Current Affairs - 20 December 2015

General Affairs 

Supreme Court Takes Up Plea Against Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta's Appointment

• NEW DELHI:  The swearing-in of former high court judge Virendra Singh as Uttar Pradesh Lokayukta was today deferred after his controversial appointment was challenged in Supreme Court before which the state government gave an undertaking to keep it in abeyance till the matter is decided.
  
  In an extraordinary hearing on a holiday, a bench comprising justices AK Goel and UU Lalit raised some pointed question as to how the name of Justice Virendra Singh was placed before its bench when the Chief Justice of Allahabad High Court had specifically made some objections.
  
  When the bench said that there has been no statement by the government denying the stated position of the chief justice who had written a letter to the Governor and reported in the media, Uttar Pradesh's additional advocate general Gaurav Bhatia gave an undertaking on behalf of the government that there will be no oath taking ceremony tomorrow.
  
  The court was hearing a petition filed by Uttar Pradesh resident Sachidanad Gupta alleging that the state government has played a "fraud upon the apex court" by hiding the fact that the Allahabad High Court Chief Justice had expressed his reservations to the name of Justice Virendra Singh.

BJP Launches Attack On Congress, Outlines Strategy For Kerala Assembly Polls

• 

  THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Setting the agenda for the 2016 Assembly polls, BJP in Kerala today launched a scathing attack on ruling Congress-led UDF and CPI(M)-headed LDF Opposition as it looked to capture power in the state.
  
  "During earlier polls, the party used to say that its aim is to open an account. But this time we are contesting for coming to power by securing 70 plus seats," newly-appointed BJP state president Kummanam Rajasekharan said at a meet-the-press programme in Thiruvananthapuram.
  
  There is political space for BJP in Kerala and it was evident from the good performances in the recent civic polls, he said.
  
  Mr Rajasekharan also indicated that BJP would have a tie-up with Bharat Dharma Jana Sena, a new party formed by Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, an outfit of backward Ezhava community, led by general secretary Vellapally Natesan.
  
  "Discussions would be held to form a third force in the coming days," he said and added that people have realised the "unethical" politics practised by both UDF and LDF.
  
  Mr Rajasekharan said a new political situation was emerging in Kerala which would see BJP and its allies on one side and the anti-BJP group on the other.
  
  Mr Rajasekharan, a full-time RSS worker and a hard core Sangh Parivar activist, alleged that both the Fronts pursue the policy of appeasement on the basis of religion.
  
  He questioned the rationale behind the administration of temples by the government. "Why does government interfere only in the administration of temples? Why is it not ready to take over the administration of churches and mosques?" he asked.
  
  "The government should leave temple matters to devotees," he said, adding a Hindu devotee now does not have a say on the affairs of temples.
  
  Devaswom Boards, that runs about 1,300 temples in Kerala function in an undemocratic manner, he alleged and added that devotees' views and opinions are not taken into consideration.
  
  Mr Rajasekharan, also an environmentalist, wanted a master plan to protect and preserve the Western Ghats, based on the reports of Madhav Gadgil and Kasturirangan Committees on Western Ghats preservation.
  
  He also alleged that Kerala was the only state which had failed to implement the Forest Rights Act that ensures tribals the right on land and other forest resources.

Arunachal Crisis: Congress Dissidents Claim More Legislators To Join Them

• GUWAHATI:  Dissident Congress leader in Arunachal Pradesh Kalikho Pul today claimed that more party legislators are in touch with them and their numbers will increase.
  
  "More Congress MLAs are in touch with us and our numbers are definitely going to increase," Mr Pul, who was elected as Chief Minister in the December 17 Assembly session held in 'makeshift premises', told a press conference in Guwahati.
  
  There are 47 Congress legislators in the 60-member house and 21 of them, along with 11 BJP and two Independent legislators, are supporting Mr Pul.
  
  

  The Assembly session was advanced to December 16 from January 14 by Governor JP Rajkhowa, which led to a political crisis in the state.
  
