UPSC Magazine Vol 19 September 2010 Www.upscportal

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WWW.UPSCPORTAL.COM Vol. - 18

Hello! to new UPSC Aspirants of 2011

UPSC Civil Services Main exams are now over. Many of you have done very well and willbe happy that you are going to crack the biggest challenge of the earth. But many of youare not sure of the future and few of them are hopeless. Dear friend! We would like to saythat worry is not solution of any problem.

Those must work hard, who are going to appear at personality test; and those, whoare sure that they are not going to qualify for interview, must acknowledged their week

points and prepare for next main examination and at the same time they must also insurethemselves to qualify for mains (written).

We also have something to say about those who have finished all attempts to appearin the Civil Services examination. They must seriously think about other career optionand overcome from the pain. They must not think that their efforts (time, money andknowledge) were thrown into dustbin. They must visualise the fact that if they want, theycan utilise their assets in other fields. So prepare for new area and new life.

And now we want to say Hello! to new UPSC Aspirants of 2011.

"UPSC Portal Magazine" is always here to help you, and we will provide you all suf-ficient materials for the next preliminary test. We will also provide some exclusive materialsfor alternative careers in near future.

In this 19th volume of "UPSC Portal Magazine", you will find article on, GlobalHunger Index 2010, Unique Identification Project Aadhaar, UN Security Council non-

permanent membership and Caste Census. In the section of Hot Topics Karnataka Crisis,Last of Chile's 33 miners rescued, ordeal ends and Winners of Nobel Prize 2010 are in-cluded.

With Current Affairs, Sports and World of Awards you will find a very SpecialStudy Package as Affairs about You must be aware.

With this We conclude, and hoping that all of you think seriously to face the fu-ture.

Ram Kumar Pandey

and

UPSCPORTAL Team

Editorial

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GlobalHungerIndex

2010

Hunger haunts India

India is among 29 countries with

the highest levels of hunger,

stunted children and poorly fed

women, according to the Interna-

onal Food Policy Research Ins-

tute (IFPRI)s Global Hunger

Index 2010 released on Oct 11,

2010. Despite a strong economy

that was last week predicted to

overtake Chinas within threeyears by The Economist maga-

zine, India ranked 67th among 85

countries in terms of access to

food.

The report points to wide-

spread hunger in a country that is

the worlds largest producer of

milk and edible oils, and the sec-

ond-largest producer of wheat

and sugar.The country has a high

hunger score of 24.1 and ranks

behind all its neighbours, barring

Bangladesh. Values between 20

and 29.9 on the index denote an

alarming hunger situaon.

Globally, the world is

nowhere near meeng the target

of the UNs goal of halving the

proporon of hungry people.

India also runs the worldslargest free-meal programme for

school-going children. Yet, the

2010 hunger report reveals that

more than 90 per cent of the

worlds stunted children (whose

height is low for their age) live in

Asian countries, such as India and

Bangladesh, apart from some

Africa countries.

The highest regional hunger

indices suggesng the worst

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performers are almost the

same for South Asian countries,

such as India, and Sub-Saharan

African naons, such as Congo.

India is among countries with

hunger levels considerably

higher that their gross naonalincome per capita would sug-

gest. Its kind of ironic, Ashok

Gula, Asia director of the Wash-

ington-based IFPRI said.

The IFPRI hunger index

complied in partnership with Ger-

man NGO Welthungerhilfe, and

Concern Worldwide ranks

countries on three equally

weighted indicators: the propor-

on of undernourished, the pro-poron of underweight children

under five, and the child mortal-

ity rate.

The UN Food and Agriculture

Organisaon (FAO) defines

hunger as the consumpon of

fewer than 1,800 kilocalories a

day the minimum required to

live a healthy and producve life.

What is Global HungerIndex

The Global Hunger Index (GHI) is

a muldimensional stascal tool

used to describe the state of

countries hunger situaon. The

GHI measures progress and fail-

ures in the global fight against

hunger. The GHI is updated once

a year.The Index was adopted and

further developed by the Interna-

onal Food Policy Research Ins-

tute (IFPRI), and was first

published in 2006 with the

Welthungerhilfe, a German non-

profit organizaon (NGO). Since

2007, the Irish NGO Concern

Worldwide joined the group as

co-publisher.

The 2009 GHI was calculatedfor 121 developing countries and

countries in transion, 84 of

which were ranked. Every year,

the GHI report focuses on a main

topic: in 2009 the Index measures

the connecon between hunger

and gender equality. In addion,

the impact of the financial crisis

on the hunger situaon was ana-

lyzed. In addional to the yearly

GHI, the Hunger Index for theStates of India (ISHI) was pub-

lished in 2008 and the Sub-Na-

onal Hunger Index for Ethiopia

was published in 2009.

Calculation of the Index

The Index ranks countries on a

100 point scale, with 0 being the

best score ("no hunger") and 100

being the worst, though neitherof these extremes is achieved in

pracce. The higher the score,

the worse the food situaon of a

country. Values less than 4.9 re-

flect "low hunger", values be-

tween 5 and 9.9 reflect

"moderate hunger", values be-

tween 10 and 19.9 indicate a "se-

rious", values between 20 and

29.9 are "alarming", and values

exceeding 30 are "extremelyalarming" hunger problem.

The GHI combines three

equally weighted indicators: 1)

the proporon of the undernour-

ished as a percentage of the pop-

ulaon; 2) the prevalence of

underweight children under the

age of five; and 3) the mortality

rate of children under the age of

five.

The data used for the 2009GHI are for the period from 2002

to 2007 the most recent avail-

able global data for the three

components of the GHI. The data

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on the proporon of undernour-

ished come from the Food and

Agriculture Organizaon of the

UN (FAO) and are for 2003-2005.

Data on underweight of children

under 5 are based on data col-

lected by the World Health Or-ganizaon (WHO), UNICEF and

MEASURE DHS for the latest year

in the period 200207 for which

data are available and data on

child mortality are for 2007 from

UNICEF. The 2009 GHI and the re-

calculated base value of 1990 GHI

are not directly comparable to

previously calculated GHI values.

Global and regional trends

The 2009 GHI report shows how

the hunger situaon has devel-

oped since 1990 at global, re-

gional, and naonal levels.

Globally, the GHI fell nearly one

forth from 20 to 15.2 points. Re-

gardless of this posive trend, the

global fight against hunger is

stagnang and not reaching itsgoals fast enough. The global av-

erages hide dramac differences

among regions and countries. 29

countries sll have an alarming

(20-29.9) or extremely alarming

( 30) hunger situaon. The 2009

GHI had fallen by 13% in Sub-Sa-

haran Africa compared with the

1990 GHI, by about 25% in South

Asia, and by 32% in the Near East

and North Africa. Progress inSoutheast Asia and Lan America

was especially great, with the GHI

decreasing by over 40%.

Sub-Saharan Africa and South

Asia share the highest regional

GHI scores (22.1 and 23.0 respec-

vely), but food insecurity in the

two regions stems from different

reasons: In South Asia, the major

problem is a high prevalence of

underweight children under five,

which is a result of lower nutri-

on and educaonal status of

women. In contrast, the high GHI

in Sub-Saharan Africa is due to

high child mortality rates and the

high proporon of people who

cannot meet their calorie re-quirements.

Hunger and Conflict

The report shows that conflict

and polical instability and eco-

nomic collapse have increased

hunger in a number of Sub-Saha-

ran African countries and North

Korea.

Hunger and GenderInequality

A comparison of the GHI 2009 re-

sults with the respecve rankings

in the World Economic Forums

2008 Global Gender Gap Index

shows that hunger and gender in-

equalityparcularly inequali-es in educaon and

healthoen go hand in hand.

