📰 CM to launch schemes aimed at checking malnutrition today
Pregnant women, lactating mothers and children to benefit
•Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy will launch ‘YSR Sampoorna Poshana’ and ‘YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus’ schemes on September 7 (Monday). These schemes are aimed at providing nutritious food to pregnant women, lactating mothers and their children.
•The ‘YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus’ is intended to supply nutritious food exclusively in 77 tribal areas under eight ITDAs, 52 ICDS projects and 8,320 anganwadi centres, while the remaining urban and rural areas lying in the plains will be covered under the YSR Sampoorna Poshana.
•In an attempt to address malnutrition and anaemia among pregnant women, lactating mothers and children aged between six and 72 months, the government has brought these schemes as part of which supplementary nutrition will be provided through anganwadi centers. As many as 30,16,000 pregnant women, lactating mothers and children belonging to the BPL families will benefit from the schemes which will entail an annual expenditure of approximately Rs. 1,900 crore.
•On the ‘YSR Sampoorna Poshana Plus, the government will be spending Rs. 1,100 every month on each pregnant and lactating woman, Rs. 620 on each child aged between six to 36 months and Rs. 553 on each child aged between 36 to 72 months, totalling Rs. 307.55 crore per annum on 3,80,000 beneficiaries.
•Under YSR Sampoorna Poshana, the government will spend Rs. 850 every month on each pregnant and lactating women, Rs. 412 on each child aged between six to 36 months and Rs. 350 on each child aged between 36 to 72 months, totalling Rs. 1556 crore per annum on 26,36,000 beneficiaries.
Mobile app
•The Department of Women Development and Child Welfare has developed a mobile application to assess the service delivery and satisfaction levels of the beneficiaries.
They seek to maintain the ‘axis of resistance’ against Israel
•Leaders of Lebanon’s Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas movement, both enemies of Israel, have met to discuss diplomatic normalisation between the Jewish state and Arab countries, a report said on Sunday.
•They stressed the “stability” of the “axis of resistance” against Israel, the Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV channel reported, without saying where or when the meeting took place.
•Hassan Nasrallah, head of the Iran-backed Shiite Hezbollah movement, was pictured meeting Ismail Haniyeh, who heads the political bureau of Hamas, the Islamist movement that control the Gaza Strip.
•They discussed “political and military developments in Palestine, Lebanon and the region” and “the dangers to the Palestinian cause”, including “Arab plans for normalisation” with Israel, Al-Manar said.
•The meeting comes after an August 13 announcement that the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates have agreed to normalise ties.
•While the U.S.-backed diplomatic drive aims to boost a regional alliance against Iran, Palestinians have condemned it as a “stab in the back” as they remain under occupation and don’t have their own state.
•Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is in talks with other Arab and Muslim leaders now about normalising relations, following the deals with UAE and, decades ago, Egypt and Jordan.
📰 India, Iran discuss Afghan peace process
Tehran also raised safety of minorities, say sources
•The Defence Ministers of India and Iran discussed ways to take forward bilateral cooperation and exchanged views on regional security issues, including peace and stability in Afghanistan, during their meeting in Tehran, the Defence Ministry said on Sunday. In a departure from protocol for defence meetings, the Iranian side raised the issue of recent reports citing the safety of minorities in India, it is learnt.
•Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a bilateral meeting with Iran’s Minister of Defence and Armed Forces Logistics Brigadier General Amir Hatami at the latter’s request on September 5.
•Mr. Singh was on a transit halt in Tehran en route from Moscow to New Delhi where he attended the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Defence Ministers meeting. Iran is an observer at the SCO.
•“Both leaders emphasised upon the age-old cultural, linguistic and civilisational ties between India and Iran,” the Ministry said.
📰 Court’s drift and chinks in the judiciary’s armour
An opaque ‘master of the roster’ system and a certain kind of judge are sufficient to destroy judicial independence
•This past fortnight has seen two significant developments in connection with the Indian judiciary: the first was the decision of the Supreme Court of India in the matter of Prashant Bhushan’s contempt case, and the second was the retirement of Justice Arun Mishra. These events, in their own way, magnify the chinks in the armour of the Supreme Court.
