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National Events

March - 2015

PwC man Involved in Spying: CBI

• The Central Bureau of Investigation, which has arrested five suspects in the corporate espionage racket, said that the investigation had revealed the alleged role of a representative of PricewaterhouseCoopers India in obtaining information from the Department of Economic Affairs.
•  The agency produced accused Paresh Chimanlal Buddhadev, a partner in Chitale & Associates, before a Mumbai court that granted his transit remand for being brought to Delhi. Another accused, Ram Niwas, Assistant in the Finance Ministry, was also sent to five days’ CBI custody.
•  The agency earlier arrested Mumbai-based accused Chartered Accountant Khemchand Gandhi, who had allegedly been procuring the documents, Ashok Kumar Singh, Under Secretary in the Department of Disinvestment; and Lala Ram Sharma, Section Officer in the Department of Economic Affairs. The three are in CBI custody.

SC gives one last chance to Sahara

•  The Supreme Court granted the Sahara group a last opportunity to raise bail money to its chief Subrata Roy and two directors in jail since March 2014.
•  A Special Bench of Justices T.S. Thakur, Anil R. Dave and A.K. Sikri, at one point, said the court had lost its patience with Sahara’s repeated assurances that they would sell their assets soon to pay security for securing bail.
•  The Bench stopped short of going ahead and appointing ‘court receivers’ to take over from Sahara and initiate sale deals in a “transparent” manner.
•  But Sahara’s counsel and senior advocate Kapil Sibal prevailed over the court and requested to give his client “one last chance” to sell their assets and collect Rs. 6000 crore more required for bail security.
•  Earlier the court had asked 65-year-old Roy to pay a total Rs 10,000 crore to get bail.
•  During the hearing, the Sahara group blamed Mirach Capital for the failure of the second proposed deal for selling of offshore properties.
  Haryana set to Ban Cow Slaughter
•  Haryana is all set to bring legislation for banning cow slaughter and making it a punishable offence. The move is not only likely to have an adverse impact on the cuisine and business of premier hotels in the State but also the livelihood of a large number of people dependent on butchery, especially in the minority-dominated district  of Mewat.
•  Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij said that the State Government is framing a stringent law to clamp a complete ban on cow slaughter which would help in the protection and promotion of cows.
•  Following Maharashtra’s ban on beef, Haryana now looks all set to follow suit. Haryana Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Minister Om Prakash Dhankar had also confirmed that stringent punishment would be handed out for cow slaughter and sale and storage of beef in the State.

You sat on Rape videos, SC tells Home Ministry

•  The Supreme Court pulled up the Home Ministry for sitting on crucial video material about a gang rape highlighted in the “Shame the Rapist” campaign launched by activist  Sunitha Krishnan.
•  The Social Justice Bench of Justice Madan B. Lokur and Justice U.U. Lalit found the Ministry made no move to hand over the video evidence to the CBI for over 20 days.
•  It received the videos on February 10 from Ms. Krishnan, but chose to pass them on to the CBI only on March 5. Despite repeated queries from the Bench to explain its conduct, the Ministry had nothing to offer.
•  “So between February 10 and March 5, you just sat on these videos. You people did not do anything ... only yesterday you filed the FIRs,” Justice Lokur told Additional Solicitor-General Maninder Singh, who appeared for the Ministry.
•  The court directed Mr. Singh to name the officer who received the video evidence from Ms. Krishnan, and demanded a full explanation on “What you were doing all that time till March 5.”
•  The court, during the previous hearing on February 27, took suo motu cognisance of a letter by Prajwala, a non-governmental organisation of Ms. Krishnan, highlighting the existence of the videos and the immediate necessity to nab the culprits. The Bench had ordered the CBI investigation.
•  In the videos, five men are seen smiling into the camera after taking turns at sexually assaulting their victim.
• Mr. Singh said the videos showed a total of 12 clips, of which three were repeats. He said eight FIRs had been filed and a preliminary inquiry had started on one.
•  The court ordered the Ministry to share the photos with the Directors-General of Police in Odisha, West Bengal and U.P. where these men may hail from.

MHA tells States, UTs not to use national flag made of plastic

•  The Union Home Ministry had directed all State Government and Union Territories not to use National Flag made of plastic for any function as these are not biodegradable and thus their appropriate disposal is not possible.
•  The letter, which has been sent to all State governments and Union Territories, noted that National Flag made of plastic are being used in place of paper flags on important functions. Since plastic flags are not biodegradable like the paper flags, these do not get decomposed for a long time and are harmful to the atmosphere. Further, ensuring the appropriate disposal of national flags made of plastic with the dignity of the flag
  is a problem.
•  Therefore, the MHA said State governments and others should ensure that on important national, cultural and sports events, only flags made by the paper are used in public.
•  It cautioned that offence pertaining to showing disrespect to the National Flag can invite up to three years jail term, fine or both.
  Process on to implement One Rank One Pension scheme
•  The modalities for implementing ’One Rank One Pension’ (OROP) scheme for armed forces are under consideration and the financial implication could be calculated once the details are finalised and approved by the government, Lok Sabha  was informed.
•  Minister of State for Defence Rao Inderjit Singh said in a written reply that the principle of OROP for the armed forces has been accepted by
  the government.
•  He was asked whether the implementation of the scheme has been delayed.
•  Responding to another part of the question on removing disparities in pension of various ex-servicemen, he said possible amendments to the pension policies are being examined with a view to reduce litigation.
•  Explaining the reasons behind the delay, the Minister had said, “The methodology of calculating the One Rank, One Pension is an issue pending between the Services and the Defence Ministry.”
•  The scheme, which seeks to ensure that a uniform pension is paid to defence personnel who retire at the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, has been a long-standing demand of the over two million ex-servicemen in the country. It is important to note that, earlier Army Chief Dalbir Singh Suhag said that the scheme will be implemented by the April and this year.

Law panel bats for stronger EC

•  Law Commission has pitched for a stronger Election Commission by giving equal constitutional protection to all members of the poll body and appointing the CEC and the two ECs by a high-powered collegium.
•  In its report on electoral reforms submitted to the Law Ministry, the law panel has also recommended creation of a permanent, independent Secretariat for the EC.
•  The law panel said Article 324(5) of the Constitution should be amended to equate the removal procedures of the two Election Commissioners with that of the Chief Election Commissioner.
•  The President appoints Chief Election Commissioner and Election Commissioners after the Law Ministry initiates the file for their appointment.
•  The Chief Election Commissioner can be removed from office only through impeachment by Parliament. The government can remove the ECs based on the recommendation of the CEC.
•  The Law Commission said the appointment of all the Election Commissioners, including the CEC, should be made by the President in consultation with a three-member collegium or selection committee, consisting of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition of the Lok Sabha (or the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha) and the Chief Justice of India.
•  It said elevation of an Election Commissioner should be on the basis of seniority, unless the three member collegium or a committee, for reasons to be recorded in writing, finds such Commissioner unfit.
•  The precedent is to appoint the senior-most EC as the CEC.

