📰 Incidence of anaemia high among tribal people in Coonoor
Moving away from traditional diet might be a reason
•It has been a week since M. Rani, a 40-year-old Kurumbar woman residing in Kil Sembakarai in Coonoor, received a blood transfusion at the Coonoor Government Hospital.
•Ms. Rani, who complained of dizziness and fatigue before being rushed to hospital, is among half of the Kurumbar residents residing in the village, who are either malnourished or are anaemic.
•The 37 Kurumbar families residing in the village had earlier been growing a variety of crops, including ragi, corn and millets, which they used to consume for a relatively wholesome nutrient meal.
•However, with more people moving out from the village, giving up farming and working on the tea estates nearby in Adderley, necessitating a change in diet predominated by rice from the ration shop, local residents say that their health indices have fallen correspondingly in the subsequent years.
•J. Raman, who suddenly fell ill more than two weeks ago says that locals still rely on harvesting forest produce, including yams and vegetables, but added that most families subsist primarily on the rice given to them at the ration shops. “Most people make a rice broth, and eat that on most days of the week. They have to work and earn a wage to subsist, and it's so much easier for them to just live off the ration rice,” said Raman.
•Tribal rights activists working in the belt believe that the diet of the tribal people, which has become rice-based, could be leading to a deterioration of their health in the long run.
•M. Alwas, Secretary of the Nilgiri Adivasi Welfare Association (NAWA), which sends doctors to Kil Sembakarai every month to treat anaemia, thalassemia, and sickle-cell anemia, which occur at a higher rate of incidence among tribals in the Nilgiris when compared with other communities, said that the group has been advocating to the government the need to distribute nutritious food items to the tribal communities living in the Nilgiris.
•“There definitely is a correspondence of anaemia occurring among communities which have a poor rice-based diet. Their food habits were completely different and have changed over the years as ration rice is much more easily available to them,” said Mr. Alwas.
•The community of Kurumbars living in Kil Sembakarai also complain of a lack of basic infrastructure, including housing facilities. Most of the families live in temporary houses made of sheet-metal.
•With leaky roofs and shaky walls, the residents say that they fear that the houses may come down during the rainy season, and called on the district administration to help build houses for them.
•The Nilgiri Adivasi Welfare Association, said that doctors were visiting the community every month and distributing medicine.
📰 India gets admission into Wassenaar Arrangement
Space, defence to gain from entry to export control regime
•The Ministry of External Affairs on Friday welcomed the decision of the Wassenaar Arrangement to admit India as the 42nd member of the organisation which aims to regulate trade and use of dual use technology.
•Officials said that following admission into the club, India will get access to high technology, which will help address the demands of Indian space and defence sectors.
•It will also boost New Delhi’s chances of joining the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
•“The Plenary meeting of the Wassenaar Arrangement (WA) held on 6 to 7 December 2017 in Vienna, Austria, has decided to admit India, which will become the Arrangement’s 42nd participating state. The necessary procedural arrangements for India’s admission will be completed shortly,” the spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs said at his weekly briefing.
•On the scope of the Arrangement, he said, “India’s membership is expected to facilitate high technology tie-ups with Indian industry and ease access to high-tech items for our defence and space programmes.”
📰 Adultery law weighted in favour of men: SC
To examine whether IPC provision relegates women to the level of a commodity
•The Supreme Court has said that the dusty Victorian provision of adultery in the Indian Penal Code treats a married woman as her husband’s “subordinate.” It admitted a petition to drop adultery as a criminal offence from the statute book.
•“The time has come when the society must realise that a woman is equal to a man in every respect,” the Supreme Court recorded in its five-page written order on Friday.
•Section 497 of the Code mandates that if a man has sexual intercourse with another’s wife without the husband’s “consent or connivance,” he is guilty of the offence of adultery and shall be punished.
•The court will examine two aspects of the penal provision. One, why does Section 497 treat the man as the adulterer and the married woman as a victim? Two, the offence of adultery ceases the moment it is established that the husband connived or consented to the adulterous act. So, is a married woman the “property” of her husband, a passive object without a mind of her own?
•“The provision [Section 497] really creates a dent in the individual independent identity of a woman when the emphasis is laid on the connivance or consent of the husband,” the court said. “This is tantamount to subordination of a woman where the Constitution confers equal status [on women],” the Supreme Court declared.
📰 HC asks EC, BMC to list steps taken to curb political hoardings
EC seeks more time to comply with February order
•The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to inform it about the steps taken to remove all unauthorised hoardings, posters from across the city.
•It also asked the Election Commission to inform about the steps taken to ensure that political parties do not indulge in defacement of public properties.
•A bench of Justices A.S. Oka and A.A. Sayyed directed the authorities to file their respective replies by January 9 next year.
•In February this year, the court had passed a detailed judgement directing the BMC to remove all hoardings, banners and advertisements put up illegally by political parties or their members, and to initiate action against them.
