UPSC Key | QUAD, Israel-Hezbollah conflict, Lok Adalats and more

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Front Page

Tightrope from Moscow to Tokyo: Delhi joins Quad on Ukraine war

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.

What’s the ongoing story- Three weeks after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, India joined the US, Australia and Japan in the Quad grouping Monday to express its “deepest concern” over the “war raging in Ukraine”, and flagged “respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity” — a clear reference to Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Prerequisites: 

— What is Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad)?

— How was Quad formed?

— What is ‘The Spirit of Quad’?

Key takeaways: 

— As External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa and Australia’s Penny Wong in Tokyo, the Quad reaffirmed its “steadfast commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, vowing to work towards a region where no country dominates others and each state is free from coercion in all its forms”. This was a veiled reference to China’s aggressive behaviour in the region.

— The Quad foreign ministers also said that they looked forward to India hosting the next Quad Leaders’ Summit later this year and to the US hosting the next Quad Foreign Ministers’ meeting in 2025. 

— Divergences between India and the remaining Quad members US, Japan and Australia over Russia and bilateral differences over the Pannun assassination plot have cast a shadow on the grouping. With Beijing as the principal challenge, Quad is trying to paper over the differences and make a case for cooperation.

For Your Information: 

— QUAD is the informal strategic dialogue between India, USA, Japan and Australia. The four nations share a common objective to ensure and support a “free, open and prosperous” Indo-Pacific region.

— Unlike NATO, the Quad does not include provisions for collective defence, instead choosing to conduct joint military exercises as a show of unity and diplomatic cohesion.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is the significance of Quad for India? 

— What is India’s stand on the Ukraine-Russia war?

— How are the Russia-Ukraine war, the continuing China’s threat, and other non-security issues major challenges for Quad?

Post Read Question:

Prelims

(1) Consider the following countries:

1. Both the countries are members of Commonwealth countries.

2. Both are members of QUAD, a regional grouping.

3. Both the countries are members of the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative.

The above mentioned statements refer to which group of countries?

(a) India-Japan

(b) India-United States

(c) India-South Africa

(d) India-Australia

Mains

Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) is transforming itself into a trade bloc from a military alliance, in present times Discuss. (UPSC CSE 2020)

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Vows to protect sovereignty, counter regional hegemony: 5 takeaways from Quad meeting

 

Express Network

As SC courtrooms turn into lok adalats, speedy justice and quick wit

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Polity

Mains Examination: GS-II: Constitution and Polity

What’s the ongoing story- Marking its 75th year, the Supreme Court kicked off a week-long, first-of-its-kind Lok Adalat, a “mega settlement drive”, as part of which, over the next four days, nearly 6,700 cases will be heard and disposed quickly. These cases will be taken up post lunch in the first seven courtrooms.

Prerequisites: 

— What are Lok Adalats?

— What is Alternative Dispute Redressal (ADR)?

Key takeaways: 

— In a reply to the Lok Sabha, Union Law Minister Arjun Meghwal said that as of December 2023, the pendency in Supreme Court was 807,65 cases, nearly 35% up from 59, 859 cases at the end of 2019.

— Lok Adalats are an alternative dispute redressal mechanism, where the aim is to settle or compromise cases amicably. While litigants get the benefit of swift justice and substantially reduced litigation costs, as per the Legal Services Authorities Act, 1987, the decision of the court is binding and it cannot be appealed against.

For Your Information: 

— “According to the study done by PRS Legislative Research, the pendency across all the courts grew by 2.8 per cent annually between 2010 and 2020,”  Justice D Y Chandrachud said.

— The data available indicates that more than 4.1 crore cases are pending in district and taluka courts and approximately 59 lakh cases are pending in different high courts, Justice Chandrachud said.

— “As of today, 71,000 cases are pending before the Supreme Court. In view of these numbers, the dispute resolution mechanism like mediation is an important tool in increasing access to justice by providing redress and settlement of disputes in a non-adversarial manner, free from the formalistic procedural practices of the law,” he said.

Points to Ponder: 

— What was the reason for establishing permanent Lok Adalats in India?

— What is the significance of the Lok Adalats?

— What are the features of the permanent Lok Adalats?

— What are the challenges of the ADR mechanisms?

Post Read Question:

(2) With reference to Lok Adalats, which of the following statements is correct? (UPSC CSE 2010)

(a) Lok Adalats have the jurisdiction to settle the matters at pre-litigative stage and not those matters pending before any court

(b) Lok Adalats can deal with matters which are civil and not criminal in nature

(c) Every Lok Adalat consists of either serving or retired judicial officers only and not any other person

(d) None of the statements given above is correct

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Courts extremely burdened, mediation important tool to tackle case pendency: Justice Chandrachud

 

The Editorial Page

Needed: Guardrails

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- Last week, a nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court ruled on a matter that has been pending in the courts for a quarter of a century, one that will have wide-ranging ramifications on the running of a federal polity.

