SC/ST reservation in promotion: SC lays down creamy layer, efficiency norms - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

SC/ST reservation in promotion: SC lays down creamy layer, efficiency norms.

The court said the whole object of reservation was to see that backward classes of citizens move forward so that they may "march hand in hand with other citizens of India on an equal basis".

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said the "creamy layer test" would apply if reservatios in promotion are given to the SCs and STs. It said this was needed to prevent the creamy layer amongs SCs and STs from bagging all the coveted jobs in the public sector.
The top court also held that the authority needs to consider "efficiency of administration" while providing promotions under the law. This will be applicable at every step of promotion, said the court.
However, the court left it to Parliament to exclude the creamy layer from the Presidential Lists contained under Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution.
"We do not think it necessary to go into whether Parliament may or may not exclude the creamy layer from the Presidential Lists contained under Articles 341 and 342," said Justice Nariman speaking for the bench.
The Supreme Court made the observations while Centre's plea to revisit its 2006 judgment on reservation in promotions to the SCs/STs on the ground that it was impossible to gather quantifiable data showing their backwardness backed by inadequacy of their representation and administrative efficiency.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said the conclusion arrived at in the Nagaraj case that the states have to collect quantifiable data showing backwardness of SCs and STs was "contrary" to the nine-judge bench judgement in the Indra Sawhney verdict of 1992, popularly known as Mandal Commission case. ( Source: The Business Standard)


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SC/ST reservation in promotion: SC lays down creamy layer, efficiency norms.

Successful pre-induction test of ‘Astra’ air-to-air missile - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Successful pre-induction test of ‘Astra’ air-to-air missile.

A pre-induction trial of India’s indigenously developed beyond visual range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) ‘Astra’ was successfully conducted Wednesday over Bay of Bengal near Chandipur in Odisha, defence sources said.

The missile was fired from a fighter aircraft of the Indian Air Force in the afternoon and targeted an unmanned aerial vehicle ‘Banshi’ which it successfully engaged, the sources said.
‘Astra’ was successfully test fired by the IAF from a Su-30 aircraft that had taken off from Air Force station, Kalaikunda, a defence statement said.
The missile successfully engaged a maneuvering target with high precision, meeting the mission objectives, it said.
The statement said, “In the series of trials held to date, Astra has been launched in the complete Su-30 flight envelope. The flight test assumes significance as it was part of the series of final pre-induction trials”.
Astra has undergone more than 20 developmental trials, says the statement.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman lauded the efforts of Indian Air Force, DRDO and associated team members who were involved in the mission.
India has attained a high level of capability in the indigenous design and development of advanced weapon systems.
The final development Flight Trials of Astra were successfully conducted in September last year, the sources said adding a total of seven trials were conducted against pilotless target aircraft successfully from September 11 to 14, 2017.
The missions included engagement of target at very long range, engagement of high maneuvering target at medium range and multiple launches of missiles in salvo to engage multiple targets.
All the sub-systems including the indigenous RF Seeker performed accurately, meeting all the mission parameters and objectives. Two missiles were also launched in the combat configuration with warhead and the targets were neutralized, the sources said.
This effort for building a state-of-the-art BVRAAM by Defence Research and Development Organisation together with IAF completed the development phase of the weapon system successfully.
Hindustan Aeronautics Limited played a role in modifying the aircraft for weapon integration, the defence sources said adding more than 50 public and private industries have contributed in building the ‘Astra’ weapon system.


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Successful pre-induction test of ‘Astra’ air-to-air missile.

Adultery no longer a crime as Supreme Court strikes down Section 497 - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Adultery no longer a crime as Supreme Court strikes down Section 497.

Declaring that adultery is not a crime, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a colonial-era anti-adultery law, saying it was unconstitutional, dented the individuality of women and treated them as “chattel of husbands”.

The judgment was welcomed by activists, who said the archaic law should have been dumped a long time ago to keep pace with the rest of world.
The apex court’s five-judge Constitution bench was unanimous in striking down Section 497 of the Indian Penal Code dealing with the offence of adultery, holding it as manifestly arbitrary, archaic and violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women.
A five-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices R F Nariman, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra said that unequal treatment of women invites the wrath of the Constitution.
The top court, which held adultery as a relic of the past, said the autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices.
The National Commission of Women chief Rekha Sharma welcomed the judgement saying it should have been removed long time ago.
“This is a law from the British era, although British had done away with it long back, we were still stuck with it,” she said. Her views were echoed by many lawyers and activists.
While adultery should not be a criminal offence, the bench held that adultery should continue to be treated as civil wrong, and can be grounds for dissolution of marriage or divorce. There can’t be any social licence which destroys a home, Justice Misra said.
Section 497 of the 158-year-old IPC says: “Whoever has sexual intercourse with a person who is and whom he knows or has reason to believe to be the wife of another man, without the consent or connivance of that man, such sexual intercourse not amounting to the offence of rape, is guilty of the offence of adultery.”
Adultery was punishable by a maximum five years in jail or fine or both.
The apex court pronounced four sets of concurring judgements to declare penal provision on Adultery and section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional.
Justice Misra noted that adultery dents the individuality of women and it is not a crime in countries like China, Japan and Australia.
“We declare Section 497 IPC and Section 198 of CrPC dealing with prosecution of offences against marriage as unconstitutional,” said Justice Misra, who wrote the judgement for himself and Justice Khanwilkar, adding that any provision treating women with inequality is not constitutional and it’s time to say that “husband is not the master of woman”.
Justice Malhotra, the lone woman judge on the bench, said Section 497 is clear violation of fundamental rights granted in the Constitution and there is no justification for continuation of the provision.
Justice Nariman termed Section 497 as archaic law and concurred with the CJI and Justice Khanwilkar, saying that the penal provision is violative of the rights to equality and equal opportunity to women.
Justice Chandrachud said Section 497 destroys and deprives women of dignity and is destructive of women’s dignity, self-respect as it treats women as “chattel of husbands”.
Adultery might not be cause of unhappy marriage, it could be result of an unhappy marriage, Justice Misra said.
The CJI began reading the judgement by saying the beauty of the Constitution is that it includes “the I, me and you”.
He said equality is the governing parameter of the Constitution and section 497 of the IPC is manifestly arbitrary the way it deals with women.
Justice Chandrachud said autonomy is intrinsic in dignified human existence and Section 497 denudes women from making choices and held adultery as a relic of past.
Legislature has imposed a condition on sexuality of women by making adultery as offence, he said, adding that section 497 is denial of substance of equality.
The CJI and Justice Khanwilkar said mere adultery cannot be a crime, but if any aggrieved spouse commits suicide because of life partner’s adulterous relation, then if evidence is produced, it could be treated as an abetment to suicide.


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Adultery no longer a crime as Supreme Court strikes down Section 497.

India, G4 nations voice concern over lack of progress in long-pending UNSC reforms - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India, G4 nations voice concern over lack of progress in long-pending UNSC reforms.

India and the G4 nations voiced concern over the lack of substantive progress in the long-pending Security Council reform, saying it is time to finally initiate text-based negotiations to safeguard the legitimacy and credibility of the powerful UN organ.

