QUESTION : The constitutional office of the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha is more symbolic of parliamentary democracy than some real authority. Discuss.
THE SECOND CHAIR
WHAT ?
The Deputy Speaker In Lok Sabha
WHY IN NEWS ?
Opposition has renewed its campaign seeking the Deputy Speaker’s position in the Lok Sabha. The Lok Sabha has not had a Deputy Speaker for the last 15 months. Instead, a panel of MPs has been assisting the Speaker
ABOUT DEPUTY SPEAKER :
- Article 93 of the Constitution provides for the election of both the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker.
- The constitutional office of the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha is more symbolic of parliamentary democracy than some real authority.
- There is no need to resign from their original party though as a Deputy Speaker, they have to remain impartial.
POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF DEPUTY SPEAKER :
- In case of the absence of the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker presides over the sessions of the Lok Sabha and conducts the business in the house.
- She/he decides whether a bill is a money bill or a non-money bill.
- She/he maintains discipline and decorum in the house and can punish a member for unruly behaviour by suspending him/her.
- She/he permits the moving of various kinds of motions and resolutions like the motion of no confidence, motion of adjournment, motion of censure and calling attention notice
ELECTION :
- Usually, the Deputy Speaker is elected in the first meeting of the Lok Sabha after the General elections from amongst the members of the Lok Sabha.
- It is by convention that position of Deputy Speaker is offered to opposition party in India.
TENURE AND REMOVAL :
- They hold office until either they cease to be a member of the Lok Sabha or they resign.
- They can be removed from office by a resolution passed in the Lok Sabha by an effective majority of its members.
SPEAKER OF THE LOK SABHA :
- The chairman or the Presiding Officer of Lok Sabha is called Speaker.
- The speaker of the Lok Sabha is elected from all other members by simple majority.
- Any member of Parliament is eligible to be nominated as a speaker but most commonly the candidate of ruling party or the party with majority wins this post.
- However, there are certain cases when the elected Speaker does not belonged to the majority ruling party of Lok Sabha (G. M. C. Balyogi, Manohar Joshi, Somnath Chatterjee).
ROLE OF SPEAKER OF LS IN A PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY :
- Ensure smooth proceedings of the house: The Speaker presides over the meetings of the Lok Sabha and conducts its proceedings. He also presides over the joint sittings of the two Houses of the Parliament. Therefore it enables parliament to successfully carry over the debates and passage of important laws.
- Maintain discipline in the Lok Sabha: The Speaker maintains discipline in the House. If any member disrupts or tries to disrupt the proceedings of the House, the Speaker can warn him or can ask him to leave the House. He can suspend a member from the House whom he finds guilty of violating the discipline and decorum. This ensures the smooth functioning of Lok Sabha.
- Fix the Agenda of the House: The Speaker, in consultation with other members of the business committee of the House and the Prime Minister, fixes the agenda of the meetings of the House. This ensures timely debates and discussion on important issues of the country.
- Permission to ask questions: Each member of the House can put questions to the ministers; the permission of the Speaker is required purpose. This helps the speaker to prevent unnecessary and politically motivated questions while ensuring discussion on the important questions.
- Conduct the business of the House: The Speaker conducts the business of the House. He allows the members to introduce the bills or to move motions. He recognises the members on the floor of the House and gives them time for speaking in the House. He fixes time limit for the debates in the House, puts matters to vote, and announces the results. He can warn the members against the use of unparliamentary language and can order the same to be expunged from the records.
- Interpretation of Rules of Procedure: The business of the House is conducted according to definite and settled rules of procedure. In case of any dispute regarding the rules of the House, the Speaker interprets and applies these rules. The interpretation of rules made by the Speaker is final and cannot be challenged.
- Power to adjourn the House: The Speaker can adjourn the meetings of the House if the quorum of the House is not complete or if the conducting the business of the House is not possible due to a disorderly behaviour of its members. This ensures the presence of members in the parliament; performing his/her duties as mandated by citizens by electing him/her.
BACKGROUND: TIMELINE
- The institutions of Speaker and Deputy Speaker originated in India in 1921 under the provisions of the Government of India Act of 1919 (Montague-Chelmsford Reforms).
