Current Affairs Round up 2011-12

The Supreme Court of India on 2 March 2012 appointed its former judge, Justice H S Bedi as the chairman of the monitoring authority. Human Resource Development (HRD) ministry launched a web portal for implementation of the National Scheme of Incentive to Girls for Secondary Education (NSIGSE) in New Delhi. Web portal was developed by the Canara Bank to implement the scheme.

India recorded a net increase of 23.34 sq. km of mangrove cover between 2009 and 2011, thanks to efforts of one of the most industrialised states, Gujarat, in planting and regenerating the ecosystem rich in biodiversity.

The Centre is planning to launch a special scheme for delivery of healthcare services in 100 out of 264 focus districts across the country where the health indicators are very low, by integrating allopathic and other Indian systems of medicine soon.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has removed India from the list of polio-endemic countries, suggesting that the wild polio virus had been totally eliminated from the environment. In a major administrative move, the Planning Commission has cleared the transfer of the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY) to the Ministry of Rural Development (MoRD) from the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

The fourth phase of an Intensive Tiger Monitoring Programme envisaged by the Tiger Task Force of the Union Government has begun at the Kalakkad -Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) in Tirunelveli (Tamil Nadu).

The fertile and chronically flood-lacerated swathe of the Mithilanchal belt in north Bihar witnessed a watershed moment in its urban ecosystem when Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the Kosi Maha Sethu a rail-cum-road bridge in Supaul district.

Indiawill be one of the youngest nations by 2020 and this changing demographic condition, while providing great opportunities, could pose some challenges too, the Economic Survey 2011-12 has said. Union cabinet of India on 9 February 2012 approved the National Data Sharing and Accessibility Policy (NDSAP- 2012) to facilitate access to central government owned shareable data and information. Rajasthan will soon accord the bio-diversity rich Jawai Bandh forests in Pali district the status of a conservation reserve. The Indian Black Eagle was spotted in the Aravali Biodiversity Park after a gap of 90 years. The bird was last seen in 1920-21 by Basin Edwardes. Former Supreme Court judge Justice D. M. Dharmadhikari, who headed a four-member committee on integration of thousands of employees after the merger of two State-owned carriers Air India and Indian Airlines submitted his report to the Civil Aviation Minister, Ajit Singh.

The government of India approved setting up of a national centre for cold chain development and allocated a one-time grant of 25 crore rupees for its corpus fund. The Union government decided to operationalise the ambitious National Counter Terrorism Centre (NCTC) from 1 March 2012. The Union government unveiled a comprehensive policy on narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances, as announced by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee during the budget presentation last year. As the 2015 deadline ofmeeting the Millennium Development Goals nears, the South Asian Association for Regional Conference (SAARC) nations got together to give a final push for creating sanitation facilities for the 700 million plus uncovered people of the region.

The Supreme Court expressed concern over the creation of Koya Commandos by the Chhattisgarh government and giving them arms to deal with Maoists . The Director General of International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) Robert S. Zeigler has said that the institute was discussing with the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) the possibility of developing an India specific programme of molecular genetic and breeding for rice.

The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has set up three teams to examine 40 flying schools across the country from April 18. As per the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) bulletinreleased by the Registrar General of India (RGI), it is noted that InfantMortality Rate (IMR) has dropped further by 3 points from 50 to 47 infants deaths per 1000 live births during 2010.

The Union Government of India gave the approval for setting up a National Council for Senior Citizens. Itwill be headed by the Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment. After failing to effect a hike in rail fares as a measure to generate internal resources, RailwayMinisterDinesh Trivedi proposed an independent body to take decisions on rail fares without being influenced by political exigencies.

The government has decided to issue biometric PAN cards to taxpayers across the country to weed out the problem of duplicate and fake ones. The Union Home Ministry is studying the Shunglu Committee report on alleged irregularities in executing various infrastructure projects related to the Commonwealth Games by the Delhi government. India has the dubious distinction of having the highest number of stillbirths in the world. In India, the stillbirth rates varied from 20 to 66 per 1,000 total births in different States. China has made some progress over the years to reduce its figure. As high as 66 per cent (1.8 million) stillbirths in the world occur in just 10 countries. India is followed by Pakistan, Nigeria, China, Bangladesh, Congo, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Tanzania.

The SC declared Khap panchayats illegal and termed them as kangaroo courts.A bench of the Supreme Court including Justice Markandeya Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Mishra gave the Judgement stating that honour killings, khap panchayats in northern India and katta panchayats in Tamil Nadu were illegal and barbaric.

he National Advisory Council (NAC) decided to put its draft on Communal Violence Bill in the public domain, with a wider ambit of vulnerable sections of the society. Union Environment and Forests Minister Jairam Ramesh, along with Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavanlaunched a programme giving tribals the right to harvest bamboo as a forest produce in Gadchiroli. The SC gave the ruling that nonminority educational institutions have no right to admit students of their choice and scrapped 100 percent reservation for children of armed forces in the Army college of Medical Sciences ACMS) in Delhi Cantonment.

11 members of Public Accounts Committees 21 members, recorded their vote to reject the draft report on 2G scam circulated to the them by the Lok Sabha Secretariat on April 27, 2011. The Postal Department launched the new social security scheme for Gramin Dak Sevaks (GDS) to provide postretirement financial security to over 2.73 lakh GDS. Service Discharge Benefit Scheme (SDBS) for GDS will be operationalised utilising the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA)s New Pension Scheme product, NPS-Lite.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare decided to provide free nutritious food, transportation and treatment to all pregnant women who visit government facilities for delivery. The SC directed the high courts and trial courts in India to award the death sentence to people convicted in crimes related to honour killings. The new Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) came into force on 1 May 2011. No political party can receive foreign funds as donation,under the new law. This law is to facilitate regulation of foreign contributions and hospitality by individuals and organisations.

