Article 355 & Breakdown of Constitutional Machinery

Why in News?

Citing post-poll violence in Birbhum district, West Bengal, many political leaders have urged the president to invoke Article 355 of the Constitution to ensure that the state government functions in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.

• The petitioner has asked for imposition of Article 355 on account of breakdown of constitutional machinery.

What is Article 355?

• Article 355 refers to the provision in the Constitution that states that “It shall be the duty of the Union to protect every State against external aggression and internal disturbance and to ensure that the government of every State is carried on in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”.
• The Article 355 is part of emergency provisions contained in Part XVIII of the Constitution of India, from Article 352 to 360.

What is the Relation Between Article 356 and Article 355?

• It is this duty in the performance of which the centre takes over the government of a state under Article 356 in case of failure or breakdown of constitutional machinery in a state.
• This is popularly known as ‘President’s Rule’.
• Grounds of imposition: the president’s ruler can be proclaimed under Article 356 on two grounds:
  • Article 356 empowers the President to issue a proclamation if he is satisfied that a situation has arisen in which the government of a state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
  • Article 365 says that whenever a state fails to comply with or to give effect to any direction from the centre, it will be lawful for the President to hold that a situation has arisen in which the government of the state cannot be carried on in accordance with the provisions of the constitution.
• Parliamentary approval and duration: A proclamation imposing the president's rule must be approved by both the houses of parliament within two months from the date of its issue.
• Consequences of the President’s rule: The President acquires the following extraordinary powers when the President’s rule is imposed in a state:
  • He can take up the functions of the state government and powers vested in the governor or any other executive authority in the state.
  • He can declare that the powers of the state legislature are to be exercised by the parliament.
  • He can take all other necessary steps including the suspension of the constitutional provisions relating to any body or authority in the state.
• Scope of judicial review: The 38^th Amendment act of 1975 made the satisfaction of the President in invoking Article 356 final and conclusive which would not be challenged in any court on any ground.
  • But, this provision was subsequently deleted by the 44^th Amendment Act of 1978 implying that the satisfaction of the President is not beyond judicial review.

Source: IE

Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2022

Why in News?

The Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill 2022 is likely to be tabled in the Parliament.

• It aims to merge the Capital’s three municipal corporations — South, North and East — ten years after the trifurcation of the civic body.

What is the background and Need for Reunification?

• Background:
  • In 2011, the government proposed the trifurcation of the MCD for better efficiency.
  • The ministry of home affairs then cleared the proposal in November 2011, following which the Delhi government convened a special assembly session and passed the Delhi Municipal Corporation (Amendment) Bill in December 2011.
  • The final notification for the trifurcation was issued in January 2012, carving out North, South, and East Delhi municipal bodies with 104 awards given to the first two, and 64 to the latter.
• Need:
  • Face Multiple Problems:
    • Trifurcated MCDs faced multiple problems over the years, such as non-payment of salaries of safai karamcharis (sweepers), uneven distribution of property tax between three civic bodies, inefficient management and growing losses, etc.
  • Uneven Division:
    • The trifurcation was uneven in terms of the territorial divisions and revenue-generating potential of each corporation.
    • As a result, there was a huge gap in the resources available to the three corporations, vis-a-vis their obligations.
  • Widened Gaps:
    • The gap has widened over a period of time, increasing the financial difficulties of the three municipal corporations, leaving them incapacitated to make timely payment of salaries and retirement benefits to their employees and thereby creating serious impediments in maintaining civic services in Delhi.

What is a Municipal Corporation?

• About:
  • In India, the Municipal Corporation is the urban local government that is responsible for the development of any Metropolitan City having a population of more than one million people.
    • Mahanagar Palika, Nagar Palika, Nagar Nigam, City Corporation, and so on are some of the other names for it.
  • The Municipal Corporations are established in the states by the acts of the state legislatures, whereas in the Union Territories through the acts of the Parliament.
  • Municipal governments rely heavily on property tax revenue to fund their operations.
  • The first municipal corporation in India was created in Madras in 1688, followed by municipal corporations in Bombay and Calcutta in 1726.
• Need for creation of Municipal Corporation:
  • The growing population and urbanisation in India's cities necessitated the establishment of a local governing body capable of collecting property taxes and fixed grants from the state government in order to provide essential community services such as health care, education, housing, and transportation.
• Constitutional Provisions:
  • In the Constitution of India, no provision was made for the establishment of local self-government, except the incorporation of Article 40 in the Directive Principles of State Policy.
  • The 74^th Amendment Act, 1992 has inserted a new Part IX-A into the Constitution which deals with the administration of Municipalities and Nagar Palikas.
  • It consists of Article 243P to 243ZG. It also added a new twelfth schedule to the Constitution. The 12^th schedule consists of 18 items.
• Composition:
  • Each municipal region is divided into geographical constituencies known as wards based on the population of that particular city.
  • Each ward elects a representative, who is chosen by the residents of that ward. Members of the wards committee are elected for a five-year term on the basis of adult franchise.
  • A councillor or corporator is a chosen representative of a certain ward.
  • The population of a city determines the number of wards in a municipal area. Scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, disadvantaged classes, and women have seats reserved.

