Daily CURRENT AFFAIRS

 BACKGROUND

Supreme Court of India to hear a petition to remove the stay on the Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Act, or the Haryana Act, that reserves 75% of jobs in the private sector in the State for local residents.

WHAT IS THE ACT

• Applies to jobs that pay up to ₹30,000 per month
• Employers have to register all such employees on a designated portal
• Government may also exempt certain industries by notification, and has so far exempted new start-ups and new Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES) companies, as well as short-term employment, farm labour, domestic work, and promotions and transfers within the State

CORE OF THE ISSUE

• Other States with similar Bills  - Andhra Pradesh and Jharkhand have passed
• Supreme Court will first have to decide whether it will wait for the High Courts to decide the respective cases (and then hear any appeal), or whether it will draw the cases to itself as similar substantial constitutional issues are pending across High Courts.

CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS & ANALYSIS

ARTICLE 19(1)(G) –

• Freedom to carry out any occupation, trade or business
• Reasonable restrictions “in the interests of the general public”, and in particular related to specifying any professional or technical qualifications, or to reserve a sector for government monopoly
• Act by requiring private businesses to reserve 75% of lower end jobs for locals, encroaches upon their right to carry out any occupation.
• T.M.A. Pai Foundation case(2002) - Supreme Court stated that private educational institutions have autonomy in their administration and management
• P.A. Inamdar case (2005) -  reservation cannot be mandated on educational institutions that do not receive financial aid from the state, as that would affect the freedom of occupation
• In 2005, the Constitution was amended to allow reservation in private educational institutions for socially and educationally backward classes and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Note that this amendment applies to admissions in private educational institutions and not to jobs in the private sector.

RESERVATION BY VIRTUE OF DOMICILE OR RESIDENCE

• The provision of may be unconstitutional
• Article 16 -  provides for equality of opportunity for all citizens in public employment.
• Prohibits discrimination on several grounds including place of birth and residence. However, it permits Parliament to make law that requires residence within a State for appointment to a public office
• Enabling provision is for public employment and not for private sector jobs
• Law needs to be made by Parliament, and not by a State legislature.

WHAT HAS BEEN SAID BY SUPREME COURT

Supreme Court in 2002

• Ruled that preference given to applicants from a particular region of Rajasthan for appointment as government teachers was unconstitutional.
• Reservations can be made for backward classes of citizens but this cannot be solely on account of residence or domicile.

Supreme Court in 1995

• Struck down Rules in Andhra Pradesh that gave preference to candidates who had studied in the Telugu medium
• Said it discriminated against more meritorious candidates.

Indra Sawhney case in 1992 - 75% reservation

• Supreme Court capped reservations in public services at 50
• there may be extraordinary situations which may need a relaxation in this rule
• Gave examples of far-flung and remote areas, where the population may need to be treated in a different way
• Specified - “in doing so, extreme caution is to be exercised and a special case made out”. That is, the onus is on the State to make a special case of exceptional circumstances, for the 50% upper limit on reservations to be relaxed.

OTHER INSTANCES

The Maharashra Act, which provided reservations for Marathas was struck down by the Supreme Court in May 2021 on grounds of breaching the 50% limit. It stated that the 50% limit is “to fulfil the objective of equality”, and that to breach the limit “is to have a society which is not founded on equality but on caste rule”.

RESERVATION & EQUALITY

• The Haryana Act does not further “caste rule” as it is for all residents of the State irrespective of caste but it breaches the notion of equality of all citizens of India.
• Cases relate to either public employment or to admissions to educational institutions, while the Haryana Act is about private sector employment.
• However, one may contend that any reservation requirement imposed on the private sector should not be higher than the limits on the public sector.
• Over the last three years, three States have enacted laws that limit employment for citizens from outside the State. These laws raise questions on the conception of India as a nation.
• The Constitution conceptualises India as one nation with all citizens having equal rights to live, travel and work anywhere in the country. These State laws go against this vision by restricting the right of out-of-State citizens to find employment in the State. This restriction may also indirectly affect the right to reside across India as finding employment becomes difficult.
• If more States follow similar policies, it would be difficult for citizens to migrate from their State to other States to find work.

