November 2013 National Affairs | Current Affairs 2013 | National Affairs 2013 |

With the vision of enhancing the use of improved cook stove technologies, envisaged under the National Biomass Cookstove Programme (NBCP), Minister of New and Renewable Energy Farooq Abdullah inaugurated the India Clean Cook stove Forum 2013 organized jointly by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and Deutsche Gesellschaft für International Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH operating on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on 26 November in New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, Abdullah said “increased use of clean and efficient cook stoves is crucial to reduce the burden of disease from indoor air pollution as well to avoid the overuse of biomass resources. Efficient cooking technologies have a direct tangible impact on the livelihoods of the poor, as they save time and money that previously had to be spent on procuring cooking fuels.” During the Forum, the Minister launched a new initiative on biomass cook stoves developed under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the United Nations Frameworks Convention on Climate Change to reduce the cost of improved stove technologies to rural customers through the sale of carbon credits. He added that this is just one of several joint efforts to provide clean and reliable energy to rural areas and these initiatives have further endorsed the close relations and cooperation between India and Germany.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on 28 November, has approved the Ministry of Culture’s proposal of the scheme for up gradation of libraries providing services to the public under the National Mission on Libraries (NML). The scheme would benefit students, researchers, scientists, children, artists, differently-abled persons, the general public, neo and non-literates and would entail an expenditure of Rs.400 crore during the 12th Plan period. The scheme envisages creating a National Virtual Library of India for facilitating a comprehensive database on digital resources on information about India and on information generated in India. This would be facilitated in an open access environment. The scheme would develop six libraries under Ministry of Culture, 35 state Central Libraries and 35 District Libraries, with particular emphasis on economically backward districts, as model libraries. In addition, 629 district libraries across the States would be provided network connectivity. The scheme also proposes to enhance the professional competence of library personnel. While the survey of libraries would be completed within one year, the other objectives of the scheme would be achieved by the end of the 12th Plan period. In pursuance of National Knowledge Commission recommendation for setting up a National Mission on Libraries to revamp the Library and Information Service Sector, the Ministry of Culture had set up a high level committee as the National Mission on Libraries.

Secretary, Department of Sports Ajit M. Saran, and Secretary, Department of AIDS Control Lov Verma on 29 November, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Objectives of the MoU are to reach large number of youth engaged in sports activities at village, district and state level with information on STI/HIV/AIDS prevention and related services; build the capacity of sports educators, administrators and coaches on “Minimizing the risk of HIV transmission on and outside the sports field; involve youth organization, sports federations in HIV/AIDS prevention activities; promote awareness generation through hoarding and banners at eminent places and sports infrastructure during state/national events and tournaments; and involve eminent sports personalities for addressing social stigma and discrimination associated with HIV/AIDS .The Department of AIDS Control provide technical support in capacity building on HIV/AIDS for sportspersons, trainees and staff of sports organizations and federations; provide technical support by sharing of IEC materials for awareness generation activities; provide technical assistance to Department of Sports for inclusion of HIV in ongoing activities etc.

The Supreme Court on 26 November 2013 constituted a ten-member Gender Sensitization and Internal Complaints Committee (GSICC) to deal with complaints of sexual harassment within its premises. The committee was constituted by the Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam. The committee is headed by Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai. The committee has six other female members. Two members are outsiders and not connected with the Supreme Court. The panel is in consonance with the guidelines laid down by the apex court in its judgment in the Vishaka case for dealing with complaints of sexual harassment at the workplace.

In an exercise unprecedented for its sheer scale, India’s creaking legal machinery swung into action on 24 November, to dispose of over 28 lakh cases in less than seven hours through lok adalats organized across the country. This is only a fraction of pending cases — over 3 crore at last count — but represents a significant step in clearing the massive backlog, especially as it could now become an annual event. Lok adalats are an alternative dispute resolution mechanism where parties are encouraged to amicably settle cases outside the formal court system. Generally, cases where parties can reach an amicable settlement, including bounced cheque and bank recovery cases, civil suits, motor accident claims, service matters, family matters and traffic challan cases are taken up by lok adalats. The adalats, organized by National Legal Services Authority (NALSA), state legal services authorities and district legal services authorities, took up 39 lakh cases. NALSA organizes lok adalats on a regular basis but this is for the first time that it has been organized on such a huge scale. In Delhi alone 300 benches, including at the high court, cleared 3,66,000 cases — which means each bench cleared more than 3 cases every minute on average. This was possible because many cases were bunched together and much of the legal work was done in advance.

Election Commission decided to use Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) on a large-scale for the first time in the country in the Mizoram Assembly polls on 25 November 2013.The VVPAT is a machine attached to EVMS which allows voters to verify that their vote has been cast in the way they wished. The VVPATs are being used in only ten assembly constituencies of Aizwal District of the total 40 assembly segments in Mizoram. The VVPAT system was first experimented in the Noksen Assembly by poll in Nagaland on 4 September 2013 and Mizoram would be the first state where it would be introduced on a large scale. The VVPAT system is a new initiative of the Election Commission to ensure free and fair elections. The VVPT will enable electors to see a printout of their ballot -displaying the name, election symbol and serial number of the chosen candidate. However the voter cannot take the printout home.

