NATIONAL AUGUST 2013

NATIONAL AUGUST 2013

• Union Minister of Science and Technology and Earth Sciences, S.Jaipal Reddy informed to Rajya Sabha for a question on 26 August, that the government has launched the National Monsoon Mission to set up a state-of-the-art climate model for (a) improved prediction of monsoon rainfall on extended range to seasonal time scale (16 days to one season) and (b) improved prediction of temperature, rainfall and extreme weather events on short to medium range time scale (up to 15 days). 
  
• The National Food Security Bill, a historic initiative for ensuring food and nutritional security to the people was passed by Lok sabha on 26 August. According to the amendments approved by the house State Governments’ existing food grain entitlements will be protected legally subject to it being restricted to average annual off take during last three years. Earlier it was proposed to be protected by an executive order. The definitions of the ‘meal’ for mid day meal and ICDS programmes has also been amended. Now ‘meal’ means hot cooked or pre-cooked and heated food and not the packaged food. This amendment has been made to remove the apprehensions of misuse of the earlier provision for supply of packaged food in large quantity. Another amendment now provides one year to states for implementation of the Food Bill instead of six months. 
  
• Removing all apprehensions of the States regarding their say in the implementation of the ambitious Bill, the other amendment says that the Central Government will make rules in consultation with the State Governments to carry out the provisions of Food Security Act. Total ten amendments have been approved by the Lok Sabha in the National Food Security Bill which was introduced in the house on August 7, 2013 by Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister, K.V. Thomas to replace the National Food Security Ordinance, 2013 promulgated on 5th July, 2013 The Bill proposes to provide wheat and rice at Rs 2 and Rs 3 per kg to about 81 crore people, while under the existing Targeted Public Distribution System only 2.5 crore Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families or about 32.5 crore persons (assuming 5 as the average household size) are getting food grains at these prices. Thus, population getting food grains at these highly subsidized prices as their legal right will increase to 67% from existing 27%. 
  
• Ministry of Minority Affairs has constituted a committee to evaluate the process of implementation of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee Report and their impact on socio-economic and educational status of the Muslim population. The first meeting of the Committee was held in New Delhi on 27th August, 2013 where Minister of Minority Affairs, K. Rahman Khan addressed the members of the Committee. Prof. Amitabh Kundu of Jawaharlal Nehru University will be the Chairman of the committee with other 8 members drawn from various streams. The other members of the Committee include Dr. AmirUllah Khan, P.A.Inamdar, Dr.ManzoorAlam , Smt. Jeemol Unni , Smt. Farah Naqvi , Professor Abdul Shaban, P. C. Mohanan and Ali Ahmed Khan – Member Secretary. The committee is expected to submit its Report within a period of six months. The committee will primarily look at the impact of the implementation of the recommendations of the Sachar committee in its report, the institutional reforms and programmatic shifts. Besides, it would assess the programmes executed by the various Ministries especially the schemes aimed at educationally empowering the minorities particularly the Muslims. The Committee will also recommend interventions and corrective measures to be launched at the level of policies, programme and schemes. 
  
• The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 mandates eight years of elementary education to all children in the 6 to 14 years age group. While supply side provisioning is being done by the Government, at the same time creation of demand in a rights based perspective is also of utmost importance. Different media tools have been used in this regard and the RTE Anthem is an attempt to do it in a joyful and child friendly manner, wherein children will imbibe the RTE message from popular public figures in a creative melody. 
  
• The melodious RTE Anthem was launched on 29 August, by Union Minister for HRD Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju, in the presence of MoS for HRD, Dr. Shashi Tharoor and also the lyricist and MP Javed Akhtar. National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) supported the Ministry in creating the Anthem, which has been written by renowned lyricist Javed Akhtar and sung by Sonu Nigam and Sunidhi Chauhan. The Anthem depicts child-centered principles and entitlements and has been shot in government schools. The anthem will be dubbed in English and 15 regional languages (Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Dogri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Manipuri, Marathi, Naga, Oriya, Punjabi, Tamil and Telugu) to generate constructive awareness among the community and stakeholders for the implementation of RTE. 
  
• The High Power Committee (Running & Safety) headed by D. P. Tripathi, former Secretary to the Government of India, Ministry of Food Processing, has submitted its final report to Arunendra Kumar, Chairman, Railway Board. Other three Members of the Committee which was constituted by the Ministry of Railways were V.K. Manglik, former General Manager, West Central Railway, Amar Nath, former General Manager, Chittaranjan Locomotive Works and M. S. Khan, former Additional Member/Budget, Railway Board, The Committee was constituted to look into pending demands of Labour Federation regarding working hours of Running Staff (Guards and Drivers) and review of Safety Categories staff over Indian Railways. The Committee conducted wide ranging consultation with Railway Administrations, Federations and staff all over Indian Railways and prepared a comprehensive report as per terms of reference. The Ministry of Railways shall be examining the report for implementation of the recommendations of the Committee. 
  
• The Minister of State for Tourism, K. Chiranjeevi in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha informed that the Government has proposed to set up the Central Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition in the country. The said IHM will be set up at Jagdishpur (Sultanpur Dist.), Uttar Pradesh. Uttar Pradesh presently has only one IHM which is located at Lucknow. The institute is expected to play a pivotal role in employment generation for Jagdishpur area. 
  
• The Union Minister for Human Resource Development M. M. Pallam Raju was presented a report on “Geospatial Education” by Dr K. Kasturirangan, Member of Planning Commission who headed the National Task Force on ‘Evolving Geospatial Strategy’ in New Delhi on 30 August. Speaking on the occasion, the Minister said that XII Five Year Plan has a vision of rapid, sustainable and more inclusive growth and to meet the ambitious targets enlisted in Plan document and beyond, harnessing and augmenting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is the need of the hour. Geospatial Technology assumes special importance as it facilitates planning, implementation, and monitoring of projects of national importance, the HRM added. 
  
• Kasturirangan highlighted the salient points of the report. He said that National Task Force has given a four-pronged recommendations on Geospatial Strategy which includes (i) School Geospatial Education Project (SGEP) led by the Department of School Education, MHRD; (ii) Geospatial University Networking Project (GUNP) led by the Department of Higher education, MHRD; (iii) Geospatial Training and Outreach Project (GTOP) led by Department of Science & Technology (DST); and (iv) National Institute of Geospatial Knowledge, Engineering and Management (NGKEM) led by MHRD and DST. He further mentioned that a high-level management council is also recommended with Minister, MHRD as Chair and Member (Science), Planning Commission as Co-chair, with various Secretaries as Members and experts as Members, for guiding and supervising the implementation of recommendations. 
  
• Avani Riverside Shopping Mall, Kolkata, will become the first ever shopping mall in the country to get a BEE 5 star label. It is being recognized by the Government for its endeavour towards incorporating energy efficiency measures resulting in award of a 5 star label. Director General, Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE) will present the 5 star label to the shopping mall in a ceremony on 31st August, 2013 at Kolkata. This mall has achieved an EPI(Average Annual Energy Performance Index) value of 185.62 kWh/sq. m/annum in comparison to the general shopping mall EPI of 400 kwh/sq. mtr/ per annum by implementing various energy efficiency measures like integration of day light, use of sensors and controllers, waste energy recovery wheel etc. The mall has also adopted energy management system and performance indicators for facility management staff for energy saving through awareness among renters and shopkeepers in the mall. Shopkeepers and occupiers in the mall would be benefitted by reduced electricity bills and enhancing their business profitability. BEE, a statutory body under the Ministry of Power, has developed a voluntary Star rating programme for commercial buildings, which is based on the actual performance of a building in terms of its specific energy usage in kwh/sqm/year. 
  
• With the objective to prevent women and children from all types of violence, United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government has introduced an awareness and women empowerment program “Ahimsa Messenger” on 31 August,. The UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi launched this program in an event in the presence of Women and Child Development Minister Krishna Tirath, which was organized by Ministry of Women and Child Development at New Delhi. 
  
• The 'Ahimsa Messenger' programme aims at preventing violence against women and children and generating awareness about basic legal rights, procedures and provisions amongst women and children at the grassroots, said Gandhi while launching this tough law. This initiative by the Ministry of Women and Child Development addresses violence against women in all forms through a mass movement by creating numerous Ahimsa Messengers in various parts of the country, till the grassroots level. 
  
• Given the spate of violence against women and children in the current context, a full-fledged programme is being started which has the following dimension: a series of awareness building programmes across the nation on gender issues, a series of training and sensitization programmes for grass root level functionaries across the nation, developing and introducing a gender sensitive module/ curriculum which is now being introduced in various training institutes across states. 
  
• The programme involves both men and women including youths to address and eliminate all forms of violence against women and children at grassroots and facilitate social/community mobilization to fight social evils.This programme will be implemented through all Anganwadi Centres, all Panchayati Raj Institutions, Sabla Girls (in the age group of 16-18 years) and Poorna Shakti Kendras (PSK) coordinators under the National Mission for Empowerment of Women (NMEW) will be trained as Ahimsa Messengers.
  
• The Supreme Court collegium on 19 August, has recommended that the acting Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Rajesh Kumar Agrawal be made its Chief Justice. Justice Agrawal assumed office as acting Chief Justice on February 7 this year. The senior most judge of the High Court, Justice R. Banumathi, has been recommended to be appointed as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court. Justice N.V. Ramana, acting Chief Justice of Andhra Pradesh High Court, will be the new Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court. At present, there is no judge from the Andhra Pradesh High Court holding the post of Chief Justice in any High Court. Justice P.C. Pant, senior most judge of the Uttarakhand High Court, is being elevated as the Chief Justice of the Meghalaya High Court. This is the first time an Uttarakhand High Court judge is occupying the position of Chief Justice. These recommendations received by the Law Ministry are being processed and the appointments will be completed in two-three weeks, according to informed sources.
  
• The Congress launched its ambitious food security programme in Delhi, Haryana and Uttarakhand on 21 August, on the occasion of Rajiv Gandhi’s 69th birth anniversary, as the ordinance on the scheme is still in operation though the Lok Sabha once again failed to push the Bill through. Indeed, with the Opposition mounting an attack on the government on the missing files related to the coal blocks allocation scam, the subject was not even discussed in the House. For the Congress leadership, which is determined to pass the Food Security Bill, time is running out this session, which ends on August 30. Now, if the Bill is not legislated by then, the government will have two options — to re-promulgate the ordinance or revert to the Public Distribution System in the three Congress-ruled States, where the programme was inaugurated with much fanfare.
  
• The government on 23 August 2013 announced the national e-mail policy to protect privacy of email users in India. In the proposed policy all government departments and Indian embassies are being asked to use NIC server for their email correspondence. The NIC server is located in India and it cannot be accessed by any foreign agency. The government is working to enhance its capacity to protect data and information flows by building better cyber and telephony infrastructure and by evolving new cyber and telecom security practices. The government is also promoting Indian players in the information technology sector to develop and offer Internet services by their servers located in India.
  
• A major fire broke out on board INS Sindhurakshak at the Naval Dockyard in Mumbai on 14 August 2013. An explosion on board damaged the submarine. The fire was doused in time and prevented from spreading to other vessels docked in the vicinity.INS Sindhurakshak is the ninth of the ten Sindhughosh-class diesel-electric submarines of the Indian Navy. On 4 June 2010, the Indian Defence Ministry and Zvezdochka shipyard signed a contract worth US $ 80 million to upgrade and improve the submarine. The submarine suffered two fire incidents, a minor one in 2010 and a major one on 14 August 2013, which led to in its sinking at Mumbai's naval dockyards. Sindhurakshak was constructed in Admiralty Shipyard, St. Petersburg. Construction of the submarine started in 1995 and submarine was launched in June 1997 and delivered in December 1997. A fire broke out aboard Sindhurakshak while the vessel was in Visakhapatnam in February 2010.
  
