General Knowledge Today: Integrated IAS General Studies:2016-17

General Knowledge Today
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CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Integrated IAS General Studies:2016-17

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CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Contents
......................... ....... .. ........ .... .. .......................................................
Model Questions .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Prelims Notes and Observations ....................................................................................................................... 5
On MGNREGA wages ....................................................................................................................... 5
Equalisation Treaty / Google Tax ................................................................................................... 5
Simultaneous Elections in India ........................................................................................................ 5
Biofortification ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Recent amendment to FCRA ............................................................................................................ 5
What is new in new Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016? ......................................... 5
Key responsibilities of IndARC ......................................................................................................... 6
Types of services provided by NAVIC ............................................................................................ 6
Global Vaccine Switch ........................................................................................................................ 6
Current borrowing limit for states .................................................................................................. 6
2014 National Geosciences Award ................................................................................................. 6
RIMES .................................................................................................................................................... 6
Minimum judge requirement for a constitutional bench in Supreme Court ......................... 7
Skill Council for Green Jobs ............................................................................................................. 7
India’s current Social Security Agreements ................................................................................... 7
112 Emergency Number ..................................................................................................................... 7
Public Affairs Index (PAI) .................................................................................................................. 7
Proposed National Social Media Policy .......................................................................................... 7
Recent feat of Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) ........................ 7
Gravitational Lensing .......................................................................................................................... 8
New Accounting Standards (Ind-AS) ............................................................................................. 8
Impacts on India Inc. .......................................................................................................................... 9
Pattachitra Paintings ............................................................................................................................ 9
Indian History: Ghadar Movement ................................................................................................................ 10
19th Century: Sikh sentiments towards Raj during Mutiny ..................................................... 10
Early 20th Century: Sikh exodus to distant lands and resentment towards British ............. 11
Lala Hardayal, India House and launch of Ghadar Party .......................................................... 12
The Ghadar ......................................................................................................................................... 12
The Komagatamaru Tragedy 1914 ................................................................................................ 13
Implications of Komagatamaru incident on Indian History ..................................................... 14
Arrival of Ghadar in India and suppression ................................................................................. 14
Relevance of Ghadar Movement .................................................................................................... 14
Ghadar Activism- Racial Project versus attempt to overthrow British Empire .................... 15
Women Activists of the Ghadar Movement ................................................................................. 15
Gulab Kaur .......................................................................................................................................... 15
Bhikaji Cama ....................................................................................................................................... 16
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Integrated IAS General Studies:2016-17 2

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Agnes Smedley ................................................................................................................................... 16

Notable Trivia: .................................................................................................................................... 16
Simultaneous Elections Debate ....................................................................................................................... 17
Historical Background ...................................................................................................................... 17
Arguments in Support ...................................................................................................................... 17
Difficulties ............................................................................................................................................ 17
Recommendations of the standing committee ............................................................................ 18
Countries in which simultaneous elections are held .................................................................. 18
Maharashtra’s New Social Boycott Law ....................................................................................................... 18
Why there is a need for such a law in Maharashtra? ................................................................ 18
What are the key features? .............................................................................................................. 19
Past attempts made to make anti-boycott laws .......................................................................... 19
Pre-independence: ............................................................................................................................. 19
After Independence: ......................................................................................................................... 20
Relevant provisions in the constitution ......................................................................................... 20
Comment ............................................................................................................................................ 20
Proposed National Court of Appeal ............................................................................................................... 21
What is a National Court of Appeal? ............................................................................................. 21
Why there is a need for| prince.yonus786@gmail.com
younislaw NCA? ........................................................................................................
| www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies 21
Mundane matters reduce court’s efficiency ................................................................................. 21
The decline of constitution benches .............................................................................................. 21
Ease of access ..................................................................................................................................... 22
Backlog of cases ................................................................................................................................ 22
What are the criticisms of NCA? ................................................................................................... 22
What is the stand of Supreme Court on creating an NCA? .................................................... 23
What is the stand of government on creating an NCA? .......................................................... 23
What is the current status of the proposal? ................................................................................ 24
What were the recommendations of the previous law commissions? .................................. 24
What is the way forward? ............................................................................................................... 24
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 25
Understanding Minimum Wages Issue in MGNREGA ............................................................................. 25
What is MGNREGA? ........................................................................................................................ 25
How MGNREGA Wages are fixed? .............................................................................................. 25
What are the Issues around MGNREGA Wage Rates? ............................................................. 25
What is the recent government decision towards this? ............................................................ 26
Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal Issue ........................................................................................................ 26
Stand of Punjab ................................................................................................................................. 27
Stand of farmers ................................................................................................................................ 28
Stand of Haryana .............................................................................................................................. 28
Contentious Issues ............................................................................................................................ 28
Rulings of Supreme Court on this issue ....................................................................................... 28

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Understanding Google Tax ............................................................................................................................. 29

Defining Equalization Treaty .......................................................................................................... 29
On whom the equalization levy is levied? .................................................................................... 29
What are the services covered at present? .................................................................................. 29
What is the rationale behind equalization levy? .......................................................................... 30
Why online companies oppose? ..................................................................................................... 30
What has been done in the UK? ..................................................................................................... 31
What would be the challenges faced while implementing? ...................................................... 31
Biofortification / BHU-35 ................................................................................................................................ 31
What is Biofortification? ................................................................................................................... 31
Relevance of Biofortification ............................................................................................................ 31
Amendment to FCRA via Finance Bill Route Controversy ...................................................................... 32
Background ........................................................................................................................................ 32
Implications for political parties ..................................................................................................... 32
Implications for companies ............................................................................................................. 33
Passing the amendment as Finance Bill – Is it suppression of democracy? ......................... 33
Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016 .............................................................................................. 34
Salient Features .................................................................................................................................. 34
Applicability ........................................................................................................................................
younislaw | prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies 34
Defining Other Wastes ..................................................................................................................... 34
User Fee and Sport Fine .................................................................................................................. 34
Responsibilities of Waste Generators ............................................................................................ 34
Integration of waste / rag pickers into formal system ............................................................. 34
Partnership in Swachh Bharat ........................................................................................................ 34
Procedural Simplification ................................................................................................................. 34
Streamlining Import and Export .................................................................................................... 35
Items banned for Import ................................................................................................................. 35
Why there is a need for the new rules? ........................................................................................ 35
What are the criticisms? ................................................................................................................... 35
IndARC ................................................................................................................................................................ 35
Navigation Indian Constellation (NAVIC) ................................................................................................... 36
Renaming ............................................................................................................................................ 36
What is IRNSS? ................................................................................................................................. 37
Global Vaccine Switch ..................................................................................................................................... 37
What exactly is the switch? ............................................................................................................. 37
Why the switch is being made? ..................................................................................................... 38
What steps have been taken in India? .......................................................................................... 38
Additional Borrowing Limits for States ........................................................................................................ 39
Why such a move has been taken? ............................................................................................... 39
Which states are eligible? ................................................................................................................ 39
NRBNVWhich states stand to be benefitted? ............................................................................................ 39

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
What are the implications? ............................................................................................................. 40

Ocean State Forecast Services (OSFS) ........................................................................................................ 40
When OSFS was started? ................................................................................................................ 40
What type of information is provided by OSFS? ........................................................................ 41
Who benefits from the data? ........................................................................................................... 41
About RIMES ...................................................................................................................................... 41
About INCOIS ................................................................................................................................... 42
Issue of Misuse of Interest Subvention Scheme ......................................................................................... 42
New Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions .................................................................................... 44
Objective ............................................................................................................................................. 44
Provisions under section 3(k) of Indian Patent Act .................................................................. 44
Salient features of the new guidelines for examination of CRIs ............................................. 44
Implications ........................................................................................................................................ 44
Criticism .............................................................................................................................................. 45
About Open Source Software ........................................................................................................ 45
Why patent free open source software is important? ............................................................... 45
Endnotes ............................................................................................................................................. 46
Proposed Centre State Investment Agreement (CSIA)
younislaw | prince.yonus786@gmail.com ............................................................................ 46
| www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
What is a bilateral investment treaty (BIT)? ............................................................................... 46

Why the government has come up with this proposal? ........................................................... 46
What are the issues/criticisms? ..................................................................................................... 47
Cooperative federalism .................................................................................................................... 47
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................................... 48
New pricing policy for Deep Sea Gas Fields .............................................................................................. 48
Why there is a need for new pricing policy? .............................................................................. 48
Who will be benefitted from the new pricing policy? .............................................................. 48
How the prices will be determined as per the new pricing policy? ...................................... 49
How the prices are determined now? .......................................................................................... 49

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Model Questions
Prelims MCQ Topics
Who decides MGNREGA wages; Google Tax; Biofortification; CSR requirements as per Companies
Act; Recent changes in FCRA; Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016; IndARC; services offered
by NAVIC, Global Vaccine Switch; Current borrowing limit for states, Minimum judge requirement
for a constitutional bench in Supreme Court; India’s current Social Security Agreements; Public
Affairs Index (PAI), Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) or Artificial Sun;
Gravitational Lensing; New Accounting Standards (Ind-AS); Pattachitra Paintings.
Model Questions for Mains

1. Despite of two Anglo-Sikh wars that led to destruction of the Sikh sovereignty, the Sikh
princes sided with the British during the 1857 revolt. Throw light on the reasons.
2. “The political activism and radicalism of the Ghadar movement was first and foremost
directed at promoting Indian Independence.” Discuss.
3. Despite MGNREGA being a central scheme, the wage rates in this programme differ widely
from state to state?younislaw
Critically examine the implication
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com of this anomaly on fiscal federalism in
the country.
4. With the evolution of new business models, there are difficulties in characterizing the nature
of payment, establishing a taxing jurisdiction, locating the transaction, identifying the
taxpayer etc. To what extent, the recently imposed equalization levy attempts to sort these
issues out? Discuss while elucidating the rationale of this tax.
5. “The idea {of conducting simultaneous elections to panchayats, urban local bodies, states and
Parliament} is good in principle but there are several practical difficulties.” Discuss.
6. “The recent amendment of the FCRA not only legalises the illegal but also poses a danger to
democracy.” Critically discuss.
7. “Maharashtra’s social boycott law is an attempt to give effect to the Constitution’s guarantee
against social exclusion, as provided in Articles 15(2) and 17.” Discuss critically.
8. “The misuse of interest subvention schemes calls for rationalizing the interest subvention
subsidy.” Explain.
9. Critically evaluate the implications of the proposed Centre-State Investment Agreement
(CSIA) for effective implementation of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) on federalism in
India.
10. The Supreme Court is a multifarious institution dealing with a variety of civil and criminal

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
appeals and is overburdened with mundane cases. Critically discuss the idea of National Court
of Appeal in this context.
NRBNV

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Prelims Notes and Observations

On MGNREGA wages
The MGNREGA wages are fixed by central government {Rural Development Ministry} as per
provisions of NREGA act. The NREGA wages are NOT linked to Minimum wages act. The annual
revision in MGNREGA wages is done as per changes in CPI-AL. We note here that there are three
wage indices in the country viz. CPI-AL, CPI-RL {Rural Labourers} and CPI-R {Rural}. While CPI-
AL and CPI-RL are computed by Labour Bureau {Ministry of Labour}, the CPI-R is computed by CSO
under MOPSI. {Discussed in the module in backgrounders}
Equalisation Treaty / Google Tax
Equalization Treaty or the so called Google Tax is a 6% levy, which individual or company is needed
to deduct while making payment of more than Rs. 1 Lakh in a financial year for getting B2B services
from foreign companies. This will be primarily on online advertisements such as Google / Facebook
ads. This tax would be withheld by the buyer of such services and deposited by him to the
government. Currently, online ads are included; the government would later bring other services
such as digital downloads in its ambit.
Simultaneous Elections younislaw
in India | prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
In India, the simultaneous elections of Lok Sabha and State assemblies were conducted for 1957,
1962 and 1967. After that the cycle broke due to premature dissolution of some state assemblies and
then later the Lok Sabha.
Biofortification
Biofortification is the process of cross breeding the food crops in such a way that it results in increase
in their inherent nutritional quality. This term has nothing to do with GM crops. Bio-fortification is
a seed-driven technology.
Recent amendment to FCRA
The current CSR {Corporate Social Responsibility} rules as per Companies Act 2013 provide that a
firm which has either net-worth of Rs. 500 Crore or annual revenues of Rs. 1000 Crore or annual
net profit of Rs. 5 crore has to spend 2% of its average profit in past three years on social
development works either on their own or via some philanthropic foundation or in partnership with
some not-for-profit organizations. The recent amendment to FCRA provides that even if a company
is foreign, its contribution to not-for-proft or donation to political parties will be considered as of
domestic origin.
What is new in new Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016?
The new elements in recently issued Waste Management Rules, 2016 are (1) allowing municipalities to