Five new Information Commissioners are appointed to the Central Information Commission (CIC) on 22 November 2013. Chief Information Commissioner Deepak Sandhu administered the oath of office to them in New Delhi. The new commissioners are Yashovardhan Azad, Sharat Sabharwal, Manjula Parasher , M A Khan Yusufi and Madabhushanam Sridhar. With this the total number of Information Commissioners including the Chief Information Commissioner has gone up to 10.Yashovardhan Azad is a former IPS Officer, before joining the Office of Information Commissioner in Central Information Commission, was holding the post of Secretary (Security) in Cabinet Secretariat.Sharat Sabharwal is a career diplomat, retired as High Commissioner of India in Pakistan before joining the Office of Information Commissioner. Manjula Parasher is a former Indian Postal Service Officer had retired as Secretary from the Department of Posts before joining the Office of Information Commissioner. MA Khan Yusufi is a former Indian Legal Service Officer, before joining the Office of Information Commissioner in CIC was holding the post of Chairperson in Airport Appellate Tribunal. Madbhushanam Sridhar was working as Professor at NALSAR, before joining the Office of Information Commissioner in CIC.

India's first fully privately funded Rapid Metro Gurgaon announces the start of its commercial operations from Gurgaon in Haryana on 14 November. Sanjiv Rai, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, IL&FS Rail Ltd., inaugurated the commercial operation of Rapid Metro Gurgaon in Gurgaon. Rapid Metro Gurgaon line will be open to commuters from 6.05 am till 12:20 (midnight). Five fully automated trains with a frequency of 4 minutes will be running between the six stations (currently five stations) with each train carrying over 800 passengers on each trip. The country's first fully privately-financed developed metro system has been launched in the public-private partnership mode. It was built at a cost of nearly Rs.1,100 crore and took 30 months to reach the present stage. The launch of Rapid Metro will boost connectivity within Cyber City, the corporate and retail hub of Gurgaon. Nearly one lakh people work or visit the hub each day.

With a view to foster and reinforce the spirit of Communal Harmony, National Integration and pride in vibrant, composite culture and nationhood, the “Quami Ekta Week” (National Integration week) will be observed all over the country, from the 19th to 25th November, 2013. The National Foundation for Communal Harmony (NFCH), an autonomous organization with the Ministry of Home Affairs also organizes communal harmony campaign coinciding with the Qaumi Ekta Week. The foundation also provides financial assistance for relief and rehabilitation of children rendered orphan or destitute in communal, caste, ethnic or terrorist violence. The week long programmes to be observed during Quami Ekta Week (Nov.19-25th,2013) include National Integration Day (Nov.19), Welfare of Minorities Day (Nov.20), Linguistic Harmony Day (Nov.21), Weaker Sections Day (Nov.22), Cultural Unity Day (Nov.23), Women’s Day(Nov. 24) and Conservation Day (Nov.25) .

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee released a commemorative postal stamp at an event organised on the occasion of the 175th anniversary of the Times of India on, November 13, at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Speaking on the occasion, the President referred to the statement by the Managing Director of the Times Group that it has no political master and no hidden agenda and said let that be the motto of this great institution. The President recalled how Times of India has documented every twist and turn of India’s history. It reported on the coronation of Queen Victoria as the empress of India. It welcomed the formation of the Indian National Congress in 1885 with the following words: “Surely, never had so important and comprehensive an assemblage occurred in recent times on the soil of India.” Minister for Communications and Information Technology Kapil Sibal also attended the function.

The Union Government on 13 November 2013 gave its nod to the Union Health Ministry to go ahead with the scheme aimed at creation of the mid-level rural health cadre of professionals. To give the nod of creation of the mid-level rural health cadre of professionals, the government overruled the Parliamentary Committee recommendation to scrap the course in community health. The Union Cabinet in its meeting gave its nod to the health ministry to start a new three-year B.Sc. Community Health program. The program would help in creation of the new cadre of health professionals to improve the rural medicare infrastructure in India. The proposal was pending for few years but after the Ministry came up with the idea to create a new cadre of health professionals in rural areas as the doctors were unwilling to serve there.

The Vice President of India, M. Hamid Ansari on 7 November released the book “India’s Nuclear Energy Programme: Future Plans, Prospects and Concerns” edited by Prof. R. Rajaraman at a function organized by Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in New Delhi. Addressing on the occasion he said that given the population and economy of our country, we are and will remain short in energy. Today, nuclear energy is contributing to a very small segment and by 2032, it will be around 10%. The real question is to focus on can we do without this 10%. Our energy requirement is a serious one. He opined that the book is very useful and will surely help in creating a public opinion on nuclear energy. The book contains state-of-the art discussions by top experts of a whole range of diverse issues that constitute this complex subject. It brings together expert contributions both from apex leaders of the Indian nuclear programme and from those who have serious reservations about the programme.

The Union Cabinet on 7 November 2013 approved the visa waiver agreements with Poland, Slovenia and Lithuania. This move will help the Indians with diplomatic passports to visit the three countries. The agreements would be signed very soon. The CCEA (Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs) cleared a proposal to disinvest 17 percent of paid up capital for Follow on Public Offering (FPO) of the state owned power grid corporation of India. As per the Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, 13 percent of fresh equity by the Public Sector Company and 4 percent stake sale by the government includes under the FPO. A similar agreement was cleared with Cuba in first week of November 2013.By now India has similar agreements with about 50 countries that include Japan, Russia and Israel.


The Gauhati High Court has quashed the Union Home Ministry resolution by which the Central Bureau of Investigation was constituted way back in 1963. The court held that the CBI was neither an organ nor part of the Delhi Special Police Establishment and thus could not be treated as a “police force” constituted under the DSPE Act. In their 89-page judgment, Justices I.A. Ansari and Indira Shah said on 6 November. “While we decline to hold and declare that the DSPE Act, 1946 is not a valid piece of legislation, we do hold that the CBI is neither an organ nor part of the DSPE and the CBI cannot be treated as a police force constituted under the DSPE Act, 1946.” Though the Division Bench had directed the respondents to produce the original records on creation of the CBI, they just submitted a certified copy of the records from the National Archive. “However, even a perusal of the entire records makes it clear that the Resolution, dated April 1, 1963, was neither produced before the President, nor did it ever receive the assent of the President. Hence, strictly speaking, the Resolution cannot even be termed the decision of the Government of India. That apart, it is apparent from the records that the CBI is a newly constituted body and not the same as DSPE.”


