) of UNCCD COP14 in the presence of heads of the UN and other international organizations, leaders of states and ministers from many countries.
• The Prime Minister thanked UNCCD for bringing the COP to India – the country whose deep cultural roots are connected to a loving and holistic relationship with nature. India is proud of its successes in land restoration using remote sensing and space technologies and is ready to share this knowledge with other countries. India is also establishing a center of excellence for forest research to support south-south cooperation and knowledge-sharing. Mr. Modi also encouraged the COP participants to contribute to a global water action agenda that can support land degradation neutrality.
• UN Deputy Secretary-General Ms. Amina Mohammed reflected in her speech that one third of the timeframe for delivering Agenda 2030 has already passed, and the countries need to act with increased urgency and ambition to get rid of silos that stand in the way of of multiple benefits that can be achieved through coordinated action on land, climate and biodiversity.
• Participants also strongly agreed with Mr. Ralph Gonsalves, the Prime Minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, who said that there are no countries big or small when it comes to desertification and climate change, and the only way to tackle these problems is to act on them as one global family.
• The COP14 President, the Minister of Environment of India Mr. Prakash Javadekar, expressed hope that discussions among international stakeholders during the HLS will generate innovative ideas to address the local, national and global land agenda with a pragmatic and all-inclusive approach. UNCCD COP14 provides a unique opportunity to deliberate, coordinate and exchange ideas to resolve the major problem of desertification worldwide and reach a global consensus for adoption by the country parties.
• Addressing the audience, UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Thiaw outlined that UNCCD COP14 is set to define the following key directions of work:
• How to restore, protect and manage our land on a massive scale
• How to trigger a seismic shift in private sector partnerships to make it happen
• How help ramp up the ambition of action plans for everyone involved

Bonn Challenge:
Background:

• At the UNFCC Conference of the Parties (COP) 2015 in Paris, India also joined the voluntary Bonn Challenge pledge to bring into restoration 13 million hectares of degraded and deforested land by the year 2020, and additional 8 million hectares by 2030. India’s pledge is one of the largest in Asia.

What is Bonn Challenge? What is FLR approach?

• The Bonn Challenge is a global effort to bring 150 million hectares of deforested and degraded land into restoration by 2020 and 350 million hectares by 2030.
• The 2020 target was launched at a high level event in Bonn in 2011 organised by the Government of Germany and IUCN, and was later endorsed and extended to 2030 by the New York Declaration on Forests of the 2014 UN Climate Summit.
• The Bonn Challenge is an implementation vehicle for national priorities such as water and food security and rural development while simultaneously helping countries contribute to the achievement of international climate change, biodiversity and land degradation commitments.
• Underlying the Bonn Challenge is the forest landscape restoration (FLR) approach, which aims to restore ecological integrity at the same time as improving human well-being through multifunctional landscapes.
• It will create approximately USD 84 billion per year in net benefits that could bring direct additional income opportunities for rural communities.

What is FLR?

• Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is the on-going process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being across deforested or degraded forest landscapes.
• FLR is more than just planting trees – it is restoring a whole landscape to meet present and future needs.
• It is long-term because it requires a multi-year vision of the ecological functions.
• The majority of restoration opportunities are found on or adjacent to agricultural or pastoral land. In these situations, restoration must complement and not displace existing land uses.
• This result in a mosaic of different land uses including: agriculture, agroforestry systems and improved ecological corridors.
• It integrates a number of guiding principles, including: Focus on landscapes, restore functionality, Involve stakeholders, Tailor to local conditions and Avoid further reduction of natural forest cover.

