National Affairs 2012

Andhra Pradesh (15), Gujarat (13) and Karnataka (12). The study also reveals that the conviction rate at national level for crimes against children stood at 34.6 per cent. The conviction rate for 'infanticide' (other than murder) was highest at 46.9 per cent followed by cases under murder (45.5 per cent). The study observed that the increasing trend in the incidence of juvenile crimes is a matter of concern. The East Godavari Collector Neetu Prasad has declared medical emergency in the district on 8 October and directed the Kakinada Government Hospital authorities to create special facilities to treat cases of swine flu. As the laboratory tests confirmed that P Durga Rao of Chinaboddu Venkatayapalem village of Tallarevu mandal died of swine flu on Wednesday last week, wide ranging tests were conducted in the village by a special team of doctors led by District Medical and Health Officer, Dr. Padmvathi in the village. They opened a medical camp and treated about 40 persons who were suspected to be suffering from swine flu. Seven persons, five of them from the family of the dead person were shifted to Kakinada for advanced medical treatment as they were suspected to have contracted the disease from him. Ruling AIADMK MLA P Dhanapal on 10 October became the first Dalit Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly and said he would strive to uphold the ethos of the House. Party supremo and Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa led the Assembly in greeting the 61 year-old Dhanapal, who was elected unopposed. Pro-tem Speaker C K Thamizharasan announced election of Dhanapal, who represents Rasipuram in the assembly, amidst loud thumping of benches by AIADMK members. The postal department of India had increased the rates of Speed post deliveries by 42-56% from 1 October 2012. Domestic charges were increased from Rs 12 to Rs 17, including service tax, and the 'One India' tariff escalated up from Rs 25 to Rs 39. It is first time since 2007 that the rates have been revised. The biggest users of Speed Post are institutional users, law firms and corporate entities that dispatch bulk mails. Many Banks, uses this service to send credit card statements and also credit cards. The difference is particularly distinctive with respect to foreign dispatches. A person is supposed to pay Rs 600 to a courier and merely Rs 150-odd to Speed Post delivery. Now, railway passengers can track trains on real-time basis. Railways have launched online application RailRadar, which is an interactive map on Google that can facilitate passengers to track movements of all trains running across the country. The passengers can locate the trains on real-time basis on both internet and their cellphones. RailRadar, developed by a Railway PSU Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) in collaboration with RailYatri, is a live tracker of all passenger trains traffic in real time. The interactive map will help users to find the exact geographical location of about 6,500 trains on a Google map on real-time basis, an official said. The system enables a colour-coded method as trains highlighted in blue indicate those that are running on time, while the red markers indicate trains that are delayed or running behind schedule. An official said if you click on a particular train, the map will show the exact route of the train including all the stoppages and the current location of the train on real-time basis. RailRadar can be accessed through the railway website, trainenquiry.com. To know the current status of the train, a passenger can enter a train name or number and the system will inform whether the train is delayed or running on time. The interactive map zooms in and out to get train and station detail. Users can search for a particular station or train to get specific details of trains around the station or running status of a train, location, its route and stoppages. RailRadar gives an overview on train on time and delay status. In case of an accident or unplanned activity, the site would be able to provide users with an overview of situation and train status across the country. Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on 28 september, ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into rampant rhino poaching in the Kaziranga National Park. The probe will cover poaching during the past three years from now. The state government also announced cash reward of Rs 5 lakh to anyone giving clues to poachers. Earlier, the Union Environment and Forest Minister Jayanthi Natarajan had expressed shock at the growing incidence of rhino poaching in Assam with the flood-hit Kaziranga having lost four rhinos during the past 48 hours to poachers. She had ordered an investigation by a team of Wildlife Crime Control Bureau officials.

Goa Government is the first government in India to introduce a policy for housewives by introducing cash compensation for every woman who is housewife and a mother as well. The compensation will be Rs.1000 every month for those household with less than 3 Lakhs annual income. Overall 1.25 lakh families will be benefited with

85

National Affairs 2012

this move.

In order to give encouragement to the talented sportsmen of the University system and promote sports in Universities, the Union Minister of Human Resource Development Kapil Sibal on 5 October launched hockey and cricket league under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU). Association of Indian Universities has been organising the Rohinton Baria Cricket Trophy, the Inter University Hockey Tournament and other events for promotion of sports in the Universities throughout the country.It was after an offer made by the NDTV Group for assisting in sponsoring sports events, it was decided to organise every year, a National Level University Cricket League (UCL) and University Hockey League (UHL).The University Cricket League would be played among 8 top University teams in the T 20 format, from amongst those who qualify through a zonal competition. Similarly the University Hockey League would be played among the top 8 teams selected through the zonal competitions.

An agreement between Government of India and the World Bank for loan of US$ 500 million (equivalent) from World Bank for the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) was signed on 6 october. The agreement was signed by Shri Prabodh Saxena,Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Onno Ruhl, Country Director, World Bank (India) on behalf of the World Bank. The Objective of the project is to help India to achieve increased and more equitable access to good quality secondary education through support of the Governments ongoing program for secondary education as delineated in the (RMSA) Framework. The project would support all activities detailed in the RMSA Framework, for which financial and technical norms have been determined. The Banks support is being provided through a Sector Wide Approach, so there are no separate components, but this section describes the different types of activities which will be supported with the Framework. RMSA represents a systemic shift in the way secondary education is planned, managed and financed in India.

The Cauvery basin districts and Karnatakas capital Bangalore on 6 October, witnessed a complete shutdown on in response to the bandh called by the Kannada Okkoota, a federation of organisations, in protest against the release of Cauvery waters to Tamil Nadu. The bandh , which evoked mixed response in the northern and coastal districts was peaceful. Interestingly, Kodagu district, birthplace of the Cauvery, also witnessed mixed response.

U.N. Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, is in Rajasthan on 6 October to launch the first-ever knowledge hub for elected women representatives living in rural areas of South Asia, visited Barrod village of Behror panchayat samiti to observe the functioning of the village panchayat and interact with rural women to motivate them to strive for getting their rights. Ms. Bachelet had served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010. In her address to the huge gathering, Ms. Bachelet said though men and women may have a different outlook, they should be complementary to each other to ensure development of society without gender-based discrimination. Women elected representatives have a better leadership potential and better grasp of issues [for which] they can organise women and achieve great results, she affirmed. The U.N. Women functions as a United Nations entity for womens empowerment and gender equality. The knowledge hub, named the Regional Centre for Excellence, will train 65,000 elected women representatives of Panchayati Raj institutions in 16 districts of five States in India to become more effective leaders. The hub comprising three important components of mobile application, web application and community radio can be accessed by women through an interactive tool, Wi-Net, developed on android platform The government has said that on 2 October, it will soon set up smart cities in the country with all ultramodern facilities like intelligent and integrated transport system, broadband and carbon neutralizers. Addressing a joint press conference in New Delhi with visiting Austrian Federal Minister of Transport, Innovation and Technology Mrs Doris Burse, Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath said that initially two such smart cities will be created in every state under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, JNNURM.

86

National Affairs 2012

After a long wait, Siddipet Gollabama and Mangalagiri sarees and fabric (A.P) have finally got Geographical Indication status. According to the GI registry at Chennai, the application for GI status was filed by Mangalagiri Sarees and Fabrics Apex Society in 2010. Mangalagiri sarees and material for duppattas, gents shirts, kurtas and salwar kameezes are also covered. Mangalagiri sarees and fabrics are made of pure, sturdy and durable cotton. The Nizam border in the sarees and churidars are peculiar to the Mangalagiri region in Guntur district. The fabric is woven on a pit-loom. There is no gap in the weave at the edge of the material, which again is unique. The application for GI status for the Siddipeta Gollabama saree was made by the Handloom Weavers Cooperative Society Limited, Siddipet. Siddipeta Gollabama is a handwoven cotton saree carrying the distinctive motif of Gollabama the milk maid carrying a pot of milk on her head and another in her hand. Each pallu of a Siddipet Gollabama saree has about 13 to 15 Gollabama motifs in green, violet, red and orange colours. The sarees are again hand woven and are comfortable to wear.

The Nirmal Bharat Yatra to make the country open-defecation-free and to ensure proper sanitation in rural India began on 5 October, from Sevagram in Wardha district of Maharashtra in presence of the Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh. The Yatra has been organised by Wash United and Quicksand Design Studio jointly to increase awareness about cleanliness among people through different awareness programs which would be carried out as the Yatra progresses. The Yatra will travel almost 2,000 km through villages from Maharashtra to Bihar and will end in Bettiah town in the West Champaran of Bihar on November 19.Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Ramesh termed the open defecation as the blot on Indian society and said, that this Nirmal Bharat Yatra is connected with the dignity of Indian women. Actress Vidya Balan is the brand ambassador of the Nirmal Bharat Yatra and Sachin Tendulkar will also take part in it.

Altamas Kabir sworn in as Chief Justice of India: Justice Altamas Kabir, senior most Judge of the Supreme Court, was sworn in as the 39th Chief Justice of India. Justice Kabir will have tenure of a little over nine months until July 18, 2013. Justice Kabir (64), who hails from Kolkata, was appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court on September 9, 2005. He became a Judge of the Calcutta High Court in 1990. He was appointed as the Chief Justice of the Jharkhand High Court on March 1, 2005 and elevated to the Supreme Court in September 2005. During his tenure as a Supreme Court judge, Justice Kabir delivered several landmark judgments, particularly relating to human rights and election laws. Punjab Government started a massive door-to-door Cancer Detection Campaign. The Pilot trial of the project will start in Faridkot district of Punjab from October 2012 for a complete month and will be implemented across the state in December 2012. The Cancer detection survey involving fifty thousand personnel aims at detecting the cancer at its initial stage in a population of over 1.25 crore. The Chief Minister of Punjab, Prakash Singh Badal declared during his high-level meet of senior officials of World Health organization, departments of health and family welfare and medical education and research and more organizations about the official launch of the project. He also emphasized on the fact that he will not allow scarcity of funds to effect this prestigious campaign. Govt to develop two smart cities in every state: The government is planning to develop two smart cities with a host of modern features like intelligent transport and carbon neutral status in each of the states in the second phase of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Kapil Sibal said medium-sized cities with half a million to one million populations will be developed as smart cities and the government has sought the expertise of Austrian Institute of Technology for the purpose. Dhanapal set to get elected new T.N. Speaker Tamil Nadu Deputy Speaker P. Dhanapal has been named the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's nominee for the post of Assembly Speaker. The 61-year-old Mr. Dhanapal represents the Rasipuram (reserved) constituency of Namakkal district. In the past, he was elected from the Sankari constituency four times. During the previous AIADMK regime (2001-2006), he held the portfolio of Food and Cooperation for one-and-a-half years. As the ruling party has a strength of 152 members in the House of 234, his election as Speaker is only a matter of formality.

87

National Affairs 2012

1.35 lakh committed suicide in 2011; highest in W Bengal, TN: More than 1.35 lakh people committed suicide in the country in 2011 of which the highest number were reported in West Bengal followed by Tamil Nadu. Family Problems and illness, accounting for 24.3 per cent and 19.6 per cent respectively, were the major causes of suicides while poverty was to be blamed in 1.7 per cent of the cases, according to government data. Love affairs (3.4 per cent), drug abuse/addiction (2.7 per cent), dowry dispute (2.4 per cent) and bankruptcy (2.2 per cent) were among the other causes. Delhi has reported the highest number of suicides (1,716) among UTs, followed by Puducherry (557). Seven UTs together accounted for 1.9 per cent of total suicides in the country. The number of suicides in the country over the decade (2001?2011) has recorded an increase of 25 per cent -- from 1,08,506 in 2001 to 1,35,585 in 2011. West Bengal reported the highest number of suicides (16,492) accounting for 12.2 per cent of the total suicides last year followed by Tamil Nadu (15,963), Maharashtra (15,947), Andhra Pradesh (15,077) and Karnataka (12,622). They accounted for 11.8 per cent, 11.8 per cent, 11.1 per cent and 9.3 per cent respectively of the total suicides in the country. These five states together accounted for 56.2 per cent of the total suicides reported in India, the NCRB said.The remaining 43.8 per cent suicides were reported in the rest of 23 states and seven Union Territories, according to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB). Uttar Pradesh, country's most populous state (16.5 per cent share of the population) has reported comparatively lower percentage of suicidal deaths, accounting for only 3.6 per cent of such deaths. Fifty-three mega cities accounted for 13.5 per cent of the total suicides in the country. The Supreme Court on 3 October directed the Centre and state governments to provide basic infrastructure, including drinking water and toilets, in all schools within six months. A bench headed by Justice KS Radhakrishnan fixed the time limit and asked the governments to take steps to provide the basic facilities in schools across the country. The bench said that all its previous directions pertaining to providing infrastructure should be implemented within the time frame fixed by it. On October 18 last year, the apex court had directed all states and union territories to build toilets, particularly for girls, in all government schools. The court passed the order on a PIL seeking its direction to Centre and state governments to provide basic facilities of drinking water and toilets in schools. The apex court had earlier stated that it was imperative that all schools provide toilet facilities, as empirical researches indicated that wherever toilet facilities are not provided in schools, parents do not send their children (particularly girls) to schools. The court had also observed that not providing the infrastructure was a violation of the right to free and compulsory education of children guaranteed under Article 21-A of the Constitution. Gujarat polls on December 13, 17 and Himachal on November 4 The election commission on 3 October announced the dates for the crucial assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The Gujarat elections will be held in two phases in the month of December, chief election commissioner VS Sampath announced. The dates for polling in Gujarat are December 13 and December 17. The EC announced one-phase poll in Himachal Pradesh on November 4. The counting for both the states will be held on December 20. The CEC announced that the candidates would be required to have a separate bank account for polls. While Gujarat has 182 assembly constituencies, 13 of which are reserved for SCs and 26 for STs, Himachal Pradesh has 68 assembly seats, with 17 reserved for SCs and 3 for STs. Ministry of Rural Development Launched Nirmal Bharat Yatra : Ministry of rural development on 3 October 2012 started a campaign named Nirmal Bharat Yatra, which focuses on making the country free from open defecation. The yatra will begin from Wardha District of Maharashtra from 3 October 2012 and will go through Indore, Kota, Gwalior, and Gorakhpur and end up in Bettiah district of Bihar on November 17, covering about 2000 km of distance. The Indian Bollywood actress Vidya Balan is the brand ambassador of the campaign. The campaign is being promoted by several NGOs and private companies and it is going to be completed at a cost of over Rs 12 crore and is going to target over 9 crore people to spread awareness about sanitation. The well known NGOs that are participating in the programme are Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council. According to the Studies conducted by World Health Organisation and UNICEF it was found that with 626 million people defecating in the open, India has largest population without access to toilets. The Yatra is about demand generation and sensitization about the sanitation issues as open defecation is a blot on our society. The single biggest cause of malnutrition in India is poor sanitation and hygiene. Sikkim has already achieved the ODF (Open Defecation Free) status and the States like Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra are on way to achieve the sanitation goals in coming one to two years. Tribal march for land rights: More than 50,000 tribal have started their march on foot to Delhi from Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh, demanding land

