Daily Prelims Notes 3 May 2022

Daily Prelims Notes

3 May 2022

Table Of Contents

1. Do away with circulars: RBI panel
2. Pricing regime of Fuel
3. Transnistria
4. The debate on the national language
5. Federalism and Quasi Federalism:
6. Why Flights face turbulence?
7. SOPs to be framed for blending of Imported Coal
8. Basavanna Jayanti
9. PMO pushes States/UTs on completion of pending mega projects by 2024
10. Central Council of Health & Family Welfare
11. Personal autonomy and article 21

1. Do away with circulars: RBI panel

Subject: Economy

Section: Monetary Policy

Context:

The Regulations Review Authority (RRA 2.0) has recommended the withdrawal of an additional 225 circulars issued by the Reserve Bank of India.

Details:

The RBI has set up the RRA 2.0, initially for a period of one year from 1st May, 2021, with a view to streamline regulations and reduce the compliance burden of regulated entities.

The terms of reference of RRA 2.0 include making regulatory and supervisory instructions more effective by removing redundancies and duplications, if any; and obtaining feedback from regulated entities on simplification of procedures and enhancing ease of compliance.

The RRA has constituted an Advisory Group, representing members from regulated entities, including compliance officers, to support the RRA in achieving the objective set forth in the terms of reference of RRA 2.0. The Group will assist the RRA by identifying areas/ regulations/ guidelines/ returns which can be rationalized and submit reports periodically to RRA containing the recommendations/ suggestions.

Regulated Entities:

“Regulated Entities” (REs) means every entity regulated by the Reserve Bank of India.

• All Scheduled Commercial Banks (SCBs)/ Regional Rural Banks (RRBs)/ Local Area Banks (LABs)/ All Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs) /State and Central Co-operative Banks (StCBs / CCBs) and any other entity which has been licenced under Section 22 of Banking Regulation Act, 1949, which as a group shall be referred as ‘banks’
• All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs)
• All Non-Banking Finance Companies (NBFC)s, Miscellaneous Non-Banking Companies (MNBCs) and Residuary Non-Banking Companies (RNBCs).
• All Payment System Providers (PSPs)/ System Participants (SPs) and Prepaid Payment Instrument Issuers (PPI Issuers)
• All authorised persons (APs) including those who are agents of Money Transfer Service Scheme (MTSS), regulated by the Regulator.

Background:

The central bank had set up an RRA initially for a period of one year from April 1, 1999, for reviewing the regulations, circulars, reporting systems, based on the feedback from the public, banks, and financial institutions.

The recommendations of the RRA enabled streamlining and increasing the effectiveness of several procedures, simplifying regulatory prescriptions, paved the way for issuance of master circulars, and reduced reporting burden on regulated entities.

2. Pricing regime of Fuel

Subject: Economy

Section: Fiscal policy

Context:

It is quite complicated that the final retail price of petrol and diesel has multiple components.

Components of Fuel prices:

• The base price, including the freight, accounts for 56 per cent of the final selling price for petrol and 60 per cent for diesel.
• The Centre charges excise duty on the base price accounting for 26 per cent and 23 percent of the final price of petrol and diesel, respectively.
• The dealer’s commission amounts to another 4 and 3 percent of the selling price of the two petroleum products.
• The States levy value-added tax (VAT) on the cost of petrol and diesel, including excise duty and dealer’s commission.

Taxing policy:

As of now LPG, kerosene, naphtha, furnace oil, and light diesel oil are under GST.

Five other petroleum products viz. crude oil, high speed diesel, motor spirit (petrol), natural gas, and aviation turbine fuel lie outside the GST.

Centre Taxation:

At present, Centre levies the excise duty on crude oil which is a specific tax i.e. charged on the number of units sold irrespective of the prices. The excise duty

charged by the Centre, comprises of four elements —

• Basic excise duty,
• Special excise duty,
• Additional excise duty (road and infrastructure cess) and
• Agriculture and infrastructure development cess.

The Centre has to share only the amount collected under the basic excise duty with States as other components are either cesses or bucketed under surcharge.

