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Triumphant Institute of
Management Education P
Ltd
Nyayapati Gautam
Current Affairs
- India
Current Events
Indo-Pak Naxalism Civil Society Scams Indo-China FDI in Retail Elections
Current Events
Maruti Manesar Plant Agni V Cash Transfers Land Acquisition
West Bengal
Current Events
Violence Against Women Andhra Pradesh Assam Maharashtra Food Security Bill RTE Act
Violence Against
Women
Complex processes lead to
incidents and need to be
addressed comprehensively.
Death penalty, chemical
castration or community action
- distracts attention.
Comprehensive appraisal of
the issue would mean taking
up:
Discriminatory policies
Status of women in the larger
socio-economic context
Even looking at the portrayal of
women in the media
Why not look for instant
solutions?


Because far from being a stray
event, the Delhi gang rape
symbolizes a growing trend of
violence against women.

Even as protests were going
on across the country -
A 17-year-old girl was kidnapped
and raped in Puducherry.
A 25-year old woman was
molested in outer Delhi
A 24-year-old teacher suffered
an acid attack in Srinagar
A 20-year-old girl was raped in
TN
A law graduate was gang-raped
in Bangalore

Going back a few months
Beating and molestation of a
young woman by a mob in
Guwahati
Rumi Nath, a young woman
legislator of the ruling Congress
in Assam, was beaten up by a
mob.

The utter failure of the law
enforcement machinery to curb
such crimes is reflected in the
very low conviction rates.
Manipur - Rate of conviction
for rape is 100 per cent
Rest of the north-eastern
States - 80 to 100 per cent
The national average?
Only 26.4 per cent.

The statistics on rape as given
by the NCRB is quite startling
Increased by 3.5% in 2008
over 2007
Increased by 3.6% in 2010
over 2009
Increased by 9.2% in 2011
over 2010

Age of Victims
Girls under 14yrs - 10.6%
Girls between 14 to 18yrs
19%
Women between 18 and 30yrs
54.7%
As many as 141 victims of
rape were over 50 years of
age.
The offenders known to the
victims - in 94% of the cases.
7,112 cases of child rape in
2011 compared to 5,484 in
2010.

Violence against women starts
much earlier
The child sex ratio, continues
to worsen because of the tardy
implementation of the Pre-
Conception and Pre-Natal
Diagnostic Techniques Act,
which has made sex-
determination tests illegal.
1,165 cases Conviction in
102

Violence by Groups
not just individuals -
KHAPs
Haryana: A strong patriarchal
society
Property and land is assumed
to belong to the male
descendants excludes
daughters and sisters.
The marriage rules are
observed to keep village
fraternising or bhaichara intact.

Breach in observing such
norms are taken as serious
violations resulting in negative
sanctions in the form of
punishment such as torture,
social boycott and inextreme
cases elimination of the couple

Protection of Women against
Sexual Harassment at
Workplace Bill, 2010

The most significant
amendment in the bill is to
cover domestic workers
employed full-time, part-time or
temporarily for household
work.
Another important amendment
is to define sexual harassment.

Definition
Harassment includes any
unwelcome act or behaviour
directly or by implication of
physical contact and
advances, or a demand or
request for sexual favours, or
making sexually coloured
remarks or showing
pornography or any other
unwelcome physical, verbal or
non-verbal conduct of a sexual
nature.

For the record
Commission of inquiry with
Justice Usha Mehra, a retired
judge of the Delhi High Court,
as its chairperson has been set
up.
To fix responsibility for lapses
or negligence on the part of the
police or any other authority or
person and to suggest
measures to improve the
safety and security of women
in Delhi and the NCR.

Another commission, under the
chairmanship of Justice J.S.
Verma, retired Chief Justice of
the Supreme Court, has been
set up to review various laws,
including punishment for
aggravated forms of sexual
assault.

Telangana
Home minister Sushilkumar
Shinde said after a December
28 all-party meeting in Delhi
that a decision on Telangana
would be taken within a month.

