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South Africa accused Israel on Thursday of carrying out genocide in Gaza and demanded that the UN’s top court order an emergency suspension of Israel’s devastating military campaign in the Palestinian enclave. Meanwhile, first residents returned to northern areas where Israeli forces have begun withdrawing, leaving behind scenes of total devastation.
On the first of two days of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), South Africa said Israel's offensive, which has demolished much of thecoastalenclaveandkilled23,469 people according to Gaza health authorities, aimed to bring about “destruction of the population” of Gaza.
The intent to destroy Gaza has been nurtured at the highest level of state," Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, advocate of the High Court of South Africa, said. He said Israel's political and military leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were among “the genocidal inciters”.
Israel rejected the accusations of genocide as false and baseless and said South Africa was speaking on behalf of Hamas - which Pretoria said was untrue. PM Netanyahu on Thursday condemned South Africa's genocide case against Israel in Gaza as “hypocrisy and lies”
Explained
Shinde faction is the real Shiv Sena: How speaker came to this decision (Page no. 4)
(GS Paper 2, International Relation)
In a setback to Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray), the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker (January 10) declared that the faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was the “real Sena.” Rahul Narwekar also dismissed all 34 petitions seeking the disqualification of 54 MLAs belonging to the two rival factions.
The Speaker was acting on instructions of the Supreme Court. In its May 11, 2023 judgement, the SC had said there were no extraordinary circumstances for it to act on disqualification pleas, which should be done by the Speaker of the Assembly.
The SC had said that the Speaker should decide which faction was the “real Shiv Sena”, while not basing his decision on a “blind appreciation” of which group possessed a majority in the Assembly.
It also asked the Speaker to act without being influenced by the Election Commission’s ruling of February this year, which had recognised the Shinde faction as a political party.
The Speaker analysed three factors — the 1999 constitution of the Shiv Sena, the leadership structure of the party, and the legislative party majority.
The Speaker held that the 1999 constitution of the Shiv Sena provided by the Election Commission (EC) was the only official constitution for determination of the “real political party”.
Front Page
Govt set to roll out vaccine drive to fight cervical cancer (Page no. 5)
(GS Paper 2, Health)
IN A significant step that can reduce the incidence of cervical cancer — the second most common cancer in women in India — the government is set to roll out a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination campaign for girls in the 9-14 years age group.
The immunisation drive, planned in three phases over three years, is likely to start from the second quarter of this year, The Indian Express has learnt. According to sources, the campaign will begin once the government has a stock of 6.5-7 crore doses of the vaccine needed for the first phase.
Besides cervical cancer, the vaccine also offers protection against the HPV strains that cause cancer of the anus, vagina and oropharynx. Additionally, it also protects against the HPV strains that are responsible for genital warts.
Currently, the two-dose HPV vaccine is available commercially for about Rs 2,000 per dose. But once the government includes it in its immunisation programme, it will be available for free.
A third of the children (girls) between the ages of 9 to 14 years will be immunised each year over three years. During these three years, the new cohort of children who turn nine in states where the catch-up has happened will also receive the vaccine,” said a senior official, adding that the government is in the process of selecting the states where the campaign will first be rolled out.
Assam sets 3 child cap for new rural scheme beneficiaries (Page no. 5)
A new financial support scheme for rural women entrepreneurs by the Assam government comes with a few conditions — including a cap on the number of children they have.
While women from general and OBC categories cannot have more than three children if they wish to avail of the scheme, the limit is four children for women from Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs).
Announcing the Mukhyamantri Mahila Udyamita Abhiyaan (MMUA) on Thursday, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that gradually, all beneficiary schemes by the state government would be tied to such “population norms”.
This is in line with his announcement in 2021 that the state government would have a two-child policy for availing benefits under specific state-funded schemes.
For the MMUA scheme, though, the norms have been relaxed for now. The Moran, Motok and ‘tea tribes’, which have been pushing for ST status, have also been imposed a four-child cap.
The scheme aims to help women who are part of self-help groups in rural parts of the state develop into “rural micro entrepreneurs”, with the target being an annual income of Rs 1 lakh for each member.
Govt & Politics
Ganga mission gets power to allow treated sewage into water bodies (Page no. 6)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), the Centre’s nodal agency responsible for abatement of pollution in river Ganga and its tributaries, has assumed new powers under which it may now permit the discharge of treated sewage and effluent that conforms to the prescribed “norms” into the river, canal or water bodies.
The NMCG, which comes under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, issued a notification Wednesday to amend the River Ganga (Rejuvenation, Protection and Management) Authorities Order, 2016.
