The amendments to IT rules, Mangarh Dham, Decentralise MGNREGS, Suspension of Black sea grain initiative

The amendments to the IT Rules, 2021

The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has notified amendments to the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 (IT Rules, 2021) on October 28.

The need to amend the IT Rules:

• There is a growing impact of social media intermediaries (SMIs) in shaping public discourse.
• There are also concerns of the impact of their governance on the right to freedom of speech and expression, the magnitude of information they host and the constant technological innovations that impact their governance.
• These concerns meant that it is important for governments to update their regulatory framework to face these emergent challenges.

The aim of the amendment:

• First, there was a need to ensure that the interests and constitutional rights of netizens are not being contravened by big tech platforms.
• Second, to strengthen the grievance redressal framework in the Rules.
• Third, that compliance with these should not impact early stage Indian start-ups.

What are the new proposed amendments?

The proposed amendments can be broadly classified into two categories.

1. The first category involved placing additional obligations on the SMIs to ensure better protection of user interests.
2. The second category involved the institution of an appellate mechanism for grievance redressal.
3. The amendments call for the institution of Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC).
4. The committee is styled as a three member council out of which one member will be a government officer (holding the post ex officio) while the other two members will be independent representatives.
5. The GAC is required to adopt an online dispute resolution mechanism which will make it more accessible to the users.

The additional obligations on SMIs:

• First, the original IT Rules, 2021 obligated the SMIs to merely inform its users of the “rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement” that governed its platforms along with the categories of content that users are prohibited from hosting, displaying, sharing etc. on the platform.
• This obligation on the SMIs has now been extended to ensuring that its users are in compliance with the relevant rules of the platform.
• Further, SMIs are required to “make reasonable” efforts to prevent prohibited content being hosted on its platform by the users.
• Secondly, there is now an obligation on SMIs to “respect all the rights accorded to the citizens under the Constitution, including in the articles 14, 19 and 21”.
• Third, SMIs are now obligated to remove information or a communication link in relation to the six prohibited categories of content as and when a complaint arises.
• They have to remove such information within 72 hours of the complaint being made.
• Lastly, SMIs have been obligated to “take all reasonable measures to ensure accessibility of its services to users along with reasonable expectation of due diligence, privacy and transparency”.
• The amendments also mandate that “rules and regulations, privacy policy and user agreement” of the platform should be made available in all languages listed in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.

About Grievance Appellate Committees:

• Prior to the IT Rules, 2021, platforms followed their own mechanisms and timelines for resolving user complaints.
• The IT Rules uniformed this by mandating that all social media platforms should have a grievance officer who would acknowledge the receipt of a complaint within 24 hours and dispose it within 15 days.
• However, the performance of the current grievance redressal mechanism has been sub-optimal.
• This may be because users are either not aware of this facility or find it futile to approach the platform for complaint resolution.
• To remedy this, the government has instituted Grievance Appellate Committees (GAC). The committee is styled as a three-member council out of which one member will be a government officer (holding the post ex officio) while the other two members will be independent representatives.
• Users can file a complaint against the order of the grievance officer within 30 days.
• Importantly, the GAC is required to adopt an online dispute resolution mechanism which will make it more accessible to the users.
• However, it is unclear whether this is a compulsory tier of appeal or not, that is will the user have to approach the grievance appellate committee before approaching the court.

Mangarh Dham declared as a national monument

The Prime Minister has declared Mangarh Dham in Rajasthan a national monument, as per a government statement released on 1 November 2022. He was addressing the ‘Mangarh Dham ki Gaurav Gatha’ programme at Mangarh Dham in Rajasthan’s Banswara district.

What

1. Mangarh is a shared heritage of the people of Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.
2. The Prime Minister paid tribute to Bhil freedom fighter Shri Govind Guru in Banswara apart from the tribals who were massacred by the British army in 1913 in Mangarh in Rajasthan.
3. The dham, a memorial for around 1,500 tribes massacred by the British army in 1913, is located in the district on the Gujarat-Rajasthan border, a region with a large tribal population.
4. The gathering of tribals and forest dwellers in 1913 in Mangarh against the British Raj was led by social reformer Govind Guru.
5. The Prime Minister emphasised that “India’s past, history, present and India’s future will never be complete without the tribal community. Every page of the story of our freedom struggle is filled with tribal valour.”
6. He mentioned 1830-32 when the country witnessed Larka Andolan under the leadership of Budhu Bhagat.
7. In 1855 Sidhu-Kanhu Kranti energised the nation. Bhagwan Birsa Munda inspired everyone with his energy and patriotism.
8. The PM highlighted that the tribal population is being provided water and electricity connections, education and health services, and employment opportunities through Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana.

Decentralize MGNREGS For Better Implementation, Says Study

According to internal research conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development, the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) should be decentralized to allow for more “flexibility” at the local level.

About the study

• The sixth Common Review Mission, which evaluated the implementation of all rural development programs, including the MGNREGS, in seven States — Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Nagaland, Gujarat, Jharkhand, and Himachal Pradesh — and the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir, recently released its report.
• Disparity across states: For instance, the surveyors discovered that in the Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, the beneficiaries ultimately had to purchase the building supplies themselves in order to finish the projects.
• In Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the material component was delayed by six months and the wages were delayed by three or four months.
• The study also pointed out that the MGNREGS salaries in many States were far below market rates, negating its intended function as a safety net.
• Gujarat’s current minimum farm laborer wage is ₹324.20, , whereas the MGNREGS wage is ₹229.
• The private contractors pay far more. The daily wage in Nagaland is 212 rupees, which does not account for the challenging topography.
• Similarly, the rate is 214 per day in Jammu & Kashmir. This “is less than what is offered by private contractors which can go up to ₹600-₹700 per day, the survey stated.
• Centralization: In recent years, fund management has been centralized rather than giving gram sabhas an advance so they could choose the tasks they wanted to do.

