• Indian long jumper Murali Sreeshankar secured third place in Paris Diamond League.
• Murali Sreeshankar registered an impressive 8.09m attempt to finish third in the men’s long jump event at the Paris Diamond League 2023 athletics in France on Saturday.
• The Diamond League started in 2010; organized by the World Athletics body is a prestigious annual international athletics series consisting of various track and field events held across different cities around the world.
• It features the world’s top athletes competing in disciplines such as sprints, jumps, throws, and middle-distance races. Neeraj Chopra was the first Indian to win a Diamond League meet.

• City-based lawyer-activist Lalitha Natarajan has been awarded the 2023 Iqbal Masih Award for the Elimination of Child Labour
• US Consul General Judith Ravin presented the award to Natarajan.
• The award commemorates the World Day Against Child Labour that is observed on June 12 every year to raise awareness and activism to prevent child labour.
• Founded:2008

• The book ‘Rebels Against the Raj: Western Fighters for India’s Freedom’, authored by Ramachandra Guha has won the £5,000 Elizabeth Longford Prize 2023 for Historical Biography.
• This book tells the story of seven foreigners (4 British, 2 American, and 1 Iris) who joined India’s freedom struggle.
• The list includes Annie Besant, B.G. Horniman, Philip Spratt, Richard Ralph Keithahn, Samuel Stokes, Madeline Slade, and Catherine Mary Heilemann.

• Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das was awarded the “Governor of the Year” at the Central Banking Awards 2023 in London.
• Central Banking is a London-based international economic research journal.
• Das is the second RBI governor to receive the award after Raghuram Rajan, who was given the title in 2015.
• The RBI governor has cemented critical reforms, overseen world-leading payments innovation and steered India through difficult times with a steady hand and well-crafted turn of phrase.
• Das is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre, who is currently serving as the 25th governor of the RBI.
• He has worked for both the central government and the Tamil Nadu government in several capacities, such as the economic affairs secretary, the revenue secretary, and fertilizers secretary.

• The Prime Minister of India has lauded the new initiative of celebrating ‘Pradhan Mantri Matru Vandana Yojana’ as ‘God Bharai’ ceremony in Dausa, Rajasthan.

ABOUT PM MATRU VANDANA YOJANA:

• It is a Centrally Sponsored Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme launched in

OBJECTIVES

• Providing partial compensation for the wage loss in terms of cash incentive, so that the woman can take adequate rest before and after delivery of the first child
• To improve health-seeking behaviour amongst Pregnant Women & Lactating Mothers (PW&LM).

FEATURES

• The scheme is to provide maternity benefits to women belonging to socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society.
• The maternity benefit is to be provided to a woman for the first two living children provided the second child is a girl
• Under this scheme monetary benefit of Rs. 5,000 is given to the expecting mothers from the time of the initial stage of pregnancy to till the time the child is born.
• Additionally, 1,000 is provided under the Janani Suraksha Yojana post-institutional delivery.
• The Rs. 5,000 is provided in three instalments.
• The first instalment of Rs. 1,000 is paid at the time of registration of the pregnancy.
• The second instalment of Rs. 2,000 is paid at the time of completing 6 months of pregnancy and receiving at least one antenatal checkup.
• The third instalment of Rs. 2,000 is received after the birth and registration of birth of such child and after such child receives the first cycle of immunization for BCG, OPV, DPT and Hepatitis-B.
• Cases of miscarriage/stillbirths are to be treated as fresh cases for providing maternity benefits under the scheme.

• The Union Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) have brought back 1 lakh girls into the mainstream education system under the `Kanya Shiksha Pravesh Utsav’’.

ABOUT KANYA SHIKSHA PRAVESH UTSAV:

• The campaign was launched on the eve of International Women’s Day (8th March 2022) by the Ministry of Women and Child Development in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
• The campaign aims to increase the enrolment and retention of the number of adolescent girls (girls aged 11 to 14) in school. The campaign builds on existing schemes for girls such as Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP), National Education Policy (NEP), Scheme For Adolescent Girls (SAG),
• The campaign will be implemented as part of the Ministry of Women and Child Development’s Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) project. Government aims to fund 400 districts across all states under the BBBP Scheme to sensitize families to enrol adolescent girls in schools.
• Funds under Samagra Shiksha Abhiyan will also be utilized for the campaign. Also, Anganwadi workers (AWWs) will be incentivized for referring out-of-school girls.
• Due to the COVID crisis, many girls were pushed out of formal education. It is crucial to bring back such girls into the formal education system to meet the sustainable development goals (SDG).
• In the new scheme, a new category is created in which adolescent girls between 14 and 18 years are covered.

• The government has reduced the subsidy provided under FAME-II scheme applicable on electric two-wheelers registered on or after June 1, 2023.

FAME INDIA SCHEME

• The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (FAME) scheme was launched in
• Aim – It is to support hybrid/electric vehicles market development and manufacturing eco-system.
• Ministry – Ministry of Heavy Industries.
• It is a part of National Electric Mobility Mission Plan.
• The incentive is linked to battery capacity of e-vehicles with a cap 20% of the cost of vehicle.

FAME II

• The scheme was commenced on April 2019 for a period of 3 years.
• Incentive cap increased from 20% to 40% of the capital cost of the e-2W.
• Only advanced battery and registered vehicles will be incentivized under the scheme.
• In 2022, it was further extended for a period of 2 years up to March 31, 2024.

RECENT NOTIFICATION

• The government has reduced the subsidy provided under FAME-II scheme applicable on electric two-wheelers registered on or after June 1, 2023.
• For electric two-wheelers, the demand incentive will be Rs 10,000 per kWh.
• The cap on incentives for electric two-wheelers will be 15% of the ex-factory price of vehicles from 40% at present.

