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Dear Reader,
The constitutionality and advisability of the abrogation of Article 370, that provided special status to Jammu & Kashmir has been hotly debated since August of 2019, when it was revoked. Finally, on December 11, 2023, a five-judge Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court of India applied closure on the question of constitutionality when it upheld the Union's action to abrogate the Article.
Supreme Court Observer analyses the Bench's arguments and rationale behind the judgment, including the fundamental bone of contention – were the provisions of Article 370 temporary and transitory in nature?
The quest for bolstering the participation of women in all aspects of the national effort has been ongoing. Yet, in science and technology institutions, the number of female scientists is an abysmal 16.6 per cent – making women the "largest minority group in science."
The India Forum reports that an analysis of the government's attempt to bridge this gender gap finds that patriarchy and diffidence in adopting diversity have diluted the effort. The deeply entrenched cultural attitudes which associate specific sciences as "masculine" and fit only for men, add to the inertia in surmounting the gender deficit.
The brutal gangrape in December 2012 of a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern in Delhi, the Nirbhaya case, described by the Supreme Court as a "barbaric" act, led to a national outcry. Faced with public anguish and anger, the government responded by passing several new laws. This included a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years for gang rape and six new fast-track courts created solely for prosecution in rape cases.
The Supreme Court also directed the establishment of over seven hundred 'one-stop centres' (OSCs) in court premises to assist women who have been abused or assaulted. The OSCs were to render, among other facilities, legal and medical help. However, Article 14 finds that in Delhi, India's least safe city, the facility is far from what was expected and mandated, and in some cases, even non-existent.
The ease of doing business is a critical incentive in India's quest for investments and high growth. Potentially a harbinger of job expansion, it caters to the aspirations of India's bulging youth population. But the quest for clearing the decks to create comfort for business, however well-intentioned, has, in some cases, come at the expense of the environment and dilution of compliances.
In Haryana, "home to the second highest grossly polluting industries" in India, The Reporters' Collective investigates and finds that the anxiety in going up the rankings for 'Ease of Doing Business' has impacted the environment. The state's Pollution Control Board, mandated to monitor and control pollution, has turned into a facilitator for fast-tracking approvals for the very industries they oversee. Overambitious deadlines for approvals and penal action on officials not toeing the line have raised concerns, causing unease on the pollution and environment front.
For more such stories from the grantees this week, please read on.
Warmly,
Sunil Rajshekhar
IPSMF
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