Daily News Digest 14 Feb 2024

Table of content

• Section 144
• Indian Oil Market Outlook to 2030
• Report Card on the Performance of Information Commissions (ICs) in India
• Autoimmune diseases
• On the rights of Forest Dweller
• Why India needs deep industrialisation

Section 144

Time to Read :🕑 5 Mins

Why in news?

Recent ongoing farmers' protest prompts Section 144 imposition in Delhi.

About Section 144

• Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973 authorises the Executive Magistrate of any state or territory to issue an order to prohibit the assembly of four or more people in an area. According to the law, every member of such 'unlawful assembly' can be booked for engaging in rioting. 
• Section 144 is imposed in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger of some event that has the potential to cause trouble or damage to human life or property. Section 144 of CrPC generally prohibits public gatherings. 
• Section 144 has been used in the past to impose restrictions as a means to prevent protests that can lead to unrest or riots. 
  • The orders to impose Section 144 have been conferred to the Executive Magistrate when there is an emergency situation.
• Section 144 also restricts carrying any sort of weapon in that area where it has been imposed and people can be detained for violating it. 
  • The maximum punishment for such an act is three years. 
• Section 144 also empowers the authorities to block internet access.
• Duration of Section 144 order - No order under Section 144 shall remain in force for more than two months but the state government can extent the validity for two months and maximum up to six months. It can be withdrawn at any point of time if the situation becomes normal.

Indian Oil Market Outlook to 2030

Time to Read :🕑 5 Mins

Why in news?

The International Energy Agency (IEA) recently released its "Indian Oil Market Outlook to 2030" report.

The finding of the Indian oil market outlook to 2030

• According to the report, the Urbanisation, industrialisation, the emergence of a wealthier middle-class keen for mobility and tourism, plus efforts to achieve greater access to clean cooking, will underpin the expansion in oil demand.
  • Consequently, India is on track to post an increase of almost 1.2 mb/d, accounting for more than one-third of the projected 3.2 mb/d global gains, to reach 6.6 mb/d by 2030.
• The report found that massive industrial expansion means that diesel/gasoil is the single largest source of oil demand growth, accounting for almost half of the rise in the nation’s demand and more than one-sixth of total global oil demand growth through to 2030.
  • Moreover, the Jet-kerosene demand is poised to grow strongly, at around 5.9% per year on average, but from a low base compared to other countries. Gasoline will grow by 0.7% on average, as the electrification of India’s vehicle fleet avoids a more substantial rise. LPG rounds out the growth picture, as petrochemical industry investments in production facilities boost feedstock demand.
• The Indian government’s world-leading progress in bringing clean cooking programmes to its rural populations have led to LPG imports surging nearly three-fold in the past decade and further initiatives will see demand growth continue through 2030.
• The report points out that the Indian oil companies were investing heavily in the refining sector to meet the rise in domestic oil demand. Over the next seven years, 1 mb/d of new refinery distillation capacity will be added – more than any other country in the world outside of China.
• Several other large projects are currently under consideration that may lift capacity beyond the 6.8 mb/d capacity that we expect so far, the report added.
• Further, the report said that, combined, new EVs and energy efficiency improvements will avoid 480 kb/d of extra oil demand in the 2023-2030 period.
• The report maintains that Biofuels are also expected to play a key role in India’s decarbonisation of the transport sector. India’s ethanol blending rate of around 12% is amongst the world’s highest, and the country has advanced by five years its deadline for doubling nationwide ethanol blending in gasoline to 20% in Q4 2026.

Report Card on the Performance of Information Commissions (ICs) in India

Time to Read :🕑 5 Mins

Why in news?

The 'Report Card on the Performance of Information Commissions (ICs) in India, 2022-23,' published by Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS), offers an assessment of the effectiveness of information commissions across the country in the past year.

More about news:

• Satark Nagrik Sangathan (SNS) or Society for Citizens Vigilance Initiatives (SCVI), set up in 2003, is a citizens’ group with a mandate to promote transparency and accountability in government functioning and to ensure active participation of citizens in governance.

