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NATIONAL EVENTS
New Bill to bring CAG under RTI
• A new Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Bill,
likely to be introduced in the Parliament, that will
bring the institution of CAG under the ambit of the
Right to Information Act.
• The new Bill would seek to replace the CAG Act,
1971, and empower the institution to audit accounts
of the panchayati raj institutions, non-governmental
organisations (NGOs) and public-private partnership
(PPP) entities.
Constitutional right overrides practices :
Speaker
• While allowing the Opposition members to move cut
motions on the demands for grants of various
ministries, which were taken up for adoption without
any discussion, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar
ruled that “Constitutional right is a superior right
and it overrides practices.”
• In her observation, Ms. Kumar noted that the right
to move cut motions “is an important right of the
members of the House provided in the Constitution
which cannot be curtailed.”
• The right to move a cut motion flows from the power
vested in the House under Article 113 of the
Constitution to assent to any demand subject to a
reduction of the amount specified in that demand.
This Article or any of the Rules do not make any
distinction between the demands which are
discussed in the House and those which are
guillotined. Article 113 used the words ‘any demand’.
It is thus clear that cut motions can be moved on all
demands submitted to the House under Article 113
(2),” Ms. Kumar said in her ruling.
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Lok Sabha passes green tribunal Bill
• The Lok Sabha adopted the National Green Tribunal
(NGT) Bill, 2009. It envisages the setting up of a national
tribunal, a judicial body exclusively to deal with
environmental laws and to provide citizens a right to
environment.
• The main Bench of the tribunal will be set up in Bhopal,
“the site of humanity’s one of the worst industrial
tragedies.”
• The Tribunal would have four circuit Benches. It would
deal with all environmental laws on air and water
pollution, the Environment Protection Act, the Forest
Conservation Act and the Biodiversity Act. With
this effort, India would join Australia and New
Zealand, which have such specialised environment
tribunals.
• The Tribunal would monitor the implementation of
environment laws.
• Its members would be chosen by a committee.
Foreign education institutions Bill tabled
• Amid opposition by the Communist Party of India
(Marxist), the government introduced the Foreign
Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and
Operations) Bill in the Lok Sabha.
• The Bill, which seeks to regulate the entry and
operation of foreign education institutions, had been
pending for the past four years due to stiff
opposition from the Left.
• According to the Bill, the enactment of legislation
regulating entry and operation of all foreign
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CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011
institutions is necessary to maintain the standards
of higher education in the country as well as protect
the interests of students, and in the public interest.
• The foreign institution shall not impart education
unless it is recognised and notified by the Centre,
and offers education which is in conformity with the
standards laid down by the statutory authority in
India and those offered by it to its students enrolled
on its main campus, in addition to maintaining a
corpus fund of not less than Rs. 50 crore.
• The Centre can refuse to recognise and notify an
institution if it is not in the interest of the sovereignty
and integrity of India, security of the state, friendly
relations with other foreign states, the public order,
decency or morality; or for reasons of sensitivity of
the location. The government can withdraw
recognition and rescind the notification on grounds
of violation of the provisions of the proposed
legislation.
• The government also introduced three more bills on
higher education including the one that seeks to
provide for establishment of educational tribunals
for effective and expeditious adjudication of disputes
involving teachers and other employees and other
stakeholders, and to adjudicate penalties for unfair
practices.
Lok Sabha passes labour welfare Bill
• Amidst furore, the Lok Sabha passed, without
discussions, a slew of labour welfare measures,
including a Bill to raise the ceiling of gratuity for
employees in private sector to Rs.10 lakh from Rs.3.5
lakh.
• A corollary benefit of the gratuity ceiling
enhancement is that the amount will also qualify for
exemption from income tax.
• The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill
said the present ceiling of Rs.3.5 lakh was fixed in
1997 and there had been representations from trade
unions and individuals to remove or enhance the
ceiling on the maximum amount of gratuity payable
under the Act.
• Based on the representations and wide consultation
with all stakeholders, it was proposed to enhance
the ceiling of Rs.3.5 lakh on the maximum amount of
gratuity under the act.
• The Lok Sabha also passed the Employees’ State
Insurance (Amendment) Bill, 2009, to provide for
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medicare to workers in the unorganised sector, especially
those below the poverty line (BPL).
• The Bill, proposes that the Employees’ State
Insurance Corporation should participate in the
Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana to cover BPL
workers in the unorganised sector.