• More than 57,000 migrant workers have registered for the special one nation one Anganwadi programme by using the Poshan Tracker App on mobile phones.

POSHAN TRACKER APP:

• The Poshan Tracker App provides a comprehensive view of activities at Anganwadi Centers, service deliveries by Anganwadi Workers, and beneficiary management for pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children under six years old.
• It digitizes and automates the physical registers used by workers, improving the quality of their work and streamlining processes.
• Anganwadi workers are provided smartphones through Government e-Market (GeM) to enhance their efficiency in service delivery.
• Each state has appointed a nodal person to provide technical support and resolve issues related to downloading and using the Poshan Tracker application.
• Migrant workers who have registered in their original state can visit the nearest Anganwadi center in their current place of residence and avail the schemes and services offered.
• The Poshan Tracker App was launched by the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD).

POSHAN ABHIYAAN:

• Poshan Abhiyaan was launched by the Prime Minister of India on 8th March 2018.
• It aims to improve nutritional outcomes comprehensively and bring the issue of nutrition to the forefront.
• The focus of the Abhiyaan is on the nutritional status of adolescent girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and children aged 0-6 years.
• The program uses technology, convergence, and community involvement to target specific issues such as stunting, undernutrition, anaemia, and low birth weight in children.
• The Abhiyaan strives to reduce the prevalence of these issues through a holistic approach.

• There has been a steady decrease in the number of ordinances promulgated by the Centre since 2019.

ORDINANCE

• An ordinance is any law promulgated by the President when the Indian parliament is not in session.
• These ordinances have the same legal force and effect as an Act of Parliament, but they are only temporary in nature.

ORDINANCE MAKING POWER OF PRESIDENT

• Article 123 grants the President certain law-making powers, including the authority to issue ordinances during Parliament’s recess and hence it is not possible to enact laws in the Parliament.
• Following limitations exist with regards to the president’s ordinance making powers:
• When one or either of the two Houses of Parliament is not in session, the President may promulgate an Ordinance.
• The President cannot issue an Ordinance unless he is satisfied that the situation necessitates ‘immediate action.’
• The President’s authority to issue ordinances is justiciable if intentions are proved mala fide.

Ordinance Making Power of Governor

• Article 213 states that the Governor of the state may issue ordinances when the state legislative assembly (or either of the two Houses in states with bicameral legislatures) is not in session.

Properties of the Ordinance

• An ordinance can be retrospective, which means that it can be enacted prior to its approval.
• An ordinance passed while Parliament is in session is deemed null and void.
• To stay a law, the Ordinance must be approved by Parliament within six weeks of its reassembly. Its existence is terminated if the parliament does not act within six weeks of its reassembly.
• Acts, laws, and events that occurred as a result of the ordinance remain in effect until it expires.
• Ordinance promulgation cannot be regarded as a substitute for the President’s legislative authority.
• Ordinances can only be passed on subjects where the Indian Parliament has the authority to pass laws.
• Ordinances cannot be used to revoke the fundamental rights of the citizens guaranteed by the Indian Constitution.
• The ordinance would also be declared null and void if both houses passed a resolution opposing it.

MISUSE OF THE ORDINANCE MAKING POWER

Deliberate bypassing of the legislature:

• At times there are instances that legislature is being deliberately bypassed to avoid debate and deliberations on contentious legislative proposals.
• This is against the ethos and spirit of democracy.

REPROMULGATION OF ORDINANCES:

• As observed by the Supreme Court, re-promulgation of ordinances is a “fraud” on the Constitution and a subversion of democratic legislative processes, especially when the government persistently avoids placing the ordinances before the legislature.

UNDERMINING THE DOCTRINE OF SEPARATION OF POWERS:

• In the Kesavananda Bharati vs. State of Kerala case 1973, the Supreme Court listed the separation of powers as a “basic feature” of the Constitution.
• The repromulgation undermines the separation of powers, as it effectively allows the executive to make permanent legislation without legislative input or approval.

THE SATISFACTION OF PRESIDENT:

• Ordinance can be promulgated only when the President is satisfied that circumstances exist for the same thus providing the scope of misuse of the power.

• Two warships Anjadip and Sanshodak were launched recently.

ANJADIP:

• ‘Anjadip’ is the 3rd of eight ships of Shallow Water Craft (SWC) Project.
• The ship has been named Anjadip to signify the strategic maritime importance accorded to the island of Anjadip, located off Karwar, Karnataka.
• The island is connected to the mainland by a breakwater and is part of INS Kadamba.
• The ‘Arnala’ class of ships would replace the current ‘Abhay’ class of Anti-Submarine Warfare Corvettes of the Navy.
• These are designed to undertake anti-submarine operations in coastal waters, low intensity maritime operations, subsurface surveillance among others.
• The ships would have 80 per cent indigenisation.

SANSHODHAK:

• A warship ‘Sanshodhak’, – the fourth Survey Vessel Large (SVL) – of Indian Navy, was launched recently.
• The ship named ‘Sanshodhak’, meaning ‘Researcher’, signifies the primary role of the ship as a Survey Vessel.
• SVL ships will replace the existing Sandhayak Class survey ships, with new generation hydrographic equipment, to collect oceanographic data.
• With a capability to carry four Survey Motor Boats and an integral helicopter, the primary role of the ships would be to undertake full scale coastal and deep-water hydrographic surveys of ports and navigational channels.
• The ships would also be deployed for collecting oceanographic and geophysical data for defence as well as civil applications.
• The SVL will have over 80 per cent indigenous content.