Sunday, January 22, 2012

HEADLINES

• Rajasthan police may have invented plot to keep Rushdie away from the Jaipur Literary festival
• ID cards being issued to residents of the andamans for maritime safety
• After Kalmadi, bail now for the other accused in the CWG case, Bhanot and Jeyachandran
• Subramanian Swamy concludes arguments on including Chidambaram in the 2G case; Court reserves its order till February 4

NATIONAL NEWS

• Water policy draft favours privatisation of services
  • The Govt has begun consultations on a new National Water Policy that calls for the privatisation of water-delivery services and suggests that it be priced so as to “fully recover” the costs of operation and administration of water-resources projects;
  • The draft of the new policy suggests that the Govt withdraw from its role as a service provider in the water sector and the private sector should be encouraged to play this role. The proposals could mean sharp rises in the cost of water for both rural and urban uses - an outcome the policy suggests will help curtail misuse of a precious but scarce resource;
  • It also calls for the abolition of all forms of water subsidies to the agricultural and domestic sector, but says “subsidies and incentives” should be provided to private industry for recycling and reusing treated effluents. It also proposes that subsidies to agricultural electricity users be curtailed, saying it leads to a “wasteful use of both electricity and water”;
  • For expeditious resolution of inter-State water disputes, the draft policy suggests establishment of a permanent Water Disputes Tribunal at the Centre. It also suggests that people displaced by large scale water projects should be made partners in the project;
  • A 2005 report of the World bank which studied the water sector in India made very similar recommendations.
• Petroleum and Natural Gas Ministry moots extra excise duty on Diesel cars
  • The Ministry has proposed an additional excise duty of Rs.80,000 on diesel-driven cars in the coming Budget, besides seeking a 5% import duty exemption on LNG and natural gas to discourage dieselisation. These are part of the budgetary proposals officially sent to the Finance Ministry for inclusion in the Budget 2012-13;
  • These recommendations, made to the Finance Ministry formally for the first time, are in line with the suggestions made by the Kirit Parikh Committee which submitted a report in 2010 on the pricing and taxation of petroleum products;
  • The Ministry has also urged the Finance Ministry to continue excise duty concession to northeast refineries, declare the goods status to natural gas and LNG, and remove the national calamity contingent, levied at the rate of Rs. 50 a tonne, on crude oil.
• Jairam Ramesh says that Naxalites are recruiting young boys and girls in the age group of 12-15 years

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• 150 persons killed in bomb blasts in Kano, Nigeria. Blasts coordinated by a radical islamist sect
• US anti-piracy bills, SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), put on hold
• Muslim brotherhood, once banned in Egypt, gets a 2/3rd majority in the elections

ECONOMY & BUSINESS NEWS

• For those of you who have not understood the recent vodafone-hutchison case, read this article which explains the issues and the judgement