Bowing to political pressure, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will not be attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) beginning on 8 November, in Colombo, highly placed government sources have said on 9 November. This came at the end of a day in which the government dropped ample hints that it was not necessary for the Prime Minister to attend every commonwealth conclave. External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who is anyway going to Colombo mid-week, will therefore represent India at CHOGM; there will be no stopover at Jaffna, capital of Sri Lanka’s Northern Province, where most of the alleged human rights abuses occurred in the final stages of the conflict in 2009.Meanwhile, a senior Congress functionary stressed that it was not important for the Prime Minister to attend CHOGM, especially if it went against the sentiments of a section of the Indian population — the people of Tamil Nadu, in this case. For the Congress, with a difficult election ahead in 2014, the goodwill of potential alliance partners is of paramount concern. Diplomats pointed out that over the last two decades, an Indian Prime Minister had participated in five of 10 CHOGMs. On four occasions, a Central Minister led the Indian delegation and at the previous CHOGM at Perth, Vice-President Hamid Ansari had represented the country.

October 2013 National Affairs | National Affairs | October National Affairs

The Chairman of National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST) Dr. Rameshwar Oraon and Member, B.L. Meena, on 25th October, presented the Sixth Report on working of safeguard for Scheduled Tribes for 2010-11 to the President of India. The National Commission for Scheduled Tribes was constituted w.e.f. 19th February, 2004 consequent to the amendment of Article 338 of the Constitution of India and insertion of a new Article 338A vide the Constitution (Eighty-ninth Amendment) Act, 2003 which, inter-alia, enjoins upon the Commission to oversee the implementation of various safeguards provided to Scheduled Tribes under the Constitution or under any other law for the time being in force or under any other order of the Government and to evaluate the working of such safeguards. Article 338A of the Constitution, also, mandates the NCST to present to the President annually and at such other times as the Commission may deem fit, reports on the working of the safeguards extended to the members of Scheduled Tribes and to make in such reports recommendations as to the measures that should be taken by the Union or any State for effective implementation of those safeguards and other measures for protection, welfare and socio-economic development of the Scheduled Tribes. The Report is comprised of seven chapters. Adherence to Clause 9 of Article 338A of the Constitution which mandates the Union and every State Government to consult the Commission on all major policy matters affecting Scheduled Tribes is presented in Chapter 6 on Consultation on Policy Related Issues. As per the constitutional provisions, the report of the Commission has to be laid in both houses of the Parliament along with a Memorandum explaining the action taken or proposed to be taken on the recommendations relating to the Union. Similar action has to be taken by the State Governments while laying the Report in the Legislative Assembly of the State concerned, in relation to the recommendations concerning the State.

Harald Sandberg, the Swedish Ambassador on 25th October 2013 inaugurated the Nobel Memorial Wall in Kolkata. The Nobel Memorial Wall has been set up at the Esplanade Metro Station in Kolkata. Seven of the Nobel Laureates from India are portrayed in the metro station along with the Rabindranath Tagore. The Memorial Wall was inaugurated marking the centenary of Tagore reception of the Nobel Prize for Literature. The portraits on the Memorial Wall also carry the information related to the life and achievements in the respective field of the Nobel Laureates with the year when they were awarded the Nobel in three languages, namely English, Hindi and Bangla. Two more memorial walls would be established at metro stations of Gitanjali and Jorasanko. The work on the Nobel Memorial Wall was done as the part of the seventh edition of the Sweden-India Nobel Memorial wee.

India was on 25th October, ranked 101 out of 136 countries on a global gender gap index. The index, compiled by Geneva-based World Economic Forum, ranked the countries on the division of resources and opportunities between men and women in the areas of economy, education, politics, education and health.

The Union Cabinet on 17th October, gave its approval for constitution of the 3-Member Supervisory Committee on the Babhali Barrage to implement the directions of the Supreme Court in its order dated 28.02.2013. The Committee will comprise one representative from the Central Water Commission who will be the Chairman of the Supervisory Committee and one representative each from the State Governments of Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra, respectively.

The Centre is set to give the green signal to a vital road-link project in Kashmir that will connect the strategically important region of Kargil and Leh to the rest of India through a 14-km-long all-weather tunnel. Currently, these two regions remain cut off from Srinagar and the rest of the country for about six months during the winter season on account of heavy snowfall and inclement weather. The Union cabinet is likely to approve the proposed Rs. 9,000-crore tunnel project passing through Zojila – one of the highest mountain passes in India – on 15 October. Located at an altitude of about 12,000 feet on National Highway-1, the Zojila tunnel along with another 6.5 km long tunnel at Z-Morh in Sonmarg — cleared for construction last year — will provide road connectivity to these areas round the year.“The twin tunnels once complete will not only usher in much-needed economic development in the region but also bring respite to people living here who get stranded during the treacherous winter months,” a senior road ministry official said. Located at an altitude of about 12,000 feet on National Highway-1, the Zojila tunnel along with another 6.5 km long tunnel at Z-Morh in Sonmarg — cleared for construction last year — will provide road connectivity to these areas round the year.

Seventeen persons were killed as the very severe cyclonic storm, Phailin, hit the Odisha coast near Gopalpur in Ganjam district late on 12th October evening; Special Relief Commissioner P.K. Mohapatra said the press. More than 1.26 crore people were hit by the cyclone that damaged lakhs of thatched and kutcha houses in the coastal districts. Ganjam district was the worst hit. Electricity supply was badly affected in most of the affected areas. Power supply was likely to resume in a day or two. The cyclone, which made its landfall near Gopalpur at 8.30 p.m. on 12th October with a wind speed reaching up to 220 km per hour, moved into the interior parts of Odisha. Train services remained cancelled on the Howrah-Visakhapatnam route. However, services between Howrah and Bhadrak were resumed partially to help passengers stranded at various stations.

