Saturday, September 8, 2012

NATIONAL NEWS

• PM accuses opposition of derailing democracy
  • The disrupted monsoon session of Parliament came to an unceremonious end on Friday, with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accusing the Opposition of derailing parliamentary democracy and the BJP announcing a nationwide campaign to end corruption;
  • The CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury called for the enforcement of a ‘no work, no pay’ policy on MPs, while the BSP’s Mayawati sought a special session for the passage of the Bill to provide for reservation in promotions for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes;
  • In a statement, Dr. Singh held the Opposition guilty of disrupting and negating a functioning democracy: “I would like my countrymen and countrywomen to make up their minds, if this is the right way to serve our functioning democracy. We take pride in the fact that we, since independence, have been a practising, functioning democracy. What we have witnessed in this session is a total negation of that, and all right-thinking people… should stand up and unitedly come up with the voice that come what may, Parliamentary institutions must be allowed to function...”;
  • Countering this, Leaders of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley argued that the BJP had, in fact, sent out a strong message by holding up Parliament. “We are attempting to shake the conscience of this country, which is faced with the serious issue of corruption in the allocation of its natural resources.”
• PSLV's biggest commercial lift on Sunday
  • This Sunday, the Indian Space Research Organisation is set to make another mark in its Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) launcher business when it flies French earth observation satellite SPOT 6. In the 13 years since the PSLV went commercial, the 720 kg SPOT 6 will be its biggest commercial lift. PROITERES, a 15-kg Japanese observation satellite, will also be put in orbit that day;
  • For the third time in 21 PSLV (one failed) missions, there will be no Indian satellite on it. In the other two ‘dedicated’ or exclusively-for-client launches, it put in orbit 350 kg Agile in 2007 and Israeli radar spy satellite TECSAR the following year;
  • The cost of a PSLV ride depends on the satellite’s weight and the distance it must reach. It also launched the first Indian lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, in 2008. ISRO officials say it costs about Rs. 90crore to build the present bare-bones or ‘core alone’ version of the PSLV;
  • This will also be the 100th mission of the ISRO and the Prime Minister is likely to witness the launch.
• Vendors Bill introduced in Lok Sabha
  • The Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood & Regulation of Street Vending) Bill, 2012, was presented in the Lok Sabha. The Bill, which seeks to protect the rights of vendors and regulate their activity in public areas, has provisions for setting up vending zones where street vendors can sell their products without fear of being fined and harassed by the municipal authorities and the police;
  • The Bill defines “street vendor” as a “person engaged in vending of articles, goods, wares, food items or merchandise of every day use or offering services to the general public, in a street lane, side walk, foot path, pavement, public park or any other public place or private area or by moving from place to place and includes hawker, peddler, squatter and all other synonymous terms which may be local or region specific”;
  • As per the provisions of the Bill, anyone over 14 years of age who intends to do street vending can register himself/herself with the Town Vending Committee (TVC), which will have also representatives of the vending community. Every TVC will have grievance redressal committee headed by retired sub judge or magistrate or executive magistrate.
• Shortfall in crop due to weak monsoon will be made up in the Rabi season
  • The delayed southwest monsoon has helped to reduce the gap in kharif acreage but production of coarse cereals is expected to be 10-15 per cent lower than in a normal year (average of five years), according to preliminary estimates. The total sowing area is reported to be lower by 8.96 lakh hectares than in a normal year;
  • However experts say that the shortfall in kharif will be made up in rabi. The delayed rain is good for moisture retention in soil and we expect good acreage under jowar, bajra, mustard and gram in the coming rabi season;
  • The erratic monsoon is likely to impact production of coarse cereals, moong and arhar dals and groundnut what with delayed or unsown crop in parts of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Rajasthan.
• Though Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister S. Jaipal Reddy asserted on Friday that there is no immediate proposal to raise the prices of petroleum products, including petrol, the government seems to be bracing for an across- the-board hike in the prices of petrol, diesel, LPG cylinder and kerosene most likely by next week

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

• Myanmar passing foreign investment law
  • Myanmar’s Parliament adopted a much anticipated foreign direct investment law on Friday that is crucial to the government’s ambitious plans for economic expansion in one of Asia’s poorest countries;
  • The law drops several provisions in the original draft that had raised fears it could deter investors. The law was seen as one of Parliament’s most urgent tasks and was passed on the last day of its current session;
  • One proposal dropped from the law would have required a $5 million minimum initial investment outlay. The final version also allows foreign parties to hold a 50 per cent stake in joint ventures rather than limiting them to a proposed 49 per cent;
  • Elected President Thein Sein launched economic and political reforms when he took office last year after almost five decades of military rule, foreign sanctions and restrictive laws that kept the economy stagnant. Myanmar has an inefficient agricultural sector and small industrial base, and most of its export earnings come from extractive industries, especially natural gas.
• After two years of “spirited debate” and notwithstanding deep concern within the Obama administration about the fragility of ties with Pakistan, the U.S. State Department has finally designated the fearsome Haqqani Network terror outfit in Afghanistan a Foreign Terrorist Organisation
• European Central Bank said it would undertake Outright Monetary Transactions (OMTs), that would “enable us to address severe distortions in government bond markets” and provide a “fully effective backstop to avoid destructive scenarios”. Under no circumstances would the Euro be allowed to sink, the ECB said

EDITORIALS, OPINIONS & COLUMNS

• Read this article on what the Indian Govt should handle the natural resources in the country