The basic excise duty accounts for just 4.2 per cent of the amount collected by the Centre as fuel taxes. Once 41 per cent of the basic excise duty is shared with the States, the Centre retains over 98 per cent of the tax collected on petrol and diesel.

Why are States against Centre levying cess on fuel?

Cess is a tax charged over the basic tax liability, and it is levied for a particular purpose, such as education cess, infrastructure development cess, etc.More important, since the cess collected has to be spent only for a specific purpose, the Centre need not share the collection with States.

State Taxation

The States levy value-added tax (VAT) on the cost of petrol and diesel, including excise duty and dealer’s commission petrol. Since VAT is an ad-valorem tax, it will go up and down with the market price of the fuel. States have been given a free hand in structuring and taxing fuel.

• Many States/UTs such as Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha and Telangana charge just VAT at a certain rate applied to the cost of the petrol.
• Others choose a hybrid model wherein they charge a lower VAT on the fuel and apply a flat charge per litre of petrol and diesel. States like-Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and others have this hybrid model.
• The other States and UTs apply other innovative charges, including road development cess, employment cess, pollution surcharge etc.

3. Transnistria

Subject: Geography

Section: Mapping

Context: Embroiling Transnistria in the Russia-Ukraine War.

As the Russia-Ukraine War completes over two months, Transnistria, the tiny breakaway region of Moldova, risks being dragged into the conflict.

Where is Transnistria?

• It lies between Moldova to its west and Ukraine towards its east.
• Often described as a “remnant of the Soviet Union”, Transnistria declared independence like Moldova did soon after the break-up of the Soviet Union.
• When Moldovan troops attempted to take over the territory in 1990-1992, Transnistria was able to resist them because of Russian soldiers based in Transnistria.
• It has remained free of Moldovan control. However, most countries continue to see Transnistria as part of Moldova.

Political make-up of Transnistria

• It has its own government (which is pro-Russian), Parliament, armed force, constitution, flag, anthem, etc.
• In a referendum held in 2006, over 97% of Transnistrians voted for future integration with Russia Russia, however, was not keen on this.

Why is it in the news now?

• Transnistria risks being drawn into the Russia-Ukraine war because of reports of a series of explosions in its territory.
• There was an attack by men using rocket propelled grenades on its security headquarters,

Context: The Election Commission (EC) has sent a notice to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren over an office-of-profit charge against him for allotment of a mining lease in his name.

What is office of profit

• MPs and MLAs, as members of the legislature, hold the government accountable for its work. The essence of disqualification under the office of profit law is, if legislators hold an ‘office of profit’ under the government, they might be susceptible to government influence, and may not discharge their constitutional mandate fairly.
• The intent is that there should be no conflict between the duties and interests of an elected member.
• The office of profit law simply seeks to enforce a basic feature of the Constitution- the principle of separation of power between the legislature and the executive.

What constitutes an ‘office of profit’?

• The law does not clearly define what constitutes an office of profit but the definition has evolved over the years with interpretations made in various court judgments.
• An office of profit has been interpreted to be a position that brings to the office-holder some financial gain, or advantage, or benefit. The amount of such profit is immaterial.
• In 1964, the Supreme Court ruled that the test for determining whether a person holds an office of profit is the test of appointment. Several factors are considered in this determination including factors such as:
  • (i) whether the government is the appointing authority,
  • (ii) whether the government has the power to terminate the appointment,
  • (iii) whether the government determines the remuneration,
  • (iv) what is the source of remuneration, and
  • (v) the power that comes with the position.

What does the Constitution say

• Under the provisions of Article 102 (1) and Article 191 (1) of the Constitution, an MP or an MLA (or an MLC) is barred from holding any office of profit under the central or state government.
• The articles clarify that “a person shall not be deemed to hold an office of profit under the government of India or the government of any state by reason only that he is a minister”.
• The Constitution specifies that the number of ministers including the Chief Minister has to be within 15% of the total number of members of the assembly (10% in the case of Delhi, which is a union territory with legislature).

