The Wallace Line is an imaginary line that intersects the Lombok Strait between the Indonesian islands of Bali and Lombok to the south, and extends north through the Makassar Strait between Kalimantan (Borneo) and Sulawesi. 

Wallace’s Line is not a static boundary—it has shifted over time due to the interplay of geological transformations and climate change. As sea levels fluctuate, land bridges appeared and disappeared, offering brief windows for species migration. The two regions are different continental plates that have been moving independently — the Asian and Australian plates

On the shoreline of Bali and its eastern part. Across the water channel, there is island of Lombok. There is a narrow 21-mile-wide stretch of ocean, known as the Lombok Strait, separates these two islands. In 1858, British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace wrote Charles Darwin a letter , from the Malay Archipelago. 

He had spent years documenting species across the region. The natural world was not a seamless blend of species, but a patchwork divided by invisible barriers. 

One of those barriers, the one running through the Lombok Strait was the most striking of all known as Wallace’s Line. Before the exploration of Wallace, in the 1850s, the general belief was that, species were static & distributed based on environmental conditions, with little or no consideration for Earth’s historical processes.

Wallace’s meticulous documentation of species distributions ended this assumption. He observed that, despite their proximity and environmental similarity, the islands of Bali and Lombok had vastly different fauna. 

Wallace identified the 250m depth of the Lombok Strait as the single most compelling explanation for the differences between Asian and Australian animals. It caused various species to remain isolated from each other on opposite sides of the Lombok Strait through centuries of migrations and evolution. 

The Sunda Shelf is a continental shelf that incorporates Borneo, Java and Sumatra, and is joined to peninsular Malaysia and the mainland nations of Vietnam and Thailand.

Bali is joined to the shelf but Lombok is separated from the shelf by the comparatively deep Lombok Strait. The Sahul Shelf in the east joins Australia and New Guinea.  Between the Sahul Shelf and the Sunda Shelf is a constellation of islands and seas known as Wallacea.

On the west side of the Wallace Line in Borneo, Sumatra and Java— there is a presence of creatures with deep Asian roots e.g. tigers, rhinoceroses, elephants and primates.

On the eastern side into the Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi and New Guinea,  the creatures belonging to Australian species like marsupials, such as tree possums climb through forests, cockatoos and lorikeets speckle the skies and egg-laying mammals like echidnas.

REASONS OF THIS DIVISION

The secret lies beneath the ocean’s surface. During the recent Ice Ages, when sea levels fell, land bridges connected many Southeast Asian islands to the mainland, allowing species to migrate freely.

But the deep waters of the Lombok Strait never dried up. It remained a formidable barrier, preventing species from crossing, leaving two distinct evolutionary worlds to develop independently.

CHANGING COURSE OF EVOLUTION

A highly adaptable primate like Macaca fascicularis, found on the west of Wallace’s Line,  it adopted an arboreal lifestyle by developing a long tail. They mark their presence across the forests from Thailand to Borneo, it has also successfully integrated into urban environments.

On the eastern side of of Wallace’s Line in Sulawesi, there is a species of  booted macaque, or Macaca ochreata, developed a more robust body and a shorter tail, adaptations suited to the island’s dense forests and differing food sources. 

This geographical isolation lead to change in their behaviour. Macaca fascicularis , a crab eating , macaque, living on the west side of Wallace line , are opportunistic and often raid crops and human settlements. are opportunistic and often raid crops and human settlements.

A nocturnal bird found in Southeast Asia, known as Sunda frogmouth (Batrachostomus cornutus)  belongs to an ancient lineage mostly confined to the Sunda region. This species shown  phenomenal adaptation for tropical forest , especially its camouflage.

However, on the Australian side  of Wallace’s Line, the tawny frogmouth (Podargus strigoides) and its relatives have evolved separately, adapting to comparatively drier ecosystem.

This divergent evolution  dates back to the Oligocene, period,  means 30-40 million years ago, considered as the oldest known vertebrate divergences across Wallace’s Line.

This long-standing  separation or geographical isolation suggests that island arcs and continental plate movement land  may have provided a land corridor for dispersal. 

Animals on the western side of Wallace Line if crosses the Wallace line and enters the eastern side, they may struggle for their existence due to change in the climate & vegetation. However some animals may survive if they cross the Wallace line. 

If protected from survival odds, like  competitors, predators, or disease—they may successfully colonize the new habitat & ecosystem, the way invasive species are doing.  Some species of bats, such as flying foxes, are found on both sides of the Wallace Line, as they can travel long distances in search of food and roosting sites.

THE HUMAN WALLACE LINE

Some anthropologists travelled to east Nusa Tenggara (the Timor Archipelago, including the islands of Timor, Flores and Sumba), where Alfred Russel Wallace had drawn a dividing line between the races of the east and the west of the archipelago.

These medically trained anthropologists aimed to find out if the Wallace Line could be more precisely defined with measurements of the human body. However anthropologists failed to find definite markers to quantify the difference between Malay and Papuan/Melanesian.

This, however, did not diminish the conceptual power of the Wallace Line, as the idea of a boundary between Malays and Papuans was taken up in the political arena during the West New Guinea dispute and was employed as a political tool.

The structuring concept for the human diversity in this region was the difference between people with frizzy hair and darker skins in the east and light brown people with straight hair on the western islands.  From the 1880s onwards, physical anthropologists were eager to measure the physical differences between Malays and Papuans

The human Wallace Line became salient, especially during the West New Guinea dispute, and was employed as a political tool by all parties involved to further their goals. The map was considered as, a visual tool  to abstract knowledge and to circulate it. It became  a tool  Not only for mapmakers and geographers but also for biologists, ethnologists and medical experts. 

Jane Camerini argues that, In racial science, maps simplified diversity and emphasised racial difference. Johann Reinhold and Georg Forster, travelled with James Cook have observed ‘two great varieties’, one ‘more fair, well limbed athletic, of a fine size and a kind benevolent temper; the other blacker, the hair just beginning to become woolly and crisp, the body more slender and low, and their temper, if possible more brisk, though somewhat mistrustful

In the nineteenth century, John Crawfurd and George Windsor Earl confirmed this division. But French  anthropologists Armand de Quatrefages and Ernest Hamy,  opined that, Wallace ignored,  the presence of so-called Negritos, groups of people of small stature who were found on each side of Wallace’s anthropological line. The anthropological practice of drawing lines was a forceful tool to establish racial categories. 

The imagined boundary between Malays and Papuans has been a consistent feature of our conceptions of Southeast Asia, even though the line has moved on the map over time. Anthropometrics hoped to find the right markers that could be used to define the difference between Malays and Papuans quantitatively, but it turned out to be impossible to link characteristics such as the cephalic index to one of the two groups.

A curative petition, in simple words, is the final and last option for the people to acquire justice as mentioned and promised by the Constitution of India. The concept originated from the case of Rupa Ashok Hurra Vs. Ashok Hurra and Anr. where the  following question arose before the court of law- ‘whether an aggrieved person is entitled to any relief against the final judgment/order of the Supreme Court, after the dismissal of a review petition?’

The court used the Latin maxim “actus curiae neminem gravabit”, which means that an act of the court shall prejudice no one. The maxim becomes applicable when the court is under an obligation to undo a wrong done to a party by the act of court itself — This led to the creation of the concept of a curative petition by the Supreme Court and the reason given for such creation was preventing the abuse of the process of law and to cure the lapses in the existing system of justice.

A curative petition is an extraordinary remedy, as it is filed after the apex Court refuses to review its judgment.

There are only two main grounds for entertaining such a petition: to prevent abuse of process & to prevent gross miscarriage of justice, although it is not possible to enumerate all the circumstances that warrant it.

It is founded on the principle that the court’s concern for justice is no less important than the principle of finality.

