MERS-CoV

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, orgininated from middle east countries

Condemn to die but not to wait

Supreme court's judgement in Shatrughan Chauhan v. Union of india case has received lot of appreciation & has been counted as one of its finest judgement for its clarity & fidelity to earlier decision.

Supreme court has commuted the life imprisonment the sentence of  15 convicts on death row who were shunned by the society .The legal issue at stake in this case was simple: Are the powers of pardon vested in the president & governor under article  72 & 161 of the constitution amenable to judicial review?  The court held that these powers carried with them a concomitant constitutional duty for the authorities exercising  the powers to conform to due process.
Therefore in exceptional cases where, where the authorities concerned may have abdicated its responsibility in acting contrary to requirement of due process, its decisions would be amenable to judicial scrutiny.

Redeeming the supremecourt

Recently in a span of 45 days there have been two important judgement delivered by supremecourt. Both the judgement have received diametrically opposite response.

1. Justice singhvi's judgement on section 377[ Suresh kumar kaushal case]
2. Sathadivam , the CJI 's judgement on death sentence[ shatrughan chauhan vs union of india]


one will count among the court's most poorly reasoned judgements while other is likely to be as one of its finest for its clarity and fidelity to earlier decisions.

ADIZ(Air Defence Identification Zone)

ADIZ:
It is a section of international airspace over which a country declares its right to identify aircraft,ostensibly to protect itself from foreign threat.It is a product of customary international law but it is not jurisdictional.

Beleagured bustards

Points to remember:

1. Growing pressure from cattle grazing & expanding farming activity  has is the most significant causes for falling the number of Indian bustards in India
2. Rajasthan has the largest known population of the great Indian bustards.
3. Fodder supply scheme can spare the grass land which can help to increase the number of great indian bustards.
4. Plantation of exotic tree on open land will not be helpful to increase the Indian bustards as it is not the ideal habitat for them.
5. In Nannaj sanctury  of Maharashtra   there are few areas where Tress have been removed and Indian bustards are getting reappeared.
6. New law on  Land acquisition (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Right_to_Fair_Compensation_and_Transparency_in_Land_Acquisition,_Rehabilitation_and_Resettlement_Act,_2013) may work  against grassland birds , since cultivated lands are eligible for higher compensation, and farmers may remove grasses.

National Green Tribunal & Ministry of Environment & forest

National Green Tribunal act 2010 :

National Green Tribunal act 2010 has been enacted under india's constitutional provision of article 21, which assures the citizen of India the right to healthy environment.NGT is a statutory tribunal and was created by parliament  as a specialized judicial and technical body to adjudicate on environmental disputes and issues.

Highlighted case related to NGT:

Union of India versus Vimal bhai case is related to diversion of forest land, Alaknanda Badrinath Hydro-Electric Project, Chamoli District, Uttrakhand, Ministry of Environment and Forest, Forest Conservation Act, right to appeal.

HealthCare for India's Workers

ESI ( Employee's State Insurance Act)   :  This act has been enacted in India in 1948 but came into reality from 25th feburary 1952.Employees' State Insurance  is self financing social security & health insurance scheme for Indian worker.For all employes earning 25000 per or less per month as wages are eligible to avail this scheme.The employer contributes 4.75 % & employee contributes 1.75 % , total share 6.5 %. This fund is managed by ESI corporation according to rules & regulation ESI act 1948, which oversees the provision of medical & cash benefits to  employees & their family through its large network of branches, hospitals & dispensaries through out India. ESIC is an autonomous corporation under ministry of labor & employment , Government of India.This provides medical & cash benefit to employees.
Recently Union ministry of labor has raised salary cap for availing ESI to rs 25000. This move is expected to expand coverage to an additional 5 million workers & their dependents. 
Out of pocket expenditure on health at 67% india's total spending on health as per the planning commission figures, is the highest in the world. As due to ESI benefit there will be reduction in medical expenses by the employees & it would be a potential boost for consumer spending.
Apart from this any contributory provisioning of medical treatment is at best a short term solution in a largely poor country.
Planning commison's high level expert group has recommended to merge the National rural health mission  & rashtriya swasthya bima Yojna into a system of universal health coverage(UHC) which should be  entirely tax funded & cashless at delivery.