Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Supreme Court says Centre and States have equal powers to make GST-related laws

• It confirms Gujarat HC ruling that government can’t levy IGST on ocean freight imports
• The Supreme Court in a judgment championing the importance of “cooperative federalism” for the well-being of democracy held that Union and State legislatures have “equal, simultaneous and unique powers” to make laws on Goods and Services Tax (GST) and the recommendations of the GST Council are not binding on them.

Reasons

• The recommendations of the GST Council are the product of a collaborative dialogue involving the Union and the States.
• They are recommendatory in nature
• The recommendations only have a persuasive value. To regard them as binding would disrupt fiscal federalism when both the Union and the States are conferred equal power to legislate on GST,”

Background

What is ocean freight?

• Ocean freight is a method of transport by which goods and cargo is transported by ships via shipping lines. Most of the world’s trade is carried out via sea.

Which are the sections of GST laws governing ocean freight?

• The CGST Act requires the importers to pay IGST at 5% on ocean freight under the Reverse Charge Mechanism (RCM).
• Section 5(3) of the IGST Act: This section notifies the supplies which are taxable to GST under the reverse charge mechanism. Under the reverse charge mechanism, a recipient of goods/services is liable to pay GST instead of the supplier.
• Under the notification Integrated Tax (Rate) dated 28th June 2017, the Government has included the term importer under recipient category.

Gujarat High Court judgment explained

Mohit Minerals vs Union of India (UOI)

• The importer was liable to make payment of IGST at 5% under on ocean freight service. Here, both the importer and the supplier are located in non-taxable territory.
• The importer was required to pay IGST on ocean freight which leads to double taxation, and thus, the aggrieved taxpayer filed a writ petition before the Gujarat High Court.

Judgment

• The notification is subordinate to the GST Act.
• Such notifications making the taxpayer liable to IGST under reverse charge are ultra vires to the IGST Act.
• The High Court held that it is unconstitutional as there is no statutory sanction for levy and collection of such tax.

GST Council

• It is a constitutional body under Article 279A.
• It makes recommendations to the Union and State Government on issues related to Goods and Service Tax and was introduced by the Constitution (One Hundred and First Amendment) Act, 2016.
• The GST Council is chaired by the Union Finance Minister and other members are the Union State Minister of Revenue or Finance and Ministers in charge of Finance or Taxation of all the States.
• It is considered as a federal body where both the center and the states get due representation.
• Every decision of the Goods and Services Tax Council shall be taken at a meeting by a majority of not less than three-fourths of the weighted votes of the members present and voting, in accordance with the following principles, namely:
• The vote of the Central Government shall have a weightage of one-third of the total votes cast, and
• The votes of all the State Governments taken together shall have a weightage of two-thirds of the total votes cast, in that meeting.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

The strategically-significant Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh is nearing completion.

Located in

• West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh
• Will provide an alternate axis to the Sela pass (at 13,700 feet)
• On the BCT Road – the Balipara, Charduar and Tawang axis (more than 300 km long)

Being executed by: Border Roads Organisation

• Includes two tunnels and a link road; Tunnel 2 will be one of the longest tunnels to have been constructed above an altitude of over 13,000 feet.
• The total length of the project, including the tunnels, the approach and the link roads, will be around 12 km.

Why does the project matter?

• All-weather connectivity to Tawang and other forward areas in the sector
• Will provide a new alignment on the axis towards the LAC, and allow movement of military and civil vehicles all through the year (Sela pass stays closed for a few winter months).
• Reduction in more than one hour of travel time from Tezpur to Tawang and travellers avoiding dangerous snow covered Sela top at a height of 13,700 feet.

All weather connectivity to Tawang would be a game-changer for the local population ahead of Sela apart from the much-required strategic edge for our security forces.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Reaction to the ongoing power shortage crisis, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has eased environmental norms for coal mining.

