tinglado-mediafiles.s3.amazonaws.com€¦ · web view2020-04-23 · in may 1997. it serves as a...

Daily News Simplified - DNS

23 04 20Notes

SL. NO. TOPICS THE HINDU

PAGE NO.1 Preretirement judgement and postretirement jobs 07

2 No 100% quota for tribal teachers 08

3 Centre, state can fix sugarcane price 08

4 Global remittance will see a sharp fall 14

Dated: 23-April-2020 DNS Notes

Title 1. Preretirement judgement and postretirement jobs (The Hindu – Pg. 07)Syllabus GS paper II - Polity & GovernanceTheme Independence of Indian JudiciaryHighlights

Context: The article highlights that government must enact a law either through constitutional amendment or through enacting legislation by Parliament to prohibit future appointments of Judges after their retirement as it undermine confidence in the judiciary and in constitutional democracy. So, in the above context, you must understand about Independence of Judiciary and also why appointment of Judges after retirement by the government can not only be detrimental to Judicial Independence in the future but also lays a precedence for future Retired Judges to further dilute the separation between Judiciary and the Executive. The Appointment of former of CJI as Governor and Member of Rajya Sabha also violates Judicial Ethics Charter which was adopted the Supreme Court in May 1997.

Independence of Judiciary

The principal role of the judiciary is to protect rule of law and ensure supremacy of law. It safeguards rights of the individual, settles disputes in accordance with the law and ensures that democracy does not give way to individual or group dictatorship. In order to be able to do all this, it is necessary that the judiciary is independent of any political pressures. Thus, independence of judiciary means that:

The other organs of the government like the executive and legislature must not restrain the functioning of the judiciary in such a way that it is unable to do justice.

The other organs of the government should not interfere with the decision of the judiciary.

Judges must be able to perform their functions without fear or favour. So, the constitution has provided several safeguards to ensure independence

of judiciary like Appointment Process, Removal Process, Security of Tenure, Supreme Court’s administrtative expense to be charged upon Consolidated Fund of India as this gives financial independence.

Judicial Ethics Charter

Supreme Court adopted a Charter called the ‘Restatement of Values of Judicial Life’ in May 1997. It serves as a guide for an independent & fair judiciary. The Charter is “a complete code of the canons of judicial ethics” and categorically declares important values to be adhered and cherished by Honourable Judges.

As per the Charter, the behaviour and conduct of members of the higher judiciary must reaffirm people’s faith in the impartiality of judiciary. Accordingly, any act of Judge of Supreme Court or a High Court which erodes the credibility of this perception must be avoided.

The Charter titled “Restatement of Values of Judicial Life” prohibits the following:

Judges to contest election Close association with members of the bar practicing in same Court Legal Practice of relatives before the Judge concerned Expressing political views in public or matters which are sub judice Hearing cases of companies where Judge has personal investments in

stocks Speculating on stocks and indices Involve himself to raise fund for any purpose Judges accepting gifts or hospitality


Involvement of CJI in Important Judgments for the Government

Ram Mandir Judgment - Example of such judgments which went in favour of the government include the famous Ram Janmabhoomi judgment which was decided unanimously by a Bench of 5 Judges whereby the entire disputed land was awarded to build Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

Dismissing Rafale Deal Investigations - Justice Gogoi also dismissed Review Petition on Rafale deal which helped in absolving the government including the PM from any corruption in the deal.

Review of Sabarimala Judgment – In 2018, Constitution Bench judgment of the Supreme Court held that excluding menstruating women from entering the temple was discriminatory, and therefore against “constitutional morality”. However, Justice Gogoi ordered to constitute larger seven bench to review Sabarimala judgment which also went as per the narrative of present government. In the Sabarimala Judgment, a strong dissent came from Justices Rohington F. Nariman and D.Y. Chandrachud, however, dissented from the majority judgment and dismissed the majority decision of a reference to a larger Bench. According to Justice Nariman, the judgment of a five-judge Constitution Bench was the last word on the interpretation of the Constitution.

SC guided NRC in Assam - During his tenure, Justice Gogoi also presided over and pushed through the National Register of Citizens (NRC) in Assam. The much criticised NRC exercise has so far excluded 19 lakh people from the final version of the citizenship register. This has made such people homeless as they await further orders from the government of their citizenship status. This exercise in Assam has prompted the government to carry out similar audacious exercise in the rest of country. This move has resulted in number of protest against the move of the government in the form of protest against Citizenship Amendment Act.

