Daily Current Affairs for 11th January 2023

DELEGATED LEGISLATION

Why in News?

IN UPHOLDING the Centre’s 2016 decision on demonetisation, one of the key questions to decide for the Supreme Court was whether Parliament gave excessive powers to the Centre under the law to demonetise currency. While the majority ruling upheld the validity of the delegated legislation,the dissenting verdict noted that excessive delegation of power is arbitrary.

What Is Delegated Legislation?

• Parliament routinely delegates certain functions to authorities established by law,since every aspect cannot be dealt directly by the lawmakers themselves.
• This delegation of powers is noted in statutes, which are commonly referred to as delegated legislations.
• The Delegated Legislation Would Specify operational details, giving power to those executing the details.
• Regulations and by-laws under legislations are classic examples of delegated legislation.
• A 1973 SC ruling explains the concept as: “The practice of empowering the Executive to make subordinate legislation within a prescribed sphere has evolved out of practical necessity and pragmatic needs of a modern welfare State.
• At the same time it has to be borne in mind that our Constitution-makers have entrusted the power of legislation to the representatives of the people, so that the said power may be exercised not only in the name of the people but also by the people speaking through their representatives.
• The role against excessive delegation of legislative authority flows from and is a necessary postulate of the sovereignty of the people.

What was the delegation here?

• Section 26(2) of the Reserve Bank of India Act,1934 gives powers to the Centre to notify that a particular denomination of currency ceases to be legal tender.
• The provision reads: “On recommendation of the Central Board the Central Government may, by notification in the Gazette of India,declare,with effect from such date as may be specified in the notification,any series of banknotes of any denomination shall cease to be legal tender.”
• Here, Parliament, which enacted the RBI Act, is essentially delegating the power to alter the nature of legal tender to the Centre. The Centre exercised that power by issuing a gazette notification, which is essentially the legislative basis for the demonetisation exercise.

Whywas this challenged?

• The Challenge Was: “In the event that Section 26(2) is held to permit demonetisation, does it suffer from excessive delegation of legislative power thereby rendering it ultra vires theConstitution?”
• The Constitution gives lawmaking powers toParliament.Whileoperational aspects can be delegated to statutory bodies,essential powers cannot be delegated. Also, the delegation must be with sufficient guidelines on how the power can be used.
• The Petitioners in the demonetisation case argued that since Section26(2) contains no policy guidelines on how the Centre can exercise its powers, it is arbitrary and therefore, unconstitutional.

What did the court decide?

• The majority verdict held that since the delegation of power is to theCentre,which is answerable to Parliament,the delegation of power cannot be struck down.
• However, in the dissenting opinion, Justice BV Nagarathna held that Centre could not have exercised its delegated powers because Section26(2) of the RBI only gives powers to the Centre when the recommendation is “initiated” by the RBI Central Board.

GS PAPER II NEWS

The delay in the decennial Census

Why in News?

The decennial Census of 2021 has been pushed forward yet again and is unlikely to start till September 2023, at least. The Additional Registrar General of India communicated to States on January 2, without specifying a reason, that the date of freezing of administrative boundaries has been extended till June 30. The Census can only begin three months after the boundaries have been frozen, and the completion of the Census in its two phases takes at least 11 months. Thus, even if started in an urgent fashion from October this year, the possibility of its fruition in 2023 or early 2024 is ruled out, as general elections are due in March-April 2024.

How is the Census conducted?

• India’s first proper or synchronous Census, one which begins on the same day or year across regions of the country, was carried out in 1881 by the colonial administration and has since happened every 10 years, except the one that was supposed to be carried out in 2021.
• The decennial census is carried out by lakhs of enumerators empanelled and trained by the government in two phases.
• The first phase is the housing Census, where data on housing conditions, household amenities and assets possessed by households are collected and the second phase is where data on population, education, religion, economic activity, Scheduled Castes and Tribes, language, literacy, migration, and fertility are collected.
• The freezing of boundary limits of administrative units such as districts, sub-districts, tehsils, and police stations, happens between two consecutive censuses as State administrations often create new districts or merge, or reorganise the existing units.

How many times has the 2021 Census been delayed?

• The Census is still conducted under the Census Act of 1948, which predates the Constitution. Notably, the Act does not bind the government to conduct the Census on a particular date or to release its data in a notified period.
• The Centre’s intent to conduct the 2021 Census was notified in the Gazette of India on March 28, 2019. The freeze on administrative boundaries was to be effective from January 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
• In 2020, the census was postponed indefinitely and several requests were received from States for permission to create new units, the date of freezing of boundaries was first extended till December 31, 2020.
• It was extended again till December 31, 2021, then June 30, 2022 and further again to December 31, 2022. On December 14, 2022, Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai informed the Rajya Sabha, “due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Census 2021 and the related field activities have been postponed until further orders.”
• According to UN statistics, multiple countries had delayed their census exercises due to the pandemic, but many of them, like the U.S., U.K., China, and Bangladesh, have completed the count by now.

