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Pledges from Red Fort, pledges by every Indian The common man can help build an India of the future despite the country functioning in a difficult environment 31/08/2022   India celebrated its 75th Independence day with great fanfare, flag flying, feasts, and festivals at home and abroad  It is indeed a great moment to review and to reflect on the occasion and also guide the nation going forward to meet the aspirations of all the people of India.  India has accomplished a great deal in the last 75 years.  However, a great deal still needs to be performed to deliver the essence of Independence on equality, equity, freedom, inclusion, and creating opportunities for most people at the bottom of the economic pyramid. Undertakings needing clarity 1  The Prime Minister in his celebrated speech from Red Fort outlined five pledges to focus on:  💐Making India a developed nation by 2047;  💐removing all traces of colonisation; 💐 taking pride in our roots and h...

Drop the phone checking, draft surveillance curbing orders With unchecked surveillance by governments and private parties, the top court must be guided by overseas precedents 31/08/2022   फोन चेकिंग छोड़ें, निगरानी पर अंकुश लगाने के आदेश का मसौदा तैयार करें सरकारों और निजी पक्षों द्वारा अनियंत्रित निगरानी किये जाने पर , शीर्ष अदालत को विदेशी मिसालों से सीखना होगा । The hype around the Pegasus case (of allegations that the personal communication devices of a range of people in India, including journalists, civil society activists and politicians were targeted illegally using the Israeli-made spyware) and the misplaced hope in the Supreme Court of India (which had appointed a committee to probe the allegations) that the probe outcome would be decisive have now been deflated. There is something terribly amiss which will unfold over time, to reveal that the Centre and the States operate like a police state when it comes to surveillance. Corporations have and carry out the same level of...

There are no easy answers to the freebies issue4 The presumption that parties are oriented towards short-termism without any thought for the future may be incorrect 30/08/2022   मुफ्तखोरी के मुद्दे का कोई आसान जवाब नहीं है यह अनुमान गलत हो सकता है कि पार्टियां भविष्य के लिए बिना सोचे-समझे अल्पावधिवाद की ओर उन्मुख हैं When the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.G. Ramachandran launched his now-famous mid-day meal scheme in 1982, it met with opposition both within his own party, the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK), and the Opposition. Within the party, there were concerns that it would result in leakages and corruption. The Opposition said it was intended mostly to bolster his personal image among the poor. Parents saw merit in sending their children regularly to school. As a result, attendance at schools shot up. The benefits thus went beyond the immediate objective of providing adequate nutrition to children. Merit versus non merit The success of the scheme illustra...

Curing the patriarchal mindset of the legal system Inclusion of feminist jurisprudence in the law curriculum and a sensitisation of legal practitioners must be considered 30/08/2022   . कानून के पाठ्यक्रम में नारीवादी न्यायशास्त्र को शामिल करने और कानूनी चिकित्सकों को संवेदनशील बनाने पर विचार किया जाना चाहिए। A sessions court in Kerala, while granting anticipatory bail recently to an author and social activist   1  in the State in a case of alleged sexual harassment,  2  observed that the offence under Section 354A of the Indian Penal Code (‘Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage गुस्सा या बुरा व्यवहार her modestyशालीनता या विनम्रता/ पहनने ओढ़ने की आजादी’)  is not prima facie attracted when the de facto complainant was dressed in ‘sexually provocative dresses’. 3  (The Kerala High Court has since stayed the order of the sessions court). 4  The sessions court had relied on photographs submitted with the bail application of the a...

Sops for votes Promising gifts in run-up to polls, not welfare, is the real ‘freebie’ issue 29/08/2022   After considering the formation of an expert body to examine the issues relating to political parties promising free goods to voters in their election manifestoes, the Supreme Court has stayed its hand and referred the issue to a three-judge Bench.  Also referred for deeper consideration is the correctness of an earlier judgment in S. Subramaniam Balaji vs Tamil Nadu (2013), which ruled that making promises in a manifesto would not amount to a corrupt practice. The proceedings before a Bench, headed by the now retired Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana, last week, offered crucial perspectives on the political economy of welfarism, socialism and pre-election promises of ‘freebies’. Over the few hearings, the Bench moved from vague references to ‘freebies’ to making rational distinctions between welfare schemes and socio-economic concessions on the one hand, and poll-time ann...

