Political and Social Issues

‘Privacy doesn't confer right on consenting adults to do illegal act'

• The Delhi High Court judgment, declaring ultra vires Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code relating to unnatural sex between two consenting adults and holding that it is violative of the right to privacy, is clearly erroneous, Amarendra Saran argued in the Supreme Court
• The senior counsel appearing for the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights, said the right to privacy did not confer any right on consenting adults to commit an act which was illegal. It “does not confer any immunity to crimes committed by consenting adults in private.”
• Counsel noted that the High Court, while reading down Section 377 had held that it was constitutional morality alone that could pass the test of compelling state interest and public morality had no role to play. But “public morality has been a very important consideration in framing a law as is evident from the provisions contained in Articles 19, 25 and 26.”
• Mr. Saran said the community had a higher risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and that was all the more reason to ban such behaviour.
• Mr. Saran told the court: “Tomorrow dowry-seekers can say that they are being discriminated [against] by non-dowry seekers. Can they be allowed to challenge the validity of Section 304 B IPC (dealing with dowry deaths)?”
• Justice Singhvi said a member of the younger generation might want to run naked on the street. That could be a natural right “but is it a fundamental right? In such cases what happens to the right of dignity of others, or the right of privacy? What about exchange of wives?”

Centre evolving uniform surrender policy for Naxal-hit States

• In a bid to motivate Maoists to join the mainstream, the government is likely to come up with a new uniform surrender policy for all Left Wing Extremism-affected States, offering Rs. 5 lakh to anyone laying down a Light Machine Gun (LMG) and Rs. 3 lakh to those depositing an AK-47 assault rifle.
• At present, different State governments follow different surrender policies and surrender packages that include varying financial incentives.

  • The policy, announced by the Home Ministry last year, offers an incentive of Rs. 15,000 for each deposited AK 47/56/74 rifle, Rs. 25,000 for each Rocket Propelled Grenade/sniper rifle and Rs. 3,000 for a pistol or revolver.
• At the meeting, States and paramilitary forces were asked to take all possible steps to ensure protection of human rights of every individual while carrying out anti-Maoist operations and countering Naxals' negative propaganda.
• The Home Ministry also indicated that it was keen on extending the Integrated Action Plan (IAP) being implemented in 78 worst Naxal-affected districts.
• Chief Secretaries and DGPs or their representatives of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh attended the meeting.

Common entrance for engineering aspirants from 2013

• Students aspiring to join the central engineering institutions will have to write a common national examination from next year.
• The State governments and private institutions can, however, decide whether or not to join the common entrance test regime.
• It will cover admissions to 15 IITs, 30 National Institutes of Technology and four Indian Institutes of Information Technology.
• While Haryana, Uttarakhand, Delhi and Chandigarh have already decided to join this system, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry and West Bengal sought more time to study the proposal in detail.
• All universities and institutions offering engineering courses will now use the all-India merit list for admissions.
• The final merit list will be prepared, with a 40 per cent weightage for the State Board examination results and 60 per cent for the entrance test marks.
• The test would have two parts: main and advanced, to test the general aptitude and specific knowledge in the subject. The formula for equivalence across boards, derived by the Indian Statistical Institute, has taken into account the results of the last five years.

Political and Social Issues

Visually-impaired Haryana man all set to become IAS officer

• At the age of five, he lost his vision due to acute diarrhoea but that did not stop him from living his dream of becoming an IAS officer.
• 32-year-old gritty Ajit Kumar from nondescript Kheri village in south Haryana's Mahendergarh district
• “I am very happy today. My dream has been fulfilled. I am packing my bags and will be off to Mussorie this week where I will undergo training from February 19,” Kumar, who is only the second in the country with total loss of vision to get into IAS
• His life-journey bears striking resemblance with 26-year-old Sukhsohit Singh, a Panchkula resident who became the first thalassemic in the country to make it to the UPSC examinations in 2008.

