March-national-09

CURRENT NATIONAL AFFAIRS

Railway Budget 2009: On February 14, 2009, Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad presented the Railway Budget to the Parliament. The high point of this Budget was a 2% cut in most long distance fares. The railways were set to achieve a cumulative cash surplus of Rs 90,000 crore over the course of his tenure, he pointed out. Passenger traffic is expected to go up by 7 pc and gross traffic receipts are estimated at Rs 93,159 cr.

Third stimulus package:The Union government, on February 25, 2009, unveiled a Rs 30,000-crore
stimulus package, the third in a row to boost demand in an economy that has been feeling the heat of the global meltdown. The package includes a cut in the median excise duty and service tax rates by 2%. All products that attracted an excise rate of 10% will now be subject to only 8% while service tax on all products is down to 10%. On the other hand, this means the fiscal deficit of the government in 2009-10 will increase to Rs 3,61,935 crore, from Rs 3,32,835 crore estimated in the interim budget announced on February 16, 2009, provided all other estimates remain the same. So, fiscal deficit will again cross 6% of GDP as in 2008-09.

Interim Budget: On February 16, 2009, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee presented the interim Budget to the Parliament. The largely insipid Interim Budget, however, ensured adequate, even heightened, budgetary allocation to its major flagship programmes affecting the “common man”. Enhanced allocations have, however, been made only to sectors that promise employment generation and infrastructure development and help, in turn, to maintain the fiscal tempo by addressing the economic slowdown. NREGA, JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission) and Bharat Nirmal programmes have emerged the biggest gainers in this category. Budget allocation for education has increased by about Rs 4,000 crore over 2008-09. The government has allocated Rs 1,41,703 crore for defence, which is 34 per cent rise over the previous fiscal and is one of the steepest hikes in recent years. The revised fiscal deficit for 2008-09 is now estimated at as high as 6 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), against the budget estimate of 2.5 per cent. In money terms, the fiscal deficit is Rs 3,26,515 crore, against the intended Rs 1,33,287 crore or nearly 2.5 times the targeted amount.

Railway Budget 2009: On February 14, 2009, Union Railway Minister Lalu Prasad presented the Railway Budget to the Parliament. The high point of this Budget was a 2% cut in most long distance fares. The railways were set to achieve a cumulative cash surplus of Rs 90,000 crore over the course of his tenure, he pointed out. Passenger traffic is expected to go up by 7 pc and gross traffic receipts are estimated at Rs 93,159 cr.

Steps to boost exports: During 2008-09, India did achieve an export growth of 30.9 per cent till September 2008, but since then there has been a setback due to the global recession. The following sops have been announced by the Union government to boost exports: Customs duty under export promotion capital goods scheme cut to 3 per cent from 5 per cent; Special incentive of Rs 325 crore for various sectors like handmade carpets, leather and technical textiles from April 1, 2009; Threshold limit for recognition as premier trading house reduced to Rs 7,500 crore; Benefit of 5 per cent under “focus product, focus market” scheme for export of handmade carpets; Authorised persons of gems and jewellery units can personally carry imported gold of up to 10 kg; Obligation under export promotion capital goods scheme extended till 2009-10 for sops availed during 2008-09; Opening of an independent office of DGFT at Srinagar.

Unique ID project: Marking the beginning of the Herculean task of providing every Indian citizen with a National Identity Card, the UPA government has earmarked Rs 100 crore for setting up the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) in the annual plan of 2009-10. The project is aimed at establishing citizenship, addressing security-related issues and containing frauds, especially in government run schemes. The UIAI will be responsible for creating and maintaining the core database and laying down all necessary procedures for issuance and use of the unique ID card, including arrangements for collection, validation and authentication of information, proper security of data and rules for sharing and access of data. Initially, the UID number will be assigned to all voters by building on current electoral roll data. Progressively, other persons, including those below 18 years, will be added to the list.

S&P review lowers credit rating: India’s credit rating is now just one step away from junk status, as Standard and Poor’s ratings services (S&P) have lowered its outlook on the country’s long-term sovereign rating from stable to negative, because tax cuts and extra spending to win votes and fight the economic slowdown have pushed the fiscal deficit to a record high. Such a move can raise the cost for local firms borrowing abroad as well as weaken the rupee, though some analysts do not expect that to happen.

Number of female post graduates in urban India rises: According to the latest report of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO), the number of post graduates in every 1,000 males surveyed has increased from 28 in 2001-02 to 35 in 2006-07 in urban India. The number of female post graduates has increased from 19 to 26 during the same period. The number of male and female graduates during the same period has increased from 97 and 67 to 111 and 82, respectively. The incidence of illiteracy in rural areas has declined from 39.5% in 2001-02 to 34.9% in 2006-07. In urban sector, the same has declined from 19.4% to 16.5% during the same period. What is significant is that in both urban and rural sectors, the illiteracy rate of female has declined at a higher rate than that of the male. Female illiteracy rate has declined by 4.6 percentage points in rural areas and 3.4 percentage points decline of the male illiteracy rate in rural and urban sector respectively, during 2001-02 to 2006-07.

India tops world hunger chart: India is failing its rural poor with 230 million people being undernourished the highest for any country in the world. Malnutrition accounts for nearly 50% of child deaths in India as every third adult (aged 15-49 years) is reported to be thin (BMI less than 18.5). According to the latest report on the state of food insecurity in rural India, brought out by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), more than 1.5 million children are at risk of becoming malnourished because of rising global food prices. The report said that while general inflation declined from a 13-year high exceeding 12% in July 2008 to less than 5% by the end of January 2009, the inflation for food articles doubled from 5% to over 11% during the same period. India ranks 94th in the Global Hunger Index of 119 countries, the report said. More than 27% of world’s undernourished population lives in India.