2.Malaria eradication top priority for govt: Harsh Vardhan(GS-2)

• CONTEXT:Malaria eradication is one of the top priorities of the government, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said on Monday, and reaffirmed the Centre’s resolve to also eliminate diseases like tuberculosis, encephalitis and ‘kala azar’.
• aiming at eradicating leprosy, encephalitis and kala azar (visceral leishmaniasis). These are on high priority. Malaria is one of the topmost priorities
• The minister said the international target set for eradication of tuberculosis (TB) is 2030, but the Union government wants to eliminate it by 2025.
• The World Health Organisation (WHO) had set 2030 as the target, as part of its ‘End TB Strategy’ adopted in the World Health Assembly in 2014. The Minister was interacting with mediapersons on the sidelines of the inauguration of a new vaccine research and development plant at the Serum Institute of India here

MALARIA:

• Malaria has been one of the world's deadliest diseases. It kills more than 4,00,000 people a year worldwide and causes illness in millions of others.
• Predominantly found in the tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, South America as well as Asia, malaria is a life threatening mosquito borne blood disease caused by plasmodium parasites.
• The parasites spread through the bites of infected female Anopheles mosquitoes.
• Four types of malaria parasites can infect humans: Plasmodium Vivax, P. ovale, P. malariae and P. falciparum.
• Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium Vivax are the most common types that infect humans.
• Plasmodium falciparum causes a more severe form of the disease leading to higher risk of death.
• When an infected mosquito bites a person, the parasite is released into the bloodstream, it then travels to the liver where it matures.
• After some days, mature parasites start infecting the red blood cells. Within 48 to 72 hours, the parasites inside the red blood cells multiply causing infected cells to burst open.
• Malaria signs and symptoms typically begin within a few weeks after being bitten by an infected mosquito. However, some types of malaria parasites can lie dormant in body for upto a year.
• It is preventable as well as curable.

Symptoms

• Malaria symptoms typically develop within 10 days to four weeks following the infection. Common symptoms of malaria include:
• Shaking chills that can range from moderate to severe high fever.
• Sweating, headache, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
• Diarrhoea, Anaemia, muscle pain and convulsions.
• Severe plasmodium falciparum infection can lead to coma, permanent brain failure and even death.
• Some people who have malaria experience cycle of malaria attacks.
• Such attacks start with shivering and chills followed by a high fever, sweating and return to a normal temperature.

Treatment

• Treatment of malaria aims at eliminating the plasmodium parasite from the bloodstream through medication. Chemotherapy is an option.
• Those without symptoms may be treated for the infection to reduce the risk of disease transmission in surrounding population.

Prevention

• Vector control is the main way to prevent and reduce malaria transmission.
• If coverage of vector control interventions within a specific area is high enough then a measure of protection is needed to be conferred across the community.
• Most malaria carrying mosquitoes bite at night, so insecticide treated mosquito nets can be a life saving barrier.
• Doses of antimalarials during pregnancy can protect both mother and child.
• Getting rid of pools of stagnant water, clearing bushes from around the houses and planting lemon grass can all reduce the number of mosquitoes nearby.
• Health education, an important aspect for preventing malaria and malaria deaths, is needed for improving people’s understanding of the disease which includes awareness of the symptoms, treatments and preventive steps.
• In the past two decades, existing interventions have reduced the malaria burden. And India, too, has made good progress in malaria control. The disease burden has declined by 59%. The fight against the disease got another shot in the arm when the world’s first malarial vaccine got launched in Malawi.
• A large scale pilot project, that has been called the world’s first malaria vaccine, to give partial protection to children has begun in Malawi. The vaccine called RTS,S will be available to everyone under the age of two. After the rollout in Malawi, vaccination will begin in Ghana and Kenya. Approximately, 3,60,000 children will get the vaccine annually. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the effort could immunize more than one million children by the year 2023.