  "I am the leader of 34 MLAs who have reposed their faith in me and Tuki has 26 members with him now. So who is the leader of the House? Inside the Assembly, numbers matter and we have the numbers with us," Mr Pul said.
  
  Asked whether they were planning to join the BJP, the dissident leader said that he was a Congressman and since 1995 he has been winning elections on the party ticket.
  
  "The BJP is also angry with Speaker Nabam Rebia and they had moved for his impeachment and we supported their stand.
  
  "I have never indulged in anti-party activity. The present crisis is an example of inner party democracy. We are knocking at the doors of the high command to apprise them of the level of corruption and lack of development in Arunachal Pradesh," he said.
  
  "We are all in the Congress and we will not leave the party. It is the chief minister and a section of the state party leadership that is giving wrong feedback to the party high command," Mr Pul alleged.
  
  The legislators opposed to the chief minister had camped in New Delhi for two months to meet party president and vice-president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi respectively.
  
  "Maybe due to their busy schedule they could not meet us. The high command is our parent and if they call us even now, we will go to meet them," Mr Pul added.

AAP Steps Up Attack On Arun Jaitley, Poses More Questions On DDCA Issue

• 

  NEW DELHI:  Stepping up attack on Finance Minister Arun Jaitley over alleged corruption in DDCA during his tenure, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today posed more questions to him, saying it would continue to raise its voice against graft in the state cricket body.
  
  AAP leader Sanjay Singh alleged that the Finance Minister has sent a legal notice to him and his colleague Ashutosh "through" Lokesh Sharma, who is Managing Director of private firm 21st Century Media, and said that they are ready to face one thousand such legal notices and will not be deterred from exposing "corruption" in DDCA.
  
  Mr Jaitley has strongly rejected the allegations calling them a propaganda technique of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal to deflect attention when he himself was in the "dock" following a CBI raid in Delhi Secretariat.
  
  Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Mr Singh accused Mr Jaitley of trying to "suppress" alleged corruption which had taken place in Delhi and District Cricket Association under his watch by sending legal notice.
  
  Yesterday, the Aam Aadmi Party had posed five questions to the minister, saying that they would continue to query him on the alleged corruption in the DDCA.
  
  The AAP leader claimed that they are getting papers pertaining to DDCA's alleged corruption from several persons across the country.
  
  Following a CBI raid in Delhi Secretariat in connection with charges against Mr Kejriwal's Principal Secretary Rajendra Kumar, AAP has been claiming that the central agency carried out the searches to target the AAP chief and was looking for a file relating to alleged graft in DDCA.
  
  Since then the party has been demanding resignation of Mr Jaitley from the Union Cabinet.

National Herald Case: Harish Rawat Leads Protest March On Wheel Chair

• DEHRADUN:  Congress workers hit the streets across Uttarakhand today over what they alleged the "Centre's politics of vendetta" against the party top brass in National Herald case, with Chief Minister Harish Rawat saying that BJP will never succeed in "tarnishing" the image of party leaders.
  
  The chief minister led a march to Raj Bhawan on a wheel chair due to injury to his leg.
  
  A memorandum addressed to President Pranab Mukherjee was also submitted to Governor KK Paul demanding that the politics of "vendetta" by the Centre must stop.
  
  Accompanied by party leaders, including PCC chief Kishore Upadhyay and ministerial colleagues, Mr Rawat later told reporters that the BJP will never succeed in its design to tarnish the image of party leaders.
  
  Protest demonstrations were also held in different parts of the state including Nainital where party workers gathered at the bus stand to burn the effigy of Modi government and raised slogans against it.

Business Affairs 

P Chidambaram questions PM Modi-led NDA government's recovery claim

• Former Finance Minister P. Chidambaram has contested the government's claims that India's economy is on a recovery path.
  
  Delivering the "Definitive State of the Economy" address at Business Today's flagship event, MindRush 2015, in New Delhi, Chidambaram said the findings of the mid-year economic analysis carried out by the finance ministry does not support the government's view.
  