Offer of Rajya Sabha Seat raises suspicion

Justice Gogoi should have followed the Judicial Ethics Charter especially where it highlights that a judge should practice a degree of aloofness consistent with the dignity of his office.

This code of conduct also lays the basis of how post-retirement conduct of judges ought to be. For example if a judge after deciding politically sensitive cases involving particular political parties or politicians, soon after retirement seeks and gets a plum post such as a Rajya Sabha nomination by those very politicians or parties, it would obviously raise serious questions about his or her independence as a judge when he or she had decided those cases.

This shakes not only the principle of independent judiciary but also shakes confidence of people in anindependently functioning judiciary.

Justice Gogoi and the government’s actions in the sexual harassment case and the offer of a Rajya Sabha seat by the government, raise serious doubts about the fairness of many critical judgments, including the ones mentioned above.

Conclusion - There is no law or rule which prohibits appointment of retired Judges within the government or as part of legislature. The precedent set by Justice Gogoi will not only strike a blow against judicial independence but will also prompt members of both judiciary and executive to enter into an alliance of quid pro quo. So, a law must be enacted either through Constitutional Amendment or through Parliamentary legislation prohibiting appointments of retired Judges. The government in this regard can increase the retirement age of Judges of Supreme Court and High


Courts as for Judges, the only guiding values are the provisions of the Constitution.

Personal Notes

P


\\\\\\\\\\\

Title 2. No 100% quota for tribal teachers (The Hindu – Pg. 08)Syllabus GS paper II - Polity & GovernanceTheme Reservation in JobsHighlights

Context: A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held it

unconstitutional to provide 100% reservation for tribal teachers in schools located in Scheduled Areas across the country.

What is the reason behind the SC judgment? In 2000, Andhra Pradesh HC had issues an order which

mandated 100% reservation to the Scheduled Tribe candidates, out of whom 33.1/3% shall be women, for the post of teachers in schools located in the Scheduled Areas of the State.

The Supreme Court has rescinded the same HC order stating that it was “unreasonable and arbitrary”.

Supreme Court observations:

The court held that 100% reservation is discriminatory and impermissible on following grounds:

The opportunity of public employment is not the prerogative of few.

Citizens have equal rights, and the total exclusion of others by creating an opportunity for one class is not contemplated by the founding fathers of the Constitution of India.

o When there are other local residents, why they cannot teach is not understandable.

Discrimination against other backward classes:o A 100% reservation to the Scheduled Tribes has deprived

Scheduled Castes and Other Backward Classes also of their due representation. The court referred to the Indira Sawhney judgment, which caps reservation at 50%.

Merit cannot be denied altogether by providing reservationo The reservations kept both under Article 16(1) and 16(4)

together should not exceed 50 per cent


Personal Notes


Title 3. Centre, state can fix sugarcane price (Page number 08)Syllabus GS paper III – Agriculture pricingTheme Indian EconomyHighlights Reference – DNS dated 03-03-19 ( ‘Soft loans to sugar mills

poll sop’)

What is the news?

In a major decision to improve liquidity position of sugar mills and to help the sugar industry clear its cane dues arrears to farmers, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the proposal to provide soft loans to the extent of Rs. 7900-10540 crore to the sugar industry.

Government will bear the interest subvention cost @ 7 - 10% to the extent of Rs. 553 crore to Rs 1054 crore for one year. "Interest subvention" means a subsidy offered on interest rates.

How this will be done?

Government has mandated the banks to obtain from the sugar mills such list of farmers whose cane dues are to be paid along with the farmer’s bank account details. This will help in paying the dues directly in the farmer’s account on behalf of the sugar mills.

Furthermore, in order to incentivize the mills to clear their dues, CCEA has also decided that the approved soft loans will be provided to those units which have already cleared at least 25 percent of their outstanding dues in the sugar season 2018-19.

Reason for such liquidity crisis

Surplus sugar production over domestic consumption requirement during the last sugar season 2017-18 (October, 2017 to September, 2018) has adversely affected the liquidity position of the sugar mills.

This resulted in increasing of cane price arrears of farmers which reached to an alarming level of Rs 23232 crores in May, 2018.