Kay highlights of the Report Card on the Performance of Information Commissions (ICs) in India

• As per the report, only 9% of all information commissioners in India have been women. Worryingly, no commission is currently being headed by a woman, and 12 information commissions have never had a woman commissioner. 
  • These commissions are West Bengal, Uttarakhand, Telangana, Sikkim, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Manipur, Madhya Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Chattishgarh, Bihar and Andhra Pradesh. Of the 465 commissioners for whom the report had access to their background information, 58% were retired government officials, and 14% were former judges or lawyers. 
• The report pointed out that nine commissions in the country were without a chief information commissioner as of October 12, 2023. 
  • Of these nine, all posts of information commissioners were vacant in three commissions (Jharkhand, Tripura and Telangana). 
• Among other things, the report called out the opaque functioning of ICs, with only eight out of the 29 ICs stating that the public can attend their hearings. 
  • Six ICs said that "they do not allow anyone other than the appellant/complainant and the respondent (or their representatives) to attend the proceedings of the commission." 
• Lack of transparency: Only three ICs allow live-streaming of their hearings, which are held via video conferencing. These ICs are Manipur, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. 
  • Moreover, 23 out of 29 ICs were found to have provided public access to their orders. 
  • The SICs of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Manipur and Bihar do not upload their orders on their websites. Overall, there is a serious lack of transparency in the functioning of ICs.
• As of June 30, 2023, there were around 4 lakh pending appeals and complaints in the 28 ICs. 
  • Of these backlogs, Maharashtra accounts for around 1.2 lakh cases. 
  • In West Bengal state IC, the estimated waiting time was found to be 24 years and one month. 
  • Chhattisgarh and Tamil Nadu state ICs had an estimated disposal time of around four years.

Autoimmune diseases

Time to Read :🕑 5 Mins

Why in news?

Dr. Pradhan recently explained that estrogen has a significant impact on the immune system. When there is an imbalance or inflammation in estrogen levels, the risk of autoimmune diseases among women increases.

About autoimmune diseases

• A healthy immune system defends the body against disease and infection. But if the immune system malfunctions, it mistakenly attacks healthy cells, tissues, and organs. Called autoimmune disease, these attacks can affect any part of the body, weakening bodily function and even turning life-threatening.
• More than 80 diseases occur as a result of the immune system attacking the body’s own organs, tissues, and cells. 
  • Some of the more common autoimmune diseases include type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and inflammatory bowel disease.
• Although the causes of many autoimmune diseases remain unknown, a person’s genes in combination with infections and other environmental exposures are likely to play a significant role in disease development.

On the rights of Forest Dweller

Time to Read :🕑 11 Mins

Why in news?

The Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary notification raises concerns among forest dwellers in Erode district, who fear it could erode their rights under the FRA.

Background:

• The notification that created the Sanctuary concedes that the rights admitted under the Tamil Nadu Forest Act 1882 – a time when forests were reserved – and those conferred under the FRA “shall remain and continue to be enjoyed by the persons concerned”. 
  • The issue here is that Tamil Nadu has been one of the most laggard States in implementing the FRA in the country.
• Six tribal forest villages – denied basic rights and facilities because these are not revenue villages – have been excluded from the sanctuary. But these settlements are confined to an arbitrary area of 3.42 sq. km.
• The Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary is constituted of the North and South Bargur, Thamarai Karai, Ennamangalam, and Nagalur reserved forests in Anthiyur Taluk. 
  • It is located between the Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve of Tamil Nadu and the Male Mahadeshwara Wildlife Sanctuary and the Cauvery Wildlife Sanctuary of Karnataka.

What are the rights in the new Sanctuary?

• Cattle-grazers can no longer graze in the Thanthai Periyar Sanctuary. 
• Bargur cattle, a traditional breed native to the Bargur forest hills, now may be prevented from accessing their traditional grazing grounds. 
• In March 2022, the Madras High Court revised an older order imposing a total ban on cattle grazing in all the forests of Tamil Nadu and restricted the ban to National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Tiger Reserves. 
• Tamil Nadu is the only state in the country where there is such a ban.
• This order is despite the FRA, which, aside from other community rights, recognised grazing (both settled or transhumant).
• Traditional seasonal resource access of nomadic or pastoralist communities in all forests, including in National Parks, Sanctuaries, and Tiger Reserves. 
• Grazing rights are community rights of the habitation-level villages and are to be regulated by their gram sabhas.

