📰 Sushma to meet Pakistan’s Foreign Minister in New York
New Delhi responds positively to Imran Khan’s proposal for talks
•India on Thursday accepted Pakistan’s proposal for talks between the Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the ongoing annual UN General Assembly session in New York.
•“On the request of the Pakistani side, a meeting between External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi will take place on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly at a mutually decided date and time,” said Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs.
‘No dialogue’
•India’s response came within hours of the news that Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan proposed talks between the two senior Ministers. However, India said the talks would not be aimed at a broader scheme of dialogue.
•The MEA spokesperson emphasised that despite agreeing to the meeting, India stuck to its position that talks and terror could not go together.
•He said, “This [the upcoming meeting] does not indicate any change as far as our policies on terrorism and cross-border terrorism are concerned.”
•However, the issue of Pakistan facilitating visits by Indian pilgrims to the Kartarpur Sahib gurdwara is expected to feature at the meeting.
•“The External Affairs Minister will raise this issue at her meeting with the Pakistan Foreign Minister,” said the spokesperson.
‘Desire for peace’
•Mr. Khan proposed the new round of talks in a letter to his Indian counterpart, handed over on September 17.
•“Building on the mutual desire for peace between our two countries, I wish to propose a meeting between Foreign Minister Qureshi and External Affairs Minister Swaraj, before the informal meeting of the SAARC Foreign Ministers on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York,” he said, seeking resumption of the dialogue started by his predecessor Nawaz Sharif. The Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue stalled after the January 2016 terror strike on the Pathankot airbase.
•In the letter, Mr. Khan also suggested that the Foreign Ministers discuss the holding of the SAARC summit in Islamabad, which has been delayed by India’s reluctance to join.
•However, the MEA spokesperson said India’s position on joining the SAARC summit in Islamabad remained unchanged.
•“Time and again we have said that the atmosphere in the region is not conducive. Under the shadow of cross-border terrorism, it is difficult to hold the summit that is to be hosted by Pakistan.”
•Minister of State for Agriculture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, while addressing a presser at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, responded to questions on the proposed meeting between the Foreign Ministers of the two countries, announced a day after the body of a Border Security Force jawan was found with obvious torture marks.
•“We must have faith in the Indian forces that they would retaliate at an appropriate time. There should not be any politics on the bodies of martyrs,” he said.
📰 Punjab nod for FRBM Act implementation
‘Will help achieve specific fiscal target’
•The Punjab Cabinet on Thursday gave its approval to rules for implementation of the Punjab Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act, 2003.
•“The move will help the State achieve specific fiscal targets within a stipulated time period to avail of the benefits of the Centre’s Debt Consolidation and Relief Facility for States,” said an official statement.
Model draft bill
•The Act was framed by the Centre on the basis of the model draft bill circulated by the Reserve Bank of India, suitably amended from time to time. As per the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission, each State is compulsorily required to enact a fiscal responsibility legislation to realise the desired targets.
•The Cabinet also reviewed the arrangements and preparedness for the paddy procurement season beginning October 1. “Arrangements are being made to procure the expected 200 lakh metric tonnes of paddy,” said the statement.
•It also gave its approval for setting up of a ropeway between Anandpur Sahib and Naina Devi in public-private-partnership mode to promote tourism in the State.
📰 Sex offenders’ registry launched with 4.4 lakh entries
The first-of-its-kind database has records of convicts from 2005
•The first-of-its-kind national sex offenders’ registry launched on Thursday has names and details of some 4.4 lakh people convicted for various sexual offences across the country.
•The database is for those convicted for sexual offences 2005 onwards. It includes name, address, photograph and fingerprint details of the convict. A Home Ministry statement said the database would not compromise any individual’s privacy.
Following suit
•India became the ninth country in the world to have a National Database on Sexual Offenders (NDSO), accessible only to law enforcement agencies for the purpose of “investigation and monitoring”. The proposal to set up a registry was mooted by the UPA government after the 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape case in New Delhi.
