The Hindu News - 19 Feb 2015

Another tussle on the cards over ordinances

Faced with the unenviable task of persuading recalcitrant Opposition leaders to help the government convert six ordinances into Acts of Parliament, Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu has called an all-party meeting on Sunday. This will be followed by a dinner hosted by Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to drive home the same message.

Time is of the essence as the ordinances must be converted into law in the first half of the session ending March 20 as they have to be passed within six weeks of
the opening of the session on February 23. The second half commences only on April 20, well after the expiry of the mandatory period.

Meanwhile, the Ministries concerned gave notices for introduction of Bills for replacement of ordinances on Tuesday, even as Opposition parties submitted notices opposing their introduction, CPI leader and Rajya Sabha MP D. Raja told The Hindu .

This sets the stage for another confrontation between the government and the Opposition. But, oddly, in the wake of its humiliating defeat in the Delhi Assembly elections last week, the government’s parliamentary managers have yet to reach out to Opposition leaders, whose support they need in the Rajya Sabha. Nor have they sought to create public opinion in support of the ordinances by communicating to a wider public.

Till the Delhi results came in, both Mr. Naidu and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had been publicly explaining why the ordinances were important, and how they would advance the government’s reforms agenda. This was despite President Pranab Mukherjee last month cautioning the Modi government on its excessive use of ordinances, in the wake of strident Opposition criticism that this was an attempt to bypass Parliament and indeed, even some voices of dissent within the Union Cabinet.

Mr. Jaitley both privately — at the January 20 meeting called by Mr. Naidu to discuss the budget session — and publicly — in Davos on January 23 — had explained that all actions taken during the operation of the ordinances would be sustained, especially important in the context of the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Second Ordinance, 2014.

Mr. Naidu and Mr. Jaitley had also, from time to time, stressed that the government could call a joint session of Parliament to clear the Bills that are to replace the ordinances, provided they were passed in one house and rejected by the other.

Of the six ordinances, only the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, that seeks to raise the FDI cap in the sector is with the Rajya Sabha. The others dealing with Coal, Land Acquisition, Mines and Minerals, Citizenship and Motor Vehicles, will be first introduced in the Lok Sabha. The government hopes to persuade the Congress to back the Insurance Bill to clear it in the Upper House, since it has a majority in the Lok Sabha. In the winter session, the Congress — though fundamentally in agreement with the Bill — joined forces with the rest of the opposition, saying it would consider passing it provided the House was in order.

Opposition sources said while the government could pass the Bills replacing the other five ordinances in the Lok Sabha, and then call a Joint Session after they were rejected by the Rajya Sabha, it would have to be done one at a time. “The President has to call a joint session,” said CPI-M MP Sitaram Yechury, “and I wonder after what he said last month whether he would be willing to call five joint sessions in quick succession.” The government has a hard time awaiting it in the budget session.

India-Israel ties out in the open, says Ya’alon

In a statement of strategic significance, Israel Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon acknowledged on Wednesday that India and Israel ties were out in the open after keeping a low profile for years.

“… we were ready to expose relations earlier, but it was for the Indian government to take it out of the closet,” he said.The Minister inaugurated the Israeli Pavilion at Aero India, which got under way here on Wednesday.

Talking on the significance of his visit, Mr. Ya’alon said that India was important to his country’s defence industry and pledged complete support to partner with India on “Make in India.”

“We are open to more or less [selling] anything. We believe that we have the better product,” he said.

During the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the Israeli pavilion at Aero India.

India and Israel established bilateral relations in 1992 and with several common concerns, strategic cooperation quickly progressed. Since Mr. Modi’s government came to power, India has been more assertive in acknowledging the depth of the relationship. Both sides have seen a flurry of interactions even at the highest level.

Mr. Modi and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in New York last September on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly. 

India is one of Israel’s biggest defence customers and both sides have embarked on joint development of weapon systems. A long-range surface-to-air missile under development was tested for the first time in November. In October, India selected Rafael’s Spike anti-tank guided missile over the U.S. Javelin missile in a deal worth $525 million. 

Defence at the heart of “Make in India”

Stressing on the need for domestic manufacture of defence equipment to equip the country for the future, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called upon foreign defence manufacturers to become strategic partners as he inaugurated “Aero India 2015” in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

He said defence is at the heart of the ‘Make in India’ initiative.

“We will build an industry that will have room for everyone – public sector, private sector and foreign firms. From sellers, foreign firms must turn into strategic partners,” he said.

“We need their [foreign firms] technology, skills, systems integration and manufacturing strength. The nature of industry is such that imports will always be there. In turn, they can use India as part of their global supply chain,” he said.

India has an annual defence budget of about $40 billion of which 60 percent is spent on capital expenditure for purchase of equipment. But having failed to build a domestic defence manufacturing base the country has the distinction of being the world’s largest defence importer.

This fact was not lost on the Prime Minister. While stating that, he added: “That may be music to the ears of some of you here. But, this is one area where we would not like to be Number One.”

Stating that India has the basic building blocks for domestic capabilities and a large national requirement, Mr. Modi expressed dissatisfaction over the performance of the public sector. “Frankly, our public sector needs to do much better than they are doing now. We have to exploit their huge assets and vast potential. At the same time, we have to make them accountable.”

Addressing the private sector’s concerns for a level playing field in defence manufacturing, the Prime Minister has assured significant policy changes to facilitate the same.

“We are reforming our defence procurement policies and procedures. There would be a clear preference for equipment manufactured in India…”

Framing of charges not enough to bar candidates from contesting polls: SC

Barring a person from contesting elections as soon as criminal charges are framed against him will stigmatise him even before he is proven guilty, the Supreme Court said on Wednesday.

