Compulsory to vote in local bodies elections in Gujarat

• Gujarat has emerged as the first State in the country to make voting compulsory in the local elections following the example, as Chief Minister Narendra Modi described, of 32 countries where the pattern of exercising the adult franchise showed a remarkable improvement from 45 per cent to over 90 per cent.

• Talking to journalists after the adoption of the "Gujarat Local Authorities Laws (Amendment), 2009," the Chief Minister described the measure to make voting compulsory in the local body elections as a "historic move to strengthen democracy" and taking it from "drawing room politics to the polling booth level."

• The Bill seeks to make voting compulsory in all the seven municipal corporations, 159 municipalities, 26 district panchayats, 223 taluka panchayats and over 13,000 village panchayats in the State. It empowers an official chosen by the State Election Commission to declare an absent voter as a "defaulter" except under the circumstances of illness or being away from the state or the country on the voting day. The defaulter could be "punished" under rules to be framed by the government later after giving due notice.

Income must be the lone criteria for reservation: Misra panel

• The National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities has recommended the extension of quota to all religious minorities — including Hindus where they are in a minority — while advocating an overhaul of the reservation policy to make income the lone criteria for affirmative action.

• Scheduled Caste (SC) status should be delinked from religion to make the SC net fully religion-neutral like that of the Scheduled Tribes (STs).For this, Para 3 of the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order 1950 — which originally restricted the SC net to Hindus and later opened it to Sikhs and Buddhists — should be wholly deleted by appropriate action.

• The report of the Commission headed by former Chief Justice of India Ranganath Misra .Calling for an overhaul of the entire reservation policy, the Commission, which submitted its report to the Government on May 10, 2007, has stressed the need to limit the benefits of reservation to the socially and economically backward.
   

• Educational institutions-
  For this purpose, the Commission has suggested that the Below Poverty Line (BPL) lists prepared on the basis of social/educational and economic criteria should be used, as they are scientifically prepared and revised periodically."BPL lists should, therefore, be made eligible for grant of reservation without distinction on caste, class, group or religion basis."

• The Commission has recommended that at least 15 per cent of the seats in all non-minority educational institutions should be earmarked by law for minorities.Of the 15 per cent, the largest chunk of 10 per cent should go to Muslims — commensurate with their 73 per cent share of the total minority population in the country — and the remaining five per cent to other minorities.

• While making this recommendation, the Commission has followed the judicial decisions mandating that only 50 per cent of the seats in a minority institution can be set aside for minorities in the interest of national integration. The 15 per cent reservation for minorities in non-minority institutions is justified by the Commission "by the same analogy and for the same purpose."

• In defining religious minorities, the Commission has gone beyond the scope of the definition used by the National Commission for Minorities. According to the report, it should include all religious minorities — large or small — including the Hindus in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep and the States of Jammu & Kashmir, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Punjab.

• Panel recommends quota for Muslims-The Ranganath Misra Commission has recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and five per cent for other minorities in government jobs and favoured the Scheduled Castes status for Dalits of all religions.

Buddhadeb favours creation of equal opportunities for minorities

• Emphasising that reservation alone cannot be the solution for the empowerment of the minorities in the country, Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said here on Friday that creation of equal opportunities for both the majority and the minorities was the key to resolve the issue.

• Reservation cannot be a fundamental solution. It has been in place since 1947 but a select layer of handful people, a large mass of the minorities' population have remained left out…creation of equal opportunities in every sector for both the majority and minority is therefore the only solution."

• The initiative must be taken in fundamental fields like education and training.

Head-count ratio of people below poverty line higher in State: Tendulkar committee

• Karnataka maintains its status as the poorest among four southern States, according to the data on poverty recently released by an expert committee set up by the Planning Commission.

• The committee, headed by noted economist Suresh Tendulkar, which has determined a new methodology for estimating the extent of poverty in India, has estimated that a little over one-third of Karnataka's population lived below the poverty line in 2004-05.

• The committee has revised rural poverty levels in India in 2004-05, from 28.3 per cent to 41.8 per cent, a significant upward revision.

• The committee established the poverty line for 2004-05 at Rs. 417.8 per capita per month for rural Karnataka and at Rs. 588.10 for urban areas of the State. The poverty line implies a minimum consumption expenditure level required by a person to procure a standardised basket of goods and services to satisfy basic needs.

• Karnataka's position is, in what would appear to be contrary to common perceptions of poverty, in fact closer to States such as Assam and Rajasthan, which are generally regarded to be poorer.

