UPSC GK: Understanding Nanak Shah Fakir Controversy (HISTORY)

The Jap ji Sahib, believed to be composed by founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak Dev, is a prayer with which the Guru Granth Sahib begins. Speaking about the divinity to which the Sikhs look up to it states “Thapia na jaye kita na hoye, aape aap niranjan soye”. Roughly that translates to: “He cannot be installed nor shaped, for he is the formless one.” For the Sikhs, portrayal of their ten Gurus or their families is sacrilege, prohibited in the writings of the founder of the religious sect himself. Lately, the Sikh prohibition of the pictorial depiction of their Gurus has come into focus with the protest against the release of the film, “Nanak Shah Fakir”, the first-ever film on the life of Guru Nanak Dev ji.

Produced by columnist and writer Harinder Sikka, the film was first released in 2015 after Sikka obtained permission from the Akal Takht, considered to be the supreme temporal body of Sikhism. However, after repeated objections being raised by several Sikh bodies, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) stepped in, demanding a ban on the film. Following the demand for a ban, Sikka withdrew the film from everywhere, seeking approval of the SGPC first. Earlier this week, the Supreme Court, however, refused to stay the release of the film.

The controversy over the film has turned the spotlight on the artistic portrayal of Sikh gurus. As per common public knowledge, the proscription of pictorial depictions of those associated with divine power is an aspect considered to be an Islamic belief. “In Islam and Sikhism they say God is unbound. God is beyond everything, he is the Akal Purukh. That is why Sikhism does not allow the pictorial depiction of God or the Godly men, the Gurus,” explains writer Amandeep Sandhu.

Curiously though, in contrast to Islam, we do see images of the Sikh Gurus. One of the earliest instances of pictorial depiction in Sikhism is the B-40 Janamsakhi, completed in August 1733. It is a collection of anecdotes from the life of Guru Nanak, including 57 illustrations. According to historian, Hew McLeod, Sikh art has its genesis in these Janamsakhis. Further, twentieth century painter Shobha Singh is known for the many portraits he created of the Sikh Gurus, several of which are part of the art gallery in Parliament House. To understand this dichotomy in Sikh belief systems, we need to reflect upon the genesis of the sect, steeped as it was in syncretism and then the evolution of it in response to political developments in the nineteenth century.

Sikhism and a syncretic belief system

“Sikhism is a syncretic religion. It took some ideas from Hinduism and some from Islam. Then, of course, it had its own ideologies,” says Sandhu. Sikhism took birth in the Punjab of sixteenth century, when the dominating religions in the region was Hinduism and Islam. The founder of the Sikh faith, Guru Nanak Dev was born to Hindu parents. Scholar of religious studies, David Lorenzen believes that “the Sikh religion derives from the Nirguni current of Bhakti tradition”. The Bhakti movement was a devotional trend that had developed out of Hinduism in medieval South India in the eighth century, and by the fifteenth century had swept through large parts of North India.

However, it would be erroneous to say that Sikhism was following the same trend as the Bhakti tradition since it did not adhere to several teachings of the Bhakti movement. On the other hand, the religion drew significantly from Vedic traditions. At the same time the new found religion drew upon Islamic ideologies, particularly the Muslim idea of one God (Allah).

Sikhism also had its own ways of relating to the divine. Accordingly, the Sikh Gurus urged their followers to focus on the Guru Granth Sahib, the religious scripture composed by the ten teachers of the faith.

However, we need to keep in mind that the idea of religion at this point in time in the subcontinent, was far more fluid than what it is today. Professor of Asian Studies Harjot Oberoi, in his book, “The construction of religious boundaries,” writes that “for much of their history, people in the subcontinent went on with their rituals, pilgrimages, and acts of religious piety without objectifying religion into an exclusive entity”. Accordingly, it would have been difficult to categorise people on the basis of Hindu, Muslim or Sikh. There existed multiple religious identities in the same person.

Consequently, during the early period of Sikhism, there were hardly any distinct religious boundaries. There existed multiple sects within the Sikh tradition, many of which did not even adhere to popular Sikh beliefs like the maintaining of unshorn hair. Even when a rigidity in Sikh identity did come into existence in the eighteenth century, there were many who continued to interpret the religious tradition differently.

Sikhism and a rigid belief system

We may safely say that by the beginning of the eighteenth century, there was no cohesive Sikh identity. However, things began to change with the onslaught of colonial rule. On one hand there emerged active proselytizing efforts by Christian missionaries, and on the other hand the Arya Samaj too was vigorously attempting to reform Hinduism. A response to the combination of these two trends was the attempt to modernise Sikh tradition, cleaning out the pluralistic aspects from the same.

The most important contribution in this regard was that of the Singh Sabha (Society of Sikhs) which was established in 1873 to reaffirm Sikh identity. While the Singh Sabha in itself consisted of three separate movements, it was the Tat Khalsa which emerged most influential by the turn of the century.

The Tat Khalsa rejected all Hindu accreditations prevalent in the practise of Sikhism in the nineteenth century. According to the writings of social scientist, Giorgio Shani, “from the early 1880s onwards the Tat Khalsa aggressively sought to strengthen Sikh cultural boundaries by initiating three measures.” First, they removed all non-Sikh icons from Sikh sacred centers. Second, they prohibited all seasonal fairs to be held within the precincts of Sikh shrines. Third, they actively sought to reform temple management. By the beginning of 20th century, agents of the Tat Khalsa and removed all idols and images of Sikh Gurus from the premises of the Golden Temple, citing their actions as a means of purifying Sikhism.

By the 1920s, the Tat Khalsa made an important legal intervention when they managed to establish direct control over all the major gurdwaras in the subcontinent. “Inspired by the Tat Khalsa ideal, the Akali movement of the 1920s eventually secured British assent to the Sikh Gurdwara Act of 1925, under which control of all gurdwaras passed to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC),” writes scholar of religious studies Pashaura Singh. Control of the gurdwaras gave immense political power to the SGPC and by the 1950s, it had grown to become the ultimate authority on all religious matters associated with the Sikhs. To this date, the SGPC remains the primary institutional mechanism to legislate on all issues related to the Sikh community and to give expression to Sikh identity.

