MENTOR Mentor SCO: 40-41, 1 st FLOOR, LEELA BHAWAN, PATIALA. # 9780505391; mentorstudypoint.in 20th Law Commission submitted report on Guardianship and Custody Laws to the Union Law Ministry The 20th Law Commission of India on 22 May 2015 submitted the 257th report titled Reforms in Guardianship and Custody Laws in India to DV Sadananda Gowda, the Union Minister of Law and Justice. The report reviewed the current laws dealing with custody and guardianship and came up with draft legislative amendments in the form of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Guardians and Wards (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 respectively. Major amendments deal with the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 by introducing a new chapter (Chapter IIA) on custody and visitation arrangements including the concept of joint custody. Key Aspects of the Draft Legislation Welfare principle: The welfare principle in the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 was strengthened with a continuous emphasis on its relevance in each aspect of guardianship and custody related decision-making. Abolition of preference: Preference for the father as the natural guardian under Hindu law was removed and both parents are granted equal legal status with respect to guardianship and custody. Joint custody: Courts are empowered to award joint custody to both parents in circumstances conducive to the welfare of the child or award sole custody to one parent with visitation rights to the other. Mediation: Parties to a custody matter must ordinarily consider expert-led and time-bound mediation, which can not only promote better outcomes for parents and children, but also reduce the strain on the overburdened court system. Child support: Courts are empowered to fix an amount specifically for child support, to meet basic living expenses of the child. Financial resources of parents and the standard of living of the child must be considered when fixing such amounts. Child support must continue till the child turns 18, but may be extended till 25; or longer, in case of a child with mental or physical disability. Guidelines: Detailed guidelines were evolved to help courts, parents and other stakeholders arrive at the best arrangement to serve the welfare of the child. Several new concepts in this regard, including parenting plans, grand parenting time, visitation rights, and relocation of parents were also mentioned in the report. Comment The revision of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 has become necessary to ensure these laws are in tune with changes in the social considerations. As per an estimate, divorce rate increased to 13 per 1000 in 2014 as compared to that of 1 in 1000 in 2004. Additionally, in most of the proceedings of divorce and family breakdowns parents use children as pawns to strike their own bargains without considering the emotional, social and mental upheavals that the children may face. Hence, in order to protect interest of the children, the commission has recommended amendments to laws by giving substantial powers to courts in dealing with such cases. Union finance Ministry constituted Shah Committee to look into the issue of MAT on FIIs Union finance Ministry on 20 May 2015 constituted Shah Committee to look into the issue of Minimum Alternate Tax (MAT) on Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs). Further, the committee would examine the matter relating to levy of MAT on FIIs for the period prior to 1 April 2015. Union Finance Ministry had announced the decision to set up the committee on 7 May 2015. The committee was appointed to resolve the contentious issue of MAT between the tax authorities and the foreign investors. As per the Finance Act, 2015 the 20 percent MAT on Capital Gains made by FIIs is waived off from the financial year 2015-16. However, the issue of imposing MAT for past years (till 2014-15) has become controversial as the FIIs raised objections to 68 notices (in lieu of 602 crores rupees) issued by the International Taxation Wing of the Income Tax Department in lieu of MAT. MAT is a way of making companies pay minimum amount of tax. It is applicable to all companies except those engaged in infrastructure and power sectors. Income arising from free trade zones, charitable activities, investments by venture capital companies are also excluded from the purview of MAT. However, foreign companies with income sources in India are liable under MAT.
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20th Law Commission submitted report on Guardianship and Custody Laws to the Union Law Ministry The 20th Law Commission of India on 22 May 2015 submitted the 257th report titled Reforms in Guardianship
and Custody Laws in India to DV Sadananda Gowda, the Union Minister of Law and Justice.
The report reviewed the current laws dealing with custody and guardianship and came up with draft legislative
amendments in the form of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and the Guardians
and Wards (Amendment) Bill, 2015 to the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Guardians and
Wards Act, 1890 respectively.
Major amendments deal with the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 by introducing a new chapter (Chapter IIA)
on custody and visitation arrangements including the concept of joint custody.
Key Aspects of the Draft Legislation
Welfare principle: The welfare principle in the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 was strengthened with a
continuous emphasis on its relevance in each aspect of guardianship and custody related decision-making.
Abolition of preference: Preference for the father as the natural guardian under Hindu law was removed and
both parents are granted equal legal status with respect to guardianship and custody.
Joint custody: Courts are empowered to award joint custody to both parents in circumstances conducive to the
welfare of the child or award sole custody to one parent with visitation rights to the other.
Mediation: Parties to a custody matter must ordinarily consider expert-led and time-bound mediation, which can
not only promote better outcomes for parents and children, but also reduce the strain on the overburdened court
system.
Child support: Courts are empowered to fix an amount specifically for child support, to meet basic living
expenses of the child.
Financial resources of parents and the standard of living of the child must be considered when fixing such
amounts. Child support must continue till the child turns 18, but may be extended till 25; or longer, in case of a
child with mental or physical disability.
Guidelines: Detailed guidelines were evolved to help courts, parents and other stakeholders arrive at the best
arrangement to serve the welfare of the child. Several new concepts in this regard, including parenting plans,
grand parenting time, visitation rights, and relocation of parents were also mentioned in the report.
Comment
The revision of the Hindu Minority and Guardianship Act, 1956 and the Guardians and Wards Act, 1890 has
become necessary to ensure these laws are in tune with changes in the social considerations. As per an estimate,
divorce rate increased to 13 per 1000 in 2014 as compared to that of 1 in 1000 in 2004.
Additionally, in most of the proceedings of divorce and family breakdowns parents use children as pawns to
strike their own bargains without considering the emotional, social and mental upheavals that the children may
face.
Hence, in order to protect interest of the children, the commission has recommended amendments to laws by
giving substantial powers to courts in dealing with such cases.
Union finance Ministry constituted Shah Committee to look into the issue of MAT on FIIs
Union finance Ministry on 20 May 2015 constituted Shah Committee to look into the issue of Minimum
Alternate Tax (MAT) on Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs). Further, the committee would examine the
matter relating to levy of MAT on FIIs for the period prior to 1 April 2015.
Union Finance Ministry had announced the decision to set up the committee on 7 May 2015. The committee
was appointed to resolve the contentious issue of MAT between the tax authorities and the foreign investors.
As per the Finance Act, 2015 the 20 percent MAT on Capital Gains made by FIIs is waived off from the
financial year 2015-16. However, the issue of imposing MAT for past years (till 2014-15) has become
controversial as the FIIs raised objections to 68 notices (in lieu of 602 crores rupees) issued by the International
Taxation Wing of the Income Tax Department in lieu of MAT.
MAT is a way of making companies pay minimum amount of tax. It is applicable to all companies except those
engaged in infrastructure and power sectors. Income arising from free trade zones, charitable activities,
investments by venture capital companies are also excluded from the purview of MAT. However, foreign
companies with income sources in India are liable under MAT.
Union Government launched Road Asset Management System for National Highways Union Minister of Road Transport, Highways and Shipping on 15 May 2015 launched Road Asset Management
System (RAMS) for National Highways. The system will compile information on road assets, condition of the
pavements and traffic through use of laser technology.
The outcome of this integrated data collection system will assist in developing an accurate and scientific
maintenance planning mechanism, finalizing road safety measures and development of the National Highways
network in India.
The data collected will be stored and managed through a web based application, which will be hosted in the
public domain. The application, when fully developed, can also be accessed by smart phones.
