PM IAS MARCH 1 CURRENT EVENTS

SWIFT

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Context:

The U.S., Europe and several other western nations are moving to exclude Russia from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT), an international network for banks to facilitate smooth money transactions globally. This could be the strongest economic sanction against Russia over its military moves in Ukraine, as it will potentially cut off the country from receiving international payments.

Relevance:

GS III- Indian Economy

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What is SWIFT?
2. Exclusion from SWIFT
3. How is the organisation governed?

What is SWIFT?

• SWIFT is a messaging network used by banks and financial institutions globally for quick and faultless exchange of information pertaining to financial transactions.
• The Belgium-headquartered SWIFT connects more than 11,000 banking and securities organisations in over 200 countries and territories.
• Each participant on the platform is assigned a unique eight-digit SWIFT code or a bank identification code (BIC).
  • Example: If a person, say, in New York with a Citibank account, wants to send money to someone with an HSBC account in London, the payee would have to submit to his bank, the London-based beneficiary’s account number along with the eight-digit SWIFT code of the latter’s bank.
  • Citi would then send a SWIFT message to HSBC.
  • Once that is received and approved, the money would be credited to the required account.
• SWIFT is merely a platform that sends messages and does not hold any securities or money.
• It provides standardised and reliable communication to facilitate the transaction.

Exclusion from SWIFT

• If a country is excluded from the most participatory financial facilitating platform, its foreign funding would take a hit, making it entirely reliant on domestic investors.
• This is particularly troublesome when institutional investors are constantly seeking new markets in newer territories.
• An alternative system would be cumbersome to build and even more difficult to integrate with an already expansive system.
• SWIFT, first used in 1973, went live in 1977 with 518 institutions from 22 countries, its website states.
• SWIFT itself had replaced the much slower and far less dynamic Telex.
• Certain Iranian banks were ousted from the system in 2018 despite resistance from several countries in Europe.
  • “This step, while regrettable, was taken in the interest of the stability and integrity of the wider global financial system, and based on an assessment of the economic situation,” SWIFT states on its website.

How is the organisation governed?

• SWIFT claims to be neutral. Its shareholders, consisting of 3,500 firms across the globe, elect the 25-member board, which is responsible for oversight and management of the company.
• It is regulated by G-10 central banks of Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, the United States, Switzerland, and Sweden, alongside the European Central Bank.
• Its lead overseer is the National Bank of Belgium.
• The SWIFT oversight forum was established in 2012.
• The G-10 participants were joined by the central banks of India, Australia, Russia, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, the Republic of Turkey, and the People’s Republic of China.
• In 2021, the SWIFT financial messaging platform had recorded an average of 42 million FIN messages per day, as per the data on its website.
• The full-year figure was an 11.4% growth on a year-over-year basis.
• Europe, West Asia, and Africa, combined sent approximately 4.66 billion messages.
• The Americas and the United Kingdom stood second with 4.42 billion interactions, with the Asia Pacific on third with an approximate 1.50 billion messages.

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Judiciary Needs More HC Judges: CJI

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Context:

Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana said there was a need to both increase the number of judges in High Courts and urgently fill existing vacancies.

Relevance:

GS-II: Polity and Governance (Constitutional Provisions, Indian Judiciary)

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What is the Collegium System?
2. Working of the Collegium System and NJAC
3. Appointment procedure of HC Judges
4. Transfer procedure of HC Judges

What is the Collegium System?

• The Collegium System is a system under which appointments/elevation of judges/lawyers to Supreme Court and transfers of judges of High Courts and Apex Court are decided by a forum of the Chief Justice of India and the four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court.’ There is no mention of the Collegium either in the original Constitution of India or in successive amendments.
• The recommendations of the Collegium are binding on the Central Government; if the Collegium sends the names of the judges/lawyers to the government for the second time.

Evolution of the Collegium system

• In the First Judges case (1982), the Court held that consultation does not mean concurrence and it only implies an exchange of views.
• In the Second Judges case (1993), the Court reversed its earlier ruling and changed the meaning of the word consultation to concurrence.