Co-operative societies do not fall within the ambit of Right to Information Act, the Supreme Court has said while quashing a Kerala government circular to bring all such societies within the scope of the transparency law. A bench of justices K. S. Radhakrishnan and A. K. Sikri said mere supervision or regulation of a body by government would not make that body a public authority and quashed the Kerala High Court's order holding the circular valid."Societies are, of course, subject to the control of the statutory authorities like Registrar, Joint Registrar, the Government, etc. but cannot be said that the State exercises any direct or indirect control over the affairs of the society which is deep and all pervasive."Supervisory or general regulation under the statute over the co-operative societies, which are body corporate does not render activities of the body so regulated as subject to such control of the State so as to bring it within the meaning of the State or instrumentality of the State," the bench said.

The largest Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower of India was inaugurated outside the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai on 18 October 2013. The tallest ATC tower stands at the length of 84 meters or around 30 storey building. The tower was inaugurated by the Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh and Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan. Because of its height, the ATC tower will enable all the controllers in having easy and nonstop view of complete operational area. It will also help in optimizing the separation of the air traffic, while enhancing the traffic handling capacity at the same time. The ATC tower is spread over an area of 2800 square meter area and is also equipped with state-of-the-art technology such as electronic flight strips that can reduce the workload of controllers and enhance safety and capacity of the airport. It is important to note that India is the 9th largest aviation market of the world and has the traffic increasing at 10 percent annually. The designing of the ATC was done by Hong Kong-based architectural firm HOK as well as the international engineering designer ARUP. These were chosen after the global competition.

The Supreme Court has ruled that Courts cannot impose a fine of more than twice the amount in bounced cheques on 16 October 2013. A bench of Justice T.S. Thakur and Justice Vikramajit Sen while ruling this direction explained that even in a case where the court may be taking a lenient view in favor of the accused by not sending him to prison, it cannot impose a fine more than twice the cheque amount. That statutory limit is inviolable and must be respected. The Supreme Court of India ruled this direction in the backdrop of the case where a person was asked by the Trial Court as well as the High Court of Calcutta to pay more than twice the amount of the cheque bounced, which is against the statutory provisions.

The HRD Ministry will soon launch 50 DTH educational channels. This was stated by the Secretary (HE) Ashok Thakur in New Delhi on 8th October. He said these channels will be different from the existing programmes on air including Gyan Darshan as new one will be more interactive. He said these channels will air programmes which will be live and not pre recorded. Saying that the new initiatives will be one of the largest anywhere in the world of its kind, Sh. Thakur said later on the number of the channels will be increased to one thousand. He said that the Ministry has spent more than one billion dollars for ICT. Over 400 universities and twenty thousand colleges have been linked with bandwidth. He said there is a great potential to increase its usage. Highlighting the potential of the National Programme on National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology (NMEICT), the Secretary said that the entire country can be made into a big classroom which will help improve quality of instructions in engineering colleges particularly belonging to the remote areas. He said that the Ministry may approach AICTE to make on-line education mandatory and integral part of education system. Asking to promote virtual lab, Sh. Thakur said it should be possible to share classes from IITs to other engineering colleges by making the system more user friendly.

The Supreme Court of India on 8th October 2013 directed the Union and all state governments to provide 3 percent job reservation to disabled persons in all their departments, companies and institutions. The bench headed by Chief Justice of India P. Sathasivam clarified that the principle of not exceeding more than 50 percent reservation would not be applicable while granting quota for disabled persons. Supreme Court of India also directed the authorities to compile the number of vacancies in all their departments to give jobs to disabled persons under 3 percent reserved quota within 3 months. While giving this direction the bench also said that Government has categorical obligation to protect the right of disabled persons and passed a slew of directions for providing jobs to the Disabled Persons.

With the Supreme Court on 8th October, declining to modify its order that the Aadhaar scheme was not compulsory for availing benefits of government schemes, the Union Cabinet has cleared a bill granting statutory status to UIDAI and providing legal backing to the Unique Identity numbers to Indian residents. Sources said the Union Cabinet approved the National Identification Authority of India Bill, 2010, with some amendments, which will now be placed before the Rajya Sabha for discussion and passing in the Winter Session. In a setback to the Centre, the Supreme Court on 8th October, Tuesday stuck to its stand on the Aadhar card saying it is not mandatory. The Centre had moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of an earlier order which said Aadhar card is not mandatory and no person should be deprived of any government schemes for want it. Earlier, the Supreme Court had said that the Aadhar card, being issued by Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), was not mandatory for availing any government services and nobody should be deprived of any such facilities for the want of the card.

This year’s World Egg Day falls on 11th October. The second Friday of October has been declared as World Egg Day by the International Egg Commission to help raise awareness about nutritional benefits of egg. India is the third highest producer of egg in the world but the per capita availability of eggs in India is only around 55 per person per year as against the National Institute of Nutrition recommendation of 180 eggs per capita per year. The egg is a wholesome, nutritious food with high nutrient density because, in proportion to its calorie count, it provides 12% of the daily value of protein and a wide variety of other nutrients such as vitamins, essential amino acids and minerals. While protein itself is an important constituent of healthy diet, the egg has been found to have two newly-recognized nutrients - lutein and zeaxanthin - that has put the egg in the "functional food" category. A functional food is one that provides health benefits beyond its basic nutrient content. Recent studies have shown that consuming lutein and zeaxanthin can significantly lower risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness affecting people over the age of 65. In addition, these reduce the likelihood of cataracts.

