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More than 270 members of the Kuki-Chin community from Bangladesh who entered Mizoram on November 20 are being referred to as “officially displaced persons” in State government records, as India does not have a law on refugees.
A senior Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) official told The Hindu that the issue was being discussed with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
According to the MHA, foreign nationals who enter the country without valid travel documents are treated as illegal immigrants. A senior government official said that the group, including 25 infants and 60 women, approached a Border Security Force (BSF) patrol base on the Bangladesh-Mizoram border in the early hours of November 20 and were allowed to cross over. They were without any belongings and were allowed to enter India on humanitarian grounds.
The Christian community from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts shares close ethnic ties with people in Mizoram. The Mizoram government has approved the setting up of temporary shelters and other amenities for the community, who sought refuge in India following an action by the Bangladesh Rapid Action Battalion against some insurgents belonging to the group. Another official said they are expecting more such refugees in the coming days.
The first official said that four schools have been turned into shelters for the refugees following the State government’s order that none of them will be deported or returned.
The refugees will be housed on the same lines as the shelter given to over 40,000 refugees from Myanmar who have entered Mizoram since a military coup in the neighbouring country in February 2021.
The official said the “checks and balance” adopted for the Myanmarese refugees will also be put in place for the Bangladeshi refugees.
Election Commissioner shouldn’t be a ‘yes-man’: Supreme Court (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court said the country needed Election Commissioners (ECs) who would not shirk from even taking on the Prime Minister if required, and not just “weak-kneed” yes-men.
“Suppose the Election Commissioner is asked to take on none less than the Prime Minister… we are just giving an example… And the Election Commissioner is so weak-kneed that he does not get around doing it. Will it not be a case of complete breakdown of the system,” Justice K.M. Joseph, heading a Constitution Bench, asked the government.
The court said an Election Commissioner should be a person who could take a stand even risking his life, and not a docile “yes-man” whom the government knew would do its bidding.
“You appoint a ‘yes-man’... Any government for that matter… Somebody carefully picks him… He is like-minded. You share an affinity of thought and philosophy… He will do whatever is your bidding, and you know it. You assure him security [of tenure]... Well, on the face of it, everything is fine and hunky-dory…
But what is the quality required which may be found lacking… the most important quality which is at the core of our debate here - That is, whether the man is really independent!” Justice Joseph addressed Attorney General R. Venkataramani, who is leading the government side.
The court gave the government 24 hours to produce the file of appointment of former IAS officer Arun Goel as Election Commissioner.
States
Historic Howrah-based Shalimar shipyard delivers naval ferry craft (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
The 135-year-old Howrah-based Shalimar Shipyard, stagnating for many years before its revitalisation was initiated last year by the West Bengal government, was a scene of celebration on Wednesday when it eased a newly constructed naval ferry craft into the Hooghly river.
Christened INS Manjula, the 250-man ferry craft was among the 15 vessels ordered by the Navy between 2007-10 and it glided into the water on Wednesday at 12.35 p.m. when the water level was optimum.
The original shipyard was established by Turner Morrison in 1885 and, after Independence, it changed hands several times before being taken over by the State government in 1980.
During its heydays, it was a major ship-repair unit on the entire east coast but witnessed a decline over the years in spite of continuing to manufacture vessels, including for the Indian Navy.
It was in June 2021 that the then Transport Minister Firhad Hakim visited the shipyard and, promising a turnaround, appointed the West Bengal Transport Corporation managing director Rajanvir Singh Kapur as its new chairman.
So far it was run by retired people. But to re-energise it, we have now appointed a young IAS officer as its new chairman.Now, after about a year and a quarter, the shipyard has delivered.
Editorial
Fixing India’s malnutrition problem (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Issues related to Poverty and Hunger)
The Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2022 has brought more unwelcome news for India, as far as its global ranking on a vital indicator of human development is concerned. India ranked 107 out of 121 countries.
The Government of India attempted to discredit the index immediately in its attempt to deny the findings of the report, even going so far as to term it a conspiracy against India.
The GHI is an important indicator of nutrition, particularly among children, as it looks at stunting, wasting and mortality among children, and at calorific deficiency across the population.
And this is by no means an international conspiracy — India’s National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) from 2019-21 reported that in children below the age of five years, 35.5% were stunted, 19.3% showed wasting, and 32.1% were underweight.
