Table of Contents
Managing perceptions
• Union Cabinet’s decision to amend the provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
• Acted quickly: call for a nationwide shutdown on August 9
• There was a massive Scheduled Caste protests against the Supreme Court verdict that was perceived as diluting the provisions of the 1989 law.
• The proposed amendments are aimed at undoing three new rules laid down by the court…….
1. The bar on anticipatory bail under the Act need not prevent courts from granting advance bail if there is no merit in a complaint.
2. There can be an arrest only if the appointing authority (in the case of public servants) or the district superintendent of police (in the case of others) approves such arrest.
3. There should be a preliminary inquiry into complaints.
• Less to do with the correctness of the Supreme Court judgment and more to do with the way it was interpreted, and sometimes deliberately misinterpreted.
• The judgment had not altered or read down any of the key provisions
of the Act.
• Maintaining a fine balance between protecting the rights of the individual to a fair trial & protect the dignity of the disadvantaged.
Discounting logic
• The draft of National Policy on Electronic Commerce will now be studied by a 70-member think tank chaired by Suresh Prabhu.
• India’s e-tail business: $25 billion
• E-Commerce still just is a fraction of the overall retail sector in the country.
• Coming decade: expected to swell to $200 billion
• The draft policy proposes the creation of a single national regulator to oversee the entire industry.
• Although operationalising its different features would require action from multiple Ministries and regulators.
• As per data available for the first eight months of 2017-18, over 50,000 e-commerce grievances were made to the Consumer Affairs Ministry helpline.
• Traditional retailers too have voiced concerns about large e-tail players with deep pockets pricing them out of the market, and have been seeking a level playing field. SUNSET CLAUSE ON DISCOUNTS
• No need of Government’s say: Customer is the king
• Foreign direct investment restrictions on players who can hold their own inventory are sought to be lifted, but there must be a majority Indian partner and all products have to be made in India.
• This seems like a leaf out of India’s retail FDI policy that has similar procurement diktats that are not easy to meet or monitor.
• Storing and processing data locally
• The proposed e-commerce policy could drive away those planning online retail forays — and the opportunity to create jobs and benefit consumers would be lost.
Data localisation is no solution
• Justice Srikrishna Committee: Personal Data Protection Bill
• Eight of the top 10 most accessed websites in India are owned by U.S. entities: a big trouble for investigators of India.
• Reserve Bank of India: called for local storage of financial data
• Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty (MLAT): outdated
• U.S. law effectively bars these companies from disclosing user data to foreign law enforcement authorities.
• This scenario will not change even after technology companies relocate Indian data to India.
• The draft bill mandates local storage of data relating to Indian citizens only.
• Localisation can provide data only for crimes that have been committed in India, where both the perpetrator and victim are situated in India.
• transnational terrorism, cyber crimes and money laundering
• Section 91 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (empowering police to access any “document or thing”) will continue to apply — bereft of review or oversight by a judicial or independent authority.
• Even rudimentary requirements such as a time limit for which data can be stored by law enforcement are missing from the Bill.
• Clarifying Lawful Overseas Use of Data (CLOUD) Act, passed by the U.S. Congress earlier this year, seeks to de-monopolise control over data from U.S. authorities.
• CLOUD law will for the first time allow tech companies to share data directly with certain foreign governments.
• This, however, requires an executive agreement between the U.S. and the foreign country certifying that the state has robust privacy protections, and respect for due process and the rule of law.
• The CLOUD Act creates a potential mechanism through with countries such as India can request data not just for crimes committed within their borders but also for transnational crimes involving their state interests.
• The draft Bill was an opportunity to update India’s data protection regime to qualify for the CLOUD Act
Will Imran Khan’s win further set back Indo-Pak ties?
• Several issues account for the dismal state of India-Pakistan relations:
the wounds of Partition
the chronic Kashmir issue
four armed conflicts
jihadi terrorism against India
the increasing radicalisation of Pakistani society
water-related differences
Islamabad’s nuclear posture
the military-civilian equation in Pakistan and the Army’s control over policymaking towards
India.
• The Pakistani military and the Inter-Services Intelligence have paved the way for Mr. Khan’s victory.
• “If India’s leadership is ready, we are ready to improve ties with India. If you step forward one step, we’ll take two. I say this with conviction, this will be the most important thing for the subcontinent, for both countries to have friendship.”
• He does not have a dynasty behind him.
Front Page
• Supreme Court restrains media in Bihar shelter home case
• The Supreme Court on Thursday placed a blanket ban on the media showing images, even in a morphed form, of the victims of rape at a shelter home in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district.
• Taking cognisance of the sexual abuse at the shelter home run by a State-funded NGO, a Bench of Justices Madan B. Lokur and Deepak Gupta directed the media not to interview the victims.
• The Bench took up the case after Ranvijay Kumar from Patna wrote to the court about the repeated media interviews. It remarked that courts have repeatedly said a sexual offence victim should not be made to relive the trauma.
• In this case, the victims were made to go through it again and again, the Bench said. Calling it “extremely disturbing,” it issued notice to the Centre and the Bihar government seeking their responses.
• Muslim man’s beard forcibly shaved off
• Six students booked for sexual abuse of junior
• LPG agency worker beaten to death
• Bill on SC/ST Act will be passed this session: Rajnath
• Pak. seeks to resume dialogue with India
• Pakistan on Thursday welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s congratulatory phone call to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan and said it wanted the resumption of bilateral talks, which were halted in 2015.
• Mr. Khan thanked him for his wishes, and emphasised that disputes should be resolved through dialogue.
• Pakistan was ready to host the SAARC Summit.
• U.S. trade war won’t work, says China
• China’s top envoy called on the U.S. to remain “cool-headed” on Thursday as Washington threatened to raise the tariff rate on the next $200 billion of Chinese imports.
• Slapping additional tariffs on Chinese imports — 60% of which are made by foreign firms, including American companies — will only raise costs for domestic U.S. consumers, said Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
• New Zealand PM Ardern returns to work
• New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, only the second world leader to give birth while in office, ended her maternity leave on Thursday and immediately announced baby Neve will accompany her to the UN next month.
• Fed pauses, on course for Sept. rate hike
• The U.S. Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged on Wednesday but characterised the economy as strong, keeping the central bank on track to increase borrowing costs in September.
• In the city of saris, khadi goes organic
• Weavers from Chirala, which derives its name from word chira (sari), have carved a niche for themselves, making silk and cotton fabrics for men and women for centuries.
• Even if the khadi dress material is a bit costly, they are in great demand as they are free from chemicals that harm the skin.
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