• Granted some coal mines an exemption from environmental clearance and public consultation for an expansion by a further 10% of their existing capacity. This is a further relaxation of an earlier exemption that granted expansion of up to 40%.
• The move: a special dispensation to counter the coal shortage to meet the ongoing steep rise in power demand.

Coal accounts for nearly 75 per cent of India’s power generation and power plants account for over three-fourths of the over one billion tonnes of annual coal consumption.

Current Situation

India’s electricity demand jumped 15% in April 2022 compared to the same month in 2021.

• A bounce-back in demand – With office spaces, and factories resuming in full force as Covid cases remain low, demand for electricity has spiked.
• The early onset of summer was exacerbated by record-breaking heatwaves across northern India
• Russia’s war in Ukraine disrupted trade flows and crippled supply amid additional demand from Europe.
• Record high prices of imported coal: Plants designed to operate on imported low-ash coal are suffering due to the record high prices of imported coal.
• Extremely low utilization of a total of 17GW of such plants has been another obstacle to meeting the high demand.
• The shortage of trains to transport coal is exacerbating a fuel supply crisis.
• Railways face the challenge of hauling coal from mines to plants across the country over distances up to 1,500 km.
• Continues to face the pressure of managing passenger freights versus coal freights, both of which run on the same lines.
• Lack of coordination between the Ministries – Coal, Railways and Power
• Delayed payments and mounting debts in the power sector

The supply-demand mismatch has caused brownouts all across India. The current crisis has more to do with the shortage of coal stockpiles at coal-based power plants and coal transportation logistics than volumes of coal mined.

Power cuts are not the only concern at the moment.

• The rising mercury could lead to serious health complications, deaths, water shortage and more.
• Put blue-collar workers — including rickshaw drivers, street vendors, construction workers, delivery people — at greater risk since they are usually working out in the sun.
• Also leads to increased fire incidents in jungles, important buildings and hospitals

India’s Coal Production

• India’s domestic coal production grew by 8.5% to 777 million tonnes (mt) in FY22 from 716 mt in FY21.
• Coal production in April 2022 was 29% higher compared to the same month last year
• But the coal dispatch volumes only increased by 9%. Even then, plants have failed to maintain the necessary coal stockpiles.

Is it the correct move?

• Exempting coal-mine expansions from proper environmental and social impact assessment is not a long-term solution for power-supply security.
• Could have severe social and economic impacts on indigenous communities living near the coal mines as well as the flora and fauna surrounding the mines.

The Way Forward

The current crisis presents an opportunity to accelerate the commissioning of clean energy capacity.

• Policies to increase the uptake of distributed and rooftop solar PV, which could be built faster without putting pressure on transmission networks, will provide better outcomes.
• Small and medium industries (SMEs), educational institutes, banks, hospitals and residential communities will benefit from reducing their dependence on the grid and by producing their own electricity and selling some back to the grid.
• There is a strong case for the government to give a further push to distributed solar to protect India’s economic activities from frequent power outages.
• Ramping up of production capacity
• Hospitals across country should set up hospitals to set up special wards for heat stroke and other heat-related diseases.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

RBI has issued regulations to bridge the regulatory gaps between commercial banks and NBFCs/cooperatives.

Shadow Banks

• Traditionally, regulators have adopted a strict regulatory approach for commercial banks, but followed a light touch regulation for NBFCs. This is because banks receive deposits from general public whereas NBFCs draw their funds mainly from financial institutions primarily banks.
• As banks are much better-informed than the public, there is a belief that NBFCs need not be regulated as strictly as banks. Light regulation helps them innovate.
• The belief of different regulatory structures was turned on its head in the wake of the 2008 crisis. The losses spread to the banking system as NBFCs are connected to the overall system via a complex maze of interlinkages. The global financial system was also connected to the US financial system bringing the entire global financial system and global economy to a halt.

