UPSC Key—13th December, 2023: GPAI Summit, Ethanol Blending and Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Bill, 2023

Pact elusive amid deep divisions over fossil fuel phase-out

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Climate change conferences are quite used to stalemates, especially in the final days, and a familiar one existed at the Dubai Expo Centre, the venue of COP28, on Tuesday, as the conference went into extra-time. But never has the division been so sharp, the gap seemingly so unbridgeable. On the issue of fossil fuel phase-out, almost every country has a strong opinion, with no meeting ground currently in sight.

• COP28-What is happening in COP28?

• COP28-Successful or failure?

• “On the issue of fossil fuel phase-out, almost every country has a strong opinion, with no meeting ground currently in sight”-Comment

• “Yet, an agreement was being drafted, for all to agree on, because a COP has to have an outcome decision”- What are the key takeaways/ outcome decision from COP28?

• “There are some countries that have made it clear that they would not agree to a fossil fuel phase-out in the final decision of the COP28 climate meeting”-What is India’s stand?

• What are the point of contention in COP28 climate meeting?

• “There was no science that said fossil fuels needed to be eliminated to achieve the 1.5 degree Celsius target”-Discuss

• How Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) sees the fossil fuel phase-out debate?

• Role of fossil fuels in global warming-comment

• What is the Fossil fuel debate in COP28?

• How ‘phase-out’ is different from ‘phase-down’?

• India’s stand on coal phase-out-Know in detail

• From “phase-out” of coal to “phase-down” of Coal-what you understand by this?

• What was India’s Stand at the annual climate change conference in Glasgow for the “phase-out” of coal?

• What is India’s stand on renewable energy at COP 28?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍COP28: What is Global Stocktake — and why is it important?

📍COP28 begins today: India’s role at the climate conferences over the years, key promises, red lines

After protests, Govt amends: Gets ECs on par with SC Judges

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– FOLLOWING PROTESTS by former Chief Election Commissioners (CECs) and Opposition parties, the Centre on Tuesday moved amendments which sought to retain the status of the Election Commissioners (ECs) on par with Supreme Court Judges.

• The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023-Know key provisions of the bill

• Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023-what are the issues and challenges?

• For Your Information-On March 2 this year, a five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court had ruled that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) should be appointed by a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI).
The Constitution lays down no specific legislative process for the appointment of the CEC and ECs. As a result, the central government has a free hand in appointing these officials. The President makes the appointments on the advice of the Union Council of Ministers headed by the Prime Minister.
The Supreme Court, however, made it clear that its order would be “subject to any law to be made by Parliament”. Consequently, the government brought The Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023, which proposed a committee comprising the PM, Leader of Opposition and, instead of the CJI, a Cabinet Minister nominated by the PM.
This Bill also proposed giving the CEC and ECs the same salary, perks, and allowances as that of the Cabinet Secretary. The Bill would replace The Election Commission (Conditions of Service of Election Commissioners and Transaction of Business) Act, 1991, under which the CEC and ECs have the same salary as that of a Supreme Court judge.

• Why was the Bill criticised?

• “There is allegation that the proposed bill seeks to downgrade the service conditions of the three election commissioners and, consequently, threatens to erode their authority”-how far you agree?

• “Over the past few years, the EC’s credibility is increasingly being called into question, with allegations of bias in the scheduling of elections and arbitrary deletion of names of registered voters, ignoring blatant violations of the model code”-Comment

• Who appoints Chief Election Commissioner of India?

• How Chief Election Commissioner of India and other Election Commissioners are appointed?

• Election Commission of India and Article 324 of the Constitution-Know in detail

• Do You Know- As of now, the CEC and ECs are appointed by the government as per Article 324(2) of the Constitution which states: “The Election Commission shall consist of the Chief Election Commissioner and such number of other Election Commissioners, if any, as the President may from time to time fix and the appointment of the Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners shall, subject to the provisions of any law made in that behalf by Parliament, be made by the President”.

• The independent and impartial functioning of the Election Commission-How it is ensured?

• Election Commission of India- Powers and Functions

• Chief Election Commissioner and the two other Election Commissioners have equal powers-True or False?

• In case of difference of opinion amongst the Chief election commissioner and/or two other election commissioners, the matter is decided by the Supreme Court of India-Right or Wrong?

