PM IAS MAY 30 CURRENT EVENTS – Plover Minds Institute LLP

Reservation in Public Employment

Context:

Jarnail Singh judgment indicates a critical turn in the jurisprudence of reservation.

Relevance:

GS-II: Social Justice and Governance (Government Policies and Initiatives, Issues related to Minorities), GS-II: Polity and Constitution (Constitutional Provisions, Important Judgements)

Dimensions of the Article:

Constitutional Provisions on Reservation
Reservation not a fundamental Right
Arguments for applying reservation in promotions
Mandal storm
Indra Sawhney case, 1992
M. Nagaraj case, 2006
The Constitution (Seventy-seventh Amendment) Act, 1995
The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019
Jarnail Singh vs Lachhmi Narain Gupta case, 2018
Dr. Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil vs Chief Minister (2021)

Constitutional Provisions on Reservation

Article 16(4) empowers the state to make any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the state, is not adequately represented in the services under the state.
By way of the 77th Amendment Act, a new clause (4A) was added to Article 16, empowering the state to make provisions for reservation in matters of promotion to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe employees if the state feels they are not adequately represented in services.

Reservation not a fundamental Right

It is a settled law, time and again reiterated by the Supreme Court, that there is no fundamental right to reservation or promotion under Article 16(4) or Article 16(4 A) of the Constitution.
Rather they are enabling provisions for providing reservation, if the circumstances so warrant (Mukesh Kumar and Another vs State of Uttarakhand & Ors. 2020).
However, these pronouncements no way understate the constitutional directive under Article 46.
Article 46 mandates that the state shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people and in particular SCs and STs.
However such provisions resulted in the ever-evolving jurisprudence of affirmative action in public employment.

Arguments for applying reservation in promotions

As there is a peculiar hierarchical arrangement of caste in India, it is obvious that SCs and STs are poorly represented in higher posts.
Denying application of reservation in promotions has kept SCs and STs largely confined to lower cadre jobs.
Hence, providing reservation for promotions is even more justified and appropriate to attain equality.
This judgment destabilises the very basis of reservation, when there is no direct recruitment in higher posts.
This delineation of the scope of reservation as at the entry level and in promotions will only lead to confusion in its implementation.
Now, by declaring that reservation cannot be claimed as a fundamental right is a dangerous precedent in the history of social justice.

Mandal storm

Reservation in employment which was otherwise confined to SC and STs got extended to new section called the Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
This was the basis of the recommendations of the Second Backward Class Commission as constituted, headed by B.P. Mandal.
The Mandal Commission (1980) provided for 27% reservation to OBC in central services and public sector undertakings.
This was over and above the existing 22.5% reservation for SCs and STs, was sought to be implemented by the V.P. Singh Government in 1990.
The same was assailed in the Supreme Court resulting in the historic Indra Sawhney Judgment.

Indra Sawhney case, 1992

In its landmark 1992 decision in Indra Sawhney vs Union of India, the Supreme Court had held that reservations under Article 16(4) could only be provided at the time of entry into government service but not in matters of promotion.
It added that the principle would operate only prospectively and not affect promotions already made and that reservation already provided in promotions shall continue in operation for a period of five years from the date of the judgment.
On June 17, 1995, Parliament, acting in its constituent capacity, adopted the seventy-seventh amendment by which clause (4A) was inserted into Article 16 to enable reservation to be made in promotion for SCs and STs.

The Constitution (Seventy-seventh Amendment) Act, 1995

In Indra Sawhney Case, the Supreme Court had held that Article 16(4) of the Constitution of India does not authorise reservation in the matter of promotions.
However, the judgment was not to affect the promotions already made and hence only prospective in operation, it was ruled.
By the Constitution (Seventy-seventh Amendment) Act, 1995, which, Article 16(4-A), was inserted.
It aimed to provide the State for making any provision for reservation in matters of promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State.
This was to be in favour of the SCs and the STs which, in the opinion of the State, are not adequately represented in the services under the State.
Later, two more amendments were brought, one to ensure consequential seniority and another to secure carry forward of unfilled vacancies of a year.