Govt. rethinking strategy on Land Bill

•  In a major shift in stance, the government will not bring the controversial Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill in the first half of the Budget Session of Parliament ending on March 20.
•  It may either allow the ordinance to lapse or repromulgate it after Parliament is prorogued.
•  This was indicated by Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu to party leaders during the meeting of the Rajya Sabha Business Advisory Committee.
•  On the face of it, the government maintains that it needs to confer with the Opposition to build a consensus, but with tremendous pressure from the RSS and its affiliates and farmers’ organisations, the BJP is reframing its strategy on  the Bill.
•  Significantly, Prime Minister’s “Man ki Baat” radio talk on March 22 is on farmers’ issues.
•  He has invited comments from farmers, saying he would like to “hear them.”
•  According to sources, the government is keen that the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill and the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Bill be approved by the Upper House after they are returned by the respective Select Committees on March 18.
•  Since coal auctions are under way, the government is keen that legislation is in place and the Opposition parties are on board on this.
•  But because of differences on the Land Bill, the government is having a rethink on its strategy.

Ban on airing India’s Daughter to Continue

•  Remarking that media trials tend to influence judgements, the Delhi High Court said that although it had no objection to screening the BBC documentary “India’s Daughter,” the matter could only be decided post a verdict regarding the fate of the convicts, from the
  Supreme Court.
•  The Division Bench further said a decision on lifting the ban could only be taken by an appropriate Chief Justice’s Bench.
•  It also refused to pass any interim orders on the appeal asking for the ban to be lifted. “Had it been originally placed before us, we would have asked you to place material before us on why the ban should be lifted.
•  But it has come here from the roster bench of the Chief Justice, so we will not pass any interim orders. Let the roster bench decide it,” the court said.
•  The judges spoke at length over the subject of media trials influencing court decisions. “Media trials do tend to influence judges. Subconsciously, a pressure is created and it does have an effect on the sentencing of the accused. Whether he [the accused] has shown remorse or not would be considered at the time of his sentencing. Why not wait till the Supreme Court decision?”

Make paid news a poll offence: Law panel

•  The Law Commission has recommended that newspaper advertisements on the eve of elections be banned. In a report released on Thursday, the commission wanted Independent candidates to be barred from contesting elections, and paid news made an electoral offence leading to disqualification.
•  Headed by Justice A.P. Shah, the commission submitted its 255th report, on the issue of electoral reforms, to the Union Law Ministry.
•  Noting that the ban on broadcast of election matter 48 hours prior to an election was restricted to the electronic media now, the commission recommended such prohibition for the print media also.
•  The report recommends regulating opinion polls and making disclosures about the methodology mandatory.
•  The commission, while stopping short of recommending state funding of elections or limits to political parties’ expenditure on elections, recommended several changes to election funding legislation.
•  Noting that “the current system tolerates, or at least does not prevent, lobbying and capture, where a sort of quid pro quo transpires between big donors and political parties/candidates”, the report recommends making it mandatory for all parties to declare donations of even less than the current Rs. 20,000 limit, if the total of such contributions adds up to Rs. 20 crore, or makes up 20 per cent of the party’s income, whichever is lower.
•  Welcoming many of the recommendations, Jagdeep Chhokar, co-founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms, whose work the report refers extensively to, said, however, that the organisation would continue to press for limits on political parties’ expenditure.
•  Independent candidates are often “dummy” candidates, the commission said. It criticised compulsory voting, recently introduced during local elections in Gujarat, and did not support the right to recall or a move to proportional representation.
•  The report recommended measures to strengthen the Election Commission and for a collegium or selection committee, which includes the Leader of Opposition, to appoint commissioners.

Citizen ID systems tend to exclude marginalised: WB

•  Despite heavy investment on large-scale citizen identification systems, akin to the UID-Aadhaar project, these often run the risk of increased exclusion of the most vulnerable and marginalised groups, a new World Bank study cautions.
•  While the study, titled “Identification systems don’t always serve the bottom 40%”, does not specifically discuss Aadhaar, it analyses similar systems in several Asian and African countries and finds “less than robust” evidence to justify their multi-million dollar budgets.
•  It cautions of a real risk in “over-selling” development benefits of identification systems, especially those related to service delivery, which is primarily what the Indian government intends to use Aadhaar for.
• “Attracted by the promise of new technology, countries and development partners ... have invested heavily in identification systems ... [however] rigorous evidence on the link between registration/ documentation and development outcomes is limited and mixed,” the study says.
•  Authors Megan Brewer, Nicholas Menzies and Jared Schott argue that strengthening large-scale identification systems could result in several “perverse consequences” that undermine development gains.”
•  Since registration among marginalised groups, like rural poor, could be significantly lower than national averages, using such data for development planning could result in further exclusion of these groups, the researchers say.

NGO seeks CBI, ED probe into Aditya Birla group

•  Common Cause, the NGO whose PIL plea led to the cancellation of coal block allocations, moved the Supreme Court accusing Aditya Birla group of hawala transactions, money laundering and bribery and sought a CBI and Enforcement Directorate probe.
•  The application filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan for the NGO cited how coal extracted from a captive block allocated to the Sasan ultra mega power project was allowed to be diverted, resulting in a huge post-bidding concession worth Rs. 29,000 crore to Reliance Power Limited (a Reliance ADAG company).
•  It alleged that huge amounts of cash were routed through hawala by the Birla Group.
•  The application also pointed to alleged recovery of unaccounted Rs. 25 crore during the raids on the company office.

SC upholds life term in Manjunath murder case

•  A decade after he was gunned down for fighting the oil adulteration racket in Uttar Pradesh, IIM-Lucknow alumnus and Indian Oil Corporation manager Manjunath Shanmugham won justice, with the Supreme Court confirming the life imprisonment of six persons accused for his death.
•  In a judgment, a Bench of Justices S.J. Mukhopadhaya and N.V. Ramana quoted the prosecution about how the brutal death of the young Karnataka-born manager had shaken the nation’s conscience.
•  The judgment reproduces the prosecution’s submissions about the lonely battle waged by Mr. Manjunath, who was shot dead at Gola area of Lakhimpur Kheri district on November 19, 2005 after he threatened to cancel a petrol pump’s licence for selling spurious fuel.
•  Though the trial court had sentenced him to death, Mr. Mittal’s punishment was commuted to life imprisonment by the Allahabad High Court.
  ‘RTI Act applies to A-G’s office’
•  Stating that even under common parlance the office of the Attorney General of India has always been understood to mean a “constitutional authority,” the Delhi High Court refused to accept that this office was outside the ambit of the Right to Information Act and further directed it to reconsider the RTI application that it had rejected on these grounds.
•  The issue came into question when a petition challenging an order by the Central Information Commission was up for hearing before the single Bench of

Justice Vibhu Bakhru.

•  The CIC had held that the office of the AGI was not a public authority under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act.
•  The petition was also challenging a letter by the AGI refusing all information to the petitioner under the RTI act.
•  “An office that is established under the Constitution would clearly fall within the definition of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act…,” said Justice Vibhu Bakhu while rejecting AGI’s arguments.

Land Bill Clears Lok Sabha hurdle

• The controversial Land Acquisition (Amendment) Bill was approved by the Lok Sabha , but not before the Modi government reached out to unhappy NDA allies and unattached parties such as the BJD and the AIADMK to seek their support for this
  crucial legislation.
•  The Congress, the Trinamool Congress, the Samajwadi Party, the RJD and the BJD walked out of the House while NDA ally Shiv Sena abstained as the Bill was passed by voice vote.
•  In the official amendments it moved, the government accommodated some concerns of the Opposition and allies, such as dropping “social infrastructure” from the five categories of land use exempted from the consent clause.
•  However, other key points of contention — the Social Impact Assessment and the restoration of the consent clause — remained unresolved as the Bill moves to the Rajya Sabha, where the government is outnumbered — and the Opposition plans to force the Bill to a Select Committee.
•  Barring the Swabhiman Paksha and the Shiv Sena that held its counsel during the meeting, all the other allies agreed to back the government if it addressed their concerns.

