The National Investigation Agency (NIA) carried out searches at multiple locations in Jammu and Kashmir to investigate financial links between former DSP Davinder Singh and Pakistan-based terror outfit Hizbul Mujahideen. Places raided include premises of carpet businessman Sahil Jaroo.

The development comes almost a month after the NIA filed a charge sheet against six persons, including suspended DSP Davinder Singh, in a special NIA court in Jammu. The NIA has named Naveed Mushtaq alias Naveed Babu, Irfan Shafi Mir, Rafi Rather, Tanveer Ahmad Wani, and Syed Irfan in its charge sheet, besides Davinder Singh.

The suspended police officer is lodged in Kathua jail at Heeranagar in Jammu division. He was arrested by the police on January 11 on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway while transporting two HM terrorists — Naveed Babu and Rafi Ahmad Rather — and a law school dropout Irfan Shafi Mir to Jammu.

The NIA probe revealed that the accused were part of a deep-rooted conspiracy hatched by Hizbul and Pakistani state to commit violent acts and to wage war against India.

Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister DV Sadananda Gowda has said that in the next couple of years, India will be self-sufficient in the production of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and Key Starting materials to reduce import dependency and attain drug security.  

Addressing a webinar organised by a Pharmacy College in Bengaluru, he said, three medical device parks and three pharmacy parks being developed at an investment of 13,600 crore rupees, will make this a reality.

The Minister also informed that 50 new Janaushadhi outlets were opened recently taking the total such outlets to 6500 across 732 districts in the country. He said by the end of this month, all the districts in the country will have Jan Aushadhi outlets.

Janaushadhi outlets sell quality medicines at 50 to 90 percent less rate than the branded medicines. For example it sells sanitary pad for just one rupee. During the previous year Janaushadhi kendras sold medicines worth 430 crore rupees.

Mr Gowda informed that since the last four months during the pandemic period, the public saved 1260 crore rupees by buying medicines in Janaushadhi Kendras.

In the run up to the 74th Independence Day celebrations, AIR brings a special story about Commerce and Industry in the country.

Government’s incessant efforts and policy reforms have changed the world’s outlook towards India. Through path-breaking decisions and special production linked incentive schemes, the government has been able to improve the country’s ranking substantially in terms of ease of doing business.  

India is poised to become world leader in terms of electronic manufacturing especially in the field of mobile manufacturing.  The forex reserves have touched new heights even in the midst of a global pandemic due to impetus on domestic manufacturing while ensuring a robust global supply chain.

Speaking exclusively to AIR News, Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog, Rajiv Kumar said that the reforms in the last 6 years in the country have drastically changed India’s image at global forums. He said with increase in global investment and domestic manufacturing, the government is also credited with stream lining trade imbalances with many partner countries.

Mr. Kumar enumerated the multi pronged approach of the government for coming years which he said will steer the country out of the aftereffects of COVID crisis.

Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has said all issues like excessive rubber deposits, water stagnation and cracks that were red-flagged by the DGCA in the past were addressed and rectified by the Kozhikode airport operator.

In a series of tweets, Mr Puri said raising such concerns is the normal work of the Directorate General of Civil Aviation. He said that the aviation regulator strictly ensures that these are complied with and rectified under all circumstances. This was done by the airport operator. His comments came after various news reports stated that the DGCA had issued a show cause notice to the director of the Kozhikode airport in July last year after it found various critical safety lapses in different places including the runway and the apron.

Mr Puri said, an enquiry has been ordered under the Aircraft Act in case of the Kozhikode accident and black boxes of the flight have been recovered and findings of the investigation will be made public.

The Minister asked people to exercise patience and refrain from making speculative observations bordering on the irresponsible. He said he is continuously taking stock of the situation arising due to the accident in Kozhikode and holding meetings with senior officials. 

India and China held Major General-level talks yesterday to take forward the disengagement process along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. The talks began at 11 AM at a border personnel meeting point in Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) area on the Chinese side of the LAC and concluded at 7:30 PM.

The meeting primarily focused on implementation of certain decisions taken at the fifth round of talks between Corps Commanders of the two armies last week on the disengagement process. The two sides discussed various finer details on taking forward the disengagement process in the friction points where the withdrawal of Chinese troops is yet to complete. 

The Indian delegation at the talks was headed by Major General Abhijit Bapat, General Officer Commanding of the 3 Infantry Division. It is learnt that the two sides also deliberated on having a specific timeline for withdrawal of troops from all the friction points.

At the latest rounds of military talks, the Indian side has been insisting on complete disengagement of Chinese troops at the earliest, and immediate restoration of status quo ante in all areas of eastern Ladakh prior to May 5 when the standoff began.

In Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa will take oath as the new Prime Minister today after the landslide victory of his party at general elections held on Wednesday. His party and allies have secured two-thirds majority in Parliament.

The oath taking ceremony will be held at an ancient Buddhist temple near Colombo. He will be administered the oath by his younger brother Gotabaya Rajapaksa. However, other cabinet members will be sworn in next week at a ceremony in Kandy.

Mahinda Rajapaksa served as the country’s President from 2006 to 2015. He was appointed Prime Minister after Gotabaya’s victory in November Presidential elections though his side did not enjoy a majority in Parliament.

The India Meteorological Department has warned of heavy rain across the northwest region during the next two days. It has issued an orange category warning for parts of northwestern India, which means disaster management authorities should be prepared to avert any possible disasters.

IMD said the monsoon trough is likely to shift northwards and cause heavy to very heavy rain in Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chandigarh, Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh and eastern Rajasthan. Rainfall activity over northwestern India is likely to increase from today and heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected at isolated places in the Western Himalayan region over the next two days.

IMD said extremely heavy rain is likely to continue at many places in Kerala till tomorrow. Extremely heavy rains continued on Friday and Saturday in Kerala, where a red category warning has been issued for the weekend. A red warning implies disaster management authorities need to act immediately to control or prevent any rain or flooding disaster. 

Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal has said that India can become a trusted partner in the global supply chain. He said, the world is looking for trusted partners where there is rule of law, transparency in systems, strong judiciary and democratic traditions and India fulfils all these conditions.

Addressing India@75 Summit organised by CII, Mr Goyal said, India has to engage with the world with competitive prices, high quality products, large scale economies of manufacturing, high productivity levels, but not on the crutches of government subsidies.

Talking about the performance of the country’s exports, Mr Goyal said, the current numbers of outbound shipments are showing signs of significant improvement. He said, exports last month reached about 91 per cent level as compared to July 2019.

The Minister also said that for the last 11 days, Indian railways have been running the freight trains at twice the speed of what they were running one year ago.

The recovery rate from COVID-19 infection has improved further and it has now reached 68.32 per cent. Union Health Ministry in a statement said that with 48 thousand 900 patients recovering in the last 24 hours, the country’s total recoveries from COVID-19 has reached 14 lakh 27 thousand and five. At present, the active cases are six lakh 19 thousand and 88 which account for 29.64 per cent of total positive cases. Such persons are under medical supervision either at hospitals or in home isolation.
 
The Ministry said, effective surveillance and improved testing network have ensured early detection of cases and consequentially leading to timely clinical management of the severe and critical cases. It said, India has one of the lowest cases per million at 1,469 against the global average of 2,425.
 
The Ministry said, due to coordinated implementation of ‘Test, Track and Treat’ strategy, the Case Fatality Rate has been low when compared to the global scenario. The Case Fatality Rate continued to fall progressively and now it stands at 2.04 per cent.
 
The Health Ministry added that with focused efforts to reduce mortalities due to COVID-19, India has registered one of the lowest deaths per million at 30 as compared to the global average of 91 deaths per million. It also said, five lakh 98 thousand and 778 tests were conducted for COVID-19 infection in the last 24 hours. With this, over two crore and thirty three lakh samples have been tested so far. The Tests Per Million has seen a sharp increase to 16,947 yesterday. The Ministry further said, with 936 labs in the government sector and 460 private labs, India has a network of 1,396 labs for COVID-19 testing.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch the financing facility of one lakh crore rupees under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund  today through video conferencing. He will also release the sixth instalment of funds of 17 thousand crore rupees to 8.5 crore farmers under the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojna (PM-KISAN) scheme.

AIR correspondent reports, the  financing facility under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund will catalyze the creation of post-harvest management infrastructure and community farming assets like cold storage, collection centres and processing units.

These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce, as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, and increase processing and value addition. One lakh crore rupees will be sanctioned under the financing facility in partnership with multiple lending institutions.  

11  Public Sector Banks have already signed MOUs in this regard. Three percent interest subvention and credit guarantee of up to two crore rupees will be provided to the beneficiaries to increase the viability of these projects.

The beneficiaries of the scheme will include farmers, Marketing Cooperative Societies, Joint Liability Groups, Multipurpose Cooperative Societies, Agri-entrepreneurs and Startups.

The PM-KISAN scheme has provided a direct cash benefit of over 75 thousand  crore rupees to more than 9.9 Crore farmers. This has enabled them to fulfil their agricultural requirements and support their families.

The scheme has also been instrumental in supporting farmers during the COVID-19  pandemic, through the release of nearly  22 thousand crore rupees to aid the farmers during the lockdown period.

