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Headlines

1. Ethics Committee - Page No. 1 , GS 2
2. Stubble burning - Page No.1, GS 3
3. Kerala govt. moves Supreme Court against Governor over pending Bills - Page No.1, GS 2
4. The revenge of old West Asia - Page No.8, GS 2
5. Slowing momentum - Page No.8, GS 3
6. '2+2' dialogue - Page No.12, GS 2
7. CBAM will kill manufacturing in EU; India to levy carbon tax - Page No.16, GS 3

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Ethics Committee - Page No. 1 , GS 2

• Recently, Lok Sabha's Ethics Committee has initiated investigation over 'Cash for Query' allegations on a Member of Parliament (MPs) accused of accepting "Bribes" to ask questions in Parliament.
• The committee will conduct proceedings to investigate the allegations and gather evidence from all relevant parties, including the complainant, witnesses, and the accused MP.
• The members of the Ethics Committee are appointed by the Speaker for a period of one year.
• A Presiding Officers' Conference held in Delhi in 1996 first mooted the idea of ethics panels for the two Houses (Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha)
• Then Vice President (and Rajya Sabha Chairman) K R Narayanan constituted the Ethics Committee of the Upper House on 4th March, 1997 to oversee the Moral and Ethical conduct of members and examine cases of misconduct referred to it.
• In the case of Lok Sabha, a study group of the house committee of privileges in 1997 recommended the constitution of an Ethics committee, but it could not be taken up by Lok sabha.
• The Committee of Privileges finally recommended the constitution of an Ethics Committee during the 13th Lok Sabha.
• The late Speaker, G M C Balayogi, constituted an ad hoc Ethics Committee in 2000, which became a permanent part of the House only in 2015.
Ethics committee in Lok Sabha:
• It was first constituted in 2000.
• Composition: It consists of not more than fifteen members and nominated by the Speaker.
• Term: They shall hold office for a term not exceeding one year.
Ethics committee in Rajya Sabha:
• It was constituted in 1997.
• Composition: It consists of 10 members nominated by the Chairman of Rajya Sabha.
• Term: They shall hold office for a term not exceeding one year.

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Stubble burning - Page No.1, GS 3

• Stubble burning is a practice of removing agricultural waste from the field by setting on fire the straw stubble (parali) that is left on the land after harvesting of grains like paddy, wheat etc.
• Paddy stubble burning is practised mainly in the Indo-Gangetic plains of Punjab, Haryana, and Uttar Pradesh to clear the fields for rabi crop sowing.
• The paddy crop is harvested between the first and last weeks of October and wheat is sown from the first week of November until the middle of December.
• Burning crop residue is a crime under Section 188 of the IPC and under the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act.

• Air Pollution: Stubble burning in North India is seen as a major cause of air pollution affecting the Air Quality Index (AQl). Each year, air pollution levels rise and the AQI reaches a 'severe' and 'hazardous' level.
• Heat Penetration: Stubble burning generates heat that penetrates the soil, causing an increase in soil erosion, loss of useful microbes and moisture, leading to soil degradation and loss of soil fertility.
• For instance, the heat from burning paddy straw penetrates 1 centimeter into the soil, elevating the temperature to around 1nn Celsius.
• Lack of Political Will: As farmers are an important political constituency, the state government adopted a soft approach.

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Kerala govt. moves Supreme Court against Governor over pending Bills - Page No.1, GS 2

• The Kerala government has sought a declaration from the Supreme Court that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has "failed to exercise his Constitutional powers and duties" in holding the Bills passed by the State Assembly for a long and indefinite period.
• Of the eight Bills passed by the Assembly, three were pending with the Governor for more than two years, and three others for more than one year.
• The Governor, who failed to exercise the Constitutional provisions regarding the Bills presented to him and as mentioned in Article 200, appeared to be of the view that granting assent or otherwise dealing with Bills was a matter entrusted to him in his absolute discretion, to decide whenever he pleases, the State submitted.
Governor's powers under Article 200:
• The Governor has three options when a Bill is presented to him after being passed by the legislature.
• To give assent
• To withhold assent.
• To send it back to the Assembly to reconsider it (if the Bill is not a Money Bill), or to send the bill to the President for his consideration.
• If the Assembly reconsiders the Bill as per the request of the Governor, he has to give assent even if the Assembly passes it again without accepting any of the suggestions of the Governor.