The Bhushan case
•In the first instance, the Supreme Court, in a display of self-proclaimed “magnanimity”, let off Mr. Bhushan with a fine of one rupee in the contempt case against him over two tweets. In the alternative, the top court ordered for a three-month imprisonment term and three years’ debarment from practice. The Court chastised him for his “conduct”, which, according to the Court, “reflects adamance and ego, which has no place to exist in the system of administration of justice and in noble profession, and no remorse is shown for the harm done to the institution to which he belongs”. It would be trite to say that these words ring hollow coming from a Court that chose to relentlessly pursue Mr. Bhushan in a petty exhibition of arrogance itself. Over the course of the hearing, the Court repeatedly tried to coerce the contemnor, i.e., Mr. Bhushan, to proffer an apology, and kept granting him additional time (a few days, a few hours, etc.) for this purpose. It was arguably strange behaviour on the part of the Court, and it also appeared embarrassing, for it came across as petulant bargaining more than anything else. Mr. Bhushan, with appropriate decorum and honesty, admitted that any apology from him in the circumstances would be insincere.
•The jurisprudential contribution of this decision to the law of contempt will be studied for years to come, surely, but maybe not for the reasons that the Court intended. Hopefully, a wiser judicial and legislative community will realise one day how utterly self-defeating this law is for a healthy democracy, and eventually change the law around.
A judge in the limelight
•This was among Justice Mishra’s last few decisions as a member of the Supreme Court, before he retired on September 2. As a result, considerable attention has been paid to his decisions during his tenure which lasted from 2014 to 2020. One consistent feature has revealed itself throughout, which is the kinds of cases that were assigned to the Benches he was on, and the kinds of decisions he issued. In the judges’ press conference two years ago, the primary grouse was with the “master of the roster” system, and the specific concern that politically sensitive cases (i.e., dealing with the executive) were being allocated to Benches involving Justice Arun Mishra (even if not mentioned by name, his role was clearly insinuated, notably with reference to the judge Loya case). Commentators (e.g., Aparna Chandra, Anup Surendranath, V. Venkatesan) have also conducted detailed analyses of Justice Arun Mishra’s decisions, and studies have found that these were predictably in favour of the executive.
•In recent times, many columnists, leading scholars, and legal luminaries have speculated on the marked drift of the Supreme Court away from rights-based court to an executive court. Of course, to keep such a court going, a judge who is ever ready to step up to handle politically sensitive matters, and who can be relied upon to issue decisions that are in favour of the executive, is always useful. However, even as the limelight is on a judge such as Justice Mishra in circumstances like this, the role of the office of the Chief Justice of India (CJI) in facilitating the creation of an executive court cannot be ignored.
•Allegations and suspicions have been voiced from within as well, with Justice Kurian Joseph suggesting that the assignment of work in the Court during Justice Dipak Misra’s tenure was “remote controlled”. During his time, two judgments were delivered by the CJI’s Bench in matters to which he himself was a party. Through these judgments, the CJI defended the “master of the roster” system, indicating that the CJI was entitled to have unrestricted and untrammelled power in matters of case allocation. After the press conference, one hoped there would be rethinking on this, but nothing has really happened, and things have continued in the same way since. The “master of the roster” system was designed for a different era, and indeed, may have worked well in the past even, when we had very tall judges, and judicial independence was rarely doubted. But things have changed now.
•Recall that the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act was struck down by the Court on grounds of excessive executive interference in the selection of judges. But surely, this judgment is of no use if executive interference is anyway possible in more subtle ways.
Executive’s chipping away
•Theoretically, it is very easy for an all-powerful executive that is looking to seize control over the other arms of the state, and especially an independent judiciary. There is no need to expend energy in packing the Supreme Court with pro-government judges. Finding over 30 judges who think alike would anyway be difficult, if not impossible. All that is needed is to ensure that certain “favourable” conditions exist in the Court: these include a CJI who is on your side, and a handful of other judges on the Bench who are “reliable”. Unfortunate precedents in the recent past where CJIs have, without compunction, accepted politically-coloured post-retirement opportunities, have not really helped. The competence of judges becomes irrelevant in this scheme of things. The combination of opaque systems like the “master of the roster”, and a certain kind of CJI are sufficient to destroy all that is considered precious by an independent judiciary. Of course, this is far from being a hypothetical scenario, and is, in fact, playing out in India right now. The truly independent and competent judges in the Court have been relegated to adjudicating private disputes, and are considered inconsequential. Many commentators have already pointed out how the last three CJIs all used the powers anointed upon themselves via the “master of the roster” to entrust sensitive and important matters to Benches involving Justice Arun Mishra.
•The other thing to note is that these “reliable” judges not only ensure that the pro-executive nature of the Court is sustained, but also serve to protect the CJI in times of crises. Again, this is not mere theory or speculation. As an example, the medical admissions scam case during Justice Dipak Misra’s tenure as CJI was handed over to Justice Arun Mishra’s Bench. Similarly, the infamous hearing of Justice Gogoi’s sexual harassment case included Justice Arun Mishra.