Misra report to be examined

• The government on Sunday said it would examine the report of the Ranganath Misra Commission — which recommended 10 per cent reservation for Muslims and 5 per cent for other minorities — "with all sincerity," but refused to commit whether or when the recommendations would be accepted.

Abrogation or continuance of Article 370 should be left to people of J&K'

• The fifth Working Group on Centre-State relations constituted by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Wednesday presented to Chief Minister Omar Abdullah in Jammu the report ,headed by Justice (retired) Saghir Ahmad, who took a long time finalising the report. The five Working Groups were constituted by Dr. Singh on May 25, 2006, at the end of the Round Table Conference in Srinagar.

• The other groups — dealing with Confidence-building measures, cross-Line Of Control travel and trade, economy and good governance — have already submitted their reports.

• The summary said that as far as Article 370 of the Constitution of India was concerned, "it is for the people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to decide how long to continue Article 370 in its present form and when to make it permanent of abrogate. The matter, being 60 years old, should be settled once for all."

• On the demand of autonomy by the National Conference, the summary said that it could be examined in the light of the Kashmir Accord or in some other manner, or on the basis of some other formula as the present Prime Minister may deem fit and appropriate so as to restore autonomy to the extent possible.

• The Working Group said the question of the appointment of Governor and dismissal of the popular government by the Governor may be considered and resolved.

• On the People's Democratic Party's (PDP) demand of 'Self Rule,' the summary said that on behalf of the party, Muzaffar Hussain Baig orally explained the concept of 'Self Rule,' but the 'Self Rule' as proposed by the PDP could not be considered in all its detail as the document containing the various aspects of 'Self Rule' were not provided to the Working Group as promised by PDP during the course of the proceedings.

• On the term of the State's Legislative Assembly, the summary said any change in the term of the Assembly would require political consensus among the parties in the State and can be effected only through a Constitutional Amendment.

• The Working Group has also suggested that Representational Reservation for Scheduled Tribes and Women in the Assembly may be guided by the national pattern subject to political consensus. It has, however, opposed the demand for the abolition of the State Legislative Council, saying that the present position may be maintained.

• On the increase in the number of Assembly seats and the De-limitation Commission, the summary said: "Since the Constitutional provisions do not allow any change up to the year 2026, the present position may be maintained till then."

• About human rights, the Working Group said violations must not be tolerated and that the State government should take steps to strengthen the institutions that are involved in safeguarding human rights, including the State Human Rights Commission. "Additional staff as recommended in the body of the report should be sanctioned, which will work under the direct control of the Commission," the report said.

• In contrast to recommendations from other groups, the summary said that regarding the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, "a group of Central government and State government officers and people's representatives may be constituted, which will review the application of the Act to various parts of the State regularly to explore the possibility whether the Act can be withdrawn from any part of the State."

• The Working Group has also made suggestions on issues related to migrants, daily wagers, regional councils, industrial units, refugees from Pakistan, and promotion of the IT industry.
  

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• White paper on railway surplus

  • The white paper, reportedly prepared by a consultant under the supervision of the Railway Board, asserts that the accumulated surplus of Rs.90,000 crore claimed for the peri od 2004-09 was the result of a change in the accounting system.

  • The real surplus, after allowances are made for the new system and the outgo due to the implementation of the Sixth Pay Commission report, was only Rs.39,500 crore. Strangely, the Railways has decided to continue with the same system of accounting which, the report says, exaggerated the surplus.

  • Whatever the quantum of surplus, there can be no denying that Mr. Lalu Prasad and his team did turn the Railways into an efficient enterprise. It is widely acknowledged that he, while insisting on his priorities, gave the administration enough space to shuffle around and tone up the operational efficiency.

  • The facts speak for themselves. Despite the serious competition from road transport, more revenue was generated through innovative measures, even while keeping the basic passenger fare untouched. Freight tariff was restructured. Loading as well as originating passenger traffic rose significantly during the five years. Ms Banerjee will do well to concentrate on consolidating the gains and finding ways of raising the Rs.14 lakh crore investments the Railways needs, keeping petty politics out of the sound and successful public sector undertaking.

  Panel: judicial promotions should be transparent

  • The Committee on Judicial Accountability (CJA) has expressed concern at the government returning the recommendation of the Supreme Court collegium for elevation of Allahabad High Court Chief Justice C.K. Prasad to the Supreme Court on the ground that it was made without proper verification.

