GS PAPER II
Right to protest
Why in News
Recently, the Delhi High Court released a verdict that “the right to protest and express dissent has a fundamental stature” in a democracy.
Key Points
According to the court, the right to protest and express dissent is a right which occupies a fundamental stature in a democratic polity, and therefore, the sole act of protesting should not be employed as a weapon to justify the incarceration of those who are exercising this right.- The high court said it is the constitutional duty of the court to ensure that there is no arbitrary deprivation of personal liberty in the face of excess state power.
- The high court said bail jurisprudence attempts to bridge the gap between personal liberty of an accused and ensuring that social security remains intact.
- It is egregious and against the principles enshrined in our Constitution to allow an accused to remain languishing behind bars during the pendency of the trial. Therefore, the court, while deciding an application for grant of bail, must traverse this intricate path very carefully and thus take multiple factors into consideration before arriving at a reasoned order whereby it grants or rejects bail.
- The verdict of the Delhi High Court came in response to the ‘Delhi Riots 2020’.
Fundamental Rights
- Fundamental Rights enshrined in Part-3 of the Indian Constitution under article 12-35, which described as the Magna Carta of India.
- There are six fundamental rights in the Indian Constitution:
- Right to equality (Articles 14-18),
- Right to freedom (Articles 19-22),
- Right against exploitation (Articles 23-24),
- Right to freedom of religion (Articles 25-28),
- Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29-30) and
- Right to constitutional remedies (Article 32 and 226).
- Originally, it had seven Fundamental Rights and seventh Fundamental Right was ‘Right to Property’, but it was removed by the 44th Constitutional Amendment Act of 1978. It is made a legal right under Article 300-A in Part XII of the Constitution.
- Fundamental rights are very different from ordinary legal rights in the manner in which they are enforced.
- Some of the fundamental rights are available to all citizens whereas, few of them are for both, nationals as well as alien persons.
- These rights are:
- Right to equality (Articles 14-18): Right to equality, including equality before law, prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth, and equality of opportunity in matters of employment.
- Right to freedom (Articles 19-22): Right to freedom of speech and expression, assembly, association or union, movement, residence, and right to practice any profession or occupation (some of these rights are subject to security of the State, friendly relations with foreign countries, public order, decency or morality).
- Right against exploitation (Articles 23-24): Right against exploitation, prohibiting all forms of forced labour, child labour and traffic in human beings.
- Right to freedom of religion (Articles 25-28): Right to freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion.
- Cultural and educational rights (Articles 29-30): Right of any section of citizens to conserve their culture, language or script, and right of minorities to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice; and
- Right to constitutional remedies (Article 32 and 226): Right to constitutional remedies for enforcement of Fundamental Rights.
Feature of Fundamental Rights
- Fundamental rights are not absolute rights. They have reasonable restrictions, which mean they are subject to the conditions of state security, public morality and decency and friendly relations with foreign countries.
- They are justiciable and enforceable by courts.
- Fundamental rights can be amended by the Parliament by a constitutional amendment but only if the amendment does not alter the basic structure of the Constitution.
- Fundamental rights can be suspended during a national emergency. But, the rights guaranteed under Articles 20 and 21 are the exceptions.
GS PAPER II
Collegium System of Appointment of Judges
Why in News
With getting nine newly appointed judges by the President of India, the Collegium system of topmost Judges recommended 68 more names as judges of various High Courts.
Key Points
- Out of the 68, there are 44 from the Bar and 24 from the judicial service.
- On the way to create history in gender representation in the judiciary yet again, the Collegium recommended a woman judicial officer belonging to the Scheduled Tribes, Marli Vankung, as judge of the Guwahati High Court. If the government approves the recommendation, she would be the first ever High Court judge from the State of Mizoram.
Collegium System of Appointment of Judges
- Articles 124(2) and 217 of the Constitution govern the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts respectively. Under both provisions, the President has the power to make the appointments “after consultation with such of the Judges of the Supreme Court and of the High Courts in the States as the President may deem necessary”.
- The system evolved with the time:
- First Judges Case of (1981): The Supreme Court ruled that the President does not require the “concurrence” of the CJI in appointment of judges.
- The ruling affirmed the pre-eminence of the executive in making appointments, but was overturned 12 years later in the Second Judges Case.
- Second Judges Case (1993): In the this case, a nine-judge Constitution Bench evolved the ‘collegium system’ for appointment and transfer of judges in the higher judiciary.
- The court underlined that the deviation from the text of the Constitution was to guard the independence of the judiciary from the executive and protect its integrity.
- Third Judges Case (1998): On the President’s reference, the Supreme Court expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.
- The ruling on this established a quorum and majority vote in the collegium to make recommendations to the President.
