Daily Prelims Notes 29 July 2024

July 29, 2024
Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
Category: DPN

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Daily Prelims Notes

29 July 2024

Table Of Contents

1. Tax Clearance Certificate Requirement for Travel Abroad

Sub: Eco

Sec: Fiscal Policy

Clarification by Government:
- The government clarified that not all residents need to obtain a tax clearance certificate for traveling abroad.
- This requirement applies only to individuals accused of financial irregularities or those with significant tax arrears.
Union Budget Proposal:
- The Union Budget proposal initially suggested mandatory tax clearance certificates for all residents going abroad, causing public concern.
- However, this requirement is limited to specific cases, particularly under the Black Money Act, 2015, as mentioned in the Finance Bill.
Existing Provisions:
- Section 230 of the Income Tax Act, 1961, does not require all individuals to obtain a tax clearance certificate.
- The Income Tax Department’s 2004 notification specifies that the certificate is necessary only in cases of:
  - Serious financial irregularities
  - Investigations under the Income Tax or Wealth Tax Act that require the individual’s presence and may result in a tax demand.
  - Direct-tax arrears exceeding ₹10 lakh, provided these arrears have not been stayed.
- Approval Process:
  - A person may be asked to obtain a tax clearance certificate only after the Income Tax Department has recorded the reasons and obtained approval from the Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-tax or the Chief Commissioner of Income-tax.

2. Mudra Loans: New Developments with Budget Boost

Sub: Eco

Sec: Monetary Policy

Introduction:
- Mudra loans, part of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY), have been a crucial source of funding for small businesses, particularly benefiting women entrepreneurs.
Loan Categories:
- The Mudra scheme offers loans in three categories:
  - Shishu: Loans up to ₹50,000
  - Kishore: Loans above ₹50,000 and up to ₹5 lakh
  - Tarun: Loans above ₹5 lakh and up to ₹10 lakh
- Recent Budget Announcement: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced an increase in the Tarun loan limit to ₹20 lakh for entrepreneurs who have successfully repaid previous loans under this category.
Impact of the Budget Increase:
- The increase is anticipated to significantly enhance business growth, especially for those who have already benefitted from the scheme.
- Women entrepreneurs, who constitute 70% of the beneficiaries, are likely to see expanded opportunities.
Loan Disbursement Trends:
- Steady Disbursement: In the first quarter of FY25, Mudra loan disbursals exceeded ₹1 lakh crore, a rise from ₹81,957 crore in the previous year.
- Record Growth in FY24: Disbursements reached a record ₹5 lakh crore, surpassing the previous year’s figure of ₹4.4 lakh crore.
Cumulative Impact:
- Since its inception in 2015, Mudra loans have totaled over ₹30 lakh crore in disbursements.
Regional and Institutional Performance:
- State Performance: States like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Tamil Nadu lead in Mudra loan disbursals.
- Institutional Leaders: Public sector banks, especially the State Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, and Canara Bank, have been at the forefront of Mudra loan disbursements.
Factors Driving Growth:
- Bank Initiatives: Public sector banks are actively promoting these loans and ensuring proper fund utilization through regular follow-ups and customer interactions.
- Guarantee Support: The National Credit Guarantee Trustee Company Ltd. (NCGTC) provides guarantees for eligible micro-units under PMMY, boosting lender confidence.

The Mudra scheme’s expansion and increased loan limits are poised to foster further growth and empowerment among small business owners, particularly women, while also ensuring that more resources are available to sustain and expand their enterprises.

3. SC to examine acquitted man’s ‘right to be forgotten’

Sub: Polity

Sec: Constitution

Context: Last week, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a case whose outcome will likely shape the contours of the “right to be forgotten”, known in European information privacy regulation as the “right to erasure”, in India. The top court now has to decide whether the right to be forgotten is a fundamental right and, if so, how it relates to other fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

What is the matter?

A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India (CJI) D Y Chandrachud will hear a challenge against a Madras High Court ruling that on February 27 directed legal search portal Indian Kanoon to take down a judgment in a 2014 rape and cheating case. The acquitted man had moved the Madras HC in 2021, saying that he had been denied the citizenship of Australia because his name appears in the judgment that is publicly available on the legal portal.

What is the right to be forgotten?