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
levy user fee from waste generators (2) allowing municipalities to levy spot fine for littering and non-
segregation of waste (3) responsibilities of the waste generators to segregate the waste in three streams
viz. wet, dry and domestic wastes (4) putting onus on state governments to include the waste pickers,
rag pickers and Kabadiwalas into formal waste management system (5) institutional partnership in
Swachh Bharat Programme.
Key responsibilities of IndARC
IndARC is India’s first underwater moored observatory anchored in the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way
between Norway (1100km away from Norway) and the North Pole at a depth of 192 metre. The data
provided by IndARC helps to understand the Arctic processes and their influence on the Indian
monsoon system through climate modelling studies; and the response of the Arctic to climatic variability.
Types of services provided by NAVIC
NAVIC (Navigation Indian Constellation) provides two types of services viz. Standard Positioning
Services (SPS), which will be provided to all users; and Restricted Services – (RS), which will
grant access only to authorised users. It is made of seven satellites of which three are in GEO and
four are in GCO. With the launch of IRNSS-1G (seventh and final member of IRNSS constellation)
the IRNSS system is complete and
younislaw would be soon operational.
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com IRNSS-1G has a 12-year mission life.
Global Vaccine Switch

Global Vaccine Switch was simultaneous replacement of trivalent OPV with bivalent OPV in routine
immunization and supplemental immunization activities all over world within a 2-week timeframe
(April 17 to May 1). Trivalent OPV would no longer be used anywhere in the world. This switch has
been labelled as the largest globally coordinated withdrawal of one vaccine and the roll out of another
into a routine immunization programme in history.
Current borrowing limit for states
Currently, the states can borrow up to 3% of their GSDP {Gross State Domestic Product}. The recent
cabinet approval allows the states {which exercise greater fiscal discipline} to borrow 0.5% additional
to this limit.
2014 National Geosciences Award
National Geosciences Award for the year 2014 was presented recently to an INCOIS team for
developing Ocean Forecast and Information System (OFIS) for maritime safety. This award is given
by Ministry of Mines.
RIMES
RIMES refers to Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia
(RIMES). It is operational since 2009 and provides regional early warning services in the region.
NRBNV

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Minimum judge requirement for a constitutional bench in Supreme Court

Article 145(3) of the Constitution requires at least five judges to sit for deciding any case involving a
substantial question of constitutional law. However, now-a-days division benches of two judges are
deciding such cases mainly because of paucity of judges.
Skill Council for Green Jobs
Skill Council for Green Jobs (SCGJ) is a not-for-profit society aligned to National Skill Development
Mission and promoted by Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) and Confederation of
Indian Industry (CII). It was launched to supply skilled workforce to renewable energy sector. In 2016-17,
it aims to train close to 29000 professionals.
India’s current Social Security Agreements
At present {June 2016} India has signed social security agreements with 14 countries viz. South Korea,
Finland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Hungary, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, Luxembourg,
Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and Australia. Australia is latest among the list with which
agreement was signed in November 2014 and came into force on January 1, 2016. We note here that
EPFO is the implementation agency for social service agreements in India.
112 Emergency Number
From January 1, the number ‘112’ will become the all-in-one emergency number, which can be used
to avail all emergency services like police, ambulance, fire etc. It will be similar to the emergency
number ‘911’ of the US and Canada. In Australia, such emergency number is 000, while in UK, its
999.
Public Affairs Index (PAI)
The first Public Affairs Index on good governance was released by Public Affairs Centre, an NGO in
Bengaluru. The index measures aspects like economic, social and infrastructure development and
attempts to rank governance at the inter-state level. According to the index, the best states are
Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Maharashtra and Gujarat in that order and the worst states are
Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha, in that order.
Proposed National Social Media Policy
The government of India had proposed to come up with a “national social media policy” to prevent
young people from being radicalized by the Islamic State (IS) by using social media groups and online
videos. Most ISIS recruitments are done through the Internet. The government wants to check these
attempts. The policy will focus on de-radicalisation by countering social media propaganda that
follows any communally polarizing incident in the country, which is used to invoke extreme
sentiments among vulnerable people.
Recent feat of Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST)

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Chinese scientists at the Institute of Physical Science in Hefei have moved a step closer to creating an
‘artificial sun’ through nuclear fusion. This breakthrough is claimed to end reliance on fossil fuels and
offer unlimited clean energy forever.
The scientists created a temporary artificial star by producing hydrogen gas more than three times
hotter than the core of our sun, and 8,600 times hotter than our planet’s core. The process is
equivalent to a medium-scale thermonuclear explosion.
They conducted this experiment inside the Experimental Advanced
Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) fusion device, also referred to as the ‘Artificial Sun’. The scientists
managed to maintain the extremely high temperature (50 million degrees Celsius) for 102 seconds,
a feat which is first in the world.
The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (East) project is part of global efforts to
produce a viable source of alternative energy from nuclear fusion reactors. This project, which cost
300 million yuan (approximately $37 million), is attempting to provide solution to a fundamental
problem that scientists have faced since the Industrial Revolution; that of creating energy from
machines that is more than the initial input.
Gravitational Lensing younislaw | prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
Normal lenses such as the ones used in a magnifying glass or a pair of spectacles bends the light rays
that pass through them by refraction and focuses the light somewhere (such as in your eye).
Gravitational lensing is among the first evidences of Albert Einstein’s general theory of relativity –
simply put, mass bends light. The gravitational field of a massive object extends far into space; it
bends the light rays passing close to that object and refocuses it somewhere else. The more massive
the object, the stronger will be its gravitational field and hence greater will be the bending of light
rays.
Astronomers are interested in large scale lensing that takes place in the universe. For instance, the
gravitational field of galaxies and clusters of galaxies can lens light. However, in between the Earth
and those galaxies is a mysterious entity called Dark matter. Though dark matter is invisible, it does
have mass and makes up around 85% of the mass of the Universe. So, the light rays coming towards
us from distant galaxies will pass through the gravitational field of dark matter and therefore will be
bent by the lensing effect.
New Accounting Standards (Ind-AS)
From April 1, the new accounting standards (Ind-AS) have kicked in for Indian firms. The transition
from Indian GAAP to Ind-AS is aimed at helping companies migrate to international accounting
regime. Some important notes:

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
In 2009, India had committed towards convergence of Indian Accounting Standards with
IFRS {International Financial Reporting Standards} at the G-20 summit. Around 100
countries currently either require or permit to use IFRS. Interestingly, IFRS is not used in United
States and Japan.
To implement, Ministry of Corporate Affairs had earlier come out with a road map to
converge Ind-AS to IFRS from 2011 onwards but that plan failed mainly because of
unresolved tax and other issues.
The Budget 2015-16 proposed the adoption of Ind-AS in phased manner from financial year
2017 to 2020.
In the first phase {currently- 2016-17}, the companies having net worth of more than
Rs. 500 crore and their holding / subsidaries need to adopt Ind-AS.
In second phase, unlisted companies having a net worth of Rs. 250 crore or more and
all remaining listed companies not covered in phase one would have to mandatorily
apply Ind-AS beginning on or after April 1, 2017.
Impacts on India Inc.
This may have a positive or a negative
younislaw impact on the
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com net income and net worth of companies due to
areas such as revenue recognition, financial instruments and taxes. Additionally, beyond accounting
this would also have an impact on arrangements with customers, vendors, lenders, changes to IT
system and internal control systems.
Pattachitra Paintings
Pattachitra paintings are one of the most treasures art-forms in India. They originated around 8th
Century AD and comprise phenomenal pictorial depictions, peculiar and vibrant conventions. They
trend back to the Jagannath cult and have dealt with paintings in praise and worship of Lord
Jagannath. However, lately they have also started taking more secular themes.
The paintings are taken as patrimonial professions and are passed on to subsequent generations in
form of a family-sketchbook. These house sketches of Gods and Goddesses, their legends, animals,
etc. The, Pattachitra, thus is a devotional art-form and the artists are specially known as ‘chitrakars’.
The chitrakars are largely native of Puri, Orissa. The paintings being done on cloth, has got the name
of Patta (cloth) and Chitra (picture). Another outstanding feature is the entire use of colors is purely
organic and are extracted from leaves, petals, fruits, etc. They are painted in a specific style and
sequence.
NRBNV

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
GS Paper-1
Indian History: Ghadar Movement
The Ghadar Movement was an important episode in India’s freedom struggle. A ship named
Komagatamaru, filled with Indian immigrants was turned back from Canada. As the ship returned to
India several of its passengers were killed or arrested in a clash with the British police. This incident
made the Ghadar Party proclaim war and inspired thousands of Indian immigrants to come back and
organise an armed rebellion against British imperialism. However, this movement was crushed. This
article deals with the important events of Ghadar Movement.
Original name of Ghadar Party was Pacific Coast Hindustan Association. The founding
president of Ghadar Party was Sohan Singh Bhakna and Lala Hardayal was the co-
founder of this party. Headquarters of the movement were set up at Yugantar Ashram
in San Francisco.
19th Century: Sikh sentiments towards Raj during Mutiny

At the end of the second Anglo-Sikh war in 1849, the Khalsa sovereignty was put to an end, and
Punjab was annexed into younislaw
the territories of East India
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com Company by Lord Dalhousie. But, one of the
important consequences of the Anglo-Sikh wars was that they gave substance to the Sikh valour in the
eyes of the British.
Notwithstanding the initial efforts to disband the Sikh army, the British saw an opportunity in a Sikh
soldier who could help them firmly establish the Raj on Indian soils.
Within a decade happened the Mutiny of 1857. The Sikhs saw this mutiny nothing more than an
attempt by Marathas to bring back the old order of Mughals. The Sikhs sided with the British in
1857 and the Sikh princes backed the East India Company by providing soldiers as well as support.
There were four primary reasons to this.
Firstly, Sikhs never wanted the Mughals to return to power in Delhi, thanks to the bitter past.
Secondly, Sikhs were already anguished against the Indian soldiers (Bengal sepoys / Poorbia
sepoys / Rajputs / Marathas etc.) in the British army who had sided with the British during
Anglo-Sikh wars and were hunting for chances to take it back on them.
Thirdly, the idea of Indian nationalism was not ripe at that time and the early nationalism of
the Sikhs was Punjabi and not the Indian. The Sikhs resented the presence of Eastern Troops
(Poorbia sepoys) in Punjab and were eager to take an chance of getting their own back on the
Bengal sepoy, this time with the British on their side.
Fourthly, British won the confidence of the Sikhs by tolerating their religious sentiments and

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
making suitable changes in army recruitment process by allowing the baptized Sikhs to
observe Sikh code of conduct and wear the five emblems of Sikhism.
These steps undertaken by British finally culminated in form of loyalties of the Sikhs in Anglo-
Burmese war of 1852 and against the nomad tribe on the North West frontier. They played a role in
crushing the 1857 revolt. Frederic Cooper, the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, Punjab during
1857 also had serious doubts about the Sikh participation in the mutiny. He was able to maintain the
trust of Sikhs in the British rule throughout the revolt. The appreciation of the role of Sikhs was
recorded in secret correspondence of the British.
The Sikhs were duly rewarded by giving special ranks in the newly reformed British army. The Sikhs
which constituted only 2% population of British India formed over 30% of Indian army. This
association was carried on smoothly till the World Wars in which again the Sikh soldiers
participated in largest amount.
Early 20th Century: Sikh exodus to distant lands and resentment towards British
The 1890s and the following years saw a massive migration of a huge number of landless peasants,
ex-soldiers from Jullundhar and Hoshiarpur districts of Punjab to Hong Kong and further east to
Canada and USA. Whileyounislaw
many| prince.yonus786@gmail.com
belonged to land-constrained areas and went in search of better
pastures and means of survival; others were the ones who had served in the British Indian Army and
had awareness of the abundant opportunities abroad.
These immigrants mainly indulged in labor work in Canada and some secretly crossed borders to
West Coast and made settlements in cities like Portland, San Francisco, San Jose and Los Angeles.
The Punjabis gradually created their own niches and established micro-societies. The promised lands
then closed doors to the fresh immigrants. In addition the settlers were racially discriminated against
by the Whites. The ones which had just gone from the villages and were not aware of the western
culture and mannerisms were even refused entry. The American whites launched agitations against
the incoming South Asians calling it the so called “Brown Invasion“. The rise in hostilities towards
Indian immigrants led to strong opinion against the British government back as the latter had
refused to intervene as against Japanese and Chinese governments who actively supported their
citizens. The Canadian government which was under British rule responded by harassing the
immigrants and further tightened the immigration rules for Indians. The Canadian government
established a “Continuous Passage Act” to stop the immigrants particularly from India. The
“Continuous Passage Act” was a bizarre law, which required that the Indians will have to directly
come from the country of their birth/citizenship via a continuous journey on tickets purchased
before they left their home country. The Indians were also required to possess a sum of $200 which

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
was an unthinkable sum for many Indians who only earned a few cents in a day. Canada had its own
legitimate reasons for not supporting the cause of Indian immigrants abroad. These included:
Fear of familiarity with western cultures
Intermingling of cultures will eventual damage British pride
Spread of socialist ideas among immigrant Indians
Knowledge of revolutions can lead to national agitation
Lala Hardayal, India House and launch of Ghadar Party
The Surat split of 1907 followed suppression of the extremists. But at the same in time in London,
numerous informal nationalist organizations were working. The most important among them was
the India House. After 1910, the activities of India House had declined and the cradle of activities
shifted from Europe to America. Lal Hardayal was In India till 1909, when he moved to Paris and
associated himself with a newspaper Vande Mataram over there.
India House
The India House was based in London and was established by Shyamji Krishna Verma
to promote the nationalist views among the Indians of Britain.
It published a newspaper
younislaw“The Indian Sociologist”
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com which used its subtitle -An Organ of
Freedom, and Political, Social, and Religious Reform. Several revolutionaries got
associated with the India house and most important ones are V D Savarkar and Madan
Lal Dheengra. Others were V.N. Chatterjee, Lala Har Dayal, V. V. S. Aiyar, M.P.T.
Acharya and P.M. Bapat. All of them later laid the foundation of militant nationalism in
India. The newspaper was later banned for sedition.
In 1911 he settled in San Francisco and indulged in Industrial Unionism. In 1913, Pacific Coast
Hindustan Association was founded by Lala Hardayal with Sohan Singh Bhakna as its president, which
was called Ghadar Party. The members of this party were the immigrant Sikhs of US and Canada.
The first issue of The Ghadar, was published from San Francisco on November 1, 1913. Later it got
published in Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and other languages also.
The Ghadar
The masthead of the paper carried the inscription in bold letters,”Angrezi Raj ka Dushman” and also
had a feature article on the front page of each issue under the title, “Angrezi Raj ka Kacha Chittha“. It
went far beyond the American borders to reach Indians in Canada, Malay States, Hong Kong,
Philippines, Honduras, Singapore, Trinidad and India. It got widespread attention, appreciation and
acceptance. People were moved by the views expressed in it and were motivated to join hands with
Ghadar leadership for the common cause.

