19 APRIL 2023

Topic 1: Same sex marriage and civil union in India

Context: The CJI clarified that the hearing of a batch of petitions seeking legal recognition of same sex marriage scope would be limited to developing a notion of a “civil union” that finds legal recognition under the Special Marriage Act.

What is a civil union?

• A “civil union” refers to the legal status that allows same-sex couples specific rights and responsibilities normally conferred upon married couples.
• Although a civil union resembles a marriage and brings with it employment, inheritance, property, and parental rights, there are some differences between the two.
• Differences:
  • Civil union laws allow same-sex couples to marry, without providing them formal recognition of the same.
  • These civil unions would be accompanied byrights such as:
    • inheritance rights,
    • employment benefits to spouses,
    • joint parenting or joint ownership rights, and
    • the right to abstain from testifying against one’s partner
• Civil union was recognised solely by issuing states and not by federal law.

Arguments against same-sex marriage

• It’s not a democratic but instead a theological discussion.
• It was founded on conviction in religion and natural justice.
• Some don’t consider it as normal because they can’t replicate babies.
• The culture is built on marriage and partnership of men and women.

Arguments in favour of same-sex marriage

• Denying marriage to them who require that implies restricting their rights, treating them unjust, physically and morally disadvantaging.
• It is a punitive action that requires a sound reason to not legally allow anybody to marry.

The Government’s Opposition to Same-Sex Marriage

• The government highlighted that denying same-sex couples the right to marry was not violative of Article 14.
  • This is because of the existence of an intelligible differentia between heterosexual couples and same-sex couples and a rational relation with the object sought to be achieved by the law – social stability in marriages.
• They also claimed that while Navtej Singh case upheld the privacy rights of gay individuals, it did not necessarily include the “public right” to marriage. 

The Way Forward For India

• In the Asia Pacific region, progress is slow, but it is encouraging to see Taiwan and Thailand move towards greater acceptance.
• Pew survey data from 2019 shows that while social acceptance of homosexuality has risen over the years, it is still quite low in India.
• As the five-judge bench of the Supreme Court is hearing the matter, one hopes that the Court remembers ex-Chief Justice of India, Dipak Misra’s sagacious words in his concurring opinion in Navtej:
  • Even if there is disapproval by the majority of the sexual orientation or exercise of choice by the LGBT persons, the Court as the final arbiter of the constitutional rights, should disregard social morality and uphold and protect constitutional morality which has been adverted to by this Court in several cases.
  • Constitutional morality and the fundamental guarantees of life, liberty, privacy, and autonomy should prevail and extend to all persons, irrespective of gender identity and sexual orientation.

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Topic 2: National Health Claims Exchange (HCX)

Context: National Health Authority (NHA) invites participation on the ‘National Health Claims Exchange (HCX)-Sandbox’ under Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)

Key details:

• National Health Authority has been collaborating with insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) for developing the Health Claims Exchange.
• NHA announced HCX as a new initiative under the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM)
• National Health Authority will start using the exchange for processing claims under Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
  • Thereafter the exchange will be open for insurance players, hospitals and software vendors, among others.
• Need for HCX:
  • The current health insurance claims settlement process in the country is mostly manual, non-digital and laborious in nature posing challenges at every stage.
  • The current process of exchanging claims lacks standardization leading to high cost of processing each claim.
  • To tackle these key challenges and streamline the process of claim settlement, NHA has developed HCX to enable interoperability of health claims.
• What is it and how it will operate?
  • The HCX serves as a protocol for exchanging claims-related information among various actors, including payers, providers, beneficiaries, regulators, and observers.
  •  It is designed to be interoperable, machine-readable, auditable, and verifiable which helps ensure that the information being exchanged is accurate and trustworthy.
  • HCX will act as a gateway (with validation and routing capabilities) for the ecosystem.
  • There are two sides to Health Claims Exchange:
    • One is the provider side, which are basically hospitals who provide services.
    • Another is the payer side, which are insurance companies and state government, who do the payments
• Benefits:
  • Health Claims Exchange will transform the way health insurance claims are processed as the digital platform will reduce cost and waiting time for processing a claim
  • The HCX envisions to standardize the claims process by creating a transparent and rule-based platform that will enable faster claim processing and better patient experience.