The right to be forgotten can be loosely described as the right to remove one’s digital footprint (from Internet searches, etc.) where it violates the right to privacy.
In May 2014, the Luxembourg-based Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the highest court in matters concerning the application and interpretation of EU law, affirmed that there exists a right to be forgotten.
The right to be forgotten derives from the case Google Spain SL, Google Inc v Agencia Española de Protección de Datos, Mario Costeja González (2014). For the first time, the right to be forgotten is codified and to be found in the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in addition to the right to erasure.
Citing Articles 7 (respect for private and family life) and 8 (protection of personal data) of the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights, the CJEU ruled that search engines must cater to individual requests to remove data that “appear to be inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant or excessive in the light of the time that had elapsed”.
Informational self-determination — an individual’s right to control and limit her personal information — is now widely recognised in EU law. Article 17 of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) describes the right to erasure. From victims of so-called “revenge porn” to individuals whose personal cases are on the Internet, the right to be forgotten is a crucial remedy.

How is the right interpreted in India?

In India, there is no statutory framework that prescribes the right to be forgotten. However, not all constitutional rights need to be written in black and white. Until the 2017 judgment in Justice K S Puttaswamy v Union of India — in which the apex court explicitly recognised the right to privacy as a fundamental right, placing it as a facet of the right to life, right to equality, and the right to freedom of speech and expression — there were also questions on the right to privacy.
A concurring opinion in the Puttaswamy ruling by Justice S K Kaul mentions the right to be forgotten. Justice Kaul said that this right “does not mean that all aspects of earlier existence are to be obliterated… It would only mean that an individual who is no longer desirous of his personal data to be processed or stored, should be able to remove it from the system where the personal data/ information is no longer necessary, relevant, or is incorrect and serves no legitimate interest”.
Justice Kaul also gave a list of valid justifications for the right to be forgotten to be violated. These included “exercising the right of freedom of expression and information, for compliance with legal obligations, for the performance of a task carried out in public interest, on the grounds [of]… public health, for archiving purposes in the public interest, scientific or historical research purposes or statistical purposes, or for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims”.

How have courts ruled on the issue?

In several isolated pleas, mostly asking the court’s permission to take down information in court rulings, courts have passed orders with regard to this right.
In Rajagopal vs. State of Tamil Nadu (1994), the SC had talked about a “right to be let alone”.But the ruling drew a distinction between the right to be let alone and the publication of public records, such as court decisions. This is for the reason that once a matter becomes a matter of public record, the right to privacy no longer subsists and it becomes a legitimate subject for comment by press and media among others,” the two-judge Bench had held.
In Dharamraj Bhanushankar Dave vs State of Gujarat (2017), the petitioner had asked the Gujarat HC to remove details of his acquittal in a murder and kidnapping case, saying that it had come up during background checks while he was applying for an Australian visa. The court refused to grant him relief, holding that court orders are allowed to be in public domain.
However, in [Name Redacted] vs The Registrar General, the KarnatakaHC in 2017 ensured that the name of the petitioner would be protected in an annulment case. Although the court did not substantially engage with jurisprudence on the right to be forgotten, it said that the ruling is in keeping “with the trend in the Western countries where they follow this as a matter of rule…in sensitive cases involving women in general…”.
In 2021, the Delhi HC extended the right to be forgotten to even a criminal case by allowing a ruling involving Jorawar Singh Mundy, an American law student, to be taken down from search results. Mundy was acquitted in a customs case involving narcotics.
The Orissa HC in 2020, while hearing a criminal case which involved “revenge porn”, said that the legal possibilities of being forgotten “online or offline cries for a widespread debate”

4. South Africa’s new law on climate change

Subject: Env

Sec: Climate Change

Context:

South Africa’s President, Cyril Ramaphosa, signed into law a piece of legislation that will impose mandatory curbs on the emissions from large, fossil-fuel heavy industries and, require climate-adaptation plans from towns and villages. The President said this would enable South Africa to meet its emissions reduction commitments under the Paris agreement.

Significance of this law:

The Climate Change Bill was approved by South Africa’s National Assembly.
South Africa relies on coal as its primary fuel source for electricity generation and is one of the world’s top 15 greenhouse gas (GHG) emitters.
Net emissions in 2017 were estimated at 512 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (Mt CO2e), an increase of 14% from 2000.
The energy sector represents roughly 80% of gross emissions, with energy industries (~60% ) and transport (~12%).

Objectives of the Climate Change Act

The main goal of the act is to cut down on greenhouse gas emissions, which are high in South Africa because the country gets most of its energy from coal.
The country is one of the biggest producers of carbon dioxide and has been having a hard time meeting its goals for lowering pollution.

Carbon Budget Allocations

The law sets up a carbon budget method for big companies that release a lot of greenhouse gases.
Each big company that emits will have its pollution limited for a certain amount of time.
Companies will have to pay more in carbon taxes if they go over this limit, even though it’s not illegal to do so.