What are exemptions given

• Provisions of Articles 102 and 191 also protect a legislator occupying a government position if the office in question has been made immune to disqualification by law.
• In the recent past, several state legislatures have enacted laws exempting certain offices from the purview of office of profit.
• Parliament has also enacted the Parliament (Prevention of Disqualification) Act, 1959, which has been amended several times to expand the exempted list.

Is there a bar on how many offices can be exempted from the purview of the law?

• There is no bar on how many offices can be exempted from the purview of the law.

4. The debate on the national language

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

Context: Remarks by a Hindi actor to the effect that Hindi is the national language of India sparked a controversy recently over the status of the language under the Constitution.

What is the status of Hindi?

• Under Article 343 of the Constitution, the official language of the Union shall be Hindi in Devanagari script. The international form of Indian numerals will be used for official purposes.
• The Constituent Assembly was bitterly divided on the question, with members from States that did not speak Hindi initially opposing the declaration of Hindi as a national language. Proponents of Hindi were insistent that English was the language of enslavement and that it should be eliminated as early as possible.
• Opponents were against English being done away with, fearing that it may lead to Hindi domination in regions that did not speak the language. There were demands to make Sanskrit the official language, while some argued in favour of ‘Hindustani’.
• There were differences of opinion over the script too. When opinion veered towards accepting Hindi, proponents of the language wanted the ‘Devanagari’ script to be adopted both for words and numerals. Some advocated that the Roman script be adopted, as it would facilitate faster learning of Hindi. The predominant opinion was in favour of adopting ‘international numerals’ instead of Hindi numerals.
• Ultimately, it was decided that the Constitution will only speak of an ‘official language’. And that English would continue to be used for a period of 15 years. The Constitution said that after 15 years, Parliament may by law decide on the use of English and the use of the Devanagari form of numbers for specified purposes.

What is the Eighth Schedule?

• The Eighth Schedule contains a list of languages in the country. Initially, there were 14 languages in the schedule, but now there are 22 languages. There is no description of the sort of languages that are included or will be included in the Eighth Schedule.
• There are only two references to these languages in the text of the Constitution.
  • One is in Article 344(1), which provides for the formation of a Commission by the President, which should have a Chairman and members representing these scheduled languages. The purpose of the Commission is to make recommendations for the progressive use of Hindi for official purposes of the Union and for restricting the use of English.
  • The second reference, found in Article 351, says it is the Union government’s duty to promote the spread of Hindi so that it becomes “a medium of expression for all elements of the composite culture of India” and also to assimilate elements of forms and expressions from Hindustani and languages listed in the Eighth Schedule.

Background of 1965 protests:

• The Official Languages Act, 1963 was passed in anticipation of the expiry of the 15-year period during which the Constitution originally allowed the use of English for official purposes. Its operative section provided for the continuing use of English, notwithstanding the expiry of the 15-year period. This came into force from Jan 26, 1965, a date which marked the completion of 15 years since the Constitution was adopted.
• Jawaharlal Nehru had given an assurance in 1959 that English would remain in official use and as the language of communication between the Centre and the States. The Official Languages Act, 1963, did not explicitly incorporate this assurance, causing apprehensions in some States as the January 1965 deadline neared.
• At that time, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri reiterated the government’s commitment to move towards making Hindi the official language for all purposes.
• In Tamil Nadu the prospect of the use of Hindi as the medium of examination for recruitment to the Union public services created an apprehension that Hindi would be imposed in such a way that the future employment prospects of those who do not speak Hindi will be bleak.
• With the Congress government in the State taking the view that the people had nothing to fear about, protests broke out in January 1965. It took a violent turn after more and more student activists joined the protest, and continued even after key Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) leaders were arrested. More than 60 people died in police firing and other incidents as the protests went on for days. The agitation died down later, but by then the Congress at the Centre realized the sensitivity of the language issue among Tamil-speaking people. When the Official Language Rules were framed in 1976, it was made clear that the Rules apply to the whole of India, except Tamil Nadu.