The G4 nations, India, Brazil, Germany and Japan, have been calling for the reform of the UN Security Council, and support each others’ bids for the permanent seats in the top UN body.
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj hosted her counterparts Aloysio Nunes Ferreira of Brazil, Heiko Maas of Germany and Taro Kono of Japan at a meeting of the G4 nations held Tuesday at India’s Permanent Mission to the UN on the margins of the 73rd session of the General Assembly.
In a joint statement after the meeting, the four nations reaffirmed their commitment to multi-lateralism.
“It was time to finally initiate text-based negotiations during the 73rd session of the General Assembly” in line with the standard operating procedures of the UN General Assembly, the ministers said.
They stressed that adapting the United Nations to the contemporary needs of the 21st century necessarily required reforming the Security Council.
“They stressed the need to safeguard the legitimacy and credibility of this UN organ which deals with international peace and security,” the statement said.
The G4 Ministers reaffirmed the need for an early reform of the Council including the expansion of both the permanent and non-permanent categories of membership to enhance its legitimacy, effectiveness and representativeness.
They said that the current composition of the 15-nation Council does not reflect the changed global realities and stressed that the UNSC reform is essential to address today’s complex challenges.
The ministers reiterated their support for Africa’s representation in both categories of membership in a reformed and expanded Security Council.
“As aspiring new permanent members of a reformed Council, the ministers reiterated their commitment to work to strengthen the functioning of the UN and the global multilateral order as well as their support for each other’s candidatures,” it said.
Reviewing progress on the UNSC reform at the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN), they said substantial progress had not yet been achieved even though next year would mark 40 years since the inscription of the item ‘Question of equitable representation on and increase in the membership of the Security Council and other matters related to the Security Council’ on the agenda of the General Assembly.
“Despite an overwhelming majority of UN member states supporting Security Council reform, the IGN has not produced substantive progress over the 10 years since its launch in 2009,” the statement said adding that the ministers emphasised the need to revitalise process of the Security Council reform.
The four leaders welcomed the commitment of President of the 73rd session of the General Assembly Mara Fernanda Espinosa Garces to the reform process and expressed their readiness to extend full support to her with a view to launching negotiations based on a text comprising all positions and proposals by the member states.
The ministers agreed that all aspects of the comprehensive reform had been thoroughly discussed several times in the IGN and the General Assembly.
They reiterated their commitment to working with other member states to realise the shared vision of the overwhelming majority supporting the initiation of text-based negotiations in a democratic and transparent manner.
The G4 will intensify dialogue with other member states, especially like-minded countries and groups to achieve meaningful progress in the upcoming IGN session, the four ministers said, adding that they are determined to redouble their efforts towards securing concrete outcomes on the UNSC reform during the current session of the General Assembly. (Source: RSTV)


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India, G4 nations voice concern over lack of progress in long-pending UNSC reforms.

Cabinet approves National Digital Communications Policy-2018 - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Cabinet approves National Digital Communications Policy-2018.

To connect, propel and secure India Universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats Ensure connectivity to all uncovered areas Attract investments of USD 100 Billion in the Digital Communications Sector.

The Union Cabinet chaired by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has approved the National Digital Communications Policy-2018 (NDCP-2018) and re-designation of the Telecom Commission as the "Digital Communications Commission”.
Impact:
The NDCP-2018 envisions supporting India's transition to a digitally empowered economy and society by fulfilling the information and communications needs of citizens and enterprises by establishment of a ubiquitous, resilient and affordable digital communications infrastructure and services.
The ‘Customer focused’ and ‘application driven’ NDCP-2018 shall lead to new ideas and innovations, after the launch of advanced technology such as 5G, IOT, M2M, etc. which shall govern the telecom sector of India.
Objectives:
The key objectives of the policy are:
i. Broadband for all;
ii. Creating four million additional jobs in the Digital Communications sector;
iii. Enhancing the contribution of the Digital Communications sector to 8% of India's GDP from ~ 6% in 2017;
iv. Propelling India to the Top 50 Nations in the ICT Development Index of ITU from 134 in 2017;
v. Enhancing India's contribution to Global Value Chains; and
vi. Ensuring Digital Sovereignty.
These objectives are to be achieved by 2022.
Features:
The policy aims to
• Provide universal broadband connectivity at 50 Mbps to every citizen;
• Provide 1 Gbps connectivity to all Gram Panchayats by 2020 and 10 Gbps by 2022;
• Ensure connectivity to all uncovered areas;
• Attract investments of USD 100 billion in the Digital Communications Sector;
• Train one million manpower for building New Age Skill;
• Expand IoT ecosystem to 5 billion connected devices;
• Establish a comprehensive data protection regime for digital communications that safeguards the privacy, autonomy and choice of individuals
• Facilitate India's effective participation in the global digital economy;
• Enforce accountability through appropriate institutional mechanisms to assure citizens of safe and
• Secure digital communications infrastructure and services.
Strategy:
The policy advocates:-
i. Establishment of a National Digital Grid by creating a National Fibre Authority;
ii. Establishing Common Service Ducts and utility corridors in all new city and highway road projects;
iii. Creating a collaborative institutional mechanism between Centre, States and Local Bodies for Common Rights of Way, standardization of costs and timelines;
iv. Removal of barriers to approvals; and
v. Facilitating development of Open Access Next Generation Networks.
Background:
As the present world has entered the era of modern technological advancements in the Telecom Sector such as 5G, loT, M2M etc., a need was being felt to introduce a 'customer focused' and 'application driven' policy for the Indian Telecom Sector, which can form the main pillar of Digital India by addressing emerging opportunities for expanding not only the availability of telecom services but also telecom based services.
Accordingly, the new National Digital Communications Policy - 2018 has been formulated, in place of the existing National Telecom Policy-2012, to cater to the modern needs of the digital communications sector of India. (Source: PIB)


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Cabinet approves National Digital Communications Policy-2018.

Aadhaar not mandatory for bank account, mobile connection: Key takeaways - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Aadhaar not mandatory for bank account, mobile connection: Key takeaways.

The apex court also struck down Section 57 of Aadhaar Act permitting private entities to avail Aadhaar data.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday declared government's Aadhaar scheme as Constitutionally valid and also struck down Section 57 of Aadhaar Act permitting private entities to avail Aadhaar data. "Robust data protection regime has to be brought in place as early as possible," Justice Sikri said while reading out the majority judgement.
The court said that the Aadhaar authentication data cannot be stored for more than six months.
The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench said Aadhaar means unique and it is better to be unique than being best. The first of the three judgements was pronounced by Justice A K Sikri. Justice Sikri pronounced the judgement for himself, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar.
The court said that the Aadhaar authentication data cannot be stored for more than six months.
The apex court's five-judge Constitution bench said Aadhaar means unique and it is better to be unique than being best. The first of the three judgements was pronounced by Justice A K Sikri. Justice Sikri pronounced the judgement for himself, Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar.
Here are the key takeaways:
1. Individuals and corporates cannot collect Aadhaar data
2. Government not to give Aadhaar to illegal immigrants
3. Aadhaar need not be made compulsory for school admissions
4. Linking Aadhaar to telecom services unconstitutional
5. No person can be denied govt benefits only due to absence of Aadhaar
6. No need to link bank accounts, mobile numbers to Aadhaar
7. Aadhaar card is mandatory for PAN linking, Income Tax return
8. Aadhaar can be passed as Money Bill
9. Nothing in Aadhaar Act that violates right to privacy of individual
10. No child can be denied benefits of any schemes on not being able to bring their Aadhaar number
11. CBSE, NEET, UGC cannot make Aadhaar mandatory, also not compulsory for school admissions (Source: The Business Standard)


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Aadhaar not mandatory for bank account, mobile connection: Key takeaways.

SC upholds constitutional validity of Aadhaar, strikes down certain provisions - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

SC upholds constitutional validity of Aadhaar, strikes down certain provisions.

