3-4 june 2015

3 june

Emami Limited acquired hair care brand Kesh King

FMCG player Emami Limited on 2 June 2015 acquired ayurvedic hair and scalp care brand Kesh King for 1651 crore rupees. With this acquisition, Emami forays into the fast-growing haircare segment. Emami’s current oil portfolio includes Navratna Cool Oil and Emami 7 Oil in One Damage Control Hair Oil.

Under this acquisition, Kesh King's business will be transferred to Emami and now Emami will include brand portfolio of ayurvedic medicinal oil, herbal shampoo, conditioner and ayurvedic capsules, along with its respective formulations and all related assets.

Introduced in 2009 by Sanjeev Juneja, Kesh King brand offers products such as oil, herbal shampoo and conditioner and ayurvedic capsules. The brand has presence in 5.4 lakh outlets across India and has a turnover of around 300 crore rupees in 2014-15.

Sepp Blatter resigned as FIFA president amid corruption scandal

Sepp Blatter resigned as President of FIFA on 2 June 2015 amid the corruption scandal that has engulfed the football’s governing body. Blatter has been serving as president of world soccer governing body FIFA since 1998. 

79-year-old Blatter who was re-elected as FIFA president on 29 May 2015 said that soon a special congress would be called to elect his successor. He will exercise his functions as FIFA president until an election is held.

Apart from this, his resignation came within a week after Swiss police arrested seven FIFA officials, including two vice presidents, at a hotel in Zurich. The arrests were called out on behalf of US prosecutors who accuse the seven and eight other suspects of involvement in 150 million dollars of bribe.

According to Domenico Scala, chairman of FIFA's audit and compliance committee, the election can be held before the next World Congress in May 2016. It cannot be held for at least four months, according to FIFA rules. Thus the election can take place anytime from December 2015 to March 2016.

Union Government simplified defence rules to woo foreign companies

The Union Government on 1 June 2015 simplified the defence rules to boost defence manufacturing in the country and encourage foreign players to explore business in India.

In order to provide a level-playing field to private players, the government withdrew excise and Customs duty exemptions enjoyed by the Ordinance Factory Board and defence Public Sector Undertakings.

It will encourage more private sector firms to collaborate with foreign partners  such as Boeing, Airbus and Lockheed Martin and enter the defence equipment manufacturing business.

Defence Sector of India
Defence manufacturing is one of the key sectors among the 25 sectors identified under the Union Government's Make-in-India campaign. The Indian aerospace and defence market is among the most attractive as the country is the highest importer of defence items in the world.

The Government has recently opened up this sector for private investment by increasing FDI cap in defence to 49 percent and rationalizing conditions. Almost 60 percent items required for industrial licence have now been de-reserved.

South Korea and China signed bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA)

South Korea and China on 1 June 2015 signed the Korea-China Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in Seoul, South Korea. The agreement was signed by the South Korea’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Yoon Sang-jick and Chinese Commerce Minister Gao Hucheng.

The negotiations for the agreement that began in May 2012 formally concluded in November 2014.

Features of Korea-China FTA

• It aims to gradually remove tariffs on more than90 percent of traded goods between both the countries within 20 years.
• China will remove tariffs on 71 percent of South Korean exports in 10 years and 91 percent in 20 years.
• South Korea will remove tariffs on 79 percent of Chinese imports in 10 years and 92 percent in 20 years.
• Many of South Korea’s major farming and fisheries goods like rice, beef, pork, pepper and squid are excluded from the agreement. This decision taken was taken in the backdrop of protests against the inclusion of these products by the agricultural community of South Korea.
• China excluded or delayed the opening of its relatively less-developed manufacturing segments such as the auto sector and display panel production.
• It would recognize products made in Kaesong Industrial Region (KIR) of North Korea as South Korean products for the purpose of trade between the two countries. However, final modalities for operationalisation of this provision are still underway.

Significance of the Korea-China FTA

• The FTA is expected to augment trade between China and South Korea, Asia’s largest and fourth-largest economies respectively.
• It will allow small and medium-sized South Korean firms, especially in consumer goods in fashion, cosmetics, home appliances and high-end food products, greater access to China’s vast consumer market and help create more than 50000 jobs in South Korea.
• It would provide momentum not only to efforts to expand trade and investment between the two nations but also to help enhance bilateral cooperation in a wide range of areas, including industries, culture and energy. 
• The FTA is expected to create a large-scale regional economic community worth 12 trillion US dollars by removing trade barriers, going beyond a simple increase in trade. 
• The pact will also greatly contribute to the economic integration of East Asia, the Asia-Pacific region and the development of the world economy. For this, negotiations for a trilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) among China, South Korea and Japan were launched in November 2012.

Comment

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1992, the trade volume of both countries increased over the past 23 years from 5 billion US dollars to 235.3 billion US dollars in 2014. The volume of mutual investment also multiplied, from 0.11 billion US dollars to 61.64 US billion dollars.
China is already Korea’s largest trade partner and its largest destination for investment which stood at 1.6 billion US dollars between January-March 2015.
South Korea is China`s third largest trade partner and is the fifth largest investment destination.