SC unhappy with fund use for Taj zone green project

•  Noting its unhappiness with the Uttar Pradesh government, the Supreme Court came to the brink of ordering a CBI probe into the alleged irregularities in its utilisation of funds meant for compensatory afforestation at the Taj Trapezium Zone (TTZ) in Agra.
•  Justice Thakur considered directing a CBI probe into the “irregularities,” but said the court would give the government one last opportunity to fulfil its commitment to plant saplings to replace trees felled across the land spread over several hundred hectares.
•  It said the only explanation for “discrepancy and failure” from the officials was non-release of funds.
•  Calling their attitude “cavalier,” the court asked why these officials could not have approached the court had their intentions been in earnest.
•  A Bench gave the State four weeks to comply with its orders. The State’s Additional Advocate-General Gaurav Bhatia promised that the court orders would be complied with and a better affidavit, removing all discrepancies on the number of trees uprooted and the number of trees planted.

Mumbai to come under CCTV surveillance, says Governor

•  The installation of CCTV-based surveillance systems for Mumbai is expected to be completed within 90 weeks and the project is already being implemented in Pune, Maharashtra Governor C. Vidyasagar Rao told the joint session of the Maharashtra Assembly on the opening day of the budget session.
•  “It is proposed that GPRS-based system will be installed in Meru and other Private Taxis and the front seats reserved in share taxis in Mumbai for women,” he said to underline the measures for improving the safety and comfort of women commuters in Mumbai.
•  Emphasising several measures taken by the Devendra Fadnavis government to decongest Mumbai and improve its infrastructure, Mr. Rao said the government has expedited the work of Navi Mumbai International Airport Project, the second international airport for the city, and has received consent letters from Project Affected People (PAP) for land acquisition.
•  On the plan to decongest Mumbai by developing new smart cities, Mr. Rao said the government has proposed a new city on an area of 600 sq km around the Navi Mumbai international airport, and the city would be christened NAINA.

World War I Commemorations begin

•  Over 74,000 Indian soldiers laid down their lives fighting the war.
•  The Centenary Commemoration of the First World War (1914-1918), in memory of the 1.5 million Indian soldiers who fought in the war, began with President Pranab Mukherjee laying a wreath at Amar Jawan Jyoti in India Gate.
•  The commemoration, from March 10-14, is also in memory of the over 74,000 soldiers who laid down their lives fighting the war, whose names are etched in stone on the walls of India Gate. They fought in several theatres across Asia, Africa and Europe.
•  The centenary commemo-rations will continue till 2018.
•  March 10 coincides with the Battle of Neuve Chapelle marking the British offensive in the Artois region of France, in which the Garhwal Brigade and the Meerut Division of the Indian Corps participated.
•  Between 1914 and 1918, around 90,000 Indian soldiers fought on the French soil, more than 8,500 of whom perished.
•  General Jean-Pierre Bosser, Chief of Staff of the French Army, is currently on an official visit in India to pay tribute to the sacrifice of Indian soldiers who laid down their lives for France’s freedom during World War I.
•  The highlight is an exhibition at Manekshaw Centre in which the moments and conditions of World War I have been recreated.
•  The ‘Corner of Remembrance’ in the exhibition will have old letters and an old home with belongings of soldiers while the ‘Sacrifice Hall’ includes replicas of Indian memorials and paintings of Victoria Cross winners in India and abroad.
•  The Army has also created a replica of a World War I bunker showcasing the living conditions of the soldiers then.

Delhi, Kerala, Tamil Nadu top in girls’ education

•  Delhi, Kerala and Tamil Nadu are India’s best-ranked States in terms of gender-related education indicators, new data from the Ministry of Human Resource Development and UNICEF, shows.
•  Using district-level indicators of girls’ education, health and social disadvantages, the government aims to identify the most backward pockets of the country, requiring the most attention.
•  While the atlas uses data earlier collected by other government agencies, it also creates a new composite index using 21 indicators to do with girls’ education, along four axes — access, infrastructure, teachers and outcomes. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Delhi and Punjab are in the top 25% of the index’s range for elementary education, and the two Southern states and Delhi make the top quarter of the index for secondary education as well. Central and northern States, including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, are among the worst performers.
•  The atlas also creates a Vulnerability Index of factors which impinge on girls’ education, including the likelihood of joining the workforce early and
  early marriage.
•  The two southern States, along with Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, are the best performers here, with Gujarat, Rajasthan and the central and northern States among the worst.

Nagaland submits report on lynching

•  The Nagaland government has submitted an interim report to the Union Ministry of Home Affairs on the lynching of a person from Assam in Dimapur on March 5.
•  The report, it is understood, says the police and prison security staff were overwhelmed by the huge crowd.
•  Police could not open fire initially since there were a number of women and children among the protesters.
•  A 7000-strong mob had stormed the jail on March 5 and pulled out Syed Sarif Khan, who was accused of raping a Naga student. He was stripped and dragged all the way and when police caught up with the mob, the accused was already dead.

Ruskin Bond lends a hand to Swachh Bharat campaign

•  Celebrated author Ruskin Bond has joined the Swachh Bharat campaign, wielding a broom specially made by the students of the Moran Blind School
  in Assam.
•  Actor Victor Banerjee — who runs the school at Moranhat in upper Assam’s Dibrugarh district — handed over the broom to the famous storyteller at the latter’s residence  in Mussoorie.

‘India’s Daughter’ documentary: HC refuses urgent hearing on PIL to lift ban

•  The Delhi High Court refused to give urgent hearing to a PIL seeking lifting of the ban on telecast of a controversial documentary featuring an interview of one of the four convicts in the December 16 gangrape case.
•  A bench of justices B.D. Ahmed and Vibhu Bakhru said there is no so urgency in the matter and it will be heard on March 11.
•  The court’s response came after two law students — Arun Menon and Kritika Padode —— in their public interest litigation (PIL) sought urgent hearing, saying the ban on the documentary is a clear violation of their fundamental rights under Article 19 of the
  Indian Constitution.
•  The duo approached the High Court after a trial court on March 4 had banned until further orders the broadcast of the interview of December 16, 2012 gangrape convict Mukesh Singh, which was allegedly conducted in July 2013 inside Tihar jail in New Delhi.
•  Earlier, a trial court had restrained the media from broadcasting or publishing the interview of Mukesh Singh after the Delhi police moved court for a restraining order against his interview.
•  The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has also issued an advisory to all television channels to not broadcast the documentary on the victim.
•  The government has also sought an explanation from Tihar jail authorities over how the convict was interviewed while being in judicial custody.
•  A similar petition was filed last week, by a law student, who has sought lifting of the ban on the ground that it is “nothing but a honest look at the mind and mindset of one of the convicted rapists of the young woman”.
•  The plea also said that a direction be issued to the Supreme Court registry to constitute a three judge special bench to hear the appeals of the four death row convicts, which is pending since August  25, 2014.
•  Initially the apex court in July had stayed the execution of the four convicts in the gang-rape and murder case.
•  The other petition, prepared by Vibhor Anand, had also said that “it is legally wrong to oppose the screening of the film after giving it legal approval and after the documentary-makers fulfilled all legal commitments.”
•  It claimed that the parents of the gangrape victim have also not objected to the telecast of the documentary.
•  It also said that as per social media the public at large wanted to see the documentary as within 24 hours of its being put up on YouTube, it was viewed by more 2.86 lakh people.
•  The victim, a physiotherapy student was raped and assaulted with an iron rod after she was tricked into boarding an unregistered private bus to go home after watching a movie with a male friend on December 16, 2012.