Information collected from this project will be useful for Transport Ministry, Finance Ministry, NHAI, State
PWDs, Police departments, funding agencies, developers and citizens.
The software will be equipped to interface with the indigenous Bhuvan satellite images. The survey vehicle is
equipped with three cameras including pavement view, 15 advanced Lasers and GPS connected to Gagan
satellite.
The development of Road Asset Management System (RAMS) is a part of the Prime Minister’s Digital India
initiative.
Union Government decided to implement NERS for women in distress
Union Home Ministry on 15 May 2015 decided to implement the NERS (Nationwide Emergency Response
System) to save women in distress. In this regard, the Ministry invited proposals from IT service providers to
implement it.
The NERS seeks to make the police immediately respond to any call by a woman in distress anywhere in India.
It will revolutionalise the existing Police Response systems which are limited to a city and different cities use
different systems and only a handful of cities use technology in any form.
How it will operate?
NERS resembling the 911 number system of the United States (US) is designed to have at least one Public
Safety Answering Point (PSAP) in each state. The PSAP basically is a call center where all calls originating in
that state will land and will be answered.
The Call Taker with access to case management software and a GIS map of the state will first mark the location
of the caller. It will then evaluate the emergency situation and forward the case to a Call Dispatcher.
The Call Dispatcher will then identify all the available police vehicles close to the incident with the aid of the
GIS based Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) software and dispatch the nearest available Police Personnel.
Further, the IT enabler system will automatically detect caller's location if call is coming from landline, mobile
apps and sensors.
To make the system more robust, even the police vehicles will have a GPS based Mobile Data Tablet (MDT)
installed that will continuously broadcast their location to a central data server.
Union Government launched kayakalp Award Scheme to improve cleanliness in Public Health
Facilities
The Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J P Nadda on 15 May 2015 launched kayakalp Award Scheme.
The scheme is intended to encourage and incentivize Public Health Facilities (PHFs) in the country for
maintaining the facilities clean and hygienic.
Features of Kayakalp Award Scheme
The objectives of the award scheme are
• To promote cleanliness, hygiene and infection control practices in public health care facilities
“Minority Cyber Gram” was launched for Digital literacy of Minorities in collaboration with Digital
Empowerment Foundation in PPP Mode at village Chandauli, District Alwar, Rajasthan on 19.02.2014. Total
2,600 villagers have been targeted under this pilot project.
Magazine “Minority Today”: - To improve public interface, generate awareness and develop dialogue
with target communities, Ministry has launched a quarterly tri-lingual (Hindi, English and Urdu) Magazine
“Minority” Today in January, 2014.
Support for Minority students clearing Prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commissions, Staff
Selection Commission, State Public Service Commissions. The objective of the scheme is to provide financial
support to the minority candidates clearing prelims conducted by Union Public Service Commissions, Staff
Selection Commission, State Public Service Commissions to adequately equip them to compete for appointment
to Civil Services in the Union and the State Governments and to increase the representation of the minorities in
the Civil Services by giving direct financial support to candidates clearing Preliminary Examination. There is no
State/UT wise allocation under this scheme. This scheme was launched in 2013-14, an amount of Rs. 95.25 lakh
have been released to award Financial Assistance to 274 candidates under this Scheme in the current year.
Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2015 introduced in Lok Sabha The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was on 13 May 2015 introduced in Lok Sabha
after Union Cabinet gave its approval to amend the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988. The Bill seeks
to amend the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act, 1988 by adding additional provisions that provides for
stringent measures against violators in order to curb and check the generation of black money in the country.
It adds provisions for attachment and confiscation of benami properties and imposes fine with imprisonment. It
has provision for prosecution and aims to act as a major avenue for blocking benami property, which leads to
generation and holding of black money especially in real estate.
Background The Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Act was earlier enacted in 1988, but the rules under that Act could not
be formulated due to inherent infirmities in it. Following this, in 2011 the government introduced a Benami
Transactions (Prohibition) Bill in Parliament.
The Bill was referred to the Standing Committee on Finance for examination, which submitted its report in June
2012. However, the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of 15th Lok Sabha.
Lok Sabha passed Undisclosed Foreign Income and Assets (Imposition of Tax) Bill 2015 Highlights of the Bill are as follow
Scope: The Act will apply to all persons resident in India. Provisions of the Act will apply to both undisclosed
foreign income and assets (including financial interest in any entity).
Rate of tax: Undisclosed foreign income or assets shall be taxed at the flat rate of 30 percent. No exemption or
deduction or set off of any carried forward losses which may be admissible under the existing Income-tax Act,
1961, shall be allowed.
Penalties: Violation of the provisions of the proposed new legislation will entail stringent penalties.
The penalty for non-disclosure of income or an asset located outside India will be equal to three times the
amount of tax payable thereon, i.e., 90 percent of the undisclosed income or the value of the undisclosed asset.
This is in addition to tax payable at 30%.
Failure to furnish return in respect of foreign income or assets shall attract a penalty of 10 lakh rupees. The
same amount of penalty is prescribed for cases where although assesses have filed a return of income, but he
has not disclosed the foreign income and asset or has furnished inaccurate particulars of the same.
Prosecutions: The punishment for willful attempt to evade tax in relation to a foreign income or an asset
located outside India will be rigorous imprisonment from three years to ten years. In addition, it will also entail
a fine. Failure to furnish a return in respect of foreign assets and bank accounts or income will be punishable
with rigorous imprisonment for a term of six months to seven years. The same term of punishment is prescribed
for cases where although the assessee has filed a return of income, but has not disclosed the foreign asset or has
furnished inaccurate particulars of the same.
The above provisions will also apply to beneficial owners or beneficiaries of such illegal foreign assets.
Abetment or inducement of another person to make a false return or a false account or statement or declaration
under the Act will be punishable with rigorous imprisonment from six months to seven years. This provision
will also apply to banks and financial institutions aiding in concealment of foreign income or assets of resident
Indians or falsification of documents.
Safeguards: The principles of natural justice and due process of law have been embedded in the Act by laying
down the requirement of mandatory issue of notices to the person against whom proceedings are being initiated,
grant of opportunity of being heard, necessity of taking the evidence produced by him into account, recording of
reasons, passing of orders in writing, limitation of time for various actions of the tax authority, etc.
Further, the right of appeal has been protected by providing for appeals to the Income-tax Appellate Tribunal,
and to the jurisdictional High Court and the Supreme Court on substantial questions of law.
To protect persons holding foreign accounts with minor balances which may not have been reported out of
oversight or ignorance, it has been provided that failure to report bank accounts with a maximum balance of up
to 5 lakh rupees at any time during the year will not entail penalty or prosecution.
Other safeguards and internal control mechanisms will be prescribed in the Rules.
One time compliance opportunity: The Bill also provides a one-time compliance opportunity for a limited
period to persons who have any undisclosed foreign assets which have hitherto not been disclosed for the
purposes of Income-tax.
Such persons may file a declaration before the specified tax authority within a specified period, followed by
payment of tax at the rate of 30 percent and an equal amount by way of penalty. Also, such persons will not be
prosecuted under the stringent provisions of the new Act.
Lok Sabha passed Repealing and Amending Bill, 2015 Lok Sabha on 7 May 2015 gave its nod for the Repealing and Amending Bill, 2015 which seeks to repeal 36
archaic laws either partially or entirely as they have ceased to be in force or have become obsolete.
With this, the bill has been passed by both the houses of Parliament as Rajya Sabha passed the bill on 5 May
2015.
