Immunity won’t protect legislators taking bribes to vote in Parliament
Time to Read :🕑 11 Mins
Why in news?
A seven-judge Bench of the Supreme Court declared that parliamentary privilege or immunity will not protect legislators who take bribes to vote or speak in Parliament or State Legislative Assemblies from criminal prosecution.
Key highlight of the judgment
Parliamentary privileges will no longer shield legislators from prosecution if they take bribe to vote or make a speech on the floor of the House, the Supreme Court ruled as it overturned its own 1998 verdict in the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha bribery case.
The judgment in PV Narasimha Rao which grants immunity from prosecution to a member of a legislature who has allegedly engaged in bribery for casting a vote or making a speech has wide ramifications on public interest, probity in public life, and parliamentary democracy.
The apex court had earlier said that it was necessary to reconsider “the correctness” of a 1998 five-judge Constitution Bench judgment. With a 3:2 majority, the bench had then held that legislators have immunity against criminal prosecution on bribery charges for any speech or vote in Parliament.
A seven-judge bench, led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, ruled that members of parliament and legislative assemblies cannot claim immunity under Articles 105(2) and 194(2) of the Constitution for receiving a bribe in exchange for a vote or speech in the legislature.
New rules for plastic use in Odisha’s parks
Time to Read :🕑 5 Mins
Why in news?
The entry of single-use plastic items will be prohibited inside sanctuaries, national parks, and tiger reserves of the state effective April 1, 2024.
About ban
According to the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife),
As the use of plastic water bottles will be banned inside the protected forest areas, alternate drinking water facilities will be arranged for the tourists.
The visitors carrying food items in wraps will be advised to dispose of the wraps at designated garbage bins and not litter the protected areas, the order stated.
All the garbage generated from visitors, nature camps and other places inside the protected areas will be disposed of in accordance with existing guidelines.
Violation of the order would invite arrest and jail term, besides fines.
The forest department would seek the assistance of the Odisha State Pollution Control Board and the district administration to enforce the ban order.
Narasapur crochet lace craft
Time to Read :🕑 3 Mins
Why in news?
Narasapur crochet lace craft gets the Geographical Indication tag.
About Narasapur crochet lace craft
The lace work is done using thin threads and these are again woven with thin crochet needles of varying sizes.
Narsapur's famed hand-made crochet industry produces doilies, pillow covers, cushion covers, bed spreads, table-runners, and table cloths etc.
The products are available in vibrant colors like orange, green, blue, whitered, and beige.
The artefacts also vary, right from hand purses to caps, to mobile phone covers, tops and also stoles.
There are also attractive lampshades and wall hangings made from lace.
The crochet lace products are also exported to countries like the UK, USA, France, etc.
Why Minerals are Critical
Time to Read :🕑 11 Mins
Why in news?
The Indian government has amended mining laws to facilitate greater private sector participation in the exploration, extraction, and processing of critical minerals.
Steps taken by government for critical minerals
List of 30 critical minerals
To identify a list of 30 critical minerals (apart from rare earths, which are clearly identified in the periodic table) in July 2023
India has identified 30 critical minerals depending upon their disruption potential, substitutability, cross-cutting usage across different sectors, import reliance, recycling rates etc.
Critical minerals have no particular definition and countries identify the minerals critical to them using their own criteria.
The states/UTs which house these 30 identified critical minerals are Bihar, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir.
Amend the existing mining laws
To amend the existing mining laws in November 2023 to allow private sector participation in the auction of 20 blocks of critical minerals/rare earths.
Significance of critical minerals
Energy
As far as decarbonisation is concerned, one may note that when it comes to building a solar PV plant or a wind farm or electric vehicles, they require more minerals than their fossil fuel counterparts.
Transport
An electric car needs six times the mineral input when compared to a conventional car and an on-shore wind plant requires nine times more mineral resources than a gas-fired plant.
Climate - clean energy technologies
The International Energy Agency (IEA) has estimated that in order to meet the Paris Agreement targets, the share of clean energy technologies in the total demand for critical minerals over the next two decades would be over 40 per cent for copper and rare earths, 60-70 per cent for nickel and cobalt and 90 per cent for lithium.
Clean energy
In general, mineral demand for clean energy technologies would rise by at least four times by 2040 to meet the climate goals.
