Puducherry CM’s parliamentary secretary slaps contempt of court notice against Kiran Bedi, others.
➡Puducherry chief
minister's parliamentary secretary, K Lakshminarayanan, has issued contempt of court
notices against lieutenant governor Kiran Bedi and five others, accusing them
of disobeying the Madras high court's order on the roles, duties and functions
of a lieutenant governor and an elected government in the Union territory.
➡He stated that Bedi and
others have not been taking the aid and advice of the chief minister or
minister concerned or the cabinet in the appointment of secretaries, excise
commissioner and deputy commissioner.
➡He targeted Bedi of stalling the elected government's welfare and development schemes by referring them to the President of India for approval, interfering in the day-to-day functioning of the elected government during the Covid-19 pandemic, stalling magisterial inquiry into the violation of human rights while arresting a tahsildar, directly receiving reports from the police department on the illegal sale of liquor during the lockdown period and issuing a show-cause notice to an official for not responding in her WhatsApp group posts among others.
➡Listing out 30 acts of
disobedience, Lakshminarayanan urged Bedi to cease from 'further violating
judgement' of Madras high court. He demanded that Bedi and others 'take
corrective actions, as per the decision of the chief minister, undo the
violations and set the records right'.
➡In March last year, the
Madurai Bench of the Madras high court declared that lieutenant governors do
not have any powers to interfere in the everyday functioning of an elected
government in Union territory. The Union government and Bedi appealed against
the order before a Madras high court bench headed by the chief justice. In
March, the bench set aside the Madurai bench order and directed the lieutenant
governor to work in unison with the elected government.
NSO
report finds inadequate vaccination to 40% of children.
Although
almost all children in India are vaccinated against tuberculosis, and receive
their birth dose of polio vaccine, two out of five children do not complete
their immunisation programme, according to the ‘Health in India’ report
recently published by the National Statistical Organisation (NSO).
Most
of these children remain unprotected against measles, and partially protected
against a range of other diseases.
➡In the national
capital, less than half of all children have been given all eight required
vaccines.The report is based on the 75th round of the National Sample Survey
(July 2017-June 2018) on household social consumption related to health.
➡Across the country,
only 59.2% of children under five years are fully immunised, according to the
NSO report. This contradicts the Centre’s Health Management Information System
portal data, which claimed that full immunisation coverage for 2017-18 stood at
86.7%.
Among
States, Manipur (75%), Andhra Pradesh (73.6%) and Mizoram (73.4%) recorded the
highest rates of full immunisation. At the other end of the spectrum lies
Nagaland, where only 12% of children received all vaccinations, followed by
Puducherry (34%) and Tripura (39.6%).
Apex
court directed GOI to make up for loss of green cover in Char Dham project.
Indian
Supreme Court ordered the Union to adhere to a Road Ministry circular of March
2018, which had advised against building full-fledged roads cutting across the
fragile Himalayan slopes, while implementing the ₹12,000-crore ambitious Char
Dham project for better connectivity to pilgrimage centres in Uttarakhand.
➡The project had
proposed the widening of single-lane roads into double-lanes by up to 10
metres, developing the highways and thereby improving access to the Char Dham
(four shrines) — Yamunotri, Gangotri, Badrinath and KedarNath.
➡Environmentalist
groups, led by the Dehradun-based Citizens for Green Doon, had moved the apex
court after they failed in the National Green Tribunal (NGT).
➡The petitioners had
contended that the project was proceeding without environmental clearances and
the debris was being disposed haphazardly. Earlier, the NGT had found no need for
an environmental clearance.
Bangladesh
asks facebook to abide by its rules and regulations.
The
Government of Bangladesh has asked Facebook to abide by the rules and
regulations of the country in matters relating to both revenue and content.
The
Minister also asked the company to appoint resellers and representatives to pay
taxes to the government for its operations in Bangladesh.
Mustafa
Jabbar reminded Facebook that it has the responsibility not to allow content
that is against the socio-cultural values of Bangladesh or promotes communal
disharmony, pornography, rumour or terrorist activities in the country.
Facebook
officials assured the government that they will comply with the relevant rules
and regulations of the country. It informed that it has appointed a Bangladeshi
person Sabnaj Rashid Dia as Bangladesh Affairs Officer of Facebook in the
country for speedy resolution of issues.
Srilanka
reports diesel patch behind burning bunker.
