Junior Digest

New Delhi, Oct 13: West Bengal has got the dubious distinction of having the maximum number of married girl children at 40 per cent, a survey considered by the Supreme Court has said.

The apex court, which has delivered a historic verdict declaring sexual intercourse with minor wife as rape, quoted the survey in its order, saying the figure of 40.7 per cent of child brides significantly rises to 47 per cent in rural areas of the populous eastern state.

The report said the lowest percentage of child marriages was recorded in Punjab and Kerala at 7.6 per cent.

According to the National Family Health Survey 2015-16, the states with second and third highest percentage of brides under 18 years of age were Bihar and Jharkhand with 39 and 38 per cent respectively.

The report was submitted before a Supreme Court bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta, which ruled that sex with a wife who is under 18 years of age is an offence under the Indian Penal Code with an imprisonment of up to 10 years.

As per the data which assumes significance in the light of the apex court’s verdict, the national capital of India recorded 13 per cent of the child brides in 2015-16, which has come down from 22.7 per cent in 2005-06.

The states of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat have 35.4, 25 and 24.9 per cent of child brides, the report said.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi indicated on Friday that her son and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi will soon take over as the chief of the country’s oldest political party.

Talking to the media on the sidelines of a function marking the release of a book authored by former president Pranab Mukherjee, Sonia said Rahul’s takeover was imminent. “You have been asking this for so many years and it’s now happening,” she said. Both Sonia and Rahul attended the book release function, where a normally quiet former prime minister Manmohan Singh regaled the audience with anecdotes about his relations with Mukherjee.

Rahul, however, refused to get drawn into a discussion. The party is wrapping up an elaborate process of organisational polls by electing state chiefs, members of central bodies, and the president.

Congress Working Committee (CWC), the party’s highest decision-making body, is expected to meet soon to decide the date for election of the new president. Party leaders said that even though Sonia will relinquish the office after 19 long years, a mechanism will be created to allow her to remain available for workers and office bearers as a guide.

A contest for the post of president is highly unlikely. Many state units have already passed unanimous resolution of elevating Rahul as the party president.

Congress party’s election committee, under Mullapalli Ramchandran and his team, will announce the presidential election, if required, between October 15 and 20. An election will be held only if more than one nomination is filed for the post. According to the party constitution, all candidates running for the top post need to get their names jointly proposed by 10 Pradesh Congress Committee delegates and the proposal should reach the CWC. The entire process is all set to be completed by November. There is also a possibility of an AICC session, to be chaired by the new Congress president.

Since his return from the US, where he interacted with think-tanks and cyber experts involved in developing artificial intelligence in Silicon Valley, Rahul has led the Congress from the front. He has also been consistently attacking the Narendra Modi-led government and the ruling BJP over the slide in economy and the lack of jobs.

New Delhi, Oct 17 : The National Green Tribunal today rejected a plea against the ban on sale of firecrackers in the capital, saying the Supreme Court’s order banning the sale till October 31 was the “law of the land”.

A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar rejected the plea to reopen firecracker shops and release the licences to sell to shopkeepers.

“The Supreme Court has already passed an order on the issue and that is the law of the land,” the bench said.

The Supreme Court had on October 13 banned the sale of firecrackers in the national capital till October 31 while dismissing traders’ plea for permission to sell crackers for at least a day or two before Diwali on October 19.

The plea before the NGT, filed by Ojaswi Party, claimed that “the prohibition on purchasing and selling firecrackers in the capital is an attack on our religious tradition.”

“The fireworks shops have been closed even after the negligible pollution in the firecrackers…the police and the government have attacked the Hindu religion by shutting fireworks shops on Diwali,” the plea claimed.

It had also sought dissemination of government advertisements and campaigns against firecrackers.

Actor Anupam Kher replaces Gajendra Chauhan, who had a controversial tenure as head of the FTII. He will replace Gajendra Chauhan, whose turbulent tenure ended in March this year.

