SC delivers split verdict On Hijab Issue

Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia said

• secularity meant tolerance to “diversity”. Wearing or not wearing a hijab to school was “ultimately a matter of choice”.
• For girls from conservative families, “her hijab is her ticket to education”. “Asking the girls to take Off their hijab before they enter the school gates, is first, an invasion of their privacy, then it is an attack on their dignity, and then ultimately it is a denial to them of secular education…
• There shall be no restriction on the wearing of hijab anywhere in schools and colleges in Karnataka, Justice Dhulia held.

 

Justice Hemant Gupta said

• secularity’ meant uniformity, manifested by parity among students in terms of uniform.
• Justice Gupta held that adherence to uniform was a reasonable restriction to free expression. The discipline reinforced equality.
• The State had never forced students out of State schools by restricting hijab. The decision to stay out was a “voluntary act” of the student.

 

Hijab & Contitutional status about Freedom of Religion

What is Hijab?

• Hijab is a scarf or clothing worn by Muslim women to cover their hair in order to maintain modesty and privacy from unrelated males either in public or at home.
• The concept, however, is not unique to Islam but embraced by other religions too such as Judaism and Christianity.

 

Why do some Muslim women wear burkas?

• According to Muslim scholars, the Koran calls for both men and women to ‘cover and be modest’.
• As with many other religious scriptures, the reference to dress is open to interpretation and has been shaped by centuries of cultures in different nations.
• Some scholars argue that it is a religious obligation, particularly the more conservative factions within the Muslim world. There are many variations and interpretations.

How does the Constitution protect the freedom of religion?

• The Constitution of India under Article 25 provides for the “freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion.”
• It is a right that guarantees that the state must ensure that there is no interference or obstacle to exercising the freedom of religion.
• However, the Right to Religion under Article 25 is not sacrosanct and like all other fundamental rights, the state has the power to impose reasonable restrictions on the freedom of religion to protect public order, morality, health, and other state interests.
• The Right to Religion includes:
  • Freedom of Conscience refers to an individual’s inner freedom to mold his relation with God or Creatures in whatever way he desires.
  • Right to Profess covers the declaration of one’s religious faith and belief openly and freely.
  • Right to Practice covers religious worship, rituals, ceremonies, and the exhibition of beliefs and ideas.
  • Right to Propagate covers the transmission and dissemination of one’s religious beliefs to others, as well as the exposition of one’s religion’s tenets.

 

What is the Essential Religious Practises Test

• Over the years, the Supreme Court has evolved a practical test of sorts to determine what religious practises can be constitutionally protected and what can be ignored.
• SC held in the Shirur Muttcase 1954 that the term “religion” will cover all rituals and practises “integral” to a religion. The test to determine what is integral is termed the “essential religious practises” test.
• The test, a judicial determination of religious practises, has often been criticised by legal experts as it pushes the court to delve into theological spaces.
  • In criticism of the test, scholars agree that it is better for the court to prohibit religious practices for public order rather than determine what is so essential to a religion that it needs to be protected.
• In several instances, the court has applied the test to keep certain practises out.
  • In a 2004 ruling, the SC held that the Ananda Marga sect had no fundamental right to perform Tandava dance in public streets, since it did not constitute an essential religious practice of the sect.
• While these issues are largely understood to be community-based, there are instances in which the court has applied the test to individual freedoms as well.
  • For example, in 2016, the SC upheld the discharge of a Muslim airman from the Indian Air Force for keeping a beard.
  • Armed Force Regulations, 1964,prohibits the growth of hair by Armed Forces personnel, except for “personnel whose religion prohibits the cutting of hair or shaving of face”.
  • The court essentially held that keeping a beard was not an essential part of Islamic practices.

 

What Section 133 (2) says

• Section 133 (2) of the act mandates that, a uniform style of clothes has to be worn compulsorily. However, private school administration can choose uniform of their choice.
• It provides state the power to “give directions to officers or authorities under its control, which are necessary or expedient to carry out purposes of the Act.
• It shall be the duty of officer or authority to comply with the directions.

 

ISRO is developing a NextGen Launch Vehicle (NGLV)

• The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is developing a NextGen Launch Vehicle (NGLV), which will one day replace operational systems like the Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV),

 

India abstains on UNGA resolution against Russia

• India abstained in the UN General Assembly on a draft resolution on Wednesday that condemned Russia’s “illegal” referenda and attempts to annex parts of Ukraine,
• The 193member general assembly voted on Wednesday to condemn Russia’s “illegal referendums in regions within the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine and the attempted illegal annexation of the Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhia regions of Ukraine”.

 

Pilgrim rush to Char Dham yatra creates new record this year

• The Char Dham yatra in Uttarakhand witnessed the highestever footfall this year with over 40 lakh people travelling to the four Himalayan shrines of Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri so far.
• The yatra began on May 3 this year, followed by the opening of the portals of Kedarnath temple on May 6 and Badrinath on May 8. The yatra will end with the closing of the Badrinath temple, scheduled for November 19.
• According to data provided by the State Tourism Department, 40,44,205 people took part in the Char Dham yatra this year (till October 12). Besides the Char Dham, 1,90,264 people visited Hemkund Sahib in Chamoli district, one of the famous Sikh pilgrimage sites.
• According to Tourism Department officials, this year has seen a 35% rise in the number of Char Dham pilgrims compared to the pre COVID season in 2019.
• Of the 40,36,357 pilgrims who visited the Char Dham, the maximum 15,25,183 went to Badrinath followed by 14,25,078 to Kedarnath, 6,12,719 to Gangotri and 4,73,395 to Yamunotri.
• With a month still left for the six month pilgrimage to end, the State is expecting at least another two to three lakh pilgrims.

 

Global wildlife population on a decline, says WWF

• 69 % by which wild populations of monitored animal species have plummeted in the last 50 years, according to a report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
• The report found that the main drivers of wildlife loss are habitat degradation due to development, exploitation, the introduction of invasive species, pollution and climate change.

About WWF

WWF is World Wide Fund for Nature. It is an international non-profit organization dedicated to the preservation and conservation of nature and its different species. It is the world’s biggest conservation organization. It supports more than 1000 projects all over the world.

World Wide Fund for Nature History

• Founded on 29th April 1961.
• Its precursor organisation was the Conservation Foundation.
• Its original name was World Wildlife Fund.
• WWF Headquarters – Gland, Switzerland.

World Wide Fund For Nature Mission Statement

“To conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth.”

WWF Work

• WWF works in the areas of climate, food, forests, freshwater, oceans and wildlife primarily.
• It runs several projects in various fields in partnership with people, bodies and governments worldwide.
• In species conservation, they focus on tigers, elephants, gorillas, giant pandas, sea turtles, polar bears, rhinos and whales.
• Through its various projects, the organisation aims to check the degradation of the earth’s natural environment and create a future in which human beings live in harmony with nature.
• Campaigns launched by WWF include Earth Hour and Debt-for-Nature Swap.

 

Households under MNREGA had no work during COVID: survey

• 39 % of job cardholding households, interested in working under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MNREGA), which did not get a single day of work during the COVID year 202021, a survey said.
• The survey was conducted by Azim Premji University along with the National Consortium of Civil Society Organisations

 

History of MGNAREGA

In 1991,the P.V Narashima Rao government proposed a pilot scheme for generating employment in rural areas with the following goals:

• Employment Generation for agricultural labour during the lean season.
• Infrastructure Development
• Enhanced Food Security

This scheme was called the Employment Assurance Scheme which later evolved into the MGNREGA after the merger with the Food for Work Programme in the early 2000s.

Objectives of MGNREGA:

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) has the following objectives:

• Provide 100 days of guaranteed wage employment to rural unskilled labour
• Increase economic security
• Decrease migration of labour from rural to urban areas

 

Startup funding in India drops to a two year low

• 7 $ billion, the startup unding in India in the third quarter of 2022, a two year low, as per the PwC India report.
• Only two startups in India attained unicorn status in the July September period of 2022, mirroring a global trend of the decline in the number of new unicorns this last quarter, said the report titled ‘Startup Deals Tracker Q3 CY22’.

 

The Interpol General Assembly meeting in Delhi

The General Assembly of the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) is meeting in Delhi for four days from October 18.

What is the Interpol?

• Set up in 1923, the Interpol is a secure Information sharing platform that facilitates criminal investigation of police forces across the globe through collection and dissemination of information received from various police forces.
• It keeps track of the movements of criminals and those under the police radar in various regions and tips off police forces which had either sought the Interpol’s assistance or which in its opinion will benefit from the particulars available with it.
• Aided by state of the art databases and computer analytics, the Interpol operates round the clock and employs some of the best minds in the area of crime analysis and technology.
• It aims to promote the widest possible mutual assistance between criminal police forces.

 

How is the Interpol organised?

• The head of Interpol is the President who is elected by the General Assembly.
• He comes from one of the member nations and holds office for four years.
• The day to day activities are overseen by a fulltime Secretary General elected by the General Assembly, who holds office for five years.
• The General Assembly lays down the policy for execution by its Secretariat which has several specialised directorates for cybercrime, terrorism, drug trafficking, financial crime, environmental crime, human trafficking, etc.
• Every member country is the Interpol’s face in that country. All contact of a country’s law enforcement agency with Interpol is through the highest investigating body of the land.
• The CBI assumes this role in India with one of its senior officers heading its exclusive Inter wing (the National Central Bureaus) for collation of information and liaison with the world body.

 

What is the Red notice?

• It is a structured communication issued by the Interpol to all member nations notifying the name(s) of persons against whom an arrest warrant is pending in a particular country.
• The notice issued requests all member nations that if the named individual(s) is located in their country an immediate communication should be sent to the nation that wants him in connection with a criminal investigation.

 

Maiden train connecting Tripura, Manipur flagged off

• President Droupadi Murmu on Thursday flagged off two passenger trains, one of them connecting Tripura and Manipur for the first time.
• While the Jan Shatabdi Express will operate between Tripura capital Agartala and Khongsang in Manipur, the other train is a special express linking Agartala and Kolkata via Guwahati.
• The President, accompanied by Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, flagged off the two passenger trains of Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) at Agartala railway station.
• The President is also scheduled to inaugurate the first train between Nagaland and Meghalaya on Friday.
• This train is an extension of the Guwahati Lumding Guwahati Express.

 

Allu Arjun win the CNN – News 18 india of the year 2022 award

 

Indian  Space economy is likely to touch nearly USD 13 Billion by 2025

 

Modhera Village of Gujrat has been declared as 24*7 Solar power village

 

Jharkhand register the Highest percentage of Underage Girls getting married

 

ICICI Bank has introduced Smart wire service

 

National security guard hosting the Multinational Joint Anti Terror Exercise (JATE)

 

Goa will host 37^th National Games in 2023

 

Pooja Patel win the first ever Gold in Yoagasana in 36 Nationa games

 

Source: THE HINDU