Third Judges Case, 1998:

• In the Third Judges case (1998), the Court opined that the consultation process to be adopted by the Chief Justice of India requires “consultation of a plurality of judges”.
• The sole opinion of the CJI does not constitute the consultation process. He should consult a collegium of four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court and even if two judges give an adverse opinion, he should not send the recommendation to the government.
• The court held that the recommendation made by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) without complying with the norms and requirements of the consultation process is not binding on the government.
• The Collegium system was born through the “Third Judges case” and it is in practice since 1998. It is used for appointments and transfers of judges in High courts and Supreme Courts.
• There is no mention of the Collegium either in the original Constitution of India or in successive amendments.

Working of the Collegium System and NJAC

• The collegium recommends the names of lawyers or judges to the Central Government. Similarly, the Central Government also sends some of its proposed names to the Collegium.
• Collegium considers the names or suggestions made by the Central Government and resends the file to the government for final approval.
• If the Collegium resends the same name again then the government has to give its assent to the names. But the time limit is not fixed to reply. This is the reason that appointment of judges takes a long time.
• Through the 99th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2014 the National Judicial Commission Act (NJAC) was established to replace the collegium system for the appointment of judges.
• However, the Supreme Court upheld the collegium system and struck down the NJAC as unconstitutional on the grounds that the involvement of Political Executive in judicial appointment was against the “Principles of Basic Structure”. i.e., the “Independence of Judiciary”.

Issues involved in appointment

• Cumbersome Process: There are inordinate delays in the appointment of High Court judges and it leads to the pendency of cases.
• Lack of Transparency: There is no objective criteria for selection and people come to know about judges only after selection. It also promotes nepotism in the judiciary. The consultations of the Collegium are also not discussed in any public platform.
• Instances of Politicisation: In many cases, there is indication that due to the unfavorable judgments of certain judges the political executive hinders their appointments, elevation, or transfer. This reflects poorly on the concept of independence of the judiciary.
• Improper Representation: Certain sections of societies have higher representation whereas many vulnerable sections have nil representation.

Appointment procedure of HC Judges

• Article 217 of the Constitution: It states that the Judge of a High Court shall be appointed by the President in consultation with the Chief Justice of India (CJI), the Governor of the State.
• In the case of appointment of a Judge other than the Chief Justice, the Chief Justice of the High Court is consulted.
• Consultation Process: High Court judges are recommended by a Collegium comprising the CJI and two senior-most judges.
• The proposal, however, is initiated by the Chief Justice of the High Court concerned in consultation with two senior-most colleagues.
• The recommendation is sent to the Chief Minister, who advises the Governor to send the proposal to the Union Law Minister.

Transfer procedure of HC Judges

• Article 222 of the Constitution makes provision for the transfer of a Judge (including Chief Justice) from one High Court to any other High Court. The initiation of the proposal for the transfer of a Judge should be made by the Chief Justice of India whose opinion in this regard is determinative.
• Consent of a Judge for his first or subsequent transfer would not be required.
• All transfers are to be made in public interest i.e., for promoting better administration of justice throughout the country.

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Triple Talaq a ‘social evil’ : PM Modi

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Context:

PM said that there has been a drastic 80% decrease in “triple talaq” cases since the law was enacted against the practice in September 2019

Relevance:

GS-II Social Justice

Dimensions of the Article:

1. History of Triple Talaq and Legislation
2. The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019
3. Arguments favouring the bill
4. Arguments opposing the bill

History of Triple Talaq and Legislation

• The case dates back to 2016 when the Supreme Court had sought assistance from the then Attorney General on pleas challenging the constitutional validity of “triple talaq”, “nikah halala” and “polygamy”, to assess whether Muslim women face gender discrimination in cases of divorce.
• The Supreme Court later announced the setting up of a five-judge constitutional bench to hear and deliberate on the challenges against the practice of ‘triple talaq, nikah halala’ and polygamy.
• In 2017, the Supreme Court set aside the decade-old practice of instant triple talaq saying it was violative of Article 14 and 21 of the Indian Constitution.

