Congress plan for equality is a ‘ dangerous game ‘, says Modi
PM Modi doubled down his attack on its promises on Social
Justice , Wealth redistribution.
PM Modi said that the “ dangerous intention “ of Congress
was coming to the fore . The PM asserted that through wealth redistribution
Congress will be snatching personal properties and wealth and giving it away to
secure their vote bank .
At all three rallies, the PM said that Congress has plans to
give a 15 % quota on basis of religion , by reducing the existing quota for SCs
, STs and OBCs .
The Congress manifesto does not talk of any religion based
reservation of reducing quotas to SCs , STs and OBCs .
The manifesto doesn’t talk about wealth redistribution , it
only talks that through suitable policies it will address wealth inequality .
EVMs control unit do
not recognise parties of names : SC
The Supreme Court on Wednesday called that microcontrollers
of the EVM ( Electronic Voting Machines ) were separately programmed by
manufacturers .
“ Microcontrollers in the control units are agnostic . They
do not recognise the party or candidates name , What they recognise is the
button pressed on ballot units “ Justice Sanjiv Khanna observed .
The court emphatically said that the EVm source code should
not be disclosed as it would be prone to misuse
.
On the question whether microcontrollers were reprogrammable
, the EC officials said that they were “ one time programmable “ at the time of
manufacturing .
Petitioner howevers said that EC’s claim that.
microcontrollers were “ in doubt “ .
The court was hearing multiple petition against use of EVMs .
Bengal moves SC against dismissal of school staff
The West Bengal government on Wednesday approached the
Supreme Court against a Calcutta High court order of termination of appointment
of over 24,000 teaching and non teaching staff across the schools .
The West Bengal govt said that the order will put the entire
education system on a standstill .
It said that even a CBI investigation conducted had
found only around 4000. irregular appointments and not all
appointments and not all appointments were cancelled .
No forests or animal
will be left if human – wildlife conflicts continue : SC
The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that the human-animal conflict poses a
danger to the very existence of forest and wildlife. A balance has to be struck
which takes care of the rights of both the stakeholders .
The court’s observation came while hearing a case concerning
the demarcation of the boundaries of Assam’s Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and
settlement of rights of villagers drawn
from marginalised , scheduled caste , scheduled tribe community , who reside
within the territory .
RBI orders Kotak Bank to stop adding customers online
The Reserve Bank of India ( RBI ) on Wednesday directed ,
Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd ( Kotak Bank ) , to cease and desist , with immediate effect
, from onboarding new customers through its online and mobile banking channels
and issuing fresh credit cards .
This comes after the IT examination of the bank in 2022 – 23
. The central bank had found “ serious
deficiencies and non compliances were observed in the field of IT inventory
management , user access management , data security , business continuity and
disaster managemenr rigour and drills “ .
“ In the absence of a robust IT Infrastructure and IT risk
management framework , the bank’s core banking system ( CBS ) and it’s online
and digital banking system have suffered frequent and significant t outages in
the last two years “ RBI said in a statement .
Kotak Bank in a statement has said that it has taken
measures to strengthen it’s IT systems .
Editorial
Hot buttons
Voters must be incentivised by minimising risk due to heat exposure
The editorial is about the recent decision by the Election
Commission ( EC ) to form a committee of the Meteorological Department ( IMD ).
,Disaster Management ( NDMA ) and Health Ministry to curb charges on health ministry . The team is formed to give direction to
election commission in the case of heatwave situation five day prior to the
poll .
This comes after EX saw decline in poll percentage in first
phase polls .
The heatwave condition across the country can be a reason behind
this .
The editorial says that merely forming a panel will not
improve the situation . And certain other measures should be taken like forming
a task force at every booth which will ensure
shaded waiting areas with seating , air flows , oral rehydration option
, sanitary facilities , fruits , updated kits ; wheelchairs ; accessible
architecture and medical services .
The Editorial further said that EC must form a separate
cadre to implement it’s plans to tackle
heatwave .
World
Israel pummels Gaza after US Congress approves aid
Israel pounded Gaza with airstrikes and artillery fire in
its war against Hamas on Wednesday after
the US Congress approved 13 billion of military aid .
Israeli Foreign minister Israel Katz said that the aid
package sent a “ strong message to all enemies “ .
This comes as the US – Israel is having a different opinion
on the attack on Rafah .
Israel says Rafah as “
last “ major stronghold while the aid group warns that it would create an “ apocalyptic
situation “ .
Ranil bats for Global South during Iran’s president visit
Iranian PM Ebrahim Raisi reached Colombo on Wednesday . He
met his counterpart , Ranil Wickramshighe . The two signed at five agreements
in the field of energy, biotechnology , Nanotechnology , Pharmaceutical , water
and Energy. .
On this occasion Srilankan President Ranil Wockramshinghe
pitched for greater autonomy for global South .
Expressing “ gratitude for Iran for their technical support
“ .
Iran currently is supporting a 514 million dollar irrigation
project in Sri Lanka that would also generate 120 MW of electricity .
The two counties are engaged in barter trade under which
Iran exports oil to Sri Lanka , while
Sri Lanka exports tea to Iran .
US sent ATACMS missile to Ukraine
The United States sent ATACMS missiles to Ukraine for use
inside its territory .This was confirmed by a state department spokesperson .
Argentina seek arrest of Iran minister over 94 blast
Argentina has asked Interpol to arrest Iranian Foreign
minister Ahmad Vahidi over the 1994 bombing over a Jewish Community centre in
Buenos Aires .
At least 85 persons were killed in this attack .
An attack on a Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires , Argentina
had killed 85 and injured 300 ..
On April 12 , the Argentina court blamed Iran for the attack
. The attack has not been solved . Both Israel and Argentina suspects that it
was Hezbollah that carried out the attack .
Mr. Vahidi is not part of delegation with PM Imbrahim Raisi
that visited Iran .
Science
Powerful antidote to
toxins in Cobra , Krait venoms developed
A group of scientist have developed 95 Mat 5 made using
animal and used human human antibodies
. It will be used against all
types of snake venom . The treatment used earlier for snake bite was more
complex and had less efficiency .
The death due to snake bite alone is staggering in India .
India alone has caused
58,000 deaths in a year .
