August 5
Venkaiah Naidu elected next Vice President of India
NDA backed candidate M Venkaiah Naidu was elected as India’s next Vice President, receiving an overwhelming two-third votes against opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi. The 68-year-old BJP leader from Andhra Pradesh got 516 votes out of the total 771 votes cast, while opponent Gandhi could manage only 244 votes. Of the total 771 votes polled, 11 were found to be invalid. Although 785 MPs were eligible to vote in today’s election, 14 MPs could not vote.
The strength of the electoral college comprising both elected and nominated MPs of the Rajya Sabha (RS) and the Lok Sabha (LS) is 790. There are two vacancies each in the LS and RS. One BJP Lok Sabha MP is barred from voting following a judicial pronouncement.
Naidu will be the 13th person to hold the second highest constitutional post. By virtue of being the Vice President, Naidu will also preside over the Rajya Sabha as the Chairman.
Now all the three top positions in the country – the President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister –come from the BJP.
- A two-term BJP president, Naidu was also elected to the Rajya Sabha three times from Karnataka.
- He represented Rajasthan in the Upper House of Parliament before he was nominated to the Vice President’s post by the NDA.
- He was Minister for Information and Broadcasting and Housing and Urban Affairs in the Modi government and earlier held the Parliamentary Affairs portfolio.
Assam Governor Banwarilal Purohit also congratulated the Vice President-elect, saying Naidu’s administrative experience would be beneficial for the nation.
Switzerland cite strong data security laws in India
Switzerland found India’s data security and confidentiality laws “adequate” for entering into an automatic exchange of information pact, which will open a continuous access to details about alleged black money hoarders in once-all-secret Swiss banks.
In a detailed notification and fact sheet published in its official gazette for introduction of “automatic exchange of information relating to financial accounts with India”, the Swiss government has also cited decisions by other financial centres like Liechtenstein and Bahamas to enter into similar pacts.
Besides, Switzerland also took note of the US tax authority, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), recognising India among the countries that provide an “adequate degree” of data protection for mutual exchange of tax information.
The Swiss Federal Council, the top governing body of the European nation, in June ratified automatic exchange of financial account information with India and 40 other jurisdictions to facilitate immediate sharing of details aboutsuspected black money even as it sought strict adherence to confidentiality and data security.
The implementation is currently planned for 2018 and the first set of data should be exchanged in 2019. The decision is not subject to any referendum – which means there should be no further procedural delay in its implementation. The issue of black money has been a matter of big debate in India, and Switzerland has been long perceived as one of the safest havens for the illicit wealth allegedly stashed abroad by Indians.
The notification follows hectic parleys between India and Switzerland for introduction of the AEOI (Automatic Exchange of Information) on tax matters under the guidance of G20, OECD and other global organisations.
2nd AGRI UDAAN- Food and Agribusiness launched in New Delhi
In an attempt to promote innovation and entrepreneurship in agriculture, Government launched the 2nd AGRI-UDAAN program in New Delhi.
- This programme will help to selected innovative startups that will be mentored in to scale up their operations in Agri value chain for effective improvement in agriculture.
- This 6-month program is a unique platform for scale up stage innovators, entrepreneurs and startups in the Food and Agribusiness sectors. Top 40 startups will be shortlisted and allowed to pitch in front of the panel of evaluators during cohort finalization program.
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announces new ETF-Bharat-22
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley launched a new ETF under the name Bharat 22, which will comprise shares of 22 companies.
- The Finance Minister said that Bharat-22 ETF will comprise of the government’s holding in SUUTI, CPSE ETF and PSU banks.
- The ETF is aimed at helping speed up the government’s disinvestment programme.
- It is the second ETF launched by the Union Finance Ministry. ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund is the fund manager.
- Among the 22 stocks, IOC, BPCL and NALCO will have 4.4 per cent weight each in Bharat-22. Power Grid will have 7.9 per cent weight, while Axis Bank (7.7 per cent), SBI (8.6 per cent) and Coal India (3.3 per cent) ITC (15.2 per cent), ONGC (5.3 per cent), NTPC (6.7 per cent) will have 3-15 per cent weightage in the ETF.
Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) are essentially index funds that are listed and traded on stocks exchanges just like regular shares. They are a basket of stocks with assigned weights that reflects the composition of an index.