About Forest Rights Act:

• The Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Forest Rights) Act 2006 (also known as the Forest Rights Act or FRA) is a legislation in India that recognizes and vest forest rights and occupation in forest lands to forest-dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers who have been residing in forests for generations but whose rights have not been recognized.
• FRA requires and authorises the gram sabhas to determine and recognise forest rights, and protect and preserve the forests, wildlife, and biodiversity within their customary and traditional boundaries, including inside Protected Areas. These responsibilities were earlier vested with the Forest Department.
• Objectives:
  • To undo the historical injustice occurred to the forest dwelling communities
  • To ensure land tenure, livelihood and food security of the forest dwelling Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers
  • To strengthen the conservation regime of the forests by including the responsibilities and authority of Forest Rights holders for sustainable use, conservation of biodiversity and maintenance of ecological balance.

About Forest Villages:

• The majority of the residents of forest villages, which are found inside forested areas, are indigenous and tribal groups. The inhabitants of these communities, many of which date back many generations, depend on the forest's resources for their subsistence.
• In 1990, the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) had ordered that all forest villages be converted to revenue villages. 
  • The FRA, enacted 18 years ago, also required all forest villages to be converted to revenue villages.
• The actual land use of the village in its entirety, including lands required for current or future community uses, like schools, health facilities and public spaces were to be recorded as part of the revenue village. 
• These rights continue to be denied to date.

Wildlife Protection Act 1972:

• Sanctuaries and National Parks are notified under the Wildlife (Protection) Act (WLPA) 1972. 
• People inside Sanctuaries continue to enjoy all their rights unless prohibited, but they don’t in National Parks. 
• No new rights are permitted once the notice of intent is issued.

How do FRA and WLPA compare?

• Being a later law, the FRA overrides the WLPA. 
  • All provisions in the WLPA that contravene provisions in the FRA are null and void. 
  • As a result, when notifying a Protected Area under the WLPA, the government needs to determine rights under the FRA and acquire the consent of the gram sabhas. (The government specifically incorporated these requirements in a 2006 amendment vis-à-vis the notification of Tiger Reserves).
• The FRA became operational when its Rules were notified in January 2008. 
  • Since then, until 2023, the country has acquired 15,605 sq. km of Protected Areas – nine National Parks of 3,462 sq. km and 77 Sanctuaries of 12,143 sq km – while disregarding the changed legal regime. 
  • Of these, Tamil Nadu’s share has been 15 Sanctuaries spanning 4,146.7 sq. km.
• The FRA violations, in the case of Scheduled Tribes, are also crimes under the 2016 amendment to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. 

Tamil Nadu and FRA:

• According to the 2011 Census, there were 1,808 revenue villages in Tamil Nadu with numerous habitations in them accessing 15,826.9 sq. km of forests within revenue boundaries. 
• But as of September 2023, the State had recognised and issued individual titles to an extent of just 38.96 sq. km – a paltry coverage of 0.25%.
• Reportedly, the State has issued 531 community titles but the extent of the area thus titled remains a mystery.

Way Forward:

• Change is urgently needed: This colonial structure provides the foundation for the Indian Forest Act 1927 and its offspring, which include the Tamil Nadu Forest Act 1882, the WLPA, the Forest (Conservation) Act 1980, and the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Act 2016.
• In order to manage forests sustainably, it is necessary to attend to the concerns expressed by neighboring people and ensure that regulations are complied with.
• Values and Protection: Achieving a balance between the rights of forest communities and conservation goals is essential for just and effective forest governance.

Why India needs deep industrialisation

Time to Read :🕑 11 Mins

Why in news?