Approximately, 60 people were feared killed and over 100 injured in a stampede on 13th October 2013 near a temple at Ratangarh in Madhya Pradesh's Datia district. The stampede was caused by rumors that a bridge they were crossing was about to collapse. The unfortunate incident occurred when a large number of devotees arrived from Datia and neighboring Uttar Pradesh at the Durga temple at Ratangarh, about 60 kms from the district headquarters. Nearly 100 people have been injured in the mishap and they have been admitted in close by hospitals.

The Union Cabinet on 8th October 2013 approved a notification for issuing Presidential order to establish a separate development board for Hyderabad-Karnataka region in Karnataka. Article 371-J of the Constitution grants special status to six backward districts in Hyderabad- Karnataka region, with provision for reservation in education and jobs for locals. Under the Article 371-J, the President is empowered to entrust the state Governor to establish a separate board to ensure equitable allocation of funds in the state's budget to meet the development needs of the region. Six backward districts of North Karnataka - Gulbarga, Yadgir, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal and Bellary - fall in the region. The Development Board will ensure1) Equitable allocation of funds to meet the development needs of the region from the State Budget. 2) Promote employment from the region by providing for local cadres in service. 3) Provide for reservation in educational and vocational training institutions. Hyderabad-Karnataka region was given a special status under Article 371 J of the Constitution by the parliament on 20 December 2012. A new Article 371 J was inserted in the Constitution through the Constitution (Ninety-Eighth Amendment) Bill, 2012.

The Supreme Court of India proposed a three-member panel on 7th October 2013 headed by former Punjab and Haryana Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal to examine the IPL spot-fixing scandal. The other members of the panel are senior advocate and Additional Solicitor General N. Nagehswar Rao and Assam Cricket Association member Nilay Dutta. The panel would conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations and examine the IPL spot-fixing scandal. It will submit its report to the Supreme Court.

The Union Government on 8th October 2013 reconstituted the Group of Ministers (GoM) on Telangana, reducing the number of ministers from ten to six. Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde and Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram have been retained. The new entrants are Union Defence Minister A.K. Antony, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister M. Veerappa Moily and Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh.V. Narayanasamy, Minister of State in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions and Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office, who was part of the GoM, will now be a special invitee to the new GoM. The Union Ministers dropped from the GoM are Human Resource Development Minister M. Pallam Raju, Law Minister Kapil Sibal, Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath, Road Transport Minister Oscar Fernandes, Power Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia and Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. The Union Cabinet on 3rd October 2013 approved the creation of a new State of Telangana by bifurcating the existing State of Andhra Pradesh. The Union Cabinet also approved the setting up of a Group of Ministers (GoM) to work out the various legal and administrative measures to ensure the safety and security of the residents of all the regions of the State including the guarantee of the Fundamental Rights.

Forced by Rahul Gandhi's open trashing of the government, the Union Cabinet on 2nd October, decided to withdraw the controversial ordinance on convicted lawmakers as well as a related bill in the face of mounting public opinion against the measure. In a 20-minute meeting, presided over by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the Cabinet overturned its earlier decision of September 24 to provide immunity to convicted lawmakers from immediate disqualification. The reversal by the Cabinet is seen as a rare instance of the government being forced to take back a measure that was cleared after many deliberations in the ruling party and the Council of Ministers after resistance from within. The decision came on a day of hectic consultations at the highest levels in the Congress party, allies and the government on how to bring a closure to the raging controversy after Rahul's denunciation of the ordinance as "complete nonsense" that deserved to be "torn and thrown away". Sources said the Cabinet also decided to withdraw Representation of the People (Second Amendment and Validation) Bill, 2013 as the proposed legislation has no relevance after the withdrawal of the ordinance. After the decision to withdraw the bill and the ordinance, the July 10 Supreme court ruling on immediate disqualification of convicted MPs, MLAs and MLCs is the law of the land. A request now will be placed before the President to allow the government to withdraw the Representation of the People Act, 1951 (Amendment) Ordinance (Second), 2013. As regards to the bill pending in the Rajya Sabha, government will move a resolution in the upper house during the Winter session. Meanwhile, Chairman Rajya Sabha and Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee before which the measure is pending will be informed about the decision of the Cabinet.

The Union Cabinet on 3rd October approved the proposal to establish a Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences (CAPFILMS), along with a 500-bed General Hospital, a 300-bed Super Specialty Hospital, a Nursing College and a School of Paramedics. The Institute shall be registered as a Society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and shall have a Governing Body and a Governing Council, under the Ministry of Home Affairs The creation of the Institute will facilitate attraction of talented professionals in the Central Armed Police Forces and their retention, besides providing in-house training/ specialization/Post Graduate /Super Specialty Post Graduate courses to in-service health care professionals. This will not only boost the morale of the force personnel, but also provide required trained technical hands in the medical set up of CAPFs for the benefit of their personnel and families. The total project cost is Rs. 1366.53 crore and is expected to be completed over a period of five to six years. About 48 acres has already been purchased at Maiden Garhi, New Delhi through the Central Public Works Department (CPWD).