New Delhi, Oct 12: The Union Cabinet on Wednesday cleared revised pay scales for nearly eight lakh teachers and academic staff of higher educational institutions following the implementation of the Seventh Pay Commission

The decision will benefit 7.58 lakh teachers and equivalent academic staff in the 106 universities and colleges which are funded by the UGC and the union HRD ministry and also 329 universities which are funded by state governments and 12,912 government and private aided colleges affiliated to state public universities

“In addition, the revised pay package will cover teachers of 119 centrally funded technical institutions — IITs, IISc, IIMs, IISERs, IIITs and NITIE,” a statement said after the meeting

HRD minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters that the approved pay scales would be applicable from January 1, 2016

The annual central financial liability on account of this measure would be about Rs 9,800 crore

“The implementation of the pay revision will enhance the teachers’ pay in the range of Rs 10,400 and Rs 49,800 as against the extant entry pay due to the implementation of the 6th Pay Commission for the pay of teachers. This revision would register an entry pay growth in the range of 22 per cent to 28 per cent,” the statement said

For state government funded institutions, the revised pay scales will require adoption by the respective state governments

The Centre will bear the additional burden of the states on account of revision of pay scales. The measures proposed in the revised pay structure are expected to improve quality of higher education and also attract and retain talent, Javadekar said.

The reforms undertaken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi have been “significant” and the results would be reflected in the mid and long-term growth figures, the World Bank chief said , days after the global lender forecast that India’s GDP may slowdown to 7% in 2017.

“The reform process has been significant. We think that certainly in the medium and long term, the growth will reflect the seriousness of Prime Minister Modi’s government in making those reforms,” Jim Yong Kim told reporters at the start of the annual meeting of the IMF the World Bank here. Kim was responding to a question on recent slowdown of the Indian economy. Both the World Bank and the IMF have downgraded India’s growth projections.

The World Bank yesterday forecast that India’s GDP may slowdown from 8.6% in 2015 to 7% in 2017 because of disruptions by demonetization and the GST.

The IMF has also lowered India’s growth projection to 6.7% in 2017, 0.5 percentage points less than its previous two forecasts and slower than China’s 6.8%. Last week, the World Bank chief had said that the recent slowdown in India’s economic growth is short-term and an “aberration” mainly due to the temporary disruptions in preparation for the GST. “Our team feels that the slowdown has been because of the waiting for the passage of goods and services tax, Kim said in response to a question on India s growth slowdown.

“But the goods and services tax we have to understand is something that India has been talking about for a long time, well before Prime Minister Modi took power, he said. The goods and services tax is going to stop things like trucks being stalled for such a long time in transporting things through India because at every border they have to stop and go through a complicated tax process, he explained. “The goods and services tax would be very good for Indian growth, but for now the sense is that companies are waiting until that passes before really making investment and taking action. So, our sense is that this (slowdown in growth) is temporary, said the World Bank President.

In his answer, Kim was very appreciative of the reforms being undertaken by Modi in the last three years.

“Prime Minister Modi took a very different approach to our doing business report. And his approach was we are going to move up quickly and we are going to do the things that we need to do to reform the business environment, he said. The actions that Modi has taken are “really quite substantial”, he said. The Ease of Doing Business Report is slated to come out soon. “We’ll wait to see what happens on the business report this year but we’ve been very encouraged with the reforms that he has already taken. He knows that there are more to do,” he said. “I won’t be specific about them because they have to prioritize them for the government, Kim said when asked what steps India needs to take. But the reform process has been significant,” Kim said.

New Delhi, Oct 12: The Supreme Court  indicated it might recognise the execution of ‘living will’ in cases of passive euthanasia, as right to die peacefully is part of fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The apex court, however, said there should be adequate safeguards and implementation of living will would be subject to medical board’s certifying that the patient’s comatose state is irreversible.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra reserved its verdict on a plea seeking recognition of ‘living will’ made by a terminally-ill patient for passive euthanasia.

