Political and Social Issues:

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by Yashwant Sinha (BJP), has rejected the National Identification Authority of India (NIAI) Bill, which was meant to give a legal backing to the Aadhaar project and its aim of using biometrics to create a unique identity for every resident of India.
Bill has been rejected in its current form on the grounds of the project's high cost, as well as concerns regarding national security, privacy and duplication of the National Population Register's (NPR) activities.
So far, the UIDAI, headed by the former Infosys chief, Nandan Nilekani, has issued about 6 crore Aadhaar numbers, and over 10 crore people have been enrolled into the system. The project's budget is Rs. 1,660 crore, of which over a third has already been spent.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) will soon be pressed into service from the Madhurapudi Airport near Rajahmundry to counter the movements of the Maoists.
It will be operated under the highly-reputed Greyhounds counter-insurgency action force of the Andhra Pradesh Police which is ‘elite force' for anti-naxal operations.
As soon as satellite images and messages were received from the UAV s, the chopper would air drop commandos at the place where the outlawed group members are spotted.

A bill seeking to make the mini-ratna company Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC) an independent body without the government being a guarantor was introduced in the Lok Sabha
The government has so far given no other guarantee to the Corporation except for the payment of minimum guaranteed dividend
The CWC has consistently paid dividend to the government since its inception in 1957 and its net worth has been positive 2003 onwards. Also, the Corporation has not taken any loan from the Central government and is also not dependent on budgetary support
The government also introduced a bill in the Lok Sabha to increase the authorised capital of Export Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) from Rs.2,000 crore to Rs.10,000 crore.

The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the orders of the Goa Bench of Bombay High Court which held that the Governor of Goa was a public authority and would come within the ambit of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.
In the appeal, Goa said the High Court had erred in not considering that Governor “is not a ‘public authority' for the purposes of the RTI Act.
The High Court had failed to consider that under Article 361 of the Constitution immunity was granted to the Governor and he was not answerable to any court or authority in exercise and performance of his power.
Any information which is received by the Governor is deemed to be available with the corresponding department/ministry of the State government, since the Governor is the appointing authority of the State Information Commissioner and as he is also vested with the power to recommend for removal, the Governor's office could not be made subservient by bringing it under the ambit of RTI Act.

Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik, on Thursday, said India was “no longer the preferred destination” for IT multinationals (MNCs) due to a host of problems.
Calling the move to put on hold the decision to relax FDI norms in retail as “disappointing” and “regressive”, Mr. Pramanik said that there was a need for more investments in the country.
Whether this investment is coming locally or from outside, it doesn't really matter. My belief is that FDI in any form is good. We have a corporate sector which is entrepreneurial and the State governments are savvy.

Global demand for primary aluminium is set to reach 75 million tonnes by 2020 with China, India and Brazil becoming the growth centres for aluminium-based products.
Per capita consumption of the metal in India was, however, low at 1.8 kg compared to the world average of 8 kg, notwithstanding the fact that domestic demand for aluminium reached its highest with a 11 per cent growth last year
commissioning of several power projects could fuel domestic demand while indicators for electrical sector, one of the largest consumers followed by building construction and transportation were highly encouraging.
one of the major concerns was the decision of China to cap smelting capacity because of various reasons. “But what we hear now is that they will reverse the decision to increase smelting capacity significantly. Only Chinese have the capacity to add smelting capacity in quick time,”
Coupled with this was the concern over supply of bauxite while its mining hadalso been not developed properly.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Thursday indicated that it would come out with a paper seeking views on framing an ‘exit policy' for new telecom services providers, who are operating in a highly competitive market dominated by the existing GSM players.
The exit policy will allow new players, who wish to exit the crowded Indian telecom industry that has as many as 12-13 players in certain circles, to surrender their spectrum and licences.
The current policy offers no exit route to operators who have taken a telecom licence.

A parliamentary panel has recommended that domestic workers be brought under the purview of the Protection of Women Against Sexual Harassment at Workplace Bill, 2010.
The comprehensive legislation seeks to protect women against sexual harassment at workplace and lays down a complaint and redress mechanism.
Domestic workers, who make up 30 per cent of the women workforce in the unorganised sector and who are most vulnerable to sexual harassment, should be assured of their right to work with dignity
India had voted in favour of the International Labour Organisation's Convention 189 for Decent Work for Domestic Workers, and the committee has rejected the government highlighting practical difficulties in the absence of any code of conduct laid down for the household.
The panel has strongly recommended that the title of legislation be changed to ‘The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Bill,' so that it could reflect the preventive aspects in line with the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court in 1997 in the Vishaka case.
The Vishaka case judgment not only defined sexual harassment at workplace, but also laid down guidelines for its prevention and disciplinary action against the erring employee

The State government should show the will to construct a new dam at Mullaperiyar by following a model similar to the one adopted for the construction of the Banasurasagar dam across the Kabani, which formed part of the Cauvery river system.
the then Chief Minister K. Karunakaran took a bold decision to construct a dam across the Kabani at Banasurasagar, disregarding the prevailing inter-State river-water dispute over sharing of the Cauvery waters.

Banasura Sagar Dam, which impounds the Karamanathodu tributary of the Kabini River, is part of the Indian Banasurasagar Project consisting of a dam and a canal project started in 1979
It is the largest earthen dam in India and the second largest in Asia and an ideal starting point for hikes into the surrounding scenic mountains. It is an important tourist attraction.