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The Supreme Court termed jallikattu a “type of bovine sport” existing in Tamil Nadu for at least a century, and did not interfere with the State legislature’s finding that the bull-taming event is part of the cultural heritage and tradition of the people.
A Constitution Bench headed by Justice K.M. Joseph upheld the validity of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act of 2017, and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Conduct of Jallikattu) Rules of 2017. “The Amendment Act has received the Presidential assent. We do not think there is any flaw in the State action,” the judgment held.
The court also found similar laws passed by Karnataka and Maharashtra, allowing bullock cart races and buffalo racing ‘kambala’, valid.
“Our decision on the Tamil Nadu Amendment Act also guides the Maharashtra and Karnataka Amendment Acts and we find all three legislation valid,” the Bench declared.
The Constitution Bench held that the jallikattu law “substantially minimises” the pain and suffering of the animals participating in the event.
The judgment, authored by Justice Aniruddha Bose, however directed that the district administrations and competent authorities in Tamil Nadu would be responsible to ensure that jallikattu events are conducted in strict compliance of the safeguards laid out in the 2017 Amendment Act and Rules.
Jallikattu is a type of bovine sport and we are satisfied that it has been present in Tamil Nadu for at least a century.
The court described jallikattu as an event during which “a bull is set free in an arena and human participants are made to grab its hump to score in the game”.
Chalk out plans to ensure children aren’t malnourished: HC (Page no. 4)
(GS Paper 2, Issues related to poverty and hunger)
The Orissa High Court has directed the State government to draw an action plan to ensure complete absence of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) children and reduction of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) children by half in the State, by the end of 2023.
The SAM children are those in the red zone with a higher risk of contracting secondary infection. This category may suffer from severe illnesses. MAM children, on the other hand, show signs of malnourishment but are in the yellow zone which means their lives are not under threat.
Hearing a PIL, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice G. Satapathy directed the Chief Secretary of Odisha to convene an immediate review meeting with the Ministries of various departments in the next one month and draw an action plan to achieve the target.
Editorial
A long-drawn test for India’s diplomatic skills (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarks on a week-long journey to Japan, Papua New Guinea and Australia from May 19, a number of substantive global issues are on the anvil in his discussions with leaders of the G-7 outreach in Hiroshima, Japan, as well as during his travels from there, with bilateral issues taking a back seat to India’s position in the multilateral sphere.
These mandate a very careful balance between the two ends of an increasingly polarised world that has been blown apart after the Russian war in Ukraine.
This is also a world that looks uneasily at facing the geopolitical challenge from China, worries over trade access, supply chain reliability, and food and energy security.
Although the Quad Summit (Australia, India, Japan, U.S.) due to be held in Sydney has been cancelled in the wake of U.S. President Joe Biden’s domestic troubles, all four Quad leaders will meet on the sidelines of the G-7.
Following this foray with the Indo-Pacific “coalition of democracies”, Mr. Modi will be in Washington in June for a state visit — a rare honour accorded by the U.S. President, that has been reserved for only two Indian leaders in the past, President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (1963) and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (2009). This visit will be marked by many strategic forays to bring India-U.S. ties closer.
Almost immediately after his return, Mr. Modi will need to pivot to the opposing coalition however, hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit scheduled for July 3-4, where he is expected to receive China’s President Xi Jinping, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, the Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, leaders of central Asian states, the soon-to-be added SCO members, the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, and the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, and other guests.
Opinion
Can an integrated system of medicine work? (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) under the Union Health Ministry and the Union Ministry of Ayush have agreed to enhance cooperation in health research in the field of integrated medicine.
This move will help Ayush departments at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) evolve into departments of integrated medicine.
It looks like two kinds of collaborations have been talked about: one for practice at AIIMS and the other for research. This is a step in the right direction because it will enhance the treatments that we can offer under one roof.
It will help build harmonised protocols for clinical care research, and this is especially important for non-communicable diseases, where our medical treatment options can be limited.
Ayurveda and yoga are the mind-body medicine of India. We have a duty to take them to the world. That is what integrative medicine is all about.
Integrative medicine does not feature in any scientifically progressive society in the world because it is like mixing something that works with something that does not and then giving undue credit to things that do not work.
Ayurveda and homeopathy are pseudo-scientific practices. There is no evidence for their use for any disease condition as preventives or treatments. When you cannot enable your people to afford good healthcare, you mix things to mislead them.
It is proposed only in places where, like in India, you have a huge gap to bridge in the actual [provision of] healthcare to the masses.
About 50% of people use complementary/alternative medicine, and more than 70% have used it at some point during their lifetime. This is because it is promoted and advertised.
