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DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

13 JULY 2022

. No. Topic Name Prelims/Mains
1.    Retail Inflation Prelims & Mains
2.    FCRA Prelims & Mains
3.    Judicial Custody Prelims & Mains
4.    James Web Space Telescope Prelims Specific Topic

 

1 – Retail Inflation 

GS II

Topic – Indian Economy

  • Context:
  • According to data released by the National Statistical Office on Tuesday, India’s industrial production, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), reached a 12-month high of 19.6% in May, up from the 6.7% growth recorded in April, in part due to the base effect
  • About the CPI:
  • Retail costs of products and services: When we discuss inflation, we frequently mean the inflation rate based on the consumer price index (CPI).
  • The CPI keeps track of changes in the retail prices of the products and services that families buy for their daily needs.
  • In order to gauge inflation, we calculate the percentage change in the CPI from the same time the year prior.
  • Deflation is the state in which prices have decreased (negative inflation).
  • The Central Bank (RBI), which is responsible for preserving price stability in the economy, pays special attention to this number.
  • The real value of salaries, wages, and pensions, the purchasing power of the national currency, and rate regulation are other concepts that the CPI also aids in understanding.
  • What separates the WPI and CPI?
  • While CPI determines the average change in prices of goods and services at the retail level, WPI measures the average change in prices of goods at the wholesale level.
  • While the National Statistical Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, publishes CPI data, the Office of Economic Adviser, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, publishes WPI data (MoSPI).
  • WPI’s base year is 2011–12, whereas CPI’s base year is 2012.
  • WPI simply considers changes in product prices, but CPI also considers shifts in how commodities and services are produced.

Source – The Indian Express

2 – FCRA:

GS II

Topic – Indian Economy

  • Context:
  • The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA) website of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has had certain important information removed, including a list of NGOs whose licences have been revoked and the annual reports of NGOs.
  • Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act (FCRA), 2010:
  • The FCRA act governs foreign funding of individuals in India and is put into effect by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  • Without the MHA’s approval, people are free to collect contributions from abroad.
  • However, the maximum amount that can be accepted in these international contributions is less than Rs. 25,000.
  • The Act makes sure that receivers of foreign donations follow the stated objectives for which they were collected.
  • Organizations must register themselves every five years in accordance with the Act.
  • Foreign donations may be made to registered NGOs for the following five purposes: social, educational, religious, economic, and cultural.
  • FCRA Amendment Act 2020:
  • Public employees are not permitted to accept foreign contributions, according to the Act.
  • Any person who is employed by, paid by, or compensated by the government for carrying out any public responsibility is considered a public servant.
  • Transfer of a Foreign Contribution: According to the Act, a Foreign Contribution may not be transferred to a third party who is not authorised to take a Foreign Contribution.
  • All office holders, directors, or key employees of a person receiving foreign contribution are required by the Act to have an Aadhaar number as proof of identification.
  • According to the Act, foreign donations may only be received in accounts designated by the bank as FCRA accounts at certain State Bank of India, New Delhi branches.
  • Reduction in the use of foreign contributions for administrative purposes: The Act suggests that a maximum of 20% of the total amount of foreign contributions received may be used to cover administrative costs. The cap in FCRA 2010 was set at 50%.
  • Certificate surrender: Under the Act, the central government may allow a person to give up their registration certificate
  • FCRA-Related Issues:
  • The FCRA controls how money from outside India is given to NGOs operating in India. It forbids accepting contributions from abroad “for any acts prejudicial to the national interest.”
  • According to the Act, the government may withhold consent if it thinks that the donation to the NGO will negatively impact “public interest” or “economic interest of the state.”
  • On the other hand, there is no precise definition of what “public interest” is.
  • The restrictions imposed by the FCRA have a significant impact on both the freedom of speech and the freedom of association guaranteed by Articles 19(1)(a) and 19(1)(c) of the Constitution.
  • There are two ways that the right to free expression is impacted:
  • It is possible to create biases in favour of the government by allowing some political groups to receive foreign funding but not others.
  • NGOs must use caution when criticising the regime since too much criticism could jeopardise their continued existence.
  • By labelling critical voices as being against the public interest, FCRA rules can silence them. Self-censorship may result from the suppression of free expression in this way.
  • In a case similar to this one about ambiguous standards for the public interest, the Supreme Court (SC) invalidated Section 66A of the Information Technology Act in Shreya Singhal v. Union of India (2015). The SC ruled that the Act could be applied in a way that restricts free speech.
  • A breach of this right also constitutes a violation of human rights since the right to freedom of association is included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 20).
  • A legal examination of the FCRA, 2010, was conducted in April 2016 by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association.
  • It declared that the FCRA’s “legitimate limits” criteria had been violated by restrictions justified by “public interest” and “economic interest.”
  • The provisions were overly ambiguous and provided the state ample latitude to apply the clause anyway it saw fit.
  • Although it is vital in this situation to govern corrupt NGOs, there needs to be clarity regarding concepts like the public interest.
  • Way ahead:
  • The operation of NGOs, which are important in executing government programmes at the local level, may be hampered by too restrictive regulations on foreign contributions. Where the government falls short, they step in to fill the gaps.
  • The rule shouldn’t prevent the international sharing of resources that is necessary for the running of a global community, and it shouldn’t be discouraged unless there is cause to suspect the money is being used to support criminal actions.