  • This is the second time it has returned the file, the first being the case of Karnataka High Court Chief Justice P.D. Dinakaran, whose elevation has been kept in abeyance, the CIA pointed out in a statement signed by senior lawyers Ram Jethmalani, Shanti Bhushan, Fali Nariman, Anil Divan, Kamini Jaiswal and Prashant Bhushan.The statement said: "In Justice Dinakaran's case, some of the allegations against him have subsequently been confirmed by the District Magistrate [of Tiruvallur in Tamil Nadu], leading to an impeachment motion against him which has been admitted by the Chairman of the Rajya Sabha. We are disturbed that [in the case of Justice Prasad also] recommendations have been made without any transparency and without proper verification of the antecedents and reputation of those recommended."

  • The CJA said: "The committee strongly feels that responsible members of the Bar of the concerned High Courts should be consulted before the collegium makes any recommendation. Pending the constitution of a full-time National Judicial Appointments Commission, we urge the collegium to fashion after a public debate, an open, accountable and participatory procedure for making recommendations for judicial appointments; and not to recommend persons until the names have been made public, and members of the Bar and the public are enabled to share the relevant information that they might have about the proposed appointees with the collegium."

  Poets dominate 2009 Sahitya Akademi Awards

  • Poets dominated this year's Sahitya Akademi award winners with eight of their books chosen for the honours in 24 categories of literature.

  • The poets honoured were: Praduman Singh Jindrahia (Dogri), Kailash Vajpeyi (Hindi), Jess Fernandes (Konkani), Raghu Leishangthem (Manipuri), Vasant Abaji Dahake (Marathi), Phani Mohanty (Oriya), Damayanti Beshra (Santhali) and Puviarasu (Tamil).

  • Those who won the awards for their collection of short stories include Vaidehi (Kannada), the late Manmohan Jha (Maithili), Samiran Chhetri 'Priyadarshi' (Nepali), Major Ratan Jangid (Rajasthani), Prashasya Mitra Shastri (Sanskrit) and Anand Khemani (Sindhi).

  • The Akademi had decided to honour authors of children's literature from this year. "The details are being worked out whether to award the book or the overall contribution of the author. But we will hand out 24 awards every year," Mr. Murthy said.

  Bifurcate Home Ministry, says Chidambaram

  • Proposing a bold, thorough and radical restructuring of the security architecture at the national level.

  • Subjects not directly related to internal security should be dealt with by a separate Ministry or brought under a separate department in the Home Ministry itself and handled by a Minister independently.

  • The Home Minister should devote the whole of his/her time and energy to matters relating to security.

  • To counter, prevent and contain a terrorist attack and respond to it should one take place, India must set up the National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) by the end of 2010.

  India, Bhutan to sign four MoUs for hydel power projects

  • Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck arrived here on his first state visit to a country after his formal coronation as the fifth King of Bhutan last year.

  • India and Bhutan intend cementing their ties further by signing a dozen pacts including four memoranda of understanding for hydel projects.

  • The two sides will also ink a pact on setting up a super-specialty hospital on the lines of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences.

  • However, an agreement on laying of a rail line that would have provided Bhutan a more enduring and economical trade link with countries in the region is not on the cards owing to land acquisition issues in some tea gardens on the Indian side, diplomatic sources here said.The MoUs on initiating the detailed project reports (DPRs) on the hydel projects will be inked under the 60-year umbrella agreement signed in 2006.Originally, India planned to import 5,000 MW from Bhutan by 2020 but this has been doubled under an accelerated hydel power development agreement.

  • According to Indian sources, over 60 per cent of Bhutan's gross domestic product accrues from sale of surplus power from three hydro power stations — Kurichu, Chukha and Tala — and the generation will rise exponentially once work on four more — Punatsangchu, Wangchu, Bunakha and Sankosh — is over.

  • During the King's visit, the MoUs will be signed on initiating DPRs for the Amochhu (620 MW), Kuvi-Gongi (1800 MW), Kholongchhu (486 MW) and Chamkarchu-I (670 MW) projects.

  Germany keen on closer defence, civil nuclear ties

  • Germany intends to step up its engagements in a wide range of fields from solar energy to intelligence sharing and even civil nuclear cooperation with several high-level bilateral engagements lined up in the coming months.

  • In order to sweeten the offer of 126 fighter planes by a European consortium, Germany, which heads it, is thinking of pushing for civil nuclear cooperation in areas of interest to India.

