Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
Stating that policy decisions, particularly those with wide-ranging implications on the nation’s health and security, should be decided by bodies best suited to do so, the Delhi High Court upheld the Constitutional validity of the Agnipath scheme for recruitment in the armed forces.
A division bench of Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma and Justice Subramonium Prasad referred to a series of judgments, which held that “that unless a policy decision taken by the Government is demonstrably capricious or arbitrary or if it suffers from the vice of discrimination or infringes any statute or provisions of the Constitution, this Court is not to question the propriety of such a policy decision”.
The High Court had on December 15 last year reserved judgment on the batch of pleas challenging the Constitutional validity of the scheme.
On Monday, it dismissed the pleas while observing that it is not concerned with whether a more “comprehensive decision could have been taken by the Government, as this Court must show deference to the decision reached by experts”.
Exit Polls: BJP to return in Tripura and Nagaland (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
Tripura, Meghalaya, Nagaland exit polls highlights, February 27 and 28, 2023: Exit poll figures for the elections that were held in the states of Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland in the month of February show that the BJP is tipped to retain Tripura and return to power in Nagaland with coalition partner National Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP).
The party is set to marginally improve its tally in Meghalaya. The ruling NPP will continue to remain in power in Meghalaya, with no party predictably being able to cross the halfway mark in the 60-member Assembly.
Congress, which earlier was a dominant party in the Northeast, is likely to be wiped out in these three states, according to the exit polls.
The India Today- Axis My India exit poll has predicted that the BJP+ will win 36-45 seats in the Tripura Assembly election out of a total of 60. The Congress is seen to be doing dismally in both the states.
The Zee Matrize exit poll shows a more multi-cornered fight in Meghalaya, with the NPP set to win 21-26 seats. The poll predicts a narrower majority for the BJP+ in Tripura.
In Nagaland, the Zee poll predicts a similarly high number for NDPP along with BJP. The votes will be counted and results will be announced on March 2.
While the BJP aims to consolidate its position in the Northeast, it is definitely looking at a stiff fight from the regional powers.
Tripura, in 2018, had seen a major shift in its political structure as the BJP besieged the Left bastion, winning 44 of the 60 Assembly seats. However, this year, the party is facing stiff resistance from Pradyot Debbarma-led Tipra Motha, which enjoys support among the tribals.
Ideas Page
Bridge of Solidarity (Page no. 13)
(GS Paper 2, International Relations)
India has assumed the prestigious G20 presidency and will, later this year, convene the G20 Leaders’ Summit. While the G20 presidency is a watershed moment in India’s history, the history of G20 too will script a new chapter by moving away from a “protocol-driven G20” to a “People’s G20”.
One of the key facets of the Modi government in the last eight years has been people’s participation, people-centric governance, people-oriented policies and people-led development — a model that traverses from jan bhagidari to jan kalyan.
From 45 crore Jan Dhan accounts to 11 crore Swachh Bharat toilets, from 220 crore Covid vaccination doses under the largest free vaccination drive to housing for the poor under PM Awas Yojana, from over 9 crore Ujjwala gas connections to affordable healthcare for all under Ayushman Bharat covering 50 crore Indians — jan hit and jan kalyan, or people’s welfare, has been the guiding philosophy, with jan bhagidari being the key component of PM Modi’s governance style.
Even something like the Padma Awards has been recast as the “People’s Padma Awards” by making the process more participatory and transparent, recognising genuine grassroots leaders rather than those with proximity to power corridors.
And therefore it would be entirely appropriate to use this jan bhagidari-jan hit template to analyse how the G20 presidency of India would play itself out, both in its conduct and impact.
Express Network
Regulator looks at similar exams for all education boards (Page no. 14)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
School boards across the country may test students based on “similar types of questions” during examinations in near future in order to offer them a level-playing field, according to Amit Sevak, global CEO of Educational Testing Services (ETS), which, in collaboration with the NCERT, is setting up a regulator to remove disparities in assessment.
Established in 1947, the ETS is internationally recognised for conducting TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) and GRE (Graduate Record Examination).
In India, differences in many areas — funding policies governing the school education sector, curricular standards, the way teachers are recruited and are trained, among others — cause the imbalance leading to students of some state education boards outperforming others in the National Achievement Survey (NAS), which assesses learning outcomes.
The primary objective of the national assessment regulator — PARAKH (Performance Assessment, Review and Analysis of Knowledge for Holistic Development) — will be “establishing comparative measures and equivalence” among school boards and promoting collaboration among them, according to the NCERT, which will have administrative control over the organisation.