Important topics and their relevance in UPSC CSE exam for February 26, 2024. If you missed the February 23, 2024 UPSC CSE exam key from the Indian Express, read it here

EXPLAINED

Why has Assam decided to repeal its Muslim Marriage Act?

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination:

• General Studies I: Social empowerment and Salient features of Indian Society

• General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Following a meeting on Friday (February 23) evening, it was announced that the state Cabinet has decided to repeal the Assam Muslim Marriage and Divorce Registration Act of 1935. In the meeting, the Cabinet approved the ‘Assam Repealing Ordinance 2024’ which will repeal the 89-year-old Act.

• What is Assam Muslim marriage and divorce Act 1935?

• What is the Act meant for?

• What is the Assam government’s rationale behind repealing the Act?

• For Your Information-Enacted in 1935, the Act lays down the process for registration of Muslim marriages and divorces. A 2010 amendment replaced the word ‘voluntary’ in the original Act with ‘compulsory’, making registration of Muslim marriages and divorces compulsory in the state of Assam.

The Act authorises the state to grant licences to “any person, being a Muslim” to register marriages and divorces, with Muslim registrars deemed to be public servants. It lays down the process through which marriage and divorce applications can be made to the registrar, and the process for their registration. Crucially, the Act is in line with the Muslim personal law. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma called this decision “another significant step towards prohibiting child marriages in Assam,” stating that the Act contains provisions allowing marriage registration even if the bride and groom have not reached the legal marriageable age of 18 and 21, respectively.

A note on the Cabinet meeting referred to it as “obsolete pre-Independence Act of the British for the then Province.” It also stated that the registration machinery in the Act is “informal” therefore “leaving a lot of scope for non-compliance of extant norms”. Advocate Nekibur Zaman, who was part of a state government-appointed committee to examine the legality of a law to ban polygamy, stated that the Act essentially governs nikah and talaq in the state, for which the authority is a government-registered kazi. “Many kazis misuse the power, and often enable the marrying of minors and divorce without grounds,” he claimed, calling it an “outdated act.”

This decision also comes a fortnight after BJP-ruled Uttarakhand became the first state in the country to introduce a Uniform Civil Code. The Assam’s BJP government has been clear that it intends to soon do the same, and while announcing the Cabinet’s decision, minister Jayanta Malla Baruah touted repealing the Act as a significant step towards this end. He also said that after the Act’s repeal, Muslims will have to register marriages under the Special Marriage Act instead.

A district judge told The Indian Express that “as part of that process [to introduce a UCC], the state government will also have to repeal the acts that will be in contravention to it.” Last year, the Assam government had launched an unprecedented punitive crackdown against child marriages, arresting more than 4,000 and prosecuting most of them under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The government has resolved to “eradicate” child marriage by 2026. The particular provision of the Act which was the chief minister said allowed child marriage is regarding the process of making a marriage application to the registrar. It states: “… provided that if the bride and groom, or both, be minors, application shall be made on their behalf by their respective lawful guardians…”

Under Muslim personal law, the marriage of a bride who has attained puberty is considered valid. Puberty is presumed, in the absence of evidence, on turning 15 years old. However, Zunaid Khalid, an advocate and the president of Assam Millat Foundation, disagrees about the government’s stated intent. “If the government is serious about checking child marriage, it could have amended the portion in contravention, and specified that only marriages of brides and grooms of legally marriageable age can be registered under [the Act],” he said, adding that “the fallout of complete repeal of the Act is likely to just be more unregistered marriages.”

Advocate Aman Wadud, also a member of the Congress party, echoed similar sentiments, saying that the Act allows for a simple and decentralised marriage registration process, with 94 kazis spread across the state. “Now, if the simple process under the Muslim Marriage Act is to be replaced with the Special Marriage Act — for which the nodal office is the District Commissioner’s office, entails a one-month notice period, more robust documentation, and which is a complicated process for poor, illiterate people — the outcome is likely to simply be reduced registration,” he said. He further added that “in the absence of authorised kazis, the field would be wide open for unregistered kazis.”

• Why did the state government link this decision to its crackdown on child marriages?

• What is the political background for the Assam Cabinet’s decision?

• Child Marriage in India-Know the statistics and data’s

• But why child marriage are still prevalent in certain areas in India?

• Why Child Marriage is a violation of Human Rights?

• What are the Government initiatives taken to curb Child Marriages in India?

• What the Prohibition of Child Marriage (Amendment) Bill, 2021 says?

• What are the recommendations given by various Committees and Conventions in India as well as by the International Bodies on minimum age of marriage?

