Topic 1: Hue and cry notice

Context: While informing the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it has not been able to arrest a fugitive pro-Khalistan preacher, the Punjab government said Amritsar Rural police has issued a “hue and cry notice” against him.

What is the notice?

• Police issues a ‘hue and cry notice’ when it requires help of public in cases such as:
  • locating missing persons,
  • identifying unclaimed bodies,
  • looking out for a suspect.
     

Origin:

• In policing terms, the phrase traces its origin to 1285 when England’s King Edward I signed the “Statute of Winchester” to deal with security and peacekeeping on a local level by revamping the existing police system.
  • The ‘hue and cry’ rule simply meant that if a suspect or a criminal was running down the street in front of some bystanders, then each of them had to yell to help the police identify and catch them.

Its usage in India

• Police rules in several states, including Punjab, have ‘hue and cry notices’ as a legal procedure in their rulebooks.
• Hue and cry notice was broadly an English translation of “ishtihar-e-shor-e-goga”, one of the many Urdu phrases which Punjab Police continue to use in its daily procedures after partition in 1947.
• In current times, Punjab Police issues “ishtihar-e-shor-e-goga” in newspapers in case of missing persons and unidentified bodies.

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Topic 2: Rising Antarctic ice melt will slow global ocean flows

Context: Rapidly melting Antarctic ice is dramatically slowing down the flow of water through the world’s oceans, and could have a disastrous impact on global climate, the marine food chain and even the stability of ice shelves, new research has found.

Key findings of the study:

• The “overturning circulation” of the oceans, driven by the movement of denser water towards the sea floor, helps deliver heat, carbon, oxygen and vital nutrients around the globe.
• These deep ocean water flows from the Antarctic could decline by 40% by 2050.
• Deepwater circulation in the Antarctic could weaken at twice the rate of decline in the North Atlantic.
• What is causing the slowdown?
  • Rising temperature:
    • As temperatures rise, freshwater from Antarctica’s melting ice enters the ocean, reducing the salinity and density of the surface water and diminishing that downward flow to the sea’s bottom.
• Implications:
  • Effect on Food chain:
    • Ocean overturning allows nutrients to rise up from the bottom.
    • The Southern Ocean supports about three-quarters of global phytoplankton production, the base of the food chain.
    • If there is slow sinking near Antarctica, it will slow down the whole circulation and so it will also reduce the amount of nutrients that get returned from the deep ocean back up to the surface.
  • More CO2 in the atmosphere:
    • The ocean would not be able to absorb as much carbon dioxide as its upper layers become more stratified, leaving more CO2 in the atmosphere.
    • Warm water intrusions in the western Antarctican ice shelf would increase.

What is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation?The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) is a large system of ocean currents that carry warm water from the tropics northwards into the North Atlantic.It acts like a conveyor belt, driven by differences in temperature and salt content – the water’s density.As warm water flows northwards it cools and some evaporation occurs, which increases the amount of salt.Low temperature and a high salt content make the water denser, and this dense water sinks deep into the ocean.The cold, dense water slowly spreads southwards, several kilometres below the surface.Eventually, it gets pulled back to the surface and warms in a process called “upwelling” and the circulation is complete.This global process makes sure that the world’s oceans are continually mixed, and that heat and energy are distributed around the earth.

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Topic 3: Competition (Amendment) Bill

Context: The lower house of Parliament passed the Competition (Amendment) Bill, 2023 which seeks to amend the Competition Act, 2002.

Key features of the bill:

• The Bill seeks to amend the Competition Act, 2002, to regulate mergers and acquisitions based on the value of transactions. 
• Proposed amendments:
  • Regulation of combinations based on transaction value: 
    • The Act prohibits any person or enterprise from entering into a combination which may cause an appreciable adverse effect on competition.
    • Deals with transaction value of more than Rs 2,000 crore will require CCI’s approval. 
  • Time limit for approval of combinations: 
    • The Bill proposes to reduce the timeline for the CCI to pass an order on such transactions from 210 days to 150 days.  
  • Definition of control for classification of combinations: 
    • For classification of combinations, the Act defines control as control over the affairs or management by one or more enterprises over another enterprise or group.  
    • The Bill modifies the definition of control as the ability to exercise material influence over the management, affairs, or strategic commercial decisions.
  • Anti-competitive agreements: 
    • The Bill expands the scope of entities that can be adjudged to be a part of anti-competitive agreements. 
    • Currently, enterprises or persons engaged in similar businesses can be held to be a part of anti-competitive agreements. 
    • The Bill expands this to also include enterprises or persons who are not engaged in similar businesses. 
  • Settlement and Commitment in anti-competitive proceedings: 
    • The Bill provides a framework for settlement and commitment for faster resolution of investigations of anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position.  
  • Decriminalisation of certain offences:
    • The Bill decriminalises certain offences under the Act by changing the nature of punishment from imposition of fine to civil penalties. 
    • These offences include failure to comply with orders of the CCI and directions of the Director General related to anti-competitive agreements and abuse of dominant position.