Steps has South Africa taken:

Every country submits Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), which are time-bound commitments to lower emissions.
South Africa submitted its first NDC in 2016 and its updated NDC in 2021. The updated NDC commits to 31% reduction.
NDC outlines an approach for a ‘just transition,’ to achieve targets, focusing on agriculture, forestry and other land use, energy, industrial processes and product use, and waste sectors.
South Africa has estimated that it requires $8 billion per year by 2030. It has set an internal goal of reaching ‘net zero emissions’ by 2050 in its Low-Emission Development Strategy submitted in 2020.
The Presidential Climate Commission released its Just Transition Framework in 2022, which aims to inform policy making at the nexus of climate and development to enable deep, just transformational shifts. These were the actions that preceded the signing of the Climate Change Bill.

5. On reservations and the OBC creamy layer

Subject: Polity

Sec: Constitution

Context:

The allotment of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) to Puja Khedkar as an Other Backward Class (OBC) Non-Creamy Layer (NCL) candidate coupled with multiple disabilities has raised issues surrounding the creamy layer in OBC reservation.

History of reservation:

Articles 15 and 16 guarantee equality to all citizens in any policy of the government and public employment respectively.
In order to achieve social justice, they also enable special provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes or OBC, Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST).
Reservations for SC and ST are fixed at 15% and 7.5% respectively, in jobs, educational institutions and public sector undertakings (PSU) at the central level.
It was in 1990, when V. P. Singh was Prime Minister, that 27% reservation for OBC was implemented in central government employment based on Mandal Commission (1980) recommendations.
Subsequently in 2005, reservation was enabled for OBC, SC and ST in educational institutions including private institutions.
In 2019, 10% reservation was enabled for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among the unreserved category.

Mandal Commission:

The Mandal Commission or the Second Socially and Educationally Backward Classes, was established in India in 1979 with a mandate to “identify the socially or educationally backward classes” of India.
It was headed by B. P. Mandal and submitted its report in 1980 and was implemented in 1990.

Recommendations of Mandal Commission:
- OBCs must be provided a reservation of 27% in public sector and government jobs.
- They should be provided with the same 27% reservation in promotions at all levels of public services.
- The reserved quota, if unfilled, should be carried forward for a period of 3 years.
- OBCs should be provided age relaxation similar to SCs and STs.
- Reservations to be made in PSUs, banks, private sector undertakings receiving government grants, colleges, and universities.
- The government to make the necessary legal provisions to implement these recommendations.

Creamy layer:

The 27% reservation for OBC was upheld by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case (1992). It opined that caste is a determinant of class in the Indian context.
However, in order to uphold the basic structure of equality, it fixed a cap of 50% for reservation unless there are exceptional circumstances. The court also provided for exclusion of creamy layer from OBC.
The criteria for identifying a person as part of the creamy layer is based on the recommendations of the Justice Ram Nandan Prasad Committee (1993).
It is determined by the position/income of an applicant’s parents alone.
The criteria for belonging to creamy layer is parental income, excluding income from salary and agricultural income, being more than ₹8 lakh in each year in the last three consecutive financial years.
Categories of applicants are also considered as belonging to creamy layer:

(a) parents, either of whom entered government service (centre or State) as Group A/Class I officer or parents, both of whom entered as Group B/Class II officers or father, who was recruited in Group B/Class II post and promoted to Group A/Class I before 40 years of age;

(b) either of the parents employed in a managerial position in PSUs;

(c) either of the parents holding constitutional posts.

Issues:

Some applicants manage to obtain NCL or EWS certificate through dubious means.
The same may also be true with respect to disability certificates in order to take benefit of the 4% of seats reserved for persons with disabilities in central government jobs.
There are also allegations of applicants and their parents adopting strategies to get around the creamy layer exclusion like gifting of assets, taking premature retirement etc., since the applicant’s or his/her spouse’s income is not considered for such exclusion.
Concentration of reservation benefits persists in the SC and ST category as well. There is neither any exclusion based on ‘creamy layer’ for these communities.
The reservation at present stands at 60%, including the reservation for EWS.

6. New Governors are appointed

Subject: Polity

Sec: Constitution

Context:

President Droupadi Murmu has appointed new governors for six states and shifted incumbents in three states.