Demand and supply mismatch is the root cause of such huge arrears. Emergence of alternative sweeteners replacing sugar and increasing health

consciousness has resulted in decreasing global sugar demand. While demand growth is decelerating, production has continued to rise due to

superior seeds, better productivity of sugarcane per acre and sharply rising sugar recovery over the past decade.

Sugar production in India has increased from 24.8 million tonnes in 2015-16 to 32.25 million tonnes in 2017-18 and is expected to touch 35.5 million tonnes in 2018-19.

But the domestic demand remains stagnant at around 25 million tonnes. Increasing mismatch has further depressed sugar prices, resulting in increasing sugar arrears.

Revenue of sugar manufacturers depends on the price of sugar and three


primary by-products: molasses, bagasse and press mud. Molasses is used for manufacturing ethanol, while bagasse is used in the paper and pulp industry or for cogeneration of electricity surplus which is sold to the state and press mud compost is used as manure by farmers.

However, ethanol contributes only 10-15% in total revenue of integrated mills. Sugarcane prices are decided by the government and sugar prices are

determined by market demand and supply. Government decides prices without buying either sugar or sugarcane to support the prices it determines, unlike in case of minimum support price (MSP) provided to some farmers

Sugarcane prices generally move in upward direction, irrespective of sugar price. Rangarajan committee (2012) proposed decontrol of sugar industry and linking

sugarcane prices with market price of sugar to account for this structural imbalance.

Steps taken by the government to improve liquidity of sugar mills

Surplus production is also estimated in the current sugar season 2018-19 which has affected the liquidity position of sugar mills resulting in building up of cane price arrears of farmers.

In order to improve to liquidity of sugar mills to enable them to clear cane dues of farmers, the Government has taken the following steps: Has increased minimum selling price of white sugar from Rs.29/kg to

Rs.31/kg with effect from 14.02.2019. Has allocated mill wise Minimum Indicative Export Quota (MIEQ) of 50 Lakh

Million Ton (LMT). Has extended assistance to sugar mills @ Rs.13.88/ quintal for sugar season

and has also extended assistance for defraying expenditure towards internal transport, freight, handling and other charges to facilitate export of sugar.

Has extended soft loans to sugar mills through banks to facilitate payment of cane dues of the farmers for the current sugar season 2018-19 for which Government would bear interest subvention of about Rs 553 crore to Rs 1054 crore for one year.

Reference – DNS dated 25-01-20 ( ‘Cane farmers flag Brazil’s WTO case against India’)What is the news?

In a major decision to improve liquidity position of sugar mills and to help the sugar industry clear its cane dues arrears to farmers, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) chaired by the Prime Minister has approved the proposal to provide soft loans to the extent of Rs. 7900-10540 crore to the sugar industry.

Government will bear the interest subvention cost @ 7 - 10% to the extent of Rs. 553 crore to Rs 1054 crore for one year. "Interest subvention" means a subsidy offered on interest rates.

How this will be done?

Government has mandated the banks to obtain from the sugar mills such list of farmers whose cane dues are to be paid along with the farmer’s bank account details. This will help in paying the dues directly in the farmer’s account on


behalf of the sugar mills. Furthermore, in order to incentivize the mills to clear their dues, CCEA has also

decided that the approved soft loans will be provided to those units which have already cleared at least 25 percent of their outstanding dues in the sugar season 2018-19.

Reason for such liquidity crisis


This resulted in increasing of cane price arrears of farmers which reached to an alarming level of Rs 23232 crores in May, 2018.


Demand and supply mismatch is the root cause of such huge arrears. Emergence of alternative sweeteners replacing sugar and increasing health

consciousness has resulted in decreasing global sugar demand. While demand growth is decelerating, production has continued to rise due to

superior seeds, better productivity of sugarcane per acre and sharply rising sugar recovery over the past decade.

Sugar production in India has increased from 24.8 million tonnes in 2015-16 to 32.25 million tonnes in 2017-18 and is expected to touch 35.5 million tonnes in 2018-19.

But the domestic demand remains stagnant at around 25 million tonnes. Increasing mismatch has further depressed sugar prices, resulting in increasing sugar arrears.

Revenue of sugar manufacturers depends on the price of sugar and three primary by-products: molasses, bagasse and press mud. Molasses is used for manufacturing ethanol, while bagasse is used in the paper and pulp industry or for cogeneration of electricity surplus which is sold to the state and press mud compost is used as manure by farmers.