World Malaria Report, 2018

• 70% of malaria cases in the world are concentrated in India and 10 African countries.
• The ten African countries reported an increase in cases of malaria in 2017 compared to 2016.
• Nigeria, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of the Congo showed the highest rise. In contrast, India reported 30 lakh fewer cases in the same period.
• Children aged under 5 years accounted for 61% of all malaria deaths worldwide. The highest number of deaths- 19% was recorded in Nigeria.
• Expenditure on Malaria has remained more or less stable since 2010.
• In 2017, like the previous years, America was the largest international source of malaria financing contributing 120 crore dollars.
• In 2015, it was decided by the World Health Assembly that by 2030, malaria has to be completely eliminated in at least 35 countries. In order to achieve this goal, annual expenditure on programmes related to malaria must be increased by 660 crore dollars by 2020.
• Globally, the scope of malaria eradication has increased.
• There were no cases of malaria in China and El Salvador in 2017.
• WHO declared Paraguay a malaria free country in 2018.
• Algeria, Argentina and Uzbekistan have requested the WHO to declare them malaria free.

Malaria Cases in India

• With 9.5 million malaria cases, India reported almost 3 million fewer malaria cases in 2017 or a 24% decrease over the previous year.
• India’s reduction- the sharpest within a year, means that the country accounts for just 4% of the world’s total malaria cases and is no longer among the world’s top three countries in terms of number of cases.
• Nearly half of all malaria cases were reported from Odisha, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and parts of West Bengal which have a sizeable tribal population living in the remote rural areas.

MORE FACTS:

• Malaria has been one of the world's deadliest diseases. It kills more than 4,00,000 people a year worldwide and causes illness in millions of others.
• In the past two decades, existing interventions have reduced the malaria burden. And India, too, has made good progress in malaria control. The disease burden has declined by 59%. The fight against the disease got another shot in the arm when the world’s first malarial vaccine got launched in Malawi.
• A large scale pilot project, that has been called the world’s first malaria vaccine, to give partial protection to children has begun in Malawi. The vaccine called RTS,S will be available to everyone under the age of two. After the rollout in Malawi, vaccination will begin in Ghana and Kenya. Approximately, 3,60,000 children will get the vaccine annually. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the effort could immunize more than one million children by the year 2023.

Malaria Vaccine

• Known by its lab initials as RTS,S but branded as Mosquirix, the vaccine has passed lengthy scientific trials that found it to be safe and reducing the risk of malaria by nearly 40%, the best ever recorded.
• It was developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) company and approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2015.
• The RTS,S vaccine trains the immune system to attack the malaria parasite (Plasmodium (P.) falciparum, the most deadly species of the malaria parasite) which is spread by mosquito bites.
• This vaccine took 30 years to be developed. The efficiency of the RTS,S vaccine was established in a phase 3 clinical trial that concluded in 2014.
• The vaccine only prevents four in ten malarial cases and must be given as four injections over 18 months.
• WHO wants the vaccine to be used alongside other preventive measures such as treated bednets, insecticides, repellents and anti malarial drugs.
• Malawi is first of the three countries chosen for the pilot program to roll out the vaccine. Soon, Ghana and Kenya will join in as part of a large scale pilot program backed by the WHO.
• These three countries were selected for the rollout because their malaria rates are high.
• The vaccine is not registered in India. Before registration, the trial is must. Also, so far, no vaccine has been tried in India against Malaria.

3.SBI cuts lending rate by 10 bps(GS-3)

• CONTEXT:State Bank of India (SBI), the country’s largest lender, on Monday reduced its benchmark lending rate — the MCLR — by 10 basis points (bps). With this cut, the one year MCLR of the bank, to which most loan rates are linked, will be 8.15% with effect from Tuesday.
• The move will benefit all the existing SBI customers having home, auto and any other category of loans that are linked to the marginal cost of fund based lending rate (MCLR). The rate cut is aimed at boosting loan demand in this festive season.
• This is the fifth rate cut by the SBI this financial year. The bank has cut its MCLR by 40 bps since April.
• SBI has also reduced the retail fixed deposit rates by 20-25 bps and bulk deposit rates by 10-20 bps across various tenures due to surplus liquidity and falling interest rates, the bank said in a statement. The peak FD rate for SBI’s retail customers (that is deposits upto RS 2 crore) is 6.5% for maturities of 1 year to less than 2 years. 

