International Organisations
11^th Annual Meeting of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) for 2021

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about FEMBoSA)
What's the NEWS

• Chief Election Commissioner of India and current Chairman, FEMBoSA inaugurated the 11^th Annual meeting of the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of SouthAsia (FEMBoSA) for the year 2021.
• The theme of today's meeting was 'Use of Technology in Elections'.
• The meeting in Virtual mode was hosted by the Election Commission of Bhutan. Alongwith India, delegations from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka participated in the day-long meeting.
• Election Commission of India (ECI) handed over the Forum of the Election Management Bodies of South Asia (FEMBoSA) role to the Election Commission of Bhutan for 2021-22.

FEMBoSA objectives

• to promote contact among the Election Management Bodies of the SAARC countries;
• share experiences with a view to learning from each other and cooperate with one another in enhancing capabilities of the Election Management Bodies towards conducting free and fair elections,

Know! about FEMBoSA

• FEMBoSA represents a very large part of the democratic world and is an active regional cooperation association of Election Management Bodies.
• Its logo with golden pearls stands for the eternal values of transparency, impartiality, democracy and cooperation.
• Forum of Election Management Bodies of South Asia(FEMBoSA) is a regional establishment to increase mutual cooperation with respect to the common interests of the SAARC's EMBs.
• In 2010 for the first time, Bangladesh Election Commission organized a regional meeting titled ‘Meeting on Cooperation of Election Commissions in the South Asia Region', which was later called Forum of Election Management Bodies of South Asia(FEMBoSA) as an institutionalized form. After the meeting in 2012, the forum chartered was approved.
• 8 members are EMBs from Afghanistan, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka
• With its eight members, FEMBoSA represents a very large part of the democratic world and is an active regional association of EMBs.
• Annual FEMBoSA meeting is held by rotation among the members.

Prelims Factoids
Atmanirbhar Narishakti se Samvad
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about the Samvad highlights + about DAY-NRLM)
What's the NEWS

• Prime Minister participated in ‘Atmanirbhar Narishakti se Samvad' and interact with women Self Help Group (SHG) members/community resource persons promoted under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM)

Know! about DAY-NRLM

• DAY-NRLM aims at mobilizing rural poor households into Self Help Groups (SHGs) in a phased manner and provide them long-term support to diversify their livelihoods, improve their incomes and quality of life.
• Most of Mission's interventions are being implemented and scaled up by the SHG women themselves who are trained as community resource persons (CRPs) - Krishi Sakhis, Pashu Sakhis, Bank Sakhis, Bima Sakhis, Banking Correspondent Sakhis etc.
• The Mission is also working on empowering the SHG women through awareness generation and behaviour change communication on issues like domestic violence, women's education and other gender related concerns, nutrition, sanitation, health etc.

Prelims Factoids
EAGLE Bill
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about EAGLE bill - highlights)
What's the NEWS

• The Ensuring American Global Leadership and Engagement, or the EAGLE Bill deliberated upon by the US Congress can impact American diplomacy in Southeast Asia and beyond and would give the region a fillip needed amid Chinese repressive measures in the Indo-Pacific.

• EAGLE Act reinvigorates American institutions and competitiveness at home and American diplomacy abroad to effectively respond to the China challenge.
• There is growing consensus in Washington that China poses the most significant challenge to its global leadership today.
• The Bill will commit Washington to be more involved with Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) states
• A commitment to support ASEAN members in addressing maritime and territorial disputes also finds a mention in the bill, said Wang and Mishra.
• More importantly, mentions achieving "peaceful, diplomatic, and, as necessary, legitimate regional and international arbitration mechanisms, consistent with international law".
• This would entail the US' support for the adoption of a code of conduct in settling the South China Sea (SCS) dispute.
• There is also a provision that calls for the demilitarisation of the SCS, which would be in line with and support ASEAN's current stand
• The bill acknowledges the "ASEAN Centrality".
• The bill is certainly promising for ASEAN, especially if it leads to positive participation and contribution from those outside the region.
• There are also additional provisions to address issues such as human smuggling and trafficking, refugees and migrants, and regional development (the Mekong Basin), under the EAGLE Bill.
• Other priority initiatives include the US-ASEAN Smart Cities Partnership, ASEAN Policy Implementation Project, US-ASEAN Innovation Circle and US-ASEAN Health Futures

Prelims Factoids
Tehram Shehr Glacier

Relevance IN - Prelims ( about APSARASAS I, APSARASAS II, APSARASAS III, PT-6940 and PT-7140 peaks)
What's the NEWS

• An expedition to simultaneously scale five virgin peaks located in theTeramShehr Glacier, near Siachen Glacier was flagged off by Major General from Siachen Base Camp
• The Indian Army mountaineers from the Ladakh Scouts Regiment will attempt scaling APSARASAS I, APSARASAS II, APSARASAS III, PT-6940 and PT-7140 simultaneously.
• The ceremony at Base Camp was attended by troops deployed in Siachen Base Camp and local Indian Army Veterans.