Experts have suggested several approaches to address the problem of chronic malnutrition, many of which feature in the centrally-sponsored schemes that already exist.
However, gaps remain in how they are funded and implemented, in what one might call the plumbing of these schemes.
For instance, the Government of India implements the Saksham Anganwadi and Prime Minister’s Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nutrition (POSHAN) 2.0 scheme (which now includes the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) scheme), which seeks to work with adolescent girls, pregnant women, nursing mothers and children below three.
However, the budget for this scheme for FY2022-23 was ₹20,263 crore, which is less than 1% more than the actual spend in FY2020-21 — an increase of less than 1% over two years.
The other flagship scheme of the Government of India is the PM POSHAN, or Pradhan Mantri Poshan Shakti Nirman, known previously as the Mid-Day Meal scheme (National Programme of Mid-Day Meal in Schools).
The budget for FY2022-23 at ₹10,233.75 crore was 21% lower than the expenditure in FY2020-21. Even if we accept that 2020-21 was an exceptional year (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), it is clear that the budgets being allocated are nowhere near the scale of the funds that are required to improve nutrition in the country.
India is losing its cherished right to know (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The most vital mandate of the Central Information Commission, the apex body under India’s transparency regime, is to decide whether certain information sought by a citizen ought to be disclosed or not. Its primary duty is to decide the disclosure or the non-disclosure of information. But the commission has seemingly relinquished this primary duty in cases of larger public importance.
Citizens can file applications under the Right to Information Act with any public body and are guaranteed a reply from the public information officer of that public body within 30 days.
In case of a no reply or dissatisfaction with the response, the citizen can file an appeal at the departmental level and then a second and final appeal with the Information Commission. Each State has its own State Information Commission to deal with second appeals concerning State bodies.
At the centre, it is the Central Information Commission (CIC). Until the 2019 amendment to the RTI Act, Information Commissioners (ICs) appointed to the CIC were equal in status to the Chief Election Commissioner, and that of a Supreme Court judge.
They had a five-year fixed term and terms of service. After the amendments of 2019, the Centre gave itself powers to change and decide these terms whenever it wished, thereby striking at the independence of the commission and those who man it.
The CIC was a functioning institution until four years ago. It had passed orders seeking transparency in many cases of public importance — from boldly pronouncing that political parties were under the RTI Act’s ambit, and hence accountable to the public, to ordering disclosure of the current Prime Minister’s education qualifications and the Reserve Bank of India’s list of willful defaulters of loans. The commission acted as a strong proponent of transparency in public life.
Now, the CIC has become more like a walking dead institution, where records will show that not a single order for disclosure has been forthcoming in matters of public importance.
The present set of Information Commissioners have together adopted a new jurisprudence that has created additional hurdles in a citizen’s quest for accountability.
Opinion
India’s G-force moment (Page no. 7)
(GS Paper 2, International Organisation)
G20 is usually about a lot of polite, sanctimonious motherhood — ‘wash your hand before you eat’ kind of statements. Decision-making happens only when all the 20 countries of the group given their consent on any major step. That, as any organisational theorist will tell you, is an impossibility.
However, given Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s acute ability to turn almost anything into an opportunity, India must push through a few tangible changes which will have a profound impact on the global system.
The moment of India’s ascent to the G20 presidency coincides with the country’s 75th year of Independence. This opportunity must not be frittered away.
Together, the G20 members represent over 80% of the world’s GDP, 75% of international trade and 60% of the population. There are a few wins possible for India.
Traditionally, the presiding country usually comes up with its own policy formulation. For example, the Italian presidency’s agenda rested on the three pillars of people, planet, and prosperity.
The Saudi presidency also had three objectives: empowering people, safeguarding the planet, and shaping new frontiers. India must come up with a formulation that showcases its true strengths.
First, the world needs new windows for financing climate infrastructure. Using the G20, India should press the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank Group and the Asian Development Bank to open new windows for financing climate infrastructure to support the Panchamrit goals.
Traditionally, the IMF provides financial support for balance of payments needs. But now even countries such as India, which are economically sound, need finances for invests in climate-related infrastructure.
Unlike the World Bank, the IMF functions exclusively via grants. It is flush with funds and is seeking avenues to invest. If India manages to persuade the IMF to open a window for climate financing, it would be significant.
Explainer
SEBI plans to tackle market rumours (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) on November 12 floated a consultation paper proposing measures to effectively tackle market rumours.
