NATIONAL NEWS
Do not disturb federal structure, Mamata to Modi
The Centre must not disturb the federal structure, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee reportedly told Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday at a meeting in Delhi, flagging the expansion of the BSF’s jurisdiction in the border States. Banerjee has demanded that the amendment to the BSF Act be withdrawn immediately. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), through a notification published on October 11, amended the BSF Act of 1968 expanding the BSF jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km in border States. Though the BSF does not have policing powers, it can apprehend a suspect and conduct preliminary questioning. The seized consignment or a suspect has to be handed over to the local police within 24 hours. West Bengal has 2,216 km border with Bangladesh and TMC contends that the extension of jurisdiction will effectively bring nearly one-third of the State’s territory under the BSF’s control. Out of 23 districts in the State, nearly 10 districts will be affected. This would have an impact on 21 of the 42 Lok Sabha constituencies which could have larger political implications. Banerjee, sources said, told the PM that if the law and order is solely a State subject and if this equilibrium is changed then it will lead to an obvious confrontation. While Banerjee did not meet the Congress chief, she is headed to Mumbai on November 30. During the three-day tour, she said she will be meeting Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray and NCP Chief Sharad Pawar. She also said that she will be meeting actor Shahrukh Khan during her visit.
Cabinet approves Farm Laws Repeal Bill
The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved a Bill to repeal the three farm laws, which had triggered protests at Delhi borders by thousands of farmers. The Cabinet has approved repeal of farm laws, said Union Minister Anurag Thakur after the cabinet meet. The repeal bill will be given priority in the winter session, he added. The Cabinet also approved extension of free ration scheme till March 2022. The Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 has been approved days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement to repeal the three central farm laws. The new bill will now be introduced in the Lok Sabha for passage in the upcoming Winter session of Parliament beginning November 29. The repeal of these three legislations has been one of the key demands of around 40 farmer unions protesting against these reforms for nearly a year now. On November 19, Modi in his address to the nation had announced the withdrawal of the three farm laws saying the government could not convince protesting farmers the benefits of these reforms. The three laws to be repealed are: Farmer’s Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act; The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement of Price Assurance and Farm Services Act; and The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act.
Supreme Court raps U.P. over lack of courts to try cases against lawmakers
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said States across the country have a large number of criminal cases pending against former and sitting legislators, and poll-bound Uttar Pradesh may host the largest. There are a large number of cases… the largest is in your State, Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana addressed the counsel appearing for the Allahabad High Court. The lawyer for the High Court said there were more than 1,300 criminal cases in Uttar Pradesh against legislators. Sixty-three Special Courts have been constituted to hear these cases. There are 74 districts of the State. Are these Special Courts constituted for this purpose [the trial of criminal cases against former and sitting MPs/MLAs] exclusively? the CJI asked the lawyer. Justice Surya Kant, on the Special Bench, said the total pendency of such cases in the State was 1,374. You have not established a single court exclusively for this purpose, Justice Kant said, adding that existing courts have been labelled Special Courts. Is it your intention to drag on these cases, Chief Justice Ramana asked. The court is considering the delay in complying with a Supreme Court decision to have High Courts constitute Special Sessions and Magisterial Courts to quicken the pace of long-pending criminal cases against legislators across the country. Justice D.Y. Chandrachud referred to a December 4, 2018 order which had requested each High Court to assign/allocate criminal cases involving former and sitting legislators to as many Sessions Courts and Magisterial Courts as each High Court may consider proper, fit and expedient.