In the midst of the controversy surrounding the film Nanak Shah Fakir, the SGPC maintained that they would have wanted to remove all existing pictorial depictions of the Sikh Gurus. However, since their circulation is so widespread that they are difficult to be removed now. However, the committee now wishes to prohibit celluloid portrayals of the Gurus. A syncretic, fluid religious system, developing rigid boundaries over time is perhaps what best explains the debate surrounding the prohibition of pictorial depictions of divinity in Sikhism.

Credit: Indian Express Research (http://indianexpress.com/article/research/nanak-shah-fakir-controversy-why-sikhism-prohibits-pictorial-depiction-of-the-gurus-5144997/)

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UPSC GK: How to make Coal fired Power Plants less Dirty (SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY)

Coal, as a source of energy, is firmly out of favour now due to climate change considerations. Most countries, including India, have plans to phase out coal over the next few decades. India, in fact, has officially announced that it would not set up any new coal-fired power plants after 2022.

However, we still have to live with coal for some more time at least. In spite of the rapid increase in power generation from renewable sources like wind and solar, over 60% of India’s electricity is still generated in thermal power plants. And it is estimated that even in the best-case scenario, coal would continue to be the mainstay of India’s energy mix for at least three more decades.

Efforts are on to ensure that pollution emanating from coal is at least reduced a bit in these intervening years. A variety of “clean coal technologies” is being deployed or experimented with to realise the objective. The modern “super-critical” power plants also emit lesser pollutants.

Most thermal power plants burn coal to generate heat, which is used to convert water into steam. The pressure of the steam is then used to move turbines that produce electricity. The quality of coal is an important factor in deciding the efficiency of the plant — the amount of electricity generated per unit of coal burnt — as well as the waste that is released. Typically, coal power plants release a lot of carbon dioxide (CO2) that is a dangerous greenhouse gas.

The varieties of coal found in India have an additional problem. They have high ash content. Burning coal in the conventional pulverised mode results in the release of a lot of fly ash, a major contributor to air pollution and a health hazard. Several techniques have been put in place to capture this fly ash after it is produced, but they are not very efficient. Alternatively, coal is passed through an extensive “pre-processing” process called “washing” to remove some of the ash content before it is burnt, which is also not very effective.

A group of researchers at IIT Madras has now come up with a more effective way of managing this problem. Apart from ensuring that the ash is removed as chunks from the reactor bed itself, their procedure reduces the formation of CO2, and instead generates synthetic gas (syngas), which is a mixture of clean fuel gases like carbon monoxide and hydrogen, as by-products which can then be put to a variety of uses.

The group utilised a well-known coal gasification technique in which coal is only partially burnt with a very limited supply of oxygen in the ‘bubbling fluidized bed gasification reactor’. At about 100 degree celsius, all moisture from the coal is drained out. At higher temperatures, between 300 and 400 degree celsius, gaseous fuels trapped inside coal, like nitrogen, methane and a mixture of many other hydrocarbons, are released. When temperatures reach between 800-900 degree celsius, the carbon in the coal starts reacting with oxygen in the air, as well as steam supplied along with air, to form carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen and carbon dioxide (CO2). By controlling the amount of air and steam, it can be ensured that significant amounts of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) are formed. Production of CO2, which is a greenhouse gas, can be minimized. Careful systematic studies have been conducted to arrive at the regime of operation, air to coal and steam to coal ratios. It has been found that the addition of steam becomes favourable in the case of high-ash Indian coals. Therefore, optimized performance can be established in the case of Indian coal by following this operational procedure.

In fact, this technique can be extended to produce syngas of high calorific value by enhancing the oxygen content in the oxidizer, and the H2 to CO ratio can be improved by adding steam in appropriate quantities.

The researchers also showed that adding biomass, like rice husk along with Indian coal imparts catalytic effect and improves the gasification performance significantly.

Vasudevan Raghavan, one of the researchers associated with the experiment, said that the process would improve the attractiveness of Indian coal for use in power plants. Coal is cheaply available in India in very large quantity, but it is not preferred due to the high ash and low energy content. Raghavan added that existing power plants would need to replace their traditional reactors with gasification reactors, and operate them as illustrated by his team to take advantage of this procedure. In Indian coal mine mouths, such gasification reactors can be established to take care of rural power needs.

Credit: Indian Express Explained (http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/new-procedure-to-reduce-pollution-from-coal-fired-power-plants-5147729/)  

Credit: Greenpeace

UPSC GK: Understanding Man-Animal Conflict in Pilibhit/Dudhwa (ENVIRONMENT/ECOLOGY)

Last week, villagers living next to Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit Tiger Reserve cornered an adult, male tiger, two-and-a-half kilometres inside the reserve’s core area and bludgeoned it to death before slitting its throat. This was in retaliation for an earlier tiger attack on some villagers, who had entered the forest to collect firewood, that left some injured.

For the Dudhwa and Pilibhit tiger reserves — the last remaining protected habitats for tigers and leopards in UP — this cycle of contesting for space and retaliation has been the script for long. Pilibhit, in particular, is known for the higher rate of human fatalities due to animal attacks. According to the state’s Forest Department, at least six people have died in man-tiger encounters so far this year, and 21 were killed in Pilibhit in 2017, while one tiger was declared a man-eater and subsequently captured.

This has led to a mistaken belief that bloodthirsty tigers in Pilibhit are actively seeking out humans and venturing far out of the forest. However, the numbers tell a different tale.

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According to a report published last week by the UP Forest Department and Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), Living with the Wild: Mitigating Conflict between Humans and Big Cat Species in Uttar Pradesh, as many as 136 cases were reported of big cats killing or injuring people between 2000 and 2013 — 73 cases involved tigers and 63 were attributed to leopard attacks. On an average, 12 cases were reported every year between 2002 and 2013. However, the incidence fell to four cases each year between 2013 and 2015.

The report includes information collected in the last nine years by the Forest Department and WTI as a part of the Big Cat Conflict Mitigation Project. It analyses the patterns of attacks, and outlines the circumstances in which these shy animals injure or kill humans.

A key finding was that over half of the tiger attacks (54.79%) took place inside the forest or in the fringe areas, followed by attacks in farmlands (31.5%), particularly sugarcane fields, which occupy about a third of the district’s sown area. A closer look reveals that 81.6% of the victims are males, and about 38.6% had ventured into the forest to collect firewood, while 32.9% were working in their fields. Nearly 23.3% of the victims were attacked while defecating near the forest.