CONCLUSION

There would be adverse economic implications of such policies. Other than potentially increasing costs for companies, there may also be an increase in income inequality across States as citizens of poorer States with fewer job opportunities are trapped within their States.

There may also be serious consequences to the idea of India as a nation.

The courts, while looking at the narrow questions of whether these laws violate fundamental rights, should also examine whether they breach the basic structure of the Constitution that views India as one nation which is a union of States, and not as a conglomeration of independent States.

NEWS

Capacity Building Commission (CBC) and Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) to the Government of India jointly called for a virtual session involving S&T departments and councils of all states to discuss the need for working knowledge of new-age technologies, process improvements, reskilling or upskilling and human resource development.

CAPACITY BUILDING COMMISSION

Set up under Mission Karmayogi

OBJECTIVE –

• Ensure a uniform approach in managing and regulating the capacity building ecosystem on collaborative and co-sharing basis.
• Supervise all central training institutions which are enabled for civil services capacity building

ROLE-

• Assist the PM Public Human Resources Council in approving the Annual Capacity Building Plans.
• Exercise functional supervision over all Central Training Institutions dealing with civil services capacity building.
• Create shared learning resources, including internal and external faculty and resource centers.
• Coordinate and supervise the implementation of the Capacity Building Plans with the stakeholder Departments.
• Make recommendations on standardization of training and capacity building, pedagogy and methodology
• Set norms for common mid-career training programs across all civil services.
• Suggest policy interventions required in the areas of HR Management and Capacity Building to the Government.

PRINCIPAL SCIENTIFIC ADVISER

• Concerned with facilitating the empowerment of science, technology and innovation for the improvement of the society and the economy
• Chairperson of the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM STIAC).
• PM STIAC is concerned with converting these visions into strategy and action.

 CONTEXT

The recently released India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2021 shows the total forest and tree cover in India is 80.9 million hectares, which is 24.62 per cent of the geographical area of the country. Between 2019 and 2021, the forest and tree cover rose by 2,261 sq km.

FOREST IN INDIA

Definition of forest cover is in sync with that of the Kyoto Protocol

“Forest”

• Has a minimum area of 0.05 to 1 ha (India has 1.0 ha minimum)
• Tree crown cover percentage being more than 10 to 30 per cent (India has 10 per cent)
• Trees having the potential to reach a minimum height of 2 to 5 m at maturity in situ (in India, it’s 2 m).

ON A WHOLE - “all lands, more than 1 hectare in area, with a tree canopy density of more than 10 per cent irrespective of ownership and legal status. Such lands may not necessarily be a recorded forest area. It also includes orchards, bamboo, palm etc.”

HOW IS THE ASSESMENT DONE

• Based on the interpretation of satellite data, which basically identifies umbrella-shaped canopies from the sky.
• All species that fulfil the above definition of forest cover are included in the assessment.
• The accuracy of classification for forest and non-forest is 95.79 per cent and the accuracy of classification in different density classes is as high as 92.99 per cent.
• Also estimated from field inventory data, which corroborates the figures of forest cover obtained from the satellite-based interpretation.

INSTITUTION ESTIMATING - Forest Survey of India

CONCERNS ABOUT RECENT REPORT

• Revising data from previous cycles
• Question raised is about plantations

WHAT WAS TOLD ABOUT THE CONCERNS

• The experience gained over the years is helpful in better interpretation in successive cycles. The improved quality of data, better interpretation, extensive ground-truthing and geographical area corrections result in revised estimates of previous cycles.
• The importance of plantations needs to be understood. For example, cashew plantations, which mainly grow along the coast, serve as the first line of defence against cyclones, which are hitting with greater frequency and ferocity. Mixed plantations, especially of native species, meet all the ecological functions of natural forests. A lot of wildlife inhabits these plantations. It is important to recognise their ecological functions.

