29 August 2024, The Hindu
Bengal bandh disrupts life as Trinamool takes on BJP
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GS 2: Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health
- Normal life was paralysed in different parts of West Bengal on Wednesday (August 28, 2024) due to a 12-hour bandh called by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in protest against alleged police excesses on protesters during the march to the State Secretariat on Tuesday (August 27, 2024).
- The BJP supporters sat on railway tracks at several places, affecting suburban train services, and party workers blocked major arterial routes disrupting vehicular movement.
- While the culture of bandhs, the hallmark of the Left Front regime and used extensively by the Trinamool Congress when it was in the Opposition, is no more prevalent in the State, the strike on Wednesday witnessed violence between those for and against it.
Centre wants us to accept NEP for fund release: T.N
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GS 2: Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
- Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi on Wednesday accused that the Union government of pressuring Tamil Nadu to accept the National Education Policy (NEP)-2020 as a pre-condition for release of funds under Pradhan Mantri Schools for Rising India (PM-SHRI).
- He was reacting to reports on the Centre having withheld its share of funds under the Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), of which component is PM-SHRI, affecting salary payment to teachers.
Karnataka Governor sends back 11 Bills, Seeks clarification
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GS 2: Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
- Karnataka Governor Thaawar Chand Gehlot has returned 11 Bills passed by the State legislature seeking clarifications from the government on various counts, such as pending cases in the Supreme Court, overlapping provisions of two laws, issues in creation of a new entity for a limited area, and the authority of the government, among other things.
- The legislature passed the Karnataka Religious Institutions and Charitable Endowments (Amendment) Bill, 2024. The Dharwad bench of the High Court of Karnataka had struck down amendments to the Act made in 2011 and 2012.
- The High Court decision in this matter has been challenged in the Supreme Court, which has stayed the High Court order.
- Since the matter is pending before the Supreme Court, the Governor has sought more clarification on the Bill, according to sources in the State Secretariat.
A silent democratic backlash in South Asia
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GS 2: Important International institutions, agencies and fora- their structure, mandate
- The recent developments in Bangladesh, and the earlier events in Sri Lanka and Pakistan as well as the recent electoral outcome of the general election in India, clearly suggest a silent democratic backlash in South Asia.
- While there have been different historical trajectories in postcolonial democracies, we will make sense of this backlash by comparing the Indian case with that of Pakistan.
- Comparisons of the Indian and Pakistani political systems in the post-colonial years have concentrated primarily on reasons why democracy endured in India while Pakistan transgressed into authoritarianism, despite both having a similar colonial legacy.
- Many scholars have detailed the reasons contributing to democracy in India compared to Pakistan.
- These range from the presence of a mass-based political party system in India versus an organisationally weak Muslim League to the dominance of particular social classes constituting the Congress (middle classes) and the Muslim League (the landed aristocracy).
Sharpening India’s anti-tuberculosis fight
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Prelims: Science (Current affairs)
- The omnipresence of tuberculosis (TB) in the pages of history and literature is testimony to how the disease has plagued generations across the world and continues to be a major problem even today.
- India bears over a quarter of the global TB burden. Political will in India has helped drive a great deal of progress in the fight against the disease.
- For example, in 2023, addressing the big challenge of ‘missed’ TB cases, 25.1 lakh patients were diagnosed in India as having TB, highlighting strengthened case finding efforts.
- However, as we work toward the goal of TB elimination — the Prime Minister has urged citizens to work towards TB elimination — we must look to innovate and deploy proven technologies and tools at our disposal.
- The first low-hanging fruit that I believe must be invested in urgently is new shorter regimens for drug-resistant TB.
- It has been encouraging to learn that India will soon introduce the World Health Organization (WHO)-recommended shorter regimen for drug-resistant TB.
- The current regimens on offer are long and arduous, requiring patients to consume nearly 13 to 14 tablets every day if they are on the shorter nine to 11-month regimen, or four to five tablets every day if they have been put on the 18 to 24 month longer regimen.
- The treatment is physically and psychologically draining and has severe side effects, such as loss of hearing, and even psychosis.