Japan’s continuing struggle with gender parity Investing in women’s education and health may have limited impact if it is a society trapped in gender norms 29/08/2022   महिलाओं की शिक्षा और स्वास्थ्य में निवेश का सीमित प्रभाव होगा , यदि समाज लैंगिक मानदंडों में फंस जाता है । According to recent data, Japan recorded the lowest total births in 2021 at just about 8,10,000   Japan also ranked lowest among the developed countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index 2022.  The two statistics are connected by one factor — gender norms.  Usually, we associate low gender equality with poor developing countries.  However, gender inequality emanates from many sources, lack of resources being one, gender norms being the other.  As a country transitions from developing to developed, the former may be taken care of, the latter is not guaranteed.  With a target of transforming India into a developed country by 2047, there are some lessons we should ...

A draconian law that needs to disappear The north-east needs to be freed from the net of AFSPA, as it has subsumed constitutional rights with impunity उत्तर-पूर्व को AFSPA के जाल से मुक्त करने की आवश्यकता है, क्योंकि इसने संवैधानिक अधिकारों को बिना किसी दंड के समाहित कर लिया है। 27/08/2022   The statement made by the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, in April this year, to the people of the North-east 1  to the effect that the Government intends withdrawing the much-dreaded Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act 1958, or AFSPA, 2  completely from the region — 3  this follows its partial withdrawal from parts of Assam, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur in March this year — could spell tidings समाचार for the denizens निवासी of these States.  4  The Prime Minister was addressing a ‘Peace, Unity and Development’ rally in Diphu in Assam’s Karbi Anglong district. 5 In the north-east, Nagaland has largely borne the brunt बदतर होना  of this draconian law aft...

Rainbow of hope The LGBTQIA+ community needs more than words to live with dignity  26/08/2022   Struggling with   💐gender identity,  💐and fighting against stigma, 💐prejudice  💐and discrimination, the LGBTQIA+ community, in Tamil Nadu at least, will not be derided उपहास करना  by slurs निंदा or mocking half-names anymore.  The T.N. government, on the orders of the Madras High Court has come out with a glossary शब्दावली of terms to address people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual or of any other orientation.  The Department of Social Welfare and Women Empowerment notified the terms —  💐paal pudhumaiyar for queerअजीब;  💐maruviya paalinam for a transgender;  💐idaippaal for intersex; 💐 paalina adaiyaalangaludan oththupogaathavar for a gender non-conforming person and so forth.  Not everyone is happy some groups feel the word for transgender should be the one in use, thirunar;  others ...

Keep it simple Any mandatory linking of Aadhaar to the voter ID is problematic 25/08/2022   इसे सरल रखें आधार को वोटर आईडी से जोड़ने की कोई भी अनिवार्यता समस्याग्रस्त है One of the clear successes of Indian democracy has been the regular conduct of elections and the relatively high participation of electors in the voting process compared to other countries.   Besides the fact that the process is relatively simple with the use of the electronic voting machine, high voter turnout has also been possible due to registration drives by the Election Commission of India (ECI).   Periodically, the ECI does face the issue of a cleaning up of electoral rolls 💐due to increases in migrant populations in urban sprawls, 💐 demographic changes due to the entry of more eligible voters, 💐 besides deaths of older people.  But repeated cycles of elections have allowed for a cohesion in this process with voters allowed to register based on proofs of their age and current place of resid...