  "In the July-September quarter, India's GDP growth was 7.2 per cent. Depending on what you compare it with, it is good, bad or mixed. It is bad if you compare with the 8.2 per cent growth during the corresponding quarter last year, and it is mixed if you look at the 7.6 per cent growth during the previous quarter. It is good if you look at expectations. Hence, some of you may argue that the government is doing everything possible. I want to push back this complacent view," he said.

  Analysing the growth numbers, he said they were driven by low oil prices that overstated the GDP deflator and increased government expenditure. The 7.2 per cent growth hides the nominal GDP growth of 6 per cent, he said.

  "The GDP deflator is minus this time, because of low commodity prices, which have pushed inflation into the negative territory. Even the RBI has suggested that the deflator is lower than it should be. It is overstated. This is the reason why a nominal growth rate of 6 per cent translates into 7 per cent growth. The last time the nominal growth rate was this low was in 1965- 66", he said.

  According to Chidambaram, if nominal GDP continues to grow in the same fashion, it will have serious consequences for the government's fiscal burden. "Government debt as a percentage of GDP will increase, and this will make borrowing increase, thereby increasing the interest burden. As a result, the government will have to cut expenditure further to meet the fiscal deficit target," he said.

  Chidambaram was also critical of the government's claim that its expenditure has helped kick-start private investments. "There is no evidence that increase in public investment has crowded in public investment," he said, adding that there are few signs of stalled projects getting revived or private sector investments picking up. He also highlighted the poor performance of the manufacturing sector and the continued decline of Indian exports for the 12the consecutive month. "Export declined for the 12th consecutive month, but that was not because of petroleum products," he said.

  He even questioned the latest industrial growth numbers. "At 9.8 per cent, the IIP growth looks impressive, but this high growth in October was because of base effect. Adjusting this growth, it remains in the range of 2-3 per cent. I suspect there is distress in rural India. There is growing stress in the agricultural sector," he said.

  Chidambaram wanted the government to stop blaming the global situation and get its act together.

  "Except for a few bright spots, there is no evidence that the government has an overarching vision, a definite work plan. If there is, there is a lot of activity, but little action. When it acts, it does without strategy. Every now and then a project is announced, but not strategy. I think it is time to get serious about governance", he said.

  On GST, Chidambaram reiterated the Congress' stand that the party is willing to support the legislation provided the government makes the three crucial amendments it has been asking for. He also expressed doubts over the government's intention to legislate the Direct Tax Code and accept the recommendations of the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission.

A delayed GST is better than a flawed GST, says Arun Jaitley

• Indicating that the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bill may not go through in the current session of Parliament, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said the Bill was being delayed for "collateral reasons".

  However, the Minister added that the government will push for other reform bills in the Rajya Sabha in the remaining three days of the Winter Session, which ends on Wednesday.

  The bills include amendment to the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, a legislation to set up commercial courts and bankruptcy code.

  Addressing the annual general meeting of industry chamber Ficci, Jaitley said, "I have no doubt in my mind that attempt to delay (GST) is entirely for collateral reasons. And the only collateral reason I suspect is if I couldn't do it, then why should somebody else do it?"

  Politics should not become a hurdle to larger interest of the country, he said, adding that it would not be possible for the government to accept Congress party's demand of prescribing GST tariff in the Constitution itself.

  "A delayed GST is better than a flawed GST," he said.

  The GST Bill is stuck in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling NDA government does not have a majority as well as stiff opposition by the Congress.

  The government had planned to roll out GST from April 1, 2016.

  The Bill, which is being touted as the biggest reform in indirect taxation since Independence, is unlikely to be taken in the remaining three days of the Winter Session.

  The Lok Sabha has already passed the Commercial Courts, Commercial Division and Commercial Appellate Division of High Courts Bill and Arbitration and Conciliation (Amendment) Bill.

  These are likely to be taken up in the Rajya Sabha next week.

  Regretting that some people get sadistic pleasure in seeing India slowing down, Jaitley said, "but then it's a sadistic pleasure at a very severe national cost. We cannot allow that.

  "There is no point saying that 'GST is good and we brought in the GST proposal, but', I think this 'but' is a terrible phrase as far as Indian politics is concerned."

