Recent Changes in Indian Education and Justice System

Decline in IIT Placements and Protests over Judge’s Transfer

Drop in IIT Placements

Recent data shows a considerable decrease in job placements for Bachelor of Technology students at most Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) from 2021-22 to 2023-24. Out of 23 IITs, 22 reported a decline, with over half experiencing a drop of more than 10 percentage points.

• IIT-Dharwad had the most significant decline of 24.64 percentage points.
• Among older IITs, Bombay, Madras, Kanpur, and Delhi saw drops ranging from 11.15 to 14.88 percentage points.
• IIT (BHU)-Varanasi was the only one to report an increase of 4.89 percentage points.

Judge’s Transfer and Calls for Criminal Investigation

Six High Court bar associations have requested Chief Justice of India, Sanjiv Khanna, to withdraw the Supreme Court Collegium’s recommendation to transfer Delhi High Court judge Yashwant Varma. They also demanded a criminal investigation against him.

• This appeal comes after reports of unaccounted cash being found at Varma’s official residence following a fire on March 14.
• The Collegium suggested Varma’s return to the Allahabad High Court on March 24.
• The Allahabad High Court Bar Association is on strike, protesting against the “dumping ground” policy for transfers.

Air Pollution and Death Link

The government has stated that there is no concrete data to confirm a direct link between deaths, including lung cancer, and air pollution. According to Minister of State for Environment Kirti Vardhan Singh, air pollution is one of many factors contributing to respiratory illnesses and related diseases.

Madhya Pradesh High Court Allows Toxic Waste Disposal

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has permitted the state government to dispose of 300 tons of toxic waste from Bhopal’s Union Carbide factory at a private facility in Pithampur. The remaining waste will be incinerated under pollution control board supervision.

This waste is from the 1984 Bhopal gas disaster, which exposed over five lakh people to harmful gases and resulted in at least 15,000 deaths in the years after the accident.

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