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019

The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2019 was tabled in the parliament for gender equality and justice, proposing to make the practice of instant triple talaq a penal offence.

Key provisions of the bill:

• The Bill makes all declaration of talaq, including in written or electronic form, to be void (i.e. not enforceable in law) and illegal.
• It defines talaq as talaq-e-biddat or any other similar form of talaq pronounced by a Muslim man resulting in instant and irrevocable divorce.
• Talaq-e-biddat refers to the practice under Muslim personal laws where pronouncement of the word ‘talaq’ thrice in one sitting by a Muslim man to his wife results in an instant and irrevocable divorce.
• The Bill makes declaration of talaq a cognizable offence, attracting up to three years’ imprisonment with a fine. 
• The bail may be granted only after hearing the woman (against whom talaq has been pronounced), and if the Magistrate is satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for granting bail.
• The offence may be compounded by the Magistrate upon the request of the woman (against whom talaq has been declared).
• A Muslim woman against whom talaq has been declared, is entitled to seek subsistence allowance from her husband for herself and for her dependent children.  The amount of the allowance will be determined by the Magistrate.
• A Muslim woman against whom such talaq has been declared, is entitled to seek custody of her minor children. The manner of custody will be determined by the Magistrate.

Arguments favouring the bill:

• Bill is needed so that even Muslim women also get equality on par with other Muslim men.
• Triple talaq adversely impact rights of women to a life of dignity and is against constitutional principles such as gender equality, secularism, international laws etc.
• The penal measure acts as a “necessary deterrent”
• It significantly empowers Muslim women.
• The practice of triple talaq has continued despite the Supreme Court order terming it void.
• The practice is arbitrary and, therefore, unconstitutional
• The law is about justice and respect for women and is not about any religion or community
• It protects the rights of Muslim women against arbitrary divorce
• Instant triple talaq is viewed as sinful and improper by a large section of the community itself.
• The fine amount could be awarded as maintenance or subsistence.

Arguments opposing the bill:

• Since marriage is a civil contract, the procedures to be followed on its breakdown should also be of civil nature only.
• Civil redress mechanisms must ensure that Muslim women are able to negotiate for their rights both within and outside of the marriage
• The mutual divorce provision is missing in the proposed law and needs to be debated.
• Some representatives have given it a political and religious color.

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Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for Sugarcane

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Context:

Maharashtra Government issued a government resolution which will allow sugar mills to pay the basic Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) in two tranches.

Relevance:

GS-III: Agriculture (Agricultural Pricing and Marketing, Food Security)

Dimensions of the Article:

1. What are the changes in the government resolution?
2. What is Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for Sugarcane?
3. What are the Concerns behind FRP for Sugarcane
4. MSP for Sugar
5. Sugar Industry in India

What are the changes in the government resolution?

• The first installment would have to be paid within 14 days of delivery of cane, and would be as per the average recovery of the district.
• Farmers would get the second installment within 15 days of the closure of the mill after calculation of the final recovery, which would take into account the sugar produced, and the ethanol produced from ‘B heavy’ or ‘C’ molasses.
• Thus, instead of relying on last season’s FRP, farmers would be paid as per the current season’s recovery.

Why are farmers in Maharashtra protesting?

• Farmers argue that this method would impact their incomes. They point out that while FRP will be paid in installments, and will depend on an unknown variable, their bank loans and other expenses are expected to be paid for as usual.
• Also, farmers mostly require a lumpsum at the beginning of the season (October-November), because their next crop cycle depends on it.

What is Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP) for Sugarcane?

• FRP is fixed under a sugarcane control order, 1966 and it is the minimum price that sugar mills are supposed to pay to the farmers.
• However, states determine their own State Agreed Price (SAP) which is generally higher than the FRP.

