Governance Community

Speaking about important sectors of cooperation like trade, mobility, defence, and security, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his British counterpart Rishi Sunak met on Wednesday. The meeting was held in conjunction with the G-20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. After the leader of Indian descent became the British prime minister a few weeks ago, it was their first meeting. Following the meeting, Modi stated that India places a great importance on strong ties with the UK. “Was great to meet PM @RishiSunak in Bali. India attaches great importance to robust India-UK ties. We discussed ways to increase commercial linkages, raise the scope of security cooperation in context of India’s defence reforms and make people-to-people ties even stronger,” he tweeted. The two leaders reportedly expressed satisfaction with the current status of the extensive India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the development of the “Roadmap 2030” for future ties, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). According to the statement, “The two leaders appreciated the importance of working together in bilateral and multilateral forums including G20 and the Commonwealth.” The MEA added, “Discussions touched upon important sectors of collaboration such as trade, mobility, defence and security.” Source: Reuters

Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant (DY) Chandrachud was sworn in as the 50th Chief Justice of India on Wednesday at a major change of guard at the Supreme Court of India. The two-year term of CJI Chandrachud is scheduled to end on November 10, 2024. Justice Chandrachud was sworn in as Chief Justice of India by President of India Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan. “To serve the nation is my priority. We’ll protect all the citizens of India, be it in terms of technology or registry reforms, or judicial reforms,” stated CJI Chandrachud. Soon after taking the oath of office, Chief Justice Chandrachud paid respects to the Mahatma Gandhi statue in the Parliament. CJI Chandrachud is the son of DY Yeshwant Vishnu Chandrachud, the sixteenth CJI. On May 13, 2016, Chandrachud was chosen to serve as a Supreme Court judge. From October 31, 2013 till his appointment to the Supreme Court, Chandrachud, who was born on November 11th, 1959, served as the chief justice of the Allahabad High Court. From March 29, 2000, he presided as a judge of the Bombay High Court. Justice Chandrachud has already served on various Constitution benches and been a part of significant rulings by the Supreme Court, including ones on the Ayodhya land dispute, the right to privacy, and adultery. He served on the benches that rendered ground-breaking rulings on the constitutionality of the Aadhaar programme, the validity of Section 377 of the IPC, and the Sabarimala issue. These rulings led to the decriminalisation of same-sex relationships. He presided over a bench that last month broadened the application of the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act and related regulations to cover unmarried women seeking abortions between 20 and 24 weeks of pregnancy. Justice UU Lalit, who left office on November 8 after a brief 74-day term, is succeeded by Justice Chandrachud. Judges of the Supreme Court are eligible to retire at age 65. On October 11, retired Chief Justice Lalit suggested Justice Chandrachud as his replacement to the Centre. Jagdeep Dhankhar, the vice president of India and chair of the Rajya Sabha, Om Birla, the speaker of the Lok Sabha, and the union ministers Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, and Kiren Rijiju were all present for CJI Chandrachud’s swearing-in. Also present during the occasion was former CJI Lalit. Justice Chandrachud earned his LLB from the Campus Law Center at Delhi University after completing his BA with honours in economics at St. Stephen’s College in New Delhi. He graduated from Harvard Law School in the USA with an LLM and an SJD, a doctorate in the judicial sciences.

The Centre has announced the guidelines under which it would form appellate panels to resolve grievances that consumers may have regarding decisions made by social media sites like Twitter and Facebook regarding the hosting of disputed content. In three months, a three-member Grievance Appellate Committee will be established, and they will work to find a solution within 30 days. Along with pornography, trademark infringements, false information, and other items that may pose a threat to the sovereignty of the country, the government has now added objectionable religious content (intended to incite violence) to the list of items that users can report to social media platforms. Such flag-related decisions made by them can be challenged before grievance committees. “Empowering users. Grievance Appellate Committee (GAC) has been introduced for hearing appeals against decisions of Grievance Officer appointed by the intermediary. Privacy policy and user agreements of intermediary to be made available in the Eight Schedule Indian languages,” tweeted IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. “These IT rules are the next step to realising our goals of an open, safe, and trusted, accountable internet,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the state minister for electronics and information technology (Meity). “They also mark a new partnership between government and internet intermediaries in making and keeping our Interest safe and trusted for all Indians.” The Internet Freedom Foundation, on the other hand, claimed that the provisions establishing the so-called grievance appellate committees are essentially a government censorship body that would hear appeals against the choices made by social media platforms regarding whether or not to remove content. This would make bureaucrats the arbiters of our online free speech. The statement continued, “This will incentivise platforms to remove/suppress any speech unpalatable to the government or those exerting political pressure and increase government control and power since the government will be effectively able to also decide what content must be displayed by platforms. We urge for a thoughtful consideration by Meity to formulate a rights-respecting approach towards platform regulation. A step in that direction would be to withdraw IT Rules, 2021 in its entirety.”

