CIVIL SNIPPETS

Supreme Court not to review Sabarimala case, to examine ‘larger issues’ #GS2 #Governance

A nine-judge Bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sharad A. Bobde on Monday said its objective was not to review the Sabarimala women entry case but examine “larger issues” of law like the prohibition of women from entering mosques and temples to genital mutilation among Dawoodi Bohras and the banning of Parsi women who married inter-faith from entering the fire temple.

Instead, the Bench would examine the legality and essentiality of religious beliefs which prohibit women from entering into mosques and temples; which allow genital mutilation by Dawoodi Bohras; and which ban Parsi women who married inter-faith to enter the fire temple.

The Bench, however, clarified that it would not go into the legality of issues such as the practice of polygamy and ‘nikah-halala’ in Islam. Chief Justice Bobde explained that the basis of the Bench's judicial enquiry would be seven questions referred to a larger Bench by a five-judge Bench on November 14, 2019.

On November 14, the five-judge Bench led by then Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, instead of deciding the Sabarimala review entrusted to it, sought an “authoritative pronouncement” on the Court's power to decide the essentiality of religious practices.

Framing seven questions, the Bench referred them to a seven-judge Bench. These referral questions included whether “essential religious practices” be afforded constitutional protection under Article 26 (freedom to manage religious affairs).

Chief Justice Bobde, who succeeded Justice Gogoi, formed a Bench of nine rather than seven judges to examine these referred questions which concern multiple faiths. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said the referred questions were too broad and needed fine-tuning.

Directive to lawyers

The CJI asked lawyers involved in the case to hold a conference on January 17 to reframe/add issues to be examined by the nine-judge Bench. The court posted the case for hearing after three weeks.

When lawyers sought to remind the court that the case challenging the Citizenship (Amendment) Act was scheduled for January 22 and the hearing before the nine-judge Bench ought to be heard without a break, the CJI said cases were being heard “chronologically”.

The CJI explained that the nine-judge Bench was only examining propositions of law raised about religious practices believed to be essential to various religions. The Bench would not go into the individual facts of the various petitions that make the body of the case before it.

“We will decide questions of law on women's entry to mosques/temples, genital mutilation by Dawoodi Bohras, entry of Parsi women who marry outside their community into fire temple. We will not decide individual facts of each case,” Chief Justice Bobde addressed the lawyers in the courtroom.

Senior lawyers’ contention

But senior lawyers like Indira Jaising and Rajeev Dhavan said the Supreme Court cannot decide on the essentiality of religious practices. It was outside its jurisdiction. “This Court cannot tell how religion is to be practised,” Mr. Dhavan submitted.

They drew the Bench's attention to the Shrirur Mutt judgment of the Supreme Court of 1954. According to the 62-year-old verdict, the essentiality of religious practices should be decided in accordance with the religious doctrines of each faith. The Supreme Court has limited power of judicial review, they argued.

The 1954 judgment held that any regulation could only extend to religious practices and activities which were economic, commercial or political in their character.

Lawyers even asked whether the numerically stronger nine-judge Bench was formed to test the Shrirur Mutt verdict delivered by a seven-judge Bench, which had reduced the court's role and left the question of essentiality of religious practices to the wisdom of religious texts.

“The only reason to refer this to a nine-judge Bench seems to be that Shirur Mutt was decided by a seven-judge Bench. But no one has questioned that judgment,” Ms. Jaising said. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/no-intention-to-review-sabarimala-case-says- supreme-court/article30556499.ece

Retail inflation at 5-year high of 7.3% in December #GS3 #Economy

Retail inflation soared to a five and a half year high of 7.35% in December 2019, with the shortage of onions driving the surge.

According to information released by the National Statistical Office on Monday, retail inflation based on the Consumer Price Index was only 2.11% in December 2018 and 5.54% in November 2019.

The last time retail inflation was this high was the 7.39% recorded in July 2014, just after Prime Minister Narendra Modi began his first term in office.

The hike in inflation in the ‘vegetables’ category was at 60.5% last month in comparison to December 2018. Onion prices were above the Rs. 100 per kg mark in many major cities last month, due to a 26% fall in production.

Overall, food inflation rose to 14.12 per cent in December as against a negative rate of -2.65 per cent in the same month of the previous year. It was also significantly higher than the 10.01% recorded in

November 2019. Along with vegetables, high prices of pulses, meat and fish also contributed to last month’s spike.

