• Recently, eight of the 11 Congress MLAs in the Goa Assembly defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Anti-defection Law

Origin:

• Aaya Ram Gaya Ram was a phrase that became popular in Indian politics after a Haryana MLA Gaya Lalchanged his party thrice within the same day in 1967.
• The anti-defection law was a response to the similar toppling of multiple state governments by party-hopping MLAs.
• Parliament added it to the Constitution in 1985.

Constitutional Basis:

• The Tenth Schedule was inserted in the Constitution by the 52nd Amendment Act.
• It lays down the process by which legislators may be disqualified on grounds of defection.

Applicable to:

• The law applies to both Parliament and state assemblies.

Deciding authority:

• The Presiding Officers of the Legislature (Speaker, Chairman) are the deciding authorities in such cases.
• The Supreme Court has held legislators can challenge their decisions before the higher judiciary.

Views of Committees on Anti-Defection Law

Dinesh Goswami Committee on Electoral Reforms (1990)

• Disqualification should be limited to cases where (a) a member voluntarily gives up the membership of his political party, (b) a member abstains from voting, or votes contrary to the party whip in a motion of vote of confidence or motion of no-confidence.
• The issue of disqualification should be decided by the President/ Governor on the advice of the Election Commission.

Law Commission (170th Report, 1999)

• Provisions which exempt splits and mergers from disqualification to be deleted.
• Pre-poll electoral fronts should be treated as political parties under anti-defection law.
• Political parties should limit issuance of whips to instances only when the government is in danger.

Election Commission

• Decisions under the Tenth Schedule should be made by the President/ Governor on the binding advice of the Election Commission.

Constitution Review Commission (2002)

• Defectors should be barred from holding public office or any remunerative political post for the duration of the remaining term.
• The vote cast by a defector to topple a government should be treated as invalid.

• Recently, the Election Commission told the Supreme Court that it faces difficulties in dealing with the issue of “hate speech” during elections.

Election Commission’s statement:

• Hate speech has not been defined under any existing law in India.
• In the absence of any specific law governing ‘hate speech’ and ‘rumour mongering’ during elections, the Election Commission of India employs various provisions of the IPC and the RP Act-1951 to ensure that members of the political parties or even other persons do not make statements to the effect of creating disharmony between different sections of society.

What is Hate Speech?

• There is no international legal definition of hate speech, and the characterization of what is ‘hateful’ is controversial and disputed.
• The term hate speech is understood as any kind of communication in speech, writing or behaviour, that attacks or uses pejorative or discriminatory language with reference to a person or a group based on their religion, ethnicity, nationality, race, colour, descent, gender or other identity factors.

Indian Constitution and hate speech:

• Freedom of Speech and Expression: 
• It is protected as a fundamental right in the Constitution of India under Article 19(1) (a) which states that all citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression.
• Article 19(2): 
• A reasonable restriction has been put forth by the Indian constitution where the word reasonable should strike a balance between the use and misuse of this freedom.

• Recently, Maharashtra’s Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnav unveiled a statue of Lok Shahir (balladeer) Annabhau Sathe at the All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature in Moscow.

About:

• Annabhau Sathe (1 August 1920 – 18 July 1969)
• Tukaram Bhaurao Sathe, popularly known as Anna Bhau Sathe was a social reformer, folk poet, and writer from Maharashtra.
• He was a Dalit born into the untouchable community, and his upbringing and identity were central to his writing and political activism.
• In 1930, his family left the village and came to Mumbai. Here, he worked as a porter, a hawker and even a cotton mill helper.
• During his days at the Matunga Labour Camp, he got to know R B More, an associate of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in the famous ‘Chavdar Lake’ satyagraha at Mahad, and joined the Labour Study Circle.
• Sathe was a Marxist-Ambedkarite mosaic, initially influenced by the communists but he later became an Ambedkarite.
• He is credited as a founding father of ‘Dalit Literature’ and played vital role in Samyukta Maharashtra Movement.
• In 1939, he wrote his first ballad ‘Spanish Povada’.
• Almost six of his novels were turned into films and many translated into other languages, including Russian.

Russian connection:

• He was once called the Maxim Gorky of Maharashtra.
• He was immensely inspired by Gorky’s ‘The Mother’ and the Russian revolution, which was reflected in his writings.
• He travelled to Russia in 1961 along with a group of other Indians.

• The Anil Agarwal-led-Vedanta Limited and Foxconn Group will invest more than Rs 1.54 lakh crore to set up an semiconductor ecosystem in Gujarat.
• The oil-to-metals conglomerate said Vedanta Displays Limited will set up a Display Fab Unit with an investment of Rs 94500 crore and Vedanta Semiconductors Limited will set up an integrated Semiconductor Fab Unit and OSAT (Outsourced Semiconductor Assembly and Test) facility with investment of Rs 60000 crore.
• The proposed semiconductor manufacturing fab unit will operate on the 28nm technology nodes with wafer size 300mm; and the display manufacturing unit will produce Generation 8 displays catering to small, medium and large applications.
• Foxconn is a Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer with its headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan, established in 1974.
• According to the Japanese financial firm Nomura’s report, only three of the 56 companies, that decided to relocate from China after COVID Pandemic, moved to India.
• Foxconn is one of them which will be assembling iPhones in India.