Source – The Indian Express

3 – Judicial Custody:

GS II

Topic – Indian Judiciary

  • Concept:
  • To take someone into custody implies to provide them with protective care.
  • Arrest and custody are not the same thing. While it is true that every arrest involves incarceration, the reverse is untrue.
  • An individual’s personal liberty is immediately restricted by an arrest. His freedom is violated.
  • About Police Custody:
  • Police custody is the term used when a suspect is taken into custody after a police officer has arrested him in response to receiving information, a complaint, or a report about a crime in order to stop him from performing future offensive acts.
  • In reality, the police are holding the suspect in their custody in a jail within the police station. The police officer in charge of the case may question the suspect during this detention, which cannot last more than 24 hours.
  • Within 24 hours, excluding the time required for the necessary trip from the police station to the court, the officer in charge of the case must present the suspect before the relevant judge.
  • About Judicial Custody:
  • While an accused person is in the custody of the concerned Magistrate when they are in judicial custody, the police have physical custody of them when they are in police custody.
  • In the former, the accused is kept in a police station holding cell; in the latter, a jail.
  • When a person is taken into custody by the police, the Cr.P.C. takes effect, and they must be brought before a magistrate within 24 hours of the arrest.
  • What occurs following a judicial custody:
  • A person could be kept in judicial custody or police custody.
  • A suspect is first placed in police custody after being apprehended, after which he is brought before a magistrate where he may either be remanded to judicial custody or placed back into police custody.
  • In the Criminal Procedure Code, what distinguishes police custody from judicial custody:
  • When a person who has been charged with a cognizable offence is apprehended by the police, held without bail, and either personally presents himself to the local magistrate within 24 hours (excluding travel time from the point of arrest).
  • The Magistrate can then either release the defendant on bail or commit him to either police or court custody.
  • If the accused is a minor, his age must be determined, and if this is the case, he must be brought before the Juvenile Justice Board.
  • It is considered that a person is a suspect if they are in police custody or judicial custody.
  • Only after a suspect is found guilty and sentenced to prison for the alleged crime does he or she become a criminal.
  • These kinds of custodies serve as safeguards.
  • A police officer in charge of a suspect may act arbitrarily toward the suspect.
  • The attorney representing a defendant typically asks for bail or judicial custody when the subject is detained by the police while the investigation is ongoing.
  • Suspect is now the court’s responsibility while in judicial custody.
  • The case’s assigned police officer is not permitted to question the suspect while in judicial custody.
  • However, the court may permit the interrogations if it determines that they are required by the evidence presented to the court.
  • India’s Custody Laws:
  • In India, Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure governs the conditions for retaining a person in custody to further an investigation.
  • A person may be held in police custody for up to 15 days on a magistrate’s instructions, according to Section 167 of the Code.
  • An executive magistrate may issue an order for a period of custody lasting up to 7 days, whereas a judicial magistrate may remand someone to any type of custody lasting up to 15 days.
  • A person could be kept in judicial custody or police custody.
  • Police custody may only last for a maximum of 15 days after the initial custody date, but judicial custody may last up to 90 days for crimes carrying a death sentence, life in prison sentence, or a sentence of more than 10 years, and 60 days for all other crimes if the magistrate is persuaded that there are sufficient grounds, after which the accused or suspect must be released on bail.
  • The number of days spent in police custody are subtracted from the overall duration remanded to judicial custody if a person is transferred from police to judicial custody.

Source – The Indian Express

 4 – James Web Space Telescope:

Prelims Specific Topic

  • Context:
  • first photo taken by NASA’s James Web Space Telescope, which was presented on Monday by US President Joe Biden, is bursting with galaxies and provides the most in-depth view of the cosmos ever.
  • About:
  • It is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s most potent infrared telescope (NASA).
  • It is also regarded as the Hubble Telescope’s successor and will build on and supplement its findings.
  • The Hubble Space Telescope, which was put into low-Earth orbit in 1990, has performed more than 1.4 million observations, including following interstellar objects, catching a comet hitting Jupiter, and finding moons near Pluto.
  • Hubble has recorded the merger of galaxies, explored supermassive black holes, and advanced our knowledge of the origins of the universe.
  • The European Space Agency (ESA), the Canadian Space Agency, and NASA worked together internationally to create the telescope.
  • Webb will make surprising new discoveries and aid humanity in comprehending the universe’s beginnings and its significance.
  • The telescope will investigate the atmospheres of numerous exoplanet species.
  • In an effort to locate the components of life, it will also look for atmospheres that resemble Earth’s as well as the signs of important elements including methane, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and complex organic molecules.
  • Goal:
  • to look for the initial galaxies that emerged following the Big Bang.
  • to understand the evolution of galaxies from their initial genesis to the present.
  • to watch how stars form, from their earliest stages to the creation of planetary systems.
  • to gauge the planetary systems’ physical and chemical characteristics and look into the possibility of life there.

Source – the Indian Express

 

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