The Centre has mandated the Reserve Bank of India to keep inflation in the range of 2-6%. The RBI, which mainly factors in the CPI based inflation, is scheduled to announce its next bi-monthly monetary policy on February 6. In its December policy, the central bank, which had been reducing rates, had kept the repo rate unchanged citing inflationary concerns. https://www.thehindu.com/business/Economy/retail-inflation-jumps-to-735-in-december-crosses-rbis- comfort-level/article30558427.ece

Inscriptions confirm presence of two medieval monasteries at Moghalmari #GS1 #Culture

A study of inscriptions on clay tablets recovered from recent excavations at Moghalmari, a Buddhist monastic site of the early medieval period in West Bengal’s Paschim Medinipur district, have confirmed the presence of two monasteries — Mugalayikaviharika and Yajñapindikamahavihara.

Details of the study of these inscriptions were published earlier this month in PratnaSamiskha, a leading peer-reviewed journal from Bengal on Indian Archaeology.

“The presence of two monasteries dating to the same period within a single compound is unique in eastern India. Earlier excavations had indicated the presence of two monasteries on the basis of the structural plan.

Prof. Sanyal, who is associated with the Department of Archaeology, University of Calcutta, was a member of all the six seasons of excavations carried out at the site by the university. The monasteries at Moghalmari date from 6th century CE and were functional till the 12th century CE.

Tiny fragments

During one of the later seasons of excavations by the Directorate of Archaeology and Museums, Department of Information and Cultural Affairs, Government of West Bengal, six tiny fragments of inscribed seals were found.

Each of them contained a set of letters accompanied by the deer-dharmachakra symbols. We had to arrange them through different permutations to read and make sense of names inscribed on these tablets,” Prof. Sanyal said.

The inscriptions are in Sanskrit and the script is a transitional phase between later north Indian Brahmi and early Siddhamatrika.

The first name Yajñapindikamahavihara, implying etymologically ‘a place of sacrificial offering’ is of special significance. The second name on the seals, Mugalayikaviharika, bears a phonetic resemblance to the modern name of the site, Moghalmari.

In Xuanzang’s travels

Archaeologists and historians point out that famous Chinese traveller Xuanzang (more widely identified as Huen Tsang), who visited India in the 7th century CE, referred to the existence of ‘ten monasteries’ within the limits of Tamralipta (modern day Tamluk in adjoining Purba Medinipur district). However, he did not refer to any specific name or location.

With the discovery of the site and the deciphering of the inscriptions, at least two of these monasteries are now identified, Prof. Sanyal said. He added that it was known from Buddhist texts that Buddhist monasteries have a definite hierarchy — Mahavihara, Vihara and Viharika — which is reflected in the inscriptions found.

“The study provides the only contextual epigraphical proof for the existence of a viharika (Mugalayikaviharika in this case) as early as the 6th century in this part of the subcontinent. The study of the inscribed seals suggests that the monastery was called Mugalayikaviharika.

Its continuation in the modern name of the area “still remains a riddle which needs more careful inspection and study,” he said. “Apparently, the name Mugalayika suggests a fair connection to the modern place-name Moghalmari,” he added.

In his paper, Prof. Sanyal refers to L.S.S. O’Malley’s gazetteer of 1911, where the name Moghalmari is said to trace its name to a medieval battle between the Mughals and Pathans, sometime in the 16th or early 17th century. “It is difficult to ascertain if the name written on the seals indeed represents an early toponym of the modern village of Moghalmari.” https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/inscriptions-confirm-presence-of-two- medieval-monasteries-at-moghalmari/article30562580.ece

Maharashtra, Gujarat lag behind in compensation for sewer deaths #GS2 #Governance

Of the 926 deaths inside sewers in the country, from 1993 till December 31, 2019, families of 172 victims were yet to receive compensation, with Gujarat having the highest number of cases where the amount was not paid or the payment was unconfirmed (48), while Maharashtra was yet to pay or confirm payment of compensation in any of its 32 cases, according to data from the National Commission for Safai Karamcharis (NCSK).

Lagging behind

During a meeting of the Central Monitoring Committee under the Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act, 2013, which is meant to review the implementation of the law, on January 8, States that were found lagging behind in the rehabilitation of manual scavengers were asked to comply soon, NCSK Chairperson and Member of the Committee Manhar Valjibhai Zala said on

Monday. He added that in most of the sewer death cases since 1993, when the NCSK was established, compensation to the families of the victims had been paid.

Tamil Nadu, which had the highest number of such deaths, had paid compensation in all but seven of the 234 cases. Gujarat was yet to pay or confirm payment in 48 of the 162 sewer deaths recorded in the State, and in 31 of those cases, the legal heir could not be traced, the data showed.