Election Commission sniffs out 42 ‘paid news' cases in U.P.

• Even as “money-chasing” media persons and news organisations are coming up with innovative ways to hoodwink the Election Commission (EC) in its drive to seek out “paid news”, the authority has so far detected as many as 42 instances of alleged paid news in Uttar Pradesh
• Similarly, in Punjab, where elections have been completed, 134 alleged instances of “paid news” have been detected
• Similarly, during the Assembly elections held in April/May last year, 41 cases were detected in Kerala, 23 in West Bengal, 147 in Tamil Nadu and 4 in Puducherry and they were being processed.
• In the November 2010 Bihar polls, 121 instances of paid news were detected
• While the EC will take on the candidates who had suppressed the alleged advertisement expenditure in the post-poll election accounts submitted by them, complaints against 12 media organisations were forwarded to the Press Council of India (PCI) for “appropriate action”.
• Sources alleged that some print media organisations — mostly regional ones — were generally found to be more involved in paid news than the electronic media.

Decriminalisation judgment boosts morale of gay community, says study

• Even as the Supreme Court has begun hearings on the legality of the decriminalisation of consensual gay sex, a study report has found that the 2009 Delhi High Court judgment has significantly enhanced the social acceptance and self-esteem of Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgenders and Queers (LGBTQ).
• The High Court's landmark decision (in the case between the Naz Foundation and the Union of India) of revoking the archaic Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code has led to a gradual but steady acceptance of sexual minorities by society, concludes the study. This shows that attitudes can be moulded and mindsets transformed by even subtle but progressive changes in the law.
• Ensuring greater self-confidence for the community, it has already brought them one step closer to living with dignity, states the report.
• ‘Unnatural sex'? The meaning of the word has never been constant. We have travelled a distance of 60 years. Now it is test-tube babies, surrogate mothers. They are called discoveries. Is it in the order of nature? Is there carnal intercourse?”
• “There is a difference. There is a lot of change. Now we feel braver and can speak up for our rights, even against police. We are not scared of police like before,” said a respondent.
• While some felt harassment had substantially reduced among MSM (men who have sex with men) outreach workers, they pointed out that it had only to some extent reduced amongst Hijras and Kothis.
• Wide media coverage of the Naz Foundation judgment and the queer pride march and movies like Dostana have also helped in changing societal perception of homosexuals, according to some respondents. People are treating them with respect and there has been a change in thinking also, said one.
• One of them said, “I cannot even go home as my sister has to get married. I feel that there should be an environment in which we can live more openly. Parents play a huge role in discriminating. Even they tease. Why should I be blamed because I do not get attracted to girls? There has to be anti-discrimination laws to protect us and then families will be more accepting.”
• “Studies in the past in countries like Australia and South Africa have observed that jurisdiction with anti-sodomy laws have seen lower self-esteem amongst homosexuals, while jurisdiction with decriminalisation of homosexuality has observed greater self-acceptance and confidence. This was confirmed through the interviews,” said lead author of the study

Political and Social Issues

Increase maternity leave to 24 weeks, suggests ILC panel

• A committee on social security, set up at the 44{+t}{+h}Indian Labour Conference (ILC) that concluded its session here on Wednesday, has suggested that maternity leave to women employees, now provided under the Maternity Benefit Act, be raised to 24 weeks from the present 12 weeks.
• Ironically, there was exploitation of women workforce in payment of wages in the quantum of payment when compared to men. A woman employee of a leading foreign bank in Chennai was recently asked to quit during her advanced stage of pregnancy and rejoin a few months after child birth

Political and Social Issues

The poet who gave Umrao Jaan her voice

• Akhlaq Mohammed Khan, better known as Shahryar, who breathed his last in Aligarh on Monday after a prolonged battle with cancer, straddled the worlds of pure and popular poetry with equal ease.
• Shahryar was honoured with the Jnanpith Award in 2008 and the Sahitya Akademi Award for ‘Khwab ka Dar Band Hai.'

