Significance of the judgment: This is the first time in India that a court has had invoked the ‘parens patriae’ doctrine for cow protection. Parens patriae: The court did this by invoking the ‘parens patriae’ doctrine. Parens patriae in Latin means ‘parent of the country’ and is a doctrine that grants the court inherent power and authority to act as guardian for those who are unable to take care for themselves.
Implications of the judgment: The court can now act as the legal guardian of the cows in the state and keep a tab on all issues related to cows especially its directions with regard to their protection. If there are any violations in laws and rules regarding cows, the court can take suo moto cognisance and issue directions to the state.
Background: The judgment came as a response to a public interest litigation claiming that stray cattle were being slaughtered and waste from a slaughter house was flowing into water bodies , posing a health threat to the villagers. The court cited animal welfare law, national and international documents and Hindu religious texts to say that animal welfare was part of “moral development of humanity”.
Important Directions issued by the Court: All civic bodies in the state shall construct “gaushalas/gausadans” or shelters/homes for housing cows and other stray cattle within one year. No commercial charges shall be levied for supplying the electricity and water connections to gaushalas/shelters. The state government shall register cases against people who abandon cows and owners of cattle found on the streets, roads and public places under the Indian Penal Code, Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960 and Uttarakhand Protection of Cow Progeny Act, 2007.
The state government shall also set up a special squad to be headed by an officer not below the rank of deputy superintendent of police in both the Kumaon and Garhwal regions with one veterinary doctor to protect cows. The court banned slaughter of cows, bulls, bullocks, heifers or calves in the state and ruled that no person shall sell beef or beef products in any form in Uttarakhand.
The final verdict: The tribunal has allowed Karnataka access to 13.4 tmc of water for its consumptive use (5.4 tmc) and power generation (8.02 tmc). The share of Goa was pegged at 24 tmc with the Tribunal allowing it for the state’s municipal water needs, irrigation water requirements and industrial water demands.
Maharashtra got the lowest share of 1.33 tmc for meeting its in-basin needs with respect to five projects. The tribunal also directed the Centre to set up the Mahadayi Water Management Authority to implement its report and final decision.
What’s the dispute? The Mahadayi river basin drains an area of 2032 square kilometres of which 375 square km lies in Karnataka, 77 sq km in Maharashtra and the remaining in Goa.
The dispute arose since Goa was opposed to Karnataka’s plans to divert waters from the tributaries of the river, which Karnataka justified was for drinking water purposes. The tribunal was constituted in November 2010.
About “Pitch to MOVE”: “Pitch to MOVE” is organised by NITI Aayog in collaboration with Invest India and Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM).
Aim: The competition aims to identify and reward the start-ups offering innovative solutions for shared, connected, and environment friendly mobility. It also aims to incentivise the startups, which will help the Government realize its vision of Shared, Connected, Intermodal and Environment Friendly Mobility for India. The objective is to harness the latest disruption for generating employment and growth in our country.
The Startups can be from the domain of Public Mobility, Electric Vehicles, Shared Transport, Last Mile Connectivity, Passenger Transportation, Battery Technology, Automotive IoT, Freight & Logistics, Powertrain/Drivetrain, Experiential, Travel, Mobility Infrastructure and Automotive Electronics etc.
Significance: The recommencement of the adoption programmes will now enable large number of prospective adoptive parents including those of Indian origin settled in Australia in fulfilling their desire of adopting a child from India.
Safety measures put in place by India: The regulation of Inter-country adoptions have been made strict by the Government of India with the enactment of Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and notification of Adoption Regulations, 2017. The Ministry of Women & Child Development along with Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) have been constantly monitoring the implementation of these laws.
What is the Hague Convention? The Hague Convention protects children and their families against the risks of illegal, irregular, premature or ill-prepared adoptions abroad.
To do this, the Hague Convention puts: Safeguards in place to make sure that all intercountry adoptions are in the best interests of the child and respects their human rights, A system in place of cooperation among countries to guarantee that these safeguards are respected, and to prevent the abduction of, sale of, or traffic in children.
Implementation: For Hague adoptions, the authorities in both countries must agree to go ahead with the adoption. For non-Hague adoptions, requirements may vary from one country to another. The Hague Convention does not allow private adoptions in the child’s home country. Adoption is a handled by the provinces and territories, and they all have and follow laws implementing the Hague Convention.
About CARA: Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA) is a statutory body of Ministry of Women & Child Development, Government of India. It functions as the nodal body for adoption of Indian children and is mandated to monitor and regulate in-country and inter-country adoptions. CARA is designated as the Central Authority to deal with inter-country adoptions in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, 1993, ratified by Government of India in 2003.
Scheduled Tribe Component: Tribal Affairs Ministry has now been mandated to monitor Scheduled Tribe Component of funds of Central Ministries by NITI Aayog. An online monitoring system has been put in place with web address stcmis.gov.in.. The allocation under Scheduled Tribe Component (STC) was increased from Rs. 21,811 crore in 2016-17 to Rs. 32,508 crore in RE 2017-18. In the BE of 2018-19, Rs. 39,135 crore has been allocated under STC for the welfare of Scheduled Tribes.
Minimum Support Price (MSP) to Minor Forest Produce (MFP): Minimum Support Price for Minor Forest Produce scheme (MSP for MFP Scheme) has now been expanded to 24 Minor Forest Produces in all States from the initial 10 MFPs in 9 States in 2013-14.
Skill Development: An amount of Rs. 1019.27 Crore has been released to various states under the scheme Special Central Assistance to Tribal Sub-Scheme (SCA to TSS) and Grants under Article 275(1) during 2014-15 to 2017-18 for skill development of more than 3,37,000 (Three Lakh Thirty Seven Thousand) male and female tribal beneficiaries in a wide gamut of trades.
Forest Rights Act: Under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 (FRA), until 30th, January, 2018 as much as 1 lakh 39,266 Community Forests Rights (CFR) claims have been received from 20 states. Out of this 64,328 (46.19%) claims have been recognised.
Aadi Mahotsav: Showcasing Tribal Culture, Commerce & Cuisine: Ministry of Tribal Affairs in association with TRIFED organized a National Tribal Festival Aadi Mahotsav from 16th November, 2017 to 30th November, 2017. The total sale of tribal artisans during the Mahotsav was Rs. 4.10 Crores. This Mahotsav also organised at Jaipur, Bhopal, Ranchi, Chandigarh and Guwahati during November - December, 2017 and has become a continuous process now.
Museums for Tribal Freedom Fighters: A state-of-the-art Tribal Museum of national importance in Gujarat State is being constructed. The Ministry has also approved proposals for setting up of museums in Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala to highlight struggle & sacrifices of tribals during freedom struggle.
New Tribal Research Institute and Tribal Repository: During the year 2017-18, based on the proposals received from the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Sikkim, funds have been provided for establishment of new tribal research institutions at Itanagar, Kohima and Assam Lingzey, near Gangtok. Ministry has developed a web page for use as tribal repository (www.tribal.nic.in/repository) in which documents, folks songs, photos, videos regarding their evolution, place of origin, lifestyle, eating habits, architecture, education level, traditional art, folk dances and other anthropological details