Rozgar Mela, the 10 lakh-person recruitment drive, will be officially launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi via video conference on October 22 at 11 AM. 75,000 newly appointed individuals will get appointment letters during the ceremony. On this day, the Prime Minister will also speak to these candidates. This will be a key step toward the Prime Minister’s ongoing commitment to safeguarding citizen welfare and providing youth with employment possibilities. According to the Prime Minister’s instructions, all Ministries and Departments are operating in Mission Mode to fill positions available against sanctioned positions. The 38 Ministries/Departments of the Indian Government will welcome the new hires, who were chosen from around the nation. The appointments, who fall into four categories: Group A, Group B (Gazetted), Group B (Non-Gazetted), and Group C, will join the government at various levels. Central Armed Force Personnel, Sub Inspector, Constable, LDC, Steno, PA, Income Tax Inspectors, and MTS are just a few of the positions for which appointments are being made. Ministries and Departments are doing these hirings in mission mode, either independently or through hiring organisations like the UPSC, SSC, and Railway Recruitment Board. Selection procedures have been streamlined and made tech-enabled for quick recruitment.

Justice Dhanajaya Yeshwant Chandrachud was appointed on Monday by President Droupadi Murmu to serve as India’s 50th Chief Justice. As of November 8, Justice Chandrachud will succeed Chief Justice U U Lalit. According to a government notification, “In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (2) of Article 124 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint Dr Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud, Judge of the Supreme Court, to be the Chief Justice of India with effect from 9 November, 2022.” On November 10, 2024, Justice Chandrachud is set to retire. With a two-year term, this will be the CJI’s longest tenure in almost ten years. Justice Chandrachud, a law graduate of Delhi University, earned his LLM and his Doctor of Juridical Science from Harvard Law School. In June 1998, the Bombay High Court designated him a senior advocate. He practised law at both the Supreme Court and the Bombay High Court. From 1998 till his appointment as a judge of the Bombay High Court on March 29, 2000, he worked as Additional Solicitor General. Additionally, he oversaw the Maharashtra Judicial Academy. On October 31, 2013, Justice Chandrachud was named Chief Justice of the Allahabad High Court. On May 13, 2016, he was named a Supreme Court judge. He authored significant decisions during his time in the SC, including the precedent-setting Constitution Bench decisions decriminalising homosexuality, decriminalising adultery, and recognising privacy as a basic right, among others. He had led a group that had travelled in many areas to ease the suffering that people had experienced during the Covid-19 issue, referring to the devastating second wave of the pandemic as a “national crisis” last year. Justice Chandrachud was recently one of the two SC Collegium judges who opposed to the “circulation” approach used to get opinions from its members over the appointment of judges to the top court. Justice Chandrachud is the son of Justice Y V Chandrachud, the Chief Justice of India with the longest tenure (he served from February 22, 1978, to July 11, 1985).

Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Schemes for Assistance to Industries, an ambitious programme launched by Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, aims to generate employment for at least 15 lakh people and attract investments of Rs 12.50 trillion over the course of the next five years. The two themes of the programmes outlined by the Gujarat chief minister are contributing to the global supply chain and greening the manufacturing process. In order for industries to be able to participate in the global supply chains, they will need particular help, which will be provided by the programmes under Aatmanirbhar Gujarat. The Aatmanirbhar Gujarat Schemes for Assistance to Industries was created with the intention of inspiring young people to develop and create jobs while also supporting aspiring entrepreneurs to realise their entrepreneurial dreams. According to the plans, MSMEs will receive capital subsidies up to Rs 35 lakh for micro industries and Net SGST reimbursement up to 75% of fixed capital expenditure over 10 years. In addition, MSMEs may receive interest subsidies of up to Rs 35 lakh annually for a period of seven years, as well as a five-year exemption from paying electricity duty. For five years, large industries will be spared from electricity duty. A manufacturing unit would qualify as a big industry if it had a fixed capital investment in plant and machinery of more than Rs 50 crore. The Gujarat government’s new programme will benefit big companies by providing Net SGST reimbursement up to 18% of fixed capital investment over 20 years and 100% of input SGST paid on capital goods over the same period of time. Under these programmes, mega industries would be eligible to get a 100% reimbursement of the stamp duty and registration fees they paid to the Gujarat government for the purchase or lease of the project’s property.

