Morbi Bridge collapse toll rises to 140

• A day after the Morbi bridge collapse in Gujarat, the police arrested nine persons, including the managers of private contractor Oreva Group and ticket clerks and security guards.
• The death toll in the bridge tragedy climbed to at least 140 on Monday. As many as 177 persons were rescued during the search and rescue operation conducted by multiple agencies including the Navy, Army, fire brigade and disaster response forces at the national and State levels

 

About Morbi bridge  (Jhulto Pul)

• Morbi bridge “Jhulto Pul” is a pedestrian suspension bridge that was inaugurated in 1879 during the resign of Sir Waghji Ravaji, the Thakur Sahib of Morbi (1858-1922).
• The bridge, spanning 233 meters over the Machchhu river, connected Darbargarh Palace and Lakhdhir ji Engineering College.
• This 150-year-old bridge is a major tourist attraction in the district. It is seen as an engineering marvel.

Reasons for bridge collapse

• The bridge is capable of supporting only around 150 people.
• However, around 500 people, including women and children, were on the bridge when it collapsed. Several of them were performing Chhath puja rituals.
• The bridge, which was closed down for renovation for 2 years, was reopened for public on October 26 (Gujarati New Year) without undertaking safety tests and receiving fitness certificates from civic authorities.

Morbi district famous for

• Morbi district was created on August 15, 2013, having 5 talukas – Morbi, Maliya, Tankara, Wankaner, and Halvad. Before this district was created, Wankaner was part of Rajkot district and Halvad was in Surendranagar district.
• Morbi district is famed for its ceramic industry.

 

Supreme Court puts an end to ‘two finger’ test on rape survivors

• The Supreme Court on October 31 declared that any person conducting the invasive ‘two-finger’ or ‘three-finger’ vaginal test on rape or sexual assault survivors will be found guilty of misconduct.
• Sole reason behind using the “regressive” test on traumatised sexual assault survivors is to see whether the woman or girl was “habituated” to sexual intercourse.
• Such a “concern” was irrelevant to fact whether she was raped or not.
• This so-called test has no scientific basis and neither proves nor disproves allegations of rape.
• It instead re-victimises and re-traumatises women who may have been sexually assaulted, and is an affront to their dignity.
• The ‘two-finger’ test or pre-vaginum test must not be conducted

 

Bolsonaro  defeated by “Lula da Silva” in Brazil presidential election

• Brazil has taken a turn to the left as former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva beat far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro in the presidential election.
• After a divisive campaign which saw two bitter rivals on opposite sides of the political spectrum go head to head, Lula won 50.9% of the votes.

 

About Brazil

• Brazil is the largest country in South America and the fifth largest nation in the world
• Brazil occupies roughly half of South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean.
• Brazil covers a total area of 8,514,215 km²(3,287,357 sq mi) which includes 8,456,510 km² (3,265,080 sq mi) of land and 55,455 km² (21,411 sq mi) of water.
• The highest point in Brazil is Pico da Neblina at 2,994 m (9,823 ft).

 

Karnataka to honour Puneeth Rajkumar

The State’s highest civilian award of Karnataka Ratna will be conferred posthumously on actor Puneeth Rajkumar in front of Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on the occasion of the 67^th Karnataka Rajyotsava

 

India’s sugar production declining year on year

• 7 percentage, the drop in sugar production year on year in India, the world’s major sugar producer, to 4.05 lakh tonnes in the first month of the 202223 marketing season.
• Mills had manufactured 4.75 lakh tonnes of sugar during October in the 202122 marketing season.
• The sugar marketing season runs from October to September.

 

The report on the fiscal deficit for the first half of the year

• Rs 6.19 lakh crore, the fiscal deficit — the difference between expenditure and revenue — during the first half (April September) of the financial year.
• Controller General of Accounts data shows that the government’s total receipts, including taxes, stood at ₹03 lakh crore or 52.7% of the Budget estimate for 2022 – 23.

 

SC tells Centre not to file new sedition cases

About Sedition Law

Historical Background of Sedition Law

• Sedition laws were enacted in 17^thcentury England when lawmakers believed that only good opinions of the government should survive, as bad opinions were detrimental to the government and monarchy.
• The law was originally drafted in 1837 by Thomas Macaulay, the British historian-politician, but was inexplicably omitted when the Indian Penel Code was enacted in 1860.
• Section 124Awas inserted in 1870 by an amendment introduced by James Stephen when it felt the need for a specific section to deal with the offence.
• Today the Sedition is a crime under Section 124A of the Indian Penel Code

 

Sedition Law Today:

• Section 124A IPC:
  • It defines sedition as an offence committed when “any person by words, either spoken or written, or by signs, or by visible representation, or otherwise,brings or attempts to bring into hatred or contempt, or excites or attempts to excite disaffection towards the government established by law in India”.
  • Disaffection includes disloyalty and all feelings of enmity. However, comments without exciting or attempting to excite hatred, contempt or disaffection, will not constitute an offence under this section.

 

Punishment for the Offense of Sedition:

• It is a non-bailable offence. Punishment under Section 124A ranges from imprisonment up to three years to a life term, to which a fine may be added.
• A person charged under this law is barred from a government job.
  • They have to live without their passport and must appear in court at all times as and when required.

 

SC posts pleas against CAA for December 6

About  Citizenship

• Citizenship defines the relationship between the nation and the people who constitute the nation.
• It confers upon an individual certain rights such as protection by the state, right to vote, and right to hold certain public offices, among others, in return for the fulfilment of certain duties/obligations owed by the individual to the state.

 

Citizenship in India

• The Constitution of India provides for single citizenship for the whole of India.
• Under Article 11 of the Indian Constitution, Parliament has the power to regulate the right of citizenship by law. Accordingly, the parliament had passed the Citizenship act of 1955 to provide for the acquisition and determination of Indian Citizenship.
• Entry 17, List 1 under the Seventh Schedule speaks about Citizenship, naturalization, and aliens. Thus, Parliament has exclusive power to legislate with respect to citizenship.
• Until 1987, to be eligible for Indian citizenship, it was sufficient for a person to be born in India.

• • Then, spurred by the populist movements alleging massive illegal migrations from Bangladesh, citizenship laws were first amended to additionally require that at least one parent should be Indian.
• In 2004, the law was further amended to prescribe that not just one parent be Indian; but the other should not be an illegal immigrant.

 

 illegal migrant in India are

Under the Act, an illegal migrant is a foreigner who:

• Enters the country without valid travel documents like a passport and visa, or
• Enters with valid documents, but stays beyond the permitted time period.

Illegal migrants may be put in jail or deported under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and the Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920.

Read about Migration & India in the linked article.

 

The  scenario before the passing of the Act

• Under the existing laws, an illegal migrant is not eligible to apply for acquiring citizenship. They are barred from becoming an Indian citizen through registration or naturalization.

• • The Foreigners Act and the Passport Act debar such a person and provide for putting an illegal migrant into jail or deportation.
• A person can become an Indian citizen through registration.
  • Section 5 (a) of Citizenship act of 1955: A person of Indian origin who is ordinarily resident in India for seven years before making an application for registration;
  • And they should have lived in India continuously for 12 months before submitting an application for citizenship.
• Under the Citizenship Act, 1955, one of the requirements for citizenship by naturalization is that the applicant must have resided in India during the last 12 months, as well as for 11 of the previous 14 years.

 

CAA 2019

• The Citizenship Amendment Act 2019 aims to make changes in the Citizenship Act, the Passport Act, and the Foreigners Act if the illegal migrants belong to religious minority communities from three neighbouring countries of Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Afghanistan.

Features of CAA 2019

• The Act seeks to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 to make Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, and Christian illegal migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan, eligible for citizenship of India. In other words, the Act intends to make it easier for persecuted people from India’s neighbouring countries to become citizens of India.

• • The legislation applies to those who were “forced or compelled to seek shelter in India due to persecution on the ground of religion”. It aims to protect such people from proceedings of illegal migration.
• The amendment relaxes the requirement of naturalization from 11 years to 5 years as a specific condition for applicants belonging to these six religions.
• The cut-off date for citizenship is December 31, 2014, which means the applicant should have entered India on or before that date.
• The Act says that on acquiring citizenship:
  • Such persons shall be deemed to be citizens of India from the date of their entry into India, and
  • All legal proceedings against them in respect of their illegal migration or citizenship will be closed.
• It also says people holding Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cards – an immigration status permitting a foreign citizen of Indian origin to live and work in India indefinitely – can lose their status if they violate local laws for major and minor offences and violations.

 

India H1 fiscal deficit touches ₹6.2 lakh cr., tax receipts rise

• India’s fiscal deficit in the first half of the financial year through September rose to ₹6.2 lakh crore from ₹5.27 lakh crore a year earlier, though rising tax collections helped offset a higher subsidy bill.
• The fiscal deficit for the April to September period touched 37.3% of annual estimates, official data showed on Monday, as the government spent more on fertiliser, food and fuel subsidies.
• Net tax collections during April-September rose to ₹10.12 lakh crore, about 10% higher than a year before, helping the government despite growing fears of a shortfall in receipts from the sale of stakes in state-run firms this year.
• The Union government’s spending bill is expected to rise by almost ₹2 lakh crore this fiscal year, according to several economists’ estimates, following higher allocations for subsidies, stretching the fiscal deficit.
• Total expenditure for the first six months of the current financial year was ₹18.24 lakh crore, compared with ₹16.26 lakh crore a year earlier, data showed.
• In February, while presenting the annual budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set the fiscal deficit target at 6.4% of gross domestic product for 2022/23, compared with 6.7% in the previous fiscal year.
• The government aims to spend almost ₹40 lakh crore in the current financial year, up about 4% from the previous year but down in real terms due to near 7% inflation this year.

 

Malabar Gold and Diamonds is the first jeweler in India to import 25 kg of gold under the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) between India and the UAE

 

Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited has been recognized as India’s most Sustainable oil and gas company

 

Arunachal Pradesh state will establish the 1st fish museum in North east

 

PM Modi lay foundation for manufacturing facility of C-295 transport facility in Vadodara in Gujarat

 

Taiwan deputy minister Chen Chern-Chyi will be visiting India next week to discuss trade

 

Museum of Royal Kingdoms to be set up in Kevadia in Gujarat

 

Source : THE HINDU