Whip in India

The Supreme Court has recently said that the dissident legislators of Karnataka cannot be compelled to participate in the current Assembly session. It is against the previous orders of SC on the anti-defection law.

• Under the Tenth Schedule (anti-defection law) a political party has a constitutional right to issue a whip to its legislators.
• SC in Kihoto Holohan vs Zachillhu case, 1992 held that the application of the Tenth Schedule is limited to a vote on “motion of confidence” or “no-confidence” in the government or where the motion under consideration relates to a matter which was an integral policy and programme of the political party.
  
  • Paragraph 2(1)(b) provides for a lawmaker’s disqualification “if he votes or abstains from voting in such House contrary to any direction issued by the political party to which he belongs”.

Whip

• The concept of the whip was inherited from colonial British rule. It is used in parliamentary parlance often for floor management by political parties in the legislature.
• A whip is a written order that political party issue to its members for being present for an important vote, or that they vote only in a particular way. The term is derived from the old British practice of “whipping in” lawmakers to follow the party line.
• They are vital in maintaining the links between the internal organisation of the party inside the Parliament. A whip is also an important office-bearer of the party in the Parliament.
• In India, all parties can issue a whip to their members. Parties appoint a senior member from among their House contingents to issue whips. This member is called a Chief Whip, and he/she is assisted by additional Whips.
• Constitutional status: The office of ‘whip’, is mentioned neither in the Constitution of India nor in the Rules of the House nor in a Parliamentary Statute. It is based on the conventions of the parliamentary government.
• Non-applicability of Whip: There are some cases such as Presidential elections where whips cannot direct a Member of Parliament (MP) or Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA) on whom to vote.

Types of Whips

• The One-line whip to inform the members about a vote. It allows a member to abstain in case they decide not to follow the party line.
• The Two-line whip is issued to direct the members to be present in the House at the time of voting. No special instructions are given on the pattern of voting.
• The Three-line whip is issued to members directing them to vote as per the party line. It is the strictest of all the whip.

Functions of Whip

• The whip plays a crucial role in ensuring the smooth and efficient conduct of business on the floor of the House.
• He is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the attendance of his party members in large numbers and securing their support in favour of or against a particular issue.
• He ensures discipline among party members in the House.
• He identifies the signs of discontent among MPs and informs the respective leaders of their party.
• He or she acts as a binding force in the party and responsible for maintaining the internal party organisation in the Parliament and.
• Violation of whip: If an MP violates his party’s whip, he faces expulsion from the House under the Anti Defection Act.
  
  • The only exception is when more than a third of legislators vote against a directive, effectively splitting the party.

IUCN Red List

The latest update to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species shows that more and more species assessed are being threatened with extinction.

• The list assessed 1,05,732 species - the largest such assessment of species, out of which 28,338 species are threatened with extinction.
• The updated list brings out an alarming rate of decline of freshwater and deep sea species. For example, over 50 % of Japan’s endemic freshwater fishes are under the threat of extinction.
  
  • Wedgefishes and giant guitarfishes, collectively known as Rhino Rays because of their elongated snouts, have been listed as the ‘most imperilled marine fish families in the world’.
  • The main drivers of this decline are the loss of free flowing rivers and increasing agricultural and urban pollution.
• Close to 50% of the species assessed by IUCN have been put under the ‘Least Concern’ category. It means the rest 50% are under various degrees of decline.
• Of the total assessed, 873 are already extinct while 6,127 are critically endangered.
• This Red List update confirms the findings of the IPBES Global Biodiversity Assessment.
• The list clearly indicates that humans are overexploiting wildlife.
• According to the global Strategic Plan for Biodiversity (2011-2020)’s Target 12, the extinction of known threatened species has to be ‘prevented’ by 2020. The target also includes an improvement in the conservation status of species.

