Ø In a
scathing 53-page verdict on the “lack of will” shown by the Centre and States
in combating drought and saving lives, the Supreme Court on Wednesday
pronounced the Centre guilty of “washing its hands of” a national disaster that
affected one-fourth of the country. It also pulled up Gujarat, Bihar and
Haryana for adopting an “ostrich-like attitude” towards declaring drought and
driving their own people to suicide, starvation and mass migration. A Bench of
Justices Madan B. Lokur and N.V. Ramana issued a slew of directions on tackling
the drought situation on a petition filed by the NGO Swaraj Abhiyan. Among the
steps it suggested were taking the help of the National Disaster Response Force
and a Disaster Mitigation Fund.
Ø Hindustan
Antibiotics Ltd. is set to become the test case for Prime Minister Narendra
Modi’s policy for the closure of sick government companies, many of which hold
several acres of land in Mumbai and Delhi and have on their payrolls thousands
of employees. The Union Cabinet has set up a Group of Ministers under Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley to recommend if the Uttarakhand-based drug maker can be
shut down.
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