• The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2006- Know the Salient features of the Act and its amendment

• Who is regarded as child as per the provisions of POCSO Act, 2012?

• Why Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012?

• What have the courts said on the issue?

• What is the central government’s stand?

• Child Marriages and Assam-what is happening?

• What are the causes of child marriage in Assam?

• “The Assam police began a crackdown on child marriage and arrested more than 2500 people”-why this crackdown?

• Is this a correct way to stop child marriages-What experts are saying?

• Where does India stand in Child Marriages statistics?

• What does the constitution and laws says about Child Marriages?

• “Child marriages affect the national economy negatively and do not allow us to come out of the vicious cycle of inter-generational poverty”-Elaborate

• Are mass arrests and the indiscriminate use of criminal sanctions, that the Assam government has resorted to, the only solution to the problem of child marriage?

• What does the UN Convention on Consent to Marriage, Minimum Age for Marriage and Registration of Marriages (1962), the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (1979) and the Beijing Declaration (1995) says on child marriages?

• The Age of Consent Act 1891-Know in detail

• The Child Marriage Restraint Act , 1929 or the Sharda Act-Know in detail

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Faizan Mustafa writes: Instead of criminalising child marriage, Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma should heed PM Modi’s call of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao

????Key step in stopping child marriages, says Assam CM on decision to repeal Muslim Marriage Act

CHANGES IN ELECTRICITY RULES: BOOST TO ROOF TOP SOLAR POWER

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Economic and Social Development

Mains Examination: General Studies III: Infrastructure: Energy, Ports, Roads, Airports, Railways etc.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The Ministry of Power has notified amendments to the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, to accelerate the installation of rooftop solar projects and empower consumers – with provisions on connections in residential societies and solving complaints on meter readings.

• Rooftop Solar Scheme-Know in detail

• What is India’s current solar capacity?

• Why is an expansion of solar energy important for India?

• Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020-Know key features

• Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020-What are the amendments

• Do You Know-The amendments notified on February 22 have eased rules around the requirement of a technical feasibility report for rooftop solar projects. They also allow residential societies to opt for individual connections or a single-point connection through a vote. Electricity distribution companies (DISCOMs) will also be required to install an additional meter to verify consumer complaints on inaccurate meter readings.

The amendments have also reduced the timeline for getting a new electricity connection and require DISCOMs to provide a separate connection for an electric vehicle (EV) charging point, if requested by a consumer. These changes mark the fourth amendment since the 2020 notification was issued

Earlier, DISCOMs were required to conduct a feasibility study for rooftop solar projects within 20 days of an application being filed, and then intimate the outcome to the applicant. A technical feasibility study determines whether a property is physically and financially suitable for the installation of solar panels.

The latest amendments have reduced that period to 15 days. Moreover, if the study is not completed by then, “it shall be presumed that the proposal is technically feasible”. Put simply, the costs of strengthening distribution infrastructure for rooftop solar projects with a capacity of up to 5 kilowatts will be borne by DISCOMs, and this can be covered through its operations. “Additionally, it has now been mandated that the distribution system strengthening necessary for rooftop solar PV systems up to 5 kW capacity will be done by the distribution company at its own cost,” the power ministry noted in a press release. Lastly, the timeline between the installation and the commissioning of rooftop solar projects has been reduced from 30 days to 15 days.

The amendments come a week after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana earlier this month. The new government scheme will provide households with a subsidy of up to 40 per cent to install rooftop solar panels. The government expects the scheme to benefit 1 crore households and help save around Rs 75,000 crore per year in electricity costs.

The latest amendments include new rules to let consumers in a residential society opt for individual connections for households or a single-point connection “by means of a transparent ballot to be held by the distribution licensee”. As per the rules, individual connections will be given to each house or flat owner provided that more than 50 per cent of the owners opt for it. If the owners opt for a single-point connection for the whole premises, then the association overseeing a residential society will be responsible for metering, billing, and collection of the amount due on a no-profit-no-loss basis. In the case of individual connections, the DISCOM will be responsible for those tasks.

The rules define a residential association as one “comprising all the property owners within a Co-operative Group Housing Society, Multistoried Building, Residential Colony, or a similar body registered with the State Government”. The metering, billing, and collection in areas covered under a residential association, regardless of connection type, shall be done separately for individual electricity consumption sourced from the DISCOM, individual consumption of backup power supplied by the association, and electricity consumption in common areas of residential societies also sourced from the DISCOM.

The amendments also require DISCOMs to install an additional meter in case a consumer complains of meter readings not reflecting actual consumption. The additional meter, which is required to be installed within five days of the complaint being received, shall be used to verify the complaint for a minimum period of three months. If the meter is found to be inaccurate, the excess or deficit charges shall be adjusted in the subsequent bills, as per existing rules.