The
Sri Lankan Navy on Tuesday reported a ‘diesel patch’ behind oil tanker MT New
Diamond, which recently went ablaze drifting off Sri Lanka’s south eastern
coast.
Form
the time the large vessel carrying 2,70,000 tonnes of crude oil — from Kuwait
to Odisha — went up in flames on Thursday, the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard
personnel, along with the Sri Lankan Navy, have been fire-fighting to douse the
flames. “The flames are under control,” Captain de Silva told The Hindu.
India
on Tuesday sent fresh supplies of chemicals to help battle a new blaze spotted
on Monday night, a press statement from the Indian Coast Guard said.
According
to the Sri Lankan Navy, the fire-fighting teams have, over the past few days,
continued to spray a large volume of sea water to extinguish the fire
onboard.As a result, the engine room of the ship was flooded with sea water,
making it lying in a position called ‘trim by aft’.
Higher
demand across rural India which is being seen as the only silver lining for
economic growth over the next two-three quarters, has led packaged consumer
goods companies to accelerate spends on hinterlands, with rural spending on
distribution outreach, consumer promotions and products overtaking that of
urban spends this year.
“Favourable
monsoon, record kharif crop sowing and high reservoir levels would spur rural
incomes that could push up demand at the onset of the festive quarter; this
would be a silver lining for economic growth as other sectors have seen more
adverse impact of the pandemic,” CARE said.
The
report said the agriculture sector contributes nearly 15% of India’s GDP, and
that the economy is banking on the farm sector to grow by 3.5-4% across all
quarters to prop up GDP growth.
Companies
are also pinning hopes on the rural bounce back fuelled by higher farm incomes,
good monsoons, government stimulus and reduced impact of lockdowns, because
macro indicators of overall economic revival in the immediate term remain
challenging.
India’s
gross domestic product (GDP) has contracted by a massive 23.9% in the first
quarter of current fiscal. Fitch said India recorded one of the sharpest GDP
contractions in the world in the April-June quarter.
PSU’S
to join ISA coalition on sustainable action climate.
Petroleum
and Natural Gas Minister DharmendraPradahan today said that five Public Sector
Undertakings under his Ministry will be joining International Solar Alliance
(ISA) Coalition for Sustainable Climate Action (ISA-CSCA) as Corporate
Partners.
He
said, Indian Oil and Gas companies are actively taking part in this clean
energy transition. He said, in order to reduce carbon footprint, these
companies will be focusing more on green energy investments such as renewables
and biofuels.
He
said, the government is also actively encouraging industry as well as Oil and
Gas companies to become participants in this solar transition. On the
achievements made in the sector so far, the
Minister
said that our oil and gas companies are also making efforts to deploy solar
panels across the value chain of their operations, and current installed solar
power capacity is 270 Mega Watt.
China
successfully launches experimental reusable spacecraft.
An
experimental reusable spacecraft launched into orbit two days ago by China has
successfully returned to a designated site on Sunday, the official Xinhua News
Agency reported.
The
successful experiment marks an important breakthrough in China's technology to
reuse spacecraft, which would provide the country more convenient and cheaper
space round-trips for it to use the space in a peaceful way, Xinhua said.
Three
years ago, China said it would launch a spacecraft in 2020 that can fly like an
aircraft and would be reusable, increasing the frequency of launches and
lowering mission costs.
It
is not known if the experimental spacecraft launched by China was a fixed-wing
craft like the U.S. Space Shuttle. If it was similar to the X-37B, it would be
about a fifth of the Space Shuttle in size.
Focus for mains.
Guidelines
for Parole and Furlough
Prelims Syllabus: Institutional
Reforms
The
Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently revised the Model Prison
Manual,2016 guidelines related to parole and furlough.
Highlights:
•
It has asked states to not release prisoners, on parole and furlough, who are
considered a threat to the security of the state or to individuals.
•
Imprisonment besides being a mode of punishment also aims at protecting the
society from criminal activities, therefore release on parole is not an
absolute right but a concession.
•
The parole rules of states to be reviewed about the benefits and detriments of
such parole.
The
Parole and furlough may not be granted as a matter of routine and may be
decided by a committee of officers and behavioural experts, especially for
inmates sentenced for sexual offences and serious crimes such as murder, child
abduction, violence etc.
•
Inclusion of an expert psychologist/ criminologist/correctional administration
expert as a member of the sentence review board and in the committee which
decides grant of parole and furlough to inmates and obtain their opinion before
such temporary release.
