Daily News Headlines (from The Hindu)

Monday, 26 April 2021

 

S.no.	News to be read	Page No.
POLITY & GOVERNANCE
1	PM CARES to fund 551 oxygen plants in hospitals	09
2	18-44 age group may get jabs only through private facilities	01
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS & WORLD HISTORY
1	What happened to Armenians in 1915?	13
SECURITY
1	‘No volunteer list under cyber scheme’	08
EDITORIALS
1	Endeavour, leadership and the story of a nation (IR)	06
2	A case for judicial federalism (Polity & Governance)	07

 

Polity &Governance

 

PM CARES to fund 551 oxygen plants in hospitals 

The News:

·        In line with Prime Minister’s direction of boosting availability of oxygen to hospitals, the PM CARES Fund has given in-principle approval for allocation of funds for installation of 551 dedicated Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) Medical Oxygen Generation Plants inside public health facilities in the country.

·        PM has directed that these plants should be made functional as soon as possible. He said that these plants will serve as a major boost to oxygen availability at the district level.

·        These dedicated plants will be established in identified Government hospitals in district headquarters in various States/UTs. The procurement will be done through Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

Objectives and benefits:

·        The basic aim behind establishing PSA Oxygen Generation Plants at Government hospitals in the district headquarters is to further strengthen the public health system and ensure that each of these hospitals has a captive oxygen generation facility.

·        Such an in-house captive oxygen generation facility would address the day to day medical oxygen needs of these hospitals and the district.

·         In addition, the liquid medical oxygen (LMO) would serve as a “top up” to the captive oxygen generation.

·        Such a system will go a long way in ensuring that Government hospitals in the districts do not face sudden disruption of oxygen supplies and have access to adequate uninterrupted oxygen supply to manage the COVID-19 patients and other patients needing such support.

Pressure swing adsorption (PSA):

·        Pressure swing adsorption (PSA) is a technology used to separate some gas species from a mixture of gases under pressure.

·        PSA operates at near-ambient temperatures (temperature relating to the immediate surroundings) and differs significantly from cryogenic distillation techniques of gas separation.

·        Cryogenic separation is a commercial process that takes place at very low temperature.

PM CARES Fund

• The Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM CARES Fund) was created on 28 March 2020, following the COVID-19 pandemic.
• It will be used for relief efforts against the coronavirus outbreak and similar pandemic like situations in the future.
• The Chairman of the PM-CARES fund is the Prime Minister of India.
• The Prime Minister has the power to nominate members. The other members of the PM CARES Fund are the Defence Minister, Home Minister and Finance Minister.

 

18-44 age group may get jabs only through private facilities 

 

The News:

The third phase of the nationwide inoculation drive is set to begin on May 1. India has already administered 14.09 crore doses of the two vaccines approved for emergency use - Covishield and Covaxin.

·        The government has made it mandatory for those in the 18-44 age group to register themselves on the CoWIN portal and get an appointment for vaccination against Coronavirus, saying walk-ins will not be allowed initially to avoid"chaos" at immunisation centres once the inoculations drive opens up substantially.

·        However, those aged 45 years and above can still avail of the facility of on-site registration to get vaccinated.

·        From May 1, the present system of private COVID-19 vaccination centres receiving doses from the government and charging up to Rs 250 per dose from people will cease to exist and private hospitals will procure directly from vaccine manufacturers.

Purpose:

·        Beneficiaries in 18 to 45 years age group is the superspreader of the infection in the country. This group accounts for 51 per cent recent surge in coronavirus cases.

·        Vaccine protects people from Covid-19 infection and helps build herd immunity. There is no shortage of vaccines. There is a huge scope of augmenting the inoculation capacity through involvement of the private sector.

·        It is disturbing fact that ailments, viruses and disasters don’t differentiate on age, caste, creed, being rich or poor. All are vulnerable. Hence, to ensure safety of persons belonging to every age group, this measure has been taken by the government.

·        This will also prevent the wastage of jabs. Moreover, senior citizens go out of their houses occasionally. So, the main carriers of the Covid infection are the people who go out for work. If these young people get vaccinated, the chain of virus transmission might break resulting in fewer Covid cases.

Challenge:

·        People of all age groups should be allowed to get vaccinated,Many are hesitant about getting jabbed, but some real issues are not addressed by hospitals and media.

·        Doctors themselves are not sure whether persons like with drug allergy should take the shot against Covid or not. Nobody or no forum is there to address the issue.

Conclusion:

·        If vaccination is not opened for all age groups Covid pandemic will aggravate and soon the situation will be out of control.