The amended rules have reduced the period for obtaining a new electricity connection or modifying an existing one in metropolitan areas from seven to three days. In other municipal areas, this has reduced from 15 to seven days, and in rural areas from 30 to 15 days. In rural areas with hilly terrain, however, the period will continue to remain 30 days.

Electric Vehicles have been mentioned for the first time in the rules. DISCOMs are required to provide a separate connection for the supply of electricity to an EV charging point if requested by a consumer and within the revised period as mentioned above. In other words, EV owners in New Delhi, Bangalore, or other metropolitan cities can now get a new electricity connection to charge their cars in three days.

• What is the Pradhan Mantri Suryodaya Yojana?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????PM Modi launches new rooftop solar power scheme: What it is, why it is needed

I-T action against Cong: what rules say about political parties’ tax, ITR

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Indian Polity and Governance-Constitution, Political System, Panchayati Raj, Public Policy, Rights Issues, etc.

Mains Examination: General Studies II: Salient features of the Representation of People’s Act.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Earlier this week, the Congress party alleged that the Income Tax Department instructed banks to transfer over Rs. 65 crore from the accounts of the Congress, the Youth Congress (IYC) and the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI). Terming it “economic terrorism”, Congress treasurer Ajay Maken said the move came even as the party has its challenge of a Rs. 210 crore tax demand pending before the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal.

• Are political parties required to pay income tax?

• Are political parties required to file Income Tax returns?

• What is the present case of the Congress?

• For Your Information-The Income Tax Act, 1961, exempts political parties registered by the Election Commission under the Representation of the People Act, 1951 from paying income tax, with some conditions. Section 13-A of the Act, which pertains to “special provision relating to incomes of political parties”, says any income under the heads of “income from house property”, “income from other sources”, “capital gains” and income from voluntary contributions “shall not be included in the total income of the previous year” of the party. This is the case, provided that the party maintains books of account and other documents that would enable the Assessing Officer to “properly deduce its income”; maintains a record of all contributions above Rs. 20,000 each; has its accounts audited by an accountant; and does not accept any donation above Rs. 2,000 each in cash. The exemption is valid as long as the treasurer of the party or any other person authorised by the party submits a declaration of its donations to the Election Commission before the due date of filing Income Tax returns. Parties are required to file their returns if their total income, before taking into account the exemptions under Section 13A, is higher than the income tax exemption limit. Section 139 (4B) says the chief executive officer of every political party, “if the total income in respect of which the political party is assessable (the total income for this purpose being computed under this Act without giving effect to the provisions of section 13A) exceeds the maximum amount which is not chargeable to income-tax, furnish a return of such income of the previous year in the prescribed form”.

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????Congress alleges I-T department withdrew Rs 65 crore from its bank accounts

FRONT PAGE

Indians spending more on milk, fruits and veg than food grains

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-The latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES) for 2022-23 does not only point to a continuing decline in the share of food items in the total spending basket of Indians. Equally revealing is a shift in the composition of food expenditure itself — from foodgrains and sugar to animal and horticulture products. In other words, from foods basically delivering calories to those rich in proteins and micronutrients.

• Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23-Know the key highlights

• The data gathered in Consumer Expenditure Survey reveals what?

• What is Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE)?

• Consumer Expenditure Survey and Monthly Per Capita Consumer Expenditure (MPCE)-Connect the dots

• How has the share of spending on food in India changed over the last 20-odd years?

• Do You Know-The data from the HCES, conducted by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), shows the share of food in the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) dipped to 46.4% in 2022-23 for rural India, from 52.9% in 2011-12, 53.1% in 2004-05, and 59.4% in 1999-2000. A similar, but not as sharp, drop was recorded for urban India too — from 48.1% in 1999-2000, to 40.5% in 2004-05, 42.6% in 2011-12, and 39.2% in 2022-23

As a percentage of your total consumption spending, if you spend less on food, it means you have more money for other things — from consumer durables to clothing and footwear, petrol or diesel for your vehicle, and even for entertainment. In other words, you can aspire for more.

Between 1999-2000 (National Sample Survey 55th round) and 2022-23, the share of expenditure on food has gradually declined for both urban and rural households. However, it is for the first time that expenditure on food has fallen to less than 50 per cent of the total consumption expenditure in rural India, and to less than 40 per cent in urban India. This is remarkable.

