States’ approval not needed for quota Bill - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

States’ approval not needed for quota Bill.

Amendment to a fundamental right need not be ratified by the legislatures.

The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Fourth Amendment) Bill of 2019 providing up to 10% reservation for economically weaker sections of the society may be notified as the law of the land sooner than expected.
The proviso to Article 368 (power of Parliament to amend the Constitution and procedure thereof) holds that an amendment to a fundamental right coming under Part III of the Constitution need not be ratified by the Legislatures of one-half of the States. So, this Bill may be notified by the Central government as soon as it gets the assent from the President.
Right to equality
The Bill, passed by both the Houses of the Parliament, adds new clauses to Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Both the Articles come under the part of ‘Fundamental Rights’ in the text of the Constitution. They are part of the ‘right to equality’ section of fundamental rights envisaged in the Constitution.

The new clause (6) to Article 15 allows the government to carve reservation for the economically weaker sections of the society in higher educational institutions, including private ones, whether they are aided or not by the State. Minority educational institutions are exempted. Likewise, the new clause (6) to Article 16 provides for quota for economically-deprived sections in the initial appointment in government services.
“The proviso to Article 368 makes it clear that when a Constitution amendment of a fundamental right is in question, the Bill concerned need not be sent to the States’ Legislative Assemblies for ratification. Only Constitution amendments which affect the Centre-State relations or division of powers in a federal structure require subsequent ratification by the States’ Legislatures before the Presidential assent,” Professor R. Venkat Rao, constitutional expert and Vice-Chancellor of National Law School India University at Bengaluru, said.
To a query by Rajya Sabha MP M.K. Kanimozhi on exactly this point, Union Law Minister Ravishankar Prasad had, on the floor of the House, confirmed that there was no need for States’ ratification of the Bill.
“If the Parliament is amending the Fundamental Rights, under Article 368, there is no obligation to go to the State Vidhan Sabha. This was a part of the Constitution, as framed by them in 1949 and 1950. That needs to be appreciated,” Mr. Prasad had responded to Ms. Kanimozhi’s query during the Parliament discussions on the Bill.
Experts, however, agree that the economic reservation law is open for judicial review. “Primarily, it affects the Basic Structure of the Constitution. The Constitution does not provide for economic reservation. The Indira Sawhney judgment has capped the reservation limit to 50%. Now, the new Bill increases reservation to 60%. The court has said economically-deprived is not a homogenous group. It has held that economic backwardness cannot be the sole criterion for reservation,” former solicitor-general Mohan Parasaran said. (Source: The Hindu)


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States’ approval not needed for quota Bill.

26 religious cities/sites in 19 States have been identified for development under PRASHAD Scheme - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

26 religious cities/sites in 19 States have been identified for development under PRASHAD Scheme.

The Ministry of Tourism provides Central Financial Assistance to State Governments/Union Territory (UT) Administrations under the schemes of Swadesh Darshan, National Mission on Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASHAD) and Assistance to Central Agencies for the development of tourism related infrastructure in the country.

Under the PRASHAD Scheme, 26 religious cities/sites in 19 States have been identified for development which inter-alia include Amaravati and Srisailam (Andhra Pradesh), Kamakhya (Assam), Patna and Gaya (Bihar), Dwarka and Somnath (Gujarat), Gurudwara Nada Saheb (Haryana), Hazratbal and Katra (Jammu & Kashmir), Deogarh (Jharkhand), Chamundeshwari Devi (Karnataka), Guruvayoor (Kerala), Una (Himachal Pradesh), Omkareshwar (Madhya Pradesh), Trimbakeshwar (Maharashtra), Puri (Odisha), Amritsar (Punjab), Ajmer (Rajasthan), Kanchipuram and Vellankani (Tamil Nadu), Varanasi and Mathura (Uttar Pradesh), Badrinath and Kedarnath (Uttarakhand) and Belur (West Bengal).
The Scheme of Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development aims at developing tourism related infrastructure through central financial assistance to the Central Agencies who own the assets.
This information was given by the Minister of State (I/C) for Tourism Shri. K. J. Alphons, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today. (Source: PIB)


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26 religious cities/sites in 19 States have been identified for development under PRASHAD Scheme.

20 states sign MoU with health ministry to implement Modicare - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis.

20 states sign MoU with health ministry to implement Modicare.

The success of the AB-NHPM scheme, dubbed as Modicare, hinges upon the active participation of the states, says J.P. Nadda, union health minister.

At least 20 states signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with ministry of health and family welfare on Thursday committing to launch the Ayushman Bharat – National Health Protection Mission (AB-NHPM).
Dubbed as “Modicare” the NHPM, is being described as the world’s largest health insurance scheme. It will be cashless and paperless access to health services up to Rs5 lakh per year to poor and vulnerable people identified as per the socio-economic caste census.
“We shall work with the spirit of cooperative federalism, to perfect this largest health assurance scheme of the world,” J.P. Nadda, union health minister said during a health conclave held in New Delhi. “The success of the scheme hinges upon the active participation of the states. States need to own the scheme while Centre will design the policy framework with all possible flexibility and support,” said Nadda.
The beneficiaries under the scheme can avail services anywhere in India and it is expected to bring a visible relief to the target families by mitigating the financial risk arising out of catastrophic health episodes. During the conclave, model tender documents, final operational guidelines for Modicare also were released which are focused on beneficiary centric delivery of services while ensuring there is no compromise on the quality of healthcare services and preventing frauds.
“Twenty states have so far signed MoU and the number may increase up to 25 states by the end of this month. Training and demonstration of empanelment software will be conducted in next two weeks and States can operationalize empanelment of hospitals by 1st of July,” said CEO AB-NHPM, Indu Bhushan. The scheme will be available for the beneficiary families at the point of service in both public and private empanelled hospitals across India. The private healthcare providers have welcomed Modicare and expressed hope that it should become a financially viable scheme with timely reimbursement.
“It is indeed a bold and aspirational scheme. The private sector certainly wants to participate and collaborate to help meet the aspirations and hopes that the pricing and timeliness of payments is taken care of to make the partnership a viable one,” said Rajit Mehta, managing director and CEO of Max Healthcare. (Source: Livemint)


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20 states sign MoU with health ministry to implement Modicare.