• The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) asked all the state governments for establishing the fund as well as formulating the scheme for the purpose of providing compensation to the victims of crime. The compensation would be given to the crime victims who suffered injury or loss due to crime. The Ministry of Home Affairs declared that the action was aimed for providing help to victims of all sorts of crimes, especially acid attack victims. The MHA Advisory declared that all the state governments as well as UT administration was required to prepare the scheme for facilitating funds for providing compensation to the victims or dependents of the victims. For the purpose of finalising the scheme, the consultation of Union Government of India could be taken. MHA, in the meanwhile, also declared that draft scheme need to be prepared within a time period of just 4 weeks.
  
• The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal to scrap the collegium system of appointing judges to the Supreme Court and High Courts on 22 August 2013. A Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) will be set up which will replace the collegium system of appointing judges to Suprecme Court and High Courts. According to the proposal, the government will set up a panel headed by the Chief Justice of India (CJI) to appoint and transfer senior judges. The other members of the proposed Commission will comprise the Law Minister, two judges of the Supreme Court, two eminent persons as members and Secretary (Justice) in the Law Ministry as Member Secretary. Moreover, the Leader of the Opposition of either House of Parliament will be part of a committee which will be set up to nominate two eminent persons to the JAC. The committee will also include the CJI and the Prime Minister as other members. A constitutional amendment bill will be tabled in Parliament to approve the proposal. The move to set up JAC will require amendments to Articles 124, 217, 222 and 231 of the Constitution and insertion of Article 124 A.
  
• Minister of State in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, K. C. Venugopal informed the Lok Sabha on 23 August, that the Government of India has granted "in-principle" approval for setting up of a Greenfield airport at Kannur in Kerala. The project is to be implemented on Build Own and Operate (BOO) model. The State Government of Kerala has appointed M/s Kerala Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (KINFRA) as a nodal agency for the construction of the Kannur Airport. M/s KINFRA has formed a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), namely M/s Kannur International Airport Limited (KIAL), for the development of the airport. Ministry of Environment & Forest has granted necessary environment clearance to the project. M/s KIAL has acquired 1278 acres of land so far. M/s KIAL has requested for financial assistance under Viability Gap Funding (VGF) scheme. Ministry of Civil Aviation has supported the request of M/s KIAL and requested Ministry of Finance to grant the VGF.
• Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram unveiled the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme that will be implemented on pan-India basis on 17 August. The scheme was first proposed by the Finance Minister in the last Union Budget to allocate Rs. 1,000 crore for a scheme that will motivate the youth of this country to acquire a vocational skill. The scheme is expected to benefit a million people in the first year of its implementation. The scheme that is branded as STAR (Standard Training Assessment and Reward) for promotional purposes envisages that a monetary reward that will in essence financially help those who wish to acquire a new skill or upgrade their skills to a higher level. The National Skilling Mission envisages adding 500 million skilled Indians by the year 2022. 
  
• The Union Cabinet gave its nod to the proposal for establishing the International Centre for Drinking Water Quality in Kolkata on 13th August. The Centre will be registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, with the requisite manpower, building and support infrastructure. 
  
  The aim of the Centre is to work in the area of identification, mitigation and management with focus on research and development on drinking water quality related problems in India (both urban and rural) with a focus among other contaminants, also on arsenic and fluoride. 
  
  The Centre will also provide policy advice on request to the Central and State Governments as also to other countries on demand on water quality issues. The Centre will benefit the entire population of the country through provision of safe and quality drinking water. All States/ districts in the country will be covered as bacteriological contamination is more or less evenly spread and focus will also be made on drinking water quality affected habitations in the States/districts. The total cost of the project will be Rs. 176.64 crore. 
  
• Janata Party was merged with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) following a meeting of Janata Party President Subramanian Swamy and BJP President Rajnath Singh on 11th August. Subramanian Swamy had served as member of the Planning Commission of India. He was also former Cabinet Minister at the Centre and has been a five-time MP. He has been an ardent proponent of Hindutva philosophy and was active in exposing the 2G Spectrum scam. He was a former member of the Jana Sangh. The Janata party was officially launched on 23rd January 1977 when the Janata Morcha, Charan Singh's Bharatiya Lok Dal, Swatantra Party, the Socialist Party of India (Raj Narain and George Fernandes), and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) came together, merging their separate identities. Morarji Desai was elected the first party chairman. 
  
  Ramakrishna Hegde was appointed the party general secretary and Lal Krishna Advani became the party spokesperson. Janta Party won the 1977 parliamentary elections but started disintegrating after coming to power and lost the 1980 mid-term election. Slowly and gradually it faded away from the limelight and continued its small existence in the politics of the state of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Chandigarh, Delhi and at the national stage under the chairmanship of Subramanian Swamy. 
  
• The Union Government has constituted of a High Level Committee on 17th August, to prepare a report on the socio-economic, health and educational status of the tribal communities of India. In keeping with the special status accorded to Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Constitution of India, the Union Government has affirmed its commitment to improving their socioeconomic status and has taken initiatives that encompass policy, programmatic and legislative interventions. The HLC shall suggest policy initiatives as well as effective outcome-oriented measures to improve development indicators and strengthen public service delivery to STs and other tribal populations. 
  
  The High Level Committee has the following composition: 1. Prof. Virginius Xaxa - Chairman 2. Dr. Usha Ramanathan - Member 3. Dr. Joseph Bara - Member 4. Dr. K.K. Misra - Member 5. Dr. Abhay Bang - Member 6. Ms. Sunila Basant - Member 7. Secretary, M/o Tribal Affairs - Member Secretary .The above HLC will be provided all possible assistance by all Ministries/ Departments and other bodies under the Government to ensure timely collection of data and information to facilitate their task. All pertinent reports available with the Government on tribal and related issues including the reports of Bhuria Committee, Mungekar Committee and of the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes will be made available to HLC. All existing data (including RGI and NSSO data) and data collected by above mentioned Committees will also be made available to HLC. 
  
• The Rashtriya Uchattar Shiksha Abhiyan proposes to put a ceiling of maximum number of colleges to be affiliated to any university at two hundred. The proposal has been submitted following several State Universities having a large number of colleges affiliated to a single university. For example Osmania University has 901 colleges affiliated to it while 811 colleges are attached to Pune University. This phenomenon negatively affects the academic quality of the University. It is imperative that States create more universities so that affiliation does not result in large number of colleges being tied academically to one university. 
  
  The one lakh crore rupees scheme when implemented will lead to setting up and upgradation of new colleges and universities. The scheme may also facilitate increased number of students from secondary to higher education. The Rashtriya Uchchatar Abhiyan is a new centrally sponsored flagship umbrella scheme aimed at providing strategic funding to State higher and technical institutions. States will develop comprehensive state higher education plans that utilize an interconnected strategy to address issues of expansion, equity and excellence together. Central funding will be linked to academic, administrative and financial reforms of state higher education. 
  
• As a part of its social commitment to make Railways friendlier towards specially-abled passengers, Indian Railways has decided to provide Braille stickers in coaches to facilitate visually impaired passengers. Presently coaches are provided with signage, instructions, seat numbers etc. which are mostly in the form of vinyl stickers/metallic plates and have no Braille characters and can not be read by visually impaired passengers. Now it is planned to use stickers with metallic base with printed characters embedded into it. Integral Coach Factory (ICF), a production unit of the Indian Railways has developed the specification for integrated Braille signages in coaches in consultations with Blind associations and input received from Research Design & Standards Organization (RDSO) and issued to Railways. The first prototype coach is expected to be turned out from ICF in October 2013 for feedback. This is expected to be a major step for facilitation of visually impaired passengers during journey in trains. 
  
  Braille printing will be superimposed on these stickers and same can be used by both a person with normal vision and visually impaired person. With embedded picture/characters, there would not be any defacing even on repeated contacts/rubbing. 
  
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)on 2 August, has approved the collaboration project of Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad (IITH) under the Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan by Government of Japan and grants by Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India. The project costing Rs. 1776.50 crore will be financed out of the ODA loan of Rs. 1501.72 crore from the Government of Japan. The balance of Rs. 274.77 crore represent 15.5% non-eligible portion of the project as the Indian portion to be met from grants by MHRD over a period of four years starting from 2013-14 to 2016-17. The project would create value addition through collaborative interactions with academics and the industry of Japan and exchange of students and faculty. This will enhance cooperation between the two nations in the area of science & technology and human resource development. For the Indian side, the project would also help in creation of a number of basic infrastructure facilities and faster scaling up of a quality institution viz. IIT, Hyderabad with benefits for the Indian economy. The IIT, Hyderabad is one of the eight new IITs established by the GOI in 2008 at an estimated cost of Rs.760 crore based on the Cabinet’s approval in July, 2008. The IIT, Hyderabad and Japan collaboration is an externally aided central sector project emanating from the broader Indo-Japan Collaboration and agreement between the Prime Ministers of India and Japan for a Japanese loan to fund the specific projects of IIT, Hyderabad. 
  
• The quarterly newsletter of the National Archives of India entitled e-Abhilekh was launched by the Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Ravindra Singh in New Delhi on 1st August. This news bulletin has been planned with the objective of disseminating information for the development of Archives. The inaugural issue provides information about the activities of National Archives of India, States/Union Territories Archives, Archives of Business and other learned institutions for the period April-June 2013. 
  
• The Cabinet gave its nod to amend the Right to Information (RTI) Act to keep political parties out of the ambit of transparency law on 1st August. The decision to change the RTI Act was taken during a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, official sources said. The move followed after the Central Information Commission (CIC) had in June held that six national parties - Congress, BJP, NCP, CPI-M, CPI and BSP - have been substantially funded indirectly by the central government and were required to appoint Public Information Officers (PIOs) as they have the character of a public authority under the RTI Act. The decision from transparency watchdog evoked sharp reactions from political parties, especially Congress which has been credited with bringing in the transparency law but is opposed to the CIC's directive. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), which acts as nodal department for the implementation of the RTI Act, in consultation with Law Ministry decided to amend the law. The government seeks to change the definition of public authorities mentioned under Section 2 of the RTI Act to keep all recognized political parties out of the jurisdiction of RTI, the sources said. The government will have to introduce a Bill in this regard in the monsoon session of Parliament beginning Monday, they said. 
  
• Congress and the UPA unanimously decided to create a separate Telangana State carving out of Andhra Pradesh on 30 July 2013.The Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of Congress Party, on 30 July 2013 decided to recommend to the Central Government to form the 29th State which will comprise of 10 districts. The districts that will be a part of the new State are Hyderabad, Adilabad, Karimnagar, Khammam, Mahaboobnagar, Medak, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal.Hyderabad, the central point of the Telangana, will be the common capital of the newly proposed State and the other regions, Rayalaseema and Andhra for a period of 10 years. A new capital for Andhra will be identified in Seemandhra region within this period. Telangana State will have a geographical area of 10 of the 23 districts of undivided Andhra Pradesh. Out of 42 Lok Sabha seats and 294 Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana is likely to have 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 Assembly seats.
  