Map of Telangana
Telangana
The demand for Telangana is one of the
oldest concerns for a separate state in
independent India.
It has seen its share of talks and violence
since the early 1960s. Here's looking back to
understand what the Telangana agitation is all
about.
Telangana comprises ten of Andhra Pradesh's
23 districts. Originally, the region was part of
the erstwhile Nizam's princely state of
Hyderabad.
In 1948, India put an end to the rule of the
Nizams and a Hyderabad state was formed.
In 1956, the Telangana part of Hyderabad was
merged with the Andhra state.
The Andhra state had been carved out of
Madras presidency in 1956
The people from Telangana were against
merger with Andhra as they feared job losses
as education levels and development in
Andhra were better than in Telangana. There
were cultural differences too.
Under Nizams rule the culture and language
in Telangana bore influence of North India.
In 1969, the Telangana movement intensified
under the leadership of Marri Channa Reddy
and the Telangana Praja Samiti. There was
widespread violence and over 350 protestors
were killed in police firing and lathi charge.
However, the movement could not last long as
Channa Reddy went on to merge his party
with Congress and was eventually made Chief
Minister by Indira Gandhi.
In 2001, the movement revived once again when
K Chandrashekhar Rao quit the Telugu Desam
and formed the Telangana Rashtra Samithi.
In 2004, the Congress joined hands with Rao
promising separate Telangana but later back
tracked.

Sri Krishna Commission
REPORT:
The six options presented in
the report were as follows:
Maintaining Status Quo -
Keeping the Andhra Pradesh
State as it is with no change in
the Telangana, Seemandhra and
coastal regions.

Bifurcating the state of Andhra
Pradesh into Seemandhra and
Telengana regions with both of
them developing their own
capitals in due course of time.
Hyderabad to be converted to a
Union Territory - This proposal
was similar to the Punjab-
Haryana-Chandigarh model.

Dividing Andhra Pradesh into
two states - One of Rayala-
Telangana with Hyderabad as its
capital and second one of the
Coastal Andhra Pradesh


Dividing Andhra Pradesh into
Seemandhra and Telangana with
enlarged Hyderabad Metropolis
as a separate Union Territory.
It would be linked geographically
to district Guntur in coastal
Andhra via Nalgonda district in
the southeast and via
Mahboobnagar district in the
south to Kurnool district in
Rayalaseema
Bifurcation of the State into
Telangana and Seemandhr as
per existing boundaries with
Hyderabad as the capital of
Telangana and Seemandhra to
have a new capital.
This was the second most
preferred option according to the
report.

Keeping the State united and
providing for creation of a
statutorily empowered Telangana
Regional Council for socio-
economic development and
political development of
Telangana region.
This was the most preferred
option

Rayala Telangana A political
ploy?
Two ministers and an MP (from
the Telangana region) Have
received signals from the
Centre on creation of a
separate state
What is the signal? AP is going
to be bifurcated. Hyderabad
could be the common capital of
the two (new) states for some
10 years.

AP faces the spectre of
imposition of President's rule
for the second time in its
chequered history.
Seemandhra versus Telangana
Telangana Congress leaders
have promised us 16 out of 17
Lok Sabha seats in Telangana,
if a separate State is carved
out. Can you also give us a
similar assurance if State is not
divided?

Akbaruddin Owaisi &
The MIM

The Shri Bhagyalakshmi
Temple is an ancient temple,
located adjacent to the
Charminar.
The MIM objected to repair
work/renovation that was
undertaken at the temple.
Who is Owaisi? Majlis-e-
Ittehadul Muslimeen?


The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul
Muslimeen (MIM) is a minor
player in Andhra Pradesh
representing a section of the
Muslims of Hyderabad.
MIM wields power in the city of
Hyderabad wherein they have
1 MP, 7 MLAs and 43
corporators.
In addition the mayor is from
MIM party.

The most quoted of his
statements was: If the police
was removed from the country
for 15 minutes, Indias 25 crore
Muslims would teach a lesson
to 100 crore Hindustanis.
Nothing new. He has been
making similar speeches for at
least 15 years, carrying on the
tradition of his father,
Salahuddin Owaisi.