August 6
DNA indexing of rhinos for probing poaching cases
Forest officials are developing a protocol and procuring kits for adopting RhODIS, a rhino DNA indexing system, which will help investigate and prosecute offenders in poaching cases.
RhODIS is a rhino DNA profiling and database system developed by Pretoria’s Veterinary Genetics Lab (VGL) in collaboration with partners. The system is being successfully used in African nations to investigate and prosecute offenders in rhino poaching cases.
The RhODIS tool compiles each individual rhino’s unique DNA profile in a ready-to-reference database that can be presented in a court of law, thereby proving that a seized horn was from a particular poached rhino.
The samples are likely to be sent to the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute of India (WII) which will keep the database. Blood, hair and ear tissues, etc., from each dead rhino – whether it died of natural causes or unnatural – will be collected and sent to WII for preservation and profiling. In fact, a few samples have been already sent to the WII, sources said.
Japan marks 72 years of Hiroshima atomic attack
Japan marked 72 years since the world’s first nuclear attack on Hiroshima, with the nation’s traditional contradictions over atomic weapons again coming into focus. The anniversary came after Japan sided last month with nuclear powers Britain, France and the US to dismiss a UN treaty banning atomic weapons, which was rejected by critics for ignoring the reality of security threats such as North Korea.
Japanese officials have criticised the UN Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty as deepening a divide between countries with and without nuclear arms. None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons took part in the negotiations or vote on the treaty.
Japan is the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, in 1945. Japan suffered two nuclear attacks at the end of the World War II by the United States – in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 and in Nagasaki three days later.
The bombings claimed the lives of 140,000 people in Hiroshima and 74,000 people in Nagasaki. Some died immediately while others succumbed to injuries or radiation-related illnesses weeks, months and years later.
Many in Japan feel the attacks amount to war crimes and atrocities because they targeted civilians and due to the unprecedented destructive nature of the weapons. But many Americans believe they hastened the end of a bloody conflict, and ultimately saved lives, thus justifying the bombings. Barack Obama became the first sitting US President to visit Hiroshima in May last year, paying moving tribute to victims of the devastating bomb.
NEEPCO to develop Early Warning System for flood
North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) said it has engaged an international consultant for finalisation of Early Warning Systems for its hydro electric projects in Arunachal Pradesh.. “An international consultant has already been engaged for finalisation of Early Warning System to be operationalised during operation of Power House as well as Flood period,” a NEEPCO statement said.
The early warning system would provide advance information of flood or other emergency situation to enable the district administration as well as the people to take advance action for relief, rescue and other measures.
Pare Dam: North Eastern Electric Power Corporation (NEEPCO) has clarified that the Dam under construction in Pare Hydro Electric Power Project is in absolutely safe and sound condition, a press release said.
NEEPCO wants to clarify that the reported damage in NH-415 is apparently due to high river inflow and the damage should not be attributed to the Corporation as it is in no way linked to the Pare Dam. Havoc created by recent heavy monsoon has affected Papumpare district and its adjoining areas and NEEPCO is also not spared from it. Despite this, the Corporation is committed to commission the project within the next six months, the release added.
Fact File: NEEPCO
- Schedule -A ‘MINI RATNA ‘Category-1 Central public sector Enterprise owned by the Government of India
- Formed on 2 April 1976
- With objective to plan, investigate, design, construct, generate, operate and maintain power stations in the North Eastern Region of the country.
- It has 60% of total installed capacity of North east region, which is 1287 MW.
Hiroshima Day observed on August 6th
August 6th marks the 71st anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – an event which is commemorated in the U.S. as “Hiroshima Day.”
On August 6, 1945, during WWII, an American B-29 bomber deployed the world’s first atomic bomb ‘Little Boy’ over the Japanese city of Hiroshima.
Three days later, on August 9, 1945, a second atomic bomb ‘Fat Man’ was dropped over Nagasaki, killing some 40,000 more civilians.
August 7
India setting up energy cooperation network with neighbours’
India is setting up an energy cooperation network with neighbouring countries Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepaland huge pipelines would be laid as part of the ambitious project, Minister of State (independent charge) for Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan said. “Through diplomatic channels, India already tied up to set up an energy cooperation network with Myanmar, Bangladesh and Nepal. All the countries have already agreed to this ambitious mission,” he added.
