Current Affair 1:

Preventive Detention

 

Under Section 151 of The Criminal Procedure Code, 1973 (CrPC) preventive detention is action taken on grounds of suspicion that some wrong actions may be done by the person concerned.

A police officer can arrest an individual without orders from a Magistrate and without any warrant if he gets any information that such an individual can commit any offense.

Article 22 of the Indian Constitution provides protection against arrest and detention in certain cases.

Does the constitution provide any safeguard against misuse of preventive detention?

The clause (2) of Article 22 reads, “Every person who is arrested and detained in custody shall be produced before the nearest magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of such arrest excluding the time necessary for the journey from the place of arrest to the court of the magistrate and no such person shall be detained in custody beyond the said period without the authority of a magistrate.”

The clause (4) of the article states that no individual can be detained for more than 3 months unless a bench of High court judges or an Advisory board decides to extend the date.

The clause (5) of the Article 22 states that the detained individual should be made aware of the grounds he/she has been detained (in pursuance of the order) and should provide him/her with an opportunity of making a representation against the case.

Now,

It is a matter of irony that the makers of our Constitution, who themselves were once victims of the tyranny of preventive detention laws, still chose to grant powers to governments under the Constitution to enact such laws.

Under Entry 9 of List I (better known as the ‘Union List’), Parliament has the exclusive power to enact a law for preventive detention for the reasons connected with defence, foreign affairs, or security of India. On the other hand, under Entry 3 of List III (better known as the ‘Concurrent List’), both Parliament and State Legislature have powers to enact such laws for the reasons related to maintenance of public order or maintenance of supplies or services essential to the community.

 

Now, if questions come, where PD laws were prevalent during British Rule too?? Answer is Yes.

After independence:

Shortly after gaining independence, India got its first preventive detention law, the Preventive Detention Act, 1950 (PDA). PDA was initially effective for one year, but was allowed to continue till 1969.

Since then, India has periodically enacted various such laws. One of the most prominent among them is the Maintenance of Internal Security Act, 1971 (MISA). MISA is infamous for its use during the Emergency period in the 1970s to arrest opposition party leaders. MISA remained effective till 1978.

 

Two years later, the National Security Act, 1980 (NSA) was enacted which continues to be effective to date. Therefore, barring the two short periods of 1970-71 and 1978-80, India has always at least one preventive detention law in place.

Now, recent judgement:

Current Affair 2:

Inland Vessels Bill, 2021 Passed in Parliament

 

The Rajya Sabha has passed the Inland Vessels Bill, 2021 to introduce a uniform regulatory framework for inland vessel navigation across the country. The Bill, which will repeal the Inland Vessels Act of 1917, was passed by the Lok Sabha last week.

As per Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, the 2021 Bill also promotes cheaper and safer navigation, and ensures protection of life and cargo.

The statement of objects annexed to the Bill states that the new proposed framework is different from the Act of 1917 in terms of its intent to— (i) promote economical, safe transportation and trade through inland waters; (ii) bring uniformity in application of law relating to inland waterways and navigation within the country; (iii) provide for prevention of pollution that may be caused by the use or navigation of inland vessels; etc.

Salient Features:

The Bill:

1. Empowers Central Government to provide uniformly the applicable standards for seamless and safe navigation of inland vessels by rules;
2. Empowers State Governments to declare by notification any inland water area into Zones depending on the maximum significant wave height criteria
3. Empowers Central Government to provide the standards to classify and categories mechanically propelled inland vessels, standards and processes involved in registration of vessels, standards for identification and categorization of special category vessels, issuance of certificate of registry, training and minimum manning scales by rules
4. Enables State Governments to implement the provisions in compliance with the standards and measures as may be provided by rules by the Central Government
5. Provides for a central data base, e-portal for registration and crew data base
6. Provides for new requirements of life safety, fire safety, navigational aids and communication appliances by rules to be made by the Central Government
7. Empowers Central Government to provide the permissible limits of discharge of certain pollutants, such as sewage and to provide for issue of prevention of pollution certificate as a compliance requirement by rules
8. Provides for wreck and salvage and to empower the State Governments to appoint Receiver of Wreck
9. Introduces provisions regarding principles of liability and limitation of liability, which improvises and expands the concept of insurance to ensure secure trade and trade practices
10. Introduces improvised provisions pertaining to casualties and investigation and also to provide for preliminary inquiry and formal investigation
11. Provides for revised penalties and punishments so as to ensure deterrence of wrong doers and compliance with the provisions
12. Introduces a new Chapter to make provisions for regulation and governance of the unregulated sector of non-mechanically propelled inland vessels, and to empower the State Governments to provide for the minimum regulations on such non-mechanically propelled inland vessels
13. Provides for composition of offences punishable with fine only.