88

National Affairs 2012

rights. The tribal under the umbrella of a Gandhian organisation, Ekta Parishad, started the march after their talks with Union government's representative including Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh and Minister of State for Industry and Commerce failed. Ramesh, Scindia, Social Justice Minister Mukul Wasnik and Panchayati Raj Minister Kishore Chandra Deo met the tribal led by activist PV Rajagopal but failed to pacify them or arrive at an agreement. A. Raja, Kanimozhi, Kalmadi on parliamentary panels: The former Union Minister, A. Raja, Kanimozhi and Suresh Kalmadi have been made members of the Parliamentary Standing Committees on Energy, Home Affairs and External Affairs respectively. Raja, who was arrested in the 2G scam case on February 2 last year, is on bail since May 15 this year. Kalmadi, an accused in the Commonwealth Games scam case, spent about nine months in jail before being released on bail on January 19 this year. DMK MP Kanimozhi, also an accused in some cases related to the 2G spectrum allocation, has been nominated to the Standing Committee on Home Affairs. Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has been made a member of the Standing Committee on Finance, headed by BJP leader Yashwant Sinha. In the reconstitution of various committees, Tiruchi Siva of the DMK has been made Chairman of the Standing Committee on Industry, while Brajesh Pathak of the BSP has been made Chairman of the Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare. The government has given its green signal to Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) to go ahead with eight big and unique projects proposed by it involving an outlay of Rs.3,300 crore. These projects will be implemented through PPP mode with assistance from aiding institutions, mainly Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). These projects included one taken up with Rs.370 crore aid from JICA to improve the catchment area of Hussainsagar and ensure its cleanliness. The second project that will also be funded by JICA, aims at implementing Intelligent Transport System (ITS) for Outer Ring Road within Hyderabad metropolitan area involving an expenditure of Rs.900 crore. The third one is taken up for a transit-oriented development of the lands available within the core area of the city for a mixed use for residential and commercial activities designed to minimise the need for private transport and maximise the access to public transport such as buses and trains. HMDA commissioner Neerabh Kumar Prasad said Moosapet, Saroornagar and Khanamet (near Hitech City) had been identified to implement the first phase of this project. An integrated commuter terminal would be developed at Secunderabad railway station using the land of the old Gandhi Hospital to ease the congestion as witnessed now. Two radial roads would be constructed under Musi improvement plan originating from Nagole Bridge to Singaram and Gourelly. A Science City would be developed with state-of-the-art technology at a cost of Rs.100 crore over 30 acres of land. Similarly, a Hyderabad Habitat Centre would be set up (Rs.200 crore) on the lines of the one existing in New Delhi. Sites for locating these two were not yet finalised. Besides, the works of the next phase of the ORR and the remaining 26 out of 33 radial roads taken up would be grounded soon. The Uttar Pradesh government has decided to ban the gutka industry in the State from April next year, an official spokesman said on 3 October. Andhra Pradesh produces 13.5 lakh tones of fish a year: Andhra Pradesh ranks second in terms of growth in fish production with a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of eight per cent and with over 13.5 lakh tonne of fish production annually, according to a study by Assocham. The study titled 'A prize catch in Indian export basket' estimated that the countrys fish production would cross 13 million tonne by 2016 from the current nine million tonne. The current CAGR is 3.5 percent. The apex industry body, however, suggested to the government to take measures to improve infrastructure and offer incentives to tap the immense potential of the fisheries sector. "Indian marine waters are home to over 1,700 fish species, including 200 commercially significant species," said R. Sannareddy, chairman, southern regional council, Assocham. Cabinet gives green signal to revised Companies Bill: Looking to better serve the interests of all stakeholders, the government approved amendments to Companies Bill 2011, including changes related to spending on CSR activities. The revised Companies Bill, which is expected to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament, has limited the number of companies an auditor can serve to 20. It has also brought in more clarity on criminal liability of auditors

89

National Affairs 2012

November
The Government on 27 November approved a Scheme under 12th Five Year Plan for carrying out an Anti Piracy Initiative in the audio-visual sector. This new scheme of the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has an outlay of Rs2.0 crores for the Plan period 2012-17. Piracy continues to be a key challenge for the Indian film sector and has been a prime reason for decline of Home Video market in India. It is estimated by the FICCI-KPMG report for 2011 that the piracy market accounts for 600-700 million unit sales of DVDs each year with more than 10000 vendors operating in illegitimate DVD market. With increased competition within this sector, prices of pirated DVDs are declining as compared to previous years. Another new emerging threat to legitimate exhibition of films is illegal download of films available on websites. Some of the major activities planned are as follows: (a) Campaign on piracy through audio-visual, internet and print media; (b) A dedicated web portal; (c) Training programmes and workshops to sensitize police, judicial, administrative officials, multiplex and cinema hall owners about the Copyright Act. (d) Conduct research on effects of piracy and develop publicprivate strategies to combat piracy; (e) Efforts at inclusion of anti-piracy awareness material in the curriculum of the schools and colleges; The planned activities will be implemented in collaboration with Business Chambers and NGOs, wherever possible. The Minister for Environment and Forests, Jayanthi Natarajan has released the National Bear Conservation and Welfare Action Plan on 27 November. India is home to four of the eight species of bears found worldwide making it one of the only two countries with this diversity, the other being China. The Indian bears include the sloth bear (Melursus ursinus), the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), the Himalayan brown bear (Ursus arctos) and the Malayan sun bear (Helarctos malayanus). Sloth bears are endemic to the Indian sub-continent and have gone extinct fairly recently from Pakistan and Bangladesh, underscoring the threats to the species of habitat loss and increasing human interface. The black bears and brown bears inhabit the Himalayan and sub-Himalayan regions, while the sun bears are found in very small numbers along the northeast Indian border. The bears have an almost pan-India distribution, being found in 26 of the 28 Indian states. The national plan summarises the threats faced by bears in India, and outlines management actions to be undertaken by the bear range states for their conservation and welfare. It was an outcome of over a year of collaborative work by the MoEF, WII, state Forest Departments and NGOs including WTI, WSPA and IFAW. The Minister of State (IC) for Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution Prof. K.V.Thomas in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on 27 November, informed that, the Installation of Global Positioning System (GPS) sets had been taken up for implementation in 11th Five Year Plan on pilot basis in States of Tamil Nadu and Chhattisgarh for tracking the movement of vehicles transporting Targeted Public Distribution System (TPDS) commodities. The Minister also said that State Government of Tamil Nadu, who have implemented the scheme in two districts, have reported that it has helped in the quantities of food grains allotted from Food Corporation of India (FCI) to the intended godowns reaching without diversion; created moral fear among those involved in transportation of PDS items; enabled tracking the movement of vehicles carrying PDS items at short notice and avoided delays in transportation. State Government of Chhattisgarh has intimated that after installation of GPS sets in trucks transporting TPDS commodities, they are reaching their destination properly and no irregularities have since been found. Prof. Thomas also said that in view of the feedback received from these State Governments, it has been decided to extend this scheme to all the States/UTs. The minister of state (independent charge) for power , Jyotiraditya scindia informed Rajya Sabha on 27 November that Planning Commission constituted an expert group under the Chairmanship of B.K. Chaturvedi, Member (Energy), Planning Commission to look into the issues of State Discoms and to suggest measures to improve the financial health of the Distribution Utilities. Minister also said ,In pursuance of the recommendations of this committee, Government of India has approved the scheme for Financial Restructuring of State owned Distribution Companies for financial turnaround by restructuring their debt with support through a Transitional Finance Mechanism by Central Government. The scheme for Financial Restructuring has been formulated keeping in view of poor financial health of State owned Discoms.

90

National Affairs 2012

The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee on 29 November, released a commemorative postage stamp on Silver Jubilee of Consumer Protection Act, 1986 at a function in Rashtrapati Bhavan. Speaking on the occasion, Prof K.V. Thomas, Union Minister of State (I/C) for Consumers Affairs, Food and Public Distribution described the Consumer Protection Act as a Magna Carta legislation aimed at protecting the interests of consumers so that they do not fall victim to the unfair trade practices and sub-standard services in the market place. He said that Indias 1.2 billion consumers are the lifeblood of our economy and a vibrant economy depends on effective demand from consumers for affordable quality products and services. The Indian consumers are looking forward to services of international standard in all sectors such as health, banking, insurance, tourism, hospitality, transportation and education, he said. He stated that among the consumers, the disadvantaged groups need our special attention. As part of the celebration marking the centenary of Indian Cinema, the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune and Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI), Kolkata , have announced institution of the first National Students' Film Awards and the Students Film Festival of India . Addressing the media in Goa on 29 November, D J Narain, Director, FTII, Pune said that it is the first initiative of its kind in the country and added that with this initiative they hope to encourage the young minds passionate about film making. The event will be jointly organized by the FTII, Pune along with SRFTI, Kolkata and the Directorate of Film Festivals under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi. These Awards will be held alternatively at FTII Pune and SRFTI Kolkata each year. Talking about the awards Narain said that the awards will be given in three categories viz, Fiction, Non-Fiction and Animation. President of India Pranab Mukherjee on 30 November, participated in the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly . He also laid the foundation stone for a Hostel for former Legislators and released a Diamond Jubilee Souvenir. The President urged the Legislators to take a solemn pledge on the occasion of the Diamond Jubilee Celebrations to restore the glory and grandeur of our Legislative Bodies. The President said that the Constitution of India places the Legislative Assembly at the centre of governance in a State and conceives of it as the primary instrument for socio-economic change. The primary responsibility of State Legislature is to enact laws required for good governance and administration of the State. List-2 of the Seventh Schedule of our Constitution lists 66 items for State administration and legislation. He reminded the members that being a representative of the people is a matter of privilege and a great honour. This privilege however carries with it great responsibility. Elected representatives have many roles to play and there are competing demands from ones Party, from the Assembly and from the constituency. The job of a legislator is a 24/7 responsibility. The legislator have to be sensitive and responsive to the problems and concerns of the people, give voice to their grievances, hardships and problems by raising them on the floor of the Legislature and act as the link between the people and the Government. The Union Minister for Tourism Dr. K. Chiranjeevi replied for a question in the Lok Sabha on 30 November, that The Ministry of Tourism has launched a Scheme titled Earn While You Learn with a view to inculcate appropriate tourism travel traits and knowledge amongst trainees to enable them to work as student volunteers. The salient features of the Scheme are: i) College-going students pursuing graduation courses or graduates in the age group of 18 to 25 years will be eligible for the training programme. ii) The candidates are selected by following a transparent procedure. iii) The duration of each programme is 21 working days. iv) The course contents is finalized by the Ministry of Tourism/ implementing Institutes in consultation with stakeholders. The Indian Institute of Tourism & Travel Management (IITTM), had been authorized to conduct the training programmes at its Centres in Gwalior, Delhi and Bhubaneshwar and one in the city of Hyderabad. Besides, the Jamia Milia Islamia University was also authorized to conduct a training programme at its campus in Delhi. So far a total number of 3806 candidates have been trained under the scheme. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy inaugurated the first phase of the Ananta Venkat Reddy Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi project (AVRHNSS) near Malyala in Karnool district on 18 November. Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that although the project's foundation stone was laid by late Chief Minister N T Rama Rao, the detailed project report was prepared during Kotla Vijayabhaskar Reddy's regime. He said that again it was the Congress Government that completed the first phase by making sufficient budgetary allocations. He said that the project would irrigate water to six lakh acres and drinking water to 33 lakh people. Considered as one of the biggest lift irrigation scheme in the country, he said that