World’s first Solar-powered Aircraft

•  The Swiss solar-powered aircraft’s flight got delayed by a day due to bad weather conditions in the UAE.
•  Solar Impulse, claimed to be the world’s only solar-powered aircraft, will make a stop over in Ahmedabad as a part of its maiden global journey.
• After making a landing here, the solar-powered aircraft’s founders and pilots Bertrand Piccard and Androrschberg are likely to stay in the city for two days before leaving for Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the  release said.
•  The Swiss solar-powered aircraft’s flight got delayed by a day due to bad weather conditions in the UAE. The aircraft was scheduled to land in Ahmedabad.
•  Piccard and Borschberg, during their stay in the city, will reach out to the government, NGOs, universities and schools to spread the message of
  clean technologies.
•  The aircraft is also likely to hover above river Ganga in Varanasi to spread the message of cleanliness and clean energy, an official associated with
  the project said.
•  Solar Impulse is claimed to be the first aircraft to fly day and night without a drop of fuel, propelled solely by the sun’s energy, as per the
  project’s website.
•  The single-seater aircraft made of carbon fibre has a 72 metre wingspan, larger than that of Boeing-747 and weighs just 2,300 kg, equivalent to the weight of a car.
•  The 17,248 solar cells built into the wing supply electric motors with renewable energy. The solar cells recharge four lithium polymer batteries totalling 633 kg each, which allow the aircraft to fly at night and therefore have virtually unlimited autonomy, it said.
•  This round-the-world flight will take-off from Abu Dhabi and make a halt at Muscat (Oman), Ahmedabad and Varanasi in India, Mandalay in Myanmar and Chongqing and Nanjing  in China.
•  After crossing the Pacific Ocean via Hawaii, the aircraft will fly across the US stopping at Phoenix, the Midwest and New York City, said the website.
•  The test flight of the aircraft was conducted in the US in 2013.

As tensions rise, Assam on alert to Protect Nagas

•  The Assam government has put its administration on high alert following the lynching of a rape accused, Syed Sarif Khan, from the State by a mob after dragging him out of the Dimapur jail in Nagaland .
•  The government has asked the Deputy Commissioners, the Superintendents of Police and the Divisional Commissioners to provide security to people from Nagaland living in the State and to ensure the safety of travellers between the two States.
•  Parliamentary Affairs Minister Rockybul Hussain listed the steps in a statement in the Assembly after the Opposition raised the issue.
•  The government informed the Assembly that Nagaland promised to arrest the guilty and instituted a judicial investigation, besides suspending three officials.
•  Mr. Hussain said Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had written to his Nagaland counterpart, T.R. Zeliang, requesting that those behind the lynching be arrested and the lives and property of Assamese be secured.
•  Thehief Minister had written to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to take up the matter with the Nagaland government.
•  He said Sarif Khan, 28, from Bhanga village in Karimganj district had been living in Dimapur for over two years after marrying a Naga woman.
•  Mr. Gogoi told presspersons that it was important to fix responsibility for security lapses. The Union government owed an explanation because the Central Reserve Police Force was deployed for jail security.
•  The movement of lorries to Nagaland remained suspended. Members of the All-Assam Goods Carrier Truck Drivers and Handyman Union staged a protest in the city.

Mufti orders  Release of political prisoners

•  Senior separatist leader Masarat Alam was released from prison just days after Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed directed the police to release political prisoners against whom no criminal charges had  been registered.
•  Earlier in the day, police sources had confirmed that he had been moved from the Baramulla prison to a police station
  in Srinagar.
•  Head of the Muslim League in the State, Mr Alam was among the main organisers of pro-Azadi protests in the Valley in 2010. He was arrested along with several other leaders after those protests and remained one of the few senior leaders still behind bars.
•  Arrested under the Public Safety Act (PSA) — a preventive detention law in J&K which gives a Deputy Commissioner the authority to take anyone in his district into preventive custody for up to two years without trial if he feels the person poses a threat to the security of the State — Mr. Alam has been in various prisons for more than four years now.
•  Police sources said since 2010, more than six consecutive PSA charges had been slapped on him.
•  Reacting strongly to the release of Masarat Alam, the BJP said the decision was anti-national, unacceptable and detrimental to the coalition.

Nirbhaya film: Bar council issues notice to defence lawyers

•  Even as the Bar Council of India initiated suo motu proceedings for professional misconduct against two defence lawyers in the Nirbhaya gang-rape case for their alleged derogatory remarks against women in the BBC documentary ‘India’s Daughter’, senior members of the legal community said lawyers, above all, should be sensitive to the equality and dignity of women.
•  They said the proceedings gives the BCI, the highest regulatory body for legal practice, an opportunity to amend rules to check lawyers from making unsubstantiated, off-the-cuff remarks, especially when they represent sensitive cases involving crimes against women.
•  The two lawyers – Manohar Lal Sharma and A.P. Singh – represent the four persons on death row for the brutal gang-rape and murder of a 23-year-old medical student in Delhi in December 2012.

New Kailash Mansarovar Yatra route by June

•  The new route for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra through Nathu La in Sikkim will be operationalised during this yatra season beginning in June, Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj informed the Parliament.
•  “The route through Nathu La will augment the capacity and reduce the hardship enabling many pilgrims, particularly aged ones, to undertake the yatra,” the government said.
•  The understanding for the new route was reached between India and China during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to India last year.
•  The new route was necessitated as the current route through Lipulekh pass in Uttarakhand is cumbersome and also the number of pilgrims increasing.
•  In the last three years about 1700 pilgrims had visited Mansarovar. With the addition of the second route, 1000 pilgrims are expected to undertake the yatra this  year alone.
•  As per the understanding, five batches of 50 pilgrims each are expected to travel through Nathu La this year.
•  A dedicated website has been set up and the application procedure has been simplified.
•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit China in May but External Affairs Ministry officials have denied reports that he would travel to Kailash Mansarovar.

Activists continue bid to post India’s Daughter on the Web

•  Free speech activists continued efforts to make available India’s Daughter on the Internet ,demand grew more vocal for a revocation of the ban on the controversial documentary on the December 16, 2012 gang rape in Delhi.
•  Though the hour-long documentary, aired on BBC Four on Wednesday evening, could not be accessed on YouTube for much of the day, at least one URL (Uniform Resource Locator) provided it for watching in the evening.
•  On clicking the YouTube link to the video, the video-sharing site threw up a black screen for the most part of the day with a message, “This content is not available on this country domain due to a court order.”
•  Asked if the government had issued any new communication to pull down more URLs, a Google India source said: “There was no update.” The film was, however, accessible on other video-sharing websites as people found ways of circumventing the ban to share the film.
•  As more people managed to access the film, the clamour for revoking the ban grew, resulting in more endorsements for an online petition to the Union Home Minister to reverse the decision and “celebrate International Women’s Day (March 8) by shining a light on the problems our country faces, instead of shying away  from them.”
•  The decision to ban the film, which the government said was part of an international conspiracy to defame India, drew world media attention with most leading media houses reporting on it or carrying editorials.