• Andhra Pradesh government extended the ban on CPI (Maoist) and its several front organisations on 8th August for a period of one year from August 17. The government had declared the top Naxal outfit as an unlawful association in 2005 for one year and has been extending the ban every year since then."The government has reviewed the matter and is of the opinion that the Communist Party of India (Maoist) is continuing to indulge in unlawful activities," a G.O. issued by the Chief Secretary said here. "Its unlawful activities, if not stopped, will constitute a serious danger and menace to public order, peace and tranquility," it said. The front organisations against whom the ban has been extended include the Radical Students Union, Radical Youth League and Rythu Coolie Sangham, among others. 
  
• The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology inaugurated Data portal of India in New Delhi on 8 August 2013. The portal - www.data.gov.in - is aimed at sharing more and more data as it empowers and connects to policy making. It will also help in bringing more transparency in the system and continuing the information revolution which started with the RTI act. The information revolution that started with the Right to Information Act has brought us to a stage where government is now willing to share data with everybody because we realised that is the absence of data you cannot yet appropriate decision making. Open Data Application and Data portal is a part of Manmohan-Obama Initiative which allows plugging in all type of data.
  
• The Rajya Sabha passed the much-awaited Companies Bill on 8th August, replacing the decades old Companies Act, 1956. The Bill had been passed by the Lok Sabha in December last year. 
  
  Here are the top 10 facts about the Bill: 
  
  1. Now that both houses of Parliament have passed the Bill, it will go to President Pranab Mukherjee for his assent before it becomes law, following which the Ministry of Corporate Affairs will issue a notification.
  2. The new rules make the earmarking of funds by companies for corporate social responsibility (CSR) spending mandatory. Companies are required to spend at least 2 per cent of their net profit on CSR. The companies will also have to give preference to the local areas of their operation for such spending. If they are unable to meet CSR norms, they will have to give explanations and may even face penalty.
  3. To help in curbing a major source of corporate delinquency, the Bill introduces punishment for falsely inducing a person to enter into any agreement with bank or financial institution, with a view to obtaining credit facilities.
  4. The new legislation has more provisions to guard the interests of employees. It mandates payment of two years' salary to employees in case a company shuts operations.
  5. The appointment of auditors for five years shall be subject to ratification by members at every annual general meeting. Also, the limit in respect of maximum number of companies in which a person may be appointed as auditor has been proposed as 20.
  6. Independent directors shall be excluded for the purpose of computing "one-third of retiring directors".
  7. The maximum number of directors in a private company has been increased from 12 to 15, which can be increased further by special resolution.
  8. The financial year of any company can end only on March 31 and the only exception is for companies which are holding/subsidiary of a foreign entity requiring consolidation outside India.
  9. It also makes auditors subject to criminal liability if they knowingly or recklessly omit certain information from their reports.
  10. The Bill has a provision that keeps tabs on exorbitant remunerations for the board of directors and other executives of the companies. This will protect the interest of shareholders as well as employees.
• The National Green Tribunal restrained sand mining activity on riverbeds across the country, which is being carried out without obtaining environmental clearance from the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests on 5th August. The tribunal stated that besides violations of law, the mining activity is being carried out on a large scale, causing state revenue loss which may be running into lakhs of crores of rupees. The five-member bench headed by tribunal chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar directed the states to reply by 14 August 2013.The bench stated that the contention is that majority of people carrying out the mining activity of removing mineral from the river bed have no license to extract sand. In the meanwhile, the Tribunal restrains any person, company, authority to carry out any mining activity or removal of sand, from river beds anywhere in the country without obtaining environmental clearance from environment ministry and license from the competent authorities.
  
• The hand-woven Pashmina shawls of Kashmir were accredited with the Geographical Indication (GI) mark. The Chief Minister of Kashmir Omar Abdullah, on 5 August launched the Kashmir Pashmina GI mark, which will now be imprinted on all hand-woven Pashmina Shawls, in the form of label. 
  
  This GI Mark will be imprinted at Testing and Quality Certification Centre. The Centre was inaugurated on 5th August 2013 by Omar Abdullah at Craft Development Centre. The GI Mark labels will be attached to Pashmina shawl after it has been tested on weaving technology, spinning method, originality of fabric as well as fineness of thread. The mark of Kashmir Pashmina will also provide details of the manufacturer as well as quality of shawl. The label will also carry a number, which will be verifiable from official website. 
  
  This move will help in restoring the handicrafts of Kashmir. It will also help in economic prosperity of the artisans. The Government of Kashmir has already achieved the GI for six handicrafts, which will have same testing facilities. 
  
• The National Museum Institute in New Delhi on 7 August, launched ‘Yuva Saathi’, the Young Visitor Programme in the National Museum. The programme was launched by the Minister of Culture Smt. Chandresh Kumari Katoch. She also awarded certificates to the volunteers participated in the Pathpardarshak and Yuva Saathi training programme. Yuva Saathi is a pioneering programme in India aimed at engaging young minds in a dialogue with the National Museum. The Programme envisages the deployment of Volunteer guides, Yuva Saathi, to provided guided tours to school children. The programme intends to make National Museum a place of learning and fun for the young visitors and their teachers. Yuva Saathis are undergraduate students from various colleges of Delhi trained specifically to guide children in the National Museum. It is for the first time that a guide programme exclusively for children is being launched in an Indian Museum. The programme caters solely to School Groups.
  
• The Defence Minister A.K. Antony in a written reply to H.K. Dua in Rajya Sabha on 7 August, that the Government is aware of the development of Gwadar Port in Pakistan with Chinese funding and of the reports of handing over the control of port operations to a Chinese firm. The port could be used for military purposes in future. Government keeps a constant watch on all developments concerning our national security and commercial interests and takes all necessary measures to safeguard them in accordance with the prevailing security situation and strategic considerations. China has also participated in the Indian Ocean Region in development projects like ports, deep sea mining, ocean research as well as anti-piracy operations. 
  
• The Minister of Culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch has informed in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 6th August that the two nomination dossiers namely the Hill Forts of Rajasthan from State Government of Rajasthan and the Qutb Shahi Monuments of Hyderabad from State Government of Andhra Pradesh were received and forwarded to the World Heritage Centre (WHC). Out of these, the Hill Forts of Rajasthan has been inscribed on the World Heritage List. No proposal has been received from the State of Odisha. Katoch said, two members ICOMOS Advisory Mission visited India in November, 2012 for evaluation of Hill Forts which has been inscribed on the World Heritage List during 37th Session of World Heritage Committee held in Cambodia in June, 2013. The proposals on Qutb Shahi Monuments of Hyderabad, Majuli Island (Assam) and Rani-ki-Vav, Patan (Gujrat) under Cultural Category and the Great Himalayan National Park (Himachal Pradesh) under Natural Category have been submitted to WHC. Conservation of all World Heritage monuments/sites under Archaeological Survey of India are being preserved and maintained by the department and are in a good state of preservation, the Minister added.
  
• Minister of State for Civil Aviation, K.C. Venugopal informed Lok Sabha on 8th August, that Kolkata and Chennai airports have been modernized at a cost of Rs. 2,325 crore and Rs. 2,015 crore respectively. The Task Force on Financing Plan for development of airports constituted under the Planning Commission has recommended that operations and management of Chennai and Kolkata Airports could be taken up through Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. Airports Authority of India (AAI) has suggested that management, maintenance and operation of these two airports be undertaken by formation of JVs with world class Airport Operators, with AAI being lead partner. As a first step, an Inter Ministerial Group (IMG) has been constituted to evolve, recommend and monitor the implementation of the appropriate model for achieving the desired objectives of operation and management of these airports with private participation. 
  
• Government has released the National Action Plan on Climate Change (NAPCC) on June 30, 2008. NAPCC comprises, inter alia, of eight National Missions in specific areas of Solar Energy, Enhanced Energy Efficiency, Sustainable Habitat, Water, Sustaining the Himalayan Eco-system, Green India, Sustainable Agriculture and Strategic knowledge for Climate Change. This was stated by Jayanthi Natarajan Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment and Forests, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on 8 August. The Minister further stated that as a follow-up to the announcement made by Prime Minister in the State Environment Ministers’ Meeting held in August, 2009, States have been advised to prepare the State Action Plan on Climate Change (SAPCC) in-line with the objectives of the NAPCC. 22 states namely, Andaman and Nicobar, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Jammu & Kashmir, Kerala, Karnataka, Lakshadweep, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odhisa, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh and West Bengal have prepared the SAPCC. Jharkhand State is yet to submit the SAPCC report to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Minister added. 
  
• Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister, K.V. Thomas on 7 August, introduced National Food Security Bill in Loksabha to replace the National Food Security Ordinance, 2013 which was promulgated on 5th July, 2013.The National Food Security Bill is a historic initiative for ensuring food and nutritional security to the people. It gives right to the people to receive adequate quantity of food grains at affordable prices. The Bill has special focus on nutritional support to poorest of the poor, women and children. In case of non-supply of food grains now people will get Food Security Allowance. The bill provides for grievance redressal mechanism and penalty for non compliance by public servant or authority. 
  
  Other features of the Bill are as follows:
  Coverage of two thirds population to get highly subsidized food grains up to 75% of the rural population and up to 50% of the urban population will have uniform entitlement of 5 kg food grains per month at highly subsidized prices of Rs. 3, Rs. 2, and Rs. 1 per kg for rice, wheat and coarse grains respectively. It will entitle about two thirds of our 1.2 billion population to subsidized food grains under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS). 
  
  Poorest of the poor continue to get 35 kg per household 
  The poorest of poor households would continue to receive 35 Kg food grains per household per month under Antyodaya Anna Yajna at subsidized prices of Rs 3, Rs. 2 and Rs. 1. It is also proposed to protect the existing allocation of food grains to the States/Uts, subject to it being restricted to average annual off take during last three years.
  
  Eligible households to be identified by the States
  Corresponding to the coverage of 75% rural and 50 % of urban population at all India level, State wise coverage will be determined by the Central Government. The work of identification of eligible households is left to the States/UTs, which may frame their own criteria or use Social Economic and Caste Census data, if they so desire.
  
  Special focus on nutritional support to women and children 
  There is a special focus on nutritional support to women and children. Pregnant women and lactating mothers, besides being entitled to nutritious meals as per the prescribed nutritional norms will also receive maternity benefit of at least of Rs. 6000. Children in the age group of 6 months to 14 years will be entitled to take home ration or hot cooked food as per prescribed nutritional norms. 
  
  Food Security Allowance in case of non supply of food grains
  The Central Government will provide funds to States/UTs in case of short supply of food grains from Central pool, In case of non-supply of food grains or meals to entitled persons, the concerned State/UT Governments will be required to provide such food security allowance as may be prescribed by the Central Government to the beneficiaries.
  
  States to get assistance for intra-State transportation and handling of food grains In order to address the concern of the States regarding additional financial burden, Central Government will provide assistance to the States towards cost of intra-State transportation, handling of food grains and FPS dealers’ margin, for which norms will be developed. This will ensure timely transportation and efficient handling of food grains.
  
  Reforms for doorstep delivery of food grains 
  The Bill also contains provisions for reforms in PDS through doorstep delivery of food grains, application of information and communication technology (ICT) including end to end computerization, leveraging ‘Aadhaar’ for unique identification of beneficiaries, diversification of commodities under TPDS etc for effective implementation of the Food Security Act. Some of these reforms are already underway.
  