5. Federalism and Quasi Federalism

Subject: Polity

Section: Federalism

Context:

• Federalism is a system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and various constituent units of the country. This vertical division of power among different levels of governments is referred to as federalism.
• Quasi-federalism means an intermediate form of state between a unitary state and a federation. It combines the features of a federal government and the features of a unitary government.
• India consciously adopted a version of federalism that made the Union government and State governments interdependent on each other (latter more vis-a-vis the former) thereby violating the primal characteristic of a federal constitution i.e., autonomous spheres of authority for Union and State governments.

Reasons for a centralised federal structure

There are at following reasons that informed India’s choice of a centralised federal structure.

1. Partition of India and the concomitant concerns:Union Powers Committee of the Constituent Assembly, in favour of a strong Union with residuary powers and weaker States, to safeguard the integrity of the nation.
2. To forge a national civic identity: The centralised structure would unsettle prevalent trends of social dominance, help fight poverty better and therefore yield liberating outcomes.
3. Building of a welfare state:In a decentralised federal setup, redistributive policies could be structurally thwarted by organised (small and dominant) groups. Instead, a centralised federal set-up can prevent such issues and further a universal rights-based system.
4. Alleviation of inter-regional economic inequality:Provincial interventions seemed to exacerbate inequalities. India’s membership in the International Labour Organization, the Nehru Report (1928), and the Bombay Plan (1944) pushed for a centralised system to foster socio-economic rights and safeguards for the working and entrepreneurial classes.
5. Linguistic reorganization: It would not have been possible if India followed a rigid or conventional federal system.

In other words, the current form of federalism in the Indian context is largely a function of the intent of the government of the day and the objectives it seeks to achieve. 

6. Why Flights face turbulence?

Subject: Geography

Section: Climatology

Context: Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Monday constituted a “multi-disciplinary team” to investigate the incident that caused serious injuries to several passengers after SpiceJet’s Mumbai- Durgapur flight encountered severe turbulence.

Concept:

• There are at least seven kinds of turbulence that an aircraft can run into. These include:

• On a regular basis, Aircraft undergo some form of turbulence and pilots are trained to deal with these. However, there have been several instances when turbulence has brought down modern jetliners. Even in these cases, while intense turbulence has been the main cause of an accident, several other factors—such as lack of proper training, poor dissemination of weather or wind related information — have contributed to the accident.
• During descent, if the aircraft experience severe turbulence, the vertical load factor varies from +2.64 G and 1.36 G. During this period, the auto pilot gets disengaged for two minutes and the crew manually fly the aircraft.
• G refers to g gravitational force equivalent, which in normal flying conditions is 1 G. A negative G value indicates that the aircraft was accelerating downwards faster than the rate of natural free fall, giving the feeling of weightlessness.
• Airflow Disruption can be of four varying intensities. These include:

7. SOPs to be framed for blending of Imported Coal

Subject: Economy

Section: Energy Security

Context: The Power Ministry has asked the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) to create a standard operating procedure (SOP) for blending of domestic and imported coal used at thermal power plants (TPPs) as the Coal supply at thermal plants is under pressure due to high electricity demand.

Concept:

• The pressure on domestic supply for the key commodity forced the government to increase the percentage of imported coal in the domestic mix to 10 per cent from 4 per cent in December 2021.
• India imports coal from Indonesia, South Africa and Australia. The gross calorific value (GCV) of imported coal is in the range of 5700-6300 k Cal per kg while that of domestic coal ranges from 2900-4200 k Cal per kg.
• Generally, Indian power boilers are designed for high ash Indian coal and the furnace is also higher (height) by around 20 per cent compared to boiler for imported low ash coal.
• The average ash content of coal supplied to Gencos is in the range of 35-45 per cent. The inferior quality of coal (high ash content), not only pollutes the environment but also leads to high cost for operations & maintenance (O&M) and ash disposal.
• Experts point out that coal characteristics that affect boiler design are ash content, volatile matter, moisture content, fixed carbon, gross calorific value (GCV), Hard grove Grindability index (HGI), coal reactivity and ash fusion characteristics.
• TPPs follow various methodologies for blending of foreign and domestic coal such as separate layering of both in a stockyard or blending in beds. Besides, blending on conveyors by silo, blending by ground hoppers or emergency reclaim hoppers and blending of two streams of coal on conveyor belt are also used for mixing.
• The blending process followed at NTPC and Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) will be analysed to devise a pan-India mechanism.
• NTPC, which will import around 20 million tonnes of coal in FY23, formula suggests that 10 per cent blending of imported coal gives 15 per cent more heat. Besides, in terms of heat content, this makes 1 tonne of coal (blended) worth 1.5 tonnes (of Indian coal).

