Yor mi re! Daily News Page March 22nd-24th, 2021 Law, Policy and Governance Daily snippets 1. Plea on emergency vehicle lane needs policy decision, says Delhi HC - The Delhi High Court asked the government to treat as representation a petition, seeking direction to reserve a lane for unrestricted movement of emergency vehicles round-the-clock. An HC Bench said the issue raised in the petition required a policy decision. The petition stated that in case of emergencies, people will have the benefit of reaching the hospitals quickly if dedicated lanes are provided by the government. 2. SC walks a tightrope over vacancies - The Supreme Court Collegium is striving to reach a consensus on recommendations to fill the five vacancies in the top court. The Collegium is discussing diverse opinions from within on issues like proportionate representation from various High Courts and seniority among High Court judges before finalising the names to recommend to the government for appointment. 3. ‘Varsity regrets events surrounding resignations’ - The top functionaries of Ashoka University said in a joint statement with Professors Pratap Bhanu Mehta and Arvind Subramanian on Sunday that they regretted the events surrounding the resignations of the two. Top functionaries of Ashoka University say there were some ‘lapses’ in institutional processes. 4. Research institution joins efforts to bring law on right to health - A Jaipur based research institution has joined the efforts to bringing a “robust legislation” on right to health in Rajasthan with the emphasis on setting the standards for delivery of services, human resources and medical facilities. The 2021- 22 State budget has made a provision for the law along with a new model of public health. Quality of medical services cannot be measured unless the standards are laid down, said the institution IIHMR. 5. Amid protests, LS passes GNCTD amendment Bill - The Lok Sabha passed a Bill that defines that the word “government” in Delhi means the Lieutenant Governor (LG ) and makes it mandatory for the elected government in the national capital territory to take the opinion of the LG before any executive action. Amid strong protests from Opposition parties, including the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Bill was passed by a voice vote. 6. Why stop at quota, asks SC judge - Justice Ravindra Bhat, one of the judges on the Constitution Bench hearing the question of 50% ceiling limit on reservation, asked why welfare should be dependent on caste quota benefits alone. Affirmative action not just reservation, he says while hearing the 50% ceiling limit case. 7. Refund penal interest on EMIs, SC directs lenders - The Supreme Court directed banks and financial institutions to refund compound interest, interest on interest or penal interest collected on EMI for loans during the period of moratorium from March 1 to August 31 last year. The court said the amount accumulated as compound/penal interest or interest on interest during the six-month moratorium on term loan EMIs should be given as “credit/adjusted in the next instalment of the loan account”. - The judgment also spelt relief for banks and lenders with the court lifting its nearly six-month bar on them from declaring accounts of borrowers as non performing assets (NPAs). The judgment concluded that the government’s scheme to restrict the waiver of interest on interest to loans worth only up to Rs 2-crore was irrational. 8. Justice Kaul inaugurates web portal - Supreme Court Judge Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul inaugurated the SAHYOG web portal, a first- of- its-kind platform that connects student research assistants with lawyers and organisations who have taken up pro-bono cases. 9. Quota percentage should be left to the States, T.N. tells SC - Tamil Nadu told a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court that the percentage of reservation should be left to the “subjective satisfaction” of individual States. Another southern State, Karnataka, also came in support of its right to specify a particular community as ‘socially and educationally backward’ for inclusion in the State List for grant of reservation benefits. Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade and advocate Yogesh Kanna, for Tamil Nadu, contended that the Indira Sawhney judgment required a re look. 10. OTT case: SC stays all pleas in HCs - The Supreme Court stayed the proceedings in High Courts in cases seeking regulation of content shown on over-the-top (OTT) platforms. The hearing was based on a plea by the Centre to transfer the cases in the High Courts to the Supreme Court. 