Constitutional body vs statutory body

Statutory body

• can simply be abolished by an act of the parliament with simple majority.
• Parliament could get tired of them and get rid of them easily.
• e.g. CAT,CVC,CIC.

Constitutional authorities

• are written into the Constitution of a nation
• and can’t be abolished without amending that part of the Constitution which sometimes also requires consent of the states. And also can be invalidated by the Supreme court.
• e.g. EC,CAG,SC/ST Commission.

Immunities given to Constitutional bodies

1. they can be removed : only on proved misbehavior. and its the Supreme court that Decided whether they misbehaved or not. = their office doesn’t depend on the ruling party’s majority in the Parliament.
2. their salary, powers and rights are mentioned in the Constitution itself-and parliament can’t reduce it once they’re appointed. Its charged on the Consolidated Fund of India = Parliament can’t vote on It during budget. (however the salary can be reduced if President declares a financial emergency.)
3. and if parliament wants to do this- then they need to amend the Constitution. and Supreme Court has power to invalidate it, if found inconsistent with the basic principles/Structure.

Such immunities are not enjoyed by Statutory bodies.
the main difference we can say is the Word may and Shall

CAT

323A. (1) Parliament may, by law, provide for the Administrative adjudication or trial by administrative tribunals of tribunals.

• so following this ‘May’ – parliament made an Act to provide for CAT hence its statutory.
• there is no Constitutional obligation on the parliament / Central Govt. to make a law to appoint CAT etc.
• so-their office can simply be abolished by an act of the parliament with simple majority and Supreme court can’t repeal it because of the discretion given to parliament regarding this part.

Panchayati Raj ( Constitutional body)

as 243B. (1) There shall be constituted in every State, Panchayats at the village, intermediate and district levels in accordance with the provisions of this Part.

• the ‘shall’ means – it must be formed – doesn’t depend on the mood and majority of the parliament /states.here its the Constitutional obligation on the Govt. form Panchayati Raj bodies.
• if State Govt. obstructs it- then it amounts to ‘state Govt. unable to carry out business as per provisions of Constitution’= President’s rule can be declared.

CAG ( Constitutional body)

148. (1) There shall be a Comptroller and Auditor-General of India who shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand and seal and shall only be removed from office in like manner and on the like grounds as a Judge of the Supreme Court.

EC( Constitutional body)

324. (1) The superintendence, direction and control of the preparation of the electoral rolls for, and the conduct of, all elections to Parliament and to the Legislature of every State and of elections to the office of President and Vice-President held under this Constitution shall be vested in a Commission.

INTERPOL

What is Interpol ?

The word 'INTERPOL' is radio-telegraph code for the International Criminal Police Organization which consists of 188 member countries who have agreed to "ensure and promote the widest possible assistance between all criminal police authorities in the prevention and suppression of ordinary law crimes". The Organization's headquarters is in Lyon, France.

The INTERPOL organisation now incorporates 188 member countries, an intergovernmental organisation second in size only to the United Nations, where Interpol also has observer status.International police co-operation has become increasingly complex: differing legal systems, definitions of crimes, rules for evidence, varying responsibilities between law enforcement and judicial services, incompatible extradition laws, incompatible information systems, restrictions on sharing information. These are just a few of the barriers Interpol strives to help the world overcome in the fight against ever higher levels of international crime.

One thing it does not have is the Interpol agents or detectives who travel the world over, chasing spies, murderers, etc. and conducting investigations in different countries. The I.C.P.O.-INTERPOL in fact, is an international police organization to extend co-operation for co-ordinated action on the part of member countries and their police forces which may furnish or request for information or services for combating - international crime.

Interpol Notices

International notices are the main instruments of international police co-operation.  These notices are usually published by the General Secretariat of the ICPO-Interpol at the request of a National Central Bureau.  The General Secretariat may, however, publish blue or green notices on its own initiative.  After publication these notices are circulated to all the NCBs. The purpose of these notices is to supply to the police services of member countries, through their NCBs, certain information about persons or objects. NOTICES ISSUED BY INTERPOL

• Red Notices
• Blue Notices
• Green Notices
• Black Notices
• Stolen Property Notices
• Modus Operandi (MO) Sheets
• Orange Notices
• UN Security Council Interpol Special Notice Notices
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Notice type	Details
  Red Notice	Requests (provisional) arrest of wanted persons, with a view to extradition. An Interpol Red Notice is "the closest instrument to an international arrest warrant in use today." Interpol does not have the authority to issue arrest warrants in the formal sense of the word, as this is the domain of the sovereign member states.
  Yellow Notice	Asks for help locating missing persons (usually minors) or identifying people who are unable to identify themselves.
  Blue Notice	Requests additional information about a person in relation to a crime.
  Black Notice	Seeks information on unidentified bodies.
  Green Notice	To provide warnings and criminal intelligence about persons who have committed criminal offences and are likely to repeat these crimes in other countries.
  Orange Notice	Warns police and other international organizations about potential threats from disguised weapons, parcel bombs, or other dangerous materials.
  Purple Notice	To provide information on modi operandi, procedures, objects, devices and hiding places used by criminals.
  Interpol-United Nations Security Council Special Notice	Issued for groups and individuals who are targets of UN sanctions against Al Qaeda and the Taliban. This was created in 2005 at the request of the UN Security Councilthrough the adoption of resolution 1617 and implemented through the adoption of INTERPOL resolution AG-2005-RES-05.