The Union Cabinet on 3rd October approved the National Policy on Universal Electronic Accessibility that recognizes the need to eliminate discrimination on the basis of disabilities as well as to facilitate equal access to electronics and Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). This policy has been prepared after incorporating comments and suggestions from various stakeholders. The policy will facilitate equal and unhindered access to electronics and ICTs products and services by differently-abled persons (both physically and mentally challenged) and to facilitate local language support for the same. This shall be achieved through universal access to electronics and ICT products and services to synchronize with barrier free environment and preferably usable without adaptation. Differently-abled persons all over the country will benefit from this policy. The following strategies are envisaged for the implementation of the policy:

• Creating awareness on universal electronics accessibility and universal design.
• Capacity building and infrastructure development.
• Setting up of model electronics and ICTs centres for providing training and demonstration to special educators and physically as well as mentally challenged persons.
• Conducting research and development, use of innovation, ideas, technology etc. whether indigenous or outsourced from abroad.
• Developing programme and schemes with greater emphasis for differently-abled women/children.
• Developing procurement guidelines for electronics and ICTs for accessibility and assistive needs.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 3rd October, has approved the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA), a Centrally Sponsored Scheme (CSS) for reforming the state higher education system. During the 12th Plan period, 80 new universities would be created by converting autonomous colleges/colleges in a cluster to State universities. 100 new colleges, including professional/technical colleges would be set up and 54 existing colleges would be converted into model degree colleges. Infrastructure grants would be given to 150 universities and 3,500 colleges to upgrade and fill critical gaps in infrastructure especially libraries, laboratories etc. RUSA would also support 5,000 faculty positions. In the 12th Plan period, RUSA would have a financial outlay of Rs. 22,855 crore, of which Rs.16, 227 crore will be the Central share. In addition, allocation of Rs. 1,800 crore in the 12th Plan for the existing scheme Sub-Mission polytechnics would also be subsumed in RUSA. Thus the total central share, including the existing scheme of polytechnics will be Rs. 18,027 crore during the 12th Plan. Centre-State funding would be in the ratio of 90:10 for North-Eastern States, Sikkim, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand and 65:35 for other States and Union Territories. RUSA will be a new Centrally Sponsored Scheme spread over two plan periods, for improving access, equity and quality in the state higher education system. With over 96 percent of students enrolled in the state higher education system, there is a need for State colleges and universities to be strengthened through strategic Central funding and implementing certain much needed reforms. RUSA also aims to incentivize States to step up plan investments in higher education. The National Development Council (NDC) approved RUSA as part of the 12th Plan. It was subsequently included in the list of 66 schemes approved by the Cabinet on 20th June 2013, as part of the restructured CSSs for implementation in the 12th Plan.

The Ministry of Human Resource Development has taken the initiative to constitute a Council of National Institute of Technical Teachers Training and Research (NITTTR) to facilitate better coordination and synergy between the four NITTTRs located at Chandigarh, Bhopal, Calcutta and Chennai. The Council shall be chaired by the Minister of Human Resource Development (ex-officio) with Chairman and Directors of the four NITTTRs and other academicians as members. The Council has been envisaged as an advisory body to the Central Government on matters relating to Central policies, administration, development of plans and rules, curriculum and institutional resources for the NITTTRs. The Council shall meet at least two times a year. The four NITTTRs were established as resource institutes in the year 1964 with the mandate to train technical teachers, develop curriculum and institutional resources, assist Central and State Governments and technical institutes towards improving related process and products.

The Union Cabinet on 3rd October approved the creation of a new State of Telangana by bifurcating the existing State of Andhra Pradesh.

• The city of Hyderabad will function as the common capital for both the States for a period of ten years. The Union Cabinet has approved the setting up of a Group of Ministers (GoM) to work out the various legal and administrative measures to ensure the safety and security of the residents of all the regions of the State including the guarantee of the Fundamental Rights.
• The Union Cabinet further approved that the GoM will go into the various issues which concern both the States and suggest appropriate measures to address them.
• The GoM will also work out the modalities for the provision of special financial disbursements required for the setting up of a new capital for the residuary State of Andhra Pradesh and to meet the special needs of the backward regions and districts of the two States.

September 2013 National Affairs | Current Affairs 2013 | National Affairs 2013

K. Rahman Khan, the Union Minister for Minority Affairs launched two new schemes namely “Seekho aur Kamao (Learn & Earn)” and “Jiyo Parsi” in New Delhi on 23rd September. The Minister launched the pilot project of 500 minority trainees through IL&FS Skill Development Corporation at five locations in the country. These locations are Delhi, Kolkata, Shillong, Barnala and Bengaluru. Fifty five trainees comprising Muslims, Sikhs and Christians which started training from July this year were given advance job letters today to ensure employment. Referring to members of the batch from three important minority communities, the Minister assured to reach Buddhists and Parsis, the remaining minority communities. The Minister also launched another very essential scheme “Jiyo Parsi” for containing population decline of Parsis in India. It is a 100% central sector scheme. Referring to the alarming total fertility rate of Parsis that has gone down below one ,Shri Khan said Government of India is very much concern about the declining trend of the Parsi population in the country. Therefore, with the involvement of Parsi community and on their demand, Ministry of Minority Affairs has come up with an ambitious programme i.e. ‘Jiyo Parsi”.

The Department of Posts, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology of India allotted Customized Pin Code to the Supreme Court of India for the first time on 26 September 2013. The Customized Pin Code of the Supreme Court is 110 201.The event took place on the occasion that marked the completion of 41 years of the introduction of Pin Code in the country. The PIN was introduced on 15 August 1972 in India. The Department of Posts also started a Locality Based Online Pin Code Search Directory of Delhi on this occasion for the first time in India. Postal Index Number (PIN) or PIN Code is a 6 digit code of Post Office numbering used by India Post. The PIN was introduced on 15 August 1972. There are 9 PIN regions in the country.