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
The government hostility towards Indians continued unabated. Ghadar party which came into being
saw new leadership take charge after Lala Hardayal was arrested for a hate speech he had made
against the British rule in India 3 years ago.
The Komagatamaru Tragedy 1914
As mentioned above, the circumstances were not in favour of Indian / Sikh immigrants in west and
they were subject to all kinds of racial / political / procedural discriminations. The continuous
immigration of Indians, particularly Sikhs had already irked the Canadian natives and authorities. It
was a fear that Indians would take their jobs. In such backdrop, the Komagatamaru Incidence was
one of the first Indian challenges to colonist British beyond the pacific Coast.
About Steamship : Komagatamaru

Gurdit Singh, a Sikh from a small village in Punjab was a son of a small time farmer
near Amritsar. Father of Gurdit Singh left Punjab and moved to Malaysia. He became a
small time contractor over there. In 1885, Gurdit Singh joined his father and later he
established a steamship company. This company had leased a Japanese steamship
Komagatamaru.
The Canadian “Continuous Passage Act” was enacted to stop the so called “Brown Invasion’ from Asia,
particularly India. This law required that the immigrants must travel nonstop to their country of the
birth. At that time there was no direct ship from India and the journey of the Komagatamaru was set
to circumvent this law. The ship had sailed from Hong Kong to Vancouver in 1914, aboard 376
passengers including 240 Sikhs, 24 Muslims and 12 Hindus. The ship arrived on 23 May 1914 at
Vancouver. The Canadian authorities refused to allow the passengers to go ashore. Gurdit Singh,
owner of the ship; was pressurized to pay the charter dues in one go. He said he would do so after
selling the cargo but the ship was not allowed to unload its cargo. The Indians at Vancouver started
agitations against the government. After some confrontation, the only 24 passengers were admitted
to Canada and the ship was forced back to India carrying rest all. After a return voyage, the
Komagatamaru docked at Hooghly’s Budge Budge harbour. Here, the British government treated
these passengers as rebels. The ship was searched and the Sikhs were herded in trains to force them
back to Punjab. When some of them refused, Police opened fire killing 18 people. 200 people were
herded in jails. The incident became famous as Budge Budge riot. Gurdit Singh escaped the Police
and he surrendered in 1921, after 7 years.
Notably, Ghadar published the following advertisement

Wanted: Enthusiastic and heroic soldiers for organizing Ghadar in Hindustan:
→Remuneration: Death
NRBNV

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
→Reward : Martyrdom
→Pension : Freedom
→Field of work: Hindustan
Implications of Komagatamaru incident on Indian History

The incident made its imprint in the historical annals merely due to indifference shown by the
British rule towards the agonized passengers of the doomed carrier. The incident gathered
widespread criticism and was the most notorious attempt by the Canadian government to contain
the entry of British citizens of Indian descent into Canada. The action was supported by Canadian
media by putting alerts saying,’ Mounting Oriental Invasion’.
Arrival of Ghadar in India and suppression
The most notable happening was the onset of World War I in which British energies and forces
were severely spent. The British Army was largely comprised of the Sikh soldiers. The Ghadarites
regarded it as a golden opportunity to establish self-rule in India. The leaders decided to move to
India and mobilise the anti-Britain sentiments further amongst the civilian population and the
Indian recruits into the British army. Ailan-e-Jung or Proclamation of War was issued and circulated
among Indians settled in various countries to arouse them to go to India and give shape to an armed
rebellion.
The government CID had already broken into the Ghadar movement, which made British aware of
the Ghadar plans and helped them control the movement in the budding stage itself in India.
Resultantly all the main brass of the Ghadar was immediately arrested on their arrival at India. With
this arrest the Ghadar movement came to an abrupt end to settle in the arms of history forever. The
mistakes made by Ghadar revolutionaries are show in adjacent graphics.
Relevance of Ghadar Movement
The Ghadar movement can be described as tale of extreme valour, hard-work, toil which has reached
the heart of every Indian settled on distant lines. The powerful speeches by its leaders did shape the
NRI opinion against the misrule of British in India. It truly qualifies for a major struggle which
NRBNV

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
aroused the people internationally and sowed seeds for any other future course of action. The
immediate results would have been different had the then leaders introduced proper organization
and had given more time to study the general mood of the population. As we complete 100 years
from when the incident took place, we salute the zeal, the energy and the speed with which they
steered the way to success.
Ghadar Activism- Racial Project versus attempt to overthrow British Empire
One cannot deny from the fact that the Ghadar activism was a racial projection which emerged out
of racial exclusion and so called “brown invasion” theory of the whites. But, as evident in the words
of Maia Ramnath, the Ghadar Movement had charted global radicalism and attempted to overthrow
the British Empire. The movement as well as the Ghadar Party was indigenous to California and was
founded to overthrow the British Rule. The political activism and radicalism of the Ghadar
movement was first and foremost directed at promoting Indian Independence. It charted global
radicalism because of its unique ability to forge an identity for South Asians in the United States,
where, it not only sought freedom for India but also aimed to achieve dignity and respect for South
Asians in first world. The Ghadar party collectively painted of the South Asians immigrants as
“nationalists”. Before the Ghadar movement was launched, the radicalism in students at Berkley led
them to launch a newspaper “Free Hindustan”, which contained nationalistic writings. But it was
Lala Har Dyal, a founder of the Ghadar Party and lecturer at Stanford University, who tapped into
the energy of students and radicalise them more towards achieving the objective of Free Hindustan.
Lala Hardayal called the students to prepare to become great patriots and wonderful warriors. He
electrified their views by saying that ” anybody can be a Collector, or an Engineer, or a Barrister, or a
Doctor, but what India needs is warriors of freedom. Better death in that noble cause than living as
slaves of the British Empire.”
Women Activists of the Ghadar Movement
The role of women activists in the Ghadar Movement was no less than their male counterparts. The
most notable women activists in the Ghadar Movement were Gulab Kaur, Bhikaji Cama and Agnes
Smedley (American)
Gulab Kaur
Gulab Kaur was a native of Bakshiwala village in Sangrur district of Punjab. Due to economic
hardships, Gulab along with her Husband had moved to Phillipines for an onward jounrey to
America in 1914. But when a ship, SS Korea, reached Manila for an onward journey to India, Gulab
boarded it to work with Ghadarites, including Kartar Singh Sarabha. She left her husband to work
with Ghadrites, while her husband refuse to participate in any radical activities. She was arrested
from Naudh Singh Wala and tortured at Lahore’s Shahi Quila. She died in 1931.

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Bhikaji Cama
Bhikaji Cama, who is best known for founding the Paris Indian Society; was born in a wealthy Parsi
family in Mumbai in 1861. She was named Bhikaji Sorab Patel and became Bhikaji Rustom Cama
after her marriage. She not only worked in the slums of Mumbai during outbreak of plague but also
left her husband to work selflessly for the poor people afflicted with the disease. She fell sick and was
taken to Germany for treatment. Later, she went to England to work with the Indian
revolutionaries. On 22 August 1907, Madam Cama had unfurled a self-designed tricolour in Stuttgart
town of Germany. This enraged the British. She then later moved to US and worked with the
Ghadar activists.
Agnes Smedley
Agnes Smedley was a journalist and writer, born on February 23, 1892 at Missouri in US, was
known more for her autobiographical novel “Daughter of Earth” wherein she described her
association with the Indian freedom struggle. Despite no similarity in culture and traditions, Agnes
came in close contact with Lala Lajpat Rai, M N Roy, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, Shailendranath
Ghose, Bhagwan Singh and Taraknath Das in US during World War-I and served as a
communication volunteer for Indian revolutionaries and oversaw Ghadar party’s various
publications.
Notable Trivia:
The eventual course of action for the Ghadar party in 1914 was moulded by 3 isolated but
highly charged incidents viz. Arrest of Lala Hardayal, Komagatamaru incident and First
World War.
After Lala Hardayal was compelled to leave USA, he moved to Germany and set up the
Indian Independence Committee at Berlin. The committee had a plan to mobilise Indians
living abroad, to help revolutionaries in India and finally through an arms struggle and also
may be through an attack, free India from British rule.
Budge Budge railway station on Kolkata’s outskirts was the place where many Sikhs fell to the
bullets of the British after their ship, Komagatamaru, was forced to return to Indian waters
from Canada. The Government of India has renamed the railway station as “Komagatamaru
Budge Budge station” to salute the martyrs of September 29, 1914.
Bhagat Singh was deeply impressed by the Ghadar Movement from a tender age and that he
regarded Kartar Singh Sarabha as his hero. Bandi Jeewan by Sachindranath Sanyal, which
included the first historical account of the movement by an insider, was “a basic textbook”
which he and his friends at the National School at Lahore read and discussed. The Rowlett
Committee Report of 1918, containing the British Government’s secret intelligence version

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
of the Ghadar movement, was another.
GS Paper-II
Simultaneous Elections Debate
In a recent statement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested holding simultaneous elections to
panchayats, urban local bodies, states and Parliament so that parties and workers spending too much
time and money in electioneering, can make use of the time for social work and to take people-oriented
programmes to the grassroots.
This statement was as per the BJP manifesto {2014} which said that the party will evolve a method to
hold Lok Sabha and Assembly elections simultaneously.
Historical Background
In 1951-52, the country’s first general election was held. There was a simultaneous General Election
to House of People (Lok Sabha) and all State Legislative Assemblies. This continued in three
subsequent General Elections held in the years- 1957, 1962 and 1967. But in 1968 and 1969, the cycle
got disrupted due to the premature dissolution of some Legislative Assemblies. Similarly in the year
1970, the Lok Sabha itself got dissolved prematurely. As a result of premature dissolution and
extension of the terms of Lok Sabha and state assemblies, the cycle of simultaneous elections got
disturbed.
Arguments in Support
Firstly, frequent elections affect the governance as the imposition of model code of conduct in the
poll bound areas puts on hold all developmental activities on that area and also affects the
bureaucracy’s functioning. Secondly, Elections in India is a big-budget exercise. Expenditure can be
th
reduced by conducting simultaneous elections. Thirdly, Law Commission in its 170 report {Reform
of Electoral Laws (1999)} suggested holding simultaneous elections at all levels for stability in
governance. Fourthly, frequent elections tend to disrupt the normal public life and affect the
functioning of essential services. Frequent elections lead to frequent disruption of road traffic by
political rallies and also lead to noise pollution. Fifthly, it is felt that crucial manpower is often
deployed on election duties for a prolonged period of time. If simultaneous elections are held, then
this manpower would be made available for other important tasks. For instance for the 2014 Lok
Sabha polls, which was held along with 4 state assemblies saw the deployment of 1077 in situ
companies and 1349 mobile companies of Central Armed Police Force (CAPF).
Difficulties
The idea is good in principle but there are several practical difficulties. Firstly, not all voters are
highly educated to know who to vote for. They may get confused and may not know whether they

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
are voting for candidates contesting assembly or parliament elections. Secondly, frequent elections
bring the politicians back to the voters, create jobs {though temporary} and prevent the mixing of
local and national issues in the minds of the voters.
Thirdly, the issue of logistics and requirement of security personnel, election and administrative
officials needs to be considered. There is a dearth of enough security and administrative officials to
conduct simultaneous free and fair elections throughout the country in one go. Recently, the
elections in West Bengal were held in 6 phases mainly due to the security concerns. If this is
situation, holding simultaneous elections for all the states may need to be held in many phases
stretching over many months.
Recommendations of the standing committee
The Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law and Justice, in its report on
‘Feasibility of Holding Simultaneous Elections to the House of People (LokSabha) and State Legislative
Assemblies’ said that a solution should be found to reduce the frequency of elections to relieve people
and government machinery from frequent electoral processes. It also recommended a cycle of
elections, according to which elections to some legislative assemblies whose term end within six
months to one year beforeyounislaw
or after the election date
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com could be held during the midterm of Lok Sabha
(November 2016). For the rest of the states, elections could be held along with the 2019 General
elections to Lok Sabha.
Countries in which simultaneous elections are held
In South Africa, elections to national and provincial legislatures are held simultaneously for five
years and after two years municipal elections are held. Similarly in Sweden, simultaneous elections to
national legislature (Riksdag), provincial legislature/county council (landsting) and local
bodies/municipal Assemblies (Kommunfullmaktige) are held on a fixed date i.e. second Sunday in
September for four years.
Maharashtra’s New Social Boycott Law
Maharashtra Protection of People from Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition & Redressal) Act 2016 was
enacted by the Maharashtra Assembly to end the menace social boycott practiced by extra-judicial
institutions like caste and community panchayats. With this Maharashtra became first state in the
country to adopt a comprehensive law to root out oppression carried out by parallel justice delivery
system (kangaroo court) in the name of age old traditions, caste and religion.
Why there is a need for such a law in Maharashtra?
In recent times, Maharashtra had witnessed an increasing number of incidents of social boycott and
violence due to the orders passed by the caste panchayats. However, existing laws were found to be