- At that time, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker were called the President and Deputy President respectively and the same nomenclature continued till 1947.
- Before 1921, the Governor-General of India used to preside over the meetings of the Central Legislative Council.
- In 1921, the Frederick Whyte and Sachidanand Sinha were appointed by the Governor-General of India as the first Speaker and the first Deputy Speaker (respectively) of the central legislative assembly.
- In 1925, Vithalbhai J. Patel became the first Indian and the first elected Speaker of the central legislative assembly.
- The Government of India Act of 1935 changed the nomenclatures of President and Deputy President of the Central Legislative Assembly to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker respectively. However, the old nomenclature continued till 1947 as the federal part of the 1935 Act was not implemented.
CONCLUSION:
- Election by consensus of an Opposition MP as Deputy Speaker of Lok Sabha will be a course correction.
- The government should be kind and the Opposition creative in dealing with this issue.
- Convention of electing the Deputy Speaker from the Opposition should be upheld.
QUESTION : What are various reasons for growing cancer burden in India? Suggest some measures to address the same.
Topic – REDUCING INDIA’S CANCER BURDEN
WHAT ?
Increasing Cancer Cases In India
WHY IN NEWS ?
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)¬National Centre for Disease Informatics and Research(NCDIR) National Cancer Registry Programme Report of August 2020has estimated that the number of cancer cases in India in 2020 is 13.9lakh.
WHAT IS CANCER ?
- A disease in which abnormal cells divide uncontrollably and destroy body tissue.
- It can start almost anywhere in the human body, which is made up of trillions of cells. Normally, human cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old or become damaged, they die and new cells take their place.
- When cancer develops, this orderly process breaks down. As cells become more and more abnormal, old or damaged cells survive when they should die and new cells form when they are not needed. These extra cells can divide without stopping and forms tumors, which can spread through the blood or the lymph system and form new tumors far from the original tumor.
MOST PREVELANT FORMS :
- In men, the most common cancers are of the lung, oral cavity, stomach and oesophagus, while in women, breast, cervix, ovary and gall bladder cancer share the most common.
RISK FACTORS :
- Tobacco use(in all forms) is a major avoidable risk.
- factor for the development of cancer in 27% of cancer cases. Other important risk factors include alcohol use, inappropriate diet, low physical activity, obesity, and pollution.
IMPACT :
- Cancer causes loss of lives and also has a tremendous socioeconomic impact.
- Reducing cancer is a prerequisite for addressing social and economic inequity, stimulating economic growth and accelerating sustainable development.
CONCERNS WITH INDIAN APPROACH :
- While big tech firms from Silicon Valley and China in both hardware and software have been in a tussle over the Indian consumer, India’s focus remains on exporting IT services while paying little attention to servicing our own nation’s tech market.
- While India’s focus has been on exporting IT services, the vacuum created between the increasing demand and limited domestic supply has been filled by American Big Tech and by the Chinese.
FOCUS APPROACH :
- Community empowerment: As it is estimated that nearly50%¬60% of cancer cases can be avoided by tackling the known risk factors effectively. Community empowerment through a multisectoral approach that brings together government, private practitioners and civil society to increase health literacy and promote certain behaviour can go a long way in reducing potential risk factors.
- Improved awareness can also prevent stigma attached to the disease.
- Health systems should be strengthened so that there is greater access to screening and vaccination, early detection,and timely, affordable treatment.
THE IMPORTANCE OF DATA :
- Population health approaches are also relevant for large¬scale impact.
- Programmatic and policy level solutions need to be driven by data.
- The information collected through the National Cancer Registry Programme.
can be harnessed in Cancer Research.
- Making cancer a notifiable disease could be one of the ways to help drive this research further by providing greater access to accurate, relevant data that can drive policy decisions.
CHALLENGES IN INDIA :
- In India, most cancer research is carried out in tertiary cancer centres and specialised institutions of biomedical science, against well-developed cancer research networks in high-income countries.
- The rising burden of cancer in India acts as a major drain on research time, particularly for clinical staff. Besides, infrastructure to support cancer research has a long way to go.
- Treatment of cancer is quite expensive and not every patient can afford it. The cost of the drug is around Rs. 50,000-60,000 per month and the duration varies from patient to patient.
