DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS 07 DECEMBER
ECONOMY
Auto part units shed 1 lakh casual jobs
About one-lakh, temporary workers in the auto components sector lost their jobs between October 2018 and July 2019 due to the slump in the auto industry, the Auto Components Manufacturers Association (ACMA) said.
Auto Industry:
- Auto component sales in the first half of the year declined by 10% to Rs. 1.79 lakh crores.
- Exports and the aftermarket segment grew.
- Primarily, it is the temporary employees who have lost jobs, because the component makers had adjusted to production demand.
- The auto component industry grows on the back of the vehicle industry, a current 15%-20% cut in vehicle production has inter-alia adversely affected the auto components industry performance and investments.
Audit for FDI norms must for e-com firms
New rules for E-commerce companies:
- Submit an audit report every year, showing that they have been in compliance with the FDI rules for the sector.
- It has amended Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999.
Other rules regulating e-commerce companies:
- Vendors that have any stake owned by an e-commerce company cannot sell their products on that e-commerce company’s portal.
- Any vendor who buys 25% or more of its inventory from an e-commerce group firm will be considered to be controlled by that firm and thereby barred from selling on its portal.
- The rules were also designed to ensure that the e-commerce marketplaces themselves did not influence the prices of the products on sale by providing deep discounts.
About Foreign Exchange Management act:
- The Foreign Exchange Management Act, 1999 is an act of the Indian parliament relating to foreign exchange, external trade and payments in the country.
- It replaced the earlier foreign exchange regulation law known as the FERA (Foreign Exchange Regulation Act).
- It was enacted “to consolidate and amend the law relating to foreign exchange with the objective of facilitating external trade and payments and for promoting the orderly development and maintenance of foreign exchange market in India”.
- It enables a new foreign exchange management regime consistent with the emerging framework of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).
- FEMA allows the Reserve Bank of India and the union government to pass laws and rules concerned with foreign exchange in line with the country’s foreign trade policy.
SOCIETY
NHRC orders probe into incident
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has ordered an investigation into the deaths in police action of four men who had been arrested in the case of the gang rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Telangana.
According to NHRC, the arrested persons were actually guilty; they were to be punished as per law pursuant to the directions of the competent court.
NHRC guidelines in encounter killings:
- Under our laws the police have not been conferred any right to take away the life of another person.
- The only two circumstances in which such killing would not constitute an offence were
- “if death is caused in the exercise of the right of private defence”, and
- Under Section 46 of the CrPC, which “authorises the police to use force, extending up to the causing of death, as may be necessary to arrest the person accused of an offence punishable with death or imprisonment for life”.
- Police Station shall enter information of encounter killings in the appropriate register.
- Immediate steps should be taken to investigate the facts and circumstances leading to the death to ascertain what, if any, offence was committed and by whom.
- It is appropriate that the cases are made over for investigation to some other independent investigation agency, such as State CID.
- Question of granting of compensation to the dependents of the deceased may be considered in cases ending in conviction.
- An FIR to this effect must be registered under appropriate sections of the IPC.
- A magisterial enquiry must be held in all cases of death, which occurs in the course of police action, as expeditiously as possible, preferably within three months.
Supreme Court guidelines:
- An FIR of encounter killings shall be registered and the same shall be forwarded to the court under Section 157 of the Code without any delay.
- An independent investigation into the incident/encounter shall be conducted by the CID or police team of another police station under the supervision of a senior officer.
- A Magisterial inquiry under Section 176 of the Code must invariably be held in all cases of death, which occur in the course of police firing, and a report thereof must be sent to Judicial Magistrate having jurisdiction under Section 190 of the Code.
- The information of the incident without any delay must be sent to NHRC or the State Human Rights Commission, as the case may be.
- The trial, pursuant to the charge sheet submitted by the Investigating Officer, must be concluded expeditiously.
About NHRC:
- It was established in 1993 under a legislation enacted by the Parliament, namely, the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.
- It is a statutory body.
- NHRC is a multi-member body, which consists of a Chairman and seven other members. Out of the seven members, three are ex-officio member.
- President appoints the Chairman and members of NHRC on recommendation of high-powered committee headed by Prime Minister.
- The Chairperson and the members of the NHRC are appointed for 5 years or until the age of 70 years, whichever is earlier.
Reference: https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/nhrc-orders-probe-into-incident/article30226744.ece
‘Police must be proactive on women’s safety’
Suggestions for improving Police proactiveness:
- Ensure “strict compliance” with the provision of “zero FIR” in the event of a cognizable offence like sexual assault.
- Zero FIR can be filed at any police station, irrespective of the jurisdiction where the crime occurred, and later transferred to the police station concerned.
- Monitor the completion of investigation in serious sexual offences cases in the prescribed two-month period.
- Regularly use the national database on sexual offenders (NDSO) to facilitate better investigation.
National database on sexual offenders (NDSO):
- It was launched in September 2018.
- NDSO is a central database of sexual offenders in the country, which is being maintained by the NCRB.
- It is a database of all those convicted for sexual offences from 2005.
- It includes the names, addresses, photographs and fingerprints of the convicts and can be accessed by police stations through common software.
- It has details of over 7 lakh sex offenders.
- It was launched by Home Ministry.
Whole of India can be ODF by early 2020
- The government may be able to declare the whole country open defecation-free (ODF) by early next year.
- According to the Ministry, West Bengal is implementing its own sanitation scheme.
- Swachh Bharat had become a “people’s movement” after it was launched as a government project by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014.
- The term "open defecation free" (ODF) is used to describe communities that have shifted to using a toilet instead of open defecation.
SCIENCE
Existing antivenom therapy for snake bite inefficient: IISc study
A new study has revealed that commercially available antivenom in India can be ineffective in treating bites from some snakes that are poorly studied.
Snakebites and Antivenom:
- India is the snakebite capital of the world.
- Annually, about 46,000 people die and 1, 40,000 others are disabled in the country because of snakebites.
- The only scientifically validated treatment for snakebites is the use of antivenom, for which manufacturing protocols have remained unchanged for over a century.
- A polyvalent antivenom is produced against the so-called ‘big four’ snakes: the spectacled cobra, the common krait, Russell’s viper, and the saw-scaled viper.
- Specific antivenom is not produced to combat the poison of other snakes, and the ‘big four’ antivenom is routinely used to treat bites from all snakes.
- Venom composition differed between geographically separated populations of the same species.
POLITY
Rajya Sabha discusses Bill to scrap poll spend limit
The Rajya Sabha had discussed two private members’ Bills to do away with the cap on election spending by candidates and to establish a committee on foreign investment to prevent threats to national security.
Poll Limit on candidate:
- Real expenditure on elections was higher than the limits and black money was still prevalent.
- There was money being spent on “illegitimate purposes”, including “paid news”.
- Current limits could be reviewed, with a separate provision to allow media publicity.
Laws regarding expenditure in elections:
- At present, there is no limit on the amount a political party can spend in an election or on a candidate.
- However, the Commission has put a cap on individual candidates’ spending. For the Lok Sabha elections, it is Rs. 50 – 70 lakh (depending on the state they are contesting the Lok Sabha seat from), and Rs. 20 – 28 lakh for an assembly election.
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