The fact that most attacks (90.6%) took place during the day, between 9am and 4pm — hours when the forest-dependent communities are most active — suggest that tigers aren’t actively seeking out human beings as prey. “Most human-tiger encounters are caused by humans accidentally disturbing tigers that are resting in fields or fringe forests areas during the day,” the report notes.

Human beings are not a part of the tigers’ food chain. Therefore, the attacks take place because the forest and fields are not separated by a buffer zone. Herbivores, which are the natural prey of big cats, enter these crop fields in search of food. This is when tigers enter the farmland. The situation is further complicated by sugar cane fields — the crop provides ample cover for big cats, often allowing them to inhabit the space undisturbed for months.

While the study notes that the victims of tiger attacks are mostly adult males who “venture[d] into forests to a greater degree”, leopards are “more prone to attacking children below 10 years of age” (78.6%). Most of these attacks are concentrated in the adjacent villages (92.1%) — nearly half of them take place inside or near homes (47.6%), and the rest in the peripheral areas (15.87%) and fields (28.6%).

The largest proportion of leopard attacks took place when the victims, mostly children, were sleeping, standing idle, doing odd jobs or defecating (77.8%); only 22.2% of the attacks took place while they were engaged in the field.

As tigers cohabit with leopards, the latter has to compete with its larger and more powerful cousin for the limited prey that is available. Being opportunistic predators, leopards often prey on livestock and dogs, but most of these incidents remain undetected. However, these attacks, the report states, are largely accidental.

The lead author of the report, Dr Mayukh Chatterjee, explained that the spotted cats are known to avoid large prey, which could injure it. “The fact that most of the victims here are children is the key. For instance, in 2016, there was a case when a leopard went in to kill a calf, but it ran away after an alarm was raised. However, there was a child standing right there, next to a tubewell; it attacked the child instead.”

The report also suggests the changes in human behaviour that could help reduce the number of attacks — such as not entering forests alone, not leaving children unattended, and building toilets at home. A more long-term measure is the introduction of mechanical harvesters for sugar cane, “a solution that can greatly reduce attacks on humans during harvesting” of the crop.

However, Chatterjee admits that the “First thing that will happen with the introduction of harvesters is people will lose their jobs. But in such a scenario, there is a need to find a middle ground.”

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The search for a middle ground has proved elusive over the years. Successful conservation efforts have not only led to a spike in the population of big cats, but also in the number of conflict cases.

Data suggest a spike in conflict between 2008 and 2009. According to available records, a similar spurt is currently underway, with 44 cases of conflict recorded since 2013, most incidents taking place in the preceding two years. “Neither spikes nor lows in the rate of conflict cases per year are abnormal since they are dependent on a number of factors including rainfall and availability of prey to big cat population. The point is that the state has to be prepared for both eventualities,” Chatterjee argued.

“The most important aspect is to involve the community…, so they are better equipped to live alongside these large carnivores. That is the most important long-term initiative,” he added.

Credit: Indian Express Explained (http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/what-conservation-action-report-on-up-forests-says-of-man-animal-conflict-5150439/)  

Credit: New Indian Express

UPSC GK: Understanding all about Impeachment of Judge in India (POLITY)

The unprecedented rejection of the motion for impeachment has raised multiple questions, but the wider context of the unfolding spectacle includes a range of related matters. Some key questions answered.

Is there a provision in the Constitution that deals with the impeachment of the Chief Justice of India (CJI)?

Not the CJI specifically. As the CJI is only the first among equals, he too, like other judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts, can be impeached “on the ground of proved misbehaviour or incapacity” under Article 124(4). The Judges (Inquiry) Act, 1968, contains details of the process. The motion is to be signed by 50 members of Rajya Sabha or 100 members of Lok Sabha and, if it is admitted, an inquiry committee consisting of a Supreme Court judge, a High Court Chief Justice, and a distinguished jurist is to probe the charges. If the charges stand proven, the motion is to be presented to each House of Parliament and passed by a majority of the House and 2/3rds of those present and voting in the same session. So, even if the charges are proved, Parliament is not bound to remove such a judge. Finally, the President will issue the order removing the judge.

Is impeachment a political process?

It is neither entirely political nor entirely judicial, but a fine and judicious blend of the two. The process of admission of the impeachment motion, constitution of inquiry committee, and its findings are in the nature of judicial processes, but the adoption of the motion by Parliament is certainly a political process, as members do vote along party lines.

What powers does the Vice-President have with regard to admitting or rejecting a motion for impeachment?

Both the Chairman of Rajya Sabha and Speaker of Lok Sabha must conduct themselves in such a manner that their actions demonstrate their utmost impartiality. In deciding on an impeachment motion, the Vice-President should not ideally take over the role of the inquiry committee, and pass judgment on the allegations. For the first time in Indian history, an impeachment motion has been rejected at the admission stage. But at the same time, as the Presiding Officer, the Vice-President is not supposed to mechanically admit any motion just because it has been signed by the requisite number of members. In his 10-page rejection order on Monday, the Vice-President has said that misbehaviour has not been proved. While “proved misbehaviour” is the ground for the removal of a judge, it is the job of the inquiry committee to give a finding on whether the charges are proved. But again, if the charges are prima facie totally without substance, the Vice-President does have the right to block an impeachment motion at this initial stage itself.

On what grounds has the Vice-President rejected the impeachment motion?

The Vice-President is not duty-bound to give reasons — even though, in this case, M Venkaiah Naidu has given detailed reasons. There is no timeframe within which he must decide. He may form his opinion after consulting such persons as he deems fit and after considering such material as may be made available to him. Naidu has rejected the motion after finding the grounds for impeachment untenable, and based on conjectures without any empirical evidence. He has also pointed to some contradictions in the motion.

What exactly is “proved misbehaviour”?

The Constitution does not define ‘incapacity’ and ‘proved misbehaviour’. The misconduct of a judge is to be proved outside Parliament before a non-parliamentary committee. The Judges (Inquiry) Bill, 2006, defined ‘proved misbehaviour’ as wilful or persistent conduct which brings dishonor or disrepute to the judiciary; wilful or persistent failure to perform the duties of a judge; wilful abuse of judicial office, corruption, lack of integrity or committing an offence involving moral turpitude. The Judicial Standards and Accountability Bill, 2010, proposed to widen the definition of misconduct by adding that ‘lack of integrity’ included rendering judicial decisions for collateral or extraneous reasons, demanding any kind of consideration for giving judgments, and such other acts that have the effect of subverting the administration of justice. The failure to furnish a declaration of assets and liabilities, or wilful giving of false information were also included within ‘misbehaviour’.