Working of collegium system
- The Supreme Court collegium is chaired by the Chief Justice of India and comprises four other senior most judges of the court, and similarly with the High Court collegium is led by its Chief Justice and four other senior most judges of that court.
- They recommend the name of judges to the Central Government. Similarly, the Central Government recommend the names to the Collegium.
- As per the recommendation, the President of India appoints the CJI and the other SC judges.
- Similarly, the Chief Justice of the high court is appointed by the President in consultation with the Governor.
GS PAPER II
New Development Bank (NDB)
Why in News
The New Development Bank (NDB) recently admitted United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Bangladesh as its new members.
New Development Bank (NDB)
- New Development Bank, formerly known as the BRICS Development Bank, was founded in 2015 at BRICS Tower in Shanghai, China.
- It was established by the BRICS countries – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
- The idea of setting up the bank was proposed by India during the 4th BRICS summit in 2012, which was hosted by New Delhi.
- Objective of the bank is to contribute to the development plans established nationally through socially, environmentally and economically sustainable projects.
- Since its launch, the New Development Bank has signed almost 80 projects worth $30 billion in all of its five member countries stretching across different sectors including water, sanitation, transport, clean energy and digital and social infrastructure.
- The bank mainly supports public or private projects through loans, guarantees, equity participation and other financial instruments.
- All members of the United Nations can be the members of the bank but the share of the BRICS nations can never be less than 55% of voting power.
Significance of adding new members in BRICS Bank
- New members will aid the ‘New Development Bank’ to foster their cooperation in infrastructure and sustainable development.
About BRICS
- BRICS is the acronym coined to associate five major emerging economies: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa.
- The BRICS members are known for their significant influence on regional affairs.
- Originally, it was established as a group of four economies i.e., “BRIC” in 2006.
- Later, in 2010, South Africa was inducted as the fifth member and became “BRICS”.
- Four out of five members are among the world’s ten largest countries by population and by area, except for South Africa, the twenty-fourth in both.
- They held its first meeting in 2009 and since then, the governments of the BRICS states have met annually at formal summits.
- Bilateral relations among BRICS states are conducted mainly based on non-interference, equality, and mutual benefit.
GS PAPER II
Partnership for a Rules-Based Order in the Indo-Pacific
Why in News
During the panel discussion on ‘Partnership for a rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific’, the Union Ministry of External Affairs informed that ‘India will engage with all the 27 European Union members on Indo-Pacific’.
Key Points
- The Union Ministry of External Affairs also stated that, ‘India sees to strengthen its relations with the European Union while refuting the Western-Non-Western binary’.
- Slovenia, which currently holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, has invited India to attend an informal meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of EU Member States on 3rd September, 2021.
- External Affairs Minister (EAM) visiting 3 central European countries namely Slovenia, Croatia, and Denmark from September 2 to 5, 2021, to review the bilateral relationship with the 3 central European countries.
- The focus of the discussions is likely to be on developments in Afghanistan and the Indo-Pacific.
- The EU is also expected to unveil its Indo-Pacific strategy in September.
GS PAPER III
Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV)
Why in News
India and the US have signed an agreement for cooperation in the development of Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV), to expand their bilateral defence and military cooperation.
Air-Launched Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (ALUAV)
- The pact falls under the ambit of the Research, Development, Testing and Evaluation (RDT&E) agreement between India and US that was first signed in 2006 and renewed in January 2015.
- The Project Agreement (PA) for ALUAV was signed on 30th July, 2021, under the overall framework of the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).
- The PA outlines the collaboration between Air Force Research Laboratory, Indian Air Force, and Defence Research and Development Organisation towards design, development, demonstration, testing and evaluation of systems to co-develop an ALUAV prototype.
- The main aim of DTTI is to bring sustained leadership focus to promote collaborative technology exchange and create opportunities for co-production and co-development of future technologies for Indian and US military forces.
- Under DTTI, joint working groups on land, naval, air, and aircraft carrier technologies have been established to focus on mutually agreed projects in each of these areas.
- The PA for co-development of ALUAV has been overseen by the Joint Working Group on Air Systems and is a major accomplishment for DTTI.
India-US defence ties
- India-US defence ties have been on an upswing in the last few years.
- In June 2016, the US had designated India as a “Major Defence Partner.”
- The two countries have also signed key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016.
- It allows their militaries to use each other’s bases for repair and replenishment of supplies as well as provides for deeper cooperation.
- The two sides have also signed COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018.
- It provides for interoperability between the two militaries and the sale of high-end technology from the US to India.
- In October 2020, India and the US sealed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) agreement.
- BECA will boost bilateral defence ties. The pact provides for sharing of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps between the two countries.