MIM - A background

The MIM under Qasim Rizvi
defended the independence
of Hyderabad under the
Nizam.
It organised the Razakars
MIM was banned after
Hyderabads merger in 1948
but was revived by Rizvi, in
1957, in the 48 hours he had
between being released from
prison and leaving for
Pakistan.

Rizvi appointed Abdul Wahab
Owaisi as president of the
revived MIM before leaving for
Pakistan.
In its second incarnation the
MIM gave up its demand for an
Islamic state but adopted
aggressive Muslim
fundamentalism to weld an
electorally viable political bloc.
In 1969 the MIM got its first
member in the assembly.

In 1984, the MIM won the
Hyderabad Lok Sabha seat
and has remained undefeated
since.
Akbaruddins aggressive
politics of Muslim
fundamentalism has paid rich
electoral dividends.
The MIM recently won an
unprecedented 11 seats in
municipal elections in Nanded.
Last word

"The temple has been there,
whether for three decades or
four centuries , but there was
no confilict over it. Why has the
matter been raked up now?
The answer is obvious, "

MAHARASHTRA
IRRIGATION SCAM:

Economic Surveys
observation - Though Rs
70,000 crore had been spent
on various projects in the last
decade, the states irrigation
potential had increased only
0.1%.
Prithviraj Chavan White
Paper
Irrigation portfolio has been held by
the NCP since 1999. Ajit Pawar till
2009 later by Sunil Tatkare.

The proposal for the white
paper coincided with the
expos in a section of the
media about Tatkares alleged
involvement in irregularities
and the floating of more than
140 companies by his
relatives.

32 projects in Vidarbha region
alone while the rest are in
Konkan and north
Maharashtra.
The cost of 38 irrigation
projects in Vidarbha was
increased by over 300% from
Rs 6,672 crore to Rs 26,722
crore by the VIDC
Approved in a short span of
three months between June
and August 2009.

The VIDC, however, argued
that the costs were revised
because of the change in price
levels, higher quotes by
contractors, increase in the
cost of land acquisition,
engineering changes and other
reasons.

In yet another case, revised
administrative approval for the
Lower Wardha project was
granted on the Independence
Day, a national holiday.
Interestingly, the cost was
revised to Rs 2,356 crore from
Rs 950 crore by VIDC
executive director on that day.

The cost of the Upper Wardha
project in Amravati was revised
to Rs 1,376 crore from Rs 661
crore.
Another case is that of the
Bembala river project in
Yavatmal district of Vidarbha.
Its cost was revised from Rs
1,278 crore to Rs 2,176 crore
on August 14, 2009.


Earlier, the state government
was forced to scrap work on
the Kondhana dam in the
Konkan region in June after
the project cost was increased
to Rs 435 crore from Rs 80
crore without any assessment.
Maharashtra government
announced the formation of a
Special Investigation Team,
headed by water expert and
former secretary Madhav
Chitale to probe the allegations
in the multi-crore irrigation
scam.
That too was controversial.

So too were the TOR:
going into details of examining
irrigated potential and actual
irrigated land,
reasons for low actual irrigated
area,
reasons for cost escalations,
delaying completion of pending
projects,
and suggesting measures for
improving irrigation sector.

Incidentally three other
committees (Wadnere
committee, Mendgiri
committee and Upase
committee) have already gone
into these same aspects and
the findings are already with
the government.

Right To Education
The Constitution (Eighty-sixth
Amendment) Act, 2002
inserted Article 21-A in the
Constitution of India to provide:
free and compulsory education
of all children in the age group of
six to fourteen years
as a Fundamental Right
in such a manner as the State
may, by law, determine.

The Right of Children to Free
and Compulsory Education
(RTE) Act, 2009, which
represents the consequential
legislation envisaged under
Article 21-A, means that every
child has a right:
to full time elementary education
of satisfactory and equitable
quality
in a formal school
which satisfies certain essential
norms

The RTE Act provides
for:

Right of children to free and
compulsory education till
completion of elementary
education in a neighbourhood
school.