91

National Affairs 2012

even his constituency Pileru would get water from this project. During the first phase, 3 TMC of water will be lifted from Srisailam Reservoir near Malyala through eight lifts into the 216 km length main canal, which takes the water to a reservoir at Jeedipalle in Kalyanadurgam of Anantapur district. It will help irrigate around 1.98 lakh acres including 80,000 acres in Kurnool and 1.18 lakh acres in Anantapur districts apart from providing drinking water to 10 lakh people in 144 villages.Balancing reservoirs were also built at Krishnagiri (0.161 TMC), Pattikonda (1.126 TMC) in Kurnool district and Jeedipalle (1.694 TMC) in Anantapur district. The project has been divided into the two phases and once completed; it would draw 40 TMC feet of Krishna water from Srisailam reservoir and lift it in stages to a height of 800 ft into 8 balancing reservoirs through a total length of 565 km. BJP suspended Rajya Sabha Member Ram Jethmalani from the Party The BJP (Bhartiya Janta Party) on 25 November 2012 suspended senior leader and Rajya Sabha member Ram Jethmalani from the party for gross indiscipline. Ram Jethmalani recently, openly attacked the party for criticizing the appointment of the new CBI chief. He had also challenged the party to take action against him on the issue. The party had also taken strong exception Ram Jethmalanis public outburst against senior party leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley who had written to Prime Minister expressing their reservations over the appointment of Ranjit Sinha as the new Director of the CBI. Weightage for Telugu medium students in govt jobs likely Andhra Pradesh State government is taking all the necessary steps in reinstating the rule of providing five per cent weightage in government jobs to all the candidates who completed their education in Telugu medium announced Minister for Primary Education S Sailajanath. Addressing the media on 26 November, Sailajanath said the high rank officials of primary, secondary and higher education departments and chairman of Official Language Commission Mandali Buddha Prasad reviewed the comprehensive implementation of mother tongue in all schools and colleges of the State. He said that they had elaborate discussion on making Telugu subject, Telugu culture, music, literature and traditions compulsory in all categories from class one to degree. They came to the conclusion to change the guidelines to write Sanskrit paper in intermediate in Telugu script, which is Devanagari script. National Crime Record Bureau Report Revealed Delhi Tops List of Theft Cases A recent National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) report released in the fourth week of November 2012 revealed that Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi are not safe anymore to live or work at. In terms of theft cases, while Mumbai maintained the 3rd position, Delhi topped this list followed by the IT city- Bangalore. Between 2007 and 2011, Maharashtra was leading in theft cases over other Indian states. Maharashtra topped the charts of theft cases across the residential areas, railways, commercial establishments as well as banks. In the highway robberies, UP took the lead. The report revealed that Delhi was leading in the theft cases with 32240 cases registered between 2007 and 2011 while the victims lost their valuables worth 290 crore Rupees. On the other hand, Bangalore, Mumbai and Hyderabad had 21332, 15650 and 11419 theft cases over this time period. Nuclear Waste Would Not Be Dumped At Kolar Gold Mine: Govt. To SC The Union Government of India on 28 November 2012 cleared its intention in front of the Supreme Court about dumping the Uranium waste in useless gold mines at the Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) in Karnataka from Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant. Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL) in its supplementary affidavit made clear before the court that there was nothing mentioned in earlier affidavit which indicated that the union government identified Kolar Gold Mine as the storage for nuclear waste. In the early affidavit which was dated 7 November 2012, NPCIL had stated that the underground chamber in Kolar gold mines was developed for underground research laboratory (URL). This affidavit was filed in context of the complaint of apex court in which it ordered the Centre to explain how the nuclear waste of the Kudankulam Nuclear Plant would be disposed. Protests against the action of centre were organised following the call of bandh by political parties. India ranks 78th in guaranteeing access to civil justice India ranks 78th among 97 countries in guaranteeing access to all civil justice, a latest report released on 28 November said, while its neighbouring country Sri Lanka leads the South Asian nations in most dimensions of the rule of law. The 'Rule of Law Index 2012' report by World Justice Project's provides country-by-country

92

National Affairs 2012

scores and rankings for eight areas of the rule of law. India, the report said, has a robust system of checks and balances (ranked thirty-seventh worldwide and second among lower middle income countries), an independent judiciary, strong protections for freedom of speech, and a relatively open government (ranking fiftieth globally and fourth among lower-middle income countries). "Administrative agencies do not perform well (ranking 79th) and the civil court system ranks poorly (ranking 78) mainly because of deficiencies in the areas of court congestion, enforcement, and delays in processing cases," the report said. "Corruption is a significant problem (ranking 83rd), and police discrimination and abuses are not unusual. Order and security including crime, civil conflict, and political violence is a serious concern (ranked second lowest in the world)," the report observed. According to the report, Sri Lanka outperforms its regional peers in all but two dimensions of the rule of law. "The country also outpaces most lower-middle income countries in several areas, ranking second in criminal justice, and third in the dimensions of open government, effective regulatory enforcement, and absence of corruption," it said. "On the other hand, violence and human rights violations related to the legacy of a protracted civil conflict are serious problems," the report said. Pakistan shows weaknesses in most dimensions when compared to its regional and income group peers, the report said. After Facebook controversies, govt modifies Sec 66(A) of IT Act Following the uproar over arrests made under Section 66 (A) of the IT Act, the government on Thursday issued guidelines that state approval from an officer of DCP level at rural areas and IG level in metros will have to be sought before registering complaints under the controversial section. Last week two girls were arrested over a Facebook post criticising the bandh like situation in Mumbai after Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thackeray's death while another boy was arrested on Wednesday for posting "vulgar" comments against MNS chief Raj Thackeray and the people of Maharashtra on the social networking site. "... the concerned police officer or police station may not register any complaints unless he has obtained prior approval at the level of an officer not below the DCP rank in urban and rural areas and IG level in metros," sources said. The government is confident that once these regulations are put in place, such instances will not be repeated, the sources added. "There are procedural difficulties faced..., we are going to circulate to all state governments' as guidelines with regard to registering any complaints under Section 66 (A)," sources said. Section 66 A, which is a bailable offence provides for a jail term of up to three years. Supreme Court to hear PIL to amend IT Act Voicing concern over recent incidents of people being arrested for posting alleged offensive messages on websites, the Supreme Court on 29 November, agreed to hear a PIL seeking amendment to the Information Technology Act. A bench headed by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir said that it was considering to take suo motu cognisance of recent incidents and wondered why nobody had so far challenged the particular provision of the IT Act. Supreme Court issues guidelines to curb eve-teasing at public places The Supreme Court has slammed the government on 30 November for failing to curb sexual harassment of women and said undercover female police should be stationed in public places. The top court urged action to stop what is commonly known in India as eve-teasing, which refers to a wide variety of harassment such as molestation or flashing."We notice that there is no uniform law in this country to curb Eve-teasing effectively," judges KS Radhakrishnan and Dipak Misra said. The court directed the state governments to put female police officers in all public spaces including markets, parks, beaches and public transport. It warned that if no steps were taken to combat the problem the consequences could be "disastrous".Numerous cases have come to light where young girls are harassed, with some suffering serious psychological trauma and even committing suicide. Last year a survey by the International Centre for Research on Women of 1,000 teenage boys in Mumbai showed that the overwhelming majority viewed the harassment of women as harmless and inoffensive.There have long been complaints that police in India are dismissive of sexual harassment as a serious crime and many argue that this mentality is reinforced by the idea that victims are only being "teased". Many incidents go unreported, activists say, because women believe they will simply be courting ridicule and even further harassment. AP to become first state to give statutory status to SC, ST Sub-Plan The landmark SC, ST Sub-Plan Bill which was introduced by Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy in the state Assembly on 30 November amid apprehensions among the political leaders on whether the funds were non -

93

National Affairs 2012

lapsable or not and several other such issues. Though several amendments were proposed the members were unanimous on the proposed Bill named Planning, Allocation and Utilisation of Finanacial Resources Bill 2012. With all the political parties extending support to the government move, the Bill is likely to be passed without any hurdles. This will make Andhra Pradesh the first state in the country to give statutory status to the SC, ST sub-plan. Moving the Bill, the Chief Ministyer highlighted the objectives of the Bill after which the House was adjourned till Saturday. The Bill will be discussed for two days and the Legislative Council will take up debate on it during the winter session beginning on December 10. Kiran Kumar Reddy said that the Sub -Plan would be implemented from the next financial year. Explaining the aims and objectives, the Chief Minister stated that the Deputy CM chaired Cabinet Sub-Committee prepared this report after taking the opinion of the state legislators, parliamentarians and all the concerned stakeholders. The decision to constitute this committee was taken after the budget session of the Assembly concluded in March and the final report was submitted in August, he said. Reddy observed that the funds meant for SCs and STs were diverted for other purposes by various governments all these years. Sub-Plan funds were utilised for cleaning of the Hussain Sagar Lake or for laying and beautification of the Necklace Road etc. and no one could deny this fact, he said. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee released a commemorative postage stamp on late Ramgopal Ji Maheshwari, on the eve of the start of his birth centenary year (November 20, 2011 to November 20, 2012) at a function on 20.11.2012 at Rashtrapati Bhavan. Ramgopal Ji Maheshwari was a freedom fighter, doyen of journalism, a committed social worker and a person who left no stone unturned for the cause of promotion of Hindi language. He started biweekly paper Nava Bharat from Nagpur. He successfully directed the publication of Nava Bharat as Chief Editor and was known as Bhishma Pitamaha of journalism in Central and Western India. Besides being involved in the freedom movement, Ramgopal Maheshwari also made great efforts to eradicate conservative customs from the Maheshwari Samaj and make it more progressive. The Minister of State for Railways, Kotla Surya Prakash Reddy in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on 23 November, informed that Indian Railways is establishing its first coal based captive power plant of 1000 Mega Watt (MW) capacity at Nabinagar in Bihar in Joint Venture (JV) with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) which is under construction. Indian Railways has further planned to set up two more captive power plants in Railway land, one 1320 MW capacity coal based power plant at Adra in Purulia district of West Bengal is Joint Venture with National Thermal Power Corporation and another 700 MW gas power plant at ThakurIi near Kalyan in Maharashtra. Fuel linkage and environmental clearance for both these plants are is process. Union Health and Family Welfare Minister, Gulam Nabi Azad on 24 November, announced that National Cancer Institute (NCI) and National Cardio Care Centre (NCCC) would be set up at the second campus of All India Institute of Medical Sciences(AIIMS) at Badsa in Jhajjar district of Haryana. Accompanied by Haryana Chief Minister, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the union minister also inaugurated the Outreach OPD of the AIIMS-2 at Badsa village, 47 km from the AIIMS- Delhi on Gurgaon-Badli Road in Haryana. Azad also announced that AIIMS-2 would be developed as a world class institution and Expression of Interest has already been invited for drafting its master plan through international bidding.AIIMS-2 Campus is being setup over an area of 300 acres, which has been provided free of cost by the Haryana Government. The union minister also launched the free medicine facility at AIIMS-2, as per which generic medicines would be provided free of cost to all the patients getting treatment at the OOPD. "With 600 beds, the NCI will be biggest Cancer Institute in the country and bigger than even the Tata Cancer Institute, Mumbai. It will be a comprehensive cancer centre having all the facilities to deal with various types of cancers including research and development", he stated. The National Cardiac Care Centre is also proposed to be established at the same campus. Arvind Kejriwal on 24 November 2012 announced the name of his newly formed Political Party as Aam Admi Party. The Party on the same day also adopted its Constitution that foresee establishment of Swaraj in the country. All this happened in presence of about 320 people. The name would be publicly accepted on 26 November at Jantar Mantar.The party would work with an aim of providing more say in law making to Gram Sabhas and would also work to make Judiciary accessible to Common Man. The newly formed party also cleared its stand that it would start its electoral fight from Delhi, where the Assembly elections were due by the end of 2013. The Party had also filed an application with the Election Commission to allot a symbol to the party.

94

National Affairs 2012

Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Tariq Anwar on 23 November, in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha informed that, the agriculture credit flow during the year 2009-10, 2010-11 and 2011-12 was Rs. 3,84,514 crore, Rs.4,68,291 crore and Rs. 5,11,029 crore respectively. During this period credit flow to small and marginal farmers was Rs. 1,22,654 crore, Rs. 1,67,739 crore and Rs. 2,27,835 crore respectively which is 32%, 36% and 45% of the total loan disbursed to the farmers during these years. The Government has taken several measures to improve credit flow to small and marginal farmers. These measures includes fixation of annual targets for improving agricultural credit flow, provision of crop loans upto Rs. 3.00 lakh @ 4% per annum to such farmers who repay their loan as per the repayment schedule fixed by the banks, extention of benefit of interest subvention scheme to small & marginal farmers having Kisan Credit Card for a further period upto six months for storing their produce in warehouses against negotiable warehouse receipts, collateral free loan upto Rs. 1.00 lakh, implementation of revival package for short term cooperative credit structure in the country etc. The Minister of Panchayati Raj V. Kishore Chandra Deo in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha on 22 November, informed that the Ministry of Panchayati Raj is implementing e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project (MMP) that addresses core aspects of Panchayats functioning viz. Planning, Monitoring, Implementation, Budgeting, Accounting, Social Audit etc., with the aim to make their functioning more efficient, accountable and transparent. Imparting computer education at rural level is not sought to be achieved through this Mission Mode Project. An agreement for World Bank assistance of US$ 70 million for the Additional Financing of Karnataka Health Systems Development and Reform Project was signed on 22 November in New Delhi. The said agreement was signed by Prabodh Saxena, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on behalf of the Government of India and Mr. Michael Haney, Operations Advisor, World Bank (India) on behalf of the World Bank and Dr. Vishal R., Project Administrator on behalf of the Government of Karnataka. The main objective is to improve the health services delivery, public-private collaboration and financing particularly for the benefit of underserved and vulnerable groups in Karnataka. The additional financing of the Project will be implemented until March, 2016 Tripura government announced that it is going set up two elephant reserves for preservation of the species whose numbers had vastly depleted due to large-scale hunting and migration to neighbouring country of Bangladesh. As per State Forest Minister Jitendra Chowdhury two reserves is going to be a part of elephant conservation projects and land for one at Gandhari in Amarpur sub-division of Gomati district. The latest census by the State Board for Wildlife shows that the population of elephants in the state has increased to 59 from 38 in 2002 supporting the fact that just about 40 years ago the animals were often seen even on the streets of the capital town of Agartala. According to British surveyor John Hunter's report, there was a time during the British rule when elephants outnumbered humans in the state and it was the reason why the colonisers did not consider taking administrative control. With the time, there Number went down by the cutting of forests for construction of a hydel power project on Gomati River. So, with losing their habitat the elephants started migrating from Gomati reserve forest area to the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh where forests were in abundant. Due to the ever-dwindling forests and loss of habitat, the elephants have now taken to invading human habitation often killing people, damaging crops and razing houses. A draft report recommending that the Prime Minister should be brought under the purview of the Lokpal Bill has been adopted by a Select Committee of the Rajya Sabha on 19 November. The Select Committee has sought that the Prime Minister be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal, barring departments like Intelligence, Atomic Energy which is RTI exempted. Government will launch the pay-out of direct cash subsidy to people through the Aadhaar-based system in 51 districts of the country from January 1, Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on 24 November. He said the government intends to complete roll out of the direct cash transfer through the Aadhaar system in the entire country by the end of 2013. The Finance Minister noted that the government spends thousands and thousands of crores of rupees on pension and various subsidies.We are going to launch the ambitious programme of pay-out of direct cash subsidy to people through the Aadhaar system in 51 districts across 15 States, he said. Mr Chidambaram said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will take a meeting of the cash