The global financial crisis earned a new name for the NBFCs—shadow banks

• Called so as they worked like banks but without being regulated as strictly, thus under the shadow.
• The crisis also led to lot of discussion around shadow-banking, and what could be done to bridge the regulatory gaps between banks and non-banks.
• In 2017, the Financial Stability Board, an international body that monitors and makes recommendations on the global financial system, recommended changing the name from shadow banks to non-bank financial entities.

NBFC situation in India

India faced a crisis in 2018.

• The failure of the IL&FS group put other NBFCs under the spotlight.
• The other NBFCs struggled to get funds from banks, their major source of finance. RBI does not provide direct funds to NBFCs, and thus opened a special window via banks for supporting NBFCs. Even before 2018, there has been a long history of NBFC failure and RBI efforts to regulate them.
• Post-Independence, RBI did not pay much attention to NBFCs as their share in overall financial activity was negligible. As a result, the Banking Regulation Act (1949), did not have any clause for regulating NBFCs. RBI’s thinking began to change in 1960s with failures and frauds in certain NBFCs.
• There have been multiple committees to study the NBFC sector. The committees have suggested reforms which have been mainly around strengthening capital base of the NBFCs, higher prudential norms, and so on. RBI has acted on the suggestions, but gaps have remained given the nature of the NBFC sector, due to the multiple types of NBFCs that have mushroomed over the years and are regulated by multiple type of regulators.

Regulations passed in 2021 by RBI

• Classified all its regulated NBFCs into four layers, based on size: base layer, middle layer, upper layer and top layer. This scale-based regulation allows RBI to initiate regulations based on size rather than type of NBFCs (the case earlier).
• Passed multiple regulations attempting to strengthen regulatory and compliance requirements at Middle (NBFC-ML) and Upper Layers (NBFC-UL) of NBFCs.

• Asked NBFC-UL to maintain capital equity ratio at 9%, similar to that for banks.
• Applied the large exposure framework on NBFC-UL, which minimises loans to one or more interconnected counterparties.
• Issued guidelines restricting granting loans and advances to directors and their relatives. It has also advised NBFCs to follow loan appraisal policies carefully while lending to the real estate sector.
• The central bank has come up with legal entity identifiers (LEIs), where codes are given to individual borrowers of a certain large amount. The LEIs were first applied to commercial banks and have been now extended to NBFC-UL and cooperatives.
• RBI has asked the NBFCs to appoint a chief compliance officer, similar to that of commercial banks.

Conclusion

The above reforms are welcome as they bring NBFC regulation closer to that of commercial banks. RBI has also applied these regulations at middle and upper layers NBFCs, leaving the base layer to continue evolving and innovating.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The Union Cabinet has approved amendments to the National Policy on Biofuels 2018.

As per the amendments:

The deadline for fuel firms to raise the ratio of ethanol in gasoline to 20% will be 2025.

From April 1, 2023, the policy of introducing 20% ethanol will take effect.

Benefits of 20% ethanol blending (According to NITI Aayog report):

• Saving ₹30,000 crore of foreign exchange per year.
• Increased energy security.
• Lowered carbon emissions.
• Better air quality.
• Self-reliance.
• Better use of damaged foodgrains.
• Increased farmers’ incomes and greater investment opportunities.

Ethanol blending -. India’s journey so far:

As of March 13, 2022, India had attained a 9.45 percent ethanol blend. By the conclusion of the fiscal year 2022, this is expected to touch 10%.

Challenges:

• A 10% blend does not necessitate major engine changes, but a 20% blend may necessitate certain changes and may even raise vehicle prices.
• More blending might imply more land being diverted for water-intensive crops like sugarcane, which the government presently subsidises.
• An ethanol demand of 10.16 billion litres by 2025: This will require six million tonnes of sugar and 16.5 million tonnes of grains per annum by 2025.
• The increased allocation of land also puts into question the actual reduction in emissions that blending ethanol with petrol brings about.

What is ethanol?

