 Good evening aspirants, welcome to daily news analysis by Shankar A.S academy. Today's date is 23rd August 2023. Displayed here are the list of topics we are going to see today. Before we get into the discussion, I have an important announcement. Shankar A.S academy's pre-storming test series is about to begin on 11th September. The first test will happen on 18th September and other details regarding the test is given through it. Now let us get into the discussion. Look at this article. Yesterday Indian government released its own car crash testing program named Bharat NCAP. So from October 1 car manufacturers can volunteer to get their models tested under Bharat NCAP and get a star rating indicating their safety. So this is the crux of the article given here. In this context let us see about Bharat NCAP in detail. See Bharat NCAP is a short form for Bharat new car assessment program. It is a new car safety assessment program which proposes a mechanism of awarding star ratings to automobiles based on their performance in crash test. The program is modeled by two words zero foundation. This Bharat NCAP is similar to global NCAP. So Bharat NCAP standard is aligned with global benchmarks. The program is about awarding star ratings to automobiles based on their performance in crash test. The Bharat NCAP assessment will allocate star ratings from one to five stars. Currently the program will be applicable to passenger vehicles with a maximum of eight seats. The testing protocols was named as automotive industry standard 1997 and it will be published soon. Now coming to the testing procedure. See an original equipment manufacturer must nominate a vehicle for testing. Following this representatives from Bharat NCAP will visit the manufacturing facility or a dealer outlet to select the base variant of model through random sampling and send it to the testing center in coordination with CIRT. Here CIRT is a central institute of road transport. Three parameters will be evaluated in the testing. It includes adult occupant protection, child occupant protection and safety assist technologies present in the car. Based upon the evaluation a rating between one to five stars will be assigned to the vehicle. Following this the test results will be approved by Bharat NCAP standing committee and it will be published on their website. Then the central institute of road transport will issue the final certificate. So this is how the testing mechanism actually works. See this new mechanism is very significant because India has again highest number of road accidents after US and we have highest number of road deaths with 1.5 lakh deaths per year. The fact is that these fatalities are taking place at lower speed compared to other countries. So India is currently in desperate need for quality automobiles that can save human life even if the accidents occur. In that line Bharat NCAP is a good initiative. Star rating of Indian cars based on crash test will not only ensure structural and passenger safety in cars but also increase the export worthiness of Indian automobiles. This will help in making our automobile industry self-reliant with the mission of making India number one automobile hub in the world. Despite all these significance there are some challenges. For example setting up of testing facilities requires huge budgetary support and huge infrastructural development. Major cities in India have hardly 6 to 10 percentage of their total land allocation to the construction of transport infrastructure. So this has led to inadequate transport infrastructure in cities with reference to the population and its requirements. In conclusion the testing protocol should be aligned with global crash test protocols allowing original equipment manufacturers from India to get their vehicles tested at India's own in-house testing facilities. So this is all about this discussion. We have seen important points about Bharat NCAP, the testing procedures and the significance of the Bharat NCAP. Now let us move to the next part of our discussion. Look at this editorial article it is written by Mr. P. D. T. Achary who is a former secretary general of Lok Sabha. He has highlighted the issue with Lily Thomas judgment and also presents some arguments to restore the section 8 class 4 of representation of People Act 1951. This is the overall essence of the article. In our discussion today let us cover important points mentioned in the article. Before that the syllabus is highlighted here for your reference. Now to understand the editorial better we must first brush up the basics. Let us start with section 8 of representation of People Act 1951. Section 8 of representation of People Act 1951 provides various offenses a conviction on which will result in the disqualification of legislators. So the editorial here focuses on section 8 class 3 and section 8 class 4 of representation of People Act 1951. Here I have displayed the exact text of section 8 of RP Act 1951. So basically what the section 8 class 3 says that if a legislator is convicted of offense and faces imprisonment for more than two years then the legislator shall be disqualified. Further it also says that same legislator will be barred from contesting elections for six years after his release from prison. So this is about the section 8 class 3. Now moving on to the section 8 class 4 of the Act. So this section says that disqualification of MP or MLA does not take place immediately after the conviction. Instead this section provides for three month grace period during which disqualification does not apply. During this three months when an appeal is admitted the disqualification would depend on the final outcome of the appeal. Let us understand this concept with an example. Let us say person A is a MLA. Unfortunately person A is convicted of serious crime and is sentenced for two years imprisonment. So according to the section 8 class 4, since he is already a member of legislature the rule about disqualification won't be applied immediately upon his conviction. Instead it will only come into effect after three months from the date of his conviction. If a person A decided to appeal the conviction within those three months the disqualification will come into effect only when the court makes a decision about his appeal. So this rule allows elected representatives some time to challenge the conviction before they are disqualified from their position. See this section was struck down by supreme court in lily thomas judgment. In lily thomas