Coal Imports:

• Coal imports by power sector declined from 69.22 mt in FY20 to 45.47 mt in FY21. As per Care Edge, during April 2021-February 2022, coal import by power sector decreased further to 24.2 mt from 42.4 mt during the corresponding period of previous year.
• Coal prices of South African thermal, a global benchmark, have been on an upward trajectory since December 2021 and the ongoing tension between Russia-Ukraine has impacted the international coal prices even more.
• The global benchmark has crossed its all-time high price at $199.7 per tonne and has peaked at around $295 per tonne as of March 2022. The continuous rise in coal prices is discouraging coal imports which are pressurising domestic coal producers to increase supply to fulfil the coal demand in the country.

To know more about Coal Imports, refer: https://optimizeias.com/indias-coal-import/

8. Basavanna Jayanti

Subject: History

Section: Arts and culture

Concept:

About Basaveshwara

• Basavanna was a 12th-century philosopher, statesman, Kannada poet and a social reformer during the reign of the Kalachuri-dynasty king Bijjala I in Karnataka, India.
• Basavanna spread social awareness through his poetry, popularly known as Vachanaas. Basavanna rejected gender or social discrimination, superstitions and rituals.
• He introduced new public institutions such as the AnubhavaMantapa (or, the “hall of spiritual experience”), which welcomed men and women from all socio-economic backgrounds to discuss spiritual and mundane questions of life, in open.
• As a leader, he developed and inspired a new devotional movement named Virashaivas, or “ardent, heroic worshippers of Shiva”.
• This movement shared its roots in the Tamil Bhakti movement, particularly the Shaiva Nayanars traditions, over the 7th- to 11th-century.

Lingayats

• The term Lingayat denotes a person who wears a personal linga, an iconic form of god Shiva, on the body which is received during the initiation ceremony.
• Lingayats are the followers of the 12th-century social reformer-philosopher poet, Basaveshwara.
• The Lingayats are strict monotheists. They enjoin the worship of only one God, namely, Linga (Shiva).
• The word ‘Linga’ does not mean Linga established in temples, but universal consciousness qualified by the universal energy (Shakti).
• Lingayats had been classified as a Hindu subcaste called “VeerashaivaLingayats” and they are considered to be Shaivites.

Sharana movement:

• The Sharanamovement, Basaveshwara presided over attracted people from all castes, and like most strands of the Bhakti movement, produced a corpus of literature, the vachanas, that unveiled the spiritual universe of the Veerashaiva saints.
• The egalitarianism of Basavanna’sSharana movement was too radical for its times.
• He set up the Anubhava Mandapa, where the Sharanas, drawn from different castes and communities, gathered and engaged in learning and discussions.
• Sharanas challenged the final bastion of the caste order: they organised a wedding where the bridegroom was from a lower caste, and the bride a Brahmin.

9. PMO pushes States/UTs on completion of pending mega projects by 2024

Subject: Polity

Section: Executive

Context: The Prime Minister’s Office has sought details from States and Union Territories on mega projects that can be completed in the next two years.

Prime Minister’s Office [PMO]

PMO is a staffing agency assisting the Prime Minister in the efficient discharge of his role, functions, and responsibilities.

Evolution Of PMO:

• The Prime Minister’s Secretariat was created in 1947 when India gained independence.
• The Secretariat was created for the immediate purpose of taking over the functions performed till then by the Secretary to the Governor General, as the Prime Minister took over almost all functions which the Governor-General prior to independence, performed as the executive head of the Government.
• PMO is an extra-constitutional body that has no mention in the Indian Constitution. However, it was given the status of a department under the Government of India Allocation of Business Rules, 1961.
• Since June 1977, it is known as Prime Minister’s Office and is headed by the Secretary to the Prime Minister who is now designated as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.