To monitor the level of localization of electric vehicles receiving subsidies under the 10,000 crore FAME-II policy, the government is developing an automated data transfer system. This action is being taken to support domestic production while preventing incentives for imported vehicles at the expense of Indian tax payers. Beginning on October 1, the IT-enabled system based on Application Programming Interface (API) would allow for the smooth transfer of a set of crucial data related to domestic value addition (DVA) from the beneficiaries’ current enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to the nodal ministry’s portal as well as traceability of products based on digital footprints. As part of the 10,000 crore FAME-II policy, the government is developing an automated data transfer system to track the amount of localization in EVs receiving subsidies. This action is being taken to support domestic production and prevent taxpayer-funded incentives for the purchase of imported vehicles. Scheduled to begin on October 1, the IT-enabled system based on Application Programming Interface (API) would allow the seamless transfer of a set of crucial data related to domestic value addition (DVA) from the beneficiaries’ current enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to the nodal ministry’s portal as well as traceability of products based on digital footprints. Arun Goel, secretary of the ministry for heavy industries, stated that the action would increase both business efficiency and the ecosystem for EV manufacturing in India. “If similar systems are replicated for schemes requiring substantial value-addition across ministries, it will ensure transparency. This will further attract investments in India and promote indigenous manufacturing,” he said. According to top sources, the technology will allow for the monitoring and verification of domestic value addition carried out by businesses without infringing on non-disclosure agreements (NDAs). Original equipment makers (OEMs) have digital records of domestic value addition that are more granularly detailed. However, pre-defined information is obtained for monitoring and verification at the ministry level. Therefore, there is no way to divert.    

The Real-Time Train Information System (RTIS), developed in collaboration with ISRO, would be mounted on locomotives and trains to automatically acquire train movement time at the stations, including that of arrival and departure or run-through, according to the Ministry of Railways. On the control chart for those trains in the Control Office Application (COA) system, they are automatically plotted. Every 30 seconds, this will display the most recent movement information to train passengers. According to a press release from the Railways, the Train Control can now more precisely and automatically track the location and speed of RTIS-enabled locomotives and trains. For 2700 locomotives, RTIS devices have been installed in 21 electric locomotive sheds. Phase-II roll out would cover 6000 additional locomotives dispersed over 50 loco sheds using ISRO’s satellite communications centre. Approximately 6500 locomotives currently provide a direct GPS feed (RTIS and REMMLOT) to the Control Office Application (COA). According to a statement from the ministry, the integration of COA and NTES has made it possible for passengers to receive real-time information and autonomous train charting.

According to IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, the government is investing close to $30 billion to create a strong digital infrastructure in rural areas and assure network accessibility for 4G and 5G in every village across the nation. The minister added that the government has already contacted more than 1.5 lakh gram panchayats. Regarding the framework for digital regulation, the minister stated that telecom forms the very core of Digital India. In order to bring high-quality, fast broadband connectivity to every village in the nation and involve people in the growth process, the union minister added, “We are now creating a whole ecosystem of village entrepreneurs, channelising the energies of youngsters to take good quality, high-speed data connectivity to every village in the country while making them a part of the growth journey.” According to Vaishnaw, the government should focus on three major areas of fintech: social inclusion, a digital regulatory framework, and establishing a strong digital infrastructure.

The National Broadband Mission of the government tweeted on Saturday that the introduction of 5G services in India will take place at the India Mobile Congress at Pragati Maidan on October 1. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will host an event to launch the 5G services, according to the National Broadband Mission. “Taking India’s digital transformation & connectivity to new heights, Hon’ble PM, @narendramodi, will roll out 5G services in India; at India Mobile Congress; Asia’s largest technology exhibition,” it said. Ashwini Vaishnaw, India’s minister of electronics and information technology, had previously stated that the country is preparing for the October launch of 5G services. The services will be expanded following the inauguration, the Union minister added. When speaking at a gathering last week, Ashwini Vaishnaw remarked, “The journey of 5G is going to be very exciting and noted that many countries took multiple years to reach 40 per cent to 50 per cent coverage. But we are targeting a very aggressive timeline and the Government has given a target of 80 per cent coverage in a short time frame and we should definitely cover at least 80 per cent in a very short timeframe.” The Union minister had instructed operators to prepare for the launch of 5G services following the release of spectrum allocation letters in August. On Twitter, the telecom minister wrote: “Spectrum assignment letter issued. Requesting TSPs to prepare for 5G launch”. Service providers including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Adani Data Networks, and Vodafone Idea have paid the DoT a total of about 17,876 crore for the spectrum they just acquired in an auction. A record 1.5 lakh crore worth of bids were submitted for the nation’s largest-ever telecom spectrum auction, with Mukesh Ambani’s Jio winning nearly half of the airwaves sold with a bid of 87,946.93 crore.