The Hindu News - 24 Feb 2015

Centre hints at joint session route for Bills

To withdraw three of them from the Rajya Sabha

After failing to breach opposition ranks to secure support for a slew of controversial Bills, the Modi government on Monday decided against taking any chances.

On Tuesday, it will move motions to withdraw three Bills intended to replace ordinances from the Rajya Sabha — Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill, the Coal Mines (Special Provisions) Bill and the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill. The intention is to bring the Bills first to the Lok Sabha, where the government enjoys a majority.

The government apparently intends to try the joint session route to convert the ordinances into Acts of Parliament. In order to hold a joint session to pass a Bill, the draft legislation must first be passed by one House and then rejected by the other. The government has the numbers to pass a Bill in the Lower House, and a defeat in the Upper House will allow it to call a joint session to pass it. However, the government’s move to withdraw the Bills will be opposed by the opposition, sources said. A Bill can be withdrawn only with the consent of the House.

The government clearly feels it cannot waste time as these ordinances have to be converted into law within six weeks of the start of the session.

Call rates may see a dip soon

Regulator believes revival of fixed lines will aid ‘Digital India’ campaign

In a move that is likely to lead to reduction in call rates — both for mobile as well as fixed line users — the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India on Monday slashed various interconnection charges that one operator pays to the other for using their network. Though it is not yet known how much the tariff reduction will be.

The regulator has done away with call termination charges paid by landline service providers with the aim of arresting the fall in the usage.

TRAI believes the revival of fixed lines will complement the Modi-government’s flagship programme ‘Digital India’.

“As more and more customers are seeking high speed data [Internet] services, wireless networks are increasingly finding it tough to meet the ever-rising data demand, particularly in a spectrum-constrained sector.

Wireline networks, on the other hand, can deliver much higher speeds of data transfer,” TRAI said in its new regulations.

The regulator has cut interconnection usage charges on calls made from mobile phones by about 30 per cent to 14 paise per call from 20 paise earlier in its ‘Telecommunication Interconnection Usage Charges (Eleventh Amendment) Regulations’. Additionally, calls made from landline-to-landline or landline-to- mobiles will not include the interconnection charge, which was 20 paise earlier.

Govt. committed to protecting farmers: Pranab

President Pranab Mukherjee’s address to the joint sitting of Parliament on Monday, which marked the beginning of the Budget session, appealed to all MPs to “discharge their solemn responsibility in a spirit of cooperation and mutual accommodation.”

He underscored the government’s commitment to protect farmers’ interests in the controversial Land Acquisition Act, and spoke about the significance of the Insurance Ordinance.

Indeed, even as the President said the government had “suitably refined” the Land Act to minimise certain procedural difficulties in acquisitions for critical public projects, he stressed that it attached paramount importance to safeguarding the interest of farmers and families affected by such acquisitions.

The Insurance Ordinance, the President said, would “enhance capital availability and ensure better access to insurance services, especially in rural areas and for economically weaker sections.”

The theme running through the President’s hour-long speech was “inclusive growth,” including the progress of the most- vulnerable sections.

He indicated that the upcoming Budget could include corrective measures to reduce wasteful public spending. Prudence in expenditure management was high on the government’s agenda.

Capital markets were upbeat and the external sector was far more resilient, particularly with a moderate current account deficit and a broadly stable rupee. Foreign exchange reserves had been substantially augmented. As a result of the government’s sustained efforts and a series of policy initiatives, the economy was again on the high growth trajectory.

“While my government has intensified efforts to bring greater efficiency and equity into the tax system, prudence in expenditure management is also high on the agenda,” the President said.

Indicating that some reforms could be expected, he said among the measures the government was committed to in order to check black money were the setting up of robust legislative and administrative frameworks.

The government was also committed to putting in place systems and process for this purpose with due focus on capacity building, integration of information through technology and fast tracking prosecution, he said. Mr. Mukherjee said a Constitutional (Amendment) Bill had been introduced to bring in the Goods and Services Tax that would simplify the indirect tax regime and result in better tax compliance.

Anna hints at larger movement of farmers

Anna Hazare, activist, said here on Monday that the Union government’s decision to take the ordinance route in amending the Land Acquisition Act was undemocratic. He said the protest he launched here against the amendments to the Act could be the start of a larger movement.

Mr. Hazare said the government had promised “Acche Din” (good days) during the elections, but good days had come only to corporates. “This is land grab. Britishers used to do it. Today’s government is worst than the British regime. Even the British did not met out so much of injustice to farmers,” he said.

“If the government doesn’t take the ordinance back, then the people will also continue with their agitation. The activists will make the farmers aware of the amendments. There is a chance that farmers from across the country will gather at the Ramlila Maidan in the next three or four months.”

The protest on Monday was organised under the banner of Mr. Hazare’s organisation Bhrashtachar Virodhi Jan Andolan Nyas and was supported by two farmer groups — Bharatiya Gramin Samaj and Sanyukta Kisan Sangarsh Samiti. They were joined by Medha Patkar, activist, and members of the National Alliance of People’s Movements (NAPM).