However, ethanol contributes only 10-15% in total revenue of integrated mills. Sugarcane prices are decided by the government and sugar prices are

determined by market demand and supply. Government decides prices without buying either sugar or sugarcane to support the prices it determines, unlike in case of minimum support price (MSP) provided to some farmers

Sugarcane prices generally move in upward direction, irrespective of sugar price. Rangarajan committee (2012) proposed decontrol of sugar industry and linking

sugarcane prices with market price of sugar to account for this structural imbalance.

Steps taken by the government to improve liquidity of sugar mills

Surplus production is also estimated in the current sugar season 2018-19 which has affected the liquidity position of sugar mills resulting in building up of cane price arrears of farmers.

In order to improve to liquidity of sugar mills to enable them to clear cane dues of farmers, the Government has taken the following steps: Has increased minimum selling price of white sugar from Rs.29/kg to

Rs.31/kg with effect from 14.02.2019. Has allocated mill wise Minimum Indicative Export Quota (MIEQ) of 50 Lakh


Million Ton (LMT). Has extended assistance to sugar mills @ Rs.13.88/ quintal for sugar season

and has also extended assistance for defraying expenditure towards internal transport, freight, handling and other charges to facilitate export of sugar.

Has extended soft loans to sugar mills through banks to facilitate payment of cane dues of the farmers for the current sugar season 2018-19 for which Government would bear interest subvention of about Rs 553 crore to Rs 1054 crore for one year.

Personal Notes


Title 4. Global remittance will see a sharp fall (The Hindu Pg 14)

Syllabus GS paper III – Indian EconomyTheme RemittanceHighlights

Context: The World Bank has recently released a report titled as “Migration

and Development Brief”. This report is prepared by Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD), an initiative of World Bank.

This report provides updates on global trends in migration and remittances. Further, the report provides a prognosis of how the events related to COVID-19 might affect global trends in international economic migration and remittances in 2020 and 2021.

Highlights of the Report

Impact on COVID-19 on International Migrants: The economic disruption caused due to COVID-19 has adversely affected the income levels of the migrants across the world. Migrant remittances provide an economic lifeline to poor households in many countries. Hence, a reduction in remittance flows could increase poverty and reduce households’ access to healthcare services. Further, migrants face the risk of contagion and also the possible loss of employment, wages, and health insurance coverage. The crisis could also exacerbate xenophobic, discriminatory treatment of migrants, which calls for greater vigilance against such practices.

Impact of low- and middle-income countries: The Remittances as a share of GDP tend to be largest in poor countries as compared to rich countries. In 2020, the remittance flows to low‐ and middle‐income countries are expected to drop by around 20 percent to $445 billion from $554 billion in 2019. This is projected to the largest fall in the global remittances in the recent history.

Higher dependence on Remittances: The low- and middle-income countries have been witnessing decline in the foreign investment since the outbreak of COVID-19. Hence, even though, remittances have declined, these countries could see higher dependence on remittances as source of external financing.

Slower Progress in Sustainable Development Goals: The World Bank closely monitors three Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) indicators for which it is a custodian: increasing the volume of remittances as a percentage of GDP, reducing remittance costs and reducing recruitment costs paid by migrant workers. The progress on all three indicators is projected to slowdown in 2020.

Why is it a cause of concern for India?

India attracts the world's highest remittances at around $ 80 bn followed by China.The remittances into India contribute around 3% of


its GDP. Most of the India's remittances come from UAE, USA, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman etc. The only non-gulf

country is the top 5 is USA. The Higher remittances into India enable us to have lower Current

Account Deficit (CAD). (Remittances are accounted under Balance of Invisibles as part of Current Account)

Hence, decline in the remittances into India could have an adverse impact on India's macro-economic stability. It could also impact a number of families who are dependent on these global remittances to meet their basic needs such as healthcare, Education etc.

About Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development (KNOMAD)KNOMAD is supported by a multi‐donor trust fund established by the World Bank. It is a global hub of knowledge and policy expertise on migration and development. It aims to create and synthesize multidisciplinary knowledge and evidence for the following purposes:

Advise Policy makers related to Migration Provide technical assistance and capacity building for pilot projects Evaluation of policies related to Migration.

Personal Notes

tinglado-mediafiles.s3.amazonaws.com€¦ · web view2020-04-23 · in may 1997. it serves as a...

Documents