Living will is a written document that allows a patient to give explicit instructions in advance about the medical treatment to be administered when he or she is terminally ill or no longer able to express informed consent.

Passive euthanasia is a condition where there is withdrawal of medical treatment with the deliberate intention to hasten the death of a terminally-ill patient.

The apex court had recognised passive euthanasia in 2011 in Aruna Shanbaug’s case by which it had permitted withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment from patients not in a position to make an informed decision.

The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, said that Right to Life does not mean right to die but a dignified life would certainly include right to die with dignity, as advance directive would take effect once a medical board affirms that the patient comatose state is irreversible.

“One cannot say that you have a right to die, but you have a right to dignified death. If we recognise the right to dignity in death, then why not dignity in dying,” the bench observed, adding that life must be preserved but not prolonged in suffering.

It said that living will may be there as right to die peacefully is part of a fundamental right to life under Article 21 of the Constitution, provided there are adequate safeguards.

It also said if a medical board certifies that the health of the patient is irreversible and cannot be kept alive without artificial support, then the living will’s role may come in.

Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha, appearing for Centre, opposed recognition of ‘living will’ and said the consent for removal of artificial support system given by a patient may not be an informed one and without being aware of medical advancements.

He cited examples of various countries in disallowing creation of living will by patients.

Narasimha said a draft bill, based on the guidelines framed by the apex court in Aruna Shaunbag’s case, is under the government’s consideration.

He said the decision whether to remove life support or not, can only be taken by a medical board after examining the condition of a patient.

Advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for petitioner NGO ‘Common Cause’, said safeguards are needed while taking a decision by medical boards to withdraw life support of a patient.

Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing for an intervenor NGO ‘Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy’, said that the apex court has recognised the distinction between the active termination of life and the withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment with the latter firmly recognised as an expression of autonomy, bodily integrity and right to life.

He urged the court to declare that advance directives are an extension of the right to refuse medical treatment and the right to die with dignity and recognition of the legal validity is necessary to give effect to the rights of incompetent patients under Article 21 of Constitution.

Article 21 provides that “no person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure established by law.”

The bench then observed that it is to be decided whether mercy killing can be declared as a right under article 21 of the Constitution or not and said that the advanced directive was a subject to the medical boards interpretation.

The bench expressed its inclination for constituting medical boards across the country in each district and said it should be obligatory.

Yesterday, the government had opposed granting legal validity to “living will” in cases of passive euthanasia, by telling the apex court that it could be misused and may not be viable as a good public policy.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed in 2005 by the NGO, which said when a medical expert opines that a person afflicted with a terminal disease has reached a point of no return, he should be given the right to refuse life support.

On January, 15, 2016, the Centre had said the 241st report of the Law Commission stated that passive euthanasia should be allowed with certain safeguards and there was also a proposed law –Medical Treatment of Terminally Ill Patient (Protection of Patients and Medical Practitioners) Bill, 2006.

It had said that on specific occasions, the question of withdrawing supporting devices to sustain cardio-pulmonary function even after brain death, shall be decided only by a doctors’ team and not by the treating physician alone.

Panaji, Oct 14 : Union minister Nitin Gadkari has said India must use pollution-free methanol as fuel, like Sweden, which is switching over to it from diesel.

He said that in a bid to reduce pollution at sea, the Centre has initiated talks with engine manufacturers to make bio-fuel compliant engines for ships.

The Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and Shipping also announced that the government is developing a river traffic control system on the lines of air traffic control.

“We must use pollution-free methanol as fuel that is available at Rs 22 a litre. In Sweden, they are changing from diesel to methanol,” he said yesterday at the second day of ‘Sagar Discourse’, currently underway in South Goa.

The programme organised by Forum for Integrated National Security is being attended by representatives from 22 countries.

The government is committed to reduce pollution at sea, for which initial talks with engine manufacturers, including Wartsila and Cummins, have begun to make bio-fuel compliant engines for Indian shipping vessels, Gadkari said.