Under India’s arbitration law, an award can be set aside only on limited grounds.

It is normally inexpedient for arbitration issues to have many levels of litigation.  

The Court invoked its inherent power under Article 142 to do complete justice.

The power of review is granted by Article 137 to the Supreme Court to review any of its judgments. Such power is not provided anywhere else in the Constitution. The Supreme Court has defined review to mean reexamining or reconsidering a final decision

In both curative and review actions, the Supreme Court is only reconsidering its final judgment as such in both the endeavours the activity is the same save for different words being adopted to describe these activities.

The Supreme Court’s review & curative actions amount to an acknowledgement by it that sometimes errors or mistakes in judgments do occur resulting in a miscarriage of justice.

Legally speaking, curative action by the Supreme Court should not amount to review action. However, as already stated the power to review is inherent in curative actions of the Court.

EVOLUTION

The curative petition was crafted by the apex court in 2002 in the landmark judgment of Rupa Ashok Hurra vs Ashok Hurra. Such a petition is a judicial invention to rectify gross miscarriage of justice in its own final judgments.

According to the Ashok Hurra case, the court can hear a curative petition only if there is a violation of principles of natural justice, a question of bias against the presiding judge, and/or an abuse of the process of the court.

Although these grounds were not exhaustive, the court should consider such petitions only in rare circumstances to prevent frivolous litigation.

In the case of Rupa Ashok Hurra Vs. Ashok Hurra, the main question lies around the relief against the final judgement when the option of review petition has already been discharged. Article 137 of the Indian Constitution broadly supports the idea of a curative petition.

It states that the “Supreme Court has the power to review any judgment pronounced by it if the matter concerns the laws and rules made under Article 145 . 

Art. 137 : – Subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament or any rules made under article 145, the Supreme Court shall have power to review any judgment pronounced or order made by it.

Art 145 : – Subject to the provisions of any law made by Parliament, the Supreme Court may from lime to time, with the approval of the President, make rules for regulating generally the practice & procedure of the Court.  

Order 48 of the Supreme Court Rules, enacted in 2013, codifies the requirements of a curative petition and includes a certificate by a Senior Advocate confirming that the requirements for filing a curative petition have been met.

RECENT CASES

The Supreme Court’s decision to reopen the Bhopal gas tragedy case through a curative petition led to significant legal developments concerning industrial liability & compensation.

Another critical case was the acceptance of a curative petition by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), which significantly influenced public infrastructure contracts and dispute resolution mechanisms in India.

The acceptance of curative petitions is rare, but there are pivotal cases illustrating its impact

RARITY OF CURATIVE PETITION

A curative petition is the third stage of proceedings before the Supreme Court, that is filed after proceedings in a special leave petition/appeal & the review of the decision in SLP/appeal.

This is one of the main reasons why such petitions are accepted only in rare and extraordinary circumstances and not otherwise.

Curative Petition can be simply seen as the last option in delivering justice, as it indulges many criticisms in light of legal developments despite being the newer concept in the legal field of the land.

It witnesses the fist of criticism as it has the capability to shake the trust that a large public bestows in the legal system.

The concept of curative petitions is not new to the legal world in itself, but the need for the same in our country is debatable.

It’s a kind of petition that is not generally allowed to be heard in open courts as it’s mostly brought upon & heard in the chamber of judges and only in the rarest case it is allowed to happen in the open courts.

The SC has held that curative petitions must be rare rather than regular, & be entertained with circumspection. 

The principle on which the concept of a curative petition is based i.e., “It is better that a guilty person go free than an innocent be punished

According to the rules prescribed in the Supreme court Rules of 1966,  The aggrieved parties hold the statutory right to appeal in the apex court of the country and once the apex court reserves the judgement against the statutory appeals it should be seen as a final & binding order.

The same petition has to be filed within 30 days of the original judgement /order, to the same Bench Judges who delivered the judgment or order that sought to be reviewed.

There is a Latin proverb that suits the reasoning “interest Reipublicae Ut sit finis litium” It particularly means any litigation must come to an end in the interest of society & the public at large while considering the time taken for each litigation to reach its final outcome. 

Furtherance with the justice promised and securing the interest, makers are always ready with the possible solution and as a result, the Indian Constitution is honoured with Article 137, which specifically inherits the power to review the orders passed by the SC.

In occurrence with the legal developments over the period of time, the question arose that what if the dismissal of the review petition later witnesses the violation of natural justice? To cure that miscarriage of justice the concept of the curative petition came into practicality to guard the justice promised by the founding brains.

This concept of the petition at the last resort evolved in relation to the doctrine of “Ex Debito Justitiae” –  means the “requirements in the way of justice must be fulfilled” secondly it also draws the principles from the Latin proverb i.e., “Actus Curiae Neminem Gravabit” —  means that the act of court cannot be prejudice to anyone. 

FINALITY OF THE JUDGMENT

The core principle is  Error is not a fault of our knowledge, but a mistake of our judgment giving assent to that which is not true”.

Assigning such rights to review the final order of the apex court may  invite the flood of litigations. So, to keep a check on the idea evolved from the “Doctrine of Harmonious Construction”.

The doctrine of ‘harmonious construction’, in the present context, simply means that in case of a conflict between two laws, their interpretation should be in a way in which the spirit and essence of both laws are maintained, which is done by ‘harmonising’ the laws

It particularly ensures that the final judgement laid down by the apex court can’t be questioned until or unless it’s a matter of miscarriage of justice or abuse of process of law, having this doctrine made it possible that the curative petition is not vulnerable to any misuse and doesn’t act as an opening gate of reservoirs which holds the numbers of probable litigations inside.

It emphasizes questioning the finality of judgement on the basis of gross miscarriage, violation of principles of natural justice and abuse of the process of law.

FILLING A CURATIVE PETITION

●In the Handbook on Practice and Procedure and Office Procedure of the Supreme Court of India there are certain points made that explain the procedure in filling the curative petition

❖There shall be Plenary Jurisdiction that has been inherent in the Supreme Court to hear such kinds of petitions – means that if there is lapses in regard to the merit of the petition then the court holds a power to impose an exemplary cost.

❖Curative petitions can be civil or can be criminal.

❖The petitioner should clearly showcase that there was a gross miscarriage in the delivery of justice and holds the biases that leads to the abuse of the process of law.

❖In a petition it should be specifically highlighted on which grounds the review should be considered & on which it was dismissed by the bench.

❖A senior lawyer must certify the petition, and look into that every ground has been fulfilled.

❖Petition must be circulated to the three most senior judges and the bench who dismissed the review petition.

❖It must be rare in nature and not regular.

❖If the majority of the judges conclude that the issue should be heard, then it will be shipped off a similar bench beyond what many would consider possible.

❖Curative petitions are not generally allowed to be heard in open courts as it’s mostly brought upon & heard in the chamber of judges and only if there is a particular solicitation then it is allowed to happen in the open courts.

❖The bench at any stage while considering the curative petition can ask the senior counsel as an amicus curiae

❖No new grounds will be considered in the curative petition & the grounds that were brought upon had to be taken in the application for review .

❖If the Bench concurs at any stage of the petition that it does not hold the merit, then the bench inherent with the powers may impose a plenary cost on the petitioner.

SPECIAL LEAVE PETITION Vs. REVIEW PETITION

SLP can be filed under Article 136 of the Indian Constitution before the hon’ble SC.

It states that an appeal can be directly made to the SC against any order or decree passed by any court or tribunal in India

Review Petition basically prayed before the hon’ble court to review its order or judgement that has already been pronounced. The court may accept such petitions in consideration of grave error by judicial lords and fallibility.

The legal remedies guaranteed,  comprise the crispness of the order in the filing process: A review Petition is followed by a curative petition which is overlooked by a mercy petition.

