IAS Exam Current Affairs Study Material May 2017 - Vol 1

CURRENT AFFAIRS – MARCH 2017

PAPER – II 

1 POLITY

1.1 Hung Assembly -Goa & Manipur

1.2 Demanding St Status –Narikuravars

1.3 Vote Tampering in EVMS

1.4 Electoral Bonds

1.5 Special Category Status

1.6 Babri Masjid Issue

GS PAPER II 

1. POLITY

1.1 HUNG ASSEMBLY - GOA & MANIPUR

Why in news?

Governor  of  Goa  ignored  the  established  principle  of  inviting  the  single  largest  party  and appointed  BJP  leader Manohar Parrikar as the Chief Minister.

What is the situation?

• The Congress has won 17 seats in Goa and the BJP has 13 MLAs in a House of 40. 
• The  Governor  did  not  consult  the  single  largest  party  and  invited  BJP,  who  formed  an alliance,  to  form  the government.
• A similar situation has developed in Manipur.
• Its Governor invited the BJP and allies to form the government, which won fewer seats than the Congress.
• These parties did not fight the election as part of a coalition.
• So the Congress should have been invited first.
• The BJP‘s claim should have been considered only if the Congress pleaded inability or failed the floor test.
• It should not be based on who forms the alliance faster.
• Speed  cannot be  the overriding  or  pressing  consideration  for the  governor while assessing a party‘s claim to form government.
• Therefore decisions by both the Governors reflect partisanship.

What are Sarkaria Commission recommendations?

The  Constitution  of  India  does  not  mandate  any  procedure  to  be  followed  by  the  Governor, in  case  of  hung assembly.

The  convention  of  inviting  the  single  largest  party  in  such  a  case  has  been  outlined  by  the  Sarkaria Commission, which studied Centre-state relations in the 1980s. 

It specifically dealt with the situation where no single party obtained absolute majority. 

It provided the order of preference the Governor should follow in selecting a CM in such a situation –

1.An alliance of parties that was formed prior to the elections. 

2.The  single  largest  party staking  a  claim  to  form  the  government  with  the  support  of  others, including independents. 

3. A post-electoral coalition of parties, with all the partners in the coalition joining the government. 

4. A post - electoral alliance of parties, with some of the parties in the alliance forming a government and  the remaining parties, including independents, supporting the government from outside.

They were affirmed by a Constitution Bench of the SC in Rameshwar Prasad v Union of India in 2005.

What are Punchhi Commission recommendations?

• The  Justice  M.M.  Punchhi  Commission  on  Centre-State  Relations  in  2010  laid  down  some  guidelines  to  be followed in the appointment of a chief minister by a governor. 
• It also said the governor should invite the leader of ―a pre-poll alliance commanding the largest number or the ―largest single party‖ to form the government in case no party or pre-poll coalition has a clear majority. 
• According to Bommai judgment, such a CM must prove the majority on the floor of the assembly.

What was SC’s ruling?

• Congress filed a petition challenged the Governor‘s decision in the Supreme Court.
• SC asked the BJP government in Goa to prove its majority within 48 hours, instead of the 15 days‘ time given by the Governor. 
• But it was a half-measure. 
• It should have upheld the principle of inviting the single largest party first.

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1.2 DEMANDING ST STATUS – NARIKURAVARS

What is the issue?

• The Constitution ensures certain protection and benefits for communities deemed as having Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. 
• Social and political mobilisation has led to the increase of number of STs 225 in 1960 to 700 today.
• As the number of communities demanding ST status expands, it brings the criteria of the recognition and the legitimacy of the process under scrutiny.

What does the constitution say?

• The Constitution only states that STs are specified by the President after consultation with the Governor.
• It does not define or specify a particular criterion.
• According to the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the criterion includes 

1.Indication of ―primitive traits, 

2.Distinctive culture, 

3.Geographical isolation, 

4.―Shyness of connect with the community at large &

5.―Backwardness

Who are Narikuravars?

• Many communities try to prove themselves as meeting the criteria, to avail of the benefits of being accorded ST status.
• One such group is Narikuravar. 
• They are a semi-nomadictribe, originating in Northern India before migrating south to TamilNadu.
• They share religious, cultural, and political characteristics of the Roma groups in Europe
• Traditionally hunters, they were mostly providing security for kings.
• However, once invaders took over they became nomadic and retreated into forests, where they preserved their traditions. 
• When  hunting  became  illegal,  they startedliving at  the  margins  of  the  society  in  dire  poverty,  making  and selling small ornaments.

What is their present socio-economic status?

• It has high levels of illiteracy, multiple health challenges, and unemployment. 
• Currently, there are about 8,500 Narikuravar families in Tamil Nadu i.e less than 1% of their population.
• The government classifies them as a Most Backward Class community.
• Such  a  classification  leads to  the  assumption  that they  have  a  higher  chance  of being  above  the  poverty  line than communities recognised as STs.
• Due  to  this  classification,  they  have  been  competing  for  access  to  government  benefits  with  nineteen  other larger communities with higher socio-economic status. 

