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More than three months after they were sentenced to death, eight former Indian Navy personnel have been released from custody in Qatar and seven have returned to India.
This was announced by the Ministry of External Affairs in the early hours of Monday. Hours later, Foreign Secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra said Prime Minister Narendra Modi will travel to Qatar on February 14 and meet Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani.
Relieved families hailed the efforts of the government and the personal intervention of the Prime Minister – Modi met the Qatar Emir on the side lines of the COP28 summit in Dubai on December 1 — in securing the release of the eight men.
Prime Minister has himself personally, constantly, supervised all the developments in this case and has never shied away from an initiative that would ensure the return of Indian nationals home.
At 5.1% in Jan, retail inflation at 3 month low factory output at 3.8% in Dec (Page no. 1)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Retail Inflation slipped to a three-month low of 5.1 per cent in January primarily due to lower food prices after having risen to a four-month high in December, data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
Separately released data by the NSO showed that the factory output, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), rose to 3.8 per cent in December from 2.4 per cent in the previous month, but was lower than 5.1 per cent in the year-ago period.
The retail inflation rate, based on Consumer Price Index (Combined), slowed in January after having risen for the previous two months.
While it marked the 52nd month of retail inflation staying above the 4 per cent mark in the 4+/- 2 per cent band of medium-term inflation target set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the core inflation — non-food, non-fuel segment — fell to a 50-month low of 3.6 per cent in January.
Express Network
Report by law panel suggests plan to tackle epidemics (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The 286th Law Commission Report recommended creation of an Epidemic Plan and Standard Operation Procedure to address future epidemics, underlining there is no clear demarcation between the powers of the Centre, state, and local authorities during an epidemic, which leads to uncoordinated responses.
Highlighting the limitations of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 (EDA), the 286th Law Commission Report states “the management, control and prevention of epidemic diseases cannot be restricted to a century-old law.”
The report notes that the EDA was not designed to combat modern issues with the spread of infectious diseases. Globalisation and increased connectivity, it states, can result in infectious diseases rapidly turning into epidemics or pandemics.
After the Covid-19 pandemic, the Law Commission suo moto decided to extensively examine the existing legal framework to tackle what it calls “significant deficiencies in addressing the containment and management of future epidemics in the country”.
Maintenance of Muslim woman under personal law or Crpc ? Seeks views of amicus curiae (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
A Muslim woman be entitled to claim maintenance from her divorced husband under the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 — as was affirmed in the Shah Bano case — or will The Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986 — enacted by the Rajiv Gandhi government to nullify the Shah Bano decision. The Supreme Court will deal with the question after an amicus curiae appointed by it gives his views on it.
On February 9, a bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Augustine George Masih appointed senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal as the amicus curiae for the matter.
“We find that this court would benefit by having the views of an amicus curiae… Hence, we request Shri Gaurav Agarwal, learned senior counsel, to be appointed as amicus curiae in this case.
A set of papers of this case shall be made available by the Registry to Shri Gaurav Agarwal, learned senior counsel,” the bench said, posting the matter for further hearing on February 19.
Editorial
Snapshots of turbulence (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
At Lengpui Airport in distant Mizoram, not far from the Myanmar border, a fascinating drama played out recently. On the runway, a large white military transport plane waited, its sides painted with the distinctive Burmese script. Bedraggled Myanmar soldiers, some barefoot, others without knapsacks or full uniforms, none with weapons, sat on the ground outside, looking exhausted. A group of weapon-wielding and fit Assam Rifles soldiers stood guard.
The aircraft was waiting to take them home.
The next day, as the transport plane attempted to take off, the aircraft slid off the runway and crashed on a slope, another sad chapter in the lives of those forlorn looking soldiers. No one was killed but the plane was a wreck.
That day, the phone lines buzzed furiously between Delhi’s top officials and the Mizoram government, the latter stunned by the unexpected turn of events.
The airport was closed for the rest of the day — the plane had to be made safe, the gasoline tanks emptied, the refugee-soldiers treated for injuries and a day later flown out in two military transport planes sent by Yangon.
Ideas Page
A science for us (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 3, Science and Technology)
On February 11, a panel representing India’s science academies will launch SWATI, a portal to a database that they hope will someday include each and every woman in science in the country.
This marks the latest in a list of initiatives by the academies to address the gender gap that began with a hard-hitting report published 20 years ago. While we await SWATI, it’s pertinent to look back at some of these efforts.
The 2004 report by the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) stands out because it was likely the first such report to be supported by the government, and also because of its content.
The 66-page document articulated ideas about the gender gap in STEM that were far from mainstream back then. It presented evidence of discrimination in the workplace, not just on the basis of gender but also caste. A full 10 pages were dedicated to solutions.
Explained
Jail and bail under UAPA (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
Underlining that the oft quoted phrase, ‘bail is rule, jail is the exception’, does not find any place in the stringent anti-terror Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the Supreme Court on February 7 denied bail to Gurwinder Singh, an accused in an alleged “Khalistan module.”
Singh was arrested when he was found hanging cloth banners on which “Khalistan Jindabad” and “Khalistan Referendum 2020” was written.
He is now accused of a being part of a larger conspiracy with Sikhs for Justice, a pro-Khalistan group banned by the Indian government.
While the higher bar for granting bail under the UAPA is indeed antithetical to ordinary criminal law, there are some cases in which courts have granted bail.
Section 43D (5) reads: “Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code, no person accused of an offence punishable under Chapters IV and VI of this Act shall, if in custody, be released on bail or on his own bond unless the Public Prosecutor has been given an opportunity of being heard on the application for such release.
Economy
Unemployment rate declines to 6.5% in Oct – Dec (Page no. 15)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India recorded a decline in the unemployment rate in urban areas, dropping from 7.2% to 6.5% between October–December 2022 and October–December 2023 for individuals aged 15 years and above, the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) shows.
For males, the unemployment rate decreased from 6.5% to 5.8% in the said period, while for female it dipped from 9.6% to 8.6%.
It shows there has been a "steady rise" in the labour force participation rate (LFPR) among urban residents, with figures climbing from 48.2% to 49.9% for the same age group over the same period.
Additionally, the female labour force participation rate in urban areas has shown an increase from 22.3% to 25% between October–December 2022 and October–December 2023, respectively, showing an overall upward trend in the labour force participation.