What are the implications of the delay?

• The Census data is crucial for various administrative functions, welfare schemes, and other surveys. Former Union Home Secretary said that “the government should take a quick call and the delay is not good and has ramifications,”.
• The Finance Commission allocates funds to States on the basis of Census figures and any delay could put them at a disadvantage.
• Besides, outdated Census information (available from the last Census in 2011) often becomes unreliable and affects those who do and do not receive the benefits of welfare schemes.
• As per the National Food Security Act, 2013, 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population totalling 67% of the country’s population are entitled to receive subsidised food grains from the government under the targeted public distribution system (PDS).
• According to the 2011 Census, India’s population was about 121 crore, and PDS beneficiaries were approximately 80 crore. However, economists Jean Dreze and Reetika Khera have pointed out that population growth over the last decade means that if the 67% ratio is applied to 2020’s projected population of 137 crore, PDS coverage should have increased to around 92 crore people.
• Former chairperson of the National Statistical Commission, Pronab Sen, said that Census data are critical for other sample surveys conducted in the country as they use the Census data as a ‘frame’ or list from which a representative sample of the population is selected for surveys. For the latest edition of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) released last year, it was the 2011 data that served as the sampling frame.
• A retired officer of the Indian Statistical Service and former Deputy Registrar General that the Constitution talks about the use of Census data for delimitation of constituencies and for determining the quantum of reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
• The provisional data compiled by the RGI till June last year shows the number of districts in the country has increased from 640 in 2011 to 736 presently, sub-districts are up from 5,925 to 6,754, and villages have decreased from 6,40,934 in 2011 to 6,39,083 in 2021.
• This means significant changes in the demography and the need for amenities from government health to educational facilities.
• Besides, the Census is crucial to determine the population of migrants and migration patterns. The start of the pandemic saw a sea of migrants on the country’s roads, and the only data available with the government was from 2011, which could not answer queries on the numbers, causes and patterns of migration.
• Former bureaucrats also advise that the exercise of collecting data for the National Population Register (NPR), which was to happen with the first phase of the Census, should now be delinked, owing to its politically sensitive nature and the urgency of the Census.

What about the proposed digital Census?

• The upcoming Census will also be the first Census both in digital mode and through paper schedules (questionnaires/forms).
• In 2022, the Union government amended the Census Rules framed in the year 1990 to allow the details to be captured and stored in an electronic form and also make a provision enabling self-enumeration by respondents.
• The Home Ministry informed the Parliament in December that mobile and web applications for the collection of data and a portal (CMMS) for management and monitoring of various Census-related activities had been developed at a cost of ₹24.84 crore so far.

GS PAPER II NEWS

The stalemate between Telangana and AP

Why in News?

More than eight years after the bifurcation of the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh, division of assets and liabilities between the two States remain elusive as the States make their own interpretation of the provisions under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014.

What assets are to be divided?

• There are 91 institutions under Schedule IX and 142 institutions under Schedule X of the Act. The division of another 12 institutions not mentioned in the Act has also become contentious between the States.
• The issue involves 245 institutions with a total fixed asset value of ₹1.42 lakh crore headquarter assets under Schedule IX institutions are pegged at ₹24,018.53 crore while institutions under Schedule X are at ₹34,642.77 crore. The other 12 institutions are valued at ₹1,759 crore.

What are AP government’s claims?

• The AP Government is firm on the implementation of the recommendations given by the expert committee headed by retired bureaucrat Sheela Bhide for bifurcation of 89 out of the 91 Schedule IX institutions.
  • But it lamented that the Telangana government had selectively accepted the recommendations leaving others which was resulting in delays in division of assets and liabilities.
• “The Andhra Pradesh Government has been of the view that the recommendations of the expert committee be accepted in toto so as to expedite the process of division and put quietus on the division of these institutions,” the petition said.

What did the expert committee say?

• The committee has made recommendations with respect to the division of 89 out of the 91 Schedule IX institutions. Its recommendations on the division of assets that are not a part of the headquarter assets attracted criticism from the Telangana government which said it is against the spirit of the Reorganisation Act.
• The division of several institutions like the RTC headquarters and the Deccan Infrastructure and Landholdings Limited (DIL) which have huge land parcels in its possession have become the key bone of contention between the two States.
• The committee, for instance, recommended the division of RTC workshops and other assets which do not come under the definition of ‘headquarter assets’.
• Telangana opposes these divisions. The land parcels held by the DIL do not come under the provisions of the Act either, Telangana contended.

What has the Home Ministry said?

The Union Home Ministry has given clarity about the headquarter assets way back in 2017. “In the case of one single comprehensive State undertaking (which includes the headquarters and the operational units in one facility) which is exclusively located in, or its operations are confined in one local area, it shall be apportioned on the basis of location as per sub-section (1) of Section 53 of the Reorganisation Act,” the Ministry said in its office memorandum issued on May 18, 2017.

