GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

• A shell bangle, pottery fragments, stone knives, and even human skeletal remains were discovered recently, in a 16-hectare stretch on the borders of Khatiya village in Gujarat’s Kutch district.

Key highlights:

• The 16-hectare burial site in Khatiya village in Gujarat is the largest pre-urban Harappan cemetery, with unexpected finds such as shell bangles, pottery shards, stones blades, and human skeletal remains.
  
  

Discovery of Harappan Graves:

• A multi-disciplinary international team of archeologists has discovered 500 graves and excavated 197 of them, but deep below.
• Led by Rajesh S V, Assistant Professor in the Department of Archaeology at the University of Kerala, the researchers are looking for clues to see if the cemetery, believed to be 5,000 years old, was a big human settlement or a common facility for a cluster of smaller settlements.
• The cemetery is believed to be 5,000 years old and belongs to the 'pre-urban' phase of the Harappan civilisation.

About: Khatiya village of Gujrat

• The soil in Khatiya is acidic, making it difficult to extract DNA from samples excavated.
• This could help answer the mystery of the people buried in these graves and where they came from.
• Khatiya is located on the banks of the Gandi, a stream that drains into the Great Rann of Kutch (GRK).
• Dhoro Chhelo: A pond was dug on the south-western periphery of the ancient burial site in 2016 as part of the government’s initiative to harvest the water of Dhoro Chhelo.

Recent theory about Dholavira:

• Dholavira is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the biggest metropolises of the Harappan civilisation, but it is 150 kilometres away from Khatiya, making it unlikely that people in the urban settlements of Dholavira were buried there.
• Harappan sites in western Kutch: Desalpar and Khirsara, Kotda Bhadli and Nadapa are the other well-known Harappan sites in western Kutch.
  • But each of them is a site of urban and post-urban periods of the Harappan civilisation and more than 50 km away from Khatiya.
  • Being a pre-urban Harappan cemetery, there is a possibility that either there was a big settlement in Khatiya or there were smaller settlements around Khatiya and the cemetery was a common burial ground for them.

• The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023 was passed by the President on May 19th to make a fresh claim of power over the services in the capital.

Key Highlights:

• It forms a “permanent” National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA) with the Chief Minister as chairperson, the Chief Secretary and Principal Home Secretary as Member and Member Secretary respectively.
• The NCCSA exercises authority over civil service officers working in all Delhi government departments except those in public order, police and land.
• The Lieutenant Governor’s decision, in case of a difference of opinion, would be final.
• The Ordinance is based on the argument that the Supreme Court has acknowledged the superior authority of Parliament to make laws for the national capital.

What does the Ordinance say?

• Power over the services: It required the LG to consult the Chief Minister only at his “discretion”.
  • The notification had excluded Entry 41 (services) of the State List from the scope of powers of the Delhi government.
• National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA): The Ordinance forms a “permanent” National Capital Civil Service Authority (NCCSA) with the Chief Minister as chairperson, and the Chief Secretary and Principal Home Secretary as Member and Member Secretary, respectively.
• The NCCSA exercises authority over civil service officers working in all Delhi government departments except those in public order, police and land.
• It would decide transfers, postings, prosecution sanctions, disciplinary proceedings, vigilance issues, etc, of civil service officers deputed to Delhi government departments by majority of votes of the members present and voting.
• The Lieutenant Governor’s decision, in case of a difference of opinion, would be final.
• This throws open a scenario in which bureaucrats in the NCCSA could possibly veto the Chief Minister.
• The Ordinance explains that the Chief Secretary would represent “the will of the officers of GNCTD” (Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi).

The Top Court Say:

• The Supreme Court had envisaged a “neutral civil service” carrying out the day-to-day decisions of the Council of Ministers.
• The NCCSA attempts to bring civil service officers out of the administrative control of the elected Ministers, who embody the will of the people, and transform them into a power lobby.
• The NCCSA negates the intrinsic link between government accountability and the principle of collective responsibility highlighted in the judgment.
• The Ordinance, by creating the NCCSA, skirts the emphasis laid down in the judgment on the “triple chain of command” in the governance of Delhi.
• The court had held that the civil services were accountable to the Ministers of the elected government, under whom they function.
• The Ministers were in turn accountable to the legislature and the legislature ultimately to the people of Delhi.
• The chain of command was forged by the Supreme Court to ensure democratic accountability.
• The Ordinance also does not heed the President’s own Transaction of Business Rules of the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi, 1993.
• Balakrishnan Committee: The court had also dismissed the K. Balakrishnan Committee’s specific recommendation that the “services” should not be included within the legislative and executive ambit of the NCTD.
  • The court held that the committee report was not relevant as it preceded the insertion of Article 239AA - the provision that deals with the governance structure of Delhi, in the 69th Constitution Amendment, 1991.

Does the Ordinance go against the Supreme Court judgment?