M. Nagaraj case, 2006

The constitutional validity of Art 16(4A) was upheld by the Supreme Court in the M. Nagaraj v. Union of India 2006 case; however, State is not bound to make such reservations in promotions.
If the states seek to make reservation in promotions, then it must collect quantifiable data on three parameters
The backwardness of the class
The inadequacy of the representation of that class in public employment;
The general efficiency of service would not be affected

Jarnail Singh vs Lachhmi Narain Gupta case, 2018

In Jarnail Singh vs Lachhmi Narain Gupta case of 2018, the Supreme Court held that reservation in promotions does not require the state to collect quantifiable data on the backwardness of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
The court upheld the argument that once various caste groups were listed as SC/ST, this automatically implied they were backward.
That judgment had, while modifying the part of the Nagaraj verdict which required States to show quantifiable data to prove the ‘backwardness’ of a Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe community to provide quota in promotion in public employment, rejected the Centre’s argument that Nagaraj misread the creamy layer concept by applying it to SC/ST.

The Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019

The 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) other SCs, STs and backward classes for government jobs and admission in educational institutions.
This is currently under challenge before the Supreme Court which has referred the same to a constitution bench.
This was a critical milestone to specifically include economic backwardness without social backwardness as is traditionally seen.

Dr. Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil vs Chief Minister (2021)

Despite the Indra Sawhney ruling, there have been attempts on the part of many States to breach the rule by way of expanding the reservation coverage.
The Maharashtra Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act 2018, (Maratha reservation law) came under challenge before the Supreme Court.
This case was referred to a bench of five judges to question whether the 1992 judgment needs a relook.
Interestingly, the Supreme Court affirmed the Indra Sawhney decision, and struck down Section 4(1)(a) and Section 4(1)(b) of the Act which provided 12% reservation for Marathas in educational institutions and 13% reservation in public employment respectively.
This judgment gave out a strong message that some State governments blatantly disregard the stipulated ceiling on electoral gains rather than any exceptional circumstances.

The Azerbaijan-Armenia Conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh Enclave

Context:

Recently, Armenia’s Prime Minister and Azerbaijan’s President announced that their respective countries would be setting up border security and delimitation commissions, signalling a step towards resolution of a decades-long conflict over the Nagorno-Karabakh Enclave.

Relevance:

Prelims, GS-II: International Relations (Important Foreign Policies and Developments), GS-I Geography (Maps), GS-I: History (World History)

Dimensions of the Article:

Nagorno-Karabakh begin conflict
The Azeri-Armenian war of 1991
The war of 2016 and 2020
Current peace talks

Nagorno-Karabakh begin conflict

Nagorno-Karabakh is a landlocked, mountainous and forested region, falling within the boundaries of Azerbaijan.
Nagorno-Karabakh, called Artsakh in Armenian, hosts a predominantly ethnic Armenian population with an Azeri minority.
It is located in the South Caucasus region and is roughly made up of modern-day Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia.
Nagorno-Karabakh, which was once a part of the Armenian kingdom, has been ruled by several empires over the centuries — the Ottomans, the Persians, and the Russians.
Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia later became separate Republics, with the Azeris incorporating Nagorno-Karabakh into their Republic.
During the First World War, the Ottomans, aided by Azeris, attacked the south Caucasus, especially targeting ethnic Armenians.
As the Ottomans retreated at the end of the World War, Azerbaijan and Armenia descended into a full-blown war in 1920.

