Latest news with #2023Rules
The Hindu
4 days ago
- Health
- The Hindu
Manifold increase in rabies deaths in two years: Centre
Though the number of presumptive cases of human rabies has come down from 4,885 in 2022 to 1,079 in 2024, the number of rabies deaths has increased manifold to 180 in 2024 from 22 in 2022, the Animal Husbandry Ministry informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday (August 5, 2025). In 2024, the highest number of deaths was reported from Tamil Nadu (43), followed by Karnataka (42) and Andhra Pradesh (39). In 2023, 121 people died of rabies and 2,223 presumptive cases were reported. In a written answer to a question by Member of Parliament from Kerala Adoor Prakash, Union Minister of State for Animal Husbandry S.P. Singh Baghel said that municipalities are mandated to control the stray dog population. 'Municipalities are implementing the Animal Birth Control (ABC) programme to stabilise the population of stray dogs,' he said, adding that the Animal Birth Control Rules, issued by the Centre, emphasise neutering and anti-rabies vaccination as primary tools for dog population management. ABC programme implementation 'The Central Government and the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI) have issued several advisories to ensure effective implementation of the ABC programme. Recently, on July 21, 2025, the Secretaries of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Ministry of Panchayati Raj (MoPR), and the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying (DAHD) issued a joint advisory to all Chief Secretaries, urging the implementation of the ABC programme and the development of requisite infrastructure,' he said. The Minister added that financial assistance of up to ₹800 per dog and ₹600 per cat is provisioned for Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and local bodies for conducting ABC as per the 2023 Rules. 'A one-time grant of ₹2 crore is provisioned for State-run veterinary hospitals for developing infrastructure, including surgical theatres, kennels, and recovery units,' he said.
Hindustan Times
28-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
SC junks plea against Telangana rule mandating proficiency in Telugu for civil judge post
New Delhi, The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging an order upholding a 2023 rule mandating proficiency in Telugu language to qualify for the civil judge's post in Telangana. A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih told the petitioner's counsel, "It only says you need to know Telugu." The petitioner, a practising advocate, applied for the post of civil judge pursuant to a April 2024 notification. Before the high court, he challenged the constitutionality of Rules 5.3 and 7 of the Telangana State Judicial Rules, 2023 over the requirement of the language. The petitioner also sought a direction to provide the option of being proficient either in Telugu or Urdu as a qualification for being a civil judge aside from providing the option of translating from English to Telugu or Urdu and vice versa in written examination conducted under the 2023 Rules. Before the top court bench, the petitioner's counsel said 15 per cent population in Telangana was Urdu speaking. The counsel said his client cleared the qualifying examination. The bench, however, refused to examine the plea and dismissed it. In the Telangana High Court, the petitioner's counsel argued since Urdu was given the status of second official language in the state, it was arbitrary and unjust that an option of being conversant with Urdu or Telugu in the rules for recruitment for civil judges was not provided. "This is trite that it is in the province of the employer to decide about the conditions of service, eligibility and qualification etc. Employer is the best judge to decide about these aspects. The scope of judicial review on these aspects is very limited," the high court said in its order of November last year. It cannot be said that the provision of recruitment rules called in question were arbitrary, discriminatory or violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, the high court added. While dismissing the plea, the high court said since the decision of the authorities was in the province of "policy decision" for betterment of judicial administration, it couldn't be struck down only because another view was possible.