What is external benchmarking of loans?

• When you borrow money from a bank, be it for purchasing a house, car or for business purposes, interest is levied based on certain methodologies approved by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). At present, banks use Marginal Cost-based Lending Rate (MCLR) to arrive at their lending rate. Prior to this, it was the Base Rate method and the Benchmark Prime Lending Rate (BPLR). These were all internal benchmarks. Banks have been allowed to use RBI’s policy rate among other market-driven options to calculate lending rates.

Marginal Cost of Lending Rate: 

• It came into effect in April 2016. 
• It is a benchmark lending rate for floating-rate loans.
• This is the minimum interest rate at which commercial banks can lend.
• This rate is based on four components—the marginal cost of funds, negative carry on account of cash reserve ratio, operating costs and tenor premium.
• MCLR is linked to the actual deposit rates. Hence, when deposit rates rise, it indicates the banks are likely to hike MCLR and lending rates are set to go up.

Base Rate: 

• Banks stopped lending on base rate from April 2016. 
• Loans taken between June 2010 and April 2016 from banks were on base rate.
• During the period, base rate was the minimum interest rate at which commercial banks could lend to customers.
• Base rate is calculated on three parameters — the cost of fund, unallocated cost of resources and return on net worth. Hence, the rate depended on individual banks and they changed it whenever their cost of funds and other parameters changed.

Benchmark Prime Lending Rate: 

• BPLR was used as benchmark rate by banks for lending till June 2010. 
• Under it, bank loans were priced on the actual cost of funds.
• However, the BPLR was subverted, resulting in an opaque system. The bulk of wholesale credit (loans to corporate customers) was contracted at sub-BPL rates and it comprised nearly 70% of all bank credit.
• Under this system, banks were subsidising corporate loans by charging high interest rates from retail and small and medium enterprise customers.

Fixed vs Floating Interest Rate

• The fixed interest rate on loan means repayment of loans in fixed equal instalments over the entire period of the loan. In this case, the interest rate doesn't change with market fluctuations.
• Floating interest rate by name implies that the rate of interest varies with market conditions. The drawback with floating interest rates is the uneven nature of monthly instalments.

4.Amit Shah allays fears over new Citizenship Bill(GS-2)

• CONTEXT:Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday said the people of the northeast had nothing to fear from a fresh Citizenship (Amendment) Bill the Centre may push through. The Centre’s bid to pass such a Bill in January had triggered widespread protests across the northeastern States as it sought to legitimise the stay of allegedly persecuted non­Muslim migrants from India’s neighbourhood

Citizenship (Amendment) Bill 2016 :

• The Citizenship Amendment Bill 2016 seeks to allow illegal migrants from certain minority communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan eligible for Indian citizenship. In other words, it amends the Citizenship Act of 1955.
• The Bill provides that the registration of Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholders may be cancelled if they violate any law.

WHAT DOES IT WANT?

• The Citizenship Amendment Bill seeks to allow illegal migrants belonging to the Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian religious communities coming from Afghanistan, Bangladesh or Pakistan to not be imprisoned or deported.
• It also appeals for the minimum years of residency in India to apply for citizenship to be lessened from at least 11 to six years for such migrants.
• The Bill, however, does not extend to illegal Muslim migrants. It also does not talk about other minority communities in the three neighbouring countries, such as Jews, Bahais etc.

ALSO NOTE THAT:

• The citizenship Bill does not require any changes if Clause 6 of the Assam Accord is implemented properly, says Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal. If Clause 6 is implemented in letter and spirit, then the indigenous people of Assam are well guarded and protected.
• What does Clause 6 say?
• Clause 6 of the Assam Accord, which was signed in 1985 after the Assam Agitation of 1979-85, envisages that appropriate constitutional, legislative and administrative safeguards should be provided to protect, preserve and promote the cultural, social, linguistic identity and heritage of the people of Assam.

What is Assam Accord?

