(Study Notes) Current Affairs: National/Social Issues: 23 - 30 Jan 2010 by Dialogue India

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(Study Notes) Current Affairs: National/Social Issues: 23 - 30 Jan 2010 by Dialogue India

CAG Weekly
(Current Affairs & GK)
By Om Prakash (goldy sir)

Indo- South Korea

1. South Korea seeks collaborations in nuclear sector

• NEW DELHI: South Korean President Lee Myung-bak on Monday urged the Indian government to look at Korea’s expertise in civil nuclear energy production and strike mutually beneficial collaborations in developing India’s nuclear energy capabilities and making the sector globally competitive.

• Confident after securing a multi-billion dollar order for reactors from the United Arab Emirates, the Korean nuclear industry has identified India as an attractive market. The Korean nuclear industry has been in touch with Indian public sector companies and despatched its senior officials to India in September last year for a business scouting mission.

2. Four agreements signed

• India and South Korea resolved to enhance bilateral ties to the level of strategic partnership by extending their relationship to the nuclear sector and developing closer security and defence ties.
• The two countries signed four pacts in the presence of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and visiting South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.
• In the nuclear field, they also agreed to facilitate development of a framework for civil nuclear cooperation.
• South Korea is the third largest investor in India and among the few countries with which a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) has been signed.
• It is also a member of the Asean (Association of South-East Asian Nations) plus three format with whom India wants to forge closer political and economic ties.
• India and South Korea identified concrete measures to improve political and security cooperation by resolving to hold the next meeting of the bilateral Joint Commission, co-chaired by Foreign Affairs Ministers during the current year and upgrade the Foreign Policy and Security Dialogue to Secretary-level officials.
• On the defence side, it was agreed that potential existed to extend the partnership to joint research and development and co-production level.
• The joint panel on defence logistics and industry will deliberate on the issue during the first half of 2010.
• India and South Korea also set a $30-billion target for bilateral trade by 2014.
• The two leaders welcomed the signing of the pact on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space between the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and the Korea Aerospace Research Institute (KARI) and hoped that the MoU will facilitate strong cooperation between the two countries in this important sector.

3. ASEAN for firming up open skies regime with India

• The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is keen on firming up an “open skies regime” with India, ASEAN Deputy Secretary-General S. Pushpanathan said here on Saturday.
• An open skies regime with India would enhance air connectivity, which was key to integration of regional markets.
• the official said ASEAN was also looking at a wider Free Trade Agreement (FTA) involving India, Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand.

4. Venu Srinivasan honoured

• Venu Srinivasan, Honorary Consul General of the Republic of Korea, Chennai and Chairman, TVS Motor Company, was honoured by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, with the distinguished civilian honour, ‘Order of Diplomatic Service Merit,’ in recognition of his contribution in promoting Korea-India bilateral relations.
• This award is conferred for meritorious service to the extension of national prestige overseas and to the promotion of friendship with other nations.
• It is rare for a Honorary Consul General to be conferred this award.

5. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak is Chief Guest at R-Day parade 
    
   

Diamond jubilee celebrations’ of election commission 

1. Sonia calls for de-criminalising politics

• Speaking at a function to mark 60 years of the Election Commission of India (ECI), Congress president Sonia Gandhi reopened the debate on de-criminalising electoral politics by exhorting parties “to evolve a consensus” on barring those with criminal records from contesting polls.

• Despite the Congress chief’s plea about de-criminalising politics, the party had no qualms about giving tickets to as many as 24 candidates with criminal backgrounds in just the first phase of the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, according to figures released by an NGO, Association for Democratic Reforms. BJP came second with 23 candidates followed by BSP (17) and SP (10).

2. Compulsory voting debate

• Chief Election Commissioner Navin Chawla felt that it was not possible to make voting compulsory nationwide. It was for Parliament to debate and decide on the subject.
• Mr. Chawla was talking to journalists during an international symposium on ‘Sharing best electoral practices,’ organised here as part of the diamond jubilee celebrations of the Election Commission.
• The Commission believed in promoting voter education. The thrust was on voter education, awareness and bringing in the youth from the campuses.
• The country has a large number of unorganised labourers. If a child falls sick, one cannot expect the mother to go out and vote. If the child is not well and what will the mother, an unorganised worker, do? Are we going to collect medical certificates?
• Election Commissioner S.Y. Quraishi felt that compulsory voting was undemocratic. “Democracy and compulsion do not go hand-in-hand. Our stand is very clear: voter education is the key, and not compulsion.
• Russia does not have a voter identity card system. But countries such as India, France and Peru do.