Centre to start measuring ‘green GDP’ of States - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

Centre to start measuring ‘green GDP’ of States.

Figures will be used to calculate land acquisition costs, climate mitigation funds

India’s environmental diversity and riches are universally recognised but have never been quantified. Starting this year, the government will begin a five-year exercise to compute district-level data of the country’s environmental wealth. The numbers will eventually be used to calculate every State’s ‘green’ Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The metric will help with a range of policy decisions, such as compensation to be paid during land acquisition, calculation of funds required for climate mitigation, and so on.
“This is the first time such a national environment survey is being undertaken,” said Anandi Subramanian, Senior Economic Adviser, Union Environment Ministry.
A pilot project is set to begin this September in 54 districts. Land will be demarcated into “grids” with about 15-20 grids per district. These will capture the diversity in the State’s geography, farmland, wildlife, and emissions pattern, and will be used to compute a value, she added.
“If, for instance, there’s a no-go zone, we need to calculate what its economic impact is,” she told The Hindu on the sidelines of a conference to mark World Environment Day on June 5.
Ms. Subramanian didn’t specify the budget for the exercise but said that the funds for the pilot project “were already available.”
Much of the data required for the inventory would be sourced from datasets that already exist with other government ministries.
The government has also launched a ‘green skilling’ programme under which youth, particularly school dropouts, would be trained in a range of ‘green jobs’— as operators of scientific instruments used to measure environmental quality, as field staff in nature parks, and as tourist guides. Some of the labour required for the survey would also be sourced from the green-skilled workforce. (Source: The Hindu)


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Centre to start measuring ‘green GDP’ of States.

India has 94 cities with toxic air. Half of them in just four states - Pragnya IAS Academy - News Analysis

India has 94 cities with toxic air. Half of them in just four states.

Low- and middle-income groups are the worst affected by pollution; 92% of deaths due to pollution occurred in that income group.

Every third city that failed to meet national air quality standards in India–where most people die of air pollution than any other nation–was in two of the country’s biggest states, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh, in five years to 2015, according to government data.
With 17 of 94 cities, Maharashtra had the highest number of cities identified by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) as failing to meet national air-quality standards over five years to 2015, according to this reply to the Lok Sabha (lower house of Parliament) by Mahesh Sharma, minister of state for environment, on April 6, 2018.
Maharashtra was followed by Uttar Pradesh (15), Punjab (8) and Himachal Pradesh (7).
Half of the 94 cities were in these four states.

Cities Failing Air-Quality Standards, 2011-15

state	State Count	cities
Maharashtra	17	Akola, Amravati, Aurangabad, Badlapur, Chandrapur, Jalgaon, Jalna, Kolhapur, Latur, Mumbai, Nagpur, Nashik, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Sangli, Solapur, Ulhasnagar
UP	15	Agra, Allahabad, Anpara, Bareily, Firozabad, Gajraula, Ghaziabad, Jhansi, Kanpur, Khurja, Lucknow, Muradabad, Noida, Raebareli, Varanasi
Punjab	8	Dera Bassi, Gobindgarh, Jalandhar, Khanna, Ludhiana, Naya Nangal, Pathankot/Dera Baba, Patiala
HP	7	Baddi, Damtal, Kala Amb, Nalagarh, Paonta Sahib, Parwanoo, Sunder Nagar
Odisha	6	Angul, Balasore, Bhubneshwar, Cuttack, Rourkela, Talcher
AP	5	Guntur, Kurnool, Nellore, Vijaywada, Visakhapatnam
Assam	5	Guwahati, Nagaon, Nalbari, Sibsagar, Silchar
MP	5	Bhopal, Dewas, Indore, Sagar, Ujjain
Rajasthan	5	Alwar, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kota, Udaipur
Karnataka	4	Bengaluru, Devanagere, Gulburga, Hubli-Dharwad
Telangana	3	Hyderabad, Nalgonda, Patencheru
Chhattisgarh	2	Bhillai, Korba
Nagaland	2	Dimapur, Kohima
Uttarakhand	2	Kashipur, Rishikesh
Chandigarh	1	Chandigarh
Delhi	1	Delhi
Gujarat	1	Surat
J&K	1	Jammu
Jharkhand	1	Dhanbad
Meghalaya	1	Byrnihat
TN	1	Tuticorin
Total cities	94

Source: Lok Sabha
In 2015, 2.5 million of 10.3 million deaths in India due to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were linked to pollution, according to a global study, IndiaSpend reported on January 3, 2018.
Rising air pollution in cities is increasing incidences of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, cancer, diabetes and other pollution-related ailments, said the study, which noted that 27% of Indians died of causes related to air pollution, exceeding the proportion who died similarly in China.
Low- and middle-income groups are the worst affected by pollution; 92% of deaths due to pollution occurred in that income group, IndiaSpend reported on November 14, 2017.
Technically called “non-attainment cities”, the 94 cities were identified as part of the National Air Quality Monitoring Programme, under which 683 operating stations in 300 cities/towns across the country monitor sulphur dioxide, oxides of nitrogen, respirable suspended particulate matter (PM10) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) for a day twice a week. (Source: The Business Standard)


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India has 94 cities with toxic air. Half of them in just four states.