Constitutional Status for National Commission for Backward Classes

The Lok Sabha has passed the 123rd Constitutional Amendment Bill which seeks to grant constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) at par with the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) and the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST).

• The government has accepted two of the amendments moved by Rajya Sabha including appointing one woman member in the NCBC and giving power to state governments to frame policies for betterment of the OBCs.
• The NCBC is a body set up under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993. It has the power to examine complaints regarding inclusion or exclusion of groups within the list of backward classes, and advise the central government in this regard.

The Procedure for the Amendment of the Constitution: Article 368 

• A Bill for the amendment of Constitution can be introduced only in either House of Parliament and not in the state legislatures.
• The Bill must be passed in each House by a special majority, that is, a majority (more than 50%) of the total membership of the House and a majority of two-thirds of the members of the House present and voting.
• Each House must pass the Bill separately. In case of a disagreement between the two Houses, there is no provision for holding a joint sitting of the two Houses for the purpose of deliberation and passage of the bill.
• The Bill must also be ratified by the legislatures of half of the states by a simple majority (a majority of the members of the House present and voting) if it seeks to amend the federal provisions of the Constitution.

Key Points

• The Bill inserts Article 338 B in the Constitution, which provides for a National Commission for Backward Classes (for the socially and educationally backward classes) with a Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson and three other members, all of whom shall be appointed by the President of India.
  
  • Their tenure and conditions of service will also be decided by the President through rules.
• Currently, under the Constitution, the National Commission for Scheduled Castes has the power to look into complaints and welfare measures with regard to Scheduled Castes, backward classes and Anglo-Indians.
  
  • The Bill seeks to remove the power of the NCSC to examine matters related to backward classes.
• The Bill states that the President may specify the socially and educationally backward classes in the various states and union territories. He may do this in consultation with the Governor of the concerned state. However, a law of Parliament will be required if the list of backward classes is to be amended.
• The duties of the NCBC will include:
  
  • investigating and monitoring how safeguards provided to the backward classes under the Constitution and other laws are being implemented,
  • inquiring into specific complaints regarding violation of rights, and
  • advising and making recommendations on socio-economic development of such classes.
• The amended Bill will give the Commission powers equivalent to that of a civil court. It will be able to summon any person, ask for a document or public record, and receive evidence on affidavits. Union and state governments will have to consult the Commission on all significant policy matters affecting the socially and educationally backward classes.
• The NCBC will be required to present annual reports to the President on working of the safeguards for backward classes. These reports will be tabled in Parliament, and in the state legislative assemblies of the concerned states.

National Commission for Scheduled Castes

• The National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) is a constitutional body established by Article 338 of the Constitution.
• The separate National Commission for SCs came into existence in 2004.
• It consists of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and three other members. They are appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal. Their conditions of service and tenure of office are also determined by the President.

NOTE: A committee under Justice G Rohini has been set up to examine sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes. The sub-categorization of OBCs can ensure increased access to benefits such as reservations in educational institutions and government jobs for less dominant OBCs.

Concerns

• The Bill makes Parliament the final authority on inclusion of communities in the OBC list and, therefore, takes away the authority of states which can now send requests to the NCBC — which, however, may or may not forward them to the union government.
• Until now, the NCBS’s recommendations with regard to inclusions and exclusions in the list are binding on the government.

A Brief History of OBC Reservations

• The Kalelkar Commission, set up in 1953, was the first to identify backward classes other than the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes at the national level. Its conclusion that caste is an important measure of backwardness was rejected on the ground that it had failed to apply more objective criteria such as income and literacy to determine backwardness.
• The Mandal Commission report (1980) estimated the OBC population at 52% and classified 1,257 communities as backward. It recommended increasing the existing quotas, which were only for SC/ST, from 22.5% to 49.5% to include the OBCs. A decade later, its recommendations were implemented in government jobs, a move that sparked major agitations.
• To assuage the anti-reservation protesters, the P V Narasimha Rao government in 1991 introduced a 10% quota for the “economically backward sections” among the forward castes.
• The Supreme Court struck this down in the Indra Sawhney vs Union of India case (1993), where it held that the Constitution recognised only social and educational — and not economic — backwardness.
• The apex court, however, held reservation for OBCs as valid and directed that the creamy layer of OBC (those earning over a specified income) should not avail reservation facilities.
• The overall reservation for SCs, STs and OBCs was capped at 50%. Based on the order, the central government reserved 27% of seats in union civil posts and services, to be filled through direct recruitment, for OBCs. The quotas were subsequently enforced in central government educational institutions.