Expressing concerns over pollution on land and at sea, the minister said constructing a new road lane costs the country Rs 80,000 crore and leads to 22 per cent increase in automobile population.

“We want to discourage road traffic and promote public (transport) and water transport,” he said referring to various initiatives that have been launched in the Ganga and Brahmaputra rivers, and the states of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

“We are creating 40 river ports with three-metre draft and will have a river traffic control on the lines of air traffic control,” he said.

Calling for port-led development, Gadkari said USD 50-60 billion are being put in for infrastructure development for port connectivity that will lead to industrial investment of USD 110 billion and boost employment.

New Delhi, Oct 17 : External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj on Tuesday flagged the H1B visa issue as a “strong concern” during a meeting with a visiting US Congressional delegation and sought bipartisan support for it

The 9-member US congressional delegation from the house committee on science, space and technology is led by its chairman Lamar Smith, ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted

“Swaraj flagged the issue of H1B visa as a strong concern and sought bipartisan Congressional support for the same,” he said in a series of tweets

During his recent visit to the US, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had also raised the issue during his meetings, and had said “those coming from India on H-1B visas are high value professionals, who contribute immensely to the US economy. They are not illegal economic immigrants, about whom there is concerns in the US. They come here legally.”

The US must decide appropriately while taking a decision on its visa policy, he had asserted

The H1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations

It is the most sought after by Indian IT professionals

The minister also welcomed the strong desire of the delegation to strengthen cooperation in strategic, economic, science and technology, and space sectors

She lauded the positive role of the US Congress in developing India-US strategic relations, Kumar tweeted.

Washington, Oct 14 : The IMF has suggested a three- pronged approach for structural reform in India that includes addressing the corporate and banking sector weaknesses, continued fiscal consolidation through revenue measure, and improving the efficiency of labour and product markets.

Deputy Director Asia Pacific Department of IMF, Kenneth Kang, said the favorable outlook for Asia was an important opportunity for India to push forward with difficult reforms.

“As such, there should be three policy priorities in the area of structural reforms,” Kang, Deputy Director Asia pacific Department IMF told reporters at a news conference here.

“First priority is to address the corporate and banking sector weaknesses, by accelerating the resolution of non- performing loans, rebuilding the capital buffers for the public sector banks, and enhancing banks’ debt recovery mechanisms,” he said.

Secondly, Kang said, India should continue with the fiscal consolidation through revenue measures, as well as further reductions in subsidies.

“And lastly, it’s to maintain the strong momentum for structural reforms in addressing the infrastructure gaps, improving the efficiency of labour and product markets as well as furthering agricultural reforms,” said Kang.

Responding to a question on labour market reforms, Kang suggested reforming the market regulations in order to create a more favorable environment for investment and employment.

“There is a need to reduce the number of labour laws which currently number around 250 across the central and the state level,” said Kang.

He said India should also focus on closing the gender gap which may help a great deal in boosting the employment opportunities for women in India.

“Improvements in infrastructure can be one important way to facilitate the entry of women into the labour force. But in addition, there is a need to strengthening the implementation of specific gender regulations, as well as to invest more in gender specific training and education,” Kang said.

According to IMF s Regional Economic Outlook, India s growth slowed in recent quarters due to the temporary disruptions from the currency exchange initiative demonetisation that took place in November 2016, and the recent roll-out of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).

The report, however, went on to say that the growth in 2017 was revised downward to reflect the recent slowdown, but is expected to accelerate in the medium term as these temporary disruptions fade.

New Delhi, Oct 11:  Indian cyclists grabbed nine medals, including five gold, to open their campaign on a rousing note in the Track Asia Cup at the IG Stadium Complex Velodrome here today.

Eight final events were held on the opening day today and India won gold in five of them. They also won four silver medals.

In the senior elite category, India’s top cyclist Deborah bagged two silver medals.

She failed to convert the colour of medal this year again in women’s 500m elite event and managed a silver with 36.083 seconds, behind China’s Yufang Guo who completed the race in 35.071 seconds.

