October-2012-National

NATIONAL AFFAIRS

MINISTRY OF RURAL DEVELOPMENT LAUNCHED NIRMAL BHARAT YATRA

Ministry of rural development on 3 October 2012 started a campaign named Nirmal Bharat Yatra which focuses on making the country free from open defecation. The yatra will begin from Wardha District of Maharashtra from 3 October 2012 and will go through Indore, Kota, Gwalior, and Gorakhpur and end up in Bettiah district of Bihar on November 17, covering about 2000 km of distance. The Indian Bollywood actress Vidya Balan is the brand ambassador of the campaign.

The campaign is being promoted by several NGOs and private companies and it is going to be completed at a cost of over Rs 12 crore and is going to target over 9 crore people to spread awareness about sanitation. The well known NGOs that are participating in the programme are Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council.

SC: ORDERED GOVT. TO PROVIDE BASIC INFRASTRUCTURE IN SCHOOL

The Supreme Court of India on 3 October 2012 directed the Union government of India and state governments to provide basic infrastructure, including drinking water and toilets, in all schools within six months. A bench headed by justice K S Radhakrishnan fixed the time limit and directed the governments to take steps to provide the basic facilities in schools across the country. The Supreme Court bench noted that all its previous directions pertaining to providing infrastructure should be implemented within the time-frame fixed by it. On 18 October 2011, the apex court had directed all states and union territories to build toilets, particularly for girls, in all government schools. The court passed the order on a PIL seeking its direction to the Centre and state governments to provide basic facilities of drinking water and toilets in schools.

KAPIL SIBAL LAUNCHED HOCKEY AND CRICKET LEAGUE

In order to give encouragement to the talented sportsmen of the University system and promote sports in Universities, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal on 5 October 2012 launched hockey and cricket league under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). Association of Indian Universities has been organising the Rohinton Baria Cricket Trophy, the Inter University Hockey Tournament and other events for promotion of sports in the Universities throughout the country.

The Law Commission which advice government on legal issues made a recommendation to the government to initiate measures to enact a comprehensive law on passive euthanasia, subject to certain safeguards.

According to the Commission, Passive Euthanasia is not objectionable from a legal and constitutional point of view. It was in April 2011 that the UPA government had asked the law commission to study the feasibility of framing a law for euthanasia after the legalization of Passive Euthanasia in Aruna Shanbaug case after the Supreme Court verdict. The verdict was just law of the land till it would be enacted by the Parliament.

In its report on passive euthanasia the law commission recommended that a “competent” adult patient, who can take an informed decision, has the right to insist that there should be no invasive medical treatment by way of artificial life sustaining measures.

It was also suggested by the commission that if patients cannot take a decision on their own, then the decision of the doctors or relatives to withhold or withdraw the medical treatment will not be final.

Also, the same rule will apply to a minor above 16 years of age who has expressed his or her wish not to have such treatment provided the consent has been given by the major spouse and one of the parents of such patient. Whereas, Active euthanasia still remain a crime under Section 302(murder) or 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC, along with the physician assisted suicide under section 306 IPC (abetment of suicide).

SC: REFUSED TO RESTRAIN CENTER FROM PROVIDING TRAINING TO SRI LANKAN ARMED FORCES

The Supreme Court on 8 October 2012 denied from restraining the centre from offering training the armed forces of Sri Lanka. Supreme Court Bench headed by Justice Aftab Alam including Ms. Ranjana Desai stated that it was the government policy and the court cannot interfere in the government policy decisions. The court in its verdict declared the petition as misconceived, dismissed the petition. The decision came in response to the petition filed by N Raja Raman against nine Lankan defence personnel’s, who are being trained in the Indian Air Force base at Karnataka.

POSTAL DEPARTMENT OF INDIA INCREASED SPEED POST RATE

The postal department of India had increased the rates of Speed post deliveries by 42-56% from 1 October 2012.

Domestic charges were increased from Rs 12 to Rs 17, including service tax, and the 'One India' tariff escalated up from Rs 25 to Rs 39. It is first time since 2007 that the rates have been revised. The biggest users of Speed Post are institutional users, law firms and corporate entities that dispatch bulk mails. Many Banks, uses this service to send credit card statements and also credit cards. The difference is particularly distinctive with respect to foreign dispatches. A person is supposed to pay Rs 600 to a courier and merely Rs 150-odd to Speed Post delivery.

On the occasion of World Post Day on 9 October 2012, the postal department also announced a proposal to install ATMs at several post offices in the state of Maharashtra. Banking services are already available at several locations but this will enable anywhere, anytime banking.

