SC stays implementation of farm laws
Paper:
Mains: G.S. II Polity and Governance
Why in news?
The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, stayed the implementation of the three controversial Farm Laws against which farmers, particularly from north Indian States of Punjab and Haryana, have been protesting at Delhi borders since November 2020.
Key details
- The three laws, Farmers (Empowerment & Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance & Farm Services Act 2020, Farmers Produce Trade & Commerce (Promotion & Facilitation) Act & Amendment to Essential Commodities Act have been stayed until further orders.
- The Court also ordered the formation of a four-member committee to hear all the parties and stakeholders and submit a report to the Court about the same.
- The committee will comprise Bhupinder Singh Mann (National President of Bharatiya Kisan Union), Dr. Pramod Kumar Joshi, Ashok Gulati (Agricultural Economist) and Anil Ghanwat (President of Shetkari Sanghatana).
- While the exact scope of powers of the committee are not known yet, CJI Bobde during the hearing said that all those who are interested in solving the issue can go before the committee to present their arguments.
- Making a sensational submission before the Supreme Court, Attorney General (AG) KK Venugopal told the court that the Khalistan supporters have infiltrated the farmers’ protest.
- In its affidavit filed before the top court on Monday, the Central government claimed that the Farm Laws are a result of two decades of deliberation and that “wrong perception created by non-farmer elements” about the laws needs to be cleared.
- With this judgement of the SC once again, the issue of judicial overreach has come to the forefront.
- There is a thin line dividing judicial activism and judicial overreach. While the former implies the use of judicial power to articulate and enforce what is beneficial for the society in general, the latter is when judicial activism crosses its limit.
CJI against resuming physical bearings
Paper:
Mains: G.S. II Polity and Governance
Why in news?
CJI S.A. Bobde said, the court did not want to be a cause of fatalities due to spread of Covid-19, and disagreed with the idea of physical hearings in the SC.
Key details
- The bench cited instances of High Courts which had to close down after resuming physical courts as Covid-19 began to spread.
- Ruling out any reopening of physical courts for the present, a three-judge bench headed by the CJI remarked, “We are facing problems in virtual court hearings for almost a year now. But we have also received medical advice from medical authorities that it is dangerous for people to congregate at this time. If physical courts are started, the number of fatalities will increase.”
- Solicitor General Tushar Mehta lauded the Court for keeping the Courts open through the difficult time of the pandemic by ensuring access to justice for litigants through virtual court proceedings.
- Virtual hearings, though forced by the global pandemic, are “as good as Open Court Hearings”.
- Virtual/digital justice is cheaper and faster besides addressing locational and economic handicaps.
- Virtual courts are an improvement over traditional courts as they are more citizen-friendly and offer greater access to justice.
- The productivity of lawyers will increase substantially as there will be no regular visits to courts and long waiting hours. If this practice is extended to other civil cases, efficiency will double, even treble, in judicial functioning.
Inflation slows to 4.59% as food prices ease
Paper:
Mains: G.S.III Indian Economy
Why in news?
Data released by NSO shows that India’s retail inflation decelerated appreciably to 4.59% in December, from 6.93% in November, dipping beneath 6% for the primary time since March 2020 as food prices cooled.
Key details
- NSO data confirmed that a nascent industrial restoration, which had begun in September, retreated in November as industrial output shrank 1.9%.
- The lowest consumer price inflation (CPI) print in 14 months was pushed by an sharp slowdown in food value inflation, which eased to 3.4% in December, from the previous month’s 9.5% .
- India’s index of industrial production (IIP) for November was dragged decrease by mining and manufacturing, which each shrank, as per fast estimates.
- The November data once again shows that the uptick witnessed in the month of September and October was due to a combination of festive and pent-up demand and the recovery is still shallow and fragile.
- Vegetable prices witnessed a 10.4% deflation in December, in contrast with inflation of 15.5% inflation in November. An accompanying moderation within the inflation charges for meat and fish, eggs and pulses, helped the patron food value index report its slowest tempo of enhance in 16 months at 3.4%.
- Core inflation too eased marginally to 5.5% in December, serving to general inflation reasonable after having remained above the central financial institution’s tolerance band for value positive aspects — of plus or minus two proportion factors from its medium-term goal of 4%.
- A consumer price index measures changes in the price level of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. A CPI is a statistical estimate constructed using the prices of a sample of representative items whose prices are collected periodically.
- The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) is an index for India which details out the growth of various sectors in an economy such as mineral mining, electricity and manufacturing.
- Core inflation represents the long run trend in the price level. In measuring long run inflation, transitory price changes should be excluded. One way of accomplishing this is by excluding items frequently subject to volatile prices, like food and energy.
No compromise on sovereign equality in engagement with India or China: Oli
Paper:
Mains: G.S. II International Relations
Why in news?
Ahead of Nepalese Foreign Minister’s visit to India, PM KP Sharma Oli said that his country will not compromise in sovereign equality with either India or China.
Key details
- Talks between India and China are likely to be centered on border issues.
- The area of Limpiyadhura, Lipulekh and Kalapani is the territory of Nepal, is a very sacred part of Nepal, 68-year-old Oli was quoted.
- We are not in position to claim the territory of China or India. But we must claim our territory with our friends,” said Oli.
- After Nepal released the map last year, India reacted sharply, calling it a “unilateral act” and cautioning Kathmandu that such “artificial enlargement” of territorial claims will not be acceptable to it.
- India said that Nepal’s action violated an understanding reached between the two countries to resolve the boundary issues through talks.
- Oli also claimed that some elements of India are hatching a conspiracy to unseat him from office, but he ruled out Chinese hand in Nepal’s internal politics.
- “We love our independence and freedom to decide on our internal affairs, and we don’t want any type of interference from outside, from north or south,” said Oli, referring to China and India.
- India has described Oli’s sudden decision to dissolve Parliament and call for fresh elections as an “internal matter” that is for the country to decide as per its democratic processes.