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
inadequate in dealing with such practices. For years, number of activists and academicians in the
state were demanding stringent law to root out the menace of social boycotts from the state.
What are the key features?
The Act terms social boycott as a crime and says anybody indulging in it would face
imprisonment maximum up to three years and a fine of 1 lakh rupees or both.
The Act provides 15 examples of “social boycott” such as obstructing individuals from
observing religious practices or customs, severing social or commercial ties, causing intra-
community “discrimination”, expulsion from the community etc.
It disallows social boycott of any individual or groups by caste panchayats or groups of
individuals or gavki or by its members or by social or economically influential persons.
It is directed against caste panchayats functioning as community-based parallel forums of
justice, which issues diktats invariably against recalcitrant individuals who have been
considered to have gone beyond the bounds of caste or community morality. So, the Act
penalizes discrimination among the members of a community on the basis of “morality, social
acceptance, political inclination, or sexuality”.
Persons involved in practice of social boycott for reasons like rituals of worship, inter-caste
marriage, and any connection to lifestyle, dress or vocation will face stringent punishment.
The offence registered under the act will be congnizable and bailable. It will be tried by a
judicial magistrate of the first class.
The victim of social boycott or any member of the victim’s family can file a complaint either
to police or directly to the magistrate.
The Act has indicated speedy trial within six months of filing chargesheet in such cases in
order to ensure time-bound results.
Government will recruit social boycott prohibition officers to ensure monitoring and to
detect offences and assist the magistrate and police officers in tackling such cases.
Past attempts made to make anti-boycott laws
Pre-independence:
As early as the mid-19th century, there were instances of intra-community battles over access to
public goods. After prolonged protests lasting a few decades, the colonial state finally at the end of
the 19th century, decided to allow Dalit students to attend public schools. But the Dalit students were
made to sit separately in a verandah outside the classroom and were barred from accessing the
common water supply.
The struggle against social boycotts got intensified in the early decades of the 20th century and
reached its climax in the late 1920s, with B.R. Ambedkar’s famous Mahad Satyagraha. The satyagraha

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
was directed towards opening up the access to community water tanks to Dalits. Simultaneously, a
movement for entry into public temples was also launched by Ambedkar during which he famously
argued, “the issue is not entry, but equality.”
Further, Ambedkar identified social boycott as “the most formidable weapon in the hands of the
orthodox classes” in his submissions to the Minorities Committee of the Round Table Conference.
Dr. Ambedkar had also proposed an anti-boycott law to specifically prohibit the practice of social
boycotts which was largely ignored by the colonial government. However, a few proposals of
Ambedkar were incorporated into the post-Independence Protection of Civil Rights Act of 1955.
After Independence:
Soon after Independence, Bombay Prevention of Excommunication Act was passed by the State of
Bombay passed in 1949, which outlawed the practice of excommunication within religious
communities. Subsequently, the constitutional validity of this Act was legally challenged by the “Dai”
(head), of the Dawoodi Bohra community. The Dai argued that the law interfered with his religious
freedom by curtailing his powers of excommunication.
In 1962, a divided Supreme Court struck down the Bombay Prevention of Excommunication Act
citing the practice of excommunication as an essential
younislaw | prince.yonus786@gmail.com tool for maintaining community discipline &
cohesiveness and also by citing the protection accorded by Article 26(b) of the Constitution to all
religious denominations the right to manage their own affairs in matters of religion. However, a
petition to reconsider majority opinion in the Dawoodi Bohra case has been pending in the Supreme
Court since 1986.
With regards to the above efforts, Maharashtra social boycott law is an important step in the long
struggle to secure social inclusion.
Relevant provisions in the constitution
The Constitution guarantees religious freedom and freedom of association. But at the same time, it
also curtails the power of groups in various ways to safeguard individual freedom, dignity, and access
to basic public goods. Apart from prohibiting untouchability, the Constitution guarantees non-
discriminatory access to “shops, public restaurants, hotels, and places of public entertainment” in
Article 15(2). In sum, the constitution not only guarantees individuals rights merely against the State
but also against other individuals and groups.
Comment
Maharashtra’s social boycott law is an attempt to give effect to the Constitution’s guarantee against
social exclusion, as provided in Articles 15(2) and 17. But this is only a first step and as Ambedkar
recognized, social exclusion occurs along multiple ways through boycott, stigmatization and
segregation. For instance, there exists religion-driven housing discrimination especially in urban

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
areas, which inevitably leads to segregation. So with the sole focus on caste-panchayat driven
community boycotts, the Maharashtra law has left a significant area of discrimination untouched. So
a comprehensive anti-discrimination law on the lines of the Civil Rights enactments in the US and
the UK is the need of the hour. As of now, the Maharashtra law carries forward the judicially
dismantled goals of the 1949 Excommunication Act, and the rarely used Protection of Civil Rights
Act of 1955.
Proposed National Court of Appeal
A public interest litigation demanding the establishment of National Court of Appeal (NCA) was
filed in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court has referred it to constitution bench of five judges as
the issue relates to access to justice, which is at the core of our constitutional values. Although there
is little scope for the creation of NCA under our constitutional structure, the idea has once again
sparked a nationwide debate on the need for NCA.
What is a National Court of Appeal?
The Supreme Court acts as a final court in dealing with criminal and civil appeal to constitutional
questions of law. To overcome the inefficiencies faced by the Supreme Court, an often repeated
suggestion is the establishment of a NCA which| www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
younislaw | prince.yonus786@gmail.com would act as intermediate forum between the
Supreme Court and the high courts’ of the country. The suggestion is that if NCA with regional
benches in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata could deal with appeals in civil, criminal, labour and
revenue matters arising from the decisions of the High Courts and tribunals, then the much relieved
Supreme Court could hear only matters of constitutional law and public law.
Why there is a need for NCA?
Mundane matters reduce court’s efficiency
Unlike the American Supreme Court, the Indian Supreme Court is a multifarious institution dealing
with a variety of civil and criminal appeals. Out of those appeals, most of them are mundane disputes
such as rent control quarrels between landlords and tenants, bail pleas, dishonoured cheques, traffic
violations, factual squabbles over tax assessments, internal managerial rows concerning societies and
trusts etc., which flood the Supreme Court. As a result of entertaining these everyday appeals, as
Chief Justice Thakur has pointed out, 98% of the working time of the Supreme Court judges is
wasted on dismissing these cases. It has been criticized that the Supreme Court is not performing its
real mandate of a Constitutional Court. Thus, it is being suggested that setting up of a NCA would
take up the Supreme Court’s appeals jurisdiction and will give Supreme Court its much wanted time
to perform its mandated functions efficiently.
The decline of constitution benches
Article 145(3) of the Constitution mandates that a minimum of five judges sit for the purpose of

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
deciding any case involving a substantial question of constitutional law. But owing to the enormity
of cases, division benches of two judges decide the important cases requiring a nuanced
interpretation of the Constitution. For example, a bench of two judges has delivered judgments in
important cases such as Suresh Kumar Koushal v. Naz Foundation (reversed the Delhi High Court’s
landmark judgement of decriminalizing homosexuality), Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (Section 66A
of the Information Technology Act was struck down) etc.
According to a study conducted by Nick Robinson titled “A Quantitative Analysis of the Indian Supreme
Court’s workload”, the Supreme Court had decided over 100 cases in a year in the 1960s, but in the
past decade, owing to the enormity of workload, the average is now lesser than eight constitution
benches a year. Between 2005 and 2009, constitutional benches comprising five judges or more have
decided only a paltry 0.12 per cent of the court’s total decisions. It is feared that any given pair of two
individuals vested with the enormous power of ruling conclusively on significant matters of public
importance may inflict dangerous judicial pronouncements. With this data, it is clearly evident that
the manner of functioning of the Supreme Court is far from what our Constitution’s framers had
envisaged.
Ease of access younislaw | prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
Geographical proximity to the court is a determining factor of access to justice. The fact that the
Supreme Court is situated only in New Delhi hampers the accessibility to litigants from south India.
This has been substantiated by a study conducted by Mr. Robinson. According to the study, of all the
cases filed in the Supreme Court, the highest numbers are from high courts of the northern States
(12 per cent from Delhi, 8.9 per cent from Punjab and Haryana, 7 per cent from Uttarakhand, 4.3 per
cent from Himachal Pradesh, etc.). The lowest number of cases has originated from the high courts
of southern states (Kerala 2.5 per cent, Andhra Pradesh 2.8 per cent, Karnataka 2.2 per cent and a
paltry 1.1 per cent from Madras High Court). As access to justice is proportionate to distance, there
is an urgent need to establish courts like NCA with regional benches to address this inequitable state
of affairs.
Backlog of cases
Although the Supreme Court increased its speed of disposing the cases, which is 47,424 in 2015 as
compared to 45,042 in 2014 and 40,189 in 2013, there is still an enormous backlog of staggering
59,468 cases as of February 2016. In this scenario, NCA would help in reducing the burden by
disposing the mundane cases; and it may also help in clubbing those cases which needs clarification
from the Supreme Court.
What are the criticisms of NCA?
It is feared that attempts like this are made by the other organs of the state to curtail the

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
constitutional powers of the Supreme Court. The problem of backlog of cases has been viewed as a
tool in the hands of the other organs of the state to curtail the court’s powers. This method has been
employed time and again by leaders in stable democracies. For example, Franklin D. Roosevelt used
his presidential powers to reorganize the Supreme Court of U.S. when it was delivering many death
blow judgments to the legislations brought in under the rubric of the New Deal. This attempt though
was thwarted by the Chief Justice highlights how in the name of reorganization, powers of the
Supreme Court could be attempted to be curtailed.
Further, it is held that the establishment of NCA would require an amendment in Article 130 of the
Constitution which in turn would change the constitution of the Supreme Court completely.
Lastly, establishment of NCA would increase the burden on the exchequer and similarly the expenses
and hardships of the litigants will also increase.
What is the stand of Supreme Court on creating an NCA?
To avoid hardships to litigants who have to come all the way to Delhi to fight cases and ease its own
burden, the Supreme Court, as early as 1986, recommended the establishment of an NCA. But,
subsequently, it changed its stand with the subsequent Chief Justices not favoring the bifurcation of
the judicial powers. younislaw | prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
Presently the outlook has changed completely with the Chief Justice Thakur countering the
objections raised by Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi that a National Court of Appeal is “neither
permissible nor desirable”. Chief Justice Thakur strongly objected the attorney’s views by asking,
whether the government has failed to see the enormity of cases pending in an overburdened
Supreme Court for eight to 10 years. Adding further, the Bench comprising the Chief Justice
observed that such a delay amounts to violation of a citizen’s fundamental right of ‘access to justice’
under the Constitution.
What is the stand of government on creating an NCA?
A government order dated December 3, 2014 rejected the proposal of setting up of NCA stating that
such a court of appeal is constitutionally impermissible. It has said that idea of NCA is a “fruitless
endeavour” as it will not lessen the burden of 2 crore cases pending in trial courts The three grounds
on which the government rejected the plea are:
As per the constitution the Supreme Court always sits in Delhi,
The idea of NCA was consistently opposed by the Chief Justices of India in the past,
According to the Attorney-General, an NCA would “completely change the constitution of
the Supreme Court” and establishing NCA in between the High Court and the SC would be a
dilution of the judiciary.

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
What is the current status of the proposal?