Hunger in India: 'The real cause is

lack of polical will'

The poker is glowing red hot

in the flames of the burning

wood. Suklal Hembrom holds a

leaf against his stomach and war-

ily eyes the

older man sit-

ng on theother side of

the fire. Sud-

denly Thakur

Das takes hold

of the poker

and lunges to-

wards the

boy's stomach.

Everyone

in the village

knows what

should happen next. The child

will scream loudly as the flesh be-

gins to blister. Held down, he will

writhe in agony. Again and again,

the poker will jab at his belly. The

more the child screams, the hap-

pier everyone will be, becausethe villagers of Mirgitand in

India's Jharkhand state believe

the only way they can "cure" the

distended stomachs of their fam-

ished children is by branding

them with pokers.

Das sees nothing wrong with the

procedure. Nor does anyone in

the village most have scars of

their own. Even though some

children have died, the villagersconnue because the alternave

providing enough nutrious

food to sustain their children or

paying for medical treatment is

simply not an opon. In common

with millions of others in the

world's 11th largest economy,

they face a daily bale to put

even the most basic meal on the

table.

A report out today warns thateven in a fast-growing economy

like India, failure to invest in agri-

culture and support small farms

has le nearly half the country's

children malnourished, with one

fih of the one billion plus popu-

laon going hungry.

AconAid, which published

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the report ahead of next week's

summit in New York to discuss

progress on the millennium de-

velopment goals, says hunger is

cosng the world's poorest na-

ons 290bn a year more than

10 mes the esmated amountneeded to meet the goal of halv-

ing global hunger by 2015.

India now has worse rates of

malnutrion than sub-Saharan

Africa: 43.5% of children under

five are underweight and India

ranks below Sudan and Zim-

babwe in the Global Hunger

Index. Even without last year's

disastrous monsoon and the en-

suing drought and crop failures,hunger was on the increase.

The government has prom-

ised a new food security bill to

provide cheap food for the poor,

but progress has been slow. The

reality is that a country desperate

to take its place at the world's top

table is unwilling to commit to

feeding its own populaon.

Last month the country's

supreme court casgated thegovernment for allowing 67,000

tonnes of badly stored grain to

rot enough to feed 190,000

people for a month and or-

dered it to distribute 17.8m

tonnes in imminent danger of

rong.

India's prime minister, Man-

mohan Singh, protested, saying

the court had crossed the line

into policy-making and warningthat distribung free food to the

esmated 37% of the populaon

living below the poverty line de-

stroyed any incenves for farm-

ers to produce. The court stood

firm. It was an order, not a sug-

geson, the judges said.

According to AconAid,

global hunger in 2009 was at the

same level as in 1990. The charity

urged developed countries to

make good on 14bn pledge to

fight hunger, announced at last

year's G8 summit in Italy.

"On the eve of the most im-

portant development summit for

five years, a billion people will be

going to bed hungry," saidMeredith Alexander, the charity's

policy head. "Despite promises to

the contrary, one-sixth of human-

ity doesn't get enough to eat. But

we grow enough food to feed

every man, woman and child on

the planet. The real cause of

hunger isn't lack of food, it is lack

of polical will."

The UN Food and Agricultural

Organisaon announced todaythat the number of hungry peo-

ple worldwide has dropped by 98

million to 925 million in the past

year. However, Oxfam warned

the decline is largely down to

luck, such as two years of

favourable weather paerns,

rather than acon from world

leaders.

Abandoned to its fate

Mirgitand lies in hills about

195km east of the state capital

Ranchi, at the end of a stony, ver-

ginous track. It is part of India,

but at the same me not part of

it: abandoned to its fate by the

state, in the hands of Maoist Nax-

alite guerillas who hold the secu-

rity forces at bay with apparentease.

Das squats next to the fire,

poking it with a sck. The poker

lies cooling on the ground. This

me he did not make contact,

warned in advance that the child

must not be harmed for the

demonstraon, though he came

worryingly close.

Instead, the villagers instruct

the children to show their scars.

Molilal Kisku lis his shirt. He is

five, with a large, distended belly.

There are dark circles on the skin

from where the poker was ap-

plied. There is not a child un-

scarred.

Manoranjan Mahta, 44, sitson a log, watching. He works for

the post office, he says: he is an

educated man. Yet he submied

his son, Hemanth, to the process.

"My son had a protruding

belly. We went to many doctors,

but they didn't cure it," he says.

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"In this village when a child has a

big pot belly we put a piece of ba-

nana leaf on the skin and then we

put burning charcoal or a burning

rod on the leaf. If the child is

writhing in pain, the noon is

that the germs are dying."But it was Hemanth who suc-

cumbed. The wound became in-

fected and he died on 21

December 2007. He was seven

years old.

Struggle for survival

India may be thriving economi-

cally but it is sll dogged by

poverty and hunger.

A recent Oxford University re-

port found 410 million people

were living in poverty in just eight

Indian states more than in the

26 countries of sub-SaharanAfrica.

Last year's Global Hunger

Index placed India in the "alarm-

ing" category, ranked 65 out of 84

countries, below even North

Korea. Across the country, hun-

dreds of millions are malnour-

ished. A study released in May

warned that 66% of children

under the age of six in Delhi's

slums were malnourished. The

report noted that the most vul-

nerable secons of society were

not covered under governmentschemes which were supposed to

support them.

In Jharkhand state, a study of

20 villages carried out last year

recorded 13 deaths from starva-

on and 1,000 families suffering

from chronic hunger syndrome. It

is esmated that each year,

nearly 50,000 children in the

state die before their first birth-

day. It does not help that Jhark-hand's doctors are among the

most poorly paid in India, earning

barely half what their contempo-

raries in Delhi might earn. This

may explain why 2,200 of the

2,468 doctors recruited by the

state five years ago have moved

on. The state is said to need more

than 800 primary health centres,

although it has just 330.

The situaon in the centralIndian state of Madhya Pradesh

is, if anything, worse than in

Jharkhand. More than half a mil-

lion children below the age of five

have died in the past five years

and 60% of its children are cate-

gorised as malnourished. The

government esmates that 37%

of the populaon subsist on less

than the official poverty line of

327 rupees (4.57) per month inrural areas and 570 rupees in

urban areas. In May, television

and newspaper pictures showed

100,000 tonnes of wheat rong

in the open in the state.

And in Ganne, in Uar

Pradesh, children have resorted

to eang mud. When the reports

began to surface, officials appar-

ently sent some food and told the

villagers to keep quiet.

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rime Minister Manmohan

Singh and Congress Presi-

dent Sonia Gandhihanded out the first set of Unique

Idenficaon Number to tribals

in Tembhli village of Maharash-

tra's Nandurbar district on Sep

29, 2010.

Ten tribals from Tembhli vil-

lage got their Unique Idenfica-

on Numbers (Aadhaar) from

Singh and Sonia. They were ran-

domly selected by the Nandan

Nilekani-headed Unique Idenfi-

caon Authority of India.Aadhaar will help the unem-

ployed poor. UID is a historical

step to help the poor and Tembhli

is the first Aadhaar village.

Unique Idenficaon Authority

of India Chairman Nandan

Nilekani said that UID would help

all the cizens of India who don't

have any identy card.

Many people in our country

don't have their identy cards.

UID will help them. UID will berecognised everywhere. One UID

will be issued to one person.

About 1400 villagers have

been enrolled in the inaugural

programme. The Unique Idenfi-

caon Number is a unique 12

digit number that will store infor-

maon like an individual's name,

face and biometric scans.

Multipurpose

NationalIdentity Card

P

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Unique IdentificationAuthority of India

The Unique Idenficaon Author-

ity of India (UIDAI) is an agency of

the Government of India respon-

sible for implemenng the envi-

sioned Mulpurpose Naonal

Identy Card or Unique Idenfi-

caon card (UID Card) project in

India. It was established in Febru-

ary 2009, and will own and oper-

ate the Unique Idenficaon

Number database. The authority

will aim at providing a unique

number to all Indians, but not

smart cards. The authority would

provide a database of residents

containing very simple data in

biometrics.