Disqualifying such persons from contesting elections is clearly pre-emptive and against the very spirit of the Constitution, the court said.

The oral observation came from a bench led by Chief Justice of India H.L. Dattu hearing public interest petitions for a ban on electoral candidates who have criminal charges framed against them.

Under the present law, a person has to be convicted to attract such disqualification.

“Barring a person the moment charges are framed against him is very, very attractive at first blush, but on deeper thought our Constitution makers have said that a person is innocent until proven guilty. The statutes mandate that a person should be convicted to attract disqualification,” Chief Justice Dattu observed. Even directing Parliament to amend the Constitution to introduce such a bar would amount to judicial activism. “We should not be stepping into an arena fixed for Parliament,” the CJI observed.

Referring to a recent Constitution Bench judgment, the Supreme Court, while condemning criminalisation in politics, had left it to the discretion of the Prime Minister to avoid recommending elected representatives with criminal antecedents as Ministers. “We had even then left it to the discretion of the Prime Minister to recommend to the President the names of the Ministers. We had clearly said we will not legislate,” Chief Justice Dattu said.

Centre escapes harsh criticism

Congress accuses government of handling the issue casually

Opposition parties avoided harsh criticism of the Union government on Wednesday after a Coast Guard official said it was he who ordered his troops to destroy a Pakistani boat on New Year’s Eve night off the Gujarat coast and those in the vessel did not blow it up themselves as was said earlier.

The Defence Ministry had maintained that the four persons in the boat “blew it up” after the Coast Guard spotted them. However, a recent video shows Deputy Inspector-General, Coast Guard, B.K. Loshali saying he had ordered the destruction of the boat.

The Congress accused the Centre of handling the issue casually. Party leader Ajay Maken told presspersons: “When you make contrary statements on such issues, they are likely to be used against you by enemy countries.”

CPI national secretary D. Raja told The Hindu that the issue was serious as Mr. Loshali was a commander and not any ordinary seaman. “Is this the sign of good governance? The government needs to tell the truth,” he said.

“The border between India and Pakistan is infested with terror activity and the government has to take these steps. The Defence Ministry may have a strategic viewpoint on this and political parties need not comment on this,” DMK leader T.M. Selvaganapathy told The Hindu . “This reflects the functioning of the government ... This is like one hand does not know what the other is doing,” AAP spokesman Ashutosh said.

3 civic bodies to be models for minority empowerment

The Centre plans to develop three municipal corporations in Maharashtra as models for minority empowerment, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs and Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Mr. Naqvi said he had a discussion on a proposal to develop three corporations as models for minority empowerment. The State would identify these cities based on various yardsticks, including concentration of minority population.On the State government scrapping reservation for Muslims, Mr. Naqvi said: “There are some parties which call themselves secular and try to win votes by promising reservation for minorities. Our government is committed to all-round development of all people and not a single section of people.”

The budget session beginning February 23 will be crucial for the country’s economic growth, and several key bills aimed at pushing reforms will be presented, the Union Minister said.

KG basin’s offshore block can change the face of economy: ONGC

The oil major ONGC is planning to develop DWN-98/2 offshore block in Krishna-Godavari Basin on fast-track which start production by 2018-19.

“The offshore block 98/2 is in KG Basin, but the landfall would be near Odalarevu village, about 20 km from Amalapuram town. Natural gas reserves in the block are likely to be abundant and will fulfil the requirements of not only Andhra Pradesh, but also the country,” said Debashis Sanyal, Executive Director and Asset Manager of Rajahmundry Asset of ONGC.

In an exclusive interview, Mr. Sanyal recalled that ONGC Chairman and Managing Director D.K. Sarraf in his recent address at an energy convention meet has announced that projects worth Rs. 22,500 crore had been approved in the last six months including DWN 98/2 block in KG Basin. Once the project is through, there would be huge volume of financial output from the offshore block for the ONGC. “It will change the face of India and also Andhra Pradesh in terms of economy,” Mr. Debashis said adding the State would be the first beneficiary once production commenced. Mr. Sanyal admitted that the production was badly affected with Nagaram GAIL pipeline blast. Production which dropped from three million cubic meters per day to 0.02 mcmpd now increased to 1.7 mcmpd. It would take another four months to reach the actual target after GAIL restores all pipelines in Nagaram and other areas in East Godavari district before June. The ED sought the immediate intervention of Krishna district Collector to release ONGC’s regular equipment which was stuck in Kondangi village.

Egypt drops U.N. bid for military intervention

Egypt said Wednesday a draft U.N. Security Council resolution on Libya submitted by Arab states makes no mention of the international military intervention against jihadists that Cairo originally proposed.

“There is no call for foreign military intervention,” the foreign ministry said of a proposed resolution that would lift a U.N. embargo on arms sales to Libya for the benefit of the country’s internationally recognised government.

The announcement comes after Western powers balked at taking on the local branch of the Islamic State group, which recently beheaded Egyptian Christians in Libya, stressing instead the need for a political solution to the unrest there.A U.S.-led coalition is already carrying out air strikes against IS targets in Syria and Iraq, and Egyptian officials have suggested that effort should be expanded to Libya.

But Western powers have been wary of committing to action in Libya, where a NATO air campaign backed the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed dictator Muammar Qadhafi.

In a statement released by Rome on Tuesday, the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Italy — the former colonial power in Libya — and Spain stressed “the urgent need for a political solution to the conflict” in Libya. An ongoing U.N.-backed attempt to get Libya’s warring sides to negotiate on forming a government of national unity was the “best hope” for peace, they said. — AFP