Table of Contents
The great Indian abdication
- India, at present, is going through a deep crisis in which the mission of deepening democracy, and protecting and advancing social freedoms is placed solely upon the judiciary.
- Earlier this year, the government amended the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act to retrospectively legalise political donations from foreign companies and individuals since 1976. This move — with potentially catastrophic ramifications for Indian democracy — was pushed through without discussion in Parliament and hardly any debate in the public sphere.
- The Prime Minister rarely attends parliamentary debates, affecting the sanctity of the forum.
- 1950s: Lok Sabha met for an average of 127 days
- 2017: met for a shocking 57
- If 72 Bills were passed in a year in the first Lok Sabha, the number was 40 in the 15th Lok Sabha (2009-14).
- The Budget session for this fiscal year saw a scarcely believable usage of 1% of its allotted time in the Lok Sabha.
- Rafale fighter aircraft deal issue: institute a probe by a Joint Parliamentary Committee
- Parliament, instead of representing the highest democratic ethos, panders to electoral majorities, leaving it incapable of challenging barbaric social/religious practices enforced by dominant interests. • That is why it took 70 years for Section 377 to be partially struck down.
- But the task of democratising society cannot be left to the judiciary, an unelected body.
- Judiciary does not exist in a vacuum: it is still a reflection of our society
- Serious lack of diversity and representation
- 1993 Justice S.R. Pandian: less than 4% of judges were Dalits & Tribals. Less than 3% were women • Mammoth 3.3 crore pending cases
- Should the valuable time of the judiciary be spent in entertaining and delivering verdicts on Public Interest Litigations (PILs)
- The process of abolishing religious or secular hierarchies/injustices cannot become deeprooted if it is merely judicial or legal.
- Politically-motivated lynchings targeting a community do not happen because of the absence of laws. They happen because of a wilful subversion of laws by the executive backed by mobs riding on electoral majorities.
#UsToo
- India’s MeToo moment: Indian women have been speaking of their experiences and the trauma.
- So far women from film & media industry are expressing their bad experiences.
- Systemic pattern of abuse and silence.
- It is important to identify the exact transgression in the various cases that are being outed, and to ensure that action is taken with due process.
- No one can be deemed guilty only because he had been named and any punishment must be proportionate to the misdemeanour.
Not without her consent
- Minister of State for External Affairs M.J. Akbar had been accused of sexual harassment by at least 10 women journalists.
- At the heart of this change is the utter failure of due process.
- In the case of the former TERI chairman, R.K. Pachauri, for instance, despite the victim filing a police complaint and compelling the organisation to initiate an inquiry, he not only continued in TERI for another year but was publicly supported by the board members.
- The case of rape against the former Editor of Tehelka, Tarun Tejpal, is another example. In spite of being a “fast track” case, 5 years on, it has only seen a series of adjournments, with no sign of justice on the horizon.
- A one-size-fits-all rule is not applicable.
- Lastly, many people — especially men — have raised concerns regarding false accusations.
- No movement is perfect, and all battles have collateral damage.
- This makes it important that men, instead of beating their chests about potential victimhood, be active allies in making the due process a fair and functional one in which all victims — including those of false allegations — can seek justice.
An economics fix
- 50th economics Nobel prize: Jointly awarded.
- Nobel committee: “brought us considerably closer to answering the important question of how we can achieve sustained and sustainable economic growth”
- Both devoted their careers to the study externalities affect economic growth in a market economy.
- Mr. Nordhaus: impact of economic growth on the climate and, in turn, the impact of climate change on economic growth.
- Recommendation: impose carbon tax William D. Nordhaus Paul M. Romer “integrating climate change into long-run macroeconomic analysis” “integrating technological innovations into long-run macroeconomic analysis”
- Mr. Romer, on the other hand, studied the importance of technology in achieving economic growth.
- He has shown how economic forces govern the willingness of firms to produce new ideas and innovations, laying the foundations for a new model for development, known as endogenous growth theory.
- Romer: collection of ideas sustains long-term economic growth
- Decisions regarding the perfect carbon tax rate or the ideal subsidy allocation are likely to be determined by political considerations rather than simply pure economics.
Whither inclusiveness?
- In the 1960s, hundreds of immigrants reached the United Kingdom from the West Indies, on the ship, the Windrush.
- The Windrush problem provides a good reflection of a major issue — the attitude towards immigrants in the U.K.
- The proportion of the population who are immigrants is in fact quite small — around 9% — but many people assume it is much greater, and therefore constitutes a threat
Important News
- Nine killed as Titli batters AP, Odisha
- Cyclone Titli turned into “a very severe cylconic storm” before making landfall
- Thousands of people were shifted to relief camps
• ‘Save Ganga’ crusader Agarwal dead
- G.D. Agarwal, 86, who was on a fast to save the Ganga, died following a heart attack on Thursday. • Formerly a professor in the civil engineering department at IIT-Kanpur who had adopted the name Swami Gyan Swaroop Sanand, the environmentalist was vocal on disallowing hydroelectric projects in Uttarakhand along the Ganga.
- In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in June, he declared his intention to go on a fast as several of his demands had not been met.
- No pressure to choose Reliance, says Dassault
- M.J. Akbar case: Smriti Irani bats for women
- U.S. sanctions Act no hurdle: Russian envoy
- India and Russia’s defence deals won’t be affected by the United States’ threat of sanctions, and several more defence deals are expected to be completed after the S-400 Triumf missile deal concluded on Friday, Russian Ambassador Nikolai Kudashev said.
- Antibiotics to grow farm animals raise superbug risk
- Maldives court to hear Yameen’s plea
- He should respect poll results: Oppn.
- 1 in 5 Indian children ‘wasted’, says GHI
Financial News