{"id":126543,"date":"2020-05-30T02:46:43","date_gmt":"2020-05-29T21:16:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/?p=126543"},"modified":"2020-05-30T02:46:43","modified_gmt":"2020-05-29T21:16:43","slug":"applies-balm-will-it-heal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/2020\/05\/30\/applies-balm-will-it-heal\/","title":{"rendered":"Applies balm, will it heal?"},"content":{"rendered":"

SC on Migrant Workers<\/strong><\/h3>\n

\nBy Insaf<\/strong>
\nThe Supreme Court finally applies the balm. Noticing \u201cseveral lapses\u201d in dealing with the migrant workers crisis, the court did yield the stick and put a structure for Centre to follow. In no uncertain terms, it ordered: No fare either by train or bus shall be charged from the migrant labourers (it should be shared by States); the originating State should provide meal and water at the station, while Railways will provide the same during the journey; those who are stranded should be provided food by States concerned at places, which shall be publicized\/notified for the period they are waiting their turn; those found walking on roads, immediately be taken to shelters and provided food and all facilities; the State shall oversee their registration and ensure they are made to board train\/bus at an early date; Railways needs to provide trains as and when State governments put in a request and when a migrant worker wishes to go to a State, no State can say that we will not take you. The specifics from a three-judge bench came after taking suo moto notice of \u2018unfortunate and miserable conditions of migrant labourers\u2019 walking on foot and cycles from long distances,\u201d as reported in media. A welcome change for two weeks ago, the apex court had observed hearing a PIL that it couldn\u2019t be expected to stop migrants from taking the hard, life-threatening option of trekking thousands of miles to their villages amid the lockdown! The big question is will orders be followed? Should there be hope for India\u2019s unfortunate?<\/p>\n

High Alert In Ladakh
\nLadakh has put both North and South Block on high alert. Chinese incursions on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh have been on the rise. In fact, while its normal to witness continued incidents of ceasefire violations and infiltration attempts on Line of Control with Pakistan, this summer the LAC has been unusually active. Both Indian and Chinese troops are said to have come to blows on the banks of Pangong Tso on May 5-6 with matters coming to a head when Chinese incursions were detected at three locations along the LAC on Wednesday last. The Chinese have a huge build up that includes upcoming military-style bunkers, new upcoming permanent structures, military trucks, road-building equipment and even a warehouse! Army Chief General Naravane has given an operational review of the situation on the ground on Wednesday last, and has deployed reinforcements at the four standoff points without halting work on the border infrastructure work. The Ministry of External Affairs is firm \u201cIndia will defend its territorial integrity and sovereignty.\u201d And while the Chinese flex their muscles, New Delhi is confident of taming the dragon, even if it means a long haul.<\/p>\n

Locusts Storm
\n\u2018Locust warning alert\u2019 has been sounded off in five States\u2014Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra. Active swarms of desert locusts have already wreaked havoc in Rajasthan and MP, forcing the Centre to step in. \u201c89 fire brigades for pesticide spray; 120 survey vehicles; 47 control vehicles with spray equipment and 810 tractor-mounted sprayers have been deployed, says the Union Agriculture Ministry. While 11 districts in Vidarbha and four in north Maharashtra are gearing up for bigger assault, Odisha government has issued guidelines for a possible attack asking farmers to take preventive steps. As is known, locust swarms can devastate crops and cause major agricultural damage, which can lead to famine and starvation. However, a lot depends on which way the winds blow. This time though these are in different directions. In the past, most of the locust attacks, since 1993 had been localised to Rajasthan alone. Obviously, fear is mounting. Already plagued by an economic slowdown and Covid-19 lockdown, the country can ill-afford an agrarian crisis. Fingers must be kept crossed.<\/p>\n

Himachal\u2019s Blot
\nHimachal Pradesh may well open a can of worms. Rather, it may turn out there could be many more cans if only anti-corruption bureaus across the country get cracking during the pandemic. Wednesday last, the ruling-BJP was left red faced as its State party chief Rajeev Bindal put in his papers following investigation into procurement of medical supplies by the government for Covid-19 since February. Bindal is alleged to be part of an audio clip, under probe by the vigilance and anti-corruption bureau, in which two men are purportedly heard discussing handover of Rs 5 lakh \u201cbribe.\u201d One of them, Director, health services Dr A K Gupta was arrested last week, giving the Opposition ammunition to target the government by claiming the person heard \u201coffering the bribe\u201d is a \u201cruling party leader\u201d. Bindal denies any link, but resigned on \u201chigh moral grounds\u201d, so the probe is \u201cnot influenced in any way\u201d. Be that as it may, the incident should put State governments and vigilance departments on alert to stem the rot that has seeped in, even in the times of corona.
\nTN Sound Advice
\nGovernments can learn a lesson or two from Madras High Court\u2019s judgement. Dealing with an ordinance by ruling AIADMK to take temporary possession of Veda Nilayam, former Chief Minister Late Jayalalithaa\u2019s Poes Garden residence in Chennai, to establish the Puratchi Thalaivi Dr J Jayalalithaa Memorial Foundation, a division bench expressed strong reservations. \u201cWhen there are so many essential amenities which are yet to be provided by the welfare state, public money cannot be wasted for purpose of constructing memorials. The real tribute to any leader should be paid by following his\/her principles and working for people\u2019s benefit and development of society,\u201d it said on Wednesday last. Further, it declared Jayalalithaa\u2019s niece and nephew as Class II legal heirs of her property, and that the government can\u2019t acquire the property without their consent. The two could be administrators for utilising half-acre property, worth over Rs 100 crore, as Chief Minister\u2019s official residence and convert a portion into a memorial. This way, the two won\u2019t have to be compensated for acquiring land and government could use the amount for \u2018developmental purposes such as building infrastructure, providing potable drinking water, cleaning of water bodies etc\u2026\u201d Sound advice indeed.<\/p>\n

Flyover Outrage
\nSparks are flying over naming of a flyover in Karnataka\u2019s capital Bengaluru. On Thursday last, the civic body cancelled the inauguration by Chief Minister Yediyurappa of \u201cVeer Savarkar\u201d flyover, named after Hindutva ideologue\/freedom fighter, on his birthday, citing the lockdown. Not really true. Both Congress and JD(S) have vociferously opposed the name saying: it\u2019s an \u201cinsult to freedom fighters from Karnataka\u2019s soil\u2026 the hasty decision is proof the administration isn\u2019t run by elected government but by those behind the scene.\u201d Ruling-BJP has hit back: \u201cNaming circles, buildings, infrastructure after Nehru and fake Gandhis are the \u2018naamdar\u2019 party\u2019s honour to freedom fighters.\u201d In this tu-tu-mein-mein there\u2019s another voice \u2014 pro-Kannada activists, who have questioned all parties about \u201ccontributions during their rules\u201d. Thus, Twitter users have started social media movement #DontWantSavarkarName. Their justification: National parties name projects after their political leaders to get High Command\u2019s attention! They are hopeful of a victory as in 2009 movement\u2014 the airport was eventually named Kempegowda (Bengaluru\u2019s founder) International Airport. Who said what\u2019s in a name? \u2014INFA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SC on Migrant Workers By Insaf The Supreme Court finally applies the balm. Noticing \u201cseveral lapses\u201d in dealing with the migrant workers crisis, the court did yield the stick and put a structure for Centre to follow. In no uncertain terms, it ordered: No fare either by train or bus shall be charged from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-126543","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-features"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126543","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126543"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126543\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arunachaltimes.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}