Recommendations

• The report recommended “a larger diversification of allowed works” rather than “listing the types of permissible works,” and “freedom at the ground level to select the type of works as per broad categories.”
• Local needs: Instead than trying to meet a target set for them, the Gram sabhas can consider the local circumstances and the needs of the community.
• Revolving fund: The internal investigation also noted the common fund disbursal delays and recommended a “revolving fund that can be utilised if there is a delay in the Central funds” as a solution.

What is MGNREGA?

• MGNREGA is government scheme which has mandate to provide at least 100 days of guaranteed wage employment in a financial year to every rural household whose adult members volunteer to do unskilled manual work.

The core objectives of the MGNREGS are:

• Providing not less than one hundred days of unskilled manual work as a guaranteed employment in a financial year to every household in rural areas as per demand, resulting in creation of productive assets of prescribed quality and durability;
• Strengthening the livelihood resource base of the poor;
• Proactively ensuring social inclusion and
• Strengthening Panchayati Raj Institutions

What is the role of Gram Sabha in MGNREGS?

• It establishes the hierarchy of tasks to be completed at Gram Sabha meetings while taking into account the local area’s potential, requirements, and resources (Paragraph 4(2) of Schedule I).
• Follow the progress of the work being done in the Gram Panchayat.
• It is the primary forum for conduct of social audits. It offers all residents a forum to inquire about and acquire all pertinent information about MGNREGA projects carried out in the Gram Panchayat area from all Implementing Agencies, including Gram Panchayat.

Challenges faced by MGNREGA

• Low wage rate: MGNREGA wage rates are lower than state wage rates. The lower wages have resulted lack of interest among workers.
• Insufficient budget allocation: The efficient and consistent flow of funds to the states is necessary for MGNREGA to be successful at the local level. More than 80% of money are used up during the first six months almost every year. Additionally, there are not enough funds allocated to assure proper implementation on the ground.
• Workers penalised for administrative lapses: The ministry withholds wages from employees of states that fail to comply with administrative obligations within the allotted time frame (such as submitting the audited fund statements from the previous financial year, utilisation certificates, bank reconciliation certificates, etc.). Why employees would be punished for administrative errors defies all reason?
• The banking puzzle: In most cases, the employees must make multiple trips to the banks to withdraw their pay. In many instances, the bank passbooks are not updated because of heavy traffic and inadequate infrastructure. Due to the inconvenience and expense involved in receiving earnings from the bank, workers frequently do not receive their pay during times of need.
• Non-payment of unemployment allowance
• Technical lapses: A huge number of genuine job cards and ration cards are getting deleted and genuine people have been deprived of their due entitlements.
• Too much centralisation weakening local governance: The MGNREGA implementation has been fully depoliticized as a result of the scheme’s excessive centralization, and local accountability has significantly decreased.

Suspension of Black Sea Grain initiative

India said the suspension of the Black Sea Grain initiative, an UN-brokered deal that allowed food exports from Ukraine amid the ongoing conflict, is expected to further exacerbate food security, fuel and fertiliser supply challenges faced by the world, particularly the global South.

What

1. The initiative resulted in the export of more than nine million tonnes of grains and other food products out of Ukraine.
2. The Black Sea Grain initiative and cooperation by the parties so far had provided a glimmer of hope for peace in Ukraine.
3. India supports the engagement of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres with the parties on renewal and full implementation of the initiative, including facilitation of exports of food and fertilizer from Ukraine and Russia.
4. Russia on 29 October 2022 announced it was suspending its involvement in the deal, citing an attack on ships in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol in the Crimean peninsula.
5. The Black Sea Grain initiative and its successful implementation over the last four months is consistent with our long-standing position that diplomacy and dialogue is the only solution to end this ongoing conflict that has resulted in serious consequences for the region and beyond.
6. India continues to support all efforts, including that of the Secretary-General, to end the conflict and reiterated that the global order is anchored on principles of the UN Charter, international law and respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all states.

Lucy captures images during flyby

Its epic journey to the Trojan asteroids that share Jupiter’s orbit with the Sun, NASA’s Lucy spacecraft captured this image of the Earth from about 620,000 kilometres away. Interestingly, the spacecraft was named after the 3.2 million-year-old fossil of a human ancestor discovered in Hadar, Ethiopia.

What

1. Lucy was launched on 26 October 2021, from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida using an Atlas V 401 rocket.
2. This image of the Earth was taken using the spacecraft’s Terminal Tracing Camera (T2CAM) system. T2CAM is a pair of identical cameras designed to track asteroids during the spacecraft’s high-speed encounters.
3. It is the first mission to study the Trojan asteroids, which are described as an “ancient population of asteroid fossils” that orbit the sun at the same distance as Jupiter.
4. Its first encounter will be with an asteroid that can be found in the main belt between Mars and Jupiter.
5. The asteroid has been named “Donald Johnson” after the paleoanthropologist who discovered Lucy, the fossil.
6. According to some planet formations and evolution models, the Trojan asteroids are believed to have formed from the same materials that created the planets when the solar system was formed nearly 4 billion years ago.
7. The spacecraft will look to determine the mass and densities of materials in these asteroids and will also look for and study satellites and rings that may orbit some of these asteroids.