Through the proposed pipelines, diesel, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and other petroleum products would be ferried. As the mountainous northeastern States are landslide prone and carrying of petroleum products in the region is a big problem, the proposed pipelines would be a great help for the area.
According to a senior official of the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, as part of the “Hydrocarbon Vision 2030” for the northeastern region, 6,900 km of pipelines would be laid connecting Sitwe (Myanmar), Chittagong (Bangladesh), most northeastern states and West Bengal’s Siliguri and Durgapur.
Currently, large quantities of gas is flared (burned) in the northeastern region because it can’t be piped to the consumers.
Pradhan had launched the “North East Hydrocarbon Vision 2030” in February last year, proposing to invest Rs 1,30,000 crore over 15 years to ramp up hydrocarbon production in northeast India.
Pradhan also laid the foundation stone for a 60 metric tonne per annum capacity LPG (cooking gas) bottling plant at Bodhjungnagar industrial park. A sum of Rs 143 crore would be spent for the plant, which would be commissioned by June 2019.
“The proposed bottling plant at Bodhjungnagar would be able to cater to the rising demand of cooking gas in Tripura. Existing Silchar bottling plant’s capacity would also be augmented by 60 metric tonne per annum ensuring smooth supply of LPG in the northeastern states.”
He said that after the launch of PMUY by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 1, 2016, so far over 2.7 crore beneficiaries have been given LPG connections. Pradhan said that the scheme aims to provide clean cooking fuel to women belonging to the five crore below poverty line households across the country by 2019. This is a part of a larger programme of adding 10 crore new LPG connections by 2019 to achieve full coverage of connections among Indian households.
Fact File: Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY) LPG connection scheme
- welfare program of the government of India, launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2016.
- The stated objective of the program is providing 50,000,000 LPG connections to women from families below the poverty line in three years.
- As of 3 April 2017, twenty million LPG connections had been completed.
- It is guided by a strong commitment to bring in changes in lives of poor women
- BPL candidates available in SECC-2011 data.
East West Corridor in State yet to be completed
Though the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) was entrusted with the responsibility of construction of the East West Corridor in Assam from Srirampur to Silchar, the progress slowed down due to various reasons and around 32 kilometres of it is yet to be completed. However, steps have been initiated to expedite the work and the contracts of two of the contractors have been terminated because of their failure to perform as per the expectation.
NHAI was given the task of construction of 636.669 km of the East West Corridor from Srirampur to Silchar via Bongaigaon, Nalbari, Guwahati, Nagaon, Daboka, Maibong and Jatinga. The entire work in the State was divided into 27 packages and so far, 604.523 km has been completed. Efforts are now on to complete the balance 32.146 km, out of which, 27 km is in Dima Hasao district.
Giving reasons for the slow progress of the work, NHAI sources revealed that at the initial period, land acquisition was the most critical issue, which delayed the entire project. On its part, the Government of Assam also could not speed up the land acquisition process and the entire work slowed down considerably. The process of utility shifting, which include shifting of the electricity poles also took some time. Obtaining clearance from the Ministry of Environment and Forest also took some time as some portions of the East West Corridor went through the notified reserve forests.
The slowest progress was in Dima Hasao district because of law and order issues and landslides. The NHAI is constructing total 130.09 km of the East West Corridor in Dima Hasao district, out of which 104.31 km has been completed. Construction of the highway in Dima Hasao is not an easy task due to law and order problems, frequent bandhs, kidnapping, ban on transportation of construction materials, etc. Landslide, hill movement, slips failure and sinking have also affected the progress of work. Construction under five packages in the district were suspended due to serious law and order problems and fresh contracts were awarded only in 2011.
Some stretches of the national highway in Dima Hasao are badly affected or damaged due to landslide, hill movement, slip failure and sinking. The completed four-lane road has also been damaged in many stretches. There have been severe damages to the road formation and completed structures as well as pavements due to failure of the hill slopes, both on the hillside as well as valley side.
The stretch from Narimbanglo to Jatinga observed serious failures of hill slopes like landslides, sinking, upheaval and lateral movement has damaged already constructed road at several places. Presently these damaged stretch aggregating length is about 13 km. The methodology suggested by CRRI in adjacent package was used but that too didn’t sustain. The stretch from Jatinga to Harangajao is severely affected by landslide, hill movement, slip failure and sinking. Some remedial measures have now been used to maintain the road, sources said.
