Topics
- ‘Right to be Forgotten’ in India
- Periodic Labour Force Survey 2019-20
- China, Pakistan to take joint actions to tackle terrorist spill over from Afghanistan
- Wolf Warrior approach
- Chandra Shekar Azad:
1.‘Right to be Forgotten’ in India
#GS2 #Judiciary #Indian Constitution-Significant Provisions and Basic Structure #Fundamental Rights
Context: Ashutosh Kaushik who won multiple reality shows has approached the Delhi High Court with a plea saying that his videos, photographs and articles etc. be removed from the internet citing his “Right to be Forgotten”.
- In the plea, he also maintains that the “Right to be Forgotten” goes in sync with the “Right to Privacy”, which is an integral part of Article 21 of the Constitution (Right to Life).
About the Plea:
- The Plea mentions that the posts and videos on net associated with him have caused the “petitioner psychological pain for his diminutive acts, that were mistakenly committed a decade past because the recorded videos, photos, articles of constant area unit offered on varied search engines/ on-line platforms”.
- The plea additionally states that “the petitioner’s mistakes in his personal life becomes and remains publicly data for generations to return and so within the instant case. Consequently, the values enshrined under Article 21 of the Indian Constitution and the emergent jurisprudential concept of the Right to be Forgotten becomes extremely relevant in the present case.”
What is the ‘Right to be Forgotten’?
- It is the right to have publicly available personal information removed from the internet, search, databases, websites or any other public platforms, once the personal information in question is no longer necessary, or relevant.
- The Right to be Forgotten falls under the purview of an individual’s right to privacy, which is governed by the Personal Data Protection Bill that is yet to be passed by Parliament.
- In 2017, the Right to Privacy was declared a fundamental right by the Supreme Court in Justice K. S. Puttaswamy (Retd) Vs Union of India.
- The court said at the time that, “the right to privacy is protected as an intrinsic part of the right to life and personal liberty under Article 21 and as a part of the freedoms guaranteed by Part III of the Constitution”.
Personal Data Protection Bill and RTBF:
- The Personal Data Protection Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha in 2019. It aims to set out provisions meant for the protection of the personal data of individuals.
- Clause 20 under Chapter V of this draft bill titled “Rights of Data Principal” mentions the “Right to be Forgotten.”
- It states that the “data principal (the person to whom the data is related) shall have the right to restrict or prevent the continuing disclosure of his personal data by a data fiduciary”.
- Therefore, broadly, under the Right to be forgotten, users can de-link, limit, delete or correct the disclosure of their personal information held by data fiduciaries.
- A data fiduciary means any person, including the State, a company, any juristic entity or any individual who alone or in conjunction with others determines the purpose and means of processing of personal data.
- Data Protection Authority (DPA): Even so, the sensitivity of the personal data and information cannot be determined independently by the person concerned, but will be overseen by the Data Protection Authority (DPA).
Right to be Forgotten in Other countries:
- The Centre for Internet and Society notes that the “right to be forgotten” gained prominence when the matter was referred to the Court of Justice of European Union (CJEC) in 2014 by a Spanish Court.
- In the European Union (EU), the right to be forgotten empowers individuals to ask organisations to delete their personal data.
- It is provided by the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a law passed by the 28-member bloc in 2018.
- The European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled in 2019 that the ‘right to be forgotten’ under European law would not apply beyond the borders of EU member states.
- This ruling was considered an important victory for Google, and laid down that the online privacy law cannot be used to regulate the internet in countries such as India, which are outside the EU.
Challenges:
- Right to be forgotten may get into conflict with matters involving public records.
- The Right to be forgotten cannot be extended to official public records, especially judicial records as that would undermine public faith in the judicial system in the long run.
- This Right creates a dilemma between the right to privacy of individuals and the right to information of society and freedom of press.
Way Forward:
- There must be a balance between the right to privacy and protection of personal data (Article 21) and the freedom of information of internet users (Article 19).
- A comprehensive data protection law must address these issues and minimize the conflict between the two fundamental rights.