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The revenge of old West Asia - Page No.8, GS 2

• It was during the 1967 war, Israel brought the whole of historical Palestine under its control. In the 1948-49 first Arab-Israeli war, Israel had captured 23% more territories, including West Jerusalem, than what the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine had proposed.
• In 1967, it seized the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan and the Gaza Strip and Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, and the Golan Heights from Syria.
• Ever since, Palestinian territories have remained under Israel's military occupation and control (it pulled back both troops and Jewish settlers from Gaza in 2005 after the second intifada, but has laid siege to the enclave since 2007).
• Second, it is a fact that Iran remains a major rival of Israel in West Asia. Iran also backs Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which jointly carried out the October 7 attack. Thus, the crisis has a clear geopolitical angle. But is Iran the central factor of the Israel-Palestine crisis? Iran became a hostile nation to Israel only in 1979, after the Islamic revolution.
• Before the revolution, the Iranian monarchy was so close to Israel that both nations had agreed in 1977 to build a military co-production complex inside Iran to make ballistic missiles.
• Neighbouring Arab countries attacked Israel immediately after the new state was declared in May 1948 within historical Palestine. After that, it was Israe' launched the 1956 and 1967 wars.
• The last time an Arab country attacked Israeli troops was in 1973 when along with Syria, launched the Yom Kippur war. Since then, six Arab countires have normalised ties with Israel, namely Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan and Morocco.

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Slowing momentum - Page No.8, GS 3

• Latest data, including the official Index of Eight Core Industries for September and S&P Global's Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the manufacturing sector for October, point to a palpable softening in economic momentum.
• With business confidence ebbing to a five-month low, the panellists cited rising inflation expectations as the key factor expected to dent demand and production growth over the next 12 months.
• And the advance estimates for lower kharif output, disconcertingly flag the fact that the farm sector may be able to offer little succour as rural incomes get hit.
• Policymakers have their task cut out to surmount the twin challenges of slowing growth and persistent inflation.
• Eight core sectors are:
1. Coal
2. crude oil
3. natural gas
4. refinery products
5. fertiliser
6. steel
7. cement
8. electricity.
About Eight Core Sectors:
• These comprise 40.27% of the weight of items included in the Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
• The eight core sector industries in decreasing order of their weightage: Refinery Products> Electricity> Steel> Coal> Crude Oil> Natural Gas> Cement> Fertilizers.
Index of Industrial Production:
• IIP is an indicator that measures the changes in the volume of production of industrial products during a given period.
• It is compiled and published monthly by the Central Statistical Organization (CSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
• Base Year for IIP is 2011-2012.
• What is Purchasing Managers Index?
• It is a survey-based measure that asks the respondents about changes in their perception about key business variables as compared with the previous month.
• The purpose of the PMI is to provide information about current and future business conditions to company decision makers, analysts, and investors.
• It is calculated separately for the manufacturing and services sectors and then a composite index is also constructed.
• The PMI is a number from 0 to 100.
• A print above 50 means expansion, while a score below that denotes contraction.
• A reading at 50 indicates no change.
• If PMI of the previous month is higher than the PMI of the current month, it represents that the economy is contracting.
• It is usually released at the start of every month. It is, therefore, considered a good leading indicator of economic activity.

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'2+2' dialogue - Page No.12, GS 2

• U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin will travel to New Delhi next week for the '2+2' meeting with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, according to the U.S. State Department.
• The group of Ministers will discuss "both bilateral and global concerns and developments in the Indo-Pacific", the State Department said.
• India has 2+2 dialogues with four key strategic partners: the US, Australia Japan, and Russia. Besides Russia, the other three countries are also India's partners in the Quad.
• The US is India's oldest and most important 2+2 talks partner.

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CBAM will kill manufacturing in EU; India to levy carbon tax - Page No.16, GS 3

Background:
• In 2021, the European Union (EU) proposed the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), which would tax very carbon-intensive items such as cement and steel beginning in 2026.
• CBAM is part of the "Fit for 55 in 2030 package", the EU's plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels.
About:
• A carbon border adjustment tax is a duty on imports based on the amount of carbon emissions resulting from the production of the product in question.
• As a price on carbon, it discourages emissions and as a trade-related measure, it affects production and exports.
• The CBAM will enter into force in its transitional phase as of 1 October 2023 and the permanent system will enter into force on 1 January 2026.