• The Statement of Objects and Reasons of the Bill said
it also proposed to increase the age limit of
dependents from 18 to 21 years and provide for claims
for accidents occurring at work or while going to
work.The legislation was brought to the House in 2008
to replace an ordinance and was then sent to the
concerned parliamentary standing committee.
Bill to regulate clinics
• The Lok Sabha passed the Clinical Establishments
Bill to regulate private hospitals and clinics across
the country. “It would also ensure that no clinic runs
unless it has been duly registered in accordance with
the prescribed procedure,” Union Health and Family
Welfare Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said.
• According to the Bill, every establishment will have
to follow minimum standards of facilities and services
for registration and continuation of operation.
• The establishments will have to provide the medical
examination and treatment as may be required to
stabilise the emergency medical condition of any
individual, who is brought to the facility
• The Bill envisages the setting up of a National Council
for Clinical Establishments and State councils to
regulate the medical facilities.
• The State councils will be responsible for compiling
and updating the State register of clinical
establishments and sending monthly returns in digital
format for updating the national register.
• A State government will set up district authorities for
registration of health units, with the collector and
district health officer as members.
Use of narco analysis, brain-mapping
unconstitutional: Court
• In a major blow to investigating agencies, the Supreme
Court held unconstitutional and violation of the ‘right
to privacy’ the use of narco analysis, brain-mapping
and polygraph tests on accused, suspects and
witnesses without their consent.
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• Article 20 (3) of the Constitution said [No person
accused of any offence shall be compelled to be a
witness against himself] protects an individual’s
choice between speaking and remaining silent,
irrespective of whether the subsequent testimony •
proves to be inculpatory or exculpatory.
• The Bench said: “Article 20 (3) aims to prevent the
forcible conveyance of personal knowledge that is
relevant to the facts in issue. The results obtained
from each of the impugned tests bear a testimonial •
character and they cannot be categorised as material
evidence.”
• Narco analysis technique involves the intravenous
administration of sodium pentothal, a drug which
lowers inhibitions on part of the subject and induces
the person to talk freely. The other two techniques
measure changes in aspects such as respiration, blood
pressure, blood flow, pulse and galvanic skin •
resistance. The truthfulness or falsity on part of the
subject is assessed by relying on the records of the
physiological responses.
Court won’t stop admissions to deemed
varsities
• The Supreme Court declined to restrain the 44 deemed
universities recommended by the Tandon Committee
to be de-recognised, from making fresh admissions
for the academic year 2010-2011.
• A Bench of Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice Gyan
Sudha Misra did not accept the argument advanced
by the Centre that no fresh admissions should be
permitted as that would cause prejudice to the
students.
Nothing unconstitutional about MPLAD
scheme, rules Supreme Court
• The Supreme Court held that the Members of
Parliament Local Area Development (MPLAD)
Scheme, under which every MP is allotted Rs. 2 crore
a year for constituency development, was intra vires
the Constitution.
Governors can’t be removed at Centre’s whims,
says Court
• The Supreme Court held that a Governor cannot
be removed on the ground that he/she is out of
sync with the policies and ideologies of the Union
government or the party in power at the Centre.
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Constitution-Watch
Nor can he/she be removed on the ground that
the Union government has lost confidence in him/
her.
The Bench said that as a Governor was neither an
employee nor agent of the Union government, it was
rejecting the contention that a Governor could be
removed if the Union government or the party in power
lost ‘confidence’ in him.
Writing the judgment, Justice Raveendran said, “What
Article 156 (1) of the Constitution [under which a
Governor holds office during the pleasure of the
President] dispenses with is the need to assign
reasons or the need to give notice, but the need to act
fairly and reasonably cannot be dispensed with by
Article 156(1).”
The President, in exercising power under Article
156(1), should act in a manner that is not arbitrary or
unreasonable. In the event of challenge of withdrawal
of the pleasure, the court will necessarily assume that
it is for compelling reasons. Consequently, where the
aggrieved person is not able to establish a prima facie
instance of arbitrariness or mala fides in his removal,
the court will refuse to interfere.
Supreme Court allows mining in undisputed
Obulapuram areas
• Giving a major relief to the Reddy brothers, the
Supreme Court has allowed mining in Obulapuram
mines in the reserve forests bordering Andhra Pradesh
and Karnataka. A Bench of Chief Justice K.G.
Balakrishnan and Justices Deepak Verma and B.S.
Chauhan allowed mining operations within 150 metres
of the border.