The Azeri-Armenian war of 1991

Soon, the Bolsheviks took over south Caucasus to expand Soviet influence and Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Georgia became Soviet Republics.
The Soviets officially placed Nagorno-Karabakh as an autonomous Oblast (administrative region) in Azerbaijan’s territory, despite the chiefly Armenian population.
As Soviet power began to wane in the 1980s, the ethnic Armenian population of Nagorno-Karabakh expressed a desire to be reunited with their roots and become a part of Armenia, organising a vote for the same in 1988.
- This did not go down well with Azerbaijan and military clashes ensued.
The war killed nearly 30,000 people and caused numerous ethnic Azeris to flee Karabakh and Armenia.
- Some Armenians in parts of Azerbaijan fled too.
By 1993, Armenia had taken control of most of Nagorno-Karabakh. The war ended in 1994 when both countries entered into a ceasefire brokered by Russia but the borders of Armenia and Azerbaijan were not demarcated.

Peace talks by Minsk Group:

Peace talks were initiated by the Minsk Group but peace treaty could not be brokered.
- The Minsk Group, created by the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in early 1990, was co-chaired by Russia, the United States, and France.
The Minsk Group’s proposals were continously rejected by both Yerevan and Baku.
The role of the Minsk Group declined during the 2020 war between the two countries, as other negotiating groups entered the scene.

The war of 2016 and 2020

A ceasefire signed in 1994 could not prevent multiple flare-ups between the Nagorno-Karabakh rebel armed forces backed by the Armenian military, and the Azerbaijani military.
Some skirmishes turned into direct clashes and the conflict has resulted in several casualties over the years.

2016

A clash started between Azerbaijan and Armenia which lasted for four days.
A ceasefire signed in Moscow put an end to the war but the Nagorno-Karabakh issue was far from resolved.
Fresh clashes erupted on the Armenia-Azerbaijan border in September of 2020,

2020

It turned into a fierce six-week war in which more than 2,000 people died.
The fighting began after Azerbaijani President Aliyev launched an offensive vowing to take back Nagorno-Karabakh and other Armenian-occupied districts.
Both parties entered a ceasefire brokered by Moscow in November 2020.

Current peace talks

Despite the 2020 ceasefire, clashes have not stopped.
Recently, seven Azerbaijani and six Armenian soldiers were killed in border clashes.
With the efforts of the Minsk Group remaining largely unsuccessful, Baku saw an opportunity to introduce its own peace proposal, which calls for the mutual recognition of each State’s territorial integrity, meaning the recognition of Nagorno-Karabakh within Azerbaijani territory.
The European Union, meanwhile, has emerged as a potential peace broker.
European Council President spearheaded meetings between both countries for the beginning of peace talks While both countries have now agreed to formulate border security and delimitation commissions and start talks for a peace deal, a permanent solution for the Karabakh issue remains out of sight.

West Nile Virus

Context:

The Kerala health department is on alert after the death of a 47-year-old from Thrissur due to the West Nile Virus.

Earlier in 2019, a six-year-old boy in Malappuram district had died of the same infection.

Relevance:

GS II- Health

Dimensions of the Article:

About West Nile Virus
Transmission
Symptoms
Detection of WNV

About West Nile Virus

The West Nile Virus is a mosquito-borne, single-stranded RNA virus.
The virus was first reported in the state in Alappuzha in 2006 and then in Ernakulam in 2011.
According to the WHO, it is “a member of the flavivirus genus and belongs to the Japanese Encephalitis antigenic complex of the family Flaviviridae”.

Transmission

Culex species of mosquitoes act as the principal vectors for transmission.
It is transmitted by infected mosquitoes between and among humans and animals, including birds, which are the reservoir host of the virus.
Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds, which circulate the virus in their blood for a few days.
The virus eventually gets into the mosquito’s salivary glands.
During later blood meals (when mosquitoes bite), the virus may be injected into humans and animals, where it can multiply and possibly cause illness.
WNV can also spread through blood transfusion, from an infected mother to her child, or through exposure to the virus in laboratories.
It is not known to spread by contact with infected humans or animals.
According to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it does not spread “through eating infected animals, including birds”
To date, no human-to-human transmission of WNV through casual contact has been documented.