A constitution bench affirms Aadhaar’s constitutionality, saying it involved “parting with minimal information” to fulfill the “larger public interest” of the marginalised and poor who can use it to obtain benefits and subsidies.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the constitutional validity of Aadhaar; albeit with riders. In a majority judgment of 4:1, a constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra affirmed its constitutionality, saying it involved “parting with minimal information” to fulfill the “larger public interest” of the marginalised and poor who can use it to obtain benefits and subsidies under Section 7 of the Aadhaar Act. Its passage as a money bill was also affirmed under the majority view. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, the sole dissenting judge, however, disagreed as he said, “Passing it as a money bill is a fraud on the Constitution and it violates its basic structure.”
The court also laid down norms under privacy, proportionality, data security against which Aadhaar was tested and qualified.
Clarifying the mandate of its linking with various services, the court upheld linking with permanent account number (PAN) but ruled out on its linking with bank accounts and mobile numbers. Until now, banks and telephone companies had been pushing customers to link their Aadhaar.
By striking down Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, the court also ensured that private companies can no longer use the Aadhaar database or insist on it for their services.
Aadhaar’s role in eduction and admissions was also restricted as it was held that it could not be made compulsory for school admissions and authorities like Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and University Grants Commission (UGC) could not insist on it.
The petitioners’ argument of Aadhaar leading to the problem of exclusion was also rejected. “The entire aim of launching the programme was inclusion of those who deserve to get benefits. If we consider the 0.232 per cent of failures, then 99.7 per cent for whom it is meant, inclusion gets disturbed”, said Justice A.K. Sikri.
Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric identity number, has been issued to more than 1.22 billion residents of India. It is instrumental in availing a host of services, including central and state government schemes (such as PDS, LPG, MNREGA), banking services, telecommunication connections, filing of income tax returns and for also making Aadhaar-based digital payments.
The apex court was ruling on a batch of over 30 petitions, heard over four months, each of which challenged several aspects of Aadhaar, including its constitutional basis, the process of collecting personal and biometric information under it, and privacy and security concerns.
Another set of challenges were making it mandatory for social welfare benefits, making it mandatory for filing income-tax returns (ITRs) as well as for obtaining and retaining PAN. The petitioners include non-government organizations, privacy campaigners, retired army officers and the government of West Bengal.
As part of the petitioners’ arguments against Aadhaar, its architecture was criticized on the grounds of it leading to a surveillance state by tracking people or profiling their personal data. This, if not curtailed, was destructive of a limited Constitution and violated an individual’s fundamental right to privacy, it was claimed. Issues with the UIDAI’s enrolment procedure that raised concerns about data breaches were also put forth.
Shyam Divan, lawyer for the petitioners, elaborated on the possibility of India turning into a surveillance state, claiming that the provisions in the Aadhaar Act enabled the UIDAI to collect data beyond an individual’s fingerprint and iris scan to issue the Aadhaar number. He also criticized the excessive power handed to the UIDAI to outsource the security of the database.
This was met by the Centre’s main argument that Aadhaar was rolled out to help the poor, and keeping in mind “legitimate state interests” such as curbing terrorism, poverty, money laundering, black money and delivery of subsidies and benefits.
During one of the hearing, Attorney General, K.K. Venugopal said, “The state is using Aadhaar as an ‘enabler of the citizens’ right to life. including their right to food, livelihood, pension and other social assistance benefits’.” He further stated that Aadhaar’s main objective was entrenched in Article 21 (right to life) of the Constitution.
Adopting a similar stand, the UIDAI maintained that Aadhaar was backed by a robust system of security and that there had not been a single breach of biometric data from its end. The issuing body also claimed that Aadhaar had a 2048-bit encryption key, which worked like a number lock, making it extremely secure.
In the time that the court heard the case, it passed several interim directions clarifying the extent of Aadhaar’s mandatory nature and extending the deadline for its linking with various services.
In March, the apex court extended the deadline for linking Aadhaar with mobile services, opening new bank accounts and other services until it passes its verdict on the pending constitutional challenge before it.
It was however, clarified that the extension would not be applicable for availing of services, subsidies and benefits under Section 7 of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016.
In a path-breaking ruling on 24 August, 2017, the apex court held privacy to be a fundamental right, setting stage for Aadhaar to be tested against it. (Source: Livemint)


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SC upholds constitutional validity of Aadhaar, strikes down certain provisions.

India and China to sign internal security cooperation agreement - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India and China to sign internal security cooperation agreement.

For the first time, India and China will sign an internal security cooperation agreement during the forthcoming visit of China's Minister of Public Security, marking a new beginning in bilateral relations, officials said Monday.

Zhao Kezhi, China's Minister of Public Security, is expected to visit India next month and hold meetings with Home Minister Rajnath Singh during which they will discuss various aspects of security cooperation between the two countries. During the visit of the Chinese leader, an agreement on internal security cooperation between the two countries will be signed, a home ministry official said.

The proposed pact is expected to cover areas of intelligence sharing, exchange programme, sharing of best practices, cooperation in disaster mitigation besides others, an official said. The move comes just a year after a two-month-long border stand-off between the India Army and the China's People's Liberation Army at Doklam on the India-Bhutan-China tri-junction. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held an informal summit in Wuhan, China, in April this year which helped repair bilateral ties. A Chinese delegation met an Indian team on August 28 to hold discussions on the forthcoming visit of the Chinese Minister of Public Security and the proposed pact on security cooperation between the two countries, the official said.
This will be the first such agreement between the authorities of India and China which look after internal security of the respective countries, the official said. While Singh is the head of eight central armed police forces with a combined strength of about 10 lakh personnel, Zhao is responsible for day-to-day law enforcement in China and commands about 19 lakh personnel.
The forthcoming meeting may lead to a future India-China agreement on exchange of sentenced prisoners, another official said. Currently, India does not have an extradition treaty with China, nor a pact to exchange each other's sentenced prisoners.
There are at least 10 Indians in Chinese prisons and an equal number of Chinese citizens in Indian prisons.


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India and China to sign internal security cooperation agreement.

MPs, MLAs can practice law during their elected tenure: SC - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

MPs, MLAs can practice law during their elected tenure: SC.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said Bar Council of India rules do not prohibit legislators from practising as lawyers.

The Supreme Court Tuesday said there were no restrictions on MPs and MLAs practicing law and that Rule 49 was not applicable to law-makers who are not full time salaried employees. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said Bar Council of India rules do not prohibit legislators from practising as lawyers.
The court had earlier in July reserved its order while hearing petitions filed by NGO Public Interest Foundation and Delhi BJP leader and lawyer Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay, among others.
Appearing for the Centre, Attorney General K K Venugopal had told the court during the hearing that the judiciary cannot get into law-making, which is reserved for the legislature. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for Upadhyay, had told the court that a lawmaker draws a salary from the public exchequer and a salaried employee is debarred by the Bar Council of India from practising in the courts of law.
To this, the bench had replied that employment postulates a master-servant relationship and the government of India is not the master of a Member of Parliament.(Source: The Indian Express)


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MPs, MLAs can practice law during their elected tenure: SC.

India among top countries to incur max loss from climate change, finds research - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India among top countries to incur max loss from climate change, finds research.

The United States, India and Saudi Arabia are the top three counties with the most to lose from climate change.

India is among the top countries to face maximum economic loss from climate change, says a new research, estimating the total price that emissions would have to the country’s economy.
The findings which were published in the scientific journal, Nature Climate Change, highlighted that United States, India and Saudi Arabia are the top three counties with the most to lose from climate change, followed by Brazil and world’s largest CO2 emitter - China.
It is for the first time that researchers developed a data set quantifying the country-level contributions to the social cost of carbon (SCC), which is a measure of the economic harm from carbon dioxide emissions for at least 169 countries across the globe.
According to the study, India’s country-level social cost of carbon was estimated to be the highest at $86 per tonne of CO2, which means that Indian economy stands to lose $86 from emitting each additional tonne of CO2. This roughly accounts for nearly 21% of the global social cost of carbon.
While previous research in the field has focused on how rich countries benefit from the fossil fuel economy, while damages are borne primarily by the developing world, the research highlights that the maximum damages would be faced by major powers, including US and China.
India is followed by United States, where the economic damages would be $48 per tonne of CO2 emission and Saudi Arabia at $47 per tonne of CO2, both accounting for 11% of the global social cost of carbon each.
Brazil stands as the fourth country in the list followed by China and the United Arab Emirates. The country-level social cost of carbon for China was found to be $24 per tonne of CO2, as per the study conducted by researchers from University of California, San Diego.
“Carbon dioxide released from burning fossil fuels affects people and ecosystems around the world, however, these impacts are not included in market prices and consumers of fossil fuel energy are unaware of the true costs of their consumption,” said lead author, assistant professor Kate Ricke, from University of California, San Diego.
The research also highlights that several countries have not yet recognized the risk posed by climate change. ‘Russia dominates all the other nations in gains from emissions, whereas India is consistently dominated by all the other large economies with large losses,’ it noted.
“Our analysis demonstrates that the argument that the primary beneficiaries of reductions in carbon dioxide emissions would be other countries is a total myth,” said Ricke, adding that the findings show that the threat levels of future warming to be much higher for counties such as the US and India, who are expected to take a leadership role on climate.(Source: Livemint)


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India among top countries to incur max loss from climate change, finds research.

Nepal is set to become the first country to double its wild tiger population - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Nepal is set to become the first country to double its wild tiger population.

On the occasion of National Conservation Day today, Nepal announced that there are now an estimated 235 wild tigers in the country, nearly doubling the baseline of around 121 tigers in 2009. If these trends continue, Nepal could become the first country to double its national tiger population since the ambitious TX2 goal – to double the world’s wild tiger population by 2022 – was set at the St Petersburg Tiger Summit in 2010.