•The database will be maintained by the National Crime Records Bureau, that will also track whether the State police were updating the records on time. The database will include offenders convicted under charges of rape, gang rape, Protection of Children from Sexual Offenders Act (POCSO) and eve teasing.
•While launching the database, Union Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi expressed concern over sexual assaults in children’s shelter homes and increasing incidents of NRI grooms abandoning their brides.
•The Minister asked the police force to keep a close watch on such crimes and the arrest of culprits.
•She also raised the issue of States not responding to a letter sent by her ministry for procurement specially-designed forensic kits that would help in tamper-proof collection of evidence leading to better conviction in such crimes.
•Responding to Ms. Gandhi, Joint Secretary of the Home Ministry Punya Salila Srivastava said as many as 79 lakh rape kits were in the process of procurement and distribution across the country.
•“In Muzaffarpur in Bihar, the head of a shelter home allegedly sexually assaulted several children, but he was not arrested immediately. There was a tunnel from the shelter home to his residence. That means the crimes must have taken place in his residence. I appeal to all DGPs to keep a close eye on all shelter homes,” she said.
•Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who was present, launched another portal, cybercrime.gov.in, that will receive complaints from citizens on objectionable online content related to child pornography, child sexual abuse material, and sexually explicit material such as rape and gang rape.
Track complaints
•“This will not only aid the victims/complainants but also help the civil society organisations and responsible citizens to anonymously report such complaints …The complaints registered through this portal will be handled by police authorities of respective State/UTs. There are other features, such as a victim or complainant can track his/her report by opting for ‘report and track’ option using his/her mobile number,” the statement said.
📰 For liberty’s sake: on the scope of Article 32 in the activists case
The stage is set for determining the scope of Article 32 in the activists case
•The Supreme Court’s intervention following the arrest of five prominent activists by the Pune police last month has been truly extraordinary and raises the bar for protection of personal liberty. The court has granted them the rare relief of remaining in house arrest while it examines the charges against them. It has reserved its decision in the case and now must decide on one of the following courses. They are: to allow the police in Maharashtra to pursue its investigation against the activists for allegedly being members of the outlawed Communist Party of India (Maoist) and joining a conspiracy against the government, to set them at liberty on the ground that this is a trumped-up case, to order a probe by an independent team. The story so far has thrown up a legal tussle between the Centre’s contention that it is probing a terrorist conspiracy involving Maoist insurgents and their urban supporters and the counter-argument that this is a thinly disguised crackdown on political dissent. The petitioners, led by historian Romila Thapar, have questioned the motivation for the police raids on the residences of these activists and a few others in a coordinated operation across several States. They want those arrested to be released and demand an independent investigation. The Maharashtra and Union governments have sought to defend the arrest and prosecution, contending that the case is based on incriminating evidence seized during the probe and has nothing to do with the ideology or the political views of those under investigation.
•In entertaining this petition, the Supreme Court has set the stage for an examination of some fundamental questions at the intersection of criminal procedure and constitutional law. The procedural question is whether in a criminal matter the court can entertain a petition under Article 32 of the Constitution, under which the Supreme Court enforces fundamental rights, for which the accused are expected to seek their remedy under the Code of Criminal Procedure. The substantive question is whether the court should intervene when the liberty of citizens and their right to dissent are sought to be denied by arbitrary police action. Observations that “dissent is the safety valve of democracy” and “personal liberty cannot be sacrificed at the altar of conjecture” indicate the court’s thinking. It is against this backdrop that the Bench has decided to examine the case diary to see whether the charges have some basis. The government may have reason to worry about a precedent being set, whereby every accused can rush to the Supreme Court immediately on arrest. At the same time, one cannot wish away the peculiar circumstances in which a case relating to violence at a Dalit commemoration dramatically morphed into a Maoist plot. Further, it is unusual, and even suspicious, that one city’s police is investigating a crime that supposedly spans several States and involves purchase of arms and providing strategic inputs to armed rebellion, instead of handing it over to a national agency.