Radhakrishnan Committee

Agriculture Indebtedness, Farmer Suicides

Roots of the Problem

1. slowdown in the growth of the agricultural in the past two decades
2. An excessive proportion of the population is dependent on agriculture, resulting in increasing pressure on land, decline in the availability of land per agricultural worker.
3. lead to increase in smaller holdings of land.
4. Increasing stress on water resources.
5. Wide disparities between different states as regards the productivity and growth in agriculture.
6. Lack of availability of credit to small and medium farmers.
7. The seed-fertiliser technology seems to have exhausted its potential and is no longer cost efficient.
8. Inadequate public investment in the agricultural sector has also resulted in limited extension services.
9. Depletion in the quality of soil, groundwater and the growing pollution of river and canal water.

PM’s Loan waiver Package

• Announced in July 2006, it was to provide relief and rehabilitation to farmers in 31 distressed districts across four states of

• Andhra Pradesh,
• Karnataka,
• Kerala
• Maharashtra.

Package is around 17000 crores,

• 11,000 crore as subsidy/grant
• remaining as loans to be implemented over a three year period.

The package includes a

• credit component,
• non-credit component which includes
• irrigation, watershed development,
• rainwater harvesting
• check dams
• extension services.
• aims to revive the livelihood base of the distressed farmers.

Problems in implementing the package :

• The package is universal in nature
• does not take into account the specificities of various districts
• the causes of distress vary across the districts.
• been no coordination between different agencies implementing the schemes.
• Some schemes have not been designed taking into account the felt needs of the households.
• Projects delayed due to problems in obtaining sanctions.

What is to be done ?

1. Agriculture needs to grow at 4%; long term growth to be sustained;
2. cropping intensity and yields must rise substantially
3. Additional investment in rural infrastructure,
1. irrigation,
2. agricultural research
3. extension;
4. greater focus on rainfed areas; plan for National Rainfed Areas Authority
5. More attention to marginal and small farmers;
6. promotion of allied activities,
7. development of rural non-farm sector,
8. organisation of small and marginal farmers through collectives like Self Help Groups, etc
9. Improvement in R&D in the farm sector
10. resurrect rural credit agencies in both geographical spread as well delivery mechanisms.
11. Need to improve institutional supply of credit as against the non-institutional supply (Money Lenders)
12. moderate price related risks (whether they be induced due to the weather or market fluctuations) via different tariff mechanism.

New Telecom Policy 1999

The objectives of the NTP 1999 are as under:

1. Strive to provide a balance between the provision of universal service to all uncovered areas, including the rural areas, of and the provision high-level services capable of meeting the needs of the country's economy
2. Encourage development of telecommunication facilities in remote, hilly and tribal areas of the country;
3. Create a modern and efficient telecommunications infrastructure taking into account the convergence of IT, media, telecom and consumer electronics and thereby propel India into becoming an IT superpower; 
4. Convert PCO's, wherever justified, into Public Teleinfo centres having multimedia capability like ISDN services, remote database access, government and community information systems etc.
5. Strengthen research and development efforts in the country and provide an impetus to build world-class manufacturing capabilities
6. Achieve efficiency and transparency in spectrum management 
7. Protect the defence & security interests of the country
8. Enable Indian Telecom Companies to become truly global players. 

In line with the above objectives, the specific targets that the NTP 1999 seeks to achieve would be:

1. Make available telephone on demand by the year 2002 and sustain it thereafter so as to achieve a teledensity of 7 by the year 2005 and 15 by the year 2010 
2. Encourage development of telecom in rural areas making it more affordable by suitable tariff structure and making rural communication mandatory for all fixed service providers 
3. Increase rural teledensity from the current level of 0.4 to 4 by the year 2010 and provide reliable transmission media in all rural areas 
4. Achieve telecom coverage of all villages in the country and provide reliable media to all exchanges by the year 2002 
5. Provide Internet access to all district head quarters by the year 2000 
6. Provide high speed data and multimedia capability using technologies including ISDN to all towns with a population greater than 2 lac by the year 2002 

New Policy Framework

The New Policy Framework must focus on creating an environment, which enables continued attraction of investment in the sector and allows creation of communication infrastructure by leveraging on technological development. Towards this end, the New Policy Framework would look at the telecom service sector as follows:

• Cellular Mobile Service Providers, Fixed Service Providers and Cable Service Providers, collectively referred to as Access Providers
• Radio Paging Service Providers
• Public Mobile Radio Trunking Service Providers
• National Long Distance Operators
• International Long Distance Operators
• Other Service Providers
• Global Mobile Personal Communication by Satellite (GMPCS) Service Providers
• V-SAT based Service Providers

Mohalla Committees

Mohalla Committee concept was a brainchild of police officer Mr. Khopade, who first-hand witnessed the Hindu Muslim riots in Bhivandi. He witnessed how rumors spread, how people with malicious self-interest took advantage of the situation, how the communities segregated and how it all evantually lead to complete breakdown of law and order.

" Policing in a fast changing socio-economic environment is a complex task. In a democracy it is an accepted view that policing cannot be accomplished without people's participation. This is more so in a democracy such as ours with its pulls and pressures due to various religions, castes and the sheer numbers involved. Mohalla Committees (Mohalla Committees) are an integral part of the community policing initiative.  " As the name suggests, Mohalla Committees are formed at the local area level and consist of a cross-section of society. The local Police Station acts as a facilitator for the formation and functioning of the Mohalla Committees. The main task of the Mohalla Committees is to assist the Police in maintenance of law and order and prevention of crime in the area. The Mohalla Committees members act as eyes and ears and pass on relevant information pertaining to communal, social, law & order related issues to the local beat officer with whom they are constantly in touch. Besides this, they play an important role in prevention and management of law and order situations. The Mohalla Committees's meet at regular intervals throughout the year. They discuss and solve issues relating to local crime and disputes through active involvement of the beat staff. During major festivals, special meetings are convened in order to ensure that peace prevails in the area. " Special care is taken to nominate suitable and respectable members of the community to the Mohalla Committees. Measures and decisions taken during the meetings are disseminated to the community through its members. Suggestions of the Mohalla Committees members are given due weightage by the Police Station in identifying and implementing crime prevention measures.  " People's participation and democratic approach of the Mohalla Committee movement has been widely appreciated over the years. Mohalla Committees have proved their usefulness time and time again and have now become an integral part of the Maharastra Police's community policing initiatives.