• The Assam Accord (1985) was a Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) signed between representatives of the Government of India and the leaders of the Assam Movement in New Delhi on 15 August 1985.
• The accord brought an end to the Assam Agitation and paved the way for the leaders of the agitation to form a political party and form a government in the state of Assam soon after. As per the Accord, those Bangladeshis who came between 1966 and 1971 will be barred from voting for ten years.
• The Accord also mentions that the international borders will be sealed and all persons who crossed over from Bangladesh after 1971 are to be deported. Though the accord brought an end to the agitation, some of the key clauses are yet to be implemented, which has kept some of the issues festering.

5.UNHRC asks India to end lockdown in J&K(GS-2,3)

• CONTEXT:The UN Human Rights Council urged India on Monday to end the lockdown in Kashmir and restore basic communication services. Delivering the opening statement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet cited the situation in Kashmir and Assam, where lakhs have been excluded from the National Register of Citizens, and asked the Centre to “respect” civil rights.

ABOUT UNHRC:

• The UN body was established in 2006 with the aim of promoting and protecting human rights around the globe, as well as investigating alleged human rights violations.
• It is made up of 47 member states, which are selected by the UN General Assembly on a staggered basis each year for three-year-long terms.
• Members meet around three times a year to debate human rights issues and pass non-binding resolutions and recommendations by majority vote.
• The council also carries out the Universal Periodic Review of all UN member states, which allows civil society groups to bring accusations of human rights violations in member states to the attention of the UN.

EARLIER UNHRC WAS IN NEWS…Reacting angrily to a submission from the Geneva-based Human Rights Council (HRC) on alleged violations in Jammu and Kashmir, India has informed the United Nations body that it will no longer entertain any communication with the HRC’s Special Rapporteurs on its report.

WHAT WAS THE issue?

• A report from two NGOs in Jammu and Kashmir on alleged cases of torture, was released in Srinagar, which was endorsed by a former UN Special Rapporteur.
• The Special Rapporteurs on Extrajudicial Executions had referred to a previous June 2018 report of the Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) and written to the government in March 2019, asking about steps taken by New Delhi to address alleged human rights violations listed in the report.
• In addition, the Special Rapporteurs had listed “13 cases of concern” from the year 2018 alone in which “four children were among eight civilians killed by members of the security forces.”
• Rejecting all the claims, the Indian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva replied to the OHCHR on April 23, saying that “India does not intend to engage further with these mandate holders or any other mandate holders on the issue,” whom it accused of “individual prejudice”.

6.Tamil Nadu ranks lowest in coverage of iodised salt(GS-2)

• CONTEXT:
• Tamil Nadu has the lowest consumption of iodised salt despite being the third biggest producer of salt in the country, according to a first-of-its-kind national survey to measure the coverage of iodised salt.
• The study shows that 76.3% of Indian households consumed adequately iodised salt, which is salt with at least 15 parts per million of iodine. The five worst performers were Tamil Nadu (61.9%), Andhra Pradesh (63.9%), Rajasthan (65.5%), Odisha (65.8%) and Jharkhand (68.8%). The survey was conducted by Nutrition International in collaboration with the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Indian Coalition for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD). The survey tested the iodine content in samples of cooking salt from households to estimate the coverage of iodised salt.

• Rajasthan, which is the second largest producer of salt, also figured among the five worst covered States. Gujarat produces 71% of salt in the country, followed by Rajasthan at 17% and Tamil Nadu at 11%. The rest of the country accounts for a mere 1% of salt produced.
• India made fortification of salt with iodine mandatory for direct human consumption in 1992. This was relaxed in 2000 and then reimposed in 2005. In 2011, the Supreme Court, too, mandated universal iodisation for the control of iodine deficiencies.
• Iodine is a vital micro-nutrient for optimal mental and physical development of human beings. Deficiency of iodine can result in a range of disabilities and disorders such as goitre, hypothyroidism, cretinism, abortion, still births, mental retardation and psychomotor defects. Children born in iodine deficient areas may have up to 13.5 IQ points less than those born in iodine sufficient areas.

