Whatsapp 93125-11015 For Details
Overruling objections raised by the Gujarat government, the Supreme Court Friday granted interim bail to Mumbai-based activist TeestaSetalvad, arrested by the state police for allegedly fabricating evidence to target “innocent people” over the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat.
Urging the Supreme Court not to entertain the plea when a similar petition is pending before the High Court, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, said, “Please don’t make an exception…that will be a very very bad precedent”.
However, the bench of Chief Justice of India U ULalit and Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Sudhanshu Dhulia directed that Setalvadbe produced Saturday before the trial court concerned, which shall release her on bail subject to conditions that it may impose. It also asked her to surrender her passport.
Stating that it is not going into the merits of the case, the bench said: “For the present purpose…following aspects of the matter which emerge from the record, are of some importance.”
It added that these were: “the applicant, a lady has been in custody since 25-6-2022”, that “the offences alleged against her pertain to the year 2002 and going by the assertions…concerned documents, were sought to be presented till the year 2012” and “the investigating machinery has had the advantage of custodial interrogation for a period of seven days. Thereafter judicial custody was ordered by concerned court”.
The SC said: “Having considered the circumstances on record, in our view the High Court ought to have considered the prayer for release on interim bail during the pendency of the matter.
The essential ingredients of the investigation including custodial interrogation having been completed, the matter assumes a complexion where the relief of interim bail, till the matter was considered by the High Court, was evidently made out.
Noting that the matter is still pending before the High Court, the SC said: “We are not therefore considering whether the appellant is released on bail or not. That issue will certainly be gone into by the High Court in the pending application before it.
We are considering the matter only from the standpoint whether during the pendency of such application, the custody of the appellant be insisted upon or whether she be granted the relief of interim bail”.
INS Vikrant, Made in India (Page no. 3)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Commissioning the country’s first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier into the Indian Navy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that INS Vikrant is “not just a warship” but “proof of hard work, ingenuity, influence and commitment of 21st century India”, “a unique reflection of India becoming self-reliant”.
In his address from the Cochin Shipyard in Kochi where a new ensign of the Indian Navy was also unveiled – it depicts the royal seal of Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj and celebrates his naval prowess – Prime Minister Modi said a “burden of slavery” and a symbol of the country’s colonial past has been done away with, befitting India’s rich maritime heritage.
Changing global dynamics have made the world multipolar. That is why it is critical to keep a futuristic viewpoint towards global dynamics.
For example, the area of the Indo-Pacific and Indian Ocean Region were always neglected in the past. But they are now a strategic priority for our country. That is why we are working towards upgrading our naval capabilities and increasing the budget outlay for the Navy.
Vikrant is not just a warship, it’s proof of hard work, ingenuity, influence and commitment of 21st century India. Vikrant has filled the country with fresh confidence. Until now, only developed countries were able to develop aircraft carriers. By entering this league today, India has taken a step towards becoming a developed country.
The Prime Minister referred to “boundless female power” becoming “the lofty identity of the new India” and said, “Just as there are no boundaries for the waves, there will be no boundaries or restrictions for the daughters of India.
As Vikrant is deployed for maritime security, many women will also be deployed on it. I have been told that there are around 600 women officers in the Navy and now all the branches have been opened for the entry of women. Like the Navy, other services are also inducting women in their combat arms.
Atmanirbharta — self-reliance — and freedom go hand in hand. The more a nation is dependent on others, the more trouble it finds itself in. The more it is self-reliant, the more is its strength. During the Covid-19 crisis, we all experienced the power of being self-reliant.
Modi also unveiled the new Naval Ensign or Nishaan. The St George’s Cross in the earlier ensign has been removed “doing away with the colonial past and befitting the rich Indian maritime heritage”.
It now includes the crest of the Indian Navy on a navy blue background encompassed in an octagon representing the royal seal or raj mudra of Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj.
“Today, India has taken off its chest a burden of colonial past and a symbol of servitude. Until now, a symbol of servitude remained on the ensign of the Indian Navy.
But now, inspired by Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj, the ensign of the Indian Navy will fly high in the sky and the seas. Today, I dedicate this ensign to the father of naval prowess, Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj.
