Context: 

Two Australian government universities, Deakin University and University of Wollongong, will be the first foreign education institutions to set up campuses in GIFT City, Gujarat.

Image Source: Indian Express

About the news:

• 10 MoUs will be signed between Indian and Australian universities. 
• The two sides will also sign the Mechanism for the Mutual Recognition of Qualifications which locks in the rules for mutual recognition to access education in both countries.

GIFT City:

• The Gujarat International Finance Tec City (GIFT City) is India’s first and only International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) where banks, stock exchanges and financial services firms have set up their global operations.
• Multi Service SEZ: The entire city project has been divided into a multi-service Special Economic Zone (SEZ) spread over 261 acres and exclusive domestic tariff area (DTA) spread over 625 acres.
• Other Benefits: The Centre’s IFSC-related relief measures include tax holiday for capital gains for aircraft leasing companies, tax exemption for aircraft lease rentals paid to foreign lessors, tax incentive for re-locating foreign funds in IFSC and exemption to investment divisions of foreign banks.
• Dispute Resolution: Since it’s a hub of international financial services, the Singapore Arbitration Centre has also been set up for dispute resolution.

                                                                                                                              News Source: The Hindu

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Context: 

The Windsor framework is the latest attempt at a remedy to the political complexities that have impacted trade and sentiments in the UK and Northern Ireland.

About the news:

• The UK government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reached a landmark deal with the European Union (EU) on post-Brexit trade rules that will govern Northern Ireland.
• The ‘Windsor Framework’ will replace the Northern Ireland Protocol, which had proved to be among the thorniest of Brexit fall-outs, creating problems both economic and political.

About Northern Ireland Protocol:

• The Northern Ireland Protocol is a part of the Brexit agreement between the UK and the EU.
• It addresses the issue of the land border between Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK, and the Republic of Ireland, which is an EU member state.
• The Protocol seeks to prevent the re-emergence of a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, which could potentially undermine the peace process established by the Good Friday Agreement. 
• Under the Protocol, goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain (England, Scotland, and Wales) are subject to customs and regulatory checks at ports and airports to ensure they meet EU standards. 
• The UK and the EU have been in a dispute over the implementation of the Protocol, with the UK government seeking to make changes to address concerns raised by businesses and unionists in Northern Ireland.

What the Windsor Framework proposes?

• The framework has two crucial aspects:
  •  Introduction of a green lane and red lane system for goods that will stay in Northern Ireland and those that will go to the EU respectively; 
  • ‘Stormont Brake’: It allows Northern Ireland lawmakers and London to veto any EU regulation they believe affects the region adversely.

• The two lanes
  1. British goods meant for Northern Ireland will use the green lane at the ports, and will be allowed to pass with minimal paperwork and checks. 
  2. Physical checks will be conducted if the goods are deemed suspicious, in place of the routine checks now.
  3. Goods destined for Ireland or the rest of the EU will have to take the red lane, with the attendant customs and other checks.

What is Stormont Brake?

• The new Stormont Brake means the democratically elected Northern Ireland Assembly can oppose new EU goods rules that would have significant and lasting effects on everyday lives in Northern Ireland. 
• For this, they will need the support of 30 members from at least two parties. The British government can then veto the law.

News  Source: The Indian Express 

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Context: 

Deliveries of five regiments of S­400 air defence systems under a $5.43 ­billion deal with Russia are expected to be completed by year ­end or early 2024, according to official sources. 

Image Source: The Indian Express

About the news:

• India has contracted five S­400 regiments under a $5.43 billion or ₹40,291 crore deal as per a conversation rate of ₹74.2 against the dollar at the time, signed in October 2018. 
• The deal has been delayed from the start over payment issues. 
• India and Russia have agreed to conduct payments through the rupee rouble arrangement after trying payments in euros as well.
• Delivery of the third S­400 regiment has been completed.
• The three regiments are deployed along the Northern, Eastern and western borders.

About the S-400 Triumf Missile System:

• The S-400 Triumf is a mobile, surface-to-air missile system (SAM) designed by Russia. 
• It is the most dangerous operationally deployed modern long-range SAM (MLR SAM) in the world, considered much ahead of the US-developed Terminal High Altitude Area Defence system (THAAD).
• The system can engage all types of aerial targets including aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and ballistic and cruise missiles within the range of 400 km, at an altitude of up to 30 km.
• The system can track 100 airborne targets and engage six of them simultaneously.

News Source: The Hindu

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Context: 

The Press Council of India (PCI) advised the print media to follow the norms of Journalistic Conduct­ 2022 on ‘paid news’ during the elections in various States.

