10 August 2024, The Hindu
MHA creates committee to monitor the safety of Indians in Bangladesh
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GS 2: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora
- A five-member committee led by a senior Border Security Force (BSF) official has been set up to communicate with Bangladesh authorities “to ensure the safety and security of Indian nationals, Hindus, and other minority communities living there,” Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Friday (August 9, 2024).
- A preliminary enquiry by government agencies has found that no major attacks against Hindu or other minority communities have been reported in the immediate vicinity of the India-Bangladesh border, a government official said.
- Since August 5, 2024, four instances have been reported of Bangladeshis crowding along the border, all in North Bengal.
- In all four cases, they were persuaded to return, with the help of Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB) and district authorities in the neighbouring country.
Joint Parliamentary panel formed to examine Waqf amendment Bill
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GS 2: Parliament and State legislatures—structure, functioning
- The government on Friday (August 9, 2024) announced a 31-member Joint Parliamentary Committee to examine the contentious Waqf Amendment Bill 2024.
- The committee would have 21 members from the Lok Sabha and 10 from the Rajya Sabha and would submit its report to the Lok Sabha by the last day of the first week of the next session.
‘Time has come to give people of J&K its own govt. through elections’
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GS 2: Parliament and State legislatures
- Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Rajiv Kumar on Friday said the Election Commission of India (ECI) was committed to hold elections at the earliest in J&K and no internal or external forces will be allowed to derail the democratic process.
- “Time has come to give the people of J&K its own government through elections. We are committed to conducting elections at the earliest. We are sure that people of J&K will give a befitting response to disruptive forces.
- No internal or external intervention will be allowed to derail the democratic process.
- We are all prepared for it,” said CEC Kumar, who was accompanied by Election Commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and S.S. Sandhu.
Centre ‘subtly’ reiterates that Tamil Nadu govt. adopt National Education Policy
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GS 2: Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States, issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
- The Centre has reiterated its position, rather subtly, to the Tamil Nadu government that it should adopt the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
- A communication to this effect was received from the Union Ministry of Education a few days ago.
- It was in response to the State’s request for the release of funds — approximately ₹ 750 crore initially — under the Samagra Shiksha scheme.
- State officials observe that there has been no overt message from the Centre, linking the NEP implementation to the release of funds under Samagra Shiksha, but it has informally been made clear to them what the State should do.
Mild tremors trigger panic in landslide-hit Wayanad
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GS 1: Important Geophysical phenomena
- Kerala’s Revenue department reported mild tremors in several localities in the landslide-hit Meppadi panchayat in Vythiri taluk in Wayanad district of Kerala on Friday (August 9, 2024) noon.
- According to initial information from the Kerala government, residents of Anappara, Thazhathuvayalil, Pinangodu and Nenmeni villages felt the vibrations.
Refugee rights, the gendered nature of displacement
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GS 3: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests
- Armed conflict, violence, human rights abuses, and persecution compel millions across the world to flee their homes and homelands for survival, and become ‘displaced people’ in the process.
- According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), by the end of 2023, 11.73 crore people, worldwide, had been forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations or events seriously disturbing public order.
- Among them, 3.76 crore were refugees. With the Israel-Hamas war having escalated since then, the Ukraine-Russia war continuing, and Rohingyas facing fresh threats in Myanmar, the number of refugees worldwide is only expected to multiply significantly.
- India has historically been perceived as a ‘refugee-receiving’ nation having hosted over 2,00,000, diverse refugee groups since its independence.
- As of January 31, 2022, 46,000 refugees and asylum-seekers were registered with UNHCR India.
- 46% of this population is comprised of women and girls, a disproportionately burdened and vulnerable group.
- They are made solely accountable for children, are often the last to flee, are saddled with gendered care-giving responsibility for both the old and the young, and are often required to single-handedly bear responsibility for the family’s sustenance.
Reassuring resolve
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GS 3: Indian Economy and issues relating to planning, mobilization, of resources, growth, development and employment
- The RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has for a ninth straight meeting chosen to keep benchmark interest rates unchanged as it continues to battle retail inflation that has stubbornly stayed above its medium-term target of 4% for 57 months and is beginning to undermine consumer confidence.
- Laying out the rationale, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das was emphatic that there was no room for complacency given the risks that persistently elevated food price pressures posed to households’ inflation expectations and broader monetary policy credibility.