Practice continues

According to the NCSK, a total of 53,598 people, of which 29,923 were in Uttar Pradesh alone, had been identified as engaged in manual scavenging after surveys in 2013 and 2018. One-time cash assistance had been disbursed in 35,397 cases, with Uttar Pradesh accounting for 19,385 such people. Capital subsidy and skill development training had been provided to 1,007 and 7,383 of the identified manual scavengers, respectively, the data showed.

As per the provisions of the Act, Mr. Zala said District Vigilance Committees had been constituted in 21 States/Union Territories, State Monitoring Committees in 26, and State Commissions for Safai Karamcharis in eight.

States instructed

He said Social Justice Minister Thawarchand Gehlot, who chairs the monitoring committee, had issued instructions to State governments during the meeting, to comply with the Act. States that are yet to provide the complete lists of manual scavengers and sewer deaths were asked to do so in order for the compensation amount to be transferred to them from the Centre, he said. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maharashtra-gujarat-lag-behind-in-compensation-for- sewer-deaths/article30559790.ece

Govt. launches road accident database #GS2 #Governance

The government on Monday launched a central accident database management system that will help in analysing causes of road crashes and in devising safety interventions to reduce such accidents in the country.

The IT tool, known as the Integrated Road Accident Database (IRAD), has been developed by the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) and will be implemented by the National Informatics Centre. The project costs ₹258 crore and is being supported by the World Bank.

Highest fatalities

The system will be first piloted in the six States with highest fatalities from road crashes — Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The IRAD will be improved on the basis of the learnings from the trial, following which it will be rolled out across the country.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari inaugurated the IRAD at the road safety stakeholders’ meet. Mr. Gadkari said that around 30,000 tablets would be distributed to police personnel across the country to record data on accidents.

How it works

The IRAD mobile application will enable police personnel to enter details about a road accident, along with photos and videos, following which a unique ID will be created for the incident. Subsequently, an engineer from the Public Works Department or the local body will receive an alert on his mobile device. He or she will then visit the accident site, examine it, and feed the required details, such as the road design. Data thus collected will be analysed by a team at IIT-M, which will then suggest if corrective measures in road design need to be taken.

Road users will also be able to upload data on road accidents on a separate mobile application, which is expected to go live from April 1, according to a Ministry official.

Overspeeding

India sees the largest number of road fatalities in the world. More than 1.5 lakh people lost their lives in road crashes in the country in 2018, according to government data. Of the total people killed in road crashes in 2018, 48% were between 18 years and 35 years old, and more than 60% of such fatalities were due to overspeeding. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/govt-launches-road-accident-database/article30559706.ece

Apache, Chinook helicopters to make debut at R-Day parade #GS2 #Governance

Apache attack helicopters and Chinook heavy lift helicopters, which were recently inducted into the Indian Air Force (IAF), will make their debut over Rajpath during the Republic Day flypast on January 26.

“Three Chinook helicopters will fly in a ‘vic’ formation and five Apache helicopters would be flying in ‘arrowhead’ formation,” Group Captain AR Tamta said briefing the media on the IAF’s participation in this year’s Republic Day parade on Monday.

In all, Republic Day 2020 flypast comprises of 41 aircraft of IAF and four helicopters of the Indian Army Aviation. These include 16 fighters, 10 transport aircraft and 19 helicopters. The aircraft and helicopters will fly 60-300 metres above ground level, he stated.

India has contracted 22 Apache helicopters and 15 Chinook helicopters from Boeing through the Foreign Military Sales programme of the U.S. government in September 2015 under a $3 bn deal. So far, 17 Apache and 10 Chinook helicopters have been delivered. The government has also cleared the acquisition of six additional Apaches for the Army. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/apache-chinook-helicopters-to-make-debut-at-r-day- parade/article30559302.ece

Raisina Dialogue to kick off with panel of former world leaders on January 14, PM Modi to attend #GS2 #IR

At least 12 Foreign Ministers including Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif, and Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne, as well as seven former heads of state and government will attend the Ministry of External Affairs’ “Raisina Dialogue” jointly organised with the Observer Research Foundation (ORF) that begins on January 14 in Delhi.

Also attending are the Afghan National Security Adviser (NSA) Hamidullah Mohib and the U.S. Deputy NSA Matthew Pottinger.

India’s contribution

“The Dialogue has been India’s contribution to global efforts to discover solutions, identify opportunities and provide stability to a century that has witnessed an eventful two decades. The title of the Raisina Dialogue this year is “Navigating the Alpha Century”. Mr. Modi will also host a meeting of all the visiting Foreign Ministers together.

