Kerala asks center to declare landslide a ‘National disaster ‘
The Kerala government has asked the government to decorate the landslide disaster as a National disaster . Kerala CM Pinyari Vijayan in a press conference on Sunday said that the destruction had only a few parallels in recent times .
Union minister Suresh Gopi , who toured the disaster zone on Sunday , said that the center had to adhere to several modalities weighing on the demand of the state .
The state government has put the official death toll to be 221 . Still 200 people are missing .
At least 9000 persons displaced in the disaster have sought refuge in government run relief camps .
State government has announced a township for the survivors .
Industries minister P Rajeeve who visited the disaster site said that the state will take cue from the Puthumala rehabilitation project to help survivors return to normal life .
Ladakh should be governed by Ladakkhis
Laddkah’s independent MP Mohammad Hneefa raised the issue of statehood of UT in Parliament .
She put the demand for reservation of Ladakkhis in jobs . She asked that statehood should be restored as soon as possible .
She said that Laddkahis culture was in threat and can be only protected when outsiders are not permitted to settle .
Two civil society groups from Ladakh Leh Apex Body ( LAB ) and Kargil Democratic Alliance ( KDA ) are in talks with the government for their demands .
They are demanding full statehood for Laddkah , inclusion of Ladakh under sixth schedule of constitution which deals with protection of tribal areas , job reservation for residents , more parliamentary representation with two Lok Sabha seats and one Rajya Sabha seat .
A High Powered Committee. ( HPC ) of the home ministry was formed. January 2023 to address the issue . In a recent meeting on March 4 , the two groups with HM Amit Shah “ did not meet with any positive outcome “ .
NDA allies divided over top court ruling on scheduled class sub quotas
Two key allies of NDA , Lok JanShakti Party and Telugu Desam Party have opposing views on the Supreme Court’s judgment on sub categorisation of Scheduled Caste leaving BJP in a tight spot .
LJP ( Ram vilas ) president Chirag Paswan has announced that his party will file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the Judgement .
On the other hand Andhra Pradesh CM N Chfrababu Naidu has welcomed the verdict .
The BJP has yet to come up with a clear response to the verdict .
Congress has not taken a definite stand on the verdict either .
On Thursday , a seven judge bench of the Supreme Court said that states had the right to sub-classify Scheduled Caste ( SC ) , with the objective of giving preference to advanced communities .
The judgment can push the NDA to conduct a caste survey , which the opposition has been demanding for quite some time .
Meanwhile , Bahujan Samajwadi Party ( BSP ) President Mayawati said that her party did not agree with the Supreme Court verdict .
Mayawati said on Sunday .
SC asks MSME to find stress before accounts turn to NPA
The Supreme Court has held that bank or creditors are required to identify the incipient stress in the account of Micro , Small and Medium Enterprises ( MSMEs ) before their account turns into non performing assets ( NPA ) .
Currently no debt restructuring is allowed for MSMEs .This is in accordance with the SARFAESI Act .
The court was hearing petitions of MSMEs which are demanding that they be included in the Debt restructuring process by banks when they count as NPAs.
The Bombay High court earlier had rejected the demand of MSMEs .
World
97 killed , hundreds injured as protests sweep Bangladesh
At least 97 people , 14 of them policemen, were killed and hundreds injured when protesters demanding resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and supporters of the ruling party clashed . More than 300 police personnel were injured .
The protest was supported by activists and opposition parties . The demand of protesters was for the resignation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina .
Authorities shut down mobile internet and enforced a nationwide curfew for an indefinite period .
Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that those engaging in protests were not students but terrorists and asked people to suppress them with firm hands .
“ I appeal to the people to suppress these terrorists with firm hands, “ Bangladesh President Sheikh Hasina said . She called a meeting of Cabinet committee on security Affairs ,
Highest decision making body of security affairs .
The fresh round of clashes erupted after over 200 people were killed in violent clashes between police and protesters .
At least 44 killed as Israeli air strike hit Gaza schools ,hospital compound
An Israeli airstrike hit two schools in Gaza City on Sunday , that killed more than 44 people including women and children ..
Israel said that it had struck a Hamas command center .
The Hamas run media offices said that Israel has struck 172 designated shelters ,mostly school , since October 7 .
Foreign nationals told to leave Lennon as fears surge
Amid increasing tension in the Middle East , western countries have called their citizens to leave Lennon . France , Canada and Jordan became the latest countries to issue such advisories . The US and Britain have already issued similar advisories .
The Israeli military said that 30 projectiles were launched from Lennon to Israel , with most of them intercepted .
Would be foolish not to have good ties with army : Imran
Jailed former Pakistan PM Imran Khan , in a written reply to Reuters, said on Sunday that it would be “ foolish “ not to have “ excellent “ relations with the army .
He also said that he held no grudges against the US , which he blamed for his 2022 ouster from office .
On Wednesday , Mr Khan had offered to hold “ conditional negotiations “ with the army if “ clean and transparent” elections were held and “ bogus “ cases against his supporters were dropped .
Mr Khan had to come out of PM in 2022 , after a fall in relationship with an Army general .
Science
As in Kerala , Local climate processes can worsen climate extremes
It is hard to predict landslide -like events . The predictions made by models will always be imperfect . An understanding of local drivers is required to improve the ability to predict extreme events .
Researchers generally use global models to drive local predictions .
The regional and local effect must be increased to predict the condition correctly .
Editorial :
Medieval minded
Amendment to UP anti conversion law worsen its constitutional features
The editorial is about a recent amendment in Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful conversion of Religious Act , 2021 .
The amendment has been done to provide more teeth to the law .
Some salient points in the amendment are :
- If minors , women of “ certain community “ were targeted to force conversion through use of force , it could entail prisonment up to 20 years or even life .
- The accused can not be granted bail , unless a public prosecutor defends it , also there should be guarantee that the accused will not be involved in conversion while on bail .
The previous bill has at least 400 cases registered under toit . The editorial says that the new amendment makes even worse fundamental rights and it will affect those who would curb interfaith marriages .
