National
Stringent penalty for deliberate insult to flag
By Our Special Correspondent
NEW DELHI, JAN. 15. The Union Cabinet's decision to amend the Flag Code comes in the wake of a court case, which was first fought in the Delhi High Court and then the Supreme Court. Upholding the High Court's verdict that the right to fly the Tricolour was a part of the fundamental right of freedom of expression, the Supreme Court observed that the restrictions on flying it to certain prescribed days was prima facie unsustainable.
Announcing the decision, the spokesperson of the Cabinet, Pramod Mahajan, said the amendments would be publicised through the print and electronic media. The new code would, among other things, allow Judges of High Courts to fly the national flag on their vehicles.
Mr. Mahajan also said the proposed amendment to the Insult to National Honour Act would make the penalty for deliberate insult to the Tricolour more stringent for second and subsequent offences. It would define the insult at greater length by including serious disrespect such as use of flag on costumes.
The Cabinet decided that in due course an appropriate legislation would be included to prevent misuse of the State Emblem of the country. The details of the new Flag Code would be included in the school syllabus, Mr. Mahajan said.
Approval for colleges
The Cabinet also decided to arm the Central Council for Indian Medicine with the powers for the approval of new Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani colleges. Right now, it is enough for the promoters of such colleges to get the permission of the State Governments and get affiliation from an university.
The move is intended to improve the standards of the colleges in the Indian systems of medicine. Out of the 160 colleges inspected over the past decade, Mr. Mahajan said, 44 per cent were found to lack the required number of departments, 89 per cent did not have the required strength of teachers, 52 per cent fell short of the norms for hospital beds and 91 per cent did not have major diagnostic equipment such as ECG and X-ray. In addition, 52 per cent of the colleges had a higher intake of students than was prescribed.
The Cabinet further decided to roll back its earlier decision to wind up the Benares State Bank in the wake of the interest shown by the Bank of Baroda to take it over and to entrust the responsibility for direct recruitment of Assistant Commandants in the BSF, CRPF, ITBP and SSB to the UPSC through a combined examination.
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