The Hindu Editorial Analysis 31st July 2018

Table of Contents

A good beginning

• Justice B.N. Srikrishna to the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology
• Given the vast amounts of personal data being collected by private companies and state agencies, and their flow across national jurisdictions, the absence of a data protection legal framework in India has been a cause for deep concern.
• Individuals are oblivious to the purpose for which they are being harnessed. • Justice K.S Puttaswamy v. Union of India: right to privacy to be a fundamental right.
• “data principals” (whose information is collected) and “data fiduciaries” (those processing the data) so that privacy is safeguarded by design.
• The draft legislation puts the onus on the “data fiduciary” to seek clear, informed, specific and free consent, with the possibility of withdrawal of data of the “principal” to allow for the use and processing of “sensitive personal data”.
• General Data Protection Regulation: framework on data protection implemented in the European Union this May.
• GDPR: providing for “data principals” the rights to confirmation, correction of data, portability and “to be forgotten” , subject to procedure.
• It envisages the creation of a regulatory Data Protection Authority of India to protect the interests of “principals” and to monitor the implementation of the provisions of the enabling data protection legislation.
• Grey areas: exemptions granted to state institutions from acquiring informed consent from principals or processing personal data in many cases appear to be too blanket, such as those pertaining to the “security of the state”.
• The report recommends a law to provide for “parliamentary oversight and judicial approval of non-consensual access to personal data”.

The big five at 10

• Johannesburg Declaration: BRICS 10th summit
• There is little doubt that BRICS has grown in influence, expanded the arc of its interests, and established new institutions and partnerships in its first decade. More importantly, it has created for its members the habits of working together. Intra-BRICS cooperation is on a rising trajectory.
• BRICS is still far from achieving its initial goals: 1. Reform of global financial governance 2. Democratisation of the United Nations 3. Expansion of the Security Council
• Summit highlights
• Deliberations against U.S. President Donald Trump’s unconventional approach on world affairs, particularly the looming trade wars.
• “We are at a time when the U.S. and China announce new measures almost every week.” -Russia’s Economy Minister

BRICS leaders, therefore, stressed “the centrality of the rules-based, transparent, non-discriminatory, open and inclusive multilateral trading” , based on the World Trade Organisation.
Help nations to prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
new strategy on employment, education and skill development as the digital revolution unfolds.
BRICS Partnership on New Industrial Revolution (PartNIR), however, will make a meaningful contribution only if it goes beyond the five ministries of industry.
The BRICS Business Council has been actively enhancing trade and economic cooperation in diverse sectors ranging from manufacturing and energy to financial services and regional aviation.
African leaders need big loans from the New Development Bank (NDB) for their infrastructure projects.
So far, the NDB has dispersed loans totalling $5.1 billion — all to its members only.
BRICS PLUS: Argentina, Jamaica, Turkey, Indonesia and Egypt
Bilateral: most important was the interaction between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, the third in four months, which deepened the trend towards conciliation between Asia’s two biggest powers.
China-Russia proximity has been a continuing factor.
Given its political and economic travails, Brazil played a low-profile role.
A South African commentator observed that India was playing “a delicate geopolitical game with the U.S., China and Russia as their spheres of influence wax and wane” across regions.
To Delhi’s satisfaction, four paragraphs in the summit declaration were devoted to the problem of international terrorism.
But no decision was taken to set up the BRICS credit rating agency that India favours.
The critical question is whether BRICS’s exertions will have appreciable impact on G-7, the grouping of the developed countries, which is in disarray, and particularly on the U.S. administration.

The case for increasing the retirement age of judges

A retirement age of around 70 for judges is commonplace in most Western liberal democracies.
Senior serving judges will bring with them years of experience.
We are losing judges who are trained by time and experience well before their prime.
The judge-population ratio in India is among the lowest in the world at 19.66 judges per million (10 lakh) people as of today. In 2016, the U.K. had 51 judges per million people
The time has come to deal with the lakhs of cases pending as arrears before the 24 High Courts in India for periods as long as 10-20 years. Pendency does not not only debilitate the justice redress system; it also makes the rule of law a distant dream. 1. it will ensure the continued presence of a strong talent pool of experienced judges. 2. new judges can be appointed without displacing existing judges 3. it will address the problem of mounting arrears 4. it will be a buffer against impending litigation explosion 5. it will render post-retirement assignments unattractive

A balancing Act

The average Indian believes that he cannot get even the basic services to which he is entitled under the law without greasing the palms of one or more officials at the ground level.
Parliament has passed the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill
Prior government approval of the Central or State government to initiate investigation into corruption charges, is bound to evoke negative reactions from large sections of the public.
Protection: Earlier available only to the higher echelons, from the rank of Joint Secretary and above. The latest tweak extends this protection to all public servants.
Section 13 Section (1) (d): defines ‘criminal misconduct’ as the acquisition of a ‘valuable thing’ or ‘pecuniary advantage’ in a dishonest manner.
Its deleted
A few experts believe that there is also a certain dilution of the definition of ‘known sources of income’ through the incorporation of the statement that this would include income received from any ‘lawful source’, an expression that has been left undefined.
What if improper performance is in lieu of future bribes or postretirement jobs?
Amendments widens the definition of criminal misconduct to include the bribe giver too.
The amendments include a stipulation for a day-to-day trial and completion of court proceedings within two years. Where this is not possible, the judge concerned will have to record reasons for prolongation of the trial and give himself an initial extension of six months.
The primary objective of these amendments is to tone down law enforcement excesses without diluting the authority of agencies like the CBI; or, in other words, to strike a balance between enforcement overzealousness and the need for stringent action against corrupt public servants.
With some civil servants complaining that they had been wronged for discharging their lawful duties, such a balance is the need of the hour.
However, all this does not answer the fundamental question of how to cleanse our public administration.

