UPSC Key | PMLA, Combination drugs, PMJDY and more

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Front

Bail for K Kavitha, Supreme Court questions probe agencies over evidence

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance

Mains Examination: GS-II: Constitution and Polity

What’s the ongoing story-  Questioning the probe agencies if there was “any independent data” to show “any incriminating evidence” against BRS leader K Kavitha and also on the “fairness” of the investigation by relying on the statements of some accused who had become approvers, the Supreme Court granted her bail Tuesday in the CBI and ED’s cases of alleged corruption and money laundering linked to the Delhi excise policy.

Prerequisites:

— What is money laundering?

— What is the section 45(1) of the PMLA?

— What is the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA)?

Key takeaways: 

— The Delhi HC on July 1 had denied bail to Kavitha. Among other grounds, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma held that Kavitha was a “well-educated” woman who could not be considered “vulnerable”, so the exception would not apply to her.

— The SC bench reportedly stated “If this Delhi HC order is allowed to become law, this perverse observations would mean no educated woman can get bail”, according to Bar & Bench.

For Your Information:

Explained: In Kavitha bail, PMLA exception to women, unclear link to crime

— Section 45 of the PMLA provides for bail on money laundering charges. This provision in the law, like the stringent bail standard in the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA), puts the onus on the accused to prove that there is no prima facie case against them while seeking bail.

— Section 45(1) reads: “No person accused of an offence under this Act shall be released on bail or on his own bond unless (i) the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity to oppose the application for such release; and (ii) where the Public Prosecutor opposes the application, the Court is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that he is not guilty of such offence and that he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail.”

— However, there is a crucial exception to the bail standard. “Provided that a person, who is under the age of sixteen years or is a woman or is sick or infirm, may be released on bail, if the Special Court so directs,” the law says.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the various amendments to the PMLA?

— What are the criticisms of the PMLA?

— What are the powers of ED related to PMLA?

Post Read Question:

Discuss how emerging technologies and globalisation contribute to money laundering. Elaborate measures to tackle the problem of money laundering both at national and international levels. (UPSC CSE 2021)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Decode Politics: As K Kavitha gets bail, a look at the case against her, what SC said

Explained

Upgrading weather forecasting

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Government policies and interventions, Disaster Management

What’s the ongoing story- The trust in weather forecasts has increased significantly, thanks to improvements in accuracy. But the demand for even more accurate and specific predictions continues to grow, particularly in light of the increasing instances of extreme weather events being triggered by climate change, and the disasters that they sometimes turn into.

Prerequisites:

— What are the extreme weather events?

— What is the role of the India Meteorological Department (IMD)?

— What is the Monsoon Mission?

Key takeaways: 

— To serve this growing need, the government is learnt to be planning a major upgrade of the IMD’s existing capabilities.

— Upgradation of weather forecasting infrastructure, technologies, and skills is an ongoing exercise. A major push came in the form of the Monsoon Mission in 2012, aimed at improving the long-range monsoon forecasts that are crucial for the government’s economic planning.

— The big turnaround in the public perception of weather forecasts came with IMD’s successes in predicting cyclones. Timely and accurate forecasts of cyclones, starting with Phailin in October 2013, led to the establishment of a reliable response and evacuation mechanism, because of which the loss of human lives, earlier in the hundreds, came down to very few or none at all.

— Over the last decade, even as the IMD has enhanced its forecasting skills and capabilities, climate change has made weather patterns more erratic. In general, forecasting weather in the tropics is more challenging than in areas that are farther from the equator, because of greater variability in weather phenomena.

— The science of weather forecasting has inherent uncertainties. The more precise a forecast — in terms of the spatial spread or time-window for the event — the greater the uncertainty. Also, the earlier the forecast, the less precise it is likely to be.

— Extreme weather events are even more difficult to predict. Events expected to happen only once in 50 or 100 years do not get captured easily by the models. Such events are now happening with alarming regularity, often triggering disasters like the deadly landslides in Kerala last month.

