GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

India launched 'Operation Kaveri' to return its people from Sudan, which has been witnessing fierce fighting as a result of a power struggle between the regular army and a paramilitary team. 

The name game

• This mission is named on the same lines as that the PM chose to name the operation in Ukraine Operation Ganga.
• Rivers reach their destination irrespective of barriers. It's like a mother who will ensure she will bring her children back to safety.

Major evacuation operations

• Operation Ganga: In a mission to evacuate stranded Indians from war-torn Ukraine, the Indian government kicked off Operation Ganga in February 2022
• Operation Devi Shakti: An evacuation operation by the Indian Armed Forces (IAF) was kicked off in August 2021 to safely bring back Indian nationals from Afghanistan after the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and the fall of Kabul, the capital city of the Taliban.
• Vande Bharat Mission: Special flights were operated across to globe in this mission to bring back the nationals who were left stranded in foreign countries due to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Wuhan Airlift: In one of the most difficult evacuation flights, India airlifted its citizens safe from China’s coronavirus-hit city of Wuhan in January 2020.
• Operation Maitri: The government of India carried out this mission to safely bring the nationals from Nepal after the deadly earthquake in 2015.
• Operation Raahat: Hundreds of Indians and other nationals were rescued under this operation during the unrest at Yemen's capital Sana’a after the complete takeover by Houthi rebel fighters in January 2015
• Operation Amnesty Airlift: The mission was carried out in September 1996 to bring back the Indian nationals who did not have valid permits from the United Arab Emirates. 
• Kuwait Airlift: In one of the most massive operations in Indian history, the Indian Air Force joined hands with Air India in airlifting stranded Indian nationals in Kuwait in August 1990. 

Bangladesh has decided to work with all stakeholders for peacekeeping, peace-building and counter-terrorism initiatives in the region.

Key-highlights

• The announcement on Dhaka’s Indo-Pacific priorities was made for the first time in a document titled “Bangladesher Indo-Pacific Ruprekha” (Indo-Pacific outlook).
• Bangladesh will aim for “inclusive development by strengthening free, transparent and rules-based international order.
• Along with the stakeholders concerned with the Indo-Pacific region, Bangladesh plans to make meaningful contributions to international disarmament, peacekeeping, peacebuilding and counter-terror programmes and uphold international values.
• This announcement is the first time that Bangladesh has spelt out its clear goals on the Indo-Pacific region and has adopted several conceptual parameters that are part of the thinking championed by India, the U.S., Japan and Australia. 
• The document also announced that Bangladesh will uphold the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) which establishes the rights and responsibilities of the UN member states while using the oceans of the world.

Why does Bangladesh assume significance?

• Bangladesh’s geographic location in the centre of the Indo-Pacific as well as its close proximity to the Bay of Bengal’s important maritime corridor gives it a distinct competitive edge.
• As Bangladesh is a significant player in the Indo-Pacific region since its participation both in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), geostrategic location, regional integration, social and economic Development has made it important to Indo-Pacific region.

What is the message behind it?

• The use of terms like “Indo-Pacific” as opposed to “Asia-Pacific” which are favoured by Beijing and Moscow indicates Bangladesh is trying to send a message to the leading Western powers in the Indo-Pacific region.

What is Indo-Pacific Strategy?

• Indo-Pacific Strategy is a geographical approach; that seeks to strengthen regional stability as well as economic development and security (both traditional and non-traditional) and partnerships through participation and cooperation within the Indo-Pacific region. 
• The United States first took the initiative; introduced in November 2017, after which other countries including Japan, Australia, South Korea, the United Kingdom (UK), Canada, and ASEAN have followed the same suit.

How do different countries map the region?

• South Korea: It starts from the African coast of the Indian Ocean and stretches all the way to South America.
• Japan: For Japan, starts from the eastern coast of Africa and expands to North America.
• US: For the US, it stretches from its Pacific coastline to South Asia. Australia's strategic emphasis is from the northeastern side of the Indian Ocean to the Southwest Pacific.
• France: France's focus is on its overseas territories in this region.

The Supreme Court observed that bills sent to the governor for assent must be returned "as soon as possible" and not sit over them, making state Legislative Assemblies wait indefinitely.

Key-highlights

• Citing proviso 1 of Article 200 of the Constitution, the bench said the expression ‘as soon as possible’ has significant constitutional intent and must be borne in mind by constitutional authorities.
• According to Article 200, "Assent to Bills when a Bill has been passed by the Legislative Assembly of a State or, in the case of a State having a Legislative Council, has been passed by both Houses of the Legislature of the State, it shall be presented to the Governor and the Governor shall declare either that he assents to the Bill or that he withholds assent therefrom or that he reserves the Bill for the consideration of the President."
• The governor is an important constitutional figure in India, serving as the representative of the President of India in each state and union territory.

Centre’s ambitious Vibrant Villages Programme (VVP) which aims to develop infrastructure and open up villages to tourists along the China border will be integrated with the Prime Minister Gati Shakti mega project.

What is the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’? 