Prerequisites: 

— What are the different types of taxes imposed in India?

— What is the difference between taxes and royalties?

— What is the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution?

Key takeaways: 

—  As a direct consequence of this judgment (Mineral Area Development Authority v M/s Steel Authority of India), state governments in India can now generate additional revenues from mining activities as well as the land used to conduct these activities. 

— The latest judgment upends the 1989 judgment (India Cement Ltd v State of Tamil Nadu) by a seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court that had ruled that “royalty is a tax” and that states only have the power to collect royalties, not to impose taxes on mining activities.

— On the one hand, Entry 50 of the State List of the Seventh Schedule gives the states the exclusive power to make laws relating to “Taxes on mineral rights subject to any limitations imposed by Parliament by law relating to mineral development”, and on the other hand, Entry 54 of the Union List gives the Centre the power over “Regulation of mines and mineral development to the extent to which… is declared by Parliament by law to be expedient in the public interest”. 

— There is a central law — the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act, 1957 (MMDRA) — and it requires those who obtain leases to conduct mining activities to “pay royalty in respect of any mineral removed” to the individual or corporation who leased the land to them…  The apex court has ruled that royalty, as envisaged under Section 9 of the 1957 MMDR Act, “is not in the nature of tax”.

— Justice BV Nagarathna, the sole dissenting voice, pointed out that the verdict could lead to an “unhealthy competition” between states to derive additional revenue and consequently lead to an uncoordinated and uneven increase in cost of minerals that will ultimately have an adverse impact on India’s economy.

For Your Information: 

— Royalties refer to the fees paid to the owner of a product in exchange for the right to use that product. For example, if a movie studio wants to use an existing piece of music by a specific artist in their new film, they will have to pay a royalty fee that goes to the artist.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is the nature of the Indian Constitution?

— Why is there a provision for the State List and the Union List?

— How tax collected is divided between the center and the state?

Post Read Question:

(3) With reference to the management of minor minerals in India, consider the following statements: (UPSC CSE 2019)

1. Sand is a ‘minor mineral’ according to the prevailing law in the country

2. State Governments have the power to grant mining leases of minor minerals, but the powers regarding the formation of rules related to the grant of minor minerals lie with the Central Government.

3. State Governments have the power to frame rules to prevent illegal mining of minor minerals.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

(a) 1 and 3 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 3 only

(d) 1, 2 and 3

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

‘Royalty is not a tax’: How Supreme Court recognised states’ powers to tax mining activities

At a standstill 

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian geography and current events of national importance

Mains Examination: GS-I, GS-II, GS-III: Important geophysical phenomena, government policies and interventions, infrastructure.

What’s the ongoing story- For more than 15 years now, Indian cities have been failing the monsoon test. This year, several parts of Delhi have been submerged on more than one day, Guwahati has faced a crippling flood, and last week, torrential rains brought lives to a standstill in several parts of Maharashtra, including Pune and Mumbai.

Prerequisites: 

— How does monsoon occur in India?

— How has climate change led to extreme water events?

Key takeaways: 

— All these cities have distinct geographical features. However, there are at least three things that are common to their flood-related woes: Outdated drainage systems that cannot take the stress of more than normal rainfall, planning that does not account for local hydrology and civic agencies whose role seems limited to organising relief and rescue. 

— Maximum casualties are caused by overflowing nullahs, incidents of wall or building collapse and electrocution. 

— Climate change, it’s now well known, has increased the intensity of extreme weather events. — The problem is that there has been very little conversation on institutional mechanisms to make Indian cities climate resilient. 

— Flood-related damage can be reduced if early alert systems are in place. Flood prone Buenos Aires, for example, has installed sensors in over 30,000 stormwater drains to issue flood warnings much in advance. 

— Indian cities will, of course, need to have their own mix of natural and technological solutions. They will need to start with the basics: Stormwater drain improvement projects in most Indian cities, including Mumbai and Pune, have progressed in fits and starts. The country’s latest monsoon woes are a signal that such projects cannot be put off.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the mechanism and characteristics of the Indian monsoon?

— What is urban flooding? What are its implications? 

— What measures should be taken to make the infrastructure more resilient to the emerging challenges such as urban flooding?

Post Read Question:

The increased intensity of extreme weather events has presented various challenges to the infrastructure. What are the reasons behind the extreme weather events, and what should be the way forward?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

The lesson from a monsoon-battered North India: Time to be prepared

 

Economy

‘Digitalisation can expose consumers to impulsive spending and data breaches’

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic development

Mains Examination: GS-II, GS-III: Government Policies and interventions, Indian economy.

What’s the ongoing story- While digitalisation improves accessibility and convenience of financial services, it can expose consumers to impulsive spending, herd behaviour and data breaches, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in a report.