• In March 2023, the Supreme Court stepped in to check what it called the “pernicious effects of the exclusive power being vested with the Executive to make appointment to the Election Commission” and ordered something-can you recall that?

• Quick Recall-In March 2023, the Supreme Court stepped in to check what it called the “pernicious effects of the exclusive power being vested with the Executive to make appointment to the Election Commission” and ordered that the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Election Commissioners (ECs) shall be appointed on the advice of a committee comprising the Prime Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and Chief Justice of India. Ruling on petitions seeking an independent mechanism to appoint the CEC and ECs, a five-judge Constitution Bench presided by Justice K M Joseph said where no Leader of Opposition is available, the committee will include the leader of the largest Opposition party in Lok Sabha in terms of numerical strength.

• What experts and scholars are saying about the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners (Appointment, Conditions of Service and Term of Office) Bill, 2023?

• “Over the past few years, the EC’s credibility is increasingly being called into question, with allegations of bias in the scheduling of elections and arbitrary deletion of names of registered voters, ignoring blatant violations of the model code”-Comment

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍ECI members to have same status as SC judges: Why Govt has chosen to make U-turn on proposed Bill

📍Centre’s new Bill on Election Commission members’ appointments: How it plans to amend the process

Life term, death for hate-crime murder, mob lynching; terror ambit widened

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary-Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Enhancing the minimum punishment for mob lynching and hate-crime murder from seven years to life imprisonment and expanding the definition of terrorism, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday introduced revised versions of three criminal law Bills in Lok Sabha to replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860; The Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (originally enacted in 1898); and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

• The Bhartiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023-Know the key provisions

• The Bhartiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita 2023 and Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita 2023-Compare and contrast

• For Your Information-The Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, 2023, the Bill that seeks to replace the IPC, now prescribes a punishment for mob lynching that extends from life imprisonment to death. In its earlier version, introduced in August, the Bill prescribed a punishment that extended from seven years to death.
Under the offence of terrorism, the Sanhita now includes “causing damage or destruction of property in a foreign country, intended for the defence of India or any other governmental purpose.” In the earlier version, this was only limited to damage to government or public facilities, public places, private properties within India.
The terror provision is also expanded to include the detention, kidnapping or abduction of a person to compel the Government of India, state governments or foreign governments to do or abstain from doing any activity.
The Bill had made mob lynching and hate crime a separate category of murder for the first time. The offence deals with cases when a mob of five or more individuals commits murder based on factors such as race, caste, community, or personal belief.
The lesser sentence in the earlier version of the Bill meant that hate crimes carried a lesser sentence than murder otherwise committed which carries a life sentence. The revised version now brings it on the same footing.
With mob lynching now a separate offence, there could be official documentation of incidents related to lynching and hate crimes, reported through the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).
The other key change is that the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 reverts to using the phrase “unsound mind”, which is currently used in the IPC as defence of the accused. In the earlier version, the BNS had replaced it with “mental illness.”
The Parliamentary panel, headed by BJP MP Brij Lal, had recommended some key changes including on the use of the phrase “mental illness” since it is “too wide in its import” and could even include mood swings and voluntary intoxication in its ambit.

• “Many changes which were vague or left undefined, continue in the revised version of the Bill”-Discuss

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Lynching and hate crime murder in penal code: punishment 7 yrs to death

Calling for caution, PM flags need for ethics, democratic values in AI

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Awareness in the fields of IT, Space, Computers, robotics, nano-technology, bio-technology and issues relating to intellectual property rights.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-FLAGGING THE dual potential of Artificial Intelligence (AI) — that while it can be 21st century’s biggest development tool, it can also potentially play the biggest role in its destruction —Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday called for a global framework that will provide guardrails and make its use more responsible.

• What is the Global partnership on responsible AI?

• Global Partnership on Artificial Intelligence (GPAI) Summit-What are the key takeaways?

• What are the principles of global partnership on AI?

• What has been the global conversation around regulating AI so far?

