GS Analyst
Daily Current Affairs

The Election Commission of India (ECI) is going to conduct an International Conference on ‘Role, Framework & Capacity of Election Management Bodies (EMBs)’ in New Delhi starting from 31 October, 2022.

Key Highlights of the event:

• It is going to be a two-day conference and will be inaugurated by Chief Election Commissioner of India Rajiv Kumar.
• The countries like Greece, Mauritius, and the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) have been invited as co-leads.
• The Election Commission (EC) has also invited the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), apart from EMBs and governmental counterparts dealing with the conduct of elections worldwide, for the event.
• Objective: As part of the ‘Summit for Democracy’ Year of Action, India, through the EC, is leading the Cohort on Election Integrity aimed at sharing its knowledge, technical expertise, and experiences with other democracies around the world.
• Participants: There are nearly 50 participants from 11 EMBs from nations including Armenia, Mauritius, Nepal, Cabo Verde, Australia, Chile, and Federal States of Micronesia, Greece, Philippines, São Tomé & Príncipe.
• Points to be discussed:
• The first two sessions will have discussions on the current and future challenges for EMBs with respect to their role and framework to ensure ‘election integrity’ while the session on the following day will focus on the ‘Capacity of EMBs’.

What are Election Management Bodies (EMBs)?

• An EMB is an organization or body that has the sole purpose of, and is legally responsible for, managing some or all of the elements that are essential for the conduct of elections and direct democracy instruments—such as referendums, citizens’ initiatives, and recall votes—if those are part of the legal framework.

Need for EMBs:

• The complexity and specialist skills necessary for electoral management require that an institution or institution be responsible for electoral activities.
• Such bodies have a variety of shapes and sizes, with a wide range of titles to match, such as the Election Commission, Department of Elections, Electoral Council, Election Unit, or Electoral Board.
• The term electoral management body (EMB) has been coined to refer to the body or bodies responsible for electoral management, regardless of the wider institutional framework in place.

These essential (or core) elements include:

• Determining who is eligible to vote;
• Receiving and validating the nominations of electoral participants (for elections, political parties, and/or candidates);
• Conducting polling;
• Counting the votes; and
• Tabulating the votes.

Few Other Roles:

• In addition to these essential elements, an EMB may undertake other tasks that assist in the conduct of elections and direct democracy instruments, such as voter registration, boundary delimitation, voter education and information, media monitoring, and electoral dispute resolution.

What can be said of Election Management Bodies?

• A body that has no electoral responsibilities other than, for example, boundary delimitation (such as a boundary delimitation commission), electoral dispute resolution (such as an electoral court), election media monitoring (such as a media monitoring commission), or the conduct of voter education and information (such as a civic education commission) is not considered an EMB because it is not managing any of the essential elements identified above.
• Similarly, a national population or statistics bureau that produces electoral registers as part of the general process of population registration is not considered to be an EMB.

As the Month of October is observed as ‘International Breast Cancer awareness month’, which highlights the instances of increasing cases of Breast Cancer in India.

• According to the highlights given by the Lok Sabha in July 2022, on National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research (NCDIR), Registry Program report, in 2020, which state that more than two lakh women were estimated to have been diagnosed with breast cancer and there were an estimated 76,000 deaths in the country.
• This data had become a cause of concern amongst policymakers regarding increasing health issues related to Women.
• It said that. the estimated number of breast cancer cases per one lakh women in 2020 in Telangana was 40.2, way above the Indian average of 31.3.
• Telangana is ranked fifth after Kerala, Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, and Karnataka, among the States with the incidence of breast cancers, as per the data revealed in the Lok Sabha.
• There have been several awareness campaigns against ‘Breast Cancer, as part of the International Breast Cancer Awareness month – October.

About breast cancer:

• Breast cancer is a disease in which cells in the breast grow out of control.
• There are different kinds of breast cancer. The kind of breast cancer depends on which cells in the breast turn into cancer.
• Breast cancer can begin in different parts of the breast.
• A breast is made up of three main parts: lobules, ducts, and connective tissue.
• Breast cancer can spread outside the breast through blood vessels and lymph vessels. When breast cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it is said to have metastasized.

• Symptoms of breast cancer include a lump in the breast, bloody discharge from the nipple, and changes in the shape or texture of the nipple or breast.
• A healthy lifestyle, nutritious food, regular exercise, and preventive medical checks after a certain age keep breast cancer at bay. It can also be curable by chemotherapy, radiation, hormone therapy, and surgery.

Recent Government Interventions

• National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke (NPCDCS): Under NPCDCS, NCD Cells are being established at National, State and District levels for programme management, and NCD Clinics are being set up at District and CHC levels, to provide services for early diagnosis, treatment and follow-up for common NCDs.
• Provision has been made under the programme to provide free diagnostic facilities and drugs for patients attending the NCD clinics.