95

National Affairs 2012

transfer committee on Monday in the run up to the implementation of the scheme from the beginning of next year. Stating that the economy is in a slowdown mode, he said the economic growth is expected to be 5.5 per cent in the second quarter. For us 8 per cent growth is not an aspiration. We must aspire for over 8 per cent growth, he said. Commission of Small Savings, which was famous in Telugu as Chinna Mothaala Podupu Samstha and has been collecting small deposits from rural areas since 1981 will be no more. The Cabinet meeting took a decision on annulling the organization and sending the staff working in it to their parent departments. The government has been using the organization as a window to get loans from public through small savings. All the amounts are being used by the government as loan amounts for the last 32 years. Speaking to the press on 23 November, Minister for Information and Public Relations D K Aruna said that the government took the decision basing on the report submitted by Syamala Gopinath committee appointed by Government of India. She said that the amounts that were collected earlier by the Commission would be paid by the state government after completion of the time period A coastal chain of static sensors positioned along the coast of Andhra Pradesh was inaugurated by Ministry of Defence in a ceremony held at Coast Guard District Headquarters in Visakhapatnam on 23 November 2012. The event signified the operationalisation of the network on the East coast.A complete surveillance mechanism along the coast was needed post 26/11 incident. A chain of static sensors were planned to monitor the high sensitive traffic density areas along the coast of India. The coastal surveillance network will provide an integrated picture of all the vessels traversing along the coast. As part of this project, a chain of radar stations along the coast line of Andhra Pradesh were installed by the Ministry of Defence. The Chain of Static Sensors project being steered by the Indian Coast Guard, envisages fitment of high end surveillance gadgets on lighthouses and masts at various locations. Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister of State (I/C), Ministry of Women and Child Development (WCD) inaugurated the Vatsalya Mela on at Dilli Haat on 14 November. Speaking at the occasion, Smt. Tirath said that the Vatsalya Mela is celebrated every year since the last six years to sensitise the people and spread awareness and information about the various schemes of the Ministry taken up for the development of women and children. The 6 day Vatslya Mela, Smt. Tirath said is inaugurated to mark the birth anniversary of Pandit Nehru, 14th November, which is also celebrated as Childrens Day. Its closing ceremony on 19th November which marks the birth anniversary of the first woman Prime Minister of the country, Smt. Indira Gandhi shall be celebrated as Shakti Diwas , the Minister noted. The Minister also stated that a Womens Helpline on the lines of Childline is on the anvil.The twin theme for this years Mela is Child Rights and Safety & Protection of Women. Tripura government will set up two elephant reserves for preservation of the species whose numbers have vastly depleted due to large-scale poaching and migration to neighbouring Bangladesh. State Forest Minister Jitendra Chowdhury said the two reserves would be part of elephant conservation projects. A rare 76 carat diamond named after the Austrian owner Archduke Joseph August that was mined from the erstwhile Golconda Kingdom was auctioned on 14 November 2012 at a record price of Euros16.9 million or approximately 118 crore rupees at the auction, which was held at Geneva. The auction was held at Christies. sources said that this was the world record for the Golconda diamond and also the world record amount per carat for any colourless diamond. Archduke Joseph diamond has same heredity like the two other renowned diamonds- Hope and Koh-i-noor. These three diamonds have been mined from Kollur and Golconda mines. The Oxford English Dictionary has chosen Omnishambles as the UK Word of the Year 2012. The word exactly is defined as the situation that has been mismanaged comprehensively and is characterized by a string of blunders and miscalculations. This word was coined by the writer Tony Roche, and was used for the first time at the end of the first episode of the The Thick of It, BBCs political satires third series that was broadcasted in 2009.

96

National Affairs 2012

The water resources ministry will observe Nov 19, the birth anniversary of late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, as Water Conservation Day to create awareness about the need to conserve water. According to an official spokesman, Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat will chair a function in the capital Nov 19, which will include a technical presentation by the Central Water Commission, the Central Ground Water Board and Delhi Jal Board on water conservation. Indira Gandhi's birth anniversary is also observed as National Integration Day. The ministry has prepared draft of new water policy which is awaiting approval from National Water Resources Council (NWRC). The Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) on 12 November withdrew its support to the UPA at the Centre and the state government, accusing the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh of giving a free run to Sangh activists. MIM president and Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi took exception to RSS activists allegedly being allowed to erect a tarpaulin on a religious structure at Charminar yesterday, which, he said, was a violation of the state High Court order to maintain status quo. The Assam State Election Commission announced 50 per cent reservation of seats in the panchayat election for women in a bid to socially and politically empower women. This decision will come into effect from the forthcoming panchayat election which is likely to be held in February -March 2013. In last panchayat poll, one -third seats were reserved for women. The state has over two thousand two hundred gram panchayats, 188 anchalik panchayats and 20 zilla parishads. The Scheduled Caste (SC) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) women would also enjoy the 50 per cent seat reservation for women in the forthcoming panchayats. In last panchayat poll, one -third seats were reserved for women. The state has over two thousand two hundred gram panchayats, 188 anchalik panchayats and 20 zilla parishads. Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy announced that three more competitive exam coaching centres for minority students would be opened at Nizamabad, Cuddapah and Chittoor, soon. There are four centres already functioning at Hyderabad, Guntur, Visakhapatnam and Kurnool. The Chief Minister also sanctioned Rs 15 crore for the repairs of mosques and churches in the State. Budget for minorities in the state was Rs 30 crore during 2004-05, which was enhanced to Rs 489 crore, and 17,000 students were being given scholarships during 2004-05 amounting to Rs.2 crore, now enhanced to Rs.230 crore for scholarships to 1.5 lakh students during 2011-12. As the State Government introduced 4 per cent reservations for minorities during 2004, 30,239 engineers and more than 1000 doctors got benefitted and these reservations were extended for another ten years. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 came into force on 14 November 2012. The Act was passed in the Indian Parliament in May 2012. The Act under its ambit defines child as a person below the age-group of 18 and is gender neutral and have a clear definition for all types of sexual abuses like sexual harassment, penetrative or non-penetrative sexual abuse, and pornography. The Act also has defined the punishments following the kind and harshness of the offence that includes life time imprisonment for heinous crimes of sexual assaults and abuses. The Act under its ambit has tried to set up the standards of International Child Protection rights and has made it mandatory to report the sexual offences against any child. Punishment against the person trying the allegedly defame any person that also includes a child via false information is mentioned in this Act. The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 has defined the ways to provide a child friendly process of offence reporting to evidence recording, trial and investigations. Section 45 of the Act allows the Union Government to make the necessary changes in the Act, whenever and wherever applicable. The Act has also defined the facts like qualification and experience of the translators, interpreters, special educators, experts, arrangement for protection and care at times of emergencies and emergency treatment of child as well as the Compensation amount that is payable to any victim of sexual abuse. This Act has also cleared that the provisions of this Act would be monitored by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, periodically. All the rules have been structured and framed relying upon the Juvenile Act, 2000 for making arrangements in regards to the care and protection of the child, the devised rules of the act also would pay attention to the fact that the child is not revictimised at time of investigation as well as trial. The Act has also made it clear that under situations in which the child who is being taken for the medical facility on an emergency factor no documentation or magisterial requisition would be demanded before the treatment. The Rules laid down in the Act also had defined the criterion of awarding the compensations by the special court that includes loss of educational and employment

97

National Affairs 2012

opportunities along with disability, disease or pregnancy suffered by the subject as the consequence of the abuse. This compensation would be awarded at the interim stage as well as after the trial ends. The Andhra Pradesh governments decentralised rice procurement scheme will be commencing from November 16 from Jammikunta village in Karimnagar district. The scheme is aimed at reducing transport cost, supplying quality rice to the ration card holders and paying remunerative price to the farmers. Civil Supplies Minister D Sridhar Babu said that the government selected seven districts including Warangal, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Guntur, Prakasam, Nellore and Chittoor for levy rice procurement. We decided to procure 11 lakh tonne of rice from millers and farmers in these seven districts with a cost of Rs 2,530 crore. The government would save not only transport charges but storage problems will also be addressed. The levy rice would be milled and used for the public distribution system in the same districts, he said. Saying that the state needs 40 lakh tonne of rice for its PDS in a year, he said that the government decided to achieve the procurement target through civil supplies corporation. He said that a cell headed by concerned district collector for procuring fine rice would monitor the quality of the rice to be procured from the millers. After a gap of 14 years, a full-fledged youth festival YUVA TARANG- is being hosted at the University, in which nearly 1000 students from across 75 universities in the Central Zone are expected to showcase their talent. All the universities in the country have been divided into five zones viz East, West, North, South and Central. Osmania along with other universities in Telengana region and also from six states-UP, MP, Chattisgarh, Maharashtra, Orissa have been placed in Central zone. University officials confirmed participation from all the 75 universities in the zone. The Festival was last held in OU in 1998 when Prof Ramakrishnaiah was the Vice Chancellor. India tops in global pneumonia deaths of children under five years of age with 3.97 lakh reported in 2010, says a UNICEF study. The third annual International Vaccine Access Center's (IVAC) Pneumonia Progress Report 2012 says that almost 1,088 children under 5 years of age die everyday in India, an increase of 6.7 per cent from 2008 IVAC data which pegged the deaths at 3.71 lakh annually. Recent estimates from the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) show that pneumonia continues to be the number one killer of children around the world - causing 18 per cent of all child mortality, an estimated 1.3 million child deaths in 2011 alone. A Dalit enclave in a village in Andhra Pradesh's Anantapur district was named after Myanmar's prodemocracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi to mark her visit on 17 November. Honouring the visiting dignitary, the local authorities grandiosely re-named the segregated Scheduled Caste (SC) enclave in Papasanipalli village as Aung San Suu Kyi Colony. A huge banner with the new name of the colony greeted the Noble laureate during her visit to the village. Thanking the villagers for this gesture, Suu Kyi said this had given her a special link to the village. "My name means broad collection of strange victories and I hope you will have bright and unusual victories," she told the villagers. "Victory doesn't come by itself. You have to work hard for it," she said. Andhra Pradesh's Revenue Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy, who translated Suu Kyi's remarks in Telugu, advised villagers to take inspiration from her life. "She spent 25 years in jail for the sake of democracy," the minister told the gathering. India Tourism has launched two new campaigns : an International Campaign called Find What You Seek and a Domestic Campaign called Go Beyond. These campaigns where launched at the recently concluded World Travel Market-2012, which was held at London. The Union Tourism Minister Chiranjeevi who attended WTM- 2012 told media persons in New Delhi on 9 November, that the launch of these campaigns reflects a very important paradigm shift in our strategy to promote India within the country and abroad. The Go Beyond campaign focuses on promoting lesser known destinations to domestic as well as international tourists. He said Till now, we had been promoting India internationally from the point of view of the destinations. The Incredible India campaigns which we launched in 2002 has been extremely successful. In our Take II of the Incredible India campaign, we are going to focus on the consumer. The Tourism Minister said the second phase of Incredible India campaign is Find What You Seek. Chiranjeevi also announced that during WTM 2012, India was conferred with three awards by the World Travel Awards organization. These awards were, Asias leading destination, Asias leading tourist attraction Taj Mahal and Asias leading tourist Board. The Union Tourism Minister said that India would be hosting the

98

National Affairs 2012

next meeting of the UNWTO Regional Commission for South Asia and Far East & Pacific in April May next year in Hyderabad. India is currently the chairperson of the UNWTO Regional Commission for South Asia. Chiranjeevi said Indias position was 38th in the world in terms of World Tourist Arrivals and 17th in terms of World Tourism Receipts. Expressing conern over this fact he said our endeavor is to increase Indias share to 1% in the World Tourist Arrivals by 2016. The Tourism Minister said he is aware of hygiene and sanitation concerns. To improve these standards, Tourism Ministry has launched Campaign Clean India. The President of India, Pranab Mukherjee dedicated to the nation a new Integrated Terminal Building of Swami Vivekananda Airport at Raipur on 7 November . Speaking on the occasion, he wished the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Airports Authority of India all success in their endeavours for building state-of-the-art infrastructure in the country. He expressed the hope that the terminal would not only support growth and prosperity of Chhattisgarh but also that of the country as a whole. The President said that it is of critical importance that airports are built across India that conform to international standards and are safe, efficient, comfortable as well as convenient to passengers. The first ever National Conference on Ageing was held by the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment in New Delhi on 6 November. Inaugurating the two day conference the Minister, Kumari Selja said -It gives me immense pleasure to be here at the National Conference on Ageing. During the course of this Conference, we will deliberate on important issues relating to senior citizens for further strengthening our efforts to strive for an inclusive society - a society that embraces all ages.It is a well-known fact that the 21st century is witnessing a gradual transition to an ageing society all over the world. Ageing poses twin challenges. First, we need to ensure care and protection of the elderly so that they can lead a healthy, dignified and productive life. Second, the older people must be looked upon as partners in progress rather than as a burden on the society, which is the case if their existence is seen from the prism of contribution to the GDP. As per the 2001 census, the total population of the Senior Citizens (60+) was 7.7 crore. This was composed of 3.8 crore males and 3.9 crore females. The population of the senior citizens thus constituted 7.5% of the total population in 2001. The final figures of the 2011 census on this subject are not out yet. However, as per the Report of the Technical Group on Population Projections, constituted by the National Commission on Population in May 2006,and published by the Office of the Registrar General of India, this figure is projected to go up to 12.40% of the population by 2026. The social implications of this demographic shift will be profound. The existing National Policy on Older Persons (NPOP) was announced in 1999. This envisages State support for the elderly to ensure financial and food security, health care, shelter, protection against abuse and exploitation, and training of human resources for their care and support etc. An important element of the policy is that it recognizes the need for special attention to vulnerable older persons, particularly the older women, and the need for expansion of social and community services for the older persons. An institutional mechanism has been put in place to monitor the implementation of the policy and to advise the Government in the formulation and implementation of programmes for the aged through a body called the National Council for Older Persons. This body has now been renamed as the National Council of Senior Citizens. More than twelve years have elapsed since the announcement of the National Policy on Older Persons, 1999. Keeping in view the changing demographics, socio-economic pattern and technological advances, the Government is considering a revision of this Policy. A draft of the new Policy has been prepared and is under discussion with the stakeholders to ensure the widest possible consultation. Giving legislative backing to the Policy, the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act was enacted in 2007. This is a landmark legislation in our response to the challenges of ageing. In an endeavor to create a roadmap for the next five years for innovative technologies and policies for biofuels development in India, the Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India along with The Energy and Resources Institute(TERI) launched a two day International Summit on Bioenergy: Algae Biofuel & Synthetic Biology 2012 in New Delhi on 5 November. Minister of Science and Technology & Earth Sciences Jaipal Reddy inaugurated the Summit. The Minister also released The Bioenergy Road-Map Vision 2020 of Department of Biotechnology.The summit is witnessing the participation from renowned scientists from over 7 countries, including India, USA, France, Belgium, Malaysia, and South Africa along with 10 eminent international speakers.