Out of the 36 acts, four acts will be repealed entirely. These include The Indian Fisheries Act, 1897, The
Foreign Jurisdiction Act, 1947 and The Sugar Undertakings (Taking over of Management) Act, 1978.
The remaining 32 Acts that are being repealed are amendments to principal Acts. These include amendments to
the Representation of the People Act, 1951, Hindu Marriage Act, 1955, Anand Marriage Act, 1909 the Indian
Evidence Act, 1872 among others.
A similar bill, the Repealing and Amending (Second) Bill, 2014 was passed by the Lok Sabha on 8 December
2014 and is lying with the Rajya Sabha. It is sought to repeal 90 laws and pass amendments to two laws. Out of
Comment The passage of The Repealing and Amending Bill, 2015 by the Parliament is in tune with the Union
government’s objective of repealing the obsolete laws as they have outlived their utility.
Around 1741 laws in the country have become redundant but still they are in existence. In this regard the BJP-
led NDA government had identified certain Appropriation Acts that needs to be repealed. These Acts pertain to
the domain of Union Finance Ministry and Railway Ministry.
In lieu of this, the Appropriation Acts (Repeal) Bill, 2015 was introduced in the Lok Sabha on 24 April 2015
which intended to repeal 758 Acts passed by the Parliament including Appropriation Acts [including also,
Appropriation (Railways) Acts] enacted between 1950 and 2012 and 111 State Appropriation Acts enacted by
the Parliament between 1950 and 1976.
Rajya Sabha passed 119th Constitutional Amendment Bill on LBA between India and
Bangladesh Rajya Sabha on 6 May 2015 passed 119th Constitutional Amendment Bill on Land Boundary Bill (LBA). The
Bill is to operationalise the Land Boundary Agreement with India and Bangladesh, and the exchange of certain
enclaves of land between the two countries.
The Bill was earlier passed by the Union Cabinet and now includes territories in Assam along with those in
West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya.
Now, the Bill will be introduced in the Lok Sabha and it will then be sent for President's signature.
As it is the Constitutional Amendment Bill, It would require ratification of at least 50 per cent of the state
legislatures before it comes into effect.
The bill’s passage will lead to an amendment in the first schedule of the Constitution and give effect to a May
1974 agreement between India and Bangladesh on acquisition and transfer of territories.
Background
The exchange will see Bangladesh take over 111 enclaves (17160 acres) from India’s possession and India, in
turn, receive 51 enclaves (7110 acres) from Bangladesh.
In Assam, India will get 470 acres of land from Bangladesh, while 268 acres will go to Bangladesh. Enclaves
are tiny landlocked territories that each country has within the borders of the other nation. The enclaves in
Assam, West Bengal, Tripura and Meghalaya come under the bill’s ambit.
The 119th Constitution Amendment) Bill, 2013 was unanimously passed by the upper house, with 180 votes in
favour and zero against it.
Lok Sabha passed Juvenile Justice Amendment Bill 2014 Lok Sabha on 7 May 2015 passed Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill 2014. The Bill clearly
defines and classifies offences as petty, serious and heinous, and defines differentiated processes for each
category. The amendment bill has introduced a new provision that disallows the protection from disqualification
in cases where a juvenile is tried and convicted under the adult system. The bill will allow children in the 16-18
age group to be tried as adults if they commit heinous crimes. The bill will replace the existing Juvenile Justice
Act, 2000. The bill states that in case a heinous crime has been committed by a person in the age group of 16-18
years it will be examined by a Juvenile Justice Board to assess if the crime was committed as a child or as an
adult. The trial of the case will take place accordingly by the board which will consist of psychologists and
social experts. The bill also proposed to streamline adoption procedures for orphaned, abandoned and
surrendered children by making mandatory registration of all institutions engaged in providing child care. The
bill proposes several rehabilitation and social integration measures for institutional and non- institutional
children. It provides for sponsorship and foster care as completely new measures. According to data from
National Crime Records Bureau, crimes by juveniles in the age group of 16-18 years have increased, especially
in certain categories of heinous crimes. The number of murder cases against juveniles rose from 531 in 2002 to
1,007 in 2013. Similarly, cases of rape and assault with intent to outrage the modesty of women have gone up
Besides, the Cabinet also approved the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation
(AMRUT) of 500 cities with an outlay of 50000 crore rupees over the next five years.
The aim of these two missions is to make urban areas more livable and inclusive besides driving the economic
growth.
Features of Smart Cities Mission Purpose: To build 100 smart cities across the country by promoting smart solutions for efficient use of
available assets, resources and infrastructure with the objective of enhancing the quality of urban life and
providing a clean and sustainable environment.
Focus: The focus of the mission will be on core infrastructure services like Adequate and clean Water supply,
Sanitation and Solid Waste Management, Efficient Urban Mobility and Public Transportation, Affordable
housing for the poor, power supply, robust IT connectivity, Governance, especially e-governance and citizen
participation, safety and security of citizens, health and education and sustainable urban environment.
Selection Criteria: Smart City aspirants will be selected through a City Challenge Competition intended to test
the ability of the cities to achieve the mission objectives. Each state will shortlist a certain number of smart city
aspirants as per the norms to be indicated by the Union Government and they will prepare smart city proposals
for further evaluation for extending Central support.
Funding: While, each selected city would get central assistance of 100 crore rupees per year for five years a
cumulative amount of 48000 crore rupees allocated for the mission
Implementation: Smart City Action Plans will be implemented by Special Purpose Vehicles (SPV) to be
created for each city and state governments will ensure steady stream of resources for SPVs.
Approach: The mission adopts area based approach consisting of retrofitting, redevelopment, pan-city
initiatives and development of new cities. Under Retrofitting, deficiencies in an identified area will be
addressed through necessary interventions as in the case of Local Area Plan for downtown
Ahmedabad. Redevelopment enables reconstruction of already built-up area that is not amenable for any
interventions, to make it smart, as in the case of Bhendi Bazar of Mumbai and West Kidwai Nagar in New
Delhi. Pan-city initiatives could be interventions like Intelligent Transport Solutions which benefit residents by
reducing commuting time.
Rajya Sabha passed Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014 Rajya Sabha on 28 April 2015 passed the Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014. With this, the bill has
been passed by both houses of the Parliament. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on 18 December 2014.
The Regional Rural Banks (Amendment) Bill, 2014 that seeks to amend the Regional Rural Banks (RRB) Act,
1976 was introduced by the Union Minister of Finance, Arun Jaitley.
Main highlights of the Bill • It seeks to amend the RRB Act, 1976 which mainly provides for the incorporation, regulation and winding up
of Regional Rural Banks (RRBs).
• It removes the five year limit cap that was put on the sponsor banks to assist the upcoming RRBs under the
RRB Act, 1976. As per the Act, sponsor banks were liable to train personnel and provide managerial and
financial assistance for the first five years.
• It raises the amount of authorized capital to 2000 crore rupees and it is not to be reduced below one crore
rupees. In the 1976 Act the authorised capital of each RRB was five crore rupees which was not permitted to be
reduced below 25 lakh rupees.
• It allows Union government to specify that the capital issued by a RRB should be at least one crore rupees.
Under the Act, a RRB was to issue capital between 25 lakh rupees and one crore rupees.
• The bill allows RRBs to raise their capital from sources other than the central and state governments, and
States given more freedom: Under this Mission, States get the flexibility of designing schemes based on the
needs of identified cities and in their execution and monitoring.Further in a significant departure from
Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), now the states will only submit State Annual
Action Plans (SAAPs) to the Union for broad concurrence based on which funds will be released. Under
JNNURM, Union Government used to appraise even individual projects.