Editorial Page
Why engineers need the arts (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Education)
The academic structure worldwide is driven by market values, privatisation of higher education and utilitarian degree programmes that produce highly specialised graduates who can quickly become part of a skilled labour force.
A general perception is that arts and humanities graduates are less equipped to contribute to the workforce compared to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) or business degree holders.
The pandemic has enhanced this perception, exacerbating a drastic decline of resources, encouraging academic redundancies and closing down of several arts and humanities degree programmes.
As academics working within engineering and the social sciences, located in western academia, but also collaborating with colleagues in India and abroad, we are very concerned.
If anything, the pandemic has taught us that solutions to real-world problems lie in a sustained collaboration across disciplines. Not only do we need more arts and humanities programmes, but we argue that engineering and generally STEM degree programmes must include arts and humanities courses.
In its report, “Grand challenges for engineering”, the National Academy of Engineering in the US identifies several key global challenges.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers strategy vision 2030 and the National Academy of Sciences have also recommended that engineers look beyond technical knowledge and solutions to address societal challenges. Several other studies in different contexts point to similar outcomes.
Over time, the engineering curricula in higher education have increasingly focused along disciplinary lines and have created silos, so much so, that there is an artificial separation of academic disciplines.
Students are now struggling to see the connections between different forms of knowledge and methodological approaches to human inquiry.
The most common approach in engineering programmes is a la carte style, where students take several disconnected courses from a list of approved courses in social sciences and humanities to meet the programme requirements.
They generally constitute 15-20 per cent of the courses required for an undergraduate degree in engineering in countries like the US. In India, the IITs seem to have about 10 per cent of courses in humanities and the social sciences.
More worryingly, NITs have less than 3 per cent and the state colleges have no humanities and social sciences courses. Exceptions may be rare.
The enormous strides in technologies need to be backed by transferable, uniquely human skills, which will enable work in a dynamic, evolving environment. In fact, the learning outcomes associated with integrated education, such as critical thinking, communication, teamwork, and abilities for lifelong learning, remain highly desirable.
Explained Page
The vaccination success story (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
India’s success with immunization is an achievement not only for the country but also for the world. India has consistently contributed to the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by focusing on the immunization of newborns, infants, children, and pregnant women.
Under its Universal Immunization Programme (UIP), India provides vaccines against 11 diseases nationally and one disease sub-nationally, targeting close to 2.7 crorenewborns and 2.9 crore pregnant women every year.
Vaccination is one of the most cost-effective public health interventions, which saves lives by protecting people, especially children, from dreadful vaccine preventable diseases.
Since the discovery of the smallpox vaccine over two centuries ago, vaccines have effectively reduced the burden of diseases such as polio, measles, tetanus, whooping cough, influenza, and lately, Covid-19.
A recent study in the medical journal The Lancet estimates that vaccines have prevented up to 3.7 crore deaths in the last 20 years in low- and middle-income countries alone.
Vaccines also have economic and social benefits. A study published in Health Affairs estimated that for every rupee invested in immunization against 10 pathogens in LMICs from 2021-30, the return on investment will be 52 rupees.
India has a long history of successful vaccination with historical accounts of inoculation dating back to the 18th century. After being declared smallpox-free in 1977, India launched the Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI) in 1978, and introduced the BCG, DPT, and OPV vaccines.
Since then, India’s immunization programme has steadily improved in reach and the arsenal of childhood vaccines provided under its umbrella.
Newer vaccines, better infrastructure, and innovative strategies to improve both demand and supply of vaccines have been integral components of programme expansion.
Along with a government-driven eradication plan, a multi-faceted communication approach helped the entire population achieve public ownership to be polio-free in 2014.
Since 2014, immunization activities have been intensified with catch-up rounds such as Mission Indradhanush to ensure that full immunization coverage of >90% is achieved and sustained across the country.
In 2016, India became the first country in Asia to launch the Rotavirus vaccine under the UIP. And in 2017, the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV) was introduced and scaled up using Made-in-India vaccines to prevent rotaviral diarrhoea and pneumococcal pneumonia in children.
PCV produced in India costs around Rs 200 per dose, making it affordable and accessible to protect young children from pneumococcal pneumonia in India and other parts of the world.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, the vaccine was scaled up to all states of the country in 2021. Additionally, the introduction of the pentavalent vaccine in the routine vaccination provides protection against five diseases with no added infrastructure costs and fewer missed doses for individual vaccines.
