Morning Brief: NPS Latest Victims Of RTE; Anjem Choudary Jailed; Karnataka To Give Water To TN

RTE Victims

CBSE has cancelled the affiliation of six National Public Schools (NPS) located in Bengaluru and Mysuru on the grounds that the group of institutions produced ‘fake’ minority certificates to escape the provisions of the RTE act which forces non-minority institutions to reserve 25 percent of the seats (for free) to students from disadvantaged groups.

Both privately run and government-aided minority schools are exempt from this rule. Since the word ‘minority’ can refer to both the religious and linguistic groups, the owners of NPS registered the schools under the ‘Malayali minority’ tag.

Hindu-run institutions, since the passage of the RTE act, have taken this route to maintain high standards and stay competitive vis-a-vis minority institutions. Read more here.

Water Wars

After an all-party meet yesterday, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah decided to finally release the water from Cauvery river to Tamil Nadu, as directed by the Supreme Court. The apex court had asked the Karnataka government to release 15,000 cusecs of water per day to Tamil Nadu for 10 days.

Meanwhile, the state government is looking to file a petition in the SC to modify its order and reduce the water to be released from 15,000 cusecs every day to 10,000 cusecs.

Choudary Jailed

London’s radical Islamist hate preacher, Anjem Choudary has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in jail for inviting support for the Islamic State, an offence under UK’s terrorism law.

Choudary and his confidant Mohammed Mizanur Rahman were convicted by a UK court last month after they backed ISIS in an oath of allegiance published online. Counter-terrorism chiefs blame them and the organisations which they helped to run, such as al-Muhajiroun, for radicalising young men and women including the killers of soldier Lee Rigby in 2013.

Clinton’s Lead Evaporates

Nine weeks out, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton will start the final round of their race to the Presidency of the United States on somewhat equal grounds. Throughout last month, Clinton lead Trump by eight points in the national polls. The latest one by CNN/ORC now shows that her lead has evaporated and Trump has raced past ahead her in the course of last week. Trump tops Clinton 45 percent to 43 percent in the new survey.

Among independents, 49 percent say they’d vote for Trump while just 29 percent back Clinton. Women break for Clinton (53 percent to 38 percent) while men shift Trump’s way (54 percent to 32 percent). 73 percent of unmarried women back Clinton compared with just 36 percent of married women.

Obama’s Apology

US President Barack Obama who is in Laos for the ASEAN summit expressed regret over America’s secret and devastating bombing of Laos during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 70s. He said that the United States has a moral obligation to help Laos heal.

More bombs were dropped during Vietnam war than the World War II. The US flew 580,344 bombing missions over Laos, dropping 260 million bombs. An estimated 30 percent of these did not detonate. According to various estimates, 288 million cluster munitions and about 75 million unexploded bombs were left across Laos.

Obama pledged $90 million that will be spent over the next three years for the removal of cluster bombs and other unexploded ordnance. Over $100 million has been spent in the last 20 years for the same purpose.

MUST READ OP-EDS

Modi’s Vision Of Indian Institutions: If NITI Aayog is an example of a new organisation, the monetary policy framework has brought in new rules for fighting inflation. The GST council can be an example of the inclusive political institution.

Obama’s Last Sally For A Safer World: The U.S. President is trying to upend his mixed nuclear record before he ends his term. A no-first-use policy pronouncement by the U.S. could just be what it takes to leave a lasting nuclear legacy.

Central Bank And Inflation Targeting: Although Rajan gets credited for bringing inflation down, the fact is that monetary policy had very little to do with the decline in inflation since 2014.

SWARAJYA SPECIAL

How India’s Irrational Liquor Laws Stop Our Own Fennys And Toddys From Becoming World Brands: Faulty policies and corrupt politics have prevented India from contributing to the market with indigenous products.

We hope you enjoyed reading our morning brief. Have a great day ahead!

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