Violation of PF law by small tea growers
With small tea growers and bought leaf factories shying away from providing social security benefits to their workers, the Assam Tea Employees Provident Fund Organisation (ATEPFO) has started wielding the big stick.
Besides issuing a notice to small and medium tea growers, the ATEPFO has also asked the bought leaf factories and other big gardens not to purchase green leaf from growers who do not comply with The Assam Tea Plantations Provident Fund and Pension Fund and Deposit Linked Insurance Fund Scheme Act.
Going a step further, the ATEPFO has also had a discussion with the Tea Board of India, suggesting that those growers and factories, who do not comply with the Act, should be deregistered. The ATEPFO will send a formal written proposal to the Tea Board in a day or two.
Those gardens and factories employing ten or more people should compulsorily implement the Act and provide the social security benefits to the workers. Earlier, there were certain considerations if the garden area was relatively small. But after the Act was amended recently, all gardens, big or small, employing more than ten people should implement it.
Only a handful of such small and medium gardens have complied with the Act so far. According to the ATEPFO, there could be nearly 2,000 small tea gardens which have plantation areas of over 50 bighas.
Disturbed area tag on 3 NE States extended till August 31
Assam will continue to be disturbed area till month-end, with the Centre on Monday extending the disturbed area under the controversial Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) for one more month, citing various violent activities by insurgent groups ULFA, NDFB, and others.
“The Union Home Ministry also declared Meghalaya’s border areas adjoining Assam, and three districts in Arunachal Pradesh as “disturbed” under the AFSPA for two more months with effect from August 3. In separate gazette notifications, the Home Ministry said entire Assam has been declared “disturbed” under the AFSPA with effect from August 3 till August 31.
The Ministry said the 20 km belt in Meghalaya bordering Assam will also continue to be a “disturbed area” under the AFSPA with effect from August 3 to September 30. It has also declared as “disturbed” under the AFSPA three districts of Arunachal Pradesh – Tirap, Changlang and Longding – and areas falling within the jurisdiction of 14 police stations in nine other districts of the State with effect from August 4 to September 30.
AFSPA has been continuing in Assam since November 1990.
The AFSPA has been in force in the three Arunachal Pradesh districts of Tirap, Changlang and Longding since January 2016.
National Handloom Day observed on 7th August
National Handloom Day is being observed to encourage people to use hand-made loom in the country.
The Central Government has declared August 7 as National Handloom Day, to be celebrated every year due to its significance in India’s history, as ‘Swadeshi Movement’ was launched in 1905 on this day. The movement involved revival of domestic products and production processes.
This event will give a boost to weavers of Assam, who are known for producing Pat and Muga silk. The Assam government has already announced an ambitious Muga Mission to increase production with a cost of 100 crore rupees.
- The first National Handloom Day was inaugurated on 7 August 2015 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
- Handloom sector contributes to nearly 15% of the cloth production in the country and also contributes to the country’s export earnings. 95% of the wor ld’s hand woven fabric comes from India.
Government revises the base year of Wholesale Price Index (WPI)
Union Government has revised the base year of All-India Wholesale Price Index (WPI) from 2004-05 to 2011-12.
- In the revised series, WPI will continue to constitute three Major Groups namely Primary Articles, Fuel & Power and Manufactured Products.
- The new series has 697 items as compared to 676 items in old series.
- The base year revision of WPI has aligned the series with the base year of other macroeconomic indicators such as the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Index of Industrial Production (IIP).
- It is to be noted that Government has modernized the data collection methods by adopting international norms and global best practices such as submission of data online through web portals and use of computer assisted personal interviewing methods.
Economist Rajiv Kumar to be the new Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog
Economist Dr. Rajiv Kumar has been appointed as the new vice-chairman of the government think tank NITI Aayog, as Arvind Panagariya had stepped down from the post recently.
- Dr. Kumar, who holds a DPhil in economics from Oxford and a Ph.D from Lucknow University.
- He has served as director and chief executive of the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), and has earlier worked with the Asian Development Bank.
- Kumar is a senior fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR).
- Earlier, he was Secretary General of the FICCI.
- He was a member of the National Security Advisory Board between 2006 and 2008.
Vijender Singh wins WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title
The rise of Vijender Singh continues as the Indian boxing star outslugged his Chinese opponent Zulpikar Maimaitiali in a close bout to retain the WBO Asia Pacific Super Middleweight title in Mumbai.