ECONOMIC IMPACT OF CANCER :
- The financial costs of cancer are high for both the person with cancer and for society as a whole.
- One of the major costs of cancer is cancer treatment. But lack of health insurance and other barriers to health care prevent many people from getting optimal health care.
- Uninsured patients and those from many ethnic minority groups are substantially more likely to be diagnosed with cancer at a later stage, when treatment can be more extensive, costlier, and less successful.
GOVERNMENT’S STEPS :
- Government programmes such as Ayushman Bharat,Swasthya Bharat, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Poshan Abhiyaan and Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana and initiatives such as
- FSSAI’s new labelling and display regulations and drug price control can encourage inter ¬sectoral and multisectoral action.
- Other initiatives such as the National Health Policy, the National Tobacco Control Programme,and the National Programme for Prevention and Control of Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Stroke are also paving the way for progress.
WAY FORWARD :
- Patients should pay attention to symptoms and get check-ups regularly.
- Advice persons who addicted to tobacco to avoid at any cost. Vaccines also help lower the cancer risk in human.
- Government should cap the prices of cancer medicines as these are very expensive.
- Finally, changes in diets can make big difference in cancer prevention. Eat organic and loading up with good dose antioxidants can help in prevention of cancer.
- Risk reduction by promoting certain behaviours
- Increasing awareness:There is a need for a multisectoral approach that brings together government, private practitioners and civil society to increase health literacy regarding cancer.
- Strengthening health infrastructure:The existing health systems need to be strengthened so that there is greater access to screening, early detection, and timely, affordable treatment.
- Focussing on cancer research:Domestic cancer research is of crucial importance to guide our efforts on cancer prevention and control.
- Data-driven policies:There is a need to focus on programmatic and policy solutions for large-scale impact.
QUESTION : Give important factors responsible for the lack of innovation in the Indian IT industry and How the ban on Chinese apps provide the IT industry with the opportunity to fill this vacuum?”
Topic- EXPLOITING THE CHINESE EXIT
WHAT ?
Significance of the Indian ban on Chinese apps.
WHY IN NEWS ?
This article analyzes the economic opportunities which have opened up for India post the Chinese app ban in India.
HOW TOOK CHINA LEAD IN IT SECTOR ?
- Chinese government censored and banned several popular Western websites and applications years ago.
- In the intervening years the Chinese Internet market exploded and has grown to over 900 million users.
- The Chinese government insulated Chinese entrepreneurs from Big Tech in Silicon Valley.
- Home-grown apps at first were faithful reproductions of Silicon Valley, but soon morphed into distinctly Chinese applications tailored solely to the home market.
- According to the 2016 White House report, the Chinese have leapfrogged even the U.S. in AI research.
- In this case, the intellectual property being produced actually belongs to China and is not a faithful duplicate of someone else’s product or technology.
- This has far-reaching implications.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THIS BAN BY INDIA :
- India now has the lowest Internet data costs in the world.
- In its attempt to dominate the rest of the world, the Chinese Internet industry desperately needs India’s 500-plus million netizens to continue to train AI algorithms they put together.
- The ban on apps in India is not only a geopolitical move but also a strategic trade manoeuvre that can have a significant economic impact.
- Ban on Chinese apps allows our home-grown IT talent to focus on the newly arrived Internet user.
- However, India’s focus remains on exporting IT services while paying little attention to servicing our own nation’s tech market.
- India spent the last two decades exporting technology services to developed countries in the West, the vacuum created as the Indian Internet grew has been filled by American Big Tech and by the Chinese.
- After the removal of more than 118 Chinese apps, Indian techies have started trying to fill the holes.
WAY FORWARD :
- The primary Indian IT objective must shift from servicing others to providing for ourselves.
- Focus should not be simply to replace what the exiting firms have so far been providing.
- Focus should be on providing services and products of high quality that will be used by everyday Indians across the country.
- The aim of providing netizens with the same services across diverse markets is overarching — regional barriers created by language exist within our own nation.
- The fundamental focus of the new digital products should be to provide for hyper-regional necessities and preferences.
CONCLUSION :
Indian IT companies must seize the opportunity provided by the exit of Chinese IT companies and come up with products transcending regional barriers and allowing accessibility.
हिन्दी