Why Needed

• Complexity and scope of government have increased tremendously. Thus it requires a strong and technically efficient staff agency to handle the same.
• The problems of coordination between the Ministers are becoming more complex.
• Since all Ministers are entitled to have an office set-up of their own to enable them to perform their functions. PMO is the office of the Prime Minister.
• Most importantly, the PMO has two irreducible functions.

Firstly, PMO is the conduit to and from the Prime Minister. Secondly, the Prime Minister depends on PMO, i.e. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, if he wants a second opinion on any matter.

Structure of PMO:

• Politically headed by Prime Minister
• Administratively headed by Principal Secretary
• One or two additional secretaries · 5 joint secretaries
• A number of directors/ deputy secretaries and under secretaries· The personnel are generally drawn from the civil services and also appointed for the varying periods PMO and its Administrative function Well, it acts as a link between the PM and his Ministers, President, Governors, Chief Ministers and also Foreign representatives.
• And, on the other side, that is the public side where it is concerned with the party matters, personal correspondences, complaints from the public, and many more.
• It helps the PM in the performance of his functions as the head of the government.

Principal functions of the PMO:

1. To deal with all references which under the rules of business have to come to the PM
2. To help the PM in the discharge of his overall responsibilities as the Chief Executive like liaison with the Union Ministries and the State govts on matters which the PM may be interested.
3. To help the PM in the discharge of his responsibilities as the Chairman of Planning Commission.
4. To deal with Public relations side of the PMO.
5. To provide PM assistance in the examination of cases submitted to him for an order under prescribed rules.

10. Central Council of Health & Family Welfare

Subject: Governance

Section: National bodies

Context:

The Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will chair the 14th Conference of the Central Council of Health & Family Welfare, as Swasthya Chintan Shivir, at Kevadia, Gujarat onMay 5-7.

Concept:

The Central Council of Health and Family Welfare was set up under Article 263 of the Constitution to provide support and advice to the Department of Health on policy formulation. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India in collaboration with the WHO Country Office for India has compiled and digitized the proceedings of all Central Council meetings held from the year 1988 upto 2010.

11. Personal autonomy and article 21

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

Context:  The Supreme Court upheld the right of an individual against forcible vaccination and the government’s COVID-19 vaccination policy to protect communitarian health.

It found certain vaccine mandates imposed by the State governments and Union Territory administrations disproportionate as they tend to deny access to basic welfare measures and freedom of movement to unvaccinated individuals.

Article 21 vs Communitarian health’

• The court struck a balance between individual right to bodily integrity and refusing treatment with the government’s concern for public health.
• “With respect to bodily integrity and personal autonomy of an individual in the light of vaccines and other public health measures introduced to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, court is of the opinion that bodily integrity is protected under Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution and no individual can be forced to be vaccinated,”
• A person has the right under Article 21 to refuse treatment, the court acknowledged.
• “Personal autonomy of an individual, which is a recognised facet of protection guaranteed under Article 21 encompasses the right to refuse to undergo any medical treatment in the sphere of individual health, ”Supreme court observed.
• However, when the issue extended to “communitarian health”, the government was indeed “entitled to regulate issues”.
• The government’s right to regulate by imposing limits to individual rights for the sake of protecting public health was also open to judicial scrutiny.
• Courts had the authority to review whether the government’s interventions into the personal autonomy of an individual and right to access means of livelihood met the “three-fold” requirements as expounded in the Constitution Bench judgment in K.S. Puttaswamy case (the judgment which upheld the right of privacy as a constitutional right under Article 21).
  • The three-fold requirements include whether the legality of the limitations imposed by the government on individual rights presupposes the existence of a law. That is, the limitations should be backed by a clear statutory law.
  • The need for limitations should be proportionate to a legitimate State aim.
  • There should be a rational nexus between the State’s objectives for imposing the restrictions and the means adopted to achieve them.