SALT IN THE HISTORY OF INDIA:

• Britain's Salt Act of 1882 prohibited Indians from collecting or selling salt, a staple in their diet. Indian citizens were forced to buy the vital mineral from their British rulers, who, in addition to exercising a monopoly over the manufacture and sale of salt, also charged a heavy salt tax

• When Gandhi broke the salt laws at 6:30 am on 6 April 1930, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British Raj salt laws by millions of Indians. After making salt by evaporation at Dandi, Gandhi continued southward along the coast, making salt and addressing meetings on the way.

The Salt March

• The Salt March, also known as the Salt Satyagraha, Dandi March and the Dandi Satyagraha, was an act of nonviolent civil disobedience in colonial India led by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. The 24-day march lasted from 12 March 1930 to 6 April 1930 as a direct action campaign of tax resistance and nonviolent protest against the British salt monopoly. Mahatma Gandhi started this march with 80 of his trusted volunteers.Walking ten miles a day for 24 days, the march spanned over 240 miles, from Sabarmati Ashram, 240 miles (384 km) to Dandi, which was called Navsari at the time (now in the state of Gujarat). Growing numbers of Indians joined them along the way. When Gandhi broke the salt laws at 6:30 am on 6 April 1930, it sparked large scale acts of civil disobedience against the British Raj salt laws by millions of Indians.
• After making salt by evaporation at Dandi, Gandhi continued southward along the coast, making salt and addressing meetings on the way. The Congress Party planned to stage a satyagraha at the Dharasana Salt Works, 25 miles south of Dandi. However, Gandhi was arrested on the midnight of 4–5 May 1930, just days before the planned action at Dharasana. The Dandi March and the ensuing Dharasana Satyagraha drew worldwide attention to the Indian independence movement through extensive newspaper and newsreel coverage. The satyagraha against the salt tax continued for almost a year, ending with Gandhi's release from jail and negotiations with Viceroy Lord Irwin at the Second Round Table Conference. Over 60,000 Indians were jailed as a result of the Salt Satyagraha. However, it failed to result in major concessions from the British.
• The Salt Satyagraha campaign was based upon Gandhi's principles of non-violent protest called satyagraha, which he loosely translated as "truth-force".Literally, it is formed from the Sanskrit words satya, "truth", and agraha, "insistence". In early 1930 the Indian National Congress chose satyagraha as their main tactic for winning Indian sovereignty and self-rule from British rule and appointed Gandhi to organise the campaign. Gandhi chose the 1882 British Salt Act as the first target of satyagraha. The Salt March to Dandi, and the beating by British police of hundreds of nonviolent protesters in Dharasana, which received worldwide news coverage, demonstrated the effective use of civil disobedience as a technique for fighting social and political injustice.The satyagraha teachings of Gandhi and the March to Dandi had a significant influence on American activists Martin Luther King Jr., James Bevel, and others during the Civil Rights Movement for civil rights for African Americans and other minority groups in the 1960s. The march was the most significant organised challenge to British authority since the Non-cooperation movement of 1920–22, and directly followed the Purna Swaraj declaration of sovereignty and self-rule by the Indian National Congress on 26 January 1930.It gained worldwide attention which gave impetus to the Indian independence movement and started the nationwide Civil Disobedience Movement..

7.No harsh remarks on lower courts: SC(GS-2)

• CONTEXT:A judgment may be right or wrong, but higher court judges cannot indulge in passing scathing remarks about trial judges merely because they do not agree with their point of view, the Supreme Court has cautioned the High Courts. In a recent judgment, an Supreme Court Bench of Justices Deepak Gupta and Aniruddha Bose chastised the courts for using strong language against the subordinate judiciary in their judgments.

Subordinate Courts:

Constitutional Provisions

• The Articles 233 to 237 in the Constitution describe the provisions to regulate the organization of Subordinate Courts and to ensure their independence from the Executive.