In March 2016, the Supreme Court had decided to constitute a Constitution Bench to debate on the
idea of an NCA. If a verdict is delivered in favor of NCA, then it would prompt the Parliament to
amend the Constitution itself to make room for NCA.
What were the recommendations of the previous law commissions?
th
The 229 report of the Law Commission suggested retaining the New Delhi bench of the Supreme
Court as a Constitutional court and establishing Cassation Benches of the Supreme Court at New
Delhi, Chennai/Hyderabad, Kolkata and Mumbai. The report viewed that no constitutional
amendment is required since the Article 130 of the Constitution provides that the Supreme Court
can be located in Delhi or at any other place as the Chief Justice of India with the approval of the
President may decide from time to time. It also gives example as how this basic model with necessary
changes has performed effectively in countries like Italy, Egypt, Ireland, the U.S. and Denmark. The
report reached its conclusion after referring to the 95th report (“Constitutional Division within the
Supreme Court — A proposal for”), 125th report (“The Supreme Court — A Fresh Look”) and the
120th report (“Manpower planning in judiciary”) of the Law Commission.
What is the way forward?
The constitution mandates the Supreme Court to have two types of jurisdiction: original and
appellate jurisdiction. The court therefore is not only seen as an arbiter of constitutional disputes but
also as a plenary body to settle the law of the land. The constituent Assembly believed that the
Supreme Court would exercise its discretion in choosing its own scope of work and assumed that the
Supreme Court would not be a body to settle ordinary disputes that had no larger public bearing. It
instead believed that the lower judiciary and various high courts would be equipped to dispense such
mundane matters. Thus, the Supreme Courts interference in mundane disputes today is not to be
seen as a product of any structural problem but rather its own deliberate decision to use its power to
grant special leave to interfere in mundane disputes. So, with this state of affairs, it is argued that the
establishment of NCA would not reduce the burden on the Supreme Court. Thus, the Supreme
Court must use its authority to grant special leave only in exceptional cases, where a particular
interpretation of a law is required for definite resolution.
It is considered the issues concerning the Indian Judiciary as a whole are deep rooted for the NCA to
offer a solution. It is suggested that focus should be made to strengthen the base of judicial edifice
instead of trying to alter the core structure of the judiciary. Thus, the solution lies in the adoption of
bottom up approach. What the NCA aims to achieve can be easily achieved by strengthening the
lower judiciary. Correspondingly, the high courts can be viewed as a regular and in majority of the
cases, a final appellate court. To achieve this, socially conscious and meritorious candidates who

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
adhere to the best constitutional values has to be elevated as judges to our subordinate judiciary and
the high courts. This would free Supreme Court from acting as a routine court of appeal and will
reduce its burden of acting as a corrector of simple errors.
According to the data released by the National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG), civil cases are not likely to
get fully disposed of and the criminal cases will take more than 30 years to get disposed off from the
files of India’s lower courts. So, the need of the hour is a more robust subordinate judiciary in the
place of the feeble infrastructure to support our justice delivery system. This will negate any need on
the part of majority of litigants to approach the Supreme Court. Also, the practice of using High
Courts as a mere stepping-stone towards the end of judicial hierarchy should be discouraged and its
glory should be restored.
Conclusion
An institution which pulls up several other bodies for defects and deficiencies must be above
criticism of any nature. A strong political will is needed to effect changes to ensure smooth and
effective functioning of the Supreme Court.
GS Paper-III
Understanding Minimum Wages Issue in MGNREGA
In April 2016, the government shelved the idea of changing the wage calculation formula for
MGNREGA; however, it increased the wages by about 6% for 2016-17. Here is a discussion on the
basic issues around MGNREGA wages.
What is MGNREGA?
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), notified on September
07, 2005 guarantees 100 days of work to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do
unskilled manual work. Currently, this scheme covers entire country except few districts which have
100% urban population. More than 65% of the work done under MGNREGA are linked to
agriculture and allied activities.
How MGNREGA Wages are fixed?
MGNREGA wage rates are fixed by central government {Rural Development Ministry} as per
provisions of Section 6 (1) of the NREGA act which says: “Notwithstanding anything contained in the
Minimum Wages Act, 1948 (11 of 1948), the Central Government may, by notification, specify the wage rate
for the purpose of this Act”. However, the rates differ widely from state to state. The wages are revised
for each state by indexing them to CPI-AL currently.
What are the Issues around MGNREGA Wage Rates?
There are two major issues with this arrangement. Firstly, while the minimum wages are fixed by the
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CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
states, NREGA wages are fixed by Central Government; this creates a conflict because these wages
are below minimum wages in many states. So, states demand that central government should fix the
wages above their minimum wages. But since, any such increase would put financial pressure on the
centre; this has become a centre-state tussle for last few years.
Secondly, the Centre has linked the wage rates to CPI-AL. However, it is thought that this index does
not provide a comprehensive picture of inflation in rural areas. To explore if this index is really
suitable or not suitable for revising MGNRGA wages every year, the government had set up seven
member committee led by S. Mahendra Dev. The committee recommended {in July 2014} that
instead of CPI-AL, the MGNREGA wages should be linked to CPI-Rural and must be revised every
year on the basis of increase or decrease in CPI-Rural. In its recommendations, the committee gave
following rationales:
CPI-Rural is a more recent {uses base year 2010-11} and wider index in comparison to CPI-
AL.
CPI-Rural index is a better representative of rural households and will protect workers from
inflation as it takes in to account the changes in prices for the entire rural population of the country.
The switchover to younislaw
CPI-Rural will make MGNREGA
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com wages more relevant.
We note here that there are three wage indices in the country viz. CPI-AL, CPI-RL {Rural
Labourers} and CPI-R {Rural}. While CPI-AL and CPI-RL are computed by Labour Bureau
{Ministry of Labor}, the CPI-R is computed by CSO under MPOPSI.
However, this recommendation to link MGNREGA wage rates to CPI-R was put on hold to study
the recommendation and their implications in further details.
What is the recent government decision towards this?
As of now, the government has increased the wages by about 6% for 2016-17. However, both the
issues remain as they are. Some states are discontented because despite this hike, the MGNREGA
wages remain well below their minimum wages; and this scheme becomes unattractive. Currently,
highest wages are given in Haryana {Rs. 259} followed by Chandigarh {Rs. 248}, while lowest wage
rates are given out in Bihar, Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. Currently, the total allocation for the
scheme has been increased by 4% amounting to Rs. 38,500 crore for 2016-17.
Sutlej-Yamuna Link (SYL) Canal Issue
The Indus river system comprises of three western rivers viz. Jhelum, Chenab and Indus; and three
eastern rivers viz. Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. In 1960, the Indus Water Treaty was signed between India
and Pakistan. This treaty provided that three eastern rivers are allocated to India for exclusive use
before they enter Pakistan; while the three western rivers are allocated for exclusive use by Pakistan.

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
After signing of the Indus Water Treaty, the water of these three rivers viz. Ravi, Beas and Sutlej
was shared between Punjab, Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir. However in 1966, Haryana was carved out
from Punjab on linguistic basis. As a successor state, Haryana was eligible to receive a share of
Punjab’s river waters. But at the same time, Yamuna River, which used to flow in undivided Punjab
before 1966, flowed ONLY in Haryana. The water of Yamuna River was never considered a part of
the arrangements made at the time of bifurcation of Punjab. Thus, sharing of river waters became a
bone of contention between the two states. In 1976, the Indira Gandhi government allocated 3.5
million acre feet (MAF) water to each of Punjab and Haryana from the 15.2 MAF water from the
three rivers.
In both the states, the sharing of water became an emotive and political issue. Punjab maintained that
it had already shared water with Rajasthan {via Indira Gandhi Canal}, it does not have additional
water to share with Haryana.
The Haryana government suggested and started work on the Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal and
completed the work on its side in 1980. Meanwhile, keeping larger political interests in mind, Indira
Gandhi Government laid the foundation of Satluj-Yamuna Link canal in 1982 at Kapoori village in
Punjab. younislaw | prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
However, in 1990, Punjab stopped work when the canal was 90% complete. In 1995, Punjab issued a
white paper which said that it would not proceed with the construction of canal and suggested that
Haryana be given water from Bhakhra Canal system. When the matter reached to Supreme Court,
the court directed Punjab in 2002 to complete construction work by January 2002; and also rejected
the review petition. In 2003, another review petition was filed by Punjab in Supreme Court to
relieve it from canal project. In 2004, Supreme Court asked the central government to constitute a
high powered committee to supervise the canal construction process. However, in the same year, the
Punjab Government passed “Punjab Termination of Agreements Act, 2004” to revert the land of the
people acquired for the purpose of construction of Canal. A presidential reference regarding the act
was made in the Supreme Court. In 2016, Punjab Assembly unanimously passed Satluj-Yamuna Link
Canal Land (Transfer of Property Rights) Bill, 2016 to return 3,928 acres of land acquired for Satluj-
Yamuna Link Canal project to the owners or their successors. However, a five-judge Constitution
bench of the Supreme Court has directed Punjab to maintain status quo.
Stand of Punjab
Punjab has categorically rejected to execute the project saying that it does not have even a drop of
water to share with Haryana. So it has passed Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer of Property
Rights) Bill, 2016 to return all of the land acquired for Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal project. Without

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
waiting for the bill to get governor’s assent, the local politicians have encouraged farmers to begin
filling up the canal with mud. Subsequently, the canal was filled up in many areas before the Supreme
Court directed to maintain status quo.
Earlier in 2004, the Punjab government enacted Punjab Termination of Agreements act (2004) to
scrap all water sharing agreements with neighbouring states. Presidential reference was made in the
Supreme Court regarding this act.
Stand of farmers
With escalating land prices, the farmers in the three districts (Ropar, Fatehgarh Sahib and Patiala)
through which the 214 km long canal passes through in Punjab have began to claim back their lands
by filling it up with mud and by clearing structures such as canal walls, pillars etc. The support of the
local politicians has encouraged the farmers to initiate such actions.
Similarly, the farmers of Haryana who had lost their lands for the project have started demanding
that their government should also return back their lands.
Stand of Haryana
In 2004, the Supreme Court directed the central government to undertake the construction of canal
under the supervision of a high powered committee. So, the Haryana government claims Satluj-
Yamuna Link Canal Land (Transfer of Property Rights) Bill, 2016 of Punjab is in violation to the
Supreme Court’s ruling.
Haryana claims to have suffered a loss of Rs 35,020 crore. Haryana finished constructing the canal on
its side in 1980. 3.5 MAF of water from Ravi and Beas was allotted to Haryana. Haryana claims it
would have grown an additional 8 lakh tone of foodgrains earning 1000 crore per year had the
Punjab government completed the canal. Also it claims it has spent nearly 20 crore to fight the cases
related to the canal project in court.
Contentious Issues
Denying water to Haryana by Punjab goes against the spirit of nation building. It is interesting to
note that while India can share its water with Pakistan, a state within the country is refusing to share
its water with its neighbouring state.
Punjab’s stand on this issue has become a severe test for inter-state relations and is bound to set a
very bad precedent to other states that have similar disputes with their neighbours. By acting on its
own way without any regard to the rights of other states, the actions of states like Punjab may have
evil consequences to the federal structure and to the unity and integrity of the nation.
Rulings of Supreme Court on this issue
Since Rs 700 crore (most of it paid by the central government) has been spent on the project, the
Supreme Court in 2002 had observed that such a huge sum from the national exchequer should not

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
be allowed to go waste. Also in 2002, it had ruled that if Punjab does not construct the canal in a
year’s time, then the Central government has to take the responsibility of constructing the canal with
its own agencies.
In 2004, the Supreme Court ordered the Punjab government to continue canal construction project
without any hindrance.
On March 16, 2016 while hearing a 2004 presidential reference to examine the legality of the Punjab
Termination of Agreements act (2004), the Supreme Court has asked the Punjab government to
maintain status quo on the canal project.
Understanding Google Tax
The term “Equalization Levy” colloquially called “Google Tax” had made its first appearance in this
year’s budget documents. The Government has put a 6% equalization levy on the income accrued to a
foreign E-commerce company which is not a resident of India. This would affect Google, Amazon,
Facebook etc.
Defining Equalization Treaty
Any person or entity which makes a payment exceeding Rs 1 lakh in a financial year to a non-resident
technology company for some B2B {Business to Business Services} needs to withhold 6% tax on the
gross amount being paid as an equalisation levy. The conditions for this tax are as follows:
This tax is applicable to B2B services and goods only and NOT on B2C {Business to
Consumer} goods and services.
The tax is applicable to only those companies which have no permanent establishment in
India.
The tax has to be withheld by the buyer and deposited by him to the government.
It is a tax to equalize the tax burden on remote and domestic suppliers of similar goods and services.
The objective of this tax is to make sure that those entities making a payment to a non resident for
specified services like online advertisements to deduct this tax before making the payment.
On whom the equalization levy is levied?
The levy will be applicable on the payments received or receivable by a nonresident service provider
not having a permanent establishment (PE) in India from an Indian resident or an Indian PE of a
nonresident with respect to the specified services offered. The levy would not be applicable to
nonresident service providers having a PE in India.
What are the services covered at present?
Specified services covered at present include:
Online advertisements
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Any provision for digital advertising space or any facility or service for the purpose of online
advertisement
Any other service which may be notified by the government.
So the scope may be expanded to include other digital goods and services. The services which may be
covered in the future include downloading of songs, movies and books; Software downloads; Online
consumption of news and Online sale of goods and services etc.
What is the rationale behind equalization levy?
Role of international organizations/forums: The idea of an equalization levy comes from Action
1 of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) base erosion
and profit shifting (BEPS) Action Plan. The action plan considers equalization levy as an
option to tax digital transactions.
Prevents shifting of profits: The levy will prevent the technology companies from shifting
profits offshore to tax havens. The levy will be against the base erosion and profit shifting and
will prevent shifting of profits from the high tax-rate countries to lower tax-rate
jurisdictions. Of late, the levy has become an attractive tool for governments around the
world. younislaw | prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
To ensure tax payment by online companies: To make sure the global online businesses are taxed
for the considerable income they earn from India. For example, Google earned a revenue of
Rs. 4108 crore in 2014-15 as per its disclosure. Goldman Sachs has estimated the e-commerce
market to grow to $300 billion by 2030 from the current $20 billion. According to the
budget, digital economy in India is growing at 10% per year which is faster than the global
economy as a whole. So, taxing the technology companies could earn sufficient revenue.
To make companies to have permanent establishment in India: The levy will act as an incentive for
the companies to have permanent establishments in India and to get taxed only on their net
income made here. It will also discourage the practice of avoiding taxes by exploiting
weaknesses in the international taxation rules.
Why online companies oppose?
They say that a new levy will raise the cost of a whole range of services which are provided
online. Ultimately, the customer will be made to pay as the companies may pass down the tax
burden on to the customers.
The levy will undermine the Digital India and Startup India programmes by discouraging
innovation. Moreover, it may force the startups to cut down on advertising.
NASSCOM has said that there exists already a tax which is being deducted at source when