Prosecution under Benami Act Stuck

• The prosecution of accused persons in even confirmed cases has been stuck as the special courts meant for the purpose have not yet been set up across the country.
• The Act provides that the Central government, in consultation with the Chief Justice of the respective High Courts, will establish special courts through notification.
• Despite the fact that investigations in almost 100 cases have been completed by the I-T Department in different States, including confirmation of attachment of properties by the Adjudicating Authority, the prosecution of accused persons has not started.

Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016

• The Act defines a benami transaction as a transaction where:
  • a property is held by or transferred to a person, but has been provided for or paid by another person.
  • the transaction is made in a fictitious name,
  • the owner is not aware of denies knowledge of the ownership of the property,
  • the person providing the consideration for the property is not traceable.
• Provides for an Appellate Tribunal to hear appeals against any orders passed by the Adjudicating Authority. Appeals against orders of the Appellate Tribunal will lie to the high court.
• The special court should conclude the trial within six months from the date of filing of the complaint.
• The Bill seeks to establish four authorities to conduct inquiries or investigations regarding benami transactions: (i) Initiating Officer, (ii) Approving Authority, (iii) Administrator and (iv) Adjudicating Authority.
  • If an Initiating Officer believes that a person is a benamidar, he may issue a notice to that person.  The Initiating Officer may hold the property for 90 days from the date of issue of the notice, subject to permission from the Approving Authority.  At the end of the notice period, the Initiating Officer may pass an order to continue the holding of the property.
  • If an order is passed to continue holding the property, the Initiating Officer will refer the case to the Adjudicating Authority.  The Adjudicating Authority will examine all documents and evidence relating to the matter and then pass an order on whether or not to hold the property as benami. Based on an order to confiscate the benami property, the Administrator will receive and manage the property in a manner and subject to conditions as prescribed.
  • The amended law empowers the specified authorities to provisionally attach benami properties which can eventually be confiscated.
• Besides, if a person is found guilty of offence of benami transaction by the competent court, he shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term not less than one year but which may extend to 7 years and shall also be liable to fine which may extend to 25% of the fair market value of the property.

India, Myanmar to relax land visa norms

India and Myanmar, are set to relax visa norms for land border crossing through Moreh (Manipur) and Tamu (Myanmar).

Key Highlights

• It will provide a major fillip to connectivity between the North-Eastern States and Myanmar.

NOTE: India and Myanmar share an unfenced border of 1,643 km, touching Arunachal Pradesh (520 km), Nagaland (215 km), Manipur (398 km) and Mizoram (510 km).

Free Movement Regime (FMR)

• The Free Movement Regime is a unique travel arrangement between India and Myanmar.
• FMR permits the tribes residing along the border to travel 16-km across the boundary without visa restrictions.
• The FMR helps tribes across the border to maintain their age-old ties.

• Currently, Indians travelling to Myanmar have to apply for a permit which takes 20-30 days to arrive. Also, for land travel, Indians have to pay $40 for a tour guide, over and above the visa fees.
• Under the new norms, Myanmar will scrap the provision for a permit on land travel, making it easier for both tourists and business travellers to take the land route.
• New visa norms will give a major boost to the trade ties between the North-East and Myanmar.
• Improved connectivity will also help Manipur to attract patients from Myanmar to the super-speciality hospitals in the State.