- Periodic Labour Force Survey 2019-20
#GS3 #Indian Economy and issues relating to Planning, Mobilization of Resources, Growth, Development and Employment
- Context: Recently, the government released the third annual report of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for the period between July 2019 and June 2020.
About the survey:
- It is India’s first computer-based survey launched by the NSO in 2017.
- It has been constituted based on the recommendation of a committee headed by Amitabh Kundu.
- The PLFS is an annual survey conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
- It essentially maps the state of employment. In doing so, it collects data on variables such as the level of unemployment, the types of employment and their respective shares, the wages earned from different types of jobs, etc. Earlier, this job was done by Employment-Unemployment Surveys, but these were conducted once every five years.
- The first annual report (July 2017-June 2018) was released in May 2019 and the second (July 2018-June 2019) in June 2020.
- The results of PLFS 2017-18, out in 2019, showed unemployment at of 6.1 per cent.
- The survey will cover the whole of the Indian Union.
Highlights of the report:
- Labour indicators recorded an all-round improvement in 2019-20 compared with the previous two years i:e 2017-18 and 2018-19.
- The unemployment rate fell to 4.8% in 2019-20. In 2018-19, it stood at 5.8% and 6.1% in 2017-18.
- The UER is the percentage of people in the labour force who do not get employment
- Worker Population Rate improved to 38.2% in 2019-20 compared with 35.3% in 2018-19 and 34.7% in 2017-18.
- Labour Force Participation Ratio has increased to 40.1% in 2019-20 from 37.5% and 36.9%, respectively, in the last two years. The higher the LFPR, the better.
- The LFPR is the proportion of Indians who seek to participate in the economy.
- The data showed the jobless rate for both male and female fell to 5.1% and 4.2%, respectively, in 2019-20 from 6% and 5.2% in 2018-19.
Why are these results surprising?
- Over the last one decade, two of the biggest worries for Indian policymakers have been the high levels of unemployment rate (UER) and the low levels of LFPR in the economy.
- In the recent past, India’s LFPR has been less than 40% — far below the global norm (around 60%) or even the norm in most Asian counterparts such as China (76%) and Indonesia (69%).
- In other words, of every 100, only 40 come forward to seek work in India, while the comparable number elsewhere is around 60.
- India’s UER has hovered around 6% (or higher) in last few years— far more than the global or regional norm.
- In other words, of those 40 who chose to participate in the economy, at least 6% did not get any job.
- The results are surprising because they correspond to a period when India’s GDP growth rate decelerated sharply; it came down to 4.2% in 2019-20. After that, the Covid-induced lockdowns further ruined the growth and employment prospects.
Government Initiatives to Tackle Unemployment:
- The Union government has come up with an economic stimulus package under Aatmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to support the Indian economy and create jobs.
- Under the Pradhan Mantri Street Vendor’s Atma Nirbhar Nidhi (PM SVANidhi), the Union Government is providing affordable loans to street vendors..
- The government is offering credit guarantees for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which will help them in getting loans easily and boost their functioning.
- Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana to provide financial support to entrepreneurs to start small enterprises.
- China, Pakistan to take joint actions to tackle terrorist spill over from Afghanistan
#GS2 # India and its Neighbourhood- Relations #Bilateral, Regional and Global Groupings and Agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
Context: At the third strategic dialogue, China and Pakistan have outlined a five-point joint plan on working in Afghanistan.
Background: Need for the Cooperation
- China and Pakistan are facing a direct effect from the worsening situation in Afghanistan as its neighbours and it has become necessary for both sides to strengthen cooperation to cope with the change.
- China has blamed East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) for attacks in its western Xinjiang region, underlining China’s concern that instability in Afghanistan could spill over into Xinjiang.
- Due to a changing environment in Afghanistan, the ETIM terrorists may have fled to Pakistan where they collaborated with the Pakistani Taliban to launch an attack on China. And, if the situation in Afghanistan further deteriorates, Pakistan as well as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will be in danger.
They have outlined a five-point joint plan on working in Afghanistan. This includes:
- The immediate priority of avoiding the expansion of war and preventing Afghanistan from falling into a full-scale civil war.