Ex-editor of RSS organ replaces NBT Chairman

•  The Government appointed Baldev Bhai Sharma, former editor of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s weekly magazine, Panchajanya, as the next Chairman of the National Book Trust (NBT) cutting short the term of incumbent A. Sethumadhavan – better known by his pen name ‘Sethu’ — by six months.
•  Officially, the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) was filling a vacancy that fell open last week.
•  According to Mr. Sethumadhavan, he had put in his papers last week after he was called to the Ministry by the joint secretary overseeing NBT affairs and given a clear indication that the Government wanted to appoint someone else.
•  Conceding that it was the Government’s prerogative to replace him, Mr. Sethumadhavan said he had hoped to complete his three-year term as there had been no interference from the Ministry since the change of guard at  the Centre.
•  He had been appointed NBT Chairman on September 12, 2012, for three years, and had a little over six months to go.

Centre to amend RBI Act to set up monetary policy panel

•  An agreement between the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India last month formalised a policy that the central bank had been following since January 2014, of prioritizing controlling price rise.
•  The Centre would amend the RBI Act for the setting up of the proposed monetary policy committee, a key element of the new framework.
•  Replying to a query, Mr. Mehrishi said the budget announcement about proposed ‘strategic disinvestment’ in public sector units would enable the Centre to induct private strategic partners.

Nanditha Krishna, M.D. Srinivas in ICHR

•  The Union MHRD has reconstituted the Indian Council for Historical Research, inducting 18 new members.
•  Included in the restructured Council is C.I. Issac, former Head of the Department of History at CMS College, Kottayam, Kerala and author of The Evolution of Christian Church in India, which questions the origins of Christianity in India from  St Thomas.
•  Jadavpur University Professor Purabi Roy who has worked extensively on Subash Chandra Bose also joins the Council.
•  The new nominees to the Council include Dilip K. Chakrabarti, Professor Emeritus of South Asian Archaeology, Cambridge University,
•  Nanditha Krishna, Director of C.P. Ramaswami Aiyar Foundation, Chennai,
•  Michel Danino, Guest Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar, and author of books on
  ancient India,
•  M. D. Srinivas, chairman of Chennai-based Centre for  Policy Studies,
•  Cambodia-based Sachchi-dananda Sahai who authored the five-volume Lao Ramayana and helped restore Angkor  Vat, and
•  Rahman Ali, Head of the Department of the School of Studies in Ancient Indian History, Culture and Archaeology at Vikram University, Ujjain. PDP gets  10 Cabinet berths, BJP six
•  Among the 24 legislators sworn in as Ministers in Jammu and Kashmir, 16 will join the Mufti Mohammad Sayeed Cabinet. While 10 of the PDP are in the Cabinet, the BJP has six, including People’s Conference chairman and party ally  Sajjad Lone.
•  The Cabinet Ministers from the PDP are Haseeb Drabu, Haq Khan, Imran Raza Ansari, Abdul Rehman Bhat (Veeri), Javed Mustafa Mir, Basharat Bukhari, Choudhary Zulfikar Ali, Ghulam Nabi Lone, Altaf Bukhari and Naeem Akhter.
•  The PDP has three Ministers of State — Abdul Majeed Padder, Ashraf Mir and Asiya Naqash.
•  The six Cabinet ministers from the BJP are Mr. Lone, Nirmal Singh, who will be Deputy Chief Minister, Lal Singh, Bali Bhagat, Sukhnandan Kumar and Chander Prakash.
•  The party has five Ministers of State — Shirin Dorji, Sunil Kumar Sharma, Abdul Gani Kohli, Priya Sethi and Independent candidate Pawan Kumar Gupta.
•  Mr. Sayeed described as a breakthrough the joining of Mr. Lone, who formerly held a separatist position, in the government, but refrained from suggesting that it would become an example for other separatist leaders.

Pakistani singer Adnan Sami applies for Indian citizenship

•  Pakistani singer-musician Adnan Sami has applied for Indian citizenship for a second time despite an earlier plea of his having been rejected by the Centre.
•  The 43-year-old singer - whose earlier request was rejected some two years back - has made his application to the Foreigners’ Division of the Home Ministry.
•  Last month, Home Ministry had asked Law Ministry as to whether Sami can be granted Indian citizenship. But Law Ministry refused to entertain the request, saying that the power of granting Indian citizenship lies with the Home Ministry under the Citizenship Act.
•  The Law Ministry, however, said that it can help Home Ministry with the interpretation of any provision of the Citizenship Act to enable it to decide the case.
•  Under the Indian Citizenship Act, a foreigner is entitled to receive citizenship provided that he or she has rendered distinguished service to the cause of science, philosophy, art, literature, world peace or human progress.

Nai Manzil to bridge lack of skills in minorities

•  The ‘Nai Manzil’ scheme announced in the budget is something that the Minority Affairs Ministry has been talking about ever since the Modi Government assumed office last year.
•  In reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha on July 16, 2014, the Ministry had listed ‘Nai Manzil’ as one of the steps “being taken’’ by the Government for the welfare of minorities.
•  It was billed as a “bridge course to bridge the academic and skill development gaps of the deeni Madrasa passouts with their mainstream counterparts’’.
•  Seven-and-a-half months later, Mr. Jaitley flagged ‘Nai Manzil’ as a scheme that “will be launched this year’’ to enable minority youth who do not have a formal school-leaving certificate to obtain one and find better employment.
•  The other minority community-related programme that he flagged in the Budget speech on Saturday pertained to show-casing the civilisation and culture of Parsis. The Government will support an exhibition ‘The Everlasting Flame’, he said.
•  The allocation for the Ministry “is being protected’’ with an estimate of Rs. 3,738 crore. Last year’s budget had allocated Rs. 3,734 crore to the Ministry which was cut down to Rs. 3,165 crore in the  revised estimates.
•  A bulk of this is for the Multi Sectoral Development Programme for Minorities and the other main claimants to the allocation are the pre-matric and post-matric scholarships for minorities.

Vistara to have fleet size of 20 aircraft by 2018

•  Vistara, a joint venture between Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines, said its fleet size will be increased to 20 by 2018, from five at present.
•  Phee Teik Yeoh, Chief Executive Officer, Vistara (Tata SIA) Airlines Ltd also said that the aviation industry in India is facing challenges such as high fuel cost and a high tax regime.
•  The airlines launched its first flight from Hyderabad to New Delhi. Having started with its operations on January 9, with 68 frequencies weekly, Vistara now operates 164 flights in a week.
•  Replying to a query on challenges that the Indian Aviation Industry is facing, Mr. Yeoh said government should work on addressing the issues such as high aviation turbine fuel coast which is 40-60 per cent more expensive than other countries.
•  He also said that government must remove the 5/20 rule — five years of flying experience, and a fleet size of 20 — for allowing domestic airlines to fly globally.
•  Justifying the launch of flights from Hyderabad, he said it is due to the low sales tax on ATF which formed one of the key consideration to expand the network from the capital of Telangana.