WHAT IS INDIA DOING

• India is on track to achieve its national commitment to land degradation neutrality
• India is working towards restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030. This would contribute to India’s commitment to achieving an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.
• Afforestation efforts are also aligned with our wildlife conservation efforts.
• Project Tiger was launched in 1973. From nine tiger reserves initially, we now have 51 tiger reserves.
• Tiger habitat conservation will create a huge carbon sink in the form of tiger-bearing forests. Thus, the conservation of tigers will go a long way in ensuring a good future for us and the coming generations.
• Similar steps are being taken for the conservation of lions, elephants and other animals whose existence is threatened by poaching or the shrinking of natural habitat.
• Goal of 33 per cent area under forest and tree cover as per the National Forest Policy, 1988, remains to be achieved. In the present scenario, the possibility of a sizeable increase in forest cover is limited due to the inelasticity of forest land.
• The balance of 9 per cent can be achieved through taking up plantation/afforestation outside the forests and restocking/plantation in degraded and scrub forests.
• Trees outside forest (TOF) is one major area where our hope rests.
• According to the ISFR 2021, the TOF extent comprises 36.18 per cent of the total forest and tree cover of the country.

DRAFT NATIONAL FOREST POLICY 2021

Focused on the promotion of TOF by including it among its objectives.

Provisions include

• Substantially increasing the tree cover outside forests by incentivising and promoting agro-forestry and farm forestry
• Managing and expanding green spaces in urban and peri-urban areas to enhance citizens’ well-being
• Plantation of trees outside forests in partnership with local communities, land-owning agencies, and private enterprises
• Creation, sustainable management and promotion of urban forests (woodlands, gardens, avenue plantations, herbal gardens, etc.) as an integral component of urban habitat planning and development
• Afforestation/reforestation in public-private partnership (PPP) mode
• Promotion of urban forests, which include woodlands, wetlands, parks, tree groves, tree garden, plantations in institutional areas, on avenues and around water bodies, etc.

It is with this holistic approach that India is moving towards restoring the ecological balance of the planet and ensuring sustainable development.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

WHAT - Process by which hydrogen atoms combine to produce helium inside the Sun, and release immense energy in light and radiation.

HOW IT WORKS

IN NEWS - TOKMAKS

WHAT - Fabricated  fusion reactors

Conceptualised by Soviet physicists Igor Tamm and Andrei Sakharov.

What was the theory - If one can create a magnetic field in the shape of a torus then the scorching plasma could be contained.

The scalding of the walls of the container from the intense heat of plasma could be prevented.

Unlike fission reactors, fusion reactors like the tokamaks do not pose the dangers of a radioactive leak. Gram for gram, the thermonuclear power produces four million times more energy than burning coal.

The only waste product is harmless helium.

Harnessing energy from thermonuclear fusion today is a global collaborative effort. Thirty-five countries, including India, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, China, European Union, are collaborating to jointly build the largest Tokamak as part of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER).

PERSONS IN NEWS

 NEWS

Prime Minister pays his obeisances to Sri Madhwacharya on Madhwa Navmi

ABOUT ACHARYA MADHWA

• Born in Udupi
• Born in 1238, on the auspicious day of Vijayadashami, and he was named Vasudeva.
• Third of the trinity of philosophers who influenced Indian thoughts after the ages of the Vedas and Puranas (the other two being Shankaracharya and Ramanujacharya)
• Propounded the philosophy of Dwaita or Dualism.
• Initiated into sanyasttva by Achyutapreksha
• At the time of initiation, he was given the name Purnaprajna. It was also Achyutapreksha who gave him the title ‘Madhva’ by which he was more famously known.
• Wrote commentaries on several important Hindu holy texts, including the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra.
• Various texts that detailed his philosophy which he called Tattvavada, or as it is more popularly known, Dvaita. Some of his works were the Gita Bhashya, Brahma Sutra Bhashya, Anu Bhashya, Karma Nirnaya, and Vishnu Tattva Nirnaya.

Dvaita philosophy

• Emphasizes that the world is real and not just an illusion.
• The soul is bound to this world through ignorance
• The way for the soul to release itself from this bondage is to seek the grace of Sri Hari
• To reach Sri Hari, one has to practice Bhakthi, there is no other way
• To practice Bhakthi, one needs to meditate
• To meditate, one needs to clear the mind and attain detachment by studying the sacred texts

SNIPPETS:

Protest in Thrissur District of Kerala against kalkazhukichoottu ritual was conducted. Kalkazhukichoottuis a ritual of washing the feet of Brahmins and feeding them. It is said the ritual is meant to get rid of the sins committed with or without one’s knowledge.