Deborah’s average speed was 49.885 km/hr which was not enough to win the gold. Indonesia’s Crismonita Dwi Putri got the bronze in the event.

Deborah also won another silver in Team Sprint event along with Aleena Reji with a timing of 35.404. Chaorul Song and Shanju Bao of China won the gold in 34.073. The bronze went to Indonesia with 35.938s.

Ashwin Patil opened India’s campaign by winning a gold in the 15km Point Race event in the junior men’s category with 29 points. Ashwin secured five points each in the first four sprints and made an easy win.

Team-mate Naman Kapil won the silver with 29 points while Hassan of Saudi Arabia secured a bronze with 21 points.

Sushikala Agashe and Mayuri then added another gold to India’s kitty by winning the Team Sprint event of junior women category with 37.000s ahead of Joyshree and Vaishnavi of another Indian team SAINCA, clocking 39.544s. The bronze medal was won by UAE.

Sushikala Agashe showed her supremacy in 500m Time Trial event by winning a gold in 37.702s followed by Evanglina Liontin of Indonesia who clocked 41.545s. UAE won the bronze of this event. Sushikala’s average speed was 47.743km/hr.

A national record was also set by men’s elite team of Sahil Kumar, Ranjit Singh and Apollonius when they clocked 47.399s (better than Asian Games gold medal time) in Team Sprint event and won the gold. Saudi Arabia was far behind satisfy with the silver (49.248s).

India’s men junior team (JK Ashwin, Mayur Pawar and Abhishek Kashid) won gold with 47.397s in Team Sprint event.

Another silver came in men’s junior Team Pursuit (4km) event (4:38.632s). Saudi Arabia won gold in this event (4:38.220s) while SAINCA bagged the bronze.

At the end of the opening day, a delighted India coach R K Sharma said, “I’m happy with the commendable show of our athletes and in 2018 Asian Games I’m confident our athletes will surely win medals.

Allahabad, Oct 14:  The Allahabad High Court has said that the possibility of presence of outsiders and persons other than domestic help Hemraj in the Noida residence of the Talwars could not be ruled on the fateful night in the Aarushi murder case.

On the basis of the record and statements of witnesses, justices B K Narayana and A K Mishra said a clear and credible evidence of alternative hypothesis available on record substantially demolished the prosecution’s theory that the crime was committed by 14-year-old Aarushi’s parents Nupur and Rajesh Talwar alone.

Allowing the appeals of the duo against the November 28, 2013 CBI court judgement, the judges said this was so as there was “no proof” of any outsider having access to the apartment.

The court yesterday acquitted the couple, who are both dentists, saying that there were contradictions in the evidence furnished. The judgement was uploaded on the court website today.

The Talwars had filed appeals in the high court against trial court order sentencing them to life for the murders of Aarushi and 45-year-old domestic help Hemraj in May 2008.

Aarushi was found death on May 16 morning and the body of Hemraj was located on the terrace of the Talwar residence the next day.

The court said a call was made from the landline phone of the appellants installed in their flat L32 in a Noida apartment on Hemraj’s mobile phone number at about 6 am on May 16.

“The possibility of the presence of other persons and the outsiders besides Hemraj having accessed to the apartment on the fateful night cannot be ruled out and the clear and credible evidence of alternative hypothesis available on record substantially demolishes the prosecution’s theory that the crime was committed by the appellants alone as there was no proof of any outsiders having accessed…the apartment,” it said.

The court said the investigating authority in its final report although had claimed that Hemraj’s phone was active in Punjab, it did not place any evidence in support of this assertion.

“The fact that Hemraj’s phone was active on 16.5.2008 and was in possession of someone else is another very strong circumstance which strongly indicates that someone had entered into the house of the appellants in the night of the incident and after committing the double murder had taken away the cell phone of Hemraj otherwise there is no explanation for the Hemraj’s cell phone responding and being picked up by someone upon a landline call being from the landline of L-32 although at that time Hemraj was lying dead on the terrace of the appellant ‘s flat,” it added.