• For Your Information-Recently, the EU passed the AI Act which introduces safeguards on the use of AI, including clear guardrails on its adoption by law enforcement agencies, and empowering to launch complaints against any perceived violations. The deal includes strong restrictions on facial recognition technology, and on using AI to manipulate human behaviour, alongside provisions for tough penalties for companies breaking the rules.
Last month, the UK hosted the AI Safety Summit where 28 major countries including the United States, China, Japan, the United Kingdom, France, and India, and the European Union agreed to sign a declaration saying global action is needed to tackle the potential risks of AI.
The declaration incorporates an acknowledgement of the substantial risks from potential intentional misuse or unintended issues of control of frontier AI — especially cybersecurity, biotechnology, and disinformation risks. It also noted the “potential for serious, even catastrophic, harm, either deliberate or unintentional, stemming from the most significant capabilities of these AI models”, as well as risks beyond frontier AI, including those of bias and privacy.
Before that, the United States issued an executive order aimed at safeguarding against threats posed by AI and exerting oversight over safety benchmarks used by companies to evaluate generative AI bots such as ChatGPT and Google Bard. The order was seen as a vital first step taken by the Biden Administration to regulate rapidly advancing AI technology.

• Why AI governance is required?

• India hosts the GPAI summit in Delhi, what kind of lessons can it draw in dealing with AI?

• How is artificial intelligence (AI) currently governed?

• What are the use of AI in different areas?

• ‘AI is not intelligence and idea that AI will replace human intelligence is unlikely’-Comment

• Why AI regulation is needed?

• If Regulated then what should be the limit?

• If regulated, then what are the risks associated with regulating AI?

• What has been India’s Response to demands for AI Regulation?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The 360° UPSC Debate: Should Artificial Intelligence Be Regulated?

📍AI threat demands new approach to security designs

📍India & geopolitics of AI

EXPLAINED

Food vs fuel: case of sugar

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: General issues on Environmental ecology, Bio-diversity and Climate Change – that do not require subject specialisation.

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– After banning sugar exports, the Centre has taken the next step towards augmenting domestic availability – restricting diversion of the sweetener for ethanol production.

• On December 7, the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution directed all mills and distilleries not to use sugarcane juice/syrup for making any ethanol “with immediate effect”-Why?

• What is Ethanol?

• What is Ethanol Blending?

• What is the Significance of Ethanol Blending?

• National Policy on Biofuel 2018-Know the key Features

• What amendments have been made in National Policy on Biofuel 2018 so far?

• What is the current blending status?

• Do You Know-Ethanol is 99.9% pure alcohol that can be blended with petrol. The ethanol blended petrol (EBP) programme has been a significant accomplishment of the Narendra Modi government. The all-India average blending of ethanol with petrol has risen from 1.6% in 2013-14 to 11.8% in 2022-23. Ethanol – or even 94% pure industrial-grade rectified spirit and 96% extra neutral alcohol for potable liquor – is normally made from so-called C-heavy molasses. Mills typically crush cane with 13.5-14% total fermentable sugars (TFS). Around 11.5% of it can be recovered from the juice as sugar. The uncrystallised, non-recoverable 2-2.5% TFS goes into C-heavy molasses. Every tonne of this liquid, containing 40-45% sugar, gives 220-225 litres of ethanol on fermentation and distillation.
But mills, instead of recovering 11.5% sugar, can extract just 9.5-10% and divert the balance 1.5-2% TFS to an earlier ‘B-heavy’ stage molasses. This molasses, having 50%-plus sugar, yields 290-320 litres of ethanol per tonne. A third option is not to produce any sugar and ferment the entire 13.5-14% TFS into ethanol. From one tonne of cane, 80-81 litres of ethanol can thus be obtained, as against 20-21 litres and 10-11 litres through the B-heavy and C-heavy molasses routes respectively.
The real fillip to EBP programme came with the Modi government paying mills more for ethanol produced from feedstocks other than C-heavy molasses. For 2022-23, the ex-distillery price of ethanol payable by state-owned oil marketing companies (OMS) was fixed at Rs 49.41 per litre if made from C-heavy molasses, but at Rs 60.73, Rs 65.61, Rs 58.50, Rs 55.54 and Rs 56.35 if from B-heavy molasses, sugarcane juice/syrup, surplus FCI rice, broken/damaged grain and maize respectively. In previous supply years (December-November) till 2017-18, the OMCs paid a uniform price for ethanol irrespective of feedstock.

• Why the December 7 directive is a setback for the industry?