- It was double delight for the fans as Singh also snatched the WBO Oriental Super Middleweight title from the Chinese.
- It was the 32-year-old Beijing Olympic bronze medallist’s ninth successive win in his professional career.
August 8
National problem tag for Assam floods unlikely
The Centre has stopped short of declaring floods as a national problem stating that it can at best be described as “calamity of severe nature”. The government has adjudged flood as a calamity of ‘severe nature’ in terms of operational guidelines of 2015-16 for constitution and administration of the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
In case of this year’s floods in the northeastern states, including Arunachal Pradesh, Assam and Manipur, the Central government has taken the required steps in extending timely support to the state governments, Kiren Rijiju said. The minister said according to information received from the Government of Assam, 29 of the 33 districts have been affected due to heavy flood and erosion during this monsoon season. As on August 6, 84 people have lost their livesand 25.42 lakh people have been affected by the floods.
As per the National Disaster Management Policy, the primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the states. The prevention and rehabilitation of flood-affected people in flood-prone areas is to be undertaken by the concerned state government from its own resources and Plan funds. The state government should provide relief assistance and look for suitable land to rehabilitate the flood-affected people as per its existing land policy.
The state governments have been taking necessary rescue, relief and prevention measures in the affected areas which include evacuation of people to safer places, operation of relief camps, cattle camps and providing essential commodities. They are also taking necessary steps to prevent any epidemic during floods and post-flood period.
The National Disaster Management Authority has prepared guidelines on flood management and assisted state governments in the preparation of their flood management plans. It has provided an amount of Rs 61.4 lakh to the Government of Assam in 2015-16 for strengthening of the State Disaster Management Authority.
Hindustan Paper Corporation revival package under consideration
A proposal for revival of the Hindustan Paper Corporation (HPC) has been received and is under consideration of the Department of Heavy Industry. The proposal also includes budgetary support for payment of salaries of the employees of its units – Cachar Paper Mill and Nagaon Paper Mill.
Due to shortage of working capital, the production in Cachar Paper Mill at Panchgram and Nagaon Paper Mill at Jagiroad has been suspended since October 2015 and March 2017 respectively, Minister of State for Heavy Industries Babul Supriyo told the Rajya Sabha.
Salaries of employees have not been paid for the last eight months at Nagaon Paper Mill and ten months at Cachar Paper Mill. However, there is no confirmation regarding suicide by employees due to non-payment of salaries, the minister said, adding, the HPC has demanded a revival package for its units – Nagaon Paper Mill and Cachar Paper Mill.
Meanwhile, the Joint Action Committee of Recognised Unions of Cachar and Nagaon Paper Mills has called for revival of the mills. A delegation of the committee, which is camping here, urged the Centre for immediate revival of the two mills and payment of salaries and statutory dues.
Drought-like situation in several districts of State
A number of districts, mostly those in lower Assam, are facing a drought-like situation even as flood waters in some areas of the State are yet to recede completely. Mangaldai, Nalbari, Kamrup, Chirang, etc. have been reportedly hit due to scanty rainfall and high temperatures.
According to the report received from Baksa, around 14673.76 hectares of cropland in 302 villages have been affected by the drought-like situation. The number of farmer families affected stands at 4,820 till August 2. Sali paddy and vegetable cultivation have been hit by the drought-like situation. The government has directed the engineering wing of the Agriculture Department to install tube wells and other irrigation facilities in the affected areas immediately.
Siltation: On the contrary, in the flood-hit districts, around 6,250 hectares of cropland have been affected by heavy siltation. Due to the breaches in the embankments, the silt and mud carried by the flood waters have settled on the croplands as the flood waters are receding. This phenomenon will make the croplands unfit for cultivation.
Floods had affected an aggregate crop area of 209051.65 hectares in 29 districts.
S Aparna appointed as Executive Director of World Bank
S Aparna, an IAS officer from Gujarat cadre has been appointed as Executive Director, World Bank to represent the constituency of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Sri Lanka for three years.
A 1988-batch IAS, she is currently Principal Secretary to Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani. At the World Bank, she will replace Subhash Garg, who was recently appointed Economic Affairs Secretary, Ministry of Finance.
She replaces S C Garg who has recently taken over as Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs in the Union Finance Ministry.