India Elevated to Strategic Trade Authorization - 1 List

The United States (US) has eased controls on high-technology dual-use exports to India by elevating her to the Strategic Trade Authorisation - 1 (STA-1) list.

Background

• US has traditionally had a very restrictive export licensing regime The export of defence and dual-use technology by the US is almost always based on two factors — US national security, and the recipient’s regional stability.
• In 2011, as part of the export control reforms initiative, the US government came up with the concept of Strategic Trade Authorisation (STA) — a move towards a licence-free or license exemption regime.
• Two lists were created — STA-1 and STA-2 — and countries that were not part of either list had to apply for a licence for every item on the export control list.
• STA-1 and STA-2 established a hierarchy among those the US was willing to certify as “good countries” that would not contribute towards “proliferation” in the world.

Key Highlights

• STA-1 countries have license-free access to almost 90% of dual-use technology and are eligible to import items that are controlled for reasons of national security, chemical or biological weapons, etc., irrespective of whether the technology or item impacts regional stability or American national security.
• Countries in the STA-2 list enjoy some form of licensing exemption, but cannot access dual-use items/technology that may impact regional stability, or contribute to nuclear non-proliferation, etc.

Significance for India

• The decision to put India in STA-1, despite not being a member of all four multilateral export control regimes, is a “reaffirmation” of its “impeccable record” as a responsible member of multilateral export control regimes.

NOTE: The four multilateral export control regimes are Wassenaar Arrangement (WA), Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), Australia Group (AG) and Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). India is not a member of NSG as China has been blocking India's entry.

• Being part of STA-1 could open up doors for both sales and manufacturing in India as it is expected to lead to greater high-technology trade and commerce. According to US estimates, India’s not being part of STA-1 has resulted in a “lost opportunity” worth $10 billion over the last seven years since 2011.
• Post the US Senate passing the National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA), 2019, the elevation could be seen as another step in stronger India-US relations and could forge closer defence and commerce partnerships.
• STA-1 provides India greater supply chain efficiency, both for defence and for other high-tech products, that will increase activity with US systems, the interoperability of the systems, and it will reduce time and resources needed to get licensing approved.

NOTE: National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA), 2019

• The US Senate passed the National Defence Authorization Act (NDAA) 2019. The act sought to amend a law threatening secondary sanctions against American strategic partners, such as India, who conducts significant business with Russia.
• The move is being seen as a major relief to India, as it paves the way for it purchases the Russian S400 Triumf.

Andhra Pradesh Government Announces Unemployment Allowance Scheme

The government of Andhra Pradesh has launched 'Mukhyamantri-Yuva Nestam', a scheme through which an allowance of Rs 1000 per month will be provided to unemployed youths in the state.

• According to the government, the scheme will benefit around 12 lakhs unemployed youths in the state.
• The Government also plans to offer non-mandatory industry relevant skill development programmes to the eligible beneficiaries under the programme.

Key Facts

• The scheme will cover youths in the age group of 22-35 years and will be extended to all eligible members irrespective of more than one beneficiary in the same family.
• The youths have to be registered in the Smart Pulse Survey (“Praja Sadhikara Survey’) and should possess Aadhaar numbers and other information for authentication (e-KYC).
• Youths who are enrolled under subsidies exceeding Rs. 50,000 towards self-employment projects and those paying provident fund are not eligible under the scheme.
• The allowance will be deposited into the bank accounts of the beneficiaries, same as that of the payment procedure for old age and social security pensions.

NOTE: Praja Sadhikara Survey – Smart Pulse survey or Praja Sadhikara Survey is a State-led survey organized by the Andhra Pradesh government for the identification of beneficiaries for various social sector schemes of the state

Important Facts for Prelims (3 August 2018)

NITI Aayog Launches Move Hack

• NITI Aayog has launched Move Hack, a global mobility hackathon to crowdsource solutions aimed at the future of mobility in India.
• Transportation and mobility are emerging as potential drivers of innovation and economic growth of the 21st century.
• Rapidly evolving technologies and business models for delivering mobility services have dramatic potential to transform the global transportation sector.
• Mobility that ranges from pedestrian and personal transport to public transit and freight movement is extremely critical and impacts rural and urban daily lives.
• The hackathon is organized in partnership with the Government of Singapore and is powered by Hacker Earth. 