99

National Affairs 2012

Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor has inaugurated the E9 Ministerial Review Meeting on 9 November in NewDelhi. He said in the meeting that , the universal goal of 'Education for All' will not be achieved globally if it was not achieved in the E9 countries. The E-9 Initiative was launched in 1993 in New Delhi at the 'Education For All' Summit of the Nine High-Population Countries. The 'E' stands for education and the '9' represents the nine highly populated countries: Bangladesh, Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan.Dr Tharoor noted that some countries might face greater challenges than others in meeting the EFA goals by the 2015 target date, and that the quality problem was more acute in the developing world, in parts due to the rapid expansion of access.Prof. Ms. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa'I, outgoing chair of the E9 and Minister of Education of Nigeria and Ms. Irina Bokova, DG of UNESCO also addressed the meeting. India today assumed the chair of the E-9 Secretariat from 2012-2014. India, in cooperation with UNESCO, is hosting the ninth E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting in New Delhi from 9- 10 November, 2012.This years theme of the meeting, on Inclusive, Relevant and Quality Education for All, looks at similar challenges that the E-9 countries are facing, country-specific developments in education since the last E-9 meeting in 2010 with ongoing monitoring till 2015. Based on the discussions, the E9 countries will chalk out a plan of action to further relevant quality education in the respective countries which will be followed up over the next two years. Their focus will be on the challenges of improving education quality and how those challenges can be addressed collectively and cooperatively by E-9 Countries. Two Judges Appointed to the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of article 217 of the Constitution of India, the President has appointed Justice Gurijala Krishna Mohan Reddy and Justice Kolla Surya Appa Rao, Additional Judges of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh, as Judges of that High Court, in that order of seniority, with effect from the date they assume charge of their office. Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Minister, Sharad Pawar is to inaugurate a world-class institution in food processing sector called NIFTEM - at kundli, Haryana, on 7th November. NIFTEM or the National Institute of Food Technology Entrepreneurship and Management has been conferred Deemed University status. The institute has begun its first academic session this summer. It will confer B. Tech. (Food Technology and Management), M. Tech. and Ph. D. in the area of Food Technology and Management. One important aspect of its functioning is that it has theme centres on different sectors such as dairying, cereal-based products, animal protein, beverages, confectionery, and fruit and vegetable based foods. NIFTEM would work actively in setting food standards, businesses incubation and information sharing. It would be an apex institution in the field of food technology and management and would coordinate its various activities with other institutions in this area. NIFTEM would actively collaborate with the worlds best institutions to promote development of path-breaking technologies, which are globally relevant. This will help NIFTEM become an international centre of excellence. Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad Chairs the Opening Session of International Conference on Population and Development at Dhaka on 10 November. Partners in Population and Development (PPD) is an intergovernmental initiative created specifically for the purpose of expanding and improving South-toSouth collaboration in the fields of reproductive health, population, and development. PPD was launched at the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), when ten developing countries from Asia, Africa and Latin America formed an intergovernmental alliance to help implement the Cairo Program of Action (POA). PPD has presently 25 members countries committed to the implementation of the ICPD Programme of Action, willing to provide political, technical and financial support to South-South Cooperation. PPD is currently chaired by Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, who has been unanimously elected to the post in the 16th Annual Board Meeting of PPD held in Pretoria, South Africa in 2011.Ghulam Nabi Azad, Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India, who is currently on an official tour to Bangladesh capital Dhaka, on 10 november, participated in the opening session of the two-day International Conference on Evidence for Action: South-South Collaboration for ICPD beyond 2014, organized jointly by Partners in Population and Development (PPD) and the Government of Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. The National Innovation Council (NInC) has presented its second annual Report to the People, 2012, to president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, at Rahstrapati Bhavan at the second Global Innovation Roundtable (GIR), held on November 1 and 2 in New Delhi, India. The NInC report outlined its activities and initiatives

100

National Affairs 2012

undertaken to strengthen the innovation ecosystem in the country in the past year. The NInC, chaired by Sam Pitroda, adviser to the prime minister, hosted the second GIR, which sets the agenda for global cooperation in innovation. At the concluding session on Collaboration on innovation, numerous experiences, insights and ideas were shared by the participants. One of the discussions was on how existing educational content could be aggregated, filtered and indexed under the guidance of global domain experts and made available on mobile devices like Aakash. The roundtable saw participation from heads of innovation policy from 20 governments across the world as well as leading global innovation experts. Ministerial level representatives from countries like Europe, the US, United Kingdom, Africa, innovation experts from organisations such as Nesta, Innovation Norway, United Nations, the World Bank, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation etc, private enterprises, ministers and policy makers from the Indian government and members of the National Innovation Council, participated. Pitroda highlighted the Councils commitment towards innovation in the education system. He informed that the government has created the National Knowledge Network, a high bandwidth network to connect all the educational and research institutions in India, a project that provides an unprecedented platform for leveraging ICT to launch innovation in diverse sectors. Pitroda also informed that the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD) will be launching 1,000 scholarships under the national innovation scholarship scheme from 2013. He further added that the MHRD in consultation with NIC and the Planning Commission has identified institutes where five new design innovation centres will be co-located and become functional in the year 2012-13. The prime minister constituted the NInC in September 2010, which began its work in the same year in November and presented its first year Report to the People in November 2011. SushilKumar Shinde, Union Home Minister is participating in the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO)-Interpol Ministerial Meeting to be held at Rome, Italy on November 5, 2012, along with an Indian Delegation. The Home Minister would be addressing the General Assembly on Terrorist violence. The government has decided to extend ex-servicemen benefits to retired central paramilitary personnel. The move will please 17 lakh serving and retired personnel from the forces, who were treated like any other government employee. The Cabinet on 1 November, passed a proposal moved by the home ministry to declare retired personnel from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) as "ex-central police personnel" and extend them several benefits that ex-servicemen from the armed forces get. Weavers from India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives and Sri Lanka will participate at the week-long Wheel of Life Expo/Workshop exhibition, where handloom products from their respective countries will be on display and on sale. The Wheel of Life Expo/Workshop will be inaugurated and declared open by the Secretary to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, Smt. Sangita Gairola on 1st November 2012. The event is organized by the SAARC Cultural Centre, in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, and Development Commissioner for Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles, Government of India. The objectives of the event is to execute and display the skills of the weavers, as well as bring them to one platform for interaction, and help them find new markets and new market trend. Most importantly, it is to educate visitors, both domestic and foreigners about the unique and fascinating technique involved in weaving and to highlight the traditional handloom of the region. Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Indian Prime Minister on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations and Chairman, National Innovation Council will host the first global press conference on Twitter to discuss Global Innovation Roundtable. The Global Twitter Press Conference will be conducted on 2 November, the concluding day of the Global Innovation Roundtable hosted by the National Innovation Council, Government of India. The National Innovation Council is organizing the Second Global Innovation Roundtable on the 1st and 2nd November 2012 in New Delhi, India. The Roundtable will see participation of leaders of Innovation from more than 15 countries, participating in 10 sessions spread over two days. The roundtable will offer a forum for sharing ideas and experiences among all the participating countries to identify mechanisms to collaborate on inclusive innovation that meets global needs of inclusion, access and equity. The National Innovation Council, Government of India, hosted the first Global Innovation Roundtable in November 2011 in New Delhi, India.

101

National Affairs 2012

The National Innovation Council was set up by the Prime Minister of India, Dr.Manmohan Singh, in 2010. The Council helps implement strategies for Inclusive Innovation in India and is preparing a Roadmap for Innovation for 2010-2020. The Council will present its second annual Report to the People 2012 to the Honble President of India on 2nd November 2012. The Twitter press conference will talk about the deliberations and outcomes of the Global Innovation Roundtable and will take up questions from Indian and international media. Sam Pitroda will host the conference from his Twitter handle @pitrodasam and will invite other Global Innovation Roundtable participants to join in. President Pranab Mukherjee said at the inaugural function of the two-day 11th All India Lokayuktas Conference 2012, held in New Delhi that with the enormous financial expansion in the country from the first five year plan till now, it is important that an ombudsman like Lokayukta takes charge to be to oversee that the resources are used effectively for sustainable growth. The President said till now only 19 states have appointed Lokayuktas, other states should follow the example to have an effective ombudsman to check corruption in public spending. Mr Mukherjee said Lokayuktas should not only do their duty to indict public functionaries when they are guilty but also protect them when nothing is found wrong with their conduct and to correct wrong perceptions about them with equal force and earnestness. The Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh laid the foundation of the Redevelopment Project of Lady Hardinge Medical College in Delhi on 3 November. In this occasion, the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said, more medical students, both at MBBS and PG level, would pass out from the Lady Hardinge Medical College in the national capital once re-development of the hospital is completed, he said redevelopment of the Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) and its associated hospitals is a part of the initiative launched by the Ministry to augment healthcare services. Ever since UPA II came to power at the Centre, the availability of MBBS seats has gone up by about 37 per cent and the number of PG seats in the country has increased by 73 per cent. The Union Cabinet on 1 November decided to withdraw controversial draft amendments to the Right to Information Act that had sought to restrict disclosure of file notings only to social and developmental issues. After this, all file notings can be made public except those explicitly exempted, such as the ones related to national security, privacy and protection of commercial interest.The Cabinet has decided to withdraw the amendments, said a source privy to the deliberations at the Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.In 2006, the Cabinet had approved the amendments but they did not make it to the Parliament because of stiff opposition. Discovery Communications on 1 November formally launched its kids channel Discovery Kids in Andhra Pradesh, targeting children below the age of 11 years. The channel, which is Discovery Communications eighth channel in India, was rolled out last month in three languages English, Hindi and Tamil. Discovery is today amongst the 10 most-viewed channels in India, with 140 million viewers clicking on to it every year. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 3 November said the 12th Five-Year Plan will enhance spending on health up to three times and that more medical and nursing colleges were needed to overcome a shortage of trained human resources in the sector. Speaking at the foundation stone laying of the Lady Hardinge Medical College project here, the prime minister also said that health indicators reflected a country's overall well-being. He said the government was paying more attention to medical education. In the last three years, the number of MBBS seats in medical colleges rose by over 30 percent and the seats for post-graduate programmes by 51 percent. The prime minister said that nutrition, drinking water, sanitation, housing and education, particularly of the girl child, were increasingly being underlined as the social determinants of health. He added that generic drugs would be made available free in all public hospitals across the country to help the poor reduce their out of pocket expenditure on health.

102

National Affairs 2012

December
The 23-year old para-medical student who was gang raped in New Delhi on 16 December 2012 passed away in Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on 29 December 2012.The victim died due to multiple organ failure and severe injuries to her brain and body. India's High Commissioner to Singapore TCA Raghavan announced that the body would be brought back to India on 29 December 2012. According to the Singapore doctors, the victim lost the battle of her life after two weeks of brutal sexual attack which horrified India. The chief executive of Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital announced on 28 December 2012 that she was suffering from severe organ failure because of injuries to her brain as well as body. She was raped on 16 December 2012 by six men who also assaulted her with iron rods. The victim was shifted to Singapore hospital on 27 December 2012. Government has decided on 24 December, to constitute a committee of eminent jurists to look into possible amendments to the criminal law so as to provide for quicker trial and enhanced punishment for criminals, accused of committing sexual assault of extreme nature against women. Justice (Retd) JS Verma, former Chief Justice of India will be the Chairman of the committee. Justice (Retd) Leila Seth, former Chief Justice of Himachal Pradesh and Gopal Subramaniam, former Solicitor General of India will be the other members. The committee shall submit its report within 30 days. In the light of the recent Delhi rape incident, the Government has given anxious consideration to the need for reviewing the present laws so as to provide for speedier justice and enhanced punishment in cases of aggravated sexual assault. The Cabinet on 26 December, approved setting up of a Commission of Enquiry to look into the incident of rape and assault on a young woman on 16th December, 2012 in Delhi and to suggest measures to improve the safety and security of women. The Commission of Enquiry will be set up under the Chairmanship of Ms. Justice Usha Mehra, retired Judge of the High Court, Delhi. The Commission shall go into the various aspects of the shocking incident of rape and brutal assault of a young woman in Delhi on 16.12.2012; identify the lapses, if any, on the part of the police or any other authority or person that contributed to the occurrence; and fix responsibility for the lapses and / or negligence on the part of the police or any other authority or person. The Commission shall suggest measures to improve the safety and security of women, particularly in Delhi and North Commission shall submit its report to the Central Government as soon as possible but not later than three months from the date of its first sitting. The headquarters of the Commission shall be at New Delhi. About 27 million households constituting 11% of the total households of the country are headed by females. Kerala tops the list of States with 23% households having a female as head. This finding has been revealed in the Household data released on 28 December, in New Delhi by Minister of State for Home Affairs R.P.N.Singh. Dr. C.Chandramouli, Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India gave the main highlights from Census 2011. Summary findings of the data are as below. a) There are about 27 million female headed households(HHs) in the country. They constitute 10.9% of the total households in the country. b) 43.7% of households in Lakshadweep and 23% households in Kerala have a female as head. c) About 49 lakh SingleMember Female HHs are there in the country. Three-fourth of them live in rural areas. d) In seven major States, namely Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and Gujarat, the proportion of Single Member Female Headed HH is more than 20%.e) The proportion of Male Headed HHs has declined by 0.6% in 2011 compared to 2001 while proportion of Female Headed HHs has increased by 0.5% in the same period. f) More than 60% of Female Headed HHs have permanent houses while in case of SC and ST categories amongst Female Headed HHs the percentage reduces to 55.8% and 33.4% respectively. Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde on 28 December, convened a meeting on Telengana issue with the leaders of eight different political parties of Andhra Pradesh. The Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh S Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy and two representatives from each of the political parties attended the meeting and expressed their views to examine the Union Home Minister. The meeting was convened in a cordial atmosphere. The participants expressed the opinion that a decision should be taken by the Central Government at the earliest. Some suggested a period of one month as a period for a decision. The following leaders attended the meeting. G Krishna Reddy and K Haribabu from Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP), Dr. K Narayana and G Mallesh from Communist Party of India (CPI), BV Raghavulu and J Ranga Reddy from Communist Party of