The Union Cabinet on 24th September approved the proposal for implementation of the multi-sectoral programme to address the maternal and child under-nutrition in 200 high burden districts in the 12th Five Year Plan. The multi-sect oral nutrition programme would address the maternal and child malnutrition in 200 high burden districts by bringing together various national programmes through strong institutional, programmatic and operational convergence at the State, District, Block and Village levels. The scheme will cost Rs. 1,213.19 crore for the 12th Five Year Plan (2012-17) as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme with a Centre : State cost sharing ratio of 90:10 for all components in the North Eastern Region States and special category States and 75:25 for other States and Union Territories. The Central share would be Rs. 944.39 crore and the state share would be Rs. 268.80 crore. The programme targets to contribute to the following as Outcomes i) Prevention an d reduction in child under-nutrition (underweight prevalence in children under 3 years of age); and ii) reduction in levels of anemia among young children, adolescent girls and women.

A six-member expert committee constituted by the Centre on fixing a new criterion for determining the backwardness of Indian states on 26th September, gave its reports, claiming Odisha, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh are the least developed states in the country. The panel led by Raghuram Rajan, former Chief Economic Adviser in the Finance Ministry and the incumbent Governor of Reserve Bank of India, said in its report that Goa, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are the most developed states in the country. The Raghuram Rajan panel report has made a case for ending the 'special category' criteria for providing additional assistance to poorer states and suggested a new methodology for devolving funds on states based on a 'Multi Dimensional Index (MDI)'. Giving details of the report, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the committee has suggested that the 28 states be split into three categories - least developed, less developed and relatively developed - depending upon their MDI scores. As regards the allocation of funds, the report suggested that each state should get a basic fixed allocation and an additional allocation depending on its development needs and development performance. The panel was formed by the Centre to finalize the new criteria to determine backwardness of states for granting special category status and was asked to submit its report in two months. The panel was set up in the wake of the demand for special category status for Bihar by its Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who held a rally in Delhi to push for this in March. Granting of special category status would allow Bihar to receive “untied” central funds or grants as 30% of total government assistance is kept aside for such states. The committee was asked to look at the gap between a state’s statistics and the national average in terms of per-capita income and other human development indicators, and evolve a composite development index.

The Supreme Court of India on 27 September 2013 held that citizens have the right to reject all candidates contesting an election. The Supreme Court also directed the Election Commission of India to provide none of the above options at the end of the list of candidates contesting an election in a constituency. A bench headed by Chief Justice P Sathasivam while pronouncing the judgment viewed that negative voting would foster purity and vibrancy of elections .It also ensure wide participation as people who are not satisfied with the candidates in the fray would also turn up to express their opinion rejecting contestants. The bench noted that the concept of negative voting is prevalent in 13 countries. Even in India parliamentarians are given an option to press the button for abstaining while voting takes place in the Parliament. The bench also observed that right to reject candidates in elections is part of fundamental right given by the Constitution in article 19 (freedom of speech and expression). The court passed this order on a Public Interest Litigation(PIL) filed by an NGO, People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), which had submitted that voters be given the right to negative voting.

The Ministry of Tourism on 27th September launched “777 Days of the Incredible Indian Himalayas” campaign to centre stage the Incredible Indian Himalayas on the World Tourism Map. On this occasion, Minister of Tourism(I/C) Dr. K.Chiranjeevi announced that the Ministry of Tourism has decided to meet 50% of Peak fee chargeable by Indian Mountaineering Foundation from the climbing expeditions during the period of 777 days of the campaign. The Minister added that the campaign has been designed to spread awareness around the globe that 73% of Himalayan range lies in India. Describing the Incredible Indian Himalayas as a greatest show on the earth, Dr. Chiranjeevi said that the purpose of the campaign was to tell the entire world that Himalayas provide opportunity for a round-the-year tourism right from hard adventure to soft adventure, rich flora and fauna to bio-diversity hotspots, high altitude peaks to beautiful lakes, from varied culture to the realm of spirituality and wellness. The Ministry also launched a Himalayan Map and a Directory of Events that would contain the activities to be undertaken during this period of “777 days of the Incredible Indian Himalayas” campaign. A book on safety regulations brought out by ATAOI was also release on the occasion. The Ministry also released two short films titled “Greatest Show on the Earth” and “Life Altering Journey”. The Adventure Travel Association of India (ATAOI) is collaborating with the Ministry of Tourism in this campaign and they have designed special adventure programmes running over the next 777 days.

The Union Minister for Culture Chandresh Kumari Katoch on 16th September unveiled the Brass Plate World Heritage Plaque at the Chittorgarh Fort, Rajasthan and released brochures on the Fort in Hindi & English. Chittorgarh Fort is one of the six hill forts of Rajasthan recently inscribed in the World Heritage List by the World Heritage Committee of UNESCO. The selection was approved in June 2013 in the 37th Session of the Committee. The Union Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation Minister Dr. Girija Vyas was also present on the occasion as a distinguished guest. Both the Ministers also jointly inaugurated the restored topkhana and a photo exhibition in kumbha palace on the occasion. Smt. Katoch lauded the people of Rajasthan for preserving rich cultural heritage of the country for centuries and said, both the international and domestic tourists always list Rajasthan as their preferred destination.

'Kanoon Lugat', an Urdu law dictionary, billed as a first of its kind in the country, was released in Mumbai on 15th September, in the presence of legal luminaries. The dictionary, encompassing 52,000 legal terms, has been translated in Urdu for the first time, said chief translator and Supreme Court advocate Muhammad Irshad Hanif. Advocate Hanif has also translated Indian Penal Code and Indian Evidence Act in Urdu, besides publishing two books 'Taziraat-e-Hind' and 'Qanoon Shahadat-e-Hind'. The Urdu legal dictionary has a foreword written by Chief Justice of India Altamas Kabir. Jamiat Ulama-e-Maharashtra legal panel member, lawyer Shahid N Ansari said this is the first time that line-to-line translation of the two laws is available in Urdu.