The agency is headed by a

chairman, holds a cabinet rank.

The UIDAI is part of the Planning

Commission of India. Nandan

Nilekani, a former co-chairman of

Infosys Technologies, was ap-

pointed as the first Chairman of

the authority in June 2009. Ram

Sewak Sharma, an IAS Officer of

Jharkhand Government cadre has

been appointed as the Director

General and Mission Director of

the Authority. He is known for his

best effort in e-Governance proj-

ect for Jharkhand State and work-

ing as an IT secretary he received

a number of awards for best In-

formaon Technology Trends

State in India.

Launch

UIDAI launched AADHAAR pro-

gram in the tribal village, Tembhli,

in Nandurbar, Maharashtra on

29th September, 2010. The pro-

gram was inaguated by Prime

Minister, Manmohan Singh along

with UPA chairperson Sonia

Gandhi. The first resident to re-

ceive an AADHAAR was Rajana

Sonawane of Tembhli village.

Coverage, goals and

logistics

It is believed that Unique Na-

onal IDs will help address the

rigged state elecons, wide-

spread embezzlement that af-

fects subsidies and poverty

alleviaon programs such as

NREGA. Addressing illegal immi-

graon into India and terrorist

threats is another goal of the pro-

gram.

Most reports suggest that the

plan is for each Indian cizen to

have a unique idenficaon num-

ber with associated idenfying

biometric data and photographs

by 2011. However, other reports

claim that obtaining a uniquenumber would be voluntary, but

those that opt to stay out of the

system "will find it very inconven-

ient: they will not have access to

facilies that require you to cite

your ID number."

Government issued IDs are frag-

mented by purpose and region in

India, which results in wide-

spread bribery, denial of public

services and loss of income, espe-

cially afflicng poor cizens. As

the unique identy database

comes into existence, the various

identy databases (voter ID, pass-

ports, raon cards, licenses, fish-

ing permits, border area id cards)

that already exist in India are

planned to be linked to it. The Au-

thority is liaising with various na-

onal, state and local

government enes to begin this

process. The Union Labor Min-

istry has offered its verified Em-

ployment Provident Fund (EPFO)

database of 42 million cizens as

the first database to be inte-

grated into the unique ID system.

Other UID projects implemented

on a smaller scale in India can

also facilitate in the development

of the naonal project. An exam-

ple is a project developed by Wolf

Frameworks Cloud Compung

vendor and Social Educaon andDevelopment Society (SEDS) for

profiling and generang Unique

Idenficaon for more than

40,000 members in the Ananta-

pur district of Andhra Pradesh.

The UID will link a person's Pass-

port Number, Driving License,

PAN card, Bank Accounts, Ad-

dress, Voter ID etc and all this in-

formaon will be checked

through a database. So, if some-

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one has a different addresses on

PAN and driving license, is liable

to get caught. Those who will opt

out of this program will have

much inconvenience in doingbusiness, operang bank ac-

counts and other offices which

will require a UID.

UIDAI has headquarters in

Delhi and a technology centre in

Bangalore. It also has 6 regional

offices in Chandigarh, Delhi, Luc-

know, Ranchi, Guwaha, Mum-

bai, Hyderabad and Bangalore.

Name and logo

UID project is known as AAD-

HAAR meaning 'support' or 'foun-

daon', and its logo is a yellow

sun with a fingerprint embedded

in its centre.

Projected costs and

business opportunities

One esmate of the cost to com-

pletely roll-out Naonal IDs to all

Indian residents above the age of

18 has been placed at Indian

rupee 150,000 crore (US$33.15

billion). A different esmate puts

it at US$ 6 billion. A sum of Indian

rupee 100 crore (US$22.1 million)

was approved in the 2009-2010

union budget to fund the agency

for its first year of existence. UID

has received a huge boost with Dr

Pranab Mukherjee, Minister of Fi-

nance, allocang Rs 1900 crore to

the Unique Idenficaon Author-

ity of India (UIDAI) for 2010-11.

Inial esmates project thatthe iniave will create 1000 new

jobs in the country, and business

opportunies worth Indian rupee

6,500 crore (US$1.44 billion) in

the first phase of implementa-

on.

Criticism

There are many potenal privacyfallouts of this project, not the

least of which is triggered by the

Government's official plan to link

the databases together.

Although there is somemes

a tension between individual pri-

vacy rights and naonal security,

internaonal law and Indias do-

mesc law expressly set a stan-

dard in tort law and through

constuonal law to protect anindividuals privacy from unlawful

invasion. Under the Internaonal

Covenant on Civil and Polical

Rights (ICCPR), rafied by India,

an individuals right to privacy is

protected from arbitrary or un-

lawful interference by the state.

The Supreme Court also held

the right to privacy to be implicit

under arcle 21 of the Indian

Constuon in Rajgopal v. Stateof Tamil Nadu. Moreover, India

has enacted a number of laws

that provide some protecon for

privacy. For example the Hindu

Marriage Act, the Copyright Act,

Juvenile Jusce (Care and Protec-

on of Children) Act, 2000 and

the Code of Criminal Procedure

all place restricons on the re-

lease of personal informaon.

Privacy is a key concern with re-

spect to the MNIC scheme as all

of an individuals personal infor-

maon will be stored in one data-

base where the possibility of

corrupon and exploitaon of

data is far greater than when hav-

ing the informaon disbursed.Risks that arise from this cen-

tralizaon include possible errors

in the collecon of informaon,

recording of inaccurate data, cor-

rupon of data from anonymous

sources, and unauthorized access

to or disclosure of personal infor-

maon.Other countries with na-

onal idenficaon systems have

confronted numerous problems

with similar risks such as tradingand selling of informaon, and

India, which has no generally es-

tablished data protecon laws

such as the U.S. Federal Privacy

Statute or the European Direcve

on Data Protecon, is ill-

equipped to deal with such prob-

lems. The centralized nature of

data collecon inherent in the

MNIC proposal only heightens

the risk of misuse of personal in-formaon and therefore poten-

ally violates privacy rights. In

consideraon of the risks in-

volved in the creaon of a cen-

tralized database of personal

informaon, it is imperave that

such a programme not be estab-

lished without the proper mecha-

nisms to ensure the security of

each individual privacy rights. Un-

fortunately, Indias proposedMNIC programme lacks any pro-

vision for judicial review at the

present me. Without credible

and independent oversight, there

is a risk of mission creep for

MNICs; the government may add

features and addional data to

the MNIC database bureaucra-

cally and reflexively, without

reevaluang the effects on pri-

vacy in each instance

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er a gap of 19 years,

India was elected as a

non-permanent member

of the UN Security Council on 12

Oct, 2010, a posion which

would help it push more aggres-

sively for the reform of the world

body's top organ. India secured

an emphac win, with 187 of the

191 member states in the Gen-eral Assembly backing its candi-

dature and one member state

abstaining from the vote.

India, which is a founding

member of the UN, has been on

the Council six mes earlier, but

not since 1992. In 1996, India lost

to Japan by a huge margin of 100

votes. This me, however, it is

taking over the Asia seat from

Japan, being the sole candidatefrom the region in the race as

Kazakhstan pulled out earlier this

year.

In the run-up to the vote, Ex-

ternal Affairs Minister S M Kr-

ishna, who was in New York for

10 days last month, met leaders

of a record 56 countries on the

margins of the UN General As-

sembly's annual session.

In February, India's candida-

ture was en-

dorsed by the

Asian Group but

it sll had to get

support of 128

countries, two-

thirds of the

192 members

of the UN Gen-

eral Assembly.Other "clean

slate" candi-

dates included

South Africa

that got the

Africa seat re-

placing Uganda

with the vote of 182 members in

its favour, and Colombia, which

secured the seat for the Group of

Lan American and CaribbeanStates, replacing Mexico.