The International Union for Conservation of Nature

• IUCN is a membership union uniquely composed of both government and civil society organisations.
• Created in 1948, it is the global authority on the status of the natural world and the measures needed to safeguard it.
• It is headquartered in Switzerland.
• The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of plant and animal species.
  
  • It uses a set of quantitative criteria to evaluate the extinction risk of species. These criteria are relevant to most species and all regions of the world.
  • The IUCN Red List Categories define the extinction risk of species assessed. Nine categories extend from NE (Not Evaluated) to EX (Extinct). Critically Endangered (CR), Endangered (EN) and Vulnerable (VU) species are considered to be threatened with extinction.
  • It is recognized as the most authoritative guide to the status of biological diversity.
  • It is also a key indicator for the SDGs and Aichi Targets.

One Stop Centre Scheme

One stop centre is a centrally sponsored scheme of Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), for addressing the problem of violence against women.

• It is a subscheme of umbrella scheme for National Mission for Empowerment of Women including Indira Gandhi Mattritav Sahyaog Yojana.
• One stop centre, will be established across the country to provide integrated support and assistance under one roof to women affected by violence, both in private and public spaces.
• Funding: The scheme is funded through Nirbhaya Fund and the central government provides 100% financial assistance to the state governments /Union Territories administrations.
• Auditing: Audit will be done as per Comptroller & Auditor General of India norms and social audit will also be undertaken by civil society groups.
• Services: One stop centres will be integrated with women helplines to provide following services:
  
  • Emergency response and rescue services.
  • Medical assistance.
  • Assistance to women in lodging the FIR.
  • Psycho- social support and counselling.
  • Legal aid and counselling.
  • Shelter
  • Video conferencing facility.

Background

• ‘Nirbhaya Fund’ was established for women safety pertaining to the strategic areas of prevention, protection and rehabilitation.
• The 12^th Plan Working Group on Women’s Agency and Empowerment had recommended setting up of one stop crisis centres.
• Usha Mehra Commission, had recommended for the establishment of a “one-stop centre” to help victims of sexual assault and ensure speedy punishment to culprits.

Need

• Gender Based Violence (GBV) is a global health, human rights and development issue that transcends geography, class, culture, age, race and religion to affect every community and country in every corner of the world.
• In India, gender based violence has many manifestations:
  
  • Like domestic and sexual violence including rape.
  • Harmful practices such as, dowry, honour killings, acid attacks, witch-hunting, sexual harassment, child sexual abuse, trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, child marriage, sex selective abortion, sati etc.
• India is also grappling with violence due to inequities in social life more particularly in times of displacement and communal incidents.

Ramanujan Machine

Researchers from Technion – Israel Institute of Technology have developed a concept, which is described as a ‘Ramanujan machine’.

• It is named after renowned Indian Mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
• The Ramanujan machine is more of a concept than an actual machine. It exists as a network of computers running algorithms dedicated to finding conjectures about fundamental constants in the form of continued fractions.
• The purpose of the machine is to come up with conjectures that humans can analyze and hopefully prove to be true mathematically.
  
  • Typically, people provide the input and the algorithm finds the solution. The Ramanujan machine reverses the process. So if a constant such as π is fed into the machine, it will generate a series whose value would lead towards π.
• Conjectures: These are mathematical statements that are, as yet, unproven. New conjectures in mathematics, however, have been scarce and sporadic.
  
  • The machine is created in the hope that their idea will inspire future generations of mathematicians.

Srinivasa Ramanujan

• Ramanujan was born on 22^nd December 1887 in a village some Erode (400 km from Chennai, then known as Madras). He was passionate about mathematics from a very young age.
• In India, December 22^nd is celebrated as National Mathematics Day in the memory of Srinivasa Ramanujan.
• The famous British mathematician Godfrey Harold Hardy recognised his talent in 1913. It was a turning point in his life. Ramanujan went to Cambridge, on Godfrey Harold Hardy’s invitation.
• Ramanujam made substantial contributions to the analytical theory of numbers and worked on elliptic functions. He also worked on the partition of the whole number, hypo geometric series and Euler's constant.
• His papers were published in English and European journals, and in 1918 he was elected to the Royal Society of London.
• He died on April 26^th, 1920, at the age of 32, just after returning to India after a long illness.

