Current Affairs-May 31, 2022

 

INDIA

– PM releases benefits under PM CARES (Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations) Fund for children orphaned in Covid

– Statehood day of Goa celebrated; became 25th state of India on May 30, 1987

 ‘Yoga for Humanity’ is theme of International Day of Yoga on June 21

– Shruti Sharma tops civil services exam, women bag first three ranks: UPSC

– Gen Next Democracy Network programme of Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), concludes

– NHA (National Health Authority) launches public dashboard for Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– PMEGP (Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme) extended till FY26; assists youth in setting up of micro enterprises in non-farm sectors.

– Govt aims to cut power output from at least 81 coal-fired plants over 4 years

– Tata Motors to takeover Sanand plant; signs MoU with Ford and Gujarat govt

WORLD

– Sudan: General Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan lifts state of emergency countrywide

SPORTS

– Rajasthan: CM Ashok Gehlot announces Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award for state’s sportspersons

UPSC ethics simplified: From ‘babus’ to ‘civil servants’

 

The General Studies Paper IV, "Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude," is an essential component of the UPSC Mains Examination. The Indian Express UPSC Ethics Simplified series to help and enable aspirants in decoding, deconstructing, and analysing the "Ethics, Integrity, and Aptitude" paper. UPSC Ethics Simplified will assist candidates in developing attitudes and approaches to solve matters relating to integrity and probity in public life, as well as evolving problem-solving perspectives on various issues and situations.

The term “babu” was frequently used derisively to refer to civil servants and other government officials, and the Indian bureaucracy was earlier labelled “babudom” due to its elitism and sense of entitlement. The recent episode of high-handedness of an IAS couple at Delhi’s Thyagraj Stadium once again brings up the question, “Is the steel frame of India rusting and losing its shine?”

Who are civil servants and what is their expected role?

In a modern democracy, a civil servant is an official in the service of the people and is recruited based on predetermined qualifications. Civil servants are bureaucrats who need to be familiar with the laws and regulations of the country and are expected to act in the best interests of the country and its citizens. They are responsible for managing the resources given to them by the government and making use of them efficiently and effectively. A sound parliamentary system of government requires civil servants to maintain their integrity, fearlessness, and independence. One of the most important functions of the civil service, as stated by the head of the Canadian Public Service, is to “speak truth to power.” The crisis of ethics and accountability in civil servants exposes many issues related to the structure of the code of conduct, constitutional protection, the politician-bureaucratic nexus, and their political victimisation. To address these issues and maintain integrity and discipline amongst civil servants, various reform committees such as the Santhanam Committee (1964), Hota Committee (2004), and the most recent Second Administrative Reform Committee Report (2005) have been formed.

Code of conduct for civil servants

In the 1930s, a collection of instructions containing “do’s and don’ts” was published under the title “Conduct Rules.” The All India Services Rules, 1955, separated the compendium into separate rules. The Santhanam Committee (1964) recommended significantly broadening such rules, which resulted in the 1964 version. These rules were later revised to incorporate additional behavioural norms.

According to the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968, every member of the service shall maintain:
· Integrity and honesty;
· Political neutrality;
· Promoting of the principles of merit, fairness and impartiality in the discharge of duties;
· Accountability and transparency;
· Responsiveness to the public, particularly to the weaker section;
· Courtesy and good behaviour with the public.

Code of ethics vs code of conduct rules

In India, there is no code of ethics for civil servants, though such codes exist in other countries. We have a number of conduct rules that prohibit a variety of common activities. These conduct guidelines serve a purpose, but they are not a code of ethics. While the Conduct Rules contain some general norms such as “maintaining integrity and absolute devotion to duty” and not engaging in “conduct unbecoming of a government servant,” the code of conduct is generally aimed at cataloguing specific activities deemed undesirable for government servants. There has recently been a concern that more “generic norms” should be added to the list of acceptable conduct.

A draft “Public Service Bill” proposed by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions in 2007 seeks to establish a set of generic expectations of civil servants known as “values.” The following are the key “values” envisioned in the Bill:

· Allegiance to the various ideals enshrined in the preamble to the Constitution
· Apolitical functioning
· Good governance for the betterment of the people to be the primary goal of civil service
· Duty to act objectively and impartially
· Accountability and transparency in decision-making
· Maintenance of the highest ethical standards
· Merit to be the criteria in the selection of civil servants consistent, however, with the cultural, ethnic and other diversities of the nation
· Ensuring economy and avoidance of wastage in expenditure
· Provision of a healthy and congenial work environment
· Communication, consultation and cooperation in the performance of functions that is the participation of all levels of personnel in management.