Factors considered for FRP of Sugarcane

The amended provisions of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966 provides for fixation of FRP of sugarcane having regard to the following factors:

• cost of production of sugarcane;
• return to the growers from alternative crops and the general trend of prices of agricultural commodities;
• availability of sugar to consumers at a fair price;
• price at which sugar produced from sugarcane is sold by sugar producers;
• recovery of sugar from sugarcane;
• the realization made from the sale of by-products viz. molasses, bagasse, and press mud or their imputed value;
• reasonable margins for the growers of sugarcane on account of risk and profits.

What are the concerns behind FRPs for Sugarcane?

• FRPs would adversely affect the financial health of the sugar factories in times of low sugar prices where the companies has to pay the MSP even though the sugar prices are low.
• The FRPs are not market-based and are priced at artificially inflated levels by governments.
• This, in turn, puts pressure on the sugar mills who have to purchase the crop from the farmers at these inflated FRPs.
• And while the government has raised ethanol prices dramatically to help sugar mills find an alternative source of demand to pay for the excessively priced sugarcane, once oil prices fall to reasonable levels, oil PSUs won’t be able to afford the ethanol.

Minimum Selling Price (MSP) for Sugar

• The price of sugar is market-driven & depends on the demand & supply of sugar.
• However, with a view to protecting the interests of farmers, the concept of MSP of sugar has been introduced since 2018.
• MSP of sugar has been fixed taking into account the components of Fair & Remunerative Price (FRP) of sugarcane and minimum conversion cost of the most efficient mills.

Basis of price determination

• With the amendment of the Sugarcane (Control) Order, 1966, the concept of Statutory Minimum Price (SMP) of sugarcane was replaced with the Fair and Remunerative Price (FRP)’ of sugarcane in 2009-10.
• The cane price announced by the Central Government is decided on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).
• This is done in consultation with the State Governments and after taking feedback from associations of the sugar industry.

Sugar Industry in India

• India is the world’s largest consumer of sugar.
• India is the world’s largest producer of sugarcane and second largest producer of sugar after Cuba.
• Some 50 million farmers and millions of more workers, are involved in sugarcane farming.
• Sugar industry is broadly distributed over two major areas of production- Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and Punjab in the north and Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh in the south.
• The major sugar producing states are Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka in India.
• Uttar Pradesh is the highest sugarcane producing State in the sub-tropical zone.
• South India has tropical climate which is suitable for higher sucrose content giving higher yield per unit area as compared to north India.
• Khatauli’s Triveni Sugar Mill is the largest in Asia in terms of scale of production and storage capacity.

Issues with the Sugarcane Industry

• Sugarcane has to compete with several other food and cash crops like cotton, oil seeds, rice, etc. This affects the supply of sugarcane to the mills and the production of sugar also varies from year to year causing fluctuations in prices leading to losses in times of excess production due to low prices.
• India’s yield per hectare is extremely low as compared to some of the major sugarcane producing countries of the world. For example, India’s yield is only 64.5 tonnes/hectare as compared to 90 tonnes in Java and 121 tonnes in Hawaii.
• Sugar production is a seasonal industry with a short crushing season varying normally from 4 to 7 months in a year. It causes financial loss and seasonal employment for workers and lack of full utilization of sugar mills.
• The average rate of recovery of sugar from sugarcane in India is less than ten per cent which is quite low as compared to other major sugar producing countries.
• High cost of sugarcane, inefficient technology, uneconomic process of production and heavy excise duty result in high cost of manufacturing.