  Women Empowerment-- Eldest women will be Head of the household
  Eldest woman of eighteen years of age or above will be head of the household for issue of ration card, and if not available, the eldest male member is to be the head of the household.
  
  Grievance redressal mechanism at district level 
  There will be state and district level redressal mechanism with designated officers. The States will be allowed to use the existing machinery for District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO), State Food Commission, if they so desire, to save expenditure on establishment of new redressal set up. Redressal mechanism may also include call centers, helpline etc. 
  
  Social audits and vigilance committees to ensure transparency and accountability
  Provisions have also been made for disclosure of records relating to PDS, social audits and setting up of Vigilance Committees in order to ensure transparency and accountability. 
  
  Penalty for non compliance
  The Bill provides for penalty to be imposed on public servants or authority, if found guilty of failing to comply with the relief recommended by the District Grievance Redressal Officer (DGRO). 
  
  Expenditure
  At the proposed coverage of entitlement, total estimated annual food grains requirement is 612.3 lakh tons and corresponding estimated food subsidy for 2013-14 costs is about Rs.1,24,724 crore. 
  
  K. Rahman Khan, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs launched a dedicated toll free Helpline - with brand name “Khidmat”, in New Delhi on 8 August. Dedicating “Khidmat” helpline to the minority people of India, the Minister expressed hope to fulfill the dream of Father of Nation Mahatma Gandhi for inclusive growth of all sections, particularly deprived sections of Society. Speaking on the occasion K. Rahman Khan said that the service will empower minorities through up to date information. With helpline being operational, initially, it will remain open from 9:00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. on all working days he, added. Depending on success and demand, the Ministry may go even for 24X7 helpline with upgraded facilities. 
  
  In the changing India, when phone services and mobiles have reached every nook and corner, the dedicated helpline would be a better idea to spread information about development and welfare programmes and related complaints. The right information in time is the power, the Ministry through “Khidmat” helpline endeavours to hand over power to the minority people of all levels equally, the Minister added. This helpline would not only help in inclusive growth of minorities but will also increase transparency and efficiency in governance. With launch of this helpline, a student sitting in a village or remote area can get instant information at his or her leisure about scholarship schemes. An unemployed minority youth can get instant information about skill development training programmes run by Ministry and employment opportunities. 
  
• Ministry of Rural Development has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Pradan, a non-governmental organization to undertake developmental and training activities in hard core naxal affected districts in the country. Briefing the media after the signing of the agreement, the Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh said in New Delhi on 6 August, that the scheme will be implemented in some of the naxal affected districts of Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha in the first phase. The Minister said that organization like Pradan should work in these difficult areas as government agencies face a lot of problems in implementing developmental projects due to naxal threat. 
  
  He said, two projects will be taken up initially by setting up NRLM ( National Rural Livelihoods Mission) support organization on Livelihoods, besides extensive training of the women self help groups. In the first project, 18,000 families will be helped through production and marketing of Tasar Silk in Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal in the coming three years with a budget of Rs 50 crore. 
  
  The second project will be Mahila Kisan Sashaktikaran Pariyojana and it will be implemented in the states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Odisha with a budget of Rs. 20 Crore. The Project is likely to benefit 18,000 families, where sustainable agriculture will be promoted through women headed households and it is estimated that income of the self help gropus will increase by 15 to 20 per cent by cutting on harmful chemicals and pesticides. Third component of the Programme will be training of the girls for alternative sources of livelihood. The Minister said the fourth issue is about the health and malnutrition problems that will be tackled by mobilising local communities. 

NATIONAL JULY 2013

NATIONAL JULY 2013

• With Tirumal shrine attracting visitors in hordes, Andhra Pradesh has become the top tourist destination in the country, recording 206.8 million domestic tourists last year, according to the data available with Union ministry of tourism revealed on 23rd July. Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh stood at second and third places respectively, with 184.1 million and 168.4 million domestic tourists. 
  
• Built in 10th century, the Lord Venkateswara temple, located in Tirumala, near Tirupati town, attracts more tourists than the domestic visitors to Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra, which boast of Taj Mahal and Ajanta-Ellora caves respectively, a senior tourism ministry official said. The footfall at domestic tourist destinations across the country witnessed a surge touching 1,036 million compared to 865 million in 2011 -- an increase of 19.87 per cent.
  
• It was 748 million in 2010. Meanwhile, the number of foreign tourist visits (FTVs) to states/UTs registered a growth of 6.33 per cent during the same year. These states accounted for 84.5 per cent of the total number of domestic tourists during 2012. The top 10 states in terms of FTVs in 2012, remained the same as those in 2011 with Maharashtra topping the list.
  
• In a record of sorts, the AP State Legislative Assembly will become the first paperless legislature house in the country. Assembly speaker, N. Manohar has said that the Union Ministry of Information Technology and Communications had chosen the AP Assembly for implementation of an Rs 16.50-crore World Bank-aided project for its computerization. “The paperless functioning will increase the efficiency in the functioning of the legislature and will improve transparency. Even Parliament is yet to convert itself into paperless mode,” he said on 22nd July.
  
• “A file-monitoring network, integrated with all government departments, will be put in place to ensure paperless administration. All information on government schemes and public assets in each constituency will be made available to legislators on their mobile phones through GIS. Hereafter, all communication to MLAs will be in electronic format only.’’ The Assembly website - www.aplegislature.org will be made bilingual (English and Telugu) soon for the convenience of legislators and the Telugu-speaking populace of Andhra Pradesh. 
  
• ZEE News has changed its identity and now become ZEE Media Corporation Limited. The channel has so far reached to 100 million people, stated the CEO of the company, Alok Agarwal. The Zee network includes several channels like ZEE 24 Gantalu, Zee Uttar Pradesh Uttarakhand, Zee Madhya Pradesh Chhattisgarh, Zee 24 Taas, Zee Business, Zee News, and Zee Punjab, Haryana and Himachal.
  
• The Judicial Commission on Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) appointed by the Supreme Court of India submitted a 100 page report to the Court in the third week of July 2013. The report has highlighted the rampant misuse of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in Manipur. The judicial commission also noted that the Act has failed in tackling the insurgencies and the armed forces were indulged in gross violation of Human Rights.
  
• The Commission in its findings has also noted that the Act was abused widely and several encounters under the blanket of the Act, carried out in the North-Eastern states, were fake. The report submitted by the commission also mentioned that the activities of the forces appear as if they believed a priori that the suspects involved in the encounters had to be eliminated and acted accordingly. 
  
• The Judicial Commission on AFSPA was headed by Santosh Hegde the former Judge of Supreme Court and included J.M. Lyngdoh former Chief of Election Commission and A.K. Singh, retired IPS officer as its members. The commission was formed by the Supreme Court to probe into the alleged cases of extra judicial killings in Manipur after receiving complaints related to 1500 fake encounter deaths that occurred in Manipur in last 10 years in September 2012. The Extra Judicial Execution Victim Families’ Association (EEVFAM) along with Human Rights Alert (HRA) demanded investigations into the deaths. 
  
• The Ministry for Women and Child Development is going to celebrate the World Breastfeeding Week in the first week of August to focus attention on the important aspect of protection, promotion and support of Breastfeeding with a theme: ‘BREASTFEEDING SUPPORT- Close to Mothers’. 
  
• As part of the Breastfeeding Week, the Ministry will disseminate crucial information about breastfeeding through district/ State Officials of Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) and National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs), NGOs etc. 
  
• During this week various activities will also take place in the Anganwadi centers which includes, Community/ family sensitization on Breastfeeding, Mothers’ Meet (specially for the pregnant and lactating women), growth monitoring linked with counseling on breastfeeding, Healthy Baby show, sensitization on breastfeeding through audio aids, wall writing, display/ exhibition on breastfeeding at Anganwadi centers, quiz competition on breastfeeding involving women, mothers, adolescent girls, grandmothers. 
  
• The Union Government of India on 27 July 2013 announced that it would set-up a Marine Training Academy at Tuticorin. The academy would be set-up through the Shipping Corporation of India in collaboration with the VO Chidambaram Port Trust.The announcement was made by Shipping Minister, GK Vasan at Chennai that the Ministry has already allocated 15 crore rupees for the development of the infrastructure for the academy. The first batch of the academy would commence from September or October 2013, with a batch of 40 students.
  
• The Campaign Clean India will be extended to cover the World Heritage Site, Taj Mahal which would be adopted by ONGC in the presence of K. Chiranjeevi, the Union Minister for Tourism at a function to be held tomorrow at Agra. Taj Mahal a world heritage site and is one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The Minister has strongly felt the need to undertake sustained operations to ensure clean and hygienic environment, commensurate with the stature of this prestigious destination. 
  
• At the initiative of Ministry of Tourism, Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has agreed to the proposal of ONGC for adopting five more monuments under the Clean India Campaign which include -1). Ellora & Elephanta Caves – Maharashtra 2). Red Fort – Delhi, 3). Golkonda Fort – Hyderabad and 4). Mahabalipuram – Tamil Nadu. 
  
• The Ministry of Tourism launched Clean India Campaign as part of Government strategy for 12th Five Year Plan for improving the quality of services and environs in and around tourist destinations across India. The campaign is aimed at undertaking both sensitization and action at field level on bringing tourism destinations and their surroundings to an expectable level of cleanliness and hygiene. 
  
• The People’s Linguistic Survey of India (PLSI) has revealed that northeast has the highest per capita language in the entire world. While addressing a press conference in Guwahati, on 24 July, PLSI chairperson G. N. Devy told that linguistic survey has been completed in Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland and Manipur. It is the first linguistic survey since George Grierson’s survey conducted a century ago. PLSI told that the survey accounts 130 languages, as well as near extinct languages of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland and Manipur. The region contains more than 210 languages. PLSI have published books on the survey and the volume will also depict the rich cultural and linguistic geography of all the indigenous communities of the states of the region. 
  
• The Supreme Court upheld the Juvenile Justice Act providing for differential treatment to a minor irrespective of the nature of crime committed by him or her on 17th July. The apex court bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir upheld the Juvenile Justice Act by declining the prayer that the age in the act should be reduced from 18 to 16 and those involved in heinous crimes should not be treated differently.
  
• The petitioner had also sought that the punishment for heinous crime committed by a minor should not be decided by the juvenile justice board. Rejecting the petition, Chief Justice Kabir said here was no need to interfere in the matter. The petition was filed in the context of a minor who was among those who were arrested for the gang rape, brutal assault and torture of a 23-year-old woman in a moving bus in Delhi on December 16 last year. She later died in a Singapore hospital on December 29.
  
• The Bengaluru International Airport will be named after the city's founder Kempe Gowda as “Kempegowda International Airport”. The government on 17 July approved a Civil Aviation Ministry proposal to this effect. The proposal was approved by the Union Cabinet at its meeting, fulfilling a long-pending demand of the people of Karnataka, official sources said. Hiriya Kempe Gowda was a ruler under the Vijayanagar Empire who ruled most parts of Karnataka during the 16th century. Having built the Bengaluru Fort and moved his capital from Yelahanka, he is widely accepted as the founder of Bangalore. The airport, run by a private-led consortium, would be renamed Kempegowda International Airport after the founder whose 503rd birth anniversary was observed this year. The Civil Aviation Ministry had last year approved the proposal of the state government following efforts by then External Affairs Minister S M Krishna. 
  