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
there is a B2B transaction. So the equalization levy will lead to double taxation of same
income.
The levy is introduced in the Budget as part of the finance bill and not as a part of Income
Tax Act. So, because of this the companies would not be able to take the benefit of tax treaties
to avoid double taxation in their home countries.
What has been done in the UK?
The issue of taxing companies like Google has embroiled into controversy in many countries. One
such controversy erupted in UK. Search giant Google paid UK a negligible amount as tax by
completing its transactions in Dublin (capital of Ireland) instead of UK, even though it earned
revenue of $6.5 billion in UK. Recently, the company had agreed to pay $185 million in back taxes to
the UK.
What would be the challenges faced while implementing?
With the evolution of new business models, there are difficulties in characterizing the nature of
payment, establishing a taxing jurisdiction, locating the transaction, identifying the taxpayer etc.
Biofortification / BHU-35
The term was making younislaw
news | as Indian Scientists develop a zinc rich variety of wheat by
prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
Biofortification. Some important observations for Prelims are as follows:

What is Biofortification?
Fortification {to make rich with nutrients} is one way to fight with malnutrition. However, ordinary
fortification is different from bio-fortification. One way of ordinary fortification is to mix the
nutrients to the foods when they are processed. However, this leads to increase in prices, problem of
quality control and possible adulteration.
However, Biofortification is the process of cross breeding the food crops in such a way that it results
in increase in their inherent nutritional quality. This is how the recently announced zinc rich variety
of wheat was produced. The scientists cross bred the high yield and high zinc content varieties and
subjected the progenies to field trials. The progenies were found to have 40-45 ppm of zinc while the
existing varieties had 29 ppm of zinc. After further trials, one of the verities BHU-35 cleared the
trials and currently awaits a few more regulatory clearances before being released in Uttar Pradesh
for cultivation. Seven other varieties of biofortified wheat are under trials and in the next few years
they will be made available for cultivation.
We also note here that Bio-fortification is a seed-driven technology; it enables crops to
extract more zinc from the soil & store it in the edible parts.
Relevance of Biofortification
The staple food of a region may be devoid of a particular nutrient. Green revolution has altered the

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
cropping pattern and crop diversity and has led to change in dietary patterns. This has resulted in
malnutrition as the food consumed by the people does not provide them with required amount of
proteins, vitamins and minerals. For example in the Indo-Gangetic plains, rice and wheat have
replaced many other crops. Wheat forms the staple diet in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. One of the very
essential mineral missing in their diet has been found out to be zinc. Deficiency of zinc leads to
malfunctioning of several proteins and enzymes and results in a variety of diseases such as diarrhoea,
skin and respiratory disorders.
Amendment to FCRA via Finance Bill Route Controversy
In the first week of April, 2016, the government amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act
(FCRA), 2010 through the Finance Bill, 2016. The main objective of this amendment was to make
way for the political parties to receive donations from foreign companies such as Vedanta as “Indian
Source” despite of their being “foreign”.
Background
The current CSR {Corporate Social Responsibility} rules as per Companies Act 2013 provide that a
firm which has either net-worth of Rs. 500 Crore or annual revenues of Rs. 1000 Crore or annual
net profit of Rs. 5 croreyounislaw
has |to spend 2% of its
prince.yonus786@gmail.com average profit in past three years on social
development works either on their own or via some philanthropic foundation or in partnership with
some not-for-profit organizations.
However, such contribution from companies with 50% foreign share-holding is treated as “foreign
source“. This treatment requires these companies to partner only with those not-for-profits which
are registered with Ministry of Home Affairs under the FCRA.
The Government wanted to do away this treatment by amending the FCRA in such a way that the
contribution from foreign companies to not-for-profit, political parties and candidates contesting elections,
newspapers, government employees etc. does not come under definition of foreign source. The recent
amendment provides that such companies will be treated as “Indian” for the purpose of FCRA. This
would not only help foreign-origin companies to fund NGOs but has also cleared the way for them
to give “donations to political parties.”
Implications for political parties
The move will benefit the Political parties, especially BJP and Congress. Between 2004 and 2010,
there were at least 25 instances of these parties receiving funds from the Indian subsidiaries of the
foreign companies. In March 2014, the Delhi High Court in its judgement {on a writ petition filed by
Association of Democratic Reforms} found both BJP and Congress in violation of FCRA-2010 for
their receipt of donation from Vedanta. The High Court declared that these donations were illegal

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and directed the government to take action against these two parties within six months. The parties
challenged the decision into Supreme Court.
Thus, the real reason of recent amendment was to overcome the legal challenge of “illegally”
accepting foreign donations and violating the FCRA. The government has also amended the law
“retrospectively since 2010” to be in better position to handle the case against them pending in
Supreme Court.
Implications for companies
As many as two dozen companies have lobbied with the government to tweak the law so that this
“foreign source” tag is removed from their CSR spending. They also contended that every time they
were forced to get MHA’s clearance whenever money was to be disbursed.
Passing the amendment as Finance Bill – Is it suppression of democracy?
Since the amendment has to come in to effect by March 31, 2016 beyond which the companies
would not be able to spend the money of the last fiscal, the amendment was passed through Finance
Bill. It was felt that drafting a new bill and waiting for the Parliament’s nod might delay the process.
However, this move had a political twist also. Though Congress did not criticise the move of making
this amendment via Finance Act; the JDU and other parties tried to attack the government for
bringing such bill via a money bill. {This is second such instance when a key bill was passed via
money bill route, the other being Aadhaar Bill}. They said that this move would “endanger the
democracy” and now “there would be no limit to foreign influence” in the government.
This leads us to analyze if such move by the government can really endanger the democracy? We
note here that the existing treatment of such donations was a technical glitch and created problems
with both donor and recipient. The companies were still making donations but every time they
needed to get MHA permission to make such donations. The political statements that such moves
would endanger democracy seem to be mere political rhetoric. The move will make life easier for
companies as well as development industry / not-for profit sector, consultants and accounts.
There are many sectors in which FDI caps are above 50%. For example, in agriculture, 100% FDI is
allowed so companies such as Monsanto, Advanta etc. make contribution to development industry as
well as political parties. Similarly, in Pharma sector 100% FDI is allowed, so companies such as
Glaxo, Abott etc. make such donations.
Thus, in inclusion, such amendment should be seen as a step further to make it easy for the
companies to manage their CSR obligation without putting energy in FCRA compliance. This
amendment was a much needed correction in an anomaly in the law.

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Hazardous Waste Management Rules, 2016

On April 5, 2016, the Ministry of Environment has recently updated the Hazardous Waste
Management Rules. Here are some of the most important notes on this topic.
Salient Features
Applicability
The new Hazardous Waste Management rules have been issued under the Environment Protection
Act and around 17000 municipal towns come within its ambit. Beyond municipal areas, the rules are
also applicable to urban agglomerations, census towns, notified industrial townships, areas under the control of
Indian Railways, airports, airbase, port and harbour, defence establishments, special economic zones, State and
Central government organizations, places of pilgrims, religious & historical importance.
Defining Other Wastes
For the first time, the ambit of the Rules has been expanded to include ‘other wastes’; and a
distinction between Hazardous Waste and other wastes have been made. Other wastes include:
Waste tyre, paper waste, metal scrap, used electronic items, etc. These wastes have been identified as a
resource for recycling and reuse. These resources will help in reducing the load on the virgin
resources by supplementing the industrial processes.
User Fee and Sport Fine
The new rules allow the municipalities to levy user free for waste management and make individuals
responsible for disposal of the garbage. The source segregation of waste has been mandated to
channelize the waste to wealth by recovery, reuse and recycle. The municipalities have also been
allowed to ‘Spot Fine’ for Littering and Non-segregation.
Responsibilities of Waste Generators
Responsibilities of waste Generators have been introduced to segregate waste in to three streams,
Wet (Biodegradable), Dry (Plastic, Paper, metal, wood, etc.) and domestic hazardous wastes (diapers,
napkins, empty containers of cleaning agents, mosquito repellents, etc.) and handover segregated
wastes to authorized rag-pickers or waste collectors or local bodies.
Integration of waste / rag pickers into formal system
The new rules have put the onus of integration of waste pickers/ rag pickers and waste dealers/
Kabadiwalas in the formal system on State Governments, and Self Help Groups.
Partnership in Swachh Bharat
The new rules have introduced the concept of Partnership with Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. The
institutional generators such as hotels and restaurants have been made directly responsible for
segregation and sorting the waste in partnership with local bodies.
Procedural Simplification
Procedure has been simplified for setting up of hazardous waste disposal facility and import of other

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
wastes by merging all the approvals with the provision for single window clearance.
Streamlining Import and Export
The process of import/export of waste has been streamlined and the list of waste regulated for
import/export has been revised. There is no need to obtain environment ministry’s permission for
import of metal scrap, paper waste and various categories of electrical and electronic equipments for
re-use purpose.
Items banned for Import
Waste edible fats and oil of animals, or vegetable origin, Household waste, Critical Care Medical
equipment, Tyres for direct re-use purpose, Solid Plastic wastes including Pet bottles, Waste
electrical and electronic assemblies scrap, other chemical wastes especially in solvent form among
others have been prohibited for import.
Why there is a need for the new rules?
Unscientific disposal methods like burning or incineration adopted to dispose hazardous and other
wastes results in the emission of toxic fumes comprising of Dioxins & Furans, mercury, heavy metals
leading to air pollution and associated health ailments. Disposal of hazardous wastes in water bodies
or municipal dumps leads to leaching of toxic substances in land and water resulting in degradation
of soil and water quality.younislaw
The | workers employed in unscientific hazardous waste management
prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
facilities are found to suffer from neurological disorders, skin diseases, genetic defects and cancer. So,
there is a need for systematic management of hazardous and other waste by adopting the practices
like prevention, minimisation, re-use, recycling, recovery, utilisation including co-processing and
safe disposal of waste.
What are the criticisms?
Experts point out that, although the government has banned the import of plastic waste it has
allowed the import of used e-waste in a scenario where there already exists a huge problem of e-
wastes in India. It is estimated that India generates nearly 17 lakh tones of e-waste every year and is
estimated to increase at the rate of 5% a year.
IndARC
Scientists with the help of IndARC are looking for specific oceanographic factors in the Arctic Ocean
that could influence Indian Monsoon. Some important notes listed here.
What is IndARC?
IndARC is the India’s first underwater moored observatory anchored in the Kongsfjorden fjord, half way
between Norway (1100km away from Norway) and the North Pole at a depth of 192 metres. It has
been deployed for the continuous monitoring of the oceanographic parameters from various depths
in order to obtain significant inputs in the understanding of the Arctic climate and its possible link to
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CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
tropical processes, specifically the Indian monsoon.

IndARC was Designed and developed by scientists from the Earth System Science Organisation
(ESSO), National Centre for Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), National Institute of Ocean
Technology (NIOT) and Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS).
Why Kongsfjorden fjord?
A fjord is a deep, narrow and elongated sea or lake drain, which has steep land on three sides and an
opening toward the sea on the fourth side. Kongsfjorden fjord has been chosen as it as an established
reference site for the Arctic marine studies. In the course of an annual seasonal cycle, Kongsfjorden
fjord has been receiving varying climatic signals from the Arctic/Atlantic Ocean regions. So, it is
considered as a natural laboratory for conducting detailed studies on Arctic climate variability.
What is the use of IndARC?
The effects of climate change are felt first and fastest in the Arctic as evident from the rising
temperatures, loss of sea-ice and the melting of ice sheets. Change in the Arctic region influences
climate patterns, sea-level rise and biodiversity changes across the world. So, the interaction between
the Arctic ice shelf and the deep sea and its influence on climate shift requires long term monitoring
of Kongsfjorden ford. Logistical constraints in accessing the harsh Arctic region faced so far have
been addressed with the establishment of IndARC. With IndARC, the continuous collection of data
from depths has been made possible.
The IndARC observatory has an array of high-end oceanographic sensors positioned strategically at
discrete depths in the water column for collecting real-time data on seawater temperature, salinity,
current and other vital parameters of the fjord. The data provided by IndARC helps to understand
the Arctic processes and their influence on the Indian monsoon system through climate modelling
studies; and the response of the Arctic to climatic variability.
Navigation Indian Constellation (NAVIC)
In its thirty fifth flight (PSLV-C33), launched the 1425 kg IRNSS-1G from Satish Dhawan Space
Centre (SHAR), Sriharikota. IRNSS-1G happens to be the seventh satellite in the Indian Regional
Navigation Satellite System (IRNSS). With this launch, ISRO has achieved a major milestone by
establishing India’s own navigation system similar to the Global Positioning System (GPS) of the US.
This is also a 34th consecutive successful mission of PSLV and 13th in its ‘XL’ configuration. It may be
noted that the same XL variant was used to launch Mars Orbiter Mission, Chandrayaan-1,
ASTROSAT and the six other satellites in the IRNSS system.
Renaming
The Prime Minister Narendra Modi has renamed the IRNSS as ‘NavIC’ (Navigation Indian
Constellation).