Constitutional Provisions Related to Governor of State

Articles 153-167 in Part VI of the Indian Constitution deal with the State Executive. They also contain some key provisions related to the Governor of State.
The constitutional provisions mentioned under these articles deal with matters related to the appointment, qualifications, powers, functions, and other aspects related to the office of the Governor of State.
Article 153: There shall be a Governor for each State and the same person can be the Governor for two/more States.
- The second part was added by the 7th Constitutional Amendment Act 1956.
Article 155: Governor of a State shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal.
Article 156:
- The Governor shall hold office during the pleasure of the President, but his normal term of office will be five years.
- The Governor may, by writing under his hand addressed to the President, resign his office.

Appointment of Governor of State

The Governor of State is appointed by the President of India by warrant under his hand and seal.
- Thus, the Governor is neither directly elected by the people nor indirectly elected by a specially constituted electoral college as is the case with the President of India.

Being appointed by the Center, the Governor of State acts as a nominee of the Central Government.

Qualifications of Governor of State

The Indian Constitution lays down only two qualifications for the appointment of a person as the Governor of State:

He should be a citizen of India, and
He should have completed the age of 35 years.

Functioning of the Governor’s Office over the Years

Because the President acts with the aid and assistance of the Prime Minister and the Union Council of Ministers, the Governor is appointed and removed by the central government.
The Governor enjoys certain discretionary powers under the Constitution (Article 163), such as giving or withholding assent to a Bill passed by the state legislature, etc.
- These discretionary powers have resulted in friction with the state government.
As a result, Governors have been seen as acting on the behest of the central government/ as an agent of the Centre, especially by those in opposition.

Reforming the Office of the Governor

The Supreme Court has time and again (in Shamsher Singh, SR Bommai, Nabam Rebia cases) reiterated that the office of the Governor should be independent on account of its high constitutional importance.
- Recently, the courts have also held that constitutional morality requires high functionaries to sort out their differences and behave responsibly to better serve the citizens.
- This would require clearly laying down the norms.
The perception of bias in the appointment of the Governor could be addressed by appointing the Governor from a body comprising representatives of both the states and the Centre and also from the judiciary to ensure fair play.
- This would ensure that cooperative federalism is at play which has worked quite well for India in terms of GST reform which functions through the GST Council with representatives of both the Centre and the states.
Impartiality and independence of the office could be ensured by providing security of tenure.
- This has worked quite well in India where the judges of the HCs and the SC and some other constitutional functionaries are given this status.
- This would mean that Governors make their decision in the public interest rather than in the political interest.
The removal of the Governor could be done by the appointing committee. This again would ensure that both the Centre and the state have a say in the removal of the Governor.

7. What are the various efforts being taken to mitigate caller ID spoofing?

Sub: Sci

Sec: Awareness in IT and Computer

Context:

What is caller ID spoofing?

Caller ID spoofing is a technique with which the phone number that a call appears to originate from can be falsified.
Spoofing techniques have been honed by enthusiasts, telemarketers, and fraudsters alike, over the years.
It is used to carry out social engineering attacks, where the spoofed caller ID is abused for the implicit trust that the receiving party associates with it.
As per Department of Telecommunication(DOT), using spoofed call service is illegal as per the Indian Telegraph Act, Sec 25(c).

What are the efforts undertaken to mitigate caller ID spoofing?

The International Telecommunications Union (ITU) in 2021 provided a reference using Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) based authentication which could be implemented by Indian telecom operators to fix caller ID spoofing for good.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had earlier recommended to telecom operators to integrate a system known as Calling Name Presentation (CNAP) which allows consumers to know who is calling them in a way similar to TrueCaller.
DoT is reportedly in the process of launching a pilot of the CNAP project.
DoT has devised a system to “identify and block” international calls with a manipulated Calling Line Identity (CLI) and has issued directions to telecom operators to prevent such calls from reaching subscribers.
Section 20 of The Telecommunications Act, 2023 empowers the Government to take “temporary possession of any telecommunication service or telecommunication network from an authorized entity” for “any public emergency, including disaster management, or in the interest of public safety.”

What is the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)?

The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies.
It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Union, significantly predating the UN and making it the oldest UN agency.
It has a membership of 193 countries and more than 1000 companies, universities and international and regional organizations.

What is Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)?

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) was established in 1997 under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997.
TRAI regulates telecom services including fixation/revision of tariffs for telecom services which were earlier vested in the Central Government.
It also aims to provide a fair and transparent policy environment which promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition.

8. CITES eases export of agarwood from India, move to benefit lakhs of farmers

Sub: Env

Sec: Int Conventions

Context:

India successfully blocked the inclusion of Aquilaria malaccensis (agarwood) in the CITES Review of Significant Trade (RST).
The decision was based on a non-detriment findings (NDFs) study by the Botanical Survey of India (BSI).