In stark difference to the 2011 anti-corruption movement, which was marshalled by the likes of Delhi Chief Minister Kejriwal and Yogendra Yadav, Monday’s rally felt disjointed at times with different voices jostling for space. The event is, however, supposed to be a prelude to a bigger demonstration on Tuesday.

Centre’s stand

The government on Monday continued to try and allay apprehensions about the ordinance, saying it would benefit more farmers than what the earlier Act, introduced by the UPA, would.

“By bringing this ordinance, we have done something which would benefit all farmers,” Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar told presspersons. He said the government included 13 pieces of legislation (introduced by former Minister Jairam Ramesh) which were not under the purview of the previous law, to ensure that compensation was paid for the land acquired for projects under these laws.

Swachh Bharat, food subsidy need huge funds

If an allocation of Rs. 40,000 crore is made in the Union Budget for 2015-16 for the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan as required, there will be enough money to build toilets for India’s 12.3 crore households without them, but if this will achieve zero open defecation is a different story. Not everyone with a toilet is convinced of the need to use one, yet the share of public outreach in the recast scheme’s Budget fell to under 10 per cent, Payal Hathi of the Research Institute for Compassionate Economics, which studies sanitation, found, and over half of this remains unspent, Accountability Initiative has shown.

The food subsidy, including the Public Distribution System, the mid-day meal scheme and other nutrition programmes cost the government Rs. 1.25 lakh crore in its last Budget, and would need to rise to Rs 1.5 lakh crore with an additional Rs. 12,000 crore in maternity benefits for the government to meet its obligations under the National Food Security Act. However, whether this increase will be made is unclear; the government is contemplating amending the Act and restricting subsidies to targeted groups, a Food Ministry official said.

Ban on cuss words in films withdrawn

Following severe criticism and taunts for introducing a list of cuss words and phrases to be banned from films, the Central Board of Film Certificate has cancelled the controversial decision, sources toldThe Hindu on Monday.

Although there was no official word on this, highly-placed sources confirmed that in the newly constituted statutory board’s first meeting, chairman Pahlaj Nihalani was grilled by other members who were not in agreement with his unilateral decision to issue the circular. In a heated meeting, the board members conveyed to Mr. Pahalani that releasing such a list was not his sole prerogative and needed approval from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry.

In a circular sent out to CBFC regional offices (ROs) two weeks ago, Mr. Nihalani had listed words and phrases he felt were “objectionable and abusive,” and needed to be deleted from films.

Soon after, Ashok Pandit, a board member, caused some embarrassment to Mr. Pahlani when he publicly censured the circular terming it “against the freedom and creative liberty of a filmmaker.”

The decision continued to come under severe criticism from artists. Producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra on Monday said the Censor Board’s decision was nothing but an exhibition of power.

“If this goes unchallenged, soon a day will come when half of the theatre screen will carry statutory warnings instead of showing the film,” Mr. Chopra said.

Director Anurag Kashyap said such restrictions will ‘literally kill’ the experience of watching the film.

IBA signs pact with bank unions

The Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) on Monday said it concluded the 10th bipartite wage negotiations with bank unions and associations to be effective from November 1, 2012. Consequently, public sector bank unions withdrew their call for a four-day nationwide strike.

“The agreement reached at IBA on Monday provides for 15 per cent increase in pay slip,” said IBA Chairman T.M. Bhasin in a release.

Two holidays

As per the agreement reached, the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of every month will be holidays and the remaining Saturdays will be full working days.

“Both sides agreed to work out detailed bipartite settlement/ joint note within a period of 90 days,” he added.

UFBU representing five workmen unions and four officers associations, NUBE and BKSM were parties to the agreement.

TNA slams delay in U.N. report’s release

Sri Lanka’s main Tamil party has expressed dismay over the U.N.’s decision to delay a report on the human rights situation in the country saying it amounted to denial of justice.

Denouncing the decision by the U.N. to defer its report by six months, Tamil National Alliance’s (TNA) Northern Provincial Councillor M. K. Shivajilingam has written to U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, saying that the Tamil people sincerely hope the U.N. system will not delay or deny them full and complete justice.

He wrote that “the Tamil people are highly disappointed and dismayed by your announcement on February 16, to delay the investigation on Sri Lanka”. “The Tamil people had been anxiously waiting with high hopes for the release of the report, but this unexpected delay has caused serious concerns to the victimised Tamil population, and we strongly believe justice delayed is justice denied,” Mr. Shivajilingam said in the letter hoping that the report will be duly released in September and the U.N. judicial proceedings will follow without any further delay.

“We sincerely hope this extended time will be used to strengthen the report and not to weaken it. Tamil people have experienced disappointment and disillusionment in the last 67 years, and we do not believe Sri Lanka will ever deliver true justice to the Tamils.

“Instead, it will use the time and space to hoodwink the international community again, and try to derail the U.N. process of accountability and justice to the Tamils,” Mr. Shivajilingam said. Despite the new government of President Maithripala Sirisena taking measures such as the release of private lands acquired for military purposes, Tamils remain discontented.

The Northern Provincial Council recently adopted a resolution urging an investigation into alleged “genocide” of Tamils during the country’s 30-year civil war with the LTTE that ended in 2009. — PTI