Prerequisites: 

— What do you understand by the term ‘digitalisation’?

— What is the status of digitalisation in the Indian economy?

— What are the factors that led to the increased digitalisation in India?

Key takeaways: 

— In the Report on Currency and Finance (RCF) for 2023-24, released on Monday, the RBI said digitalisation-induced changes in the behaviour of consumers and financial intermediaries can have implications for monetary policy.

— Digitalisation can also create a more complex and interconnected financial system with implications for financial stability.

— Digital platforms enable quick dissemination of financial trends and choices, allowing information about investments, spending habits, and financial products to spread rapidly across social networks, it said.

— The report said that digitalisation can impact inflation and output dynamics, and monetary policy transmission in diverse manners and the overall impact could vary over time given the fast pace of developments.

— The monetary policy impact could be dampened if digitalisation leads to shifting of credit supply from banks to less-regulated / unregulated nonbanks, or by offsetting reductions in bank deposits

— The RBI has been undertaking proactive policy measures to harness the benefits of digitalisation while mitigating the emerging risks of digitisation in the financial sector.

— The report, however, said that digitalisation can provide a strong boost to India’s external trade in goods and services, given the country’s relative comparative advantage in modern services exports, which are not conditional upon the geographical proximity of the trading partners.

— Digitalisation in international payment systems has the potential to reduce the cost of receiving remittances, thereby leading to higher remittances and income or savings for the recipients.

For Your Information: 

— Project Nexus: The RBI has joined Project Nexus, a multilateral international initiative to enable instant cross-border retail payments by interlinking domestic Fast Payments System (FPS). As part of the project, the country’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI) and FPSs of Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand will be interlinked through Nexus.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the advantages of digitalisation?

— What are the issues and challenges associated with the digitalisation?

— What measures have been taken by the government concerning digitalisation and digital awareness?

Post Read Question:

Prelims

(4) Consider the following statements with respect of the digital rupee: (UPSC CSE 2024)

1. It is a sovereign currency issued by the Reserve Bank of India in alignment with its monetary policy.

2. It appears as a liability on the RBI’s balance sheet.

3. It is insured against inflation by its very design.

4. It is freely convertible against commercial bank money and cash.

Which of the statements given above are correct? 

(a) 1 and 2 only

(b) 1 and 3 only

(c) 2 and 4 only

(d) 1, 2 and 4

Mains

What is the status of digitalization in the Indian economy? Examine the problems faced in this regard and suggest improvements. (UPSC CSE 2023)

The Ideas Page

Clear goals, hazy roadmaps

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Polity and Economy

What’s the ongoing story- The Budget has set out in detail its objectives and the action plans to achieve them. While the broad objectives are clear, the roadmaps to achieve the objectives, as spelt out in the Finance Minister’s speech, are hazy. The impact of the Budget depends upon how effectively the projects are implemented. This is particularly so when its emphasis is on expenditures.

Prerequisites: 

— What is the interim budget?

— What are the components of the Budget?

— What is fiscal deficit?

— What is angel tax?

Key takeaways: 

— As compared to the Interim Budget, the provision of tax devolution to the states has been increased by Rs 27,428 crore.

— Total additional non-debt receipts as compared to the Interim Budget amounted to Rs 1.27 lakh crore. This was facilitated by a sharp increase in the transfers from the RBI. 

— Out of the additional revenue receipts, about Rs 72,000 crore was used for reducing fiscal deficit which has now been brought down to 4.9 per cent of GDP as compared to 5.1 per cent targeted in the interim budget. The process of fiscal consolidation must continue, and the goal should be to get to 3 per cent of GDP as early as possible.

— The budget speech mentions setting up a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act 1961, which is to be completed in six months. On the direct tax side, one major change relates to rationalisation and rate increases with respect to the capital gains tax.

— New technologies like AI and Gen AI will make the situation more difficult. If the absorption of people for a unit of output is going down, higher employment will need higher growth.

— All in all, the Budget has done well to highlight the critical areas for facilitating growth. It has done well to emphasise fiscal consolidation. But there is still some distance to travel. Performance budgeting is critical to ensure actual expenditures match the planned expenditures.

For Your Information: 

— The Union Budget (called the Annual Financial Statement under Article 112 of the Constitution of India) provides an account of the government’s financial health. It shows details about a government’s finances by providing the estimated receipts and expenditures of the Government of India for the current financial year, along with revised estimates for the last financial year and actuals for the last to last financial year.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the priority areas of the Budget?

— What are the initiatives taken by the government to tackle unemployment?

— What are the hits and misses of the Budget 2024?