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National Polio Immunization Drive for 2022

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Context:

Minister for Health and Family Welfare launched the National Polio Immunization Drive for 2022 by administering polio drops to children below five years of age in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

Relevance:

GS II- Health

Dimensions of the Article:

1. About Polio National Immunization Drive and Polio National Immunization Day 2022 (NID) :
2. What is Polio?
3. Recent Outbreaks of Polio
4. Polio in India
5. India’s Pulse Polio Programme
6. Steps taken by the Government to maintain polio free status in India

About Polio National Immunization Drive and Polio National Immunization Day 2022 (NID) :

• The Polio National Immunization Day 2022  organized across the country on 27th February 2022. 
• India conducts one nationwide NID and two Sub-National Immunization Day (SNIDs) for polio every year to maintain population immunity against wild poliovirus and to sustain its polio free status. 
• During the Polio NID, Over 15 crore children will be covered across all 36 States and UTs in 735 districts.
• During the drive, polio drops will be provided to children through 7 lakh booths across the country.
• Approximately 23.6 crore houses will be visited by nearly 24 lakh volunteers and 1.5 lakh supervisors.
• India has been free of polio for more than a decade, with the last case of wild poliovirus reported on 13th January 2011.
• However, India continues to remain vigilant to prevent re-entry of the poliovirus into the country from neighboring countries of Afghanistan and Pakistan, where wild poliovirus continues to cause the disease.

What is Polio?

• The World Health Organization (WHO) defines polio or poliomyelitis as “a highly infectious viral disease, which mainly affects young children.”
• The virus is transmitted by person-to-person, spread mainly through the faecal-oral route or, less frequently, by a common vehicle (e.g., contaminated water or food) and multiplies in the intestine, from where it can invade the nervous system and can cause paralysis.
• Initial symptoms of polio include fever, fatigue, headache, vomiting, stiffness in the neck, and pain in the limbs.
• In a small proportion of cases, the disease causes paralysis, which is often permanent.
• There is no cure for polio, it can only be prevented by immunization.
• There are three individual and immunologically distinct wild poliovirus strains:
  1. Wild Poliovirus type 1 (WPV1)
  2. Wild Poliovirus type 2 (WPV2)
  3. Wild Poliovirus type 3 (WPV3)
• Symptomatically, all three strains are identical, in that they cause irreversible paralysis or even death.
• However, there are genetic and virological differences, which make these three strains separate viruses which must each be eradicated individually.

Recent Outbreaks of Polio

• In 2019, polio outbreaks were recorded in the Philippines, Malaysia, Ghana, Myanmar, China, Cameroon, Indonesia and Iran, which were mostly vaccine-derived in which a rare strain of the virus genetically mutated from the strain in the vaccine.
• Afghanistan and Pakistan are the two countries that are having the most trouble in controlling the spread of Polio effectively.
• In 2018, a total of 8,60,000 children in Afghanistan did not receive polio vaccine due to security threats.

Polio in India

• India received polio-free certification by the WHO in 2014, after three years of zero cases.
• This achievement has been spurred by the successful pulse polio campaign in which all children were administered polio drops.
• The last case due to wild poliovirus in the country was detected on 13th January 2011.

India’s Pulse Polio Programme

• With the global initiative of eradication of polio in 1988 following World Health Assembly resolution in 1988, Pulse Polio Immunization programme was launched in India in 1995. Children in the age group of 0-5 years administered polio drops during National and Sub-national immunization rounds (in high-risk areas) every year.
• The Pulse Polio Initiative was started with an objective of achieving hundred per cent coverage under Oral Polio Vaccine.
• It aimed to immunize children through improved social mobilization, plan mop-up operations in areas where poliovirus has almost disappeared and maintain high level of morale among the public.

Steps taken by the Government to maintain polio free status in India

• Maintaining community immunity through high quality National and Sub National polio rounds each year.
• An extremely high level of vigilance through surveillance across the country for any importation or circulation of poliovirus and VDPV is being maintained.
• All States and Union Territories in the country have developed a Rapid Response Team (RRT) to respond to any polio outbreak in the country.
• To reduce risk of importation from neighbouring countries, international border vaccination is being provided through continuous vaccination teams (CVT) to all eligible children round the clock.
• Government of India has issued guidelines for mandatory requirement of polio vaccination to all international travelers before their departure from India to polio affected countries namely:  Afghanistan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Syria and Cameroon.