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 17 July has approved an allocation of 50 lakh tonnes of food grains to States/ Union Territories (UTs) during 2013-14 for Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. This additional allocation of 50 lakh tonnes will remain valid for lifting up to 31st March, 2014 or till the National Food Security Bill is passed by Parliament and implemented in the respective States/UTs. The allocation will meet the additional requirement of food grains for BPL families. The estimated subsidy on additional allocation of 50 lakh tones of food grains (rice and wheat) for BPL families in all the States/UTs at BPL prices during 2013-14 will be Rs. 9471.22 crore. Considering the sufficient availability of stock of food grains in the Central Pool and requests received from States/UTs, Government has been allocating additional BPL allocation of 50 lakh tonnes of wheat and rice to the States/UTs since 2010-11. The Government of India is allocating food grains to the States/UTs under the Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) for 6.52 crore BPL families which include 2.43 crore Antyodaya Anna Yojana (AAY) families. 
  
• Union Cabinet on 17 July 2013 approved amendments to the marriage law enabling a married woman to get a share of her husband's ancestral property as reparation in case of a divorce. The Bill is now expected to come up for channel in the Monsoon Session of Parliament in August 2013. The decision was taken to make marriage law more women friendly and to decide how sufficient compensation can be given to a woman from her husband's ancestral property in case of divorce on the ground of irretrievable breakdown of marriage. As per the bill the woman should get adequate compensation by calculating the husband's share in the event that ancestral property cannot be divided.
  
• Government has taken key decisions on FDI limits in 13 sectors, in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 16 July .These decisions are- 
  • FDI cap in telecom raised to 100 percent from 74 percent; up to 49 percent through automatic route and beyond via FIPB.
  • No change in 49 percent FDI limit in civil aviation.
  • FDI cap in defense production to stay at 26 percent, higher investment may be considered in state-of-the-art technology production by Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS).
  • 100 percent FDI allowed in single brand retail; 49 percent through automatic, 49-100 percent through FIPB.
  • FDI limit in insurance sector raised to 49 percent from present 26 percent, subject to Parliament approval.
  • FDI up to 49 percent in petroleum refining allowed under automatic route, from earlier approval route.
  • In power exchanges 49 percent FDI allowed through automatic route, from earlier FIPB route.
  • Raised FDI in asset reconstruction companies to 100 percent from 74 percent; of this up to 49 percent will be under automatic route.
  • FDI limit increased in credit information companies to 74 percent from 49 percent.
  • FDI up to 49 percent in stock exchanges, depositories allowed under automatic route.
  • FDI up to 100 percent through automatic route allowed in courier services.
  • FDI in tea plantation up to 49 percent through automatic route; 49-100 percent through FIPB route.
  • No decision taken on FDI cap in airports, media, brownfield pharma and multi-brand retail.
  
  
• Boosting the Army's war fighting capabilities along the Line of Actual Control, government on 16 July, gave the go-ahead for the creation of a corps including deployment of 50,000 additional troops along the China border at a cost of around Rs. 65,000 crore. The Cabinet Committee on Security headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh cleared the proposal in its meeting, sources said. As part of the plans, the around 1.3 million-strong Army is expected to raise the new Corps' headquarters at Panagarh in West Bengal along with two divisions in Bihar and Assam and other units from Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. Army Chief Gen. Bikram Singh and IAF chief Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne were also present at the Prime Minister's Office for providing any possible clarifications, if any, sought by the CCS members including Defense Minister A.K. Antony, External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. 
  
• As per the plans, the IAF will also deploy its force multiplier assets such as six each mid-air refueling tankers and C-130J Super Hercules special operations aircraft at Panagarh. The army had sent the proposal in this regard in 2010 but it was returned by the government asking the three services to work together on plans to strengthen their capabilities in that region. The Army will also get a number of new armoured and artillery divisions along with it to be deployed along the Northeast region. 
  
• Hyderabad could become a “women-dominated” city in the future if the current population trend continues. Despite the real concerns about female foeticide and infanticide, the city has shown impressive numbers in terms of female births. Hyderabad is the only one of the six major cities in the country to have a higher number of female births than males. The proportion of female deaths in the city was also the least among all the cities.
  
• According to new data released by the Census of India, there were about 1.75 lakh births in the city in 2009 and 48,000 deaths. Of course, the level of reporting is also low in the state. About 76.3 per cent of births and 68.4 per cent of deaths are registered. However, in terms of recorded births, Hyderabad was the only city which had more females being born than males during that year. Every other city, including Chennai which has a higher sex ratio than Hyderabad, had a substantial difference in the number of male and female births.
  
• The sex ratio in the city has been seeing an upward curve over the last decade with the figure rising from 933 females per 1,000 males to 954: 1,000. According to the Civil Registration System report, female births in the city were about 52 per cent of all births in the year 2009. Every other major city had a female birth proportion of less than 50 per cent. 
  
• The Supreme Court upheld the right of bar dancers to pursue their profession subject to dancing bars taking licence from the State authorities on 16th July.
  
  The apex court bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice S. S. Nijjar upheld the right of bar dancers as it rejected the Maharashtra government’s plea against the Bombay High Court verdict striking down the police orders that bar dancing in hotels below three stars. 
  
  Pronouncing the judgment, Justice Nijjar said that they have not touched the question of the right of the dancing girls under article 19 (A). 
  
  The bar dancers had contended that besides being discriminative the police order impinged on their right to livelihood. They had also contended that besides dancing at the bar they knew no other trade to earn their living. 
  
• President Pranab Mukherjee launched Kisaan Portal for sending SMS through mobile phones to the farmers across the country, here on 16th July, 2013. The SMS initiative will enable the farmers to take informed decisions as to different aspects of farming including crop production and marketing, animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries and weather forecasts. 
  
  The Kisaan Portal directly aimed at spreading information, advisories and services through SMS to more than 12 crore farmers across the country. Farmers will need to register for this service by calling Kisaan Call Centre on the toll free number 1800-180-1551 or through the web portal.The farmers can opt to receive SMS messages customized to their specific requirements. 
  
• The Supreme Court Thursday banned over-the-counter sale of acid at retail outlets and ordered a compensation of Rs.3 lakh to be paid by the government to each acid attack victim on 18th July. The apex court bench, headed by Justice R.M. Lodha, issued detailed directions for regulating the sale of acid at retail outlets. The court direction came in the wake of reports of increasing number of acid attacks. 
  
  In a direction, the court said the retail outlets having license to sell acid will maintain a stock register and failing to do so or possessing unaccounted acid will lead to a fine of Rs.50,000. 
  
  The court said all the states which already have rules to regulate the sale of acid will reinforce them and those who don't have them will frame them in accordance with the model rules framed by the central government. The court said the rules should be made stringent as has been spelt out in the model rules framed by the government. 
  
• Penguin Books India has launched a dedicated website for young readers, titled - youngreaders.penguinbooksindia.com. The new portal has child-friendly navigation and has organized sections, which the book house claims to be interesting. 
  
  A category called “Read What” of the website offers literature on various subjects such as non-fiction, classic, anthology, short stories, young adults, crime and many more. The new website includes works of some of the popular authors such as Asha Nehemiah, Rabindranath Tagore, Herge as well as Ruskin Bond. 
  
• Metro rail coach is reaching Hyderabad city by the end of September month. The rail coach is coming from South Korea and it will be displayed at People’s Plaza for the people to have a look at. The L & T Metrorail will be accepting suggestions and advises from people. The first Metrorail will run in the Nagole-Mettuguda route, track works for which will begin in another four weeks, on March 23, 2015. 
  
  L & T Metrorail Managing Director V.B. Gadgil supervised the metro rail works along with media persons. Speaking to the reporters, he said Grand Metro Museum will be set up show the developments in city transport sector from 1911 to 2013. The place of the Museum will be opened will be informed later, he said. 
  
• Visitors to the IRCTC portal would soon get to shop apparels, home appliances, and electronic products along with buying rail tickets. The railway PSU has tied up with online lifestyle and home portal Yebhi.com, thus making its entry into the online shopping. 
  
  Yebhi.com is a franchisee of Shop Online Trading Pvt Ltd. (SOTPL). Through this tie-up SOTPL and Yebhi.com will be responsible for developing and managing the e-commerce platform for IRCTC. IRCTC gets close to 1.2 million daily visits generating 180 million transactions every year thus making it the largest e-commerce site in the country. 
  
  Officials in IRCTC said they want to capitalize on the large user base of its portal which sees about 12 lakh visitors per day and four lakh ticket bookings. Yebhi.com, on the other hand, gets close to 100 million visits per annum and does over 2 million transactions every year. 
  
  "We are thrilled to partner with the India's largest e-commerce website, and look forward to this mutually beneficial association. With this association IRCTC is getting a readymade supply chain with all products offering at one go powered by us," said CEO of Yebhi.com Manmohan Agarwal. As per the contract, SOTPL will be deploying the entire online shopping platform for IRCTC within 60 days from the date of signing of the agreement. 
  
• Jharkhand Mukti Morcha legislator Hemant Soren, son of former Chief Minister Shibu Soren, was sworn in as Jharkhand’s ninth Chief Minister. 37-year-old Soren, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor Syed Ahmed on Saturda after President Pranab Mukherjee revoked the nearly six-month-long President rule in the state. Soren became the fifth tribal CM after Babulal Marandi (once), Arjun Munda (thrice), Shibu Soren (thrice) and Madhu Koda (once) since the Jharkhand state was created on 15th November 2000.The Soren had staked claim on 9th July for formation of a government in alliance with Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal, smaller parties and independent MLAs. The President’s rule was imposed on 18th January due to political instability after the JMM withdrew support to the BJP-led government under Arjun Munda and it was set to end on 18th July.
  
• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 10 July, constituted a Cabinet committee to oversee reconstruction and rehabilitation in flood-ravaged Uttarakhand.Defence minister AK Antony, agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, finance minister P Chidambaram, health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, home minister Sushilkumar Shinde, road transport minister Oscar Fernandes, law minister Kapil Sibal, housing minister Girija Vyas, rural development minister Jairam Ramesh and water resources minister Harish Rawat are the members of the committee chaired by Singh. Planning commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Uttarakhand chief minister Vijay Bahuguna and national disaster management authority vice chairman M Shashidhar Reddy are the permanent invitees. The committee will provide broad guidance to reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in Uttarakhand, and take such decisions, as may be required, said a notification issued by the Cabinet Secretariat. Singh has announced Rs. 1,000 crore for disaster relief measures in flood-devastated parts of Uttarakhand.
  
• Lawmakers have to quit if they are convicted of a crime and can't stay on regardless of appeals to higher courts, the Supreme Court said, in a big leap towards cleaning up Indian politics. The top court struck down a provision in the Representation of the People's Act (RPA) that protects convicted MPs and MLAs from disqualification if they appeal to a higher court. "The disqualification takes place from the date of conviction," said a bench of justices A K Patnaik and S J Mukhopadhaya. The verdict won't affect lawmakers who have already filed appeals against their conviction. 
  
  A petition had said that allowing such lawmakers to stay in office was "discriminatory and encouraged criminalization of politics'. The petition sought to highlight the dichotomy in the laws that allow convicted lawmakers to stay on but ban a person convicted and sentenced to a term of over two years from even contesting an election. The government's affidavit had argued against MPs and MLAs being disqualified. 
  
• The Supreme Court in its landmark judgment on 11th July barred persons in jail or police custody from contesting election for legislative bodies. The Supreme Court’s decision would help in bringing an end to the era of the under trial politicians, who contest elections from behind the bars. 
  