Do they satisfy the criteria for STs?

• Their nomadism across rural and urban areas is against the criteria of “geographical isolation”. 
• Narikuravar sell their products to the community at large. So they might not display “shyness of connect‟. 
• But since these criteria are not explicit, it is difficult for the community to formulate clear political demands. 

What does it signify?

• The betterment of obviously disadvantaged groups like Narikuravar rests on discretionary political acts. 
• This is because there is no well-developed, transparent criterion and a clear definition of what makes groups eligible for ST status.
• Such criteria with specific economic and social data should be developed.
• It can help compare communities requesting ST status with other STs and to the Indian population at large.

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1.3 VOTE TAMPERING IN EVMS

Why in news?

BahujanSamaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati decided to move court against the alleged tampering of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).

Why EVMs can’t be tampered?

• Connectivity - Indian EVMs are not connected to the internet, so hackers cannot tamper with Indian EVMs.
• Scale - The BBC report that an American had hacked Indian EVMs is false. The American opened one EVM, changed some parts, and hacked the new parts he had put in the machine. It is impossible to access hundreds of thousands of EVMs in India. 
• Security - They are also guarded by troops and by representatives of all political parties as well.
• Sequence – It  isn't  possible  to  programme  the  EVM  at  the  manufacturing  stage  to  record  all  votes  for  one candidate. Nobody knows what order the candidates or parties will be listed on the EVM till after the last date of withdrawing nomination papers. That means the order of buttons is known for about two week. It would be far too little time to manipulate the buttons. 
• Specific  EVMs  are  assigned  to  constituencies  in  a  randomized  matter  pretty  late  in  the  day, and  in  the presence of representatives of all parties.
• Ballot  paper-based  voting  is  subject  to  much more fiddling  and  manipulation. A party  can  capture  polling booths and stamp all the ballot papers in their favour. 

What can be done?

• Election Commission has devised EVMs with a paper trail called Voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT).
• In  this  a  voter  immediately  gets  a  printout  of  her  vote,  which  is  then  deposited  in  the  ballot  box. So, every voter can see whether her vote has been registered correctly.
• This can be used to recheck in case of controversy.
• This can be used to mitigate the suspicions. 

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1.4 ELECTORAL BONDS

Why in news?

Electoral Bonds have been proposed as a way of reforming election funding in the Union Budget 2017.

What is an Electoral Bond?

• Electoral bonds will be issued by a notified bank for specified denominations.
• Those  who  want to  donate  to  a  political  party  can  buy  these  bonds  by making  payments  digitally  or  through cheque.
• Then they are free to gift the bond to any registered political party. 
• The bonds will likely be bearer bonds & the identity the donor will not be known to the receiver.
• The party can convert these bonds back into money via their bank accounts. 
• The  bank  account used  must be  the  one  notified  to  the  Election  Commission  and  the  bonds  may  have  to  be redeemed within a prescribed time period.
• The issuing bank will remain custodian of  donor‘s funds until political party redeems the bond. 

Why is it important?

• Most  political  parties  use  the  negligent  regime  on  donations  to  accept  cash  donations  from  anonymous sources.
• Nearly 70% of the ₹11,300 crore in party funding over the past 11-year period came from unknown sources.
• Currently, political parties are required to report any donation of over ₹20,000 to the IT department. 
• But there has been a trend of more donations flowing by way of hard cash in smaller amounts. 
• To fix this, the Budget has proposed to reduce the disclosure limit to ₹2,000 and insists that any amount over this must be paid through cheque or the digital mode. 
• The  idea  is  that  electoral  bonds  will  prompt  donors  to  take  the  banking  route  to  donate,  with  their  identity captured by the issuing authority.

What are the problems in electoral bond?

• While  the  identity  of  the  donor  is  captured,  it  is  not  revealed  to  the  party  or  public.  So  transparency  is  not enhanced for the voter.
• Also income tax breaks may not be available for donations through electoral bonds. 
• This pushes the donor to choose between remaining anonymous and saving on taxes.
• Also privacy of the donor is compromised as the bank will know their identity.

1.5 SPECIAL CATEGORY STATUS

What is the issue?

Manipur is about to lose the special status on the basis of the Fourteenth Finance Commission recommendations.

What is Special Category Status?

• The Constitution does not include any provision for categorisation of any State in India as a  Special Category Status (SCS) State.
• SCS was introduced by Fifth Finance Commission in 1969. 
• It provides for additional Central assistance and tax concessions.
• What kind of assistance do SCS States receive?
•   Following the constitution of  the NITI Aayog and the recommendations of the 14th Finance  Commission  (FFC), Central plan assistance to SCS States has been subsumed in an increased devolution of the divisible pool to all States.
• They enjoy concessions in excise and customs duties and income tax rates.
•   Besides,  assistance  to  Centrally  Sponsored  Schemes  for  SCS  States  was  given  with  90%  Central  share  and  10% State share.