Source: IE

Lead Poisoning

Why in News?

Recently, high levels of lead were found in the blood of thousands of children living around the Kabwe mine in Zambia.

What is Lead Poisoning?

• About:
  • Lead poisoning or chronic intoxication is caused by the absorption of Lead in the system and is characterised especially by fatigue, abdominal pain, nausea, diarrhoea, loss of appetite, anaemia, a dark line along the gums, and muscle paralysis or weakness of limbs.
  • Children younger than 6 years are especially vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can severely affect mental and physical development. At very high levels, lead poisoning can be fatal.
  • Lead exposure also causes anaemia, hypertension, renal impairment, immunotoxicity and toxicity to the reproductive organs.
  • More than three quarters of global lead consumption is for the manufacture of lead-acid batteries for motor vehicles.
• Sources of Lead Poisoning:
  • People can become exposed to lead through occupational and environmental sources. This mainly results from:
    • Inhalation of lead particles generated by burning materials containing lead, for example during smelting, recycling, stripping leaded paint and using leaded aviation fuel, and
    • Ingestion of lead-contaminated dust, water (from leaded pipes) and food (from lead-glazed or lead-soldered containers).

What is Lead?

• Lead is a naturally occurring toxic metal found in the Earth’s crust.
• Lead in the body is distributed to the brain, liver, kidney and bones. It is stored in the teeth and bones, where it accumulates over time.
  • Human exposure is usually assessed through the measurement of lead in blood.
• Lead in bone is released into blood during pregnancy and becomes a source of exposure to the developing foetus.
• There is no level of exposure to lead that is known to be without harmful effects.
• Lead exposure is preventable.

What about the Disease Burden of Lead?

• According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), in 2019, lead exposure accounted for 900 000 deaths and 21.7 million years of healthy life lost (Disability-Adjusted Life Years, or DALYs) worldwide due to long-term effects on health.
• The highest burden was in low- and middle-income countries.

What has been the Response of the World?

• WHO’s Response:
  • Lead as one of 10 chemicals of major public health concern by the World Health Organization (WHO).
  • WHO has joined with the United Nations Environment Programme to form the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint.
    • Leaded paint is a continuing source of exposure in many countries.
  • WHO is also a partner in a project funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) that aims to support at least 40 countries in enacting legally binding controls on lead paint.
    • The GEF, established on the eve of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit, is a catalyst for action on the environment — and much more.
• India’s Response:
  • The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MOEFCC) has passed a notification as “Regulation on Lead contents in Household and Decorative Paints Rules, 2016" and has prohibited manufacture, trade, import as well as export of household and decorative paints containing lead or lead compounds in excess of 90 Parts Per Million (PPM).

Source: DTE

GSAT 7B & India’s Other Military Satellites

Why in News?

Recently, the Ministry of Defense has given the Acceptance of Necessity for the GSAT-7B satellite. This satellite will be a dedicated satellite for the Indian Army.

• The satellite would help the Indian Army enhance its surveillance in border areas.
• Currently, India has only two dedicated military satellites — the GSAT-7 (Rukmini) and GSAT-7A (Angry Bird) — used by the Indian Navy and Air Force respectively.

What will be the role of the GSAT 7B satellite?

• Till date, the Indian Army has been dependent on GSAT-7A and other satellites, but with this new state-of-the-art technology, the Army will have new eyes in the sky.
• The military-grade satellite will be a force multiplier in providing fail-safe communication support.
• The GSAT 7B will primarily fulfil the communication needs of the Army.
• While many features of this satellite are still a closely guarded secret, it is expected that the state of the art, multi-band, military-grade satellite shall be a shot in the arm for the communication and surveillance needs of the Army.
• Such a satellite would be of utmost importance for the Indian Army as it currently faces a double threat of China and Pakistan lurking at its borders.
• The use of such a satellite would also mean that the Army's vast array of radio communication equipment could come under a single platform.

What is the role of GSAT 7 Satellite?