For Your Information:

— A new mission to improve weather forecasting, with a budget of at least Rs 10,000 crore is expected to be launched soon, The Indian Express has learnt. It is likely to be several times bigger than Monsoon Mission, launched in 2012, that has resulted in a noticeable uplift in the capabilities of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

— To improve the monitoring of atmospheric parameters over India, the mission is expected to see the deployment of a few more dedicated weather satellites. India already has three satellites in space — INSAT-3D, INSAT-3DR and INSAT-3DS —that are used mainly for meteorological observations.

Points to Ponder: 

— How does early warning help in disaster preparedness?

— How extreme weather events have posed a challenge to weather prediction?

— How AI can help in better weather prediction?

Post Read Question:

(1) With reference to ‘Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)’ sometimes mentioned in the news while forecasting Indian monsoon, which of the following statements is/are correct? (UPSC CSE 2017)

1. IOD phenomenon is characterised by a difference in sea surface temperature between tropical Western Indian Ocean and tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean.

2. An IOD phenomenon can influence an El Nino’s impact on the monsoon.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Upgrade for India’s weather department in pipeline, focus on extreme weather, local predictions

What are combination drugs; why have 156 of them been banned?

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Government policies and interventions, Science and Technology

What’s the ongoing story- The government has banned 156 fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs, including popular medicines such as Cheston Cold and Foracet, used for cold and fever and pain respectively.

Prerequisites:

— What are combination drugs?

— What are fixed-dose combination (FDC) drugs?

— What are clinical trials?

Key takeaways: 

— The ban is the most sweeping crackdown on FDCs — which are combinations of two or more known drugs in single-dosage form — since 2018, when 328 such drugs were banned. A total 499 FDCs have been banned since 2014, officials said.

— FDCs are medicines that have more than one active ingredient — chemical compounds in medicines that have an effect on the body — in a single pill, capsule, or shot. FDCs are meant for patients with conditions such as tuberculosis and diabetes for which they need to take multiple medicines regularly.

— FDCs reduce the number of pills the patient needs to take each day, and help improve adherence to the treatment.

— Sometimes, however, an FDC could mean that a patient ends up taking a drug that they may not need.

— These “irrational” combinations have been banned because they contain ingredients that either do not work well together or have ingredients that are not needed by patients to be taken together.

— A major reason is to take combinations of antibiotics out of circulation, because the unnecessary consumption of antibiotics can lead to increase in antibiotic resistance — which means increasingly higher doses or stronger antibiotics are needed for the treatment of even simple infections.

— Another reason for the ban is the pricing control on essential medicines. The government decides ceiling prices for these medicines based on average market prices. Companies are known to create FDCs to escape the pricing control mechanism.

— The action is in line with the government’s effort to weed out irrational medicine combinations that have entered the market over the years.

— These banned drugs were initially approved by various state licensing authorities without any trials for combinations because the ingredients were individually approved, the senior ministry official said.

—“The new drugs and clinical trial rules of 2019 make it clear that fixed dose combinations are to be considered as new drugs, and as such have to be approved by the central drug regulator. This has helped in bringing down the number of these irrational combinations available in the market,” the official said.

For Your Information:

— Every year, almost five million people die globally because of anti-microbial resistant (AMR) bacteria, according to a latest Lancet study. In fact, they make up a major part of the estimated 7.7 million deaths globally due to bacterial infections, which are becoming the second largest cause of mortality.

— “AMR is the failure of antibiotics to work because the bacteria have evolved to be resistant to drugs that have been widely used or misused,” says Prof Laxminarayan. As a result, infections become difficult or impossible to treat, increasing the risk of disease spread, severe illness, disability and death.

— The misuse and overuse of antimicrobials in humans, animals and plants are the main drivers in the development of drug-resistant pathogens. AMR puts many of the gains of modern medicine at risk.

Points to Ponder: 

— How are drugs approved in India?

— What are the challenges of the development of antibiotic resistance?

— What steps have been taken by the government to address Antibiotic resistance?

Post Read Question:

Prelims

(2) Which of the following are the reasons for the occurrence of multi-drug resistance in microbial pathogens in India? (UPSC CSE 2019)

1. Genetic predisposition of some people

2. Taking incorrect doses of antibiotics to cure diseases

3. Using antibiotics in livestock farming

4. Multiple chronic diseases in some people

Select the correct answer using the code given below.