The European example
•There is enough evidence that the “master of the roster” system does not work any more. What we need today is legal certainty, and a rules-based mechanism for allocation of cases (e.g., as followed by the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, among many other jurisdictions where cases are decided not by full courts but by benches). This rule can be that cases are allocated randomly. But any kind of rule can be implemented only if judges themselves take a stand and decide. There should be agreement that no discretion can be allowed, for that is the root cause of so many of our troubles. A case allocation system that is neutral and rules-based will prevent bench packing, and demonstrate neutrality, impartiality, and transparency. All this, in turn, ensures that courts are protected from outside interference; improves public confidence in the impartiality and independence of the judiciary; assures litigants of equality and fairness; and protects basic rights and freedoms by not compromising on them.
Malaise within
•There is a tendency to view the threat to judicial independence in India as emerging from the executive branch, and occasionally the legislature. But when persons within the judiciary become pliable to the other branches, it is a different story altogether. Today, we have a situation which was foreseen many decades ago, by CJI Y.V. Chandrachud, when, in 1985, he observed, “There is greater threat to the independence of the judiciary from within than without ....” All the sermonising in the world (of the sort offered in the Bhushan judgment) will be of no consequence without any real changes in the way things work. And indeed, it is important to note that Justice Arun Mishra’s retirement is not likely to impact the situation; he was anyway merely a manifestation of the deeper malaise in the system. Surely, this is as good a time as any for the judges of the Supreme Court to unite and seriously consider whether self-preservation trumps institutional independence, or whether they truly want to protect the judiciary from outside influence, and hold their own against an overbearing executive.
📰 Financing economic recovery
Regionally coordinated policies will help
•As the socioeconomic impacts of the pandemic spread across Asia and the Pacific, finance ministries are continuing their efforts to inject trillions of dollars for emergency health responses and fiscal packages. With continued lockdown measures and restricted borders, economic rebound seems uncertain. Compared to 2019’s economic situation, over the past six months, countries in Asia and the Pacific have been experiencing sharp drops in foreign exchange inflows due to declines in export earnings, remittances, tourism and FDI. This is worrying as policymakers are tackling difficult choices over how to prioritise development spending, while continuing to expand their squeezed fiscal space.
Financing in three key areas
•The United Nations is contributing through a global initiative, Financing for Development in the Era of COVID-19 and Beyond, co-convened by Canada and Jamaica, to articulate a comprehensive financing strategy to safeguard the Sustainable Development Goals. Governments are united to ensure that adequate financial resources are available to steer an inclusive, sustainable and resilient post-COVID-19 recovery. In the Asia-Pacific region, several countries have already adopted financing plans in three key areas. They aim to address the challenge of diminished fiscal space and debt vulnerability; to ensure sustainable recovery, consistent with the ambitions of the Paris Agreement and the 2030 Agenda; and to harness the potential of regional cooperation in support of financing for development.
•The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) has recently launched its first-ever Regional Conversation Series on Building Back Better. We are joining forces with ministers, decision-makers, private sectors and heads of international agencies to share collective insights on sharing pathways to resilient recovery from health pandemic and economic collapse.
•To improve the fiscal space and manage high levels of debt distress, a growing call for extending the debt moratorium under global initiatives like the Debt Service Suspension initiative is timely. Central banks can continue to keep the balance of supporting the economy and maintaining financial stability. This further involves enhancing tax reforms and improving debt management capacities, while using limited fiscal space to invest in priority sectors. Exploring sustainability-oriented bonds and innovative financing instruments options such as debt swaps for SDG investment should be explored further.
•In addition to economic considerations, the policy paradigm must mainstream affordable, accessible and green infrastructure standards, while promoting social equality and environmental sustainability principles as enshrined in the Paris Agreement. As we scale up the use of digital technology and innovative applications, the financing support of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises must go hand in hand with these national job-rich recovery strategies.
Regional cooperation
•No country can take this agenda forward alone. Regionally coordinated financing policies can restart trade, reorganise supply chains and revitalise sustainable tourism in a safe manner. Across Asia and the Pacific, governments must pool financial resources to create regional investment funds. Strengthening regional cooperation platforms to ensure that all countries receive an equitable number of doses of the vaccine on short notice to everyone everywhere is particularly essential.
•Through ESCAP, we can scale these efforts across the region, working closely with our member states, the private sector and innovators to build a collective financing response to mobilise the necessary additional resources. Together, we can chart financing strategies of Asia and the Pacific which can enhance societal well being and economic resilience of future pandemics and crises.