• It is the organic compound Ethyl Alcohol which is produced from biomass. It is also an ingredient in alcoholic beverages.
• It has a higher octane number than gasoline, hence improves the petrol octane number.
• Since ethanol contains oxygen, it is supposed to help in complete combustion of fuel, resulting in lower emissions.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Since the start of the inflation-targeting regime of RBI, most of the focus has been on consumer price inflation. That’s because that is the inflation rate that RBI seeks to target and keep at the 4% mark. But over the past year, the inflation in wholesale prices has been surging in a rather unprecedented manner.

• Since April last year, WPI (wholesale price index) based inflation has been above 10% in every single month.
• In April 2022, WPI inflation crossed another psychological mark: it went beyond 15%.

With such high levels of headline inflation, it is clear that most components of WPI are witnessing high inflation.

What’s fuelling WPI inflation?

• While the highest inflation has been in fuel prices, it is the smallest contributor to the overall index.
• While manufactured product inflation is the least, it is likely to have had almost six times the impact on the overall inflation because of the weight.
• The heatwave led to a spike in prices of perishables such as fruits, vegetables and milk, which along with a spike in tea prices pushed up the primary food inflation.
• Much of the inflation spike is being seen as a result of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, with the contribution in retail inflation being seen at three-fourths of the index.

What next?

An increase in WPI-food inflation leads to higher food prices for consumers as well. With WPI inflation remaining in double-digits, the probability of a repo hike in the June monetary policy has risen further.

• One can expect retail food prices to possibly increase further simply on account of higher food inflation in the wholesale market.
• Higher retail prices of food tend to spike wholesale food prices in turn. In other words, one can get into a vicious cycle if inflation is left unaddressed.
• Imported inflation in the form of high energy and commodity prices is a fact of life, and it will continue to force RBI to take action. High WPI inflation will further convince RBI to raise interest rates and do so urgently.

Tough Act for RBI:

• The flip-side of raising interest rates sharply, however, is that they will dampen the overall demand in the Indian economy at a time when overall consumer demand is still fledgling.
• The RBI, thus, has a tough balancing act to perform: contain inflation (especially from sources over which it has no control, such as high fuel prices) while ensuring not snuffing out domestic economic recovery.

Some of the likely impacts of inflation:

• Reduces people’s purchasing power: Restrict people’s ability to purchase things, but coupled with reduced incomes and job losses, households would struggle even more. 
• Reduces overall demand: The eventual fallout of reduced purchasing power is that consumers demand fewer goods and services.
• Harms savers and helps borrowers: High inflation eats away the real interest earned from keeping one’s money in the bank or similar savings instruments. Earning a 6% nominal interest from a savings deposit effectively means earning no interest if inflation is at 6%. 
• Helps the government meet debt obligations: In the short term, the government, which is the single largest borrower in the economy, benefits from high inflation. Inflation also allows the government to meet its fiscal deficit targets. Fiscal deficit limits are is expressed as a percentage of the nominal GDP. 
• Mixed results for corporate profitability. In the short term, corporates, especially the large and dominant ones, could enjoy higher profitability because they might be in a position to pass on the prices to consumers. But for many companies, especially smaller ones, persistently higher inflation will reduce sales and profitability because of lower demand.
• Worsens the exchange rate: High inflation means the rupee is losing its power and, if the RBI doesn’t raise interest rates fast enough, investors will increasingly stay away because of reduced returns.
• Leads to expectations of higher inflation: Persistently high inflation changes the psychology of people. People expect future prices to be higher and demand higher wages. But this, in turn, creates its own spiral of inflation as companies try to price goods and services even higher.

Consumer Price Index

• A measure that examines the weighted average of prices of a basket of consumer goods and services, such as transportation, food and medical care.

• FOOD ITEMS, which account for 46% of the index;
• FUEL & LIGHT, with a weight of 7%;
• CORE, all other items, which make up the remaining 47%.

