Political and Social Issues

Ministry proposes 24% FDI in Indian carriers by foreign airlines

At a time when domestic airlines are incurring substantial losses, the Civil Aviation Ministry has proposed that the government allow 24 per cent investment by foreign airlines in Indian carriers.
The current rules allow 49 per cent Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Indian aviation companies, but do not allow foreign airlines to own stake.
A number of banks that had lent to the domestic carriers are also finding it hard to restructure their loans. In such a scenario, FDI could bring in funds the carriers badly need.
Kingfisher apart, Jet Airways and Spicejet have reported losses owing to high costs of operation and tax structure. State-owned Air India is also looking for more funds from the government to get out of the red.
The current policy bars foreign airlines from investing in Indian carriers, primarily on security grounds.
A 26 per cent cap would allow a foreign investor to have voting rights on the board of an Indian carrier, but this would not be possible if the cap was pegged at 24 per cent

Centre plans inter-ministerial panel to monitor misleading advertisements

The Centre plans to set up an inter-ministerial committee to look into misleading advertisements that make false claims and to also look at the demand for an independent regulator to monitor such ads that appear on television, the internet, the mobile (through SMS), pamphlets, hoardings and in print.
laws like the Drugs and Magic Remedies [Objectionable Advertisements] Act, 1954, and the Cable Television Networks Regulation Act have not had the desired effect — of preventing such advertisements because of poor enforcement
special mention of the “ads that made unsubstantiated claims about nutritional supplements, advertisements that push children to perform dangerous acts or eat unhealthy food, ads that deliberately lie about the quality or performance of goods and services, surrogate liquor campaigns, ads that promote fair skin colour as a step towards better employment opportunities and better social interactions, besides cure to obesity”.

Finance Ministry approves changes in Food Security Bill

The Finance Ministry had approved the changes in the draft National Food Security Bill
the proposed Bill would now have a clause “prohibiting unwarranted diversion of land and water from food production.
The provision was made as it was assessed that the requirement of grains to meet the obligations under the proposed Bill was around 65 to 70 million tonnes. For this, farm production and productivity had to increase.
Alongside, we have proposed the streamlining of the public distribution system, better storage facilities, plugging of leakages, more investment in agriculture and higher production and productivity
Another proposed change was provision of free meal to eligible pregnant women, lactating mothers, needy children, destitutes and migrants through anganwadis at an additional cost of Rs. 12,000 crore.
In addition, a maternity benefit of Rs. 1,000 a month would be provided for six months to pregnant women and lactating mothers.
Nutritional support had been suggested for children in the age group of six months to six years and for children between six and 14 years.
The cost to the exchequer for provision of mandatory subsidised grains to eligible beneficiaries under the proposed Bill was estimated at over Rs. 1 lakh crore. At present, food subsidy stood at Rs. 63,000 crore.
The Bill proposed coverage with subsidised grains of up to 75 per cent rural population with at least 46 per cent priority households and up to 50 per cent of urban population with at least 28 per cent priority families.
The identification of the beneficiaries would be on the basis of the ongoing Socio-Economic Caste Census.

Rajasthan plans country's first water resources law

Rajasthan is likely to enact a new law on management of water resources which will address the delicate subjects of demand and supply and specify duties and responsibilities of officials at various levels.
The proposed legislation will also ensure public participation in the decision-making process for the water sector.
Bangalore's National Law University has prepared the draft statute for the State Government.
community participation would ensure success of the law and help in enforcement of its provisions to meet local needs.
similar laws had been enacted in Australia and in several African countries.
proposed law should have special provisions on management of rivers, maintenance of water flow and environmental balance.
the law combined with a drive to generate public awareness

Tribunal pulls up State Commissions for ducking power tariff revision

Taking note of the fact that the State Regulatory Commissions have not undertaken periodical power tariff revisions, resulting in poor finances of distribution utilities, the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, New Delhi, has directed them to review tariff every year by April 1.
Every State Commission has to ensure that an Annual Performance Review (APR), true-up of past expenses and an Annual Revenue Requirement and tariff determination are conducted on a year-to-year basis as per the time schedule specified in the Regulations.
In determining the ARR/tariff, revenue gaps ought not to be left, and a Regulatory Asset should not be created as a matter of course except where it is justifiable, in accordance with the Tariff Policy and the Regulations.
All State Commissions should send the periodical reports, by June 1 of the financial year, about compliance with these directions to the Secretary, Forum of Regulators, who, in turn, will send a status report to the Tribunal and also place it on its website.
The Tribunal said tariff determination ought to be a time-bound exercise. “If there is any lack of diligence on the part of the utilities which has led to the delay, the State Commission must play a pro-active role in ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Act, Regulations and the Statutory Policies under the Electricity Act, 2003.

Netrani island: issue of notice to Defence Ministry ordered

The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered issue of notices to the Ministry of Defence, the Indian Navy, and the Karnataka State Biodiversity Board on a public interest litigation seeking to stop the Navy from using an island of heritage value near Bhatkal for its “target practice”.
The petition states that Netrani Island, situated at a distance of nine nautical miles from Bhatkal, is being used by the Navy for “target practice” from several decades, but there is no information on whether the Navy has obtained any permission from the authorities concerned.
Pointing out that the Navy has not conducted any environment impact assessment for the island, the petitioner said that the Navy did not properly respond to the letters written by the State Government to stop “target practice”.

Grant to GPs likely to be based on population

The Department of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj (RDPR) has decided to increase the annual grant to gram panchayats (GPs) on the basis of population.
To strengthen the functioning of the gram panchayats, it had been resolved to sanction grant on the basis of population.
Pointing out the “inherent weakness” in the three-tier system, he said the dream of decentralisation could not be achieved because of lack of coordination among zilla, taluk and gram panchayats.
The reduction in the tenure of heads of ZPs, TPs and GPs, he said, was another reason for the weakening of the bodies.