Revolutionary Activities in India

• The first political murder of a European was committed in 1897 at Poona by the Chapekar brothers, Damodar and Balkishan. Their target was Mr.Rand, President of the Plague Commission, but Lt.Ayerst was accidentally shot. 
• In 1907, Madam Bhikaiji Cama, a Parsi revolutionary unfurled the flag of India at Stuttgart Congress (of Second international).
• In 1908, Khudiram Bose and Prafulla chaki threw a bomb on the carriage of kingford, the unpopular judge of Muzaffapur. Khudiram, Kanhaiyalal Dutt and Satyendranath Bose were hanged. (Alipur Case).
• In 1909, M L Dhingra shot dead Col.William Curzon Whyllie, the political advisor of “India Office” in London.
• In 1912, Rasbihari Bose and Sachindra Nath Sanyal threw a bomb at Lord Hardinge at Delhi. (Delhi Conspiracy Case).
• In Oct, 1924, a meeting of revolutionaries from all parts of India was called at Kanpur. They setup Hindustan Socialist Republic Association/Army (HSRA).
• They carried out a dacoity on the Kakori bound train on the Saharanpur-Lucknow railway line on Aug. 9, 1925.
• Bhagat Singh, with his colleagues, shot dead Saunders (Asst. S.P. of Lahore, who ordered lathi charge on Lala Lajpat Rai) on Dec.17, 1928.
• Then Bhagat Singh and Batukeshwar Dutt threw a bomb in the Central Assembly on Apr 8, 1929. Thus, he, Rajguru and Sukhdev were hanged on March. 23,1931 at Lahore Jall (Lahore Conspiracy Case) and their bodies cremated at Hussainiwala near Ferozepur.
• In 1929 only Jatin Das died in Lahore jail after 63 days fast to protest against horrible conditions in jail.
• Surya Sen, a revolutionary of Bengal, formed the Indian Republic Army in Bengal. In 1930, he masterminded the raid on Chittagong armoury. He was hanged in 1933.
• In 1931, Chandrashekhar Azad shot himself at Alfred Park in Allahabad.

Public Records Act

Some of the salient features of the Public Records Act are as follows:

• Regulation of the management, administration and preservation of Public Records of the Central Government, Union territory Administration, Public Sector Undertakings, statutory bodies and corporations, Commissions and Committees constituted by the Central Government or a Union territory Administration and matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.
• Empowerment of the Director General of Archives on behalf of Central Government for archives administration and, management of Public Records in all the Records Creating Agencies.
• Nomination of Records Officers and setting up of Records Rooms.
• Appraisal of all public records more than 25 years old in consultation with the National Archives of India and the transfer of records of permanent value to National Archives of India.
• Accessibility of all unclassified public records more than 30 years old and transferred to the National Archives of India to bona fide research scholars.
• there is no regulatory mechanism for effective monitoring in the existing Public Records Act (PRA). The Government had set up a Review Panel in 2009 and a Consultative Committee in 2010 to study the working of PRA and Public Record Rules and suggest amendments therein.

Quantum Computing

Today’s computers process data as bits, which can exist either as a 0 or a 1. Hard-disk drives store these bits as microscopic patches of magnetism on magnetic plates, where the information can then be converted to electrical signals. Quantum computing, meanwhile, manipulates data at an atomic level, allowing for a whole host of interesting quantum mechanical effects. Bits in quantum computing are known as qubits and are particles such as electrons or atoms. The advantages of qubits are that they are very small and can exist in more states than just two. These states could take the form of the spin of an electron or the configuration of an atom, and because there is a higher number of states per qubit than an ordinary bit, the number of possible combinations of states between different qubits increases massively. This essentially means that quantum computers would be able to solve immense calculations at unfathomable speeds, compared with traditional machines. However these particles are very difficult to manipulate so quantum computing is currently limited in what it can do, but as for the future, it’s impossible to predict how far this technology could go.

Red Sprites and Blue Jets

These are both atmospheric and electrical phenomena that take place in the upper atmosphere, and are also known as upper-atmosphere discharge. They take place above normal lightning; blue jets occur around 40-50 kilometres (25-30 miles) above the Earth, while red sprites are higher at 50-100 kilometres (32-64 miles). Blue jets happen in cone shapes above thunderstorm clouds, and are not related to lightning. They’re blue due to ionised emissions from nitrogen. Red sprites can appear as different shapes and have hanging tendrils. They occur when positive lightning goes from the cloud to the ground.

FSSAI : Surrogate Advertizements

FSSAI

• Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI)
• has been established under Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006

 Purpose of  FSSAI

• FSSAI has been created for laying down standards for food products.
• To regulate their manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import to ensure availability of safe and wholesome food for human consumption.
• It falls under the purview of Health Ministry.

