Daily News Compilation (HINDU) for 7th May

Divisive tactics again

Modi in his rally at Ayodha invoke Lord Ram with a picture of Lord Ram and the proposed temple forming the backdrop to the stage.

Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act - “use of or appeal to religious symbols” shall be deemed as a corrupt practice. Even if Mr. Modi is seen as not having directly asked the people to vote on the basis of their religion, despite his repeated references to Lord Ram and Ram Rajya, the heavy use of religious symbols on the dais as part of the campaign for the furtherance of the prospects of the candidate may well have contravened the provisions of the Act. 

Issues of antibiotic resistance

with its first global report on antimicrobial resistance, the World Health Organization has added its voice to the chorus of concern. The report has documented how bacterial resistance to antibiotics, including those of last resort, is a major health issue confronting all regions of the world. Without urgent, coordinated action, “the world is headed for a post-antibiotic era in which common infections and minor injuries, which have been treatable for decades, can once again kill,”.

The report also calls for greater emphasis on preventing infections from occurring, such as with better hygiene and by improving access to sanitation and clean water.

For India, preventing antibiotic resistance from spiralling has to be a matter of urgency. The healthcare burden placed by bacteria such as Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae, which have become resistant to many antibiotics and cause difficult-to-treat infections, is already quite substantial. Bacteria that have acquired a ‘New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase (NDM)’ gene are resistant to even last-resort carbapenem antibiotics, forcing doctors to turn to colistin, a drug that is more than 50 years old. Halting the indiscriminate use of antibiotics is vital. The Union Government has taken an important first step in that direction by introducing a stringent rule that prohibits medical stores from selling 24 key antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription. Much more needs to be done, including getting doctors to prescribe antibiotics only when essential. Hospitals must pay attention to proper infection control.

Privatising professional education

Satya Nadella and Rajeev Suri both are from Manipal Institute of Technology which is a private institute. They have remained true to the disciplines they were trained for wheres Arvind Kejriwal, Ashok Khemka, Nadan Nilekani all IIT alumnus are doing things that they were not trained for using tax payers money during their graduation. So the author wants India may have come to a stage where it needs to invest in upgrading its school education. Professional education could, on the other hand, be largely privatised, and public-funded higher education could be made available to the talented poor in the form of scholarships and monetary assistance. There may be no need to create new taxpayer-funded institutions.

n 2002, an 11-judge Bench of the Supreme Court, in the aptly titled TMA Pai Foundation case, opened the door to privatisation. Chief Justice Kirpal, who was speaking for the majority, wrote: “It is well established all over the world that those who seek professional education must pay for it. The number of seats available in government and government-aided colleges is very small compared to the number of persons seeking admission to the medical and engineering colleges. All those eligible and deserving candidates who could not be accommodated in government colleges would stand deprived of professional education. This void in the field of medical and technical education has been filled by institutions that are established in different places with the aid of donations and the active part taken by public-minded individuals.”

Subsequent benches of the Court have struggled to reconcile with this logic, with governments continuing to regulate the professional education sector. The broad consensus now is to give managements a free rein in admissions in the management quota, but insist on adherence to marks and transparent evaluations of merit at the exit stage. This consensus has, from time to time, been sought to be legislated upon by governments who use the “marks is merit” argument to control admissions into institutions where their financial contribution is zero. The concept of management quota and governmental control of admissions has now crept into primary education with the Right to Education Act. The problem with legislation is that courts then inevitably get dragged into questions of interpretation and constitutionality. Every academic year sees a frantic quest for workable interim orders during admission season. These end in relief for some, but are at the expense of others who cannot be represented in court.

A new government may need to look at the issue afresh with a focus on maximum governance and minimal governmental control. A good beginning would be to reduce legislation on education at the central level and encourage States to follow suit. A uniform policy at the central level should focus on access to higher education and not on any “right” to education. The rights-based narrative should be confined to universal primary education alone, a fundamental right. Higher and professional education can now be left to the private sector to provide education to those who can pay for it. Else, government scholarships can be provided on a merit-cum-need criteria. Student loans at subsidised rates of interest will take care of those who do not have family resources or government funding. India’s path to economic development will be best achieved by creating policy incentives in education so that the middle class which can afford education need not rely on the government in this area.

Where everyone is a minority

The grim and bloody incidents in the Bodoland Territorial Council (BTC), that narrow wedge of land in western Assam where everyone is a minority — or rather a non- majority since their numbers don’t have it — have been aggravated by the verbal violence of our politicians, the blame game and the total incapacity of the State government to deal with existing conditions.

The core of the problems in the north-east, be it in Nagaland, Manipur, Assam or elsewhere, lies in the mobilisation of identity over land, territory and natural resources. Many of the disputes between States, communities and even villages can be traced to this. The same is true of the Bodo areas, where Bodo lands have been encroached and settled upon by others.

There are two issues here: 

1. If key problems are to be tackled, then all sides need to sit down together to work out the ways that land and resources can be shared without creating further ill-will. The State government and the BTC have failed to do so. They have failed because they have looked for quick-fix solutions without going deep enough and far enough to meet people’s grievances. The fallout that we see today is that of manufactured consent.

If it isn’t, then Delhi should be worried because this volatile region is in danger again of falling back to the times of earlier troubles. At the State and local levels, governments and policy makers need to involve people working in the field and community representatives in search of answers.

