Political and Social Issues

The Supreme Court has modified its July 5 order banning appointment of special police officers (SPOs) in naxal-affected States and said it would apply only to Chhattisgarh.
court directed the Centre to desist forthwith from using any of its funds for supporting, directly or indirectly, the recruitment of SPOs for purposes of engaging them in any form of counter-insurgency activities against Maoist/Naxalite groups.
The order as passed was in the context of Chhattisgarh and Solicitor-General Rohinton Nariman has observed that it should be confined to Chhattisgarh, otherwise it will create a great deal of law and order problem in other States.
if the July 5 order was implemented in toto, it would pose a severe difficulty to the government in undertaking anti-insurgency operations in the northeast, Jammu and Kahmir, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, Bihar and other parts of the country.

The reactivation on Friday of the Vijaynagar airfield in Arunachal Pradesh is part of a process to strengthen the infrastructure for increasing the accessibility to the northeast, and not at “countering” China, Air Chief Marshal N.A.K. Browne has said
He said the airfield was too small to operate fighter aircraft. In addition to AN-32, C-130 transport aircraft would be operated from the airfield in due course.
The world has become a global village, but people are far lonelier today. Relationships are breaking. There is pressure of time, etc.
Pilots and doctors have a strange relationship. Medical counsellors and aviation experts have to deal with these
The physical requirements had changed too, with the duration of flights running up to nine hours.

The Union Government has opted to keep services such as health care facilities, education, non-AC train travel, metro and taxi out of the tax net.
Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) Chairman S.K. Goel said services provided by the government as also the private sector would attract tax at 10 per cent. Among the 10 services provided by the government and private sector entities are insurance, security, port and airport.
At present, the Centre imposes 10 per cent tax on 119 services.
Included on the negative list in the revised draft are services such as funeral, burial and mortuary agencies, interest paid on bank deposits, services provided by independent journalists, dividend on investments and public passenger transport. Others on the list are copyright, dramatic and artistic work, services provided by recognised political parties, advertisements other than those published in newspapers and broadcast over radio or TV or displayed in other electronic media.
Explaining the basis of changes from the earlier draft, Mr. Goel said: “There has been some change in the way we define economic activities like hobbies, awards and religious activities. Hence we have reduced the list.”

The Union Cabinet's decision to give statutory status to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA), though belated, is welcome. In 2003, the NDA government set up the PFRDA through an executive order.
While the government gave its nod for foreign direct investment (FDI) in the pension sector to an extent of 26 per cent, the bill makes no mention of the sectoral cap although the standing committee recommended it.
This is evidently because the government wants to have some flexibility in the matter of raising the cap to 49 per cent
After all, changing the rules is much easier than amending the Act for the simple reason that the latter requires Parliament's approval.
The government is on an even stronger ground in not accepting the recommendation for a guaranteed minimum return to pension fund subscribers.
Indeed, mutual fund subscribers are warned that investments in stock market instruments are subject to market risk.
Subscribers must be made familiar with the risks and rewards that go with their chosen pension plan, whether the investment is in debt or equity, or in a combination of the two.
The opening up of the pension sector will make available large, long-dated funds for infrastructure.

The upward revision in bus fares, milk prices, and power tariff announced by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa
The power generation and distribution corporation, the State transport undertakings, and the cooperative milk producers' federation, and also other State public sector institutions, were facing mounting losses.
Tamil Nadu's debts had crossed Rs.100,000 crore, and the government was finding it difficult to fund welfare schemes and initiate infrastructure projects.
while the rationale for the revision is clear, this cannot be of much solace to the poorer sections, who are reeling under the effects of food inflation and rising costs of living.
The hike in milk prices, from Rs.17.75 to Rs.24 a litre, is bound to have an adverse impact on the nutritional levels of children in poor households.
A good part of the blame for the difficult situation must be borne by the United Progressive Alliance government, whose efforts at controlling food inflation have been feeble and ineffective. Frequent increases in fuel prices have worsened the situation for the vulnerable sections.
What is of some relief is that the price hikes have come after the State kick-started several social benefit schemes such as free mixers and grinders and fans, and free laptops to school and college students in government and aided institutions.
Crucially, Tamil Nadu remains the only State with a universal and efficient Public Distribution System that provides free rice to all eligible cardholders.

In view of foreign investors shying away from the Indian telecom sector in recent months due to ongoing controversies, all leading mobile operators, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea, have been urging the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to come out with a policy that address the current issues more effectively.
DoT is now investigating the 3G roaming deals between various operators, which is allegedly in violation of the licence rules and is examining the matter.
After paying huge money for getting 3G spectrum, operators are unable to attract investments due to uncertainty prevailing in the sector.
According to ratings agency Fitch, the outlook for bottom-rung telecom companies is negative in 2012 as they continue to suffer operating losses due to intense competition in the sector and lower ARPUs (average revenue per user).