103

National Affairs 2012

India (Marxist) CPI(M), Gade Venkat Reddy and KR Suresh Reddy from Indian National Congress (INC), K Chandrasekhara Rao and N Narsimha Reddy from Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Y Ramakrishnudu and K Srihari from Telegu Desam Party (TDP), Asaduddin Owaisi and Gajula Vijaya Gyaneshwar Naidu from All India Majlis (AIM) and Mysoora Reddy and KK Mahendra Reddy from YSR Congress Party. The National Water Resource Council has adopted the National Water Policy (2012). The consensus in this regard was made during 6th meeting of the council held on 28 December, in New Delhi under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh. This has been stated by the Union Water Resource Minister Harish Rawat while addressing the media persons . However, after elongated discussions there were broader consensus on the issues of community management of water resources, climate change adaptation strategy particularly increasing water storage through revival of traditional water harvesting structures and water bodies and efficient use of water. Rawat said states have been assured that the proposed National Water Framework law and the law on River Basin Management would be drafted only after extensive consultation with States so as to ensure that the powers of the States are not curtailed in any manner. Earlier , Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister presided over the 6th Meeting of the National Water Resources Council. Delivering his opening remarks, the Prime Minister stated that the National Water Policy (2012) was an effort to focus on the human cause in the water sector and would lay a road map for the future based on the fundamental principles of equity, sustainability and good governance. He called for a paradigm shift in the approach for judicious and wise management of scarce water resources. The National Water Resources Council meeting was attended by several Chief Ministers, Union Ministers and State Ministers. President Pranab Mukherjee on 27 December 2012 declared open the 4th World Telugu Conference in the presence of thousands of Telugu-speaking people from across the world in the temple town of Tirupati of Andhra Pradesh. The event was also marked with the felicitation of 14 eminent Telugus. People were asked to pass on the rich Telugu culture, heritage and tradition to the next generation with a resolve to preserve and promote the honey-laced aura of the language. The inaugural also saw the laying of a foundation stone for an international convention centre. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy announced that a separate ministry would be created in the Secretariat for protection and promotion of Telugu, and with this telgu is goin to be introduced as a medium of instruction in primary education up to Class X. Also the Sangitha, Nataka, Lalitha, Sahitya and Rangasthala akademis would be revived.World Telugu Conference is held for promotion of Telugu language. Literary exemplary personalities attend and share their views on spreading and preserving the rich language. First World Telgu Conference was held in Hyderabad in year 1975. It was the then Minister of Education, Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao instrumental in starting it. The Minimum Support Price of Wheat was increased to 1350 Rupees per Quintal The Union government of India on 26 December 2012 raised the Minimum Support Price, MSP of wheat by 65 rupees per quintal to 1350 rupees per quintal. The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting this morning in New Delhi Chaired by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh. The government also decided to export additional 25 lakh tonnes of wheat from its go-downs. The CCEA approved the disinvestment of 12.5 per cent paid up equity capital to the Rashtriya Chemicals and Fertilizers. Current government holding is about 92.5 per cent. This will make the company compliant with the SEBI norms that 10 per cent float should be there. CCEA approved the proposal to export an additional 25 lakh tonnes of wheat. Earlier, we had approved export of 20 lakh tonnes of wheat of that a little over 17 lakh tonnes have been contracted. Seven new airports proposed in State The Andhra Pradesh State government has proposed to develop seven Green field Airports in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) in Tier- 2 cities in the state . If all goes well the airports will come up in Warangal, Kothagudem, Tadepalligudem, Vizianagaram, Srikakulam, Ongole and Nellore. Under the Civil aviation policy -2012, prepared by the state Infrastructure , Ports and Airports Ministry, it is proposed to create better air connectivity between the cities and towns growing\ commercially and industrially .Under the plan, Rs 1,000 crore to Rs 2,000 crore will be spent on each airport . Government will offer concessions on land, water, power and provide other basic infrastructure like laying of roads. Official sources said that the Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) has already conducted a study and submitted its draft report to the government recently. The report will be made available to CII and FICCI , air travel associations and public to seek their suggestions.

104

National Affairs 2012

Andhra Pradesh to setup special ministry for promotion of Telugu The fourth World Telugu Conference (WTC) began in Tirupati on 27 December with Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy announcing that a separate ministry would be created for the promotion and development of Telugu language in the state. Addressing the conference, which was inaugurated by President Pranab Mukherjee, the chief minister promised that Telugu would be made the language of administration and education. He said steps would also be taken to make Telugu as the medium of instruction up to 10th standard. He said three academies for promotion of Telugu music, art and literature would be revived. Speaking in Telugu, Governor ESL Narasimhan described it as a sweet language and said it has a bright future. The president felicitated eminent Telugu personalities from various walks of life, including actor Akkineni Nageswara Rao and former hockey player Mukesh Kumar. The conference, being held in Andhra Pradesh after a gap of 37 years, got off to a glittering start at the sprawling campus of the Veterinary University. Over 5,000 delegates from India and abroad are attending the three-day meet, which will discuss various issues for preserving the finesse of the Telugu language for posterity. Various sessions will deliberate on culture, dance, song, food and other aspects. There will also be sessions on films, plays and poetry besides cultural programmes. Seventeen feature films depicting the greatness of Telugu would be screened at select theatres in the town. Before the inauguration of WTC, the chief minister unveiled the statue of Telugu Talli (mother Telugu). A massive procession with 1,500 artists was taken out to highlight the rich cultural heritage of Telugu. Hundreds of students also participated in the procession. About 8,000 policemen have been deployed as part of the massive security arrangements for the conference. The first WTC was held in Hyderabad in 1975. The second was held in Malaysia in 1981 and the third in Mauritius in 1990. Bihar became the Fastest Growing Indian State between 2006 and 2010 As per the data released by the Planning Commission of India, Bihar became the fastest growing state in India at 10.9 per cent between 2006 and 2010 while Gujarats growth rate declined to 9.3 per cent and it lagged behind Bihar and other four states- Orissa, Maharashtra, Haryana, Chhattisgarh in terms of growth rate. Bihar was the slowest growing state during 2001-05 period with GDP figure of 2.9 percent whereas Gujarat was the fastest growing state between 2001 and 2005 with figure of 11 percent. Chhattisgarh grew from 7.7 per cent in 2001-05 to 10 per cent growth between 2006 and 2010 while Haryana grew from 8.4 per cent to 9.7 per cent, Maharashtra from 8.2 per cent to 9.6 per cent and Orissa from 7.8 per cent to 9.4 per cent between 2006 and 2010. The period between 2004-05 and 2011-12 registered an average increase of 300 per cent in consumption in rural areas, minimizing the gap between rural and urban area thus highlighting the inclusive growth. The Lok Sabha on 18 december, cleared a Constitution amendment bill granting special status to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, with provision for reservation in education and jobs for locals. The Constitution (118th Amendment) Bill, 2012, to insert a new Article 371-J to provide special recognition for the six backward districtsGulbarga, Yadgir, Raichur, Bidar, Koppal and Bellarywas passed unanimously.As all the members present in the House voted in favour, the bill was passed with an overwhelming majority. The bill, which required two-thirds majority, got 347 votes and none against. It is not known when the government will table the bill in the Rajya Sabha. The bill provides for establishing a separate development board and equitable allocation of funds for development of the region. Apart from this, it will provide quota in public employment through local cadres and reservation in education and vocational training institutions for those who belong to the region by birth or by domicile. The Lok Sabha on 18 december, passed the Companies Bill aimed at overhauling corporate governance norms. It will also grant shareholders with greater powers to defend their rights and lay down rules for companies to spend on welfare activities under the broad head of corporate social responsibility. The Bill seeks to legislate a framework for checks and balances to prevent frauds, make corporate board room decisions transparent and hold auditors and directors more accountable.The legislation, which has been in the works for several years, is a key reform initiative of the UPA government that has announced a string of bold reformist moves since mid-September.Replying to a debate before the Bill was passed by a voice vote, corporate affairs minister Sachin Pilot said through this new legislation, the government intends to make India an attractive and safe investment destination.He said special courts would be set up for speedy trials, as an assurance to investors that cases will not linger on. He also said India will be become the first country to mandate CSR spend through a statutory provision.It will allow shareholders' associations to take legal action against companies' promoters and management through 'Class Action Suits'-a form of lawsuit where a group of people bring a claim to court.

105

National Affairs 2012

This acts as a deterrent to carry out a fraud by tailoring and influencing board decisions only to suit promoters' and managements' interests. Indian girl Sherin Catherine in line for Oscar nomination Sherin Catherine, 24, who wrote the lyrics of two songs for Rupesh Paul's 'Saint Dracula', is all smiles. The songs 'I Be Here' and 'I Have Secrets' written by her and composed by Sreevalson J Menon have made it to the list of 75 songs chosen for nominations in the original song category for the 85th Academy Awards 2012. Surprisingly, this is her maiden effort. It was last year when she noticed the Facebook notification searching for young talents to write lyrics for the movie 'Saint Dracula 3D'. She contacted the administrative team of the movie and was asked to send in a few of her original writings in prose. A month later, she was offered the opportunity to write the lyrics of two songs for the movie."It took me three months to finish writing two songs for the movie. The songs were rewritten four to five times since then. Sreevalsan J Menon, the music composer, and myself would dedicate hours on teleconferencing, getting the lyrics right. He would sing the songs over and over again on phone and I would be correcting the lines accordingly. After a span of one and half years we finally emerged with two amazing songs," Sherin, currently pursuing her doctorate in Cognitive Science from IIT-Gandhinagar, said. Sherin, who is from Kottayam, feels this contention for nomination has changed her life. "Of course, I enjoy the fame. And it makes me want to think serious about writing as a career. I have got few offers in hand already. Parents, friends and folks seem to be happy. This is one of the happiest moments in my life."The young writer is planning to come out with a collection of short stories in Malayalam early next year. "I want to take writing more seriously now. Reading was always my inspiration. I read and got inspired to write. It is good to read. Even better to write," AP Govt. agrees to exempt film industry from VAT The Andhra Pradesh State government has agreed in principle to exempt the film industry in Andhra Pradesh from value added tax (VAT), acceding to a long-pending request. Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy was said to have given the nod for such an exemption and Government Order is expected to be issued very soon. Film producer D. Suresh Babu said it was a good augury that government had seen their reason. He recalled that the industry was earlier exempted from General Sales Tax and, ever since VAT came into effect,, they were demanding similar exemption. Our demand was justified because it would mean double taxation. We anyway pay 14 per cent as Entertainment Tax, through ticket sales, just like people do for any product they Government of Maharashtra ordered SIT Probe into Multi-Crore Irrigation Scam Government of Maharashtra on 17 December 2012 ordered a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the matter of multi-crore irrigation scam. The announcement was made in both the legislative houses of the state. The SIT would be headed by the Dr. Madhavrao Chitale and comprise experts from law and judiciary and finance departments. Its deadline would be finalized by 31 December 2012. Dr. Chitale is a water expert and has worked for different commissions and at different capacities and served the Union Water Resource Ministry as its Secretary. AP among top 5 States in road accidents Road accidents across the globe are showing sharp rise. If the respective governments do not take action, an estimated 2.4 million people would lose lives every year and it is going to be the fifth leading cause of death globally by 2020, said a recent survey on Road Safety Standards by World Health Organisation (WHO). While this is the global scenario, India also showed consistent rise in deaths per one lakh population due to road accidents. Shockingly, Andhra Pradesh stood among the top five states in terms of road accidents with 45,000 accidents every year. The crash, injury and fatality in Hyderabad during 2009-2012 (as per the report till September 2012) are declining. This trend in reduction is attributed to the initiatives of the Hyderabad Traffic Police that includes use of information technology and strict law enforcement, it is claimed. Over 4.97 lakh accidents (one accident every minute) occurred in 2011 involving 1.43 lakh deaths (one death every 3.7 minutes) according to a report from Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways data showed that the road traffic crashes per 1 lakh population increased from 21.2 in 1970 to 22.8 in 1980 followed by sharp increase to 33.8 in 1990. Motorised vehicles accounted for 92.4 per cent (4.6 lakh out of 4.97 lakh road traffic crashes) in 2011. Amongst the vehicle categories, two-wheelers accounted for the highest share of 23.7 per cent (1.2 lakh) followed by trucks, tempos, tractors and other articulated vehicles 22.4 per cent and cars, jeeps and taxis share were 21.3 per cent.