“Our commitment to the Global Tiger Recovery Programme gains new ground with Nepal’s growing tiger numbers and a successful implementation of Nepal’s Tiger Conservation Action Plan,” stated Bishwa Nath Oli, Secretary of the Ministry of Forests and Environment. “Protecting tigers is a top priority of the government, and we are thankful for the able support of our partners, enforcement agencies, local communities and the international community for a common purpose.”
Nepal conducted its national tiger survey between November 2017 and April 2018 in the transboundary Terai Arc Landscape (TAL), a vast area of diverse ecosystems shared with India. Camera traps and occupancy surveys were used to estimate tiger occupancy and abundance, while line transect surveys were used to derive prey density. The last tiger survey in 2013 had estimated the tiger population at 198.
“This significant increase in Nepal’s tiger population is proof that when we work together, we can save the planet’s wildlife – even species facing extinction,” said Leonardo DiCaprio, WWF-US board member and chairman of the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, which has funded tiger conservation in Nepal’s Bardia National Park and elsewhere since 2010.
“Nepal has been a leader in efforts to double tigers within its own borders and serves as a model for conservation for all of Asia and the world. I am proud of my foundation’s partnership with WWF to support Nepal and local communities in doubling the population of wild tigers.”
The success in Nepal has been largely attributed to the country's political commitment and the adoption of innovative tools and approaches towards tiger conservation. Nepal was the first country to achieve global standards in managing tiger conservation areas, an accreditation scheme governed by the Conservation Assured Tiger Standards (CA|TS). With four more years to go, the TX2 goal of doubling tiger numbers globally can only be achieved if all the tiger range countries step up and commit to a similar level of excellence.
Have you read?
• There could be a new 'Asian Tiger'. Here's why
• These 'human interceptors' in Nepal are catching traffickers. Here's how
• What’s next for Nepal’s economy?
In May this year, Nepal celebrated a new benchmark with the achievement of 365 days of zero poaching of rhinos on five occasions between 2011 and 2018. This is another excellent example of real conservation change that can be achieved when a country unites and coordinates the efforts of the government, enforcement agencies, conservation partners and local communities.
“Every tiger counts, for Nepal and for the world,” stated Dr. Ghana S Gurung, Country Representative, WWF-Nepal. “While Nepal is but a few tigers away from our goal to double tiger numbers by 2022, it also underscores the continued need to ensure protection, and improved and contiguous habitats for the long-term survival of the species.”
The tiger and prey-base survey was led by the Government of Nepal’s Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation and Department of Forests, in partnership with WWF-Nepal, National Trust for Nature Conservation and Zoological Society of London (ZSL) Nepal. It was funded by WWF, ZSL Nepal, National Trust for Nature Conservation, USAID’s Hariyo Ban Program II, KfW/IUCN, Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation, Panthera and WildCats Conservation Alliance.


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Nepal is set to become the first country to double its wild tiger population.

ISRO setting up launch pad for Gaganyaan mission - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

ISRO setting up launch pad for Gaganyaan mission.

In addition to the third launch pad at Sriharikota, the space agency is also scouting for a new location near Gujarat for the Small Satellite Launch Vehicles.

The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is setting up a third launch pad at Sriharikota to undertake the Gaganyaan manned space flight programme, an ISRO official said on Friday. In addition, ISRO is scouting for a location on the western sea coast near Gujarat to set up another launch pad for Small Satellite Launch Vehicles (SSLV).

Third launch pad
“We have two launch pads currently, which are already full. A third launch pad is being set up for the human space flight. It will be ready in time for the mission,” a senior ISRO official said.
In the Independence Day address this year from the Red Fort, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that an Indian will go to space by 2022.
Following this, ISRO has announced an ambitious roadmap to put a three-man Indian crew in a low earth orbit for 5-7 days by the 75th Independence Day.
ISRO Chairman Dr. Sivan had stated earlier that ISRO has begun work on the manned mission in 2004, and that many of the critical technologies required for human spaceflight have already been validated through various tests — Space Capsule Recovery Experiment, Crew Module Atmospheric Re-Entry Experiment and Pad Abort Test.
ISRO will use its GSLV Mk-III launch vehicle, which can carry the heavier payload of the Gaganyaan, and this will take off from the new launch pad.
In addition to the third launch pad at Sriharikota, ISRO is also scouting for a new location near Gujarat for the SSLV.
ISRO is developing the SSLV to offer affordable launch options for smaller satellites through Antrix, the space agency’s commercial arm. ISRO currently piggybacks smaller satellites on the PSLV and GSLV along with bigger satellites.
The SSLV is expected to reduce the launch time as well as cost less to launch small satellites, which are much in demand.
“We have evaluated several locations. The first two SSLV launches will take place from Sriharikota. After that they will move to the new location,” the official said. (Source: The Hindu)


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ISRO setting up launch pad for Gaganyaan mission.

Ayushman Bharat Scheme Launched Today: 10 Things To Know About Centre's Flagship Mission - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Ayushman Bharat Scheme Launched Today: 10 Things To Know About Centre's Flagship Mission.

The ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme aims to provide coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per family annually, benefiting more than 10 crore poor families.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Centre's flagship Ayushman Bharat-National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM) from Ranchi on Sunday, reported news agency Press Trust of India (PTI). However, the scheme will now become operational from September 25 on the birth anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. The ambitious Ayushman Bharat scheme, renamed the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Abhiyan (PMJAY) aims to provide coverage of Rs. 5 lakh per family annually, benefiting more than 10 crore poor families, according to a release issued by PIB (Press Information Bureau).
Here are 10 things to know about Ayushman Bharat scheme:
1. The Ayushman Bharat scheme will target poor, deprived rural families and identified occupational category of urban workers' families, 8.03 crore in rural and 2.33 crore in urban areas, as per the latest SECC (Socio Economic Caste Census) data.
2. This cover will take care of almost all secondary care and most of tertiary care procedures.
3. There will be no restriction on family size, age and gender under 'Ayushman Bharat' scheme to ensure that nobody is left out (especially women, children and elderly), the PIB release added.
4. A beneficiary covered under the scheme will be allowed to take cashless benefits from any public/private empanelled hospitals across the country.
5. The benefit cover will also include pre and post-hospitalisation expenses.
6. All pre-existing conditions will be covered from day one of the policy.
7. A defined transport allowance per hospitalization will also be paid to the beneficiary, the PIB release said.
8. Eligible people will be able to avail the benefits in government and listed private hospital.
9. The Ayushman Bharat scheme will be funded with 60 per cent contribution coming from the Centre and remaining from the states.
10. Over 8,735 hospitals, both public and private, have been empanelled for the scheme, and as many as 31 states and union territories have signed MoUs with the Centre to implement the programme, (Source: NDTV)


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Ayushman Bharat Scheme Launched Today: 10 Things To Know About Centre's Flagship Mission.

A history of Bharat Mata and why we need to draw a parallel with the national anthem - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

A history of Bharat Mata and why we need to draw a parallel with the national anthem.

'Bharat Mata ki Jai’ and 'Jai Hind' slogans emerged during India’s freedom struggle. Both are reverential. Yet, both are markedly different.

