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Table of Contents

In harmony with Mother Nature

Indian culture and values: living in harmony with Mother Nature.
We are at crossroads: Needs vs Wants/Greed

1. Internal consciousness
A. Atharvaveda contains the Prithvi Sukta. It contains contains unparalleled knowledge about nature and the environment.

B. In Her is woven together Ocean and River Waters; in Her is contained Food which She manifests when ploughed; In Her indeed is alive all Lives; May She bestow us with that Life.

C. Panch Tatvas – Prithvi (Earth), Vayu (Air), Jal (Water), Agni (Fire), Akash (Sky) – and how our life systems are based on the harmonious functioning of these elements.

D. Mahatma Gandhi and his Doctrine of Trusteeship: places the onus on us, the present generation, to ensure that our coming generations inherit a clean planet. He called for
sustainable consumption so that the world does not face a resource crunch.

E. Leading lifestyles that are harmonious and sustainable are a part of our ethos. Once we realise how we are flag bearers of a rich tradition, it will automatically have a positive impact
on our actions.

2. Public Awareness
A. Talk, write, debate, discuss and deliberate
B. Encourage research and innovation
C. Proactive culture

85 million households now have access to toilets for the first time.
Over 400 million Indians no longer have to defecate in the open.
Sanitation coverage is up from 39% to 95%.
Ujjwala Yojana: significantly reduced indoor air pollution
5 crore Ujjwala connections have been distributed
Cleaning our rivers: Namami Gange Mission
AMRUT and the Smart Cities Mission
13 crore soil health cards
Green Skill Development Programme
Ujala Yojana: distribution of nearly 31 crore LED bulbs.
India remained at the forefront of the COP-21
March 2018: start of ISA
Climate justice is about safeguarding the rights and interests of the poor and marginalised sections of society, who are often the biggest sufferers from the menace of climate change.

No sweeping change

On the eve of Independence, Gandhi saw the lack of a “sense of national or social sanitation” as the root of all diseases among Indians.
4 years of SBA: achieving social change is far from easy
5,07,369 villages are now ‘open defecation free’
The very evil that Gandhi wanted to see changed is still going on: caste games on sanitation
Waste volumes continue to grow as economic growth spurs consumption.

The creamy layer of social justice

As citizens, we expect two certainties from any verdict on public policy by a constitution bench of the Supreme Court.

It must hold whether the underlying principle(s) is/are consistent with the Constitution of India.
Such a verdict must end governance paralysis.

Jarnail Singh v. Lachhmi Narain Gupta: Supreme Court held that the government need not collect quantifiable data to demonstrate backwardness of public employees belonging to the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) to provide reservations for them in promotions.
Core issue: ‘creamy layer’ among SC/STs should be barred from obtaining promotions through reservations?
Unfortunately, the court has accomplished neither objective
Indra Sawhney,1992: any discussion on creamy layer “has no relevance” in the context of SC/STs
Verdict in Indra Sawhney make it clear that the SC/STs are given job reservations not because they are poor but because they are excluded.
Article 335: job reservations for SC/STs as a right of representation, not as a welfare measure.
M. Nagaraj v. Union of India, 2006: collect quantifiable data
2018: The court has taken more than a decade to correct an anomaly in the Nagaraj case which brought in a creamy layer filter for promotions for SC/ST employees.
The court could have addressed an often ignored aspect of the matter — the right of the creamy layer among the community to opt out of reservations.
2 judge bench of Apex Court: is considering a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by the Samta Andolan Samiti that seeks the removal of creamy layer among the SC/STs in job reservations.
A matter settled by a nine-judge Constitution Bench long ago and also a matter that has just been settled by a five-judge Constitution Bench.Out of synchrony

The court merely removed the government’s responsibility to collect quantifiable data on backwardness but reasoned that the creamy layer test would be consistent with the equality principle.
At present, an SC/ST candidate does not have the right to reject reservations.
She is merely required to state whether she belongs to the SC or the ST category and a response in affirmation automatically puts her in the queue for reservations.
It is also a punishable offence to withhold one’s caste status while seeking government employment.
A simple administrative decision to allow SC/ST candidates to compete in the general category would have helped thousands to leave the space for the less privileged among them.
Herein lies the catch. A well-qualified and large SC/ST group having to compete as non-reserved candidates would corner a substantial number of open posts.
At the same time, their less privileged cousins would fill the quota.
Theoretically, SC/STs would end up garnering more posts than their proportion in population.
Given the uneven educational opportunities across the divides of rich-poor and urbanrural, the poor or underprivileged access substandard education.

The scope of constitutional morality

Article 17 of the Constitution of India states: “Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of Untouchability shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.” This is a fundamental right and therefore justiciable and enforceable by courts, which shall call governments to account.
Overall governmental lawlessness in the country since Independence
Why don’t sewer deaths bring the country to a grinding halt, as they should?
It is the duty of the court to place questions of liberty, equality, and dignity out of the reach of majoritarian impulses.

Presuming the disabled to be ‘incompetent’

In an 1850 report, Samuel Gridley Howe, popularly considered the ‘father of the American blind’, emphatically wrote: “The blind as a class, are inferior to other persons in mental power and ability.”
It is dismaying to note that, 168 years later, far too many people continue to harbour this unfounded and deeply offensive belief.
UPSC’s discomfort with the 2013 guidelines flowed from their misuse by some students who coached their scribes before the exam.
The dilution of the 2013 guidelines also appears legally suspect, given that the Supreme Court recently endorsed the principle of non-retrogression of rights, as per which there is no place for retreat in a progressive society. ‘one step below’ Certificate ‘legal entitlements’ to ‘liberties’

Important News

‘Rafale a booster dose for IAF

The acquisition of the Rafale fighter jets and the S-400 air defence system will go a long way in addressing the depleting squadron strength of the Indian Air Force (IAF), Air Chief Marshal (ACM) B.S. Dhanoa said on Wednesday. Forgo S-400 system, U.S. tells India
Warning that the deal could attract American sanctions.
New Delhi and Moscow are expected to announce the deal this week during Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day visit to India, starting Thursday.

ICJ to hear Kulbhushan case in February 2019

International Court of Justice (ICJ) will hold public hearings in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case from February 18 to 21 next year at , a statement issued by the principal judicial organ of the United Nations said on Wednesday.
Jadhav, 48, was sentenced to death by a Pakistani military court on charges of espionage and terrorism in April 2017. India moved the ICJ in May the same year against the verdict.

Chief Justice Gogoi rings in change in Supreme Court

“I am what I am. I cannot change.”
Chief Justice Gogoi announced that only “extremely urgent” matters would be allowed to be orally mentioned for out-of-turn hearing. Parameters for mentioning would change, he said.

Lagoon villas for Lakshadweep

“We want to set up island water villas. If you see Lakshadweep, we have so much lagoon area. Other countries have built villas and attract tourists from across the globe. But we don’t have any such project,” said Jitendra Kumar, adviser, NITI Aayog.

UN urges India not to deport seven Rohingya

As India prepares to deport seven Rohingya “illegals” to Myanmar on Thursday, two UN agencies urged the government to refrain from doing anything that would endanger the lives of those it plans to deport.
“UN High Commissioner for Refugees has expressed its view that the current conditions in Rakhine State in Myanmar are not conducive for safe, dignified and sustainable return for Rohingya,” a UNHCR spokesperson In blow to Trump, UN court tells U.S. to ease Iran sanctions
The UN’s top court ordered the U.S. on Wednesday to lift sanctions on humanitarian goods for Iran in a stunning setback for U.S. President Donald Trump.