Daily Current Affairs (2nd July 2024)

Constitutional morality

Why in news?

Recently, the chief justice of India elaborated on the notion of ‘Constitutional Morality’ as a restraining factor on the state that should derive from the Preambluar values of the Constitution.

About 

• Constitutional morality entails the adherence to constitutional norms within a democratic system. 
• It goes beyond the literal interpretation to encompass a commitment to values such as sovereignty, social justice, and equality in constitutional adjudication.
• In essence, constitutional morality embodies the balance between freedom and restraint. That is, citizens submit to constitutional authorities and, at the same time, have the freedom to criticise those in power.   
• The term was first coined by British historian George Grote in his twelve-volume work, A History of Greece.

Constitutional morality in Indian Constitution

• Though the term constitutional morality is not explicitly used in the Indian Constitution, it is deeply embedded in several of its sections:

• Preamble: It outlines the principles that underpin our democracy, including justice, liberty, equality, and fraternity.

• Fundamental Rights: It safeguards individuals’ rights against the arbitrary use of state power. Notably, the Supreme Court allows for the enforcement of these rights under Article 32.

• Directive Principles: They provide guidelines for the state to pursue the goals set by the constitution’s framers, drawing from Gandhian, socialist, and liberal intellectual philosophies.

• Fundamental Duties: Alongside their rights, citizens also have responsibilities to the nation.

• Checks and Balances: It includes judicial review of legislative and executive actions, legislative oversight of the executive, etc.

• Also, it may be reiterated here that the discretionary power of the state and the principle of non-discrimination are closely associated with the concept of constitutional morality.

Supreme Court’s viewpoint 

• In the case of Union of India vs. Government of the NCT of Delhi, it was ruled that high-ranking officials must adhere to constitutional morality and uphold the ideals outlined in the Constitution to prevent the arbitrary use of authority.
• The Court, in the Government of NCT of Delhi case (2018), likened constitutional morality to a “second basic structure doctrine”, emphasising its role in curbing arbitrary authority.
• Similarly, in Navtej Singh Johar & Ors. vs. Union of India, the Supreme Court held that Section 377 infringed upon the rights of the LGBTQI community and violated the fundamental values of individual dignity as enshrined in Articles 14, 19, and 21 of the Constitution.
• In its decision in Justice K S Puttaswamy and Anr. vs. Union of India and Ors., the Supreme Court confirmed the constitutional validity of Aadhaar with certain restrictions, underscoring the role of courts in checking executive abuse of power.

Liberalised Remittances Scheme

Why in news?

According to Reserve Bank of India data, Indians took out a total of $17 billion in 2023-24 for overseas travel under the RBI’s liberalised remittances scheme.

About Liberalised Remittances Scheme

• The Liberalised Remittances Scheme was introduced on February 4, 2004, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999.
• Under the Liberalised Remittance Scheme, all resident individuals, including minors, are allowed to freely remit up to USD 2,50,000 per financial year (April – March) for any permissible current or capital account transaction or a combination of both.
• The Scheme is not available to corporations, partnership firms, Hindu Undivided Family (HUF), Trusts etc.
• Remittance under LRS is not available for certain purposes including the purchase of lottery tickets, proscribed magazines, trading in foreign exchange abroad, and capital account remittances to countries flagged by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

Employees’ Pension Scheme

Why in news?

Recently, the Government has amended the Employees’ Pension Scheme to ensure that EPS members with less than six months of contributory service also receive withdrawal benefits.

More about the news

• The Central Government has modified the Table D and has ensured that every completed month of service rendered is taken into account to give proportionate withdrawal benefit to the members.
• This amendment will benefit more than seven lakh EPS members every year who leave the scheme with less than six months of contributory service.

About Employees’ Pension Scheme

• Employees’ Pension Scheme and was launched in the year 1995 with the aim of helping employees in the organized sector. 
• It is a social security scheme provided by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO). 
• The scheme makes provisions for employees working in the organized sector for a pension after their retirement at the age of 58 years.
• However, the benefits of the scheme can be availed only if the employee has provided a service for at least 10 years (this does not have to be continuous service). 
• Employees who are eligible for the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme shall also be eligible for EPS.

Anti-dumping duty

Why in news?

Recently, India has initiated an anti-dumping probe into the import of glass fibre from China, Thailand, Bahrain.

About 

• Dumping is, in general, a situation of international price discrimination, where the price of a product when sold in the importing country is less than the price of that product in the market of the exporting country.
• Anti-dumping is a measure to rectify the situation arising out of the dumping of goods and its trade distortive effect. 
• Thus, the purpose of anti-dumping duty is to rectify the trade distortive effect of dumping and re-establish fair trade. 
• The use of anti-dumping measures as an instrument of fair competition is permitted by the WTO.
• In fact, anti-dumping is an instrument for ensuring fair trade and is not a measure of protection per se for the domestic industry. It provides relief to the domestic industry against the injury caused by dumping.

SDG National Indicator Framework Progress Report

Why in news?

Recently, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has developed the National Indicator Framework (NIF) for SDGs. 