In C Ravichandran Iyer vs Justice A M Bhattacharjee (1995), the Supreme Court itself laid down that misbehaviour is a wider term for which no straitjacketed definition may be given. It can be submitted, therefore, that if, due to a judge’s conduct, the judiciary’s credibility has suffered, it can be considered as misbehaviour. This is certainly a political question. Even conduct prior to assuming office is covered — this was why Rajya Sabha had passed the impeachment motion against Justice Soumitra Sen in 2011.

What should be the standard of proof?

The Vice-President has said the charges have not been proved “beyond reasonable doubt” — this is, thus, the standard of proof. However, expectations from judges should high. In all civil matters, the standard of proof is “preponderance of probabilities”. Both Australia and South Africa have the latter as the standard of proof in their impeachment processes for judges.

Does the judge have a right to be heard?

Yes, but not at the time of admission of the motion — that is why the Vice-President did not inform the CJI. During the inquiry, the judge has the full right to defend himself. Justice Sen even addressed Rajya Sabha after the inquiry found him guilty of “proved misbehaviour”, and the House was considering the motion for his removal.

One of the charges against CJI Dipak Misra is that he sent sensitive matters to particular Benches by misusing his authority as Master of the Roster. Which recent judgments have been controversial for this reason?

In a judgment delivered on April 11 (Ashok Pandey), a three-judge Bench led by CJI Misra said that “as repository of constitutional trust, the Chief Justice of India is an institution in himself”, and must, therefore, be trusted. Justice D Y Chandrachud, who authored the 16-page order, himself will be CJI in the near future.

Another judgment was given on November 10, 2017, by a five-judge Bench led by the CJI, which overturned within 24 hours an order passed on November 9 by a two-judge Bench of Justices J Chelameswar and S Abdul Nazeer, which had said that a case of alleged judicial corruption involving a blacklisted Lucknow medical college, should be heard by a Constitution Bench comprising the five most senior judges of the Supreme Court. This was unprecedented, as administrative powers were used by the CJI to constitute a five-judge Bench, which then judicially overturned the order of the Justice Chelameswar-led Bench. Since the CJI was on a Constitution Bench, the case had been mentioned before court number 2 in a routine manner, and this court passed an order to list the matter before the five most senior judges. The five-judge Bench underlined that only the CJI had the power to decide who hears which case. Two petitions, by Kamini Jaiswal and CJAR, seeking an SIT probe into the matter, were subsequently dismissed.

In both these cases, the CJI’s absolute power as master of the rolls was upheld. While this is certainly the correct legal position today, it must be noted that in “administrative actions”, the CJI cannot act in an arbitrary manner.

So, what options are available to the opposition now?

They can go to the Supreme Court — senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal has already announced they will challenge Naidu’s order. If that happens, ideally, the CJI should not hear the matter or constitute the Bench to hear it; in fact, no judge who is in line to be CJI in the future should sit on the Bench, which will underline both the independence and integrity of the Supreme Court. The principle of “no one shall be a judge in his own case” should be strictly adhered to, so that “justice is not only done, but is also seen to have been done”. In Tulsiram Patel (1980), the Supreme Court itself held that non-observance of the principles of natural justice violates the right to equality.

In the context of the challenge to the CJI’s decisions, is the judiciary seen as ‘state’ under our Constitution?

The ‘judiciary’, when acting judicially, is not ‘state’. But when the CJI or the Supreme Court take administrative decisions, they are definitely subject to fundamental rights. In Srilekha Vidyarthi (1991), the court said that reasonable and non-arbitrary exercise of discretion is an inbuilt requirement of law, and any unreasonable or arbitrary exercise of it violates the right to equality. Bench constitution being an administrative function, the CJI cannot act in an arbitrary manner.

But if all judges are equal in powers, why the debate about picking ‘junior’ judges?

All judges are equal and seniority has no bearing on the constitution of Benches. In fact, in many cases, junior judges have authored better judgments. But then, equality also means that senior judges be treated equally and fairly with junior judges. Their exclusion has sent wrong signals.

Other than impeachment, what other mechanism of judicial accountability is available under the Constitution?

There is none. And because the impeachment process is tedious and lengthy, judges have virtually no accountability. The complexity of the impeachment process has ensured that no judge has been removed so far.

What reforms have been proposed to ensure better judicial accountability?

The Judges (Inquiry) Bill, 2006, based on the 195th Report of the Law Commission, sought to create a judicial forum to deal with complaints against judges with the establishment of the National Judicial Council, which was supposed to investigate charges of misbehaviour. Four senior-most judges were to serve as its members. Where impeachment was not warranted, warnings and advisories could be issued, and withdrawal of judicial work, asking a judge to voluntarily retire, and private or public admonition or censure were proposed as minor consequences. The Bill was criticised as the Constitution does not give Parliament power to create new punishments. Its powers under Article 124 are confined to regulating the investigation and proof of misbehaviour. The Bill could not be passed as the then Opposition did not allow Parliament to function, and the UPA government failed to evolve a consensus.

Credit: Indian Express Explained (http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/cji-dipak-misra-impeachment-congress-supreme-court-venkaiah-naidu-issues-of-constitutionalism-accountability-5148897/)  

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UPSC GK: Understanding origin of current impeachment law for judges (POLITY)

Last week, 64 Rajya Sabha members signed a notice of motion for the removal of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra. Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu refused to admit the impeachment motion on Monday. The question that is now being debated is whether the Chairman enjoys discretion in accepting or rejecting a notice signed by MPs.

The Constitution specifies the grounds and method for removal of a judge of the High court or Supreme Court. According to it, a judge shall be removed (a) only by an order of the President, (b) after the presentation of an address by each house of Parliament, (c) supported by a special majority, (d) in the same session and (e) on the grounds of proved misbehaviour or incapacity. The Constitution also empowers Parliament to make a law to regulate the procedure for the presentation of the address to the President, and the investigation and proof of the misbehaviour or incapacity of the judge.