A result foretold
Prime Minister Hun Sen ensuring his return by keeping key Opposition leaders out of the fray and muzzling the media.
Mr. Hun Sen, who has been at the helm since 1985, left nothing to chance to see that his party was effectively uncontested.
The closure of a reputed newspaper last year exposed official intolerance of media freedom.
Some voluntary organisations have been forced to wind up because of a perceived western bias.
ASEAN has traditionally been averse to commenting on the internal affairs of member-countries.
Meanwhile, the massive Chinese investments in infrastructure projects in Cambodia come with no overt political strings attached, and Mr. Hun Sen continues to capitalise on his close ties with Beijing to counter domestic and overseas criticism of his human rights record.

Front Page

• Over 40 lakh left out of draft NRC in Assam
• More than 40 lakh of the 3.29 crore applicants in Assam were left out of the complete draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), which was published on Monday.
• The five year exercise was completed at a cost of ₹1,220 crore.
• The draft NRC was released in Guwahati by Registrar General of India Sailesh and NRC State Coordinator Prateek Hajela in the presence of Joint Director (Northeast) in the Ministry of Home Affairs Satyendra Garg.
• While the publication of the list triggered a political row in Parliament, the situation in Assam remained largely peaceful, with thousands lining up at NRC Nagarik Seva Kendras (NSKs) to check their status.
• Soon after the list was released, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the Centre, accusing it of resorting to “vote bank politics”.
• “This divide and rule policy will finish the country,” she said in Kolkata.
• “The remaining 40,007,707 applicants, whose names didn’t figure in the list will be given ample opportunity through a process of claims and objections till September 28, and their citizenship status will not be questioned till the final, error-free draft is prepared,” Mr. Sailesh said.

Stop Choksi’s travels, India tells Antigua
India has asked Antigua & Barbuda to stop billionaire diamond trader Mehul Choksi from travelling around the world, sources said on Monday. Indian authorities have also noted that Mr. Choksi committed an “additional” illegal act by maintaining his Indian passport after acquiring one of the Caribbean island nation.
Why no arrests in Manipur killings, SC asks CBI chief
‘So there are 14 murderers roaming free in the State?’
“If somebody commits rape, what is there to recover? So you will allow him to roam free?” Justice Lokur asked, urging the CBI chief to understand the impact it would have on society
‘Sex workers won’t be criminalised’
The Women and Child Development Ministry on Monday sought to defend its AntiHuman Trafficking Bill, and asserted that the proposed law did not criminalise consenting adult sex workers and migrants.
The clarification comes at a time the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2018, is expected to be tabled in the Rajya Sabha after it was passed in the Lok Sabha last week.
The Congress and Left parties have demanded that the Bill be put through legislative scrutiny and be sent to a Standing Committee.
LS passes Bill on rape punishment
It provides for death sentence for those convicted of raping girls under 12 • Centre for removal of ‘NOTA’ from RS poll
SC reserves verdict on PIL petition
The Supreme Court on Monday reserved for judgment a PIL petition, which won the full support of the Centre, seeking to scrap the ‘NOTA’ option in Rajya Sabha election.
Chief Justice Misra orally observed that NOTA is meant only for universal adult suffrage and direct elections and not polls held by the system of proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote as done in the Rajya Sabha.
U.S. eases export controls on India
In a major boost to India, the U.S. on Monday eased export controls on hightechnology product sales to it by designating it as a Strategic Trade Authorisation1 country.
This comes after the U.S. recognised India as a “Major Defence Partner” in 2016, a designation that allows India to buy more advanced and sensitive technologies from the U.S..
‘Draft e-commerce policy will be in line with Srikrishna panel proposals’
The draft e-commerce policy being formulated by the government will be in keeping with the recommendations of the Justice Srikrishna Committee report on data privacy, according to Commerce Secretary-Designate Anup Wadhawan. Mr. Wadhawan will take over as Commerce Secretary on August 1.
It proposed that critical personal data of Indian citizens be processed in centres located within the country.
We will come up with a policy that will promote the free flow of business as well as address security and privacy concerns.
Other personal data can be transferred out of the country, but a copy must be retained in India.
Scientists discover new cell shape
Epithelial cells, which cover the surfaces of many organs, adopt a previously undescribed geometric shape — the scutoid — so that the tissue can curve, scientists have found.
The epithelial cells adopt this form which looks like ‘twisted prisms’, according to the research published in the journal Nature Communications.
Nature has found a solution to fold and curve the epithelia, which lines the outer surfaces of organs, researchers said.