CONSTITUTION (99th AMENDMENT) BILL 2013

• The Constitution (99th Amendment) Bill 2013 was approved by the Rajya Sabha with a two-thirds majority after Leader of the Opposition Arun Jaitley and other BJP members walked out of the House as the government did not accept the party’s demand to refer the legislation to a Select Committee.
• The Bill provides a role to the Executive in the appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the high courts.
• Under the proposed law, a panel, known as the Judicial Appointments Commission, will be set up, comprising the Chief Justice of India, two Supreme Court judges, the Union Law Minister and two eminent persons.
• Currently, the collegium consisting of five top judges of the Supreme Court, headed by the Chief Justice of India, decides the appointment of judges to higher courts.

INDIA OPPOSES MILITARY ACTION AGAINST SYRIA

• India has firmly opposed any military action against Syria while emphasizing that it would wait for the outcome of the UN inspection about the alleged use of chemical weapons in the Arab nation.
• The statement came on the eve of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to St Petersburg for the G-20 Summit of top industrial nations and emerging economies. The Syrian crisis is likely to be one of the main items on the agenda of G-20 leaders even as they chalk out a strategy to grapple with the global economic situation.

 DELHI’S WORRY:

• India's uncertain economic situation makes it more vulnerable to external shocks
• US-led strikes against Syria would inevitably lead to an increase in oil prices and put severe burden on the country’s economy
• Any escalation of the situation in Syria would also have a spillover effect on millions of Indians working in the Gulf and sending precious foreign exchange to the country. West Asia is home to six million expat Indians

 ALLIES OF SYRIA:

• Russia: Has leased port facilities in Tartus (2nd largest port city in Syria) for its naval fleet. Russia is believed to have sent Syria dozens of missiles. It supports Syria in the civil war.
• Iran: Syria sided with non-Arab Iran against Iraq and was isolated by Saudi Arabia and some of the Arab countries.
• Lebanon: Damascus plays an important role in Lebanon by virtue of its history, size, power, and economy
• China: Has significant trade ties with Damascus. In 2009, mutual trade between the two countries was worth nearly $2.2 billion

LIBERIAN PRESIDENT VISITS INDIA

• Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has announced a $ 144 million line of credit for Liberia as India signed four agreements with the West African nation for cooperation in various fields, including the critical oil and gas sector.
• Visiting President: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 

 HIGHLIGHTS:

• The credit line has been extended for the setting up of a power transmission and distribution project in Liberia.

• Accords for establishing a joint commission;

• Promoting academic exchanges of students, faculty and experts;
• Establishing a cooperative institutional framework to facilitate and to enhance bilateral cooperation in the oil and gas sector on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

 ELLEN JOHNSON SIRLEAF:

• Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is Africa’s first female President
• President Pranab Mukherjee has honoured her with Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development for 2012. She has been honoured for serving as an example and an inspiration for ensuring the return of peace, democracy, development, security and order in her tiny West African nation
• She was conferred Nobel Peace Prize in 2011 for her “non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work.”

RUSSIAN PROPOSAL ON SYRIA

• Syria has agreed with the Russian proposal to place its chemical weapons stocks under international control to “uproot US aggression”, hours after President Barack Obama said he would “absolutely” put on hold any military strike on the country if it does so.
• The proposal put forward by Russia is a dramatic shift after America was gearing up for weeks to launch attacks against the embattled regime.
• Russia said it was in talks with the Bashar regime to formulate a “workable, precise and concrete” plan for the smooth transfer of the chemical weapons.
• The Assad regime has also said that it would join the Chemical Weapons Convention.

4 STEP PLAN:

• Syria will become a member of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)
• Declare the location of the chemical weapons arsenals and where these are made
• Allow OPCW inspectors into the country to examine the weapons
• Decide, in cooperation with the inspectors, how to destroy the weapons

 UN INVESTIGATION:

• UN chemical investigators confirmed "unequivocally and objectively" that poisonous sarin gas was used in the ongoing conflict in Syria on a "relatively large scale".
• Syrian Opposition and the West have accused President Bashar Al-Assad's forces of using chemical weapons on August 21 in a Damascus suburb that reportedly killed hundreds, a charge denied by the government.
• India has welcomed the framework agreement reached between Russia and the US on the time-bound safeguarding and destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles.

FOOD SECURITY BILL

• The Lok Sabha has cleared the National Food Security Bill with near-unanimity. The Bill provides for food subsidy to two-thirds of the population and cost the exchequer Rs 1.24 lakh crore during the current fiscal.

• It will now go to the Rajya Sabha for final ratification before the President gives his ascent.

