POLITY AND GOVERNANCE                                                             

1. India’s cancer care facilities highly inadequate, says parliamentary panel                                                                                               

2. CJI under RTI ambit                                                                         

3. Climate change is harming health of children, says Lancet report       

4. Supreme Court upholds disqualification of 17 rebel MLAs, can contest bypolls                                                                                             

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS                                                          

1. Indian Prime minister proposes Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative             

ECONOMY                                                                                             

1. Government unveils draft e-commerce rules                                     

​SECURITY                                                                                             

1. Exercise Dustlik-2019                                                                       

2. Exercise Shakti– 2019                                                                      

POLITY AND GOVERNANCE

India’s cancer care facilities highly inadequate, says parliamentary panel

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Context :

• The parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, environment, forest and climate change has expressed serious concern over the rising number of cancer patients in the country.

Key Highlights of the Report :

• Cancer is one of the leading threats to public health in India.An estimated 2.25 million people live with the disease in the country.The disease kills 8 lakh people annually.

• Among women,the top three cancers are breast cancer, cervical cancer and oral cancer.

• Among men,the top three cancers with the highest incidence are those in the oral cavity, cancer of the pharynx and those of the gastro-intestinal tract.

• The inadequate Health infrastructure fails to address the needs of patients and contributes to a 20% higher mortality among Indian cancer patients than those in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI).

• In India, the Mortality to incidence ratio of 0.68 in India is higher than that in very high human development index (HDI) countries (0.38) and high HDI countries (0.57).

• The incidence of cancer is very high in all North Eastern States as it is higher than the national average for several types of cancer.

Key Recommendations :

• Cancer infrastructure needs to be upgraded especially in underserved parts of the country and in regions where cancer incidence is high such as in all north-eastern states.

• The panel has also urged the government to expand and upgrade cancer treatment infrastructure for affordable and quality care by enlarging the network of the Mumbai-based Tata Memorial Centre (TMC).

• The panel has recommended he government to set up a High-Level Steering Committee to work out modalities for rolling out of a Hub and Spoke Model in a time-bound manner.

• This Hub and Spoke Model which is already in practice in Punjab has a network of centres or hubs capable of treating complex forms of cancer.

                                                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu

CJI under RTI ambit

GS PAPER - 02 GOVERNANCE -  Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability, e-governance- applications, models, successes, limitations, and potential; citizens charters, transparency & accountability and institutional and other measures.

Context :

•  A five-judge bench of the Supreme Court has ruled that the office of Chief Justice of India (CJI) comes under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

Background :

• The verdict comes in the matter of a plea filed by Supreme Court Secretary-General challenging Delhi High Court’s 2010 order holding that the CJI’s office is a “public authority” and falls under the ambit of the RTI Act.

SC Verdict :

• The Supreme Court of India and the office of the CJI are not two different public authorities. The SC would necessarily include the office of CJI and other judges in view of Article 124 of the Constitution (Establishment and Constitution of Supreme Court)

• Right to Information and Right to Privacy are two sides of the same coin. They have to be balanced while deciding to give out information from the office of the chief Justice.

• Judicial independence and accountability go hand in hand, but transparency does not undermine judicial independence.

• Disclosure of any information sought will have to be balanced with the independence of judiciary, which itself is a matter of public interest.

• The Court has asked the information commissioner to apply test of proportionality while entertaining applications seeking information from CJI’s office, keeping in mind right to privacy and independence of judiciary.           

                                                                                                                      Source :- The Hindu

Climate change is harming health of children, says Lancet report

GS PAPER- 02 GOVERNANCE - Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.

Context :

• The Lancet has published a report titled- ‘Countdown on Health and Climate Change’.

More about the report :

• ‘The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change’ is a comprehensive yearly analysis tracking progress across 41 key indicators.

• The project is a collaboration between 120 experts from 35 institutions, including the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, University College London, and the Tsinghua University in Beijing.

Concern :

• The report notes that as temperatures rise, infants will bear the greatest burden of malnutrition and rising food prices — average yield potential of maize and rice has declined almost 2% in India since the 1960s, with malnutrition already responsible for two-thirds of the deaths of children under five years.

• Also, children will suffer most from the rise in infectious diseases — with climatic suitability for the Vibrio bacteria that cause cholera rising 3% a year in India since the early 1980s, the study warns.

• With its huge population and high rates of healthcare inequality, poverty and malnutrition, few countries are likely to suffer from the health effects of climate change as much as India.

• It is believed that diarrhoeal infections, a major cause of child mortality, will spread into new areas, whilst deadly heatwaves could soon become the norm.

• Over the past two decades, the government of India has launched many initiatives and programmes to address a variety of diseases and risk factors. But this report shows that the public health gains achieved over the past 50 years could soon be reversed by the changing climate.

                                                                                                                                                          Source :- The Hindu

Supreme Court upholds disqualification of 17 rebel MLAs, can contest bypolls

GS PAPER - 02 POLITY - Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure, devolution of powers and finances up to local levels and challenges therein.

Context :

• The Supreme Court(SC) has upheld an order by former Karnataka Assembly Speaker disqualifying 17 Karnataka MLAs.However,the court has allowed all the disqualified MLAs to contest in the upcoming bypolls.