·        The more beneficiaries are vaccinated, the better it will be for herd immunity.

International Relations

 

What happened to Armenians in 1915?

What’s in News?

·        US President Joe Biden said that the 1915 massacres(mass killing) of Americans in the Ottoman Empire constituted genocide, a historic declaration that is set to infuriate Turkey and potentially further damage frayed ties between the two NATO allies.

Turkey’s say:

·        Turkey accepts that many Americans living in the Ottoman Empire were killed in clashes with Ottoman forces during World War One, but contests the figures and denies the killings were systematically orchestrated and constitute a genocide

Was it a genocide?

According to Article II of the UN Convention on Genocide of 1948, genocide has been described as carrying out acts intended “to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group”.

Background:

·        In a way, the Armenians were victims of the great power contests of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

·        When the Ottoman Empire was in decline on its fringes by the last quarter of the 19th century, Armenians were seen by the rulers in Constantinople as a fifth column.

·        The resentment started building up after the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78 in which the Turks lost territories.

·        In the Treaty of Berlin, big powers dictated terms to the Ottomans, including putting pressure on the Sultan to initiate reforms in the provinces inhabited by Armenians, and to guarantee their security against the Circassians and Kurds.

·        The Sultan saw this as a sign of strengthening ties between the Armenians and other rival countries, especially Russia.

·        In 1908, the Young Turks wrested control from the Sultan and promised to restore imperial glory. Under the Turks when the administration was run by the famous “Three Pashas”, the empire became more Turkic and persecution against the ethnic minorities picked up.

·        In October 1914, Turkey joined the First World War on the side of Germany.

·        In the Caucasus, they fought the Russians, their primary geopolitical rival.

·        But the Ottomans suffered a catastrophic defeat in the Battle of Sarikamish by the Russians in January 1915.

·        The Turks blamed the defeat on Armenian treachery and Armenians in the Ottoman Army were executed.

·        On April 24, the Ottoman government arrested about 250 Armenian intellectuals and community leaders. Most of them were later executed. (April 24 is the Remembrance Day).

·        After the fall of the empire, many Ottoman officials were tried and executed for the atrocities committed against Armenians.

·        The Three Pashas fled the country and took refuge in Germany.

·        But Armenian resistance fighters under the banner of Operation Nemesis continued to hunt down Ottoman officials.

·        In 1921 the Grand Vizier and key architect of the atrocities was assassinated on the street of Berlin by an Armenian student.

 

 Security

‘No volunteer list under cyber scheme’

 

The News:

The Union Home Ministry has said it does not maintain a centralised list of volunteers enrolled under the cybercrime volunteer programme since the police is a State subject under the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

Cyber Volunteer Programme:

• The MHA through its cybercrime grievance portal aims to raise a group of cybercrime volunteers to flag unlawful content on the Internet.
• The programme is expected to include 500 volunteers, 200 cyber awareness promoters and 50 cyber experts.
• The Cybercrime Volunteer Framework has been rolled out as a part of cyber hygiene promotion to bring together citizens to contribute to the fight against cybercrime in the country and assist State/UT LEAs in their endeavour to curb cybercrimes.

Cyber Volunteer Scheme

·        It is the plan of the Ministry of Home Affairs to rope in around 500 persons to flag unlawful content on the Internet for “improvement in the cybercrime ecosystem of India”.

·        Its aim is to make citizens contribute to the fight against cybercrime in the country.

·        It was launched by the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (I4C).

·        I4C was established in 2018 under the Ministry of Home Affairs to act as a nodal point at the national level in the fight against cybercrime.

·        I4C has seven key components.

·        National Cyber Crime Threat Analytics Unit,

·        National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal,

·        National Cyber Crime Training Centre,

·        Cyber Crime Ecosystem Management Unit,

·        National Cyber Crime Research and Innovation Centre,

·        National Cyber Crime Forensic Laboratory Ecosystem and

·        Platform for Joint Cyber Crime Investigation

Editorials

Endeavor, leadership and the story of a nation

GS Paper2: International Relations

Context:

·         Bangladesh and India both celebrated the golden jubilee (26 March) of Bangladesh’s Independence recently, alongside the birth centenary of ‘Banghabandu’ Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

·         The creation of Bangladesh — from the ashes of East Pakistan — is presumably India’s finest foreign policy triumph till date, and it defies imagination why India has been so reticent in acknowledging this fact.

