Table of Contents
Budget session shamed democracy
Opposition for failing to keep the government answerable
MPs proposed that their salaries
Money bills that do not need the Rajya Sabha‟s nod
Lok Sabha Speaker, most glaringly, failed to use the powers at
her command to suspend unruly MPs
No-confidence motion
The fall of Lula
Conviction of Brazil‟s former President throws its politics into further disarray
Hopes to return to power in the October general election
Inclusion and the right to dignity
Battling discrimination must not fall on the shoulders of Dalits alone
How many more indignities does the community have to suffer?
Repair of historical wrongs.
Opposed the dilution by the Supreme Court, in its order of March 20, 2018, of
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Violent protests by Dalits in northern India the day before
Lost confidence in the ability of Indian democracy
In January 2016 the death of Rohith Vemula
Historic Bhima Koregaon battle in Maharashtra
Dalit literary works, Omprakash Valmiki‟s Joothan (2003), Narendra Jadhav‟s
Untouchables (2005), and Baby Kamble‟s The Prisons We Broke (2009)
Right to respect, has not been realised.
Smoke in the woods
Forest Policy was last revised in 1988, changes are perhaps overdue.
New draft Forest Policy 2018, however, ignores the lessons from this period
India‟s diverse forests support the livelihoods of 250 million people, providing them firewood, fodder, bamboo, beedi leaves and many other products.
Forest policy, therefore, focusses primarily on which benefits (and beneficiaries) to prioritise, where and through what process.
Another focus area is to decide when and through what process to allow diversion of forest land for “non-forest” activities such as dam building, mining and agriculture.
Forest policy in colonial India focussed on maximising products and revenues for the state through the imperial forest department as sole owner, protector and manager of the forest
Unfortunately, post-Independence policy continued this statist approach.
Forests were seen as sources of raw material for industry and local communities were simply treated as labour
Paradigm shift, the 1988 Forest Policy recognised the multiple roles of forests and prioritised environmental stability over revenue maximisation.
Policy emphasised people‟s involvement in protecting and regenerating forests
Joint forest management ( JFM) was initiated in 1990s to implement the concept of people‟s involvement
But what began with great expectations eventually ended up as a nation-wide charade(mockery)
Forest Rights Act (FRA) of 2006 created a historic opportunity Its community forest resource provisions gave communities rights to both access and manage forests.
Today, thousands of villages in Maharashtra and Odisha have received these rights, and hundreds have begun to exercise them.
Adivasis of Niyamgiri in Odisha exercised this provision to prevent bauxite mining
Does the 2018 Forest Policy draft build on the new direction of 1988 and incorporate
the lessons learnt since then? Unfortunately, the answer is a no
They will now enter into public private partnerships (PPPs) to bring corporate investment into forest lands
Entail more such destruction, with even the profits ending up in corporate hands.
₹50•,000 crore of NPV monies (CAMPA, or Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management
and Planning Authority, funds) provides the means to achieving this carbon target
This overlooks the ecological and social implications of carbon and production forestry and
the need for decentralised democracy
A case to withdraw the triple talaq Bill
The Bill in its current form has many procedural and legal infirmities
Prime Minister‟s lament to the outgoing Rajya Sabha MPs that they missed out on an
opportunity to debate important issues such as the triple talaq Bill — the Muslim Women
(Protection of Rights on Marriage) Bill, 2017 due to disruptions is an indication that despite
widespread public opinion against it, Centre is inordinately keen on making it a law
Supreme Court, in Shayara Bano v. Union Of India (2017),
Had set aside the validity of instant talaq
Bill criminalises talaqe-biddat even if it is not followed by eviction or desertion of the wife.
Imprisonment which may extend to one year,or with a maximum fine of ₹2•,000
Civil or criminal
Triple talaq Bill fails the test of constitutionality is found in Article 21
Justice K.S. Puttaswamy v. Union of India (2017)
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of India (1978),
Prelims Focus Facts-News Analysis
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