106

National Affairs 2012

Big win for Modi in Gujarat Narendra Modi has once again defended his Gujarat citadel. The incumbent Chief Minister scored a massive win on 20 December with the BJP winning 116 seats out of the total 182. As per the Gujarat Election Results 2012, the BJP has won 116 seats, while the Congress finished a poor second with only 60 seats. Modis challenger Keshubhai Patel of Gujarat Parivartan Party (GPP) failed miserably in his mission to uproot the man who had taken over from him as Chief Minister in 2002 and has never looked back since. The GPP has won only two seats - one of the two winners being Keshubhai himself. Others won four seats. Congress wins Himachal Pradesh elections The Congress returned to power in Himachal Pradesh after five years, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party by a handsome margin on 20 December. The Congress put up a spirited campaign under former Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh to emerge victorious by a comfortable margin. Being pitched as a strong CM contender, Singh led his party while winning Shimla(Rural) constituency defeating his BJP rival Ishwar Rohal by 19,033 votes. New cases of HIV decreased by 57 percent in India: Union Health Minister Addressing the India Health Summit which was organised by CII in New Delhi, the Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on 18 December 2012 declared that India was witnessing a steep decline in fresh cases of HIV. The health minister announced that the fresh cases of HIV have dropped down to 57 percent. Addressing the Summit, the heath minister also announced that there was a steep decrease in measles, mumps and rubella, infant mortality rate as well as new HIV cases by 57 percent. Also, it was declared that 2012 would be the second successive year to witness polio-free nation. The credit for putting an end to H1N1 was given to Indian manufacturers as well as Indian Council of Medical research (ICMR) for developing the vaccines as well as testing the regents. Apart from this, it was declared that ICMR was working on 75 leads of public health importance in order to develop as well as evaluate affordable diagnostics which include test for diabetes, cancer and TB. India's commercial capital, Mumbai, has been named among the world's 'dirtiest' cities, ranking last in the "cleanest streets" category, a global survey of 40 key tourist cities has found. According to TripAdvisor's Cities Survey, Tokyo grabbed the first place while Mumbai ranked last in cleanest streets".Similarly in the category of "ease of getting around", Mumbai ranked at the last position while Zurich stood at first place, the company said in a press release.The cities with the rudest locals, dirtiest streets and worst shopping have been revealed by the Survey which found that the least-friendly locals were from Moscow.The Russian city ranked last in a number of categories, including "friendliest locals".Tokyo was the most highly decorated world city, ranking number one for best taxi services, friendliest taxi drivers, best public transportation, cleanest streets and safety.New York City took out the top gong for shopping, but travellers felt the city's streets could use a sweep with the Big Apple ranking 28 out of 40 for cleanliness.The survey, completed by more than 75,000 people, looked into how travellers and locals viewed 40 key tourist cities around the world. Emboldened by Parliament's vote in favour of 51% FDI in multi-brand retail, the UPA Government on 13 December, gave up a big push to reformist agenda with the Cabinet clearing a much-awaited proposal to set up the National Investment Board (NIB) and amendments to the Land Acquisition Bill.The cabinet also approved the re auction of 1800 Mhz spectrum in three circles at a base price which is 30% lower than what was fixed by the government in the auction concluded just a month ago, which might help the government raise resources for its dwindling kitty.Besides, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave a nod to new investment policy on urea which might help in garnering investment worth Rs 35,000 crore.The proposed NIB, to be now known as the Cabinet Committee of Infrastructure, will be a body to speed up various clearances for infrastructure projects above Rs 1,000 crore of projects. The body, to be chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, would be set up at a time when the Planning Commission envisages investment to the tune of Rs 56,14,730 crore in infrastructure sector in the 12th five year plan (2012-13 to 2016-17).Recently, Finance Minister P Chidambaram had said that there were over 100 projects, each involving investment of Rs 1,000 crore or more, that have been delayed due to various reasons.The cabinet also cleared the amendments to the Land Acquisiton bill, though in a diluted form.The cleared Bill requires the consent of only 70% of land owners when the government acquires land for a public-private partnership (PPP) project. For all other types of projects, 80% consent will be required.In its original form, the legislation, The Right to Fair Compensation, Resettlement, Rehabilitation and Transparency in Land Acquisition Bill, had required 80% consent not just

107

National Affairs 2012

from landowners, but also from the dependent farm workers.This provision was removed after protests from industry and infrastructure lobbies. Following the Centres nod for Phase-IIA of Project Seabird on 7 december, Karwar in coastal Karnataka is set to become the countrys biggest Naval base by 2025.The official sanction granted on 7 december for the latest phase of the ambitious project--with a whopping `13,500 cr outlay-- has the potential to transform the region into the countrys most important Naval base. It will also be home to the Navys submarine fleet in addition to having berthing facilities to accommodate as many as the 50-odd frigates.The base will enhance the Navys operational flexibility and strategic advantage in the Indian Ocean region, including in antipiracy efforts.Actually, the move to set up an exclusive Naval base at Karwar is intended to decongest Mumbai on the West coast and Visakhapatnam on the East coast, as the two ports also have commercial shipping operations. Also, the decision was prompted by Mumbais proximity to Pakistan and the Islamic nations growing missile arsenal.Karwar will also get a new Naval air station from where maritime planes and helicopters, including combat aircraft, can operate.These apart, Karwars existing Railway station will be upgraded and expanded to have a siding for the Navys use.The Naval base, when completed, will have over one lakh personnel working there, apart from their families living in an upcoming residential township. Civilian facilities such as educational institutions, hospitals, recreational centres and a sports complex too form part of the regions expansion plans.Officials says that the Karwar base has the facility to berth INS Vikramaditya, the erstwhile Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, which is scheduled to join the Navy in the last quarter of 2013. The expansion will allow it to be home to two more aircraft carriers later.The 45,000-tonne Vikramaditya is currently undergoing refit in Russia and its delivery schedule was revised in September.Apart from the one for Vikramaditya, Karwar will get two more jetties under Phase-IIA to berth the under-construction 40,000-tonne Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC), to be called INS Vikrant, and its follow-on warship, which could weigh around 60,000-tonnes.By the end of Phase-IIA in 2018, Karwar will be home to about 30 of the Navys 160 surface warships and submarines.Another key facility will be the 10,000-tonne ship lift, the only one of its kind in this part of the world. And the facility will be expanded to add two or three dry and repair berths. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was on Dec 8 conferred with an honorary Doctorate by the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) with the citation describing him as the architect of economic reforms in the country.Besides the Prime Minister, honorary degrees were awarded to three othersPunjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, former Director General of ICAR, RS Paroda, and renowned soil scientist Jaswant Singh Kanwarat a special convocation organized as part of the universitys Golden Jubilee celebrations.Dr Manmohan Singhs leadership as the Prime Minister of our country has won him wide acclaim. He is respected the world over for his scholarship and his deep knowledge of the global economy, the citation of the Doctor of Science (honoris causa) conferred on him stated.The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) in Punjab has earned international reputation for excellence in agriculture. It pioneered the Green Revolution in India in 1960s. According to a recent report by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), an approximate 7 crore people in India are either unemployed or under-employed. The figures were revealed by Labour and Employment Minister Mallikarjun Kharge in Rajya Sabha."As per results of the latest survey conducted by NSSO during 2009-10, the number of unemployed or under-employed persons on usual status basis in the country was 95 lakhs and about six crore respectively," the minister said. Ratio of girls to boys falls to new low in Andhra Pradesh Efforts to curb female foeticide and pre-natal gender tests despite strong laws have failed miserably and the Child Sex Ratio (CSR ) is falling drastically in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the state , officials said two days before the government and independent groups begin the 'Save the girl child' campaign. In Hyderabad, the fifth largest city in South India , the CSR has come down from 943 girls per 1,000 boys to 938 girls to 1000 boys in the past 10 years and the situation in the districts is worse with the CSR in Warangal falling from 955 girls in 2001 to just 912 girl per 1,000 boys now . "The deplorable scenario is the result of increasing violence, foeticide, infanticide , trafficking of poor women , forced polyandry and availability of advanced technology for widespread use of sex determination and sex selective abortions ," said P Raghu , regional manager of Actionaid , which is spearheading the campaign along with the government in collaboration with other NGOs.

108

National Affairs 2012

Input subsidy hiked to Rs.10, 000 per hectare Cabinet sub-committee report recommends increase in input subsidy to help farmers. The government has increased the input subsidy sanctioned to farmers for the damaged paddy, groundnut, cotton and other crops from Rs.6,000 per hectare to Rs.10,000 per hectare. Announcing this in the Legislative Council at the end of short discussion on Relief and Rehabilitation taken up after Neelam cyclone here on 10 December, Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy said the decision was based on the report by the Cabinet sub-committee that studied the need to increase input subsidy to help farmers. The increase in input subsidy is about 67 per cent, highest so far in the State, he said. The last time the government increased the input subsidy to Rs. 6,000 per hectare was in 2010 and of it, the State government bore Rs. 1,500 per hectare. The input subsidy increase for other crops would be on the pro-rata basis. Over 65,000 cases pending in Supreme Court till November this year A total of 65,703 cases are pending in the Supreme Court till November this year, out of which 6,445 cases have been pending for more than five years, Law and Justice Minister Ashwani Kumar told the Rajya Sabha on 10 December. In written reply to a question, the Union Minister said, "There were a total of 65,703 cases pending in the SC as on November 30, 2012. Out of them 22,133 matters were upto one year old and not in arrears. If connected matters were excluded, the pendency was only 37,230 cases as on November 30." There were 6,445 cases pending for more than five years and 52,074 cases were pending for less than five years as on December 31, 2011 in Supreme Court, he added. In effort to reduce the pendency, Kumar said a drive was undertaken from July to December 2011 for clearing long pending cases and cases related to marginalised sections of the society in high courts and subordinate courts under their jurisdiction. On recommendations of 13th Finance Commission, the government has sanctioned Rs 5,000 crore as grants to the states for five years between 2010-15 for undertaking various initiatives for reducing the pendency in courts. Nationwide Mobile Number Portability by February Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal on 13 December said nationwide Mobile Number Portability (MNP) is expected to be rolled out by February 2013, which will allow users to retain their numbers even if they move from one State to another. For the timely implementation of the National Telecom Policy 2012, the Department of Telecom has finalised broad agenda for next three months from December 2012 to February 2013, Mr. Sibal said at India Telecom 2012 meeting in New Delhi. Some of the key initiative in course to be completed by February 2013 are approval of spectrum assignment and pricing, unified licences regime, M&A guidelines, finalisation of guidelines for spectrum sharing, creation of fund for R&D and manufacturing and of course, MNP on a nationwide basis, he added. Currently, a user is allowed to switch to a different operator within his/her circle, while retaining his/her phone number. Under NTP 2012, the government had envisaged implementing MNP on a nationwide level allowing users to retain their mobile numbers even when they shift to a different telecom circle. India has 22 telecom circles. Get TB drugs at shops free, govt to pay up In a move to curb multi-drug resistant tuberculosis cases caused mostly because of irregular medication, the government has decided that relevant medicines will be available for free at all chemist shops and corporate hospitals. The scheme will be rolled out across the country by next March. A patient, confirmed positive for TB by a qualified doctor, simply needs to register with the Revised National Tuberculosis Control Program (RNTCP). The patient will then be issued a unique ID which will have all information on medicines prescribed and the dosage. "Any hospital or chemist shop will be able to give the medicine to him/her as per the treatment schedule, which will be available online. The government will bear all costs," said Dr Jagdhish Prasad, director general of health services (DGHS).The government presently spends about Rs 250 crore on providing free medicines to TB patients. The new scheme will cost about Rs 100 crore more."We are in talks with manufacturers of the medicines and hospital groups to finalise the modality for reimbursement," Prasad said. Congress Precident Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were named in the list of top 20 most powerful people in the world by the Forbes Magazine in annual power rankings which were declared on 5 December 2012. The US President Barrack Obama got first rank in the list second time consequently. Prime Minister Manmohan Sign was ranked at no. 19. Sonia Gandhi stood at no. 12 in 2012. Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani, the richest business tycoon of India as well as Arcelor Mittal CEO

109

National Affairs 2012

Lakshmi Mittal also appeared in this list. Ambani is ranked at number 37 and he outranked Mittal by various positions. India was ranked 94th out of 176 countries in Transparency Internationals 2012 Corruption Perception Index (CPI) released on 5 December 2012. In 2011, India was ranked 95 out of 183 countries. Denmark, Switzerland and Finland topped the index with a score of 90 followed by Sweden which scored 88 points. North Korea, Afghanistan and Somalia scored a lowly 8, ranking at the bottom of the index. India scored a low score of 36 on a scale from 0 to 100 where o implies most corrupt and 100 signifies least corrupt. Indias low score was attributed to the scams and incidents of corruption in the public sector which involved government officials, private officials and private companies. The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) has been developed since 1995 by Transparency International as a composite indicator that measures perceptions of corruption in the public sector in different countries around the world. Transparency International is a non-profit, nongovernmental organisation dedicated to fighting corruption. It is best known for its Corruption Perceptions Index. Its secretariat is located in Berlin, Germany. The organization is present in more than 100 countries. It came into existence in 1993. The Cauvery Monitoring Committee (CMC) on 7 December 2012 asked Karnataka to provide Tamil Nadu with 12 TMC feet of Cauvery water during December even as it asked both the states to be more efficient in using available water. The meeting of the CMC came after the Supreme Court of India on 5 December 2012 asked the multi-state panel to meet within the next two days to decide on water requirement of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The states sharing the disputed Cauvery River waters were informed that the final award of the Cauvery Waters Dispute Tribunal will be notified by the end of December 2012.In 1997, the Union Government of India had proposed the setting up of a Cauvery River Authority. Under this new proposal, the Government set up two new bodies- Cauvery River Authority and Cauvery Monitoring Committee. The Cauvery River Authority consisted of the Prime Minister and the Chief Ministers of all four states(Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Pondicherry, Kerala) and its headquarter is in New Delhi. The Cauvery Monitoring Committee is an expert body which consists of engineers, technocrats and other officers. This body takes stock of the ground realities and report to the government. Defence Minister AK Antony informed that in reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on 10 December, the Union Cabinet on 13th May, 2010, has decided "in principle" approval to setting up of Indian National Defence University (INDU) at Binola in District Gurgaon, Haryana. Government of Haryana has acquired the land for INDU. Educational Consultant of India Limited (EdCIL) has been appointed as consultant for preparation of Detailed Project Report, Layout Plan andAct & Statutes for setting up of the university. The global Breastfeeding Initiative for Child Survival (gBICS), together with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Ministry of Women and Child Development, is organizing a 4-day World Breastfeeding Conference Babies Need Mom-made, Not Man-made, from 6th to 9th December, 2012, at New Delhi. Smt. Krishna Tirath, Minister for Women and Child Development will be the Guest of Honour and Salman Khurshid, Minister for External Affairs, will be the Chief Guest. More than 900 experts from 86 countries, including more than 100 representatives from 50 governments, 30 UN representatives and 150 civil society groups will be coming together to discuss the important public health imperatives of how to increase breastfeeding rates, save mothers from the onslaught of the baby food industry, provide maternity protection for mothers and babies to stay together and evolve a universal service of skilled counseling accessible to all women. The Conference will position breastfeeding and infant and young child feeding interventions as a key to accelerate progress on the Millennium Development Goals of reducing malnutrition and infant and child mortality. According to WHO and UNICEF, following optimal feeding practices could save 1.5 million infants every year, because under-nutrition contributes to more than one-third of these deaths. The National Commission for Safai Karamcharis presented its eleventh Annual Report for the year 201112. The report was presented by Smt. Kamla Gurjar, Chairperson and other members of the Commission to Kumari Selja, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. The report contains wide ranging recommendations by the Commission for eradication of manual scavenging in the country and meaningful and dignified rehabilitation of manual scavengers on a sustainable basis. The report highlights the social, living and working conditions of the Safai Karamcharis working at Government and Local Self Government level,