The draft Bill also includes provisions for a public service code and a public service management code, which define more specific duties and responsibilities. Violations of the code would result in penalties similar to the current major and minor penalties imposed by the heads of institutions and organisations. A ‘Public Service Authority’ is also envisaged to oversee the implementation of the code and the values mentioned above, as well as to provide advice on the values and the code.

Written by Priya Kumari Shukla

Source: Indian Express, 31/05/22

Quote of the Day May 30, 2022

 

“Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.”
Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“आप जहां भी हैं, वहीं पर अपना थोड़ा सा क्यों न हो अच्छा काम करते रहें; यही छोटी छोटी अच्छी बातें मिलकर संसार को जीत सकती हैं।”
मुख्य पादरी डेसमण्ड टुटु

Economic & Political Weekly: Table of Contents

 

Vol. 57, Issue No. 22, 28 May, 2022

Editorials

Spiralling Prices

Comment

No International Economic Fix for Democracy in Sri Lanka

From the Editor's Desk

The Fallacy of Anxiety

From 50 Years Ago

From 50 Years Ago: Policy and Decision-Making in Government

Law and Society

Sedition and the Misuse of Laws

Alok Prasanna Kumar

Commentary

Monetary Fiscal Coordination and the Evolution of Public Debt - A Simple Simulation Exercise

Advait Moharir

How Should Banks Estimate Their Expected Loan Loss Provisions to Survive in Difficult Times?

Arindam Bandyopadhyay

Book Reviews

Deconstructing Muslim Identity - Beyond the Tropes of Nationalism and Separatism

Soheb Niazi

Unpacking the Black Box of Urban Governance in India

Soumyadip Chattopadhyay

Insight

Unfolding the Employment Story in Uttar Pradesh - Signs of a Deeper Crisis

Indervir Singh, Kamal Singh, Ashapurna Baruah

Review of Women's Studies

Performing Art/Performing Labour - Gender, Body, and the Politics of Culture

Aishika Chakraborty, Anagha Tambe

Women-only! - Reframing of Erotic Lavani in Contemporary Maharashtra

Anagha Tambe

Dancing the Night Away - Erotic Outlaws of the Democracy

Aishika Chakraborty

Corpo-activism - Dance and Activist Labour in the Work of Komal Gandhar, Kolkata

Prarthana Purkayastha

Bodies in Waiting - Remapping Gender, Labour, and Histories of the Indian Film Industry (1930s–1950s)

Madhuja Mukherjee

The Legacy of Balamani Ammal in Tamil Theatre - Affirming a History Lost in the Conjunction between Social Respectability and Historiography of Arts

A Mangai

Current Statistics

Current Statistics

Postscript

Would Caliban Have Renounced English after Prospero Had Left?

Umesh Patra

The Baby Arrived at a Natural Birth Centre

Sreya Majumdar

India’s Weird (Wired) Smart City

Binayak Choudhury

Last Lines

Letters

No Means No: Marital Rape Exception in India

Hemendra Singh

The Primacy of Reproductive Autonomy

Manas Agrawal

Sex as work

 

Laws should free consenting sex workers from stigma, and grant them rights

A long-standing demand of sex workers that their work be decriminalised has been partially fulfilled with the Supreme Court passing an order on May 19 that adult sex workers are entitled to dignity and equal protection under law. Directing the police to respect the rights of consenting sex workers, the Court observed that “... notwithstanding the profession, every individual ... has a right to a dignified life under Article 21 of the Constitution”. It reiterated what the Court had ruled in Budhadev Karmaskar (2011), that sex workers are also entitled to a “life of dignity”. With the Trafficking of Persons (Prevention, Protection and Rehabilitation) Bill yet to see the light of day, the Court invoked powers under Article 142 to issue guidelines till the legislation is in force. In 2011, it had set up a panel to look at prevention of trafficking; rehabilitation; and conditions conducive for sex workers who wish to continue work. As the Court awaits the Government’s response to the panel’s recommendations that adult sex workers should not be “arrested or penalised or harassed or victimised,” a three-judge Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao did well to direct the police to treat “all sex workers with dignity and should not abuse them, ... verbally and physically, subject them to violence or coerce them into any sexual activity”. During the hearings, the Additional Solicitor General Jayant Sud had conveyed to the Court that the Government has “certain reservations” on some of the panel’s recommendations.