Till 1968, Parliament did not enact such a law. During this time, the procedure for removal of judges of the higher judiciary involved MPs submitting the notice of motion for removal to the Speaker, who discussed the matter with parliamentarians concerned, and examined available material to ensure that there was a prima facie case. If there was a case, the issue was brought to the notice of the chief justice of the High Court concerned or the Supreme Court. The Speaker maintained secrecy around the issue. Parliamentary records suggest that during this time three such notices were brought before the Speaker. And in one of these cases, the judge concerned voluntarily resigned.

In 1964, Parliament for the first time attempted to lay down the procedural modalities for the removal of a judge. A bill empowering the President to order an investigation into the allegations of misbehaviour or incapacity of a judge was introduced in the Lok Sabha. A joint committee of both houses was constituted to examine the proposed legislation. The panel was of the opinion that to maintain the independence of the judiciary, Parliament should be the forum where proceedings against a judge should be initiated, and the executive should be kept out of the investigation at all stages.

The committee proposed a four-step process. The first step was a numerical safeguard — the notice of a motion for removal had to be signed by at least 100 MPs of Lok Sabha, or 50 MPs of Rajya Sabha. In the second step, the Lok Sabha Speaker or Rajya Sabha Chairperson was granted discretionary power to admit or reject a notice after consulting legal experts and studying the available material. In case the notice was accepted, the third step would require the constitution of a committee to investigate the grounds for the removal of a judge. And finally, based on the report submitted by the committee, either Parliament would consider the motion against the judge or dismiss it. The 1964 Bill lapsed following the dissolution of the Third Lok Sabha (1962-1967), and a version of the Bill similar to the committee’s recommendation was passed by the Fourth Lok Sabha in 1968.

The 1968 Bill that was passed incorporated both the numerical safeguard as well as the discretion of the presiding officer. Y B Chavan, then Home Minister, who was piloting the bill, in his speech in Rajya Sabha, referred to both the safeguards. He stated that the presiding officers were given an “effective power” that would enable them take note of notices which were adequately signed, and check and satisfy themselves if there was a case before admitting a motion.

This aspect of the bill was not subscribed to by all MPs. L M Singhvi, a member of the joint committee, submitted a dissent note in which he expressed among other things, his concerns relating to this point. He was of the opinion that the numerical safeguard was excessive. According to Singhvi, the Speaker’s discretion to refuse or admit a motion was an adequate safeguard and to “seek to fortify it any further is like wearing (obsessively and pessimistically) a pair of suspenders in addition to a belt around the waist.”

He quoted the testimony of parliamentary expert M N Kaul, who stated that “…the most fundamental power of the Speaker is to admit a motion. Nothing can come before Parliament unless the Speaker admits it. That power is final and cannot be questioned. You can remove the Speaker but you cannot question his decision whether a motion should be admitted or not. Until a member gives notice, the Speaker has no powers, but the moment a member gives notice, all the powers of the Speaker come into play and then he has to exercise those powers with great skill and caution and for the public good.”

Mr Singhvi was concerned that in light of the signatures of 100 Lok Sabha MPs or 50 Rajya Sabha MPs, the discretion of the presiding officer would become vulnerable as the “considerations of the intrinsic merit of the motion and the materials on which it is based will tend to recede into the background”. Kaul, who was nominated to Rajya Sabha in 1966, while participating in the debate on the Bill echoed a similar viewpoint. He said, “I can hardly conceive of a Speaker who will disallow a motion when hundred members have sponsored it unless those large number of members have not discharged their duty in a responsible manner and have carelessly or thoughtlessly appended their signatures. Then the Speaker can certainly test the position by interviewing the members.”

Media reports suggest that the recent decision of the Rajya Sabha Chairman may be challenged in the Supreme Court. If that happens, it will be interesting to see whether the apex court rules that the presiding officers of both houses are to act as a postbox and admit all motions which are adequately signed, or they have discretionary power in admitting notices regarding the removal of judges.

Credit: Indian Express Explained (http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/how-the-current-impeachment-law-for-removal-of-judges-was-shaped-5150442/)   

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UPSC GK: Understanding new RBI rules for NPA Resolution (ECONOMICS)

Over the next few weeks, expect many banks in India to report weak results. That won’t be just because of the lingering pain of the economic slowdown of the last couple of years and the inability of many companies or borrowers to repay some of their borrowings. The poor numbers for lenders will be due more to the progressive tightening of rules on dealing with bad loans. The exercise of cleaning up bank balance sheets, which started in 2015, and a signal by the Reserve Bank of India to put an end to forbearance — or the easing of rules — will now mean a longer wait for better results.

The latest trigger

Historically, the approach to dealing with bad loans (where either the principal or interest or both of a loan is due after 90 days) in India has been relatively lenient — to allow banks time to set aside funds to provide for potential losses on such loans, and greater leeway to lenders to negotiate with borrowers. There has been a reluctance to address the issue head-on because of pressure from influential borrowers — especially large corporates — and resistance from the government, which owns a large number of banks, and even the banks themselves. Tighter rules would mean stumping up more cash, lower profits, and restrictions on the ability to lend more.

With the new insolvency law coming into force in 2016, and growing outrage against instances of corporate fraud, promoter-driven firms leaving banks bleeding, and banking supervisors who have been criticised for the pile of bad loans, this regulatory forbearance may now be coming to an end.

In February, the RBI did away with several schemes such as strategic debt restructuring, which allowed banks to grant extra time to borrowers to repay. Next, rules were tightened to classify a loan as ‘bad’ or a ‘Non-Performing Asset’ (NPA) if the borrower failed to repay by even a day or two — triggering worries among borrowers, banks, and the government. But the regulator appears to be standing firm — RBI Deputy Governor N S Vishwanathan said last week that the sanctity of the debt contract needed to be restored. When a company raises money through bonds from the market and then defaults, its rating is downgraded, the yields on the bonds rise, its cost of financing goes up, and investors file suits, Vishwanathan said — no such reaction was, however, seen in case of bank borrowings.

Cleaning up vs growth

It is argued that this approach would cramp lending by banks at a time when most indicators show that growth is on the upswing. The government and the RBI discussed this in 2015-16 as well. In 2016, a few months before his term ended, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan said, “In sum, (on) the question of what comes first, clean up or growth, I think the answer is unambiguously clean up.” That was the lesson from every other country that had faced financial stress, Rajan had said then.