There are no evidence-based benefits, and people can get it over the counter. Because we lack data on safety and efficacy, a lot of people develop side effects and experience adverse events, the most common being liver injury.
This is mostly because of adulteration or contamination or direct toxicity of particular herbs in the product. We have no pharmacovigilance happening here.
Explainer
Elections and the airwaves (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
In the recently-concluded Karnataka Assembly elections, political parties were provided free airtime on public broadcasters, All India Radio (Akashvani) and Doordarshan during elections.
The allotment was available to six recognised national parties — the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Indian National Congress (INC), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the National People’s Party (NPP), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and one recognised State party, the Janata Dal (Secular).
The parties were allocated a base time of 45 minutes and additional slots based on performance in previous polls. A total of 630 minutes of free airtime was issued under this allotment.
The facility to provide free airtime for political parties during elections was given statutory basis through the 2003 amendment to the Representation of People Act, 1951.
The Supreme Court, in its famed judgment (The Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting vs Cricket Association of Bengal and ANR, 1995), held that airwaves are public property and its use should serve the greater public good.
Elections being the lifeblood of a democracy, the misuse or abuse of airwaves to gain unfair electoral advantage is a key regulatory apprehension of governments around the world.
In the U.S., for example, the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the electronic media in the country, devised the fairness doctrine to keep electioneering on the airwaves equitable.
The now defunct fairness doctrine placed a positive obligation on broadcasters who carry political content of one candidate on its programme to extend the same to another candidate in the electoral fray.
In the U.K. too, political parties are allocated designated slots by Parliament, called the party political broadcasts (PPBs) to convey important political information to the people.
The British Communication watchdog, Ofcom, is responsible for ensuring that PPBs are included in every licensed public service television channel and commercial radio services. Similar requirements are adopted in Singapore, Brazil and Japan.
What are RBI regulations on green deposits? (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Last month, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) came up with a regulatory framework for banks to accept green deposits from customers. Under the new framework, banks that accept green deposits will have to disclose more information on how they invest these deposits.
Green deposits are not very different from the regular deposits that banks accept from their customers. The only major difference is that banks promise to earmark the money that they receive as green deposits towards environment-friendly projects.
For example, a bank may promise that green deposits will be used towards financing renewable energy projects that fight climate change.
A bank may also avoid using green deposits to invest in fossil fuel projects that are considered harmful to the climate.
A green deposit is just one product in a wide array of other financial products such as green bonds, green shares, etc., that help investors put money into environmentally sustainable projects.
The RBI’s framework for the acceptance of green deposits lays down certain conditions that banks must fulfill to accept green deposits from customers.
Firstly, banks will have to come up with a set of rules or policies approved by their respective Boards that need to be followed while investing green deposits from customers.
These rules need to be made public on the banks’ websites and banks will also have to disclose regular information about the amount of green deposits received, how these deposits were allocated towards various green projects, and the impact of such investments on the environment.
A third-party will have to verify the claims made by banks regarding the projects in which the banks invest their green deposits as well as the sustainability credentials of these business projects.
The RBI has come up with a list of sectors that can be classified as sustainable and thus eligible to receive green deposits. These include renewable energy, waste management, clean transportation, energy efficiency, and afforestation.
Banks will be barred from investing green deposits in business projects involving fossil fuels, nuclear power, tobacco, gambling, palm oil, and hydropower generation.
News
Operation Dhvast: Three held after NIA holds raids in States (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Internal Security)
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested three persons in connection with the raids conducted as part of a nationwide drive codenamed ‘Operation Dhvast’, in terrorist-gangster-drug smugglers network cases.
In a coordinated crackdown with the police in Punjab and Haryana, the NIA raided 129 of the total 324 locations.
Following the searches in the two States, besides Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Chandigarh and Madhya Pradesh, the agency has taken into custody Parveen Wadhwa from Bhiwani (Haryana), Irfan from New Seelampur (Delhi) and Jassa Singh from Moga (Punjab).
Parveen Wadhwa was found liaising with certain notorious gangsters, including Lawrence Bishnoi, in jail. The NIA seized weapons from the house of Irfan, who is also associated with such gangsters. Jassa Singh was working at the behest of Canada-based ‘listed terrorist’ Arsh Dhalla.
According to the NIA, Parveen Wadhwa was in regular touch with Lawrence Bishnoi and his gang members named Deepak aka Tinu and Sampat Nehra, along with other associates.
He was working as their special messenger from inside jails. The latest searches were part of the continuing NIA action against terror networks as well as their funding and support infrastructure.