The conference, which is in its fifth year, will host 700 participants from more than 100 countries, a statement by the Ministry of External Affairs said, adding that at least 40% of the speakers will be women.

Australian PM skips

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, who was due to give the inaugural keynote address had to pull out due to the fire crisis in Australia, which means that unlike previous versions of the conference, this year will have no sitting head of government or state attend.

Bangladesh Deputy Foreign Minister Shahriar Alam cancelled his participation at the last minute, but Information Minister Mohammad H. Mahmud is outlooked to attend the conference.

Another key feature of the event, a session on the Indo-Pacific that includes military or naval commanders from the “Quadrilateral or Quad”, Australia, India, Japan, and the United States, will also have a French Defence official on the panel this year. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/raisina-dialogue-to-kick-off-with-panel-of-former-world- leaders-on-january-14-pm-modi-to-attend/article30561118.ece

Govt. gets cracking on GST evaders with data analytics #GS3 #Economy

The Department of Revenue has identified as many as 931 cases of fraudulent GST (Goods and Services Tax) refund claims through data analytics and has now tasked the GST data analytics wing to scrutinise all past and pending refund claims filed all over the country for inverted duty structure, sources said.

Refund claims worth more than ₹28,000 crore are said to have been filed by over 27,000 taxpayers so far on account of inverted duty structure in the current financial year. The sources said such identified taxpayers, who had purchased goods from tax-evading, non-filers, would face verification and scrutiny as necessary.

The sources said to curb input tax credit (ITC) frauds, data analytics is to be done on all refunds since 2017, keeping an eye on the modus operandi of unscrupulous refund claimants or fly-by-night or shell business entities for availing fake ITC.

GST formations have booked 6,641 cases involving 7,164 entities till November last year and have, so far, recovered about ₹1,057 crore.

The highest number of such fraud cases have been booked in the Kolkata zone, followed by Delhi, Jaipur and Panchkula (Haryana), the sources said, adding that fraud recently detected by central tax authorities in Delhi, involving GST refund for inverted duty structure, was deliberated at the second National Conference on GST last week.

Fake ITC credit

The sources also said investigators in Delhi had cracked — through data analytics — a significant fraud case wherein fraudsters created a network of over 500 entities comprising fake billing entities, intermediary dealers, distributors and bogus manufacturers of ‘hawaii’ chappals for availing and encashing fake ITC credits.

The bogus ‘manufacturers,’ created in Uttarakhand, were making supplies to other fictitious entities and retailers in Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.

The raw materials for the chappals, known as EVA compound, are chargeable at 18% duty whereas chappals are chargeable at 5%, sources said, adding that as a result, the law allowed the manufacturers to claim refunds of the inverted duty structure in cash. GST investigators found an ongoing parallel investigation in Uttarakhand to be connected and took swift action in preventing refund claims of ₹27.5 crore.

Through meticulous cyber-planning, fraudsters had created over ₹600 crore of ‘fake credit’ which they would have continued to encash had it not been busted. The main accused in this case was arrested in December and continues to be in judicial remand.

It was also through data analytics that recently, GST formations had identified a few exporters with ‘star’ status who were fraudulently availing IGST refund and were untraceable at their registered addresses.

In these cases, an exporter with over ₹50 crore of shipments of readymade garments had taken refund of ₹3.90 crore while the entity’s total GST payment in cash was a mere ₹1,650. In another case, tax payments in cash have been made for ₹51,201 while the exporter had obtained refund of ₹9.59 crore.

The GST data analytics wing had been able to identify all such cases involving fake invoicing and fraudulent tax credits, which have been encashed through the facility of IGST refunds, the sources said. https://www.thehindu.com/business/govt-gets-cracking-on-gst-evaders-with-data- analytics/article30561224.ece

Govt publishes policy for treatment of rare diseases #GS3 #SnT

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Monday published a national policy for treatment of rare diseases, listing 450 diseases as rare but not providing a detailed roadmap on treatment.

The policy also intends to kick-start a registry of rare diseases that Indian Council of Medical Research will maintain.

In India, Haemophilia, Thalassemia, Sickle cell anaemia and Primary Immuno Deficiency in children, auto-immune diseases, Lysosomal storage disorders such as Pompe disease and Gaucher’s disease are in the rare diseases list. The latest policy creates three categories of rare diseases — diseases requiring one-time curative treatment, diseases which need long-term treatment but the cost is low, and diseases that require life-long treatment and the cost is high.

