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In a significant decision, the government has decided to give a one-time option to select Central government employees to migrate to the Old Pension Scheme (OPS).
The employees should have applied for jobs advertised before December 22, 2003, the day the National Pension System (NPS) was notified, but joined service in 2004, when the NPS came into effect.
The option is available to the Central government employees enrolled under the NPS as they joined service on or after January 1, 2004.
The order will also be applicable to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel. Employees have time till August 31 to opt for the OPS.
The employees’ contribution to the NPS will be credited to the General Provident Fund (GPF) of the individual.
A senior government official toldthat the decision was taken to address the vast gamut of litigations that the government faced on the issue.
There were hundreds of litigations in courts across the country, the government did not win a single case. Through court orders, individual officials were getting benefit, we decided to issue general instructions for the benefit of all eligible officials.
Kerala girl on World Hearing Day poster (Page no. 1)
(Miscellaneous)
Rizwana was six years old when she first heard the music of rain and the joyous twitter of birds in the morning. She did not know till then that her anklets could produce such a melodious jingle or that hearing her mother’s voice for the first time can bring her such joy.
The world that the cochlear implant opened up for Ms. Rizwana, who was born with hearing impairment, was nothing short of magic. It helped her attend normal school and pursue her dreams with confidence.
A final-year MBBS student at the Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam, Ms. Rizwana is a living example that early newborn screening and consistent interventions can save many hearing impaired children from being disabled for life.
It is Ms. Rizwana’s story that WHO India has chosen to put on its poster on World Hearing Day (March 3) to send out this powerful message to millions.
It was the determination and grit of her parents — Abdul Rasheed and Sabitha of Mannanchery, Alappuzha — that made it possible for Ms. Rizwana to hear and speak normally, despite she being a late candidate for cochlear implantation.
Her hearing impairment was identified when she was a year old. Her parents had no idea about cochlear implantation at the time but she was put on rigorous speech therapy and was home-schooled.
When the implantation was done at the age of six, her hearing was restored but doctors were not sure that she would speak.Ms. Rizwana now says that she hopes to be an ENT surgeon one day.
Editorial
Picking the watchdog (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court verdict taking away the power to appoint members of the Election Commission of India (ECI) from the sole domain of the executive is a major boost to the independence of the election watchdog.
The Court has ruled that a three-member committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, or the leader of the single largest Opposition party, and the Chief Justice of India (CJI), will choose the CEC and ECs until a law in passed.
As a constitutional body vested with plenary powers of superintendence, direction and control over elections, the ECI is a vital component of the republic that requires functional freedom and constitutional protection to ensure free and fair elections.
It has been the practice that the President appoints the CEC and ECs on the advice of the Prime Minister, but the Constitution Bench has pointed out that the original intent of the Constitution makers was that the manner of appointment should be laid down in a parliamentary law.
Article 324 says the President should appoint the CEC and Commissioners, subject to any law made in that behalf by Parliament.
However, successive regimes have failed to enact a law. Justice K.M. Joseph, who has authored the main verdict, has based the Court’s decision on “the inertia” of the legislature and the perceived vacuum in the absence of a law.
News
Supreme Court eases norm for selection of consumer court presidents, members (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 2, Polity and Governance)
The Supreme Court on Friday used its extraordinary powers under Article 142 to attract younger talent to preside over consumer courts by reducing the mandatory professional experience from 20 to 10 years.
In a judgment, a Bench of Justices M.R. Shah and M.M. Sundresh also introduced written exams and viva voce to check the candidates’ performance.
Consumer commissions have the power of civil courts in many aspects.The judgment noted that the government has proposed several amendments to the Consumer Protection (Qualification for appointment, method of recruitment, procedure of appointment, term of office, resignation and removal of President and Members of State Commission and District Commission) Rules, 2020.
However, it did not want to wait for the law. Rather, the court said its judgment would fill the vacuum until the amendments were made in the 2020 Rules.
We direct that in future and hereinafter, a person having a Bachelor’s degree from a recognised university and who is a person of ability, integrity and standing, and having special knowledge and professional experience of not less than 10 years in consumer affairs, law, public affairs, administration, economics, commerce, industry, finance, management, engineering, technology, public health or medicine, shall be treated as qualified for appointment of president and members of the State Commission,” the judgment directed.
The appointments to the district consumer commissions would also be made on the same criteria, the judgment noted.
World Bank to lend $1 billion to support India’s health sector (Page no. 9)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
The World Bank is lending up to $1 billion to help India with preparedness for future pandemics as well as to strengthen its health infrastructure. The lending will be divided into two complementary loans of $500 million each.
Through this combined financing of $1 billion, the bank will support India’s flagship Pradhan Mantri-Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission (PM-ABHIM), launched in October 2021, to improve the public healthcare infrastructure across the country.
In addition to the national-level interventions, one of the loans will prioritise health service delivery in seven States — Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Meghalaya, Odisha, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, and Uttar Pradesh.
The $500-million Public Health Systems for Pandemic Preparedness Programme (PHSPP) will support the government’s efforts to prepare India’s surveillance system to detect and report epidemics of potential international concern.
Another $500-million Enhanced Health Service Delivery Programme (EHSDP) will support government’s efforts to strengthen service delivery through a redesigned primary healthcare model, which includes improved household access to primary healthcare facilities, stronger links between each household and its primary care facility through regular household visits and risk assessment of non-communicable diseases.
Both the PHSPP and the EHSDP loans from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) have a final maturity of 18.5 years, including a grace period of five years, stated the World Bank.
The agreement was signed by Rajat Kumar Mishra, Additional Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Auguste Tano Kouamé, country director, India, World Bank.
India’s performance in health has improved over time. According to the World Bank estimates, India’s life expectancy has increased from 58 in 1990 to 69.8 in 2020. This is higher than average for the country’s income level.
India scores 74.4 in World Bank index on working women (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 1, Social Issues)
The laws affecting the Indian working woman’s pay and pension do not provide for equality with Indian men, dragging India’s score in a World Bank index on the life cycle of a working woman down to 74.4 out of a possible 100.
A score of 100 on the Index means that women are on an equal standing with men on all the eight indicators being measured, according to the World Bank’s Women, Business and the Law 2023 report.
India scored higher than the 63.7 average for the South Asian region, though lower than Nepal which had the region’s highest score of 80.6.
Of the 190 economies covered in the Index, only 14 scored a perfect 100: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, Luxemburg, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
For India, the Index used data on laws applicable in Mumbai, viewed as the country’s main business city.
When it comes to constraints on freedom of movement, laws affecting women’s decisions to work, and constraints related to marriage, India gets a perfect score.
However, India lags behind when it comes to laws affecting women’s pay, pension and work after having children, constraints on women starting and running a business, gender differences in property and inheritance.
Business
Ministry seeks partners for textile training scheme (Page no. 12)
(GS Paper 2, Welfare Schemes)
The Ministry of Textiles has called for applications for implementing partners for its Samarth scheme, which will be on till the end of March 2024.
The ministry has opened a window for the implementing partners – industries and industrial associations – to register before March 14, 2023.
Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah said that nearly 1.50 lakh persons (86% women) had been trained under the scheme so far and 70% of them were placed in the organised sector.
The scheme covers the entire textile value chain except for spinning and weaving.