• GSAT 7 series satellites are advanced satellites developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) to meet the communication needs of the defence services.
• The GSAT 7 (Rukmini) provides a gamut of services for military communication needs, which includes low bit voice rate to high bit rate data facilities, including multi-band communications.
  • It is India’s first military satellite.
• The GSAT 7 satellite was launched in August 2013 from an Ariane 5 ECA rocket from Kourou in French Guiana.
• It is a 2,650 kg satellite which has a footprint of nearly 2,000 nautical miles in the Indian Ocean region.
  • This satellite is mainly used by the Indian Navy for its communication needs.
• The satellite carries payloads in Ultra-High Frequency (UHF), C-band and Ku-band, and helps the Navy to have a secure, real time communication link between its land establishments, surface ships, submarines and aircraft.
  • UHF, C-band and Ku-band are different Satellite frequency bands.
• The satellite was injected into a Geosynchronous Transfer Orbit (GTO) of 249 km perigee (nearest point to earth), 35,929 km apogee (farthest point to earth) and an inclination of 3.5 degree with respect to the equator.

What is the role of the GSAT 7A satellite?

• The GSAT 7A was launched in 2018 from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh).
• The satellite helps in boosting the connectivity between the ground radar stations, airbases and the airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C) of the IAF.
• It also helps in satellite controlled operations of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which gives a great deal of reliability to the operations as compared to ground controlled operations.
• This satellite has 10 channels in Ku band with switchable frequency for mobile users, one fixed Gregorian or parabolic antenna, and four steerable antennas.
• A GSAT 7C satellite is on the cards for the IAF, and a proposal to this effect was cleared by the DAC in 2021.

What other kinds of military satellites does India have?

• An Electromagnetic Intelligence Gathering Satellite (EMISAT), developed by ISRO, was launched in April 2020 through a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV-C45).
  • It has an Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) package called Kautilya, which allows the interception of ground-based radar and also carries out electronic surveillance across India.
  • This satellite circles the globe pole-to-pole, and is helpful in gathering information from radars of countries that have borders with India.
• India also has a RISAT 2BR1 synthetic aperture radar imaging satellite, which was launched in December 2019 from Sriharikota.

Way Forward

• The GSAT-7B is a step in the right direction, but India has a long way to go before it can have near real-time imagery or electronic intelligence, which is often essential in maintaining the tempo of modern warfare.
• China already holds a position of power when it comes to the space domain and it is already investing heavily in space programmes.

Source: IE

‘Sujalam 2.0’ Grey Water Recycling Project

Why in News?

On the World Water Day (22^nd March), the Ministry of Jal Shakti launched a countrywide project to reuse grey water, or run-offs from kitchens, bathing and laundry.

What is ‘Sujalam 2.0’ Grey Water Recycling Project?

• About:
  • The campaign would focus on the creation of institutional level greywater management assets in Panchayat Ghar, healthcare facilities, schools, Anganwadi Centres (AWCs), community centres and other government institutions.
  • Creation of individual and community greywater management assets will be encouraged.
  • With active participation from all States and local communities’ great success was achieved under the Sujlam 1.0 campaign which was started in August 2021.
    • More than 1 million soak pits were built at household and community level across the country.
• Funding for the Project:
  • The funds to execute the activities for greywater management will be sourced from Swachh Bharat Mission Grameen Phase-II or through 15^th Finance Commission tied-grants or MGNREGS or through convergence of all.

What is the Need to Address the Grey Water Crisis?

• Saving on fresh water use can significantly reduce household water bills, but also has a broader community benefit in reducing demands on public water supply.
• Reducing the amount of wastewater entering sewers or on-site treatment systems.
• 2.2 billion people across the world are facing a water crisis.
  • Sustainable Development Goal 6 aims to provide universal access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation.
• It is estimated that 31 billion litres of greywater is generated every day in India.
• Under Sujlam 2.0 campaign, over 6 lakh villages will see intense activity on solid and liquid waste management.
• In the present context, a lot of water will flow out of rural households.
  • 6 Crore tap water connections have been provided under Jal Jeevan Mission since its launch in August 2019.
  • A total of 9.24 Crore households in the country have access to water through taps.

What are the Related Initiatives?

• India:
  • Jal Shakti Abhiyan:
    • Launched in 2019 to cover water stressed districts, in 2021 it was taken to all rural and urban districts.
  • Atal Bhujal Yojana:
    • Launched in 2019, it is being implemented in select areas of 7 States wherein the people prepare their water security plan detailing out how they are getting water, amount of water being consumed, type of water conservation method applied and how one can moderate its usage.
• World:
  • The Global Water System Project, which was launched in 2003 as a joint initiative of the Earth System Science Partnership (ESSP) and Global Environmental Change (GEC) programme, epitomises global concern about the human-induced transformation of fresh water and its impact on the earth.