📰 Moon diplomacy: On the Korean peace process
The South Korean President’s visit to the North has strengthened the peace process
•The joint visit of South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to Mount Paektu, the mythical birthplace of the Korean nation, on the last day of their landmark three-day summit is a forceful show of unity by the two countries. At the site, which falls in North Korea, Mr. Moon said the time would come when ordinary South Koreans “will come here on tours”, in a message of normalisation of ties. While travelling to Pyongyang earlier this week, Mr. Moon’s main goals were to revive the talks between the U.S. and North Korea over denuclearisation, and infuse fresh warmth into the North-South thaw. Given the agreements signed and the statements issued, the summit has strengthened the momentum for peace in the peninsula. During the meetings, North Korea agreed to shut down the Tongchang-ri missile-testing site in the presence of international observers, and dismantle the Yongbyon nuclear facility if the U.S. takes “corresponding measures”. The two leaders have also agreed to open a facility in southeastern North Korea where divided families can hold reunions. Mr. Kim has promised to visit Seoul at “an early date” for further negotiations. When that happens, he will be the first North Korean leader to visit the South since the armistice of 1953.
•The U.S. has responded optimistically to the summit, expressing readiness to immediately engage North Korea in talks. But it remains to be seen whether the positive atmospherics at the summit will yield tangible achievements on critical issues such as denuclearisation. Since the ice-breaking Panmunjom summit between Mr. Kim and Mr. Moon on April 27, inter-Korea relations have improved remarkably, while the U.S.’s engagement with the North has strengthened hope for peace. But while the two Koreas maintained the momentum through continued bilateral engagement, Washington and Pyongyang have failed to make much headway since the June summit between Mr. Kim and President Donald Trump in Singapore. The main problem is that though denuclearisation was accepted as a common goal, there were no specific steps or timeline laid out. It has remained more of a promise than a strategic plan. Pyongyang also wants the U.S. to formally declare an end to the Korean war before it makes any more concessions. But the heartening message from these engagements is that Mr. Kim appears to be consistent in his pursuit of peace and global recognition. Both the U.S. and South Korea should reciprocate and take concrete steps for lasting peace.
📰 Duty to defend
The right-minded lawyers of Rewari and Kosli should defy the resolutions of their Bar Associations
•The Rewari and Kosli Bar Associations in Haryana have passed resolutions that none of their members will defend the accused in the recent case of gang-rape of a teenage girl from Rewari district. This resolution is wholly illegal, and goes against the decision of the Supreme Court in A.S. Mohammed Rafi v. State of Tamil Nadu (2010). That decision declared null and void a resolution of the Coimbatore Bar Association that none of its members will defend policemen who had allegedly assaulted some lawyers.
•Several Bar Associations in India have passed resolutions that their members would not defend persons accused of heinous crimes. The Supreme Court declared all such resolutions to be wholly illegal, against all traditions of the Bar, and against professional ethics. The court observed, “Every person, however wicked, depraved, vile, degenerate, perverted, loathsome, execrable, vicious or repulsive he may be regarded by society has a right to be defended in a court of law, and correspondingly it is the duty of the lawyer to defend him.”
•When revolutionary writer Thomas Paine was jailed and tried for treason in England in 1792 for his famous pamphlet The Rights of Man, in defence of the French Revolution, the lawyer Thomas Erskine was briefed to defend him. Erskine was then Attorney General of the Prince of Wales, and he was warned that if he accepted the brief he would be dismissed from office. Undeterred, he accepted the brief, and was promptly dismissed. His immortal words in this connection stand out as a shining light even today: “From the moment that any advocate can be permitted to say that he will or will not stand between the Crown and the subject arraigned in Court where he daily sits to practice, from that moment the liberties of England are at an end. If the advocate refuses to defend from what he may think of the charge, or of the defence, he assumes the character of the judge, and in proportion to his rank and reputation puts the heavy influence of perhaps a mistaken opinion into the scale of justice against the accused, in whose favour the principles of law make all assumptions.”
