UPSC Key—25th October, 2023: International law of Refugees, Preventive Detention Law and Cash for Query Case

No one above law: UN chief on Gaza bombing; Israel says resign

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: 

• General Studies II: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate.

• General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday asserted that no party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law as he expressed deep alarm over the “relentless bombardment” of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip by Israeli forces and appealed to all to “pull back from the brink” before the violence escalates even further.

• What UN chief Antonio Guterres said?

• For Your Information-The Security Council ministerial meeting, held under the Brazilian President of the Council, was attended by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Israel’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Eli Cohen, Palestine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad Al-Maliki, Brazil’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira and France’s Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna among others.
Guterres said he is deeply concerned about the “clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza”.
“Let me be clear: No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law.”

• “It is important to also recognise the attacks by Hamas did not happen in a vacuum. The Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation”-Comment

• “The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas”-elaborate

• How does the United Nations see Hamas?

• “Displacement has been a major theme of Palestinian history”-Analyse

• What is United Nations Relief and Works Agency?

• How United Nations Relief and Works Agency helping Palestinian refugees?

• What is the international law of Refugees?

• What is the 1951 international refugee law?

• Is Palestine subject to international law of Refugees?

• For Your Information-About 3.1 million Palestine refugees depend on health services provided by the UNRWA. At the same time, the agency’s schools educate 526,000 students every year, of which half are female. The agency was created in December 1949 by the UN to support the relief and human development of Palestinian refugees.
The UNRWA definition of “refugee” covers Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes during the 1948 War.

• What is the extent of India’s assistance to Palestine refugees?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Joint statement by UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF, WFP and WHO on humanitarian supplies crossing into Gaza

In Telangana campaign, one silence: a draconian, ‘callous’ detention law

Syllabus:

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

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- As the campaign for the November 30 election picks up steam in Telangana, there is one issue on which there’s hardly any traction: the manner in which the state applies its stringent preventive detention law to address law and order — and deny bail. So what if the Supreme Court has repeatedly red-flagged it, calling it “a callous exercise of exceptional power” and “a pernicious trend… in Telangana…”.

• The Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities of BootLeggers, Dacoits, Drug-Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Land-Grabbers, Spurious Seed Offenders, Insecticide Offenders, Fertiliser Offenders, Food Adulteration Offenders, Fake Document Offenders, Scheduled Commodities Offenders, Forest Offenders, Gaming Offenders, Sexual Offenders, Explosive Substances Offenders, Arms Offenders, Cyber Crime Offenders and White Collar or Financial Offenders Act, (PD Act), 1986-Know its key features

• What is Preventive detention law?

• Under what laws can the state order preventive detention?

• For Your Information-Among central legislations, the National Security Act, the Conservation of Foreign Exchange and Prevention of Smuggling Activities Act, 1974 (COFEPOSA) are examples of laws under which preventive detention can be ordered.
As many as 25 states also have preventive detention legislations, like the Telangana law, which is called The Telangana Prevention of Dangerous Activities of BootLeggers, Dacoits, Drug-Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Traffic Offenders, Land-Grabbers, Spurious Seed Offenders, Insecticide Offenders, Fertiliser Offenders, Food Adulteration Offenders, Fake Document Offenders, Scheduled Commodities Offenders, Forest Offenders, Gaming Offenders, Sexual Offenders, Explosive Substances Offenders, Arms Offenders, Cyber Crime Offenders and White Collar or Financial Offenders Act, (PD Act), 1986.
These are expansive laws specifically addressed to local law and order issues. Other examples are the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Bootleggers, Drug Offenders, Forest Offenders, Goondas, Immoral Trafficking Offenders and Slum Grabbers Act, 1982; the Gujarat Prevention of Antisocial Activities Act, 1985; the Bihar Control of Crimes Act, 1981, etc.

• Why stringent preventive detention law in Telangana?