This is the approach that Rajan’s successor Urjit Patel has adopted. Another central banker, Viral Acharya, too, has acknowledged the mistakes that RBI has made in this regard earlier. At an event last year, Acharya said: “Unfortunately for a variety of reasons, RBI has engaged in various forbearance schemes saying you can take another 18 months or two years (on bad loans).” In one way or the other, he had said, RBI had actually contributed to the NPA problem becoming more acute over time. At the end of December 2017, bad loans had reached Rs 8.87 lakh crore, and were expected to rise even higher by the end of March 2018.

The lessons elsewhere

A tougher environment governing lending by banks may lead to tensions between the regulator and the owner of banks, which in India is overwhelmingly the government. Some of that is already visible — but the positive spin-off has been behavioural changes on the part of borrowers, specially of companies whose promoters fear the loss of control, as also of banks who have to monitor lending far more closely. Since the 2008-09 financial crisis, banks in the West, too, have been subject to far rigorous standards and changes of rules, and have been forced to set aside funds in their balance sheets for expected losses in the future — complete with an expected-loss model, a strategy for tackling non-performing loans (NPL), dedicated NPL units, early warning engines, etc.

India first announced the adoption of global rules on setting aside capital for bad loans in 1992, at the peak of the balance of payments crisis. Yet, it was almost 2003 before those early rules were implemented. In between, every time the issue of enforcing tighter rules came up, it was argued that since there was no crisis, there was no need to carry out disruptive changes — and that India, with a dominant state-owned banking system with an implicit guarantee of the sovereign, did not need to be rigid. In the brief periods during which rules on bad loans were tightened, they were a reflection more of political will — shown, for example, by the Prime Minister and Finance Minister of the day a few years ago.

The choice this time

For policymakers, it is a difficult choice to make. It requires political stamina to endure longer timeframes to clean up bank balance sheets and a return to robust lending to firms and households. Experience has shown that regulation often lags risk-taking by banks. Policymakers in India will have to decide whether the difficult choice they have to make will lead to a “cliff-edge effect”, as they call it in the West. Pulling back could mean a setback to the behavioural changes in promoter attitudes and accountability that are already under way, besides posing the risk of more public funds being put to use for bank capital and promoting financial and overall integrity. All these hinge on governance practices — not just in the financial sector, but elsewhere, too.

Credit: Indian Express Explained (http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/the-policy-choices-that-rbis-new-bad-loan-rules-present-5149143/)

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UPSC GK: Understanding Mumbai Development Plan 2034 (ECONOMICS/GEOGRAPHY)

On Tuesday, after four years in gestation, a 20-year master plan to govern Mumbai’s development received the final nod from the Maharashtra government. The Mumbai Development Plan 2034 notched up a significant first to its credit in the drafting itself, through a first-ever consultative process with citizen-stakeholders.

Once it comes into effect, its biggest interventions will include two more firsts — a planned and systematic stimulus for affordable housing amid India’s most unaffordable real estate, and steps to reinforce the financial capital’s somewhat enfeebled claim to the position of urbs prima.

The new DP makes many right noises. While promising to protect coastline features including beaches, estuaries, mudflats and mangroves, it proposes adding over 3,700 hectares of land currently marked as no-development zones, including salt-pan lands, for various segments of affordable housing. Sixty hectares of the Mumbai Port Trust’s 721.24 ha have also been earmarked for affordable housing. In all, nearly one-eighth of Mumbai’s existing landmass is to be infused as newly developable land, especially for housing for economically weaker segments, low income group housing and slum rehousing.

In another first, the “accommodation reservation policy” that will incentivise private landowners who choose to develop amenities that their lands stand reserved for could finally see these amenities — playgrounds, gardens, health centres, shelters for the homeless, etc — actually be built instead of remaining on paper.

But curiously, after putting the planners through the paces of an unprecedented consultative effort, the government then proceeded to undermine the plan with multiple, unilateral alterations over the last several months. These tweaks include some so critical as to all but fritter away the wins of the previous participative process.

For example, while previous regimes protected a cap on FSI (floor space index, which limits the floor area on a given plot) in the congested island city, Development Plan 2034 will now permit additional FSI in South and Central Mumbai upon payment of a premium. The plan does not venture to offer any explanations on how additional construction will impact creaking infrastructure in these areas. So after first claiming, during the process of framing this very plan, that a universal base FSI of 2 would suffice for population projections in Mumbai until 2034, the government has now reversed its own contentions in permitting further densification. As reported by The Indian Express earlier, further densification on account of higher FSI for a range of schemes — building hotels, redevelopment of old buildings, slum rehousing, fin-tech or bio-tech parks, medical or educational hubs, parking lots on private land, mill workers’ housing, etc — will clearly require mitigation measures, also not currently in discussion.

This FSI largesse for commercial construction has been sought to be explained away as essential impetus for commerce and growth, but without commensurate additions to transport infrastructure and mass transit systems, a further gridlocking of commercial hubs appears inevitable. The inability to reconcile planning for social equity and for economic growth could raise the threat of tragic scenarios of the kind that Mumbai has witnessed only recently — 14 dead in a fire in a plush central Mumbai pub in the heart of a commercial and entertainment hub, and 23 dead in a stampede at a railway station that was neither originally designed nor retrofitted for the commercial hub that the area has turned into.

This fragmented nature of planning was at the root cause of the stampede and the pub fire, for both were symptomatic of central Mumbai’s haphazard boom, an unplanned growth but one that took place with the full blessings of the government and municipal authorities.

On slum rehousing, in a reversal of the free-homes policy in place since the 1990s, the government has now proposed that all slum-dwellers living in shanties since after the cut-off date of January 1, 2000, will also be eligible for rehabilitation, but on payment of construction costs of their new homes as provided by the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. Every second Mumbaite’s residential address is a slum, and political expediency could easily lead to the new proposal’s collapse.

But for once, alongside the glib targets, planners have sought to admit the flaws and failures of the previous plan. A review committee suggested a “cafeteria” approach or a “banquet of options” for slum upgrade and redevelopment to replace the failed SRA model. At some point in the not-so-distant future, planners will have to acknowledge this.