A convict who is awarded the death sentence and that sentence particularly upheld by the order of the apex court, then he/she has three legal options left in the bucket i.e., Review & Curative Petition before the SC & on dismissal of the same the Mercy Petition before the President

The Supreme Court Rules, 1966 made in exercise of the powers under Article 145 of the Constitution prescribe that in civil cases, review lies on any of the grounds specified in Order 47 Rule 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which provides:

(i)Discovery of new and important matter of evidence

(ii)Mistake or error apparent on the face of the record

(iii)Any other sufficient reason.

In the case of criminal proceedings a review lies on the ground of an ‘error apparent on the face of the record’ – mean an error which strikes one on merely looking at the record and does not require any long drawn process of reasoning on points where there may, conceivably, be two options.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) (pronounced Ghee-yan Bah-ray) is a rare neurological disorder in which  immune system of a person mistakenly attacks part of his peripheral nervous system—the network of nerves that carries signals from the brain & spinal cord to the rest of the body. It is also called acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP).

GBS begins suddenly & can increase in intensity over a period of time until certain muscles turns useless. Some cases of GBS are very mild & only marked by brief weakness.

Others cause nearly devastating paralysis, leaving the person unable to breathe on their own. In these cases, the disorder is fatal—potentially causing loss of normal breathing, blood pressure, or heart rate. Fortunately, most people eventually recover from even the most severe cases of GBS. After recovery, people may continue to have some weakness.

SYMPTOMS

In GBS the weakness usually comes on quickly and worsens over the period of time . Often, feet are affected first, & weakness may move up to the other parts of the body.The person may first notice unexpected difficulty climbing stairs or walking.

Less commonly, symptoms start in the face and move down to the legs and feet. Most people reach the greatest stage of weakness within the first two weeks after symptoms appear; by the third week 90% of affected people are at their weakest.

In GBS, the brain may receive abnormal sensory signals from the rest of the body due to the nerve damage associated with the condition. This results in unexplained, spontaneous sensations, called paresthesias, that the person may feel as tingling, a sense of insects crawling under the skin (called formications), and pain.

Some people with GBS feel a deep muscular pain in the back and/or legs. Unexplained sensations often happen first, such as tingling in the feet or hands, or even pain (especially in children), often starting in the legs or back.

Children will also begin to have difficulty walking and may refuse to walk. These sensations tend to disappear before the major, longer-term symptoms appear.

Guillain-Barré syndrome may include: Difficulty with eye muscles and vision Difficulty swallowing, speaking, or chewing; Pricking or pins and needles in the hands and feet Pain that can be severe, particularly at night Coordination problems and unsteadiness; Abnormal heart rate or blood pressure Problems with digestion and/or bladder control.

The body’s nerves have a central conducting core called the axon that carries an electric signal. The axon is surrounded by an insulating layer (or sheath) called myelin. The myelin sheath surrounding the axon speeds up the transmission of nerve signals and allows the transmission of signals over long distances.

In the most common type of GBS, called acute inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (AIDP), the immune system damages the myelin sheath. In two other types of GBS, called acute motor axonal neuropathy (AMAN) and acute motor-sensory axonal neuropathy (AMSAN), the immune system may damage the axons themselves.

As a result, the nerves cannot transmit signals efficiently and the muscles begin to lose their ability to respond to the brain’s commands, which causes weakness and abnormal or no reflexes.

Miller Fisher syndrome is another type of GBS involving the cranial nerves, which extend from the brain to areas of the head & neck. The main symptoms are weakness or paralysis of the muscles that move the eyes, problems with balance and coordination, and abnormal or no reflexes. People with this disorder may have other common GBS symptoms like muscle weakness.

High protein level in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). CSF is the fluid that surrounds the spinal cord and brain.

WHO IS MORE PRONE ?

GBS can affect anyone of any gender or age, but most often affects adults and people older than 50. GBS is not contagious or inherited and the exact cause is unknown.

Since the body’s own immune system does the damage, GBS is called an autoimmune disease. Normally the immune system uses antibodies (molecules produced in an immune response) & special white blood cells to protect us by attacking infecting bacteria and viruses. In GBS, however, the immune system mistakenly attacks the healthy nerves. This attack may start as a fight against an infection.

One possible reason for this is that, some chemicals seen on bacteria and viruses resemble those on nerve cells. The immune system may not be able to distinguish bacteria and viruses from healthy nerve cells which also become targets of attack.

GBS usually starts a few days or weeks following a respiratory or gastrointestinal bacterial or viral infection. One of the most common risk factors for GBS is infection with the bacteria Campylobacter jejuni, which causes gastroenteritis (including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea). Sometimes, surgery will trigger the syndrome.

In very rare cases certain vaccinations may increase the risk of GBS. Some countries worldwide reported an increased incidence of GBS following infection with the COVID-19, Zika, cytomegalovirus, or Epstein-Barr viruses.

DIAGNOSIS

Cases of GBS begin differently for different people, and there are several disorders with similar symptoms. Therefore, it may be difficult to diagnose GBS in its earliest stages. Doctors may perform the following:

➢History and physical exam: A doctor will perform a physical exam and review the person’s medical history. They will assess how the person’s muscles and nerves are working. The doctor will note whether symptoms appear on both sides of the body (which is typical in GBS) and how fast the symptoms appeared. This is helpful because in other disorders, muscle weakness may progress over months rather than days or weeks. They will also check the reflexes, as some reflexes are lost in people with GBS.

➢Nerve conduction velocity test (NCV): This test measures the nerve’s ability to send a signal. In GBS, the signals traveling along the damaged nerves are slowed because of damage to the myelin sheath.

➢Cerebrospinal fluid analysis: A doctor may also conduct an analysis of the cerebrospinal fluid that bathes the spinal cord. This fluid contains more protein and fewer immune cells in people with GBS.

➢Imaging: In some cases, an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) of the spinal cord or even brain may help find any other potential causes of muscle weakness.

TREATING GBS

ACUTE CARE FOR GBS

Currently, there is no cure for GBS. However, some therapies can reduce its severity & shorten recovery time. There are also several ways to treat the complications of the disease.

People with GBS are usually admitted to the hospital and treated in the intensive care unit due to possible complications of muscle weakness. At the hospital, people with GBS are closely monitored to track the progression of their muscle weakness, breathing, and heart rate. If an intervention is needed, it can be quickly provided by the hospital staff.

●Two treatments are commonly used to interrupt immune-related nerve damage. Both are equally effective if started within two weeks of GBS symptoms.

➢Plasma exchange (PE), also called plasmapheresis, involves removing some blood through a catheter. Plasma (the liquid part of the blood) is separated from the blood cells. These cells, along with replacement fluid, are returned to the body. PE may work by removing the bad antibodies in the plasma that have been damaging the nerves.

➢Intravenous immunoglobulin therapy (IVIg) involves injections of immunoglobulins—proteins that your immune system naturally makes to attack infecting organisms. The immunoglobulins are developed from a pool of thousands of healthy donors. IVIg can lessen the immune attack on the nervous system and shorten recovery time. Researchers believe this treatment also reduces the effectiveness of antibodies that attack the nerves by both “diluting” them with non-specific antibodies and reducing the number of harmful antibodies.

Anti-inflammatory steroid hormones called corticosteroids have also been tried to reduce the severity of GBS, but clinical trials have shown this treatment is not effective.

Supportive care is very important to address the many complications of paralysis as the body recovers and damaged nerves begin to heal. Since respiratory failure can occur in GBS, a person’s breathing should be closely monitored. Sometimes a mechanical ventilator is used to help support or control breathing. The autonomic nervous system (that regulates the functions of internal organs and some of the muscles in your body) can also be disturbed, causing changes in heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, or sweating, so the person should be put on a heart monitor or other equipment that measures and tracks body function.