The Union Cabinet on 20th September, approved the following proposals of the National Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) Policy : i) to implement and monitor of the Policy through National and State ECCE Councils; ii) to develop National Early Childhood Care and Education Curriculum Framework and Quality Standards and circulate to the States/Union Territories (UTs) for preparation of Action Plans and implementation by States /UTs; and iii) to delegate of power to the Ministry of Women and Child Development to make necessary changes.

The Policy would help to 158.7 million Indian children under six years of age who need holistic and integrated early childhood care. In particular it would enable preschool education inputs for their optimum development to realize their potential. The vision of the National ECCE Policy is to promote inclusive, equitable and contextualized opportunities for promoting optimal development and active learning capacity of all children below 6 years of age. The Policy focus is on early preschool learning for every child below six years. The key areas of this policy are universal access with equity and inclusion, quality in ECCE, strengthening capacity, monitoring and supervision, advocacy, research and review.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 21st September laid the foundation stone of the Kishangarh Airport in Ajmer district. Dr. Singh said Kishangarh has become fully accessible to tourists, which will rake in economic progress for the state. Dr. Singh stated that commercial airports are expected to grow throughout the country as the number of air travelers is expected to appreciate to 30 million by 2020.“Kishangarh airport started to be developed under this effort (airports in smaller cities) is the first project. This number is expected to grow in the coming time,” Dr. Singh said the airport, which is likely to start operations in 2016, would cater to pilgrims who visit the Ajmer Dargah and Pushkar Lake.

The project for development of Chhindwara as a Tourist Circuit in Madhya Pradesh, with Central Financial Assistance from Government of India was launched on September 21, 2013 by the Union Minister of Tourism (Independent charge), Dr K. Chiranjeevi and the Union Urban Development & Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Dr. Kamal Nath. The Ministry of Tourism is continuously striving for creating better infrastructure, developing new tourism destinations and bringing them on the national and international tourism map. Dr Chiranjeevi informed that in view of the immense tourism potential in Chhindwara the scope of the tourist destination development project was agreed to be enhanced as the development of Chhindwara as a tourist circuit, with the inclusion of the famous Khedapati Mandir, Chakravyuha water falls in the Ananjangaon Harrai, development of surroundings of Pataleshwar Mandir, Chhote Mahadev Temple Tamia, Sharda Ghat Burman, Narsinghpur and Mundhara, Distt. Seoni etc, thereby considering additional funds of approximately Rs. 300.00 lakh.

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the 11th Asian Pacific Postal Union (APPU) Congress on 3 September at Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi. Speaking on the occasion, the President said that the Asian Pacific Postal Union, an inter-governmental organization of 32 countries of the region is actively working to improve cooperation among member nations in the field of postal services. He stated that the changing global scenario calls for postal administrations around the world to think differently. He called upon postal administration to be proactive to change. They must leverage their strengths to provide quality service to the people. He stated that worldwide, postal administrations enjoy the trust of people. The President said that globalization and easier movement of workforce across nations have opened a great window of opportunity for the postal sector. With increasing requirement for remittance channels, it can, with the guidance of the Asian Pacific Postal Union, make a difference. He added that there is a huge scope for postal services to be engaged in e-commerce, and gain from the rising demand for such business products.

The Union Cabinet on 3rd September, approved the proposal for setting up of the Bharat Rural Livelihood Foundation (BRLF) as an independent charitable society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 to facilitate and upscale civil society action in partnership with Government for transforming livelihoods and lives of rural households, with an emphasis on women, particularly in the Central Indian Tribal Region. It will provide financial grants to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to meet their human resource and institutional costs for up scaling of proven interventions; invest in institutional strengthening of smaller CSOs and capacity building of professional resources working at the grassroots. Projects supported by BRLF would be able to reach 10 lakh poor families by the end of the fifth year. BRLF would also have supported the capacity building of 1,000 CSO professionals and institutional strengthening of a significant number of smaller CSOs within the above time frame. Even though BRLF will have an India wide mandate, the initial focus of the organization will be on the Central Indian Tribal Region, centered on blocks having significant tribal population across 170 districts in the States of Odisha, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Rajasthan and Gujarat. Rs 500 crore will be released for creating the corpus fund of the new Society, in two tranches. The society will be constituted as a partnership between Government on the one hand and private sector philanthropies, private and public sector undertakings (under Corporate Social Responsibility) on the other hand.

The Union Cabinet on 3rd September approved the proposal for setting up of an autonomous "National Institute of Solar Energy" (NISE) to assist the Ministry and function as the apex national centre for research and technology development and related activities in the area of solar energy technologies in the country. The National Institute of Solar Energy (NISE) is to be set up immediately by converting the Solar Energy Centre (SEC), Gurgaon with a long term vision to develop it as a world class institute. A broad based national team in the form of a Review-cum-Strategy Formulation Committee would be set up with representation from industry, the scientific community, financial institutions etc. to prepare a blue print. This committee would look at various models available in the country and outside and prepare a roadmap for the Institute. Setting up of an apex national centre for Solar Energy is a part of the JNNSM, which was considered by the Prime Minister`s Council on Climate Change in August, 2009. The Jawaharlal Nehru National Solar Mission (JNNSM) and other related proposals were approved by the Govt. in November, 2009. While approving the JNNSM, the Govt. also approved specific targets and budget for the first phase of the Mission till March, 2013. This includes R&D in solar energy, including setting up of a Centre of Excellence as an apex centre on different aspects of solar energy technologies.

July 2013 National Affairs | Current Affairs 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 2013. 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 2013.

*“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 state.

*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 2013, 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.

June 2013 National Affairs | Current Affairs June 2013

*Union health ministry’s ambitious schemes of providing free generic drugs at government health care centers have been launched on 17th June 2013, 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 13 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 2013.

*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 2013. 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 2013, 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 on 23 June 2013.

*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 2013, 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 2013. 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 2013, 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 2013 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.