Table of Contents
Dangerous rhetoric
• The final draft of the National Register of Citizens in Assam was completed.
• The political rhetoric (भाषण) has got irresponsibly away from the issue at hand.
• Those associated with the preparation of the NRC, are at pains to point out that the draft is by no means the end of the road.
• The more than 40 lakh people whose names are missing from the draft have a graded appeals process ahead, first at NRC seva kendras.
• Failing rehabilitation on the list at this stage, they can appeal to district magistrates, the Foreigners’ Tribunals, the Gauhati High Court and the Supreme Court.
Rebooting the system for a skills upgrade
• Report:“Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) and Skill Development Initiative Scheme” of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).
• Small shops, basements, tin sheds and godowns: These are not random workplaces but places where private Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) are running in the country.
• The ITIs were initiated in the 1950s. In a span of 60 years, until 2007, around 1,896 public and 2,000 private ITIs were set up. However, in a 10-year period from 2007, more than 9,000 additional private ITIs were accredited.
• However, the ITIs are not alone. The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) today has more than 6,000 private training centres.
• Somaiya committee report: instances of responsibility outsourcing, no oversight, connivance (देखी-अनदेखी) and an ownership tussle between the Central and State governments.
• Private-ITI accreditation troubles started when the Quality Council of India (QCI), a private body, was hired.
• ‘Speed’ now risks the future of 13.8 lakh students .
• The ITIs have a unique functioning set-up.
• While they were formed under the government’s Craftsman Training Scheme scheme, their day-to-day administration, finances and admissions are with State governments.
• National Council for Vocational Training (NCVT) performs an advisory role.
• We need better oversight, with a national board for all skill development programmes.
• The core work (accreditation, assessment, certification and course standards) cannot be outsourced.
• Like every other education board (such as the CBSE), a board is required in vocational training that is accountable.
• Reimbursable industry contribution (RIC)
Threats to EU values
• European Union members enjoy impunity even when their own domestic laws seem incompatible with the bloc’s core values, as Poland and Hungary show.
• The latest infringement proceedings against the two countries underscore the EU’s limits in enforcing compliance with common democratic standards, given the bloc’s stringent requirement of unanimity among all member states to punish offending members.
• In December 2017, the EU referred Poland and Hungary, besides others, to the European Court of Justice for non-compliance with the decision to admit refugees as a part of the 2015 relocation plan.
• “Stop Soros” law: The law makes it a criminal offence to help asylum seekers, in contravention of international humanitarian laws.
• In theory, both states could be stripped of their voting rights in the EU and face financial sanctions.
• The most serious threat to the bloc’s fundamental values comes from none other than many of the EU’s founder member states themselves.
Thirty years after the 8888 uprising
• The eighth day of August 1988: one of Myanmar’s most important historic days in the context of the pro-democracy movement.
• ‘8888’ was a people’s movement that challenged the then ruling Burma Socialist Programme Party’s grip on political, economic and social affairs which led the country into extreme poverty.
• The past 30 years have seen a change in leadership — from military dictatorship to a military-backed semi-democracy and then to a negotiated hybrid regime with power being shared between unelected military personnel and an elected civilian leadership.
• But for the country’s ethnic minorities, their struggle and political demands that date back to before Mynamar’s independence in 1948 continue.
• The democratic transition in Myanmar thus far has been meticulously designed by the military.
• The military may hesitate to roll back its dominant role in Myanmar’s politics but it should note that no democracy can succeed when the military holds the reins and is unaccountable to an elected civilian leadership.
The essentiality of mosques
• Ismail Faruqui v. Union Of India (1994): “a mosque is not an essential part of the practice of… Islam and Namaz (prayer) by Muslims can be offered anywhere, even in open.”
• Faruqui judgment did not give any evidence from Islamic scriptures to justify its declaration that mosques are not essential to Islam.
• It thus ignored the “essential practices doctrine” laid down in the landmark The Commissioner, Hindu Religious Endowments, Madras v. Sri Lakshmindra Thirtha Swamiar of Sri Shirur Mutt (1954), according to which “what constitutes the essential part of a religion is primarily to be ascertained with reference to the doctrines of that religion itself.”
• In fact, the first act of the Prophet after migrating to Medina was to establish a mosque.
• The Prophet had demonstrated by example that mosques went beyond the ritualism of ‘worship’.
• They were spiritual, humanitarian and educational centres open to all people irrespective of their social, financial or racial status, or gender, thus emphasising the importance of equality for social progress.
• “Prayer in congregation [inside a mosque] is 27 times more meritorious than prayer performed individually.”
• Even a blind man was refused Prophetic permission to pray at home and was asked to join the congregation.
Important News
• CJI raises Justice Joseph issue with Attorney-General • 24 girls rescued from U.P. shelter
• The U.P. government on Monday ordered a probe after two dozen girls were rescued from an illegally-run shelter in Deoria, following allegations of mistreatment and sexual abuse of inmates.
• Three-judge SC Bench to hear Article 35A issue
• Will study if it is violative of basic structure of Constitution
• Rajya Sabha gives nod for National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) Bill
• Bill for death in rape cases cleared
• The amendments have been made to the Indian Penal Code, the Criminal Procedure Code, Evidence Act and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
• LS passes SC/ST amendment Bill
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