The elected members take their

spots on January 1, 2011 and will

serve for two years.

South Africa has returned to the

Council aer a break of two years

when it had served its first term

from 2007-2008. Colombia, like

India, has previously served six

terms.

The five new countries will be

replacing Austria, Japan, Mexico,

Turkey and Uganda. The two

seats for Western Europe andOthers Group were fought for by

Canada, Germany and Portugal.

India, which is among the three

largest troop contribung coun-

tries to the UN, has already high-

lighted the significance of all the

BRIC naons (Brazil, Russia, India

and China) being on the Council

together, which could present a

united front on several con-

tenous internaonal issues.

India elected to UNSC as non-permanent member

UN SECURITY

COUNCILNON-PERMANENTMEMBERSHIP

By : Dr. Sachchidanand

A

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It has also underlined that the

IBSA (India, Brazil and South

Africa) will also be on the Council

together. New Delhi, which is

seeking expansion in both the

permanent and non-permanent

categories of the UN Security

Council as part of its reform, is

hoping that change comes in the

next two years while it is already

in the Council.

New Members

Germany, India, South Africa and

Colombia have won two-year

seats on the UN Security Council.

Portugal got the other available

place when Canada withdrew its

bid aer the second round of vot-

ing at the UN General Assemblyin New York.

China, Britain, France, the US

and Russia are the five perma-

nent members. The 15-seat Secu-

rity Council is one of the most

important UN organs and is

charged with maintaining inter-

naonal peace and security.

Every year, five of the non-

permanent members step down

aer compleng two years, and

other countries bale to fill the

seats.

India, South Africa and

Colombia all secured their places

in uncontested votes. Among re-

cent calls for reform of UN ins-

tuons, there have been

proposals to expand the number

of permanent members. Brazil,

Germany, India and Japan have

all argued that they should havea permanent seat on the council.

United Nations SecurityCouncil

The United Naons Security

Council (UNSC) is one of the prin-

cipal organs of the United Na-

ons and is charged with the

maintenance of internaonalpeace and security. Its powers,

outlined in the United Na-

ons Charter, include the es-

tablishment of peacekeeping

operaons, the establish-

ment of internaonal sanc-

ons, and the authorizaon

of military acon. Its powersare exercised through United

Naons Security Council Res-

oluons.

The Security Council held its

first session on 17 January

1946 at Church House, Lon-

don. Since its first meeng,

the Council, which exists in

connuous session, has trav-

eled widely, holding meengs

in many cies, such as Parisand Addis Ababa, as well as at its

current permanent home in the

United Naons building in New

York City.

There are 15 members of

the Security Council, consisng of

5 veto-wielding permanent mem-

bers (China, France, Russia,

United Kingdom, and United

States) and 10 elected non-per-

manent members with two-yearterms. This basic structure is set

out in Chapter V of the UN Char-

ter. Security Council members

must always be present at UN

headquarters in New York so that

the Security Council can meet at

any me. This requirement of the

United Naons Charter was

adopted to address a weakness

of the League of Naons since

that organizaon was oen un-able to respond quickly to a crisis.

Permanent members

The Security Council's five perma-

nent members have the power to

veto any substanve resoluon:

* China

* France

* Russia

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* United Kingdom

* United States

The five permanent members

(also known as the P5 or Big 5)

were drawn from the victorious

powers of World War II, and at

the UN's founding in 1946, theSecurity Council consisted of

France, the Republic of China, the

United Kingdom, the United

States, and the USSR. There have

been two seat changes since

then, although not reflected in

Arcle 23 of the Charter of the

United Naons as it has not been

accordingly amended:

* China's seat was originally

filled by the Republic ofChina, but due to the stale-

mate of the Chinese Civil War

in 1949, there have been two

states claiming to represent

China since then, and both of-

ficially claim each other's ter-

ritory. In 1971, the People's

Republic of China was

awarded China's seat in the

United Naons by UN Gen-

eral Assembly Resoluon2758, and the Republic of

China (based in Taiwan) soon

lost membership in

all UN organiza-

ons.

* Russia, being the

legal successor

state to the Soviet

Union aer the lat-

ter's collapse in

1991, acquired theoriginally-Soviet

seat, including the

Soviet Union's for-

mer representaon

in the Security

Council.

The five permanent

members of the Secu-

rity Council are also the

only countries recog-

nized as nuclear-

weapon states (NWS) under the

Nuclear Non-Proliferaon Treaty.

However, their nuclear weapons

status derives from the fact that

they are the five countries that

tested nuclear weapons before

1967; it is not linked to theirmembership of the UN Security

Council and membership of the

UN Security Council is not de-

pendent on nuclear weapons sta-

tus.The Permanent Representa-

ves of the U.N. Security Council

permanent members are Li

Baodong (China), Grard Araud

(France), Vitaly Churkin (Russia),

Mark Lyall Grant (United King-

dom), and Susan Rice (UnitedStates).

Non-permanentMembers

Ten other members are elected

by the General Assembly for two-

year terms starng on 1 January,

with five replaced each year. The

members are chosen by regionalgroups and confirmed by the

United Naons General Assem-

bly. The African bloc chooses

three members; the Lan Amer-

ica and the Caribbean, Asian, and

Western European and Others

blocs choose two members each;

and the Eastern European bloc

chooses one member. Also, oneof these members is an "Arab

country," alternately from the

Asian or African bloc.

President

The role of president of the Secu-

rity Council involves seng the

agenda, presiding at its meengs

and overseeing any crisis. ThePresident is authorized to issue

both presidenal statements

(subject to consensus among

Council members) and notes,

which are used to make declara-

ons of intent that the full Secu-

rity Council can then pursue. The

Presidency rotates monthly in al-

phabecal order of the Security

Council member naons' names

in English and is held by Turkeyfor the month of September

2010.

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Veto power

Under Arcle 27 of the UN Char-

ter, Security Council decisions on

all substanve maers requirethe affirmave votes of nine

members. A negave vote, or

veto, also known as the rule of

"great Power unanimity", by a

permanent member prevents

adopon of a pro-

posal, even if it has

received the required

number of affirma-

ve votes (9). Absten-

on is not regardedas a veto despite the

wording of the Char-

ter. Since the Security

Council's incepon,

China (ROC/PRC) has

used its veto 6 mes;

France 18 mes; Rus-

sia/USSR 123 mes;

the United Kingdom

32 mes; and the

United States 82mes. The majority of

Russian/Soviet vetoes

were in the first ten

years of the Council's

existence. Since 1984,

China and France

have vetoed three

resoluons each; Rus-

sia/USSR four; the

United Kingdom ten;

and the United States43.

Procedural maers are not sub-

ject to a veto, so the veto cannot

be used to avoid discussion of an

issue.

Status of non-members

A state that is a member of the

UN, but not of the Security Coun-

cil, may parcipate in Security

Council discussions in maers by

which the Council agrees that the

country's interests are parcu-

larly affected. In recent years, the

Council has interpreted this

loosely, allowing many countriesto take part in its discussions.

Non-members are rounely in-

vited to take part when they are

pares to disputes being consid-

ered by the Council.

Role

Under Chapter Six of the Charter,

"Pacific Selement of Disputes",

the Security Council "may inves-

gate any dispute or any situa-

on which might lead to

internaonal fricon or give rise

to a dispute". The Council may

"recommend appropriate proce-

dures or methods of adjustment"

if it determines that the situaon

might endanger internaonal

peace and security. These recom-

mendaons are not binding on

UN members.

Under Chapter Seven, the Council

has broader power to decide

what measures are to be taken insituaons involving "threats to

the peace, breaches of the peace,

or acts of aggression". In such sit-

uaons, the Council is not limited

to recommendaons but may

take acon, including the use of

armed force "to maintain or re-

store internaonal peace and se-

curity". This was the basis for UN

armed acon in Korea in 1950

during the Korean War and the

use of coalion forces in Iraq and

Kuwait in 1991. Decisions taken

under Chapter Seven, such as

economic sancons, are binding

on UN members.

