Divorced Muslim women entitled to secular remedy: SC

The Supreme Court held that divorced Muslim women are entitled to maintenance under the "secular" Section 125 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

The court agreed with amicus curiae, senior advocate Gaurav Agrawal, that a remedy under the secular statutory provision of Section 125 of the Cr.PC cannot be foreclosed for divorced Muslim women by virtue of the enactment of a personal law remedy under the Muslim Women (Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986. 

A divorced Muslim woman is entitled to all rights of maintenance available to other equally situated women in the country.

Caste discrimination in prisons must end, says CJI

The Supreme Court indicated its intention to ask the Union Home Ministry to intervene with the States to overhaul their prison manuals and wipe out hardly acknowledged but existing practices of caste-based discrimination of prisoners. 

Though States such as Uttar Pradesh denied caste-based discrimination within their prison walls, a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud read out portions from its prison documents, which use terms such as "scavenger class". 

At one point, he referred to a paragraph that said convicts serving simple imprisonment would not be called on to perform menial or degrading duties unless they belonged to a class or community "accustomed" to such work. 

Even the odd jobs

For India's gig workers, who are increasing in numbers but are perched precariously on the edge of the unregulated labour pool, the Karnataka Platform-based Gig Workers (Social Security and Welfare) Bill, 2024, offers a welcome reprieve, but still stops short of providing them with the security of being employees. 

When app-based gig work was introduced a decade ago, courtesy ridesharing and food delivery apps, the absence of the word 'employee' was actually seen as a positive; it supposedly offered a chance for 'partners' to retain their autonomy and earn good money without being locked into a contract with rigid timings. 

According to a NITI Aayog report, India had 77 lakh gig workers at the beginning of the decade, and by 2029-30, they are projected to account for 4.1% of income, and 6.7% of the non-agricultural workforce.

A case of people versus population

July 11 has been observed as World Population Day since 1989 after the global population crossed the five billion mark. 

The population is now estimated to be 8.1 billion, with India as the most populous nation (1.44 billion), which is slightly more than China's. 

The case for a caste Census

The problems of social groups that have been historically discriminated against (be it by caste, race, religion, gender, disability etc.) cannot be resolved without collecting data group-identity-wise.

The availability of caste-wise Census data would help curb arbitrary demands from caste groups and capricious decision-making by governments. 

Policymakers would be able to objectively debate and address the claims of, say, the Marathas, Patidars, Jats, or any other groups for reservations.

The government should enlist sociological/anthropological experts to draw up a draft list of castes (together with alternative caste names and the names of sub-castes and larger caste groups) specific to each State, publish the draft list online, invite suggestions and comments from the public before finalising it, and give only that list to the enumerators.

ITBP seizes 108 kg of gold biscuits near China border

The Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) arrested two men near the China border in eastern Ladakh for allegedly smuggling 108 kg of gold biscuits from China. 

While smuggling of smaller items was common, it was the first time that an alleged gold smuggling racket had been exposed in the area with the arrest of two local persons. Another person has been detained, an ITBP official said.

The accused were intercepted by an ITBP team that was on a long-range patrol in the border areas in the Southern Sub-Sector (SSS) in eastern Ladakh to check infiltration and smuggling, amid specific inputs of smuggling in the area near Sirigaple, Ladakh.

SC judge says men should share funds to empower their homemaker wives

Justice B.V. Nagarathna of the Supreme Court, in a judgment, said men should share their financial resources with their 'homemaker' wives who did not have an independent source of income, to empower them.

"An Indian married man must become conscious of the fact that he would have to financially empower and provide for his wife, who does not have an independent source of income, by making available financial resources, particularly towards her personal needs; in other words, giving access to his financial resources," Justice Nagarathna observed in a separate opinion upholding a divorced Muslim women's right to maintenance un- der a secular Section 125 of the erstwhile Code of Criminal Procedure.

Justice Nagarathna said such "financial empowerment" of a "vulnerable wife” would make her more secure in the family.

Russia, India agree to go ahead with trade in national currency: diplomat

India and Russia have decided to establish a system for national currency settlement, Roman Babushkin, Chargé d'Affaires of the Russian Embassy, said.

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi ended his two-day visit to Russia, Mr. Babushkin described the visit as "historic and game-changing", and slammed the Western powers for supporting Ukraine.

"Russia is the fourth largest trading partner of India, and we have a very optimistic scenario that we will continue our successful and mutually beneficial partnership with India. 

The most important point of the Joint Statement was that we have decided to go ahead with the establishment of the national currencies settlement system," Mr. Babushkin said, 

NGOs working on rights issues loses FCRA registration

The Foreign Union Home Ministry cancelled the Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of the parent entity of the non-profit Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA), which monitors and critically analyses the role of financial institutions and their impact on development, human rights, and the environment.

In a recent report, the CFA had highlighted how additional projects sanctioned in a Special Economic Zone operated by the Adani Group in the Kutch region of Gujarat "will compound environmental hazards and increase health risks for the people while further polluting the environment and accelerating degradation of the ecology".

'MSMEs need outlays for technology upgrades, to aid in green transition'

Recently, Union Minister for MSMEs Jitan Ram Manjhi said six pillars were identified as focus areas for the growth of the MSME sector viz. formalisation and access to credit, increased access to market and e-commerce adoption, higher productivity through modern technology, enhanced skill levels and digitalisation in the service sector, support to Khadi, Village and Coir industry to globalise them, and empowerment of women and artisans through enterprise creation.

While the interim Union Budget presented in February this year maintained stability, the upcoming Budget must strike a balance to fuel growth, curb inflation, generate employment, promote MSMEs, support ease of doing business, and promote the manufacturing sector.

The other important area that must be prioritised is infrastructure development for sustainable economic growth, especially in industrial clusters. 

Armenia and Azerbaijan to hold U.S.-mediated talks in Washington

Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan will meet in Washington for a fresh round of U.S.-mediated talks, Yerevan and Washington announced, as the arch-foe neighbours negotiate a peace agreement. The Meeting will take place on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington.

Myanmar rebel group seizes town along road to China

Myanmar ethnic minority fighters said that they had seized a town along a key trade highway to China following days of clashes, in another blow to the military.

Northern Shan State has been rocked by fighting when an alliance of ethnic armed groups renewed an offensive against the military along the highway to China's Yunnan province.