Needs critical minerals for decarbonisation, it is not limited to just that. They are required for,
Fertilisers
Construction
Magnets for industries
Consumer electronics
Defence
Global concentration of critical minerals
Resources of critical minerals
These resources are concentrated in a few countries and, in the case of lithium, cobalt and rare earths, the world’s top three producing nations control well over three-fourths of global output.
Specifically, Australia has 55 per cent of lithium reserves, China has 60 per cent of the rare earths, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has 75 per cent of cobalt, Indonesia has 35 per cent of nickel, Chile has 30 per cent of copper reserves.
Critical minerals/rare earths
China needs a special mention. Not only does it have a major share of rare earth reserve, it has also completely monopolised the processing capacity of these minerals.
China processes 35 per cent of the world’s nickel, 50-70 per cent of lithium and cobalt and nearly 90 per cent of rare earths.
Chinese companies have made investments in Australia, Chile, Indonesia and the DRC, among others, to source those minerals which it is not endowed with sufficiently.
China has also monopolised the manufacture of finished products as it supplies 78 per cent of cathodes, 85 per cent of anodes, 70 per cent of battery cells and 95 per cent of permanent magnets made from rare earths.
It would be pertinent to add that the Mountain Pass Mine, a rare earth mining company based in the US, exports a major part of their output to China since they do not have processing capacity within the country.
Global implications of critical minerals
China, incidentally, has been using its monopoly position on rare earths to settle political scores with countries like the US and Japan by restricting their exports and also the related technology.
China’s dominant position in the business of critical minerals and its willingness to arm-twist other countries has clearly rattled the world community.
It has led to the formation of the US-led Minerals Security Partnership (MSP).
India, too, has joined the MSP.
The aim of the MSP is to bolster the critical minerals supply chain.
The MSP includes countries like Australia, Canada, Sweden and Norway, which have deposits of critical minerals, and also countries like Japan and South Korea which have access to processing technology.
It would, however, be interesting to note that the MSP does not include countries like Chile, DRC, Indonesia etc. (which are rich in certain critical minerals), raising concerns about its effectiveness.
The basic premise of MSP is “friend shoring”, meaning moving manufacturing away from authoritarian states (read China) to allies.
India and critical minerals
As far as India is concerned, the availability of critical minerals (and rare earths) is crucial as it has massive plans for decarbonisation and to become net-zero by 2070.
By 2030, India wants to set up 500 GW of non-fossil fuel power generating capacity.
It also wants 30 per cent of private cars
70 per cent of commercial vehicles.
80 per cent of two/three wheelers to go electric.
All this will not be possible without a steady source of lithium and other minerals required to manufacture batteries.
As of now, India is completely dependent on imports for most of the critical minerals.
India has signed an agreement with Australia to jointly explore for lithium and cobalt assets in Australia.
The problem is that the availability of the minerals is not enough.
One needs to process it and manufacture the final product which also means access to technology.
There is a big fear that lack of access to critical minerals may be the biggest roadblock to India’s march towards decarbonisation.
The Civil Services Exam is conducted every year by the UPSC to select suitable candidates for the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), IFS (Indian Foreign Service), IPS (Indian Police Service), IRS (Indian Revenue Service) and other Central Services like the Audits and Accounts, Railway Technical Services etc.
These services are vital for the administration of the Nation as they form the underlying basis of the policy formulation, implementation and execution in almost all the domains of the Governance. Sardar Patel had called the Civil Service the “Steel Frame of India“, the backbone of India’s Administration.
Being part of the Services is associated with prestige, power and a sense of responsibility toward the Society and the Nation. No doubt, the Services attract the best among the vast talent pool of the country.
And it is no surprise that the competition for the CSE is becoming fiercer every year. Over the last 3-4 years the number of applicants has hovered around 1,000,000 out of which approximately 500,000 appear for the Preliminary Exam. On an average 10,000 candidates qualify for the Mains Examination and less than 2,500 are called for the interview. Finally, only about 1,000 or fewer candidates qualify to be part of the Services. Thus the conversion ratio from appearing in the Preliminary Examination to the final selection in the Services is less than 0.2% (considering only the
Thus only sincere hard work may not be enough to be part of the Services. The aspirants need suitable guidance and study material to get selected and fulfil their dream of serving the Nation. Unacademy strives to provide quality content to the learners in order to supplement the guidance they receive from top Educators on the Unacademy Platform and aid their preparation.
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