CHINA-CANADA

1. Context

2. Background

• On May 9th, 2013, China declared a Canadian diplomat as persona non grata following Canada's announcement that it would expel a Chinese diplomat on account of allegations of involvement in a campaign to intimidate a Canadian politician.
• According to the Chinese foreign ministry, the decision to declare the consul of the Consulate General of Canada in Shanghai as persona non grata is a reciprocal countermeasure in reaction to the Canadian government's decision to expel a Chinese diplomat, Zhao Wei accused of participating in an intimidation campaign against a Canadian politician who has accused China of human rights abuses.
• The Globe and Mail, a local newspaper, published a report by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service which revealed that Wei was involved in information gathering on the Canadian Opposition Politician, Michael Chong to deter him from adopting anti-China positions.
• Canada claimed that it would not tolerate any foreign interference in its internal affairs and that the expulsion decision had been taken after careful consideration of all involved factors.

3. What is Persona non Grata?

• Persona non grata is a Latin phrase that means an unwelcome person.
• In diplomacy and foreign affairs, it refers to a diplomat or foreign person who has been prohibited by a country from entering or remaining in that country.
• The designation received diplomatic meaning at the Vienna Convention for Diplomatic Relations which was held in 1961.
• Article 9 of the treaty mentions that a country can declare any member of a diplomatic staff persona non grata at any time without explaining or explaining its decisions.
• In a normal case, the person declared persona non grata returns to their native country, and if they fail to do so within a reasonable period, the country may refuse to recognize the person as a member of a diplomatic mission.
• Article 9 also mentions that a person can be designated as a persona non grata even before arriving in the country.

4. Vienna Convention

5. Provisions of the Vienna Convention

• It outlines the Special rules, privileges, and immunities available to diplomatic missions to enable them to perform their duties without fear of coercion or harassment through the enforcement of local laws and to enable them to communicate securely with their governments.
• It provides for the withdrawal of a mission on economic or physical security grounds and breach of diplomatic relations due to the abuse of immunity or severe deterioration in relations between the states.
• The Convention also provides a framework for the protection of the interest of the sending state in the receiving state by a third state.
• It asserts the "inviolability" of a diplomatic mission, a cornerstone of international diplomacy that prohibits officials of the receiving state from entering the mission without the consent of the head of the mission.
• This provision also provides diplomats with diplomatic immunity from prosecution.
• The security of a High Commission or Embassy is the host nation's responsibility although diplomatic missions can also employ their security forces.
• Asides from diplomats, military and civilian personnel from the military departments who are present in the nation at the direction of the head of the diplomatic mission are also covered by the Vienna Convention.
• India acceded to the Convention in 1956 and enacted the Diplomatic Relations (Vienna Convention) Act, 1972 to give effect to the provisions of the Convention.

6. What has led to strained Canada­China ties?

• Diplomatic ties between China and Canada have been unsteady for the past few years, especially after Canadian police arrested Huawei Technologies executive Meng Wanzhou on charges of fraud in 2018.
• A few days after her arrest, China detained two Canadians on spying charges a move then called "hostage diplomacy".
• After years of a standoff, all three were freed by their respective nations in 2021 after a deal was reached to release Ms. Meng.
• During that period, China suspended imports of canola from Canada, alleging pests in the shipment. The ban was, however, lifted last year amid a global shortage of food in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war. Since then, the rift has widened.
• Canada alleged that the Chinese government attempted to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections a charge Beijing vehemently denies.
• The two countries are also engaged in a technology battle. While Canada has limited the presence of Chinese firms in its communications infrastructure, Beijing believes the restrictions were imposed without any solid evidence.
• The tension between the leadership was also visible at the G20 summit in Indonesia last year when Chinese President Xi Jinping and the Canadian PM exchanged barbs over leaked details of their meeting about Chinese interference in domestic affairs.

AVERAGE MONSOON RAINFALL

1. Context

In its first-stage long-range forecast for the 2022 southwest monsoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast normal rainfall during the season. It has, however, downgraded the Long Period Average (LPA) for all-India monsoon rainfall from 88.06 cm to 87 cm, effective from June this year.