REHABILITATIVE CARE

If the person has problems swallowing, they may also need special care to prevent choking, which can cause pneumonia.

As people with GBS begin to improve, they may be transferred from the acute care unit at a hospital to a rehabilitation setting. They can receive physical rehabilitation and other therapy to regain strength and resume activities of daily living. Because GBS can affect several parts of the body, different methods and approaches may be needed to prevent or treat complications. For example, a physical therapist can manually move and position the person’s limbs to help keep the muscles flexible and prevent muscle shortening. Muscle strength may not return in the same way.

Muscles that get stronger faster may take over a function that weaker muscles normally perform (this process is called substitution). A physical therapist can select specific exercises to improve the strength of weaker muscles so their original function can be regained.

Occupational and vocational therapy can help people learn new ways to handle everyday functions that may be affected. They can also help the person manage work demands and identify the need for assistive devices and other adaptive equipment and technology.

LONG TERM OUTLOOK

GBS can be a devastating disorder because of its sudden and rapid, unexpected onset of weakness—and often paralysis. Fortunately, most people with GBS have a full recovery. With careful intensive care and successful treatment of infection, autonomic dysfunction, and other medical complications, even people who have respiratory failure usually survive.

Recovery can be slow–anywhere from a few weeks to a few years. Some people do not recover completely and experience long-term weakness, numbness, fatigue, or pain. People recovering from GBS may face physical challenges and emotionally painful periods.

It can be extremely difficult to adjust to sudden paralysis and dependence on others for help with routine daily activities.

Some people with GBS need mental health counseling to help them adapt. Support groups can often ease emotional strain and provide valuable information. Some studies show that normal variations in certain genes could increase risk of developing GBS; however, more research is needed to identify and confirm associated genes

Electoral trusts were set up under the Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013 with the Centre framing rules for the eligibility and procedure for registering such trusts on January 31, 2013.  

As per the rules, an electoral trust is allowed to receive voluntary contributions from individual Indian citizens, a company registered in India, a firm, or Hindu undivided family (HUF) in the form of a cheque, bank draft or electronic transfer to its bank account.

No foreign entity, other registered electoral trusts, or individuals who are neither citizens nor residents of India can contribute to electoral trusts. An ET must distribute up to 95% of the voluntary contributions collected, with the surplus brought forward from the earlier year, to eligible political parties only. The remaining 5%, with a cap of ₹3 lakh, may be used for managing its own affairs.

These trusts are not allowed to use any contribution for the direct or indirect benefit of its members or contributors. They must also maintain accounts of the donors and their contributions, funds distributed to political parties, and expenses incurred by the trust.

The accounts of any ET must be audited and the report must be furnished to the Commissioner of Income Tax, including the list of contributors, list of parties that funds were distributed to, and the amounts disbursed.

As of date, eighteen electoral trusts are active, with the biggest being Prudent Electoral Trust, which has multiple corporate donors. In 2022-23, only five ETs — Prudent Electoral Trust, Samaj Electoral Trust, Paribartan Electoral Trust, Triumph Electoral Trust and Einzigartig Electoral Trust — received contributions from corporate houses, according to the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR).

The electoral trusts have to apply for renewal every three financial years. They must donate 95% of contributions received in a financial year to political parties registered under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The contributors’ PAN (in case of a resident) or passport number (in case of an NRI) is required at the time of making contributions.

The number of registered trusts has ranged from three in 2013 to 17 in 2021-22, but only a few of them actually make donations every financial year.

The Election Commission of India (ECI), strongly felt that before the launch of the Electoral Trusts scheme, there was no transparency requirement, either regarding source of funding or disbursal of funds to political parties, routed through Electoral Trusts.

For administrative expenses, the Electoral Trusts are permitted to set aside a maximum of 5% of the total funds collected during a financial year along with any surplus carried forward from the previous financial year.

The remaining 95% of total income of the Trusts including any surplus from previous financial year is required to be distributed to eligible political parties.

The electoral trust are required to keep and maintain books of account and other documents in respect to their receipts, distributions and expenditure to enable the computation of its total income in accordance with the provisions of the Act.

The book of accounts should comprise the list of people from whom contributions have been received and to whom the same have been distributed, donors’ name, address and permanent account number along with the details of the amount and mode of payment received including the name and branch of the bank.

Every electoral trust is required to get its accounts audited by an accountant and furnish the audit report in the format specified along with particulars forming part of its Annexure, to the Commissioner of Income-tax or the Director of Income-tax, having jurisdiction over the electoral trust, on or before the due date specified for furnishing the return of income by a company under Section 139. 

There were 6 Electoral Trusts – General Electoral Trust, Electoral Trust, Harmony Electoral Trust, Corporate Electoral Trust, Bharti Electoral Trust and Satya Electoral Trust – which donated to political parties before the launch of Electoral Trusts Scheme in 2013.

As the rules are not retrospective, these 6 Electoral Trusts are not required to follow the rules set down in the Electoral Trusts Scheme, 2013. Thus, details of donors to these 6 Electoral Trusts remain unknown.

The names of Electoral Trusts, currently, do not indicate the name of the Company/group of companies which set up the Trusts. In order to have greater transparency regarding details of corporates which fund political parties, it would be ideal to include the name of the parent company in the name of the Electoral Trust. 

 HOW IT IS DIFFERENT FROM ELECTORAL BOND SCHEME

The electoral trusts route is transparent on contributors and beneficiaries. Where there is only one contributor and one beneficiary of a particular trust, the public can know for sure who is funding whom. However, if there are multiple contributors and recipients of donations, it cannot be specified which company is funding which party.

So, Prudent Electoral Trust, which was known as Satya Electoral Trust before 2017, received contributions from a host of companies such as DLF, GMR, and Bharti Airtel, as well as several individuals, and donated to a range of national and regional parties. But it is difficult to pinpoint which donor gave to which party.

Electoral bonds, on the other hand, are exempted from disclosure requirements. Parties inform the ECI of the aggregate donations received through EBs, but give no details of the donors, which they are required to do in case of donations in cash or by cheque or bank transactions over Rs.20,000 each.

The government argues that this lack of transparency in donations through EBs is to maintain the privacy of donors.

The electoral trust mechanism ensures that the name of the corporate donor is revealed through contribution reports submitted to the poll panel and hence the public, unlike the opacity in case of electoral bonds.

By routing the political contributions through an electoral trust, companies can escape from the dislikes of any political party to which it has not donated.

The Central Government amended the Income Tax Rules, 1962 on the 31 January, 2013 to insert Rule 17CA to list the functions of Electoral Trusts which are approved by the Central Bureau of Direct Taxes (CBDT). The electoral trust will have to apply to CBDT on or before 31 July of the previous year relevant to the assessment year for which the approval is sought.

Approval may be given for one year or 3 years at a stretch, as specified in the approval communication. Approval can be withdrawn by the CBDT if it is satisfied that the Electoral Trust ceased to exist, or is not genuine or have not complied with the specified conditions. CBDT is empowered to call for information from the electoral trust.

FUND RAISING BY POLITICAL PARTIES

At present, there is no direct state funding of political parties in India. However, there are some other benefits granted to political parties like,

1.Providing free electoral rolls to the candidates and recognised political parties,

2.Providing free air time to the recognised political parties on state owned media,

3.Providing free space in state capitals for the office of the recognised political parties; and

4.Tax exemption on the income of the political parties.

Section 29B of the Representation of People Act, 1951, provides that subject to the provisions of the Companies Act, every political party may accept any amount of contribution voluntarily offered to it by any person or company other than a Government company.

Here the word “person” does not include Government company, local authority or artificial juridical person wholly or partially funded by the Government.

