Hindu Notes from General Studies-02

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Jammu and Kashmir govt. launches ‘Saubhagya’ scheme

News:
The Jammu and Kashmir government has launched “Saubhagya” (Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojna) with an aim to provide free electricity connections to poor people in the State.

Beyond News:

Saubhagya, an initiative taken by Prime Minister , seeks to provide electricity to 4 crore families across the country by December 2018.

The State’s Deputy Chief Minister said that,electric connections would be given to poor people, identified by the Socio Economic and Caste Census of 2011 and others sections for ₹500, payable in 10 instalments in the bill.

The scheme also promises on-the-spot registration of applicants.

Supreme Court to pass orders on disabled-friendly educational institutes

News:

• The Supreme Court said it will pass order on a plea seeking to make higher education institutions physically accessible for differently-abled students.

Beyond News:

• Persons for Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995, provided certain guidelines to be followed, which were not adhered to by higher education 
• The Bench said 3% reservation provided under the law is now being followed by the educational institutions.

The Bench then outlined three issues — provision of reservation in higher educational institutions for differently-abled, all educational institutions being made physically accessible for differently-abled students and the scope of several provisions of the Act.

SC Constitution Bench to examine if jallikattu is a cultural right of TN people

News:

• The Supreme Court on Tuesday said a Constitution Bench would examine if the people of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra can conserve jallikattuand bullock cart races as their cultural right and demand their protection under Article 29 (1) of the Constitution.

Beyond News:

• Article 29 (1) is a fundamental right guaranteed under Part III of the Constitution to protect the educational and cultural rights of citizens.

The law under challenge — Tamil Nadu’s Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Tamil Nadu Amendment) Act of 2017 and Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Conduct of Jallikattu) Rules of 2017 — opened the gates for the conduct of the bull-taming sport despite a 2014 ban by the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court  indicated that the Constitution Bench would also look into whether the 2017 Jallikattu and bullock cart races laws of Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra actually subserve the objective of “prevention” of cruelty to animals under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act of 1960.

The PETA petitions contend that the 2017 Jallikattu Act and Rules violate the five internationally recognized freedoms — the freedom from hunger, malnutrition and thirst; freedom from fear and distress; freedom from physical and thermal discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; and freedom to express normal patterns of behaviour.

CCTV project for borders in limbo 2 years after SC order

The Supreme Court had on October 9, 2015, ordered that commercial vehicles entering the Capital should be charged an environment compensation charge (ECC) along with toll tax.

In the same order, the apex court had told the Delhi government to install CCTV cameras at nine major border points. The cameras were meant to help detect the entry of highly polluting vehicles, like diesel vehicles over 10 years old, which are banned from entering Delhi.

The cameras with automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) would be connected with the Centre’s Vahan vehicle registry so that vehicles from any State could be identified.

The system would help in detecting if diesel vehicles over 10 years old were trying to enter Delhi. The staff at the toll booths would then be able to turn away the vehicles.

Hindu Notes from General Studies-03

NCRB data: RPF reported 10.68L criminal cases in 2016

News:
10.68 lakh crime cases were reported by the railway protection force (RPF) in 2016, up from 9.42 lakh the previous year, according to data compiled by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

Beyond News:

Maharashtra topped the list with 2,23,360 reported cases (or 20.9% of the total cases) in 2016.

The RPF works directly under the Ministry of Railways and its primary responsibility is to safeguard railway properties, including rolling stock, the permanent way and station or yard premises from damage or sabotage.

 It is the RPF’s responsibility to investigate incidents of vandalism, theft, etc. of railway assets and the properties.

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