2. Trends of Rainfall in India

• Based on trends for 1961-2010, India’s normal annual rainfall is about 1176.9mm. Of this, nearly 74.8%, or 880.6 mm (88.06 cm), occurs during the Southwest monsoon from June to September. This is the LPA rainfall for the monsoon, the figure that has been revised. 
• Before the revision, the distribution of the rest of the rainfall was 3.4% during winter (January-February); 11.2% in the pre-monsoon season (March-May), and 10.5% during the post-monsoon season (October-December).

Image Source: The Indian Express

3. What is LPA?

• It is the rainfall recorded over a particular region for a given interval (like month or season) average over a long period like 30 years, 50 years, etc.
• The amount of rain that falls every year varies from region to region and from month to month.
• The IMD also maintains LPAs for every meteorological region of the country.
• This number ranges from 61 cm for the drier Northwest India to more than 143 cm for the wetter East and Northeast India.
• The LPA of the season rainfall over the country as a whole for the period 1971-2020 is 87 cm.

4. When is the LPA revised?

• It is an international convention to verify the quantum of annual and seasonal monsoon rainfall once in a decade. The monsoon season’s LPA rainfall acts as a baseline figure calculated over 50 years.
• The LPA is revised if required, depending on any variations observed from the rainfall data obtained from the network of rain gauges.
• In 2002, the IMD operated 1,963 rain gauges located across 523 districts.
• As of 2020, rainfall data was being collected from 4,132 rain gauges spread uniformly across 703 districts.
• Between 2005 and 2010, India’s LPA was taken at 89.04 cm. Between 2011 and 2015, the IMD revised it to 88.75 cm.
• It was 88.06 cm between 2018 and 2021. From the upcoming monsoon, the revised LPA will be 87 cm.

5. How much rainfall does India receive in a year?

IMD maintains five rainfall distribution categories on an all-India scale. These are:

• Normal: When the percentage departure of actual rainfall is +/-10% of LPA.
• Below normal: when the departure of actual rainfall is less than 10% of LPA, that is 90-96% of LPA.
• Above normal: when actual rainfall is 104-110% of LPA. 
• Deficient: when the departure of actual rainfall is less than 90% of LPA.
• Excess: when the departure of actual rainfall is more than 110% of LPA.

6. Why it has been Downgraded?

• The monsoon season rainfall shows an epochal behavior.
• The monsoon can shift between dry and wet epochs (30 to 50-year periods) in certain decades.
• The reduction in rainfall is thus due to the natural multi-decadal rainfall variability. Decadal variability between 1901 and 2020 shows the southwest monsoon rainfall underwent a dry epoch between 1901 and 1921. This was followed by a wet epoch that prevailed till 1970.
• Since 1971, the monsoon has been passing through a dry epoch that persists to date.
• The decadal mean value will reach near normal during 2021-2030. The decadal mean value for the ongoing decade is predicted to be around minus 1.4 to 1.5.
• Normally, the realized monsoon rainfall remains below normal for most years in a decade during a dry epoch.
• Rainfall is normal or above normal during most of the years in a decade when it is a wet epoch.

For Prelims: India Meteorological Department (IMD), Long Period Average (LPA), Northeast India, Monsoon behavior, Climate Change, and Southwest monsoon rainfall.

Previous year Questions

1. Consider the following statements: (UPSC 2012) 1. The duration of the monsoon decreases from southern India to northern India. 2. The amount of annual rainfall in the northern plains of India decreases from east to west. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? A. 1 only B. 2 only C. Both 1 and 2 D. Neither 1 nor 2 Answer: C

 Source: The Indian Express

ASTR

1. Context

• The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has developed an artificial intelligence-based facial recognition tool that it claims has the capability of running checks on subscriber databases of telecom operators to deduce whether it contains multiple connections associated with the same person.
• The DoT claims the tool called Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition powered Solution for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification (ASTR) can potentially bring down cyber frauds by detecting and blocking possible fraudulent mobile connections.