The Competition Act 2002

• The Competition Act of 2002 replaced the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Act, 1969.
• Before the Competition Act was enacted, there were no provisions in India regulating competition or prohibiting anti-competitive agreements.
• It established the Competition Commission of India (CCI).
• The Competition Act is based on three pillars of competition law:
  • Competition Commission of India (CCI),
  • Competition Appellate Tribunal (COMPAT) and
  • the National Competition Policy (NCP).
• Main provisions:
  • Anti-competitive agreements:
    • The competition law prohibits any agreement between two or more enterprises or persons to maintain market competition and safeguard consumers’ interests within India.
    • Such agreements can be vertical or horizontal.
      • Vertical agreements are those agreements between enterprises at different stages of production,
      • Horizontal agreements are those between enterprises at the same production level.
  • Anti-abuse of dominance:
    • If any enterprise abuses its dominant position, it will be punished.
  • Anti cartels:
    • If any agreement between enterprises or individuals hurts competition, it will be considered a criminal offence.
  • Combination regulations:
    • The Commission will decide on mergers and acquisitions only if it does not harm competition in the market.
  • Informative nature of this act:
    • To secure transparency and avoid any misunderstanding between enterprises or individuals, an enterprise shall inform CCI regarding their dealings that are likely to affect competition in the market before taking such action or entering into such agreement.

Competition Commission of IndiaThe Competition Commission of India is a body that deals with all matters under the act.The Competition Commission of India (CCI) is a statutory body of the Government of India responsible for enforcing the Competition Act 2002 throughout India and preventing activities that hurt competition in India.Headquarters: New Delhi.It has six regional offices:Kolkata, Chennai, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.Composition and appointment:The Commission is headed by a Chairperson and is made up of six members appointed by the Central Government.The chairperson must be a person who has been a Judge of the Supreme Court or Chief Justice of the High Court, or an economist with 20 years of experience.Members should possess qualifications prescribed under Competition Commission Rules, 2009.

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Topic 4: Indira Gandhi Canal

Context: The closure of the Indira Gandhi Canal, considered the lifeline for northern and western Rajasthan districts, for repair and relining of feeders, is set to have an impact on the drinking and irrigation needs of 1.75 crore people in the State.

About Indira Canal:

• The Indira Gandhi Canal, originally called, Rajasthan Canal is the longest canal in India.
• It starts at the Harike Barrage near Harike, in Punjab and ends in Thar Desert in the northwest of Rajasthan state.
• It was renamed the Indira Gandhi Canal on 2 November 1984 following the assassination of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
• The canal enters Haryana from Punjab near Lohgarh and runs through the western part of the Sirsa district before entering Rajasthan near Kharakhera village of the Hanumangarh district.
• It traverses seven districts of Rajasthan:
  • Barmer, Bikaner, Churu, Hanumangarh, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, and Sriganganagar.
• It ends near Gunjangarh village in Jaisalmer district.
• Origin:
  • The idea was conceived by an hydraulic engineer, Kanwar Sain in the late 1940s.
  • In 1960, Indus Water Treaty was signed between India and Pakistan which gave India the right to use waters of three rivers –the Satluj, Beas and Ravi.
  • The proposed Rajasthan Canal envisaged use of 7.6 million acre feet of this water.

Benefits:

• It provides irrigation water to an arid area in Rajasthan starting Ganganagar district to Jalselmer along the Indo-Pakistan border.
• It has helped turn an important part of the Thar desert to an agricultural area.
• Animal husbandry has also flourished.
• It also supplies drinking water to the towns and villages and helped in urbanisation of the area.
• Spread of irrigated agriculture has halted spreading of sand dunes, increased the tree cover and change in overall ecology.
• It serves as a barrier to military invasion from Pakistan side if there is an armed conflict.