  The Court ruled that only an elector can contest the polls and the elector ceases the right to cast vote due to confinement in prison or being in custody of police. The court, however, made it clear that disqualification will not be applicable to person subjected to preventive detention, under any law. 
  
  The Bench that comprised Justices A.K. Patnaik and S.J. Mukhopadhayay, while referring to the Representation of Peoples’ Act said that the Act (Section 4 & 5) lays down the qualifications for membership of the House of the people and legislative assembly and one of the qualifications laid down is that he must be an elector. 
  
  The court passed the order on an appeal filed by the Chief Election Commissioner and others challenging the order of Patna High Court that barred people in police custody from contesting polls. The judgment of the Supreme Court has confirmed 2004 ruling of the Patna High Court that said if - a jailed person can’t vote, than a jailed person can’t contest election. 
  
• The country's first exclusive women university is set to come up at Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh with the government on 11 July, clearing a proposal in this regard. The university, which would focus on research and higher studies, would be named after late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who represented Raebareli during a substantive part of her political career. At present, the constituency is represented by Congress president Sonia Gandhi. The proposal, which received the Union Cabinet's nod on 11 July, would be set up at a cost of Rs 500 crore during the 12th Plan Period.
  
• A bill named the 'Indira Gandhi National University for Women Bill' will be introduced in the coming Monsoon Session of Parliament, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told reporters in new Delhi, adding that the varsity will be set up following its passage. The establishment of the varsity would "set the pace for all-round growth and development of women in the country and supplement the efforts of the government for women's empowerment by giving them an increased access to employment oriented basic courses and high-end research," a government statement also said.
  
• The first-ever national aviation university in the country would come up at Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, Sonia Gandhi's Lok Sabha constituency, to impart complete training to pilots, cabin crew and aircraft engineers. The Union Cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, approved the creation of this university in the name of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi as a central university, Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told reporters in New Delhi on 11 July. The Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation University would be set up on a 26-acre plot of land at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Udaan Academy (IGRUA) at Fursatganj. It would have an estimated funding of Rs 202 crore during the 12th Plan period, of which Rs. 80 crore has already been sanctioned by the Centre. The university would be an autonomous body under the administrative control of the Civil Aviation Ministry.
• Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Manish Tewari has said that Right to Safe Drinking Water for the entire country is under the consideration of the Centre. Addressing a gathering in Ludhiana on 7 July, he said special care will be taken for those who cannot afford RO systems and distilled bottled water. The Minister also said that the government is giving top priority to the healthcare of the people through the National Rural Health Mission and National Urban Health Mission. 
  
• President Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the government's food welfare programme on 5 July 2013. The scheme that provides subsidized food to nearly 800 million or 67 per cent of the population is now law, but it must be cleared within six weeks of Parliament's next session. The populist programme, championed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, will cost Rs. 1.25 lakh crore per year. The cabinet used an executive order to clear the scheme to bypass a debate in Parliament.
  
• "Up to 75 per cent of the rural population and up to 50 per cent of the urban population will have uniform entitlement of five kilos per month at highly subsidized prices," a government statement said. The bill had been expected to be cleared by Parliament in February, but it was never introduced due to opposition protests. Critics of the food programme also say that India can ill-afford such a costly subsidy at a time of slowing economic growth and when credit ratings agencies are eyeing the country's large deficit.
  
• The Global Innovation Index 2013 (GII), in its 6th edition this year, is co-published by Cornell University, INSEAD and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO, a specialized agency of the United Nations).
  
• According to this report, the United States rejoined the five most-innovative nations and the United Kingdom moved up to the third spot while Switzerland retained its first place in the rankings in the Global Innovation Index 2013.A group of dynamic middle- and low-income countries – including China, Costa Rica, India, and Senegal – are outpacing their peers, but haven’t broken into the top of the GII 2013 leader board. 
  
• India got 66th rank, while Sri Lanka attained 98th rank. The core of the GII Report consists of a ranking of world economies’ innovation capabilities and results. Recognizing the key role of innovation as a driver of economic growth and prosperity and the need for a broad horizontal vision of innovation applicable to developed and emerging economies, the GII includes indicators that go beyond the traditional measures of innovation such as the level of research and development. 
  
• In just six years, the GII has established itself as the premier reference among innovation indices, and has evolved into a valuable benchmarking tool to facilitate public-private dialogue, whereby policymakers, business leaders and other stakeholders can evaluate progress on a continual basis. To support the global innovation debate, to guide polices and to highlight good practices, metrics are required to assess innovation and related policy performance. The Innovation Input Sub-Index gauges elements of the national economy which embody innovative activities grouped in five pillars:(1)Institutions,(2) Human capital and research,(3) Infrastructure,(4) Market sophistication, and(5) Business sophistication. The Innovation Output Sub-Index captures actual evidence of innovation results, divided in two pillars: (6) Knowledge and technology outputs and (7) Creative outputs.
  
• Union Government of India on 4 July 2013 announced to launch Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Surakhsa Yojna (MGPSY), a pension scheme for blue-collar Indian workers in the Gulf. The scheme would be launched in August 2013. The Pension and Life Insurance fund scheme, is applicable for the Overseas Indian workers having Emigration Check Required, ECR passports. The announcement was made by the Rajiv Mehrishi, Secretary of Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in Riyadh. This pension and life insurance fund scheme would benefit a large number of oversees Indian Workers. The MGPSY is aimed towards helping the overseas Indian workers in saving money for their retirement, re-settlement in India after their return and a life insurance that will cover them against natural death during the period of coverage.

NATIONAL JUNE 2013

NATIONAL JUNE 2013

• Union health ministry’s ambitious schemes of providing free generic drugs at government health care centres have been launched on 17th June, after being put on hold last year due to financial constraints. The initiatives, called 'Free Drug Service' and 'Free Diagnostics Service' under the National Health Mission, are aimed at sprucing up health care facilities in the country. The Health Ministry has written to the states to take advantage of this scheme under which they can access funds from the central government by following certain guidelines laid down by it. The guidelines include appropriate systems for procurement, logistics, and quality assurance, among others. 
  
• The scheme was one of the government's keystone projects of the 12th Five Year Plan. “Almost 33% people suffer from poverty due to their medical expenditures," an official said. The directions for accessing the funds make it mandatory for a state to have a clearly notified policy of providing free essential drugs and diagnostics to all patients coming to public sector facilities at least up to district hospital level. The state should have a robust procurement, logistics and supply chain system that is backed by Information technology. 
  
• The state should have adopted Standard Treatment Guidelines and provide for prescription audits to ensure rational use of drugs and it should name the initiative as 'National Health Mission-Free Drug Service' or 'National Health Mission-Free Diagnostic Service' or its translation in Hindi or regional language. The free generic drugs scheme was proposed after a 2011 report of the High Level Expert Group which stated that 76% of the out-of-pocket expenditure on health is on drugs.
  
• The Union government on 26 June 2013 has banned three major medicines—the widely prescribed anti-diabetes drug pioglitazone, painkiller analgin and anti-depressant deanxit. The decision to ban the drug was taken in wake of health risks associated with them. It was taken after strong stand by the government on suspending marketing of all drugs prohibited for sale in other countries like the US, the UK, EU and Australia. Pioglitazone is widely believed to cause heart failure and increases the risk of bladder cancer, analgin has been discarded the world over on grounds of patient safety. 
  
• Deanxit is made up of harmful combination, which has been long banned even in Denmark, its country of origin. Analgin is known to cause a steep decrease in the count of white blood cells, which can lead to a potentially fatal state. The drug was thus taken off the shelves in many countries including Sweden, Japan, France, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Earlier in year 2010-11 Drug Controller General had banned various drugs which include painkiller Nimesulide, anti-diabetes medicine Rosiglitazone and antibiotic Gaifloxacin. 
  
• The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 28 June, approved the proposal of the Department of Health Research under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for the setting up of 10 regional labs, 30 State level labs and 120 medical college level labs under the scheme for establishing a network of laboratories for managing epidemics and natural calamities. The scheme is estimated to cost Rs. 646.83 crore during the 12th Five Year Plan. The expenditure on the establishment of the labs at the State level and at medical colleges would be shared between the Central Government and State Governments in the ratio of 75:25 (90:10 in North-Eastern, Hill States, including Sikkim and Jammu and Kashmir). Expenditure on the regional labs would be fully borne by the Central Government. 
  
• This major initiative taken by the Government for establishment of a 3-tier network of laboratories across the country will greatly help in building capacity for handling viral diseases in terms of early and timely diagnosis, development of tools to predict viral disease outbreaks beforehand, continuous monitoring and surveillance of existing as well as new viral strains and handling viruses with a potential to be used as agents of bio-terrorism.
  
• The initiative shall also help in smooth data flow from across sites of epidemics, creation of efficient knowledge management network for policy interventions such as quick deployment of resources and measures like introduction of preventive strategies, new vaccines, etc. Currently only national apex institutes like NCDC, New Delhi and NIV, Pune are mandated to undertake investigations. This leads to creating a heavy burden and affect their real referral role. The resultant delay in diagnosis/detection and inadequate/incomplete data during outbreaks significantly impacts on response time for interventions. All the laboratories will work under the overall guidance of apex institutions like NIV and NCDC through appropriate linkages and networking. The States/UTs which do not currently have any government medical colleges will be linked with the nearby State's laboratories. 
  
• In recognition of the contributions by Late Prof. Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis in the fields of economic planning and statistical development, the Government of India has designated 29th June every year, coinciding with his birth anniversary, as the “Statistics Day” in the category of Special Day to be celebrated at the national level. The objective of this Day is to create public awareness, specially the younger generation for drawing inspirations from Late Prof. Mahalanobis about the role of statistics in socio-economic planning and policy formulation. The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has been celebrating the Statistics Day every year since 2007. The theme for the Statistics Day 2013 is “Labour and Employment Statistics”. 
  
• The Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh dedicated the newly constructed railway line between Banihal (Jammu region)-Qazigund (Kashmir valley) section to the nation by flagging off the first DEMU train from Banihal through the Pir Panjal tunnel- the longest transportation tunnel of India, from Banihal Railway station in Jammu & Kashmir on 26 June. 
  
• Ircon International Ltd., a PSU under the Ministry of Railways, has been the principal executing agency for Northern Railway to execute the work of Dharam-Qazigund Section of USBRL Project which includes Banihal-Qazigund section and Pir Panjal Tunnel.The Kashmir Valley railway (Qazigund-Baramulla section) is a 119 km long modern railway line that became completely operational in October 2009. 
  
• So far it is an island railway, not yet connected to the Indian Railway network. It connects Baramula in the western part of Kashmir to Qazigund at the other end of the Valley, via Srinagar. With this challenging project which is dedicated to the nation, the extension of this railway line beyond the Pir Panjal Mountains in to the Jammu region has been achieved with trains running on the new railway section of Qazigund-Banihal. The 17.7 km long rail link paves way for the future railway connectivity of Kashmir region with the national railway network.This section mostly consists of a 11.2 km long, Tunnel T-80 which pierces through the Pir Panjal range, providing a direct rail connection between the Kashmir Valley and Jammu region. 
  
• Government has set up an investment target of Rs. 1.15 lakh crore for Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects in infrastructure sector in the next six months. The proposals include Mumbai elevated rail corridor of Rs. 30,000 crore and two international airports in Bhubneswar and Imphal and power and Transmission projects. 
  