2. The origins of ASTR

• In 2012, DoT issued an order to all telecom operators that they would have to share their subscriber database including users' pictures with the department.
• These images constitute the core database on which authorities are running their facial recognition algorithm using ASTR.
• The ASTR project was conceptualised and designed between April 2021 and July by the DoT's unit in Haryana.
• A pilot project was launched in Haryana's Mewat region to test ASTR's feasibility.
• It is understood that before the ASTR pilot project, there were approximately 16.69 lakh SIMs in Mewat, of which close to 5 lakh SIMs across all telecom operators were detected to be fraudulent.

3. Working on ASTR

• Human faces in Subscribers' images are encoded using convolutional neural network (CNN) models to account for the tilt and angle of the face, opaqueness and dark colour of the images.
• After that, a face comparison is carried out for each face against all faces in the database and similar faces are grouped under one directory.
• Two faces are concluded to be identical by ASTR if they match to the extent of at least 97.5 per cent.
• As per Jakhar's paper, ASTR is capable of detecting all SIMs against a suspected face in less than 10 seconds from a database of 1 crore images.
• Once the faces are matched, ASTR's algorithm uses what it describes as "fuzzy logic" to find similarities or approximate matches for the subscriber names. To take a random example of a name, if one were to look up "Apple Inc." the algorithm will produce related results including "Apple Incorporated", Apple Park, iPhone etc.
• It also accounts for any typographical errors that might have occurred while the subscriber acquisition form was being filled.

The DoT allows an individual to take nine legitimate mobile phone connections using a single identity proof.  In essence, What the ASTR does is 

1. It looks up if there are more than nine connections against a single individual's photograph
2. It runs a search through the database to see if the same person has taken SIMs under different names.

• During a press briefing on May 16, 2023, the Minister of Communications said that in one case, ASTR had detected as many as 6, 800 connections against the same image of the subscriber that is, the same face, but different names.
• In another case, 5,300 connections were found to have been taken against a single image.

4. What happens next

• Once the DoT has determined that a set of numbers have been obtained by people through fraudulent means, it shares a list of those connections with telecom operators to block.
• According to the Ministry of Communication, an analysis of more than 87 crore mobile connections was carried out using ASTR in the first phase, where more than 40 lakh cases of people using a single photograph to obtain mobile connections were detected.
• After "due verification", more than 36 lakh connections were discontinued by telecom operators.
• The same list is also shared with banks, payment wallets and social media platforms for disengaging these numbers from their respective platforms.
• Whatsapp had "coordinated with the Centre in disabling accounts created using such numbers. The government is working with other social media platforms as well.

 

For Prelims: Department of Telecommunications, Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition powered Solution for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification, facial recognition algorithm,  For Mains:  1. What is Artificial Intelligence and Facial Recognition powered Solution for Telecom SIM Subscriber Verification? Discuss how the government's AI and face recognition tool will detect phone fraud. (250 Words)

 

 

Previous Year Questions   1. With reference to communication technologies, what is/are the difference/differences between LTE (Long-Term Evolution) and VoLTE (Voice over Long-Term Evolution)? (UPSC 2019) 1. LTE is commonly marketed as 3G and VoLTE are commonly marketed as advanced 3G. 2. LTE is data-only technology and VoLTE is voice-only technology. Select the correct answer using the code given below. A. 1 only            B. 2 only              C. Both 1 and 2             D. Neither 1 nor 2   Answer: D   2. In India, the term “Public Key Infrastructure” is used in the context of (UPSC 2020) A. Digital security infrastructure B. Food security infrastructure C. Health care and education infrastructure D. Telecommunication and transportation infrastructure   Answer: A   3. With the present state of development, Artificial Intelligence can effectively do which of the following?  (UPSC 2020)  1. Bring down electricity consumption in industrial units. 2. Create meaningful short stories and songs. 3. Disease diagnosis. 4. Text-to-Speech Conversion. 5. Wireless transmission of electrical energy. Select the correct answer using the code given below: A. 1, 2, 3 and 5 only    B.  1, 3 and 4 only     C. 2, 4 and 5 only     D. 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5   Answer: D 4. The identity platform ‘Aadhaar’ provides open “Application Programming Interfaces (APIs)”. What does it imply? (UPSC 2018) 1. It can be integrated into any electronic device. 2. Online authentication using iris is possible. Which of the statements given above is/are correct? A. 1 only              B. 2 only              C.  Both 1 and 2           D.  Neither 1 nor 2   Answer: C   5. In addition to fingerprint scanning, which of the following can be used in the biometric identification of a person? (UPSC 2014) 1. Iris scanning 2. Retinal scanning 3. Voice recognition Select the correct answer using the code given below: A.  1 only    B.  2 and 3 only    C.  1 and 3 only     D.  1, 2 and 3   Answer: D   For Mains   1. E-governance is not only about utilization of the power of new technology, but also much about critical importance of the ‘use value’ of information. Explain. (250 Words) (UPSC 2018)   2. Two parallel-run schemes of the Government, viz the Adhaar Card and NPR, one as voluntary and the other as compulsory, have led to debates at national levels and also litigations. On merits, discuss whether or not both schemes need run concurrently. Analyse the potential of the schemes to achieve developmental benefits and equitable growth. (250 Words) (UPSC 2014)