Funding: 50000 crore rupees will be spent under the mission over next five years. Central assistance will be to
the extent of 50 percent of project cost for cities and towns with a population of up to 10 lakh and one-third of
the project cost for those with a population of above 10 lakh.
Central assistance will be released in three installments in the ratio of 20:40:40 based on achievement of
milestones indicated in SAAPs.
10 percent of budget allocation will be given to States/Union Territories (UTs) as an incentive based on
achievement of reforms during the previous year.
Uncompleted projects under JNNURM: Central assistance will be extended under AMRUT to the projects
sanctioned under JNNURM but not completed. JNNURM projects relating to urban development sanctioned
during 2005 -2012 and achieved physical progress of 50 percent availing 50 percent of central assistance
released and those sanctioned during 2012-2014 will be supported till March 2017. Accordingly, 102 and 296
projects respectively will get Central support for balance funding to complete these projects.
How AMRUT differs from Smart Cities Mission? Though the two missions are interrelated in the sense that AMRUT seeks to lay a foundation to enable smaller
cities and towns to eventually grow into smart cities, they differ in the following ways:
While Smart Cities Mission focuses on a select larger urban areas, the AMRUT mission is intended to improve
infrastructure in small cities having population of one lakh and above and towns of special importance only.
While Smart Cities Mission adopts area based approach focusing on improving amenities in a specific area of a
larger city, the AMRUT mission adopts functional based approach focusing on improving the delivery of
services in the designated towns and smaller cities.
INS Tarangini departed for Lokayan-2015
INS Tarangini, the Sail Training Ship of Indian Navy, on 27 April 2015 left Kochi for Lokayan 2015. The
theme for Lokayan -15 is Taking for a Broader Reach. The Ship was flagged off by Vice Admiral Sunil Lanba,
PVSM, AVSM, the flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern naval Command in a departure ceremony
conducted at the naval base, Kochi.
As part of Lokayan-15, Tarangini will be on an eight month voyage through Europe and will participate in the
annual Tall Ship Races and other events organised under the aegis of Sail Training International. During these
eight months the ship will travel approximately 17 thousand miles under sails.
This year’s Tall Ship Races will be conducted primarily off the coast of United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark,
Germany and Netherlands. About 300 Sail ships of various sizes from all over the world are expected to
participate in this year’s events.
Tarangini forms a part of Class A Sail Ships, the largest of the sailing fleet. During this voyage, the Indian
trainees would also get an opportunity to sail on foreign vessels as part of exchange of trainees.
INS Tarangini is a three masted barque built in Goa Shipyard Ltd and commissioned on 11 November 1997, is
The two eminent persons will be nominated by a committee of the Prime Minister of India, the Chief Justice of
India, and the Leader of the Opposition in the House of the People, or if there is no Leader of the Opposition,
then the Leader of the single largest Opposition Party in the House of the People.
The NJAC will frame its own regulations.
Comment
The notification to National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, 2014 came few days after the
Supreme Court referred the Act to the Constitutional bench on a basis of a batch of petitions that challenged the
constitutionality of the Act. The Constitution bench of the apex court will hear the plea on 15 April 2015.
However, the notification was made possible by the Supreme Court itself which on 7 April 2015 refused to pass
a stay order on the law coming into force while referring the petition to the Constitution bench.
Background The NJAC Bill and the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty First Amendment) Bill, 2014 were passed
unanimously by the Lok Sabha on 13 August 2014 and Rajya Sabha on 14 August 2014, respectively.
Subsequently these Bills were ratified by the required number of State legislatures before getting the President’s
assent.
The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty First Amendment) Bill, 2014 enacted as the Constitution (Ninety
Ninth Amendment) Act and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Act, 2014 were published in
Gazette of India on 31 December 2014.
TRAI recommended establishment of Integrated Emergency Communication
& Response System
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on 7 April 2015 recommended the establishment of Integrated
Emergency Communication and Response System (IECRS) in the country.
This system can be accessed through a single emergency number 112 from a landline or mobile phone/device
for all emergency phone-calls across the country.
The recommendation with respect to setting up of IECRS was made in exercise of its power conferred under
section 11 (1)(a)(ii) and (vii) of the TRAI Act, 1997 which empowers TRAI to make recommendations, either
suo motu or on a request from the licensor.
Main recommendations of TRAI on setting up of IECRS • Adoption of number 112 as the single emergency number for India which may be popularised extensively
through a public awareness campaign by the Government
• The existing emergency numbers 100,101,102 and 108 can be retained as secondary numbers. The calls made
to the secondary numbers should be re-routed to the new single emergency number for termination of calls on
the IECRS. The DoT may amend the National Numbering Plan-2003 accordingly.
• Access to IECRS should be permitted from the SIMs of those mobile phones/devices and from
landline/mobile telephones where the outgoing call facility has been debarred or the service is temporarily
suspended; however, such access to emergency facility should not be allowed from mobile handsets/devices
which do not have a SIM.
• SMS based access to IECRS should be provided and Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) may be asked to
provide location information in the case of SMS based access to IECRS also.
• PSAP (Public Safety Answering Point) operators should be able to handle calls in Hindi, English and the local
language.
• Four regional databases, one each in metro city, containing subscriber details of TSPs should be set up in the
country. These regional databases will be interconnected.
• Access to the regional databases will be provided free of charge, so that all the TSPs and PSAPs connect their
respective systems to these databases.
• The number of PSAPs in a State/UT should be decided by the respective State Governments/UTs; however
there should be at least one PSAP in a State/UT
• There should be one independent PSAP for every city with a population of more than two million as per
Census-2011.
• Wherever there is more than one PSAP in a State/UT, they should act as primary and secondary PSAPs to
each other so that overflow traffic of one PSAP can be handled by another in the State/UT.
• There should be a multi-sectoral agency which can coordinate and help in setting up of IECRS in the country.
• The multi-sectoral agency will have representations from Ministry of Home Affairs, Department of
Telecommunications (DoT), Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DEITY), Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Women and Child Development and other concerned Centre and State
agencies.
What is an emergency number? India, in the Cellular Mobile Telecom Services (CMTS) and Unified Access Services License (UASL) and
Unified Licence (UL), has defined emergency services as, “Emergency service means an emergency of any
kind, including any circumstances whatever resulting from major accidents, natural disasters and incidents
involving toxic or radio-active materials and emergency services in respect of any locality means the relevant
public, police, fire, ambulance and coast guard services for that locality”.
Why the need for a unified emergency response system in India? In India, presently different emergency communication and response systems are in place for police,
ambulance, fire brigade, civil defence, disaster management etc. For instance, some of the existing emergency
numbers that exists in India, as per National Numbering Plan-2003, are 100 (Police), 101 (Fire), 102
(Ambulance) and 108 (Emergency Disaster Management).
Just opposite to this, most developed countries have put in place an IECRS under which emergency services are
accessed nation-wide through a single number either 112 or 999.
The numbers used by developed countries is in line with the recommendations of the International
Telecommunications Union (ITU) made in 2008 in its report Guidelines to select Emergency Number for Public
Telecommunications Networks
Also, to fulfill the vision of the National Telecom Policy 2012 (NTP-2012) one of the strategies envisaged was
to facilitate an institutional framework to establish Nationwide Unified Emergency Response Mechanism by
providing a nationwide single access number for emergency services.
