The State of Inequality in India Report

• The State of Inequality Report is a stock-taking of both inclusion and exclusion.
• The State of Inequality in India Report was released by the Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM).
• The report has been written by the Institute for Competitiveness and presents a holistic analysis of the depth and nature of inequality in India.
• The report compiles information on inequities across sectors of health, education, household characteristics, and the labor market.
• Consisting of two parts – Economic Facets and Socio-Economic Manifestations – the report looks at five key areas that influence the nature and experience of inequality.
• Income distribution and labor market dynamics, health, education, and household characteristics.

In ordering the release of Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case convict A G Perarivalan, the Supreme Court invoked the extraordinary power conferred on the court under Article 142 of the Constitution.

Important Articles

The court ruled that inexplicable delay by the Governor in exercising powers under Article 161 is subject to judicial review.

Article 142

• Article 142 of the Constitution of India provides a special and extraordinary power to the Supreme Court to do complete justice to the litigants who have suffered traversed illegality or injustice in the proceedings.
• Article 142, which started out as draft article 118, was adopted by the Constituent Assembly on May 27, 1949.
• Some important cases in this regard are ‘Prem Chand Garg v. Excise Commissioner, U.P., Allahabad’ (1962); ‘A.R. Antulay v. R.S. Nayak & Anr’ (1988); ‘Union Carbide Corporation v. Union of India’ (1991); and ‘Supreme Court Bar Association v. Union of India’ (1998).
• ‘Antulay’ was decided by a seven-judge Bench; the other three cases were decided by five-judge Benches.
• Prohibitions on limitations on provisions contained in ordinary laws cannot, ipso-facto, act as prohibitions or limitations on the constitutional powers under Article 142.
• In ‘Supreme Court Bar Association’, the court ruled that its powers under Article 142 were supplementary in nature, and could not supplant substantive law and “build a new edifice where none existed earlier”.

Article 142 in Ayodhya Verdict

• The court said while “the power under Article 142, is not limitless”, the Constitution “authorizes the court to pass orders to secure complete justice”.
• Article 142, it said, “embodies both the notion of justice, equity and good conscience as well as a supplementary power to the court to effect complete justice”.
• The court used the extraordinary powers under this provision to grant 5 acres of land in Ayodhya situated outside the disputed area to Muslim parties, saying, in an implicit reference to the demolition of the Babri Masjid in 1992, that it was invoking Article 142 “to ensure that a wrong committed must be remedied”.

Amarnath Yatra: The government has decided to track all pilgrims using Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and how they work

The strategically-significant Sela Tunnel project in Arunachal Pradesh is nearing completion.

Mountain passes in India

• Sela tunnel will provide an alternate axis to the Sela pass in Arunachal Pradesh.
• Umling La Pass, located in eastern Ladakh at an altitude of 19,300 feet above sea level, now has the world's highest motorable road.
• From Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh, the states that need to be crossed include Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, and Assam.
• The number of states/UTs including the source and destination is 8.

Liberalized Remittance Scheme by RBI

• Under the Liberalized Remittance Scheme, all resident individuals, including minors, can freely remit up to USD 2,50,000 per financial year (April – March) for any permissible current or capital account transaction or a combination of both.
• The remittance facility under the Scheme is not available for the following:
• Remittance for any purpose expressly prohibited under Schedule-I (like the purchase of lottery tickets/sweepstakes, proscribed magazines, etc.) or any item restricted under Schedule II of Foreign Exchange Management (Current Account Transactions) Rules, 2000.
• Remittance from India for margins or margin calls to overseas exchanges/overseas counterparty.
• Remittances for purchasing FCCBs issued by Indian companies in the overseas secondary market.
• Remittance for trading in foreign exchange abroad.
• Capital account remittances, directly or indirectly, to countries identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as “non-cooperative countries and territories”, from time to time.
• Remittances directly or indirectly to those individuals and entities identified as posing a significant risk of committing acts of terrorism as advised separately by the Reserve Bank to the banks.