 HIGHLIGHTS:

• Touted as an election “game-changer”, the Bill will enable crores of eligible families to get rice at Rs 3 per kg and wheat at Rs 2 per kg.
• Only one category of beneficiaries with uniform entitlement of 5 kg per person per month.
• Entitlement of Antyodaya households protected at 35 kg per household per month
• Centre to provide funds to states & UTs in case of short supply of foodgrain from the Centre pool
• The Bill provides immunity against whimsical political masters, as it provides for food security allowance to the beneficiaries if the foodgrain is not supplied to them.
• A special focus has been put on nutritional support to women and children in the Bill. Women will get a Rs 6,000 maternity allowance besides nutritional food.
• Children in the age group of six months to 14 years will be entitled to take home ration or hot cooked food under the prescribed nutritional norms.

 IMPACT ON ECONOMY:

• There will be a push on government spending which will increase current account deficit-not desirable in present situation. There are also concerns that India’s procurement for the scheme could push up world food prices in case of drought & under-procurement.

RTI AMENDMENT BILL 2013

• The government has introduced in the Lok Sabha the RTI Amendment Bill 2013 to nullify the June 3, 2013 order of the Central Information Commission which had ruled that national political parties (INC, BJP, CPIM, CPI, NCP and BSP) are public authorities under Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act.

 HIGHLIGHTS:

• Introduced by: V. Narayanasamy, MoS Personnel
• The Bill exempts political parties from the definition of “public authority” and hence from law itself.
• It justifies the exclusion saying, “Declaring a political party as public authority under the RTI Act would hamper its smooth internal working which is not the objective of the said Act and was not envisaged by Parliament under the RTI Act. Further, political rivals may misuse the provisions of the RTI Act thereby adversely affecting the functioning of political parties.”
• The Bill grants “retrospective” immunity from the RTI Act to political parties and says the amendment would take force from June 3, 2013, the date of CIC order.
• It amends Section 2 (h) of the RTI Act which defines a public authority and adds an explanation to this clause stating -- the expression “authority or body of institution of self government established or constituted by any law made by Parliament shall not include any association or body or individuals registered or recognized as a political party under the Representation of People Act, 1951.”

TELANGANA

• Telangana is all set to become the 29th state of India after government accepted the 57-year-old demand of the people of the region.
•  What sets Telangana apart from other regions witnessing statehood demand is that it was a separate state in the past, ruled by the Nizams, but was merged with the rest of the Telugu-speaking regions in 1956 to form Andhra Pradesh, the country’s first linguistic state.

 HIGHLIGHTS:

• Area- 1.14 lakh sq km
• Population- 3.52 crore; 41.6% of AP’s population
• Literacy rate- 65.5%
• Economically speaking- Contributes over 51% to the Gross State Domestic Product, a major chunk of which comes from Hyderabad
• The new Telangana state would comprise the 10 districts of Hyderabad, Medak, Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, Nizamabad, Rangareddy and Warangal.
• Hyderabad will be joint capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at least for 10 years.
• 20% of Indian coal reserves will come under Telangana and also of mica and bauxite.
• It will have 17 Lok Sabha seats and 119 state assembly seats.

 WHAT IT MEANS FOR ANDHRA:

• In absolute GDP size, Andhra region third among states
• Within AP, Coastal Andhra is superior economic entity-considered rice bowl
• Now loses control over rivers Krishna & Godavari
•  Loses control over mineral rich Telangana region
• Has to develop new capital
• Loses Telangana revenue that was 50% of state revenues.
• Possibility of Greater Rayalseema statehood demand.

NEXT STEP:

• Andhra Assembly to pass a resolution, Union Home Ministry will then submit a Cabinet note
• After Cabinet’s OK, a group of ministers will go into economic aspects
• Home Min. submits Cabinet note including all recommendations
• Home Min note through PM goes to President requesting him to refer the Bill to the State legislature
• Law Ministry to vet the Bill with recommendations
• After passage by both Houses of Parliament, Bill goes to President for his assent

DANGEROUS TREND:

• One immediate consequence is likely to be renewed demands from other parts of India for separate states, including in the Darjeeling hills and a further breakup of the most populous Uttar Pradesh state. The agitation for Bodoland may be revived in Assam. Demands for Bundelkhand (out of UP & MP) and Vidarbha (from Maharashtra) are also alive.
• Another fear is that leftist guerrillas who operate in parts of the proposed Telangana state will become further emboldened and take advantage as the new state comes into being.

 Smaller states are generally easier to administer, although this isn't a slam-dunk as the cases of Jharkhand — or more recently Uttarakhand which caved in entirely to floods — show. In certain cases larger states can mobilize more resources, as Andhra demonstrated by being the most successful among Indian states in tackling Maoism. Whatever might be the long-term advantages of the division of Andhra, it's clear that in the short term there will be many challenges. The additional funds for building social and physical infrastructure will burden the central government, adding to fiscal deficits which are already weighing down the economy. Business in coastal Andhra Pradesh will lose easy access to the large market in Hyderabad, while those in Telangana will be unable to easily access the large ports and tap the advantage of the huge gas reserves in Godavari basin.