Latest news with #UnionTerritories
Scroll.in
6 hours ago
- Politics
- Scroll.in
Will move SC if there is inordinate delay in restoring statehood to J&K, says Farooq Abdullah
The National Conference will move the Supreme Court if there is an inordinate delay in restoring statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, party chief Farooq Abdullah said on Saturday, PTI reported. After a party meeting, Farooq Abdullah said that the residents of the Union Territory wanted their issues resolved immediately after the Assembly elections in October but 'statehood [not being restored] is stopping us'. 'We are waiting for statehood,' The Hindu quoted the National Conference chief as saying. 'If there are delays, we will have no option but to go to the Supreme Court. I am hopeful that when statehood is restored, we will get [more] powers.' The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Centre had abrogated Article 370, which gave special status to the erstwhile state, in August 2019. It also bifurcated the state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh. In December 2023, the Supreme Court upheld the validity of the 2019 order abrogating Article 370 and ordered the Centre to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. On November 6, the Assembly passed a resolution calling for the restoration of the special status that the erstwhile state had under Article 370. Through the resolution, the Assembly had sought to reaffirm the importance of the special status and constitutional guarantees that 'safeguarded the identity, culture and rights of the people' of Jammu and Kashmir and 'expresses concern over their unilateral removal'. The MLAs had also urged the Union government to 'initiate dialogue with elected representatives' of the Union Territory 'to work out constitutional mechanisms' for the restoration of special status and the constitutional guarantee. In January, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said that he wanted to give the Centre the 'first opportunity' to restore the Union Territory's statehood before seeking legal recourse. The National Conference leader told reporters that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had himself committed to restoring the statehood of Jammu and Kashmir. 'Every government or every individual has recourse to courts,' Omar Abdullah said. 'But that was never going to be our first option.' 'The biggest promise the Central government made to J&K [ahead of the elections] is restoration of statehood,' Abdullah said. 'When the Supreme Court gave its verdict…it said that statehood should be restored 'as soon as possible'. It has been a year and we believe that that's enough.' Farooq Abdullah's remarks on Saturday also came a day after the chief minister reiterated the demand for statehood, saying that 'he was still waiting for the prime minister to fulfil his promise', The Hindu reported.
Mint
2 days ago
- General
- Mint
Chandigarh leads Centre's school education index: Check rankings of other states
Chandigarh, Delhi, Punjab, Gujarat, Odisha, Kerala, Haryana, Goa, Maharashtra, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu and Rajasthan recorded significant improvement in performance among all states and Union Territories (UTs) in the latest Performance Grading Index 2.0 report. The report published by the Union Ministry of Education for 2022-23 and 2023-24 on Thursday details the assessment of school education across various indicators, such as learning outcomes and infrastructure. Chandigarh recorded maximum improvement and achieved a score of 703 out of 1,000, corresponding to Prachesta 1 grade. Emerging as the best-performing Union Territory, it improved its score from 687.8 recorded in the 2022-23 session. The education sector evaluation report is based on six key domains, namely, learning outcomes and quality, access, infrastructure, equity, governance processes, teacher education and training. It features data from Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+), National Achievement Survey (NAS), PM POSHAN portal, PRABAND portal and Vidyanjali Portal. It is important to note that none of the states featured in the top-scoring range, which is above 761. A total of 24 States and Union Territories improved their scores in 2023-24 compared with the previous year's data. Notably, Chandigarh leads in only two of the six domains, which are infrastructure and facilities and equity. Delhi, Punjab and Gujarat recorded a score above 600. Delhi's score stood at 623.7, indicating marked improvement from the previous 579.3. Punjab and Gujarat, other top performers, recorded scores of 631.2 and 614.4, respectively. On the other hand, Meghalaya registered least improvement in performance indicators and recorded the least score of 417.9, as per Performance Grading Index report. All of northeastern states, including Nagaland, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh recorded a score below 500, except for Sikkim, Tripura and Assam. Chandigarh's school education director, Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar, said, 'At the heart of this success are our teachers and the encouragement by the UT administrator and chief secretary, along with the integration between various departments,' HT reported.