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The UN's role in internaonal col-

lecve security is defined by the

UN Charter, which gives the Secu-

rity Council the power to:

Invesgate any situaon

threatening internaonal

peace; Recommend procedures for

peaceful resoluon of a dis-

pute;

Call upon other member na-

ons to completely or par-

ally interrupt economic

relaons as well as sea, air,

postal, and radio communi-

caons, or to sever diplo-

mac relaons;

Enforce its decisions militar-

ily, or by any means neces-

sary;

Avoid conflict and maintain

focus on cooperaon.

They also recommend the

new Secretary-General to the

General Assembly.

The Rome Statute of the In-

ternaonal Criminal Court recog-

nizes that the Security Council

has authority to refer cases to the

Court, where the Court could nototherwise exercise jurisdicon.

The Council exercised this power

for the first me in March 2005,

when it referred to the Court the

situaon prevailing in Darfur

since 1 July 2002; since Sudan is

not a party to the Rome Statute,

the Court could not otherwise

have exercised jurisdicon.

Responsibility to protect

Security Council Resoluon 1674,

adopted on 28 April 2006, "reaf-

firms the provisions of para-

graphs 138 and 139 of the 2005

World Summit Outcome Docu-

ment regarding the responsibility

to protect populaons from

genocide, war crimes, ethnic

cleansing and crimes against hu-manity". The resoluon commits

the Council to acon to protect

civilians in armed conflict.

Resolutions

The UN Charter is a mullateral

treaty. It is the constuonal doc-

ument that distributes powers

and funcons among the variousUN organs. It authorizes the Se-

curity Council to take acon on

behalf of the members, and to

make decisions and recommen-

daons. The Charter menons

neither binding nor non-binding

resoluons. The Internaonal

Court of Jusce (ICJ) advisory

opinion in the 1949 "Repara-

ons" case indicated that the

United Naons Organizaon had

both explicit and implied powers.

The Court cited Arcles 104 and

2(5) of the Charter, and noted

that the members had granted

the Organizaon the necessary

legal authority to exercise its

funcons and fulfill its purposesas specified or implied in the

Charter, and that they had agreed

to give the United Naons every

assistance in any acon taken in

accordance with the Charter.

Arcle 25 of the Charter says

that "The Members of the United

Naons agree to accept and carry

out the decisions of the Security

Council in accordance with the

present Charter". The Repertoryof Pracce of United Naons Or-

gans, is a UN legal publicaon

that is published, says that during

the United Naons Conference

on Internaonal Organizaon

which met in San Francisco in

1945, aempts to limit obliga-

ons of Members under Arcle

25 of the Charter to those deci-

sions taken by the Council in the

exercise of its specific powersunder Chapters VI, VII and VIII of

the Charter failed. It was stated at

the me that those obligaons

also flowed from the authority

conferred on the Council under

Arcle 24(1) to act on the behalf

of the members while exercising

its responsibility for the mainte-

nance of internaonal peace and

security.

Arcle 24, interpreted in thissense, becomes a source of au-

thority which can be drawn upon

to meet situaons which are not

covered by the more detailed

provisions in the succeeding ar-

cles. The Repertory on Arcle 24

says: "The queson whether Ar-

cle 24 confers general powers on

the Security Council ceased to be

a subject of discussion following

the advisory opinion of the Inter-

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naonal Court of Jusce ren-

dered on 21 June 1971 in connec-

on with the queson of Namibia

(ICJ Reports, 1971, page 16)".

In exercising its powers the

Security Council seldom bothersto cite the parcular arcle or ar-

cles of the UN Charter that its

decisions are based upon. In

cases where none are men-

oned, a constuonal interpre-

taon is required. This

somemes presents ambiguies

as to what amounts to a decision

as opposed to a recommenda-

on, and also the relevance and

interpretaon of the phrase "inaccordance with the present

Charter".

In the preliminary rulings of

the "Lockerbie" cases the ICJ held

that the provisions of the Mon-

treal Convenon could be pre-

empted by Security Council

resoluons pursuant to Arcle 25

and Arcle 103 of the UN Charter.

Arcle 103 provides that in the

event of conflicts with other

treaty obligaons, the members

obligaons under the Charter

prevail. There is consensus that

the treaty-based powers of the

Security Council are limited to

preempon of other treaes. TheUN cannot circumvent peremp-

tory norms and its resoluons are

subject to judicial review.

Security Council Resoluons

are legally binding if they are

made under Chapter VII (Acon

with Respect to Threats to the

Peace, Breaches of the Peace,

and Acts of Aggression) of the

Charter.

There is a general agreementamong legal scholars outside the

organizaon that resoluons

made under Chapter VI (Pacific

Selement of Disputes) are not

legally binding. One argument is

that since they have no enforce-

ment mechanism, except self-

help, they may not be legally

binding. Some States give cons-

tuonal or special legal status to

the UN Charter and Security

Council resoluons. In

such cases non-recog-

nion regimes or

other sancons can be

implemented under

the provisions of the

laws of the individualmember states.

The Repertory of Prac-

ce of United Naons

Organs was estab-

lished because

"Records of the cumu-

lang pracce of in-

t e r n a o n a l

organizaons may be

regarded as evidence

of customary interna-onal law with refer-

ence to States'

relaons to the organ-

izaons." The reper-

tory cites the remarks

made by the representave of Is-

rael, Mr Eban, regarding a Chap-

ter VI resoluon. He maintained

that the Security Council's resolu-

on of 1 September 1951 pos-

sessed, within the meaning ofArcle 25, a compelling force be-

yond that pertaining to any reso-

luon of any other organ of the

United Naons, in his view the

importance of the resoluon had

to be envisaged in the light of Ar-

cle 25, under which the deci-

sions of the Council on maers

affecng internaonal peace and

security assumed an obligatory

character for all Member States.The Egypan representave dis-

agreed.

Criticism

There has been cricism that the

five permanent members of the

United Naons Security Council,

who are all nuclear powers, have

created an exclusive nuclear club

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that only addresses the strategic

interests and polical moves of

the permanent members; for ex-

ample, protecng the oil-rich

Kuwais in 1991 but poorly pro-

tecng resource-poor Rwandans

in 1994. Crics have suggestedthat the number of permanent

members should be expanded to

include non-nuclear powers, or

abolishing the concept of perma-

nency altogether.

Another cricism of the Secu-

rity Council involves the veto

power of the five permanent na-

ons; a veto from any of the per-

manent members may cripple

any possible UN armed or diplo-mac response to a crisis. John J.

Mearsheimer claimed that "since

1982, the US has vetoed 32 Secu-

rity Council resoluons crical of

Israel, more than the total num-

ber of vetoes cast by all the other

Security Council members." The

pracce of the permanent mem-

bers meeng privately and then

presenng their resoluons to

the full council as a fait accomplihas also drawn fire. On the other

hand, a 2005 report by the Amer-

ican Instute for Peace on UN re-

form states that contrary to the

equality of rights for all naons

enshrined in the UN Charter, Is-

rael connues to be denied rights

enjoyed by all other member-

states, and a level of systemac

hoslity against it is rounely ex-

pressed, organized, and fundedwithin the United Naons sys-

tem. Since 1961, Israel has been

barred from the Asia regional

group and therefore could not

even theorecally be a member

of the Security Council. In 2000,

it was offered limited member-

ship in the Western European

and Others Group (WEOG).

Other crics and even propo-

nents of the Security Council

queson its effecveness and rel-

evance because in most high-pro-

file cases, there are essenally no

consequences for violang a Se-

curity Council resoluon. During

the Darfur crisis, Janjaweed mili-

as, allowed by elements of theSudanese government, commit-

ted violence against an indige-

nous populaon, killing

thousands of civilians. In the Sre-

brenica massacre, Serbian troops

commied genocide against

Bosniaks, although Srebrenica

had been declared a UN "safe

area" and was even protected by

400 armed Dutch peacekeepers.