110

National Affairs 2012

Corporate and private level in rural and urban areas. The report, inter-alia, contains observations, remedial measures and appropriate recommendations by the Commission on issues of Safai Karamcharis like housing, education, safety aspect vis--vis occupational hazards, regular health check-up etc. The Minister of Overseas Indian Affairs, Vayalar Ravi replied for a question in the Rajya Sabha on 6 Decemer that the Government has launched Mahatma Gandhi Pravasi Suraksha Yojana(MGPSY) on 1st May 2012 on a pilot basis. The objective of MGPSY is to encourage and enable overseas Indian workers having Emigration Check Required (ECR) passports going to ECR countries, to (a) save for their return and resettlement and (b) save for their pension. They are also provided Life Insurance cover against natural death, during the period of coverage, without any additional payment by them.The Government also contributes, for a period of five years, or till the return of workers to India, whichever is earlier, The government on 7 December, won the vote in the Rajya Sabha on foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail, two days after it sailed through the Lok Sabha, finally getting endorsement from Parliament for a policy seen as a major step forward in its reforms process.Getting support once again from the unlikely combination of Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP) and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the government won the day in the Rajya Sabha by 14 votes.In the House, the opposition-backed motion got 109 votes and the government 123 votes. The government's win on getting 51 percent foreign equity in multi-brand retail has long been a contentious issue, stalling almost the entire first two weeks of the winter session of Parliament.With this, global names like Carrefour, Tesco and Wal-Mart will set up stores in India. Andhra Pradesh SC, ST Sub-Plans Bill 2012 was passed by State Assembly The Andhra Pradesh Assembly on 2 December 2012 passed Andhra Pradesh SC, ST Sub-Plans Bill 2012 providing statutory status for implementation of the sub-plans for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The legislation will ensure fund allocation proportionate to the SC and ST population and is expected to prevent diversion of sub-plan funds for other activities and not allowing them unspent. There is also a mandatory provision for allocation of nearly a fourth of the States annual plan of the budget for them hereafter. The bill was introduced on the recommendations of the Cabinet Sub-Committee. The demand for according legal status to the Sub-Plans was made on states for a long time by the Planning Commission of India and National Development Council (NDC). With this, Andhra Pradesh has become the first state in India to enact such legislation. The Opposition endorsed the legislation except the Telugu Desam. The party sought an amendment by inserting a provision in the legislation to provide proportionate allocations to ABCD groups within the SCs based on their populations and socio-economic conditions. The proposal was defeated by 22 votes when it was subjected to voting. Since the state assembly had the power to adopt annual budget only for one year, there was no constitutional provision to prevent lapsing of SC/ST funds. Haryana Topped the Chart of States that exceeded Revenue Mop up Target Haryana topped on the chart of states for significantly exceeding the revenue mobilization targets as per the report released in the first week of December by the Planning Commission on State Finances during 11th Five Year Plan. As per the report, the state of Haryana was successful in mopping 64123 crore rupees during the Five Year Plan, which was 192 percent of the targeted resource mobilization for the 11th Plan. As per the report released, Haryana, Goa, Assam, Karnataka, Odisha, Bihar and Arunachal Pradesh were the only eight states of the nation that mopped up more than their target. Many of the states even failed to meet the projected planned resources and were able to fetch 92.5 percent of the target, collectively. Government eases visa norms for tourists The government has eased restrictions on tourist visas which had mandated a two-month gap between consecutive visits by foreign nationals. However, nationals of Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, Iraq, Sudan, Bangladesh, foreigners of Pakistani and Bangladeshi origin and "stateless persons" will continue to come under the 60-day gap rule. The move is likely to breathe fresh life into the tourism industry and comes just ahead of the peak tourist season. India's share of international tourist arrivals in 2011 was a mere 0.64%. The tourist visa restriction, which was relaxed on 3 December, was introduced in November 2009 in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks when it was found that Pakistani-American David Coleman Headley had succeeded in breaching security norms to visit India several times over a period of 3-4 years. A decision to review the visa

111

National Affairs 2012

restrictions was taken by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in January 2012 after concerns were raised by the tourism ministry that the negative perception following the move had affected flow of tourists to India. EC directs government to defer implementation of Direct Cash Transfer Scheme in Gujarat & H The Election Commission (EC) on 4 December expressed dissatisfaction with the government on the announcement timing of Direct Cash Transfer Scheme (DCT). EC directed the government to defer the implementation of the scheme in four districts of Gujarat and two of Himachal Pradesh till the state assembly elections are over. In a stern message to the government, EC said that the timing of government's DCT scheme was 'avoidable'. "The government should have maintained letter and spirit of model code of conduct," it said. Bangalore best Indian city to live: Survey Technology hub Bangalore has emerged as the best city to live in India, pipping other metro cities such as New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, in terms of overall quality of living, according to a latest worldwide survey of cities by global HR consultancy Mercer. Amongst Indian cities, Bangalore (139) ranks higher than New Delhi (143), Mumbai (146), Chennai (150) and Kolkata (151) in overall quality of living, according to Mercer's 2012 Quality of Living Index. "Bangalore's rise in its quality of living ranking can be attributed to positive ratings for international schools which are suitable for expatriates," the report said. In terms of city infrastructure, however, Mumbai (134) was ranked highest among Indian cities followed by Kolkata (141), New Delhi (153), Chennai (168) and Bangalore (170). However, no Indian city could manage to find a place in the global list, which was topped by Vienna and was followed by Zurich and Auckland in second and third place, respectively. Other cities in the top 10 include Munich in fourth place, followed by Vancouver (5th). Dusseldorf dropped one spot to rank sixth followed by Frankfurt (7th), Geneva (8th), Copenhagen (9th), and Bern and Sydney tied in 10th place. Indian cities did not fare well compared to their global counterparts. Among Asia Pacific cities, Australian and New Zealand cities rank higher on the index with Sydney (11), Wellington (13), Melbourne (18) and Perth (21) following Auckland (3). Globally, the cities with the lowest quality of living are Khartoum, Sudan (217); N'Djamena, Chad (218); Port-au-Prince, Haiti (219); and Bangui, Central African Republic (220). Baghdad, Iraq (221) ranks last. Mercer's Quality of Living index list covers 221 cities, ranked against New York as the base city. Gujarats first industrial park in private sector launched Gujarats first industrial park in the private sector, developed by TDT Infra Pvt Ltd was launched.Unlike other industrial parks, this park, located near Vadodara on 105 acres of the companys free-hold land worth Rs 100 crore, will sell the plots on a permanent basis. Since the industries will buy these plots, there will be no reversal of land to the original owner in case the buyer does not set up the unit in a specified timeframe. There will also be no penal provisions for non-utilisation of land.The industrial park that falls under the Halol-Savli Special Investment Region (SIR) would get natural gas as industrial fuel from the Gujarat Government and would have water harvesting facilities. NCP leader Ajit Pawar sworn in as Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ajit Pawar, who had resigned as the Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra over the irrigation scam, was re-inducted into the state Cabinet as he took oath on 7December. The BJP and the Shiv Sena have boycotted the swearing-in ceremony. Governor K Sankaranarayanan administered oath of office to Pawar in the presence of the Maharashtra Chief Minister. The decision to re-induct Pawar in the cabinet came days after the White Paper on the irrigation scam in the state was tabled. The White Paper on irrigation scam had given a clean chit to the NCP leader. SIs to get gazetted rank Andhra Pradesh police has decided to remove negative marks system in the police recruitment tests. The decision comes after the department failed to fill-up 6,000 vacancies during the previous recruitment drives because of the negative marks system.The decision comes as a major boon for the aspirants of police jobs, since the government needs to fill up thousands of vacancies in the department. Director General of Police V Dinesh Reddy, Principal Secretary, Home, TP Das and a few other top officials met Home Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy on Thursday and discussed issues related to police reforms. The police department has also decided to accord gazetted status for the officers of the rank of sub-inspectors (SIs) and increase the remuneration paid for home guards from Rs 200 to Rs 300 a day. The top brass further decided to bring home guards under the

112

National Affairs 2012

Arogyasri scheme besides providing them bus pass and uniform. The home guards have been demanding these benefits for long.Also, the department will soon reorganise the police sub-divisions in the State. After which, every Assembly constituency will come under one police sub-division, unlike the present system where one constituency is divided between two or more sub-divisions.With the reorganisation, 10 new sub-divisions and 35 new police circles will be added to the existing system. The reorganisation will benefit the politicians to a great extent, sources in the home department said. The reorganisation of sub-divisions has been a pet project of the DGP, who has been speaking about it often.Sources said the government has already accepted the recommendations and what remains to be done is only the formality of issuing an official order

Bilateral Affairs 2012

January
India, Japan and China entered into a pact to share data to achieve the most efficient use of Naval Forces present in the Indian Ocean Region. The initiative is known as the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE). The initiative began functioning from 1 January 2012. China, India, and Japan also agreed to carry out more effective coordination by establishing a convoy coordination working group as part of the Shared Awareness and Deconfliction Mechanism. Prime Minister of Trinidad & Tobago Kamla Persad Bissessar visited India from 5 January 2012 to 14 January 2012. India and Trinidad & Tobago on 6 January 2012 signed five agreements during her visit. The agreements are as following: 1)Memorandum of Understanding between India and Trinidad & Tobago on cooperation in the field of traditional Systems medicine.2)Air Services agreement between India and Trinidad & Tobago.3)Technical Cooperation Agreement (In the field of Education) between India and Trinidad & Tobago.4)Programme of Cultural Exchanges between India and Trinidad & Tobago for the years 201214.5)Memorandum of Understanding between Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences( CCRAS) Department of Ayush, Ministry of Health& Family Welfare, the government of India and the University of West Indies, Trinidad and Tobago. India's National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC), on 29 January 2012 signed an agreement with Bangladesh Power Development Board(BPDP) for setting up a joint venture 1320 MW thermal power plant. The joint venture coal-based power plant will be set up at Rampal in Khulna Division of Bangladesh. The project is the first joint venture power plant in Bangladesh. India signed a multi-lateral agreement with France and Germany to check tax evasion and avoidance. It was signed under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a top global financial body, at its headquarters in Paris.

February
India and Saudi Arabia on 13 February 2012 agreed to set up a Joint Working Group on Defence Cooperation during the visit of Defence Minister A.K Antony. The two sides held wide ranging talks including those on combating terrorism and piracy and co-operation in regional affairs.India opined that the situation in the Gulf region is a cause of great concern for India. It hoped the crisis will be resolved through peaceful dialogue.

113

Bilateral Affairs 2012

The 12th India-EU Summit was held in New Delhi on 10 February 2012. EU was represented by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and Mr. Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, President of the European Commission.

March
The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh visited South Korea on 25 March 2012.India and South Korea agreed to set a new bilateral trade target of 40 billion US dollars by 2015. During his visit, India and South Korea decided that the seventh meeting of the Joint Commission will be held in New Delhi in 2012. It was also decided that both countries will explore constructive and forward looking ways to facilitate greater access to each others products and services. The Fourth BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) Summit was held in New Delhi on 29 March 2012. The BRICS nations signed two major agreements during this summit. One was to boost trade among BRICS nations by offering trade in local currency. This will replace dollar as the main currency of trade among them. The other agreement was to set up a development bank on lines of multilateral lending agencies. The theme of the Summit was- BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Security and Prosperity. BRICS declaration (Delhi declaration) issued at the end of the summit says situation concerning Iran cannot be allowed to escalate into conflict. Declaration says BRICS recognises Iran's right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy and supports resolution of issues through dialogue. The fifth BRICS summit will be held in March- April 2013 in South Africa. The first summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia in June 2009. India and Colombia on 12 March 2012 signed a Cultural Exchange Programme (CEP) in New Delhi for the period of 2012-2016. Both India and Colombia shall contribute to the exchange and cooperation between institutions and organisations that deals with cultural affairs, as well as amongst cultural creators, researchers and cultural agents of the two nations. Both the nations have agreed to set up a joint working group to look after the implementations of their programme. The joint working group will have a meeting alternately in India and in Colombia when decided by both the nations.

April
The Union Cabinet on 26 April 2012 in a meeting headed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh approved the signing of a new liberal visa regime with Pakistan thereby paving way for easing travel restrictions and increasing people-to-people exchange. India and Pakistan had decided to ease visa regulations during the meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari in New Delhi on 8 April 2012. India and Germany on 10 April 2012 decided to promote bilateral cooperation in the field of sustainable urban development through exploration of solutions to problems of mutual concern. A joint declaration to this effect was signed at a meeting in New Delhi between Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath and his German counterpart Peter Ramsauer. The Joint Declaration envisages promoting discussion and strategies on integrated policies and principles for urban development and revitalization in the two nations. India and Qatar on 9 April 2012 signed six agreements, including a pact on cooperation in oil and gas exploration. The agreements were signed in New Delhi during the visit of Qatars Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al- Thani. Both the leaders had discussions on a range of issues, including boosting trade and investment as well as energy ties between the two countries. Issues relating to the welfare of Indian workers in

114