Waris Pathan was suspended from the Maharashtra Assembly for refusing to say ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’. Earlier, another AIMIM leader, Asaduddin Owaisi voiced similar opinion in the Parliament leading to a strong rebuttal (without naming Owaisi) by Jawed Akhtar.
In a milieu when allegations and allegiances are marked on the basis of slogans shouted or the refusal to chant one, it may be pertinent to note that Waris Pathan was willing to say ‘Jai Hind‘. His refusal was only for ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.
Both these slogans emerged during India’s freedom struggle. Both are reverential. Yet, both are markedly different. While in the first, the nation is abstract, in the second it is both abstract and an icon, a goddess, a mother. We know that various religions, including Islam, forbid the practice of idol worship and goddess worship.
The slogan, ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ is often interchangeably raised with Vande Mataram and shares a common history too. Though it is extremely difficult to pin-point when this slogan first came into existence, the genealogy of the figure of Bharat Mata has been traced to a satirical piece titled Unabimsa Purana (‘The Nineteenth Purana’) by Bhudeb Mukhopadhyay, first published anonymously in 1866. Bharat Mata is identified in this text as Adi-Bharati, the widow of Arya Swami, the embodiment of all that is essentially ‘Aryan’. The image of the dispossessed motherland also found in Kiran Chandra Bandyopadhyay’s play, Bharat Mata, first performed in 1873.
The landmark intervention in the history of this icon was Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Anandamath By 1880 even the song was occasionally rendered in the drawing room of the author in raga Malhar. However, the score set in Desh Ragini (Kawali beat) came to be included only in the third edition of Anandmath in 1886. It was sung in the Calcutta session of the Indian National Congress in 1896 by Rabindranath Tagore. Soon translations proliferated. The icon, the song and the slogan acquired an entangled trajectories but also their own identities.
During the Swadeshi movement in 1905, Abnindranath Tagore painted an image of ‘Banga Mata’ but decided to title it as Bharat Mata. Painted as a beautiful young ascetic, in the eyes of Sister Nivedita, this was a coming together of the abstract ideal of nationalism and art, of human form and the divine spirit. This was ‘the perfect answer’ to her question, ‘how can a man be a painter of nationalism’ and ‘can an abstract idea be given form with flesh and painted?’
The icon of Bharat Mata very quickly acquired a wide ranging visual forms and registers i.e. calendar, lithograph, border of dhoti, match box labels and cartoons. This history reveals a fascinating entanglement of the anthropomorphic body of a divine mother with the map/ the territory of the nation. The overarching frame remains religious having elements drawn from the vocabulary of Hinduism and national struggle together. However, in 1935, when Amrita Sher-Gil chose to paint her own Mother India, her brush rendered Mother India as tribal women. For Jawaharlal Nehru, Bharat Mata ki Jai was not just about land and geography but also about peasants and people themselves.
By 1907, intelligence department reports begin mentioning Vande Mataram and occasionally Bharat Mata ki Jai as a ‘war cry’. It may be worth keeping in mind that unlike her siblings like Jai Hind and Inquilab Zindabad, barring few exceptions as mentioned above, an element of divine presence of a Vaishnav Hindu goddess remains central in the slogan Bharat Mata ki Jai. The objections and controversies were bound to crop up. The late 1930s witnessed some bitter communal politics in this regard. The controversies continued in post Independence phase too.
One such case erupted in Kerala when in early 1980s, three children of the Jehovah sect were expelled from a school for refusing to join other students in singing the national anthem. Instead, they stood in respectful deference during the singing. The sect of Jehovah’s Witnesses does not endorse or believe any sign/symbol of temporal power and only pays obeisance to its God, Jehovah. A case was filed against the children. The Kerala High Court maintained that, “there was no word or thought in the National Anthem, which could offend anyone’s religious susceptibilities; therefore, the plea that singing of the anthem infringed on one’s freedom of religion could not be sustained”. The Supreme Court, however, reversed the order by observing that no disrespect was shown to the national anthem by not joining in the singing.
The court further observed, “Article 25 is an article of faith in the Constitution, incorporated in recognition of the principle that the real test of a true democracy is the ability of even an insignificant minority to find its identity under the country’s Constitution.”
The practices of the Witnesses may appear “strange or even bizarre”, the question was not whether a particular religious belief or practice appeals to the Court’s reason or sentiment but whether the belief is genuinely and conscientiously held as part of the profession or practice of religion.” It is extremely crucial that the court recognised and upheld practices of plurality while dealing with the issue of faith. The court observed, “For the court to take to itself the right to say that the exercises here in question had no religious or devotional significance might well be for the court to deny that very religious freedom which the statute is intended to provide”. To us this recognition distinguishes the legal responses from executive or managerial measures pertaining to the sacredness of the anthem.
What was applied in the case of the national anthem may also be judicious for a sacred national slogan like Bharat Mata ki Jai. Though the court maintained the significance of Article 51 (A) that deals with fundamental duties, it also recognised that the national flag and the national anthem are means to propagate the cause of the nation rather than the nation itself.


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A history of Bharat Mata and why we need to draw a parallel with the national anthem.

ESIC approves new scheme, Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna for cash relief to unemployed insured persons - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

ESIC approves new scheme, Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna for cash relief to unemployed insured persons.

ESI Corporation (ESIC) has rolled out Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana for insured persons (IP) covered under the Employees State Insurance Act. 1948. Under this ABVKY Scheme, ESIC will provide relief amount to employees in cash directly into their bank accounts in case of unemployment. This financial assistance would be given to employees even while they search for new engagement. Complete instructions such as eligibility criteria, application form will be issued separately.

ESIC has launched this Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana keeping in mind the change in employment pattern. The current scenario of employment in India has been transformed from long employment to fixed short term engagement in the form of contract and temping. So, Employees must get assistance in case they get unemployed for sometime and search new job.
Now Employers will encourage Aadhar (UID) Seeding in ESIC database of their workers and their family members. Aadhaar Seeding is must to avoid de-duplication and in order to transfer assistance directly into the bank account of employees.
Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana by ESI Corporation (ESIC)
In 175th meeting of ESI Corporation which was held on 18 September 2018 in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Sh. Santosh Gangwar (Minister of state for Labour & Employment), ESIC has taken very important decisions to improve its services and benefits provided to insured persons and their dependents.
Now all the insured people covered under Employees State Insurance Act, 1948 can avail benefits of Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY). Now, ESIC will provide financial assistance to people in case the employees leave their jobs and are finding a new one. Relief amount would be credited directly into their bank accounts.
Aadhaar Seeding- ESI Corporation also approves the proposal for reimbursement of Rs. 10/- per person to employers. This would encourage and enhance Aadhaar Seeding of workers and their family members in ESIC database. It will restrict multiple registrations from same Insured people and thus will enable them to get scheme benefits which requires longer contributory conditions.
Increased Amount for Funeral Expenses of Insured Employees
ESI Corporation approves the proposal to enhance the funeral expenses to Rs. 15,000. Previously, all the insured employees were entitled to get Rs. 10,000 as funeral expenses. Now the funeral expenses has been raised from existing Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000 being paid on the death of Insured Person.
Eligibility Conditions Relaxed to Avail Super Specialty Treatment
ESI Corporation has made relaxations in the eligibility conditions to avail Super Specialty Treatment as follows:-
• Previously, insurable employment of 2 years was necessary to avail super specialty treatment. This have now been reduced to 6 months with contribution requirement of only 78 days.
• Eligibility to avail Super Specialty Treatment for dependents of insured person has also been relaxed to 1 year of insurable employment with 156 days contribution.
The new modified provisions would help insured persons and their beneficiaries to get Super Specialty treatment absolutely free as per revised eligibility.


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ESIC approves new scheme, Atal Bimit Vyakti Kalyan Yojna for cash relief to unemployed insured persons.

Union Government to launch India’s first National Registry of Sexual Offenders - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Union Government to launch India’s first National Registry of Sexual Offenders.

India is all set to roll out the National Registry of Sexual Offenders on Thursday, and will become the ninth country in the world to set up and maintain such a database. The Indian registry will include names, photographs, residential address, fingerprints, DNA samples, and PAN and Aadhaar numbers, of convicted sexual offenders.

Official sources that the database will contain more than 4.5 lakh cases, including profiles of first-time and repeat offenders, based on details compiled from prisons across the country. The offenders will be classified on the basis of criminal history to ascertain if “they pose a serious danger to the community”.
“The database will be maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) under the Ministry of Home Affairs and made available to law enforcement agencies for various purposes, including investigation and employee verification,” a senior government official said.
The registry will be available only to law enforcement agencies in India, unlike in the US where the database maintained by the FBI can be accessed by the public. The registries maintained by other countries — UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and Trinidad & Tobago — are available only to law enforcement agencies.
India’s registry will store data for 15 years in the case of those classified as posing “low danger”, 25 years for those presenting “moderate danger” and through lifetime for “habitual offenders, violent criminals, convicts in gangrape and custodial rapes”, sources said.
The registry will also store information on arrested and chargesheeted offenders but with a clause that limits access to officers with the requisite clearance. Juvenile offenders are likely to be included in the database at a later stage, sources said.
The decision to set up the database was taken in April following nationwide outrage over cases of sexual assault on minors, including the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in J&K’s Kathua. The Union Cabinet had subsequently promulgated the Criminal Law Ordinance, 2018, for the death penalty to be handed out to those convicted of raping children below 12 years.
According to NCRB, there has been a three per cent increase in crimes against women and a 12 per cent rise in rapes in 2016, as compared to 2015. As many as 38,947 rape cases were registered in 2016, up from 34,651 in 2015. Overall, cases of crimes against women rose from 3,29,243 in 2015 to 3,38,954 in 2016, according to NCRB.
With the launch of this database, the Government hopes to convey the message ahead of elections next year that the safety of women and children is its top priority.
Recently, it set up a National Mission for the Safety of Women, headed by the Union Cabinet Secretary, to undertake specified actions, including setting up Special Fast Track Courts, strengthening forensic facilities, appointing additional public prosecutors, and providing appropriate medical and rehabilitation facilities to victims.(Source: The Indian Express)


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Union Government to launch India’s first National Registry of Sexual Offenders.