The National Health Authority

• The National Health Authority (NHA) has been constituted as an autonomous entity under the Society Registration Act, 1860 for effective implementation of PM-JAY in alliance with state governments.
• The State Health Agency (SHA) is the apex body of the State Government responsible for the implementation of AB PM-JAY in the State.

The National Health AuthorityThe National Health Authority (NHA) has been constituted as an autonomous entity under the Society Registration Act, 1860 for effective implementation of PM-JAY in alliance with state governments.The State Health Agency (SHA) is the apex body of the State Government responsible for the implementation of AB PM-JAY in the State. Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya YojanaThe Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) popularly known as Ayushman Bharat was launched in 2018.It aims to secure the lives of 50 crore individuals that comprises of 10.74 cr poor families including both rural and urban areas with a defined benefit cover of Rs 5 lakh per family.The scheme covers over nearly 40% of the population targeted towards poorest and the vulnerable. Ayushman Bharat Digital MissionThe mission will create a seamless online platform through the provision of a wide-range of data, information and infrastructure services, duly leveraging open, interoperable, standards-based digital systems.It will enable access and exchange of longitudinal health records of citizens with their consent.Key components of Ayushman Bharat Digital MissionHealth ID for every citizen that will also work as their health account, to which personal health records can be linked and viewed with the help of a mobile application.Healthcare Professionals Registry (HPR) and Healthcare Facilities Registries (HFR) that will act as a repository of all healthcare providers across both modern and traditional systems of medicine.

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Topic 3: Sangathan se Samriddhi

Context: Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihood Mission launches National Campaign “Sangathan se Samriddhi”.

Key details:

• Nodal ministry: The Ministry of Rural Development’s Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana–National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
• Aim:
  • “Sangathan Se Samridhhi– Leaving no Rural Woman Behind” is a national campaign aimed at mobilizing 10 crore women from eligible rural households.
  • This special drive aspires to bring all the vulnerable and marginalized rural households under the Self-Help Group (SHG) fold to enable them to draw benefits provided under the programme.
  • The campaign’s primary objective is to mobilize disadvantaged rural communities unaware of the benefits of the DAY-NRLM program.
• Significance:
  • The rural population accounts for 65% of India’s total population.
  • Hence, it is extremely important that women from these areas are accorded all possible opportunities to enable them to contribute significantly into making our country a 5 trillion economy.

DAY-NRLMDeendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) is the flagship program of the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD).Aim:promoting poverty reduction through building strong institutions for the poor, particularly women, andenabling these institutions to access a range of financial services and livelihoods.National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) is a restructured version of Swarnajayanti Gram Swarojgar Yojana (SGSY).NRLM was renamed as DAY-NRLM (Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Rural Livelihoods Mission) in 2016.

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Topic 4: Latest developments in Yemen

Context: Hundreds of prisoners captured during the war in Yemen were reunited with their families amid diplomatic efforts to halt the conflict.

The prisoner swap:

• The main warring sides in Yemen are the Iran-backed Houthis and the pro-Yemen government, Saudi-led coalition.
• The two opposing sides had agreed to release 887 detainees.
• The large-scale prisoner swap has given the people hope for a permanent ceasefire in Yemen.

The Stockholm Agreement

• The warring parties had signed the Stockholm Agreement in December 2018.
• As per the agreement they had committed to freeing conflict-related detainees
• . The agreement brokered by the United Nations had three main components:
  • the Hudayah agreement:
    • The Hudayah agreement included a ceasefire in the city of Hodeidah and other clauses like no military reinforcements in the city and strengthened UN presence.
  • the prisoner exchange agreement
  • the Taïz agreement:
    • The Taïz agreement includes the formation of a joint committee with participation from civil society and the UN.