The Court has asked the Government to respond to the panel’s suggestions in six weeks. By holding that basic protection of human decency and dignity extends to sex workers and their children, the Court has struck a blow for the rights of an exploited, vulnerable section. Coming down heavily on the brutal and violent “attitude” of the police toward sex workers, the Court said “it is as if they are a class whose rights are not recognised”. It has asked State governments to do a survey of protective homes under the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, the legislation governing sex work in India, to review the cases of “adult women” detained there and process their release in a time-bound manner. The ITP Act penalises acts such as running a brothel, soliciting in a public place, living off the earnings of a sex worker and living with or habitually being in the company of one. The Court’s general observations should help sensitise the police, media and society toward sex workers, who have generally been invisible and voiceless. The ball is in the Government’s court to draw up appropriate legislation to free consenting sex workers from stigma, and grant them workers’ rights. In that too, the Court suggested the Centre and States involve sex workers or their representatives to reform laws.

Source: The Hindu, 28/05/22

Current Affairs-May 29, 2022

 

INDIA

– 17th Mumbai International Film Festival (MIFF) from May 29 to June 4; Bangladesh made ‘Country of Focus’

– Gujarat: PM inaugurates Nano Urea Liquid Plant constructed at IFFCO, Kalol

 50 per cent of rural households have access to tap water connections: Jal Shakti Ministry

– INS Gomati decommissioned at Naval Dockyard in Mumbai after 34 years of service

– Tamil Nadu: Vice President Naidu unveils late CM M. Karunanidhi’s 16-ft tall statue in Chennai

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– MeitY (Ministry of Electronics and IT) issues draft norms to mobilise non-personal citizen data with govt

WORLD

– Russia and China block UNSC’s statement on Myanmar humanitarian crisis

– Russia says eastern Ukraine town of Lyman is under its full control

– Russia carries out test of Zircon hypersonic cruise missile

– Iran confirms seizure of 2 Greek oil tankers in Persian Gulf

– Menstrual Hygiene Day observed on May 28

Current Affairs-May 30, 2022

 

INDIA

– Centre retracts caution on Aadhaar photocopies; UIDAI had warned against sharing them to avoid ‘misuse’

– NADI-3 (Natural Allies in Development and Interdependence) Asian Confluence River Conclave organised in Guwahati on May 28-29

 National Women Legislators’ Conference organised in Thiruvananthapuram

– 75th Cannes Film Festival:  Shaunak Sen’s “All That Breathes” won the 2022 L’Oeil d’Or (Golden Eye) for the best documentary

– K.V. Raghupathi wins International Panorama Golden Award for his book ‘The Mountain is Calling’

– Minority certificates would be provided to six religious communities in Assam; Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains and Parsis

– Home Minister Amit Shah lays foundation stone for new international sports complex in Ahmedabad

– For 1st time, India Post delivers mail using drone in Gujarat under pilot project

– India-Bangladesh passenger train services resume after two years; Bandhan Express flagged off from Kolkata station for Khulna

– WHO selects Jharkhand for World No Tobacco Day Award-2022 for state’s efforts in controlling tobacco consumption

– North India’s first Industrial Biotech Park inaugurated at Kathua in J&K

– Punjabi Singer Sidhu Moose Wala shot dead in Mansa district day after security withdrawn

ECONOMY & CORPORATE

– US surpasses China as India’s biggest trading partner in FY22 at $119.42 bn

WORLD

– 75th annual Cannes Film Festival organised in Cannes, France; ‘Triangle of Sadness’ (English), written and directed by Ruben Östlund, wins Palme d’Or award

– Nepal’s Tara Air flight, with 22 including 4 Indians onboard, crashes; no survivors

– International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers observed on May 29; theme: “People. Peace. Progress. The Power of Partnerships”

SPORTS

– Spanish football club Real Madrid win UEFA Champions League tournament by beating English club Liverpool 1-0 in final played in Paris

– Cricket: Gujarat Titans (133 /9 in 18.1) defeat Rajasthan Royals (130/9 in 20) in final at Ahmedabad to win IPL

– Sergio Perez of Red Bull wins Formula One Monaco Grand Prix

– Former British champion jockey Lester Piggott dies at the age of 86