  The biggest challenge at the moment is to get the Indian politics to support the economic reforms in the midst of the global slowdown, he said, adding that the endeavour should be to overcome political obstacles coming in the way of growth.

  "Is the Indian politics going to be a support in this adverse global situation, to add the extra per cent or two to our current level of GDP or is it going to be an obstacle?" Jaitley said.

  The Minister added that he would "still urge and persuade them (Opposition) to give up their rigidity on Constitutionally prescribed tariffs (for GST).

  "Constitution prescribed tariffs actually can be an albatross around the neck of the future generation. And we owe it to them not to create situations of this kind."

  Jaitley further said "we have three days of Parliament left. (They) are extremely crucial and I am going to try and push some of these (reforms).

  "These are important pieces of reforms which we are going to try and I hope nobody tries to hurt the country's interest by again invoking the word 'but'."

  Referring to the Arbitration and Conciliation Bill, which will go to the Rajya Sabha for approval, the Minister said "in terms of ease of doing business, India has almost ceased to be a centre for dispute adjudication and arbitration and we have to bring it back.

  "The Arbitration Act, which provides for a fast-track mechanism with a single member and an outer time period of 6 months to compete adjudication, was passed by Lok Sabha and will come up in these 3 days before the Parliament."

  Regarding the Commercial Disputes Resolution Bill, he said it seeks to expedite resolution of such disputes which remain pending in courts for years and decades.

Delay in projects completion cost Railways over Rs 1 lakh crore: CAG

• Delay in the execution of more than 400 projects by the Railways resulted in cost overrun of Rs 1.07 lakh crore, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has said.

  The CAG in its latest report which was tabled in Parliament today said "Target dates for completion of projects were either not fixed or not available on records of the Railway Administration. The physical progress was also slow where target for completion of project was fixed."

  It further said "Projects were delayed due to delay in preparation/sanction of estimate and delay in acquisition of land. Delay in completion of projects resulted in cost overrun of Rs 1.07 lakh crore and huge throw-forward of Rs 1.86 lakh crore in respect of 442 ongoing projects."

  The CAG in its report said there was lack of consistency in prioritisation of projects and also there were several instances of under-utilisation of funds which had adverse impact on the physical progress of projects.

  The report observed that while the allotment of funds was not proportionate to the requirement, there were several instances of under-utilisation of funds which had adverse impact on the physical progress of projects.

  Noting that during 2009-14, 202 projects were added to the existing shelf of ongoing projects ignoring existing fund constraint and as a result only 67 projects were completed during the same period.

  The federal auditor observed that 75 projects are ongoing for more than 15 years and of them, three projects are 30 years old. Despite budgetary support from the Finance Ministry, progress of national projects was far from satisfactory resulting in substantial time and cost overrun.

  It has found that the rate of return was less than the prescribed benchmark of 14 per cent in 236 (53 per cent) ongoing projects.

  "There was lack of consistency in prioritisation of projects. While the allotment of funds was not proportionate to the requirement, there were several instances of under-utilisation of funds which had adverse impact on the physical progress of projects," it noted.

Paris deal made possible after getting India, China on board, says Barack Obama

• President Barack Obama has praised the US leadership for making the historic Paris agreement possible by bringing "big, emerging countries" like China and India on board as he listed his successes from the year that showed "what is possible when America leads".

  "...last week, in Paris, nearly 200 nations forged an historic agreement that was only possible because of American leadership," Obama told reporters at his annual year-end press conference at the White House yesterday.

  The US had been "working with other countries, culminating in the joint announcement with China, bringing in India, bringing in Brazil and the other big, emerging countries, working with the Europeans and getting this done", he added.

  Obama said when he went to Copenhagen, he engaged in 24 hours of diplomacy to salvage from a "pretty chaotic process the basic principle that all countries had to participate, that we couldn't have a rigid division between developed countries and developing countries when it came to solving this problem".