Gutkha Issue: SC vs FSSAI

• 2010: Supreme Court ordered a ban on the sale of tobacco products like gutkha and pan masala in plastic pouches from March 2011
• SC had observed that since pan masala, gutkha or supari are eaten for taste and nourishment, they are all food within the meaning of the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.
• Health ministry wants FSSAI to lay down about what levels of tobacco that would be “safe” in such products.
• But FSSAI says that no food item can contain a harmful substance like tobacco so there is no question of setting down “permissible standards of tobacco” in gutkha. Such products must be totally banned.

  Gutkha: Lack of Political will

• Gutkha is believed responsible for 90 per cent of oral cancers in India; plays a role in cancers of the stomach, food pipe and urinary bladder.
• The industry is worth an estimated Rs 8,000 crore.
• A powerful political lobby backs the Gutkha industry, which employs many people in rural areas, and therefore a ban cannot be implemented countrywide.
• It is very difficult to bring all states on the same page on a gutkha ban because of the political lobby
• Madhya Pradesh was the first state to ban gutkha but there is no change in availability. Supply from Uttar Pradesh is being routed there and a Rs 2 sachet now sells for Rs 10. (Smuggling) That is not a solution.

Issue of Surrogate Advertisement

• Cable Television Network Act completely prohibits cigarette and alcohol advertisements.
• But the alcohol and tobacco companies found a loophole: Surrogate advertisement. Most of the large players adapted quickly to introducing what are termed as complimentary products which fell outside the ambit of the Government’s regulation.

 For example:

1. Royal stag: originally a whiskey company, but casting SRK and Bhajji for the soda and music CD ads “Have i made it large“.
2. Kingfisher (originally a beer manufacturing company) started selling Soda, Water and Calendar’s – for brand advertisement. Because that doesn’t fall under the ban.
3. Bagpiper: Water and Soda, Cassettes and Compact discs. (Recall the ads of Akshay Kumar: aap mein aur bagpiper club soda).
4. Bacardi:Cassettes and Compact discs
5. Goa Gutkha, Pan Parag etc: started giving ads of Pan Masala. Because Pan Masala doesn’t contain tobacco hence out of the advertisement ban.

Surrogacy in advertising by Alcohol and Tobacco companies, continues in the absence of a strong code by the ASCI (Advertising Standards Council of India).

ISSUES

• Tobacco industry directly pay cinema stars to smoke in films. When millions of people give polio drops to their children inspired by Amitabh Bachchan’s appeal, the impact of smoking scenes is not difficult to imagine.
• 76% of the 800-900 movies made in India had smoking scenes.
• British medical journal Lancet to claim that 52 per cent of children take to smoking due to movies and that smoking on screen was 16% more effective than direct tobacco advertisements.
• There was an outrage in the US Congress in the 70s over alleged direct payment to Hollywood stars by the tobacco industry to glamorise smoking.
• 40% of health-related problems — from cancer, cardiovascular diseases, kidney ailments, skin allergy, lung problems to miscarriages — are caused by smoking.

Epidemics Act

1. What is Epidemic Disease?

• A widespread outbreak of an infectious disease; many people are infected rapidly at the same time.
• Examples: bird flu, swine flu, SARS, plague, Japanese encephalitis, cholera.

2. Present Legal framework for dealing with Epidemic disease

• right now we’ve The Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 but it is outdated and toothless when dealing with situations of public emergency.
• It does not empower us to take relevant screening measures at airports or push through public health measures in an emergency situation. With many known diseases acquiring more virulent drug resistant forms, the present law is grossly inadequate to deal with such situations.
• When Public health officials try culling of chicken with flu or isolation of anthrax-affected animals, many a times the farmers and villagers start protesting and obstructing the work. This Epidemic Disease act doesn’t help, so officials use CrPC 144.
• Similarly  public health measures like quarantine of those coming from yellow fever endemic countries are undertaken under IPC 188.

3. What is Public Health (Prevention Control Management of Epidemics, Bioterrorism and Disasters) Bill?

• Government  wants this new law to replace the outdated Epidemic Disease Act of 1897.
• This new bill includes provision for up to seven years’ jail term and up to Rs 5 lakh fine for somebody obstructing public health officials during a health exigency.
• For example, owner of a poultry farm, which has birds afflicted by H5N1 virus, creating problems in culling of his birds, could be charged under these sections.

Obama and FDI

If it is right for the U.S. to stop outsourcing jobs to India, it is also right for India to stop a Walmart at the door

Author: Raghuvir Srinivasan (The Hindu)

Offering  advice is the easiest thing to do, something proved all over again by none less than the President of the United States, Barack Obama. In an interview to  the Press Trust of India, Mr. Obama noted that India prohibits foreign investment in too many sectors such as retail and advised a new “wave” of reforms to attract investors. “In too many sectors, such as retail, India limits or prohibits the foreign investment that is necessary to create jobs in both our countries, and which is necessary for India to continue to grow,” he  said, noting that there was a growing consensus in India for another wave of economic reforms.

For a domestic audience

It is not difficult to guess where Mr. Obama is coming from when he speaks about FDI in retail. Walmart has been knocking on  India’s door to enter its  growing retail market which is getting more attractive by the day as a consumer culture takes hold of the thriving middle class. In an election year, the U.S. President is understandably eager to please business lobbies at home and wants to been seen as championing their cause.

Yet, Mr. Obama may  have done Walmart and others of its kind   a disservice by flagging FDI in retail as a crucial reform measure. For one, it is not as important as it is being made out to be — there are more important reform measures that India needs to undertake such as streamlining subsidies and pension reforms. Two, by lobbying for it openly, the President has managed to set off a stream of hostile reactions from across the political spectrum in India.It is bad enough for an American President to be seen advising the country but  it is worse when it is on a sensitive subject that has been hanging fire for many years now. Walmart’s quest to conquer India probably just received a serious setback.