It clarifies that compulsory
education means:
obligation of the appropriate
government to provide free
elementary education
ensure compulsory:-
admission,
attendance
and completion of elementary
education to every child in the
six to fourteen age group.

Free means that no child shall
be liable to pay any kind of fee
or charges or expenses which
may prevent him or her from
pursuing and completing
elementary education.
It makes provisions for a non-
admitted child to be admitted
to an age appropriate class.
It specifies the duties and
responsibilities of appropriate
Governments, local authority
and parents in providing free
and compulsory education,
and sharing of financial and
other responsibilities between
the Central and State
Governments.
It lays down the norms and
standards relating inter alia to
Pupil Teacher Ratios (PTRs),
buildings and infrastructure,
school-working days, teacher-
working hours.

It provides for rational
deployment of teachers by
ensuring that the specified
pupil teacher ratio is
maintained for each school,
rather than just as an average
for the State or District or
Block, thus ensuring that there
is no urban-rural imbalance in
teacher postings.

It also provides for prohibition
of deployment of teachers for
non-educational work, other
than decennial census,
elections to local authority,
state legislatures and
parliament, and disaster relief.
It provides for appointment of
appropriately trained teachers,
i.e. teachers with the requisite
entry and academic
qualifications.
It prohibits (a) physical
punishment and mental
harassment; (b) screening
procedures for admission of
children; (c) capitation fee; (d)
private tuition by teachers and
(e) running of schools without
recognition.

It provides for development of
curriculum in consonance with
the values enshrined in the
Constitution, and which would
ensure the all-round
development of the child,
building on the childs
knowledge, potentiality and
talent and making the child
free of fear, trauma and anxiety
through a system of child
friendly and child centred
learning.
A few Comments
School-level enrolment rates
continue to rise.
RTE seems to be helping
develop better school
infrastructure and there are
more toilets for girls in schools.
More than half of all children in
class 5 are at least three grade
levels behind where they
should be in terms of learning
levels.
Could Continuous
Comprehensive Evaluation be
responsible?
Private schools - 28.3% in
2012 from 18.7% in 2006.
Government cant shirk off its
responsibility just because it
has won the 25% battle.
Bodoland
Bodo Liberation Tigers (BLT)
signed the second Bodo
Accord with the Centre and the
Assam government on
February 20, 2003
They gave up their statehood
demand and settled for an
autonomous council under the
amended provisions of the
Sixth Schedule of the
Constitution
The BTAD has its jurisdiction
over an area of 8,970 square
kilometres in the four districts
of Kokrajhar, Chirang, Baksa
and Udalguri in Assam.
It is ruled by the Bodoland
Territorial Council (BTC), which
was created following the
accord.

Clashes between Bodos and
Muslims in the three BTAD
districts of Kokrajhar, Chirang
and Baksa and in Bongaigaon
and Dhubri districts claimed 56
lives and displaced over four
lakh people.
Indications that peace in the
Bodo heartland continues to be
fragile
Although the accord did bring
some development to the
development-deficit area,
various communities living in
the BTAD accused Bodos, the
largest plains tribe of Assam,
of not sharing the fruits of
development with non-Bodo
communities.
This feeling plus the presence
of arms has fuelled this
carnage.
The recent clashes were
triggered by two incidents in
Kokrajhar district.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead
two Muslims and another on
July 19 when, again,
unidentified gunmen shot at a
leader of the All Bodoland
Minority Students Union
(ABMSU) and a leader of the
All Assam Minority Students
Union (AAMSU).

On July 20, four supporters of
the erstwhile BLT were lynched
by a mob in Joypore, a
Muslim-dominated village in
the district.
What followed was a series of
killings and counter-killings.
Some Muslim intellectuals
allege that it was ethnic
cleansing of Muslims and
other non-Bodos living in the
BTAD by some Bodo groups.

The Muslim population in
Assam is not homogeneous.
Indigenous Assamese-
speaking Muslims whose
forefathers came as Mughal
warriors and settled in different
parts of the State.
Indigenous Bengali-speaking
Muslims from East Bengal who
settled in Assam during pre-
Partition days.