While India has sustained its growth momentum and rebounded relatively swiftly from the pandemic, it now faces the challenge of "premature deindustrialization," which refers to a decline in the manufacturing sector's share of the economy before reaching full maturity.

More detail about news

• Exploring India's economic stagnation, particularly in industrialization and employment generation, the article proposes a shift towards high-skill, services-driven growth, a strategy aligned with the vision laid out by Raghuram Rajan and Rohit Lamba in "Breaking the Mould: Reimagining India's Economic Future."

Background:

• India’s growth momentum has sustained. 
  • India recovered relatively quickly from the pandemic, yet it has entered a phase of ‘premature deindustrialisation’. 
  • The fruits of high growth were shared by a small minority, worsening pre-existing gaps. High-end cars get sold out. 
  • Common people struggle to cope with high food prices. This fault line is built into the structure of India’s growth. 
  • This takes us to a long-standing question: why has India not been able to break out of industrial stagnation and generate employment? 

Industrial Stagnation and Employment Crisis

• In 75 years, India has not been able to industrialise sufficiently.
• Its manufacturing share in output and employment has always been stagnant and below 20%, except during the ‘Dream Run, 2003–08’. 
• Even the 1991 economic reforms, which came with the promise of labour-intensive industrialisation, didn’t alter this reality. 
• India is now at a crossroads. 
  • Its industrial investment is stagnating, with high levels of unemployment and chronic disguised unemployment. 
• Its trade deficit, largely driven by imported goods, has been widening. 
• India is not even producing the goods it consumes, let alone exporting.

Service sector growth:

• The employment elasticity of services-led growth is poor. 
• India’s experience with services-driven growth since the late 1980s had two negative implications. 
  • First, it could not absorb the labour exiting agriculture in the same way that manufacturing would have. 
  • Second, the service sector required a large highly skilled workforce that India could not adequately supply. 
• Even as the sector absorbed some labour that migrated to cities, it was deeply unequal. 
• The relative wages of workers with a college degree were much higher than those without one. 
• Inequality from services-driven growth is thus much higher than from manufacturing-led growth. 
• The Gini index of inequality for regular wages in the services sector was 44 compared to 35 for manufacturing (Periodic Labour Force Survey, 2021-22).

Investments in higher education and Economic growth

• Early investments in higher education contributed to the near abandonment of mass school education. 
  • These higher education institutions cultivated self-serving elites who played a role in India’s IT “revolution” while contributing to industrial stagnation. Investments in human capital were deeply unequal from the get-go. 
• India is one of the world’s most unequal countries in terms of education. 

Education differs across classes and social groups and Economic growth

• School enrolment is high. Higher education is not as inaccessible as it was earlier. But the differential quality of schooling feeds into the quality of higher education, which feeds into labour market outcomes. 
• The high-skill services pitch would suit the traditional elite but not the majority first generation graduates from colleges in rural areas and small towns. 
• The majority of these students reap poor returns on their investments in education. The poor quality of most state-run schools and colleges is closely linked to the elites’ renunciation of public education. 
• Even as these fault lines are new forms of class divide in India, they reflect older ones rooted in the caste system.

Cultural Challenges to economic growth

• The lack of mass education meant that an important cultural prerequisite for industrialisation needed to be included. 
• Economic historian Joel Mokyr suggests that the rise of useful knowledge is key to technological progress and growth in modern economies. For instance, foreign direct investment in India, which was supposed to diffuse technology, didn’t take place except in some enclaves. 
• A culture of growth also requires the revaluation of labour, production, and technology. 
• India has looked down upon certain occupations, particularly those that are essential (electrical, welding, etc.), partly impeding organic innovation in manufacturing. 

Way forward

• India undervalues the vocational skills needed for manufacturing. Certain skills are not valued even if they command higher wages. 
• Artisanal knowledge doesn’t enjoy as much social respect as scholasticism or metaphysical abstraction. 
• Increasing returns and efficiency come from innovation and its diffusion, which are based on mass education and collective absorptive capacity. 
• India needs deep industrialisation, not just the service sector, that has the power to change the foundations of society.