(a) 1 and 2

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1, 3 and 4

(d) 2, 3 and 4

Mains

Can overuse and free availability of antibiotics without Doctor’s prescription, be contributors to the emergence of drug-resistant diseasesin India? What are the available mechanisms for monitoring and control? Critically discuss the various issues involved. (UPSC CSE 2014)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Anti-microbial resistant bacteria kills 5 million people every year, says Lancet study: How to prevent this?

The challenge of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), and how to confront it effectively

Editorial

A system to bank on

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Government policies and interventions, Economy

What’s the ongoing story- Soumya Kanti Ghosh writes: Financial inclusion has been a key tool used by policymakers and governments globally to reduce inequalities, strengthen livelihoods of people at the bottom of the pyramid, and spur growth.

Prerequisites:

— What is the financial inclusion?

— What is the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)?

Key takeaways: 

— For more inclusive growth, the government, on August 28, 2014, took a step to include all unbanked households in a time-bound manner, with the help of technology (the JAM trinity), and devised a mass financial inclusion scheme — the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY). The scheme was devised in two phases to provide banking facilities to 7.5 crore unbanked households.

— Today, more than 80 per cent of adults have a formal financial account, compared to around 50 per cent in 2011. India has done exceedingly well, anchoring the financial inclusion drive from a global perspective….

— Jan Dhan accounts not only have many positive aspects like insurance coverage, overdraft facility, and impact on saving habits, they also have social implications….

— Going forward, we have identified four major pillars covering both supply-side and demand-side interventions to address the current barriers to financial inclusion.

— First, there is a need to strengthen the ecosystem and enablers that drive financial inclusion. We need to focus on promoting private-sector involvement in financial inclusion through partnerships…

— Second, there is a need to increase penetration of financial products and services like micro-insurance and credit in a cost-effective manner… In this regard, the recently launched Unified Lending Interface will be a game changer in providing credit-products as it aims to make the lending process more efficient in terms of cost reduction, quicker disbursement, and scalability.

— Third, we need to focus on strengthening the consumer protection framework to maintain the trust of consumers in new and complex digital products…

— Fourth, the people who are part of the PMJDY are those who are new to the financial system… All these necessitate a customer-centric product design, taking into consideration the lifecycle needs of customers at every stage.

For Your Information:

— The government aims to open more than 3 crore accounts under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) during the current financial year 2024-25, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

— On the eve of the PMJDY completing ten years, Sitharaman said the scheme has helped the government to reach out to people, especially in identifying people who are in need of money.

— The government’s flagship financial inclusion programme Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi ten years ago on August 28, 2014.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is the significance of the PMJDY?

— What are the government initiatives to promote financial inclusion?

— What are the challenges of financial inclusion in India?

Post Read Question:

Prelims

(3) ‘Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana’ has been launched for (UPSC CSE 2015)

(a) providing housing loan to poor people at cheaper interest rates

(b) promoting women’s Self-Help Groups in backward areas

(c) promoting financial inclusion in the country

(d) providing financial help to the marginalized communities

Mains

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is necessary for bringing unbanked to the institutional finance fold. Do you agree with this for financial inclusion of the poorer section of the Indian society? Give arguments to justify your opinion. (UPSC CSE 2016)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Knowledge nugget of the day: PM Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)

Over 3 crore PM Jan Dhan accounts to be opened in FY25: FM Sitharaman

The Ideas Page

The Nyaya Sanhita we need

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II: Government policies and interventions

What’s the ongoing story- Amit Desai writes: The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal of the Government of India recognises new-age crimes such as cyberbullying, stalking, email hacking etc. Yet, the BNS does not address these aspects.

Prerequisites:

— What is cybercrime?

— What are BNS, BNSS, and BSA?

Key takeaways: 

— The old laws, recently replaced, were established in the early 19th century, a time of significant transformation, upheaval, and the birth of ideas that shaped our nation’s legal framework…

— Interestingly, the BNS retains large portions of the IPC, introducing only 19 additional offences, none of which are new but drawn from other legislation. The BNSS introduces merely nine new sections, and the BSA has only two new sections.