• The Vibrant Village Program aims to-
  • raise the standard of living of the residents in the border communities
  • encouraging them residents to remain there, reversing migration from villages
  • enhancing border security
• Focus area: As per the programme, the focus areas would be improving road connectivity, providing drinking water, electricity, mobile and internet connectivity, building tourist centres, multi-purpose centres, healthcare infrastructure, and wellness centres.
• Coverage: The programme aims to cover 2,967 villages in 46 border blocks of 19 districts in four States and one Union Territory - Arunachal Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Ladakh along the China border.
  • Out of these, 662 villages will be prioritised for coverage.
• Fund allocation: The scheme has been allocated Rs 4,800 crores for the financial years 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26. The amount allocated for road construction is Rs 2,500 crore.
• Nodal Ministry: Ministry of Home Affairs

Why Kibithu is significant?

• Kibithoo, located in Arunachal Pradesh, is the first village to be part of the Centre’s Vibrant Villages programme.
• Kibithu in Anjaw districts in the easternmost administrative circle in India.
• Housing dozens of villages within the 10 km range of the McMohan line, the villagers are fluent in Hindi because of their regular interaction with the security forces but do not have proper connectivity with the mainland.
• Concerns:
  • Depopulation is a case of concern in the border villages in all areas of India.
  • Backwardness, illiteracy, and lack of basic facilities and infrastructure are also concerning.

India’s Response to China

• The VVP is India’s response to the 628 models ‘xiaokang’ (moderately well-off) villages built by China along the LAC in China-occupied Tibet (CoT).
• China started building these villages, which have a dual civilian-military use, in 2017 and completed them in 2021 at a whopping cost of Rs 3.76 lakh crore.
• These villages are close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC), opposite Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh.

April 24th marks the 50th anniversary of the Kesavananda Bharati judgment which expounded the basic structure doctrine. It is the most celebrated constitutional case of the country.

Who was Kesvananda Bharti?

• He was a monk from Adi Shankaracharya’s tradition born in 1940.
• Kesavananda Bharati took sanyas at the age of 19and headed to the Edneer Mutt, a Hindu monastery in Kasargod, Kerala.
• In 1961, still only 21, he was appointed as the head of the Mutt, a position he held till his death in 2020.

• He fought against the Kerala government’s land reformsand aims when he took the Kerala government to court in February 1970.
• Rather, he was challenging the 1969 Land Reforms enacted by the communist C. Achuta Menon government which had affected his Mutt. Under the reforms, Edneer Mutt lost a large chunk of its property, which contributed to its financial woes.
• Filing a writ petition in the Supreme Court, Kesavananda Bharati argued, that this action violated his fundamental rights – in particular, his fundamental right to religion (Article 25), freedom of religious denomination (Article 26), and right to property (Article 31).

Evolution of Kesvananda Bharti case:

• Parliament's authority to amend the Constitution, particularly the chapter on the fundamental rights of citizens, was challenged as early as 1951.
• After independence, several laws were enacted in the states with the aim of reforming land ownership and tenancy structures.
• This was in keeping with the implementation of the socialistic goals of the Constitution [contained in Article 39(b) and (c) of the Directive Principles of State Policy] that required equitable distribution of resources of production among all citizens and prevention of concentration of wealth in the hands of a few.
• Parliament added the Ninth Scheduleto the Constitution through the very first amendment in 1951 as a means of immunising certain laws against judicial review.
• Under the provisions of Article 31, which themselves were amended several times later, laws placed in the Ninth Schedule -- pertaining to the acquisition of private property and compensation payable for such acquisition -- cannot be challenged in a court of law on the ground that they violated the fundamental rights of citizens.
• The Ninth Schedule was created with the primary objective of preventing the judiciary- which upheld the citizens' right to property on several occasions - from derailing the Congress party-led government's agenda for a social revolution.

What does the case exactly say?

• Constituent power is superior to ordinary legislative power:
  • Unlike the British Parliament which is a sovereign body(in the absence of a written constitution), the powers and functions of the Indian Parliament and State legislatures are subject to limitations laid down in the Constitution.
  • The Constitution does not contain all the laws that govern the country. Parliament and the state legislatures make laws from time to time on various subjects, within their respective jurisdictions.
  • The general framework for making these laws is provided by the Constitution.
  • Parliament alone is given the power to make changesto this framework under Article 368.
  • Unlike ordinary laws, amendments to constitutional provisions require a special majority vote in Parliament.
• The difference betweenParliament's constituent power and law-making powers:
  • According to Article 21 ofthe Constitution, no person in the country may be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law.
  • Parliament and the state legislatures make the necessary laws identifying offensive activities for which a person may be imprisoned or sentenced to death.
  • Changes to these laws may be incorporated by a simple majority vote in the concerned state legislature.
  • There is no need to amend the Constitution in order to incorporate changes to these laws.
  • However, if there is a demand to convert Article 21into the fundamental right to life by abolishing the death penalty, the Constitution may have to be suitably amended by Parliament using its constituent power.
• Declared that Parliament's constituent power was subject to inherent limitations:
  • The Parliament could not use its amending powers under Article 368to 'damage', 'emasculate', 'destroy', 'abrogate', 'change' or 'alter' the 'basic structure' or framework of the Constitution.