• A steering group is also being set up to monitor the award and implementation of infrastructure projects. The decisions were taken at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh with key infrastructure Ministers in New Delhi on 29 June. The meeting was convened to finalize the infrastructure targets for the current financial year. 
  
• According to an official release, Government has also decided to put in place new policies for ramping up coal production in the country. The Prime Minister also set the target to build eight Greenfield Airports in PPP mode this year. An Inter-Ministerial Group will be formed to work out a creative financing-cum-implementation mechanism in two months for clearing the large backlog of sanctioned projects of over two lakh crores rupees in a time-bound manner. 
  
• The flagship projects of railways, including the two Loco Manufacturing Projects, Elevated Rail Corridor, the Dedicated Freight Corridor and station redevelopment will be closely monitored for awarding the contract in the next six months. The Power Ministry has been asked to work with Planning Commission and Finance Ministry to resolve remaining issues in the power sector and improve generation and transmission capacity. The award of road projects should get expedited with focused attention on Expressways. The two new PPP ports at Sagar in West Bengal and Durgarajapatnam in Andhra Pradesh approved by Cabinet will be awarded.
  
• The Union Cabinet on 28 June, gave its approval to the proposal of signing of a headquarters agreement between the Ministry of External Affairs and Nalanda University. This agreement would confer on the University and members of its academic staff privileges and immunities considered necessary to provide an overall framework for the efficient functioning and operation of the University, and allow it to obtain talent from across the globe. 
  
• The Agreement will come into force immediately upon signing and notification. The signing of the headquarters agreement will facilitate hiring of the best academicians from across the world, well before the commencement of the first academic session. Recruitment of the University’s faculty cannot take place without fixing their terms and conditions, for which the conclusion of the headquarters agreement is essential. 
  
• The University will serve as an international centre of excellence in higher learning. It would integrate modern, scientific and technological knowledge and skills with basic human values and promote universal friendship, peace and prosperity through the spiritual awakening of the individual and society. At the 4th East Asia Summit (EAS) held in Thailand in October, 2009, member States issued a Joint Press Statement which supported the establishment of Nalanda University as a non-State, non-profit, secular and self-governing international institution with a continental focus, that would bring together the brightest and most dedicated students from all countries of Asia.
  
• UNESCO has recognized an ancient Jain manuscript ‘Shantinatha Charitra’ as one of the rarest documents in the world and has registered it in its Register as Heritage Documentary. ‘Shantinatha Charitra’ is a text in Sanskrit written in Devanagari script. It describes the life and times of Shantinatha, the 16th Jain Tirthankara. This work was composed and written in the late fourteenth century 1396 C.E. (1453 Vikram Samvat). This unique manuscript contains as many as 10 images of scenes from the life of Shantinatha in the style of Jain paintings from Gujarat. UNESCO’s Memory of the World Programme is an international initiative launched to safeguard the documentary heritage of humanity against collective amnesia, neglect, the ravages of time and climatic conditions, and willful and deliberate destruction. 
  
• The Ministry of Women and Child Development has constituted a Committee to finalize modalities for media campaign against indecent portray of women in mass media. The Committee will be headed by Additional Secretary, M/o WCD, Smt. K. Ratna Prabha. The terms of reference of the Committee are as follows:- 1)Finalize modalities of a media campaign, through print and electronic media, to instill a sense of respect for women in all spheres of life. 2) Suggest innovative campaign/ strategy to project women in a more positive, proactive and empowered manner, which can have maximum impact on the society and bring about an attitudinal/ behavioral change of people towards women. 3)Draw up national campaign to sensitize families regarding the values of girls, through depicting women achievers, abhor civil practices like female foeticide, dowry, child marriages, etc. 4)Identify areas of corporation between M/o WCD and M/O I&B on all such issues that demand sustained public interest campaigns in print, electronic as well as social media. 
  
• Unemployment rate in India has increased. It is 2% in rural areas and 3% in urban India. The unemployment rate per 1,000 population is at 27, while it was 25 two years ago. As on January 1, 2010, the number of unemployed was 9.8 million. By January 1, 2012, it has increased to 10.8 million.--In rural areas, the unemployment rate for both male and female is almost at the same level, 2%. But, in, urban areas, women are more unemployed than men. The rate is 5% for women and 2% for men. These are some findings of the 68th Round Survey by the National Sample Survey Office ( NSSO), ministry of statistics and programme implementation, which was released on23 June. 
  
• India has witnessed a work force (activity status determined on the basis of reference period of one year) growth of 13.9 million in just two years, between 2010 and 2012.As per the NSS 66 th round survey, as on January 2010, the workforce at the all-India level, was about 459 million (rural men - 231.9, rural women - 104.5; urban men - 99.8 million and urban women - 22.8 million) . As on January 2012 (present survey), it has increased to 472.9 millions (rural men - 234.6, rural women - 101.8 million; urban men -- 109.2 million and urban women - 27.3 million). 
  
  The current workforce at the all-India level is 47.2 crore. More than half the population (52%) is self-employed, while 18% work as regular wage/salaried employees and 30% as casual laborers. More people are self-employed (56%) and work as casual laborers (35%) in rural India. In Urban India, it is the waged/salaried (43%) who constitute a majority. They are followed by the self-employed (42%) and casual laborers (15%).
  
  Nearly half the population (49%) is engaged in agriculture, while 24% are working in secondary sector and 27% in tertiary sector. 
  
  In India, women are more self-employed than men.The share of self-employment in total workforce is 55 % for rural men, 59 % for rural women, while it is 42 % for urban men and 43 % for urban women. Men work more as casual labourers. 
  
  when it comes to agriculture, it is again the women who dominate. In the rural areas, 59% men work in agriculture, but the figures are 75% for women. The involvement of women in the agriculture sector is more even in the urban areas. It is 11% as against the 6% for men. 
  
  When it comes wages, obviously, the urbanites are paid more than their rural counterparts. Men are paid more than women. At the national level, average wages earned by regular wage/salaried employees is Rs 396 per day (Rs 299 in rural areas and Rs 450 in urban areas). 
  
  In the rural areas, wages earned per day by a regular wage/salaried employee is Rs 322 (men) and Rs 202 (women). In the urban areas, this is Rs 470 for men and Rs 366 for women. 
  
• The Union Cabinet on 20 June, decided to restructure the existing centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS)/ Additional Central Assistance (ACA) schemes in the Twelfth Five Year Plan into 66 schemes, including Flagship programmes. This includes 17 Flagship programmes with significant outlays for major interventions required in health, education, irrigation, urban development, infrastructure, including rural infrastructure, skill development, etc. To suit the requirements of the States, the Cabinet has also approved that a scheme may have state specific guidelines which may be recommended by an Inter-Ministerial Committee constituted for this purpose. Besides, the financial assistance to the States in these schemes would be provided through the Consolidated Funds of the states. Further, to bring in desired flexibility, the Cabinet has approved that 10% of the outlay of the Schemes be kept as flexi-funds. For each new CSS/ACA/Flagship scheme, at least 25 per cent of funds may be contributed by the General Category States and 10 percent of funds by the Special Category States including J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Earlier, the National Development Council (NDC), while approving the 12th plan in its meeting in December 2012 had also recommended building flexibility in the schemes to suit the requirements of the State Governments. 
  
• Despite a sharp slowdown in the economy which led to an increase in unemployment, India's consumption story remained intact, the latest data on households' consumer expenditure in 2011-12 conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO) revealed on 23 June. In fact, the average rural monthly per capital expenditure went up by 35.7% in the two year period between 2009-10 and 2011-12. Of the total expenditure, rural households spent less than half on food items, suggesting rise in wages. The average monthly per capita expenditure during 2011-12 stood at around 1,430 for rural India, a 35.7% increase compared to the 2009-10 survey and 2,630 for urban India, a 32% jump. The average urban monthly per capita expenditure was 84% higher than rural areas. The share of expenditure on food declined substantially from 53.6% to 48.6% in rural areas and from 40.7% to 38.5% in the urban areas. The faster rise in share of non-food expenditure in rural areas suggest a rise in wages. The rural wages went up from 231.59 a day in 2009-10 to 299 a day in 2011-12, a 29% increase. This could again be explained by the rural urban migration, as semi-skilled or unskilled workers in the urban areas would send home higher wages back home, an analyst said."As MGNREGA has led to increase in wages, people in rural areas are spending more on non food items", said Madan Sabnavis, chief economist, CARE Ratings. Urban wages went up to 450 a day from 354.95, according to the 68th round of the NSSO survey. The monthly per capita expenditure on food totaled 756 against 1,121 in the urban areas. Within food, the share of protein based items went up in the consumption basket. The share of milk and milk products went up from 8.6% in 2009-10 to 9.1%. Among non-food items, the share of durable goods in the consumption basket of rural areas went up from 4.8% to 6.1%. 
  
• People in Andhra Pradesh are spending more money on various kinds of intoxicants than citizens of most other states in the country, according to a report by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation on the average amount spent by an Indian on household consumer items. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), which falls under the ministry, released key indicators of consumer expenditure generated from the data collected for the period from July 2011-June 2012 on 21 June. The report revealed that the average monthly amount spent on intoxicants like tobacco, paan, alcohol, gutka etc stood at Rs 88.98 per person in rural Andhra Pradesh and Rs 61.61 per person in urban areas. The national average expenditures per person in the rural and urban areas are comparatively much lower at Rs 45.93 and Rs 42.3 respectively. With regard to AP, Tamil Nadu's urban per capita expenditure on intoxicants is only Rs 40.14, while that of Karnataka is Rs 48.68. The spending in the state is also comparatively much higher than in Maharashtra and Odisha as well. Social scientists say the differences are very significant and are a major cause for concern."AP is one of the highest liquor consuming states as the political culture here encourages it. The revenue targets being set for the excise department have increased. If targets have to be met, more people have to spend more on liquor," social scientist C Ramchandraiah said. The excise department revenue in the last financial year had crossed the Rs 10,000 crore mark, earning the state more than 10% of its total revenue. The excise revenue has grown more than ten-fold in the last decade. 
  
• The Union Council of Ministers was expanded with the induction of four new Cabinet Ministers and four Ministers of State on 17th June. Mallikarjun Kharge was given the charge of Railways Ministry. The newly appointed ministers were administered the oath of office and secrecy by the President of India, Pranab Mukherjee at Rastrapati Bhawan . 
  
  List of newly appointed Cabinet Ministers and their departments

  Kavuri Sambasiva Rao	Textiles Ministry
  Sisram Ola	Labour and Employment Ministry
  Oscar Fernandes	Road Transport and Highways Ministry
  Girija Vyas	Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation

  
  
  List of newly appointed State Ministers and their departments 

  Manikrao Gavit	Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment
  Santosh Chowdhury	Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare
  Jesudasu Seelam	Minister of State for Finance and
  E.M.S. Natchiappan	Minister of State for Commerce and Industry

  
  

• The Geographical Indication (GI) certificate for unique Toda embroidery of hilly Nilgiris District in Tamilnadu has been handed over to a representative of the tribal community. The GI accorded in March would insulate the embroidery from being duplicated besides ensuring uniform pricing for the products. Nearly 400 Toda tribals are actively involved in the embroidery business and produce a wide range of products like shawl, table mat, wall hangings, bags and shopping bags and the certificate allowed the products to display the specific geographical location or origin. GI is a name on goods to indicate their specific geographical location or origin. Geographical Indications of Goods are defined as that aspect of industrial property which refer to the geographical indication referring to a country or to a place situated therein as being the country or place of origin of that product. 
  