• Indian Agriculture Research Institute has successfully tested two new dwarf varieties of Kalanamak rice (Pusa Narendra Kalanamak 1638 and Pusa Narendra Kalanamak 1652) in Uttar Pradesh that give double the yield.

The Kalanamak rice:

• Kalanamak is a traditional variety of paddy with black husk and a strong fragrance.
• It has high salt content and overshadows basmati due to its agronomic potential.
• Two dwarf varieties of Kalanamak rice are named;
• Pusa Narendra Kalanamak 1638
• Pusa Narendra Kalanamak 1652
• The yield of the new varieties is double that of the traditional variety. The length of the old variety plant is 140 centimeters, and the new variety is between 95- 100 centimeters.
• It is grown in 11 districts of the Terai region of north-eastern Uttar Pradesh and in Nepal.
• The traditional variety of rice has been prone to ‘lodging’ which resulted in low yield and poor quality.

• To overcome the problem of lodging, the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) has successfully developed two dwarf varieties of Kalanamak rice. 
• This rare rice has been awarded the Geographical Indication (GI) tag in 2013 which recognized Siddharthnagar and the adjacent districts for the tag.
• Under the One District One Product (ODOP) Scheme, it has earned the Prime Minister's award for Excellence in Public Administration 2021.
• It was featured in the book 'Speciality Rice of the World by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.

Significance:

• The traditional Kalanamak rice is protected under the Geographical Indication (GI) tag system.
• The traditional paddy variety Kalanamak, which has a black husk and a potent scent, is thought to have been a gift from Lord Buddha to the Sravasti people when he visited the area after attaining enlightenment.

Recently, the Supreme Court (SC) has agreed to view the plea challenging the ‘Constitutionality’ of the First amendment Act, 1951 which had put the reasonable restrictions under clause(2) of Article 19 (a) of Freedom of Speech and Expression.

Reasons behind Amendment:

• To remove certain practical difficulties created by the court's decision in several cases such as Kameshwar Singh Case, Romesh Thapar Case, etc.
• Issues involved in the cases included freedom of speech, acquisition of the Zamindari land, State monopoly of trade, etc.

The 1^ST Amendment Act, 1951:

• Empowered the state to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and economically backward classes.
• Provided for the saving of laws providing for the acquisition of estates, etc.
• Added Ninth Schedule to protect the land reforms and other laws included in it from judicial review. After Article 31, Articles 31A and 31B were inserted.
• Added three more grounds for restrictions on freedom of speech and expression: public order, friendly relations with foreign states, and incitement to an offense. Also, it made the restrictions ‘reasonable’ and thus, justiciable in nature.
• Provided that state trading and nationalization of any trade or business by the state is not to be invalid on the ground of violation of the right to trade or business.

Amendments in response to issues against Freedom of Speech:

• The Amendment included Clause (2) under Article 19, dealing with reasonable restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under Article 19(1)(a).
• The citizen's right to practice any profession or to carry on any occupation, trade, or business conferred by article 19(1)(g) is subject to reasonable restrictions which the laws of the State may impose "in the interests of the general public".

What are the arguments against this Amendment?

• According to the petitioners, it contains “two objectionable insertions” allowing restrictions also “in the interest of public order” and “in relation to incitement to an offense”.
• The new Clause (2) also omitted the expression “tends to overthrow the State” as appeared in the original Clause (2).
• These two insertions protect Sections 124A (sedition), 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., by words, either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony, 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the Indian Penal Code and hence are unconstitutional.
• The amendment also neglects national security by dropping the expression ‘tends to overthrow the State’ which raises grave concern in the context of the dangers posed to the concept of the secular democratic republic by radicalism, terrorism, and religious fundamentalism.

Recently, Kerala has seen debates over using the ‘Doctrine of Pleasure’ for appointment and dismissal of Vice-Chancellor of Universities by the Governor of the State as Chancellor of all the State Universities.

What is the Doctrine of Pleasure?

• The pleasure doctrine is a concept derived from English common law, under which the crown can dispense with the services of anyone in its employ at any time.
• In England, the moral rule is that a civil servant of the Crown holds office at the pleasure of the Crown. This means his services can be terminated at any time by the Crown, without assigning any reason.

Provisions in India for Appointment and dismissal of Civil servants:

• In India, Article 310 of the Constitution says every person in the defence or civil service of the Union holds office during the pleasure of the President, and every member of the civil service in the States holds office during the pleasure of the Governor.
• However, Article 311 imposes restrictions on the removal of a civil servant. It provides civil servants being given a reasonable opportunity for a hearing on the charges against them.
• There is also a provision to dispense with the inquiry if it is not practicable to hold one, or if it is not expedient to do so in the interest of national security.
• In practical terms, the pleasure of the President referred to here is that of the Union government, and the Governor’s pleasure is that of the State government.

What did the Supreme Court say about one Vice-Chancellor’s appointment?