Other crics call the UN undemo-crac, represenng the interests

of the governments of the na-

ons who form it and not neces-

sarily the individuals within those

naons. The UN Charter gives all

three powers of the legislave,

execuve, and judiciary branches

to the Security Council.

Another concern is that the

five permanent members of the

UN Security Council are five ofthe top ten largest arms dealing

countries in the world.

The amount of me devoted

to the Israeli-Arab conflict in the

UNSC has been described as ex-

cessive by some pro-Israel poli-

cal organizaons and academics,

like United Naons Watch, the

An-Defamaon League, Alan

Dershowitz, Marn Kramer, and

Mitchell Bard.

Membership reform

There has been discussion of in-

creasing the number of perma-

nent members. The countries

who have made the strongest de-

mands for permanent seats are

Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan.

Japan and Germany are the UN's

second and third largest funders

respecvely, while Brazil and

India are two of the largest con-

tributors of troops to UN-man-

dated peace-keeping missions.

This proposal has found opposi-

on in a group of countries calledUning for Consensus.

Former UN Secretary-General

Kofi Annan asked a team of advi-

sors to come up with recommen-

daons for reforming the United

Naons by the end of 2004. One

proposed measure is to increase

the number of permanent mem-

bers by five, which, in most pro-

posals, would include Brazil,

Germany, India, Japan (known asthe G4 naons), one seat from

Africa (most likely between

Egypt, Nigeria or South Africa)

and/or one seat from the Arab

League. On 21 September 2004,

the G4 naons issued a joint

statement mutually backing each

other's claim to permanent sta-

tus, together with two African

countries. Currently the proposal

has to be accepted by two-thirdsof the General Assembly (128

votes).

The permanent members,

each holding the right of veto, an-

nounced their posions on Secu-

rity Council reform reluctantly.

The United States supported the

permanent membership of Japan

and a small number of addional

non-permanent members. The

United Kingdom and France es-senally supported the G4 posi-

on, with the expansion of

permanent and non-permanent

members and the accession of

German, Brazil, India and Japan

to permanent member status, as

well as an increase the presence

by African countries on the Coun-

cil. China supported the stronger

representaon of development

countries.

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Caste CensusCabinet clears caste census in 2011er several deliberaons

within the government on

the polically-sensive

issue, the Union cabinet decided

to carry out a separate house-to-

house caste enumeraon from

June to September next yearGiving in to demands from al-

most all polical pares, govern-

ment on Sep 9 2010. decided to

hold caste census next year

under an exercise to be carried

out separately from the enumer-

aon of populaon.

Aer several deliberaons within

the government on the poli-

cally-sensive issue, the Union

cabinet decided to carry out a

separate house-to-house caste

enumeraon from June to Sep-

tember next year.

According to home minister P.

Chidambaram, aer considering

various opons, the opon that

we have approved is, based onthe responses of various polical

pares, that caste must be can-

vassed and the integrity of the

headcount must not be affected.

The caste enumeraon will be

conducted in a phased manner

aer the populaon enumera-

on, which will include biometric

capture and headcount, is com-

pleted by March next year, he

said. He evaded a reply when

asked whether caste enumera-

on would be merged with the

headcount.

The decision has been taken

aer considering opons sug-

gested by the Group of Ministers

(GoM) set up on the issue andthe consultaons that finance

minister Pranab Mukherjee held

with leaders of various pares.

Pares like Rashtriya Janata

Dal, Samajwadi Party and Janata

Dal (United) had disrupted pro-

ceedings in Parliament for several

days during the Budget and Mon-

soon sessions while pressing for

caste census.

The Bharaya Janata Party,

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which was divided inially, later

decided to support it. The issue

even divided the Congress as well

as the Union cabinet with some

favouring caste census and others

opposing it, prompng the gov-

ernment to set up a GoM to con-sider all aspects related to such a

move.

Chidambaram said a suitable

legal regime for collecon of data

on castes would be formulated in

consultaon with the ministry of

law and jusce.

There will be an addional

cost for the exercise which will be

assessed at a separate meeng.

The office of the Registrar Gen-eral and Census Commissioner

would conduct the field opera-

ons of the caste enumeraon.

The Central government will

constute an expert group to

classify the caste/tribe returns

aer the enumeraon is com-

pleted. The office of the Registrar

General and Census Commis-

sioner would hand over the de-

tails of the castes/tribes returnedin the enumeraon to the pro-

posed expert group.

The last caste-wise census

was held in 1931 and such a prac-

ce had been given up as a mat-

ter of policy aer Independence.

In response to the demands

for enumerang castes other

than Scheduled Castes and

Scheduled Tribes in the Census

2011 raised inside Parliament aswell as by various groups outside,

the ministry of home affairs sub-

mied a note to the Union cabi-

net in May 2010 pertaining to this

issue.

India launches Census

2011, the biggest-ever in

history

India on Apr 01, 2010 launched

Census 2011,'' the biggest-ever

census aempted in the history

of mankind enumerang the

country's 1.2 billion populaon

and classifying usual residents ac-

cording to their gender, religion,

occupaon and educaon.The massive exercise, to be

spread over next 11 months, will

mark a milestone as the first-ever

Naonal Populaon Register

(NPR) will also be prepared in

which all persons aged over 15

years will be photographed and

fingerprinted to create a biomet-

ric naonal database. With this

India will probably become the

first democrac naon in theworld which would have got its

populaon fingerprinted in a year

from now.

As the first cizen of the

country, President Prabha De-

visingh Pal was the first person

to be listed in the decennial exer-

cise. She appealed to her compa-

triots to follow her example for

the good of the naon.''

The 15th Naonal Census ex-ercise, since 1872, will see over

25 lakh officials

capturing the

socio-economic-

cultural profile of

its cizens. It will

cost around Rs.

2,209 crore while

the expenditure on

NPR will be Rs.

3,539.24 crore.The exercise will

also consume

more than 11 mil-

lion tonnes of

paper.

During the

massive exercise,

the enumerators

for the first me

will collect infor-

maon like owner-

ship of mobile phones, comput-

ers, internet, having treated or

untreated drinking water facility

and usage of banking services.

They will also seek addional in-

formaon for the creaon of

NPR. The government has al-ready said that no informaon

will be collected on castes as no

caste-based census has ever been

conducted in independent India.

The second phase, called the

Populaon Enumeraon phase,

will be conducted simultaneously

all over the country from Febru-

ary 9 to 28, 2011, and the enre

exercise would be completed by

March 5, 2011.All 640 districts, 5,767 tehsils,

7,742 towns and more than six

lakh villages will be covered.

What is Census

The Indian Census is the most

credible source of informaon on

Demography (Populaon charac-

teriscs), Economic Acvity, Liter-acy & Educaon, Housing &

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Household Amenies, Urbaniza-

on, Ferlity and Mortality,

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled

Tribes, Language, Religion, Migra-

on, Disability and many other

socio-cultural and demographic

data since 1872. Census 2011 will

be the 15th Naonal Census of

the country. This is the only

source of primary data at village,town and ward level. It provides

valuable informaon for planning

and formulaon of polices for

Central & State Governments and

is widely used by Naonal & In-

ternaonal agencies, scholars,

business people, industrialists,

and many more. The delimita-

on/reservaon of Constuen-

cies -

Parliamentary/Assembly/Pan-

chayats and other Local Bodies is

also done on the basis of the de-

mographic data thrown up by the

Census. Census is the basis for re-

viewing the country's progress in

the past decade, monitoring the

on-going schemes of the Govern-

ment and most importantly, plan

for the future. That is why the slo-

gan of Census 2011 is "Our Cen-

sus, Our Future".

Naonal PopulaonRegister

The NPR would be a Register of

usual residents of the country.