Congress' pet project, rural job scheme, faces grant cut

• Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, is facing a big cut in its budgetary grant for the first time since its launch in 2006.
• The budgetary support for the current financial year was a tad lower at Rs. 40,000 crore but the progress of the MGNREGS has been so bad that the UPA government is now set to slash the allocation for the job scheme for the poor for the 2012-13 financial year by 10 to 20 per cent.
• The MoRD is keen on ensuring that the allocation for the Ministry and for drinking water and sanitation is in no way less than the annual grant of Rs. 88,000 crore provided for in 2011-12.
• According to the latest statistics, about 60 per cent of the population practises open defecation.
• Mr. Ramesh is aiming for a higher allocation for improving drinking water facilities and setting up toilets for better hygiene and cleanliness. If his proposal gets the nod, the budgetary allocation for ministries under his control will exceed Rs. 90,000 crore.

India woman leaves home for lack of toilet

• Anita Narre left husband Shivram's home two days after her marriage in May last year because the house had no toilet. 
  

  • She returned eight days later after Shivram, a daily wage worker, built one with savings and aid from villagers.
• More than half-a-billion Indians still lack access to basic sanitation.
• The law making toilets mandatory has been introduced in several states as part of the "sanitation for all" drive by the Indian government.
• The programme aims to eradicate the practice of open defecation, which is common in rural and poor urban areas of India.
• Special funds are made available for people to construct toilets to promote hygiene and eradicate the practice of faeces collection - or scavenging - which is mainly carried out by low-caste people.

Political and Social Issues

Police to keep a check on overstaying foreigners

• With dozens of Nigerian nationals allegedly getting involved in criminal offences in recent years, law-enforcing agencies have planned to conduct a scrutiny on foreign nationals, particularly Nigerians, who are overstaying their visa in this part of the country.
• According to police sources, a large number of Nigerians who came to India on student or business visas continued to stay on for years in different parts of the country, particularly New Delhi, Hyderabad and Bangalore. Though many were engaged in education or business-related activities, some persons habitually indulged in criminal offences such as online frauds and drug peddling.
• In a recent case, we arrested a Nigerian national in Erode soon after he booked two courier consignments containing heroin to Australia and Holland. Search on his premises revealed the presence of three more Nigerians who were overstaying their visa

Political and Social Issues

Whither Bundelkhand package?

• “Bundelkhand package? It never reached anywhere except in the pockets of the officers and contractors.” This is the standard reply one gets on queries over the ambitious Rs. 7,266 crore special package announced by the Planning Commission for this backward drought-prone region of Uttar Pradesh.
• Announced in 2009, the package was meant for the overall development of the region spread across districts in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh — collectively known as the Bundelkhand region — and was to be implemented over three financial years between 2009-10 and 2011-12.
• Of this amount, Rs. 3,506 crore was meant for seven districts in U.P. and the remaining for development of six districts bordering M.P.
• A substantial chunk of the money was to be allotted for the already existing schemes of watershed management, irrigation, drinking water, animal husbandry and environment.
• Diseased goats were distributed by the State government under the livelihood scheme of the package that, instead of helping the poor farmer, resulted in the death of his own cattle as the infection spread
• 6,000 wells were dug up across the district but these collapsed within a few months because money was exhausted in digging and no funds were released to upgrade them.
• Bundelkhand package could well be the biggest scandal
• The National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) is the nodal agency created under the Planning Commission to release the funds under the Bundelkhand package.
• According to the NRAA, a review of the Bundelkhand package showed that only 16.57 per cent of the total allocation has been spent so far in Uttar Pradesh and 21.70 per cent in Madhya Pradesh over the past two years. The package is now expected to be extended by the Planning Commission.