• It is calculated by taking price changes for each item in the predetermined basket of goods and averaging them.
• Changes in the CPI are used to assess price changes associated with the cost of living;
• The CPI is one of the most frequently used statistics for identifying periods of inflation or deflation.
• Headline inflation is calculated using the Consumer Price Index.

In the current financial year, it is estimated that all three components will experience an inflation rate of 6% or more.

Wholesale Price Index (WPI)

• WPI measures the changes in the prices of goods sold and traded in bulk by wholesale businesses to other businesses. In other words, WPI tracks prices at the factory gate before the retail level.
• The numbers are released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry
• Even as the WPI is used as a key measure of inflation in some economies, the RBI no longer uses it for policy purposes, including setting repo rates.

Difference between WPI & CPI?

• WPI, tracks inflation at the producer level and CPI captures changes in prices levels at the consumer level.
• Both baskets measure inflationary trends (the movement of price signals) within the broader economy, the two indices differ in which weightages are assigned to food, fuel and manufactured items.

• WPI does not capture changes in the prices of services, which CPI does.

Headline Retail Inflation vs Core Inflation

• Headline inflation is the raw inflation figure reported through the Consumer Price Index (CPI) that is released by CSO. The headline figure is not adjusted for seasonality or for the often-volatile elements
• Core inflation removes the CPI components that can exhibit large amounts of volatility from month to month, which can cause unwanted distortion to the headline figure. The most commonly removed factors are those relating to the cost of food and energy.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 1

Several parts of the country are reeling under heat wave conditions. Cities, especially, are a lot hotter than rural areas.

• 15th May 2022: Two areas in Delhi recorded temperatures close to 50 degrees Celsius. Temperatures around these cities, however, were not as high.
• This is due to a phenomenon called an “urban heat island”. The sun’s heat and light reach urban and rural areas in the same way but the difference in temperature is mainly because of the surfaces in each environment and how they absorb and hold heat

NASA’s Observation

NASA’s Ecosystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment (Ecostress) captured an image shortly before midnight of May 5, covering an area of about 12,350 square kilometres, which showed a large red patch around Delhi and smaller red patches around neighbouring cities of Sonipat, Panipat, Jind and Bhiwani. These red patches, implying higher temperatures, were the heat islands, while the rural areas around the cities witnessing lower temperatures.

• Ecostress is an instrument with a radiometer, can measure temperatures on the ground, as opposed to the air temperature.
• Tasked with measuring the temperature of plants and understanding their water requirements and the impact of the climate on them.

What is an Urban Heat Island (UHI)?

• A local and temporary phenomenon experienced when certain pockets within a city experience higher heat load than surrounding or neighbouring areas on the same day.
• The variations are mainly due to heat remaining trapped within locations that often resemble concrete jungles.
• The temperature variation can range between 3 to 5 degrees Celsius.

Why are cities hotter than rural areas?

Rural areas have relatively larger green cover in the form of plantations, farmlands, forests and trees as compared to urban spaces.

• This green cover plays a major role in regulating heat in its surroundings.
• Transpiration is a natural way of heat regulation: This is the scientific process of roots absorbing water from the soil, storing it in the leaves and stems of plants, before processing it and releasing it in the form of water vapour.

On the contrary, urban areas lack sufficient green cover or gardens and are often developed with high-rise buildings, roads, parking spaces, pavements and transit routes for public transport.

• As a result, heat regulation is either completely absent or man-made.
• Black or any dark coloured object absorbs all wavelengths of light and converts them to heat, while white reflects it.
• Cities usually have buildings constructed with glass, bricks, cement and concrete — all of which are dark-coloured materials, meaning they attract and absorb higher heat content.
• Water cannot flow easily through/via them
• Without a cycle of flowing and evaporating water, these surfaces have nothing to cool them down.
• Heat is also released by numerous human activities – vehicles, factories, household appliances, release heat in the environment and cause a spike in temperature.