The Hindu
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hindu
School education index: State's scores dip, retains grade
Kerala has retained its grade but seen its scores dip in the Performance Grading Index (PGI) 2.0 for States and Union Territories report released by the Union Ministry of Education recently. The State, along with nine other States and Union Territories, has received the grade 'Prachesta-3' (for 31% to 40% of total score of 1,000) in both the 2022-23 and the 2023-24 academic years, but is among the 12 States and Union that have seen their scores decline during the period. The State had a score of 601.9 in 2022-23 but saw it fall to 594.2 in 2023-24. While Haryana, Delhi, Maharashtra, and Rajasthan improved their scores to enter Prachesta-3 grade, among States than retained the grade only Kerala saw its scores fall by 7.7 points. Punjab improved its performance by 17.1 points from 2022-23 to achieve the highest score in this grouping at 631.2 points. Chandigarh performed the best in the PGI securing the grade Prachetsa-1 in 2023-24. It improved its score from 687.8 in 2022-23 to 703 in 2023-24. No State attained scores in the range of 761-1,000. Kerala's score in the learning outcome and quality domain remained unchanged in 2023-24 from that in the previous year. It scored 60.2 points out of 240, tied with Gujarat. Punjab had more than twice Kerala's score – 113.4. Chandigarh had 103.6 points and Rajasthan 98.8. In access, Kerala scored 72.1 points out of 80. Puducherry had the highest score in this domain with 73.7 points. In the infrastructure and facilities domain, the State scored 107.7 points. Odisha was close behind with 107.5. Chandigarh had the highest score – 148. Delhi had 117.9 points. The State scored 220.7 in the equity domain. Delhi secured the highest points – 239.1. Neighbouring Tamil Nadu had 234.9 points and Maharashtra 234.3. In governance processes domain, Kerala had 42 points, while Gujarat had 87.8 points. Chandigarh followed with 76.7 points. The State improved its performance in 2023-24 from that in the previous year in the teacher education and training domain to secure the highest score of 91.4 points, securing the Daksh grade in this domain. It is also one of three States to secure a Daksh grade in any domain. Tamil Nadu and West Bengal both of which secured Akanshi – 1 grade (21% to 30% of the total score) were among the States that saw their scores dip in 2023-24 from that in the previous year. In the PGI report for districts, 10 districts of the State had secured Uttam -3 grade (61% to 70% of the total score of 600 points) in 2022-23, with only Kozhikode, Kasaragod, Palakkad, and Wayanad getting the Prachesta-1 grade (51% to 60% of the total score). A year later, the number of districts graded Uttam-3 had dropped to four, while 10 districts achieved Prachesta-1. In all, 40 districts in the State secured Uttam-3. The main categories for PGI-district report include outcomes; effective classroom transaction; infrastructure and facilities; school safety and child protection; digital learning; and governance processes.
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
States told to hold yatras on 50th year of ‘Emergency'
NEW DELHI: From organising mashaal/e-torch yatras, screening short films, and mass contact programmes to outreach in schools and colleges, the Centre has directed all state governments and Union Territories to undertake a year-long commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the imposition of the 'Emergency' on June 25, as 'Constitution Murder Day'. In a letter to Chief Secretaries, the Union Culture Ministry said, 'The occasion is not merely for remembrance but for deep reflection and renewed commitment to democratic values and constitutional morality. In this regard, the Ministry of Culture is undertaking a yearlong commemoration starting on June 25, 2025, till June 25, 2026'. The highlight of the year-long events would be the Mashal/E-torch yatra, where six mashaals/e-torches representing the 'spirit of democracy' are to be flagged off from Delhi on June 25, 2025. The torch procession will culminate at Kartavya Path, New Delhi, on March 21, 2026, and will be attended by Prime Minister Modi. The details of the route map were being worked out, said the ministry. Besides the yatras, the ministry has also charted out exhibitions, seminars, speeches, and outreach to schools and colleges as part of its programmes. The ministry further asked the states to appoint a nodal officer to coordinate with the ministry regarding the events, The letter further states that on June 25, the ministry has planned mass public programmes to promote the spirit of democracy. 'The participants can carry the national flag and placards bearing pre-approved messages such as: 'More power to democracy', 'India: Mother of Democracy,' 'Long Live Democracy, and 'Salute to Sengol-in the Spirit of Democracy,' it said. To evoke a patriotic mood, patriotic songs, short films, and street plays will be continuously played and performed at the venue, the ministry said.