Bills/Acts
The Constitution 127^th Amendment Bill, 2021 passed by the Parliament
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about 127TH amendment bill - highlights) + Mains ( GS II government policies and interventions for the welfare of certain section of population)
What's the NEWS

• The Parliament Passed. the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty-Seventh Amendment) Bill, 2021
• The Bill that aims at restoring powers of states to notify backward classes received Opposition's support

• The Bill seeks to clarify "some provisions in the 102nd Constitutional amendment Bill" to restore the power of the states and union territories to prepare their own list of socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC).
• This list must be made by law, and may differ from the central list
• The Amendment Bill amends Articles 342 A (clauses 1 and 2) and will introduce a new clause - 342 A (3) specifically authorising states to maintain their state list.
• There will be a consequential amendment in Articles 366(26c) and 338B (9).
• The states will thus be able to directly notify SEBCs without having to refer to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC).

Why the amendments were needed?

• The amendment was necessitated after the Supreme Court, in its Maratha reservation ruling in May, upheld the 102^nd Constitutional Amendment Act.
• The Apex Court said the President, based on the recommendations of the NCBC, would determine which communities would be included on the State OBC list.
• The 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018 gave constitutional status to the NCBC, and empowered the President to notify the list SEBCs for any state or union territory.
• The 2021 Bill, however, amends this to provide that the President may notify the list of socially and educationally backward classes only of the central government.
• Thus the amendment Bill bypasses the SC ruling and restores the powers of the state governments to maintain a state list of OBCs.
• The Opposition's support to pass the Bill is significant as a constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority of lawmakers who are present during the proceedings, with at least 50 percent in attendance.
• All the 385 Lok Sabha members who were present in the House voted in favour of the Bill during the division voting

National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC)

• The National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) was established under the National Commission for Backward Classes Act, 1993.
• The Constitution 102^nd Amendment Act, 2018 gave constitutional status to the NCBC, and empowered the President to notify the list of socially and educationally backward classes for any state or union territory for all purposes.
• Article 338B of the Constitution mandates the central and state governments to consult the NCBC on all major policy matters affecting the socially and educationally backward classes.
• After passing, the 127^th Constitutional Amendment Bill, 671 castes in the country would benefit from it and restore the States' rights to make their own list of OBCs.
• On May 5, while scrapping a separate quota for the Maratha community in Maharashtra, the Supreme Court had ruled that after a 2018 amendment in the Constitution (102nd constitutional amendment), only the central government could notify socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs) - not the states.
• The 102nd constitutional amendment (Inserted Articles 338B and 342 A after Article 342) was related to giving constitutional status to the National Commission of Backward Classes and interpretation of this constitutional amendment effectively struck a blow to the authority of state governments in identifying backward classes and provide them with reservation benefits.

Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021 -highlights)
What's the NEWS

• THE Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha recently passed the Tribunal Reforms Bill, 2021
• The Bill replaces the Tribunal Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Ordinance, 2021 (the Ordinance), which was notified on April 4 this year.

Bill Highlights
The Bill intends to absolve certain Appellate Tribunals and shift their functions to other existing judicial bodies.

1. The appellate functions under the Cinematograph Act, 1952
2. the Trade Marks Act, 1999
3. the Customs Act, 1957
4. the Patents Act, 1970
5. the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999

have been transferred from appellate boards or tribunals under this legislation to High Courts.

6. The Control of National Highways (Land and Traffic) Act, 2002, the appellate functions have been transferred from a tribunal to civil courts (which includes the High Court in the exercise of its ordinary original civil jurisdiction).

7. The appellate functions under the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994 have also been shifted from the same tribunal to the central government and the High Court,

8. The appellate functions under the Copyright Act, 1957 have been vested from an appellate board to the commercial division of a High Court.

Search-cum-Selection Committees

• The Bill provides for a Search-cum-Selection Committee.
• The Bill, the Chairperson and Members of Tribunals shall be appointed by the Central Government on the Committees' recommendation.

The Committee will include:
(i) The Chief Justice of India, or a Supreme Court judge nominated by him, as the Chairperson (with casting vote)
(ii) Two central government-nominated secretaries
(iii) The sitting or outgoing Chairperson, or a retired Supreme Court judge, or a retired Chief Justice of a High Court
(iv) The Secretary of the Union Ministry under which the tribunal is to be constituted. The latter will have no voting rights though.