M.P. Special Courts Bill gets presidential nod

• The Madhya Pradesh Vishesh Nyayalaya Adhiniyam (Madhya Pradesh Special Courts Bill) 2011 has received the presidential assent and will come into force on February 15, 2012.
• The anti-corruption act equips the government with wide-ranging powers to weed out corruption, including the power to confiscate illegally earned properties of corrupt officials and use them as public assets. A similar law is already in force in Bihar.
• Under the Act, special courts dealing with corruption cases will be set up at Bhopal, Jabalpur, Gwalior and Indore. Each of these cities will have two such courts, which will try cases related to amassing of disproportionate wealth/property by public servants.
• The Act prescribes a time-limit of one year for the trial of anti-corruption cases.
• This is the second Bill from the State to receive presidential assent this year, the first being the controversial anti-cow slaughter legislation.

We are not against all industries: Maoist leader

• Dispelling the general perception that the CPI(Maoist), the left wing extremist outfit, is opposed to all industrial projects, Odisha-based top red leader Sabyasachi Panda said going all out against industries would shatter the livelihood of labourers.
• “Communism always gives priority to the working class. If all industrial projects and mining operations are brought to a halt, labourers will suffer,”
• He said: “We are closely watching industrial development in the State. As a matter of fact we have decided to oppose alumina projects. As alumina refineries cause pollution and displace poor tribals… these types of project need to be opposed.”

Quraishi takes complaint against Khursheed to President

• Chief Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi has written a strong letter to President Pratibha Patil complaining against Union Law and Justice Minister Salman Khursheed for challenging the Commission on the “nine per cent sub-quota for minorities issue” even after being censured by it.
• Mr. Quraishi sought her “immediate and decisive” intervention to ensure that the Election Commission (EC) discharged its functions and duties in accordance with the Constitution and law
• The President has forwarded the complaint to the Prime Minister's Office for “appropriate action.”
• Mr. Khursheed, said that he would pursue the line of his earlier announcement (on 9 per cent sub-quota within 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in jobs and education) irrespective of what the EC directed.

Bribing of voters to be made a cognisable offence

• The Union Law Ministry has reportedly accepted a proposal of the Election Commission to amend the law to make bribing of voters, in cash or kind, a cognisable offence.
• It would also apply to those who take bribes. With the amendment, law enforcing agencies would have arresting power.
• According to Section 123(1) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, acceptance of money to vote is a corrupt practice
• Money power and muscle power are the two issues which worry the Commission and due to intensive and proactive action taken by the poll body in curbing movement of illegal money in the election areas, the muscle power or violence, too, has come down as no anti-social or unscrupulous elements indulge in trouble making unless they get money

Political and Social Issues

Compensation rates for SC/ST victims raised by 150 per cent

• The Union government has enhanced the compensation to Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes victims of different categories of atrocities from a minimum Rs. 20,000 to Rs. 50,000 and a maximum from Rs. 250,000 to Rs. 500,000.
• According to the Ministry of Social Justice, it is the first time that the scale of relief has been revised since the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, was first laid down in 1995.

‘Mughal Gardens mirror cultural diversity of India'

• The multitude of colourful, fragrant flowers spread across the gardens of Rashtrapati Bhavan mirror the diversity of India and its people
• The country comprises people from different castes, creeds and religion, and the gardens, comprising different varieties of flowers, give us the message to live in harmony with each other.
• The annual opening of Mughal Gardens has been christened ‘Udyanotsav' since 2011.
• This year the main attraction at the historic Mughal Gardens will be the floral carpets and a new bonsai garden with about 200 plants, besides a special cactus corner.
• Self Help Groups (SHGs) set up to make the Estate an eco-friendly sustainable urban habitat will put up a stall for the sale of vermi-compost and organic compost manure, which are manufactured inside the Estate.
• Visitors will be able to see different varieties of ornamental and medicinal plants at the Musical Garden, Spiritual Garden, Herbal Garden, Bonsai Garden and the Bio-diversity Park.