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Topic 5: EOS-06 satellite

Context: ISRO releases images of Earth captured by its EOS-06 satellite

Key details:

• EOS-6 is the third-generation satellite in the Oceansat series.
• This is to provide continuity services of Oceansat-2 spacecraft with enhanced payload specifications as well as application areas.
• Payloads
  • Ocean Color Monitor (OCM-3)
  • Sea Surface Temperature Monitor (SSTM)
  • Ku-Band Scatterometer (SCAT-3)
  • ARGOS
• Mission Objectives
  • To ensure the data continuity of Ocean colour and wind vector data to sustain the operational applications.
  • To improve the applications, some additional datasets such as Sea Surface Temperature and more number of bands are accommodated.
  • To develop / improve related algorithms and data products to serve in well- established application areas and to enhance the mission utility.

Other Satellites in the EOS Series

• EOS-01: It is an Earth Observation satellite for Agriculture, Forestry & disaster management support
• EOS-03: An Agile Earth Observation satellite in Geostationary orbit.
• EOS-04:  It is a Radar Imaging satellite meant to provide high quality images under all weather conditions.
• EOS-05:  Earth Observation Satellite in the Geostationary Orbit.
• EOS-06: Applications include ocean related services.

Earth Observation Satellites

• An Earth observation satellite also called Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit.
• Applications:
  • Weather
  • Environmental monitoring
  • Mapping
• Geostationary orbit:
  • A geostationary orbit allows a satellite to hover over a constant spot on the earth.
  • The orbital period at this altitude is 24 hours.
  • This allows uninterrupted coverage of more than 1/3 of the Earth per satellite.
  • Three satellites, spaced 120° apart, can cover the whole Earth except the extreme polar regions.
  • This type of orbit is mainly used for meteorological satellites.

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Topic 6: Disinvestment in India

Context: The Finance Ministry pared the disinvestment target for 2023-24 to a nine-year low of ₹51,000 crore and publicly acknowledged the multiple challenges it is facing in privatising public sector enterprises (PSEs) and raising funds through minority stake sales, a drive that has stalled since Air India’s sale.

What is Disinvestment?

• Disinvestment means sale or liquidation of assets by the government, usually Central and state public sector enterprises, projects, or other fixed assets.
• The government undertakes disinvestment to reduce the fiscal burden on the exchequer, or to raise money for meeting specific needs, such as to bridge the revenue shortfall from other regular sources.
• In some cases, disinvestment may be done to privatise assets.
  • However, not all disinvestment is privatisation.
• Benefits of disinvestment:
  • It can be helpful in the long-term growth of the country;
  • It allows the government and even the company to reduce debt.
  • Disinvestment allows a larger share of PSU ownership in the open market, which in turn allows for the development of a strong capital market in India.
  • Disinvestment also encourages private ownership of assets and trading in the open market.
    • If successful, it also means that the government does not have to fund the losses of a loss-making unit anymore.

• Main objectivesof Disinvestment in India:
  • Reducing the fiscal burden on the exchequer
  • Improving public finances
  • Encouraging private ownership
  • Funding growth and development programmes
  • Maintaining and promoting competition in the market
• Significance of disinvestment:
  • Financing the surged fiscal deficit
  • Raising funds to enable large-scale infrastructural development
  • Investing in the economy to boost consumer spending
  • Initiating social programmes pertaining to education and health
  • Reducing government debt (as about 40% of the Centre’s revenue receipts are spent on repaying public debt/interest)

Why does the government undertake disinvestment?

• Minority disinvestment, majority disinvestment, and complete privatisation are the three main approaches to disinvestment.
• On fruition of minority disinvestment, the government retains a majority in the company, typically greater than 51%, thus ensuring management control.
• In the case of majority divestment, the government hands over control to the acquiring entity but retains some stake whereas in complete privatisation, 100% control of the company is passed on to the buyer.
• Separate Department:
  • The Union Finance Ministry has a separate department for undertaking disinvestment-related procedures called the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management (DIPAM).