Symptoms

The disease is asymptomatic in 80% of the infected people.
The rest develop what is called the West Nile fever or severe West Nile disease.
In these 20% cases, the symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, body aches, nausea, rash, and swollen glands.
Severe infection can lead to encephalitis, meningitis, paralysis, and even death.
It usually turns fatal in persons with co-morbidities and immuno-compromised persons (such as transplant patients).

Detection of WNV

The virus was first isolated in a woman in the West Nile district of Uganda in 1937.
It was identified in birds (crows and columbiformes like doves and pigeons) in the Nile delta region in 1953. Before 1997, WNV was not considered pathogenic for birds, but then, a more virulent strain caused the death in Israel of different bird species, presenting signs of encephalitis and paralysis.
In 1999, a WMV strain, believed to be one circulating in Israel and Tunisia, reached New York producing a large outbreak that spread across the United States and eventually across the Americas, from Canada to Venezuela.
According to the WHO, human infections attributable to WNV have been reported in many countries in the world for over 50 years.
WNV outbreak sites are found along major bird migratory routes.
Today, the virus is found commonly in Africa, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and West Asia.

Onset of Monsoon

Context:

The southwest monsoon has arrived in Kerala three days before its normal onset date of June 1. As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD) records, this is only the fourth time since 2010 when the monsoon has arrived well ahead of its normal date.

Relevance:

GS I- Indian Geography

Dimensions of the Article:

What does the “onset of monsoon” mean?
Is it unusual for the monsoon to hit the Kerala coast early?
What is Monsoon?
Causes of Monsoon
Importance of Monsoon for India
Issues with Prediction of monsoon in India
Two models for monsoon prediction

What does the “onset of monsoon” mean?

The onset of the monsoon over Kerala marks the beginning of the four-month — June-September — southwest monsoon season over India, which brings more than 70 per cent of the country’s annual rainfall. According to the IMD, the onset of the monsoon marks a significant transition in the large-scale atmospheric and ocean circulations in the Indo-Pacific region, and the IMD announces it only after certain newly defined and measurable parameters, adopted in 2016, are met.
Broadly, the IMD checks for the consistency of rainfall over a defined geography, its intensity, and wind speed.
Neither early nor late onset of the monsoon is unusual.

Rainfall

The IMD declares the onset of the monsoon if at least 60% of 14 designated meteorological stations in Kerala and Lakshadweep.
The 14 enlisted stations are: Minicoy, Amini, Thiruvananthapuram, Punalur, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Thalassery, Kannur, Kasaragod, and Mangaluru.
It records at least 2.5 mm of rain for two consecutive days at any time after May 10.
In such a situation, the onset over Kerala is declared on the second day, provided specific wind and temperature criteria are also fulfilled.

Wind field

The depth of westerlies should be up to 600 hectopascal (1 hPa is equal to 1 millibar of pressure) in the area bound by the equator to 10ºN latitude, and from longitude 55ºE to 80ºE.
The zonal wind speed over the area bound by 5-10ºN latitude and 70-80ºE longitude should be of the order of 15-20 knots (28-37 kph) at 925 hPa.

Heat

According to IMD, the INSAT-derived Outgoing Longwave Radiation (OLR) value (a measure of the energy emitted to space by the Earth’s surface, oceans, and atmosphere) should be below 200 watt per sq m (wm2).
This is measured in the box confined by 5-10ºN latitude and 70-75ºE latitude.

What is Monsoon?

Monsoon connotes the climate associated with a seasonal reversal in the direction of winds. India has a hot monsoonal climate which is the prevalent climate in the south and southeast Asia.
The Indian summer monsoon typically lasts from June-September with large areas of western and central India receiving more than 90% of their total annual precipitation during the period, and southern and northwestern India receiving 50%-75% of their total annual rainfall.
Overall, monthly totals average 200-300 mm over the country as a whole, with the largest values observed during the heart of the monsoon season in July and August.