— Some amendments have been made to several existing provisions. Consequently, there are no changes relevant to the evolving society and changing behaviours.

— The National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal of the Government of India recognises new-age crimes such as cyber bullying, stalking, sexting, email phishing, email hacking…

— Yet, the BNS does not address these cyber aspects of crime. The terms “data” or “virtual” are absent, with “digital” appearing only once in Section 2(8), defining “document”. “Cyber” is mentioned only in the context of “organised crimes” in Section 111, without defining cybercrimes. “Electronic” is referenced only in relation to “electronic records /documents/signatures”.

— It is unfortunate that data theft is not yet an offence since “data” may not fall under the definition of “property” within the BNS.

— What the 21st century needed was a Bharatiya Abashi (virtual)/Digital Dand Sanhita or Bharatiya Abashi Nyaya Sanhita.

— Terrorism and organised crimes, borrowed from Section 15 of UAPA and Section 3 of MCOCA, are incorporated without the protections provided in their primary legislation. The decision to invoke terrorism under BNS is left to the discretion of an officer of the rank of SP and above, without any guidance, leading to arbitrariness and potential misuse.

— Concepts of “economic security” and “economic offences” are incorporated without definition, risking their application to commercial frauds, which could impact legitimate business and economic activity.

— BNS, in its objectives, states that various offences have been made gender-neutral. However, “rape” remains gender-specific despite Section 377 IPC not being re-enacted. Bestiality is now no longer a crime.

— BNS also creates a new offence of attempting to commit suicide to compel or restrain from applying lawful power, which could be used against political dissent.

— Hunger strikes, a significant part of our history, could unnecessarily fall under this provision. This will affect political agitation, a fundamental right.

— Technology outpaces the drafting of legislation. A quarter century is nearly over and we are yet to articulate a Sanhita for these dramatic changes in criminal behaviour.

For Your Information:

— The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA), passed in Parliament last December, have replaced the Indian Penal Code (IPC), 1860, the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), 1973, and the Indian Evidence Act, 1872 respectively.

— The BNS introduces Clause 69 that seems to ostensibly tackle the “love jihad” narrative by criminalising “deceitful” promise to marry. The phrase “sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape” essentially criminalises consensual sexual activity too.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the issues and challenges with the implementation of new criminal laws?

— What are the various committees’ recommendations on India’s criminal justice system?

Post Read Question:

(4) Which of the following committees was constituted to deal with the reform in the Indian Criminal Justice System?

(a) Malimath Committee

(b) Rangarajan Committee

(c) Sachar Committee

(d) Deepak Parekh committee

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Indian Penal Code to Nyaya Sanhita: What’s new, what is out, what changes

Explained: New crimes under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita, and some grey areas

A failure on two fronts

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national importance

Mains Examination: GS-II: Government policies and interventions

What’s the ongoing story- In March 2023, a committee was announced to review the New Pension Scheme (NPS) for civilian employees of the Union government. Based on the review report, the government has revised the rules guiding retirement benefits of those mandatorily channelled into the NPS.

Prerequisites:

— Read about the Old Pension Scheme (OPS), National Pension Scheme (NPS), and Unified Pension Scheme (UPS)

— What is the role of the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)?

Key takeaways: 

— The revised rules announced as the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) closely harmonise benefits for ceding employees with those flowing from the Old Pension Scheme (OPS). But the UPS raises the co-contribution rate for the government to 18.5 per cent (from currently 14 per cent, and from 10 per cent when first introduced).

— The co-contribution by the government on account of current employees only ratchets up the trend in expenditure on pension and other retirement benefits (PORB) of the current pensioners from the OPS.

— This yields little to advance the core objectives for the pension system reform to, one, curtail the ballooning burden of public expenditure on PORB, and, two, serve the as yet unserved/under-served by widening the inclusion of workers and coverage of the elderly with institutional access to OAIS.

— But, the failure to address the second objective is more severe as even under the most liberal assumptions, at least 80 per cent of workers (exceeding 380 million) are yet not included in the institutional OAIS system and at least 60 per cent of the elderly (exceeding 85 million) do not draw OAIS from public expenditure.