vs union of india case in 2013 supreme court said that MPs MLA's or MLC's member of legislative council if they are convicted of a crime and given a minimum of two year imprisonment they will lose their membership of the house with immediate effect. The supreme court mentioned that article 102 and article 191 of the constitution does not create any difference between the elected representative and a candidate contesting in the election with respect to disqualification. Here note that article 102 deals with the disqualification of MPs and article 191 deals with the disqualification of MLA's. So the supreme court through lily thomas judgment tried to bring parity between the candidates who are contesting in the elections and sitting members. Let me explain this with another example. This example happens before lily thomas case. See there are two persons A and B. They are contesting in elections. Now they are accused in different cases. The court provides a judgment for person A before the election and declares that he is a convict. So this result in the disqualification of person A from contesting elections. Now the person B who is accused in a case contest in the election process and wins. The person becomes a legislator but after the election the court provides a judgment that person B is a convict. Here the person B is not immediately disqualified. He is provided with a three month grace period under section 8 of RP Act. So in that period if the person B just files an appeal then he will not be disqualified. By looking at this example you can see there is clear disparity between a candidate contesting for elections and a sitting legislator. To remove this disparity only in lily thomas case judgment the supreme court struck down the section 8 class 4 of RP Act 1951. So we have covered the basics of the case. Now let us see the arguments presented by author of the editorial. The first argument is regarding the section 8 class 3 of RP Act and article 103 of constitution. If you notice the text of section 8 class 3 of RP Act carefully it has the word shall be disqualified. Here since the words shall be disqualified is used it does not mean instantaneous disqualification. Only if the words like shall stand disqualified is used it means instantaneous disqualification. So the section 8 class 3 of the Act only uses the word shall be disqualified. It means that after the court convicts a legislator and provides a present sentence of more than two years then the particular legislator shall be disqualified by some authority. Now who is that authority? Secretary general of parliament or secretary general of state legislature cannot be granted such power. This is because the constitution does not have any provision that provides such power to secretary general of parliament or secretary general of state legislature. The author says that this authority could be provided to president under article 103 of the constitution. Now look at the article 103 it says that if an issue or question arises in regard to disqualification of member of parliament then that issue will be referred to president and president can give his final decision. It also says that if president is giving his decision he must consult with the election commission and the president must act according to the opinion shared by election commission. The author also refers to the consumer education and research society versus union of India case 2009. In this case the supreme court mentioned that even if a legislature is convicted by court and provided a sentence of more than two years the particular legislator shall be disqualified only after it is referred to the president. This is the first argument provided by the author against the Lilithama's judgment. The author also says that there must be some exception provided for sitting members of legislature. He says that if an MP or MLA is immediately disqualified according to the Lilithama's judgment then it will result in some issues. The first issue is that sudden disqualification will result in lot of chaos and confusion. What if the convicted person is disqualified and a new person elected from the constituency after some time the convicted person proves his innocence through an appeal in higher court. So to address the situations like this only section 8 class 4 of rp act was provided but this section was struck down by Lilithama's judgment. Secondly in case of sudden disqualification the people of constituency will lose their representative. Finally the constitution itself provides some exception to the sitting members of legislator under article 103. So striking down the section 8 class 4 is not valid. So these are the issues in Lilithama's judgment highlighted by the author. Lastly the author feels that Lilithama's case judgment hasn't led to any noticeable change. The politicians from ruling party have been able to delay their convictions within few hours but the politicians from opposition party like Mr. Rahul Gandhi had to wait for four months to overturn the disqualification. So the author says that section 8 should be brought back and constitutionally protected. This is necessary to safeguard the carriers of Indian lawmakers from sudden disruptions caused by court decisions. So this is all about this discussion. We have seen important points about Lilithama's case issues in that case and important arguments mentioned in the editorial. So this is very important topic for main examination. Don't miss it. Now let us move to the next part of our discussion. Take a look at this article. See few days back Metros High Court has taken up Suyomoto revision against the discharge of state education minister from a disproportionate assets case. Following this the court has also taken up Suyomoto revision against the discharge of revenue minister and finance minister who are acquitted from disproportionate assets case. So this is the perfect example of judicial activism. So in this discussion we shall see important points about judicial activism. First what is judicial activism? Judicial activism denotes the proactive role played by judiciary in protection of rights of citizen and in the promotion of justice in the society. In other words it implies the assertive role played by judiciary to force other two organs of government to discharge their constitutional duties. For example in Vishaka was a state of Rajasthan case 1997 the judiciary has stepped out of its duties and laid down guidelines to protect the woman from sexual harassment at