• Do You Know-As per the 2021 Prison Statistics by the National Crime Records Bureau, Telangana ranks second among all states in the number of detainees in prison, behind Tamil Nadu. At the end of 2021, Telangana had as many as 396 detainees under this special law.
Preventive detention laws give powers to the police to arrest an individual to maintain “public order.” The detention orders are examined by an advisory board, also formed by the state. Crucially, a detainee is not allowed legal representation before the advisory board and the law under Section 8(2) allows the state to not disclose the grounds of detention if it considers it to be “against the public interest.”
“Public order” is defined broadly in the explanation to Section 2(a) of the law as encompassing situations that cause “harm, danger or alarm or a feeling of insecurity among the general public or any section thereof or a grave wide-spread danger to life or public health”.
“Preventive detention is an exceptional law to be used sparingly. When it is applied to simply circumvent bail and continue keeping a person in jail, it violates due process,” said senior advocate Mohana Reddy, whose practice mostly focuses on preventive detention.
Both the Supreme Court and the Telangana High Court have underlined while striking down detention orders that preventive detention cannot be invoked to circumvent granting of bail — that the state cannot detain an accused when he is likely to be released on bail for the same offences.

• What Supreme Court said about the same act?

• What Telangana High Court said about the same act?

• For Your Information-In a ruling on September 4, an apex court bench of Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Dutta noted that “a pernicious trend prevalent in the state of Telangana has not escaped our attention” while striking down a detention order that was issued to prevent the accused from being released on bail.
In a judgment in April 2022, a Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud had termed Telangana’s use of the preventive detention law “a callous exercise of the exceptional power”. And called upon the state to “evaluate the fairness of the detention order against lawful standards”.

• Article 22 grants protection to persons who are arrested or detained-know them in detail

• Detention is of two types, namely, punitive and preventive-Know them in detail

• Punitive Detention and Preventive Detention-Compare and Contrast

• Article 22 confers certain rights on a person who is arrested or detained under an ordinary law-What are they?

• What are the powers of the state?

• How do courts assess the detention orders?

• For Your Information-Article 22 prescribes protection against arrest and detention but has a major exception. It says in Article 22 (3) (b) that none of those safeguards apply “to any person who is arrested or detained under any law providing for preventive detention.” The remaining clauses — Article 22(4)-(7) — deal with how preventive detention operationalises.
First, the state, which would be the district magistrate, would issue an order to detain a person when it is necessary to maintain “public order.” The state can delegate this power to the police as well.
If the detention ordered is for more than three months, under Article 22(4), such a detention requires the approval of an Advisory Board. These Boards are set up by states and normally consist of retired judges and bureaucrats. A detainee is generally not allowed legal representation before the Board. If the Board confirms the detention, the detainee can move Court challenging the detention order.
Article 22(5) of the Constitution mandates that the state is required “as soon as maybe,” to communicate to the detainee the grounds of detention and “shall afford him the earliest opportunity of making a representation against the order.”
A basic set of facts that are the grounds for detention are required to be communicated in one instalment, and the state cannot then add fresh, new or additional grounds to strengthen its original detention order. The grounds have to be read in a language that the detainee understands.
However, even this safeguard is diluted to a certain extent by Article 22(6), which says that nothing in clause 5 shall require the state to “disclose facts that the state considers to be “ against the public interest to disclose.”
For preventive detention, there are very narrow grounds of judicial review because the Constitution emphasises the state’s “subjective satisfaction” when ordering a detention. The touchstone on which the order is examined is this subjective opinion of the state rather than the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. When the Court cannot substitute the subjective satisfaction of the state with its own satisfaction, it essentially means that it cannot check the veracity of the facts mentioned in the grounds of detention.
A judicial review is limited to whether the Advisory Board applied its mind, considered all material facts and whether the state showed obvious malafide in ordering detention. Because judicial review is limited, courts often strike down detention orders on technical grounds, such as delay in the decision of the advisory board, communication of grounds in a timely fashion and in a language that the detainee understands, etc.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Telangana law under scanner: how preventive detention works

GOVT & POLITICS

Lanka offers free visas to Indians to revive tourism

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: India and its neighbourhood- relations.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- The Sri Lankan foreign ministry on Tuesday announced Indians will get free visas to the nation as part of a pilot programme which will extend till March 31, 2024.