The share of food in consumption expenditure in rural India was as high as 59.4 per cent in 1999-2000, it hovered around 50 per cent levels through the first decade of the new millennium, and in 2022-23, it stood at 46.38 per cent. In urban India, the share of food in the average monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) has fallen to 39.17 per cent in 2022-23 from 48.06 per cent in 1999-2000.

• Within foods, what are Indians now consuming?

• Is there a need to review the inflation basket? What do the average MPCE data show?

• For Your Information-Inflation is calculated based on the changes in the price levels of items in a large basket. These items must ideally reflect what you and I consume — and our consumption patterns may vary depending on whether we live in a city or a village. For accurate calculation of inflation, the basket of goods should represent the consumption expenditure pattern of households, be it urban or rural.

The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation, also called retail inflation, is currently based on a basket that was decided in 2012. But over the last 11 years, as the latest Household Consumption Expenditure (HCE) Survey 2022-23 shows, a lot has changed.

For example, the CPI (Rural) basket assigns a weightage of 12.35 per cent to ‘cereals and products’. But as mentioned above, the latest HCE Survey shows rural households spend just 4.91 per cent on cereals (and cereal substitutes). Again, the share of expenditure on food in rural households is 46.38 per cent, according to the Survey. But food in the CPI (Rural) basket has a weightage of 54.18 per cent — much higher than what a rural consumer now spends.

Similarly, in the CPI (Urban) basket, food has a weightage of 36.29 per cent; the HCE Survey shows the share of urban household expenditure on food is higher, at 39.17 per cent. In urban households, the spends on pan, tobacco and intoxicants, and entertainment are 2.43 per cent and 1.58 per cent respectively. But the weightage for these two items in the CPI (Urban) basket is 1.36 per cent and 2.04 per cent respectively.

The share of spending on rent has increased both for rural and urban households to 0.78 per cent and 6.56 per cent respectively. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) decides to increase or decrease the policy rate (repo rate, the interest rate at which the central bank lends money to commercial banks) based on retail inflation — and this has an impact on growth. A lower interest rate will help economic growth by facilitating loans at lower rates. But if the RBI is guided by wrong data, it will most likely delay any action on interest rates.

• What does the difference between imputed and non-imputed average MPCE data show?

• Which states have a lower standard of living compared with the national average?

• Why Consumer Expenditure Survey (CES) is important?

• Why Consumer Expenditure Survey is helpful?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????NSSO consumer survey indicates poverty down to 5 per cent: NITI CEO

????Consumption survey: 5 questions

????Per capita Monthly Household Consumption Expenditure more than doubled during 2011-12 to 2022-23

THE IDEAS PAGE

In poll year, a data question

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance

Main Examination: General Studies II: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Namrata Maheshwari Writes: The big data economy — powered by massive datasets and unprecedented levels of personal information — has fundamentally altered how a country conducts elections, and how people vote. The benefits to companies and political parties are as clear as the harms to people’s privacy.

• Why does data matter?

• What is Data Protection?

• What is personal data?

• What is non-personal data?

• Personal data and Non-personal data-compare

• “India’s data protection act has not yet come into force”-Know the present status

• Do You Know-In its most basic form, non-personal data is any set of data which does not contain personally identifiable information. This in essence means that no individual or living person can be identified by looking at such data. For example, while order details collected by a food delivery service will have the name, age, gender, and other contact information of an individual, it will become non-personal data if the identifiers such as name and contact information are taken out.

The government committee, which submitted its report has classified non-personal data into three main categories, namely public non-personal data, community non-personal data and private non-personal data. Depending on the source of the data and whether it is anonymised in a way that no individual can be re-identified from the data set, the three categories have been divided.

All the data collected by government and its agencies such as census, data collected by municipal corporations on the total tax receipts in a particular period or any information collected during execution of all publicly funded works has been kept under the umbrella of public non-personal data.

Any data identifiers about a set of people who have either the same geographic location, religion, job, or other common social interests will form the community non-personal data. For example, the metadata collected by ride-hailing apps, telecom companies, electricity distribution companies among others have been put under the community non-personal data category by the committee.

Private non-personal data can be defined as those which are produced by individuals which can be derived from application of proprietary software or knowledge. The Digital India Bill is a key part of a comprehensive legal framework which encompasses various legislative measures such as the recently-notified Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, the draft Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022, and a policy addressing the governance of non-personal data. The Bill, however, is unlikely to be released this year. As per a report released in October by a working group constituted by the IT Ministry, the India datasets program is a “unified national data sharing and exchange platform to enable various data sharing and exchange use cases of all stakeholders including but not limited to Central/State/UT Governments, public sector undertaking, private sector companies, industry bodies, MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) and startups, academia and researchers, civil society and media organisations, open technology communities, etc.”