  The indian Government issued the first environment impact  Assessment  EIA  notification in the year 1994 under the Environment protection act ,1986 (EPA). This notification was replaced by amended draft in 2006   which still valid .The union Ministry of  Environment , Forest climate change has proposed a new draft notification  of EIA  to amend  the EIA  notification 2006  with aim to increase the productivity  and availability of  a few drugs. It has invited comments from public  regarding it . The last date of adding comments was 30th june , but it extended to  August 11,2020.

Details 

The draft EIA notification 2020  re categories  all the projects or activities  related to the production of bulk drugs and  intermediates for several ailments  from category A to B2 category . This project can seek clearance that violates the Environment (protection) Act 1986( EPA). It exempts various projects from the EIA including the strategic projects labeled by Government , national highways and inland waterways projects.

Environment Impact Assessment is a process that assesses the effect of newly  proposed industrial or infrastructural projects on the Environment. It prevents  approval and initation of any project without proper supervision.It  identifies and evaluate environmental, social , economic impacts of projects. Predicts environmental consequences of projects  . Ensure environmentally sound and sustainable development .

A pil is filed by united conservation  Movement charitable and  welfare trust  seeking to translate  the draft in all 22 regional languages  mentioned in the eighth schefule of the Indian constitution. Pil also seeks to extend the last date of receiving comments to December 31 ,2020.

In India, the political system has not been static. It has been changing with times but to a large extent basic system has remained unchanged. In the ancient past both under the Hindu and the Muslim rulers, there used to be absolute monarchy. The ruler used to be above law of the land. There used to be no written laws. The words of the Raja or Badshah used to be final and no one dared to challenge the commands of the King. He, of course, used to have his Ministers who provided him feedback in order to enable him to take a decision, but it was not obligatory for of the king to accept their advice.

The last of the Mughals surrendered before the de facto authority of the East India Company. The Company governed a large part of India but again basically the system remained the same. It had no feedback from the people. Input system was very weak and character of administration remained autocratic. There was administrative machinery, but more than often that was used as instrument of exploitation of the people, rather than that of their welfare. Since the feedback to the political system established by East India Company in India was poor, therefore, output in the form of final laws was not to the satisfaction of the people. The result was that the structure could not resist the demands of the people and ultimately bowed down when there was outburst in 1857. The administration of India went from the Company to the Crown.

The system had slight change under the Crown. It was felt that that would be made responsive to the people though slowly and gradually but practically that did not happen. From unwritten law, a step forward towards written law was taken when Acts were passed in 1861, 1909, 1919, 1935 and then in 1947. Basic structure and system, however, remained unchanged. Throughout the period in India the system was headed by a Governor- General, who was not responsible to the people of India in any way. Though Councils set up under the Acts were enlarged and it was hoped that these would provide sufficient feedback to law makers yet the whole process was very slow. The right to franchise was given to very few persons who really did not represent the masses. The system came under strains and stresses by Indian political leaders who suggested the people of India to demonstrate, go on strike, boycott British goods, customs and the people as well as their way of life. World public opinion put more strains on the system.

India, i.e. Bharat, as stated in her constitution is a ‘Union of States’ and follows a democratic parliamentary system of governance. Naturally, the features of Indian political system are varied. The well developed and fully evolved form of democracy that we witness today in India has taken a long span of time to be matured. It has seen both ups and downs, but has managed to survive successfully. We know that there are many factors which worked for the success of India’s democracy. But here we put light on merely the most cardinal factors which directly helped India to preserve their democratic government in the last few decades.

The of Indian political system are –

1.     Panchayat System: One of the salient features of Indian political system, the Panchayat system of ancient India helps the people of India to cope with the culture of democracy. The Panchayat is today the lowest and in a sense the most basic- unit of self government in India. Today, there exists a three-tier Panchayat System in India, gram Panchayat at the village level, Panchayat samiti at the block level and zila parishad at the district level.

2.     Federalism: The second feature of Indian political system is federalism. In India, the centre largely depends on the states for implementing many of public policies which encourages decentralization process. The term ‘federation’ has nowhere been used in the Constitution. Instead, Article 1 of the Constitution describes India as a ‘Union of States’. The Constitution establishes a dual polity consisting the Union at the Centre and the states at the periphery. Each is endowed with sovereign powers to be exercised in the field assigned to them respectively by the Constitution.

3.     Electoral Practice: India ensured the voting right of people of India by the Constitution of the India which is supreme law of the country. The framers of the Constitution of India described about election of India in the Part XV, Articles 324 to 329 of the Constitution. Moreover, the Indian government or leaders always arrange the elections after the said tenure. In this approach people always get chance to exercise their power or to choose their favorite candidate.  