Cabinet approves Dam rehabilitation and Improvement Project - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Cabinet approves Dam rehabilitation and Improvement Project.

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the revised cost estimate of Rs 3,466 crore for the Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP), with the World Bank funding the major part of it, an official said.

The original cost estimate for the project was Rs 2,100 crore, a statement said.
The project is aimed at improving the safety and operational performance of selected existing dams and mitigate risks to ensure the safety of the downstream population and property.
Of the total amount, the World Bank would fund Rs 2,628 crore and states under the project or the implementing agencies would provide Rs 747 crore, while the balance of Rs 91 crore would be given by the Central Water Commission (CWC), as per the statement.
"The CCEA also gave its ex-post facto approval for two-year time extension from July 1, 2018 to June 30, 2020," said the Ministry of Water Resources' statement.
The scheme envisages rehabilitation of 198 existing dam projects located in seven states -- Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Jharkhand (Damodar Valley Corporation) and Uttarakhand (Uttarakhand Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited).
The project includes three components, the first being rehabilitation of a dam and its appurtenant structures, followed by institutional strengthening and project management.
"Originally, the total cost of DRIP was Rs 2,100 crore with state component of Rs 1,968 crore and Central component of Rs 132 crore," the statement said, adding: "Initially, it was a six-year project which commenced on April 18, 2012 with a scheduled closing on June 30, 2018."
The project implementation was granted in-principle approval for two years' extension in 2017 by the Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation and the World Bank, with a revised closure date of the project by June 30, 2020. (Source: The Business Standard)


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Cabinet approves Dam rehabilitation and Improvement Project.

Union Home Secretary launches ‘e-Sahaj’ portal for grant of Security Clearance “Pendency has sharply come down”: Shri Rajiv Gauba - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Union Home Secretary launches ‘e-Sahaj’ portal for grant of Security Clearance “Pendency has sharply come down”: Shri Rajiv Gauba.

The Union Home Secretary Shri Rajiv Gauba launched an online ‘e-Sahaj’ portal here today for grant of Security Clearance. The portal will facilitate an applicant to submit application online and also to view the status of his application from time to time.

Speaking on the occasion, the Union Home Secretary said that with the introduction of online portal, the process has become standardized, resulting in a process which will be faster, transparent and easy to monitor. Various functionaries can access the application and documents online and take timely decisions.
Shri Gauba said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recently streamlined the Security Clearance procedures and issued a fresh set of guidelines. A Committee of Officers meets every week in MHA for timely decision on security clearance proposals.
MHA has cleared about 1,100 cases of security clearance in the past one year. Although the given timeline is 90 days, MHA strives to decide Security Clearance cases in 60 days (average time per case in 2018 is 53 days), which is being reduced further. In 2016, there were 209 cases which were over 6 months old; in 2017, this came down to 154 cases and further down to 47 cases in 2018.
MHA is the nodal Ministry for security clearances in certain sensitive sectors before issue of licence/permit, permission, contract etc, to companies/ bidders/individuals by the administrative Ministry. The objective of national security clearance is to evaluate potential security threats, including economic threats, and provide risk assessment before clearing investment and project proposals in key sectors. The aim is to strike a healthy balance between meeting the imperatives of national security and facilitating ease of doing business and promoting investment in the country.
Special Secretary (IS) Smt. Rina Mitra and senior officers of MHA and other Ministries were present during the launch function. (Source:pib)


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Union Home Secretary launches ‘e-Sahaj’ portal for grant of Security Clearance “Pendency has sharply come down”: Shri Rajiv Gauba.

Instant triple talaq to be a crime now as Union Cabinet approves Ordinance - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

Instant triple talaq to be a crime now as Union Cabinet approves Ordinance.

The step was taken after the government failed to pass the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017, in the Rajya Sabha during the recent monsoon session.

The Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wednesday approved an ordinance making instant triple talaq a punishable offence with a three-year jail term. The move comes after the government failed to push the triple talaq bill or — The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 — in the Rajya Sabha during the recent monsoon session owing to lack of consensus among political parties in the House.
Under the Ordinance, the crime will be recognised only when the woman herself or her blood relative files a complaint. Second, the case may be dropped if the duo reaches a compromise, but only if the wife approaches the magistrate. Third, the magistrate can grant the accused bail, on reasonable grounds, but only after hearing the wife. The wife will be given custody of the child and is entitled to maintenance — decided by the magistrate — for herself and her children.
Addressing the media after the Cabinet meeting, Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said there was a “compelling necessity and an overpowering urgency” to approve the Ordinance. “I have said this before, the issue of triple talaq has nothing to do with faith, mode of worship or religion. It is a pure issue of gender justice, gender dignity and gender equality,” he said.
Targeting the Congress for the delay in passing the Bill, Shankar said he approached the party five-six times, but it did not respond. “Such a barbaric inhuman, triple talaq curse was not allowed to be ended by a Parliamentary law because of ambiguity and vacillation of the Congress party for pure vote bank politics.”
On the last day of the monsoon session, Vice-President and Rajya Sabha Chairman Venkaiah Naidu had deferred the Bill till the Winter Session, citing the lack of “consensus” in the House. The Bill was passed in the Lok Sabha last December.
The triple talaq bill aims to ‘set aside’ the centuries-old practice of instant divorce or talaq-e-biddat by men. It provides for three years imprisonment and a fine for divorcing a woman by uttering “talaq” three times in quick succession. In August, the Cabinet approved inclusion of a provision to allow the magistrate to grant bail to men accused of giving instant triple talaq to their wives.
The amendments came after the Supreme Court on August 22 last year struck down the practice of triple talaq, calling it unconstitutional. In a landmark 3-2 verdict, the top court found the practice un-Islamic and “arbitrary”, and disagreed that triple talaq was an integral part of religious practice.
Meanwhile, the Congress Wednesday accused the Modi government of treating the issue of instant triple talaq “more as a political football than a matter of justice to Muslim women”.
Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said the government has not acceded to the Congress request for making a provision for attaching the property of those not providing compensation to the affected women and children after giving them divorce. He said instant triple talaq was “an illegal, unconstitutional and inhuman practice” that was quashed by the Supreme Court. After the Supreme Court quashed the practice, it has become a law.
Welcoming the Cabinet’s nod to an ordinance making instant triple talaq a punishable offence, Ishrat Jahan, a petitioner in the case, said the move was a big step towards “empowering Muslim women”.
“Muslim men and religious leaders should now mend their ways or be ready to face the music. I welcome the Centre’s decision to bring an ordinance to make triple talaq a penal offence. It is a huge step towards empowering Muslim women in the country,” Jahan, who moved court after she was divorced by her husband over the phone by uttering ‘talaq’ thrice consecutively in 2014, said.(Source: The Indian Express)


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Instant triple talaq to be a crime now as Union Cabinet approves Ordinance.

India faces most cybersecurity threats in Asia-Pacific: Cisco - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India faces most cybersecurity threats in Asia-Pacific: Cisco.