Thus, forms temporary islands within cities where the heat remains trapped. These are urban heat islands that record higher day temperatures than other localities.

Impacts of UHI

Power/Energy costs: Increases energy costs (e.g., for air conditioning), air pollution levels, and heat–related illness and mortality.

Poor water and air quality: As there are more pollutants, they are blocked from from scattering and becoming less toxic by the urban landscape. Warm water from the UHI stresses the native species that have adapted to life in a cooler aquatic environment.

Colonization by heat-loving species: UHI increases the colonization of species that like warm temperatures, such as lizards and geckos. Insects such as ants are more abundant here than in rural areas; these are referred to as ectotherms.

Heatwaves: Affect human and animal health, leading to exhaustion, dehydration and increased mortality rate.

How can urban heat islands be reduced?

• By increasing the green cover: filling open spaces with trees and plants.
• Appropriate choice of construction materials
• Promoting terrace and kitchen gardens
• Painting white or light colours on terraces wherever possible to reflect heat.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Air pollution was responsible for 16.7 lakh deaths in India in 2019, or 17.8% of all deaths in the country that year. This is the largest number of air-pollution-related deaths of any country

• Globally, air pollution alone contributes to 66.7 lakh deaths.
• Overall, pollution was responsible for an estimated 90 lakh deaths in 2019 (equivalent to one in six deaths worldwide), a number that has remained unchanged since the 2015 analysis.
• Ambient air pollution was responsible for 45 lakh deaths, and hazardous chemical pollutants for 17 lakh, with 9 lakh deaths attributable to lead pollution.

Pollution in India

Out of the majority of the air pollution-related deaths in India

• 8 lakh were caused by PM2.5 pollution
• 1 lakh by household air pollution.
• Although the number of deaths from pollution sources associated with extreme poverty (such as indoor air pollution and water pollution) has decreased, these reductions are offset by increased deaths attributable to industrial pollution (such as ambient air pollution and chemical pollution).
• The World Health Organization (WHO) has lowered the guideline value for PM2.5 from 10 micrograms per cubic metre to 5. This means that there is hardly any place in India which follows the WHO norms.
• Air pollution is most severe in the Indo-Gangetic Plain.
• Burning of biomass in households was the single largest cause of air pollution deaths in India, followed by coal combustion and crop burning.

Major Issues:

Lack of a strong centralised administrative system to drive its air pollution control efforts:

• The number of deaths remains high despite India’s considerable efforts against household air pollution, including through the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana programme.
• India has developed a National Clean Air Programme, and in 2019 launched a Commission for Air Quality Management in the National Capital Region.
• Therefore, improvements in overall air quality have been limited and uneven.

The Way Forward

• Need for a radical shift in the approach to pollution management efforts: Towards a green recovery model that is less emissions-intensive
• Governance: Along with political will and the ability to reduce corruption at the planning in monitoring level, air pollution control of Indian cities has to be tackled at the city governance level – not at the central level.
• Need integrated surveillance platforms for health and exposure surveillance: Population exposure surveillance via biological and environmental monitoring can inform risk attributions within health programmes already in place to reduce the burden of maternal and child health as well as non-communicable diseases.
• Capacity Building: Public and media discussions are needed for the longer-term adverse health effects of chronically high pollution levels throughout the year. More awareness needs to be created among policymakers and the general public about the slow but substantial impact of ambient particulate matter and household air pollution.
• A viable public transport system strategy: While the Metro has provided massive relief to Delhi’s commuters, it is not viable for all economic classes. Therefore, Delhi needs an active bus service that runs on electricity. Regardless of the high initial cost, such vehicles offer other advantages like low maintenance cost, longer service life and lower operational costs per kilometre. More importantly, they reduce pollution levels.
• Electric mobility is a definitive way towards cleaner air, without compromising functionality. A shift to electric mobility is long-overdue.

