6 August 2024, The Hindu
Focus now shifts to Standing Committee polls, fast tracking development works in city
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GS 2: Separation of powers between various organs dispute redressal mechanisms and institutions
- With the Supreme Court upholding the appointment of aldermen in the MCD, the focus has shifted to the civic body Standing Committee polls, which has been pending for over a year and a half now.
- However, official sources said the election to the 18-member panel may not take place anytime soon as the city’s 250 councillors are yet to elect members of the 12 zonal committees, which send representatives to the Standing Committee.
WCC tag gives rare chance for Kashmir craftsmen to trace their roots, enhance skills
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GS 1: Indian culture will cover the salient aspects of Art Forms, literature and Architecture from ancient to modern times.
- The people at House of Ali Shah, the 164-year-old shawl and carpet brand in Srinagar, are delighted that Kashmir’s craft traditions are being recognised formally, at an international level.
- In June, the World Crafts Council (WCC) named Srinagar a World Craft City, one of now four in India, and among 60 around the globe.
- WCC will hold a knowledge exchange programme for artisans from Kashmir with cities that influenced the craft aesthetic here centuries ago.
- Mehboob Iqbal Shah — a co-founder of the interpretation centre Artisane Art and Cultural Centre, which is a part of House of Ali Shah — is hopeful about “an aesthetic and design upscaling” of Valley artisans after the WCC’s inclusion.
The social benefits of stock market speculation
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GS 1: Social empowerment
- The Government of India, in its Budget, raised taxes on both short-term and long-term capital gains made in the stock market and also raised the securities transaction tax on derivatives transactions.
- The fundamental belief behind the idea of imposing higher taxes on stock market profits is that gains from stock market speculation are akin to gains from gambling.
- In fact, the Economic Survey released a day prior to the Budget argued that unlike developed countries, a developing country such as India cannot afford to waste its limited savings on stock market speculation.
- Finance Secretary T.V. Somanathan even noted that capital gains could be taxed at higher rates as it is currently the fastest-growing income class.
The issue of institutional violence, addressing it
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Human Resources
- India’s electoral process presents a dichotomy.
- Six hundred and forty-two million voters, more than half of whom were female, cast a vote in the largest democratic process in action in the world.
- Yet, in a country where 90 rapes are reported everyday, very few among the 2,823 candidates who stood for elections, had women’s safety on their electoral agenda.
- For those that did, all were sporadic and none tackled the underlying institutional violence that millions of survivors live through everyday.
- This dichotomy is real: nearly 50% women face domestic violence and two out of three Dalit women face sexual violence in their lifetimes.
- Yet, not just political parties ignored this. Even voters did not seem to demand it.
Powering India’s future
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GS 3: Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation
- In her seventh consecutive Budget speech, the Finance Minister announced measures indicating India’s commitment to its clean energy transition.
- These measures include developing policies on pumped hydro storage, and energy transition pathways to support nuclear energy and energy efficiency.
- Yet, the memories of this summer’s record-breaking heatwaves, which drove up power demand, are still fresh.
- They reflect both a growing economy and a warming climate. What will it take to keep India’s economy powered?
- For the NDA government, energy security and the clean energy transition have been the priorities.
- This is evident from three key milestones India has achieved in the last decade.
- First, near-universal electrification through the Saubhagya scheme, with independent surveys by the Council on Energy, Environment, and Water (CEEW) suggesting that approximately 97% of households were electrified in 2020.
Maharashtra Prisons Bill: a hit or miss?
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GS 3: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation.
- On July 12, the Maharashtra State government drafted and tabled the Maharashtra Prisons and Correctional Services Bill, 2024, in the State Legislative Assembly’s monsoon session.
- Although the Bill was not passed, the State Cabinet has now approved its passage as an Ordinance. It will be sent to the Centre for approval and will require the President’s nod.
- As ‘Prisons’ fall under the State List of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, it is within the exclusive domain of State governments to legislate on and regulate prisons in their jurisdiction.
- Currently, prisons in most States including Maharashtra, are governed by the colonial Prisons Act of 1894 and underlying rules passed at the State level.
On doorstep delivery of alcohol
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GS 1: Urbanization, their problems and their remedies
- The States of Delhi, Karnataka, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Goa, and Kerala are or were mulling plans to allow the doorstep delivery of alcohol through platforms like Swiggy, BigBasket, and Zomato.
- India has seen a steady rise in alcohol consumption.
- The recorded per capita consumption has increased from 1.6 litres in 2003-2005 to 2.2 litres in 2010, then to 5.5 litres in 2016-2018.
- With $52 billion in revenue, India is the sixth-largest alcohol market worldwide. According to a Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment survey in 2019, there were about 16 crore alcohol users in India in the 10-75 year age group in 2018.
- About 5.7 crore frequently consumed alcohol leading to social or interpersonal problems and 2.9 crore were dependent users requiring therapeutic intervention.
States urged to spend more on healthcare infrastructure
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GS 3: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health
- The Lok Sabha, on August 5, approved by voice vote the Demands for Grants, for the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (2024-25) after discussion.
- Replying to the discussion Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare J.P. Nadda said that the budgetary allocations for the health sector had gone up from ₹33,278 crore in 2013-14 to ₹90,958 crores in 2024-25 registering an increase of 164%.
- The Minister also urged State governments to spend more on improving healthcare infrastructure and dismissed Opposition allegations on reduction of allocations under the PM-Ayushman Bharat Healthcare Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM).
Extra personnel have been deployed along the border, says BSF
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GS 3: Security challenges and their management in border areas
- As the situation turned volatile in Bangladesh, the Border Security Force said “it has received strict instruction from the government to not allow anyone into the country without valid documents”.
- A senior BSF official said that the situation along the Bangladesh border was normal as of now and they were in contact with their counterparts, Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB).
Preamble dropped from several NCERT Class 3, 6 textbooks
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GS 2: Indian Constitution, Basic structure