But in the end, Development Plan 2034 is tragically limited by what it does not do — go beyond the exercise of a statutory obligation. It doesn’t take a qualified urban planner to concede that Mumbai’s two previous Development Plans completely failed to imagine a city where 60,000 taxis with no designated parking place would be on call via apps, or that plastic waste would clog Mumbai’s drains to catastrophic proportions, or that a Deonar dumping ground fire would rage for weeks.

In a self-perpetuating failure of planning, this DP makes scarce mention of sustainability. It fails to envision a city run on artificial intelligence, a Mumbai with driverless cars, of even electric cars, or even further agrarian distress and de-peasantisation of Mumbai’s immediate outback areas. What infrastructure demands would these entail? The current approach to Development Plan 2034 would fail to answer those questions.

Credit: Indian Express Explained (http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/mumbai-development-plan-a-few-firsts-yet-limited-by-what-it-does-not-do-5151836/)

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Credit: Livemint

UPSC GK: Understanding impact of new hormone rules on sportswomen (SCIENCE)

World athletics body has introduced regulations that restrict the participation of female athletes with high testosterone levels in certain international track & field events. The Indian Express explains.

Why did the international athletics body come with these new eligibility regulations for female runners?

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had been asked by the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to finalise regulations that would clearly specify events in which women with high but naturally occurring levels of testosterone could participate. This was after the CAS had directed the IAAF to provide fresh evidence to prove that women athletes with higher than normal levels of testosterone had a distinct advantage. It all started after Indian sprinter Dutee Chand had successfully challenged the now suspended guidelines for hyperandrogenism (a medical condition characterised by high levels of male sex hormones such as testosterone) in 2014.

What were the old guidelines and how have they changed?

Earlier, women with testosterone levels of 10 nanomoles per litre or more were ineligible to participate in track and field events. Dutee challeged the rule, arguing that she had naturally occurring high levels of testosterone. CAS ruled in favour of the Indian sprinter. This opened the doors for several other athletes with hyperandrogenism. Now, IAAF has said that female athletes with 5 or more nanomoles per litre testosterone cannot participate in 400m, 800m and 1500m races.

How much do testosterone levels vary between males and females?

Testosterone levels in females usually range between 0.12 to 1.79 nmol/L while the male range is much higher — 7.7 to 29.4 nmol/L. The IAAF has concluded that it is only possible for a woman to have a testosterone level of 5 nmol/L or greater in the case of a tumour or if the athlete falls in the intersex category.

What do the guidelines mean for Dutee Chand and who else do they affect?

Chand is free to compete in her two pet events — the 100 metres and the 200 metres — because these do not fall under the ‘restricted events’ category. However, the new guidelines will make it difficult for South Africa’s Caster Semenya to compete in 800m and 1,500m at international events. Semenya had to undergone therapy after winning the gold in 800 metres at the 2009 World Championships, to reduce her testosterone levels.

When do the new regulations come into effect?

From November 1, 2018.

What did the IAAF base its guidelines on?

The IAAF based the evidence in part on a study, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, in July last year. The study, which researched the link between track and field performance and higher than usual testosterone levels, involved 1,332 elite female athletes and 795 male athletes — a total of 2,127 subjects. A blood sample was taken from each of these athletes, a number of whom had participated in the 2011 and 2013 World Championships. Women with higher levels of testosterone were seen to have a distinct advantage in 400m, 400m hurdles, and 800m and also in hammer throw and pole vault.

So, why did the IAAF not include hammer throw and pole vault in the guidelines?

Katrina Karkazis, an expert on testosterone and its effects, who testified when sprinter Chand knocked on the doors of CAS, feels that the IAAF wanted to target women from the Global South — Indian subcontinent and Africa — which specifically means Semenya.

Is there any way that an athlete with higher testosterone levels can now participate in the female category in restricted events?

In order to participate in events of the length between 400 metres and a mile, a female athlete with higher levels of testosterone must reduce her levels to below 5 nmol/L. This can be done, the IAAF says, through medication or use of hormonal therapy. Moreover, the athlete has to show that her testosterone levels are below the upper limit for a period of six months. The IAAF has said that an athlete does not have to undergo any kind of surgery.

What if an intersex athlete does not wish to comply with the new regulations?

The athlete will not be debarred from competing in the female category in ‘restricted events’ if the event is a national competition, and will also be allowed to compete in other events outside the restricted events. The other option for an intersex athlete is to compete against men at any competition, or participate in the intersex category.

What is the logic of the IAAF in asking women to keep their testosterone levels below the upper limit for a six month period?

The time period is essential, the IAAF says, to ensure that an athlete does not get any advantage of previously high levels of testosterone which was present in the body.

Credit: Indian Express Explained (http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-new-hormone-rules-testosterone-limits-for-women-runners-affect-one-and-not-the-other-5153342/)

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UPSC GK: Understanding West Coast Oil Refinery Politics (ECONOMICS)

The Indian Express explains the politics behind the latest standoff between Maharashtra’s ruling coalition partners, now over a project in Konkan.

What is the project at the centre of the latest conflict between the Shiv Senaand the BJP?

The Shiv Sena is protesting against the West Coast Oil Refinery, proposed to be the country’s biggest, at Nanar village in Ratnagiri district. Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray declared at a public rally that the party will not allow the project in coastal Konkan. The Sena alleges the project will lead to environmental hazards, is being imposed on villagers against their wishes, and will help rich individuals from outside Maharashtra who have brought large plots of land in Konkan. Uddhav Thackeray has dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take the project to Gujarat or Vidarbha if they want to.

How big is the project?

The proposed capacity is 60 million tonnes per annum, over 70% more than the 35 million tonnes (as of January 1, 2017, according to Petroleum Planning & Analysis Cell) of Jamnagar, currently India’s biggest refinery. The proposed investment is Rs 3 lakh crore and the project has an employment potential of one lakh. The oil refinery is proposed to be promoted by three public sector units — Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL), Bharat Petroleum (BPCL) and Indian Oil (IOC). IOC is the lead partner with 50% while HPCL and BPCL will hold 25% each. On April 11, 2018, an MoU was signed between the three PSUs and Saudi Aramco to develop the integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex in Konkan.

How and when did the government choose Konkan?

The decision was taken in December 2015. The Centre had three options — Maharashtra, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu; Maharashtra urged the Centre to consider the state.

How has the BJP reacted to the Sena allegations?