The architect, India’s stand

·         Anyone who had an opportunity to witness Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s steely resolve during that period — as for instance when it was communicated to her during a meeting of the War Cabinet, that the U.S. Seventh Fleet (which included the nuclear powered aircraft carrier, Enterprise) was steaming up the Bay of Bengal, will hardly dispute this fact.

·         Displaying no signs of diffidence, she made it clear that it made little difference to the cause that they had embarked upon.

·         Few nations across the world can possibly boast of an achievement of this nature.

·         What is even more noteworthy is that while accomplishing this task, India did not claim any ‘spoils of victory’.

·         After Pakistan’s defeat in East Pakistan, India voluntarily and unconditionally, handed over power to the elected representatives of the newly established nation.

A year of significance

Not too many among the current generation would remember that 1971 was a signal year for India.

·         It was in 1971 that India had extended all out support to the Government in Sri Lanka to defeat the group, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna in that country.

·         Bangladesh, which was carved out of East Pakistan following a program launched by the military rulers in Islamabad that was unmatched in modern times.

·         Half-a-century later, India would have done well to highlight and remind the world of these two events, to further embellish its democratic credentials.

·         While India was busy scripting a new destiny for the people of East Pakistan, millions of refugees from East Pakistan were streaming into India.

·         It was to adhere to this position till Pakistan declared war on India in December 1971.

·         Meantime, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had been arrested and flown to West Pakistan.

·         Tajuddin Ahmad had been secretly sworn in as the Prime Minister of an independent Bangladesh and installed in Mujibnagar, from where the new government-in-exile operated till the liberation of East Pakistan.

·         India well recognised that before India could legitimately intervene in East Pakistan, the new government-in-exile had to acquire legitimacy, both within East Pakistan and also internationally.

·         All this demonstrated political finesse of the highest order.

Coordination and the goal

·         Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s carefully crafted diplomatic dispatches to world leaders had helped create a groundswell of support for the persecuted Bengalis of East Pakistan.

o    The signing of the Indo-Soviet Treaty in August 1971 came as a shot-in-the-arm for India, encouraging it to stay the course.

o    Russia’s action was in marked contrast to the stand of western nations such as the United States which displayed hostility to India’s efforts, viewing it as an encouragement to the forces seeking to dismember the state of Pakistan.

o    Within the country, regular meetings and the constant dialogue with Opposition leaders ensured that India acted in a united manner, notwithstanding the public clamour for immediate action.

·         India sought to intervene in East Pakistan, only after Pakistan attacked India on December 3, 1971.

o    Three days later on December 6, India made the formal announcement of recognizing the new state of Bangladesh, almost nine months after the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh had been proclaimed by Sheik Mujibur Rahman.

o    Still later in March 1972, India and Bangladesh signed a Treaty of Peace and Friendship.

o    The West, however, erroneously believed the humanitarian disaster notwithstanding, that it could not let down its ally Pakistan, which was a member of several western-led military alliances.

o    Quite a few other nations, while sympathetic to the plight of the beleaguered population of East Pakistan, were unwilling to extend support fearing the wrath of the U.S.

Operating from the shadows

A great deal has been written about the military exploits in connection with the formation of Bangladesh — of the Indian Army, the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force.

Very little has, however, been mentioned about the role of the intelligence agencies.

·         Fifty years after Bangladesh gained Independence, it may, however, be time to give a pat on the back of the two principal intelligence agencies at the time — the Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW/RAW).

·         A vast network of agents had been created by the IB well before the organization was bifurcated in 1968 into the IB and the R&AW, and the latter built on these assets.

·         These agents played a critical role behind the scenes, preparing the ground for the eventual collapse of Pakistani Army resistance in East Bengal.

·         The time has also come to acknowledge the role of the Mukti Bahini — the Army of Bangladeshi irregulars — fashioned by the intelligence agencies which played a key role during the conflict.

·         The ultimate accolade for India’s role in creating a new nation is that Bangladesh is today a relatively prosperous country, having made steady progress from the category of a Least Developed Country to a Developing country.

·         Bangladesh “will get time up to 2026 to prepare for the transition to the status of a developing country”.

Bangladesh today

·         Today, Bangladesh is a shining example of what is possible through human endeavor and a wise leadership.

·         It has not allowed itself to be drawn into the vortex of foreign influences, and maintains an independent foreign policy.

·         Relations with India are excellent today, though there have been periods when relations were not all that cordial.

·         Currently, Bangladesh’s annual GDP growth exceeds that of its erstwhile parent, Pakistan.

·         Women empowerment has been a major catalyst in Bangladesh’s progress, and this is largely responsible for transforming the country.