Electoral trusts may have been side-lined by electoral bonds as the preferred means of donating to political parties, but they are still disbursing healthy amounts to fund parties.

Further, no political party shall be eligible to accept any contribution from any foreign source defined under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010.

The Citizen’s charter issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs has clarified that foreign contribution cannot be accepted by a candidate for election, member of any legislature, political party or office bearer thereof.

The dendritic fractal patterns, like the branching pattern of tree roots or river drainage networks, are common on Earth. Recently, similar patterns have been detected on planetary surfaces such as Mars and Europa, the smallest of the four moons orbiting Jupiter.

Mars’ south polar “spiders” are thought to form via a solid-state-greenhouse effect, where gas trapped beneath seasonal carbon dioxide ice rushes towards a vent, scouring the substrate.

The National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA) have recreated the ubiquitous creepy black ‘spiders’ on the surface of Mars. These geological features, called araneiform terrain, can be seen at multiple locations on the Red Planet and are given the name ‘Spiders on Mars’.

There are hundreds of dark crack-like structures that appear on the surface of the planet with hundreds of lines or ‘legs’. The tightly grouped deformations can stretch to the lengths of over 3,300 feet (1,000 meters), and look like a hoard of spiders scurrying across the Martian landscape when viewed from space. 

These ‘spiders’ were first spotted by Mars orbiters in 2003 which was a complete mystery at the beginning, but later it was found that these structures form when carbon dioxide (CO2) ice on the planet’s surface suddenly sublimates or turns the gas first melting into liquid.

The emerging gas, laden with dark dust, shoots up through cracks in the ice in the form of tall fountains or geysers, before falling back down and settling on the surface. This creates dark spots of between 45 m and 1 km across.

Mars Express image, creeping across towering hills and expansive plateaus. However, most can be seen as small spots in the dark region to the left, which sits just at the outskirts of a part of Mars nicknamed Inca City.

The reason for this name is no mystery, with the linear, almost geometric network of ridges being reminiscent of Inca ruins. More formally known as Angustus Labyrinthus, Inca City was discovered in 1972 by NASA’s Mariner 9 probe.

Recently a study was published in The Planetary Science Journal where researchers mimicked this process on a smaller scale using a specialised laboratory chamber creating a nearly perfect miniature version of the spiders.

The study was led by Lauren Mc Keown, a planetary geomorphologist at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California who has been recreating these spiders for over five years.

In another study, the Kieffer model test by recreating these steps in a wide barrel-size chamber at JPL, which is known as the Dirty Under-vacuum Simulation Testbed for Icy Environments (DUSTIE), which recreated Mars’s extremely low-ore and temperature — minus 301 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 185 degrees Celsius).

They simulated Martian soil into the chamber and covered it with CO2 ice. They then heated the mixture with a lamp placed beneath the simulated soil replicating the warming effect of the sun.

For this experiment, the researchers chilled Martian soil simulant in a container submerged within a liquid nitrogen bath. They placed it in the DUSTIE chamber, where the air pressure was reduced to be similar to that of Mars’ southern hemisphere. Carbon dioxide gas then flowed into the chamber and condensed from gas to ice over the course of three to five hours.

Once they got ice with the right properties, they placed a heater inside the chamber below the simulant to warm it up and crack the ice. They made use of an effect known as the Leidenfrost Effect, whereby if a substance comes in contact with a surface much hotter than its sublimation point, it will form a gaseous layer around itself.

When the block reached the sandy surface, CO2 turned directly from solid to gas and material was seen escaping through the central hole in the form of a plume.

They made use of an effect known as the Leidenfrost Effect, whereby if a substance comes in contact with a surface much hotter than its sublimation point, it will form a gaseous layer around itself. When the block reached the sandy surface, CO2 turned directly from solid to gas and material was seen escaping through the central hole in the form of a plume. 

Temperatures in this region of Mars can dip as low as 300 degrees below zero, while the air pressure is less than 1/100th that of Earth’s.

According to NASA representative, It took many tries before Mc Keown found just the right conditions for the ice to become thick and translucent enough for the experiments to work. But finally, the ice cracked open and gas seeped out of the holder around 10 min before the frozen CO2 disappeared and left one of the iconic spiders. The spiders are connected to seasonal changes on Mars.

A new study reveals a hidden step in the Kieffer model: Ice also formed within the ground causing it to crack open along with the ice. It could explain why spider’s legs have such a zig-zag shape, the researchers said. Serina Diniega, a planetary scientist at JPL, who co-authored the study, issued a statement that reads, “It’s one of those details that show that nature is a little messier than the textbook image.”

According to the Kieffer model, Sunlight heats the soil when it shines through transparent slabs of carbon dioxide ice that built up on the Martian surface each winter. Being darker than the ice above it, the soil absorbs the heat & causes the ice closest to it to turn directly into carbon dioxide gas — without turning to liquid first — in a process called sublimation (the same process that sends clouds of “smoke” billowing up from dry ice).

As the gas builds in pressure, the Martian ice cracks, allowing the gas to escape. As it seeps upward, the gas takes with it a stream of dark dust and sand from the soil that lands on the surface of the ice.

When winter turns to spring and the remaining ice sublimates, according to the theory, the spider like scars from those small eruptions are what’s left behind.

There are still many questions about the spiders that can’t be answered in a lab. Why have they formed in some places on Mars but not others? Since they appear to result from seasonal changes that are still occurring, why don’t they seem to be growing in number or size over time?

In a wolf pack, only one pair of wolves mates & reproduces. Fathers are involved in taking care of the litter. The hybrids were spotted in four districts in Maharashtra — Dhule, Ahmednagar, Nashik and Pune. 

Generally, in mammals, only hybrid females are fertile while hybrid males are not. Among canids, earlier studies have shown that both sexes of hybrids are fertile and capable of reproduction. This enables the introgression of dog genomes into wolves and vice versa. 

There are concerns that an increase in the population of hybrids and gradual decrease in the numbers of pure breeding members can disrupt the social structure of wolves. This can further drive hybridisation, leading to a ‘hybridisation vortex’, and eventually to extinction of a species.

Wild canids like grey wolves & golden jackals (Canis aureus) often live closer to human habitations & coexist with domestic dogs in a complex relationship of competition. Increased human-wildlife interfaces have resulted in more interactions between the two species.

Researchers say hybridisation could result in significant reduction of specific adaptations in wolves, which combined with increased exposure to canine diseases such as rabies, distemper, and parvoviruses, could lead to a reduction in wolf populations. 

For the study, hairs were collected from two different looking individuals in Pune and their genetic origin investigated and compared against other canid species like golden jackals and dholes (Cuon alpinus).

The study found the first genetic evidence of one second generation or F2 hybrid and another individual that “could be a complex hybrid between dogs and wolves”

In place of mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite markers, the scientists used the more advanced single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, that identify hybrids more efficiently.The findings also challenge the definition of ‘biological species’.

Wildlife acts and legislations around the world do not account for hybrids. This study should encourage more evidence-based action, research and policies for conservation of hybrids. 

In Ladakh, there is a name for a wolf-dog hybrid: Khib-shang.

Across the globe, gray wolves (Canis lupus) carry slivers of chromosomes from domestic dogs (Canis lupus familiaris), pointing to potential genetic hybridization that spans back many generations. Analyzing the canids’ DNA, researchers found that although wolves have long been interbreeding with dogs, their gene pools remain separate, and the eradication of hybrids to preserve the genetic integrity of wolves could be misguided. 

According to Malgorzata Pilot, a senior lecturer at the United Kingdom’s University of Lincoln, Even though hybridization is geographically widespread in Europe and Asia,” she said, “it is not very frequent, so we can distinguish the genetic pools of wolf and dog populations.