Details:

CITES notified a new export quota for agarwood and its oil from India starting April 2024.
The quota includes 151,080 kg/year for agarwood chips and powder/sawdust and 7,050 kg/year for agarwood oil.
Agarwood cultivation, primarily in Assam, Manipur, Nagaland, and Tripura, is set to benefit lakhs of farmers.
The study estimates around 139.89 million plants in India, highlighting widespread cultivation.

Historical Context and Study Findings:

Aquilaria malaccensis was first listed in CITES Appendix II in 1995.
The NDF recommended against harvesting from wild populations, focusing on community gardens and plantations instead.
The illegal trade of agarwood continued despite previous export restrictions, with significant seizures reported.

Agarwood (Oud):

Agarwood, also known as oud, aloeswood, eaglewood, gharuwood, or the Wood of Gods, is a fragrant, dark, and resinous wood.
It forms in the heartwood of Aquilaria trees when infected with the Phaeoacremonium mold, P. parasitica.
The tree secretes a resin in response to the infection, which causes the heartwood to become dense, dark, and saturated with the fragrant resin.
This resinous wood is used in incense, perfume, and small hand carvings and is known by various names, including oud, oodh, aguru, aloes, agar, gaharu, and jinko.
Oud has a long history of use and is highly valued in Middle Eastern and South Asian cultures, particularly in Muslim, Christian, and Hindu communities, for its distinctive fragrance used in colognes, incense, and perfumes.
The essential oil from agarwood possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-rheumatic, analgesic, and antioxidant properties.

Source: TH

9. Surprising ‘dark oxygen’ discovery could ensnarl deep-sea mining

Sub: Geo

Sec: Eco geo

Context:

A study published in Nature Geoscience on July 22 revealed an unknown process producing oxygen in the deep ocean, where photosynthesis is not possible.
This discovery suggests the existence of previously unknown ecosystems in the abyssal zone, a deep-sea region.

Abyssal zone:

The abyssal zone or abyssopelagic zone is a layer of the pelagic zone of the ocean.
The word abyss comes from the Greek word ἄβυσσος (ábussos), meaning “bottomless”.
At depths of 4,000–6,000 m (13,000–20,000 ft), this zone remains in perpetual darkness.
It covers 83% of the total area of the ocean and 60% of Earth’s surface.
The abyssal zone has temperatures around 2–3 °C (36–37 °F) through the large majority of its mass. The water pressure can reach up to 76 MPa (750 atm; 11,000 psi).

Presence of oxygen in Abyssal zone:

When the scientists were conducting experiments at a depth of 4 km, they noticed the oxygen concentration in some places rapidly increased instead of decreasing.
This underwater region is called the abyssal zone. It receives too little sunlight for photosynthesis to be feasible. Instead, life-forms here get oxygen from water carried in by a global circulation called the ‘Great Conveyor Belt’.
Still, the amount of oxygen is low and without any local production, the device should have measured the oxygen levels dropping as small animals consumed it.
But the scientists found the opposite: it increased, sometimes tripling in just two days.

Possible Mechanism: Polymetallic Nodules:

Polymetallic nodules, rich in iron, manganese, copper, and nickel, may play a role in producing oxygen by splitting water molecules through electric charges.
These nodules are found on the ocean floor, particularly in the Clarion-Clipperton Zone off Mexico’s west coast.
- Covering an area larger than India, the Zone is considered to have the world’s highest concentration of polymetallic nodules, including 6 billion tonnes of manganese and more than 200 million tonnes each of copper and nickel.

India’s Involvement and Deep-Sea Mining

India plans to explore and mine deep-sea minerals in the Pacific Ocean, as part of its ‘Deep Ocean Mission.’
The International Seabed Authority has issued 15-year contracts for deep-sea mining, with at least 22 contractors, including India and China.

Environmental Concerns and ‘Dark Oxygen’:

The study’s findings raise concerns about the impact of deep-sea mining on ecosystems dependent on ‘dark oxygen’ produced by the nodules.
Previous experiments, such as the Disturbance and Recolonisation (DISCOL) Experiment, showed long-term environmental impacts from simulated mining activities.
- DISCOL is conducted by Germany in Peru basin as the world’s “first large-scale impact assessment”.
Deep-sea mining could lead to irreversible loss of ecosystem functions and harm marine life, including deep-sea jellyfish.

Implications for Deep-Sea Mining and Conservation:

The discovery of ‘dark oxygen’ complicates the potential impacts of deep-sea mining on marine ecosystems.
Scientists and insurers are increasingly concerned about the sustainability and environmental consequences of such activities, with some insurers excluding deep-sea mining from their coverage.

Source: TH