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
What is IRNSS?
IRNSS is the Indian navigation system aimed at establishing an independent regional navigation
satellite system to provide information over Indian region and an area extending about 1500 sq km
around India. IRNSS will provide two types of services:
Standard Positioning Services (SPS), which will be provided to all users.
Restricted Services – (RS), which will grant access only to authorised users.
The IRNSS comprises of seven satellites even while four satellites would be sufficient to start
operations. The remaining three satellites were launched to make the system more accurate and
efficient. It consists of three Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) spacecraft and four Geosynchronous
orbit (GCO) spacecraft inclined at 29 degrees. With the launch of IRNSS-1G (seventh and final
member of IRNSS constellation) the IRNSS system is complete and would be soon
operational. IRNSS-1G has a 12-year mission life.
A number of ground facilities have been established in eighteen locations across the country
specifically dedicated for satellite ranging and monitoring, generation and transmission of navigation
parameters, etc. This ground facilities will help in the full fledged functioning of NAVIC.
When was the previous satellites belonging to IRNSS was launched?
IRNSS-1A was launched on July 1, 2013, IRNSS-1B on April 4, 2014, IRNSS-1C on October 16,
2014, IRNSS-1D on March 28, 2015, IRNSS-1E on January 20, 2016 and the sixth satellite
(IRNSS-1F) was launched very recently on March 10. All the launches used PSLV XL with six strap-
ons, each carrying 12 tons of propellant.
What is the expenditure incurred on this project?
The total expenditure incurred on launching all the seven satellites is approximately 1,420 crore.
What will be the applications of NAVIC?
A variety of services will be offered by NAVIC which includes terrestrial and marine navigation,
disaster management, vehicle tracking and fleet management, navigation aide for hikers and
travelers, visual and voice navigation for drivers among others. In addition, it is expected to provide
position accuracy of better than 20 m over Indian region and an area extending about 1500 sq km
from the Indian Mainland.
Global Vaccine Switch
From April 25, India will make a switch from trivalent oral polio vaccine (OPV) to bivalent OPV.
The switch will take place globally as it has been recommended by the Strategic Advisory Group of
Experts (SAGE) on Immunization.
What exactly is the switch?
The switch refers to the replacement of trivalent OPV with bivalent OPV in routine immunization and

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
supplemental immunization activities in all the countries around the world within a 2-week
timeframe (April 17 to May 1). Trivalent OPV would no longer be used anywhere in the world. This
switch has been labelled as the largest globally coordinated withdrawal of one vaccine and the roll-
out of another into a routine immunization programme in history. 155 countries are expected to
make the switch.
What is the difference between trivalent OPV and bivalent OPV?
Trivalent OPV contains all three strains of the polio virus (type 1, type 2 and type 3) while bivalent
OPV contains only two type of strains (type 1 and 3 only). Both vaccines are administered orally.
Why the switch is being made?
Wild poliovirus type 2 was eradicated in 1999. However, under rare instances, the trivalent OPV is
known to have caused polio in unprotected children. All the type 2 polio cases at present have been
caused only by vaccine-derived polioviruses. This is because the OPV has live but attenuated
(weakened) virus, which on rare instances become virulent and continues to circulate in the
community and causes vaccine derived poliovirus. It is estimated that the type 2 strain in the
trivalent OPV has resulted in over 90% of the vaccine derived poliovirus in the world in the past 10
years. So, the withdrawal of type 2 strain and switching over to a bivalent OPV is a major step to
ensure polio eradication. But the move has to be globally synchronized else there are chances of
importing the Type 2 vaccine derived polio viruses from other countries.
Why OPV cannot be eliminated entirely rather than switch to bivalent OPV?
Inactivated Polio Virus (IPV) is an inactivated vaccine and is not a live attenuated vaccine. So, it has
no risk of spreading vaccine derived polio virus. But, unlike OPV, it does not replicate in the gut and
induces lower levels of intestinal immunity. IPV is also less effective in reducing fecal-oral
transmission than the OPV.
What steps have been taken in India?
India has introduced Inactivated Polio Virus (IPV) vaccine into the routine immunization
programme in a phased manner from November 30, 2015. IPV is considered safer than OPV because
it contains all three polio strains in a killed form. According to SAGE, it is observed that the better
protection is ensured when two doses of 0.1ml each of IPV are given intradermally rather than
giving a single full dose of 0.5ml intramuscularly at 14 weeks. This is because of the better
seroconversion and higher antibody level when 2 doses are administered intradermally. This is due
to the fact that the antigen presenting cells are more in number in the intradermal region of the skin
than the subcutaneous or muscle tissue. So even if a tiny dose is administered, more antigen
presenting cells pick up the antigen and transport them to the nearby lymph node where it is
presented to the T cells. Ultimately, the effect gets enhanced since it is given in two doses.

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Two pronged vaccination strategy has been adopted in India, wherein children of Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Puducherry will get two doses
of 0.1ml each of IPV administered intradermally at 6 and 14 weeks while the children in the rest of
states/UTs will get a single dose of 0.5ml of IPV administered intramuscularly at 14 weeks. The
reason for this difference is due to the existence of extensive immunization coverage, well developed
infrastructure and human resources to administer IPV in two doses in those seven states and
puducherry while the rest of the states/UTs lack them.
Additional Borrowing Limits for States
The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given approval to the
recommendations of Fourteenth Finance Commission (FFC) on fiscal deficit targets and additional
fiscal deficit to States during 2015-20. From now on, the States committing to greater fiscal discipline
have been allowed to relax the existing cap on fiscal deficit of 3% of the gross state domestic product (GSDP) to
a maximum of 0.5%.
Why such a move has been taken?
The fiscal deficit threshold limit of 3 per cent of Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) for the States
was restricting them fromyounislaw
carrying out capital expansion
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com activities. Imposition of such a condition
was a disincentive to the best-performing states. The combined borrowing of state governments for
2014-15, was Rs.2.4 trillion.
Now the states will get additional headroom to raise borrowings to cater to their development needs
based upon their current macro-economic requirements. It will also incentivize states to adopt fiscal
discipline and prioritize their development spending.
Which states are eligible?
It has been provided that only those states that have a debt-GSDP ratio of less than 25% and interest
payments-revenue receipts ratio less than 10% in the previous two years are eligible to raise their
fiscal deficits to a maximum of 0.5 per cent over and above the normal limit of 3 per cent in any
given year. Out of the two conditions, if a state fulfils only one condition, then it will be eligible to
increase borrowing by a 0.25% above the 3% of GSDP limit. Further, the flexibility in availing the
additional fiscal deficit can be availed by a State only if there is no revenue deficit in the year in
which borrowing limits are to be fixed and immediately preceding year. The changes will be valid
from 2016-17 till 2019-2020. In case a state is not able to fully utilize its sanctioned fiscal deficit of 3%
of GSDP in any particular year from 2016-17 to 2018-19, then the provisions allows the state to
carry it over to the next year.
Which states stand to be benefitted?

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
The Care ratings in its analysis of state budgets has showed States like chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh,
Jharkhand, Odisha and Telangana has less than 10% interest payments to revenue receipts ratio and
therefore are eligible for raising their fiscal deficit to 3.25% of GSDP. On the other hand, states like
Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Kerala, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Goa, Maharashtra, Haryana and
Uttarakhand will not be eligible.
What are the implications?
There will not be any financial implication on the central government as the borrowings are
made within the fiscal deficit limits by the respective states, as laid down by Finance
Commission and incorporated in FRBMA of the states.
The provision of carry forward any unutilized fiscal deficit amount will allow states to flexibly
time their borrowings in tune with foreseeable expenditure spikes like pay commission
awards. This is far better than the States’ current practice of exhausting borrowing limits each
fiscal year irrespective of the actual need and investing the excess funds in low interest
bearing Treasury Bills.
Debts of the states may rise and the increase in borrowings will mean states will have to pay
higher price to attract
younislawbuyers. Market borrowings
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com will rise in the current fiscal year on
account of low revenue buoyancy, higher wages for states’ employees in tune with 7th pay
commission’s recommendations, and the need to provide interest payments on
UDAY(Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana) bonds.
According to the economists, although the additional borrowing space will act as an incentive
for the states to incur expenditure for actual needs, in the short term, however, the states will
have to cut capital expenditure or look for additional options to raise revenue due to the
constraints imposed for raising revenues coupled with the pressure of implementing the 7th
pay commission awards.
The government needs to implement GST (Goods and Services Tax) to increase the revenue
buoyancy in the long term without which the states may not be in a position to meet their fiscal
targets without resorting to expenditure cuts.
Ocean State Forecast Services (OSFS)
National Geoscience Award for the year 2014 was presented recently to an INCOIS team for developing
Ocean Forecast and Information System for maritime safety. Here are important facts about the
same.
When OSFS was started?

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
To forewarn about hazardous oceanic situations and ensure safe navigation and operations at sea,
Earth System Science Organisation – Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (ESSO-
INCOIS) established the integrated INDian Ocean FOrecasting System (INDOFOS), integrating existing
forecasts of ocean wave and the surface and subsurface parameters of the Indian Ocean in 2010.
What type of information is provided by OSFS?
The OSFS provide advance information on vital parameters like wave heights, remotely generated waves
(swells), sea surface currents, sea surface temperature, wind speed and direction, depth of 20 degree isotherm,
mixed layer depth (MLD), astronomical tides, oil spill trajectory, ocean surface winds etc. seven days in
advance with daily updates.
The forecasts are generated by numerical models, which are then evaluated using indigenously
developed real-time observational systems, and are customized to simulate and predict the Indian
Ocean features. The generated forecasts are grouped under four categories- global, regional,
location-specific and coastal forecasts. The forecasts are available for Arabian Sea, Bay of Bengal,
Northern Indian Ocean, Southern Indian Ocean, Red Sea, Persian Gulf and South China Sea. The
forecasts have also been extended to Maldives, Sri Lanka and Seychelles in collaboration with the
Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia.
Who benefits from the data?

The early warnings are crucial for planning and executing a number of operations in seas. It will
serve fisherman community, maritime boards, ports and harbours, oil and shipping industry, coastal
tourism departments, research organizations, merchant and passenger shipping agencies,
enforcement and strategic agencies like coastguard, navy, marine police etc. The data is useful to
identify the regions where wind driven turbines can be erected to set up wind farms. The Oil and
Natural Gas Corporation had made use of the assessment of wind potential in its western offshore
field. INCOIS provides the ocean state forecast along the shipping routes for the benefit of the
shipping industry. The INCOIS has also developed the Online Oil Spill Advisory for forecasting the
oil spill trajectories. This helps in mitigating hazards caused due to oil spills and caution local people.
Similarly, the High Wave bulletins with alerts help during extreme weather conditions like cyclones.
About RIMES
The Regional Integrated Multi-Hazard Early Warning System for Africa and Asia (RIMES) was
established on 30 April 2009 as an international and intergovernmental institution, owned and
managed by its Member States. RIMES aim to provide regional early warning services within a
multi-hazard framework for the generation and communication of early warning information, and
aid in capacity building in its member states for preparedness and response to tsunami and hydro-
meteorological hazards.

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
RIMES got evolved in the aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami by the combined efforts of
countries in Africa and Asia. RIMES has been registered with the United Nations under Article 102
and has been supported by United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (UNESCAP) and Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA).
The 12 member states of RIMES are India, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Comoros, Lao PDR, Maldives,
Mongolia, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Timor-Leste and the 19
collaborating countries are Afghanistan, Armenia, Bhutan, China, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar,
Mauritius, Mozambique, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Russian Federation, Somalia, Tanzania,
Thailand, Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and Yemen.
About National Geoscience Award
The National Geoscience Awards was instituted by the Ministry of Mines in 1966. This award is
given to honour individuals and teams of scientists for their outstanding contributions in
fundamental and applied geosciences and mining & allied fields.
About INCOIS
Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) is an autonomous body of the
Ministry of Earth Sciences.
Issue of Misuse of Interest Subvention Scheme
The interest subvention scheme was introduced in 2006-07 to provide cheaper credit for crop loans
to farmers. An interest subvention at 2 per cent was given to banks for making crop loans available
to farmers at 7 per cent. Further, an additional subvention of 1 per cent was given to the farmers
who repaid their loans on or before the due date. Later in 2011-12, this was increased to 3 per cent.
So, as of now, those farmers who repay their loans on or before the due date will receive a
subvention of 5 per cent and are charged an effective interest rate of 4 per cent. In addition, few
states like Madhya Pradesh, have even given loans to farmers at zero interest.
What are the implications for the financial health of the banking sector?
The banks are first required to credit the subvention amount to the account of the farmers and then
claim the amount reimbursed from the NABARD/RBI. Thus, any delay in settling the claims of the
banks due to insufficient budgetary allocations, or any other reason, may have serious implications
on the financial health of the banking sector.
What are the concerns?
The main concern for the economy is the swelling of unpaid bills of the interest subvention scheme.
The scheme has been constantly under-provisioned in the last few budgets. The allocation of Rs
15000 crore in the recent budget is way too little to meet the current expenses and settle backlogs.
There is a sharp increase in the short term agricultural credit growth at an average 18% per annum