Political and Social Issues

Medha Patkar declines Basava Award

• social activist Medha Patkar has declined the Basava Award, citing the failure of the State Government in dealing with issues such as the mining scam.
• It carries a citation and a purse of Rs.10 lakh for contribution towards social change and promotion of the principles championed by social reformer Basaveshwara.
• Basava] award in the name of revolutionary saint-poet, philosopher Basaveshwara of 12th century, who promoted social change, reform and communal harmony.

When I think of food security subsidies, I lose sleep: Pranab

• The programme to provide subsidised foodgrains to beneficiaries under the proposed National Food Security Act is an agenda over which senior UPA ministers are losing sleep for, they find it difficult to implement within the existing Public Distribution System (PDS), full of loopholes.
• The food subsidy bill — when the proposed Act comes into play — is expected to be over Rs. 1 lakh crore. The law seeks to provide legal entitlement to subsidised foodgrains to 75 per cent rural population and 50 per cent urban population.
• the subsidised food security programme a “gigantic social responsibility,”
• “At this juncture, we have serious limitations on all fronts like capacities of mandis, financial position of State agencies, manpower, quality inspection mechanism, storage and movement. Even at the level of operation, the Railways are finding it difficult to handle the movement.” A massive programme to enhance foodgrains output would require huge investments in irrigation, power and fertilizers, he said.

“Children more important than TASMAC revenue”

• The future and safety of children are more important than the Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation (TASMAC) earning revenue out of selling liquor.
• This is what the Madras High Court has observed while directing TASMAC to close a liquor shop with bar
• By quixotic interpretation to the Prohibition Act and even in the teeth of Article 47 (of the Constitution) wherein the State had undertaken its endeavour to bring about prohibition of the consumption, except for medicinal purposes, of intoxicating drinks and of drugs which are injurious to health, the State is running liquor shops.

Cabinet okays sops for cooperative sector loans

• The Kerala Cabinet on Wednesday gave the green signal for several concessions for those who have taken loans from cooperative banks, including expanding the scope of the Cooperative Risk Fund and waiver of advances and penal interests.
• It also decided to approach the Centre for extending the repayment facility for education loans, currently allowed only to nationalised banks, to advances made by cooperative banks.

Political and Social Issues

Political and Social Issues

‘Lok Adalats are safety valves to remove pressure from courts'

• Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR) methods will act as a “safety value” to remove pressure from

Political and Social Issues

It may prove a blessing in disguise for old operators

• The Supreme Court judgment cancelling 122 licences issued in 2008 might prove to be a blessing in

Political and Social Issues

EC warns TV, radio channels

• The Election Commission on Wednesday warned television and radio channels and cable television

Political and Social Issues

Can't deny residence at marital home on mere allegations: Court

• A woman cannot be denied her right to residence in the house of her in-laws or husband under the law

Political and Social Issues

Peace caravan resumes services

• Karvan-e-Aman (Peace Caravan), the weekly bus service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, Capital
  

Political and Social Issues

Time to take up ‘Right to Reject' proposal: Quraishi

• Asking the government to take up electoral reforms in the coming session of Parliament, Chief Election

Political and Social Issues

AIDS awareness has gone up: study

• With the results of the Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BSS) Wave XIII showing overall progress in

Political and Social Issues

Jairam proposes big role for gram sabhas in tribal land acquisition

• Having introduced the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill in Parliament, Minister

Political and Social Issues

Mahesh Rangarajan formally appointed NMML director

• Environmental historian and political commentator Mahesh Rangarajan has been formally selected and

Political and Social Issues

Law Commission's new draft wants khap panchayats on marriages declared illegal

• Rejecting the government's proposal to amend Section 300 of the Indian Penal Code to include

Political and Social Issues

CEC sees polls as biggest source of corruption

• Elections are the biggest source of corruption in the country. When a candidate spends Rs. 5 crore to