Irony

Mr. Obama’s advice on the need for opening the economy has to be seen in the context of his own statements against outsourcing of jobs to India which is also protectionism. If it is right for the U.S. to stop its corporations from outsourcing jobs to India, which incidentally only increases their efficiencies, it is also right for India to stop a Walmart at  the door to protect its own small retailers who will be wiped out if the multinational chain sets up shop. Of course, Indian consumers and suppliers who might have benefited from the efficient supply chain of organised retail will be the ultimate losers. But that is the futility of protectionism, the price that an economy pays for it. There is enough economic literature available for those interested to read on how protectionist measures adopted by various countries prolonged the Great Depression in the 1930s. So where do these protectionist tit-for-tats stop? Globalisation, which is all about free movement of products, funds, people and also jobs, is the answer. But for it to be successful, every country has to play the game fairly.  You cannot be for one but against another! Simply put, if America wants India to open its doors to its products and its companies, it should also be open to allowing Indian companies to do business in the U.S. Mr. Obama’s advice would have been taken more seriously if only he were not clamping down on India’s IT companies by making outsourcing difficult and expensive.

What ‘deterioration’?

Meanwhile, there is another ghost that needs to be exorcised and that is the so called “deterioration” in India’s investment climate. Of course, India’s economic growth has slowed down to 6.5 per cent from the heady  nine per cent-plus levels of the recent past. Yes, inflation is still a scourge. The rupee has depreciated sharply in recent months and the deficit on the external account is higher than what it historically has been. Yet, India’s macro-economic picture has to be seen in the context of the global economic downturn that has now infected even China.  The Chinese economy slowed down to 7.6 per cent growth in the second quarter, the lowest since 2009. The eurozone is in a shambles while the other engine of the global economy, the U.S., is still down with little prospects of a turnaround in the near future. So why single out India, which is still growing at a decent clip, for a deteriorating investment climate? The comment seems to be more directed at the recent budget measures on tax avoidance rules and the bid to tax Vodafone retrospectively. There seems to be a concerted effort on among  powerful investor groups and multinational corporations to get India to drop the two proposals. Indeed, these two issues were brought up by the Treasury Secretary, Timothy Geithner, when  Pranab Mukherjee visited Washington DC in April last. Mr. Obama’s comment now is probably an extension of that. The only difference is that the President has been graceful enough to admit that “it is not the place of the United States to tell other nations, including India, how to chart its economic future …” Exactly.

raghuvir.s@thehindu.co.in

GAAR: Face saving for India

1. Some of the brightest minds in tax and finance will have to find a face-saving solution----->take the sting out of GAAR, while keeping it alive as a significantly less powerful, but nonetheless meaningful rule. 
2. Can't scrap GAAR , though it may be the most sensible thing to do. can't soften the rule too much. 
3. difficult to push changes that make Mauritius more attractive than Singapore in the eyes of foreign investors. Singapore, the world's newest and most sanitised tax haven, will not be amused by any such move, and may demand an equal treatment. 
4. The panel will give its report around end-September. 
5. GAAR is a ploy to tax foreign investors entering India from Mauritius. As the rule reads, GAAR can override the India-Mauritius treaty that spares non-residents from capital gain tax in India, irrespective of whether the gain is short-term or long-term and the securities are listed or unlisted. Article 13 of the treaty - which according to a recent statement by the Mauritius trade minister is sacrosanct - lays down that only Mauritius has the right to tax the capital gains. 
6. Treaty shopping by tax evading investors, they can't junk the treaty. Mauritius has geo-political importance, serves as a base for a predominant amount of foreign direct investment into India, can be a gateway to Africa and a route for outbound investments by corporate India. Its importance is disproportionate to its size and stigma. 
7. if someone can invest using a bank account and a post box, why on earth will he put up an office?); over the years, you fail to modify the treaty, and then finally, in frustration, make a ham-fisted attempt to tax overseas investors. 

What will the new panel say? 

• Deferring GAAR (even deferring it indefinitely); or
• Ring fence existing investments with a grandfathering clause, or 
• Strike a compromise to give enough time to investors to adjust to a new reality. 
• Easiest way ---add a few conditions - similar to the ones in the India-Singapore treaty - that investors need to fulfill to avoid tax. 

One of the conditions in the Singapore treaty is that tax avoidance cannot be the sole motive behind setting up an investment company. It isn't difficult to meet such a condition in Singapore, a vibrant financial centre. But it won't be easy in Mauritius. 

1. Mauritius, ironically, has little to fear. It has every reason to look forward to the turn of events in India ending up boosting its economy. 
2. If foreign institutional investors, private equity investors and multinational companies spend in Mauritius even half of what they spend in Singapore, the island economy is headed for an asset boom. 

Land Acquisition bill 2011

What is Land Acquisition?

• Land acquisition is the process by which the government forcibly acquires private property for public purpose without the consent of the land-owner.
• It is thus different from a land purchase, in which the sale is made by a willing seller.
• Though land is a state subject, “acquisition and requisitioning of property” is in the concurrent list. Both Parliament and state legislatures can make laws on this subject.

Prosess

• Land Acquisition is governed by the Land Acquisition Act, 1894.  The government has to follow a process of declaring the land to be acquired, notify the interested persons, and acquire the land after paying due compensation.
• Various state legislatures have also passed Acts that detail various aspects of the acquisition process.