How did the war in Yemen begin?

• The conflict in Yemen began in 2011 as part of the Arab Spring protests.
• The Houthis, backed by Iran, took advantage and captured the Saada province in the north, and then Sana’a, the capital of Yemen, in 2014.
• The thought of Iran-backed Houthis in control of Yemen bothered Saudi Arabia due to its differences with Iran.
• Saudi Arabia then led a coalition that included other Arab countries and sent troops to Yemen in 2015.
• However, they were unable to oust Houthis from Sana’a as well as from the north of the country.

How has this affected Yemen?

• According to the UN, Yemen is now the largest humanitarian crisis in the world with 80% of its population dependent on aid and protection.
• Over three million people have been displaced from their homes since 2015, and public service sectors like healthcare, water, sanitation, and education have either collapsed or are in a dire situation.
• It has lost $90 billion in economic output and more than 6,00,000 people have lost their jobs.
• More than half of the country’s population is living in extreme poverty.

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Topic 5: TeLEOS-2 satellite

Context: The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) will launch Singapore’s TeLEOS-2 satellite.

Key details:

• The launch will be carried out by the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV.
• TeLEOS-2 is an Earth Observation Satellite.
• In 2015, ISRO launched TeLEOS-1, the first Singapore commercial Earth Observation Satellite.
• More about the satellite:
  • TeLEOS 2 is a Singaporean SAR Earth Observation satellite.
  • It is built by ST Electronics (Satellite Systems).
  • The satellite is built on a bus based on the TeLEOS 1 optical earth observation satellite and is to operate in conjunction with this satellite.
  • TeLEOS 2 carries a made-in-Singapore Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) payload capable of providing 1 m resolution data.
  • It will be equipped with a 500 Giga Bytes onboard recorder for recording the data captured and a high speed 800 Mbps down link.

Earth Observation SatellitesAn Earth observation satellite also called Earth remote sensing satellite is a satellite designed for Earth observation (EO) from orbit.Applications:WeatherEnvironmental monitoringMappingGeostationary 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: Nagaland’s municipal tightrope

Context: The Neiphiu Rio-led Nagaland government repealed the Nagaland Municipal Act of 2001 which led to the cancellation of the State Election Commission’s notification for holding elections to Nagaland’s 39 urban local bodies (ULBs) with 33% of the seats reserved for women.

Opposition to ULB polls

• Nagaland is the only State where ULB seats are not reserved for women as mandated by clause IV of the 74th Amendment to the Constitution of India.
• Why opposition to reservation?
  • Most of the traditional tribal and urban organisations oppose the 33% reservation of seats for women as they argue that such reservation would violate the special provisions granted by Article 371A of the Constitution to Nagaland.
    • The Article states that no Act of Parliament would apply to the religious or social practices of the Nagas, Naga customary law and procedure, administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, and ownership and transfer of land and its resources.
    • The hohos (apex tribal bodies) point out that women have traditionally not been part of decision-making bodies.

Have such polls ever been held in Nagaland?

• The first and only civic body election in Nagaland was held in 2004 without any reservation of seats for women.
• The State government amended the 2001 Municipal Act in 2006 to include 33% reservation for women in line with the 74th Amendment.
• This triggered widespread opposition forcing the government to indefinitely postpone the ULB polls in 2009.
• The State Assembly passed a resolution to exempt Nagaland from Article 243T of the Constitution which is related to the reservation for women.
• This resolution was revoked in 2016 and elections to the civic bodies with 33% reservation were notified.

Government’s stand

• Under pressure from the Supreme Court, the government laid the ground for holding ULB polls after consultations with various stakeholders.
• The tribal bodies and civil society organisations threatened to boycott the polls until the Municipal Act of 2001 factoring in women’s reservation is reviewed and rewritten in complete consonance of the voice of the Naga people so that it does not infringe upon Article 371A.
• The government succumbed to public pressure and repealed the Municipal Act with immediate effect as the people cannot be compelled to participate in the elections.

