SC rules NCMEI has jurisdiction to determine minority status :-
News :-
- Supreme Court on Wednesday held that the National Commission for Minority Educational Institutions (NCMEI) has original jurisdiction to determine which institution should be granted minority status.
Supreme Court Judgement :-
- A Bench of Justice A.K. Goel said the Constitution granted a fundamental right to all minorities, whether based on religion or language, to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice.
- The wide power given to an independent forum like the NCMEI to declare an institution as a minority educational institution furthered the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 30.
- Justice Nariman, who authored the judgement, said the NCMEI Act empowered the Commission “to decide all questions relating to the status of an institution as a minority educational institution and to declare its status as such.” Section 11(f) would include the declaration of the status of an institution as a minority educational institution at all stages.
- The court held that the NCMEI had the power to decide any question that might arise, which relate directly or indirectly, with respect to the status of an institution as a minority educational institution.
At all stages :- The Supreme Court held that the NCMEI could declare an establishment as a minority educational institution “at all stages.”
Justice Nariman said the 2006 amendments to the NCMEI Act introduced a “sea change” to the Commission’s powers.
- The 2006 amendments even conferred powers of appeal against orders of the competent authority to the NCMEI.
- A power of cancellation was also vested in the NCMEI to cancel a certificate granted either by an authority or the NCMEI.
I-STEM to share research facilities soon in India :-
News :-
- Soon researchers in any college or institution and research organisations can check, reserve and have easy access to even expensive research equipment and facilities anywhere in India because of the efforts by the Centre for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE) at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
- The centre is in the process of collating information about scientific and research equipment and facilities available at academic institutions and research organisations across the country.
Online Portal Reservation (I-STEM) :-
- The portal — Indian Science, Technology and Engineering Facilities Map (I-STEM) — will soon become operational. The government green signalled the project last month.
- The institutions and organisations that have the equipment and facilities will provide access to researchers for both academic and non-academic work through an online reservation system.
- I-STEM is inspired by our positive experience with INUP (Indian Nanoelectronic Users Programme) that has been in operation since 2008 to provide access to sophisticated device fabrication and analytical equipment to any academic researcher in the country.
Benefits :-
- It will provide access to researchers to any equipment or facility that has been procured using public funds.
- The equipment will be better utilised and it will avoid duplication of expensive equipment as much as possible.
- Sharing expensive equipment can bring down the cost of doing research in India.
Centre Eases Coastal Regulation Zone norms :-
News :-
- According to a draft version of the proposed modification to India’s coastal regulation zone plan, The Centre has allowed India’s coasts to be made more accessible to tourism and industrial infrastructure and given individual States considerable leeway to decide how they should plan such development.
About Coastal Regulation Zone :-
- The coastal regulation zone, or CRZ, 2011, refers to regions in the proximity of India’s 7000-km-long shoreline where buildings, tourism facilities, industrial projects, residential facilities etc are highly regulated. In most cases it begins from the high tide line (HTL) to about 500 metres towards the landward side.
- The zone is subdivided into regions, with varying leeway for infrastructure development, depending on population and ecological sensitivity.
CRZ 2011 :-
- The CRZ-1, for instance, includes the most ecologically sensitive areas and according to current laws is off-limits for tourism activities and infrastructure development except for defence, strategic and rare public utilities projects.
- The current law, called the CRZ, 2011 also defines as ‘coastal zone,’ the region from the HTL to 100 m of the creek along ‘tidal-influenced bodies’ such as bays, estuaries, rivers, backwaters, lagoons and ponds etc. that are connected to the sea.
- Earlier, rural habitations or relatively undisturbed areas close to the shore, called CRZ-II, possessed a 200 metre ‘no development zone’.
CRZ 2018 :-
- According to the new CRZ, 2018 notification “..nature trails and eco-tourism activities..” may be permitted in CRZ-1 regions provided they confirm to state-approved coastal zone management plans.
- Coastal zone, the region from the HTL to 100 m of the creek along ‘tidal-influenced bodies’ such as bays, estuaries, rivers, backwaters, lagoons and ponds etc. that are connected to the sea has reduced to 50 metres.
- CRZ-II, possessed a 200 metre ‘no development zone’ has now been reduced to 50 metres, provided the area has a population density exceeding 2161 per square kilometre as per the 2011 Census.
A committee headed by Shailesh Nayak, former secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, had framed a report to reconsider the limits of the existing coastal zone regulations.
Govt Launched Study in India Programme :-
The Union Government, on Wednesday, launched a Study in India programme to draw more foreign students to India by projecting 160 premier universities and institutes, including IITs and IIMs, as the ideal destination for higher education.