E-commerce transactions on ‘aggregator’ platforms turn costly

•  E-commerce transactions through websites and mobile apps based on ‘aggregator model’, including for cab services and online shopping, may turn expensive as those providing such services under their own brand are being brought under the service tax net.
•  The Finance Bill has proposed changes in the Service Tax rules with respect to certain e—commerce transactions involving aggregator model, which may impact online aggregator taxi services like Uber and Ola Cabs.
•  There are also many online retail websites that follow ‘aggregator’ model. Under this model, an entity does not produce or warehouses any product itself, but collects or aggregates information on goods or services on one single platform from several sources.
•  The aggregator draws customers to its platform and allows them an easy comparison of prices and specifications of product or service offered by several sellers.
•  As per the Finance Bill 2015, presented by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in Parliament, “In respect of any service provided under aggregator model, the aggregator, or any of his representative office located in India, is being made liable to pay Service Tax if the service is so provided using the brand name of the aggregator in  any manner.
•  “If an aggregator does not have any presence, including that by way of a representative, in such a case any agent appointed by the aggregator shall pay the tax on behalf of the aggregator.”
•  In this regard, appropriate amendments have been made to the Service Tax Rules, 1994, it said, while adding that the change has come into effect immediately, that is with  effect from today.
•  As a result, such services will turn expensive once the aggregators decide to pass on the service tax levy to the consumers.
•  According to leading law firm Khaitan & Company, “In respect of certain e—commerce service transactions, the person liable to pay Service tax has now been clearly specified.”
•  For services offered under aggregator model, the aggregator, or its representative office in India would be now made “liable to pay Service tax if the service is provided by using the brand name of the aggregator in any manner.”
•  If an aggregator does not have any presence, then its agent will have to pay the tax, the law  firm clarified.

States will have  More spending Freedom: CEA

•  Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian said that calculations showed that the total transfers from the Centre to the States as a percentage of the divisible pool of its net tax revenue would remain nearly the same even after the acceptance of the 14th Finance Commission’s recommendations.
•  However, transfers from the Central government would no longer be scheme-and-grant-based, and it would rather be devolution-based, leading to more spending freedom for the States — and that would be a “watershed change in the story of Indian federalism.”
•  In a presentation to reporters after Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley tabled the Economic Survey 2014-15 in Parliament, Dr. Subramanian said that in the last three years, the Centre transferred, on an average, 64 per cent of the divisible pool of its net taxes to the States under various heads.
•  This included the States’ share of 32 per cent of the pool on account of the 13th Finance Commission’s award and the Centre’s assistance to the States by way of plan transfers.
•  The Centre would have had to transfer to the States funds amounting to 65 per cent of the pool had the recommendations of the 14th Finance Commission (which is for a 42 per cent States’ share against the 13th Finance Commission’s 32 per cent) applied in the current year, he said.
•  The 14th Finance Commission’s recommendations do not apply in the current year; they will be applicable for the five-year period starting April 1.
•  With the share for the States in the pool rising, the Centre’s plan transfers to the States by way of assistance would diminish, the Economic Survey indicated. “Balancing the enhanced fiscal autonomy of the States with preserving fiscal space of the Centre entails a reduction in the Central assistance to the States,” it said.
•  The Survey said the biggest gainers from the 14th Finance Commission’s award in absolute terms under the general category States are Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh. Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Assam are the most benefited in the special category.
•  The 14th Finance Commission’s recommendations would add substantial spending capacity to the States’ budgets, the Survey said.

SC moved for CBI probe into Essar leaks

•  The Centre for Public Interest Litigation, NGO which successfully fought the 2G Spectrum scam case, moved the Supreme Court for a CBI investigation into the nexus between multi-billion dollar Essar Group and top bureaucrats, journalists and politicians, including Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari and a host of UPA leaders.
•  The petition is based on internal emails and documents leaked from Essar by a whistleblower.
•  The petition, supported by a host of annexures, mostly emails, alleged that Essar not only sponsored high-end gifts but also luxury travel of politicians and their family members.
•  A series of emails details that Mr. Gadkari and his family used Essar vice-chairman Ravi Ruia’s 280-feet super luxury personal yacht ‘Sunrays’ for cruise in 2013 when he was BJP president.

Liberalise FDI in retail for farm sector: Survey

•  The Economic Survey said that by adopting what it called the JAM Number Trinity — Jan Dhan Yojana accounts seeded with Aadhaar numbers and operated through mobile numbers — would allow the States to deliver the subsidies to the poor in a targeted and less distorted manner.
•  Pointing to the lop-sidedness of policies, it said India’s public expenditure on agriculture was a fourth of the subsidy bill on food and fertilizer.
•  In its recommendations for farm sector reforms, it said liberalisation of foreign direct investment (FDI) in retail could help fill the massive investment and infrastructure deficit which resulted in supply-chain inefficiencies. The Narendra Modi government’s stand has been to disallow FDI in multi-brand retail.
•  The Survey also found that India’s manufacturing was skill-intensive, which was not in line with the country’s comparative advantage in unskilled labour and recommended rebalancing of policies:
•  “While ‘Make in India’ occupies prominence as an important goal, the future trajectory of Indian Development depends on both it and ‘Skilling India’.”
  SCO: Russia to push for India’s full membership
•  Russia will push for India’s full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during the upcoming meeting it is hosting in July, said Sergey E. Naryshkin, Chairman of the Russian State Duma. India is currently an observer in the multilateral grouping.
•  The SCO, founded in 2001, comprises Russia, China and several Central Asian republics and is seen as a counter to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
•  Russia is also pushing for deeper engagement among the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) group as well as the Russia-India-China
  (RIC) troika.
•  Mr. Naryshkin said it was logical “to turn BRICS into a full scale strategic forum” for discussing issues of mutual interest.
•  Russia is scheduled to take over chairmanship of the BRICS grouping and the next summit will be held in Russia in July.

Govt. digs in heels on land ordinance

•  A day after Surface Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari sought to make out a case for the government’s land ordinance at a press briefing, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley made a spirited defence of the land reforms that have been denounced as “anti-farmer” and “pro-corporate” by a united Opposition and civil society groups.
•  Mr. Jaitley’s speech in the Rajya Sabha is being read as the government’s definitive stand, the position that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to take on this controversial issue.
•  Mr. Modi is absolutely clear that he will not allow major changes to what he sees as one of his key reforms.
•  In discussions with Cabinet colleagues on how to tackle the dissent, Mr. Modi indicated that an all-party meeting would serve little purpose since the Opposition had shown no signs of softening.
•  Worse, BJP allies Shiromani Akali Dal, Shiv Sena and Lok Janshakti Party also expressed their reservations. Now it is learnt that another NDA partner, the Rashtriya Lok Samata Party, is poised to do the same.
•  Against this backdrop of a hardened stand, Mr. Jaitley made a frontal attack on the Congress, under whose watch the Land Acquisition Act — that this government is seeking to amend — was enacted in 2013.