Appointment of District Judges

• Appointments of District Judges in any State shall be made by the Governor of the State in consultation with the High Court exercising jurisdiction in relation to such State.
• A person not already in the service of the Union or of the State shall only be eligible to be appointed a District Judge if he has been for not less than seven years an advocate or a pleader and is recommended by the High Court for appointment.

Appointment of other Judges

• Appointment of other Judges (other than district judges) to the judicial service of a state is to be made by the Governor of the State after consultation with the State Public Service Commission and the High Court.

Control over Subordinate Courts

• The control over district courts and courts subordinate including the posting and promotion of, and the grant of leave to persons belonging to the judicial service of a State and holding any post inferior to the post of district judge shall be vested in the High Court, but nothing shall be construed as taking away from such persons any right of appeal which he may have under the law regulating the conditions of his service.

Interpretation

• The District Judge is the representative of the High Court in the District. He administers works distribution in the Subordinate Courts in the District. His is the most important post of the District.
• The subordinate courts covering the civil cases, in this aspect are considered as Junior Civil Judge Court, Principal Junior and Senior Civil Judge Court, which are also known as Sub Courts, Subordinate Courts. All these courts are treated with ascending orders.
• The subordinate courts covering the criminal cases are Second Class Judicial Magistrate Court, First Class Judicial Magistrate Court, and Chief Judicial Magistrate Court along with family courts which are founded to deal with the issues related to disputes of matrimonial issues only. The status of Principal Judge of family court is at par with the District Judge
• Article 309 of the Constitution which occurs in chapter 1 of Part XIV deals with the recruitment and conditions of service of persons serving the Union or a State.
• It empowers the appropriate Legislature to regulate the recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services and post in connection with the affairs of the Union or of any State.  The proviso however says that until the appropriate Legislature shall make the rules, it shall be open to the President, in the case of services under the Union, and to the Governor, in respect of the services under the State, to make rules for the said purpose.  Article 310, which incorporates pleasure clauses, is not relevant for the present purpose.

8.ABOUT SEBI,Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) 

• CONTEXT:Tribunal quashes  SEBI order against Price Waterhouse
• The Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has quashed the capital markets regulator’s order that barred Price Waterhouse (PW) from auditing listed entities for two years for its alleged role in the fraud committed at the erstwhile Satyam Computer Services.

SEBI:

• SEBI is a statutory body established on April 12, 1992 in accordance with the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• The basic functions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India is to protect the interests of investors in securities and to promote and regulate the securities market.

Background

• Before SEBI came into existence, Controller of Capital Issues was the regulatory authority; it derived authority from the Capital Issues (Control) Act, 1947.
• In April, 1988 the SEBI was constituted as the regulator of capital markets in India under a resolution of the Government of India.
• Initially SEBI was a non statutory body without any statutory power.
• It became autonomous and given statutory powers by SEBI Act 1992.
• The headquarters of SEBI is situated in Mumbai. The regional offices of SEBI are located in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi.

Structure

• SEBI Board consists of a Chairman and several other whole time and part time members.
• SEBI also appoints various committees, whenever required to look into the pressing issues of that time.
• Further, a Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) has been constituted to protect the interest of entities that feel aggrieved by SEBI’s decision.
• SAT consists of a Presiding Officer and two other Members.
• It has the same powers as vested in a civil court. Further, if any person feels aggrieved by SAT’s decision or order can appeal to the Supreme Court.

Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT)

• SAT is a statutory body established under the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992.
• It is to hear and dispose of appeals against orders passed by the Securities and Exchange Board of India or by an adjudicating officer under the Act; and to exercise jurisdiction, powers and authority conferred on the Tribunal by or under this Act or any other law for the time being in force.
• Consequent to government notification dated 27th May, 2014; SAT hears and disposes of appeals against orders passed by the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) under the PFRDA Act, 2013.
• Further, in terms of government notification dated 23rd March, 2015, SAT hears and disposes of appeals against orders passed by the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI) under the Insurance Act, 1938, the General Insurance Business (Nationalization) Act, 1972 and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 and the Rules and Regulations framed there under.

