UPSC Key—22nd February, 2024: Fali Sam Nariman, Fair and Remunerative Price and India-Oman

Shehbaz to be Pak PM, Zardari President

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: 

• General Studies II: Comparison of the Indian constitutional scheme with that of other countries.

• General Studies II: India and its neighborhood- relations.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- More than a week after the Pakistan elections and several rounds of power-sharing talks, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan People’s Party have reached an agreement to form a new coalition government.

• Pakistan Elections 2024 Voting Process-Know in detail

• Majlis-e-Shoora or the Parliament of Pakistan is composed of what?

• Elections in India and Pakistan-What are the key Constitution-related differences?

• How are elections and government formed in both the countries?

• In Pakistan, the General Assembly (National Assembly) elections coincide with the State Assembly (Provincial Assembly) elections-True or False?

• How many seats are in Pakistan?

• Pakistan had gone to polls on February 8, 2024-What is the result?

• Election in Pakistan and its implication on India-Know in detail

• Know the Background- Pakistan had gone to polls on February 8. The elections had been marred with allegations of vote rigging and had delivered a split mandate with jailed ex-PM Imran Khan’s PTI-backed independent candidates emerged as the largest bloc. According to a report in the Pakistani daily Dawn, the Independents had won 93 seats in the National Assembly, while Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz won 75 seats and the Pakistan Peoples Party bagged 54 seats.

Unlike India, the making of the constitution and holding of the first general elections — two of the key processes of building a democratic nation — were much delayed in Pakistan. This happened largely due to debates over issues like “the national language, the role of Islam, provincial representation, and the distribution of power between the centre and the provinces,” according to ‘Pakistan: A Political History’, a report based on Ayesha Jalal’s work for the Encyclopedia of Asian History and published by Asia Society, a non-profit organisation.

Even after Pakistan’s first constitution was finally implemented in March 1956, instability persisted. Between 1956 and 1958, three prime ministers, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, I I Chundrigar and Firoz Khan Noon, from three different political parties (Awami League, Muslim League and Republican Party) came to power. The chaos ultimately led General Mohammad Ayub Khan to carry out a military coup, putting national elections, slated to be held in February 1959, on hold indefinitely.

It took more than a decade, and three main reasons, for the military rule to weaken: the country’s defeat against India in the 1965 war, urban unrest in West Pakistan, and the rise of Bengali nationalism in East Pakistan. As a result, the first general elections were held in 1970.

The next general elections were held in 1985, but no political parties were permitted to participate. Every candidate contested in his or her individual name. Zia thought this would help him build a popular support base and it would be easier to control parliament without the influence of political parties on the representatives.

Despite the restrictions, the elections proved to be consequential for Pakistan for two main reasons. One, after the election results, elected parliament was allowed to form political parties, which gave birth to the two-party parliamentary system.
According to ‘The First 10 General Elections of Pakistan’, a research paper by Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi and Ijaz Shafi Gilani, and published by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (PILDAT), the “process gave birth to a Muslim League which subsequently became a key player in politics. It was birthed under military oversight, but assumed a character of its own over the period of its adulthood… Since 1985 Pakistan’s political scene thrived because the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League were able to accommodate large sections of Pakistani voters under their banners.”

The next general elections were in 2002 — three years after the coup and a year after Musharraf declared himself as the president (before he met then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee). To maintain his grip on power, Musharraf established another faction of PML, known as PML-Q, and promoted it as the real Muslim League. His plans didn’t come to fruition as PML-Q didn’t get a majority. So, the president then created a wedge among the elected PPP representatives and formed the PPP-Patriot group to establish a military government at the Centre.

Musharraf’s exit came in 2008 after he locked horns with the Supreme Court and particularly Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry for criticising the army’s repression in the country. The president tried to oust the chief justice, who resisted and mobilised support throughout Pakistan, according to ‘The Pakistan Paradox: Instability and Resilience’ by Christophe Jaffrelot. On November 3, 2007, Musharraf declared a state of emergency but had to announce a general election due to protests and pressure from other countries.

The elections, however, were delayed as Benazir was assassinated on December 27, 2007 — Musharraf was accused of getting her killed and later faced trial for her murder. The PPP got the most seats in the 2008 general elections and was followed by Musharraf’s PML-Q. The PPP formed the government in coalition with PML-N. While Yousaf Raza Gilani of the PPP became the prime minister, Benazir’s husband Asif Ali Zardari was elected as the president. Meanwhile, Musharraf had to resign in August 2008 and leave for London.