workplace. Actually this is a function of government but in this case the judiciary has taken up this function to restore the rights of affected persons. So this is an example of judicial activism. The practice of judicial activism first originated and developed in USA. In India the doctrine of judicial activism was introduced in mid 1970s. Remember the concept of judicial activism is inherent in judicial review itself. So in India if a law is found to be inconsistent with the provisions of constitution the supreme court and high courts have the power to examine the constitutionality of law and can declare the law as unconstitutional. So we can say that judicial activism is a form of judicial review in which judges participate in law making policies. The concept of judicial activism is also closely related to the concept of public interest litigation. This PIL was actually created by the judicial activism of supreme court. This means that PIL is an outcome of judicial activism. Now we shall see what are the issues associated with judicial activism. See this judicial activism has led to many controversies in regard to supremacy between parliament and supreme court. It can also disturb the principles of separation of powers which is one of the basic structure of constitution. Another important issue is overstepping of constitutional boundaries by judiciary. Critics argue that courts have overstepped their constitutional boundaries and encroached into the functions of government and legislation. They content that courts should refrain from making policy judgments and instead devote itself to interpreting the law. Next important issue is lack of expertise. Critics also argue that judges often lack the expertise to make decisions on complex policy issues. And the next issue is damage to democratic institutions. Judicial activism can also damage democratic institutions when the court take on policy making role. It can undermine the authority of elected branches of government. This can lead to a loss of public trust in these institutions and a decline in democratic participation. Despite these concerns, there are also some benefits to judicial activism. For example, it can protect the rights of people and check the excesses of other branches of government. It can also help to bring about social change and to address important issues that may not be otherwise addressed by political process. In simple words, judicial activism is required to protect the rights of individuals and to promote social justice and also to ensure the government accountability. So, this is all about judicial activism. Now we can move to the next part of our discussion. This article talks about inflation in India. According to this article, CPI headline inflation was 7.44% in July. This is about 6% target set by RBI. But you have to note here that CPI core inflation which excludes food and fuel prices was only 4.9%. This shows that high inflation that India is experiencing currently is due to food and fuel prices only. According to this article, the finance ministry has mentioned some reasons for current high food inflation in India. The first reason is that termination of black sea grain initiative. This has resulted in disrupted supply of wheat and sunflower oil to India. This also increased the prices of wheat and edible oil. The second reason is white fly disease and monsoon. So, this has affected the domestic protection of tomato, thereby resulting in the major spike in tomato prices. Finally, India also witnessed a deficient tour doll protection this year. This also caused a spike in doll prices. So, these are the reasons why India is currently witnessing high food inflation. So, this is about the news article. In our discussion today, we will cover basics about inflation. First, what is inflation? Inflation as we all know is nothing but a general increase in price level. Inflation can occur when there is high demand in economy or it can occur when there is less supply in the economy. Based on the causes of inflation, inflation can be classified into two types. They are demand pull inflation and cost push inflation. First, demand pull inflation occurs when there is money supply in the economy increases. Simply put, demand pull inflation occurs when more money chases less products. Increase in house rent due to increase in disposable income is an example of demand pull inflation. On other hand, cost push inflation is due to the supply side constraints. If you can remember, recently the prices of graphic cuts and processors increased due to silicon shortage. This is an example of cost push inflation. In addition to this, inflation can also be classified into creeping inflation, walking inflation, running inflation, hyperinflation based on the rates of inflation. Now, what can be done to control inflation? Inflation can be controlled either by RBI using monetary policy or by the government using fiscal policy. First, let us take up the monetary policy. In case of monetary policy, RBI uses tools like repo rate, CRR, SLR, open market operations and credit control policy to control the money supply in economy. Now, let us understand the working of monetary policy with example. Let us say there is high inflation in India due to excessive money supply. In such times, the RBI can raise the repo rate, so when the repo rate is higher, commercial banks are less likely to borrow from RBI. As a result, commercial banks might be more cautious in extending loans to business and individuals. When the business and individuals receive lesser amount of loans, they won't make a new investment and they will control their expenditure. So, this automatically reduces the money supply in economy. When the money supply comes down, then the inflation will also come down. So, this is how RBI use monetary policy to control inflation. Now, let us see the fiscal policy. In fiscal policy, the government either expands or contracts its expenditure or increases or decreases its tax rates in order to control the money supply in economy. For example, let us assume inflation in India is due to increased consumer spending and demand. Now, the government can control the inflation by postponing pay commission or by cancelling some planned infrastructure projects. This results in decreased money supply in economy. As the money supply decreases, the demand decreases and then the inflation also decreases. So, this is how fiscal policy works. Now, we shall see the impact of inflation on various sections of