• The central government is supposed to act upon the committees' recommendations preferably within three months.
• There shall be separate Search-cum-Selection Committees for State administrative tribunals.

These committees will consist of
(i) The Chief Justice of that state's High Court as the Chairperson (with casting vote)
(ii) The Chief Secretary of the state government and the Chairman of the state's Public Service Commission
(iii) The sitting or outgoing Chairperson, or a retired High Court judge, and
(iv) The Secretary or Principal Secretary of the state's general administrative department. The latter will, again, have no voting rights.

Tenure

• Section 5 of the Bill provides for a four-year tenure of office, or when the officeholder turns 70 years (in case of a Chairperson)/67 years (in case of any other member), whichever is earlier. Further, the minimum age requirement for the office of a Chairperson or member is held to be 50 years.

Madras Bar Association vs. Union of India (2020).

• The apex court suggested substantive amendments to the 2020 Rules, such as increasing the term of office of tribunal members to five years, allowing for the re-appointment of members (subjected to upper age limits), and allowing advocates with ten years' experience to be appointed as judicial members within tribunals.
• The court also recommended the establishment of a National Tribunals Commission as an independent body to overview the functioning of tribunals.
• To overrule the apex court's judgment, the central government tabled the Tribunals Reforms (Rationalisation and Conditions of Service) Bill, 2021
• The present Bill too has set the minimum age limit to 50 years and the tenure of office holders as four years.
• Further, it contains no mention of any proposed National Tribunals Commission, whose establishment was recommended in Madras Bar Association (2020).

Know! about Tribunals

• Tribunal is a quasi-judicial institution that is set up to deal with problems such as resolving administrative or tax-related disputes.
• It performs a number of functions like adjudicating disputes, determining rights between contesting parties, making an administrative decision, reviewing an existing administrative decision and so forth.
• They were not originally a part of the Constitution.
• The 42nd Amendment Act introduced these provisions in accordance with the recommendations of the Swaran Singh Committee.

The Amendment introduced Part XIV-A to the Constitution, which deals with ‘Tribunals' and contains two articles:

• Article 323A deals with Administrative Tribunals. These are quasi-judicial institutions that resolve disputes related to the recruitment and service conditions of persons engaged in public service.
• Article 323B deals with tribunals for other subjects such as Taxation, Industrial and labour, Foreign exchange, import and export, Land reforms, Food, Ceiling on urban property, Elections to Parliament and state legislatures, Rent and tenancy rights.

Environment
The India Plastics Pact
Relevance IN - Prelims ( about Plastic Pact) + Mains ( Environment conservation - steps taken)
What's the NEWS

• The Plastics Pacts are business-led initiatives and transform the plastics packaging value chain for all formats and products.
• The Pacts bring together everyone from across the plastics value chain to implement practical solutions.

All Pacts unite behind four targets:

1. to eliminate unnecessary and problematic plastic packaging through redesign and innovation
2. to ensure all plastic packaging is reusable or recyclable
3. to increase the reuse, collection, and recycling of plastic packaging
4. to increase recycled content in plastic packaging.

India Plastics Pact

• The India Plastics Pact, the first in Asia, will be launched in September at the CII Annual Sustainability Summit.
• It can be expected to boost demand for recycled content, investments in recycling infrastructure, jobs in the waste sector, and beyond.
• The first Plastics Pact was launched in the U.K. in 2018, by WRAP, a global NGO based in the U.K., in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
• The U.K. Pact helped channel over £120 million worth of investments in recycling infrastructure resulting in 300,000 tonnes of new recycling capacity.
• The Pact will support the Extended Producer Responsibility framework of the government and improve solid waste management as envisioned in the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.
• Integral to the Pact's framework is the involvement of the informal waste sector crucial to post-consumer segregation, collection and processing of plastic waste.
• The India Plastics Pact is supported by WRAP, which supports many Pacts globally.
• This association will ensure access to expertise and knowledge from different Pacts worldwide.
• The India Plastics Pact focuses on solutions and innovation. Members' accountability is ensured through ambitious targets and annual data reporting.
• The Pact will develop a road map for guidance, form action groups composed of members, and initiate innovation projects.
• While the India Plastics Pact will be active in India, it will link globally with other Plastics Pacts.
• Many Indian businesses and organisations have expressed an interest in signing up to the Pact.
• Deeper and long-lasting benefits will be felt across the supply chains of these businesses, most of which comprise MSMEs.
• The Pact will encourage development and maturing of the entire plastics production and management ecosystem.
• Apart from benefits to society and economy, delivering the targets will drive circularity of plastics and help tackle pollution.
• They will lead to significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

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