The death of Inder Meghwal While there are doubts over how the boy died, it is a fact that untouchability is practised in the villages of Rajasthan 25/08/2022   इंदर मेघवाल की मृत्यु लड़के की मौत कैसे हुई, इस पर जहां संदेह है, वहीं यह सच है कि राजस्थान के गांवों में छुआछूत की प्रथा है Inder Meghwal, a nine-year-old boy, died recently in a village in the Jalore district of Rajasthan .  1  The family say he succumbed हार मान लिया to injuries  2  caused by an assault by a teacher in his school who was angry that the young boy drank from a water pot meant for ‘upper castes’. 3  The accused, Chail Singh, who is in custody, says he did slap the boy — not because of the reason stated,  but because Inder had quarrelled किसी से झगड़ा करना with another student.  Inder’s family members assert that the boy was beaten brutally due to his caste. An unusual place 1  Many testimonies प्रमाण and individual claims have been made that neither the school nor the...

Reviewing remission छूट या कमी करना  SC should lay down norms for release of convicts on remission 24/08/2022   रिमिसन कानून  गुजरात में कैदियों की सजा माफ करने के लिए 2014 में गृह विभाग ने नए दिशा-निर्देश और नीतियां जारी कीं, जिसमें यह कहा गया है कि दो या इससे अधिक लोगों की सामूहिक हत्या करने या गैंगरेप करने वाले कैदियों की सजा माफ नहीं की जाएगी. इतना ही नहीं, उन्हें समय से पहले रिहाई भी नहीं दी जा सकती. बिलकिस बानो के मामले में यह नियम क्यों नहीं लागू किया गया, अब इसे समझते हैं. इस पूरे मामले में CBI ने जांच की और 11 लोगों को दोषी करार दिया गया. गुजरात सरकार की वर्तमान नीति के हिसाब से इनकी रिहाई नहीं हाे सकती थी, इसलिए 1992 की नीति का सहारा लिया गया. 1992 की नीति से रिहाई के लिए पूरा मामला सुप्रीम कोर्ट पहुंचा. कोर्ट ने कहा, सभी आरोपियों पर वही नीति लागू होगी जिस दिन इन आरोप सिद्ध हुआ और दोषी पाए गए. चूंकि मामला 2002 का था इसलिए इस मामले में 1992 वाली नीति लागू हुई. 1992 में लागू हुआ कानून कहता है, अगर किसी कैदी ने 14 साल पूरे कर लिए हैं और सजा माफी के लिए अनुरोध करता ...

अभी नहीं है पढ़ाई का केंद्र छह साल से कम उम्र के बच्चों की सहायता के लिए बनाई गई आंगनवाड़ी योजना अभी तक अपनी क्षमता को पूरा नहीं कर पाई है  Not centres of learning yet The Anganwadi scheme, designed to support children under six, is yet to fulfil its potential  23/08/2022   Giri KVS GIRI KVS As we come to India@75, the Anganwadi system, part of the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) of the government which serves over 30 million children in the age group of 3-6 in 1.3 million centres across the country, should have been a triumph. The ICDS scheme is designed to support all children under six with their health, nutrition, and education needs — done right, this would make India a leader in the next 25 years in early childhood education and deliver our delayed demographic dividend. However, while across India over 70% of children are enrolled in Anganwadis, they are plagued by low attendance — parents simply do not perceive Anganwadi centres as centres of learning. R...

Too good to be true India should stick to the plan to better the lives of the Rohingya until their return home इतना अच्छा कि यकीन करना मुश्किल है भारत को रोहिंग्याओं के स्वदेश लौटने तक उनके जीवन को बेहतर बनाने की योजना पर कायम रहना चाहिए 19/08/2022   The announcement on social media by Urban Development Minister Hardeep Puri  of the Modi government’s decision to house about 1,100 Rohingya migrants now living in makeshift slums, in flats with amenities instead, proved “too good to be true”.  Within hours, Mr. Puri was countered   by the Home Minister’s Office, which denied any such intention, instead terming them “illegal foreigners”.  It said the plan was to keep them sequestered एकांत  in their present homes, which would be designated as detention centres while the Government continued efforts to deport them to Myanmar.  The announcement itself was puzzling Mr. Puri is a senior Minister and an experienced diplomat, and his statement was unequivocal. ...