• Why Centre is going slow on ethanol blending?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Ethanol blend target reached; nation, environment gain: PM

Going after touts: the change in Advocates Act

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– On the first day of the Parliament’s Winter Session on Monday (December 4) the Advocates Amendment Bill, 2023, was passed in the Lok Sabha. Introduced in the Rajya Sabha’s Monsoon Session on August 1, the Bill was passed by the House two days later.

• What are key features of the Advocates Amendment Bill, 2023?

• What does the now-repealed 1879 Act state?

• What is the Advocates Act of 1961?

• What does the Advocates Amendment Bill, 2023, say?

• For Your Information-The new Bill now amends the 1961 Act by inserting a new provision right after Section 45, which prescribes six months of imprisonment for persons illegally practising in courts and before other authorities.
The new provision, Section 45A, states that the Bill enables every HC and district judge to frame and publish lists of touts. However, no person’s name will be included in any such list until they have had an opportunity to show cause against such inclusion.
Further, any authority empowered to make lists of alleged or suspected touts can send them to any subordinate court, which, after holding an inquiry into the conduct of such persons, will allow them an opportunity to show cause. After this, the lower court will report back to the authority ordering the inquiry.
If proven to be a tout, the person’s name will be included in the list of touts that will be published by the authority and hung in every court. The court or judge may exclude any person whose name is included in any such list from the court’s vicinity.
Additionally, this provision punishes anyone acting as a tout “while his name is included in any such list” with imprisonment up to three months, a fine that may extend to five hundred rupees, or both.
Section 45A of the new Bill is analogous to Section 36 of the 1879 Act. However, the 1961 Act did not include the provision. This is exactly what the new Bill sought to remedy.
Doing so would “reduce the number of superfluous enactments in the statute book,” says the Bill’s accompanying Statement of Objects and Reasons. Keeping in line with the government’s policy of repealing all obsolete laws or pre-independence Acts that have lost their utility, and in consultation with the Bar Council of India, the government decided to repeal the Legal Practitioners Act and amend the Advocates Act.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The Advocates (Amendment) Bill, 2023

Kidney transplants in India: the law, the demand, the alleged rackets

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story– The government has ordered a probe into the findings of an investigation by The Telegraph published earlier this month, alleging that poor Myanmarese villagers were being lured into giving their kidneys to rich patients from that country, with the involvement of Delhi’s Apollo hospital.

• What India’s transplant law says?

• What are the procedure for legal transplants?

• For Your Information- A transplant can be either from a pool of organs of deceased persons donated by their relatives, or from a living person the recipient knows. The Transplantation of Human Organs and Tissues Act, 1994 allows living donations, in most cases, from close relatives such as parents, siblings, children, spouse, grandparents, grandchildren. Altruistic donations from distant relatives, in-laws, or long-time friends are allowed after additional scrutiny to ensure there is no financial exchange.
For living donations from close relatives, involving Indians or foreigners, documents establishing their identities, family tree, documents, and pictures proving the donor-recipient relationship, and documents to show the financial standing of the donor have to be submitted. Donors and recipients are interviewed to establish the relationship.
For donations from unrelated persons, documents and photographic evidence showing their long-term association or friendship have to be submitted along with all other documents. Such cases are examined by an external committee to guard against illegal dealings.
Offering to pay for organs or to supply organs for payment, initiating/ negotiating/ advertising for such an arrangement, looking for a person to supply organs, and abetting in preparing false documents is punishable by jail up to 10 years and a fine of up to Rs 1 crore.
One, the demand is very high. Every year, an estimated 2 lakh Indians reach end-stage kidney failure. All of them need either a transplant or regular dialysis, but only around 12,000 kidney transplants take place in the country every year.
It is also the transplant with the least risk to the donor.
Two, it is the cheapest and most accessible. A kidney transplant costs about Rs 5 lakh, which increases the pool of people who can undergo the procedure. More than 500 centres in India are trained to harvest or transplant kidneys, which provide more opportunities to people who want to undergo the surgery by getting around the law.
Three, the kidney is the organ that can survive the longest outside the body — 24-36 hours. In comparison, lungs remain viable only for 4-6 hours, and the liver for 8-12 hours.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍‘Cash-for-kidneys’: Apollo hospital to face probe, report in a week

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