— In 2020-21, more than 9 per cent of general government expenditure was circumscribed by the ex-workers (or their kin) from the government.

— It can hardly be justifiable to deny benefits to those already covered, but it also appears immoral if provisions determining retirement benefits constitute an overreach and/or violate basic tenets to reward work contribution under amiable conditions. For example, provision for encashment of earned leaves dilutes the object of mandating earned leaves that is intended to promote work-life balance…

— The government’s announcement comes across as aggressive posturing to defend the course of pension reforms initiated in 2003 and restore the relevance of PFRDA that had started to vane with some states resolving to exit the NPS… But, the biggest loser in the process would be the vast majority of excluded workers and uncovered elderly.

For Your Information:

— The Union Cabinet on Saturday (August 24) approved the Unified Pension Scheme (UPS), which will provide government employees with assured pension after retirement. The scheme will be effective from April 1, 2025, according to the government’s announcement.

Points to Ponder: 

— Why the NPS was introduced?

— What are the issues related to NPS?

— What will be the impact of UPS on the fiscal consolidation of the government?

Post Read Question:

(5) Who among the following can join the National Pension System (NPS)? (UPSC CSE 2017)

(a) Resident Indian citizens only

(b) Persons of age from 21 to 55 only

(c) All State Government employees joining the services after the date of notification by the respective State Governments

(d) All Central Government employees including those of Armed Forces joining the services on or after 1st April, 2004

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Centre announces Unified Pension Scheme: How will UPS differ from OPS, NPS?

Economy

FM: GST council to discuss rate rationalisation on Sept 9, final decision later

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Polity and Constitution

Mains Examination: GS-II: Polity and Constitution

What’s the ongoing story- The upcoming Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council meeting on September 9 will discuss rationalisation of rates on several items but a decision regarding any rate change will be taken in subsequent meetings, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.

Prerequisites:

— What is the GST Council?

— What is a Group of Ministers (GoM)?

Key takeaways: 

— The GST has five key tax slabs: zero, 5 per cent, 12 per cent, 18 per cent and 28 per cent. A compensation cess, ranging between 1 per cent to 290 per cent, is levied on demerit and luxury goods over and above the topmost rate of 28 per cent.

— The GST Council may also discuss the issue of compensation cess levy, which is at present proposed to be levied till March 2026 for payment of back-to-back loans taken earlier to compensate states under the indirect tax regime.

For Your Information:

— The GST regime came into force after the Constitutional (122nd Amendment) Bill was passed by both Houses of Parliament in 2016. More than 15 Indian states then ratified it in their state Assemblies, after which then-President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent.

— The President set up the GST Council as a joint forum of the Centre and the states, under Article 279A (1) of the amended Constitution. It said that members of the Council include the Union Finance Minister (chairperson), and the Union Minister of State (Finance) from the Centre. Each state can nominate a minister in charge, of finance or taxation or any other minister, as a member.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is the difference between cess and surcharge?

— What are the advantages and challenges of GST?

— How does the GST Council promote cooperative federalism?

Post Read Question:

Prelims

(6) What is/are the most likely advantages of implementing ‘Goods and Services Tax (GST)’? (UPSC CSE 2017)

1. It will replace multiple taxes collected by multiple authorities and will thus create a single market in India.

2. It will drastically reduce the ‘Current Account Deficit’ of India and will enable it to increase its foreign exchange reserves.

3. It will enormously increase the growth and size of economy of India and will enable it to overtake China in the near future.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Mains

Explain the rationale behind the Goods and Services Tax (Compensation to States) Act of 2017. How has COVID-19 impacted the GST compensation fund and created new federal tensions? (UPSC CSE 2020)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Explained: What is the GST Council, and what does it do?

ALSO IN NEWS
Crime and freedom of speech: Issues in France’s arrest of Telegram CEO Pavel Durov	Authorities in France have arrested Pavel Durov, the co-founder and CEO of Telegram, for “allegedly allowing a wide range of crimes due to a lack of moderators on [the secure messaging app] and a lack of cooperation with police”, Reuters and other media have reported.

 

PRELIMS ANSWER KEY

1. (b)   2. (b)   3. (c)  4. (a)   5. (c)  6. (a)

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