More about the news 

• The National Indicator Framework (NIF) for SDGs is developed in consultation with concerned Ministries/ Departments, UN Agencies and other stakeholders, to facilitate monitoring of the SDGs at national level.  
• Based on the updated SDGs-NIF, every year on Statistics Day MoSPI releases the Progress Report on SDGs with time series data along with two more SDG publications which are derived from the progress report.
• The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation released the following publications on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs):

• Sustainable Development Goals – National Indicator Framework Progress Report, 2024
• Data Snapshot on Sustainable Development Goals – National Indicator Framework, Progress Report, 2024
• Sustainable Development Goals – National Indicator Framework, 2024

About SDGs National Indicator Framework Progress Report 2024

• The report presents the time series data on the SDG national indicators, received from the data source Ministries, which will be instrumental in monitoring the national-level progress of the 17 SDGs.
• The report consists of four main sections:

• Overview and Executive Summary- The ‘Overview’ covers the background of SDG-NIF along with the role and steps taken by MoSPI for facilitating the monitoring of SDGs at the national level. ‘Executive Summary’ includes goal-wise summary highlights/ progress made during the period under reference.
• Data Snapshot presenting the data summary of the SDG national indicators.
• Metadata contains information on each indicator describing goal, target, level & type of disaggregation, mapping with global indicator, unit of measurement, link/source(s) of data availability etc.
• Data Tables presenting time series data on the indicators, wherever available. The data can be downloaded in MS Excel format.

Bustard Recovery Program

Why in news?

Recently, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) has approved funds for the next phase of the conservation of Great Indian Bustard (GIB) and Lesser Florican.

More about the news

• The plan includes habitat development, in-situ conservation, completion of the conservation breeding centre, releasing captive-bred birds and habitat development among other things.
• The 2024-2029 phase will also target developing and implementation of artificial insemination techniques as a back-up to the captive-breeding conservation.

• Artificial insemination will help to facilitate genetic management and diversity. If we want sperm from a particular male GIB to manage the population from a genetic perspective, we can go for cryopreservation. 
• Artificial insemination will also help augment fertility rates. It has been tried successfully in the UAE.

About Great Indian Bustard

• The Great Indian Bustard is a large bird found only in India. 
• It is known to be a key indicator species of the grassland habitat, which means its survival also signals the health of grassland habitats.
• Over the past four decades, its population has declined steadily from being in the range of 700 individuals to less than 150 as of today.
• Loss of their habitat to rising farmlands in semi-arid regions of Rajasthan, depredation of eggs by other predators such as dogs, monitor lizards and humans and more recently, death due to overhead power lines have caused their numbers to decline.
• It is listed in Schedule I and IV of Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and Appendix I of CITES. And on the IUCN red list is listed as critically endangered. 

About Lesser Florican

• The Lesser Florican (Sypheotides indicus) is a characteristic bird of grasslands, endemic to the Indian subcontinent.
• Individuals are generally solitary and shy, with males and females easily distinguished based upon their physical features.
• Locally, the bird is known as Kharmor (grass peacock) in Gujarat and Khar titar (grass pheasant) in Rajasthan. It belongs to the Bustard family, and is the smallest of all cousin species found in India.
• It inhabits the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and parts of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka. 
• It is threatened both by hunting and habitat degradation.
• The bird is currently listed as Critically Endangered on the IUCN Red List.

Impact of Climate Change on Marginal Farmers

Why in news?

Recently, the Forum of Enterprises for Equitable Development (FEED) released a study about the impact of climate change on marginal farmers.

Key Highlights 

• The report, titled State of Marginal Farmers of India – 2024, found that 50 percent of farmers lost half of their paddy yield and 42 percent lost half of their wheat crops.

• Wheat, the staple of North India, has been particularly hit hard as the production fell this harvesting season for the third year straight.

• According to the report, as many as 60 percent of India’s marginal farmers have suffered significant crop losses due to extreme weather events in the five years.
• The report found that 51 percent of marginal farmers do not have access to any formal loans and only 27 per cent had access to bank loans. 
• The report found that as many as 28 percent of marginal farmers did not have access to any advisory and those who did relied overwhelmingly on either input dealers or fellow farmers — both of them unlikely to be real experts in agriculture.
• According to the report, digital interventions by the state and partnerships with the private sector could help solve the many issues in Indian agriculture.
• The report also highlights the need for improved access to financial credit, crop insurance, and advanced technological resources. 
• It also emphasizes the benefits of Direct Benefit Transfers (DBTs) and the importance of irrigation facilities in enhancing resilience against climate shocks.

Shyok River

Why in news?

Recently, five soldiers were swept away by Shyok river during military training in Ladakh.

About Shyok River 

• The Shyok River rises from the Rimo glacier in the Karakoram Range, it receives the waters of the Nubra and Chang Chenmo rivers.
• The Shyok River takes a southerly course after it is joined by the Nubra River and thereafter the Shyok flows into the Indus.

• It meanders through the high-altitude deserts and mountain ranges of Ladakh before converging with the Indus.
• The total length of the river is around 550 km.