Protection of Human Right (Amendment) Bill, 2019

• To make the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) more inclusive and efficient, Lok Sabha passes the Protection of Human Rights (Amendment) Bill, 2019 which amends the Protection of Human Rights Act,1993.

Amendment proposed

• A person who has been a Judge of the Supreme Court is also made eligible to be appointed as Chairperson of the Commission in addition to the person who has been the Chief Justice of India.
• Increasing the members of the commission who have knowledge of human rights issues, from two to three, out of which one must be a woman;
• Include Chairperson of the National Commission for Backward Classes, Chairperson of the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights and the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities as deemed Members of the Commission;
• Reduces the term of the Chairperson and Members of the Commission and the State Commissions from five to three years and shall be eligible for re-appointment;
• A person who has been a Judge of the High Court is also made eligible to be appointed as Chairperson of the State Commission in addition to the person who has been the Chief Justice of the High Court; and,
• Confer upon State Commissions, the functions relating to human rights being discharged by the Union territories, other than the Union territory of Delhi, which will be dealt with by the Commission.

Declining Hangul Population

The Hangul (or Kashmiri Stag) population monitoring exercise has revealed an alarming decline in the fawn-hind and stag-hind ratio of the hangul population in Kashmir.

• Exercise was conducted by the Department of Wildlife Protection, Jammu & Kashmir (DWLP) in collaboration with the Wildlife Institute of India (WII).
• Fawn is a young deer in its first year and Hind is a female deer, over three years old and her counterpart, the mature male, is called a stag.
• The male-female and fawn-female ratios, is crucial for the management and conservation of deer populations.
• Although hangul is limited to the Dachigam Wildlife Sanctuary near Srinagar, but a small population has also been witnessed in Overa-Aru Wildlife Sanctuary in south Kashmir.
• The Kashmir stag is the state animal of Jammu and Kashmir and is the only surviving species of red deer in India.

Urban Haats

The Union Ministry of Textile has received a proposal to establish Urban Haat for handicrafts and craftsman at Madhubani, Bihar.

• Objective: It aims to setup a permanent marketing infrastructure (for handloom weavers and artisans) in big towns and metropolitan cities in order to eliminate middle agencies.
• Beneficiary: Urban Haats will be set up in the big towns/metropolitan cities to provide direct marketing facilities to the craft persons and weavers.
• Implementation: State Handicrafts, handlooms development corporations, and tourism development corporations with sufficient financial resources and organisational capacity will implement the project.
• Eligibility: National level and State level handloom agencies/ corporations/ cooperatives/ primary cooperatives/ weavers/ artisans are eligible beneficiaries of urban haat initiative.
• The financial ceiling : for Urban Haat is Rs. 300 lakh for each unit.

Third Generation NAG Missile

India has successfully carried out summer trials of NAG Missile.

• The Nag missile has been indigenously developed under the Indian Ministry of Defence’s Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme (IGMDP), which also involved the development of four other missiles that are Agni, Akash, Trishul and Prithvi.

About Nag Missile

• Nag is a third-generation, fire-and-forget, anti-tank guided missile developed by India’s state-owned Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to support both mechanised infantry and airborne forces of the Indian Army.
• It is an all weather conditions with day and night capabilities and with a minimum range of 500m and maximum range of 4 km.
• Nag can be launched from land and air-based platforms. The land version is currently available for integration on the Nag missile carrier (NAMICA)
• The helicopter-launched configuration, designated as helicopter-launched NAG (HELINA), can be fired from Dhruv advanced light helicopter(ALH) and HAL Rudra (ALH WSI) attack helicopter.