Beijing, Oct 19:  President Xi Jinping today assured China’s jittery neighbours that Beijing is ready to resolve its disputes through dialogue but not at the expense of its strategic interests, as he opened a key meeting of the ruling Communist party elite that will boost his grip on power with a second term and even an unprecedented third innings.

Xi, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), called the progress China had made under his watch “truly remarkable,” but told the over 2,000 delegates attending the 19th Party Congress that more needed to be done as the country moves towards a goal of “national rejuvenation”.

“Our party, our people, our forces, and our nation have changed in ways without precedent,” the 64-year-old top leader said from the Great Hall of the People adjoining the Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing on the opening day of the week-long meeting.

He said China will never pursue development at the expense of others, nor will China ever give up its legitimate rights and interests.

“No one should expect China to swallow anything that undermines its interests,” he said amid thumping applause from over 2,300 delegates who attended the meeting telecast live.

About the neighbours, Xi said China would “deepen relations its neighbours in accordance with the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit and inclusiveness and the policy of forging friendship and partnership”.

“We should commit to settling disputes through dialogue and resolving differences through discussion, coordinate responses to traditional and non-traditional threats and oppose terrorism in all its forms,” Xi said.

His comments assume significance in the backdrop of the recent military standoff between India and China in Dokalam area in the Sikkim sector. China was engaged in a number of maritime disputes with the neighbours in the South and East China seas.

In his address, Xi also vowed make the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) a world class military during his over a three-and-a half hour speech at the once-in-a-five-year Congress which is set to confirm his second term and anoint a new generation of leaders to work with him.

He spoke also highlighted the importance of rebuilding of the CPC while keeping its socialist structure intact.

At the opening session, the party put up a united show with most of the top retired leaders including former presidents Jiang Zemin and Hu Jintao besides former Premiers Wen Jiabao and several other erstwhile leaders sharing the dais with Xi.

The meeting, amidst tight security and internet censorship, will also amend the party’s Constitution.

Xi spoke at length of strengthening the military, need for continuation of his massive anti-corruption drive and bringing a “new era of socialism” and Chinese rejuvenation.

Xi spoke at length about his plans to make the 2.3- million strong PLA, the world’s largest military, into a world class force.

By the year 2020, mechanisation will be basically achieved, with IT application coming a long way and strategic capabilities seeing a big improvement, he said.

The modernisation of the national defence and armed forces should be basically completed by 2035, by which the “armed forces have been fully transformed into world-class military forces,” he said.

The Chinese military, which underwent massive reform drive since Xi took over power in 2012, has over USD 141 billion annual budget next only to the US military.

Unlike the militaries elsewhere, the Chinese military functions directly under the leadership of the party. Xi is the Chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission (CMC), the overall high command of the PLA.

Xi also devoted his address to mostly to strengthening the CPC, which has ruled the country since 1949.

“We must unwaveringly uphold and improve Party leadership and make the Party still stronger,” he said.

Xi, who in the past warned the party of going the way the Soviet Communist Party collapsed in 1991, said the defining feature of the party is socialism with Chinese characteristics.

Founded in 1921, the CPC has about 89-million members with more than 4.5 million grassroots organisations.

Last year, Xi was endorsed as the core leader, a status bestowed on party founder Mao Zedong and his successor Deng Xiaoping.

By heading the party, presidency and the military, Xi has emerged as the most powerful leader in the country. His ideological teachings are expected to be made part of the amended CPC Constitution during the Congress to ensure his legacy. Only the names of Mao and Deng were part of the CPC Constitution.

Observers say with consolidation of power and having bulldozed the remnants of opposition in the party through his massive anti-corruption drive, Xi may be declared as the Chairman of the CPC and may even have an unprecedented, third term after 2022. All Chinese leaders retire at the age of 68.

In his speech, Xi also pledged to make a sweeping victory in its fight against corruption.