•Indian lawyers have defended the revolutionaries of Bengal during British rule, the Indian communists charged of waging war against the British King in the Meerut Conspiracy Case, the Razakars of Hyderabad, Sheikh Abdullah, the Indian National Army accused, the assassins of Mahatma Gandhi and Indira Gandhi, and in recent times Binayak Sen and Ajmal Kasab. No Indian lawyer of repute has shirked his duty to defend claiming that it would make him unpopular or that it was personally dangerous for him to do so. The right-minded lawyers of Rewari and Kosli should defy the resolutions of their Bar Associations.
📰 Pakistan invites Saudi Arabia to be third partner in CPEC
Decision follows PM Imran Khan’s visit to Riyadh
•Saudi Arabia will be the third “strategic partner” of the $50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a senior Pakistani Minister announced on Thursday, soon after Prime Minister Imran Khan returned from his first foreign trip to the cash-rich kingdom. The CPEC is the flagship project of the multi-billion dollar Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a pet project of Chinese President Xi Jinping, aimed at enhancing Beijing’s influence around the world through China-funded infrastructure projects.
•Addressing a press conference here on Mr. Khan’s two-day visit to Saudi Arabia and UAE, Minister of Information Fawad Chaudhry said Pakistan’s main interest lies in cooperation with Saudi Arabia on matters of trade and security.
•Pakistan has invited Riyadh to join the CPEC as the third “strategic partner”, The News quoted him as saying.
•Saudi’s Finance and Energy Ministers will visit Pakistan in the first week of October, Mr. Chaudhry said.
•He said the projects that Saudi Arabia would be investing in in the CPEC will be smoothed out during the Saudi delegation’s visit.
•China has rejected accusations that its financial backing for the CPEC was a “debt trap” that could compromise cash-strapped Pakistan’s sovereignty.
•The CPEC is the fastest-moving and flagship project of President Xi’s global Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
•The CPEC aims to construct and upgrade the transportation network, energy projects, a deep-water port at Gwadar and special economic zones to eventually support Pakistan’s industrial development as a manufacturing hub by 2030.
•Mr. Chaudhry said that Prime Minister Khan has assured Riyadh that Pakistan will stand with Saudi Arabia.
Promise of security
•“We have also assured the Saudi leadership that we will continue to provide security to their country and provide strategic support wherever needed,” he said on the close defence partnership between the close allies.
•He also said that a high-level coordination committee has has been constituted [to look into matters of trade and commerce] and it has the complete backing of Saudi King Salman bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud and Prime Minister Khan.
📰 Protecting persons with HIV/ AIDS
A law to safeguard rights and prevent discrimination
•The Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Prevention and Control) Act of 2017 safeguards the human rights of people living with HIV and AIDS. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare issued a notification to bring the Act into force from September 10.
•The Act was born out of an urgent need to prevent and control the virus and syndrome. It has highlighted the necessity for effective care, support and treatment for HIV and AIDS. The Act spawns from the commitment to the global community under the Declaration of Commitment on Human Immunodeficiency Virus and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (2001) for enhanced coordination and intensification of national, regional and international efforts to combat the virus and syndrome in a comprehensive manner.
•The statute aims to provide equal rights to persons with HIV and bring them into the mainstream. The Act gains importance as it makes it a legal obligation to protect the privacy of persons with HIV and AIDS.
•The law addresses discrimination meted out to persons with HIV and AIDS. It fortifies the health and medical health-care system for them and introduces legal accountability along with formal mechanisms to inquire into complaints and redress grievances.
•The Act lists various grounds on which discrimination against persons with HIV is prohibited. These include the denial, termination, discontinuation or unfair treatment with regard to employment, educational establishments, health-care services, standing for public or private office, and insurance.
•The requirement for HIV testing as a pre-requisite for obtaining employment or accessing health care or education is also prohibited.
•The Act provides that every HIV infected or affected person below the age of 18 years has the right to reside in a shared household. The Act prohibits any individual from publishing information or advocating feelings of hatred against HIV positive persons and those living with them. Section 37 makes such propagation of hatred punishable with a term of imprisonment which shall not be less than three months but which may extend to two years, with fine which may extend to ₹1 lakh.
•As per the provisions of the Act, every person in the care and custody of the state shall have the right to HIV prevention, testing, treatment and counselling services.