Pilot  and her colleagues examined hundreds of genetic samples collected a decade ago from wolves and dogs worldwide. They used a DNA chip to unscramble these animals’ genotypes at 60,000 places throughout the genome to detect hybridization.

According to Pilot, in Eurasia, about 60 percent of all individuals  had small chromosomal fragments originating from dogs. It doesn’t mean they are hybrids.

It means many generations ago, they had a dog ancestor. In North America, we identified a very small number of individuals that showed evidence for past hybridization with dogs. 

The findings particularly have management implications for black wolves in Europe, where they are sometimes culled because the darker color is seen as a sign that the animals are hybrids.

All black wolves from North America & Italy tested had the dog-derived gene, that causes black coloration, but otherwise there was no evidence of hybridization with dogs. These individuals had a dog ancestor a very long time ago, so there is no more trace of this admixture in their genomes. They cannot be treated as hybrids. It is difficult to identify hybrids based on phenotypes.

Hybridization hasn’t affected the wolf gene pool significantly, but wolf populations in Europe are much smaller as compared with populations of free-ranging dogs.

Human demographic expansion has confined wildlife to fragmented habitats, often in proximity to human-modified landscapes. Such interfaces facilitate increased interactions between feral or domesticated animals and wildlife, posing a high risk to wild species.

Detection and genetic discrimination of hybrids between dogs and wolves are challenging because of their complex demographic history and close ancestry. Indian wolves are the same species that roam across North America and Europe, but they are entirely different animals.

Not only do they look dissimilar, being smaller, lankier, and less furry, but they act differently. While the Western wolves symbolise fierce wilderness, many populations of the Indian wolves hang out near humans, a risky strategy for a carnivore. To survive, they rely on camouflage, stealth, and an awareness of humans.  

In Koppal district, northern Karnataka, wolves lurk around villages and fields set in the black Deccan soil of the valleys ringed by picturesque rocky hillocks. Despite the large canids’ proximity to civilisation, they have this ability to be invisible especially in peninsular India .

In a landscape with few wild areas where they can thrive free of human disturbance, they often den adjacent to fields.

A series of touchscreen experiments carried out by the Wolf Science Center in Vienna, Austria, found that wolves make for more selfless pack mates than dogs who were also raised in groups.

The study say the findings suggest domestic dogs inherited their cooperative tendencies from their fierce wolf ancestors, rather than through their contact with human beings, a competing hypothesis.

Asset monetization is the process of unlocking the value of investment made in public assets which have not yielded appropriate or potential returns so far. 

National Monetization Pipeline (NMP)  intended in unlocking value in infrastructure assets by involving private companies across the different  sectors. 

As per the Ministry of finance,  asset monetization does not involve selling of land and it is about monetizing brownfield assets. The projects have been identified across sectors, with roads, railways and power being the top segments. 

According to Ministry ,“Ownership of assets will remain with the government and there will be a mandatory hand-back.” Asset monetization will unlock resources and lead to value unlocking.” 

In a monetization transaction, the government is basically transferring revenue rights to private parties for a specified transaction period in return for upfront money, a revenue share, and commitment of investments in the assets. 

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) and infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs), for instance, are the key structures used to monetize assets in the roads and power sectors. 

These are also listed on stock exchanges, providing investors liquidity through secondary markets as well. While these are a structured financing vehicle, other monetization models on PPP (Public Private Partnership) basis include: Operate Maintain Transfer (OMT), Toll Operate Transfer (TOT), and Operations, Maintenance & Development (OMD).  

OMT and TOT have been used in highways sector while OMD is being deployed in case of airports.

According to Union Minister of finance , NMP estimates aggregate monetization potential of ₹6 lakh crores through core assets of central government over the four-year period from FY 2022 to FY 2025 .

The NMP has been announced to provide a clear framework for monetisation and give potential investors a ready list of assets to generate investment interest.  It will have a dashboard to track the progress and provide visibility to investors.

The government has stressed that these are brownfield assets, which have been “de-risked” from execution risks, and therefore should encourage private investment. 

Structuring the monetization transactions, providing a balance risk profile of assets, and effective execution of the NMP will be key challenges.

Union Budget 2021-22 had identified monetisation of operating public infrastructure assets as a key means for sustainable infrastructure financing.

NITI Aayog in consultation with infra line ministries has prepared the report on NMP.

The aggregate asset pipeline under NMP over the four-year period is indicatively valued at ₹6 lakh crore. The estimated value corresponds to 14% of the proposed outlay for Centre under the National Infrastructure Pipeline (₹43 lakh crore) 

According to Ministry of Finance, the end objective of this initiative is to enable “infrastructure creation through monetization” wherein the public and private sector collaborate, each excelling in their core areas of competence, so as to deliver socio-economic growth and quality of life to the country’s citizens.

NHAI & PGCIL will be taking the charge for  this. Transmission assets worth ₹7,000 crores will be transferred to PGCIL. 

  These include one InvIT (Infrastructure Investment Trust) each sponsored by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Power Grid (PGCIL) that will attract international and domestic institutional investors. As many as 25 Airports Authority of India (AAI) airports, including the ones at Chennai, Bhopal, Varanasi and Vadodara, as well as 40 railway stations, 15 railway stadiums and an unidentified number of railway colonies have been identified for getting private investments. Other core infrastructure assets that will be rolled out under the Asset Monetization Program are: NHAI operational toll roads; transmission assets of PGCIL; oil and gas pipelines of GAIL, IOCL and HPCL; AAI airports in Tier-II and -III cities; other railway infrastructure assets; warehousing assets of CPSEs (Central Public Sector Enterprises) such as Central Warehousing Corporation and NAFED; and sports stadia.

The NMP will run co-terminus with the National Infrastructure Pipeline of Rs 100 lakh crore announced in December 2019 .  

The estimated amount to be raised through monetisation is around 14% of the proposed outlay for the Centre of Rs 43 lakh crore under NIP. 

The other assets on the NMP list include: 26,700 km of roads, railway stations, train operations and tracks, 2,8608 Ckt km worth of power transmission lines, 6 GW of hydroelectric and solar power assets, 2.86 lakh km of fibre assets and 14,917 towers in the telecom sector, 8,154 km of natural gas pipelines and 3,930 km of petroleum product pipelines. 

In the roads sector, the government has already monetised 1,400 km of national highways worth Rs 17,000 crore. Another five assets have been monetised through a PowerGrid InvIT raising Rs 7,700 crore. 

Also, 15 railway stations, 25 airports and the stake of central government in existing airports and 160 coal mining projects, 31 projects in 9 major ports, 210 lakh MT of warehousing assets, 2 national stadium and 2 regional centers, will be up for monetization.

Redevelopment of various government colonies and hospitality assets including ITDC hotels is expected to generate Rs 15,000 crore. 

Among the key challenges that may affect the NMP roadmap are: lack of identifiable revenues streams in various assets, level of capacity utilization in gas and petroleum pipeline networks, dispute resolution mechanism, regulated tariffs in power sector assets, and low interest among investors in national highways below four lanes. 

Practical  execution of the plan remains key to its success. Structuring of monetization transactions is being seen as key.  

The slow pace of privatization in government companies including Air India and BPCL, and less-than-encouraging bids in the recently launched PPP initiative in trains, indicate that attracting private investors interest is not that easy. 

Monetisation potential of toll road assets , is limited by the percentage of stretches having fourlane and above configuration. .

 As per the NMP framework, the total length of national highway (NH) stretches with four-lane and above is estimated to be about 23% of the total NH network . 