Even the Justice JS Verma Committee Report on amendment to Criminal Laws on 23 January 2013 also
had stressed the need to have a public emergency response system.
Thus, TRAI recommended the use of single emergency number 112 across the country.
President promulgated Land Acquisition (Amendment) Ordinance 2015
President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 3 April 2015 promulgated the Right to Fair Compensation and
Transparency in Land Acquisition Rehabilitation and Resettlement (LARR) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015.
The Ordinance was being issued in place of the LARR (Amendment) Bill, 2015 and will replace the LARR
(Amendment) Ordinance, 2014.
The (LARR) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 incorporates nine amendments as approved by the Lok Sabha on
Apart from the nine amendments, it provides for mandatory employment to one member of family of farm
labour affected by land acquisition. This provision did not exist in either the bill approved by the Lok Sabha or
the LARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014.
Why re-promulgation of ordinance on land acquisition?
The re-promulgation had become necessary since the validity of the LARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014
promulgated on 31 December 2014 expired on 5 April 2015. As per Article 123(2)(a) of the Constitution, an
ordinance shall cease to operate at the expiration of six weeks from the reassemble of Parliament.
However, during the first leg of the session ended on 21 March 2015 the ordinance was approved only by the
Lok Sabha by incorporating nine amendments to the bill and could not get the assent of the Rajya Sabha within
the six weeks period from the reassemble of the Parliament for Budget session on 23 February 2015.
Also, an ordinance can be promulgated by the President only when at least one houses of Parliament is not in
session. In this case the Rajya Sabha was prorogued on 28 March 2015.
Hence, in order to provide for continuity, the President re-promulgated the Ordinance on the recommendations
of Union Cabinet that on 31 March 2015 recommended for promulgation of fresh ordinance on land acquisition.
Comment
The LARR (Amendment) Ordinance, 2015 which came into effect on 5 April 2015 is the eleventh ordinance
promulgated by the President since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government came into power in
May 2014.
Though the Constitution does not explicitly bar re-promulgation of Ordinances, the Supreme Court (SC) of
India in DC Wadhwa vs State of Bihar case of 1986 declared Ordinance is essentially a power to be used to
meet an extraordinary situation and they cannot be re-promulgated on a massive scale in a routine manner.
The SC also declared in the judgment that it has the power to adjudicate if the re-promulgation takes place to
serve political ends of the ruling party and subverts the democratic process by not being introduced in the
legislature for approval.
Union Government extended National Food Security Act deadline by 6 months The Union Government on 3 April 2015 extended the deadline for implementation of the National Food
Security Act (NFSA) deadline by six months in the states.
The deadline has already been extended twice for implementing the food law, was ending on April 4. The
deadline was extended for the third time so that the remaining states adopt and implement the law within six
months.
Since passage by Parliament in September 2013, the NFSA has been implemented in 11 states and Union
Territories (UTs). The rest 25 states/UTs have not implemented it yet.
At present, the Union Government allocates foograins to 11 states/UTs as per the new food law, while the rest
are getting foodgrains quota as per earlier PDS norms.
11 states/UTs where the NFSA has been implemented includes Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh,
Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Delhi and Chandigarh, some of them fully and
National Food Security Act (NFSA) The National Food Security Act (NFSA) was launched with an objective to provide food and nutritional
security to people of the country. It aims at providing legal entitlement to 5 kg of subsidised foodgrains per
person per month at 1 rupee to 3 rupees per kilogram to two-thirds (67 percent) of the country’s population.
Union Minister of Commerce & Industry unveiled Foreign Trade Policy 2015-2020 Union Minister of Commerce & Industry on 2 April 2015 unveiled Foreign Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-2020. The
policy was unveiled by Minister of State for Ministry of Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman at Vigyan
Bhawan, Delhi.
The new five year Foreign Trade Policy, 2015-20 provides a framework for increasing exports of goods and
services as well as generation of employment and increasing value addition in the country, in keeping with the
Make in India vision of Prime Minister.
The focus of the new policy is to support both the manufacturing and services sectors, with a special emphasis
on improving the ease of doing business.
The release of Foreign Trade Policy was also accompanied by a FTP Statement explaining the vision, goals and
objectives underpinning India's Foreign Trade Policy, laying down a road map for India’s global trade
engagement in the coming years.
The FTP Statement describes the market and product strategy and measures required for trade promotion,
infrastructure development and overall enhancement of the trade eco system. It seeks to enable India to respond
to the challenges of the external environment, keeping in step with a rapidly evolving international trading
architecture and make trade a major contributor to the country’s economic growth and development.
Highlights of the FTP 2015-20
• In the new policy FTP2015-20, two new schemes Merchandise Exports From India Scheme (MEIS) and
Services Exports From India Scheme (SEIS) were introduced.
• MEIS is for export of specified goods to specified markets and SEIS is for increasing exports of notified
services. Duty credit scrips issued under MEIS and SEIS and the goods imported against these scrips are fully
transferable. For grant of rewards under MEIS, the countries have been categorized into 3 Groups, whereas the
rates of rewards under MEIS range from 2% to 5%. Under SEIS the selected Services would be rewarded at the
rates of 3% and 5%.
• Measures have been adopted to nudge procurement of capital goods from indigenous manufacturers under the
EPCG scheme by reducing specific export obligation to 75% of the normal export obligation. This will promote
the domestic capital goods manufacturing industry.
• Such flexibilities will help exporters to develop their productive capacities for both local and global
consumption. Measures have been taken to give a boost to exports of defense and hi-tech items.
Ministry of WCD would appraise these schemes to decide their suitability to qualify for getting funds
from the Nirbhaya Fund.
Ministry of WCD shall forward the suitable proposals to Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) for
necessary budgetary allocations in the respective Demands.
DEA shall appraise the proposal on financial and other aspects to avoid any duplicity of
schemes/Government efforts to strengthen safety and security of women in the country.
Budget Division of DEA would approve the funding of schemes from the fund and would also be the
nodal Ministry for any accretion into and withdrawal from the fund.
About Nirbhaya Fund
The setting up of Nirbhaya Fund was announced by the Union Finance Minister in the Union Budget 2013-14
with Government contribution of 1000 crores rupees for empowerment, safety and security of women and girl
children. The Fund is administered by Department of Economic Affairs of the Union Finance Ministry.
In the Union Budget 2014-15, two schemes were announced by the Finance Minister for funding through
Nirbhaya Fund. These were:
150 crore rupees allocated to the scheme on backend integration of distress signal from victims with
mobile vans and control rooms administered by Union Ministry of Home Affair
50 crore rupees allocated to scheme on Women Safety on Public Road Transport administered by Union
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Union Cabinet gave its approval for the Approach and Key Components of e-Kranti The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 25 March 2015 gave its approval for the
Approach and Key Components of e-Kranti: National e-Governance Plan (NeGP) 2.0.
e-Kranti is an important pillar of the Digital India programme and the programme has been envisaged by the
Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY).
Objectives of e-Kranti
• To redefine NeGP with transformational and outcome oriented e-Governance initiatives.
• To enhance the portfolio of citizen centric services.
• To ensure optimum usage of core Information & Communication Technology (ICT).
• To promote rapid replication and integration of eGov applications.
• To leverage emerging technologies.
• To make use of more agile implementation models.