3. The Election Commission diamond juble(60): An analysis

• After overseeing 15 general elections to the Lok Sabha, the Election Commission of India, in its diamond jubilee year, can with justifiable pride claim to have nursed and strengthened the electoral processes of a nascent democracy.
• The successes have not been consistent or uniform, but over the last six decades the ECI managed to make the world’s largest democratic process freer and fairer.
• One of the instruments of this success is surely the Model Code of Conduct. D esigned to offer a level playing field to all political parties, it has been used to neutralise many of the inherent advantages of a ruling party in an election. Although the model code was originally based on political consensus and does not still enjoy statutory sanction, it served as a handy tool for placing curbs on the abuse of the official machinery for campaigning. While there have been complaints of excess in the sometimes mindless application of the model code, the benefits have generally outweighed the costs.
• Under overreaching Chief Election Commissioners such as T.N. Seshan (1990-96), the ECI did seek to extend its jurisdiction beyond constitutionally acceptable levels, but such attempts have been short-lived. After the Election Commission was made a three-member body, its functioning became more institutionalised and more transparent with little room for the caprices of an overbearing personality.
• The diamond jubilee is also an occasion for the ECI to look at the challenges ahead, especially those relating to criminalisation of politics and use of money power in elections. Neither of these issues is new. What is clear is that the efforts of the Commission to tackle them have generally lacked conviction and have not yielded any significant results. Although the political system and players must take a major share of the blame, and the
• ECI’s powers are constitutionally circumscribed, these will have to be noted as failures.
• The dominant role of money in elections, which is taking newer and more outrageous forms, is deeply worrying. Instances of politicians paying for news coverage and bribing voters were widespread in the 2009-2010 elections.
• Another pressing issue relates to the powers of the Chief Election Commissioner vis-À-vis the two Election Commissioners. CEC Navin Chawla has written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asking that the Constitution be amended to equalise the removal process for the CEC and ECs. Against the background of the unseemly controversy over the previous CEC’s attempt to have his colleague removed on baseless and subjective grounds, an amendment that makes it explicit that the ECs too can be removed only through impeachment is an institutional imperative.

Deemed university issue

1. Supreme Court on deemed universities

• Acting on the reports of a high-powered review committee (Tendon Committee) and a task force, the Government decided to de-recognise 44 deemed universities across the country on the plea that they are not having the requisite infrastructure and are being run as family fiefdoms.

• Unimpressed by the move which kept the educaitonal future of over 2 lakh students, the court asked the Centre to furnish a clear ‘roadmap of programme’ to protect the interest of students.

2. Tandon task force draws up road map to protect student

• The Tandon Committee, which has recommended de-recognition of 44 deemed universities, has also drawn up a road map to safeguard the interests of the students of the institutions.
• On submission of the Committee’s original report in October last, the Union government converted the committee into a task force to prepare an action plan to advise the Centre on the draft regulations of the University Grants Commission (UGC) on deemed universities.
• The task force has divided the deemed universities broadly into six groups. The first group pertains to those institutions offering programmes only in engineering and technology disciplines. There are about 20,000 to 30,000 students belonging to this group.
• The second group deals with those running courses only in medical and allied fields. Approximately 5,000 to 10,000 students fall under this category. These institutions were originally established as medical or dental colleges. So, they can revert to their earlier status in their respective disciplines by seeking affiliation to the State Medical Universities.
• The third group pertains to those which conduct arts, science, commerce, law and management courses alone and there are 2,000 to 3,000 students. These institutions can be affiliated to the State Universities having territorial jurisdiction after meeting the requisite norms and standards for affiliation.
• The fourth group, which has the largest strength of students, represents those institutions which offer programmes in several disciplines such as engineering, medicine, arts and science. Around 60,000 to 1 lakh students belong to this group. The institutions can be affiliated to the respective State universities, depending upon disciplines.
• The sixth category refers to those which were established primarily to preserve and promote special areas such as heritage, sports and youth development. A few hundred students are pursuing courses in these institutions, which should seek recognition from an appropriate State or Central university.

The problem of suicides  

• Two third of suicides are in the age group 14-44 and that and for every reported suicide case there are at least four which are hidden. And, even with the incomplete statistics India is near the top of suicide table of the world.
• It is instructive to note that annually more Indians die from suicide than combined curse of naxalism, terrorism and deadly lungs cancer.
• Lost productivity, health and social care costs of suicides are estimated at many billions of dollars each annually and suicide accounts for 20 millions years of healthy life lost in the world, with India being a prime contributor.
• Rigorous studies in developed countries have concluded that there are two groups of people who commit suicide — 50% are those with diagnosed or treated mental disorder and 90% of the balance 50% in whose case psychiatric autopsies and retrospective studies confirmed that a psychiatric disorder existed. This makes mental illnesses, more particularly the subgroup of clinical depression and bipolar disorder as the prime contributor to completed and attempted suicide.

             The seven-point national agenda to combat the epidemic:

• We need to get the suicide statistics right. With barely 20% deaths medically certified in the country, the task is difficult. But dramatic improvements made in South Korea can act as a role model.
• We need to humanise and decriminalize suicide by deleting Section 309 of Indian Penal Code. The Law Commission in its 210th report recommended deletion and found it as the stumbling block for prevention of suicide and improving the access of medical care to survivors. There is a case to emulate UK Suicide Act, 1961 which abrogated the law which made attempt to suicide a crime but enhanced punishment for complicity in another s suicide to 14 years.
• With mental illness being prime contributor to suicide, there is urgent need to set up a standing empowered National Commission for Mental Health to work as nodal agency for all the policy and action for prevention, early detection, treatment and rehabilitation of mentally ill.
• A paradigm shift is needed at government, school, workplace and family level to accept that suicide is preventable. Education and awareness of all including health professionals, is central to such an approach.
• Outlay and utilisation of budget for mental health and suicide prevention needs exponential augmentation the economic and financial return of the same will be high as most who commit suicide are in productive age group.
• Non-governmental efforts require mainstreaming and working in tandem with government, sufferers and carers.
• Media has collateral responsibility in dissemination of information, education, creating awareness and self regulation for humane portrayal of suicide.

Courtesy:- Dialogue India and Career Plus

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