The 2013 elections gave a reason for Pakistan to rejoice — it marked the first time that a democratically-elected government was able to finish its tenure and hand over the reins of power to the one elected next. The elections were also significant as they witnessed the rise of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. But it was Nawaz Sharif’s party which outperformed everyone. Out of the total 272 contestable seats in the National Assembly, PML-N won 126. It was short of a majority initially but once a handful of independent MPs joined the party, it formed the government.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Polls in Pakistan: 10 data points to explain the elections

FRONT PAGE

Fali Conscience Nariman

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: 

• General Studies I: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present significant events, personalities, issues.

• General Studies II: Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Fali Sam Nariman, the exceptional jurist and humanist, a colossus in the courts who helped secure many a landmark verdict in modern India, whose moral authority steered and even shaped the judiciary, passed away in his sleep at his home in New Delhi an hour after midnight Wednesday.

• Who was Fali S Nariman?

• “Fali S Nariman’s life is an example and an inspiration for all those who cherish the values of the Republic”-Know in detail

• For Your Information-Born in Rangoon in 1929, in what was then still British India, Nariman moved to India with his parents in February 1942 in the wake of the Japanese invasion of Burma. As he described in his autobiography Before Memory Fades (2010), the Nariman family was forced to leave behind most of their personal belongings. They made the 21-day trek across the Indo-Burmese border, carrying, for the most part, boxes of office records. He came from a generation who knew the cost of war personally.

After he received a second class in his Bachelor of Arts examinations, his father was keen on him sitting for the Indian Civil Service (ICS) examination, but young Fali knew his father could ill-afford the fees. He chose, instead, to study the law.
Though Nariman described law as the “last refuge” of a “second-class arts student”, that second-class degree was the Indian bar’s good fortune. He began his legal career in November 1950. He joined the chambers of Sir Jamshedji Behramji Kanga, which produced such luminaries as Harilal Kania, the first Chief Justice of India, and H M Seervai, whose Constitutional Law of India (1967) is one of the definitive accounts of the Indian Constitution.

Nariman’s career was marked by his integrity. He was Additional Solicitor General of India from May 1972 to June 1975, resigning from that post when the Emergency was declared on June 26, 1975. He never accepted any constitutional office thereafter. In a career spanning more than 70 years, the cases he argued shaped the courts as an institution of constitutional governance.

One example is the Supreme Court Advocates-on-Record Association (SCAORA) case of 1993 (the Second Judges case) where the Supreme Court endorsed the collegium system. Before the Court, Nariman had argued that “consultation” with the President meant more than merely seeking advice. The Court upheld the collegium system, finding that the Chief Justice would also have to take into account the opinions of his seniormost colleagues.

In later years, Nariman criticised the collegium system, arguing that many fine lawyers had been overlooked for consideration for judgeship. But he appeared again in the 2016 SCAORA case, arguing that the National Judicial Appointments Commission would impinge on the independence of the judiciary. The Constitution’s mandate to uphold the independence of the judiciary, he argued, was necessary to inspire the faith of citizens in impartial justice and to uphold constitutional values.

Nariman, perhaps among the last of a distinguished group of legal luminaries, including Nani Palkhivala, C K Daphtary, Ashok Desai, Homi Seervai and Soli Sorabji, was universally respected. He was unafraid of freely voicing his opinion on decisions taken by successive governments and Supreme Courts when he felt that they had crossed the line. He vigorously took up cudgels on behalf of freedom of speech and fundamental rights.

In his last book You Must Know your Constitution, published just four months ago, Nariman warned that governments with huge majorities led by populist leaders tend to slowly bend the written and unwritten rules which condition the correct functioning of a liberal democracy.

• Fali S Nariman-What are the notable cases of the late jurist?

• Fali S Nariman-How he shaped Indian Constitution?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Leader of the Bar

📍In his own words

📍An example, and inspiration

📍Defender and dissenter

📍Fali in court: 9 notable cases

Cabinet clears 8% increase in sugarcane FRP

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Main Examination: General Studies III: Issues related to direct and indirect farm subsidies and minimum support prices

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The Centre Wednesday decided to hike the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane to Rs 340 per quintal for Sugar Season 2024-25 (October-September) from the existing Rs 315 per quintal.

• Why the announcement is significant especially for Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra?

• What is Statutory Minimum Price (SMP)?

• Do You Know-The statutory minimum price (SMP) is announced by the central government based on the cost of cultivation estimated by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP). This is the basic price which the sugar mills must pay sugarcane growers. However, citing differences in cost of production, productivity levels and also as a result of pressure from farmers groups, some states (Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Uttarakhand) used to declare state-specific sugarcane prices called State Advised Prices (SAP),usually higher than the SMP. These states also argued that SMP was merely the minimum price which could be enhanced to protect farmers interests. Even though the name suggest that SAPs are advisory prices, litigation in courts has established that the mills in these states mandatorily pay SAP to farmers in these states. Unlike the MSP for wheat or paddy announced by the Centre, where the government procures a commodity from farmers directly in case market prices go below the MSP, the government never procures sugarcane from farmers directly. It is only sugar mills or khandsari units that buy it from farmers at the prices which shouldn’t fall below that determined by the government (SMP or SAP).

• Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) and minimum support price (MSP)-Compare and Contrast

• Who fixes the statutory minimum price of sugarcane for each sugar season?

• Map Work-Sugar Industry in India

• Fair and Remunerative Price and sugar mills-connect the dots

• What is difference between minimum support price (MSP) and Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)?

• Sugarcane Cultivation in India-Know the Geographical Conditions of Growth

• Sugar production and Sugar Cane Policy in India-Know in detail

• What is International Commission for Uniform Methods of Sugar Analysis?

• Till 2017-18, India hardly exported any raw sugar-Why?

• Raw sugar and finished sugar-compare and contrast

• Apart from the time window and freight cost savings, there are two specific advantages of Indian raw sugar-What is that?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍Explained: Maharashtra’s sugarcane FRP changes, and why farmers oppose them

Previous year UPSC Prelims Question Covering similar theme:
📍The Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane is approved by the (UPSC GS1, 2015)
(a) Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(b) Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices
(c) Directorate of Marketing and Inspection, Ministry of Agriculture
(d) Agricultural Produce Market Committee

GOVT & POLITICS

Cryogenic engine test for human-space flight mission, Gaganyaan, successful: ISRO

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) on Wednesday said that the performance of the key cryogenic engine to be used on board the LVM3 launch vehicles for India’s Gaganyaan missions, has been qualified and now certified for missions that will transport humans into space.

• What is the human-rating of a launch vehicle?

• CE20 cryogenic engine and Launch Vehicle Mark-Connect the dots

• For Your Information-Gaganyaan is India’s proposed first human flight mission that envisions sending a three-membered crew into an orbit of 400km for a period of three days and bringing them back to Earth. The first unmanned Gaganyaan – 1 mission is scheduled sometime in mid-2024.

ISRO’s heavy lift launcher, the LVM has been identified as the launch vehicle to be used during the Gaganyaan missions. Comprising solid, liquid and a cryogenic stage, these systems can be configured to ferry humans into space.
The seventh in the series of vacuum tests performed on the CE20 cryogenic engine, which powers the space vehicle during the cryogenic stage of its lift-off, was performed on February 14 at the space agency’s High Altitude Test Facility in Mahendragiri in Tamil Nadu.

“ISRO has accomplished a major milestone in human-rating of CE20 of the LVM3 vehicle for Gaganyaan missions,” the ISRO shared on its ‘X’ handle on Wednesday. Previously, the CE20 was subjected to 39 hot firing tests under varying operating conditions that lasted for 8,810 seconds (2 hours 26 minutes), whereas the minimum standard time for human rating is 6,350 seconds (1hr 45 minutes).

ISRO further said that even the flight engine, identified for the first Gaganyaan mission, has completed the acceptance tests. Powering the upper stages of the LVM3, the flight engine boasts of a thrust capacity of 19-22 tonnes with an impulse of 442.5 seconds.

The development of a human-rate launch vehicle is part of the several tests and technology development efforts required for the proposed human-space flight mission. Other technological developments such as development of life support systems to provide an earth-like environment to crew in space, crew emergency escape provision, evolving crew management aspects for training, recovery and rehabilitation of crew are planned. Besides, precursor missions are being planned which will demonstrate the technology preparedness levels before the actual manned Gaganyaan mission.

• What is cryogenic engine?

• What about indigenous cryogenic technology?

• Does ISRO have a cryogenic engine technology?

• Gaganyaan Mission-Know the key features

• Gaganyaan Mission-What makes this Mission very Unique?

• India’s Manned Mission to Space-Know in detail

• Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)-About the Organisation

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍What is Gaganyaan?

📍Gaganyan: How to send an Indian into space

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

A CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS

Syllabus:

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

Mains Examination: 

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

• General Studies II: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Manuraj Shunmugasundaram Writes: Unfortunately, the actions of various governors have, instead of tying up the loose ends of Union-state relations, caused more damage to the federal fabric of the country.

• Time to abolish governorships-What is your take?

• “Recently at the inaugural session of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly, Governor R N Ravi did not read the text prepared by the state government”-What is issue exactly?

• What is the current conflict between the governor and the government in Tamil Nadu?

• “The standoff between the Tamil Nadu government and R N Ravi highlights a significant constitutional dilemma about the role and powers of the Governor”-Elaborate

• Why the state government would approach the Supreme Court?