 

Source: The Indian Express

 

COLLEGIUM SYSTEM

 

1. Context

In Supreme Court, a section of sitting judges met Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and lodged their protest against the lowering in seniority of one of the three new judges in the government notification on the appointments. The government has placed Justice K M Joseph last in seniority, after Justices Indira Banerjee and Vineet Saran, although the SC Collegium had recommended his name ahead of the other two

2. Collegium system

It is a system of appointment and transfer for judges of the supreme court and High courts in India. The system has come to prominence through judgments of the supreme court of India. It is neither a statutory nor a constitutional body. The Supreme court collegium is headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and comprises four other senior-most judges of the court.

A high court collegium is led by its chief justice and the four senior-most judges of that court. Names recommended by a high court collegium first get approved by the CJI and the supreme court collegium then only go to the government. Judges of the higher judiciary are appointed only through the collegium system.

3. Evolution of the Collegium system in India

The constitution says a supreme court judge is appointed by the president in consultation with the Chief Justice of India.

3.1 First Judges Case (1981)

In the First Judges case, the court held that the consultation with the CJI should be full and effective.

3.2 Second Judges Case (1993)

The second judge's case introduced the Collegium system in 1993. It ruled that the CJI would have to consult a collegium of his two senior-most judges in the apex court on judicial appointments.

3.3 Third Judges Case (1998)

Supreme court on the president's reference (Article 143) expanded the Collegium to a five-member body, comprising the CJI and four of his senior-most colleagues.

3.4 National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC)

The government through the 99th constitutional amendment wanted to replace the collegium with the NJAC. The NJAC comprised 3 judges of SC, a central law minister, and 2 civil society experts. A person would not be recommended by NJAC if any 2 of its members did not accept such a recommendation making the appointment process more broad-based. However, it was struck down by the supreme court in 2015 in the Fourth judge's case.

3.5 Fourth Judges Case (2015)

In the fourth judge's case, 2015 the SC upheld the primary of the collegium by striking down the NJAC law. The court's rationale was that the NJAC law offered politicians equal power in judicial appointments to constitutional courts which is against the provision of "separation of power" under the Basic structure of the constitution equal to Ultra vires of the constitution.

 

Thus the SC declared the collegium as part of the constitution's basic structure equal to the power that could not be removed even through a constitutional amendment. However, due to the widespread criticisms against the collegium, the judgment promised to consider necessary measures to improve the collegium system. For this purpose, the SC requires the government to submit the Memorandum of Procedure (MoP).

3.6 Memorandum of Procedure (MoP)

It is an agreement between the judiciary and the government which contains a set of guidelines for making appointments to the highest judiciary.

4. Issues with Collegium System

• Extra-Constitutional or non-constitutional body: Brought in force by judgments of the supreme court
• Opaqueness: Lack of transparency as meetings are held behind closed doors.
• Nepotism:There is a scocpe for Nepotism
• No seat for Non-judge: There is no seat in the Collegium system for any non-judge neither from the executive, the Bar, etc. This violates the principle of checks and balances.