• According to latest UN Report, the current world population of 7.2 billion will increase by 1 million over the next 12 years and reach 9.6 billion by 2050. Report points out that growth will be mainly in developing countries, with more than half in Africa. The report, World Population Prospects: the 2012 Revision, notes that the population of developed regions will remain largely unchanged at around 1.3 billion from now until 2050.The report notes that India is expected to become the world’s largest country, passing China around 2028, when both countries will have populations of 1.45 billion. After that, India’s population will continue to grow and China’s is expected to start decreasing. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s population is expected to surpass that of the United States before 2050.The 49 least developed countries are projected to double in size in 2050.According to report while there has been a rapid fall in the average number of children per woman in large developing countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Brazil and South Africa, rapid growth is expected to continue over the next few decades in countries with high levels of fertility such as Nigeria, Niger, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia and Uganda etc. Europe’s population is projected to decline by 14 per cent, the report states. It warned that the continent is already facing challenges in providing care and support for a rapidly aging population. Overall, life expectancy is projected to increase in developed and developing countries in future years. At the global level, it is projected to reach 76 years in the period 2045-2050 and 82 years in 2095-2100. By the end of the century, people in developed countries could live on average around 89 years, compared to about 81 years in developing regions.
  
• Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology has been upgraded to a state university and will now be known as Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University. Inaugurated on 14 June, it is the first technical institute for woman in the country. Formerly under Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, it shares its Kashmere Gate campus with Ambedkar University, and like it, will be a non-affiliating university."I hope this will outshine all the technical institutes in Delhi," said chief minister Shiela Dikshit who inaugurated it. The upgrade takes the number of state universities in Delhi to five. Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology was established in 1998 as the first engineering college for women in Delhi. The university is launching M Tech programmes in five courses for the 2013 round of admissions. This includes information security management, VLSI design, mobile and pervasive computing, robotics and automation and electronics and communication - the last being a weekend programme.
  
• Fifteen MLAs of the Congress and the Telugu Desam were disqualified on 8 June, from the Andhra Pradesh Assembly for openly defying the whips issued by their respective parties during voting on the no confidence motion in March this year. Announcing his verdict in Hyderabad, Speaker Nadendla Manohar said these MLAs – nine of Congress and six TDP -- stood disqualified from the 13th Legislative Assembly for violating their party whips. 
  
• The Telangana Rashtra Samiti had moved a motion of no confidence against the Kiran Reddy government and was supported by Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy’s YSR Congress on March 15. The Congress had asked its members to vote against the no-trust motion while the TDP instructed its MLAs to remain neutral. But 18 MLA of both these parties stepped out of line, following which disqualification petitions were moved against them. 
  
• In his judgment, the Speaker said he was of the opinion that respondents had exercised their vote on the no confidence motion on the floor contrary to the whip issued, attracting provisions of the X Schedule to the Constitution read with the AP Legislative Assembly (Disqualification on the ground of Defection) Rules 1986.
  
• The Indian Railways is all set for a long-term engagement with Japan with the Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation of India Limited (DFCCIL) granting a Rs.6,700-crore contract for construction of 640-km twin-track line between Rewari and Palanpur of Western Dedicated Freight Corridor to an Indo-Japanese consortium. L&T-Sojitz, a joint venture comprising L&T of India and Sojitz Corporation of Japan, has won the contract through an international bidding process. The contract is likely to be completed in four years, a press release said on 8 june. 
  
• The project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the Japanese government arm for providing technical and financial aid to developing countries, which is also DMRC’s lending agency. Earlier in January, DFCCIL had awarded the Rs.3,300-crore contract for 343-km-long Khurja-Kanpur section of Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, funded by the World Bank. The length covered under the new contract is more than 40 per cent of the entire western corridor. Land for almost the entire stretch has already been acquired. The Western Dedicated Freight Corridor, which will cover a length of about 1,500 km from Dadri to Jawaharlal Nehru Port (Mumbai), is being funded by the JICA, which has pledged a special terms for economic partnership loan of 677 billion yen for the entire Western Dedicated Freight Corridor. As per the loan conditionalities, the lead partner for any contract has to be from Japan. 
  
• India got its 8th Telecom Centre of Excellence in New Delhi on 5 June, with RailTel Corrporation signing an MoU with IIT Roorkee for establishing RailTel IIT Roorkee Centre of Excellence in Telecom (RICET). The MoU was signed in the presence of Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications & Information Technology and Law & Justice. RailTel shall fund the TCOE through 100% budgetary support over 5 year period for doing Research & Development in the field of ‘ICT & Broadband Applications’. 
  
• RailTel Corporation, which is a Mini Ratna (Category I) PSU of the Ministry of Railways, is one of the largest telecom infrastructure providers in the country having country wide optic fiber network along Railway right of way. Already 7 TCOEs are working in the country established by all major Telecom operators in partnership with premier institutions like IITs & IIMs. Over 28 innovations and products have been developed in various fields of telecommunication by existing TCOEs which are available for commercial roll out. With the establishment of the 8th TCOE, north India also got its first TCOE in the region. RICET will work upon R&D in the field of development of applications, services and technology in the domain of broadband & ICT for providing affordable services to the citizens with high network availability.
  
• The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee laid the foundation stone of Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hindi University on June 6, 2013 at Bhopal. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that language has an important role between the Government and people. Success of social welfare and development programme depends on language. Therefore, we should encourage Hindi and other regional languages. Hindi has always played an important role in the national integration. It is symbol of India’s social and cultural unity. The President said that decade of 2010-20 has been declared as the decade of innovation. He said that recently, he had opened Innovation Clubs in two Central Universities in Uttar Pradesh and Assam and attended innovation exhibitions organized in these universities. He called upon the University to take the initiative to build a strong innovation culture. A newsletter ‘Atal Samvad’ was released on the occasion and its first copy was presented to the President. 
  
• 5 June is World Environment Day. 5th June was declared as the “World Environment Day” on the recommendations made by UN Conference on Human Environment in 1972. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) through the celebration of World Environment Day spreads awareness and gets citizens’ support for environment protection across the globe. The theme for this year’s World Environment Day (WED) is -Think. Eat. Save- Reduce our Foodprint. The campaign calls for minimizing waste of food at all stages of the food chain, from farm to fork. This is to raise awareness about the environmental consequences of our food choices and find ways to reduce our environmental “foodprint”, as food production has profound impact on environmental resources. 
  
• Agriculture is responsible for 70% of fresh water consumption, 80% of deforestation, and 30% of greenhouse gas emissions. It is the cause of land-use change, biodiversity loss, and responsible for large-scale soil, water and air pollution. The campaign is also to remind each one of us that despite producing enough food for everyone, 90 crore people still go hungry world over. On this day we take a pledge to make a difference, individually as well as collectively, to reduce food loss or wastage and move towards a world where everyone has enough to eat and no one is malnourished or undernourished. 
  
• Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Minister for Environment & Forests presided over the function to celebrate World Environment Day organized by the Ministry of Environment & Forests in New Delhi on 5 June. As the part of the celebrations, Five publications namely, Animal Discoveries- 2012, Plant Discoveries 2012, Coastal Zones of India, National Wetland Atlas: High Altitude Lakes of India and National Wetland Atlas and Wetlands of International Importance under Ramsar Convention were released by the dignitaries for spreading awareness and sensitizing the citizens. 
  
  On the occasion, Smt. Natarajan, presented this year’s “Young Environmentalist of the Year Award - 2013”to Ms. Arundhati Srivastava, from New Delhi. 
  
• In a major step towards improving the quality and safety of ambulances on Indian roads, National Ambulance Code AIS:125 (Automotive Industry Standard) recommended by Central Motor Vehicles Rules-Technical Standing Committee (CMVR-TSC) has been approved by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways on 7 June. This ‘Code’ puts in place minimum standards and guidelines regarding the constructional and functional requirements of road ambulances in India. Drafted in line with the global best practices in the field of ambulance design, the code has been suitably adapted to factor in the special requirements of the Indian sub-continent, including traffic conditions, need for economy and industry maturity.
  
• The National Ambulance Code classifies road ambulances into four types (A, B, C & D) that is First Responder, Patient Transport, Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support, respectively. The category of First Responder, which also includes two wheeled ambulances, has been specially introduced for the first time in India to cater to the need for providing prompt medical care in congested by-lanes and high traffic areas.
  
• Special care has been given to Care Ergonomics, Patient Safety, Oxygen System Design, Infection Control, Crash Rescue, etc. in the Code. Once implemented, this Code will ensure uniformity and standardization in ambulance design and a minimum level of patient care as per the ambulance designation when appropriately staffed and equipped. So far no guidelines were available for hospitals and other procuring agencies for floating tenders and for industry outlining required specifications. The Government would now consider bringing the Ambulance Code within the mandatory framework of Central Motor Vehicles Rules.
  
• The Minister for Rural Development Jairam Ramesh on 7th June has launched a new skill development scheme called Roshni for rural youth from 24 most critical left-wing extremism affected districts in the country. Briefing the media, Ramesh said that the initiative aims at skilling and placement of fifty thousand youth from these districts. Six districts each from Jharkhand and Odisha, five from Chhattisgarh, two from Bihar and one each from Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have been chosen for the scheme, which will be implemented at a cost of Rs 100 crore over the next three years. 
  
• The Minister said, the projects shall be funded jointly by the central and state governments in the ratio of 75:25 and the national level agencies shall be designated to act as monitoring and coordinating agencies for Roshni. Ramesh said that at least 50 percent of the candidates covered under the scheme shall be women and special efforts will be made to proactively cover Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups on a priority basis. 
  
• He said, beneficiaries aged between 18-35 years with requisite aptitude depending upon the trade or job requirements are to be selected as per the Participatory Identification of Poor. Training will be imparted through public-private and public-public partnerships. Educational institutions, corporate entities, entities that train and place for improved public service delivery, commercial and not for profit training providers will be roped in for implementing this scheme. 
  
• The Central Information Commission (CIC) brought political parties under the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act on 3rd June. The CIC recognized the need for bringing the parties under public scrutiny in view of benefits like allocation of land at throwaway prices and tax exemption enjoyed by them. The CIC decision may usher in an era of transparency in the functioning of the parties. A full bench decision of the apex transparency panel rejected the contention of major political parties like the Congress, BJP, CPI, CPM, BSP and the NCP that they could not be described as public bodies.
  
• The Union Cabinet of India approved the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill 2013 to set up a regulator for the real estate sector in the country on 4th June. This was done with the objective of protecting home buyers from dishonest builders. The bill seeks to make it mandatory for developers to launch projects only after acquiring all the statutory clearances from relevant authorities. It also has provisions under which all relevant clearances for real estate projects would have to be submitted to the regulator and also displayed on a website before starting construction work. A real estate regulator will be set up in every state. It will ensure that private developers get all their projects registered with it before sale and only after obtaining all necessary clearances.
  
• The commercial real estate is not covered under the purview of the proposed bill. However, it will apply to residential buildings. The bill has a provision for mandatory public disclosure of all project details such as lay out plan, land status and credentials of promoters etc. An adjudicating officer in the state will be appointed by the authority for fast tracking settlement of disputes. There will be Real Estate Appellate Tribunal as per the bill. It will hear appeals from orders, decisions or directions of regulator and adjudicating officer.