Calling corruption “the greatest threat” the Party faces, Xi said the situation in the fight against corruption remains “grave and complex.”

The CPC will prevent any interest groups from arising within the Party, Xi said, adding that wherever offenders may flee, they shall be brought back and brought to justice.

Since he took over power, more than 280 centrally- administered officials were investigated and over 1.4 million officials were punished, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

WASHINGTON: The Indian government’s Aadhaar card scheme, which has enrolled more than 1 billion people, has helped the exchequer save about $9 billion by eliminating fraud in beneficiary lists, its architect Nandan Nilekani has said here.

The system, launched by the previous UPA government, has been “enthusiastically” supported by the current government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, said the 62-year-old non-executive chairman of Infosys- India’s second largest software services firm.

He said that it is easier for the developing countries to leapfrog by building a right digital infrastructure.

Aadhaar now has more than a billion people registered on its system, he said.

“It has also saved the government about $9 billion in fraud and wastage because by having that unique number you eliminate fakes and duplicates from your beneficiary and employee list,” Nilekani said at the event on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

“We have about half a billion people who have connected their ID directly to a bank account. The government has transferred about $12 billion into bank accounts electronically in real time to the world’s largest cash transfer system. There are many many things like that.

“I’m a big believer that if you build the right digital infrastructure then you can leapfrog,” Nilekani, the former chairman of Unique Identity Development Authority of India (UIDAI), said.

In the new world of data economy, identity authentication, frictionless payments, paperless transactions these are all very important layers of the new digital economy. That is what India has done, he said.

India is the only country in the world where a billion people can do completely paperless, cashless transactions on their mobile phones using this infrastructure which dramatically reduces costs.

“Once you bring cost down, automatically inclusion happens,” Nilekani said, adding that there is a fundamental strategic way of looking at it.

Now it is very clear that date is where the action is, he said.

The infrastructure that India has created enables every individual to use his or her data for their advancement, which is fundamental. Herein an individual used data for their personal advancement, Nilekani said.

“There is a fundamental inversion happening of the way we think of data, which is unique,” he said, adding that this has a lot of implications for the bank and people in public policy who have to look at what’s the new rules of the game in the economy.

Responding to a question, Nilekani said the World Bank has really done a great job in internalising the concept of digital ID.

A high-level panel having representation from about 15-20 countries met at the bank yesterday to have discussions on it.

When one has this digital ID, one can authenticate oneself through a system and get the own data out, he said.

Noting that in India the Supreme Court has declared privacy as a fundamental right, he said the apex court has also laid down a framework that even when the government need to achieve a state objective then they can circumscribe some of those privacies.

“It says for national security, for prevention of crime, protection of revenue, or for social welfare,” Nilekani said.

But the court said, every time the government circumscribes the privacy, it has to be a law, it has to be reasonable and it must be proportional.

Nilekani said that the question of how data use can address inequality has not been discussed enough.

He participating in a World Bank panel discussion on Digital Economy for Development yesterday.

Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont on Tuesday proclaimed the region’s independence from Spain but said its effects would be suspended to allow for talks with the Madrid government.

“I assume the mandate that Catalonia should become an independent state in the form of a republic … I propose suspending the effects of the declaration of independence to undertake talks to reach an agreed solution,” Puigdemont told the regional parliament in Barcelona.

Though Puigdemont stopped short of seeking the explicit support of the chamber for the declaration of independence in a vote, a move that would have closed the door to any negotiated solution, the declaration plunges Spain into the unknown.

The Spanish government has said any unilateral declaration of independence would be illegal and has promised action “to restore law and democracy” if the parliament of the autonomous and affluent northeastern region presses ahead.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy could take the unprecedented step of dissolving the Catalan parliament and triggering new regional elections, the so-called “nuclear option”.

The Madrid government could also ask the courts to strike down a declaration of independence as unconstitutional.