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
in the past 5 years. This has resulted in the cumulative unpaid bills to the banking system to the tune
of Rs. 35,000 crore in the FY15. It is estimated that if the corrective measures are not taken then this
amount may cross Rs 50,000 crore by FY17 with severe repercussions for our banking sector.
Whether interest subvention scheme resulted in high agricultural productivity?
With this much credit pumped into the agricultural sector, it is natural to expect high agricultural
productivity and rising profitability to the farmers, but it did not happen. In fact, the average agri-
GDP growth in the last two years has collapsed to less than 0.5% and the profitability in farming
crashed due to acute farm stress.
Why the rising farm credits are accompanied with falling farm incomes?
The reason for the anomaly is the substantial diversion of funds away from agriculture. The farmers
were found to take as much loans as possible at a concessional rate of 4% and then divert at least a
part of it to the fixed deposits earning 7-8% interest or even became money lenders extending credit
at 15-20% interest to those people who lack access to formal institutional sources of finance. It is
evident from the data provided by the All India Debt and Investment Survey that 44% of the loans
taken by the farmers in the year 2013 were from non-institutional sources. Curiously, the short term
credit from institutional sources had exceeded the total value of inputs used in agriculture by about
10% in 2014. It shows that around 30-40% of crop loans under the interest subvention scheme are
getting diverted for non-agricultural purposes. Further evidence comes from the sudden increase in
agricultural loans, which are often more than 60% of the annual disbursement taken during January-
march, when there is not much agricultural activity.
The misuse of interest subvention schemes calls for rationalizing the interest subvention subsidy.
Even, a committee constituted by the RBI on Medium-term Path on Financial Inclusion (2015) has
recommended phasing out the interest subvention schemes and move towards universal crop
insurance.
Another way would be to change the policy instrument from price policy (subsidizing inputs) to
income policy, which involves direct transfer to farmers’ accounts linked to Aadhaar for all input
subsidies like fertilizers, seeds, farm machinery and agricultural credit. Depositing money into
farmers’ account and allowing the markets to care of the input needs would give the farmers the
freedom to choose the right mix of inputs at market prices. Here, the Jan Dhan Yojana will come
handy. This will help minimizing the losses and leakages, which are anywhere from 30-40%. China
has already started to move in this direction. It will be even more beneficial if the subsidy income
package is designed on a per-hectare basis, with small land holders benefitting from a higher per-
hectare rate.

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
New Guidelines for Computer Related Inventions

Recently, the Office of the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks has come up with a
new guideline to be followed when deciding on applications related to software and hardware related
inventions for its officials. The new guidelines will replace the earlier guideline which invited
criticisms and protests from some of the IT groups.
Objective
Patent offices across the world are facing the issue of patentability of Computer Related Inventions
(CRIs). Creators of knowledge in the domain of CRIs are looking for appropriate protection of their
IPRs. . This subject has grabbed the international attention in the recent past. There should be
uniform examination guidelines/manuals for examination of patent applications to address the
challenges of processing patent applications in the field of computer related inventions and related
technologies. So, the Indian Patent Office has come up with guidelines to foster uniformity and
consistency in examination of such applications, and also to bring clarity in terms of exclusions
expected under section 3(k) of the Indian Patent Act to enable fast examination of patents related to
CRIs.
Provisions under sectionyounislaw
3(k)| prince.yonus786@gmail.com
of Indian Patent| www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
Act
Section 3(k) of the Indian Patent Act provides that a mathematical or business method, or a
computer programme per se, or algorithm, is not patentable unless embedded in hardware.
Salient features of the new guidelines for examination of CRIs
The existing chapter of the manual of Patent Office Practice and Procedure, containing
provisions pertaining to Section 3(k) of the Patent Act 1970 is left untouched. So, if the
contribution of the invention lies only in computer program, the patent claim shall be denied
by the examiner. It is held that the computer program in itself is never patentable. If such a
contribution is received, then the examiners need to check whether it is claimed in
conjunction with a novel hardware and then proceed with the other steps to determine
patentability. This provision is expected to ensure that the applications for patents solely in
the field of software are rejected and the applications claiming a novel hardware component
along with software are accepted for examination.
While examining the CRI applications, the examiners have to rely on three stage test, starting
with construing the claim and identifying the actual contribution.
If the contribution lies only in mathematical method, business method or algorithm, then the
patent claim should be denied.
Implications

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
The Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), the iSPIRT (Indian Software Product Industry Round Table) and
Knowledge Commons, which were protesting against the guidelines issued in august 2015, have hailed
the new guidelines by saying that the new guidelines are in line with the spirit of Section 3(k) of the
Patents Act and would ensure software patents are barred in the country. The previously released
guidelines provided that some of the advancement in the software compared to the prior art could
get a patent. This could have resulted in a flood of patents being granted in the field of software,
which would have adverse implications for the Indian IT industry, especially the start ups
Indian start-ups, product companies, research organizations, a range of academics, organizations like
Society for Knowledge Commons, Free Software Movement of India, which are at the forefront of
innovation, have welcomed the guidelines.
Criticism
The criticism for the new guidelines have come from the legal fraternity who fears that the new
guidelines would result in less patent litigations and thus resulting in a loss of business, and from
those multinational corporations (MNCs) with business models based on proprietary software. Their
criticisms does not find merit as the world at large have already concluded that patents does not
make sense in the world ofyounislaw
software.
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
About Open Source Software

Open source software (OSS) is computer software whose source code is available for modification or
enhancement by anyone. The copyright holder provides the rights to study, change, and distribute
the software to anyone and for any purpose. Technologies which we are using in our day-to-day lives
like web browsers, Linux-based mobile phones, Facebook, set-top boxes, Twitter etc., are based on
open source. The OSS does not rely on patent protection. Even Apple uses open source at its core,
and the irony is that those companies which uses Linux have opposed the new guidelines, while the
Linux foundation itself does not support patents.
Why patent free open source software is important?
Lack of distraction on account of patents will offer conducive environment for innovations in India.
Many innovations have the potential to address the problems faced by the Indian economy. For
example, the government-funded SHAKTI processor programme at IIT-Madras works to replace
proprietary processors by creating an open-source mobile and server processors. The existence of
the web is attributed to CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, which committed
the Web’s fundamental technologies, including initial Web-serving and Web-browsing
programmes, to the public domain. The freely available scripting languages such as Perl and PHP are
behind the various open-source foundations like the Mozilla, Linux, Apache, Facebook, eBay,
LinkedIn, Tumblr and various other start-ups.

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
Endnotes
Given the amount of litigation that the software patents have created in the US, the new CRI
guidelines, which is very much in line with Section 3(k) of the Patents Act 1970 is a wise move taken
by the Indian Patent Office to encourage the business of innovation. The guidelines portray the
importance India attaches on the innovation economy.
Proposed Centre State Investment Agreement (CSIA)
As proposed in this year’s union budget, the finance ministry has started to prepare a model Centre-
State Investment Agreement (CSIA). This agreement will be signed between the Centre and various
states for the effective implementation of Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT), signed by India with
other countries.
What is a bilateral investment treaty (BIT)?
A bilateral investment treaty (BIT) is an agreement entered by two countries regarding promotion
and protection of investments made by investors of these two countries in each other’s territory. By
regulating the host nation’s treatment of investment, it tends to protect the investments made by an
investor belonging to one country in the other.
Why the government hasyounislaw
come up with this proposal?
| prince.yonus786@gmail.com | www.gktoday.in/upsc/ias-general-studies
The motivating factor behind the proposal is to facilitate ease of doing business for foreign investors
and their domestic recipients. There can be a few instances where a problem with a foreign investor
is due to a particular state. CSIA will address this by ensuring commitment and fulfillment of
obligations by the State governments. It is provided that the government will not make it mandatory
for the states to sign CSIA, but the information of those states which did not sign CSIA will be given
to India’s BIT partner. So, the states which opt to sign this agreement will be a more attractive
destination for foreign investors than the one which does not. Some of the features of the agreement
may include an enterprise-based definition of investment, non-discriminatory treatment, protection
against expropriation, an Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provision requiring the investors
to first exhaust local remedies before seeking international arbitration etc.
The finance ministry came up with a new Model BIT Text in December last year. This basic
template will be used during treaty negotiations with other countries. In the past with several
instances of investors suing governments and claiming huge compensation for their ‘losses,’ the
government has come up with these initiatives to protect the government’s interests. BIT is expected
to replace the existing Bilateral Investment Protection and Promotion Agreements (BIPPA). The
BIT language cleared by the Union Cabinet in December keeps taxation out of its ambit. Unlike
BIPAs, BITs will not allow foreign companies finding themselves in a tax row with the government

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
to invoke the investment treaty their parent country has signed with India, as is the case at present.
Vodafone had invoked the India-Netherlands BIPPA after the cancellation of conciliation talks and
sought international arbitration in its Rs 20,000-crore tax dispute. Recently, Cairn Energy invoked
India-UK BIPPA and demanded compensation for the Rs 10,200-crore tax notice served on Cairn
India.
What are the issues/criticisms?
Obligations under international law
Critics argue that irrespective of a foreign company running into trouble with the state, the onus and
the liability will be on the central government. Whether a state government enters into agreement
or not, the actions of the state government will bind the Indian state. Further, if the state
government infringes upon the rights enjoyed by a foreign investor under the BIT, the foreign
company may challenge this as a violation under international law. In this case the
Central government cannot justify its non-compliance with BIT obligations by invoking “provisions
of its municipal law, or because of any special features of its government organization or its
constitutional system”.
The judgment of Azadi Bachao Andolan Vs Union of India (2004) case and a combined reading of Entry
14 of the union list (Entering into treaties and agreements with foreign countries and implementing
of treaties, agreements and conventions with foreign countries) and Article 73, provides that the
Central government, on behalf of the Indian republic has the power to enter into treaties. Once the
Central government accedes to a treaty on behalf of the republic, the international obligations will
bind the entire country, including its constituent states, at least externally. It does not matter
whether the Central government has entered into an agreement with the State
governments regarding the implementation of treaty or not. Under international law,
distribution of sovereign powers among constituent states is deemed to be an internal matter.
Hence, irrespective of whether the Centre warns India’s BIT partners about non-compliant States
before they make their investment in the State, the proposal does not has much legal significance
unless framed as a reservation to the BITs.
Cooperative federalism
India has a quasi-federal structure with Union and State governments often politically non-aligned.
In this context, a proposal by the Centre to enter into investment agreements with States as
an optional arrangement will become a challenge to the cooperative federalism and will further sour
fragile Centre-State relations. The reasons being:
The state governments may not like themselves to be blamed for the violation of a BIT.
They may not like the idea of Central government informing the BIT partner countries about

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
their non-compliance in case they are not willing to sign the agreement and downgrading its
image to a non-safe destination for foreign investments.
Given the direct impact that many regulations of State governments has on foreign investors,
the central government can include sensitizing State governments as one of the objectives of
the proposal.
Institutionalizing the involvement of State governments in the treaty-making process can be
thought of. Forums like NITI Aayog, can be used as a platform for Centre-State consultative
process on treaty making.
Apart from BITs, the sensitization of state governments should be extended to other
international agreements like Free Trade Agreements (FTAs), Double Taxation Avoidance
Agreements (DTAAs) and agreements concluded under the aegis of WTO.
Conclusion
The trade treaties assume significance because it covers many issues that fall in the State list like
agriculture. Thus, with the spirit of cooperative federalism, the Centre and the States should work
harmoniously for the benefit of the country and for the better implementation of international
treaties.
New pricing policy for Deep Sea Gas Fields
In March 2016, cabinet had approved new pricing formula for gas discoveries in difficult to access
areas and difficult to operate geological areas.
Why there is a need for new pricing policy?
The present scheme of pricing is not enough to incentivize gas explorations in deep sea, ultra deep
sea, high temperature and high pressure areas. The proposal for the adopting the new pricing policy
was also stated in this year’s union budget. The new pricing policy will lead to increase in gas price
by about 70-80% of the current levels and will help companies to begun exploration in these difficult
areas. The move is expected to invite more investments into the country’s hydrocarbon sector. This
decision has been taken at the backdrop of global energy companies cutting back their capital
expenditure and workforce, which in turn has begun to adversely affect remittances from NRIs
employed in the energy sector.
Who will be benefitted from the new pricing policy?
The new pricing policy will be applicable to the future as well as existing gas explorations. But, it is
not applicable to the currently producing gas fields. The companies like Oil and Natural Gas Corp.
Ltd (ONGC), Reliance Industries Ltd and Gujarat State Petroleum Corp. Ltd (GSPC) will be the
prominent beneficiaries. They will be able to develop their deep sea discoveries as they can realize a

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016
price higher than what is prevalent now.

How the prices will be determined as per the new pricing policy?
The new price will be the lowest of weighted average of fuel oil and imported LNG or weighted
average of fuel oil, naphtha and imported coal. Hence the new price is linked with the prices of
landed cost of alternative fuels like oil, LNG and Naphtha. At present, it becomes difficult to predict
what would be the gas price when the companies start production from deep sea blocks as the landed
price of imported alternative fuels depends upon the market dynamics.
How the prices are determined now?
The prices are determined at present by taking into account the average prices prevailing in gas-
surplus countries like the US, Canada and Russia.

CGS-16: April 1 to 10, 2016

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Prelims Notes and Observations

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Global Vaccine Switch

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Minimum judge requirement for a constitutional bench in Supreme Court

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19th Century: Sikh sentiments towards Raj during Mutiny

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About Steamship : Komagatamaru

Notably, Ghadar published the following advertisement

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Implications of Komagatamaru incident on Indian History

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of the Ghadar movement, was another.

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What is the current status of the proposal?