Key principles of e-Kranti
• Transformation and not Translation
• Integrated Services and not Individual Services
• Government Process Reengineering (GPR) to be mandatory in every Mission Mode Projects (MMPs)
Mission Indradhanush depicting seven colours of the rainbow, aims to cover all those children by 2020 who are
either unvaccinated or are partially vaccinated against seven vaccine preventable diseases which include
diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus, polio, tuberculosis, measles and hepatitis B.
The mission will be implemented in multi phase. In the first phase, 201 high-focus districts will be taken up for
implementation of the mission. Of these, 82 districts are in just four states of UP, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and
Rajasthan and nearly 25% of the unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children of India are in these 82 districts
of four states.
In the second phase, mission will cover 297 focus districts.
To make the mission mode successful, Health Ministry developed micro plans on the basis of the lessons
learned from the Polio eradication towards systems strengthening, vaccine cold chain management, regular
surveillance and monitoring of the plans to reach each and every left out and uncovered child.
In India, only 65% children, out of 2.7 crore, receive all necessary vaccine during their first year and this
coverage grows by a mere one percent every year. Of those children who have remained unvaccinated, 40% are
because of lack of information, 32% because of apprehension among their parents arising from a lack of
awareness and 28% because their parents do not see the need for it. The government wants to increase the
percentage of immunization to 4-5% with this mission.
National Action Plan for Skill Training of Persons with Disabilities launched in New Delhi National Action Plan for Skill Training of Persons with Disabilities was launched in New Delhi on 21 March
2015.
The National Action Plan is a partnership between the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship
(MSDE) and Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disability for skilling 2.5 million Persons with
Disability (PwD) over seven years between 2015 and 2022.
The Plan was jointly launched by the Minister of State (IC), Ministry of Skill Development and
Entrepreneurship Rajiv Pratap Rudy and the Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Thaawar
Chand Gehlot.
The National Action Plan (NAP) seeks to provide a synergistic framework for people with disability, for
improving vocational training and employment opportunities for them with the eventual goal of providing them
with livelihoods and independence. The plan envisages use of Information Technology for content, training
delivery and employer connect.
The plan is of significant importance for overall development of PwDs since according to census 2011, there are
2.68 Crore PwDs in India. Among them about 1.34 crore persons are in the employable age of 15 to 59 years.
According to a United Nations (UN) report unemployment rate among PwDS is usually double that of the
general population and often as high as 80% in Asia-Pacific region.
Union Cabinet approved Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) to impart
skill training to youth
The Union Cabinet approved the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY) on 19 March 2015 with an
outlay of 1500 crore rupees. The programme aims to impart skill training to youth with focus on first time
entrants to the labour market and class 10 and class 12 drop outs.
Key characteristics of the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKY)
• The programme aims to impart skill training to youth with focus on first time entrants to the labour market and
medicines, non-availability or shortage of medicines, sale of new medicines without prior price approval of
NPPA, and refusal of supply for sale of any medicine without good and sufficient reason.
• Once the complaint is redressed, NPPA will initiate action on the complaint within 48 hrs of its receipt.
Prime Minister launched India’s first indigenously developed rotavirus vaccine
Rotavac Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9 March 2015 launched the first indigenously developed Rotavirus vaccine
named Rotavac. This is the third such vaccine, besides GSK Rotarix and Merck’s RotaTeq available globally
against Rotavirus.
The vaccine will boost India’s efforts to combat infant mortality due to diarrhea. The vaccine will be available
at a price of 1 US dollar per dose making it the cheapest vaccine available for rotavirus globally.
Rotavac vaccine was developed under the public-private partnership (PPP) model that involved Union Ministry
of Science and Technology, US’s National Institute of Health (NIH), NGOs in India supported by the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation and Bharat Biotech India Limited (BBIL).
Union Government along with NIH of the US funded the basic research while the Bharat Biotech India Limited
(BBIL) and the Gates Foundation contributed towards vaccine development and testing.
The vaccine was the result of an extraordinary effort spread over the last 25 years. The BBIL that was involved
in the development and production of the vaccine was selected in 1997-1998 by the India-U.S. Vaccine Action
Programme to develop the vaccine.
About Rotavirus It is a most common causative agent of moderate-to-severe diarrhoea (MSD) among infants below 11 months
age group in India. It spreads from person to person due to bacterial agents that are primarily transmitted
through contaminated food or water.
In India, diarrhoea caused by rotavirus kills nearly 80 thousand children under the age of 5 years and lead to 10
lakh hospitalizations every year. India accounts for 22 percent of the global deaths that occurs due to diarrhoea-
causing rotavirus.
Rotavirus vaccines are administered orally to infants in three dose course at ages of six, ten and fourteen weeks
and are part of Universal Immunisation Programme (UIP).
Lok Sabha passed Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 Lok Sabha on 4 March 2015 passed the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by voice vote. The Bill will
replace the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014. The Ordinance amends the Insurance Act, 1938
(the Act), the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 and the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority (IRDA) Act, 1999. The Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha on 3 March 2015.
Provisions of the Bill • It seeks to remove archaic provisions and incorporate modern day practices emerging in a changing dynamic
environment, which includes private participation.
• It hikes Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) cap in the insurance sector to 49 percent from present 26 percent.
• It calls for establishment of Life Insurance Council and the General Insurance Council. They will act as self-
regulating bodies for the insurance sector.
• It allows PSU general insurers to raise funds from the capital market.
• It also provides for increased penalty for those who deter multilevel marketing of insurance products like
imprisonment of up to 10 years for selling policies without registration with the insurance regulator.
• It prohibits an insurer from challenging the life insurance policy on any ground after a period of three years of
Lok Sabha passed Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015 Lok Sabha on 4 March 2015 passed the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill, 2015 by voice vote. This bill will
replace the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) second ordinance, 2014.
Provisions of the Bill • It has provisions for allocation of coal mines through a transparent bidding process like e-auction that will
ensure the continuity in coal mining operations.
• It facilitates e-auction of coal blocks for private companies for captive use and allots mines directly to state
and central Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
• It provides for vesting of the right, title and interest in and over the land and mine infrastructure together with
mining leases to successful bidders.
• It proposes strong measures for rehabilitation and compensation for farmers who are displaced.
ECI launched National Electoral Roll Purification and Authentication Programme
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on 3 March 2015 launched National Electoral Roll Purification and
Authentication Programme (NERPAP) throughout India. The programme was launched with the prime
objective to bring a total error-free and authenticated electoral roll.
About NERPAP • NERPAP will focus on improving image quality of electors along with sorting issues like corrections of errors
etc.
• During the NERPAP, Electronic Privacy Information Centre (EPIC) data of electors will be linked with
Aadhar data of UIDAI for the purpose of authentication.
• Electors was provided with the facility where they can feed their respective Aadhar number through sms,
email, mobile application and National Voters Service Portal (NVSP) by using web services through election
commission website.
• Electors can also feed Aadhar number by making a call at 1950 to state call centres or by submitting the
details of Aadhar number and EPIC number in a hard copy of duly filled up Form along with photocopy of both
the documents, namely EPIC and Aadhar card.
• The collection and feeding of Aadhar will also be done by Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) by organizing
Special Camp, Voter Facilitation Centres, e-Seva centres and Citizen Service Centres authorised by the DEOs
(District Magistrate).
• Booth Level Officers (BLOs) will also collect the details of electors during door to door survey.
• Nationwide special camps will be organized by the Electoral Registration Officer on 12 April 2015 to ensure
maximum public participation.
• The NERPAP has been provided a facility for voluntarily Disclosure of Multiple Entries by the Voters. The
electors with multiple registrations in electoral rolls are advised to fill Form-7 for deletion of their names from
the places except where they ordinarily reside.
