CHHATTISGARH
Chhattisgarh soon to have specialised ‘Bastar Special Force’ to fight Maoists
A specialised unit of Chhattisgarh Police’s ‘Bastar Special Force’ may soon be introduced for Maoist-affected districts which will comprise of local youths from the interiors of insurgency-hit Bastar division.
Bastar division comprises of seven districts – Bastar, Kanker, Kondagaon, Dantewada, Narayanpur, Sukma and Bijapur and each one of them has been facing Maoist problem since 1980s.
CM Baghel also asked officials to speed up the process to release the tribals languishing in jails over petty charges and that the recommendations of Justice Patnaik Committee should be followed. The seven-member committee headed by retired justice AK Patnaik was constituted in March last year to review cases against 23,000 tribals in jails.
During the controversial ‘Salwa Judum’— a vigilante movement that began in June 2005 and continued till December 2008—Bastar had witnessed unprecedented violence with SPOs also joining the vigilantes in anti-Maoist movement and the ultras unleashing large-scale violence to crush the anti-Maoist movement.
INTERNATIONAL
International Day of Sign Languages is observed on 23 September
International Day of Sign Languages is observed on 23 September every year. The day aims to raise awareness of the importance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf. The International Day of Sign Languages offers an opportunity to support and protect the linguistic identity and cultural diversity of all sign language users.
International Day of Sign Languages was initiated by the World Federation of the Deaf (WFD). The United Nations passed a resolution and proclaimed the International Day of Sign Languages on 19 December 2017. The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has proclaimed 23 September as the International Day of Sign Languages (IDSL) with an aim to raise awareness of the significance of sign language in the full realization of the human rights of people who are deaf.
NATIONAL
Parliament passed the 2020 Essential Commodities Amendment Bill
The bill was introduced by the Minister of State (MoS) for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Danve Raosaheb Dadarao on 14th September 2020 in the Lok Sabha. The Bill will replace ordinances promulgated on 5th June 2020. The bill was passed by the lower house on 15th September 2020.
Under the Bill, with provisions to remove commodities like cereals, pulses, oilseeds, edible oils, potatoes and onions from the list of essential commodities.
The EC (Amendment) Bill 2020 aims to remove fears of private investors of excessive regulatory interference in their business operations.
The Bill seeks to produce, distribute and supply to harness the economies of scale and attract private sector/foreign direct investment (FDI) into the agriculture sector.
The Bill aims to drive up investment in cold storages and modernization of the food supply chain.
The Bill was introduced as India has become a surplus in most Agri-commodities. The farmers have been unable to get better prices due to lack of investment in cold storage, warehouses, processing and export due to the Essential Commodities Act. Farmers suffer huge losses, especially of perishable commodities. It is expected that the Bill will drive up the investment in cold storages and modernization of the food supply chain.
The Bill is expected to serve both farmers and consumers while bringing in price stability; create a competitive market environment; prevent wastage of agri-produce that happens due to lack of storage facilities.
Rajya Sabha passed 2020 Indian Institutes of Information Technology Laws Amendment Bill
The Indian Institutes of Information Technology Act of 2014 and the Indian Institutes of Information Technology (Public-Private Partnership) Act, 2017 are the unique initiatives of the Government of India. The aim is to impart knowledge in the field of Information Technology to provide solutions to the challenges faced by the country. The IIIT Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 was passed in Lok Sabha on 20th March 2020.
IIIT Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2020 encourage IIITs to promote the study of information and technology (IT) through their innovative and qualitative methods in the country.
The Bill will amend the principal acts of 2014 and 2017.
The Bill will enable the Institutes to attract enough students required to develop a strong research base in the field of Information Technology (IT) in India.
Lok Sabha passes Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020
Lok Sabha passed the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020.
The bill aims to make Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi, English and Urdu as the official languages of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
The earlier the official language for the Union territory was only Urdu.
Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir had informed the Centre that people across the Union Territory had been demanding to include the languages they speak and understand as their official language.
Parliament passed three Labour Codes to pave way for enactment of Labour Laws
Rajya Sabha passed three labour codes namely,
(i) Industrial Relations Code, 2020
(ii) Code on Occupational Safety, Health & Working Conditions Code, 2020
(iii) Social Security Code, 2020.
These Labour Codes seeks to enhance the welfare of the workers in the country.
The Social Security Code provides a framework to include organized and unorganized sector workers under the ambit of comprehensive social security.
New Labour Codes will cover over 50 crore workers from organized, unorganized and self-employed for minimum wages, social security
It will enhance the setting up of “Social Security Fund” for 40 crore unorganized workers along with GIG and platform workers.
The Codes will help in widening Universal Social Security coverage.
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