Methods of disinvestment:

• Initial Public Offering (IPO):
  • offer of shares by an unlisted central public sector enterprise (CPSE) or the Government out of its shareholding or a combination of both to the public for subscription for the first time.
• Further Public Offering (FPO):
  • offer of shares by a listed CPSE or the Government out of its shareholding or a combination of both to the public for subscription.
• Offer for sale (OFS):
  • Sale of shares by Promoters through Stock Exchange mechanism.
• Strategic sale:
  • sale of substantial portion of the Government share holding of a central public sector enterprise (CPSE) of upto 50%, or such higher percentage as the competent authority may determine, along with transfer of management control.
• Institutional Placement Program (IPP)
  • only Institutions can participate in the offering.
• CPSE Exchange Traded Fund (ETF):
  • Disinvestment through ETF route allows simultaneous sale of GoI’s stake in various CPSEs across diverse sectors through single offering.
  • It provides a mechanism for the GoI to monetize its shareholding in those CPSEs which form part of the ETF basket.

Trends in disinvestment

• Different central governments over the last three decades have been able to meet annual disinvestment targets only six times.
• The Centre exceeded its target in 2017-18, it earned ₹36,915 crore by selling Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) to the state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC).
• In 2018-19, REC Limited was sold to the state-owned Power Finance Corporation Limited, through which the government raised ₹14,500 crore.

• In 2021-22, when Air India was added to the Tata group, the Centre missed its high disinvestment target of ₹1.75 lakh crore by a significant margin, raising just ₹13,534 crore in disinvestment proceeds.
• In the current year, a third of its budget estimate came from the delayed LIC IPO, which would have happened in the previous year if not for market volatility.
• The sale of the 52.8% stake in Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) had to be called off in mid-2022 because almost all the bidders had withdrawn.
• The strategic sale of Central Electronics was also shelved due to lapses in the bidding process and the Pawan Hans stake-sale did not take off as well.

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Topic 7: Mahila Samman Savings Certificates

Context: Mahila Samman Savings Certificates made available in Post Offices.

Key details:

• What is it?
  • Mahila Samman Savings Certificate scheme is a small savings scheme backed by the government.
  • It does not have any credit risk. 
  • This scheme is a one-time small savings scheme that will be made available for a period of two years, up to March 2025.
• Eligibility
  • It can be done only in the name of a girl child or woman.

• Interest Rate
  • It will give a fixed interest rate of 7.5.
• Deposit Limits
  • The maximum deposit amount under the Mahila Samman Savings Certificate is Rs.2 lakh.
• Premature Withdrawal
  • A partial withdrawal facility is provided under the scheme. 

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Topic 8: CERT-in and Right to Information Act

Context: The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-in) may soon be exempt from responding to queries under the Right to Information Act.

Key details:

• A proposal was reviewed to include CERT-in in the Second Schedule to the RTI Act, which deals with exempted organisations like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Border Security Force.
• The exemption would allow CERT-in to reject any application for information, even on policy related matters.
• CERT-in coordinates with public and private organisations in India when cyber incidents like data breaches and ransomware attacks are reported.
• It also issues advisories for software vulnerabilities as guidance for organisations.

What is CERT-In?

• ‘Indian Computer Emergency Response Team’ (CERT-In) is the national agency for cyber security incident response and proactive measures for the prevention of cyber incidents in the Country.
• CERT-In has been appointed by Central Government in under The Information Technology Act, 2000 (IT Act, 2000).
• What is Cyber Security Incident?
  • It means any real or suspected adverse event in relation to cyber security that violates an explicitly or implicitly applicable security policy resulting in unauthorised access, denial of service or disruption, unauthorised use of a computer resource for processing or storage of information or changes in data, information without authorisation.
• Functions of CERT-In?
  • Collection, analysis and dissemination of information on cyber incidents.
  • Forecast and alerts of cyber security incidents.
  • Emergency measures for handling cyber security incidents.
  • Coordination of cyber incident response activities.
  • Issue guidelines, advisories, vulnerability notes and whitepapers relating to information security practices, procedures, prevention, response and reporting of cyber incidents.
  • Such other functions relating to cyber security as may be prescribed.

What is RTI Act?