• The military camp at Kibithu Garrison, which is very close to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh, has been renamed as ‘Gen Bipin Rawat military garrison’ in honour of the country’s first Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) who was killed in a chopper crash last December.
• As a young Colonel, Rawat commanded his Battalion 5/11 Gorkha Rifles at Kibithu from 1999-2000 and contributed immensely to strengthening the security structure in the area.
• Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu named the 22 km long road from Walong to Kibithu as ‘General Bipin Rawat Marg’. A life-size mural of General Rawat was also unveiled on the occasion.
• General Bipin Rawat was the first Chief of Defence Staff. He assumed office on 1st January 2020. He was to serve a three-year term until December 2022. Unfortunately, Gen Rawat died in a chopper crash in December 2021.
• The CDS is a four-star General/Officer who acts as the Principal Military Advisor to the Defence Minister on all tri-services.

• Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi is set to be appointed the 14th Attorney General for India again after KK Venugopal vacates the post. This will be Rohatgi’s second time as AG, after his first stint between June 2014 and June 2017.
• At the end of June this year, AG Venugopal’s tenure was extended for a period of three months or “until further orders”. This extension is set to expire on September 30. Rohtagi will take the seat of the country’s top law officer from 1st October.
• The Attorney General (AG) of India is a part of the Union Executive. AG is the highest law officer in the country.
• Article 76 of the Constitution provides for the office of AG of India.
• AG represent the GoI in any reference made by the President to the Supreme Court under Article 143 (Power of the President to consult the Supreme Court) of the Constitution.

• Uttar Pradesh becomes the first state in India to construct 8,642 Amrit Sarovar (Lakes) in India. Amrit Sarovar is an ambitious mission initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which aims to conserve water for the future.
• Madhya Pradesh is in the second position, Jammu and Kashmir in third, Rajasthan in fourth, and Tamil Nadu ranked in the fifth position. Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh, secured the first position within the state by constructing 256 Amrit Sarovar.
• Gorakhpur secured the second position by constructing 245 lakes, and Pratapgarh secured the third position by constructing 231 lakes.
• 15,497 Amrit Sarovar was identified in different villages panchayats of which 8,462 Amrit Sarovar have been already developed.
• Amrit Sarovar Mission was launched on 24th April 2022 with a view to conserve water for the future.The Mission is aimed at developing and rejuvenating 75 water bodies in each district of the country as a part of celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
• Bhaskaracharya National Institute for Space Application and Geo-informatics (BISAG-N) has been engaged as technical partner for the Mission.

• National digital currency using Ethereum: Norges Bank, Norway’s central bank, made a significant advancement in its efforts to develop a digital currency by publishing the open source code for the nation’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) sandbox based on Ethereum technology. This development was made possible by the ongoing mainstream adoption of cryptographic technology.
• CBDCs are a type of electronic fiat money backed by the central bank. Although they are not required to be, CBDCs can be built on blockchain networks. However, the CBDC in Norway is built on Ethereum.
• The sandbox is made to provide a way to communicate with the test network.
• Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. Ethereum was conceived in 2013 by programmer Vitalik Buterin.
• Russia is considering allowing cryptocurrency to be used for international payments. Allowing crypto as a means of settlement for international trade would help counter the impact of Western sanctions, which has seen Russia’s access to traditional cross-border payment mechanisms “limited.

• China has successfully tested its first fully solar-powered unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) which can fly for months and can function even as a satellite if required. The maiden flight of Qimingxing-50 has been achieved, making it the first large-sized UAV powered only by solar energy, a Chinese government official informed in a tweet.
• The Qimingxing-50, with a wingspan of 50 m, is a high-altitude long-endurance drone that is capable of high altitude aerial reconnaissance, assessing forest fire and can also be used for communications. This technology will bolster Chinese defences in space and at sea.
• China recently launched the 23-tonne Wentian (“Quest for the heavens”) laboratory module of its Tiangong space station to orbit. The new module has a massive pair of “solar wings” that rotates as the space station orbits our planet.
• China, as a part of its ambitions project, is eyeing to come up with a solar power plant in space by 2028. The target year for launching a solar power plant in space is two years ahead of its scheduled time.

• Punjab minister Dr Baljit Kaur told, Punjab govt. was continuously working to provide hassle-free services and timely social welfare schemes benefits to the elderly, widows and destitute women, dependent children and disabled.
• She said that under these initiatives, the government would utilise the PFMS for prompt payment of pension.
• The state government is providing financial assistance to the beneficiaries in the form of a pension of Rs 1,500 per month.
• At present, 30.25 lakh beneficiaries were getting the benefit of pension under these schemes in the state.