The policy states that the Centre will provide assistance of Rs 15 lakh to patients suffering from rare diseases that require one-time curative treatment under the Rashtriya Arogya Nidhi scheme. The treatment is limited to beneficiaries of Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana. Some diseases in this category are osteopetrosis, immune deficiency disorders and Lysosomal Storage Disorders.

Manjit Singh, president of Lysosomal Storage Disorder Support Society, said the assistance is “highly inadequate”. “The government claims it will provide financial assistance for children only till the age of two years for lysosomal disorders. Even that amount will not last for more than a month. One-time treatment will not help,” Singh said.

According to Health Ministry, about 95 per cent rare diseases have no approved treatment. “Less than one in 10 patients receives disease-specific treatment,” the policy states.

The Centre first prepared such a policy in 2017, but appointed a committee in 2018 to review it.

Presently, very few pharmaceutical companies manufacture drugs to treat rare diseases and India has no domestic manufacturer. The policy estimates that for a child weighing 10 kg, treatment cost ranges between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 1 crore per year, and the cost rises with age.

The policy has recommended that state governments support patients belonging to the second category of diseases that include Phenylketonuria and Galactosemia, among others. It also recommends crowd funding as a source to fund treatment of rare diseases and advises hospitals to report such cases on digital platforms to gather funds. “The policy is at least beginning of a discussion on rare diseases in the country. But last time they announced a Rs 100-crore corpus fund, now there is no budget. There is no

clarity of Centre and State responsibilities and on category III patients,” said Prassana Shirol, founder of Organisation for Rare diseases India. https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/health/govt-publishes-policy-for-treatment-of-rare-diseases- 6215224/

Centre rolls out disclosure scheme to tag rogue drones #GS3 #SnT

DAYS AFTER a US drone attack killed Iran’s top military commander General Qassem Soleimani, the Civil Aviation Ministry has announced a scheme for voluntary disclosure of “non-compliant” unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones, being operated inside India to make up for the lack of a comprehensive database.

“The presence of…drones as well as drone operators has come to the notice of the government, which do not comply with the CAR (civil aviation requirement)… If drones are operated without due permission, the aforesaid process of CAR is violated… In order to facilitate the identification of civil drones and drone operators, a one-time opportunity for voluntary disclosure of such drones and drone operators is now being provided,” the Ministry said in a public notice issued Monday.

Pointing out that the voluntary disclosure scheme was the first step in regulating the drone ecosystem in India, a senior government official told The Indian Express: “Some people say there are 6 lakh rogue drones in the country but we don’t know for sure how many such non-compliant drones are being operated, which is why we are conducting this exercise. We want to bring unregistered drones under the fold.”

The government has asked the owners of unregistered drones to submit the required information to the government by January 31.

The Ministry’s notice pointed out that upon successful submission of voluntary disclosure, a Drone Acknowledgement Number (DAN) and an Ownership Acknowledgement Number (OAN) will be issued online. “However, the DAN or OAN does not confer any right to operate drones in India if it does not fulfill the provisions given in the CAR,” it said.

On Friday, The Indian Express reported that the Centre is likely to tighten drone regulations in the wake of two major global attacks involving UAVs over the last few months — on Saudi Arabian refineries that impacted nearly half of the country’s global crude supply, and the killing of Soleimani in Baghdad.

The Civil Aviation Ministry has finalised the National Counter Rogue Drone Guidelines to lay down an array of counter-rogue measures and guidelines that can be deployed for handling threats to installations from UAVs. The implementation of these guidelines, according to officials, is being expedited in light of the latest developments.

India has a ‘No Permission-No Takeoff’ (NPNT) policy for UAVs, which mandates the drone to be operated only with a regulatory permission received through the Digital Sky Platform. Further, the pilot

also needs certification, requiring a remote pilot licence or an unmanned aerial operator permit before operating a drone.

Under regulations issued by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), penalties under the Aircraft Act and the Indian Penal Code have been prescribed for those failing to comply with norms.

“Unregistered drones acquired prior to 2014, when flying of drones was banned in India by the DGCA, are a threat to the country’s security and airspace. We will develop rules as and when technology evolves and would ideally want these aircraft to operate in a regulated manner with a full-fledged flight plan, traffic control, etc,” the government official said. https://indianexpress.com/article/business/aviation/centre-rolls-out-disclosure-scheme-to-tag-rogue- drones-6215233/

For Daily Hindu & IE Daily News , can follow this Telegram link (https://t.me/HinduIECompile