Parliament passes Bill providing outer limit of 24 weeks for MTP

The Election Commission has decided to use Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) at all the Polling Stations in the upcoming assembly elections in four states and Union territory. Voter verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) is a method of providing feedback to voters using EVMs. A VVPAT is intended as an independent verification system for voting machines designed to allow voters to verify that their vote was cast correctly, and to provide a means to audit the stored electronic results. It contains the name of the candidate for whom vote has been cast and symbol of the party/individual candidate.This decision to use Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) at all the Polling Stations decision was taken with a view to enhance the transparency and credibility of the election process.In order to ensure transparency, EVMs/VVPATs are randomized twice using EVM Management System (EMS) while being allocated to an Assembly Constituency and then to a polling booth ruling out any fixed allocation. The Commission has also mandated that VVPAT slips count of five randomly selected Polling Stations in each Assembly Constituency will be done for verification of the result obtained from the Control Unit. This mandatory verification of VVPAT slips will be  in addition to the provisions of Rule 56(D) of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961.

-BJP has criticized the Rajasthan government over the increase of crime against women. Addressing a press conference at BJP headquarters in New Delhi, senior party leader Colonel Rajyavardhan Rathore said, Rajasthan has reached the first place in the National Crime Records Bureau in cases of crime against women. He said, in 2019, around 32 thousand incidents took place across the country, of which six thousand incidents occurred in Rajasthan alone. He alleged that the state government is not fulfilling its responsibility. Rathore said, Congress government in the state is  more engaged in saving their government than protecting the people.

-Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said that the centre is continuously engaging with the Reserve Bank of India to ensure that no regulatory mishaps occur in the future.Responding to supplementaries regarding recent failures of few large private sector financial institutions and necessity of robust regulatory supervision of the central bank, Ms. Sitharaman said that the centre is committed to ensure an efficient regulatory and supervisory mechanism. 

-Parliament has passed the Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Bill, 2020 with the Rajya Sabha approvedthe bill on Tuesday.The Lok Sabha had passed the bill in March last year. The Bill provides for an outer limit of 24 weeks for medical termination of pregnancy. The limit is in sync with the advancements in medical technology that allows for the removal of foetus at a relatively advanced stage of pregnancy.The bill aims to ensure the confidentiality of the process and respects the privacy of women. Besides, the legislation also regulates the conditions under which a pregnancy may be aborted.  Currently, abortion requires the opinion of one doctor if it is done within 12 weeks of conception and two doctors if it is done between 12 and 20 weeks.  The Bill allows abortion to be done on the advice of one doctor up to 20 weeks, and two doctors in the case of certain categories of women between 20 and 24 weeks. The Bill also seeks to set up state level Medical Boards to decide if a pregnancy may be terminated after 24 weeks in cases of substantial foetal abnormalities. 

-Minister of State for Finance Anurag Thakur has said that the government is fully geared up to check inflation & tackle any situation of shortfall in farm produce. Replying to supplementaries in the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, Thakur asserted that in the last 7 years the centre under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has built a strong chain of warehouses for proper storage of food grains and other essential items.He said that the inflation, that used to hover in double digits prior to 2014, has been efficiently checked in the current regime. Highlighting the commitment of the Centre regarding doubling farmers’ income in the country, Thakur emphatically asserted that increasing the MSP significantly for oilseeds and pulses has brought a turnaround effect. He informed that the increase in MSP has ensured increased production of pulses and oilseeds thereby reducing dependency on imports and also substantially increasing farmers’ income.