United News of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- United News of India
Shah calls for zero-casualty approach, tackling root causes of disasters
New Delhi, June 16 (UNI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday emphasised the need to adopt a zero-casualty approach in the face of disasters, asserting that while the country is well-prepared to handle such situations, it must also address their root causes. Addressing the annual conference of relief commissioners and disaster response forces of states and Union Territories, Shah identified climate change and global warming as the primary drivers of natural disasters, calling for environmental conservation to be made an integral part of disaster mitigation strategies, a Home Ministry statement said. 'Climate change and global warming are the primary causes of disasters, and therefore, we must move forward with environmental conservation as a core component,' Shah said. He highlighted the significant efforts made over the past 11 years, including the launch of Mission LiFE (Lifestyle for Environment), the proposal for the creation of 'Pro-Planet People,' and India's key role in establishing the International Solar Alliance and the Global Biofuel Alliance. Shah also underlined India's contributions to global disaster risk reduction, citing Prime Minister Modi's 10-point agenda, the formation of the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), and the establishment of a G-20 task force on disaster risk reduction. 'Without environmental conservation, it is impossible to completely prevent disasters,' Shah said, adding that protecting the environment is essential to safeguarding the future. During the conference, Shah asked every relief commissioner to prepare a district disaster management plan for their districts in their state within 90 days, stating that 'until a district has its disaster management plan in place, we cannot respond swiftly in the face of a disaster'. He further emphasised that a lightning action plan also needs to be formulated soon. Highlighting that several states are yet to implement the Incident Response System, Shah added, 'The Central government has allocated a good budget for the expansion and modernisation of fire services as well. NDMA has issued 38 guidelines and 34 Standard Operating Procedures (SoPs) on cross-cutting areas, and it is important that these reach the district level'. He said that a strong action plan should also be developed to tackle heat waves, and its timetable should be based on the actual experience of heat conditions. He mentioned that the government has also formulated several plans for the future. 'We want to make inter-state mock drills an annual programme, and this would not be possible without the cooperation of the states. We also want to link Start-up India with the development of disaster relief technology. We have undertaken the task of training one lakh community volunteers, 20 percent of whom are women. Alongside this, we have launched the Yuva Aapda Mitra (Young Disaster Friends) scheme with an investment of Rs 470 crore,' the Home Minister said. Shah said that in the past 10 years, 5the government has achieved several milestones in the field of disaster management. 'In 2018-19, we also announced the Subhash Chandra Bose Aapda Prabandhan Puraskar (Disaster Management Award). Every state should send nominations for this. For National Cyclone Risk Mitigation, we have worked successfully in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. The NDRF has also been strengthened — its strength has increased from eight battalions in 2006 to 16 battalions today. In addition, the NDMA has also initiated night-time mock drills in Leh-Ladakh'. The Home Minister said that due to climate change and global warming, the entire world is grappling with disasters today. He said that in the past 10 years, because of the contributions of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and the Coalition for Disaster Resilient Infrastructure (CDRI), India is moving towards becoming a global leader in the field of disaster management. He highlighted that NDMA has done commendable work in policy frameworks, research, disseminating various training materials, developing apps, and overall coordination. Adding that NDRF has earned nationwide recognition, built a strong reputation, and gained respect. The State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) has also played a significant role in this structure. Shah said that whenever the history of India's disaster response is written, these 10 years of the Modi government will be recorded as a transformative decade. He said that in the past 10 years, the government has achieved significant milestones in the four areas of capacity building, speed, efficiency, and accuracy in disaster management. 'Not only has our capacity to handle disasters been increased, but it has also been enhanced and extended to the tehsil level. Attention has been given to speed, as saving lives during a disaster is of utmost importance,' Shah said. The Home Minister noted that efficiency has been improved through the use of cutting-edge technology and the dedicated approach of disaster response forces. Additionally, by providing accurate forecasting and early warnings, society has been made aware and successfully engaged in relief and rescue operations. He said that during the Modi government's tenure, there has been a significant shift in the approach related to disaster management. Earlier, the approach was relief-centric, but today, the goal of 'zero casualty' has been successfully achieved, and the focus has shifted from relief-centric to a comprehensive and integrated approach. Highlighting the achievements in the development of early warning systems, Shah said, 'Timely preparedness has been integrated with the calendar, a scientific approach has been evolved for active prevention and mitigation, and we have also achieved significant success in disaster risk reduction'. He said that by pursuing the goal of 'Minimum Casualty', the government has amazed the entire world by achieving the target of 'Zero Casualty' in 10 years. UNI RBE PRS