Definition of ‘Paid News’:

• The Press Council of India (PCI) defines paid news as any news or analysis appearing in print or electronic media for consideration in cash or kind.
• The Department-Related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology acknowledged challenges in defining and determining what constitutes or qualifies as ‘paid news’.  
• It cited advertisements camouflaged as news, denial of coverage to select electoral candidates, exchanging of advertisement space for equity stakes between media houses and corporate and the rise in paid content as manifestations of paid news.

Advisory by PCI:

• Accurate Reporting: Newspapers should accurately report statements made by leaders without misconstruing or misquoting them. The editorial should reflect the true spirit of the message being conveyed.
• Avoid Caste-Based Reporting: News items that predominantly focus on the names of voters on a caste basis or the supporters of a particular political party suggest paid news.
• Be Wary of Competing Newspapers: When competing newspapers publish similar content, it strongly suggests paid news.
• Avoid Bias in Presentation: The presentation of news items or photographs should not be biased towards a particular party or candidate, and appeals for voting in favor of a particular party should be avoided.
• Avoid Speculative Reporting: Predicting a candidate’s success in an election before they have filed their nomination suggests paid news.
• Balanced Reporting: Newspapers should ensure balance in publishing reports and interviews of candidates while covering the election.
• Honest Assessment: Subject to the conditions set by the Election Commission of India, newspapers can make an honest assessment of the prospects of candidates or parties. Such publications would not be considered paid news unless consideration was established to have been passed on for such publication.

Reasons for rise in Paid News: 

The Standing Committee identified following key reasons for the rise in the incidence of paid news:

• Corporatisation of media
• Desegregation of ownership and editorial roles
• Decline in autonomy of editors/journalists due to emergence of contract system

Challenges in regulating Paid news:

• The Committee found the existing regulatory set-up dealing with paid news as inadequate.  
• It described voluntary self-regulatory industry bodies like the News Broadcasting Standards Authority and Broadcasting Content Complaints Council as an ‘eye wash’. 
• It found the punitive powers of statutory regulators like the PCI and Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC) to be inadequate.  
• It also highlighted the conflict of interest inherent with appointment of media-owners as members of the PCI or self-regulatory bodies.
• The Committee censured the MoIB for its failure to establish a strong mechanism to check the spread of paid news.

Way Forward:

• The Committee opined that financial accounts of the media houses should be subject to examination, especially the revenue source for a suspected paid news case. 
• It recommended mandatory disclosure of ‘private treaties’ and details of advertising revenue received by the media houses.
• The Committee recommended establishment of either a single regulatory body for both print and electronic media or enhancing punitive powers of the PCI and setting-up a similar statutory body for the electronic media.
• The Committee recommended that the ECI should have the authority to take punitive action against electoral candidates in cases of paid news.
• It also recommended inclusion of abetting and publishing of such paid news as an electoral offence with minimum punishment of two years imprisonment.

News Source: The Hindu

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Context: 

The episode of the collegium’s recommendation of Justice L. Victoria Gowri’s name and her appointment to the Madras High Court within weeks, has revived the debate on judicial appointments.

Image Source: The Hindu

Concern about the Ideological/Political Leanings of Judges:

• The Supreme Court of India is a political court in the sense that it is the final arbiter of political disputes.
• Accordingly, the political and ideological positions of judges may influence their judgments — at least on contentious political questions.
• “It is a centre of political power because it can influence the agenda of political action, control over which is what power politics is in reality all about,” wrote philosopher jurist Upendra Baxi. 
• The Court is routinely drawn into the politics of the establishment as well as the politics of the Opposition.
• Whether justices of the Court like it or not, the court can be used for purely party political ends in certain situations beyond the control of the Court.

Evidence as judgments and appointments:

• The Hindutva judgement (1996) was a big boost and legitimised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s ideological position. 
• ADM Jabalpur (1976) verdict gave a boost to the Indira Gandhi government. 
• S.R. Bommai (1994) that had upheld the dismissal of the BJP governments in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, on the ground of secularism as the basic structure, was a big victory for the Congress. 
• The Rafale verdict in 2018 which came before the general election in 2019 was a big political boost for the Narendra Modi government. 
• The final judgment in the Ayodhya case (2019) too had huge political significance.
• The upholding of reservation for the economically weaker sections reservation (2022) amendment, and on demonetisation (2023) spelt major political victories for the BJP government. 
• The ongoing Shiv Sena case too has political implications. 
• At the same time, several politically sensitive cases have not yet been heard such as challenges to the electoral bonds scheme, the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and the dilution of Article 370.
• Public Interest Litigation, on changing names of over a 1,000 places, a uniform divorce law, anti conversion laws, love jihad, and women’s entry in mosques are examples of the use of the court for political purposes.