Way forward

• The groups against reservation for women want a guarantee that the 33% quota would not violate the provisions of Article 371A.
• They suggested that the duration of the reservation should be capped at two tenures and demanded that the post of chairperson should not be reserved for women.
• The Naga Mothers’ Association (NMA) said that the State government erred in not consulting with women’s organisations before taking the decision to repeal the Municipal Act.
• The apex court also noted nothing has so far emerged (with respect to Article 371A) to advance a plea that religious or social practices of Nagas or Naga customary law and procedure denies the right of equality to women insofar as the participatory process is concerned in such elections.

Article 371AArticle 371 of the Constitution includes “special provisions” for 11 states, including six states of the Northeast.Article 371A (13th Amendment Act, 1962), Nagaland:This provision was inserted after a 16-point agreement between the Centre and the Naga People’s Convention in 1960, which led to the creation of Nagaland in 1963.Parliament cannot legislate in matters of:Naga religion or social practices,Naga customary law and procedure,administration of civil and criminal justice involving decisions according to Naga customary law, andownership and transfer of land without concurrence of the state Assembly.

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Topic 7: Carbon offsetting

Context: Offsets have come under fire as a way for companies to compensate for carbon emissions through eco projects elsewhere.

How does offsetting work?

• Buying offsets is a way to compensate for environmental damage.
• Companies make a financial contribution to projects that reduce the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and in exchange can keep polluting themselves.
• Examples:
  • Planting trees and rewetting peatlands — which store huge amounts of carbon in their soil.
  • By this logic, it is possible to take “carbon neutral” flights with German airline Lufthansa.
  • Even the FIFA World Cup in Qatar billed itself as climate-neutral.
• Carbon offset industry:
  • In recent years, the carbon offset industry has boomed.
  • It is worth $2 billion (€1.87 billion) annually and is expected to grow five times that size by the end of the decade.
  • Market where carbon credits are traded to meet government regulations — is much bigger, about $261 billion a year.

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Problems with offsetting

• Phantom credits:
  • A study found that more than 90% of rainforest carbon offsets by Verra, the world’s biggest certifier, are likely to be “phantom credits”, meaning they do not represent genuine carbon reductions.
• ESG risks:
  • One in five environmental, social and governance practices (ESG) risks are linked to carbon offsets and misleading communications.
• Cost of credits is lower:
  • The cost of credits — starting from $4.24 (€4) a ton — is often much less than the projected cost of reducing corporations’ own emissions in the first place.
  • Lack of regulation means standards in the market are still hugely erratic.

Offsetting in practice

• Offset projects can be broadly split into two categories:
  • Removals:
    • Removal describes actions which actively take carbon out of the air and store it permanently, such as by planting trees or direct air capture — which is not a technology available at scale.
    • Currently carbon dioxide removal represents just a small percentage of the carbon credits in circulation.
  • Avoidances:
    • Avoidance offsets are from projects that stop the release of greenhouse gases, such as protecting trees from being logged.

Conclusion

• If the world’s 1,700 biggest emitters compensated each year for just 10% of the emissions they have not yet cut, through investments in nature, it would mitigate nearly 30 gigatons of emissions and mobilise up to $1 trillion in climate finance by 2030.

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Topic 8: Mt. Annapurna

Context: Two Indian climbers were rescued from Mt. Annapurna in Nepal.

Key details:

• Annapurna is a mountain situated in the Gandaki Province, Nepal.
• It is the tenth highest mountain in the world at 8,091 metres.
• The entire massif and surrounding area are protected within the 7,629-square-kilometre Annapurna Conservation Area, the first and largest conservation area in Nepal.
• For decades, Annapurna I Main held the highest fatality-to-summit rate of all principal eight-thousander summits.