About Parole:
•
It is a system of releasing a prisoner with suspension of the sentence. The
release is conditional, usually subject to behaviour, and requires periodic
reporting to the authorities for a set period of time.
•
It is not a right, and is given to a prisoner for a specific reason, such as a
death in the family or a wedding of a blood relative.
•
It may be denied to a prisoner even when he makes out a sufficient case, if the
competent authority is satisfied that releasing the convict would not be in the
Interest of Society.
About Furlough:
•
It is similar to parole, but with some significant differences. It is given in
cases of long-term imprisonment. The period of furlough granted to a prisoner
is treated as remission of his sentence.
•
Unlike parole, it is seen as a matter of right for a prisoner, to be granted
periodically irrespective of any reason, and merely to enable the prisoner to
retain family and social ties, and to counter the ill-effects of prolonged time
spent in prison.
•
Parole and furlough are covered under the Prisons Act of 1894.
Background:
•
In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, states are under pressure to release
prisoners in order to avoid overcrowding in prisons. Earlier, the Supreme Court
of India has also passed orders on measures taken to decongest prisons, correction
homes and detention centres due to the Covid-19 outbreak.
•
Prison is a state subject and all states have their own rules for parole,
furlough, remission and premature release based on good conduct of the
prisoners.
•
The MHA guidelines came in the backdrop of reports of several prisoners being
released on parole and furlough and some of them committing crimes out of jail.
Way Ahead:
•
It is Important for state authorities to review their guidelines to ensure that
the facility and concession given to inmates, by way of parole, furlough and
premature release etc. with the intention of providing them relief and
rehabilitation, is not abused and misused by them and their Advantage does not
turn into Disadvantage and nuisance for the Society at large.
State
of the Young Child in India report.
The
State of the Young Child in India report has recently been released by Mobile
Creches, a non-governmental organisation (NGO).
•
The Young Child Outcomes Index (YCOI) and the Young Child Environment Index
(YCEI) are parts of the report. Mobile Creches works in the field of early
childhood care and development by ensuring creche services at construction
sites and slum settlements across
Several
cities.
•
It helps to understand the policy and environment enablers that influence a
child’s well-being. It uses five policy enablers that influence child
well-being outcomes, including poverty alleviation, strengthening primary
health care, improving education levels, safe water supply and promotion of
gender equity.
•
It was constructed for 2015–2016 only due to limitations of data availability.
•
Kerala, Goa, Sikkim, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have secured the top five
positions.
•
The eight states with a below-average score on the YCOI have also performed
poorly on this One.
Abut Young Child Outcomes Index:
•
It measures health, nutrition and cognitive growth of children in the 0-6 years
age group with the help of indicators such as infant mortality rate, stunting
and net attendance at the primary school level.
•
It has been constructed for 2005-2006 and 2015-2016 to enable inter-state
comparisons as well as provide an idea of Change over time.
•
Kerala, Goa, Tripura, Tamil Nadu and Mizoram are among the top five states for
the well-being of children.
•
Assam, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar have scores below the Country’s Average.
Highlights:
•
India spent Rs. 1,723 per child in 2018–2019 towards child nutrition,
healthcare, education and other necessary protection services which is
insufficient and fails to reach the entire eligible population.
•
While the population of children under six years of age is 158.8 million, the
ICDS covers only 71.9 million children as calculated from the total number of
beneficiaries across states.
•
Out of the 159 million children aged below 6 years in India, 21% are
undernourished, 36% are underweight and 38% do not receive full immunization.
•
The report calls for an increase in public spending on children.
Way Ahead:
•
For a country, poor early childhood development could mean economic loss. The
importance of this aspect of national development needs to be understood and
effective steps should be taken to ensure that all children have a healthy
start to their lives.
•
The Government of India has introduced several comprehensive policies and
flagship programmes like the ICDS and the National Nutrition Mission (Poshan
Abhiyan) for early childhood development in the country but the need of the
hour is to implement them effectively through proper coordination among various
ministries.
•
The recently unveiled National Educational Policy, 2020 among other schemes and
programmes like Mid-Day Meal Scheme, Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana
(IGMSY), National Nutrition policy 1993, etc. towards ensuring early childhood
care and comprehensive education has to be implemented properly to ensure
universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education across the
country in a phased manner.
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