Consideration of the ideological leanings of judges during appointment: 

• Government, in 1973,  defended the appointment of the CJI ( Justice A.N. Ray who had superseded three senior most judges) by talking on more suitable relationship between the court and the government, basic outlook, his attitude to life and his politics.
• The left leading Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer was a Minister in the communist government in Kerala. 
• Justice Baharul Islam was an elected member of the Rajya Sabha representing the Congress. 
• Justice Guman Mal Lodha had rightist leanings and subsequently thrice won the Lok Sabha election on the BJP ticket. 
• Justice K.S. Hegde even became Speaker in the Janata government. 
• Justice Vijay Bahuguna was Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.

Independent status of Judiciary: 

Many government appointed judges were able to assert their independence; barring a few exceptions, they have been quite impressive. 

• Some even struck down major decisions taken by the Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi governments. 
• In Champakam Dorairajan (1951), the reservation policy of Madras was struck down by the majority of 7:0. 
• In I.C. Golaknath (1967), the Supreme Court denied Parliament the power to amend the Constitution and held fundamental rights to be the primordial rights necessary for the development of the human personality. 
• In R.C. Cooper (1970), the top court (10:1) struck down the historic bank nationalisation decision; in Maharajadhiraja Madhav Rao Scindia (1971), abolition of privy purses was also struck down by a 9:2 majority.
• In Kesavananda Bharati (1973), the basic structure theory was propounded to restrict and limit Parliament’s power to amend the Constitution. 
• In the Raj Narain case(1975), Justice Jagmohan Lal Sinha had struck down the Prime Minister’s election. 
• Even during the Emergency, as many as nine High Courts had upheld the right to habeas corpus against illegal detention. 
• Such strong judgments are rarely delivered today.

Reform needed in the Collegium:

• The collegium system has not drastically improved the situation as the government continues to have the final word in the judicial appointments. 
• Since the government does have a veto power in practice in spite of the Memorandum of Procedure laying down that the government would be bound to appoint a judge if his/her name is reiterated by the collegium, it is better to include the Union Law Minister in the collegium (just as in several other countries) so that his views are heard and his reservations discussed threadbare.
• If the other five judges (CJI plus four judges) are not convinced, decisions can be made by the majority, and the government being party to the deliberations and recommendations would have to accept collegium’s recommendations. 
• The goal should be to end the supersession, cherry picking of judges and making the process more transparent.

                                                                                                                   News Source: The Hindu

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Context:

The National Stock Exchange has received a green light from the capital markets regulator to launch its Social Stock Exchange. 
About Social Stock Exchange (SSE): 

• SSE is a segment of the existing Stock Exchange to provide an alternative fund-raising instrument. 
• The concept of SSE gained momentum during the pandemic, highlighting the need for social capital for enterprises and voluntary organisations that are working for social welfare.
• Benefits:
  • It can help social enterprises raise funds from the public through the stock exchange mechanism. 
  • Investors will get Section 80G benefits which allow all investments in securities/instruments of NPOs listed on SSE to be tax deductible, and corporates to deduct CSR expenditure from their taxable income, among other things. 
  • Investment by companies will be considered as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives.

Social Enterprise:

• Social Stock Exchange identifies social enterprises as the ones engaged in creating positive impact in the society. 
• These are the following two forms of social enterprises:
  • Not-for-profit organisation
  • For profit social enterprise

Eligibility:

• Any non-profit organisation (NPO) or for-profit social enterprise (FPSEs) that establishes the primacy of social intent would be recognised as a social enterprise (SE), which will make it eligible to be registered or listed on the SSE.

How do NPOs raise money?

• NPOs can raise money either through issuance of Zero Coupon Zero Principal (ZCZP) Instruments from private placement or public issue, or donations from mutual funds.
  • ZCZP bonds differ from conventional bonds in the sense that it entails zero coupon and no principal payment at maturity. 
  • The latter provisions a fixed interest (or repayment) on the funds raised through varied contractual agreement, whereas ZCZP would not provision any such return, instead promising a social return.

How do FPOs raise money?

• For-Profit Enterprises (FPEs) need not register with social stock exchanges before it raises funds through SSE. 
  • However, it must comply with all provisions of the ICDR Regulations when raising through the SSE. 
• It can raise money through issue of equity shares (on main board, SME platform or innovators growth platform of the stock exchange) or issuing equity shares to an Alternative Investment Fund including Social Impact Fund or issue of debt instruments.

News Source: The Hindu

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