  "This would not have happened without American leadership. And, by the way, the same is true for the Iran nuclear deal. The same is true for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The same is true for stamping out Ebola -- something, you guys may recall from last year, which was the potential end of the world," he said.

  Listing his successes from gains against ISIS to thawing relations with Cuba, Obama said that this year, "what you really saw was that steady, persistent leadership on many initiatives that I began when I first came into office".

  "Around the world - from reaching the deal to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, to reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, to concluding a landmark trade agreement that will make sure that American workers and American businesses are operating on a level playing field and that we, rather than China or other countries, are setting the rules for global trade - we have shown what is possible when America leads," he went on to add.

  Claiming progress against the Islamic State, Obama said the terror outfit has already lost about 40 per cent of the populated areas it once controlled in Iraq besides losing territory in Syria.

  However, he did acknowledge that "it is very difficult for us to detect lone wolf plots -- or plots involving a husband and wife, in this case" which he termed as a different kind of challenge as compared to al Qaeda that involved highly trained operatives working as cells or as a network.

  His remarks came before departing for San Bernardino, California to meet families of the 14 victims of the recent mass shooting.

  Obama was later scheduled to fly off to Hawaii for a two- week vacation with his wife and daughters in what has become a family Christmas tradition.

Sebi says Sahara investors refunded over Rs 42 crore

• The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) has been able to refund only Rs 42 crore to bondholders of the two Sahara firms while discrepancies were found in nearly 3,000 refund applications. The refunds are being made from the amount deposited by the Subrata Roy-led Sahara Group firms with the market regulator as per the Supreme Court orders. The total amount deposited by as on March 31, 2015, stood at Rs 8,790.08 crore, Sebi said.

  The latest status update on the refund process, published by Sebi on Fridaym, shows that 10,456 applications were received while refunds were made with respect to 7,296 applications for an aggregate amount of Rs 42,42,36,472, including interest of Rs 18,04,58,872, as on June 3, 2015.

  About 1,527 applications were referred to applicants for removal of discrepancies and the remaining (approximately 3,000 cases) fall in the disputed category, which need to be looked into and decided upon individually by the Competent Authority, Sebi said.

  The total amount claimed by the 10,456 bondholders stood at more than Rs 50 crore while the disputed cases involve refund claims to the tune of about Rs 7.65 crore. The total refund stood at Rs 1.25 crore as on March 31, 2014, including interest of Rs 43.83 lakh, relating to 445 applications.

  Giving further details about the case, Sebi said that it began the refund process pursuant to the orders of the Supreme Court to make refund to genuine investors who lodged their claims with Sebi.

  Sebi had initiated the refund process on May 28, 2012, while two series of advertisements were released in August 2014 and December 2014 and a format of application for refund was put on the regulator's website. Sebi has constituted a special enforcement cell to specifically handle work relating to the verification process of documents submitted in terms of the directions of the apex court and also to handle matters connected therewith.

General Awareness

World Bank accorded USD 1.5b for clean India

• • Washington D.C. headquartered World Bank has consented $1.5 billion loan for the “clean India campaign” to support the government in its efforts to ensure all citizens in rural areas have access to improved sanitation by 2019.

    • This project aimed at strengthening the implementation of the Swachh Bharat initiative of the government.

    What World Bank Statistics says?

    • There are 4 billion People who lack access to improved sanitation globally, out of which more than 750 million live in India, with 80% in rural areas.
    • More than 500 million of the rural population in India continues to defecate in the open, suffering from preventable deaths, illness, stunting, harassment and economic losses.
    • One in every ten deaths in India is linked to poor sanitation. And studies show that low-income households bear the maximum brunt of poor sanitation.

    Funds usage
    Apart from Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM) Support Operation Project, funds will also be used to develop the capacity of MDWS in program management, advocacy, monitoring andevaluation.

    • Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation (MDWS) will play the overseeing and coordinating role for the programme and support the participating states.

    Additional funds 
    The World Bank will also provide a parallel $25 mn technical assistance to build the capacity of select state governments in implementing community-led behavioral change programmestargeting social norms to help ensure widespread usage of toilets by rural households.