Thursday, May 24, 2012

NATIONAL NEWS

• India signs TAPI gas pipeline agreement
  • India and the other countries signed the agreements which will pave the way for laying the 1680km pipeline. Turkmenistan signed agreements to sell gas to India and Pakistan through the $7.6- billion pipeline at Avaza. The 1,680-km TAPI pipeline will have a capacity to carry 90 million cubic metres a day (mmcmd) gas for a 30-year period and will be operational in 2018.
• Nod for Bill to protect children from abuse
  • The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Bill, 2011. The Bill, already passed by the Rajya Sabha, will protect children below 18 from sexual abuse. It seeks to set up special courts for speedy trial of cases against them and provide stringent punishment extending up to life term for offenders;
  • The Bill is gender-neutral. It seeks to protect children from sexual offences and the burden of proof will be on the accused. All those below 18 years would be treated as children and efforts had been made to keep the provisions of the Bill child-friendly, including in-camera trial of offences. the Bill had a provision for the State governments to set up special courts to try the offences. It had another provision for a stringent punishment to perpetrators extending up to life term and a heavy penalty — the quantum will be decided by the court.
• Lok Sabha passes Anand Marriage Act
  • The Lok Sabha passed the Anand Marriage Act, meeting a long-standing demand of the Sikh community for a law allowing them to register their marriages under a separate Act, instead of the Hindu Marriage Act. Although the Anand Marriage law was enacted in 1909, there was no provision for registration of marriages. Hence marriages were registered under the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955;
  • Sikh groups have maintained that members of the community face problems abroad as their certificates are issued under the Hindu Marriage Act. Besides Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists are issued certificates under the Hindu laws. Sikh marriage ceremonies are known as ‘Anand Karaj' (blissful event). According to the amendment Bill, couples whose marriages have been registered under this Act will not be required to get their marriage registered under the Registration of Births, Marriages and Deaths Act, 1969 or any other law for the time being in force.
• Copyright Bill cleared; artistes entitled to lifelong royalty
  • The Copyright Act (Amendment) Bill, 2012 was passed by the Lok Sabha unanimously, with members from all parties supporting the measure for creative artistes, whose benefits are cornered by producers under the existing law. The Bill, passed by the Rajya Sabha last week, declares authors owners of the copyright, which cannot be assigned to producers, as was the practice till now;
  • Leading upto this amendment, poor artistes had been left in the lurch, as producers cornered all royalties, but the new law would help them live a good life even in old age, as they would continue to get their dues for their work;
  • Citing the examples of shehnai exponent Bismillah Khan and music composer Ravi during discussions in the house, to press home the point that the condition of such excellent artistes was pitiable, as they weren't able to pay even house rent and hospital charges, the Bill made it mandatory for broadcasters — both radio and television — to pay royalty to the owners of the copyright each time a work of art was broadcast;
  • It bans persons from bringing out cover versions of any literary, dramatic or musical work for five years from the first recording of the original creation. The Bill provides for exemption from copyright for any work prepared for the physically challenged in special formats such as Braille. It also permits compulsory licence to be granted for a certain number of copies in non-special formats to non-profit organisations working to help disabled persons;
  • The Minister said the amendment would allow authors to negotiate with music companies for royalty to be paid to them for their creations. The Bill also exempted students from the copyright laws for using such material for research purposes. It sought to impose a fine and two years' imprisonment for persons indulging in piracy.
• International Biodiversity day was observed across India

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Imphal – Mandalay bus service may take off soon
  • With Prime Minister Manmohan Singh scheduled to visit Myanmar at the end of this month, the Union Cabinet is likely to clear an MoU that provides for the introduction of a bus service between the two countries;
  • Aiming at establishing regional connectivity between India and Myanmar — which share a 1,640-long land border — for development of road transport, trade, investment, tourism and transit of goods and people across the border, the conveyance service will connect Imphal in Manipur and Mandalay in Myanmar. The objective is to ensure people-to-people interaction and enhance connectivity between the NE States and Myanmar, besides paving the way for greater interactivity in the border region so as to contribute to security and stability along the border. Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Mizoram share a border with Myanmar. India even shares a maritime boundary in the Bay of Bengal with Myanmar.
• Observer countries must work hard for SCO membership - China; India unlikely soon
  • A Chinese official on Wednesday ruled out any decision being taken on granting member status to India and Pakistan when heads of state from the six-member Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) meet in Beijing on June 6, stressing that “no time table should be set” on expanding the security grouping. It was the common view of the organisation that observers — India, Pakistan, Iran and Mongolia, who have been pushing for membership status for more than three years — still needed to do more by way of preparatory work, while the members — China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan — would keep “an open attitude”;
  • The summit, the twelfth meeting of SCO heads of state and the third to be held in China, will mark the first instance of the organisation admitting a new observer since 2005. Afghanistan is expected to join the SCO as an observer at the summit, while Turkey is set to be granted the status of a dialogue partner. Sri Lanka and Belarus were taken in as dialogue partners in 2010;
  • The situation in Afghanistan, particularly on the plans after withdrawal of NATO led forces, and the Iranian nuclear issue are likely to top the summit's agenda.
• Political uncertainty grips Nepal
  • A day after major parties reached a tentative agreement to amend the interim Constitution and extend the term of the Constituent Assembly (CA), political uncertainty has once again gripped Nepal. Two major parties in government — the Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) — has opposed any extension of the CA and demanded Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai's immediate resignation. The term of the CA is set to expire on May 27;
  • The Supreme Court of Nepal has ruled that the current extension would be the last one, and failing promulgation of the Constitution, the country should head for fresh elections or a referendum. Four writs were filed in the SC on Wednesday, challenging the government's amendment proposal on grounds of it being unconstitutional and in contempt of court.

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on the amendments to the Copyright Act and the issues relating to Digital Rights Management
• The Hindu recently carried this article by Sainath which took a good shot at the expenditure by key members in the Indian Government. The Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission has responded in this letter published in the Hindu today