NOTE: Crowdsourcing is the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas, or content by soliciting contributions from a large group of people and especially from the online community rather than from traditional employees or suppliers

SAATHI Initiative

• Ministry of Textiles and Ministry of Power have joined hands under the initiative SAATHI (Sustainable and Accelerated Adoption of efficient Textile technologies to Help Small Industries) in order to sustain and accelerate the adoption of energy efficient textile technologies in the powerloom sector and cost savings due to using of such technology.
• Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL), a Public Sector entity under the administrative control of Ministry of Power, will replace old inefficient electric motors with energy efficient motors which will result in energy and cost saving up to 10-15% in the first phase.
• The use of this efficient equipment will result in energy savings and cost savings to the unit owners at no upfront cost.

Save Dal Lake

• According to a recent assessment, the size of Dal Lake has shrunk from its original area of 22 sq km to about 10 sq km.
• The water quality of Dal Lake has deteriorated due to intense pollution caused by untreated sewage and solid wastes that flow into the lake.
• The depth of the lake has come down in many places and its total capacity has gone down to 40%.
• Encroachments of water channels and clogging have diminished the circulation and inflows into the lake, leading to extensive weed growth of water hyacinth which has emerged as a health hazard.
• Houseboats on Dal Lake often discharge sewage into the water body.
• The continuing night soil discharge from the 800 to 900 houseboats is causing extreme pollution.

NOTE: Dal Lake

• Dal Lake, situated in the northeast of Srinagar (the capital of Jammu and Kashmir) in Kashmir valley (584 m above MSL), is one of the most beautiful lakes in India and the second largest lake in Jammu and Kashmir.
• The lake has four main interconnected basins namely, Hazratbal, Bod dal, Gagribal and Nagin.

Apple Reaches Historic 1 Trillion Market Cap

• Apple Inc became the first 1 trillion publicly listed U.S. company, capping a decade-long rise in its stock price fueled by its popular iPhone.

NOTE: Market capitalization(Market Cap) is the aggregate valuation of the company based on its current share price and the total number of outstanding stocks. It is calculated by multiplying the current market price of the company's share with the total outstanding shares of the company.

Connectivity for Health Project

• Ministries of Electronics and IT (MeitY), Telecommunications and Health & Family Welfare will come together for a ‘connectivity for health’ project.
• The aim is to connect all rural areas through a special broadband line, to provide telemedicine in rural areas, with government hospitals so that they have access to well- known doctors through video calling.
• The government is already running various programmes as part of the ‘Digital India’ initiative, such as e-Hospital — an open-source health information management system, which is configurable and easily customisable with multi-tenancy support.
• Recently, MeitY and the Health Ministry also tied up to implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme through three-lakh Common Service Centres (CSCs) across the country.
• As per the agreement, a beneficiary can now visit the nearby CSC to get the benefit of this scheme. CSC will help the beneficiary identify his/her name in the Health Ministry database and his/her entitlement for the scheme.

NOTE: Ayushman Bharat is the National Health Protection Scheme, which will cover over 10 crore poor families (around 50 crore beneficiaries) providing coverage of up to Rs 5 lakh (per family per year) for secondary and tertiary-care hospitalisation.

Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY)

• The Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY) was launched in 2014 under which each Member of Parliament will take the responsibility of developing physical and institutional infrastructure in three villages by 2019.
• The Yojana is about improving access to public services and community action for social and economic development so that these villages become role models worth emulation by neighbouring Gram Panchayats.
• The goal is to develop three Adarsh Grams by March 2019, of which one would be achieved by 2016. Thereafter, five such Adarsh Grams (one per year) will be selected and developed by 2024.