4.     Multi-Party System: India is known for its multi party system. It is a crucial feature of Indian political system. There are many parties in India ranging from 6 National Political parties and more than 48 state parties and many registered regional parties. The multiparty system in India make unique in the world.  In Indian political system one can find the rightist, centrist, leftist, regional, even local political parties to deal with the political issues.

5.     Written Constitution: The Constitution is not only a written document but also the lengthiest Constitution of the world. Originally, it contained a Preamble, 395 Articles (divided into 22 Parts) and 8 Schedules. At present (2013), it consists of a Preamble, about 465 Articles (divided into 25 Parts) and 12 Schedules. It specifies the structure, organisation, powers and functions of both the Central and state governments and prescribes the limits within which they must operate.

The corona virus infection in India has hit the mark of 21.5 lakh as new cases are being added daily. In a matter of one day, 64000 new cases have been added, making India the world’s third worst infected country. This also includes over 43000 deaths and more than 14.8 lakh patients who have recovered. India added has added over 5 lakh cases in the last 10 days. The rate of recoveries is also on the rise. Recovered cases are now more than double that of active cases. This, however, does not necessarily count as a sign of relief or an indication that the country has hit its peak.

The increase in the cases can also be due to the testing drive which the governments of different states have started in order to ensure that the community spread of the virus is avoided. Another reason for the rapid spread of this virus can be large population of the country and the unhygienic places that most people live in. many argue that the lock down was never the correct solution for fighting the virus as it only gave more time to make people aware about the adversity that the virus can cause. After the government had eased the restrictions, people were quick to go out to live a normal life, the one they had before the lock down.

The rise in the cases is also because of the carelessness of the people. The government has made it mandatory to wear masks whenever going out, but the neglecting nature of the people is such that until and unless a police officer is in their site they will not wear a mask. As the government is easing down the restrictions, the people are more than eager to go out and lead a normal life and our meeting their friends, going to public places, or restaurants, etc. the conflict between the centre and state governments is making it difficult to ensure the availability of the resources necessary for the treatment of the patients.

Thus, we as individuals need to understand that even though every restriction is slowly coming down, it does not mean that we need to go all haywire and try to live the same way as we did earlier because it is being claimed that we now need to learn to live with the virus by wearing masks, practicing social distancing, and maintaining personal hygiene.

Indus Valley civilisation or the harappan civilization is the earliest known urban culture in the Indian subcontinent. Located in the northeastern part of Afghanistan, that stretches to Pakistan and northwestern part of India, the Indus Valley Civilization in its early stage existed as a Bronze Age civilization from 3300 to 1300 BCE. Its mature period covered 2600 to 1900 BCE. The civilization thrived in the Indus River, which is one of the chief rivers in Asia. Another water source that gave life to Indus Valley was the Ghaggar-Hakra River that passes through the northwest point of India and eastern section of Pakistan. These two rivers served as major life support for the population, providing the inhabitants with abundant water supply as well as channel for mobility in and around the valley.

Excavations have revealed that the Harappan civilization town planning was arguably the most scientifically advanced in terms of town planning, albeit by the use of very basic means. The main streets of Indus valley ran from North to South, intersecting each other at right angles. Varying from 9 to 34 feet the streets were suitable for wheeled traffic and slightly elevated at one end to allow rain water to drain out in a particular direction. Excavations have revealed that the Harappan civilization town planning was arguably the most scientifically advanced in terms of town planning, albeit by the use of very basic means.

More features of the urban plan of Indus Valley Civilization included a hydraulic engineering technique in which every house or village got water from common wells. In their own version of bathroom, the water used for bathing directly went to covered drainages located on the sides of the streets. Also, residential homes were linked only to inner and narrower streets and interior courtyards. On the other hand, major thoroughfares connected neighborhoods and villages. There were enormous walls that served as protection from floods and military invasions. Wheeled transportation was also present, making it possible for the people to engage in trade with one another and with traders outside their territory. The Indus Valley inhabitants already had their own writing system as shown in the inscriptions that were later uncovered.

At the most, the Indus Valley civilization may have been populated with more than 5 million inhabitants. Over time, the people learned various crafts such as carving and metallurgy. Carnelian and seal carving was very popular as well as the use of metals such as lead, tin, copper and bronze. Apart from these skills, the Indus people were able to develop their own community plan that is akin to the present day urban planning system. Houses were made of bricks and buildings were erected in groups, resembling a modern urban environment characterized by tall buildings standing side by side. Another standout achievement of the Indus Valley people was their own meticulously planned drainage systems as well as an efficient water supply. Evidently, the Indus Valley Civilization, also known as the Harappan Civilization, already possessed the characteristics of metropolitan culture as seen in the layout of their communities. One of the striking features of these urban centers was their accessibility to places of hygiene (bath houses) where religious rites also took place as historians suggest.