economy. First, consumers. Inflation can erode the purchasing power of consumers, making it more difficult for them to afford goods and services. This can lower the living standards of consumers. Next is business. Inflation can increase the cost of doing business such as wages, raw materials and energy. This can lead to lower profits and job losses. Next, investors. Inflation can reduce the value of investments such as stocks and bonds. So, this leads to lower returns and discourage investment. Inflation can increase the government's debt burden as it has to pay more for its earlier debt. This can lead to higher taxes or reduced government spending. So, if you see the economy as a whole, inflation can slow the economic growth and can lead to higher unemployment and lower living standards. So, this is all about this topic. Now, let us move to the next part of our discussion. Take a look at this article. According to the article, the National Human Rights Commission has issued a notice to DGP of Haryana and the district magistrate to submit a detailed report on incident happened in Haryana. What happened is, a Hindu family has shared anti-Rohinga post on social media, but they live in a Muslim-dominated village. For this matter, the family has been attacked, threatened for life and ordered to leave the village. NHRC says that this incident is a violation of basic fundamental rights and seeks explanation from the authority. So, this is the crux of the article. Now, we shall quickly go through important points about NHRC in Prelims perspective. See, National Human Rights Commission of India was established on 12th October 1993 under the Protection of Human Rights Act 1993. So, it is a statutory body and not a constitutional body. Its headquarters is located in New Delhi. Know that in 1993, the United Nations General Assembly in Paris adopted a resolution regarding the principles of human rights. These principles came to be known as Paris Principles. The NHRC was established in India in conformity with these Paris Principles. So, basically, NHRC works for promotion and protection of human rights. Now, let us see the composition of NHRC. Currently, NHRC is a multi-member body consisting of chairmen and five members. The chairperson should be a retired Chief Justice of India or a Judge of Supreme Court. Regarding the five members, one member should be a retired or serving Judge of Supreme Court and one member should be a retired or serving Judge of High Court. And the other three members should be among the persons having practical experience in human rights issues. Important thing to note here is that out of three members, at least one person should be a woman. In addition to these five permanent members, there were seven deemed members who are chairperson of various national commissions like National Commission for Scheduled Caste, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes, National Commission for Women, National Commission for Minorities, National Commission for Backward Classes, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights, Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities. So, these are the seven national commissions. On the chairperson of these seven national commissions act as deemed members for NHRC. So, in total the commission has one chairman, five full-time members and seven deemed members. The chairperson and members are appointed by President based on the recommendations of a committee. This committee has six members. Prime Minister, Speaker of Lok Sabha, Home Minister, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Leader of Opposition in Rajasabha and Deputy Chairman of Rajasabha. So, based on the recommendation of this six-member committee, the President appoint chairperson and other members of NHRC. Now, regarding the term of members, chairperson or members of NHRC holds an office for a term of three years or until they attain the age of 70 years. They are eligible for reappointment as chairperson or members of NHRC. But note that the chairperson is not eligible for further employment under Indian government or any state government. Now, coming to the removal process. The chairperson of NHRC can be removed from office in accordance with the provisions of Protection of Human Rights Act 1993. In order to remove a chairperson of NHRC, first a motion of removal should be moved in Lok Sabha or Rajasabha by a minimum of 100 members. The motion must be accompanied by a statement for the grounds of removal. After considering the motion, if the parliament passes a resolution by simple majority, then the chairperson of NHRC shall be removed from the office. The chairperson can also be removed from the office by President on the ground of proved misbehavior or incapacity. In such case, the President must refer the matter to Supreme Court for an inquiry. If the Supreme Court after an inquiry reports that the chairperson has been guilty of proved misbehavior or incapacity, the President may remove the chairperson from office. Remember the salaries, allowances and other service conditions of NHRC are determined by central government. So, this is all about NHRC. Now, let us move to the next part of our discussion. So, we have come to the prelims practice question discussion. Now, look at the first question. It is about Bharat NCAP. We have to find how many statements are correct. The statements 1 and 3 are correct as Bharat NCAP cars will be crash tested and given points, which translate into stars. Third statement says, implementing Bharat NCAP will bring India at par with other parts of the world like US. So, this statement is also correct. Look at the second statement. Bharat NCAP is only voluntary and not mandatory. So, the statement 2 is incorrect. So, the answer is option B, only 2. Now, look at the second question. What is the fundamental characteristic that distinguishes judicial activism from judicial restraint? Here, we have to understand that judicial activism is a proactive role of judiciary in public policy and judicial restraint is a limited role of judiciary in public policies. So, the correct answer is option B, extent of involvement in policy making. So, this is the quiz question for you today. Post the answer in comment section and this is the main question for you today. Try to write an answer and post it in the comment section. With this, we have come to the end of the discussion. If you like the video, please share it with your friends and don't forget to subscribe to Shankarai's YouTube channel. Thank you.