Background :

• Karnataka Assembly Speaker had disqualified 17 MLAs under the tenth schedule of the Constitution(anti defection law).

• The disqualification had barred the legislators from contesting Assembly polls for the term of the current Assembly which ends in 2023.

• However,the Supreme Court upheld the disqualification of the dissident legislators but it also held that their ouster does not put any bar upon them from contesting by-polls.

• The court said that the speaker acts as a quasi-judicial authority and that the scope of the assembly speaker’s inquiry is limited to examine whether the resignation of MLAs was voluntary or not.

• It said that even the 91st Amendment Act,2003 which did not allow a disqualified member to be appointed as a minister,did not give Speaker the power to put a ban upon them to contest elections till the end of the term.

SC Ruling :

• The Supreme Court upheld the disqualification of the dissident legislators however it also held that their ouster does not put any bar upon them from contesting by-polls.

• According to the Court, ‘neither under the Constitution nor under the statutory scheme (i.e, Representation of the People Act, 1951 or the Anti-Defection Law) it is mentioned that disqualification under the Tenth Schedule would lead to a bar for contesting re-elections.’

• The court also remarked that even the 91st Amendment Act, 2003 which did not allow a disqualified member to be appointed as a minister, did not give Speaker the power to put a ban upon them to contest elections till the end of the term.

Right to Resign :

• The court upheld the MLAs’ submission that they had a right to resign.

  • “A member may choose to resign for a variety of reasons and his reasons may be good or bad but it is his sole prerogative to resign. An elected member cannot be compelled to continue his office if he chooses to resign,” the judgment observed.

• Under Article 190(3), a provision under which the Speaker has to ascertain the “voluntary” and “genuine” nature of a resignation before accepting it, the court is clear that it is a limited inquiry, only to see if the letter is authentic and if the intent to quit is based on free will.

  • “Once it is demonstrated that a member is willing to resign out of his free will, the Speaker has no option but to accept the resignation,” the court has said.

• This effectively ends the argument that the Speaker is empowered to consider the motives and circumstances whenever a resignation is submitted.           

                                                                                                                      Source :- The Hindu

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

Indian Prime minister proposes Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative

GS PAPER - 02 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• Indian Prime Minister has proposed an Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative during his address at the 14th East Asia Summit.

Indo Pacific initiative:

• The Indo-Pacific is an integrated region that combines the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and the land masses that surround them.

• The main objective of the Indo Pacific initiative will be to achieve safe, secure and a stable maritime domain.

• The initiative aims to achieve this by creating partnerships among interested states by sustainably using marine resources.

• The focus areas of the initiative will be to (a)Enhance maritime security (b)Sustainable use of marine resources (c)Disaster prevention & management (d)Capacity-building and (e)Cooperation in trade and maritime transport.

• The initiative is considered by the experts as an incremental step to the Shangri La dialogue.           

                                                                                                                Source :- Economic Times

ECONOMY

Government unveils draft e-commerce rules

GS PAPER - 03 ECONOMY - Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Context :

• Government has released the draft Consumer Protection (e-Commerce) Rules,2019.

E-commerce rules 2019 :

• Unfair Trade Practices:The rules prohibit E-commerce firms from adopting unfair methods or deceptive practice that may influence transactional decisions of consumers to products and services.

• False reviews:It also bars such entities from falsely representing themselves as consumers or post reviews about good and services.

• Transparency:The e-commerce firms have to display the details of the sellers including the identity of their business, legal name and contact details.

• Grievance officer:They will also have to publish the name and contact details of the Grievance Officer(GO) on its website.In the case of accepted refund requests by consumers for payments,e-comm entity has to be dispensed within two weeks.

• Fake Products:Ecommerce player will be held guilty and secondary liability if it has made an assurance vouching for the authenticity of a product but it turns out to be a fake.

• Advertisements:Ecommerce player will have to ensure that ads for products are in line with the features they provide.

                                                                                                      Source :- Hindu Business Line

SECURITY

Exercise Dustlik-2019

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• The inaugural Indo-Uzbekistan Joint Field Training Exercise (FTX)-2019, Exercise DUSTLIK-2019 culminated after ten days of joint training with the Uzbekistan Army.

Dustlik 2019:

• Dustlik 2019 will be conducted for about ten days in November 2019 at Tashkent.

• This is a joint exercise of the armies of India and Uzbekistan.

• The exercise will enable sharing of best practices and experiences between the Armed Forces of the two countries and would lead to greater operational effectiveness.

• The primary focus will be on counterterrorism.

                                                                                                                                 Source :- PIB

Exercise Shakti– 2019

GS PAPER - 03 SECURITY - Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India's interests

Context :

• The closing ceremony of the joint military exercise between the Indian and French Armies, Exercise ‘SHAKTI-2019’ was held at Rajasthan.

Exercise Shakti:

• This joint bilateral exercise between the armies of India and France commenced in the year 2011.

• It is a biennial exercise (takes place once every two years) and occurs alternatively in India and France.

• The joint exercise will focus on counter-terrorism operations in the backdrop of semi-desert terrain under the United Nations Mandate.

• The training will focus primarily on high degree of physical fitness, sharing of drill at tactical level and learning of best practices from each other.

• The exercise aims at enhancing understanding, cooperation and interoperability between the two Armies.

                                                                                                                       Source :- PIB

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