• The Right To Information Act means that any Indian citizen can request any information (which is supposed to be public knowledge) from the offices and departments of the state or central governments.
• The act mandates that the said offices and departments must process such requests in a timely manner.
• RTI Act replaced the Freedom of Information Act 2002.
• Mainly the act aims at achieving a corruption-free India.
• Mandate of the RTI Act:
  • The RTI Act mandates that any Indian citizen is free to seek any information from any public or government authority and the authority is under liability to respond to such a request within a period of 30 days from the date of receiving such an application.
  • However, the information sought must not be related to defense, national security, or personal details.
  • Before the advent of the RTI act, the disclosure of information in India was restricted by the Official Secrets Act and some other special laws.
  • The RTI Act relaxed many such laws in the country.
  • The RTI act has also made it mandatory for computerizing the records.
• Features:
  • The authorities under RTI Act are called public authorities.
  • The Public Information Officer (PIO) perform quasi judicial function of deciding on the application and appeal respectively.
  • Since RTI is implicit in the Right to Freedom of Speech and Expression under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution, it is an implied fundamental right.
• What Information can be sought under the RTI Act?
  • Any Indian citizen is free to seek answers from a Government Authority like:
    • applying for a delayed IT refund
    • driving license or passport
    • details of a repair or infrastructure project completed or going on
    • the funds allotted under the different kinds of relief funds in the country.
    • enables students to get copies of answer sheets from the universities
• Exempted organisations
  • As per section 24 of the Act, intelligence and security organisations, both central and state, are exempted from the RTI Act except in cases of corruption or human rights violation:
    •     Intelligence Bureau
    •     Research and Analysis Wing including its technical wing, Aviation Research Centre
    •     Directorate of Revenue Intelligence
    •     Central Economic Intelligence Bureau
    •     Directorate of Enforcement
    •     Narcotics Control Bureau
    •     Special Frontier Force
    •     Border Security Force
    •     Central Reserve Police Force
    •     Indo-Tibetan Border Police
    •     Central Industrial Security Force
    •     National Security Guard
    •     Assam Rifles
    •     Sashastra Seema Bal
    •     Directorate General of Income-tax (Investigation)
    •     National Technical Research Organisation
    •     Financial Intelligence Unit, India
    •     Special Protection Group
    •     Defence Research and Development Organisation
    •     Border Roads Organisation
    •   National Security Council Secretariat (secretariat of the National Security Council, in the Cabinet Secretariat)

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Topic 9: India ranks fifth in national contribution to warming: Study

Context: India is responsible for 0.08 degrees Celsius of warming from the 1850s through 2021, a new study estimated.  

Key details:

• Position of India:
  • India’s emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) from 1851-2021 have resulted in 0.04°C, 0.03°C and 0.006°C of global warming over pre-industrial levels, respectively.
  • Overall, the country ranks fifth among the top 10 contributors to warming.
  • Since 2005, India climbed to the fifth spot from the 10th. China, too, rose to the second position after overtaking Russia.
• Global Position:
  • The United States topped the list of countries, with a contribution of 0.28°C (17.3 per cent) of rise in temperature.
  • China stood second with 0.20°C (12.3 per cent) of warming, followed by Russia’s 0.10°C (6.1 per cent), Brazil’s 0.08°C (4.9 per cent) and India’s 0.08°C (4.8 per cent).
• Significance of the study:
  • By focussing on the three gases that most countries include in their Nationally Determined Contributions, this dataset is uniquely positioned to informing climate policy and benchmarking.
  • It should become a living resource for continually tracking contributions to climate change and, more importantly, how those are changing.
  • Tracking national contributions to climate change can help understand the burden of responsibility carried by each country.
  • It can also further inform the design of international policies that pursue equitable decarbonisation pathways.

• Contribution of the three gases:
  • The analysis showed that CO2 is responsible for 1.11°C of warming compared to methane’s 0.41°C and nitrous oxide’s 0.08°C. 
• Contribution of land-use and forestry sector:
  •  The land-use and forestry sector is a significant contributor in half the countries.
  • CO2 emissions from land use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF) in Brazil led to 0.04°C of warming.
  • The LULUCF sector accounted for 38 per cent of the total warming from CH4 emissions and 72 per cent from N2O emissions between 1851-2021.
  • The contribution of India, China and Brazil towards warming due to CH4 and N2O increased by 110 per cent, 56 per cent and 55 per cent, respectively, compared to CO2-related warming alone.
  • Since 1992, the additional warming caused by global fossil fuel emissions has been over four times greater than the additional warming caused by land-use change.

What are Nationally Determined Contributions?Nationally determined contributions (NDCs) are at the heart of the Paris Agreement and the achievement of its long-term goals.NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change.The Paris Agreement requires each Party to prepare, communicate and maintain successive nationally determined contributions (NDCs) that it intends to achieve.The government of India has recently updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) submitted by India to UNFCCC under the Paris Agreement. These include targets:to reduce the Emissions intensity of its GDP by 45 percent by 2030, from 2005 level;to achieve about 50 percent cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel-based energy resources by 2030create an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030.