• The electors may submit Form through Web Portal of NVSP or at EROs Facilitation Centres or Special
Camps or Other Centres such as E-Seva, CSC and so on.
Lok Sabha passed Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 The Lok Sabha on 2 March 2015 passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 by voice vote. The Bill seeks
to amend the Citizenship Act, 1955 which regulates the acquisition and determination of citizenship and details
registration of Overseas Citizens of India and their rights.
The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2015 was introduced in Lok Sabha on 27 February 2015. The Bill, if
enacted, will be considered to have come into force on 6 January 2015.
Provisions of the Bill It allows the Union Government to relax the requirement of 12 months stay or service if special circumstances
exist in cases related to citizenship by registration and naturalization. Relaxation up to 30 days may be
It provides additional grounds for registering an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) card such as Minor children
whose parent(s) are Indian citizens, spouse of an Indian citizen or OCI/ PIO cardholder subjected to certain
conditions, great-grandchild of a person who is a citizen of another country, but meets one of several conditions
of Citizenship Act, 1955.
It introduces a new provision which allows the union government to register a person as an OCI cardholder
even if he does not satisfy any of the listed qualifications.
It provides that union government may notify that PIO cardholders shall be considered to be OCI cardholders
from a specified date. It merges Persons of Indian Origin and Overseas Citizen of India cardholders.
It allows the union government to cancel the OCI card where it is obtained by the spouse of an Indian citizen or
Overseas Citizen of India cardholder, if the marriage is dissolved by a court, or the spouse enters into another
marriage.
Defence Acquisition Council approved buying of 38 Pilatus trainer aircraft for Indian Air
Force
Defence Acquisition Council (DAC) on 28 February 2015 approved buying of 38 more Pilatus trainer aircraft
from Switzerland at a cost of 1500 crore rupees. These trainer aircraft will train Indian Air Force (IAF) fighter
pilots.
Besides, DAC appointed Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) as the lead agency to build 12 Mine Counter Measure
Vessel (MCMV) for the Navy. The decision was taken by DAC meeting chaired by Union Defence Minister
Manohar Parrikar.
MCMV project is aimed at building specialized vessels for the Indian Navy as per Make in India Initiative. GSL
will build the ships under transfer of technology with the foreign vendor in a deal worth about 32000 crore
rupees.
DAC also gave approval for buying one C-130J medium transport aircraft for the Indian Air Force (IAF) at a
cost of 530 crore rupees. This aircraft will replace a C-130 J which crashed in 2014 near Gwalior.
Other deals cleared include 21 low level light weight radars for the Air Force and a repeat order of rockets for
the Indian Army.
DAC is the apex body for clearing defence procurement proposals forwarded by the Indian Army, Indian Navy
and Air Force.
Union Government accepted 14th Finance Commission recommendations Union Government in the third week of February 2015 accepted the recommendations of the 14th Finance
Commission. The commission headed by former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Dr. YV Reddy seeks to
provide more power to the states for their progress.
This devolution of more share of revenue to states through tax revenue is an indicator of Union Government’s
commitment to move away from One Size Fits All approach.
Recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission
• Tax devolution should be the primary route for transfer of resources to the states
• The increased devolution of the divisible pool of taxes is a compositional shift in transfers – from grants to tax
• The panel recommended horizontal distribution by using broad parameters like population (1971) and changes
in population since then, income distance, forest cover and area among others
• Distribution of grants to States and local body was recommended by using 2011 population data with weight
of 90 percent and area with weight of 10 percent
• Grants to States should be divided into two and they are
a) Grant to duly constituted Gram Panchayats
b) Grant to duly constituted municipal bodies
• Grants should be divided into two parts and they include, basic grants – depending upon the performance of
the gram panchayats and municipal bodies. The ration of basic to performance grant is 90:10 for Panchayats and
80:20 for municipalities
• It recommended a total grant of 287436 core rupees for a five-year period. Of this fund, 200292 crore rupees
will go for panchayats while the remainder will go to the municipalities
• It views there is a need to change the sharing pattern in respect to various Centrally-sponsored schemes. It
wants the stats to share a greater fiscal responsibility for the implementation of such schemes.
The 14th Finance Commission
The 14th Finance Commission (FFC) was constituted by the orders of President on 2 January 2013 in
accordance to the Article 280 of the Constitution of India. The commission submitted its report with
recommendations to the President Pranab Mukherjee on 15 December 2014.
The commission was formed to suggest recommendations for the period from 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2020.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched Soil Health Card Scheme Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 19 February 2015 launched the nationwide Soil Health Card Scheme in
Suratgarh town of Sriganganagar district, Rajasthan. The nationwide scheme will help farmers to scientifically
analyse the soil of farms in the country.
The scheme aims at helping farmers in improving productivity by appropriate use of nutrients or fertilisers.
Under the plan, 14 crore Soil Health Cards will be issued to farmer of the country in a span of 3 years. Around 3
crore farmers will be covered under the project in financial year 2014-15.
Feature of the Soil Health Card • It would contain all basic information and crop-wise recommendations of nutrients or fertilizers required for
farms of different soil types.
• It will carry crop-wise recommendation of fertilizers required for farm lands and other inputs to increase the
productivity of individual farmer.
Government's step to issue soil health cards to farmers will ensure that they are aware of the quality of soil and
use right fertilisers. Also, the scheme will help in keeping a check on overuse of fertilisers on farm land and will
be provided to over 14 crore farmers.
Apart from this, the Prime Minister also gave a slogan Swasth Dharaa Khet Haraa (Healthy Earth Green Farm).
He also asked states to set up high-powered expert committees on agriculture and asked farmers to take
agricultural decisions after getting their soil tested under the Soil Health Card scheme.
The Soil Health Card scheme was announced in the first budget presented by Union Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley in July 2014. The finance minister allotted a budget of 100 crore rupees for issuing cards and an
additional 56 crore rupees to set up 100 mobile soil testing laboratories across India.
Union Government approved revised Guidelines for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana Union Government on 12 February 2015 approved revised Guidelines for Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana
(PMGSY).
The guidelines were revised to accord priority in the selection of roads for new connectivity as well as
upgradation, leading to the eligible habitations in the Gram Panchayats identified by the Members of Parliament
(MP) under Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana (SAGY).
The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Union Minister for Rural Development. This is in accordance
with the Cabinet decision wherein all Ministries/Departments of the Central Government have been asked to
take necessary action to make suitable changes in the guidelines of their respective Central sector and Centrally
Sponsored schemes/programmes to enable priority to be given to the Gram Panchayats selected under Saansad
Adarsh Gram Yojana.
Highlights of the guidelines
The model villages adopted by the MP under the SAGY will now get rural roads under PMGSY on
priority basis. Similarly, in these model villages, rural roads constructed or upgraded under PMGSY would have
to be maintained by the State Governments up to prescribed standards and even beyond the built in period of
first five years.
As per the amended Guidelines, the State Governments shall give priority to all roads leading to the
Gram Panchayats identified under SAGY irrespective of Comprehensive New Connectivity Priority List
(CNCPL) to include all eligible unconnected habitations in the selected Gram Panchayats.
In case of upgradation of roads, priority shall be given to the roads which have Pavement Condition
Index (PCI) Value-I & II in the Gram Panchayats identified under SAGY.
However, the length required for upgradation of these roads should be within the overall target allocated
to various States under PMGSY-I and PMGSY-II.