President clears Amitava Roy’s elevation as SC judge

•  Flagging it as proof that there is no friction between the government and the highest judiciary in appointment of judges, the government has acted quickly to get the President’s approval for the elevation of Chief Justice of Orissa High Court Amitava Roy as a Supreme Court judge.
•  The notification on his appointment would be issued as soon as the papers reached the Law Ministry from the President’s office.
•  Union Law Minister V. Sadananda Gowda said the judicial appointments through the collegium system would continue for the time being.
•  The apex court had two more vacancies and there were several vacancies to fill in the various High Courts.
•  With the appointment of 62-year-old Justice Roy, the strength of judges in the Supreme Court climbs to 29. The sanctioned strength is 31.
  Bureaucrats reshuffled
•  The Narendra Modi-led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved a series of Secretary-level transfers.
•  Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Bhanu Pratap Sharma, has been given additional charge of Department of Health Research for three months, whereas Siraj Hussain has been shifted as Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation from the Ministry of Food Processing Industries.
•  Special Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Cooperation, Ranglal Jamuda, has been appointed Secretary, Ministry of Food Processing Industries, in place of Mr. Hussain.
•  S.M. Vijayanand, Special Secretary in the Department of Rural Development, has been made Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj, whereas Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, Secretary, Department of Fertilisers, has been appointed Secretary, Department of Rural Development.

Irom Sharmila gets Sthree Shakti award

•  Activist Irom Sharmila, who has been on an indefinite fast since November 4, 2000, demanding the repeal of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, has been conferred with the Sthree Shakti award.
•  The award is in recognition of her extraordinary courage and determination, M.L. George, managing trustee of Smaraks Sthree Trust, Kochi, told reporters.
  Section 66A a necessary deterrent, says government
•  The government argued before the Supreme Court that Section 66A of the Information Technology Act should be interpreted on a case by case basis.
•  In arguments which continued through the day before a Bench led by Justice J. Chelameswar, the government was addressing the court’s view that the penal provision was too vague. Section 66A prescribes a three-year jail term to a person found guilty of causing “annoyance or inconvenience” through social media.
•  The court had asked the government to explain what constituted “grossly offensive.” The government maintained that the provision was a necessary deterrent and could not be cast away on the apprehension that it would be misused to affect the freedom of speech and expression.
•  The court is hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the validity of certain provisions in the 2000 Act. One of the petitions filed is by Shreya Singhal, a law student, which deals with the arrest of two girls, Shaheen Dhada and Rinu Shrinivasan, in Thane, Maharashtra, in connection with a comment against the shutdown in Mumbai following Shiv Sena leader Bal Thackeray’s death.

Panel against trying juveniles as adults

•  A Parliamentary Standing Committee has taken on board civil society’s apprehensions of treating 16-to-18-year-olds as adults in cases of heinous crimes, and called for a review of this provision in The Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Bill, 2014, introduced in the Lok Sabha in August.
•  This amendment to the JJ Act is among the slew of changes that the UPA Government had initiated in various laws of the country following the huge public outcry over the Delhi gang rape.
•  A juvenile was among the accused and the brutality of his actions prepared the ground for proposing differential treatment to juveniles in the 16-18 age group in case of heinous crimes.
•  In its report in the Lok Sabha, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Human Resource Development recommended that all relevant clauses dealing with Children’s Courts, and differential treatment of children between 16 and 18 years need to be reviewed as subjecting them to an adult judicial system goes against Articles 14 and 15(3) of the Constitution.

Under pressure, government agrees to consult all parties

•  A united Opposition, backed by sustained protests outside, compelled the Modi government to agree to consult leaders of all parties to find a way out of the Land Acquisition Bill imbroglio.
•  However, the government, despite pressure from both the Opposition and RSS affiliates, sources said, is reluctant to give in and make all the changes suggested, as then, the final product will resemble the original Land Acquisition Act.
•  At BJP parliamentary party meeting, Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged MPs to explain the Bill’s provisions to their constituents to counter the Opposition’s criticism.
•  The government-Opposition stand-off in Parliament on five other ordinances continued, with each side registering a minor victory of its own. Simultaneously, the NDA’s parliamentary managers tried to create public opinion to use the infrequently deployed provision of a joint session.

Swachh Bharat, food subsidy need huge funds

•  If an allocation of Rs. 40,000 crore is made in the Union Budget for 2015-16 for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan as required, there will be enough money to build toilets for India’s 12.3 crore households without them, but if this will achieve zero open defecation is a different story.]
•  Not everyone with a toilet is convinced of the need to use one, yet the share of public outreach in the recast scheme’s Budget fell to under 10 per cent, Payal Hathi of the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics, which studies sanitation, found, and over half of this remains unspent, Accountability Initiative has shown.
•  The food subsidy, including the Public Distribution System, the mid-day meal scheme and other nutrition programmes cost the government Rs. 1.25 lakh crore in its last Budget, and would need to rise to Rs 1.5 lakh crore with an additional Rs. 12,000 crore in maternity benefits for the government to meet its obligations under the National Food Security Act.

Harvard researcher offers free online legal research tool for students

•  An online legal research initiative started by an Indian student research fellow with the Harvard Law School Centre offers a level playing field for his counterparts spread across 140 law schools and colleges in the country.
•  The Standard India Legal Citation (SILC), an online India-centric legal citation manual which can be accessed free of cost, provides legal research material ranging from parliamentary debates, circulars of government bodies like RBI and SEBI to academic papers on Indian family laws to help law students with their academic work.
•  Citations help readers easily find reference to cases  and facts. India, Russia sort out differences on fighter jet project
  • India and Russia have generally agreed upon the amount and division of work during the research and development (R&D) stage of the fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) project.
•  A contract for the R&D phase is being prepared and expected to be signed this year, said Yuli Slyusar, president and chairman of Russia’s United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) at Aero India 2015 in Bengaluru.
•  The work share of Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been a contentious issue as the project will have equal investment between India and Russia and is likely to cost over $30 billion for about 400 aircraft. India plans to induct 144 of them.
•  But HAL’s share in the work has been limited to a meagre 13 per cent so far which will not build any critical technological gains.
•  Both sides have been holding discussions to sort this out before the final agreement.
•  FGFA is crucial for Indian Air Force’s evolving structure as was recently acknowledged by the air chief recently.
•  The final announcement could come later this year with President Pranab Mukherjee visiting Moscow in June, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi expected to visit Russia twice

Modi suit fetches Rs. 4.31-cr in auction

•  Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s monogrammed suit fetched Rs. 4.31 crore as bidders scrambled to own the two-piece ensemble in the final moments of the three-day auction that ended at 5 p.m.
•  Lalji Patel, a diamond trader, and his son, Hitesh Patel, are the new owners of the suit that Mr. Modi wore during a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama on January 25.
•  With a reportedly Rs. 10-lakh price and the name Narendra Damodardas Modi embroidered down the length of the fabric to look like golden pinstripes, the navy-blue bandhgala suit had raised a controversy.
•  Bids flew thick and fast in the last hour of the auction, which had no base price. District Collector, Surat, Rajendra Kumar said bids, one of Rs. 5 crore, received after the deadline had been disqualified.
•  Mr. Lalji Patel, who owns the Dharmananda Diamond Company, told presspersons that he wanted to do something for the country, and the auction gave him an opportunity. China protests  PM's Arunachal Visit China expressed its “diametrical opposition” to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
•  Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said that China had lodged “strong representation with India,” that it was “not conducive to properly resolving and controlling disputes between the two sides, nor in conformity with the general situation of growth of bilateral relations,” Xinhua quoted her as saying.
•  In a statement posted in English on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website, Ms. Hua urged “the Indian side to take China’s solemn concerns seriously, meet the Chinese side halfway and commit itself to fairly and properly resolving the bilateral boundary question through negotiation.”
•  The Xinhua report said that Mr. Modi visited a “disputed zone in the eastern part of China-India borders” to participate in activities marking the founding of the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh,” a State that Indian authorities “illegally and unilaterally declared in 1987.”