•In a related order passed at the time, the court had also directed the Election Commission to impose conditions on political parties at the time of their registration mandating that the parties will not indulge in defacement of properties and also follow all provisions of the Prevention of Defacement of Property Act and the laws governing sky signs and advertisements.
•While the BMC submitted today that it has taken several steps to rid public spaces in the city of unauthorised posters, and hoardings, the EC sought some more time to comply with the high court’s order.
•The court has been hearing a bunch of PILs alleging that political parties and their members put up illegal hoardings, banners and posters in complete violation of civic rules all over the state, defacing private and public properties and spaces.
📰 RTE reservation likely to be extended to aided schools
•Parents hoping to get a seat for their children under the RTE quota for the 2018–19 academic year have reason to cheer as the number of schools they can choose from is set to expand.
•With the aim of improving the efficacy of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, the State government is planning to ensure that aided schools too start reserving seats for students from weaker sections in the neighbourhood. “We are in the process of maoking changes to ensure that scope of the RTE Act is extended to aided institutions and we will ensure that the right beneficiaries are selected,” said Primary and Secondary Education Minister Tanveer Sait. As per Section 12 (1) (b) of the RTE Act, aided schools shall provide free and compulsory elementary education to such proportion of children admitted based on the annual recurring aid or grants so received bears their annual recurring expenses, subject to a minimum of 25%.
📰 More time for linking PAN and Aadhaar
•With less than a month to go for the deadline to link Aadhaar with PAN, the Centre on Friday extended the deadline to March 31, 2018.
•“In view of the difficulties faced by some of the taxpayers, the date for linking of Aadhaar with PAN was initially extended till August 31, 2017, which was further extended to December 31, 2017,” the I-T Department said.
•“It has come to notice that some of the taxpayers have not yet completed the linking of PAN with Aadhaar. Therefore, to facilitate the process of linking, it has been decided to further extend the time for linking of Aadhaar with PAN till March 31, 2018," the statement added.
New section
•Under the provisions of the recently introduced Section 139AA of the Income-Tax Act, 1961, with effect from July 1, 2017, all taxpayers with an Aadhaar number or Enrolment number are required to link it with their PAN by the stipulated deadline.
•The deadline for linking Aadhaar and mobile phones remains unchanged February 6.
•Subscribers have to visit authorised retailers with the phone that has the SIM to be linked.
📰 Complete Kaleshwaram pump-houses by monsoon: KCR
To review progress of project work today after two-day visit to work sites
•In his first visit taken up 19 months after laying the foundation stone on May 2 last year, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao examined the progress of works on various components of the Kaleshwaram irrigation project being carried out at several places in North Telangana on Thursday and Friday and expressed satisfaction.
•Accompanied by a few of his Cabinet colleagues, including Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao and Finance Minister E. Rajender, and top brass of officials such as Chief Secretary S.P. Singh, Director-General of Police M. Mahender Reddy, and Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) S. K. Joshi, the Chief Minister physically examined key components of the project such as Medigadda and Annaram barrages and pump-houses and made aerial survey of other works.
•He also examined the works pertaining to the Kanthanapally project at Thupakulagudem barrage site in Jayashankar Bhupalapally district and the first phase works of Telangana Super Thermal Power Project being set up by National Thermal Power Corporation at Ramagundam as part of his visit. The Chief Minister will review the progress of Kaleshwaram works at a meeting to be held here on Saturday.
•At the Thupakulagudem site, irrigation officials explained to the Chief Minister that about 6,000 cusecs of flow was there in the Godavari and the construction of coffer dam was completed for a length of 1,132 metres and another 150 metres would be completed soon.
Instructions to DGP
•He instructed the DGP to be in constant touch with the police authorities of neighbouring States over the security aspects at the site. The DGP explained that a strict vigil was being maintained at all work sites, including use of drone cameras.
•Citing the breach of earthen dam of the Mid Manair Reservoir due to heavy rains last year, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao directed the irrigation authorities and work agencies to take higher care on the quality of works and also take up strong flood banks at the main barrages – Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla. He told the officials to complete the work on the pump-houses before the commencement of the next monsoon season.
•He enquired about the progress of works at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages and their pump-houses at Kannepalli, Siripuram and Golivada in detail. He wanted the officials to keep the gates of barrages and motors of pump-houses ready at the sites before the completion of barrage works. The Chief Minister expressed satisfaction over power supply to pump-houses as chairman and managing director of TS-Transco D. Prabhakar explained that works on the dedicated transmission lines and sub-stations at all sites would be completed by March-end next.
Sigh of relief
•Meanwhile, the police authorities heaved a sigh of relief with the incident-free conclusion of the Chief Minister's visit as it was in the Maoist-infested areas and the Medigadda barrage site is only about 20 km away from the site of encounter in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra, where seven Maoists were killed on Wednesday.