The NPR will be a comprehensive

identy database that would help

in beer targeng of the benefitsand services under the Govern-

ment schemes/programmes, im-

prove planning and help

strengthen security of the coun-

try. This is being done for the first

me in the country.

How will both these exercises be

conducted?

The Census is a statutory exercise

conducted under the provisions

of the Census Act 1948 and Rules

made there under. The NPR is

being created under the provi-

sions of the Cizenship Act and

Rules.

Census Process

The Census process involves vis-

ing each and every household

and gathering parculars by ask-

ing quesons and filling up Cen-

sus Forms. The informaon col-

lected about individuals is kept

absolutely confidenal. In fact

this informaon is not accessible

even to Courts of law. Aer the

field work is over the forms aretransported to data processing

centres located at 15 cies across

the country. The data processing

will be done using sophiscated

soware called Intelligent Char-

acter Recognion Soware (ICR).

This technology was pioneered

by India in Census 2001 has be-

come the benchmark for Cen-

suses all around the globe. This

involves the scanning of the Cen-sus Forms at high speed and ex-

tracng the data automacally

using computer soware. This

revoluonary technology has en-

abled the processing of the volu-

minous data in a very short me

and saving a huge amount of

manual labour and cost.

NPR Process

Details such as Name, Date of

Birth, Sex, Present Address, Per-

manent Address, Names of Fa-

ther, Mother and Spouse etc will

be gathered by vising each and

every household. All usual resi-

dents will be eligible to be in-

cluded irrespecve of their

Naonality. Each and every

household will be given an Ac-knowledgement Slip at the me

of enumeraon. The data will

then be entered into computers

in the local language of the State

as well as in English. Once this

database has been created, bio-

metrics such as photograph, 10

fingerprints and probably Iris in-

formaon will be added for all

persons aged 15 years and above.

This will be done by arranging

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camps at every village and at the

ward level in every town. Each

household will be required to

bring the Acknowledgement Slip

to such camps. Those who miss

these camps will be given the op-

portunity to present themselvesat permanent NPR Centres to be

set up at the Tehsil/Town level. In

the next step, data will be printed

out and displayed at prominent

places within the village and ward

for the public to see. Objecons

will be sought and registered at

this stage. Each of these objec-

ons will then be enquired into

by the local Revenue Department

Officer and a proper disposalgiven in wring.

Persons aggrieved by such

order have a right of appeal to

the Tehsildar and then to the Dis-

trict Collector. Once this process

is over, the lists will be placed in

the Gram Sabha in villages and

the Ward Commiee in towns.

Claims and Objecons will be re-

ceived at this stage also and dealt

with in the same manner de-scribed above. The Gram

Sabha/Ward Commiee has to

give its clearance or objecon

within a fixed period of me aer

which it will be deemed that the

lists have been cleared. The lists

thus authencated will then be

sent to the Unique Identy Au-

thority of India (UIDAI) for de-du-

plicaon and issue of UID

Numbers. All duplicates will beeliminated at this stage based on

comparison of biometrics.

Unique ID numbers will also be

generated for every person. The

cleaned database along with the

UID Number will then be sent

back to the Office of the Registrar

General and Census Commis-

sioner, India (ORG&CCI) and

would form the Naonal Popula-

on Register. As the UID system

works on the basis of biometric

de-duplicaon, in the case of per-

sons of age 15 years and above

(for whom biometrics is avail-

able), the UID Number will be

available for each individual. For

those below the age of 15 years(for whom biometrics is not avail-

able), the UID Number will be

linked to the parent or guardian.

Will Caste Census in

India Change Anything?

The recent approval by the Gov-

ernment of India for caste based

census has aroused concernsamong polical pares as well as

social sciensts and ethnogra-

phers. For the self-proclaimed

modernists such regressive

measures are likely to heighten

caste consciousness among Indi-

ans. While the pragmasts argue

that data on caste can help the

government to beer target affir-

mave acon policies and

thereby address caste differencesraonally. The fact however is the

that caste as a social reality in

India draws succour from mul-

ple sources which will remain un-

touched by either the proposed

census or the resultant official

policies. Caste issues influence

everyday life of Indians in count-

less ways.

For those who think that

caste in India is merely a tool ofpolical opportunism or a rem-

nant of ancient Hindu culture,

visit to the rural regions of North

Kerala during the winter months

can be surprising and unnerving.

Every year as the winter sets in,

rural areas of North Kerala pre-

pare for a unique transformaon

of social relaons. Theyyam is an

art form where performers, be-

longing to lower castes, are be-

lieved to be incarnated by local

deies and members of higher

castes flock to seek their blessing.

For three months of the year indi-

viduals from the lower castes are

elevated to the status of God but

have to live as untouchables oncethe Theyyam season culminates.

Numerous rituals and cus-

toms like Theyyam connue to

nourish the pracce of caste dif-

ferences in India. One only needs

to skim through the matrimonial

columns in leading English dailies

to get a sense that caste is an im-

portant consideraon even for

the modern elite segment of the

urban Indian populaon.Stephen P. Rosen in his book

Sociees and Military Power:

India and its Army discuss the

connuing salience of caste in

Indias army. Though many would

consider Rosens conclusions

somewhat extreme but he does

raise several valid concerns. The

baalions in the Indian Army con-

nue to be organised as the Jat,

Sikh, Dogra or Rajput regiments.The Poona Pact between Ma-

hatma Gandhi and B.R. Ambed-

kar in 1932 granng reservaon

for depressed classes in the

provincial legislatures was a pre-

cursor for the phenomenal poli-

cal salience of caste in Indian

polics. From the Backward

Classes Commissions endeavour

to create a master list of other

backwards classes in 1955 toKHAM (Kshatriyas, Harijans, Adi-

vasis and Muslims) polics of the

Congress (I) in the 1980s; from

the Mandal Commission uproar

in the 1990s to growing mass ap-

peal of Dalit based polical par-

es like the Bahujan Samaj Party,

Indias polical arena has wit-

nessed countless caste inspired

srrings. No observer of Indian

polics can ignore the role of

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caste in determining electoral

outcomes.

Moreover, even before the

on-going controversy over the

2010 caste census erupted, the

Government of India had been in-

volved in many projects catego-

rizing its populaon along caste

lines. Despite cricisms from his-

torians, polical sciensts and an-

thropologists the Government of

India did not abandon the colo-

nial states pracse of differen-

ang people along lines of caste

and religion in the People of India

projects. According to Susan

Bayly, in the late 1990s the An-

thropological Survey of India was

undertaking massive exercise in

caste-based data collecon- the

People of India Project- with

funding from Planning Commis-

sion. The project has used DNA

sampling to idenfy difference

between individual castes and

tribes. Readers are told that as

composite type, the Schduled

Castes have relavely broad

noses; chamars says another

entry are characterized by a long,

narrow head shape and a long

moderately broad nasal shape.

Such, outrageous disncons

based on caste in a report spon-

sored by a State agency had gone

completely unnoced by the

modernists and pragmacs in-

volved in recent debate. Though

previous censuses have not in-

cluded quesons of caste directly,

the ethnographic notes in the

census reports have contributed

much to literature on caste in

India.

According to the pragma-

sts India cannot simply

assume modernity by ig-

noring caste. They see

caste as a form of social

straficaon much likeclass in Britain or race in

the U.S. The U.S. census

and job applicaons have a vol-

untary disclosure segment requir-

ing informaon about the

individuals race. Comparing

caste with class and race appears

incorrect if one realises that un-

like other forms of social strafi-

caons, caste in India is allegedly

sanconed by the sacred scrip-tures. Even though the scriptural

sancty of caste is open to de-

bate many Indians cite the

Manusmri and Bhagavad Gita to

support arguments in favour of

caste. It is much simpler to ad-

dress differenaons based on

skin colour or naonality than

straficaons perceived to be or-

dained by religious texts.