The move is aimed at reviving the country’s fledgling tourism industry and also extends to citizens from six other countries – Russia, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Japan.

• India has traditionally been Sri Lanka’s top inbound tourism market, followed by China-Analyse

• What is “border-less tourism” region?

• Schengen area-what you know about this?

• Is it feasible to establish a Schengen-like area in South Asia?

• What is the current state of relations between India and Sri Lanka?

• What is the significance of the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka?

• What are the challenges facing in the bilateral relations between India and Sri Lanka?

• India and Sri Lanka Bilateral Relations-Trust Deficit or Close Neighbours?

• India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy-Know the key points

• Map Work- Sri Lanka

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍New opportunities and a few old issues as Wickremesinghe comes calling

Cash for query: Echoes from 18 years ago when 11 MPs were expelled

Syllabus:

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

Main Examination: General Studies II: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business, powers & privileges and issues arising out of these.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- ACCUSING HER of accepting money to ask questions in Parliament, BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey has hauled Trinamool Congress (TMC) parliamentarian Mahua Moitra before the House Ethics Committee, and now approached the Lokpal. Dubey accuses Moitra of taking “bribes” from businessman Darshan Hiranandani to ask questions against the Adani conglomerate, in return for “favours”.

In a letter to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla seeking a probe, Dubey said the case was reminiscent of the 2005 cash-for-questions scam.

• What is exactly cash for query case?

• What is the procedure for raising the questions?

• For Your Information-The procedure for raising questions is governed by Rules 32 to 54 of the “Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in Lok Sabha” and Directions 10 to 18 of the “Directions by the Speaker, Lok Sabha‟.
To ask a question, an MP has to first give a notice addressed to the lower house’s Secretary-General, intimating their intention to ask a question. The notice usually contains the text of the question, the official designation of the Minister to whom the question is addressed, the date on which the answer is desired, and the order of preference, in case the MP tables more than one notice of questions for the same day.
“A Member is allowed to give not more than five notices of questions, both for oral and written answers, in all, for any day. Notices received in excess of five from a Member for a day, are considered for the subsequent day(s) concerning that Minister(s) during the period of that session only,” according to a government document, ‘Question Hour in Lok Sabha’.
Usually, the period of notice of a question isn’t less than 15 days.
There are two ways through which MPs can submit the notices of their questions. First, through an online ‘Member’s Portal’, where they have to enter their ID and password to get access. Second, through the printed forms available in the Parliamentary Notice Office.
The next stage is when the Speaker of Lok Sabha examines the notices of the questions in the light of the laid out rules. It is the Speaker, who decides if a question, or a part thereof, is or isn’t admissible.

• What are the conditions for the admissibility of questions?

• What are the different types of questions?

• Do You Know-There are four different types of questions: starred, unstarred, short-notice questions and questions addressed to private Members.
A starred question is asked by an MP and answered orally by the Minister-in-charge. Each MP is allowed to ask one starred question per day. Starred questions have to be submitted at least 15 days in advance (so that the Minister-in-charge has the time to prepare the answers) and only 20 questions can be listed for oral answers on a day. When a question is answered orally, supplementary questions can be asked thereon.
An unstarred question receives a written reply from the Ministry. These also need to be submitted at least 15 days in advance. Only 230 questions can be listed for written answers in a day. Unlike starred questions, unstarred questions don’t permit any follow-up questions.
While starred questions are better suited to inquire about the government’s views on issues and its policy inclination, unstarred questions are more conducive for getting answers to queries related to data or information, according to a report by PRS Legislative Research.
Short notice questions are ones pertaining to a matter of urgent public importance. They can be asked with less than 10 days’ notice, with reasons for the short notice. Like a starred question, they are answered orally, followed by supplementary questions.
The question to a private Member is addressed to the MP themselves. It is asked when the subject matter pertains to any Bill, Resolution or any matter relating to the Business of the House for which that MP is responsible.
“For such questions, the same procedure is followed as in the case of questions addressed to a Minister with such variations as the Speaker may consider necessary or convenient,” the government document said.