Way Forward

• There is a need to develop sustainable behaviour practices to conserve water.
• The central government should take measures to set up water purification or Reverse Osmosis (RO) plants on an urgent basis to tackle the issue of contamination of drinking water.

Source: PIB

H2Ooooh! – Waterwise program for the Children of India

Why in News

On the occasion of World Water Day (22^nd March), National Mission for Clean Ganga, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and other partners released three animation films under its initiative “H2Ooooh! – Water Wise program for the Children of India''.

• The films are based on the stories submitted by school students focusing on protection and conservation of Indian Rivers.

What is H2Ooooh! Initiative?

• About:
  
  • It was launched by UNESCO in July 2021, jointly with the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and others.
  • H2Ooooh! is a unique program crafted for Indian school students from Standard 1-8.
• Objectives:
  
  • It aims to increase awareness about the limited availability of water, its sustainable use, its conservation, its exploitation and much more.
  • It seeks to enable the students to share their own experiences and proposals for the protection of the environment.
  • Divided in three phases, the project aims to spur creativity and raise awareness on water conservation and its sustainable use for students between the age of 6-14 years, by providing training and encouraging them to submit paintings and story ideas for the animated short films.
    
    • Since its launch, nearly 31000 students from 53 schools in 18 Indian states have been engaged actively, with the support from over 400 teachers.

Source: PIB

Reserve Bank Innovation Hub

Why in News?

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor inaugurated the Reserve Bank Innovation Hub (RBIH) in Bengaluru.

What is the RBIH?

• About:
  
  • It has been set up as a Section 8 company under the Companies Act, 2013 with an initial capital contribution of Rs. 100 crore.
  • It is is a wholly owned subsidiary of the RBI.
• Objective:
  
  • RBIH aims to create an ecosystem that focuses on promoting access to financial services and products for the low-income population in the country.
    
    • This is in line with the objective behind establishment of RBIH i.e., to bring world-class innovation to the financial sector in India, coupled with the underlying theme of financial inclusion.
  • The Hub is expected to build an ecosystem for development of prototypes, patents and proofs of concept and promote cross-thinking, spanning regulatory domains and national boundaries.
  • It had plans to identify and mentor start-ups having maximum potential.
  • It is also expected to collaborate with various government Ministries, Departments and academia to identify problem statements in different domains and explore potential solutions.
  • RBI Innovation hub hosted Swanari TechSprint to create sustainable solutions for women-owned enterprises.
    
    • TechSprint is aimed at advancing digital financial inclusion for women in India.

What are the other Initiatives for Financial Inclusion?

• Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)
• Atal Pension Yojana (APY)
• Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana (PMVVY)
• Stand Up India Scheme
• Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY)

Source: TH

Assam Rifles

Why in News?

• Recently, the 187^th Raising Day of the Assam Rifles has been celebrated in Shillong. Assam Rifles is the watchdog of the North East and the oldest paramilitary force in the country.

What is the Key Role of Assam Rifles?

• Assam Rifles is a Central Paramilitary Force under the Central Armed Police Forces.
• It came into being in 1835, as a militia called the ‘Cachar Levy’, to primarily protect British Tea estates and their settlements against tribal raids.
• It significantly contributed to the opening of Assam region to administration and commerce and over time it came to be known as the “right arm of the civil and left arm of the military”.
• Assam Rifles has two battalions stationed in Jammu and Kashmir and one National Disaster Relief Force battalion, which is playing its active role in case of natural calamities.
• Although India has been contributing to the UN peacekeeping for many years, the addition of the Riflewomen Team of the Assam Rifles adds another social and human dimension to our commitment to the community of nations.
• Major role post-Independence:
  
  • Conventional combat role during the Sino-India War 1962.
  • Operations in a foreign land as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force to Sri Lanka in 1987 (Operation Pawan).
  • Peacekeeping role in the North-Eastern areas of India.
• In November 2019, MHA proposed to merge it with the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP).
  
  • ITBP is a specialized mountain force, raised in October 1962.
  • It is deployed on border guarding duties from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh covering 3488 km of Indo-China Border.

What is the Central Armed Police Forces?

• The Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) refers to seven security forces in India under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
  
  • Assam Rifles (AR)
  • Border Security Force (BSF)
  • Central Industrial Security Force (CISF)
  • Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF)
  • Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP)
  • National Security Guard (NSG)
  • Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB)

Source: PIB