Despite renewed calls for dialogue with Madrid, the proclamation makes a negotiated solution more difficult as Rajoy has said he would not talk to the Catalan leaders until they drop plans for independence

New Delhi, Oct 11:  The government yesterday opposed granting recognition to “living will” in cases of passive euthanasia, telling the Supreme Court that it could be misused and may not be viable as a public policy.

The Centre told a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra that a draft bill based on the guidelines for passive euthanasia made by the top court in the Aruna Shanbaug’s case and recommendations of the Law Commission were under its consideration.

Passive euthanasia is a condition where there is withdrawal of medical treatment with the deliberate intention to hasten the death of a terminally ill-patient.

“We have been following the guidelines laid down by this court in Aruna Shanbaug’s case and a medical board is the final authority to decide on passive euthanasia, not the living will created by a person,” Additional Solicitor General P S Narasimha, appearing for the Centre, said.

He said if “living will” is created by a person and is recognised, then there are possibilities of it being misused and this would not be viable as public policy.

“If a person is not of sound mind, then he is a not a competent person to make a living will and in that case, it is a medical board which will have to look into the affairs and not the individual. Safeguards have to be there and nothing more could be done,” he said.

The ASG said the court can work out modalities about the safeguards as the living will to dilute the treatment could be misused.

The bench, also comprising Justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan, questioned whether any medical board is permanently constituted to take a call on passive euthanasia.

“No, the medical board is not permanently constituted and is set up on case-to-case basis,” Narasimha said.

The bench then asked advocate Prashant Bhushan, appearing for NGO ‘Common Cause’ which is seeking recognition to living will, whether an individual has a right to refuse medical treatment or can the State interfere to safeguard life.

Bhushan said various countries recognise living will made by persons. In India, where resources are so limited, it should be legally acceptable in order to avoid creating a hopeless situation for the middle-class, he said.

“Under Article 21 of Constitution, person has the right to die peacefully without any suffering and therefore he has right to create a living will that when he can’t recover from illness, his life should not be prolonged,” Bhushan said.

He said it is contradictory that the court allows passive euthanasia but does not recognise execution of living will.

Justice Chandrachud then expressed concern over elderly people being treated as a burden by some people and said that safeguards need to be created to avoid misuse, if the living will is recognised.

Bhushan said that forcing prolonged medical treatment on someone who does not want it, amounts to assault and added that passive euthanasia in the Aruna Shanbaug’s case was distinct from living wills.

The hearing remained inconclusive and would continue tomorrow.

The bench also asked senior advocate Arvind Datar to assist in the matter as senior lawyer and former Solicitor General T R Andhyarujina who was appointed as an amicus curiae in the case in 2016, had passed away.

The bench was hearing a PIL filed in 2005 by the NGO, which said when a medical expert opines that the person afflicted with a terminal disease has reached a point of no return, he should be given the right to refuse life support system.

In 2014, the apex court had referred the petition to a five-judge constitution bench which sought to recognise the execution of a ‘living will’ of persons suffering from chronic terminal diseases and likely to go into a permanent vegetative state.

On January, 15, 2016, the Centre had told the court about the 241st report of the Law Commission which stated that passive euthanasia should be allowed with certain safeguards and there was also a proposed law –Medical Treatment of Terminally Ill Patient (Protection of Patients and Medical Practitioners) Bill, 2006.

The government had said that its stand will also be based on 6.7 regulation of 2002 under Medical Council of India Act which says that practicing euthanasia shall constitute unethical conduct.

It had said that on specific occasions, the question of withdrawing supporting devices to sustain cardio-pulmonary function even after brain death, shall be decided only by a doctors’ team and not merely by the treating physician alone.

The apex court had said its verdict of 2011 allowing passive euthanasia was delivered on a “wrong premise”.

It had said that its earlier Constitution Bench verdict, which was wrongly relied in Aruna Shanbaug case, had held that the right to live with dignity will be inclusive of the right to die with dignity, but the judgement did not arrive at a conclusion on validity of euthanasia.