5. Issues from the latest developments

Three questions may have arisen from the development :

• One is whether there ought to be a prescribed mode of decision-making, that is, through personal deliberations or by circulation, or by adopting both means as per convenience.
• The second is whether all members of the Collegium give their opinions in writing, or whether they convey reservations, if any, orally.
• The third related question that arises is whether all decisions ought to be unanimous and consensual. There is a view that a recommendation by the majority, with one or two expressing reservations, may give a good reason for the executive to reject the recommendation or seek reconsideration.

6. The mandate of the Collegium system

• Appointments and transfers of judges in the constitutional courts is a participatory consultative process between the Supreme court and the government. But there is a disturbing pattern of the government unilaterally delaying or segregating names recommended by the supreme court collegium.
• The Three Judges case establishes the primacy of the Collegium, led by the CJI, in making judicial appointments.'Chief Justice of India' here means the collective opinion of the collegium.
• The executive element in the appointment process of judges to senior positions is reduced to the minimum so that any undue influence is eliminated. It was for this reason that the word 'consultation' instead of 'concurrence' was used in the Constitution.

7. Conclusion

India needs to restore the credibility of the higher judiciary by making the process of appointing judges transparent and democratic. Apart from reforming the collegium system, the quality of judges can also be improved through the implementation of All India Judicial Services (AIJS).

For Prelims & Mains

For Prelims: Collegium system, First Judges Case, Second Judges Case, Third Judges Case, Fourth Judges Case, National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC), Memorandum of procedure (MoP) For Mains: 1. There is a need to establish an open and more transparent mechanism in appointing judges to the higher judiciary in the place of the collegium system, critically examine. (250 words)

 

Source: The Hindu

 

NPT-NON PROLIFERATION TREATY(NPT)

 

 

1.Context

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is headed to Hiroshima for the G7 leaders’ summit this Friday-the first visit to the Japanese city by an Indian Prime Minister since India conducted nuclear tests in Pokhran in 1974. The last Indian PM to visit Hiroshima, which suffered the atomic bomb attack in 1945, was Jawaharlal Nehru in 1957. Modi, who reaches Hiroshima on May 19, will attend the G7 summit on May 20-21

2.Objectives 

• Controlling the further spread of nuclear weapons beyond the P-5 countries (the U.S., the U.S.S.R, the U.K, France, and China ) that had already tested
• committing to negotiating reductions of nuclear arsenals leading to their elimination
• Sharing benefits of peaceful applications of nuclear science and technology

3. NPT Appraisal

3.1.Success

• Over the years, the non-proliferation objective has been achieved in large measure. There would be close to 25 nuclear power, in the last 50 years, only four more countries have gone on to test and develop nuclear arsenals –India, Israel, North Korea, and Pakistan (South Africa developed nuclear weapons but the apartheid regime destroyed them and joined NPT in 1991 before relinquishing power to majority rule.
• In 1991 , non-proliferation remained a shared priority for the major powers

4.Why NPT Failed  to Bore  Results

• ANTI–BALLISTIC MISSILE TREATY-The U.S withdrew from the 1972 Anti–Ballistic Missile( ABM )Treaty in 2002 because it unduly constrained its missile defense activities. It was a unipolar world with the U.S. the dominant power. Russia gradually responded by embarking on its nuclear modernization.
• INTERMEDIATE RANGE NUCLEAR FORCES (INF)-in 1987 U.S notified Russia of its decision to quit INF that had obliged both countries to get rid of all ground-launched missiles with a range of 500-5500km. The S. blamed Russia for cheating on its obligation and pointed out that China's missile developments created new security threats that needed to be addressed.
• NEW START-the only surviving arms control treaty between Russia and the U.S.that imposes a ceiling on operational strategic nuclear weapons of 700 launchers and 1550warheads each. It expires in 2026 and there are no signs of any follow–on a discussion.
• COMPREHENSIVE TEST BAN TREATY – was concluded in 1996 but has yet to formally enter into force because two major powers the U.S. and China have yet to ratify it.

5.Present Scenario

• Attempts by the Donald Trump administration to invite China to join in the arms control process were rejected.
• Given growing tensions in the Taiwan Strait, any prospects for such talks have only receded.
• All tha

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