DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS ANALYSIS

05 JULY 2022

1 – Collegium System in India: 

GS I

Topic – Indian Judiciary

• Context:
• The government is currently considering at least 26 suggestions for the appointment of judges to the Bombay High Court, which is already operating with less than half of its authorised strength.
• How Did the Collegium System Develop?
• Instead of being established by a law passed by parliament or a clause in the constitution, the system for the appointment and transfer of judges has developed as a result of Supreme Court decisions.
• Changes to the System:
• 1981’s First Judges Case:
• It stated that “cogent reasons” may be given for rejecting the “primacy” of the CJI’s (Chief Justice of India) recommendation on judicial appointments and transfers.
• For the ensuing 12 years, the Executive would have priority over the Judiciary in making judicial nominations.
• The SC established the Collegium system in the Second Judges Case (1993), ruling that “consultation” actually meant “concurrence.”
• It was further stated that this was not the CJI’s personal opinion, but rather an institutional judgement developed after consultation with the SC’s two most senior judges.
• Third Judges Case (1998): The Collegium was increased to five members, with the Chief Justice of India and his four most senior colleagues, on the President’s recommendation (Article 143) of the SC.
• Who Is the Collegium Head?
• The SC collegium, which consists of the four senior-most judges of the court, is led by the CJI (Chief Justice of India).
• Only the collegium system is used to nominate judges of the higher judiciary, and the government only becomes involved once the collegium has chosen names.
• What are the Judicial Appointments Processes?
• The CJI and the other SC judges are chosen by the President of India.
• The outgoing CJI proposes his successor as far as the CJI is concerned.
• Since the supersession issue of the 1970s, seniority has been the sole determining factor in practise.
• For SC Judges: The suggestion is started by the CJI for the SC’s other judges.
• The CJI contacts the other members of the Collegium as well as the senior-most judge of the court who is a member of the High Court where the suggested individual is a member.
• The consultees must submit their written comments, which should be included in the file.
• The recommendation is forwarded by the Collegium to the Law Minister, who then transmits it to the Prime Minister for the President’s guidance.
• For the High Courts Chief Justice:
• According to the practise of having Chief Justices from outside the individual States, the Chief Justice of the High Court is appointed.
• The Collegium makes the decision on the promotion.
• A Collegium made up of the CJI and the two most senior judges makes recommendations for High Court judges.
• However, the suggestion was started by the departing Chief Justice of the relevant High Court after consulting with two of her most senior colleagues.
• The Chief Minister receives the recommendation and recommends the Governor to forward it on to the Union Law Minister.
• Issues Associated with the Collegium System:
• Lack of transparency and opacity.
• Potential for nepotism
• Involvement in public disputes.
• Overlooks a number of promising young judges and attorneys.
• What were the Appointment System Reform Efforts?
• The court invalidated the attempt of the Government of India to replace Collegium System with a “National Judicial Appointments Commission” (via the 89th Amendment Act of 2014) in 2015 on the grounds that it endangered the independence of the judiciary.
• Way ahead:
• There is no time limit for the process of filling vacancies because it involves both the executive and the judicial branches and is ongoing. But now is the moment to consider creating a long-lasting, independent organisation to institutionalise the procedure with sufficient safeguards to protect the judiciary’s independence and guarantee judicial supremacy but not judicial exclusivity.
• It should guarantee independence, show diversity, exhibit professionalism and honesty, and reflect those values.

Source – The Hindu

2 – Digital India:

GS II

Topic – Government Policies and Interventions

• Context:
• According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Digital India programme has prevented the misuse of Rs 2.25 lakh crore during the previous eight years. He made this statement in Gandhinagar. He mentioned this while kicking off “Digital India Week 2022” and a Digital Expo at Mahatma Mandir in New Delhi. The programme has also assisted in the elimination of middlemen.
• Digital India Vision Focuses Upon:
• Digital infrastructure is a resource for all citizens.
• On-demand services and governance.
• Digital citizen empowerment
• Objectives:
• To get India ready for a knowledge-based future.
• Realizing that IT (Indian Talent) + IT (Information Technology) Will Lead to IT (India Tomorrow).
• Placing the focus on technology to enable transformation.
• Various Digital India Program Schemes:
• Digital Infrastructure for Knowledge Sharing, or Diksha Initiative:
• It functions as the nation’s teaching-related digital infrastructure. The latest digital technology will be available to every teacher in the country.
• eNAM: This pan-Indian electronic trading site was established on April 14, 2016, and it connects Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs) from all the States.
• The Ministry of Health & Family Welfare’s telemedicine service platform is called eSanjeevani.
• DigiBunai: DigiBunai assists weavers in developing digital artwork and translating saree designs so they can be loaded onto looms.
• The Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi) initiative was introduced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) to offer street vendors inexpensive loans. It encourages street merchants to conduct digital transactions.
• Aarogya Setu, a contact tracing app, was one of the Covid-19’s digital solutions.
• A number of significant government initiatives, including BharatNet, Make in India, Startup India and Standup India, industrial corridors, etc., have access to the Digital India programme.
• Important accomplishments:
• Enhanced Electronic payments: the advent of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), which made digital payments advantageous across the nation.
• UPI is assisting everyone with payments and transactions, from thriving enterprises to small street vendors.
• Additionally, it spurs a number of private actors to offer substitutes for digital payments, which have radically changed the Indian economy.
• Business Operations Simplified: To assist businesses in streamlining their operations, the Electronic Customer Identification System (e-KYC), the Electronic Document Storage System (DigiLocker), and the Electronic Signature System (eSign) were introduced.
• The JAM Trinity and Beyond What began as a straightforward action to activate the JAM trinity (Jan Dhan, Aadhar, and Mobile) to stop system leaks has now energised the whole immunisation push for Covid, making India the only country after the United States to administer 20 crore COVID 19 Jabs.
• Way ahead:
• There are many obstacles standing in the way of its successful implementation, including concerns with taxation, insufficient infrastructure, slow internet, lack of collaboration amongst many authorities, and digital illiteracy. To fully grasp the potential of this programme, several issues must be resolved.
• Here are six specific initiatives that might help the country turn into the new normal for digital as we commemorate six years since the launch of Digital India. 4.0 helping India achieve its goals and making the five trillion dollar GDP a reality.
• instilling a scientific mindset in which perception does not influence policy.
• Data accessibility and decreased device costs, particularly for smartphones.
• seamless connectivity and fast technology (5G, 6G).
• local language content of high quality.
• a protected and safe online environment with designated areas for dispute resolution, ombudsmen, and grievance officials.
• Last but not least, more and more government services will be made available online, with more departments interacting with one another. Renewable energy, a continuous supply of power, green technology
• Agritech, health tech, smart cities, e-governance, retail management, and smooth banking and payment solutions are just a few of the growing interventions in the fields of technology made possible by Digital India, which has been building the infrastructure for years.

Source – The Hindu

3 – Alluri Sitharama Raju: 

Prelims Specific Topic

• Context:
• On Monday, the 125th anniversary of Alluri Sitarama Raju’s birth, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 30-foot-tall bronze statue of the freedom fighter at Bhimavaram in Andhra Pradesh’s East Godavari district as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations to mark the 75th anniversary of Independence.
• About him:
• The 1882 Madras Forest Act, which severely restricted the freedom of the tribal people to roam about their own forests, was enforced by the British Raj in 1922, prompting Alluri Sitaram Raju, an Indian rebel, to lead the Rampa Rebellion against them.
• The community was unable to fully apply the shifting cultivation-based traditional Podu agricultural practise as a result of the effects of this Act.
• The fight came to a terrible end in 1924 when Raju was captured by police, hanged from a tree, and put to death by firing squad. He was known as manyam veerudu, or “the hero of the forest,” for his bravery.
• About Kinaram Bheem:
• Gond Bheem, who was born in Telangana’s Adilabad district in 1901, was brought up in the Chanda and Ballalpur kingdoms’ populated forests.
• Komaram Bheem had escaped from prison to travel to an Assamese tea plantation. Here he learned about the Alluri-led rebellion and was further inspired to protect his Gond tribe.
• Rampa Rebellion:
• The Rampa Rebellion of 1922, also known as the Manyam Rebellion, was a tribal uprising headed by Alluri Sitarama Raju in the Godavari Agency of the Madras Presidency of British India. It began in August 1922 and lasted until May 1924, when Raju was captured and slain.

Source – The Hindu

4 – PSA Oxygen Plants Capacity in India:

Prelims Specific Topic

• Context:
• Hospitals have refrained from using pressure-swing adsorption (PSA) plants on a regular basis due to their high operating and maintenance costs, lower oxygen quality produced, and fear of upsetting the regular liquid medical oxygen suppliers.
• About:
• Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a technique for under-pressure separation of certain gas species based on their molecular properties and affinity for an adsorbent material.
• It operates at temperatures that are close to ambient and is very different from cryogenic distillation methods of gas separation.
• In order to capture the desired gas species under high pressure, specific adsorbent materials (such as zeolites, activated carbon, molecular sieves, etc.) are utilised.
• To desorb the adsorbed material, the process then switches to low pressure.

Source – The Hindu