8 August 2024, The Hindu
Decongest Asha Kiran shelter home, urgently recruit doctors: HC
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GS 1: Social empowerment
- The Delhi High Court on Wednesday asked the Social Welfare Department Secretary to take urgent steps to recruit employees, including doctors, for the Asha Kiran shelter home for people with intellectual disability where 14 inmates died last month.
- The Secretary, who was earlier directed to visit the shelter home and file a report, said the establishment has to be decongested as 961 inmates were lodged there against a capacity of 570.
- The court was also informed that there were 12 medical vacancies at the shelter home as well as several non-medical vacancies.
Bengal’s college admission portal widening digital divide, say students from rural areas
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GS 1: Urbanisation, their problems and remedies
- With its slick and minimalist design, the West Bengal government’s common portal for undergraduate admissions may have been a boon for urban students who have typed in their applications from the comfort of home, but applicants from the rural areas, where the digital infrastructure is skeletal, said the portal has widened the digital divide between students.
- The portal has been developed for applying to 16 universities, 461 colleges and 7,217 undergraduate courses across the State.
- The system has worked without any major glitches till now, said West Bengal State Council of Higher Education (WBSCHE) vice-chairman Ashutosh Ghosh.
Under overlords
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GS 2: Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
- The Supreme Court of India’s verdict holding that the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) of Delhi exercises independent authority while appointing aldermen to the Delhi Municipal Corporation, underscores the utter vulnerability of the elected Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi to central overlordship.
- The judgment by a three-judge Bench rightly relies on the letter of the law governing Centre-Delhi government relations, as well as earlier judgments that sought to strike a balance between the elected regime and the appointed administrator.
- The final outcome of the latest round of litigation is not surprising, given that Delhi is a Union Territory, but it raises questions about the relevance of having an elected Assembly for Delhi.
- The Court held that the Lt. Governor’s power to appoint persons with special knowledge in municipal administration is his statutory duty, and is not one that he should exercise on the basis of advice from Delhi’s Council of Ministers.
A case of excesses
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GS 4: Case Studies on above issues
- Even one egregious violation of the rule can cast shade on the entire process. In what has emerged as the outlandish tale of Puja Khedkar, the multiple methods by which she stepped outside the law would be fantastic, if they had not been proven true.
- However, having pulled wool over the eyes of the entire Union Public Service Commission recruitment infrastructure, by conniving and scheming, it is a scene too chilling for comfort.
- She claimed mental illness, and visual impairment, faked a community certificate, used a disability certificate to get chosen, having scored a rank that would have otherwise put her out of the reckoning.
- Meanwhile, the hospital in Pune which issued her a disability certificate said it had certified a 7% locomotor disability and that would have been practically useless in gaining concessions, as a higher degree of disability was required to benefit.
- Considering how persons with a true disability must jump through hoops to merely get the disability certification, her ease of getting the certificate while faking disability, raises the question: are some more equal than others?
- She milked the privilege stemming from her father’s position in the civil services to commandeer a series of benefits that she might have otherwise had no access to.
Court shifts the tide on stray dog policy
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources.
- “Under all circumstances, there cannot be any indiscriminate killings of canines and the authorities have to take action in terms of the mandate and spirit of the prevalent legislations in place.”
- With this single line, the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India brought to an end a 15-year-old case titled Animal Welfare Board of India & Anr Versus People for Elimination of Stray Troubles & Ors, also known as the All India Stray Dogs case or AWBI vs PEST.
- The last hearing was held on May 9 this year when the judgment was reserved. Since then, all dog lovers (and regrettably, all dog haters) have been waiting with bated breath for the final judgment.
- That judgment came out on July 12 and has been cheered in some circles and criticised in others.
A call for transparency and reform
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GS 2: State Legislatures
- The recent white paper on the excise policy of Andhra Pradesh, presented by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu highlights a plethora of issues that have allegedly arisen under the previous Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy administration between 2019-24.
- The document revealed numerous flaws and inconsistencies leading to significant economic and social repercussions.
- While terming it the ‘biggest scam’, Mr. Naidu announced that the government would order a thorough probe by the Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department and refer it to the Enforcement Directorate (ED).
Lok Sabha passes Finance Bill, amends provision on LTCG tax
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GS 2: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning, conduct of business
- The Finance Bill 2024 was passed in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (August 7, 2024) with an amendment relaxing the recently introduced new capital gains tax on real estate.
- It allows tax payers an option to switch to a new lower tax rate or stick to the old regime that had higher rate with indexation benefit.
- The amendment comes after a proposal to remove indexation benefit in calculation of long-term capital gains on sale of immovable properties in the Budget 2024-25 had evoked criticism from various corners, including Opposition parties and tax professionals.
- The Budget had proposed a lower 12.5% rate of LTCG tax, down from 20%, while doing away with the indexation benefit.
Chandrayaan-3 team, ex-IISc Director win top science awards
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GS 3: Achievements of Indians in science & technology; indigenization of technology and developing new technology
- The government has announced the first set of Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar, or national awards for scientists, ever since it controversially cut down the number of such awards in 2022.
- Thirty-three of these awards are slated to be given on August 23, the National Space Day to mark Chandrayaan 3’s moon landing, and were announced on Wednesday (August 7, 2024).
- Following the rehaul of the scientific awards scheme, the Ministry of Science and Technology in January this year had notified four categories of awards, comprising a maximum of 56, for scientists.
- These are up to three Vigyan Ratna to recognise life-time achievements and contributions made in a given field of science and technology, up to 25 Vigyan Shri to recognise distinguished contributions, up to 25 Vigyan Yuva: Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award to recognise and encourage young scientists who made an exceptional contribution, and up to three Vigyan Team awards to recognise a team of three or more scientists/researchers/innovators who have made an exceptional contribution working in a team.
BIMSTEC FTA talks needs revival with realistic possibilities
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GS 2: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- Negotiations regarding a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among the seven-member BIMSTEC grouping of Bay of Bengal littoral nations and India’s land-locked neighbours of Nepal and Bhutan need to be expeditiously revived and “realistic possibilities” like preferential trade agreements could be explored, Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal said at the inaugural BIMSTEC Business Summit in New Delhi on Wednesday.
- The BIMSTEC FTA talks had not seen much progress for the last six years, Mr. Goyal noted, while urging India’s business community to provide feedback on the need for the agreement to enable the government to take an informed call in the matter.