Problem with land acquisition act of 1894

• very old, ineffective, weak
• draconian
• delayed and no compensation
• no livelihood provisions afterwards

Requirement of new Act

• Heightened public concern: Singur, Yamuna Express etc.
• absence of proper rehabilitation law
• anticorruption movement
• public unrest at many places
• Law and order problems: police and farmer clashes in UP

The government had introduced a Bill to amend this Act in 2007. That Bill lapsed in 2009 at the time of the general elections. The government enacted a new bill in 2011.

Major changes

• the purpose for which land may be acquired;
• the amount of compensation to be paid;
• the process of acquisition;
• use of the land acquired; and
• dispute settlement mechanisms.

Land acquisition Bill, 2011

A. Introduction

• Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill, 2011 was introduced by the Minister of Rural Development.
• The Bill proposes a unified legislation for acquisition of land and adequate rehabilitation mechanisms for all affected persons
• replaces the Land Acquisition Act, 1894

B. Exclusions

provisions of this Bill shall not apply to 16 existing legislations that provide for land acquisition.  These include

• The Atomic Energy Act, 1962,
• The National Highways Act, 1956,
• SEZ Act, 2005,
• Land Acquisition (Mines) Act, 1885,
• The Railways Act, 1989.

C. Applicability

provisions of the Bill shall be applicable in cases when the appropriate government acquires land,

• for its own use and control,
• to transfer it for the use of private companies for public purpose, and
• on the request of private companies for immediate use for public purpose

Applicable even to private companies

private companies shall provide for rehabilitation and resettlement if they purchase or acquire land, through private negotiations, equal to or more than 100 acres in rural areas and 50 acres in urban areas.

Anti-argument

• It is not clear whether Parliament has jurisdiction to impose rehabilitation and resettlement requirements on private purchase of agricultural land.
• While private companies are included, but PSUs are excluded from the responsibility of rehabilitation.

D. Government can acquire land for these Public Purposes

• strategic defense purposes and national security,
• roads, railways, highways, and ports, built by government and public sector enterprises
• project affected people,
• planned development or improvement of villages.
• residential purposes for the poor and landless.
• Public purpose includes other government projects which benefit the public as well as provision of public goods and services by private companies or public-private partnerships.

E. Consent

• Land acquisition will require the consent of 80 per cent of project affected people
• Affected families include those whose livelihood may be affected due to the acquisition, and includes landless labourers and artisans.

Anti-argument

Projects involving land acquisition and undertaken by private companies or public private partnerships require the consent of 80 per cent of the people affected.  However, no such consent is required in case of PSUs.

F. Limits on land acquisition

• maximum of five per cent of irrigated multi-cropped land may be acquired in a district, with certain conditions.
• Every acquisition requires a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) by an independent body followed by a preliminary notification and a final award by the District Collector.
• In the case of urgency, the Bill proposes that the appropriate government shall acquire the land after 30 days from the date of the issue of the notification (without SIA).
• This clause may be used only for defence, national security, and conditions arising out of a national calamity.

G. Compensation

• The value of the assets (trees, plants, buildings etc) attached to the land being acquired will be added to this amount.
• mandated the job for one person in each affected family or Rs. Two lakhs
• separate allowance for SC,ST
• provision for housing, if the land is acquired for housing projects

Anti-Argument

• The market value is based on recent reported transactions.  This value is doubled in rural areas to arrive at the compensation amount.  This method may not lead to an accurate adjustment because people sell land to each other at underreported price to save stamp duty.
• The government can temporarily acquire land for a maximum period of three years.  There is no provision for rehabilitation and resettlement in such cases.

H. Dispute resolution

Bill proposes the following authorities;

• Administrator;
• Commissioner for Rehabilitation and Resettlement;
• Rehabilitation and Resettlement Committee (for acquisition of 100 acres or more of land);
• National Monitoring Committee for Rehabilitation and Resettlement; and Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Authority (which shall adjudicate all disputes, with appeal to the High Court).

I. What if the acquired land is not used?

• If an acquired land which is transferred to a person for a consideration, is left unutilised for a period of 10 years from the date it was acquired, it shall be returned to the Land Bank or the appropriate government.
• in cases where the ownership of an acquired land is sold to any person, without any development made, 20 per cent of the profit made shall be shared among all the persons from whom the land was acquired.

Mutual Funds and Entry Load

What is Mutual fund?

• They accept money from common people and invest it in shares and bond marks.
• And whatever profit / interest they make, they give back to the customer after cutting their profit Margin.
• A mutual fund is a type of professionally-managed collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors to purchase securities
• A mutual fund is nothing more than a collection of stocks and/or bonds. You can think of a mutual fund as a company that brings together a group of people and invests their money in stocks, bonds, and other securities. 

What the Entry Load?

• Mutual fund company pays Commission to the distributors (those agents  / brokers etc), to market and sell their schemes.
• Earlier Mutual funds used to charge 2.25% entry load from customers.
• Meaning, if you give Rs.100 to the agent, the mutual fund company will only invest Rs.97.75 in various shares, bonds etc. while the Rs.2.25 was paid to the agent who introduced you to the scheme and filled up your paperwork etc.
• SEBI chairman believed that it is not good, these middlemen are not adding any value to the investment. hence he banned Entry load thing from Aug’09
• Result: the agents started selling other products where Commissions are higher. Mutual funds started losing clients. After all this mutual fund/ pension /insurance / childplans/ ULIP etc is a game of marketing (and fooling) people.
• So in June 2012, the mutual fund-walla went to Finance minister and asked him to resume the Entry load mechanism.
• FM has asked SEBI to look into the matter. So the matter is still being looked into.
• SEBI chairman still says that entry loads are not good. At most we can allow MF to invest in Rajiv Gandhi equity saving scheme (RGESS).