Through this notification, the NMCG has added a new proviso in the sub-paragraph (1) of paragraph 6 of the 2016 order, giving it powers to allow discharge of treated sewage, which conforms to the norms prescribed under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, into river or any other water bodies.
According to the new provision, the NMCG may “permit the discharge of treated sewage, which conforms to the norms prescribed under the Act, into the river, canal or water bodies after exploring the option of its direct reuse for purposes such as agricultural use, industrial use, etc.”
Indore, Surat cleanest cities Maharashtra 1st among states (Page no. 8)
(GS Paper 3, Environment)
Indore and Surat were named the joint winners of the cleanest city award, while Maharashtra bagged the top spot among states in the Union government’s annual cleanliness rankings for urban areas.
This was the seventh year in a row that Indore was named the cleanest city in the Swachh Survekshan Awards. Surat, which has been in second place behind Indore for the past three years, won the top award for the first time.
Both cities had 100% door-to-door collection of waste, 98% segregation at source and 100% remediation of dumpsites, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ Swachh Survekshan 2023 dashboard. Both cities were tied at the top place among cities with a population over 1 lakh.
The rankings take into account door-to-door collection of waste, segregation at source, cleanliness of public areas, clean water bodies and citizens’ feedback regarding the cleanliness of their cities.
Of the eight rounds of annual awards since 2016, this was the first time that two cities shared the top prize. Navi Mumbai was named the third cleanest city.
With 89.24% door-to-door collection and 67.76% source segregation, Maharashtra was awarded the cleanest state. In second place, Madhya Pradesh has 90.59% door-to-door segregation and 54.1% source segregation.
Editorial
A new Maharashtra model (Page no. 10)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
It may be no exaggeration to say that the Speaker of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly has made a mockery of the Constitution with his decision on the Shiv Sena split. Speaker Rahul Narwekar’s decision to recognise Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who left the Uddhav Thackeray-led group, as the leader of the actual Shiv Sena might be used as a textbook example of disregard for the legislative procedure and regulations.
While his decision legitimises the split, it is bad in the law’s letter and spirit. After years with the Shiv Sena and the NCP, Narwekar is now a member of the BJP, and it can be said that no one imagined anything different from him.
Usually, there is a palpable anxiety in the air ahead of a crucial decision, such as on the disqualification of legislators. In Maharashtra, however, it was business as usual. Chief Minister Shinde was away from Mumbai, none of the political heavyweights were present in the state assembly as the order was being passed and the bureaucracy was busy preparing for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s high-profile Maharashtra visit.
This, incidentally, is the 10th visit in as many months. This fact alone underlines how important Maharashtra is for the ruling dispensation in the coming polls.
It also highlights how improbable it was, perhaps, to expect the Speaker to rock the boat by disqualifying the ruling Shinde-led group.
Ideas Page
Open up the playing field (Page no. 11)
(GS Paper 2, Governance)
The Telecommunication Act 2023, replaces the hoary Telegraph Act 1885 and the Wireless Telegraphy Act 1933.
Through these years, as technology evolved, service providers entered and exited, and communications changed from voice to data, the Telegraph Act stood tall, albeit through a series of amendments and intermittent policy reforms.
The life span of this new Act may not be as long, but it will need to see through the next few generations of communications technology including a multitude of innovations spanning human-human (voice calls, messaging, video calls), human-machine (wearables), and machine-machine (Industry 4.0) communications.
The use of computing and other complementary technologies such as artificial intelligence, internet of things, and quantum computing, will become inseparable from communications technology.
Economy
India-US trade policy meeting starts today: GSP, Laptop import monitoring system on table (Page no. 17)
(GS Paper 3, Economy)
India and the US are set to take up a number of sticky trade issues — ranging from New Delhi’s long-pending demand seeking the restoration of Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) that was revoked under former US President Donald Trump to Washington’s objection to India’s laptop import monitoring system — at the trade policy forum meet that begins today
The US is India’s single largest trade partner and the only large economy where India exports more than it imports.
At a time when goods exports are slowing in the West due to the Russia-Ukraine war, India predominantly depends on the US demand for export earnings and is also banking on the US-led Indo-Pacific Economic Framework for Prosperity (IPEF) trade pact to counter China’s mammoth influence on trade in Asia.
With the US firms increasingly adopting China plus one policy and the ongoing supply chain reset, closer trade ties with the US could help India attract more foreign direct investment (FDI).
Moreover, in the absence of a free trade agreement (FTA) with the US, such trade policy forum meetings are among the few platforms to resolve trade tensions and push for tangible export growth.