KARNATAKA
Private schools in K’taka seek to draft their own textbooks
The High Court of Karnataka has reserved for judgment a 1995 petition challenging the various provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983. The provisions challenged include the reservation for appointment of staff in unaided schools and prescription of syllabus by the State government.
Private schools in Karnataka have approached the High Court of Karnataka, seeking among other things, permission to draft textbooks on their own.
The Karnataka Unaided Schools Managements’ Association (KUSMA) in their petition have sought “the State government ought not to prescribe any particular publication or textbook as the sole and exclusive reading material in private unaided schools; and that, private unaided schools are free to choose a textbook of their choice so long as such textbooks adhere to the syllabus prescribed by the State government.”
The provisions of the Karnataka Education Act, 1983 in this regard has been challenged.
KUSMA has also challenged several other provisions of the Karnataka Education Act including Section 5 read with Section 41(3), which prescribes reservation in the matter of appointment of teaching and non-teaching staff in private unaided schools.
INTERNATIONAL
UNGA Resolution on International Tax Cooperation Framework
The United Nations General Assembly has unanimously adopted a resolution to develop an international tax cooperation framework or instrument based on a UN intergovernmental process. Nigeria submitted this resolution on behalf of a consortium of 54 African countries.
The proposed UN framework on global tax cooperation will put an end to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation & Development’s 60-year role as the regulator of taxations across the world. Similar framework has been proposed by the OECD. It has been under development in the OECD for nearly a decade but its final draft is yet to be given. The proposed UN framework will likely put an end to the power struggle between the UN and the OECD on international tax regulations.
The proposed framework is expected to benefit developing countries in Africa and Asia since they are provided with a larger say on the formulation of global tax regulations.
NATIONAL
Govt launches national forest fire helpline
Nearly three years after being suggested by Lok Sabha MPs to have such an alert mechanism, the environment ministry has set up a national helpline for forest fire cases in the country. The move will help forest officials to reach the spot faster and prevent the fires from spreading.
As far as forest fire is concerned, nearly 36% (2,53,151 sq. km) of the forest cover in India is considered prone to forest fires. There are 26 most forest fire affected districts, spread over 11 states, in India. The forest fire season in the country is normally from November to June with the majority of it being caused due to man-made factors.
North-eastern states show the highest tendency of forest fire with Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya and Manipur reporting highest forest fire probability in terms of its frequency.
According to the Forest Survey of India (FSI) that has been assisting state forest departments and other agencies to deal with the problem since 2004, parts of western Maharashtra, southern part of Chhattisgarh, central part of Odisha and few parts of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka are showing patches of extremely and very highly fire prone zones.
Nai Chetna Campaign
Nai Chetana is a gender campaign launched in all Indian states under the National Rural Livelihoods Mission.
Over the next five years, this campaign seeks to build a common understanding and recognition of disadvantages and discrimination faced by women across all levels among community institutions, rural communities and government departments.
The theme for this year’s campaign is Gender Based Violence. It will be organized from November 25 to December 23 this year.
This nationwide campaign aims to sensitise women, especially those in rural regions, about gender-based violence and make them aware about various institutional mechanisms that are available to help them address such violence.
Merger of Air India and Vistara
The Singapore Airlines (SIA) will get 25.1 per cent stake in the merged entity at an investment of Rs 2,058.5 crore (250 million USD). The rest of the stake will be held by Tata.
These stakes will be in an enlarged Air India Group, which will have Air India, Vistara, AirAsia India and Air India Express. The merger of all these airlines are expected to be completed by March 2024 after receiving regulatory approvals.
The Air India Group is already in the process of merging Air India Express and AirAsia India into a single entity that will provide low-cost flight services.
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