Focus on trial
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GS 2: Judiciary
- The Supreme Court order granting bail to Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K. Kavitha does more than grant relief to a jailed politician; it brings under focus the ill-motivated tactic of using the judicial process and the power of arrest as a tool to hound political opponents.
- The charge that the Delhi government’s liquor policy was formulated in exchange for crores of rupees to grant a favourable deal to a certain lobby is quite serious, warranting a thorough investigation and fair prosecution.
- However, the focus of the Centre and its agencies seems to be entirely on keeping some political figures imprisoned in the run-up to the trial.
- In oral observations, a Bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and K.V. Viswanathan has questioned the fairness of the investigation, especially because the agency has cited some of those apparently involved as witnesses, while seeking pardon to some arrested suspects so that they could testify as approvers.
- After a spell during which the courts were reticent to disregard the vehement objections by the prosecution to the grant of bail, the judiciary has now begun to see through the attempt to use the bail-denying features of the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act (PMLA) to keep adversaries in prison for long.
- The Court had earlier granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal (still in jail in a CBI case on the same allegations) and Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia.
War and peace
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GS 2: Effect of policies and politics of developed and developing countries on India’s interests, Indian diaspora
- Just days after his visit to Kyiv, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s telephonic conversations with U.S. President Joseph Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin have raised hopes that New Delhi is ready to take the plunge and attempt peacemaking in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
- Mr. Modi’s travel to the UN in September, where he will meet U.S. and European leaders and possibly Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy again, and another visit to Russia in October for the BRICS summit, have fuelled those hopes.
- However, those who are boosting speculation of an Indian role may benefit from a careful consideration of the circumstances, and India’s position thus far.
- Since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, India has remained distant from the outcomes of what External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar had once called “Europe’s war” and any peace process that does not involve bringing Russia and Ukraine to the table for talks.
- It had even disassociated itself from the Swiss peace summit. While Mr. Modi has consistently said that India is “on the side of peace” alone, New Delhi has been seen to be partial to Moscow, given its historical ties and military and energy dependencies.
Establishing a carbon market
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GS 2: Environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment
- In her Budget speech, the Finance Minister signalled that polluting industries, such as iron, steel, and aluminium, will have to conform to emission targets.
- “A road map for moving the ‘hard to abate’ industries from energy efficiency targets to emission targets will be formulated. Appropriate regulations for transition of these industries from the current ‘Perform, Achieve, and Trade’ (PAT) mode to the ‘Indian Carbon Market’ mode will be put in place,” she said.
- The Bureau of Energy Efficiency defines PAT as a “regulatory instrument to reduce specific energy consumption in energy-intensive industries, with an associated market based-mechanism to enhance the cost effectiveness through certification of excess energy saving which can be traded.”
- PAT is about meeting energy efficiency standards, which means for producing a certain output, there is an attempt to use no more than a prescribed amount of energy.
- So, a firm that produces more steel than another can use more fuel, but can still be more energy efficient.
- There is no restriction on the absolute energy used. Meeting these standards generates credits or certificates for successful firms, which they can trade.
Governor vs government in Karnataka
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GS 2: Issues and challenges pertaining to the federal structure
- The Congress-led government in Karnataka and Raj Bhavan, presently occupied by Thaawar Chand Gehlot, a former minister in the Narendra Modi-led Union government, have been on a collision course for more than a month.
- The public spat began with the Governor issuing a show-cause notice to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah over a private complaint alleging corruption in the allocation of 14 alternate sites by the Mysore Urban Development Corporation (MUDA) to his wife in lieu of 3.16 acres of land she owned which MUDA developed, reportedly without acquiring it. He eventually gave sanction for prosecution in the case.
On Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Kurks
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Prelims: Current affairs of national and international affairs
- In the early hours of August 6, the regional government of Kursk, a federal subject of Russia that borders Ukraine to the west, sent an alarm on its Telegram channel asking residents to run for shelter from incoming missile attacks.
- Hours later, the channel posted images of dilapidated residential buildings, with a message from Alexey Smirnov, the Acting Governor of the region, “Tonight, the city of Sudzha was shelled from the Ukrainian side.