Caste based social praccesin India go beyond the more visi-

ble polical and economic dimen-

sions and these subtle aspects

are unlikely to be impacted by

the enumeraon of caste through

the census.

Brief History of Census

The earliest literature 'Rig-Veda'reveals that some kind of popula-

on count was maintained in dur-

ing 800-600 BC in India. The

celebrated 'Arthashastr' by 'Kau-

lya' wrien in the 3rd Century

BC prescribed the collecon of

populaon stascs as a measure

of state policy for taxaon. It con-

tained a detailed descripon of

methods of conducng popula-

on, economic and agricultural

censuses. During the regime of

the Mughal king Akbar, the ad-

ministrave report 'Ain-e-Akbari'

included comprehensive data

pertaining to populaon, indus-

try, wealth and many other char-

acteriscs.A systemac and modern

populaon census, in its present

form was conducted non syn-

chronously between 1865 and

1872 in different parts of the

country. This effort culminang in

1872 has been popularly labeled

as the first populaon census of

India However, the first synchro-

nous census in India was held in

1881. Since then, censuses havebeen undertaken uninterruptedly

once every ten year.

The Census of India 2001 was

the fourteenth census in the con-

nuous series as reckoned

from1872 and the sixth since in-

dependence. The giganc task of

census taking was completed in

two phases. In the first phase,

known as House -lisng Opera-

ons, all building and structures,residenal, partly residenal or

non- residenal were idenfied

and listed and the uses to which

they were put recorded. Informa-

on on houses, household

amenies and assets were also

collected. In the second phase,

known as Populaon Enumera-

on, more detailed informaon

on each individual residing in the

country, Indian naonal or other-wise, during the enumeraon pe-

riod was collected.

At the Census 2001, more

than 2 million (or 20 lakh) enu-

merators were deployed to col-

lect the informaon by vising

every household. The Indian Cen-

sus is one of the largest adminis-

trave exercises undertaken in

the world.

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acing the second trial of

strength in four days, Yed-

dyurappa's moon ex-

pressing confidence in his council

of ministers was carried by 106

votes supporng it and 100

against.

The BJP had the support of

105 MLAs and an Independent

MLA, while Congress had 73,

JD(S) 27 in a house of 206.

The proceedings were or-

derly and the vote was taken

through head count unlike the

pandemonium that surrounded

controversial vote that was de-

clared passed by a voice vote.

One Independent MLA, who was

with the Opposion, sided with

the Government.

Earlier, Speaker K G Bopaiah

rejected a plea of the Leader of

Opposion Siddaramaiah for

postponing vote in view of the

hearing on disqualificaon pe-

ons by the Karnataka High

Court. The House was adjourned

Karnataka CrisisKarnataka chief minister B S Yeddyurappa expectedly

won a vote of confidence in the truncated state As-sembly, a victory which will depend on the High Court'sdecision on the disqualificaon of 16 MLAs.

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sine die later.

Two MLAs-- Manappa Vajjal

from BJP and M C Ashwath of

JD(S) were absent from the

House, which brought down the

effecve strength of the 224-

member assembly to 206.Sixteen MLAs, 11 from BJP

and five Independents -- were

disqualified under an-defecon

law on October 10 by the Speaker

ahead of the Monday's vote

which has been challenged in the

High Court.

The court has reserved its or-

ders on the plea of the BJP MLAs

for quashing the Speaker's or-

ders, while it adjourned hearingon the plea of the Independent

MLAs.

Yeddyurappa was forced to

go in for the second trial of

strength aer Governor H R

Bhardwaj rejected the result of

the vote as "farce" and gave him

another chance on, which the BJP

accepted.

Governer Bhardwaj had rec-

ommended to the Centre imposi-

on of President's

rule in Karnataka

holding that the Con-

stuon machinery

had broken down.

The High Court

also did not provideinterim relief to dis-

qualified MLAs and

with the number

favouring him in the

assembly, Yeddyu-

rappa accepted the

Governor's offer to

take the floor test,

the second me

trust vote.

What is a trustvote?

A "trust vote" is a

process by which the council of

ministers establishes that it en-

joys the confidence of the major-

ity of the House of the People i.e.

the Lok Sabha. It is done by the

Prime Minister moving a resolu-on seeking support for his gov-

ernment. A trust vote would

generally be by way of a moon

(of confidence or no confidence

as the case may be). If the moon

(for confidence) is carried, it is

called a trust vote.

Trust vote is a generic term

used to check the confidence en-

joyed by the government in Par-

liament. It is generally tested by

means of two moons:

Moon of confidence: A mo-

on of confidence is a moon of

support proposed by the govern-

ment in Parliament or other as-

sembly of elected representaves

to give the Members of Parlia-ment (or other such assembly) a

chance to register their confi-

dence in the government.

The moon is passed or re-

jected by means of a parliamen-

tary vote (a vote of confidence).

No confidence moon: A mo-

on of no confidence (also vote

of no confidence, censure mo-

on, no-confidence moon, or

confidence moon) is a parlia-mentary moon tradionally put

before a Parliament by the Oppo-

sion in the hope of defeang or

weakening a government, or,

rarely by an erstwhile supporter

who has lost confidence in the

government.

The government proposes a

moon of confidence, whereas

the Opposion proposes a no

confidence moon.Defeat of a Moon of Confi-

dence in the Parliament generally

requires one of two acons:

The resignaon of the gov-

ernment, or

A request for a parliamentary

dissoluon and the calling of

a general elecon.

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Who iniates thetrust vote?

If the moon is a confidence mo-

on, the government proposes it

and if it's a no-confidence mo-on, it's proposed by the Opposi-

on.

What is a whip?

It is a vong instrucon issued to

the members of a polical party

by the leadership. Since legisla-

tures typically only require a ma-

jority of the quorum inaendance, a majority party can

be outvoted if a large number of

its legislators are absent and the

Opposion is in full aendance.

An important part of a govern-

ment whip's job is to ensure that

this situaon never arises.

What if an MP goes

against the whip?

If a party member violates the

whip, he may be disqualified. It

usually happens in case of a trust

vote. For example, the total num-

ber of seats in the Lok Sabha is

543 and majority is needed at

272. Every party issues a whip to

their members. Now if 10 mem-

bers of the Opposion go against

the whip and vote against the in-

strucons of the party, it be-comes easier for the government

to survive. It wins the trust vote.

But the respecve party may take

acon against the guilty mem-

bers and they may be disquali-

fied.

In another case, if members

abstain even aer the whip is is-

sued, the total becomes 533. The

majority required in this case be-

comes 267. Thus, the number

needed to save the governmentis reduced and if it secures the re-

quired seats, the government is

safe.

If there isn't any whip?

Then it is not absolutely essenal

for all the members present to

vote. Some may choose to ab-

stain or stay away. So, if somemembers don't come or don't

vote or ensure that their votes

are invalidated, then too the out-

come is valid.

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Luis Urzua, 54, who was

leading the shi at the

me of the collapse, was

the last of the miners to travel

through 2,050 feet (625 meters)of rock to the surface in a capsule

barely wider than a man's shoul-

ders.

Celebraons erupted across

the country as he emerged to a

hero's welcome above the San

Jose gold and copper mine in

Chile's northern Atacama desert,

wearing his hard-hat and dark

shades to protect his eyes aer

spending 69 days in a dimly-lit

tunnel. Urzua beamed as an

elated crowd chanted, yelled,

sobbed and waved red, white and

blue Chilean flags.

The miners have set a new world

record for survival trapped un-

derground. Rescue workers

opened the capsule door and

hugged Urzua, who had insisted

throughout that he would not

leave the tunnel unl all the

other miners were safely evacu-

ated. They are now all safe,

thanks to a meculously-planned

Last of Chile's 33miners rescued,

ordeal ends

F

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UPSC Magazine Vol 19 September 2010 Www.upscportal