It reviewed disclosure requirements for material events and information under the SEBI (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.
The central premise of the proposal is to ensure timely disclosure of significant events that may have a bearing on the price of a scrip.
SEBI notes that while regulatory actions against non-disclosure of events do act as a deterrent for listed entities to withhold details of material events or information, timely disclosure is still very important.
SEBI also seeks to ensure that unverified rumours do not shake investor confidence and affect decision-making. Listed entities too have sought that the regulator institute a certain uniformity in its guidance for disclosures, to help them better determine what constitutes a material event or information.
In a related context, the market regulator pointed to provisions that require companies to put forth specific and adequate replies to all rumour verification queries raised by the exchanges. This could be with respect to certain ‘information’ circulating on social media or any other platform. It proposes that entities should confirm or deny any such reported event or information.
The proposed measures are directed towards preventing any false market sentiment or impact on the securities of a company. Recognising the “growing influence” of print, television and digital news media, it argues that companies need to keep pace and ensure that any rumours are verified or refuted.
Thus, it is proposed that the top 250 listed entities, based on market capitalisation at the end of the previous assessment year, would have to clearly deny or refute such rumours.
Are El Niño- La Niña events whether patterns changing (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 1, Geography)
A new study projects that climate change will significantly impact El Niño-La Niña weather patterns approximately by 2030 — a decade before what was earlier predicted. This is bound to result in further global climate disruptions.
El Niño is the warming of sea water in the central-east Equatorial Pacific that occurs every few years. During El Niño, surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific rise, and trade winds — east-west winds that blow near the Equator — weaken.
Normally, easterly trade winds blow from the Americas towards Asia. Due to El Niño, they falter and change direction to turn into westerlies, bringing warm water from the western Pacific towards the Americas.
The phenomena of upwelling, where nutrient-rich waters rise towards the surface, is reduced under El Niño. This in turn reduces phytoplankton.
Thus, fish that eat phytoplankton are affected, followed by other organisms higher up the food chain. Warm waters also carry tropical species towards colder areas, disrupting multiple ecosystems.
Since the Pacific covers almost one-third of the earth, changes in its temperature and subsequent alteration of wind patterns disrupt global weather patterns.
El Niño causes dry, warm winter in Northern U.S. and Canada and increases the risk of flooding in the U.S. gulf coast and southeastern U.S. It also brings drought to Indonesia and Australia.
News
Buddhist Nyingma sect finds ‘reincarnation’ of famous Rinpoche (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 1, History)
In a significant development in the Tibetan Buddhist circles, the Nyingma sect has identified a boy from Spiti in Himachal Pradesh as the reincarnation of the late TaklungSetrung Rinpoche, a scholar known for his knowledge of Tibetan Tantric school.
Sources from Spiti said the boy of Tibetan origin would be formally inducted into the religious life on November 28.
“The Nyingma sect is the oldest of all Buddhist sects, and TaklungSetrung Rinpoche was a profound scholar renowned for his expertise in Tibetan Tantric school. In some issues, he was even consulted by the Dalai Lama.
The incarnation is, therefore, an important development as this is the continuation of an important teacher,” P. Stobdan, a strategic affairs commentator from Ladakh.
He said the “discovery” coming from Spiti with its cultural connection with Tibet was indicative of the contest over iconic Buddhist figures in the Himalayan ranges.
Usually, the process took a long period and would even involve contests, but in this particular case, the reincarnation was identified without any controversy.
The Rinpoche used to live in the Takthok monastery of Ladakh, one of the oldest monasteries related to the Nyingma sect. The followers of the sect are spread across Tibet, Bhutan, Ladakh, Sikkim and other Himalayan Buddhist pockets. The Rinpoche was widely consulted by the followers of the faith.
India test fires Agni-3 nuclear-capable ballistic missile (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
India on Wednesday carried out a successful launch of Agni-3 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile from A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Island in Odisha.
“The successful test was part of routine user training launches carried out under the aegis of the Strategic Forces Command,” a Defence Ministry statement said.
The launch was carried out for a predetermined range and validated all operational parameters of the system.
Agni series of missiles constitute the backbone of India’s nuclear weapons delivery which also includes the Prithvi short range ballistic missiles and fighter aircraft.
India has also completed its nuclear triad and operationalised its second strike capability, with nuclear ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant undertaking deterrence patrols.