- Several residential buildings were severely damaged.” Ukraine had launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s southwestern province of Kursk, in the first ground invasion of the country or the erstwhile Soviet Union since World War II.
- Though the Russian Ministry of Defence was quick to claim that it had repelled several raids by Ukrainian forces, equipped with almost a battalion’s worth of tanks and armoured vehicles, geolocated footage by the Washington DC-based Institute of Study of War (ISW) showed otherwise.
- In its August 7 update, the ISW said that the armoured vehicles had advanced to positions about 10 kilometres from the international border with Sumy of Ukraine. Russia’s line of fortification was clearly breached.
India signs repeat order for 73,000 SIG 716 rifles; deliveries by 2025-end
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Prelims: Current affairs of national and international affairs
PMJDY personifies dignity and empowerment: Modi
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GS 2: Government policies and interventions for development in various sectors and issues arising out of their design and implementation
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed his government’s programme of financial inclusion, the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY), as it completed 10 years, by penning a long post on LinkedIn on Wednesday.
- The programme personified dignity, empowerment, and the opportunity to participate in the economic life of the country, especially for women and for those in rural and semi-urban parts of the country, he said.
- He added that for him, the PMJDY initiative was more than just a policy; rather, it was an endeavour to build an India where each and every citizen, irrespective of one’s economic background, has access to the formal banking apparatus.
‘Effective policing key to promote economic growth’
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GS 2: Important aspects of governance, transparency and accountability
- Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan on Wednesday (August 28, 2024) said that for India to become the third-largest economy, “effective policing, law and order, and effective action against crimes and criminals” are necessary.
- Mr. Mohan, who took charge last week, delivered the Dr. Anand Swarup Gupta Memorial Lecture on “New Criminal Laws – Citizen Centric Reforms” at the foundation day ceremony of the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D).
Centre offers discussions with unions on Labour Codes
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GS 2: Development processes and the development industry
- Union Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has agreed to hold further discussions on the implementation of the four Labour Codes with the Central Trade Unions, union leaders said on Wednesday.
- The Minister’s assurance came during a round table meeting with the CTUs, where ten unions alleged that the Codes are in favour of big corporations.
- The meeting reflected differing priorities – while the meeting’s agenda was to discuss the Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) schemes recently announced in the Union Budget, the ten CTUs said they had raised concerns about the four Codes and submitted a detailed memorandum to Mr. Mandaviya on the new Unified Pension Scheme, their demand to restore the non-contributory Old Pension Scheme, and to convene the Indian Labour Conference, and other issues.
- The meeting was also attended by Minister of State for Labour Shobha Karandlaje.
Further transmission of Chandipura virus possible in coming weeks, warns WHO
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Prelims: Current affairs of National and international affairs
- The current outbreak of Chandipura virus (CHPV) infection in India is considered the largest in the past 20 years and while authorities are making efforts to control the transmission of CHPV, further transmission is possible in the coming weeks, considering the favourable conditions for vector populations during the monsoon season in affected areas, warned the World Health Organisation (WHO) in its latest disease outbreak news on acute encephalitis syndrome due to Chandipura virus (India),
- While WHO has not recommended any general travel or trade restrictions based on the available information, it maintained that surveillance efforts should be enhanced in high-risk areas, focusing on people at risk, such as children younger than 15 years presenting with acute onset of fever and central nervous system symptoms.
CCEA clears 12 industrial parks across 10 States
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GS3: Economy - Infrastructure
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday cleared an outlay of ₹28,602 crore to set up 12 industrial parks across 10 States and along six major industrial corridors, in line with an announcement in the Union Budget.
- The government said these greenfield industrial “smart cities” can attract potential investments of ₹1.5 lakh crore, creating a potential 1 million direct and up to 3 million indirect jobs.
- Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal signalled these were ‘conservative estimates’ and said these projects, that will offer investors a ‘plug and play’ alternative to set up shop, will be completed in three years, with land acquisition and environmental clearances already in place.
Bangladesh lifts ban on Jamaat, its student wing, ‘all associated units
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GS 2: India and its neighborhood- relations