Prepaid Payment Card

• Prepaid cards work on the theme very similar to prepaid mobile phone cards. All you have to do is buy a card, load it with the desired amount and the card is ready to be used. You do not require any bank account to use these cards.
• They’re convenient alternatives to cash and cheques
• They’re issued mainly by banks and Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) on payment of specified amount and are used for purchasing goods and services from limited outlets.
• These pre-paid cards which are technically known as semi-closed pre-paid instrument
• These instruments do not permit cash withdrawal or redemption by the holder. (i.e. you buy a card, you’ve to use it.)
• No interest is payable by the bank on such balances.
• The maximum value of any prepaid payment instrument  shall not exceed Rs 50,000/-.

Why is it in news?

• With  passing of Payment and Settlement systems, Act 2007, all non-bank entities (NBFCs) currently issuing prepaid payment instruments and those proposing to issue such payment instruments would have to approach Reserve Bank for authorization.
• In 2009, RBI had allowed Pre-Paid card holders to purchase travel tickets, insurance and pay water, electricity and telephone bills.
• Now in June 2012, Reserve Bank has allowed holders of pre-paid payment cards, to deposits school and college fees and pay taxes in addition to buying rail and air tickets within the prescribed limit of Rs 10,000.  (Banks and Companies are allowed to issue such pre-paid cards without fullfilling the KYC : Know your customer requirement.)

Multi-level TDS on Softwares

Present Tax-structure on sale of softwares

• Under the current structure, TDS of 10 per cent is levied at every level of software distribution chain from master distributor to retailer and to the final consumer.
• Problems= Lot of paper work + Low profit margins for the software makers.

TDS Reform for Softwares

• Now, Finance ministry will do away with the complex multi-level system of Tax Deduction at Source (TDS) for the IT sector from July 1,2012.
• Pranab said, “No deduction of tax shall be made on payment by a person (transferee) for acquisition of software from another person (transferor), being a resident (of India).
• Government will amend Income Tax Act for this purpose.

Condition on TDS relief

• The TDS exemption would be available only when the software is acquired in subsequent transfer, without any modification.
• This could mean that the benefit of TDS exemption will not be available for unbranded software or customised software.

Indo-Japan Joint Naval Exercise

What is JIMEX 12?

• It is the first joint exercise ever between the two navies of India and Japan, in June 2012.
• What will they do in JIMEX 12 Naval Exercise?
• The focus of JIMEX 12 exercise is primarily in the sphere of Maritime Security Cooperation.  
• These include Humanitarian Aid & Disaster Relief (HADR) operations and Visit, Board, Search and Seizure (VBSS) drills, which form a part of Anti-Piracy operations.
• Exercises of these nature enhance inter-operability thereby enabling the two navies to smoothly function together in the sphere of maritime security / HADR operations, should the need arise.
• Interoperatibility is a keystone in India’s current foreign policy, we keep doing joint army, navy, airforce exercises with friendly nations, so in case of “should the need arise” we can work with them and fight common “enemy”

Importance

• It marks a significant advance in the maritime cooperation between India and Japan.
• Until now, Tokyo was only letting its Coast Guard participate in the exchanges with India.
• Japan’s preference was for multilateral maritime engagement with others along with its treaty-ally and guarantor of its national security — the United States.
• With JIMEX 12, Japan has also shed its political inhibitions about bilateral naval exercises with India.

What we gain ?

• During the Cold War, and Pre-1991 LPG reforms, India was inward looking and its economy was closed, the navy’s primary tasks were to protect the nation’s territorial waters and deny its near seas to other powers.
• Today, with a globalised economy — our exports and imports account for 40 per cent of the GDP — the navy can’t secure India’s expanding regional maritime interests on its own.
• The government has been deploying ships of the Indian Navy on Eastbound long range deployments in keeping with India’s ‘Look East’ policy, and to strengthen military ties with the countries of this strategically important region.
• Building maritime coalitions, developing special regional relationships and establishing interoperability with other naval forces — big and small — must be at the very top of India’s defence diplomacy in Indo-Pacific.
• The expanding engagement with the Japanese navy, one of the strongest in the world, should give a boost to India’ maritime diplomacy in Asia.

Anti-Strings of Pearl: South China Sea Domination

• Some time back, ONGC Videsh had aquired offshore oil blocks from Vietnaam in South China Sea.
• But after Chinese Government objected, ONGC pulled out and stopped drilling, and this move was seen by the world as if India had surrendered to Chinese pressure.
• Therefore, Special relationships with key regional states and greater coordination with other naval powers are critical for an effective Indian strategy in the South China Sea. India’s joint exercise with Japan, sends a strong message that India’s interest in the waters of East Asia is enduring and its naval presence in the Western Pacific is here to stay.
• Similarly, The Indian navy is also seeking greater interoperability with the maritime forces of its smaller neighbours like Sri Lanka and the Maldives and such Indian Ocean partners as Seychelles and the Maldives, to counter China's Strings of Pearl Strategy, under which China is constructing naval bases around the Indian Ocean, to encircle India (and possibly cut India's crude oil supply, and naval-trade with other nations in case of a war).

Kishori Shakti Yojana

Eligibility

• All unmarried adolescent girls in the age group of 11–18 year.
• Target group = school drop-outs girls in rural areas, who’re forced to leave studies after class 5.