SC: DEMANDED FRESH GUIDELINES ON TIGER RESERVES

Supreme Court of India on 9 October 2012 asked the center to present fresh guidelines on tiger conservation within a week. The court in its verdict also said that the guidelines issued by the court on banning all types of tourists’ activities in Tiger reserves given on 24 July, may be modified. The Supreme Court bench of Justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar in its statement also stated that the court will not allow the given directives on tiger-reserves to be open ended and in case the state government is not happy with the issued guidelines, they can challenge the decision in the court. The bench also cleared that ultra vires will not be declared in case the states challenged the guidelines issued by the apex court.

MOS SIGNED TO PROVIDE AUTONOMY TO THE HILLS COUNCIL IN ASSAM

Tripartite Memorandum of Settlement (MoS) was signed on 9 October 2012 for providing autonomy for the North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council in Assam and a special package for speedier socio-economic development of the area. It was signed between Centre, Assam government and both factions of Dima Halam Daogah (DHD). DHD used to be a group with violent activities in the state but gave up violence and resorted to peace for getting into the mainstream of development. Under the MoS, a committee will be constituted to deal with the matters relating to the 6th schedule councils. Under the agreement, the DHD will dissolve as an organization within a reasonable timeframe as a precursor to the government initiating further process to implement the agreed decisions

EC: ISSUED GUIDELINES TO CURB PRACTICE OF PAID NEWS

The Election Commission (EC) of India on 9 October 2012 issued stricter guidelines to curb the practice of Paid News. It asked candidates to reply within 48 hours to notices sent to them regarding Paid News. The Commission also asked the Media Certification and Monitoring Committees, MCMC at the districts and state levels to decide such cases within the 48 hours of getting the reply from a candidate. Election Commission Issued fresh instructions to Chief Electoral Officers of all states, including the poll-bound states of Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. In case the candidate did not reply within the specified time, the MCMC decision will be considered final. Returning officers were till now required to send notices within 96 hours of the publication or telecast of the paid news on references from the MCMC. The guidelines issued by the Election Commission will cover cinema halls, besides TV channels, cable networks and radio including private FM channels.

RAILRADAR, WEBSITE TO TRACK THE POSITION OF TRAIN

RailRadar, the new online application was launched by the Indian Railways on 10 October 2012, to find out the location of 6500 trains on real-time basis on Google Map. It can be accessed from the website trainenquiry.com.

To identify the train running status that whether the train is running on-time or late from its schedule, color codes have been created. Blue color is a code for trains running on time and red markers are the symbol of trains running behind schedule. On clicking upon the name of the train, the map will show the route along with stoppages and running status of the train on real time-basis.

SC: ORDERED FRESH SURVEYS ON BONDED LABOUR PROBLEMS

The Supreme Court of India on 15 October 2012 directed all states and Union Territories to conduct fresh surveys to identify bonded labour problems in the country and regretted that a large number of children continue to work as domestic help even after the enactment of the Right to Education Act (RTE act).

A bench of justices K S Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra ruled in a judgment that it shall be the duty of the local bodies and panchayats to identify such children and ensure that they get proper education. Referring to bonded labour practice, the apex court noted that after the perusal of the NHRC (National Human Rights Commission) and other reports it is clear that thepractice is rampant. The court passed the directions while dealing with a 1985 PIL filed by Public Union For Civil Liberties, highlighting bonded labour practice in the country.

LAND ACQUISITION BILL CLEARED BY GROUP OF MINISTERS (GOM)

The Land Acquisition Bill was cleared on 16 October 2012 by a Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar. It is going to be presented to the Cabinet this month The bill was cleared after three rounds of vigorous debate with few changes from the version presented to the Union Cabinet in September 2012. With the clearance of Bill, the Group of Ministers agreed with the proposal to seek consent of two-third of land owners, instead of the existing 80 per cent of project-affected families, for acquiring land for public-private-partnership or private projects. The GoM also agreed on flexibility in the validity period for the Social Impact Assessment (SIA), based on the assessment of the state chief secretary’s committee which has to be constituted to review SIAs for acquisitions above 200 crore. The Bill is now named as, The Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Bill. It was originally introduced in Parliament in September 2011.

UNION CABINET CLEARED PLAN TO TACKLE JAPANESE ENCEPHALITIS

The Union Cabinet of India on 18 October 2012 approved a 4038-Crore Rupees comprehensive multi-pronged plan for prevention and control of Japanese Encephalitis (JE) and Acute Encephalitis Syndrome (AES) in the country. The plan will implemented in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Bihar and Assam within five years from 2012-13 to 2016-17. The Plan is going to be jointly implemented by the Ministries of Health and Family Welfare, Drinking Water and Sanitation, Social Justice and Empowerment, Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation and Women and Child Development.

