UPSC Daily Current Affairs : 13-July-2020
Topic Covered :
Disabled are entitled to same benefits of SC/ST quota: SC
China, Iran close to reaching trade and military partnership
DISABLED ARE ENTITLED TO SAME BENEFITS OF SC/ST QUOTA: SC
Why in news? The Supreme Court, in a significant decision, confirmed that persons with disabilities are also socially backward and entitled to the same benefits of relaxation as Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates in public employment and education.
Highlights:
A three-judge Bench led by Justice Rohinton Nariman upheld a 2012 judgment of the Delhi High Court in Anamol Bhandari (minor) through his father/Natural Guardian v. Delhi Technological University.
“In Anamol Bhandari, the High Court has correctly held that people suffering from disabilities are also socially backward, and are therefore, at the very least, entitled to the same benefits as given to the Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe candidates,” the Supreme Court held in a judgment on July 8.
The decision by the Justice Nariman Bench came on a petition by Aryan Raj, a special needs, against the Government College of Arts, Chandigarh.
The college denied Mr. Raj relaxation in minimum arks in the Painting and Applied Art course.
Source : Hindu ( Page 10, 13 Jul. 20)
China, Iran close to reaching trade and military partnership
Why in news?
Iran and China have quietly drafted a sweeping economic and security partnership that would clear the way for billions of dollars of Chinese investments in energy and other sectors, undercutting the Donald Trump administration’s efforts to isolate the Iranian government because of its nuclear and military ambitions.
Highlights:
It would vastly expand Chinese presence in banking, telecommunications, ports, railways and dozens of other projects.
In exchange, China would receive a regular — and, according to an Iranian official and an oil trader, heavily discounted — supply of Iranian oil over the next 25 years.
The document also describes deepening military cooperation, potentially giving China a foothold in a region that has been a strategic preoccupation of the United States for decades.
It calls for joint training and exercises, joint research and weapons development and intelligence sharing — all to fight “the lopsided battle with terrorism, drug and human trafficking and cross-border crimes.”
If put into effect as detailed, the partnership would create new and potentially dangerous flashpoints in the deteriorating relationship between China and the U.S.
It represents a major blow to the Trump administration’s aggressive policy toward Iran since abandoning the nuclear deal reached in 2015 by President Barack Obama and the leaders of six other nations after two years of gruelling negotiations.
Source : Hindu (Page 14, 13 Jul. 20 )