• Under the constitutional scheme envisaged in Article 239AA(3), NCTD was given legislative power which though limited, in many aspects is similar to States.
• In that sense, with the addition of Article 239AA, the Constitution created an “asymmetric federal model” with the Union of India at the centre, and the NCTD at the regional level.
• The court had held that the executive power of the Delhi government was “coextensive” with its legislative power.
• That is, the executive arm of the government covers all the subjects, including services, except public order, police and land, for which the legislative arm can make laws.

What does the Ordinance and the judgment say about the LG’s powers?

• The Ordinance has put the LG back in the driver’s seat by giving him the power to take a final call on any decision taken by the NCCSA regarding services.
• The LG was bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers under Article 239AA(4) while exercising executive powers in relation to matters falling within the legislative domain of the legislative assembly of NCTD.
• The court had held that even the “limited discretionary power” afforded to the LG “ought to be exercised in a careful manner in rare circumstances such as on matters of national interest and finance.
• The Lieutenant Governor could not refer every matter to the President”.

Way ahead:

• An Ordinance is not beyond judicial review of the apex court. If the 2023 Ordinance is challenged separately, the Union would have to prove the “extraordinary or emergent situation” which necessitated it to promulgate an Ordinance merely days after a Constitution Bench settled the law.
• A Constitution Bench in DC Wadhwa versus State of Bihar had held that the power of the Executive to promulgate an Ordinance should not be “perverted to serve political ends”.

• Recently, Prime minister of India meets with Pacific Island nation leaders on sidelines of FIPIC Summit in Papua New Guinea.

Key highlights:

• The third forum for India-Pacific islands co-operation (FIPIC Summit), which was held recently at Port Moresby was jointly hosted with Papua New Guinea.
• India’s engagement with the 14 Pacific Island Countries (PICs) is part of New Delhi's Act East Policy.
• Prime minister of India co- chaired the summit with PM of Papua New Guinea.
• The discussions encompassed various areas of cooperation, including commerce, technology, healthcare, and climate change.
  

About FIPIC:

• Forum for India-Pacific Island cooperation (FIPIC) is a multinational grouping for cooperation between India and 14 Pacific Islands nations.
• It include 14 islands named- Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
• All Head of state/head of government of the above countries met in Suva, Fiji in November 2014 for the first time where the annual summit was conceptualised.
• The FIPIC initiative marks a serious effort to expand India's engagement in the Pacific region.
• A major part of India's engagement with these countries is through development assistance under South-South Cooperation, mainly in capacity building (training, scholarships, grant-in-aid and loan assistance) and community development projects.
• In 2015, FIPIC Trade Office at Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) to promote Trade & Investment opportunities between India & Pacific Island Countries.

• The data showed that travel accounts for about 50% of the total outward remittances allowed under the LRS for resident individuals in FY2023.
  • Travel accounted for 35% of all Indians' worldwide spending during the years 2021–2022.

Key highlights:

• Indians took out $ 27.14 billion (around Rs 2.24 lakh crore) during the year ended March 2023 under the Liberalised Remittances Scheme of the Reserve Bank of India, a rise of 38.39 per cent when compared to $ 19.61 billion in the previous year.
• From July 1 this year, there will be a 20% tax on remittances under LRS, except for credit card spends below Rs 7 lakh outside India, medical expenses and education purposes.
• Indians spent around $ 13.66 billion (over Rs 1.13 lakh crore) on overseas travel in the current financial year, a 98% jump from the same period of last year.
  
  

Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA):

• The total amount spent on foreign travels during the first 10 months of fiscal 2022-23 almost doubled when compared to the same period of previous fiscal.
• Last week, the Centre amended rules under the FEMA; bringing international credit card spends outside India under the LRS.

Concerns:

• Experts raised concerns that taxpayers can claim refunds on the TCS levy at the time of filing their returns, but this could result in their funds being locked until the refund is initiated by the tax department.

Present Status:

• Currently, there is a 5 % tax on funds in excess of Rs 7 lakh sent out of India under the LRS of the RBI.
• Besides travel, Indians spend money overseas on gifts, donations, maintenance of close relatives, education, medical treatment, purchase of immovable property, investment in equity or debt and deposits.

• The Government of India should most efforts towards addressing climate change are concentrated on mitigating its impact rather than innovating enough to adapt to newer challenges.

Key highlights:

• Green Hydrogen Mission: Climate change mitigation has received a clear mention - especially with the focus on green growth initiatives targeted at reducing the carbon intensity of the economy such as green mobility, energy efficiency and the green hydrogen mission announcement.
• Mangrove Plantation Initiative: Certain budgetary allocations towards nature-based solutions such as the mangrove plantation initiative and the community-based wetland conservation scheme promise to have potentially positive impacts in mitigating climate change and climate adaptation.

Way ahead:

• The government should adopt “Mission Adaptation” to create a supportive ecosystem for all entities, including the private sector, non-profits and civil society, to come together and work towards developing and scaling up locally-sound adaptation solutions.
• The government must work towards developing a more systemic understanding of resilience, its adjacencies with other goals, and suitable methods to measure these, as well as support efforts aimed at building such an understanding across the ecosystem. This would likely benefit all actors trying to enhance climate adaptation across contexts.