What is the stand of Telangana?

• The Telangana government has contended that the expert committee’s recommendations were against the interests of Telangana. There is a clear definition of division of headquarter assets in Section 53 of the Reorganisation Act, officials say.
• “The assets and liabilities relating to any commercial or industrial undertaking of the existing State of Andhra Pradesh, where such undertaking or part thereof is exclusively located in, or its operations are confined to, a local area, shall pass to the State in which that area is included on the appointed day, irrespective of the location of its headquarters”, the Act specifically says.
• The government is firm that the assets located outside the erstwhile united State like Andhra Pradesh Bhavan in New Delhi could be divided between the States on the basis of population as per the provisions of the Act.

What is the role of the Centre?

• Several meetings of the dispute resolution committee headed by the Union Home Secretary and comprising the Chief Secretaries of the two States and those convened by the dispute resolution sub-committee headed by the Home Ministry’s joint secretary could not break the impasse.
• The Act empowers the Union Government to intervene as and when needed.
• Hopefully, the Home Ministry takes steps to expeditiously and amicably settle the issues between the two States.

GS PAPER III NEWS

Cold wave

Why in News?

Delhi and other parts of northwest India have been reeling under a cold wave spell that set in last week.

Key Points

• In Delhi,theSafdarjungweather station, which provides representative figures for the city, has recorded cold wave conditions for five consecutive days this month, making it the longest such spell in a decade.
• The lowest minimum temperature recorded this month was 1.9 degrees Celsius January 8, the second-lowest minimum temperature inJanuary in 15 years.
• Fog and low cloud coverage brought severe cold day conditions to the region,with temperature remaining below normal over parts of Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, UttarPradeshandMadhyaPradesh.

What is a coldwave?

• The IMD marks a cold wave in terms of minimum temperatures when the minimum temperature in the plains is4 degrees or less or when minimum temperature is less than 10 degrees and 4.5 to 6.4 degrees below the normal.
• One of the major factors contributing to colder than normal temperatures over north India this month is the large-scale fog cover, according to RK Jenamani, scientist, IMD.
• “While westerly and northwesterly winds of around 5 to 10 kmph in the afternoon have also been contributing to the dip in temperature, an important factor this month is fog, which has been lasting for longer durations, preventing sunlight from reaching the surface and affecting the radiation balance. There is no heating in the daytime,and then there is the impact of the night.
• Foggy or cloudy nights are usually associated with warmer nights,butifthefogremainsfor two or three days, cooling begins even at night,”.
• Light winds and high moisture near the land surface have been contributing to the formation of a blanket of fog over large swathes of the Indo-Gangetic plains in the morning.
• Since there has not been any significant impact of western disturbances over the region, cold northwesterly winds have also contributed to low temperatures.
• Western disturbances, which are storms from the Mediterranean Region,are associated with a change in wind direction, bringing easterly winds to northwest India. The last time the region had a westerly wind was on December 29,Jenamani said.
• Delhi Usually records coldwave spells in December andJanuary.
• Over The Past Decade, the number of cold wave days inJanuary has range from none seven.While there were no cold wave days in December in Delhi this winter, the five such days so far this month are more thanJanuarylast year,when there were no coldwave days, IMD data shows.

Reasons Behind Cold Waves Formation

• Snowfall: In the upper Himalayas are responsible for the wind chill factors
• Western Disturbances: Due to the lack of western disturbances which are extratropical storms that mostly appear during the winter months. The cold winds from the Himalayas continue to blow into the northern parts of India thereby allowing the prevailing cold conditions to continue and intensify.
• Western disturbances are storms that originate in the Mediterranean region and bring winter rainfall to northwest India.
• La-Nina Effect in the Pacific. La Nina is the abnormal cooler sea surface temperatures reported along the equatorial Pacific Ocean and it is known to favour cold waves.
• Absence of cloud cover: Clouds trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation and radiate it back downward, warming the ground.
• North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Siberian High.

What Is the forecast for the week ahead?

• Cold wave conditions abated over parts of northwest India on Tuesday, with the minimum temperature in Delhi rising to 6.4 degrees Celsius.
• With a western disturbance affecting northwest India,the minimum temperature is set to rise by 2 to 4 degrees over the plains of northwest India over the next three days, according to an IMDupdate Tuesday.
• While dense fog is likely to persist over parts of Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and Bihar over the next 24 hours, it could abate thereafter, before making a comeback on January 14,the forecast indicated.
• In Delhi, the maximum temperature, which saw a low of 16.1degreesCelsius last week, could rise to around 20 degrees Celsius by January 12.
• The minimum temperature,meanwhile,could climb around 9 degrees by January 12.

India Meteorological Department

• IMD was established in 1875.
• It is an agency of the Ministry of Earth Sciences of the Government of India.
• It is the principal agency responsible for meteorological observations, weather forecasting and seismology.