- Elevated food prices, he stressed, had not only slowed disinflation in the April-June quarter but had also extended their momentum into July with high frequency food price data pointing to sizeable month-on-month increases in key vegetable prices.
- Citing Department of Consumer Affairs data, he said tomato prices had surged 62% sequentially, while onion had become almost 23% costlier than in June and potato prices had increased 18%.
- Food prices, with a weight of about 46% in the overall Consumer Price Index, could not afford to be overlooked, not just for their impact on headline inflation but far more significantly because consumers related the most to the impact food prices had on monthly household budgets.
No population Census — in the dark without vital data
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GS 1: Population and associated issues, Demographics
- The Indian decadal Census has been delayed by more than three years now despite several concerns having been raised about the consequences of not having a Census.
- In fact, there is an overwhelming misconception among officials on substituting the Census with alternative ways and means of counting the population.
- The Census is not limited to offer a population count. It includes a wide range of locational, familial and individual information that serves to understand the changing population dynamic in its entirety.
- The first and foremost limitation of avoiding a Census lies in the reliability of all our large-scale surveys such as National Family Health Survey and Periodic Labour Force Survey carried out on a Census frame that is one and a half decades old.
Govt. says ‘creamy layer’ not applicable to SC, ST quota
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GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
- The Union Cabinet on Friday categorically asserted that the principle of creamy layer does not apply to reservations for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).
- Announcing this at a Cabinet briefing, Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said extensive discussion was held on the recent Supreme Court judgement that allowed States to sub-categorise SCs and STs.
- “This government is committed to the Constitutional provisions given by Babasaheb Bhim Rao Ambedkar.
- There is no provision of creamy layer in Babasaheb’s Constitution.
- The Cabinet’s well thought through decision is that it is only as per Babasaheb’s Constitution that reservations for SC/ST should be provided,” Mr. Vaishnaw said after a meeting of the Union Cabinet.
Speaker is guardian of rights of all MPs, says Birla
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GS 2: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies
- Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Friday (August 9, 2024) said the Chair of the House did not function on the basis of ideology or party, and was the guardian of rights of all members.
- Mr. Birla urged new Members of Parliament to share their suggestions regarding facilities and functioning of the House to ensure more effective arrangements.
- He was inaugurating an orientation programme organised by the Parliamentary Research and Training Institute for Democracies (PRIDE) for newly elected MPs of the 18th Lok Sabha, in the Parliament House Complex.
Will seek extension for air connectivity scheme, says Minister
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GS 3: Infrastructure - Airports
- The Union government will seek an extension for the regional air connectivity scheme (RCS) beyond the initial 10-year period it was announced for at the time of its launch in 2016, Civil Aviation Minister Rammohan Naidu informed Parliament on Friday (August 9, 2024).
- The Minister was addressing members of Lok Sabha following a discussion on the new Bharatiya Vayuyan Vidheyak Bill, 2024, which was passed by the Lower House. The Bill replaces the Aircraft Act, 1934 and seeks to remove ambiguities arising out of multiple amendments over the past nine decades.
Opposition parties prepare to move no-confidence motion against V-P
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GS 2: Appointment to various Constitutional posts, powers, functions and responsibilities of various Constitutional Bodies
- As many as 50 Opposition MPs, sources said, have signed a resolution to bring a no-confidence motion against Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankhar under Article 67(B) of the Indian Constitution, which states that the Vice-President can be removed by a resolution of the Rajya Sabha passed by an effective majority and agreed upon by the Lok Sabha with a simple majority.
- The Opposition’s decision comes at a time of a deteriorating relationship with Rajya Sabha Chairman Mr. Dhankhar, marked by frequent run-ins.
- The Opposition’s resolution is based on three points. The MPs say there is a marked lack of space and time for the Opposition to express its views. The Opposition argues that parliamentary convention dictates that the Leader of Opposition is conceded the floor, if he gets up to speak.
- Their complaint is that Congress president and the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge’s microphone is routinely turned off.
India to roll out new treatment regimen for drug-resistant TB
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GS 3: Science and Technology
- India is getting ready to roll out BPaL (bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid) regimen for all multi/extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis patients and the training for this new exercise is scheduled to begin this month.
- This is a significant move in the country’s battle against M/XDR-TB with the new regime indicating good results in countries including Pakistan, South Africa, Ukraine, etc.
- Announcing the move on social media on Friday, Soumya Swaminathan, principal advisor, National Tuberculosis Elimination Programme, said that “the move should improve treatment outcomes and help thousands of patients”.