Why A.P. claimed for SCS status recently?

• Following the bifurcation of A.P., Andhra lost a large volume of its revenue due to Hyderabad remaining the capital of Telangana.
• In a 2014, the then Prime Minister of India had said that SCS would be extended to the successor State of Andhra Pradesh for a period of five years.
• This oral submission has been the basis for A.P.‘s claim to the status.

What has been the Centre’s response to A.P.?

• A.P. does not qualify as a Special Category State. It has neither geographical disadvantages nor historical disadvantages such as socio-economic and infrastructural backwardness. 
• Hence offering it the SCS would give impetus to every other state to demand for the same.
• Instead,Centre announced a package to grant special assistance to Andhra Pradesh.
• Here an amount equivalent to what the state might have got as a special category state will be compensated by Centre through externally aided projec ts for five years.
• The special package offered meets most of the reasonable expectations of a State struggling to  recover from bifurcation and dealing with the imminent loss of the capital city and its revenues.
• It included Polavaram irrigation project declared a national project i.e Centre would meet the financial needs.
• Also,  Central  Board  of  Direct  Taxes  (CBDT)  would  issue  two  specific  notifications  on  tax  concessions being extended to A.P.

What does it mean for Manipur?

• Loss of special category status would mean that Manipur would no more get the 90% Central grants assistance.
• It  would  now  get  only  30%  Central  grant  and the  remaining  has  to be  either  arranged  by itself  or  taken  as  loan from the Centre.
• Chief Minister of Manipur acknowledged the hit on state‘s finances due to restructuring of central assistance to the state.
• Even though higher devolution of taxes was positive for the state‘s finances, it was not enough to meet the state‘s Plan revenue expenditure.

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1.6 BABRI MASJID ISSUE

Why in news?

Chief Justice of India said the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suits were a matter of sentiments and religion‘ that were best resolved amicably, preferably without intervention by the courts.

What the CJI has said?

• In  2010,  the  Lucknow  Bench  of  the  Allahabad  High  Court  directed  that  the  site  occupied  by the  Babri  Masjid before its demolition should be divided three ways equally among Muslims, Hindus and Nirmohi Akharagroup of Hindu Sadhus.
• Recently a three-judge bench heard a petition by a BJP MP challenging the 2010 ruling to split the disputed land. 
• The Supreme Court suggested an out-of-court settlement since it‘s a matter of religion and sentiments.
• CJI said the court will ask any person to mediate who is acceptable to all sides.
• However, at least 5 earlier attempts at resolving the decades-old quarrel through  negotiations have not been successful.

What’s the dispute?

• It is about a plot measuring 2.77 acres in Ayodhya that houses the Babri mosque and Ram Janmabhoomi.
• This land is considered sacred among Hindus as believed the birthplace of Lord Ram.
• Muslims  argue  that  the  land  houses  Babri  mosque,  where  they  had  offered  prayers  for  years before  the  dispute erupted.
• The controversy is over whether the Babri mosque was built on top of a Ram temple after demolishing or modifying it in the 16th century.
• Muslims, on the other hand, say the mosque was built by Mir Baqi in 1528 and that Hindus took control over it in 1949, when some people placed idols of Lord Ram inside the mosque.

What are some of the important incidents happened?

• In 1853, he first recorded incident of violence over the holy site takes place during the reign of NawabWajid Ali Shah of Awadh.
• In 1984, Hindu groups form a committee to spearhead the construction of the Ram temple at the Janmabhoomi site.
• In 1990, Volunteers of the VHP partially damage the mosque.
• The then PM intervenes and tries to resolve the issue through negotiations, but these fail.
• On  6  December  1992,a  large  crowd  of  Hindu  karsevaks  (volunteers)  demolished  the 16th-century  Babri Mosque in the city of Ayodhya. The demolition occurred after a political rally at the site turned violent.
• This leads to some of the most deadliest riots across the country, leading to the deaths of more than 2,000 people.
• On  6  December  1992,a  large  crowd  of  Hindu  karsevaks  (volunteers)  demolished  the 16th-century  Babri Mosque in the city of Ayodhya. The demolition occurred after a political rally at the site turned violent.
• This leads to some of the most deadliest riots across the country, leading to the deaths of more than 2,000 people.The  central  government,  headed  by  P  V  NarasimhaRao, sets  up  a commission  of  enquiry  under  Justice  M  S Liberhan on December 16.
• The  High  Court  orders  the  Archaeological  Survey  of  India (ASI)  to  excavate  the  site to determine  if  it  was earlier a temple.
• The ASI begins the survey to determine whether a temple existed on the site.
• It finds evidence of the presence of a temple under the mosque. Muslim organisations dispute the findings.
• In 2010, the Allahabad High Court pronounces its judgment on the four title suits relating to the dispute and said that the disputed land be divided into three parts equally.

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