  • While the multi-billion dollar contract for fighters is the cynosure of Berlin's attention, it is also keen on promoting the prospects of Europe-based companies on other tenders for military hardware.

  • Professed interest in promoting the German company HDW for the coming order for submarines. It will be easier since germany shelved the deal with Pakistan.

  • The visit early next year by German President Hoerst Koehler would focus on issues such as a proposal to set up a massive solar plant in the Thar Desert on the lines of the Sahara desert project by a consortium of German companies. "We are putting up a huge solar field in northern Africa over an area of 40,000 sq. km., which would meet all the energy needs of the European Union by 2050. We can do that in the Thar Desert.

  Russia to help India build manned spaceship

  • Russia will help India build a manned spaceship and send an Indian astronaut to space under a 10-year cooperation programme.

  • New Delhi had asked Moscow to share with it the technologies to build a manned spacecraft and take an Indian astronaut aboard a Soyuz, chief of the Piloted Programmes of Roskosmos Alexei Krasnov told reporters on Wednesday.

  • The spaceship would be modelled after the Soyuz craft, but it would be smaller to match the lighter Indian boosters. India's first astronaut Rakesh Sharma travelled to space aboard a Soyuz in 1984.

  • He spent eight days on the Salyut-7 orbital station and did various scientific experiments. Subsequent plans to send two Indian astronauts to space on a U.S. shuttle were scrapped after the Challenger disaster in 1986.

  Prachanda seeks clarification on Army Chief's remarks

  • Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' on Thursday sought New Delhi's stand on the remarks made by Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor who expressed reservation on the en masse integration of the Maoists' People's Liberation Army into the Nepal Army.

  • Mr. Dahal said Gen. Kapoor's remarks were against the peace process and it meant a clear interference in Nepal's politics.
    Annual General Meeting (AGM) of Editors Guild 

  • Shocked by the "pernicious practice" of publishing "paid news" by some newspapers and television channels – particularly during the recent elections – the Editors Guild of India has strongly condemned this practice, "which whittles down the foundations of Indian journalism."

  • Guild said: "Both the media organisations and editors who indulge in it, and the customers who offer payment for such 'paid news' are guilty of undermining the free and fair press, for which every citizen of India is entitled to."

  • The issue was raised by Editor-in-Chief of Business Standard, T. N. Ninan, and Guild president Rajdeep Sardesai made out a strong case for dedicating 2010 to a campaign against "paid news."

  • Besides setting up a four-member Ethics Committee, which will be headed by Mr. Ninan, the Guild also decided to approach the Election Commission to suggest reforms in the election laws, as "paid news" was being used by political parties to circumvent the strict limits on poll expenditure.

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  • Centre seeks report on cross-border firing from BSF

    • Concerned at a major infiltration bid, the Centre on Tuesday sought a report from the Border Security Force on the situation along the border in Jammu and Kashmir, where the Pakistan Rangers resorted to unprovoked firing since Monday night.

    • Sources said. The firing was a cover for militants to infiltrate into Jammu and Kashmir.However, the attempt did not work as the entire area was protected by a barbed fence, and the BSF found no trace of damage to the fence, the sources said.

    • Twenty-eight incidents of such ceasefire violations by Pakistan were reported till November 25 along the Line of Control. In the past four years, there have been 129 incidents of ceasefire violations and 43 incidents of air space violations by Pakistan.

    Oil companies agree on ethanol price

    • State-owned oil companies will pay Rs. 27 a litre, or 25 per cent higher from the existing level, for buying ethanol from sugar mills for blending with petrol, it is learnt.

    • Food and Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said an agreement had been reached between the oil marketing companies and millers on the price of ethanol. At present, oil marketing companies — Indian Oil Corporation, Hindustan Petroleum and Bharat petroleum — pay Rs.21.50 to buy a litre of ethanol while the sugar millers were seeking a price up to Rs.31 a litre.

    Indian ship repaired

    • The engine of a stricken India-flagged cargo freighter was repaired by the onboard engineers early on Tuesday and the vessel with all the 28 crew members is now heading towards its destination Portland.

    • Earlier, the crew of the ship in distress APJ Suryavir, had planned to abandon the ship in stormy seas and fierce winds.

    • On Sunday, the master of the ship APJ Suryavir had sought emergency help from the U.S. Coast Guard as the ship went adrift off the coast of Alaska in a stormy North Pacific.