The BJP has argued that the apprehensions of environmental hazards are misplaced as the greenfield project will have advanced technology. It has also questioned why the Sena never objected to the nuclear power station, or the oil refinery existing in Mumbai for several decades. The BJP-led central and state governments have conveyed thrice to Shiv Sena leaders, through various forums, that they will not scrap the refinery project. In Maharashtra, the government has refused to denotify the process of land acquisition of 16,000 acres for the refinery. It has told the Sena that the final decision rests with a high- powered committee headed by the chief secretary and the chief minister. Last year, Prime Minister Modi had explained to a delegation led by Sena MPs that projects such as the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant and the West Coast Refinery with larger national and international implications are not driven by ad hoc decisions.

Politically, where is the conflict heading?

On April 6, after BJP president Amit Shah expressed willingness to form a pre-poll alliance with the Sena for the 2019 Assembly and Parliament elections, the Shiv Sena rejected the idea. While they continue to be coalition partners, the two parties have been in constant conflict which could escalate ahead of the polls. Over the last three-and-a-half years, the coalition has seen the Sena attacking Modi and Shah on various issues from government policies such as demonetisation to the BJP’s treatment to NDA partners. In Maharashtra, Uddhav Thackeray and Fadnavis have faced off in successive local body polls, and the Sena has been criticising its partner on issues such as Maratha reservation and farmers’ suicides.

So, the refinery is just another standoff in a series?

In fact, Konkan is particularly significant. The Sena has always been strong in Konkan and sees the mega project as an attempt by the BJP to gain a foothold in in the region. It has been aggressively mounting the plank of sons-of-the-soil in Konkan to counter the BJP’s development plank. It also wants to upstage Narayan Rane’s newly formed Maharashtra Swabhiman Party, which has gained ground in local body elections in Konkan.

How strong is the Sena in Konkan?

Konkan comprises the districts of Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg and Raigad, with two Lok Sabha seats and 12 Assembly seats. In the 2014 polls, the Sena contested and won both Lok Sabha seats. In the Assembly polls, when the two parties fought separately, the Sena won 6 of the 12 seats, with the rest going to the NCP (3), the Congress (1), and the PWP (2).

Credit: Indian Express Explained (http://indianexpress.com/article/explained/in-shiv-sena-vs-bjp-new-round-konkan-refinery-project-and-a-crucial-ratnagiri-region-5153349/)  

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Image Credit: The Economic Times

UPSC GK: Understanding Green Bonds (ECOLOGY/ECONOMICS)

(April 2015 Current Affairs)

Yes Bank and  Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) recently tasted success launching what are called ‘green bonds,’ a relatively new way to finance renewable  energy projects.

As reports suggest, higher interest rates and unattractive terms under which debt is available in India raise the cost of renewable energy by 24-32 per cent compared to the U.S. and Europe.

What are green bonds?

A bond is a debt instrument with which an entity raises money from investors. The bond issuer gets capital while the investors receive fixed income in the form of interest. When the bond matures, the money is repaid.

A green bond is very similar. The only difference is that the issuer of a green bond publicly states that capital is being raised to fund ‘green’ projects, which typically include those relating to renewable energy, emission reductions and so on. There is no standard definition of green bonds as of now.

Indian firms like Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Ltd and Greenko have in the past issued bonds that have been used for financing renewable energy, however, without the tag of green bonds.

Green bonds are issued by multilateral agencies such as the World Bank, corporations, government agencies and municipalities.  Institutional investors and pension funds also have appetite for such bonds. For instance, investment funds BlackRock and PIMCO have specific mandates from their investors to invest only in bonds which fund green projects. The issuer provides periodic reports about the project.

Why are they in the news?

In March (2015), the Exim Bank of India issued a five-year $500 million green bond, which is India’s first dollar-denominated green bond. The issue was subscribed nearly 3.2 times. The bank has said it would use the net proceeds to fund eligible green projects in countries including Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Earlier, in February (2015), Yes Bank raised Rs 1,000 crore via a 10-year bond, which was oversubscribed twice.

Why are green bonds important for India?

India has embarked on an ambitious target of building 175 gigawatt of renewable energy capacity by 2022, from just over 30 gigawatt now. This requires a massive $200 billion in funding. This isn’t easy. As reports suggest, higher interest rates and unattractive terms under which debt is available in India raise the cost of renewable energy by 24-32 per cent compared to the U.S. and Europe. “India has big goals in terms of renewable energy installations, but a big hurdle has been financing and the cost of financing,” says Raj Prabhu, CEO and Co-founder of Mercom Capital Group, a global clean energy research and communications firm.

“Budget allocations have been insufficient. Renewable energy is still part of the larger power/infrastructure funding basket in most banks, and with most financing going towards coal power projects, there is very little funding left for renewable energy. Currently, options for raising funds and investing in the “renewable energy story” in the public markets in India is very limited,” he says. That’s why green bonds seem like a good option.

Still, why are green bonds an attractive option?

Shantanu Jaiswal, analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, says, “Green bonds typically carry a lower interest rate than the loans offered by the commercial banks. Hence, when compared to other forms of debt, green bonds offer better returns for an independent power producers,” Samuel Joseph, Chief General Manager, Treasury and Accounts Group, Exim Bank of India, says as these bonds are meant for specific investors looking to invest in renewable energy projects, pricing could be attractive.

The bank’s green bond was priced at 147.50 basis points over US Treasuries (whereas, usually, bonds are priced at treasuries plus 150 basis points) at a fixed coupon of 2.75 per cent per annum.

How well have green bonds performed globally?

According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance, a record $38.8 billion in green bonds were issued in 2014, 2.6 times the $15 billion issued in 2013. “Most issuances of international green bonds have been oversubscribed suggesting a strong appetite for them especially when done by a strong issuer like a large corporate or a government agency,” the report says.

Who have been the issuers of these bonds?

In the period between 2007 and 2012, supranational organisations such as the European Investment Bank and the World Bank, as also governments, accounted for most of the green bond issue. Since then, corporate interest has risen sharply. In 2014, bonds issued by corporations in the energy and utilities, consumer goods, and real estate sectors accounted for a third of the market, according to KPMG.

Credit: The Hindu (http://www.thehindu.com/business/what-are-green-bonds/article7070840.ece)

Further Reading: https://www.adb.org/news/videos/did-you-know-green-bonds 

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