• What is the importance of raising questions?

• What exactly is the Parliamentary Ethics Committee?

• What is the primary role of the Ethics Committee?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Mahua Moitra and ‘cash for query’ row: How MPs ask questions in Lok Sabha

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Breathless in Mumbai

Syllabus:

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

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

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Among Indian metros, Delhi gets the most attention for its notoriously high pollution levels. But it has been evident for some time now that bad air problems affect large parts of the country. As a series in this newspaper has pointed out, Mumbai has experienced an air quality crisis during the post-monsoon period for the second consecutive year. For most of October so far, the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Maharashtra’s capital has registered “moderate” or “poor”. The city has not had a single “good” air day this month.

• Why has the air quality been bad in Mumbai of late?

• “Mumbai’s overall Air Quality Index touched 191, way worse than Delhi’s 84”-how this happened?

• What are the reasons given by experts for the worsening AQI in Mumbai?

• “Meteorological conditions play a role in pollution. But it should be clear that the weather or climate cannot generate air pollution. Air quality deteriorates mainly due to anthropogenic sources of emissions, whether local or distant. Meteorological conditions only help to manoeuvre the pollutants in the air”-Discuss

• “Mumbai’s geography gives it a distinct advantage”-How?

• “The “usual” is becoming “unusual” and getting triggered by additional anthropogenic factors”-Cite the reasons for Mumbai pollution

• Do You Know-Last winter, the city experienced record-breaking particulate pollution, which was largely related to the unusual triple dip La Nina conditions — understood as linked to climate change. An abnormal drop in surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean had a telling effect on coastal wind speeds around Mumbai. There was scarcely any wind reversal from across the Arabian Sea, which would otherwise occur every two to three days and disperse pollutants in the air. In other words, the emission from various anthropogenic sources was not cleaned up and the city experienced its worst air of the decade.
La Nina has gone this year. However, the withdrawal of the monsoon was delayed till October. The withdrawal time of monsoon always plays a critical role in Mumbai’s air quality. The withdrawal is always followed by an anticyclonic circulation that was right above Mumbai and the surrounding regions during the initial days of October. This led to weak ventilation in the city.
At the same time, the transport level winds, much above the surface in the atmosphere, were moderately fast and were blowing towards Mumbai from Lonavala and Khandala in the Sahyadri ranges, around 2,040 ft above sea level. These chilly moderate winds are capable of transporting pollutants towards Mumbai. When these winds started losing energy, they descended near Navi Mumbai and the surrounding coastal region. There they encountered warmer winds which were laden with local dust. When this dust-filled cloud pushed towards Mumbai, it was arrested because of the calm winds, deteriorating the city’s air quality. The fact that PM10 continues to be the major pollutant in the city and the visibility of Mumbai’s residents has been impacted suggests that the major blame for the current worsening of air quality should be ascribed to coarser particles, largely a result of dust emissions.
Many development and construction activities are being undertaken across the city — these include the coastal corridor, work on the Metro and other digging activities. Unfavourable weather conditions exploit the emissions from such sources to create pollution. Under normal conditions, windblown dust contributes 26 per cent of PM10 and 19 per cent in PM2.5. However, the spike in pollution indicates that PM10 levels have gone up significantly. Under normal conditions, the transport sector contributes to 14 per cent of PM10 and 31 per cent of PM2.5. However, the stagnating conditions are likely to have caused a change in this mix.

• What is the AQI and how does it calculate pollution?

• What is PM 2.5 (particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometres) and PM 10 (particulate matter with a diameter of 10 micrometers)?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Burning trash, choking air: How Mumbai civic agencies took their eyes off waste mountain

📍Behind Mumbai’s poor air

ECONOMY

US bond yield hits 16-year high of 5%: Why it is rising and what does it signal?