Centre defends pictures of politicians in ads

•  Noting that there was nothing “mala fide” in publishing photographs of the Prime Minister, political leaders and “higher authorities” in government advertisements, the Centre said it was the prerogative of a democratically elected government to decide its expenses and the Supreme Court could not interfere.
• Attorney-General Mukul Rohatgi told a Bench headed by Justice Ranjan Gogoi that an ulterior motive of “trying to gain political mileage” could not be read into every government advertisement published with the photographs of political leaders. He submitted that any restriction on government advertisements even before their publication would amount to “pre-censorship.”
•  The court was debating if it should make into law a recommendation by a Supreme Court-appointed high-power committee, led by eminent academic N.R. Madhava Menon, that names and pictures of political parties and their office-bearers should not be mentioned in government advertisements.
•  The committee, in a report to the court in October 2014, said that such advertisements were instances of self-aggrandisement and misuse of public money. It has framed a series of guidelines to regulate expenditure and contents of government advertisements in order to “keep politics out of ads.”
•  Prashant Bhushan, counsel of petitioner Common Cause, said such advertisements were harmful instances of patronage of media houses by the government.
•  Mr. Rohatgi said such guidelines were unnecessary as a constitutional framework was in place to regulate expenses. “All expenses of the government are provided through the Appropriation Bills passed by Parliament. Every penny spent is audited. There is a constitutional requirement for audit. The Comptroller and Auditor General will check. These guidelines have limited value,” Mr. Rohatgi said.

Amartya Sen to Leave Nalanda Post

•  Nobel laureate Amartya Sen withdrew his candidature for a second term as Chancellor of Nalanda University in Bihar, since the Narendra Modi government had not given its approval to his nomination.
•  More than a month had passed since the Board made the unanimous choice that he should serve as Chancellor of the university for a second term.
•  In a letter to members of the Governing Board, he said there was a unanimous resolution in January that he should have another term, but the President as Visitor was not able to give his assent to it.
•  Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen said academic governance in the country remained “deeply vulnerable to the opinions of the ruling government,” where it chose to make political use of special provisions in a university’s statute.

Defence at the  heart of “Make in India”

•  Stressing on the need for domestic manufacture of defence equipment to equip the country for the future, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon foreign defence manufacturers to become strategic partners as he inaugurated “Aero India 2015” in Bengaluru.
•  India has an annual defence budget of about $40 billion of which 60 percent is spent on capital expenditure for purchase of equipment. But having failed to build a domestic defence manufacturing base the country has the distinction of being the world’s largest defence importer.
•  Addressing the private sector’s concerns for a level playing field in defence manufacturing, the Prime Minister has assured significant policy changes to facilitate the same.

Legendary filmmaker Ramanaidu is no more

•  Legendary film producer Daggubati Ramanaidu, who entered the record books for producing maximum number of films in the world died, leaving a void in the Indian film industry.
•  Rama Naidu established the well-known film house Suresh Productions after his elder son Suresh and produced about 150 films in most of the Indian languages with Telugu topping the list. Considered as an icon, he introduced several new faces and directors through his film company.
•  Recipient of Dada Saheb Phalke Award for life time achievement in 2009 and also Padma Bhushan in 2012 in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema, Ramanaidu also holds the record for producing films in many languages in India including Bhojpuri and Punjabi.
•  Born in an agricultural family in Karamchedu in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, Mr. Ramanaidu also represented the Bapatla constituency in Parliament during 1999 - 2004 getting elected on the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ticket.
•  Some of his well-known films include “Prem Nagar, Mundadugu, Soggadu, Jeevana Tarangalu, Devatha, Sangharshana, Prathidwani, Aha Na Pellanta, Prema, Indrudu Chandrudu” and the latest being “Gopala Gopala” starring Venkatesh and Pawan Kalyan. Some of his runaway hits in Hindi include “Tohfa, Insaf Ki Awaz” and “Prem Qaidi” in which he introduced Karishma Kapoor. The entire film industry landed at his residence to pay their last respects.

BJP, PDP propose phased withdrawal of AFSPA

•  The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will have a lot of explaining to do to their respective constituencies if they tie up. The task is harder for the BJP and difficult to pull off, unless Prime Minister Narendra Modi throws his weight fully behind it.
•  During the talks the point came up that while the Army has in practice already diluted the impunity of troops under the AFSPA, its continuing application in the entire State is bringing a bad name to New Delhi. Both parties are working towards a scheme to roll back the law in a phased manner.
•  While the BJP has been open to engaging the separatists and Pakistan and to address the concerns regarding the AFSPA, the most difficult of all issues is formulating a position acceptable to both parties on the State’s special status. The proposal on the table is for the CMP to keep all contentious issues in suspension for discussion in a future mechanism, a “roundtable.”
•  Two other questions on the BJP agenda that are sensitive in the Valley are delimitation of constituencies in the State, and the status of those who crossed over to Jammu from what became Pakistan in 1947. These issues also will have to be suspended, for the CMP to take shape.

Malnourishment high among children of migrants: study

• The level of malnourishment is high among children whose parents migrate in search of livelihood. Inherent malnourishment in mothers, lack of food and nutrition security, feeding and dietary practices and illnesses are some of the reasons identified for high levels of malnourishment.
•  A study ‘Understanding hunger and malnutrition among high migrant communities’ conducted in south Rajasthan by Aajeevika Bureau and EdelGive Foundation has revealed that more than half the children were underweight in those communities where migration was high. Stunting or retarded growth was reported in 53 per cent of the children with 28 per cent of them severely so; 33 per cent are wasted (debilitated growth) with over 9 per cent of them severely so and one-fourth severely underweight. South Rajasthan — broadly Udaipur division — is a semi-arid region with a largely tribal population which owns small land holdings. Small land holdings are unable to help them sustain a livelihood which results in high levels of migration.
•  Each panchayat, where the study was done, had 550-600 migrants. The study was done in four panchayats in one block — two had high levels of migrations and the other two low migration.
•  The sample of 884 households, which had less than three children, was picked up from 13 villages.
•  A total of 695 children under the age of three were weighed and measured as were 607 mothers. The median BMI (body mass index) of mothers was 18.1 with 58 per cent having a BMI of less than 18.5. An analysis has suggested inter-generational transfer of under-nutrition. When the mother is under-nourished, children are 1.8 times more likely to have severe malnutrition.
•  Also, less availability of food items, small land holdings resulting in low produce and caring practices caused malnutrition. Roti was the only food item eaten by children daily and more than 60 per cent had access to it. Only 58 per cent were breastfed, and less than one per cent had daliya (porridge) which is supposed to be highly nutritious.
•  The study further shows that children of migrating families were less likely to be enrolled at the anganwadi centres where the government provides supplementary food to pre-school children. Importantly, the anganwadi centres were less functional in areas with high migrating population.
•  When a mother goes for work, the primary caretakers are grandparents in 57 per cent of the cases, father in just 4 per cent and elder brother in 5 per cent.
   

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