The Bill will now be presented before the President for his assent.

Current Affair 3:

Constitutional and Legal Provisions Safeguarding Regional Languages

 

Article 29 (Protection of interests of minorities) gives all citizens right to conserve their language and prohibits discrimination on the basis of language.

Article 120 (Language to be used in Parliament) provides for use of Hindi or English for transactions of Parliament but gives the right to members of Parliament to express themselves in their mother tongue.

Part XVII of the Indian Constitution deals with the official languages in Articles 343 to 351.

Article 350A (Facilities for instruction in mother-tongue at primary stage) provides that it shall be the endeavour of every State and of every local authority within the State to provide adequate facilities for instruction in the mother-tongue at the primary stage of education to children belonging to linguistic minority groups.

Article 350B (Special Officer for linguistic minorities): The President should appoint a special officer for linguistic minorities to investigate all matters relating to the constitutional safeguards for linguistic minorities and to report to him. The President should place all such reports before the Parliament and send to the state government concerned.

Article 351 (Directive for development of the Hindi language) provides that it shall be the duty of the Union to promote the spread of the Hindi language.

The Eighth Schedule recognizes following 22 languages: Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Konkani, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, Bodo, Santhali, Maithili and Dogri.

Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009 says that the medium of instruction shall, as far as practicable, be in a child’s mother tongue.

 

Current Affair 4:

Monoculture in Agriculture

 

A very basic knowledge.

Monoculture farming means that on a given agricultural land is grown only one species of a crop at a time. If two or more species are sown in the field together (for example beans and corn), it is not a monoculture but a polyculture system.

It is important to know that we still call it monoculture even if this single crop species is replaced by a different crop in the next growing season.

In many parts of the world, biodiverse agricultural landscapes have been, or are being, replaced by large areas of monoculture, farmed using large quantities of external inputs such as pesticides, mineral fertilizers and fossil fuels.

Why monoculture is advantageous?

1. By cultivating the same species, farmers can optimize their operations given that growing requirements, planting, maintenance (including pest control) and harvesting will be the same across the farmed land. This allows for planning ahead, taking time off and being prepared for each growing season when it’s needed.
2. Specialization also enables farmers to develop in-depth knowledge and direct experience about their specific crops or livestock. This is a great advantage in preventing significant losses before they happen, as farmers may recognize warning signs of a disease right at the beginning or know how to mitigate damage caused by unexpected weather.

Why monoculture is a problem?

Continuous monoculture, or “monocropping” where the same species is grown year after year, can lead to unsustainable environments such as building up disease pressure and reducing particular nutrients in the soil.

If a single variety is widely grown, a pest or disease to which it lacks resistance can lead to a dramatic fall in production. If livelihoods are heavily dependent on the species in question, the effects can be disastrous. Examples:

1. The 1840 potato blight famine in Ireland
2. The 20th century losses in cereals in the United States
3. Losses of taro production in Samoa in the 1990s

So, we need to diversify: Why?

Diversifying crop cultivation, reduces risk of economic shocks: “Integrating intercrops, hedgerows or cover crops, particularly legumes, into a system can reduce drought stress by helping to conserve water in the soil profile and help to replenish depleted soil fertility.”

Also, “crop diversification, including rotation and intercropping and the use of diverse forage plants in pastureland, can reduce pest damage and weed invasions.”

 

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