Data on infant deaths across states in India was released in May 2011. The data revealed that infant mortality rate for India as a whole stood at 50 in 2009, down by 30% compared to a decade ago. The National Advisory Council (NAC) headed by Sonia Gandhi on 25 May 2011 gave its nod to governments go ahead for fresh survey identifying families Below Poverty Line, BPL. The NAC has accepted governments claim that over 66 percent of the SC/ST households in the country are likely to be included in the BPL category under the survey based on the methodology approved by the Cabinet.

Union government had approved two more tiger reserves in Karnataka. Following the governments approval, B.R. Hills in Chamarajanagar district and Kudremukh in Chikmagalur district became the 40th and 41st tiger reserves in the country.

The SC banned the employment of children in circuses and directed the government to rescue those employed in the sector. It also asked the Government to formulate a rehabilitation programme for the children.

The Union Cabinet of India gave approval for conducting the Below Poverty Line (BPL) Census in rural and urban areas. The Census would be conducted by the Ministry of Rural Development in association with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) and the Registrar General of India (RGI).

The Supreme Court granted bail to Dr. Binayak Sen, observing that no case of sedition was made out against the rights activist, who was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment by a trial court in Chhattisgarh.

India will overtake China in terms of population by 2025, an analysis of the provisional Census, 2011 data suggests. The Union Cabinets Committee on Infrastructure approved the rollout of the e-district mission mode project in all 640 districts of the country, including the 41 districts where pilot projects of the scheme have been initiated.

The Union government will promote the use of iron fortified iodised salt (doublefortified salt) to battle anaemia, one of the major causes of malnutrition, particularly among women and children. The government has appointed a Committee of Inquiry to probe the circumstances of the Pawan Hans helicopter crash at Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh on April 19 that claimed the lives of 17 people.The committee, headed by Air Marshal (Retd.) P.P. Rajkumar.

The draft report of the Public Accounts Committee on the 2G scam has come out with yet another figure for the loss to the exchequer, putting it at Rs.1.90- lakh crore in the grant of 122 licences in 2008, dual technology licences and extra spectrum.

The Supreme Court has appointed M. Gopalakri-shnan, a former Member of the Central Water Comm-ission (CWC), to assist the commission in inspecting the Polavaram dam to ascertain whether it was being built as per the Godavari Tribunal Award.

Organic farming has the potential to generate over 20 lakh jobs in the state according to independent research study by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) titled Organic Bihar Way to Agricultural Prosperity. Promotion of organic farming in Bihar can raise income of farmers and lead to wealth accumulation of over 1,000 crore besides generating exports worth 500 crore, according to apex industry body.

The Supreme Court decision banning both mining and movement of ore in Bellary district in Karnataka, following the Lok Ayukta report, is excessive. The blanket ban penalises even those who did nothing wrong. The treaty for constituting a new Gorkhaland Territorial Authority (GTA) in Darjeeling hills in West Bengal has given rise to deep concern and fear of more turmoil in the state. The treaty has been signed between state and central government and Gorkha Janamukti Morcha, the organisation leading the movement for a separate state.

The Union Cabinet of India gave its approval for setting up a national level security fund (NSSF) for unorganized sectors named as National Social Security Fund. The fund is likely to benefit 43.3 crore workers in the unorganized sector.

Dr. N.C. Saxena Committee was set up by the Ministry of Rural Development to advise it on the suitable methodology for BPL Census and not for estimation of poverty. The Supreme Court of India issued a notice to the Centre and the States on a PIL seeking to bring advanced and affluent Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes out of the purview of reservation. The union government of India has set up a National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) to access all intelligence data. It is to function as a tool for strengthening the capability of the existing intelligence and law enforcement agencies.

The Lok Sabha of Indian Parliament approved the Transplantation of Human Organs (Amendment) Bill, 2011. The bill entails stringent punishment for those involved in organ trade. Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs has set up the Indian Community Welfare Fund (ICWF), which is operationalised in the Indian Missions in all the Countries with effect from 24 March 2011 for safeguarding the welfare and protection especially of Indian workers going abroad.

The Food Safety and Standards Act of 2006 became effective in India from 5 August 2011 making it at par with the international standards. The Act was passed in Parliament in 2006. A Parliamentary Standing Committee has favoured the death penalty for hijackers as it was the need of the hour and unavoidable in the heightened threat of [the] daring crime. In a major blow to the Centre, the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of P.J. Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). The Supreme Court rejected the contention that the appointment of Central Vigilance Commissioner must be made through consensus amongmembers of the High Power Committee.

The Union Cabinet cleared a Bill seeking to prevent sexual abuse of children, with provisions for stringent punishment for such offences. Even as the Centre on defended the telecom policy, the Supreme Court asked the Central Bureau of Investigation to examine how the UAE-based Etisalat was allowed to invest in Swan Telecom after the Union Home Ministry had expressed apprehensions on such Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the grounds of a threat to national security.

The Law Commission headed by Justice P. Venkatrama Reddi approved the proposed draft legislation, The Endangerment of Life and Liberty (protection, prosecution and other measures) Act,