Objectives

• Improve the nutritional and health status of girls in the age group of 11–18 years.
• To provide the required literacy and innumeracy skills through the non–formal stream of education, to stimulate a desire for more social exposure and knowledge and to help them improve their decision making capabilities.
• To train and equip the adolescent girls to improve/upgrade home–based and vocational skills.
• To promote awareness of health, hygiene, nutrition and family welfare, home management and child care, and to take all measure as to facilitate their marrying only after age of 18.
• To gain a better understanding of their environment related social issues and the impact on their lives and
• To encourage them to initiate various activities to be productive and useful members of the society.

Services offered

• Anganwadi centre of a village, will gather 20 or more girls, form a Balika Mandal and give them training for 6 months.
• Educational activities through non–formal & functioned literacy pattern.
• Immunization
• A general health check up every six months
• Treatment for minor ailments
• Prophylaxis measures against anemia, goiter, vitamin deficiencies etc.
• Referral to PHC/District Hospital in the case of acute need
• Convergence with Reproductive Child Health Scheme.

Why Russia Support Syria/Assad

To those of you who wonder “Why does Russia support Syria, despite the world opinion against Assad?” The reasons are following:

• Syria buys arms and ammunition worth 700$ million per year from Russia.
• In Syria’s Port city of Tartus, Russia has its only military base in Mediterranean Sea.
• There are an estimated 30,000 Russian citizens living in Syria, most women and children. The Russian population in Syria is the result of an experiment begun in 1963, when the socialist Baath Party came to power.
• The Soviets provided education to top students from Asia, Africa and Latin America, throwing them together with Soviet classmates in work brigades and “evenings of friendship.”
• Syrian men felt genuinely transformed by their time in Russia; they also sought to avoid paying a bride-price as is customary in the Middle East and hence married to women of USSR.
• Russian consular official said about 9,000 Russians have officially registered with the embassy, though upward of 30,000 citizens are believed to be in Syria.
• If Russia started actively supporting USA and world community against Syria, then President Assad and his goons might start killing innocent Russian and in such scenario, Russia doesn’t have evacuation plans for its ‘diospora‘. Besides Such an evacuation operation would be daunting because a vast number of the expatriate wives come from Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova and after 50 years of intermarriage, the line between who is Russian and who is not may be difficult to find.

Senior Citizens Welfare Act 2007

What is it?

• The act defines senior citizen as any citizen of India aged 60+, whether living in India or not.
• Every Senior Citizen who is unable to maintain himself from his own income, can claim maintenance from his children.
• A childless Senior Citizen can claim maintenance from his relative who is in possession of, or would inherit his property.

Maintenance Tribunals

• State Governments are to constitute “Maintenance Tribunal” at Sub Divisional Level.
• Senior Citizen may submit application for maintenance to this tribunal.
• If Senior Citizen is incapable of making a application himself, any other person or registered NGO can file complaint on his behalf.
• State Governments have designate the District Social Welfare Officer or an equivalent officer as Maintenance Officer, who can then represent a parent, on request, before a Maintenance or Appellate Tribunal.
• Lawyers cannot represent any party before the Tribunals

Punishments

• Maintenance Tribunal can award up to Rs. 10,000 per month as maintenance allowance payable to the senior citizen by his child/relative. They’ve to give judgment in 90 days.
• If child/relative is neglecting the senior citizen after getting his property, then Tribunal Appeal can declare such property transfer null and void and return it to the senior citizen.
• Abandonment of a Senior citizen is punishable with imprisonment up to 3 months and or Rs. 5000

CDAC

Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) is the premier R&D organization of the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY), Ministry of Communications & Information Technology (MCIT) for carrying out R&D in IT, Electronics and associated areas.  Different areas of C-DAC, had originated at different times, many of which came out as a result of identification of opportunities.

The setting up of C-DAC in 1988 itself was to built Supercomputers in context of denial of import of Supercomputers by USA. Since then C-DAC has been undertaking building of multiple generations of Supercomputer starting from PARAM with 1 GF in 1988. Almost at the same time, C-DAC started building Indian Language Computing Solutions with setting up of GIST group (Graphics and Intelligence based Script Technology); National Centre for Software Technology (NCST) set up in 1985 had also initiated work in Indian Language Computing around the same period. Electronic Research and Development Centre of India (ER&DCI) with various constituents starting as adjunct entities of various State Electronic Corporations, had been brought under the hold of Department of Electronics and Telecommunications (now DeitY) in around 1988. They were focusing on various aspects of applied electronics, technology and applications. With the passage of time as a result of creative echo system that got set up in C-DAC, more areas such as Health Informatics, etc., got created; while right from the beginning the focus of NCST was on Software Technologies; similarly C-DAC started its education & training activities in 1994 as a spin-off with the passage of time, it grew to a large efforts to meet the growing needs of Indian Industry for finishing schools. C-DAC has today emerged as a premier third party R&D organization in IT&E (Information Technologies and Electronics) in the country working on strengthening national technological capabilities in the context of global developments in the field and responding to change in the market need in selected foundation areas.  In that process, C-DAC represents a unique facet working in close junction with DeitY to realize nation’s policy and pragmatic interventions and initiatives in Information Technology. As an institution for high-end Research and Development (R&D), C-DAC has been at the forefront of the Information Technology (IT) revolution, constantly building capacities in emerging/enabling technologies and innovating and leveraging its expertise, caliber, skill sets to develop and deploy IT products and solutions for different sectors of the economy, as per the mandate of its parent, the Department of Electronics and Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Government of India and other stakeholders including funding agencies, collaborators, users and the market-place.