Non-personal data held by the Indian datasets platform could also be monetised, the report suggests. The platform, as per the report, will play a crucial role in boosting the artificial intelligence ecosystem in India by providing a “robust foundation” for data-driven innovation and development. In May 2022, the IT Ministry had released the draft National Data Governance Framework Policy under which it merely “encouraged” private companies to share non-personal data with startups and Indian researchers.

• Supreme Court on Right to Privacy (Justice K.S. Puttaswamy vs. Union of India, 2017)-know the verdict

• Justice B N Srikrishna committee recommendation on Data Protection-Know key recommendations

• Personal Data Protection Bill 2019- how this Bill propose to regulate data transfer?

• Key features of Personal Data Protection Bill 2019-know in brief

• What is data localisation? Know the Case for Data Localisation in India.

• What Srikrishna Committee Report says on data localisation?

• Initiative/steps taken by Government of India for Data Protection and Data Privacy-Know in detail

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????The 360° UPSC Debate : Will Digital Personal Data Protection Bill violate privacy of citizens?

North and South, twain must meet

Syllabus:

Preliminary Examination: Current events of national and international importance.

Main Examination: General Studies III: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment.

Key Points to Ponder:

• What’s the ongoing story-Ishan Bakshi Writes: To address financial concerns of southern states, finance commission could give weightage to performance on demographic indicators, tax efforts and fiscal position

• What are the recommendations of the latest Finance Commission?

• What were the recommendations of 15th Finance Commission?

• 15th Finance Commission and North-South divide-Comment

• What are the fiscal implications of the North-South divide in India?

• “There is a deep chasm between the functioning of the state finance commissions (FC) as envisioned and the reality on the ground”-Discuss

• What are the concerns raised by southern states over their falling share in central taxes?

• For Your Information-According to the Author, the share of the southern region (Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala) in the divisible tax pool has declined from 21.1 per cent during 2000-05 (the award period of the 11th Finance Commission) to 15.8 per cent during 2021-26 (under the 15th Finance Commission). However, over the same period, northern states like Uttar Pradesh (including Uttarakhand) and Bihar (including Jharkhand) have also seen a fall in their share, though in lesser magnitude. Odisha, too, has seen a decline in its share. Among those who have gained are high income states like Gujarat and Maharashtra, low income states like Madhya Pradesh (including Chhattisgarh), Rajasthan and the Northeastern states, with the exception of Assam. This is not really a North-South divide as it is made out to be.

The poorer northern states, however, are undeniably more dependent on transfers from the Centre. For instance, transfers from the Centre — share in central taxes and grants in aid — account for 75 per cent of Bihar’s and 53 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s total revenue receipts. The comparable figures for Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are 31 per cent and 27 per cent respectively (2022-23 BE).

One could argue that transfers from richer southern states to poorer regions are in some sense similar to those from rich urban centres such as Mumbai and Gurugram to the lesser developed parts of their respective states. For instance, Mumbai accounts for around 40 per cent of Maharashtra’s GST revenues, but just under 9 per cent of district expenditure. But, fiscal transfers are needed to ensure uniformity of public services across the country, given the varying levels of development. However, it must be asked if the increase in transfers to the poorer regions is actually helping minimise the gap.

The issue is not only of the horizontal distribution (between states) of tax revenues, but also of the vertical distribution (between the Centre and the states). That’s because even as the states’ share in the divisible tax pool (tax collected by the Centre and shared with the states) has gone up from 29.5 per cent under the 11th FC to 41 per cent under the 15th FC, the divisible tax pool itself has shrunk.

With the Union government relying more on cesses and surcharges to raise resources — revenue from these sources is not shared with the states — the divisible tax pool has shrunk from 88.6 per cent of Centre’s gross tax revenues in 2011-12 to 78.9 per cent in 2021-22 as per the RBI. As a result, states’ share has averaged just about 34 per cent of gross tax revenues.

This sequestering of revenue through cesses and surcharges is, in part, a consequence of the Centre spending in areas that fall on the State and Concurrent lists through centrally-sponsored schemes or centre sector schemes. These leave it with little funds to spend on items in the Union list such as defence. Paradoxically, this has also meant aggregate transfers from the central government to the states through various channels such as devolution, finance commission grants and other transfers/grants are higher when compared to the pre-14th Finance Commission period.

• What are the ways to address the financial concerns of the southern states?

Other Important Articles Covering the same topic:

????An elusive grid link: The widening North-South divide

For any queries and feedback, contact priya.shukla@indianexpress.com The Indian Express UPSC Key is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest Updates.