Naval muscle and seal of Chhatrapati Shivaji, inspiring Indian Navy (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Defence)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday unveiled the Indian Navy’s new Ensign (Flag) at the commissioning of INS Vikrant in Kochi. T
he new Naval Ensign bears the seal of Chhatrapati ShivajiMaharaj, whose navy gave his enemies sleepless nights, and which the Indian Navy will now fly proudly in the sky and on the seas.
The new Ensign has the national flag on the upper canton (top left corner), and a blue octagon encompassing the National Emblem sitting atop an anchor. The anchor, depicting steadfastness, has been superimposed on a shield inscribed with the Navy’s motto, Sam No Varunah, in Devanagari.
The octagonal shape represents the eight directions, symbolizing the Navy’s multi-directional reach and operational capability.
The octagon, with a golden double border, has been inspired by the Raja Mudra — seal — of the Maratha emperor Shivaji, which was adopted when he was only 16 years old.
The new Naval Ensign has replaced the one that carried the Saint George’s Cross with the Tricolour in the canton. That Ensign was essentially a successor to the pre-Independence ensign of the Indian Navy which had the red George’s Cross on a white background with the Union Jack of the United Kingdom on the top left corner.
The Indian Navy has always acknowledged the sea-faring prowess of the Maratha empire under Shivaji and later. It has named a training establishment in Lonavla as INS Shivaji, and a shore-based logistics and administrative hub of the Western Naval Command, Mumbai, as INS Angre — after KanhojiAngre (1669-1729), the celebrated Maratha naval commander.
The use of the octagonal design of the seal of Shivaji on the new Naval Ensign is a formal stamp on the umbilical ties of the Indian Navy with the navy of the Maratha empire. Says an Indian Navy document: “The navy under Shivaji was so strong that the Marathas could hold their own against the British, Portuguese and Dutch.
Shivaji realised the importance of having a secure coastline and protecting the western Konkan coastline from the attacks of Siddis’ fleet”.
Shivaji’s empire reached the west coast after 1656-57, when his dominions touched Kalyan. In the same year, he decided to establish a navy in order to protect his territory from the Siddis, and to secure ports and merchant ships in order to ensure smooth maritime trading that brought in revenue and customs duty. His vision for establishing a naval wing of his military was based in his belief in “Jalamevayasya, balamevatasya”, which translates as “He who rules over the seas is all powerful”.
Between 1661 and 1663, the naval wing of the Maratha empire came into existence, and at its peak included 400-odd ships of various kinds and sizes. These included both battleships and other vessels of varying shapes and purposes, such as gurab, tarande, galbat, shibad, and pal.
Economy
Adhere to digital loan norms by Nov 30: RBI to lenders (Page no. 19)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
Regulated entities (REs), including banks and other lenders, will have time till November 30 to transition existing customer accounts to the new digital lending guidelines, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.
The central bank clarified through a notification that the new norms, released through a circular dated August 10, will be applicable to existing customers availing fresh loans and to new customers getting on-boarded from the date of the circular.
However, in order to ensure a smooth transition, REs shall be given time till November 30, 2022, to put in place adequate systems and processes to ensure that ‘existing digital loans’ (sanctioned as on the date of the circular) are also in compliance with these guidelines in both letter and spirit.
The regulator reiterated that outsourcing arrangements entered into by REs with a lending service provider (LSP) or digital lending app (DLA) do not diminish the REs’ obligations and they shall continue to conform to existing guidelines on outsourcing.
It directed these entities to ensure that the LSPs engaged by them and the DLAs comply with the guidelines.
The August 10 guidelines require REs to ensure that all loan servicing and repayments are executed by the borrower directly into the RE’s bank account without any pass-through account or pool account of a third party.
REs will also have to ensure that no disbursals are made to a third-party account, including the accounts of LSPs and their DLAs.
The RBI will focus on minimising the growth sacrifice resulting from the tightening of monetary policy.In an interview with a business channel, he said, “Our focus will be to minimise the growth sacrifice. Under the present circumstances, global factors will be responsible to a greater extent in the context of both inflation and growth.