    Operation Rakshak

    • The 24-hour drill organised in coastal Tamil Nadu to test the efficiency of security forces against infiltration of 'terrorists' saw some real-time action involving various law enforcing agencies.

    • 'Operation Rakshak', a meticulously planned mock drill, was a challenge between the 'Red Force' (commandos posing as terrorists) and the 'Blue Force' (police/defence personnel). The mission of the 'Red Force' was to enter the land from sea and reach their targets that included harbours, railway stations, malls and government offices.

    A.R. Rahman is CNN-IBN Indian of the year

    • The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar.

    Rhinos killed

    • Two one-horned rhinos were killed by poachers in the Kaziranga National Park, officials said on Monday.

    • With this, the number of this endangered species killed at the park in Assam this year rose to 14. The carcasses of the rhinos, a full grown male and a female, were recovered, with their horns missing, in the Agartoli range. The poachers had entered the park posing as visitors and killed the female rhino on Sunday night.

    Committee faults Gafoor's handling of 26/11

    • The two-member committee, headed by the former Governor and Union Home Secretary R.D. Pradhan, appointed by the Maharashtra government to go into the November 26, 2008 terror strikes, found serious lapses on the part of former Police Commissioner, Hasan Gafoor in handling the "war-like" multi-pronged attack.

    • However, it did not find any serious lapse on the part of officers and police men of the Mumbai police. In fact, it praised the courage of officers and men — some may consider thoughtless — to launch themselves into situations that were hopeless and knowing that they might be killed.

    No political consensus on Gorkhaland'

    • A political consensus that is required but not there at the moment as well as other aspects of the Gorkhaland issue were discussed at the fourth round of talks among the Centre, the West Bengal government and the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) in Darjeeling on Monday.

    • There was no agreement on the issue of a separate State as "there is no political consensus as of today for the formation of Gorkhaland. The legal provisions and political requirements which needed to be put in place before the process of State formation could be initiated were discussed.

    • In a fiery speech at a public rally shortly after the talks, GJM president Bimal Gurung, who stayed away from the meeting, said the movement for Gorkhaland would continue until statehood was achieved.

    Indians entering U.K. on illegal student visas: report

    • Thousands of young Indians, mainly from Punjab, are entering Britain on falsely obtained student visas, a media report claimed on Sunday.

    • Undercover reporters found foreign agents offering would-be students £10,500 loans so they can convince the U.K. Border Agency in their visa applications that they have enough money in their bank account to pay fees and support themselves in Britain.The money is handed back to the lender as soon as it has appeared on bank statements for a month, said the Sunday Times report.The cost to the student is a 7 per cent interest charge and £200 processing fee, which amounts to about £935.

    Resist U.S. pressure to sign CTBT'

    • Scientists who claim the 1998 test of a thermonuclear device by India was a failure have urged the government to resist American pressure to sign the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). They want the government to set up a high-level, independent, broad-based panel of experts to "monitor the implementation, on a continuing basis, of an effective course of action in the realm of thermonuclear weapons."

    • Pointing out that renewed pressure from U.S. President Barack Obama on India to sign the CTBT was causing the issue to be raised again, they urged the government to remain firm in its opposition."Mr. Obama has actually gone further than trying to secure universal adherence to the CTBT, and secured a U.N. Security Council resolution urging such adherence to the NPT also," they noted.

    • "Not signing the highly discriminatory NPT has been an article of faith of all our governments — irrespective of hues — since the Treaty was drawn up in 1968. The present government, we strongly urge again, should continue that policy steadfastly, despite whatever threats and blandishments are applied to it. Even the slightest succumbing would convert our 'voluntary moratorium' into an involuntary, permanent, cessation of nuclear weapon testing and so forever deny us our legitimate place in the great powers' league," they said.

    • The scientists are the former Atomic Energy Commission Chairman, P.K. Iyengar, the former Scientific adviser to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Ashok Parthasarathi, the former Bhabha Atomic Research Centre Director, A.N. Prasad, and the former Atomic Energy Regulatory Board Chairman, A. Gopalakrishnan.

    Green energy fund planned

    • Haryana Chief Minister  announced to institute awards for promotion of 'energy conservation buildings' and setting up of green energy and energy conservation fund.

    
    --
    with warm regards
    
    Harish Sati
    Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU)
    Maidan Garhi, New Delhi-110068
    
    (M) + 91 - 9990646343 | (E-mail) Harish.sati@gmail.com