• Against the UGC norms: In a case challenging the appointment of M.S. Rajasree as V-C of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, the Supreme Court held that her appointment was contrary to the regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC).
• According to the Search Committee, they had identified only one candidate and recommended the name to the Chancellor for an appointment.
• However, under UGC regulations, a panel of three to five names should be recommended so that the Chancellor has a number of options to choose from.
• State Governments’ stand: The court rejected the State government’s argument that it had not specifically adopted the UGC regulations, holding that the regulations framed under a Central law will override the State government’s relevant rules.

Does Governor have Power to use this doctrine?

• Under Article 164, the Chief Minister is appointed by the Governor; and the other Ministers are appointed by the Governor on the CM’s advice. It adds that Ministers hold office at the pleasure of the Governor.
• In a constitutional scheme in which they are appointed solely on the CM’s advice, the ‘pleasure’ referred to is also taken to mean the right of the Chief Minister to dismiss a Minister and not that of the Governor.
• In short, the Governor of an Indian State cannot remove a Minister on his own.

Recently, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) was convene to formulate its response to the Government of India regarding the on-going high rate of inflation for three-consecutive quarters in the country.

Background

• The current obtained Retail inflation for September 2022 was 4 per cent, which means the price level for retail consumers last month was 7.4 per cent higher than what it was in September 2021.
• This also means that retail inflation — which is calculated using the Consumer Price Index (CPI) — has been outside the RBI’s comfort zone for three consecutive quarters beginning from January, 2022.
  
  

The Monetary Policy Committee:

• Composition: The MPC has six members including;
• The RBI Governor
• Three each nominated by the RBI and the government.
• Meetings: The MPC meets every two months — that is, six times a year — in February, April, June, August, October, and December to evaluate the current status and outlook for inflation and economic growth.
• Functions: Based on the assessment, it regulates the repo rate, which is the interest rate at which the RBI loans money to the banking system.
• It is for this reason that movements in the repo rate influence the overall interest rates in the economy.
• When the MPC wants to contain inflation, it raises the repo rate.
• Such a “dear money” policy makes all types of borrowing — both for consumers (say, car loans) and producers (say, fresh business investments) costlier and effectively slows down economic activity in the Country.

Reasons behind Failure to curb inflation:

• India had been witnessing high headline inflation since late 2019. While there was some relief on the headline inflation front in the first half of 2021, core inflation became a concern by October.
• It underscored India’s vulnerability to sudden spikes in inflation if either food or fuel prices went up. However, the RBI kept the repo rate unchanged at 4 per cent.
• By this time, headline and core inflation were converging at the 6 per cent level. But the MPC still refused to raise interest rates, stating that “inflation is likely to moderate” between December 2021 and September 2022.

What happens if inflation targets by the Banks did not achieved?

Under the RBI Act, 1934, if the central bank fails to meet the inflation target for three consecutive quarters, it is required to provide the following information to the government:

• Reasons for the failure to achieve the inflation target;
• Remedial actions proposed to be taken; and
• An estimate of the time period within which the inflation target shall be achieved pursuant to timely implementation of the proposed remedial actions.

Recently, the Emissions Gap Report 2022, was released, which has highlighted the need for countries to take significant steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2022 (UNFCCC COP 27) going to be held in Egypt.

Key Highlights of the Report:

• The Report was titled as ‘The Closing Window – Climate crisis calls for rapid transformation of societies’ for the year 2022.
• Objective:
• The annual report assesses the gap between the pledges taken by different countries to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the estimated reduction required to maintain the average global temperature rise to below 2°C, preferably 1.5°C, by the end of this century.
• The flagship report is managed by the UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre.

• It serves as a scientifically authoritative source of timely and policy-relevant information to key decision-makers, guiding the UNFCCC process and implementing the Paris Agreement.

• According to the 2022 report, the national pledges taken by countries since last year only make a “negligible difference” to predicted 2030 emissions.
• These pledges or the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), only reduce the emissions by 1 percent by the end of the decade.
• With the current policies, the global temperature is expected to rise by 2.8°C by the end of this century, and emissions should be cut down by 45 percent globally to maintain the goal temperatures.
• It also emphasized transformative solutions across sectors, including food systems.

What are the factors associated with contributing to Global Emissions?

• The Livestock emissions:
• Emissions from livestock mainly include carbon dioxide (from urea), nitrous oxide (from livestock dung and urine), and methane (from belching) among others.
• They contribute towards the greenhouse effect as due to these gases, heat gets trapped around the surface of the earth and causes global warming.

The Agriculture industry:

• The process of cow belching releases more methane into the environment due to enteric fermentation, a digestive process where complex sugars are converted into simpler molecules to be absorbed into the bloodstream, producing methane as a by-product. Whenever a farm animal digests food, methane is released into the atmosphere.
• The cultivation of paddy, which floods the fields, prevents oxygen from penetrating the soil and creates suitable conditions for methane-emitting bacteria. This accounts for roughly 8 percent of human-linked emissions.