Harley-Davidson tied-up with Myntra for online merchandise sale

Cult bike maker Harley-Davidson on 2 June 2015 tied up with fashion portal Myntra to sell its casual merchandise through an exclusive online store.

Known for rebellious designs and bold urban styling, Harley-Davidson will now offer its casual merchandise on an exclusive online store on Myntra. The online store will offer Harley-Davidson jackets, denims, shirts, t-shirts, caps, wallets and other accessories.

With this partnership, Harley-Davidson merchandise will now be easily accessible to over 12000 pin codes in India. Harley-Davidson merchandise and accessories are also offered through the brand's dealership network across 17 locations in India.

About Harley-Davidson
• Harley-Davidson India is a subsidiary under Harley-Davidson Inc. that commenced its operations in August 2009.
• Since early 2011, Harley-Davidson has been assembling motorcycles in India at its assembly unit at Bawal in Haryana. 
• Harley-Davidson India sells a range of Harley-Davidson genuine parts and accessories along with general merchandise including clothes apparel and collectibles.

Maharashtra Cabinet approved a Composite Renewable Energy Policy

Maharashtra Cabinet on 2 June 2015 approved a Composite Renewable Energy Policy worth 4156.43 crore rupees which would help attract investment of 1 lakh crore rupees. The policy was approved at a cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.

The policy aims at achieving 14400 MW of installed capacity from the present 6700 MW over a period of five years, that is, till 2020.

In terms of percentage, the policy targets to increase the share of renewable energy in total electricity production in the state to 15 percent from present 9 percent.

Out of the total 14400 MW installed capacity 7500 MW would come from solar energy, 5000 MW from wind energy, 1000 MW from bagasse based co-generation, 400 MW from small hydro, 200 MW from industrial waste and 300 MW from agriculture waste-based products. 

Apart from this, in order to promote installation of new renewable projects, the state government also decided to simplify the consent norms and reduce the number of clearances. 
Further, the procurement process would be by way of competitive bidding so as to benefit consumers in terms of affordable tariff.

In terms of financial incentives, the state government decided to provide an exemption on electricity duty for ten years apart from various other capital subsidies. 

The current installed capacity of renewable energy in the state is 6700 MW. Currently, the share of renewable energy is around nine per cent and we are targetting 15 percent.

The Constitution (100th Amendment) Act, 2015

The term the Constitution (100th Amendment) Act, 2015 was in news in the fourth week of May 2015 as the President of India Pranab Mukherjee gave his assent to the Constitution (119th Amendment) Bill, 2013 that related to the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) between India and Bangladesh.

List of recent amendments to the Indian Constitution

The Constitution (91st Amendment) Act, 2004: Restricted the size of the Council of Ministers (CoM) to 15 percent of legislative members & strengthened the Anti Defection laws.

The Constitution (92nd Amendment) Act, 2004: Included Bodo, Dogri, Santali and Maithali as official languages.

The Constitution (93rd Amendment) Act, 2006: Provided for 27 percent reserrvation for other backward classes in government as well as private higher educational institutions.

The Constitution (94th Amendment) Act, 2006: To provide for a Minister of Tribal Welfare in newly created Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh States including Madhyapradesh and Orissa.

The Constitution (95th Amendment) Act, 2010: To extend the reservation of seats for  Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Lok Sabha and states assemblies from Sixty years to Seventy years

The Constitution (96th Amendment) Act, 2011: Substituted Odia for Oriya

The Constitution (97th Amendment) Act, 2012: Added the words "or co-operative societies" after the word "or unions" in Article 19(l)(c) and inserted article 43B related to promotion of co-operative societies and added Part-IXB that is The Co-operative Societies.

The Constitution (98th Amendment) Act, 2013: To empower the Governor of Karnataka to take steps to develop the Hyderabad-Karnataka Region.

The Constitution (99th Amendment) Act, 2014: The amendment provides for the formation of a National Judicial Appointments Commission.

Fishing ban of 61 days along the Western Coast became effective except in Kerala

Fishing ban along the Western Coast became effective from 1 June 2015. The ban will be in place for 61 days till 31 July 2015 in all the western coast states except in Kerala.

Kerala decided to stick to the 47-day ban, as in previous years, and allowed its fishermen to continue operating till June 15.

Against the order of the Union Government, Kerala had sought some relaxation as it would affect the livelihood of its fisherfolk along the 450-km coastal belt of the state.

Hence, as a special case, the Union Government  has allowed only traditional fishermen of Kerala to sail into the sea and that too up to a distance of 12 nautical miles ( country’s territorial waters).

Earlier, the Union Government had issued a notification imposing uniform fishing ban for 61 days in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), which extends up to 200 nautical miles from the coast, from 1 June to 31 July 2015 along the Country’s Western Coastal Zone. The ban is intended to safeguard fish in their breeding season and increase the fish catch.

Similarly, along the East Coast including Andaman & Nicobar Islands, the Union Government imposed a 45-day ban on fishing by all fishing vessels in the EEZ between 15 April and 31 May 2015.