Lead pollution

• An estimated 9 lakh people die every year globally due to lead pollution and this number is likely to be an underestimate.
• Globally more than 80 crore children (India alone contributes to 27.5 crore children) are estimated to have blood lead concentrations that exceed 5 µg/dL which was, until 2021, the concentration for intervention established by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This concentration has now been reduced to 3.5 µg/dL.
• Earlier the source of lead pollution was from leaded petrol which was replaced with unleaded petrol.
• However, the other sources of lead exposure include unsound recycling of lead-acid batteries and e-waste without pollution controls, spices that are contaminated with lead, pottery glazed with lead salts and lead in paint and other consumer products.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 3

Prime Minister recently opened India’s first 5G testbed, which will allow start-ups and industrial companies to test their products locally, eliminating reliance on international facilities.

• He added during the occasion that India’s own 5G standard, 5Gi, was a source of great pride for the country and that it will play a significant role in delivering 5G technology to the country’s villages.

What is 5Gi?

• The 5G Radio Interface Technology, called 5Gi is a locally designed telecommunication network that has been designed by IIT Hyderabad, IIT Madras and the Centre of Excellence in Wireless Technology.
• The technology will be an alternative to the global 5G standards.
• 5Gi offers more range at a lower frequency, which is the opposite of 5G. The latter works between the 700 MHz to 52,000 MHz bands and sacrifices on range.

 Benefits of 5Gi:

• Using the 5Gi standard will allow telcos in the country to widen the 5G connectivity to villages.
• Cost-effective.
• 5Gi can make sure there is no lag between the advancement of 5Gi in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, and rural parts of the country.

 Challenges of 5Gi:

• This could become problematic for telcos. Their existing setup will have to be re-engineered to support the 5Gi standard. And that will cost them a lot of money once again.
• Moving from 5G to 5Gi will be cost-intensive and most likely make the local bands incompatible with the global network right now. Because 5Gi cannot work with the global 5G standard that is based on the 3GPP technology.

Syllabus: General Studies Paper 2

The ongoing row over the Gyanvapi Masjid that is situated adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, has again brought to the fore the controversy around The Places Of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

Background – Gyanvapi Masjid Row

1991: A group of priests in Varanasi petitioned in court, seeking permission to worship on the Gyanvapi premises.

2019: The Allahabad High Court ordered a stay on an ASI survey that was requested by the petitioners.

2022 (current): Five Hindu women sought to routinely worship Shringar Gauri and other idols within the Gyanvapi mosque complex (behind the western wall of the premises).

• A videographed survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex was ordered by Varanasi court – report was to be submitted in May but got delayed.
• The order was challenged by Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board and the mosque committee.
• Turning down the plea, the Varanasi court said: “In any case, the survey work won’t be stopped whether parties cooperate or don’t.”

The Gyanvapi Masjid Survey 2022

• Hindu Side: Claimed that a Shivling was found inside a reservoir on the mosque complex
• Muslim Side: Dismissed the claim and said it was only a fountain. The mosque committee’s plea argued that the fresh suits filed in 2021 citing the “right to Worship” were “barred by The Places of Worship Act, 1991,” and were an attempt to revive the dispute which had been put to rest by this law.

The Places of Worship Act, 1991

Seeks to prohibit the conversion of a place of worship and maintain its religious character as was at the time of India’s Independence on August 15, 1947.

• In force: Since July 11, 1991
• If any suit, appeal, or other proceedings concerning the conversion of the religious traits of any place of worship, existing on August 15, 1947, is pending before any court, tribunal or other authority, the same shall abate. It further stipulates that no fresh proceedings on such matters shall be initiated.
• The Act prohibits conversion of a religious place in any manner, even to cater to a particular section of the religion.
• The Act exempts any place of worship, which is “an ancient and historical monument or an archaeological site or remains covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958 (24 of 1958) or any other law for the time being in force”.
• Penal Provision: Anyone contravening the prohibition on converting the status of a place of worship is liable to be imprisoned for up to three years, and a fine. Those abetting or participating in a criminal conspiracy to commit this offence will also get the same punishment.