About Study in India Programme :-
- The ‘Study in India’ programme — similar to the initiative launched by Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada — aims at boosting the country’s share of international students and, subsequently, improve the global reputation and rankings of Indian educational institutions.
- The government, at present, permits a provision of 10 per cent to 15 per cent supernumerary seats for foreign students in higher education. This provision remains largely underutilised across universities and colleges. ‘Study in India’, with a sanctioned budget of Rs 150 crore for two years, will promote India as a top destination for higher education and funnel demand in the direction of the supernumerary seats.
- Currently, India is home to about 45,000 international students, which accounts for just 1 per cent of the global student mobility. With ‘Study in India’, the government hopes the country will start attracting 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh international students by the year 2022.
- The programme will target students from 30 countries, primarily in Asia and Africa, including Nepal, Vietnam, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Thailand, Malaysia, Egypt, Kuwait, Iran, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Rwanda, among others.
- To attract talented foreign students, the government will offer complete fee waiver to top 25 per cent meritorious applicants, 50 per cent fee waiver to the next 25 per cent applicants and 25 per cent waiver to the next 25 per cent foreign students.
- The Study in India programme is a joint initiative of Ministry of HRD, Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Study in India Website :-
- The Study in India programme would provide one stop solution through the creation of a centralised portal www.studyinindia.gov.in.
- The website will be supported by an App and a Helpline number.
- The website will provide information on the latest offerings on Indian education but also facilitate admissions to the foreign students and help them make informed choices based on individual aptitudes and career goals.
NCAP - No Pollution Reduction Targets mentioned :-
Issue :-
- Despite the worsening air quality in our cities, the government has refrained from specifying pollution-reduction targets in its draft National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).
- Even Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan had earlier said the programme would aim to reduce pollution in specific cities by “50% in five years.”
NCAP (National Clean Air Programme) :-
- The NCAP was conceived as a detailed strategy to ensure that cities across the country meet specified air quality norms.
- It envisions setting up 1,000 manual air-quality-monitoring stations (a 45% increase from the present number) and 268 automatic stations (triple the current 84).
- For the first time, it plans to set up pollution-monitoring stations in rural areas.
- The NCAP follows from the Environment Ministry’s submissions to the Supreme Court on March 8, 2018.
Objective of NCAP :-
The NCAP aspires to overcome the deficits of the ongoing government initiatives targeted towards air pollution control.
- It lays down a comprehensive strategy framework for enhanced management of air quality. Augmentation of existing air quality monitoring network by increasing number of existing manual and continuous monitoring stations, introducing rural monitoring stations, identifying alternative technology for real-time monitoring network and augmenting capabilities of existing monitoring stations to measure PM2.5 concentration, are integral components of the strategy framework.
- Devising air quality management plans for 100 non-attainment cities calls for detailed source apportionment (identification of pollution sources) studies for each city. The document stresses the need for taking up these studies in a phased manner.
- In addition to setting up of an Air Information Centre that would analyse and disseminate monitored data, an Air Quality Forecasting system is also being envisioned.
- In addition to city-specific source apportionment studies, the NCAP lays down the need for a national-level emission inventory.
- A technology assessment cell for evaluation of new pollution prevention and control technologies has also been proposed.
- The document highlights lack of indigenous studies establishing the correlation between exposure to air pollution and human health. A high-level apex committee and working group has, therefore, been constituted under the Indian Council of Medical Research and the MoEF&CC to overcome this deficit.
- A budget amounting to Rs 637 crore has been set aside for aiding implementation of the programme.
Make BCCI public body - Law Commission of India :-
News :-
- The 90-year-old Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) should be declared a public body.
- The board and all its member cricket associations should be brought under the Right to Information (RTI) law regime, the Law Commission of India recommended to the government.
- A private citizen should be able to move the highest court against the BCCI for any violation of his fundamental rights, the Law Commission led by former Supreme Court judge, Justice B.S. Chauhan, said in its 128-page report handed over to Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad.
- The board’s monopolistic activities, directly and indirectly, affect the fundamental rights of citizens, players, and other functionaries.
- The Law commission said the board has been “flying under the radar of public scrutiny and encouraged an environment of opacity and non-accountability.”
Reasons to bring BCCI under RTI purview :-
The commission, which is the government’s highest law advisory body, concluded that
- The BCCI exercises ‘state-like’ powers in the regulation of cricket, and thus, comes under the definition of ‘state.’
- The BCCI virtually acts as a National Sports Federation (NSF). The commission recommended that the Ministry website should explicitly mention BCCI in the list of NSFs. This would automatically bring it within the purview of the RTI Act, the commission said.
- BCCI is a “limb of the state”, because the cricket board, as an entity, is permitted de facto by the state to represent the country at the international stage.
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