2. There is a second critical point: if such processes are to gain momentum, then there must be a relentless campaign against terrorist groups. What has filled many with frustration and anger, within the north-east and outside, is the way governments proclaim that they will tackle ethnic and communal violence with a “firm hand”; yet, once the bloodshed is over, the displaced go home and the issues vanish from the headlines, it’s back to business as usual with the criminals, extortionists and their partners in politics and the bureaucracy.

Recent history shows how those involved in the violence are “negotiated” with, in State after State. Settlements reward the perpetrators with even more powers, cocooned by security provided by the State. This is described as part of the democratic process.

In this situation, tossing out the mantra of “Bangladeshi” immigrants as being at the heart of the problem would be extremely ill-advised. Nothing could be further from the truth, so insidiously easy to push, so dangerous to stoke. The Bharatiya Janata Party needs to understand these issues in greater depth before asserting positions which could have devastating consequences on a fragile landscape.

English a casualty in govt schools: report

Most children studying English in government primary schools across the country can barely frame sentences; tools for learning the language like charts and colours are usually kept under lock and key; and libraries are almost non-existent in many of them, says an NCERT report which has just been made public.

In most cases, the teachers themselves were trained poorly with little emphasis given to hands-on training, and this was then reflected in poor classroom practises.

Children were being taught grammar by being made to memorise the rules. Local language was resorted by most teachers to teach and they placed more importance on reading and writing than actually speaking English. “The textbook trap,” was present in every classroom surveyed; where teachers only depended on printed instructions, not teaching any other sentences or patterns resulting in children not achieving mastery over the four essential skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing.

Furthermore, the NCERT study found that poems were being taught line by line or word by word and not for appreciation.

In almost 90 per cent of the classrooms studied, the main focus was on questions and answers. Most teachers asked the questions depriving the students to learn the art of communicating with confidence and also depriving them of the experience of asking questions.

Genome scientist in deal to make humanised pig organs

Genome pioneer J. Craig Venter is teaming up with a unit of United Therapeutics Corp to develop pig lungs that have been genetically altered to be compatible with humans, a feat that, if successful, could address the urgent need for transplant organs for people with end-stage lung disease.
Prior efforts to use animal organs in people in need of a transplant, known as xenotransplantation, have failed because of differences in the genome that caused organ rejection and blood clots.
Humans, pigs and most other mammals share about 90 per cent of the same genes. 
Venter’s team is tasked with editing and rewriting the pig genome and providing the United Therapeutics group with a series of altered cells. United Therapeutics will take those cells and transplant them into pig eggs, generating embryos that develop and are born with humanised lungs.


No sanction needed for CBI to probe bureaucrats: SC


The Supreme Court on Tuesday held as invalid the legal provision that makes prior sanction mandatory for the Central Bureau of Investigation to conduct a probe against senior bureaucrats in corruption cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

A Constitution Bench comprising Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices A.K. Patnaik, S.J. Mukhopadhaya, Dipak Misra and Ibrahim Kalifulla, while allowing the petitions filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy and the Centre for Public Interest Litigation, held that Section 6A of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, which granted protection to officers of the ranks of joint secretary and above from facing even a preliminary inquiry by the CBI in corruption cases, was violative of Article 14. Welcoming the court order, CBI Director Ranjit Sinha told The Hindu : “It is a landmark judgment that will empower the agency in the investigations into several cases pending due to the provision that has now been struck down by the Constitution Bench. We had for long been of the view that inquiry against senior officials need not require any prior permission.”

Writing the judgment, the CJI said, “Corruption is an enemy of [the] nation and tracking down a corrupt public servant, howsoever high he may be, and punishing such person is a necessary mandate under the PC Act, 1988. The status or position of a public servant does not qualify the person from exemption from equal treatment. The decision-making power does not segregate corrupt officers into two classes as they are common crime doers and have to be tracked down by the same process of inquiry and investigation.”






State can’t impose medium of instruction: SC



The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that imposition of the mother tongue as the medium of instruction in primary classes in government-recognised, aided or unaided private schools was unconstitutional.

A Constitution Bench, comprising Chief Justice R.M. Lodha and Justices A.K. Patnaik, S.J. Mukhopadhaya, Dipak Misra and Ibrahim Kalifulla, upheld a Karnataka High Court judgment quashing an order passed by Karnataka saying the medium of instruction should be either the mother tongue or Kannada for classes I to IV from the academic year 1994-95.

Dismissing a batch of appeals filed by Karnataka and others against the High Court verdict, the Bench said the State could not compel minority schools, protected under Articles 29(1) and 30(1) of the Constitution and private unaided schools enjoying the right to carry on any occupation under Article 19(1)(g) , to offer instruction in the mother tongue or Kannada.

The Bench held that imposition of the mother tongue “affects the fundamental rights under Articles 19, 29 and 30 of the Constitution. The State has no power under Article 350A of the Constitution to compel the linguistic minorities also to choose their mother tongue only as a medium of instruction in primary schools.”






U.S. signs strategic 20-year lease on Djibouti base



The Obama administration said on Monday that it had signed a 20-year lease on its military base in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa, the only U.S. installation on the continent and a staging ground for counterterrorism operations in Yemen and Somalia.

Djibouti, a country of fewer than one million people the size of New Jersey that borders the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, has played an increasingly significant role in seeking to stabilise regional crises. The deal reflects the small country’s outsize strategic importance in helping the U.S. and other Western allies combat terrorists, pirates and smugglers in the region.