The government has used four key methods to arrive at indicative value of Rs 6 lakh crore worth of assets to be monetized . This is based on the suitability of the valuation approach to the nature of the assets and the accompanying revenue streams. For roads, power transmission and telecom tower assets, the government has used the market approach, where the value is determined based on comparable market transactions for the identified asset classes. In case of proposed monetization of 26,700 km of national highways , the per km estimated is based on recent TOT (toll operate transfer) transactions and asset matrix  to be monetized. While average realization by NHAI under past TOT concessions successfully awarded has been in the range of Rs 9-14 crore per km, a lower range at Rs 6 crore per km has been assumed to factor in certain lower traffic stretches.  

The similar approach has  been used to assess the estimated value of power transmission assets . The monetization value of the transmission assets has been considered as Rs 1.58 crore per circuit (ckt) km, based on reference value on Power Grid’s recently closed InvIT. For total assets of 28,608 ckt km, the estimated value comes to Rs 45,200 crore. 

Capex approach has been considered for monetization through PPP (public-private partnership)-based models envisaging capital expenditure by private sector. The principle under the capex approach is that in the absence of the asset monetization transaction, the Public Asset Owner would have to incur the outlay towards augmentation and O&M (operations & maintenance) of the brownfield asset.  

This method has been deployed to value most assets in sectors including ports, airports, railway stations, passenger trains, freight terminals, railway colonies redevelopment, track infra under dedicated freight corridor, sports stadium, warehousing, BharatNet fibre asset, mining, and urban housing redevelopment. 

Book-value approach has been used for asset classes where information on comparable market transactions or estimated capex investment is not available. The book value of the assets has been estimated considering the average capex cost incurred to construct a similar category of asset adjusted for the age of the asset and number of years of operation. Power generation assets have been valued at book value.

Enterprise-value approach has been considered for assets where information on existing revenue stream is available or can be reasonably projected based on assumptions and/or available data on prevailing tariff for an asset/asset class.  

In such cases, net present value of discounted cash flows has been worked out to determine indicative monetisation value. This method has been used to value natural gas and product pipelines as well as for track, signalling, and overhead equipment. 

The National Monetization Pipeline was not discussed in Parliament or any Parliamentary committee, or the consultative committee of the Finance Ministry. 

While roads, railways and power account for around 65 per cent of the proceeds of the programme, the list of assets detailed is spread across sectors such as telecom, aviation, mining and warehousing, suggesting a more wide-ranging programme. While the targets are aggressive, a four-year roadmap, providing in detail the assets the government intends to lease, should provide clarity to investors and generate interest.

Urban employment scheme called Decentralized Urban Employment and Training (DUET) was introduced by the economist Jean Dreze . Under the scheme, State or Union government  would issue “job stamps”, each standing for one day of work at the minimum wage. The job stamps would be liberally distributed to approved public institutions such as universities, hostels, schools, hospitals, health centres, museums, libraries, shelters, jails, offices, departments, railway stations, transport corporations, public-sector enterprises, neighborhood associations and urban local bodies. 

These institutions would be free to use the stamps to hire labour for odd jobs and small projects that do not fit easily within their existing budgets and systems.

Wages, paid by the government, would go directly to the workers’ accounts against job stamps certified by the employer. 

This scheme has some advantages like,  activating a multiplicity of potential employers, avoiding the need for special staff, facilitating productive work . It has potential to  ensure secure entitlement to minimum wages, and possibly other benefits for workers . 

 Many States have  problems of dismal maintenance of public premises , DUET could provide alternative solution for it. 

To avoid collusion, an independent placement agency would take charge of assigning workers to employers.

The scheme may incorporate some skilled workers to ensure win win situation for employers and consumer citizens. This may result in widening and diversification of possible employment opportunities.  

So there is a possible need of training programmes in the scheme . It would also help to impart ‘an on the job’ training component in the scheme,as they work alongside skilled workers. 

Attracting skilled workers, may required to pay a fair amount of work in urban areas . 

Here is a variant of DUET  where there is no thinking of a minimum quota for women, like the one-third quota under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), but of an absolute priority: as long as women workers are available, they get all the work. In fact, women could also run the placement agencies, or the entire programme for that matter. 

To facilitate women’s involvement, most of the work could be organized on a part-time basis.  It would give them some economic independence and bargaining power within the family, and help them to acquire new skills.  

Giving priority to women would have two advantages . First, it would reinforce the self-targeting feature of DUET, because women in relatively well-off households are unlikely to go for casual labour at the minimum wage. Second, it would promote women’s general participation in the labour force. India has one of the lowest rates of female workforce participation in the world. 

The will of the public institution to make active use of the job stamps will be an important aspect of DUET.  

There is a big difference between DUET and the “service voucher” schemes that have proved so popular in some European countries. The service vouchers are used by households instead of public institutions, for the purpose of securing domestic services such as cooking and cleaning in cheaper rates. 

The service vouchers are not free, but  are highly subsidized, and households have an advantage  to use them in buying domestic services at cheaper rates .  

In the DUET scheme, the use of job stamps relies on a sense of responsibility among the heads of public institutions, not their self-interest ,So the effective use of job stamps is uncertain.  According to Jean Dreze, the best possible way will be the implementation of a pilot scheme in selected districts or in  municipalities. 

DUET’s  scheme has a simple functional  design, and has potential  to be implemented with available  administrative arrangements. It can use local employing agencies, instead of just the Urban Local Bodies (ULB), which might  be uncertain about generation of  work in required amounts.  

 Role of worker cooperatives  can be potential and effective  ‘placement agencies’ under the scheme. It can play an important role in  ending the monopoly  of labour contractors in urban areas.  

DUET needs to incorporate dedicated budgets for non-labour costs, or fiscal constraints may prevent it from starting in the first place.

Migrants can be the mostly potential beneficiary of the scheme , may be not having any fixed urban address, domicile or residence proof, so it should not be made mandatory. 

workers under the programme must be provided with basic rights such as equal wages for women and men, worksite facilities, insurance and compensation for accidents/injuries, compensation for delays in wage payments, mandatory disclosure of information related to the implementation of the scheme, and provisions for social audit.

The role of the Public Works Department (PWD) needs to be designed properly in relevance with the scheme as,  repair and maintenance of public institutions is the administrative jurisdiction of the PWD in every state. 

At present, state government allocates funds for urban public projects such as the maintenance of government buildings, and selects a few applications from amongst the applicants given their budget. Under DUET, the allocative and selection decision would still be in the hands of the state government. 

The National Urban Livelihood Mission (NULM) could possibly play a role in DUET as well. 

 Several states have already launched urban employment programmes in response to the pandemic. In addition to Odisha’s Urban Wage Employment Initiative (UWEI) and Himachal’s Mukhyamantri Shahri Aajeevika Guarantee Yojana (Chief Minister Urban Livelihood Guarantee Programme), the latest one is Jharkhand’s Mukhyamantri Shramik Yojana (Chief Minister Workers Programme). While it is early days yet to say much about the impact of these schemes, Kerala’s Ayyankali Urban Employment Guarantee Scheme has been running for a few years already and can provide some lessons for the way forward. 

This happened recently in Zimbabwe, in Africa, and in Venezuela, in South America, when these countries printed more money to try to make their economies grow.

Monetizing the deficit is when the RBI directly purchases government bonds (G-Secs) from the primary market to help the Centre’s expenditure.

In turn, the RBI prints more money to finance this debt. In other words, monetization of deficit happens when RBI buys government securities directly from the primary market to fund government’s expenses.

When the printing of currency for a longer period of time, resulted into the “hyperinflation”. 

When Zimbabwe was hit by hyperinflation, in 2008, prices rose as much as 231,000,000% in a single year. 

To get sustained , a country has to make and sell more things – whether goods or services. This makes it safe to print more money, so that people can buy those extra things. 

When a country prints more money without making more things, then prices just go up.

No one is making any more of these models. So even if everyone gets more money to spend, it won’t mean that more people can afford to buy them. The sellers will just put the price up. 