• What is the standard legislative procedure in state legislature?

• What is role of governor in legislative procedure in state legislature?

• Office of Governor-know the historical background

• Why has the Governor’s role and powers recently become a matter of contention?

• What is the relationship between the Governor and the state government?

• Various attempts were made to understand the role of the governor to strengthening centre-state relations-Can you name those committees and their recommendations?

• Administrative Reforms Commission of 1968, the Rajamanar Committee of 1969, the Sarkaria commission of 1988 and Punchhi Commission-What were their recommendations in the context of role of Governor?

• The Sarkaria Commission, set up in 1983 to look into Centre-state relations, proposed certain points for the
selection of Governors-Know them in detail

• What Punchhi Committee, constituted in 2007 on Centre-state relations said on selection the Governor?

• The Punchhi Committee recommended deleting the “Doctrine of Pleasure” from the Constitution-What is “Doctrine of Pleasure”?

• What Supreme Court of India said about the Governor’s role?

• How things changed after the S.R. Bommai case ,1994?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍The 360° UPSC Debate | Does India really need state Governors?

Previous Year Prelims Questions Based on same theme:
📍Which one of the following suggested that the Governor should be an eminent person from outside the State and should be a detached figure without intense political links or should not have taken part in politics in the recent past? (Please refer Prelims 2019 GS question Paper for complete question)
📍Which of the following are the discretionary powers given to the Governor of a State? (Please refer Prelims 2014 GS question Paper for complete question)
1. Sending a report to the President of India for imposing the President’s rule
2. Appointing the Ministers
3. Reserving certain bills passed by the State Legislature for consideration of the President of India
4. Making the rules to conduct the business of the State Government

ECONOMY

Legal scrubbing of India-Oman free trade pact underway

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s Interests.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The proposed India-Oman free trade agreement (FTA) that could boost Indian exports into the West Asia region is likely to be announced soon as pending issues have been settled and a legal scrubbing of the deal is underway, a person aware of the development told The Indian Express.

• Map Work-Oman, Strait of Hormuz and Duqm

• India and Oman bilateral relations-Know the background

• Free trade agreement between India and Oman-Know in detail

• For Your Information- The proposed India-Oman free trade agreement (FTA) that could boost Indian exports into the West Asia region is likely to be announced soon as pending issues have been settled and a legal scrubbing of the deal is underway. Oman is looking to diversify its economy by reducing its dependence on the oil and gas sector, India is looking for greater market access into diverse markets for its pharmaceuticals and textiles to technology and agricultural products. Currently, India relies on only half a dozen countries opening it up to external shocks.

“The India-Oman FTA should be announced soon as most of the issues have been settled and the deal is undergoing legal scrubbing. Once that is done, the leadership will take a decision on its announcement. The commerce ministry intends to sign the pact before the general elections,” the person quoted above stated.

This would potentially be India’s second FTA with a West Asian country after signing a trade deal with the UAE. India also furthered its economic integration with UAE by completing a Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) with UAE earlier this month.
Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI) said that the India-Oman CEPA, while offering direct economic benefits through import duty reductions, also serves a larger strategic role in India’s foreign policy.

“While acknowledging the limitations set by Oman’s smaller economic size and population, the agreement’s true value lies in its potential to open doors for India in the West Asea, fostering economic and strategic ties in a region of critical importance,” GTRI said.

In FY23, India’s merchandise exports to Oman were valued at $4.5 billion. India supplies 6.6 per cent of Oman’s imports. Petroleum products with $ 2.2 billion account for 49 per cent of India’s exports. Motor Gasoline or petrol with $1.7 billion is the largest petroleum product.

Over 83.5 per cent of India’s goods exports, valued at $3.7 billion, currently face a 5 per cent import duty in Oman. With the new Free Trade Agreement (FTA), these products, including major exports like motor gasoline, Iron, Steel and products, Electronics, Machinery, Aluminum oxide and Textiles will benefit from duty elimination, GTRI said. However, about 16.5 per cent of Indian exports to Oman, worth $800 million and already entering duty-free, will not see additional benefits from the FTA. These include wheat, Basmati rice, Fruits, vegetables, medicines, fish, tea, coffee.

• What is Oman’s Strategic Significance for India?

• What is Free Trade Agreement (FTA)?

• Know about other types of trade agreements like Bilateral investment treaty (BIT), Preferential Trade Area, Single market, Customs Union etc.

• What is Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP)?

• How Trade Relations impacts Power theory?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

📍India gets access to strategic Oman port Duqm for military use, Chabahar-Gwadar in sight

📍Explained: India, Oman ties and why its top defence official’s Delhi visit important

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