11. Notify health policy on rare diseases: HC - The Delhi High Court asked the Centre to finalise and notify the National Health Policy for Rare Diseases by March 31. Justice Prathiba M Singh also directed the government to set up a National Consortium for Research, Development and Therapeutics (NCRDT) for treatment of such diseases. - A rare disease is any disease that affects a small percentage of the population. In some parts of the world, most rare diseases are genetic and thus are present throughout the person's entire life, even if symptoms do not immediately appear. Many rare diseases appear early in life, and about 30% of children with rare diseases will die before reaching their fifth birthday. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- National News/ Interventions Daily snippets 1. Myanmar border shut amid strains over refugee crisis - Mizoram Chief Minister Zoramthanga held a virtual meeting with Foreign Minister of Myanmar Zin Mar Aung amid the ongoing military crackdown following the February coup, even as India sealed all entry points along the border with the southeast Asian neighbour and is closely monitoring them to prevent any Myanmar national from entering the country. - The tussle between the Centre and the State on the issue has created a tough time for New Delhi and security agencies in handling the situation on the ground. There is considerable support and sympathy among the people of Mizoram over the situation in Myanmar as many have relations across the border. India and Myanmar have an arrangement called Free Movement Regime (FMR), which allows locals on both sides to go upto 16 km across the other side and stay up to 14 days. - In a letter to the four States bordering Myanmar dated March 10, the MHA said State governments have no powers to grant refugee status to any foreigner and India is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 and its 1967 Protocol. 2. Indian- Israeli collaboration testing oral COVID vaccine - An Indian- Israeli collaboration has reportedly developed an oral vaccine for COVID -19, one that can be swallowed like a pill instead of being injected. A preliminary test in animals showed that the vaccine produced the expected antibodies that confer protection. However, the findings have not been reported in a scientific publication. - Premas Biotech, a Gurugram based biotechnology firm, and Oramed Pharmaceuticals, a Jerusalem headquartered company, have a long-standing collaboration on developing new drug delivery techniques. The nascent COVID 19 vaccine candidate is a “protein based VLP (Virus Like Particle) vaccine candidate” that generates “triple protection” against the SARS CoV 2 virus, i.e., it is able to target the spike, membrane, and envelope proteins of the coronavirus. Oravax, the company developing the vaccine, is a joint venture between Premas and Oramed. 3. Dhanush, Manoj Bajpayee, Kangana bag top honours - Priyadarshan’s Marakkar Arabikadalinte Simham was chosen as the best feature film and Sanjay Puran Singh Chauhan won the best director award for Hindi film Bahattar Hoorain at the 67th National Film Awards announced in New Delhi. - Manoj Bajpayee and Dhanush shared the best actor award, while Kangana Ranaut won the best actress award, announced by N. Chandra, chairman of the central panel. The announcement of the awards was delayed by almost a year because of the pandemic. This is the second National Award for best actor for Dhanush after he won it for Aadukalam in 2011. For Kangana, this is her fourth National Award. - The best supporting actor award went to Vijay Sethupathi for his performance in Tamil film Super Deluxe. Seasoned actress Pallavi Joshi won the best supporting actress award for The Tashkent Files. D. Immam got the best music award for his songs in Tamil film Viswasam. Prabuddha Banerjee bagged the award for the best background score in Bengali film Jyeshthoputro. - B. Praak won the best playback singer award for Hindi film Kesari and Savani Ravindra won the best female playback singer award for Marathi film Bardo. Telugu film Maharishi won the award for the best film providing wholesome entertainment. While Sushant Singh Rajput starrer Chhichhore won the best Hindi film award, the Nargis Dutt Award for the best film on national integration went to Marathi film Taj Mahal 4. MEA silent on reports of UAE role in India Pakistan détente - The Ministry of External Affairs refused to comment on the latest in a series of reports that the India- Pakistan détente, signalled by the ceasefire announcement by border commanders at the Line of Control (LoC) last month, was prompted by a backc hannel dialogue between Indian and Pakistani officials, and facilitated