The Cisco cybersecurity report finds that 56% of the investigated alerts in India turn out to be false, adding to the burden of existing security defenders who need to ensure that they are working on the right alerts

India faces the highest number of cybersecurity threats in the Asia-Pacific region with over 500,000 alerts daily, which is nearly thrice the number of alerts at global companies. And Nearly 39% of these alerts remain unattended due to lack of required skill sets, according to a cybersecurity report by networking hardware company Cisco Systems Inc. released Wednesday.
This data presents a significant concern for cybersecurity defenders who need to identify genuine threats from a vast number of daily alerts, said the report.
The cybersecurity report, Cisco 2018 Asia-Pacific Security Capabilities Benchmark, finds that 56% of the investigated alerts in India turn out to be false, adding to the burden of existing security defenders who need to ensure that they are working on the right alerts. They need adequate tools to help them get more accurate information about their environment and the attacks happening.
“India witnesses the second highest instances of legitimate threats in the Asia-Pacific region after Australia. While Australia witnesses 65% legitimate cybersecurity threats, India is at par with the regional standard at 44%,” the report highlighted.
The report added that Indian breaches caused a lower financial impact as opposed to their regional counterparts with 27% of Indian respondents reporting the cost of a breach at less than $100,000 while a fifth reported breach costs between $5 million and $10 million. The cost of a breach is highest in Australia with 52% reporting that an attack costs $1-5 million, compared to Japan (23%) and India (25%), the report added. This includes costs from lost revenue, loss of customers, and out of pocket expenses.
“As India is taking huge strides in transforming into a digital economy, cybersecurity threats could pose a serious risk for its success. Companies and governments alike should consider adopting advanced security technologies that include machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities and also look at bridging the gap of skilled cybersecurity professionals in the country through relevant training and support,” said Vishak Raman, Director, Security, Cisco.
With companies making massive improvements in their security operations to curb losses arising out of high-cost data breaches, 70% of the respondents agree to security upgrades, the report said.
Across the country, almost half of the surveyed organizations (57%) work with more than 10 security vendors, while 8% say they have more than 50 vendors in their environment. This creates complexity and increases vulnerability, as having different security products can lengthen the time to detect and contain a breach, it added. (Source:Livemint)


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India faces most cybersecurity threats in Asia-Pacific: Cisco.

India reported 8 lakh infant deaths in 2017, UN report says it is lowest in 5 years - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India reported 8 lakh infant deaths in 2017, UN report says it is lowest in 5 years.

About 8,02,000 infant deaths were reported in India in 2017, the lowest in five years, according to the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UNIGME).

A new UNIGME report said 6,05,000 neonatal deaths were reported in India in 2017, while the number of deaths among children aged 5-14 was 1,52,000.
About 8,02,000 infant deaths were reported in India in 2017, the report said.
"India continues to show an impressive decline in child deaths, with its share of global under-five deaths for the first time equalling its share of childbirths," Yasmin Ali Haque, Representative, UNICEF India said.
"The efforts for improving institutional delivery, along with countrywide scale up of special newborn care units and strengthening of routine immunisation, have been instrumental towards this," she said.
The number of infant deaths has come down from 8.67 lakh in 2016 to 8.02 lakh in 2017.
In 2016, India's infant mortality rate was 44 per 1,000 live births.
In 2017, sex-specific under-five mortality rate was 39 in 1,000 for male and 40 in 1,000 for females.
"Even more heartening is the fourfold decline in the gender gap in survival of the girl child over last five years," Haque said.
The investment on ensuring holistic nutrition under the POSHAN campaign and national commitment to make India open defecation-free by 2019 are steps that will help in accelerating progress further, she added.
According to the report, an estimated 6.3 million children aged below 15 died in 2017, or 1 every 5 seconds, mostly of preventable causes, according to new mortality estimates released by UNICEF, the World Health Organisation (WHO), the United Nations Population Division and the World Bank Group.
A vast majority of these deaths 5.4 million occur in the first five years of life, with newborns accounting for around half of the deaths.
"Without urgent action, 56 million children under five will die from now until 2030 half of them newborns," said Laurence Chandy, UNICEF Director of Data, Research and Policy.
"We have made remarkable progress to save children since 1990, but millions are still dying because of who they are and where they are born. With simple solutions like medicines, clean water, electricity and vaccines, we can change that reality for every child," she said.
Globally, in 2017, half of all deaths under five years of age took place in sub-Saharan Africa, and another 30 per cent in Southern Asia. In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 13 children died before their fifth birthday. In high-income countries, that number was 1 in 185.
"Millions of babies and children should not still be dying every year from lack of access to water, sanitation, proper nutrition or basic health services, said Princess Nono Simelela, Assistant Director-General for Family, Women and Children’s Health at WHO.
"We must prioritise providing universal access to quality health services for every child, particularly around the time of birth and through the early years, to give them the best possible chance to survive and thrive," Simelela said.
Most children under five die due to preventable or treatable causes such as complications during birth, pneumonia, diarrhea, neonatal sepsis and malaria, the report said.
By comparison, among children between 5 and 14 years of age, injuries become a more prominent cause of death, especially from drowning and road traffic. Within this age group, regional differences also exist, with the risk of dying for a child from sub-Saharan Africa 15 times higher than in Europe, it said.
"More than six million children dying before their fifteenth birthday is a cost we simply can’t afford," said Timothy Evans, Senior Director and Head of the Health, Nutrition and Population Global Practice at the World Bank Group.
"Ending preventable deaths and investing in the health of young people is a basic foundation for building countries’ human capital, which will drive their future growth and prosperity," the report read.
For children everywhere, the most risky period of life is the first month. In 2017, 2.5 million newborns died in their first month.
A baby born in sub-Saharan Africa or in Southern Asia was nine times more likely to die in the first month than a baby born in a high-income country. And progress towards saving newborns has been slower than for other children under five years of age since 1990.
Even within countries, disparities persist. Under-five mortality rates among children in rural areas are, on average, 50 per cent higher than among children in urban areas. In addition, those born to uneducated mothers are more than twice as likely to die before turning five than those born to mothers with a secondary or higher education.
The number of children dying under five has fallen dramatically from 12.6 million in 1990 to 5.4 million in 2017. The number of deaths in older children aged between 5 to 14 years dropped from 1.7 million to under a million in the same period. (Source:Indiatoday)
About UN IGME
The United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation or UN IGME was formed in 2004 to share data on child mortality, harmonise estimates within the United Nations system, improve methods for child mortality estimation, report on progress towards child survival goals and enhance country capacity to produce timely and properly assessed estimates of child mortality. UN IGME is led by UNICEF and includes the World Health Organization, the World Bank Group and the United Nations Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
About UNICEF
UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. For more information about UNICEF and its work for children
About WHO
WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries, and monitoring and assessing health trends and improving global health security.


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India reported 8 lakh infant deaths in 2017, UN report says it is lowest in 5 years.

More river stretches are critically polluted: Central Pollution Control Board - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

More river stretches are critically polluted: Central Pollution Control Board.

Maharashtra, Assam, Gujarat account for 117 sections.

The number of polluted stretches of the country's rivers has increased to 351 from 302 two years ago, and the number of critically polluted stretches — where water quality indicators are the poorest — has gone up to 45 from 34, according to an assessment by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB).
While the ₹20,000 crore clean-up of the Ganga may be the most visible of the government’s efforts to tackle pollution, the CPCB says several of the river’s stretches — in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh — are actually far less polluted than many rivers in Maharashtra, Assam and Gujarat. These three States account for 117 of the 351 polluted river stretches.
Based on the recommendations of the National Green Tribunal, the CPCB last month apprised the States of the extent of pollution in their rivers.
Mithi among the worst
The most significant stretches of pollution highlighted by the CPCB assessment (which is yet to be published) include the Mithi river — from Powai to Dharavi — with a BOD (Biochemical Oxygen Demand) of 250 mg/l; the Godavari — from Someshwar to Rahed — with a BOD of 5.0-80 mg/l; the Sabarmati — Kheroj to Vautha — with a BOD of 4.0-147 mg/l; and the Hindon — Saharanpur to Ghaziabad — with a BOD of 48-120 mg/l.
In its compilation of polluted stretches in Uttar Pradesh, the Ganga, with a BOD range of 3.5-8.8 mg/l is indicated as a ‘priority 4’ river.
“The cultural significance of the Ganga is such that there’s been greater focus on it but many more rivers are far more polluted,” said an officer in the Union Water Resources Ministry, who didn’t want to be identified.
Graded scale
The CPCB, since the 1990s, has a programme to monitor the quality of rivers primarily by measuring BOD, which is a proxy for organic pollution — the higher it is, the worse the river. The health of a river and the efficacy of water treatment measures by the States and municipal bodies are classified depending on BOD, with a BOD greater than or equal to 30 mg/l termed ‘priority 1,’ while that between 3.1-6 mg/l is ‘priority 5.’
The CPCB considers a BOD less than 3 mg/l an indicator of a healthy river.
In its 2015 report, the CPCB identified 302 polluted stretches on 275 rivers, spanning 28 States and six Union Territories.
A person involved in the monitoring exercise, told that the increase in numbers reflected higher pollution levels as well as an increase in water quality monitoring stations.
“We have used about 500 more monitoring stations in our 2016-2017 assessment than for the previous exercise (2008-2012). A priority 1 river may show high pollution but it also means more resources for clean up, whereas a priority 4 can mean achieving a clear river with relatively fewer resources,” he said.
Based on its 2008-2012 evaluation, the CPCB published a report in 2015 and asked the States to prepare plans for improving these polluted stretches. Though the information from the 2016-2017 assessment doesn’t indicate improvements, the bulk of the increase in polluted stretches were in priority 4 (6-10 mg/l) and priority 5 river stretches.
Currently, the CPCB has 1822 monitoring stations on rivers and 473 on lakes/ponds/tanks. (Source: The Hindu)


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More river stretches are critically polluted: Central Pollution Control Board.