Bengali-speaking Muslims who
migrated from erstwhile East
Pakistan in different streams.
Bengali-speaking illegal
immigrants from Bangladesh
after its creation in 1971, who
crossed over through the
porous India-Bangladesh
border.
The BJP believes that the root
cause is illegal immigration.
Bodoland Peoples
Progressive Fronts Brahma
feels it is the presence of and
rampant use of illegal weapons
that has caused this.
There has also been no
attempt to resolve structural
issues such as:
ethnic reconciliation
encroachment of land by illegal
immigrants
settlement of foreigners issue
through an updated National
Register of Citizens.

Impact in Karnataka and other
places.
Attacks on migrants.
Food Security Bill

The draft Food Security Bill
was cleared by the Standing
Committee of Parliament on
Food, Consumer Affairs and
Public Distribution on Friday
Jan 11th.
The draft bill will now be taken
up in Parliament.

Recommendations
Population to be covered
under Targeted Public
Distribution System or TPDS in
the Bill should be under a
single category.
Uniform entitlements of 5 kg
per person per month.
Earlier - different categories.
Entitlements proposed are on
per person basis and not on
household basis as it was
earlier.

The State Governments may
be given the flexibility to
extend the coverage beyond
the numbers prescribed under
the proposed Bill (at least 75
per cent of the rural population
and 50 per cent for urban), out
of their own resources so as to
cover more population, but not
less population as envisaged
in the proposed Bill.

Cash Transfers NOT desirable.
Government ensure that
banking infrastructure and
accessibility to banking facility
be made available in all parts
of the country including
remote, rural and hilly tribal
areas before introducing cash
transfer in lieu of food subsidy.

Pregnant women should be
given an additional 5 kg of
foodgrains per month during
pregnancy + 2 years.
Earlier pregnant women were
also provided with meals, free
of charge during pregnancy
and six months after child birth
through local anganwadis. Not
practical.

Chhattisgarh - Food
Security Bill:

The Bill is aimed at providing
food and nutritional security to
around 5 million families in the
state and will cost more than
Rs.2,311 crore.
The Chhattisgarh legislation
guarantees food at subsidized
rates across various categories
of households such as
Antyodaya (vulnerable social
groups), priority and general.

It has also made subsidized
food a right.
Failure to deliver this right has
been made an offence.
An overhaul of the entire public
distribution system (PDS) by
computerizing it and thereby
making it transparent is also on
the cards.
Aadhaar to target beneficiaries

Methods to improve
PDS

Comprehensive
computerization of the PDS:
Tracking of food grain bags
using barcode from FCI godown
upto the Fair Price Shop.
Comprehensive computerization
of the PDS network starting from
the allocation of the grain to the
final delivery to the targeted
beneficiary.
Will plug diversion/bogus
cards/poor quality.

Introduction of smart cards for
the beneficiaries.
Food subsidy may be directly
transferred to the beneficiaries
instead of to the owners of PDS
stores.
In fact with the biometric
identification system, people will
have the freedom to migrate to
any part of the country without
the fear of losing their food
rations.

Since under this system the poor
will be paying the stores the
same price for food grains as the
others. No incentive in selling
adulterated grain to the poor.
Therefore no leakages and
distortions of food
Introduction of smart cards may
in fact reduce the financial
burden.

For e.g. rice which is proposed
to be supplied at Rs 3 per kg.
Since the average market price
is currently around Rs 20 per kg,
a subsidy of Rs 17 will need to
be provided.
Currently the Economic Cost of
procurement also works out to
Rs 20.43 per kg, which implies a
subsidy of Rs17.43 per kg.
The subsidy under the current
system and under the smart card
system will be virtually the same.

However given that under the
smart card system there will be
virtually no leakage, while under
the present system there is a
large leakage, the subsidy under
smart card is likely to reduce.
A lot of subsidized grain will go
through the normal market
channels it will also reduce the
burden on the government
procurement and PDS network.


THANK YOU

Q & A