 

A case for judicial federalism (Polity & Governance) 

 

GS Paper2: Polity & Governance

Context:

Pleas of various hospitals for oxygen supply were filed in different HC’s across country.

·         The Gujarat High Court issued a series of directions, including for laboratory testing and procurement of oxygen.

·         The Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court was constrained to hold night sittings to consider the issue of oxygen supply.

·         It directed immediate restoration of oxygen supply that had been reduced from the Bhilai steel plant in Chhattisgarh.

·         The Delhi High Court directed the Central government to ensure adequate measures for the supply of oxygen.

Legislature Vs Executive

·         In comparison to the legislature and the executive, what the judiciary can deliver in the realm of socio-economic rights is limited.

o    Courts cannot build better health infrastructure or directly supply oxygen; neither are they functionally bound to.

o    What they can do is

§  To ask tough questions to the executive,

§  Implement existing laws and regulations, and

§  Hold the executive accountable in various aspects of healthcare allocation.

·         In Parmanand Katara v. Union of India (1989), the Supreme Court underlined the value of human lives and said that the right to emergency medical treatment is part of the citizen’s fundamental rights.

·         In the face of a de facto COVID-19 health emergency, the High Courts of Delhi, Gujarat, Madras and Bombay, among others, have done their duty to protect this right.

Transfer of cases

·         On April 22, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognisance of the issue in ‘Re: Distribution of Essential Supplies and Services During Pandemic’.

·         It said, “Prima facie, we are inclined to take the view that the distribution of these essential services and supplies must be done in an even-handed manner according to the advice of the health authorities” and asked the Central government to present a national plan.

·         In addition, it issued an order asking the State governments and the Union Territories to “show cause why uniform orders” should not be passed by the Supreme Court.

·         Under Article 139A of the Constitution, the Supreme Court does have the power to transfer cases from the High Courts to itself if cases involve the same questions of law.

·         However, what make the court’s usurpation disturbing are two well-founded observations regarding its contemporary conduct.

o    One, the court has been indifferent to the actions and inactions of the executive even in cases where interference was warranted, such as the Internet ban in Kashmir.

o    Two, where effective remedies were sought, when activists and journalists were arrested and detained, the court categorically stayed aloof. It acted as if its hands were tied.

A characteristic feature of the apex court in the recent years is general lack of dissent in issues that have serious political ramifications.

·         This deficit occurs not only in the formally pronounced judgments and orders; dissenting judges on the Bench are rare, and the hearing on the COVID-19 case was no exception.

According to the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, public health and hospitals come under the State List as Item No. 6.

·         There could be related subjects coming under the Union List or Concurrent List.

·         Also, there may be areas of inter-State conflicts.

·         But as of now, the respective High Courts have been dealing with specific challenges at the regional level, the resolution of which does not warrant the top court’s interference.

·         In addition to the geographical reasons, the constitutional scheme of the Indian judiciary is pertinent.

In L. Chandra Kumar v. Union of India (1997), the Supreme Court itself said that the High Courts are “institutions endowed with glorious judicial traditions” since they “had been in existence since the 19th century and were possessed of a hoary past enabling them to win the confidence of the people”.

Even otherwise, in a way, the power of the High Court under Article 226 is wider than the Supreme Court’s under Article 32, for in the former, a writ can be issued not only in cases of violation of fundamental rights but also “for any other purpose”.

·         This position was reiterated by the court soon after its inception in State of Orissa v. Madan Gopal Rungta (1951).

Autonomy is the rule

·         Judicial federalism has intrinsic and instrumental benefits which are essentially political.

·         The United States is an illustrative case. Scholar G. Alan Tarr of Rutgers University hinted, “Despite the existence of some endemic and periodical problems, the American system of judicial federalism has largely succeeded in promoting national uniformity and subnational diversity in the administration of justice”.

·         Justice Sandra Day O’Connor rightly said in a 1984 paper that the U.S. Supreme Court reviews “only a relative handful of cases from state courts” which ensures “a large measure of autonomy in the application of federal law” for the State courts.

·         The need for a uniform judicial order across India is warranted only when it is unavoidable — for example, in cases of an apparent conflict of laws or judgments on legal interpretation.

·         Otherwise, autonomy, not uniformity, is the rule.

·         Decentralisation, not centrism, is the principle.

·         In the COVID-19-related cases, High Courts across the country have acted with an immense sense of judicial responsibility.

·         This is a legal landscape that deserves to be encouraged. To do this, the Supreme Court must simply stay away.