Moreover, in case of roads already built under PMGSY, in the Gram Panchayats identified under
SAGY, State should carry out maintenance as per the activities suggested in the Operations Manuals and Rural
Roads Manual, even if the maintenance period of 5 years is over.
The State Governments must ensure PCI of not less than four for all such roads at all times. Adequate
funds for this purpose will be provided by State Governments.
PM Narendra Modi launched Sukanya Samridhi Yojana under BBBP campaign Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 22 January 2015 launched a small deposit scheme Sukanya Samridhi Yojana
for girl child under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (BBBP) campaign. The scheme will ensure equitable share to a
girl child in resources and savings of a family in which she is generally discriminated against a male child.
Sukanya Samridhi Yojana will enable parents to open bank accounts of girls who are under 10 years of age.
About the Sukanya Samridhi Account • Sukanya Samridhi Account will fetch an interest rate of 9.1 percent and provide income tax rebate.
• Sukanya Samridhi Account can be opened at any time from the birth of a girl child till she attains the age of 10
• A maximum of 1.5 lakh rupees can be deposited during the financial year. The account can be opened in any
post office or authorised branches of commercial banks.
• The account will remain operative for 21 years from the date of opening of the account or marriage of the girl
child after attaining 18 years of age.
• To meet the requirement of higher education expenses, partial withdrawal of 50 percent of the balance amount
will be allowed after the girl child has attended 18 years of age.
Union Government launched National Heritage Development and Augmentation Yojana
(HRIDAY)
The Union Ministry of Urban Development on 21 January 2015 launched the National Heritage Development
and Augmentation Yojana (HRIDAY) that seeks to preserve and rejuvenate the rich cultural heritage of the
country.
Highlights of HRIDAY
• HRIDAY seeks to promote an integrated, inclusive and sustainable development of heritage sites, focusing on
maintenance of monuments and on advancement of the entire ecosystem.
• In the initial phase of HRIDAY, 12 heritage cities have been identified which will be rejuvenated and
developed. Union Government will provide 500 crore rupees to these 12 cities.
• The scheme will be completely funded by union Government to create infrastructure and provide facilities
around the heritage sites to attract more tourists.
Union Government launched two schemes to support Scheduled Castes Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment on 16 January 2015 launched two schemes to support the
Scheduled Castes (SC). These schemes are Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes and Green Business
scheme.
Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes The Venture Capital Fund for Scheduled Castes scheme was launched with an initial capital of 200 crore
rupees. Under the scheme, financial assistance of 15 Crore rupees for a period of 6 years will be provided to 30
SC entrepreneurs in a year.
IFCI Limited will be the Sponsor, Settler and Asset Management Company or Nodal Agency to operate the
scheme. It will contribute 50 crore rupees which would comprise 5 crore rupees as sponsor and 45 crore rupees
as investor.
The objectives of the Venture Capital Fund scheme are: • To promote entrepreneurship amongst the Scheduled castes who are oriented towards innovation and growth
technologies.
• To provide concessional finance to the Scheduled Caste (SC) entrepreneurs, who will create wealth and value
for society and at the same time will promote profitable businesses.
• To develop SC entrepreneurs economically.
• To enhance direct and indirect employment generation for SC population in India.
Green Business Scheme Under this Scheme, loan for unit cost up to 1 lakh rupees at concessional rate of interest will be provided to
Scheduled Castes for activities such as e-rickshaw, Solar Pump and Solar energy powered implements, poly
house etc.
Green Business Scheme for providing financial assistance has been launched keeping in focus climate change.
Ministry of Railways inaugurated India’s first CNG powered train
Union Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu on 13 January 2015 inaugurated India’s first compressed natural
gas (CNG)-powered train on the Rewari – Rohtak link of Northern Zone.
This is a milestone in adoption of green fuel in Indian Railways which will help reduce greenhouse gas
emission and also the consumption of diesel.
Characteristic Feature of CNG-powered train
• The CNG Diesel Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) is based on dual-fuel that is diesel and CNG.
• The train has been manufactured by Chennai-based Integral Coach Factory (ICF) through fumigation
technology.
• It will help in reducing the operating cost of locomotives by over 50 percent with an advantage of eco-friendly
operations.
• It will also helps cut carbon monoxide emissions by 90 percent, carbon dioxide by 25 percent, nitrogen oxide
by 35 percent and non-methane hydrocarbon emissions by 50 percent.
Union Railway Ministry also planned to run more such CNG trains in due course to reduce diesel consumption.
Once India has substantial reserves of natural gas in the form of conventional natural gas, shale gas and gas
hydrates then the new technology would come in handy in India.
PM launched National Programme for LED-based Home and Street Lighting Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi on 5 January 2015 launched a National Programme for LED-based Home
and Street Lighting in New Delhi to reduce energy consumption.
Other Launches • A scheme for Light Emitting Diode (LED) bulb distribution under the Domestic Efficient Lighting
Programme (DELP) was also launched.
• The Prime Minister also launched a web-based system to enable consumers in Delhi to register requests for
procuring LED bulbs under Domestic Efficient Lighting Programme (DELP). Consumers can register either
through the programme website (www.eeslindia.org/Delhi-Launch) or by sending an SMS to a designated
number.
Highlights of the programme • LED bulbs will be distributed in a phased manner from March 2015 onwards.
• The entire project of installing LED bulbs for domestic and street-lighting in 100 cities is targeted for
completion by March 2016.
• In Delhi, LED bulbs will be provided to all domestic consumers at an initial payment of 10 rupees each and
the balance amount of 120 rupees each will be recovered from their electricity bill.
• Therefore, the cost for an LED bulb to domestic consumer will be 130 rupees through this programme due to
bulk procurement, compared to the current open market retail price in the range of 350-600 rupees for LED
bulbs.
• The estimated annual savings for households in Delhi per LED bulb will be 162 rupees. The LED bulbs will
have a warranty of 3 years.
• It will result in annual saving of energy by about 24 crore units every year.
Background The initiatives are the part of the Government’s efforts to spread the message of energy efficiency in the
country. The LED based lights will help in reducing energy consumption by 88 percent compared to a normal
LED bulbs have a very long life, almost 50 times more than ordinary bulbs, and 8-10 times that of CFLs. These
LEDs provide both energy and cost savings in the medium term.
Union Government formed NITI Aayog to replace Planning Commission Union Government on 1 January 2015 set up the National Institution for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog.
NITI Aayog that replaced the 65 year old Planning Commission will be headed by Prime Minister. It will have a
governing council comprising Chief Ministers of all the states and Lt. Governors of Union Territories.
Apart from this, the NITI Aayog will also have a Vice-Chairperson and a Chief Executive Officer (fixed tenure,
in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India), who will be appointed by the Prime Minister.
The NITI Aayog’s functions have been described as the Bharatiya approach to development. The Aayog has
been tasked with a role of formulating policies and direction for the government and serving as a think-tank, it
will provide a national agenda for Prime Minister and Chief Ministers. It will also provide relevant strategic and
technical advice across the spectrum of key elements of policy, like economic matters of national and
international importance.
Functions that will be undertaken by the NITI Aayog
• It will develop mechanisms for formulation of credible plans to the village level and aggregate these
progressively at higher levels of government
• Special attention will be given to the sections of the society that may be at risk of not benefitting adequately
from economic progress
• It will also create a knowledge, innovation and entrepreneurial support system through a collaborative
community of national and international experts, practitioners and partners
• It will offer a platform for resolution of inter-sectoral and inter-departmental issues in order to accelerate the