Post Read Question:

(5) Along with the Budget, the Finance Minister also places other documents before the Parliament which include ‘The Macro Economic Framework Statement’. The aforesaid document is presented because this is mandated by (UPSC CSE 2020)

(a) Long standing parliamentary convention

(b) Article 112 and Article 110(1) of the Constitution of India

(c) Article 113 of the Constitution of India

(d) Provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act, 2003

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

UPSC Issue at a Glance | Decoding Union Budget: 5 Key Questions You Must Know for Prelims and Mains

Explained

Why Israel-Hezbollah conflict is heating up

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora.

What’s the ongoing story- A deadly rocket strike in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights has added to concerns that Israel and the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah could be sucked into a full-scale war – something they have both previously indicated they want to avoid but for which they have also said they are ready.

Prerequisites: 

— Read about the Hezbollah.

— Read about the Isreal-Hamas Conflcit.

— Mapwork: Locations of Golan Heights, Bekaa Valley, Gaza, Iran, Israel, Lebanon.

Key takeaways: 

— Hezbollah began trading fire with Israel on Oct. 8, a day after the Palestinian militant group Hamas attacked communities in southern Israel and sparked the Gaza war.

— Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, says its attacks aim to support Palestinians who are under Israeli bombardment in Gaza.

— The Gaza war has drawn in Iran-backed militants across the region. Hezbollah is widely deemed the most powerful member of the Iran-backed network, known as the Axis of Resistance. Hezbollah has said repeatedly it will not halt its attacks on Israel unless a ceasefire in Gaza comes into force.

— While linked to Gaza, the conflict has its own dynamics. Israel and Hezbollah have fought numerous wars. The last was in 2006.

— Israel has long viewed Hezbollah as the biggest threat at its borders and has been deeply alarmed by its growing arsenal, and the foothold it has established in Syria.

— Hezbollah’s ideology is largely defined by conflict with Israel. It was founded by Iran’s Revolutionary Guards in 1982 to fight Israeli forces that had invaded Lebanon that year, and waged years of guerrilla war that led Israel to withdraw from south Lebanon in 2000.

— Hezbollah deems Israel an illegitimate state established on occupied Palestinian lands and wants to see it gone.

Points to Ponder: 

— What is the Axis of Resistance?

— What is ‘Operation Al Aqsa Storm’?

— Who are the Iran-backed regional groups of concern and why?

— What is India’s stand on the Israel-Hamas conflict?

— How  Israel-Hezbollah conflict presents challenge for the regional peace and stability?

Post Read Question:

(6) The term “two-state solution” is sometimes mentioned in the news in the context of the affairs of (UPSC CSE 2018)

(a) China

(b) Israel

(c) Iraq

(d) Yemen

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

Explained: Hezbollah?

Why a Mumbai trial court releasing an accused in a PMLA case is significant

UPSC Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Mains Examination: GS-II, III: Polity, Constitution, Internal Security

What’s the ongoing story- Citing the Supreme Court’s order granting bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, a Mumbai Special Court, last week, released an accused in a money laundering case on the grounds that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) did not supply him the “reasons to believe” that he could be arrested.

Prerequisites: 

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

— What are the powers of the Enforcement Director (ED)?

— What is money laundering?

— What is the purpose of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA)?

Key takeaways: 

— Section 19 of the stringent Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) states that an ED officer, to make an arrest, must record his “reason to believe” based on the “material on record” that the accused is guilty of an offence under the PMLA. 

— Section 45 of the PMLA bars courts from granting bail to an accused unless the court is satisfied that the accused is “not guilty” of the offence.

— While sharing the grounds for arrest with the accused in writing was made mandatory by a SC ruling in 2023, the mandate to also share the “reasons to believe” raises the bar for the agency to justify an arrest.

— In 2023, in Pankaj Bansal vs Union of India, the SC ruled that disclosing the “grounds of arrest” to an accused, in writing, at the time of his arrest was mandatory.

— Section 19 of the PMLA includes this requirement too. While the requirement could seem to merely be procedural but given that the stakes really go up for the agency after arrest, the SC said that it is critical that the grounds of arrest be shared within 24 hours of arrest.

— The SC has extended this procedural shield even to the stringent anti-terror law — the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, 1967.

For Your Information: 

— Section 45 of the PMLA, which deals with bail, first states that no court can grant bail for offences under this law, and then proceeds to mention a few exceptions. The negative language in the provision itself shows that bail is not the rule but the exception under PMLA.

— The provision makes it mandatory to hear the public prosecutor in all bail applications, and when the prosecutor opposes bail, the court is required to apply a twin test.

— These two conditions are: (i) that there are “reasonable grounds for believing that [the accused] is not guilty of such offence”; and (ii) that “he is not likely to commit any offence while on bail”.

Points to Ponder: 

— What are the recent amendments made to the PMLA?

— What are the concerns with the recently amended PMLA?

— What initiatives have been taken by the government regarding money laundering?

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:

Explained: Bail in money laundering cases, and the ‘twin test’ under PMLA