Why Was the Act Introduced?

• Brought about by a Bill introduced by the erstwhile Union Home Minister in the PV Narasimha Rao Cabinet, Shankarrao Bhavrao Chavan.
• The Act was passed when BJP leader LK Advani’s Rath Yatra for the Ram Janambhoomi movement had gained massive support.
• In the wake of Advani’s arrest in Bihar and the shooting of kar sevaks in Uttar Pradesh — ordered by the Mulayam Singh government — Chavan sought to prevent incidents of communal unrest through the Bill.

Challenge to the Places of Worship Act

Challenged by: BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay challenged the Places of Worship Act, 1991, last year in the Supreme Court.

Argument: The law was a contravention of the principle of secularism as laid down by the Constitution of India.

• The Centre has barred remedies against illegal encroachment on places of worship and pilgrimages and now Hindus, Jains, Buddhists, Sikhs cannot file a suit or approach a high court under Article 226.
• Therefore, they won’t be able to restore their places of worship and pilgrimage including temple endowments in the spirit of Articles 25-26 and the illegal barbarian acts of invaders will continue in perpetuity.

Pertained to: A legal battle before a trial court over “reclaiming the birthplace of Lord Krishna in Mathura”, which was directly affected by the restrictions under the 1991 Act.

What are the exception under the act?

• An exception was made to keep the Babri Masjid-Ram Janambhoomi dispute out of its ambit as the structure was then the subject of litigation.
• The 1991 Act will not apply to ancient and historical monuments and archaeological sites and remains that are covered by the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.
• It will also not apply to any suit that has been finally settled or disposed of, any dispute that has been settled by the parties before the 1991 Act came into force, or to the conversion of any place that took place by acquiescence.

What are the grounds of challenge?

• Constrains Judicial Remedy: The act amounts to taking away the right of the people to seek justice through the courts and obtain a judicial remedy. The petitioner argues that the Act takes away the rights of communities such as Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains to reclaim the sites of their places of worship through legal proceedings.
• Contention on Cut-off date: The petitioner also contends that the cut-off date of August 15, 1947, is arbitrary and irrational.
• Issue of Exemption: The petition contends that the legislation legalises the actions of invaders in the past who demolished places of worship. It wonders how the law could exempt the birthplace of Ram, but not that of Krishna.
• Restriction on Fundamental Right to Practise Religion: The petition also said the law violates the right to practise and propagate religion, as well as the right to manage and administer places of worship.

• Not in spirit of Secularism: Further, petition has argued that that act goes against the principle of secularism and the state’s duty to preserve and protect religious and cultural heritage.

What has the SC said on the status freeze?

• In its final verdict on the Ayodhya dispute, the Supreme Court had observed that the Act “imposes a non-derogable obligation towards enforcing our commitment to secularism”.
• The court went on to say: “Non-retrogression is a foundational feature of the fundamental constitutional principles, of which secularism is a core component.”
• The court described the law as one that preserved secularism by not permitting the status of a place of worship to be altered after Independence.
• In words of caution against further attempts to change the character of a place of worship, the five-judge Bench said, “Historical wrongs cannot be remedied by the people taking the law in their own hands. In preserving the character of places of public worship, Parliament has mandated in no uncertain terms that history and its wrongs shall not be used as instruments to oppress the present and the future.”

What are the implications of the case?

• Contentious Places: Some Hindu organisations have been laying claim to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi and the Shahi Idgah in Mathura. 
• Controversy in Mathura: Civil suits have been filed in a Mathura court seeking the shifting of the 17th-century mosque from the spot that some claim is the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
• Dilution of 1991 law impacts outcome: Any order that strikes down or dilutes the 1991 law on the status of places of worship is likely to influence the outcome of such proceedings.