‘Act of God’ contributed to dip in Delhi pollution, but for how long, asks Supreme Court
The credit for loosening the smog’s choke on Delhi in the past few days largely goes to the wind, an act of God, but the wind may die by the end of the day to leave the Capital again at the mercy of pollution, Chief Justice of India N.V. Ramana told the Government on Wednesday. We are saved because of the wind, the Chief Justice Ramana addressed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, for the Centre. It is what we call in law an ‘act of God’, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud noted. Mehta began by painting an optimistic picture about the dip in the pollution levels from 403 points on November 16 to 280 on Wednesday. But the Meteorological Department says by evening things will become serious again. The wind speed now is two or three km, by evening it will become zero, Chief Justice Ramana reacted. Later in the hearing, the CJI said the court had checked again, and the pollution level had gone up to 381 points at a wind level of three km. The court clarified it had no intention to dispose of the case or stop monitoring the pollution graph. If necessary, it would hear the case almost every day, the Bench underscored. Anti-smog gun being used against the dust and air pollution at Delhi University on a smoggy morning, as very poor air quality in Delhi as winds slow down , in New Delhi on November 24, 2021. Justice Chandrachud, who is part of the Special Bench comprising Justice Surya Kant, criticised how the Government waited for pollution to take a turn for the worse before scurrying to impose pollution control measures. This is the National Capital! Imagine the message you are sending across the globe. The Bench said the thousands of crores lying in the construction workers’ welfare fund with the States could be released to pay the labourers. It said interior works in buildings under construction, which did not throw up dust or leave debris, could be allowed. The court said bureaucrats could go to the farmers, to their fields, and find a solution to stubble-burning. The court urged the Government to continue with anti-pollution measures for another three days. It listed the case on Monday.
After farm laws, trade unions push for rollback of labour codes
Over a year since Parliament passed four labour codes, the Centre is still in the process of notifying the rules to implement the laws and has not set a date for the roll-out. Trade unions, however, have planned to intensify their agitation this week against the codes in the wake of the government’s decision to repeal the three farm laws. A senior functionary of the Union Labour and Employment Ministry said the notification of rules was in process. The codes — on wages, social security, occupational safety and industrial relations — were passed in 2019 and 2020. Labour and Employment Minister Bhupender Yadav is likely to make a statement on the matter to Parliament in the upcoming Winter Session, the functionary said. Speaking to The Hindu on October 28, Yadav had said that 90% of the States had drafted their rules and that the Centre would complete the process at the appropriate time. Following a year of protests by farmers against three agriculture Bills, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s announcement on November 19 that the Bills would be repealed, led to renewed calls from trade unions for repeal of the labour codes too. Amarjeet Kaur, the general secretary of the All-India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), said the joint platform of 10 Central trade unions that AITUC is a part of, would meet on Thursday and then also meet the leaders of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha to plan their course of action during the Winter Session. We will intensify our protests to demand the repeal of the labour codes. The government is only looking at elections. They had the political compulsion from the farmers’ protest. For the labour codes, they have failed to get the support of States and have the compulsion of the upcoming Assembly polls so they keep postponing the rollout, Kaur said. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) was also not optimistic about the implementation of the codes soon. BMS general secretary Binoy Kumar Sinha said the government did not have the intention and political will to implement the codes right now. Our demand remains that the two codes we accepted — on wages and social security — be implemented immediately and the two to which we had objections — industrial relations and occupational safety — be reviewed, Sinha said.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
Pakistan allows transportation of 50,000 MT of wheat, medicines to Afghanistan
Pakistan’s government has decided to allow the transportation of 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat and lifesaving medicines from India to Afghanistan through the Wagah Border for humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people. India has provided 50,000 metric tonnes (MT) of wheat and lifesaving medicines as humanitarian assistance. The shipment will need to go through Pakistan.
NASA launches first of its kind DART Mission
NASA launched the first of its kind DART Mission (also known as Double Asteroid Redirection Test) on November 24, 2021, aboard SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket at 1.21 am EST from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. NASA’s DART Mission is the world’s first mission to test asteroid-deflecting technology. The DART Mission is expected to crash into the moonlet Dimorphos at 15,000 mph (24,100 km/h) during the fall of 2022 between September 26 and October 1 to deflect the asteroid by a fraction. The DART payload was released from the booster minutes after the launch to embark on its 10-month long journey into deep space at about 6.8 million miles (11 million kms) away from Earth. The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) mission directed by NASA is the first demonstration of the kinetic impactor technique to change the motion of an asteroid in space. The target of the DART Mission is the binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos and its moonlet. The Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) has been built and developed the DART Mission’s spacecraft. The DART Mission is $330 million worth. The DART spacecraft was launched on November 24, 2021. After a year since the launch, the spacecraft is expected to cross the Didymos moonlet in around late September 2022 during which the Didymos asteroid system will be within 11 million kms of Earth.