Government fiddle opens floodgates to FDI: The Union government has relaxed guidelines on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for companies owned and controlled by Indian citizens. This effectively means foreign investment in FDI-restricted sectors like telecom, defence production and single-brand retail can cross set limits. The new guidelines also say that an investment made by a non-resident entity into an Indian company would be counted as foreign investment. Under the existing norms, if a firm with, say, 40% foreign equity and 60% Indian equity had invested Rs 100 crore in another firm, Rs 40 crore of this amount would be treated as FDI. Under the revised norms it will now be treated as zero FDI. Relaxation in foreign direct investment (FDI) norms would not apply to sectors such as multi-brand retail, gambling, atomic energy and lottery where the government prohibits foreign investment.

Union government to infuse capital in three PSU banks: In order to strengthen the Public Sector Banks, the Union government has decided to infuse Rs 3,800 crore into three State-run banks—Central Bank of India will get Rs 1,400 crore, while UCO Bank and Vijaya Bank will get Rs 1,200 crore each. The capital
infusion would be done in two tranches—the first tranche would be made available during 2008-09 and the remaining in 2009-10. The capital infusion will help these banks to raise capital adequacy over 12%, much above the Basel II norms of 9%. The government holding in Central Bank of India currently stands at 80.2% cent, in UCO bank 76%, while in Vijaya Bank it is 53%.

CEC’s recommendation rejected by the President:President Pratibha Patil has rejected the controversial recommendation by Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) N. Gopalaswami for the removal of Election Commissioner Navin Chawla, who is now to head the Commission after Mr Gopalaswami’s term comes to end in April 2009. The decision came as no surprise since the government had said CEC was not empowered to seek removal of a fellow Commissioner except when a Presidential reference was made. Gopalaswami’s action had also attracted sharp criticism from legal luminaries, although main Opposition party, Bharatiya Janata Party, had strongly supported the move. The battle in the three-member Election Commission had taken a new turn on January 31, 2009 when Gopalaswami recommended the removal of Chawla on a petition by the BJP, which had accused him of partisan functioning, sparking a furore.

General Election dates announced: India, the world’s largest democracy with 714 million voters, will elect its representatives over five phases between April 16 and May 13, 2009. The EC will also hold simultaneous polls in Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Sikkim. Incidentally, this is the first scheduled Parliamentary election after the Delimitation Commission redrew constituencies. Delimitation has also pushed up the number of scheduled caste seats in Parliament from 79 to 85 and scheduled tribe seats from 41 to 47. The 2009 polls will also be first photo-electoral rolls-based Parliamentary election, with 522 of the 543 Lok Sabha constituencies using this type of rolls.

Standard drill during terror attack being readied:The Home Ministry is drawing up Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to deal with terror attacks as part of its 100-day action plan to be implemented by May 31, 2009. The guidelines, which will form part of the crisis management plan of MHA, will cover all aspects of a counter-terror response, including rushing central forces like NSG to the attack sites, evacuation of civilians and media from the site and its immediate surroundings, monitoring of communication lines and the command structure to be followed by various Central and State agencies as they confront terrorists. This is for the first time that SOPs would be prescribed for tackling terror crimes. As of now, SOPs are in place for Central forces and State police operating in Naxal-infested States.

Sukh Ram found guilty of corruption: After more than 12 years, the law has completed its first course for former Telecom Minister Sukh Ram when a City Court in Delhi convicted him for possessing assets disproportionate to his sources of income. Special CBI judge V.K. Maheshwari held Sukh Ram guilty under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and amassing the properties amounting to Rs 4.25 crore which were disproportionate to his known source of income, between 1991 to 1996, when he was Minister of State for Communications in the Narasimha Rao government. Sukh Ram has been handed down a three-year prison term.

Minorities Bill gets approval:The Lok Sabha has passed the National Commission for Minorities Education Amendment Bill that grants statutory power to the Commission, which will no longer need to consult States before according minority status to any educational institute. The bill further enhances the strength of members of the Commission, which has several disputes pending for redressal.

Dhaka proposes taskforce for terror: With the atmosphere between India and Bangladesh clearing up under the Sheikh Hasina government, India has got a pledge from Bangladesh that it would not allow terror groups to launch attacks against India from its soil. Security issues, along with trade, were on top of the agenda during External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s one-day visit to Dhaka on February 9, 2009. Mr Mukherjee also discussed the viability of setting up a regional taskforce to fight terror. The only two deals that were signed by Mr Mukherjee and his Bangladeshi counterpart were on bilateral trade and investment. Mr Mukherjee said that the deals would cut down the trade gap which has been an issue for Bangladesh.

IPL results in foreign players raking in the moolah: India, the cricketing nation, seemed to laugh at the global meltdown at an auction in February 2009, where crores were spent buying the services of 17 overseas players. Former England skippes Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen went for about Rs 7.5 crore apiece ($ 1.55 million), making them jointly the highest
valued players in the Indian Premier League (IPL), more than M.S. Dhoni, bought for Rs six crore in 2008. Bangladesh’s paceman Mashrafe Mortaza would not know how to react to the Rs 2.93 crore the Kolkata Knight Riders have paid for his commercial value. After all, he was valued at a relatively low Rs 24.4 lakh. And then there was South African J.P. Duminy who was sold for Rs 4.64 crore. Whatever happened to the recession? Quipped actor Preity Zinta co-owner of Kings XI Punjab: Recession or no recession, cricket and entertainment always sell. And the IPL is about both.