- Promote the intra-Afghan negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban and establish “a broad and inclusive political structure.
- Third joint action would be “to resolutely combat terrorist forces”
- Promote cooperation among Afghanistan’s neighbours” and “explore the construction of a platform for cooperation among them”.
- Closely work on international fora on the Afghan issue.
Other outcomes of the strategic dialogue:
- Both condemned the recent terrorist attack in Pakistan in which nine Chinese engineers working on the Dasu hydropower plant were killed and expressed their firm resolve to punish the culprits and ensure comprehensive safety and security of the Chinese projects, nationals and institutions, and prevent recurrence of such incidents.
- Both sides “reaffirmed their commitment to facilitate and support ‘Afghan-led and Afghan-owned’ peace and reconciliation process” and “their support for the peaceful reconstruction of Afghanistan”.
- Both sides had agreed to push forward the China Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) with the aim to continuously unleash the great potential of CPEC to make it a hub of regional connectivity.
- Both countries had been in communication with Afghanistan over extending the corridor.
- India has opposed the CPEC, which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, although China has pushed ahead with projects and stepped up its investments in Pakistan occupied Kashmir.
What happened in Afghanistan so far?
- A month after 9/11 attacks, the US launched airstrikes against Afghanistan (Operation Enduring Freedom).
- After the attacks, the NATO coalition troops declared war on Afghanistan.
- The US dislodged the Taliban regime and established a transitional government in Afghanistan.
- Now, in July 2020, the US troops departed from the biggest airbase in Afghanistan after the 20-year-long war, effectively ending their military operations in the country.
- In recent days, the US has launched several airstrikes targeting Taliban positions in support of faltering Afghan government forces.
- Many countries criticise the hasty U.S. withdrawal of troops for having neither fulfilled the purpose of fighting terrorism nor brought peace to Afghanistan but created a new security black hole.
Road ahead for India?
- US exit mean new constraints on India’s ability to operate inside Afghanistan.
- Three structural conditions will continue to shape India’s Afghan policy.
- One is India’s lack of direct physical access to Afghanistan. This underlines the importance of India having effective regional partners.
- Pakistan has the capability to destabilise any government in Afghanistan. But it does not have the power to construct a stable and legitimate order in Afghanistan.
- The contradiction between the interests of Afghanistan and Pakistan is an enduring one.
- Pakistan likes to turn Afghanistan into a protectorate, but Afghans deeply value their independence. All Afghan sovereigns, including the Taliban, will look for partners to balance Pakistan.
- To safeguard its civilian assets there as well as to stay relevant in the unfolding ‘great game’ in and around Afghanistan, India must fundamentally reset its Afghanistan policy.
- India should focus on intensifying its engagement with various Afghan groups, including the Taliban and finding effective regional partners to secure its interests in a changing Afghanistan.
- If India is not proactive in Afghanistan at least now, late as it is, Russia, Iran, Pakistan and China will emerge as the shapers of Afghanistan’s political and geopolitical destiny, which for sure will be detrimental to Indian interests.
4.Wolf Warrior approach
#GS2 # India and its Neighbourhood- Relations # Effects of Policies and Politics of Developed and Developing Countries on India’s interests, Indian Diaspora.
Context: Recently the Chinese foreign ministry has taken an increasingly strident tone against the United States, Australia, and other countries. Dubbed “wolf-warrior diplomacy,” this new approach seems popular inside China and reinforces a presumed transition of Chinese diplomacy from conservative, passive, and low-key to assertive, proactive, and high-profile.
What is Wolf Warrior Diplomacy or approach?
- “Wolf-warrior diplomacy,” named after famous Chinese movies, describes offensives by Chinese diplomat to defend China’s national interests, often in confrontational ways.
- They have boosted national pride and patriotism among Chinese viewers.
- It reinforces a presumed transition of Chinese diplomacy from conservative, passive, and low-key to assertive, proactive, and high-profile.
Instances:
- In recent years, President Xi Jinping has advocated “a fighting spirit” on several occasions, whether speaking to soldiers or party officials. This has apparently raised the morale of Chinese officials and diplomats, and encouraged a more assertive style.