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-On Monday (October 23), the yield on 10-year government bonds in the US, the benchmark for asset prices across the globe, rose to hit 5.02 per cent, its highest level since July 2007. Though the yield came down to 4.85 per cent later in the day, the rise capped a multi-week rout in bond prices as investors bet that the US Federal Reserve would keep interest rates at their current high levels for longer amid concerns over inflation spiking again due to high energy process.

In India, the yield on 10-year government bonds is already at a high of 7.38 per cent, a rise on 24 basis points in the last one month.

• What’s bond yield?

• For Your Information-A bond is a type of loan made by an investor to a borrower – a company or an institution – for a fixed period of time in return for regular interest payments. The yield on bond is the return an investor expects to receive each year over its term to maturity.
For the investor who has purchased the bond, the bond yield is a summary of the overall return that accounts for the remaining interest payments and principal they will receive, relative to the price of the bond. The prices at which investors buy and sell bonds in the secondary market move in the opposite direction to the yields. Rising bond yields could also have a cascading negative impact on equities.

• Why yields are high?

• What does it mean?

• For Your Information-Historically, it was observed the bond yields in other countries, including India, rose when US yields showed any uptrend and vice versa. However, the quantum of increase varies depending on domestic factors. India’s 10-year yield rose by 162 basis points from 5.76 per cent (July 10, 2020) while US yields jumped by 400 bps to 5.02 per cent.
The rise indicates that the cost of funds in the financial system is rising and interest rates are on the upswing. The rising bond yield means the government will have to pay more as yield (or return to the investors), leading to a rise in cost of borrowings. This will have an overall impact on the financial system, putting upwards pressure on the general interest rates in the banking system.
Analysts say that rising yields hint at expectations of sticky and higher inflation coupled with possibilities of a rate hike or status quo on interest rates. US Fed has hiked interest rates by 500 basis points from 0.25-0.50 per cent to 5.25-5.50 per cent since May 2022. In short, rising yields put severe pressure on an upward movement in interest rates. Rising yields can also trigger a flight of capital from bank fixed deposits to sovereign guaranteed bonds as the differential in yields widen.

• What’s the impact on bond investors?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Explained: Why bond yields are rising, and what it means for markets and investors

EXPLAINED

‘MOST GENDER-EQUAL’ ICELAND SEES WOMEN’S STRIKE: HERE IS WHY

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story- Women of Iceland — often called the world’s most gender-equal country — went on a one-day strike on Tuesday (October 24) to protest against gender discrimination. The striking women were joined by the Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdóttir.

For 14 years in a row, Iceland has topped the World Economic Forum’s global gender gap rankings.

• Map Work-Iceland

• Why are women striking?

• Do You Know-Iceland is a European island nation located in the North Atlantic Ocean, with a population of less than 4 lakh. Its women have made great strides in terms of representation in the workforce and legislation backing their right to equality. Many of these benefits came after a nationwide ‘women’s day off’ observed on October 24, 1975.
However, 48 years on, two key areas of concern remain — pay gap and gender-based violence. According to a report in The Guardian, in some professions Icelandic women still earn 21% less than men, and more than 40% of women have experienced gender-based or sexual violence.
“We’re seeking to bring attention to the fact that we’re called an equality paradise, but there are still gender disparities and urgent need for action,” said Freyja Steingrímsdóttir, a strike organiser and the communications director for the Icelandic Federation for Public Workers.

• Who is striking?

• What led to this strike?

• What was the 1975 strike?

• For Your Information-Since 1975, women have staged several hours-long strikes, but this is the first full-day action. The 1975 ‘day off’ saw the participation of almost 90% of the island’s working women. According to The NYT, schools and theaters were shut, and the national airline had to cancel flights as most of the flight attendants were women.
A BBC report said, “Banks, factories and some shops had to close, as did schools and nurseries — leaving many fathers with no choice but to take their children to work. There were reports of men arming themselves with sweets and colouring pencils to entertain the crowds of overexcited children in their workplaces. Sausages — easy to cook and popular with children —were in such demand the shops sold out.”
A year later, in 1976, Iceland passed a law granting equal rights irrespective of gender.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:  

📍Iceland: In protest against wage disparity, women leave offices at 2.38 pm

For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com
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