At the moment, USA can  sustain the  printing of its currency . Because the demand of dollar is usually very high because of its importance in international trade.

Most of the valuable things that countries around the world trades, including gold and oil, are priced in US dollars. 

If the US wants to buy more things, it really can just print more dollars. Though if it printed too many, the price of those things in dollars would still go up. 

When poorer countries can only print their own currency, not US dollars. And if they print a lot more, their prices will go up too fast, and people will stop using that money. 

When people will swap goods for other goods, or ask to be paid in US dollars instead. That’s what happened in Zimbabwe and Venezuela, and many other countries that were hit by hyperinflation. 

Venezuela tried to protect its people from hyperinflation by passing laws to keep a low price on things people need most, like food and medicines. But that just meant that the shops and pharmacies ran out of those things.

But it’s not true that a country can never get sustained by printing money. This can happen, if it doesn’t have enough money to start with. If there’s a shortage of money, businesses can’t sell enough, or pay all their workers. People can’t even borrow money from banks, because they don’t have enough either. In  this case, printing more money lets people spend more, which lets companies produce more, so there are more things to buy as well as more money to buy them with.

In 2008, there was the Global financial crisis, when banks lost a lot of money, and couldn’t let their customers have it. Luckily, most countries have central banks, which help to run the other banks, and they printed extra money to get their economies moving again. 

Too little money makes prices fall, which is bad. But printing more money, when there isn’t more production, makes prices rise. 

The central banks, with regard to printing of notes, take decisions based on so many complex factors relating to financial stability, inflation and stability of exchange rates . 

When government is going for direct monetisation of its deficit ,it will  asks RBI   to print new currency in return for new bonds that the government gives to the RBI. 

In lieu of printing this cash, which is a liability for the RBI. it gets government bonds, which are an asset for the RBI since such bonds carry the government’s promise to pay back the designated sum at a specified date. 

In the UK in the month of April 2020, the Bank of England extended direct monetization facility to the UK government even though Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, opposed the move till the last moment. 

Until 1997, the RBI “automatically” monetized the government’s deficit. However, direct monetization of government deficit has its downsides. In 1994, Manmohan Singh (former RBI Governor and then Finance Minister) and C Rangarajan, then RBI Governor, decided to end this facility by 1997. 

Still an escape clause in the 2017 amendment of the FRBM (Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act) act permits such direct monetisation under special circumstances.

According to C. Rangarajan ,“Monetisation of the deficit is inevitable. Such a large increase in expenditure cannot be managed without monetisation of government debt,”. 

This is different from the “indirect” monetising that RBI does when it conducts the so-called Open Market Operations (OMOs) and/ or purchases bonds in the secondary market.

Direct monetisation provides an opportunity for the government to boost overall demand at the time when private demand has fallen, but it may fuel inflation. 

While no ideal level of debt is set in stone ,most economists believe developing economies like India should not have debt higher than 80%-90% of the GDP. At present, it is around 70% of GDP in India.

Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee  suggested that printing money is an ideal way to support expenditure during the ongoing second wave of the pandemic. While Banerjee said that the additional cash printing will help in direct cash transfers to poorer sections of the society. 

When the government is required to increase its expenditure beyond budgetary allocation in view of a crisis situation, the central bank has the option of printing more money to support the additional liquidity requirement. 

Additional money printing is a strategy that many developed nations adapt to fight a recession. The US has done it during the Coronavirus pandemic to make credit easily available at lower interest rates. But it has also expressed the need to gradually taper the additional stimulus in view of upside risk to inflation. 

Former RBI governor D Subbarao recently said that India’s central bank can directly print money and finance additional spending by the government. However, Subbarao added that it should only be done if there is absolutely no alternative. 

According to Subbarao when the RBI buys bonds under its open market operations (OMOs) or buys dollars under its forex operations, it is printing money to pay for those purchases, and that money indirectly goes to finance the government’s borrowing. 

“The important difference though is this when RBI is printing money as part of its liquidity operations, it is in the driver’s seat, deciding how much money to print and how to channel it into the system. 

Canada is widely known for its brutal winter and snows, and prior to the weekend the historical high in Canada was 45°C, set in Saskatchewan in 1937, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada.

The heat over western parts of Canada and the US has been caused by a dome of static high-pressure hot air stretching from California to the Arctic territories. Temperatures have been easing in coastal areas but there is not much respite for inland regions.  

The scorching heat stretching from the US state of Oregon to Canada’s Arctic territories has been blamed on a high-pressure ridge trapping warm air in the region.

The heatwave in the Pacific Northwest, which is more accustomed to long bouts of rain than sun, resulted from a high pressure system that wasn’t moving, said Greg Flato, a senior research scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada based in Victoria.

Weather-wise, the current heat wave in the west is due to a “heat dome,”. It’s a large area of high pressure that extends well up into the atmosphere. So in British Columbia , even at the top of the Rocky Mountains, the temperature is some 15 to 20 degrees above normal .So, when you have this dome, this high-pressure system, it’s a lot of sinking air underneath that just warms more as it comes down towards the coast.  

On top of this, the sun is shining day after day, and creating a bubble where the jet stream can do nothing but go around it . This stops the rain from coming in or cold fronts from cooling things down. Although heat domes are nothing new, while the frequency and duration in which they are happening could be attributed to climate change.

Heat waves begin when high pressure in the atmosphere moves in and pushes warm air toward the ground. That air warms up further as it is compressed, and we begin to feel a lot hotter.

The high-pressure system pressing down on the ground expands vertically, forcing other weather systems to change course. It even minimizes wind and cloud cover, making the air more stifling. This is also why a heat wave parks itself over an area for several days or longer. 

As the ground warms, it loses moisture, which makes it easier to heat even more. In the drought-ridden West, there is plenty of heat for the high-pressure system to trap.

As that trapped heat continues to warm, the system acts like a lid on a pot ,  earning the name “heat dome.” In the Pacific Northwest, the heat and the drought are working in concert, exacerbating the problem and causing temperature records to fall day after day.

The heat has resulted from a wide and deep mass of high-pressure air that, because of a wavy jet stream, parked itself over much of the region. Such an enormous high-pressure zone acts like a lid on a pot, trapping heat so that it accumulates. And with the West suffering through drought, there’s been plenty of heat to trap. This happens when strong, high-pressure atmospheric conditions combine with influences from La Nina , creating vast areas of sweltering heat that gets trapped under the high-pressure “dome.” 

In Seattle, Portland and other areas west of the Cascades, hot air blowing from the east was further warmed as it descended the mountains, raising temperatures even more.

Climate is naturally variable, so periods of high heat are to be expected. But in this episode scientists see the fingerprints of climate change, brought on by human-caused emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.

A strong change (or gradient) in ocean temperatures from west to east in the tropical Pacific Ocean during the preceding winter triggers the heat dome .  

The western Pacific’s temperatures have risen over the past few decades as compared to the eastern Pacific, creating a strong temperature gradient, or pressure differences that drive wind, across the entire ocean in winter. In a process known as convection, the gradient causes more warm air, heated by the ocean surface, to rise over the western Pacific, and decreases convection over the central and eastern Pacific .

As prevailing winds move the hot air east, the northern shifts of the jet stream trap the air and move it toward land, where it sinks, resulting in heat waves.

The extreme heat wave seen in British Columbia is not just tied to that region. It’s still been very hot and humid in Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada 

The heatwave has scorched crops across the Prairies, where farmers grow much of the world’s wheat and canola, driven up natural gas prices in the fourth-largest global producer, and increased the risks of wildfires. 

A flood warning is now effect for the Chilcotin region in British Columbia’s interior due to an unprecedented amount of snowmelt triggered by extremely hot temperatures.