• This order was passed on an Andhra Pradesh
government appeal against an order of the Andhra
Pradesh High Court allowing mining by the
Obulapuram Mining Company. The Supreme Court
earlier stayed mining activities and ordered a survey
by the Survey of India (SoI).
• The SoI, in its report, alleged discrepancies and
overlapping in the lease sketches of six Obulapuram
mines, including three belonging to the Reddy
brothers. It suggested that the entire lease sketches
be reviewed and that no mining be allowed during the
demarcation work.
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CURRENT AFFAIRS FOR I.A.S. (PRE.) 2011
Supreme Court upholds quota in local bodies
• The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity
of Articles 243 D (6) and T (6), providing for reservation
of seats in any panchayat or offices of Chairpersons
in panchayats and municipalities in favour of backward
classes.
• A five-judge Constitution Bench upheld Articles 243 Inclusion in select list is no guarantee of
D (4) and 243 T (4) reserving chairpersons’ posts in appointment : Supreme Court
local bodies, irrespective of whether the beneficiaries
are SCs, STs and women and even if it is a single post.
These Articles were inserted by way of Constitution
73rd and 74th Amendments. The Bench disposed of
appeals challenging these amendments as also the
Karnataka law in this regard.
• Writing the judgment, the CJI said, “The nature and
purpose of reservation in the context of local self-
government is considerably different from that of
higher education and public employment. In this
sense, Articles 243-D and Article 243-T form a distinct
and independent constitutional basis for affirmative
action and the principles that have been evolved in
relation to the reservation policies enabled by Articles
15(4) and 16(4) cannot be readily applied in the context
of local self-government.”
• The Bench, however, made it clear that the ceiling of
50 per cent vertical reservation in favour of SC/ST/
OBCs should not be breached in the context of local
self-government.
• The Bench said, “These chairperson posts cannot be
equated with solitary posts in the context of public
employment.” It held that Articles 243-D (6) and T
(6) “are constitutionally valid since they are in the
nature of provisions which merely enable State
Legislature to reserve seats and chairperson posts in
favour of backward classes.”
• The Bench said, “As we have considered and decided
only the constitutional validity of Articles 243-D
(6) and 243-T(6), it will be open to the petitioners or
any aggrieved party to challenge any State legislation
enacted in pursuance of the said constitutional
provisions before the High Court.”
Supreme Court notice to Haryana over
Mirchpur Dalits
• Taking a serious view of 150 Dalit families from
Mirchpur village in Haryana’s Hisar district being
forced to leave the village after two of them were killed
allegedly by the dominant Jat community, the Supreme
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Court issued a stern notice to the Haryana Government
for its response to a petition highlighting their plight.
• Mirchpur, about 150 km from Delhi, is a large village
comprising about 1,700 Jat (dominant caste)
households, 250 Balmiki families, 350 Chamar, 25 Dom
and a handful of Brahmin households.
• A person whose name appears on the select list does
not acquire any indefeasible right of appointment, the
Supreme Court has held.
• Writing the judgment, Justice Chauhan said: “Mere
inclusion of a candidate’s name in the select list does
not confer [on him] any right to be selected, even if
some of the vacancies remain unfilled. The candidate
cannot claim that he has been given a hostile
discrimination. The select list cannot be treated as a
reservoir for the purpose of appointments, that
vacancy can be filled taking the names from that list
as and when it is so required.”
• In the instant case, the Orissa government advertised
for filling 15 vacancies of junior clerk in June 1995, with
an indication that the number might be increased.
Accordingly, the authorities decided to fill 33 vacancies,
though a ‘select list’ of 66 persons was prepared. Persons
whose names figured on the list but were not appointed
moved the State Administrative Tribunal, which in April
2000 directed the government to offer appointments to
all candidates until the entire ‘select list’ was exhausted.
• Allowing the State’s appeal and setting aside the orders
of the tribunal and the High Court, the Supreme Court
gave this judgement
Moily hints at change in judges’ appointment
process
• The government is thinking of making changes in the
appointment procedures, as the present practice
(collegium) does not fully reflect the two Supreme
Court judgments that led to the creation of the existing
system. India may be among the few countries in the
world where judges appoint themselves, a practice
that started after 1993, replacing the system of
government picking the judges for higher judiciary
• The changes could be made either through judicial
action or legislative method, he said.
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IAS PRE 2011 - Current Affairs

Medium: English
Price: Rs. 190/-
Pages: 446
Author: S.A. Majid

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