March13,2018

Maharashtra CM bows to demands of farmers

Maharashtra Government has offered a six month road map to address agrarian distress. Fifteen thousand farmers have marched to Mumbai walking 200km to show their grievances. March was organised by All India Kisan Sabha. March received a warm reception from mumbaikars. It clearly shows urban sensitivity to issues of farmers.

Editorial

Indo French Harmony

president of France Emmanuel Macron is on a visit to India and important developments are

  1. Joint vision statement on the Indian Ocean region : It is clearly aimed at countering China’s influence in the region.
  2. International solar alliance : India has pledged $1.4bn for international solar alliance.
  3. Nuclear energy : Both countries expressed their commitment to Jaitapur nuclear energy plant.
  4. Reciprocal logistics support : Prime Minister Modi called it as a gold step in defence cooperation. It also clearly shows that india and France wants to diversify strategy postures beyond current choices.

Analysis

  1. India and France are bringing in a new global partnership surrounding clean energy.
  2. Mr . Macron also have a parallel commitment to china to help lead the Belt and Road initiative with China. so, cooperation in Indian Ocean region as it stands today is more symbolic than substantive.

In a transformed electoral arena

Indian politics have got a substantial shift to right. It is in line with global trend. There is a general trend of decreasing presence of moderate left and social democrats. The major reasons for the change in India are

  1. BJP is a votary of young, assertive leadership.
  2. Effective use of social Media
  3. Delegitimising opposition
  4. Use of science of psychometrics in elections.
  5. Micro management of elections.

The cost of Education

A balance is required between private educational institutions autonomy to generate surplus and public need for an affordable, quality education. There is no proper legal clarity on this issue.

Supreme Court of India in TMA Pai foundation vs state of Karnataka has stated that Government can only regulate academic standards, atmosphere, infrastructure and prevention of man administration by the school management.

In Islamic academy of education vs state of Karnataka supreme court held that private institutions have the autonomy to generate surplus which must be used for their betterment and growth.

States like Tamilnadu, Karnataka have imposed limitations on maximum fees private institutions can collect. but, lack of effective institutions, financial mismanagement by school managements are the challenges that need to be addressed.

Ineffective and Arbitrary

Imposing death penalty as a punishment for perpetrators of child rape is not based on empirical evidence. Govt can effectively its resources on

  1. Preventive measures like risk assessment and management, cognitive behavioural treatment, community protection measures etc.
  2. POCSO act, 2012 need to be effectively implemented. Certainty of punishment is more important than the severity of punishment.
  3. Child protection and rehabilitation services, child friendly legal procedures are essential.

Death penalty India report of 2016 states that a very large proportion of death row prisoners are extremely poor and belong to marginalised groups. Hey barley have any access to legal representation. In this, severe punishments can cause miscarriage of Justice.