The proposal for Prevention and Control of Japanese Encephalitis came after the recommendation of Group of ministers (GoM) to Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. For making up a sum of 4000 crore rupees for Contribution, the biggest component of 2301.57 crore of Rupees is given by Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation while the Health ministry's contribution is of 1131.49 crore of rupees.

SC ORDERED STATES TO HAVE A CHECK ON SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

The Supreme Court of India on 19 October 2012 made it mandatory for every state, union territory and regulatory bodies to bring in practice/operations the legal mechanism for implementation of the guidelines issued in Vishaka Case that requires the employers to observe and ensure prevention of sexual harassment of women at workplaces.

The three Judge Bench of Supreme Court that included Justices, R.M. Lodha, Anil R. Dave and Ranjan Gogoi explained that the implementation of the guidelines issued in Vishaka Case was not only to be followed in a form but was also a matter of substantiating the same with an spirit to make sure that a safe and secured space and environment in all aspects was made available to the woman at her workplace, which enables them to work with decency, dignity and respect as a whole. The bench also pointed out towards the lack of a legislation and proper mechanism to address the complaints of sexual harassment of women at their work place.

PRIME MINISTER LAUNCHED AADHAR BASED TRANSFER SYSTEM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 20 October 2012 launched Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery in Dudu district of Rajasthan to mark the 2nd anniversary of Aadhaar.

Also marking the second anniversary, the 21st crore Aadhaar number was given to a local resident of Kurawar, district of Udaipur. With this launch of delivery system the government is going to start out Aadhaar Enabled Service Delivery initiatives in 51 districts across the country

NATIONAL COMMITTEE ON DIRECT CASH TRANSFERS

a) With a clear objective of establishment of transparency, accountability and efficiency in the process the committee would guide and provide a vision and direction for enabling the cash transfers directly to ensure that the individuals are benefitted by the schemes and programs being run by the Government. They would also control the investments being made in the Aadhaar Project that includes the financial initiatives of the government. b) Policy objectives and strategies would be determined and framed by the committee for direct cash transfers c) Identification of the schemes and programmes of the Government in which the process of direct transfer of cash to individuals can be adopted and formulated for the country d) The committee would be responsible for coordination of activities of all the departments, ministries and agencies that are involved in the process of transferring cash to make sure that a coordinated action for ensuring speedy roll-out of the cash transfers directly without delay across the country e) The committee would be responsible for specifying the timeliness on the cash transfers of the deliverables f) It would be responsible for reviewing the process for implementation of direct cash transfer as well as guide the mid-term corrections on it g) All shots of matter related to it

To assist the National Committee on the issue of Direct Cash Transfer, an Executive Committee for Direct Cash Transfer under the chairmanship of Prime Ministers' Principal Secretary is constituted along with the Secretaries of the concerned Ministries and the DG UIDAI. Convenor for this committee would be the Secretary of the Planning Commission.

CABINET RESHUFFLE IN INDIA

The Cabinet Reshuffle that took place on 28 October 2012 witnessed reshuffling of 5 ministers along with 17 new faces, which were inducted to take on the charge. All these 22 ministers would take the charge of their new offices, on 29 October 2012. Few of the most important names in this cabinet reshuffle were the lifting of the former Law Minister Salman Khurshid to External Affairs Minister of India, and Ajay Maken, who has been promoted to Cabinet Rank and got the Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee appointed and administered the oaths of the office and its secrecy to the newly elected members in the council of ministers following the advice of the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. The President following the advice of the Prime Minister directed the change of portfolios of different ministers.

There are seven new faces in the list of cabinet minister and they include K. Rahman Khan was given Minority Affairs, Dinsha J. Patel was given Mines, whereas Ajay Maken took the charge of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, M.M. Pallam Raju took over Human Resource Development, Ashwani Kumar took over the Law & Justice, Harish Rawat got Water Resources, and Chandresh Kumari Katoch became got the portfolio of Culture.

Two new members were inducted in the list of Ministers of State with Independent Charge and they are Manish Tewari for Information & Broadcasting and Dr. K. Chiranjeevi for Tourism. New faces in the list of Ministers of State to be included were Shashi Tharoor getting Human Resource Development, Kodikunnil Suresh got the charge of Labour & Employment, Tariq Anwar became the incharge of Agriculture & Food Processing Industries, K. J. Surya Prakash Reddy got the Railways and Ranee Narah took over the Tribal Affairs. Few more of the names in this list for Ministers of State as new faces to be inducted includes Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury also got Railways, A.H. Khan Choudhury took over Health & Family Welfare, Sarvey Sathyanarayana would handle the Road Transport & Highways, Shri Ninong Ering would take the charge of Minority Affairs, Deepa Dasmunsi got the Urban Development, Porika Balram Naik took charge Social Justice & Empowerment, Kruparani Killi became Communications & Information Technology and Lalchand Kataria got Defense.