India's DRDO Test Fires Indigenous Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India's DRDO Test Fires Indigenous Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile.

A domestically designed and built man portable anti-tank guided missile was test fired for the first time on September 15.

India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) conducted the first successful test firing of a new indigenously designed and developed man portable anti-tank guided missile (MPATGM) at the Ahmednagar test range in the western Indian state of Maharashtra on September 15, the Indian Ministry of Defense (MOD) said in a statement.
All test objectives were met, according to DRDO. The first successful test firing was followed by another MPATGM test launch on September 16, which also took place at the Ahmednagar test range. “The two missions on 15 and 16 September 2018 have been successfully flight tested for different ranges including the maximum range capability,” the MOD said in a September 16 statement.
The MPATGM is a third-generation anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), which has been under development by DRDO in partnership with Indian defense contractor VEM Technologies Ltd. since 2015. Fitted with a high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead, the MPATGM reportedly boasts a top attack capability and has a maximum engagement range of about 2.5 kilometers.
DRDO has promised the Indian Army to hand over the first MPATGM prototype by the end of 2018 for user trials. Mass production of the missile is expected to begin in 2021. The Indian government scrapped a $500 million deal with Rafael for 321 Spike ATGM systems and 8,356 missiles in favor of the MPATGM system in December 2017. (The Indian MoD selected the Spike ATGM over the U.S.-made FGM-148 Javelin ATGM system in October 2014.)
Nonetheless, the Indian Army remains deeply skeptical of the indigenous MPATGM and does not believe that it will be meet its operational requirements. The service is also concerned about delays in the induction of the new weapon system. Consequently, the Indian Army has been pushing for the acquisition of man portable ATGMs from abroad, despite heavy opposition from the DRDO.
The Indian Army claims that it lacks 68,000 ATGMs of various types and around 850 launchers and is 60 percent short of its authorized holdings. Furthermore, its existing stockpile largely consists of obsolete second-generation Milan-2T and Konkurs anti-tank missiles.
The Indian Army is looking for stopgap measures to quickly address this capability gap by inducting new ATGM systems as quickly as possible. The service is reportedly pushing for a fast-track procurement of 2,500 third-generation shoulder-fired ATGMs and 96 launchers through a government-government contract.
The Indian Army intends to equip all of its infantry and mechanized units with a third-generation ATGM by the early 2020s. The DRDO has also been working on the third-generation ATGM Nag, fired from the Nag Missile Carrier (NAMICA), an Indian license-produced variant of the Soviet-era BMP-II armored infantry fighting vehicle. However, the new missile has not performed well during recent test firings.


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India's DRDO Test Fires Indigenous Man Portable Anti-Tank Guided Missile.

India, US closing in on package deal to remove trade irritants - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

India, US closing in on package deal to remove trade irritants.

The current discussions are focussed on removing outstanding sources of friction, and are not aimed at creating a bilateral free trade agreement between the two nations.

Indian farmers and US manufacturers of medical devices could be among the main winners in a trade package under negotiation, as Washington and New Delhi look to remove long-standing irritants to ties, sources familiar with the talks said.
Having skirmished for months over tit-for-tat tariffs on steel and some agricultural products, the two sides began talks in June that also cover India’s concerns over US steel tariffs and US problems with Indian tariffs on imported IT equipment.
“We are closely negotiating a discrete package of trade issues. It will amount to a pretty substantive agreement,” said a source with knowledge of the negotiations.
Neither the office of the United States Trade Representative or India’s trade ministry responded to a request for comment.
The source said the two sides expected to close the deal in the next few weeks.
US President Donald Trump, who dislikes multilateral trade agreements, said earlier this month that India had approached the United States to “start doing a trade deal,” without giving any details.
The current discussions, however, are focussed on removing outstanding sources of friction, and are not aimed at creating a bilateral free trade agreement, sources from both sides said.
Having already waded into bigger fights with China and the European Union, Trump has previously called out India for unfair trade practices. At an estimated $126 billion, US goods and services trade with India last year was less than a fifth of its trade with China.
Unlike some other countries India failed to be given a waiver after the Trump administration imposed new import tariffs on steel and aluminium imports in March.
New Delhi retaliated by raising tariffs on a number of US products but has held back from implementing them while it negotiates a package to soothe ties. The tariffs were to go into effect from Monday midnight but the government issued an order saying these had been deferred until November 2.
“Our relationship with the US unlike many other nations has not deteriorated,” said an Indian government official involved in the talks. “But if you think relations have become very friendly with a lot of bonhomie, I don’t think that has happened either.”
Capping margins, not prices
US companies are hungrily watching an Indian economy that is growing at more than 8%, as they seek presence in a market that has potential for massive growth.
One of the most prominent trade issues to erupt during Trump’s presidency has involved India’s treatment of medical devices imported from the United States. Last year, US exports of medical devices and equipment to India totalled $863 million.
India last year equated high profit margins of medical device makers with “illegal profiteering”, capping prices for some heart stents - small wire-mesh structures used to treat blocked arteries - and knee implants, to help poor patients.
That measure provoked a storm of criticism from US companies, such as Abbott Laboratories, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) and Boston Scientific, which said such controls hurt innovation and future investment plans.
In June, India’s federal think tank Niti Aayog invited industry views on a new policy which would cap trade margins, and not prices, to help patients while allowing the industry “reasonable profits”.
Two Indian government sources said the think tank had recommended allowing a maximum 65% trade margin—the difference between the price at which a company sells to its stockists, after recovering its operational expenses, and the price paid by patients.
The recommendation has still to be accepted by Modi’s office, another source said.
The new policy proposal, which is favoured by both J&J and Boston Scientific according to company letters seen by Reuters, would help manufacturers who have argued that outright price caps were at times below their import costs and led to losses.
Modi’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
Breakthrough in farm products
One of the main areas where India is likely to benefit will be agricultural trade, with Washington expected to grant concessions making it easier for Indian exporters of products like rice, mangoes, table grapes and lychees the sources said.
Currently, the United States imports just a small fraction of the $5.5 billion of rice shipped annually from India, the world’s top rice exporter. New Delhi wants to sell basmati rice but US agencies have in the past flagged concerns over the presence of chemical residues in the rice.
New Delhi is also discussing how to meet stringent US standards to sell bovine meat. India is the world’s biggest buffalo meat exporter but has failed to make much headway in the US market because of Washington’s insistence that a country be free from foot-and-mouth disease.
The two sides are exploring ways to open the US market for certain grades of bovine meat from India, according to the Indian government negotiator and the other sources familiar with the talks.
For its part, the United States wants to sell more almonds to India, the world’s top buyer, cherries and eventually dairy products.
The United States has also been urging India to lower the input costs of components for IT that would allow US companies to manufacture in India as part of Modi’s flagship Make-in-India campaign. These affect firms such as Apple Inc. and Qualcomm Inc. with plans to set up operations in India.
The United States has complained that India’s tariffs are among the highest in the world, and cover a range of IT equipment, including circuit boards, screens and memory chips.
“In this kind of a package, everything is interlinked even though our mutual concerns are on different issues,” one of the sources said.
“But we need to reach an agreement on everything that’s on the table.” (Source: Livemint)


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India, US closing in on package deal to remove trade irritants.