Hand Holding Programme of “Thinking Palette”

6th August 2020 

Daily News Articles (​covering ‘The Hindu’+ ‘PIB’+ ‘Indian Express’) 
 
1. EWS quota challenge referred to Constitution Bench 
Context
● The Supreme Court had referred petitions challenging the Constitution amendment
introducing a 10 percent quota in jobs and admissions for Economically Weaker
Sections (EWS) to a five-judge bench, saying it involves “substantial questions of law”.

● The primary question for the Constitution Bench to decide is ​Whether “economic
backwardness” can be the sole criterion for granting quota in government jobs
and educational institutions for those who would otherwise have to compete in
the general category?

Basis of the Petition

● The petitions challenged the constitutional validity of The Constitution (One Hundred
and Third Amendment) Act, 2019.

● The Supreme Court in the 9-bench ​Indira Sawhney case​ of 1992 had capped all
quotas at 50%, to allow the rest to be filled from merit. The pleas said the Act violated
the basic feature of the Constitution as reservation for EWS cannot be limited to the
general category and the overall 50% ceiling limit cannot be breached.

● They argued that reservation in unaided institutions violates the fundamental right
under Article 19(1)(g) of the Constitution.

● The petitioners also argued that jobs only on the ground of economic standing was an
impossibility under the existing constitutional scheme of things which permit
reservations only.

➔ The economic reservation was introduced in the Constitution by amending Articles

15 and 16 and adding clauses empowering the State governments to provide
reservation on the basis of economic backwardness.

➔ Article 15(6) empowers states to make special provision for advancement of any
EWS other than those mentioned in clauses (4) and (5) and to make a special
provision on their admission to educational institutions- including aided or unaided
private ones — other than minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of
Article 30. This will be in addition to existing reservations and subject to a maximum
of 10 percent of total seats in each category.

➔ Article 16(6) empowers the state to make any provision for reservation of
appointments or posts in favour of any EWS other than classes mentioned in clause
(4), in addition to the existing reservation and subject to a maximum of 10 percent of
posts in each category.

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EWS category in India

● Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in India is a subcategory of people belonging to
the General Category having an annual family income less than ₹8 lakhs and who
absolutely do not belong to any reserved category such as SC/ST/OBC(Central
list)/MBC(Tamil Nadu).

● If a candidate who doesn't fall under castes recognised as SC/ST/OBC by the Govt. of
India & doesn't avail any form of reservations (except horizontal reservations like ExS,
PwD, etc.) & his/her annual family income is above the prescribed limit of ₹8 lakhs by
Government of India (or as prescribed by state govt in the respective states), then
he/she will be recognised as a candidate from Un Reserved UR category and not from
EWS category.

● Constitution (103rd Amendment) Act, 2019 introduced ​Economic reservation​ by

amending Articles 15 and 16. It inserted Article 15 (6) and Article 16 (6) in the
Constitution to allow reservation for the economically backward in the unreserved
category.

● It was enacted to promote the welfare of the poor not covered by the 50% reservation
policy for SCs, STs and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC).

2. Brus reject resettlement site offer 

Context
● Three organisations (The Mizoram Bru Displaced Peoples’ Forum, Mizoram Bru
Displaced Peoples’ Coordination Committee and Bru Displaced Welfare Committee)
representing the Bru community displaced from Mizoram have rejected the sites
proposed by the Joint Movement Committee (JMC), an umbrella group of non-Brus in
Tripura, for their resettlement.

● Recently Non-Brus of Tripura have proposed six places for settling the displaced Brus
from Mizoram and set a limit for the number of families to be accommodated in two
subdivisions.
About Bru
● Bru or Reang is a community indigenous to Northeast India, living mostly in Tripura,
Mizoram and Assam. In Tripura, they are recognised as a Particularly Vulnerable
Tribal Group.
● While many Brus of Assam and Tripura are Hindu, the Brus of Mizoram converted to
Christianity over the years.
● The Reangs are primarily an agrarian tribe. In the past, they mostly practised Jhum
cultivation like most other Tripuri tribes. However today, most of them have adopted
modern agricultural practices.

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Displacement issue of Bru People

● In 1995 Brus were targeted by the Young Mizo Association (YMA), Mizo Zirwlai Pawl
(MZP), and a few ethnic social organisations of Mizoram who demanded that the Bru
be excluded from electoral rolls in the state.
● Clashes in 1995 with the majority Mizos led to the demand for the removal of the
Brus, perceived to be non-indigenous. This led to an armed movement by a Bru
outfit, in 1997. The retaliatory ethnic violence saw more than 40,000 Brus fleeing to
adjoining Tripura where they took shelter in six relief camps.
● Brus demanded for an Autonomous District Council (ADC), under the 6th Schedule
of the Constitution, in western Mizoram, where they were the more dominant lot,
outnumbering the ethnic Mizo population.

Repatriation attempts
● The Centre and the two State governments involved made nine attempts to resettle
the Brus in Mizoram. The first was in November 2010 when 1,622 Bru families with
8,573 members went back. Protests by Mizo NGOs, primarily the Young Mizo
Association, stalled the process in 2011, 2012 and 2015.
● Meanwhile, the Brus began demanding relief on a par with the relief given to
Kashmiri Pandits and Sri Lankan Tamil refugees. The Centre spent close to ₹500
crore for relief and rehabilitation until the last peace deal was brokered over three
years since 2015.
● In June 2018, community leaders from the Bru camps signed an agreement with the
Centre and the two state governments, providing for repatriation in Mizoram. But
most camp residents rejected the terms of the agreement.
● In January 2020, a quadripartite agreement was signed among the Centre, state
governments of Tripura and Mizoram and Bru-Reang representatives to facilitate
permanent settlement of Bru refugees from Mizoram in Tripura, benefitting around
34,000 refugees.

3. M.P. should not get GI tag for basmati rice 

Context
● Recently the Punjab Chief Minister written to the Prime Minister, stating that the GI
tagging of Madhya Pradesh basmati would negatively impact the State’s agriculture
and India’s basmati exports.
​ (The article is already covered 18th July 2020)

4. Millipedes 
● Millipedes are often referred to as detritivores that feed on decaying organic matter like
leaves and other dead plant matter, thus contributing towards decomposition, cycling
nutrients

5. Centre formulating R&D policy to bolster drug discovery 

● To boost drug discovery and the manufacture of medical devices in the country, The
Centre is planning to unveil a new Research & Development (R&D) policy.

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● The government had also proposed to set up three major manufacturing parks
including one in Hyderabad, with an investment of ₹1,000 crore each to help drive
import substitution of basic raw materials, active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) and
the making of medical devices.

It is an effort to strengthen institutions and recognise scientists’ role in new discoveries, and to
help them commercialise the projects.

6. Pokkali rice seedlings 

Context
● As about 80% of the rice paddies in the Sundarbans faced the problem of saltwater
incursion, ​Saltwater resistant Pokkali variety​ may help farmers tide over saltwater
incursion caused by cyclone Amphan.

● Pokkali is a unique saline tolerant rice variety that is cultivated using extensive
aquaculture in an organic way in the water-logged coastal regions, in the coastal
Alappuzha, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. The uniqueness of the rice has brought it
the Geographical Indication (GI) tag and is the subject of continuing research.

● Vyttila-11 variety of pokkali, promises better yield than the previous varieties, and is
crossed with the Jyoti variety of rice popular in Kerala.

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