Causes of Monsoon

During the summer months, sunlight heats the surfaces of both lands and oceans, but land temperatures rise more quickly due to a lower heat capacity.
As the land’s surface becomes warmer, the air above it expands and an area of low pressure develops.
Meanwhile, the ocean remains at a lower temperature than the land and so the air above it retains a higher pressure.
Since winds flow from areas of the high-pressure area to low, this deficit in pressure over the continent causes winds to blow in an ocean-to-land circulation (a sea breeze).
As winds blow from the ocean to the land, moist air is brought inland. This is why summer monsoons cause so much rain.

Importance of Monsoon for India

The Monsoon is one of the most important single variables in the Indian economy as a good monsoon can reduce the burden on the government, while a bad one can make it spend more.

Positive effects of Monsoon

The agricultural prosperity of India depends very much on time and adequately distributed rainfall. If it fails, agriculture is adversely affected particularly in those regions where means of irrigation are not developed.
Regional variations in monsoon climate help in growing various types of crops.
Regional monsoon variation in India is reflected in the vast variety of food, clothes and house types.
Monsoon rain helps recharge dams and reservoirs, which is further used for the generation of hydroelectric power.
Winter rainfall by temperate cyclones in north India is highly beneficial for Rabi crops.

Negative effects of Monsoon

Variability of rainfall brings droughts or floods every year in some parts of the country.
Sudden monsoon burst creates a problem of soil erosion over large areas in India.
In hilly areas, sudden rainfall brings landslide which damages natural and physical infrastructure subsequently disrupting human life economically as well as socially.

Issues with Prediction of monsoon in India

Prediction of the exact behaviour of monsoon is very difficult and this makes it a problem for the Indian Metrological Department (IMD) as every year millions of Indians are dependent on its forecast.

The topography of the Indian subcontinent makes the monsoon system very complex. Tropical weather is difficult to predict because weather systems in the tropics aren’t understood very well.
The weather systems destabilise faster in the tropics than they do in the extra-tropics, where they persist for longer durations.
Since it is difficult to predict the exact amount of rainfall, IMD relies just on a probabilistic forecast.
A major problem has been to identify a small set of stable and independent parameters that influences the monsoon rainfall and the bulk of its variance. Many of the once strongly influencing parameters have declined in their correlations over the years – Hence, the search for a minimal set of stable and strongly enforcing parameters thus remains a constant one.
Presently, the lack of enough and quality data (the IMD collects weather data like temperature, humidity, wind and precipitation through automatic weather stations, surface observatories, radiosonde or weather balloons, radars and three satellites) is one of the biggest challenges. There are also major data gaps, like those involving dust, aerosols, soil moisture and maritime conditions.
Further, the automatic weather stations are of sub-standard quality. The upkeep of instruments is a major problem.
Another issue is that dynamical models require a huge number of computations, for which supercomputers are required. As such, the need for an increased number of supercomputers remains a challenge for India.
The correlation between El-Nino and Indian monsoon is still under research. And it is difficult to forecast exactly how much the El-Nino will affect.
In addition to this, Global warming has also emerged as a factor that affects the monsoon forecast.

Two models for monsoon prediction

Statistical model: This is specific to the monsoon and is based on 16 parameters determined by IMD, for which data is collected and fed into models. These models calculate the numbers based on mathematical equations. ‘Statistical models’ try to match prevailing conditions with historical records to see how the monsoon had behaved in years when similar conditions had prevailed.
General circulation method/Dynamic model: This model makes continuous observation of some selected physical phenomena, and notes how the conditions for monsoon behave over a period of time. It then follows those changes to extrapolate for the future, and comes up with a forecast. IMD has recently started using this model for weather forecasts. However, this model has its own limitations.

Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply