New Delhi
Plan Uniform Solatium for Rape Victims: SC
Giving a ray of hope to the victims of rape and sexual exploitation, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed all States and Union Territories to formulate a uniform scheme to provide compensation to the victims, especially those who are physically handicapped, saying there was a need to introspect on their rehabilitation. Taking a cue from Goa, where under the scheme, the victims get compensation of up to Rs 10 lakh, the bench said, “All the States and Union Territories shall make all endeavour to formulate a uniform scheme for providing victims compensation in respect of rape. It is clear that no uniform practice is being followed in providing compensation to the rape victim.”
Cabinet to Look into IIM Bill before Budget
The contentious IIM bill, which seeks to transform the prestigious B-schools into centres of excellence that award degrees instead of diplomas, is finally set to be tabled before the Union Cabinet soon before it is taken up in the Budget Session of Parliament.The bill kicked off a furore last year over fears of undermining the autonomy of the institutes, only to be watered down by the government in the face of huge criticism from IIMs. “The bill is now ready for being considered by the Union Cabinet,” officials in the HRD Ministry said. While the bill sought the approval of the Centre for making rules such as deciding the fee structure has been scrapped along with the policy direction from the government,” IIM-Ahmadabad had written to HRD Minister Smriti Irani.
2030 Deadline Set for Malaria Eradication
In a final push towards Malaria eradication, India has set 2030 as the target year for the elimination of the disease from the country. Seventy per cent of malaria cases and 69 per cent of malaria deaths in South East Asian Region countries occur in India. India’s neighbouring countries Sri Lanka and Nepal have not reported any deaths due to the vector-borne disease in the past several years. Union Health Minister J P Nadda, who launched the National Framework for Malaria Elimination (2016-2030) on Thursday, said the objective of the framework was to reduce the incidence of malaria to less than one case per 1,000 people per year in all States and Union Territories by 2024. “We will ask all State governments to include malaria eradication programmes in their policy matters,” the minister said.
Singapore
Delhi Police Quiz AAP Leader Sanjay Singh
What precautions senior AAP leaders took when they saw farmer Gajendra Singh climbing a tree and why they continued with the rally even after his death topped the list of questions Delhi Police asked senior party leader Sanjay Singh on Thursday. Singh and AAP volunteer Neeraj Chauhan came at around 12.30 pm to Delhi Police’s Crime Branch office in R K Puram, where they were questioned in connection with the death of the farmer during an AAP rally in Jantar Mantar here last year. Three other senior leaders — Ashish Khetan, Kumar Vishwas and Punjab MP Bhagwant Mann — will appear at the same office on Friday for questioning, a senior official said. All five of them were issued a notice by Delhi Police under CrPC Section 160 in the past two days.