Australian High Commission expresses concern over tattoo incident – (International Relation)
- The Australian High Commission has expressed “concern” over media reports of an Australian citizen “being threatened with violence and detained by police because of a tattoo”.
- A press statement issued on Monday by the public relations section of the High Commission in New Delhi also said that citizens travelling abroad are advised to research and respect local customs.
‘One-third of Delhi households paid bribe last year’ – (Governance)
- Nearly half of Delhi’s respondents in a survey on corruption said it had decreased in the State government, but a third of households reported having had to pay a bribe in the last 12 months. Respondents felt that corruption in the distribution of LPG had increased the most, while the police was the agency most likely to require a bribe.
- Conducted by CMS Transparency, the corruption and transparency-focussed wing of the research and polling agency CMS, over July and August, the 15 specific public services that respondents were asked about were split in administrative terms between municipal, State and Central governments. But many respondents had an unclear notion of the precise ambit of each level of government, the agency said.
‘Collegium was revived to avoid chaos and tyranny’ – (Indian Polity)
- The decision to revive the collegium was born out of the sheer necessity to avert “chaos” and not to create a situation in which the President may become a “tyrant” by assuming absolute powers to appoint judges on his own.
- This is how the Supreme Court’s Constitution Bench explained its decision to restore the collegium, striking down the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) and the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act with one blow.
Our Constitution accommodates differences: Pranab – (Indian Polity)
- In the wake of growing instances of communal intolerance in the country, President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday expressed his apprehension, asking if tolerance and acceptance of dissent are “on the wane.” The President said the Indian civilisation had survived for 5,000 years chiefly because of its tolerance and by accepting dissent and difference.
- “A large number of languages, 1,600 dialects and seven religions coexist in India,” the President said and added: “We have a Constitution that accommodates all these differences.”
Thapa’s visit to Delhi fails to ease Nepal blockade – (International Relation)
- At the end of his three-day visit, Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Kamal Thapa on Monday said he had given a new boost to India-Nepal ties but he was yet to find the way to end the economic blockade.
- “A committee for dialogue with the Madhesi leaders has been set up by Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli. But, we are unable to find an end to the blockade right away. We need India’s support to end the blockade,” he told The Hindu at the Indira Gandhi International Airport.
Constitution’s will upheld – (Indian Polity)
- Had the Parliament maintained the primacy of the judiciary in appointments while providing for the entire scheme of the NJAC, the Supreme Court’s decision may have been different.
- Instead of seeing the NJAC verdict as one that leads to a confrontation between the Parliament and the judiciary, the executive must use this as an opportunity to help the Supreme Court in preparing an institutional design so that appointments are fair and transparent.
Still stuck in the old school – (Indian Polity)
- The New Education Policy won’t work unless a completely new system of education is devised. Only then can India benefit from the demographic dividend of the 21st century.
Collaboration, not confrontation – (Indian Polity)
- The irony of the outcome of the Supreme Court judgment on the NJAC is that it leads to alternatives that pave the way for collaboration between the executive and the judiciary.
- The most remarkable aspect of the Supreme Court’s judgment is that it abandoned its standard process of constitutional review.
Aadhaar and the right to privacy – (Indian Polity)
- In the 21st century, a government that cannot protect its citizens’ right to privacy cannot credibly maintain a democratic regime of equal treatment under the law.
China to stay away from Syria – (International Relation)
- Its focus on the Asia-Pacific, military limitations, and fear of getting bogged down in a far-away conflict are preventing China from dispatching forces to Syria.
- A candid commentary published by the website China Military Online identifies four major factors that are dissuading Beijing from sending forces in support of the Russia-mounted operation in Syria.
- The write-up posted on China’s defence ministry website points out that Beijing’s core interests are in Asia-Pacific rather than West Asia.
Thousands rush across as Croatia opens border with Serbia – (International Relation)
- Thousands of people trying to reach the heart of Europe surged across Serbia’s border into Croatia as police ended a two-day bottleneck on Monday that had reduced many to mud-caked misery.
- The surprise move allowed an estimated 3,000 more migrants to travel into Croatia bound for Slovenia, the next agonising obstacle looming on the West Balkans route that currently serves as asylum seekers’ main eastern entrance to the European Union.
China’s economy logs weakest growth since 2009 – (Economics)
- China’s economic growth dipped below seven per cent for the first time since the global financial crisis on Monday, hurt partly by cooling investment, raising pressure on Beijing to further cut interest rates and take other measures to stoke activity.
- The world’s second-largest economy grew 6.9 per cent between July and September from a year ago, the National Bureau of Statistics said, slightly better than forecasts of a 6.8 per cent rise but down from 7 per cent in the previous three months.