- “Wolf-warrior diplomacy” is evidenced not only in combative words but aggressive actions.
- For example, in early April, a Chinese coastguard ship allegedly sank a Vietnamese fishing trawler near the Paracel Islands. When Vietnam protested, the Chinese foreign ministry responded by saying Vietnam’s claims to the area are “illegal.”
- Then, China announced the naming of 80 islands, reefs, seamounts, shoals, and ridges in the South China Sea, triggering angry protests from other claimants.
- China also tried to enter India illegally at various places.
Why is China resorting to this approach?
- Since 2010, when China’s GDP overtook Japan’s as the world’s second largest, the Chinese have become more confident and China’s foreign policy has become more assertive.
- The latest diplomatic offensive is also part of the official effort to project China as a great power leading the global fight against the COVID-19. China’s image suffered during the crisis due to its bungled handling of the outbreak at the early stage.
- Many Chinese believe the Western media portrayal of China is highly biased, often with ideological and racist tinges. Wolf-warrior diplomacy is part of the Chinese government’s endeavour to “tell the China story.”
- From China’s perspective, wolf-warrior diplomacy is a direct response to “unfair” approaches by other countries, especially the U.S., toward China and the Chinese people.
- With the assertive and ambitious Belt and Road Initiative and Maritime Silk Road, China has consolidated its influence over the Indian neighbours as almost all the neighbour sans Bhutan have shown the keen interests in joining.
How successful has this approach been so far?
- The wolf-warrior diplomacy is already hurting China’s foreign policy, since it has generated pushback, such as Australia’s calls for an independent probe into the coronavirus’ origins.
- There is no consensus within the Chinese foreign policy establishment on whether confrontational diplomacy is desirable, and not all Chinese diplomats are wolf-warriors.
- Traditionally minded Chinese diplomats have sought to tamp down the combative impulse.
- China’s soft power is weak globally; a belligerent approach will further damage China’s global image.
- Wolf warrior tactics, combined with great military assertiveness on the China-India border, has ended up pushing India much closer to the U.S., and alienating a billion plus-person economy.
5.Chandra Shekar Azad:
#GS1 # The Freedom Struggle — its various stages and important contributors/contributions from different parts of the country #Important Personalities
Context: On 23rd July, India paid tribute to the freedom fighter Chandra Shekhar Azad on his birth anniversary.
About:
- Azad was born as on 23 July 1906 in Bhabhra village as Chandra Shekhar Tiwari, in the princely-state of Alirajpur (Currently in Madhya Pradesh).
Why was he called Azad:
- Chandra Shekhar, then a 15-year-old student, joined a Non-Cooperation Movement in December 1921. As a result, he was arrested.
- On being presented before a magistrate, he gave his name as “Azad” (The Free), his father’s name as “Swatantrata” (Independence) and his residence as “Jail”.
- Therefore, he came to be known as Chandra Shekhar Azad.
Contribution to Freedom Movement: Revolutionary life
- After the suspension of the non-cooperation movement in 1922, disappointed Azad joined Hindustan Republican Association (HRA).
- HRA was a revolutionary organization of India established in 1924 in East Bengal by Sachindra Nath Sanyal, Narendra Mohan Sen and Pratul Ganguly as an offshoot of Anushilan Samiti.
- He then became an active member of the HRA and started to collect funds for HRA. Most of the fund collection was through robberies of government properties.
- In line with the same, Kakori Train Robbery near Kakori, Lucknow was done in 1925 by HRA.
- The plan was executed by Chandrashekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Rajendra Lahiri, and Manmathnath Gupta.
- Azad, Bhagat Singh along with other revolutionaries secretly reorganised the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) as the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA) on 9 September 1928. So as to achieve their primary aim of an independent India based on socialist principle
- HSRA planned the shooting of J. P. Saunders, a British Policeman at Lahore in 1928 to avenge the killing of Lala Lajpat Rai.
- Azad made Jhansi his organisation’s hub for some time. He used the forest of Orchha, as a site for shooting practice and, being an expert marksman, he trained other members of his group.
- He died at Azad Park in Allahabad on 27th February 1931.