Powers and Functions of SEBI

• SEBI is a quasi-legislative and quasi-judicial body which can draft regulations, conduct inquiries, pass rulings and impose penalties.
• It functions to fulfill the requirements of three categories –
• Issuers – By providing a marketplace in which the issuers can increase their finance.
• Investors – By ensuring safety and supply of precise and accurate information.
• Intermediaries – By enabling a competitive professional market for intermediaries.
• By Securities Laws (Amendment) Act, 2014, SEBI is now able to regulate any money pooling scheme worth Rs. 100 cr. or more and attach assets in cases of non-compliance.
• SEBI Chairman has the authority to order "search and seizure operations". SEBI board can also seek information, such as telephone call data records, from any persons or entities in respect to any securities transaction being investigated by it.
• SEBI perform the function of registration and regulation of the working of venture capital funds and collective investment schemes including mutual funds.
• It also works for promoting and regulating self-regulatory organizations and prohibiting fraudulent and unfair trade practices relating to securities markets.

SEBI’s Achievements

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006 said that eternal vigilance is the price of market stability and market growth. The regulator has kept the faith in its 25-year journey that has seen it steadily gain more powers to oversee India’s capital markets.
• It has ensured a well-functioning market and driven market development: dematerialisation of shares, shortening settlement cycles, initiating nationwide electronic trading, introducing risk management systems, establishing clearing corporations, nurturing the mutual fund industry and so on.
• Rightly, the regulator has earned respect from domestic and global investors for improving the efficacy of the market. After all, there have been no broker defaults after 2001.
• Initiating the process of consultation papers before framing regulation has also enhanced its credibility with stakeholders.
• Today, the Indian capital market can compares favorably with mature markets.
• New initiatives for improving analytical capabilities, strengthening surveillance & risk management and to promote research have been taken by SEBI in recent years to counter the volatility in market.

Issues with SEBI

• In recent years SEBI role became more complex, the capital markets regulator is at a crossroads.
• There is excessive focus on regulation of market conduct and lesser emphasis on prudential regulation.
• SEBI statutory enforcement powers are greater than its counterparts in the US and the UK as it is armed with far greater power to inflict serious economic injury.
• It can impose serious restraints on economic activity, this is done based on suspicion, leaving it to those affected to shoulder the burden of disproving the suspicion, somewhat like preventive detention.
• Its legislative powers are near absolute as the SEBI Act grants wide discretion to make subordinate legislation.
• The component of prior consultation with the market and a system of review of regulations to see if they have met the articulated purpose is substantially missing. As a result, the fear of the regulator is widespread.
• Regulation, either rules or enforcement, is far from perfect, particularly in areas like insider trading.
• The Securities offering documents are extraordinarily bulky and have substantially been reduced to formal compliance rather than resulting in substantive disclosures of high quality.

Suggestions

• There is need of an attitudinal change, indeed, hundreds of inputs about the market being full of crooks necessitating a crackdown and severe intervention would be received.
• SEBI needs deep review and research as to what can be done better. The size of funds that get raised can never be a barometer of success for how this segment of the market regulation is performing.
• The foremost objective of SEBI should be cleaning up the policy space in this area of the market.
• SEBI must give special attention to human resources and matters within the organisation. SEBI must encourage lateral entry to draw the best talent.
• Alignment and fitment of senior employees upon merger of the Forward Markets Commission into Sebi remains an open area of work.
• Enforcement can be strengthened with continuous monitoring and improving market intelligence. This requires a rich talent pool.
• India’s financial markets are still segmented. One regulator can’t be blamed for another’s failure when the remit over a financial product overlaps.
• In this context a unified financial regulator makes eminent sense to remove both overlap and excluded boundaries.