Ravi Shastri re-appointed as Director of Indian Cricket team

Ravi Shastri, the former cricket captain of Indian team, was on 2 June 2015 re-appointed as the Director of Indian cricket team for the Bangladesh tour. His appointment was made by BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India).

Team India's tour to Bangladesh will start from 10 June 2015. During the tour, India will play one Test and three One-Day Internationals matches.

His appointment is a stop-gap arrangement for the short tour as the BCCI is yet to decide on a full-time coach. The post had been lying vacant since 2013 when Duncan Fletcher vacated the office.

Shastri was appointed as Director of Indian team for the first time during India’s tour to Australia and in the subsequent 2015 World Cup. Till now, Shastri represented India in 80 Tests and 150 ODIs and was part of the side, which lifted the 1983 World Cup.

Union Government launched Khoya Paya web portal to exchange information on missing children

The Union Government on 2 June 2015 launched the Khoya Paya web portal Khoyapaya.gov.in, the first-of-its-kind citizen based website to exchange information on missing and found children.

It was jointly launched by Maneka Gandhi, Union Minister of Women & Child Development and Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union Minister of Communication & Information Technology.

The web portal has been jointly developed by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY).

Khoya Paya web portal will establish citizen to citizen contact and will allow India to take part in search for missing children.

The citizens can aid in missing children’s search by reporting the whereabouts of the children through text, photographs, videos and other means of transmitting and uploading information on the site. Through this portal, parents or families are also advised to inform about their missing child to the nearest police station.

Khoya Paya portal is different from another portal named Track Childrun by Union Ministry of Home Affairs which has limitation as only police communicates with the police and citizens are nowhere involved.

Comment

The missing children are a cause of deep concern not only for the Government but also for the child protection institutions, society and above all for the parents. These children are vulnerable to the mental and physical assault which leads to mental trauma for these children.

Further, most of the missing children are trafficked for labour, for sexual exploitation, abducted, or kidnapped, or due to crimes against children which is prohibited by the Article 23 (1) of the Constitution.

As per the information provided by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), number of missing children is about 70000 every year. Total recovered children since January 2012 up to April 2015 is 73597 as per the data available on Track Child portal of Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Punit Renjen appointed as CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited

Indian-American Punit Renjen was on 1 June 2015 appointed as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (Deloitte Global) with immediate effect. Renjen succeeded Barry Salzberg, who retired from Deloitte Global on 31 May 2015.

Renjen has a total of 28-year career with Deloitte. Prior to this appointment, Renjen was working as Chairman of the Board of Deloitte United States. However, Renjen will remain with the Deloitte U.S. firm until he transitions to the role of Deloitte Global CEO.

Moreover, Punit is a member of the Boards of Directors at United Way Worldwide and at the US-India Business Council as well. He was named as an honoree to the 2012, 2013 and 2014 National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) Directorship 100.

Punit was born and raised in India. He moved to the United States after winning a Rotary Foundation Scholarship to Willamette University, where he earned a master’s degree in management.

About Deloitte Global
• Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited is a UK private company with a network of 47 member firms operating in 150 countries, employing more than 210000 people worldwide.
• Deloitte that serves 79 percent of the Fortune Global 500 companies provides audit, tax, consulting, and financial advisory services to public and private clients spanning multiple industries.

US President Barack Obama signed USA FREEDOM Act 2015 into law

US President Barack Obama on 2 June 2015 signed the USA FREEDOM Act 2015 in law. The USA FREEDOM stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Fulfilling Rights and Ensuring Effective Discipline Over Monitoring Act of 2015.

With this, the National Security Agency (NSA) lost its authority to collect the phone records of millions of Americans.

The Act was approved by the Senate on 1 June 2015 by 67-32 votes and was passed by the House of Representatives on 13 May 2015. The Act will remain in effect until 15 December 2019.

Main Highlights of the Act
• It reauthorizes USA PATRIOT Act 2001 that expired on 1 June 2015.
• It require the government obtain a targeted warrant to collect phone metadata from telecommunications companies
• It amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Act of 1978 to establish a new process so as to make the process of submitting of warrant by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to a FISA court more transparent. FISA Court reviews the warrant requests submitted by the FBI for an order requiring the production of business records or other tangible things for an investigation.
• It amends the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 to require the Inspector General of the Department of Justice to audit the effectiveness and use of FISA authority to obtain production of tangible things from 2012 to 2014, so that the constitutional rights of U.S. persons is adequately protected.

Comment
It is the first piece of legislation to reform post 9/11 surveillance measure known by the name USA PATRIOT Act which was adopted in October 2001, six weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attack. The USA PATRIOT stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism.

The Act is the culmination of efforts to reform the NSA that blossomed out of NSA leaker Edward Snowden's 2013 revelations. Snowden is the former NSA contractor who released secret information about U.S. spying in June of 2013

Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje inaugurated Phase 1A of Jaipur Metro Rail Services

Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje on 3 June 2015 inaugurated phase 1A of metro rail services in Jaipur. With this, the pink city became the sixth city in the country to have metro service; other five cities are Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, and Kolkata.

In the first phase, the metro will run on 9.6 kilometer stretch covering nine stations from residential area Mansarovar to business hub in Chandpole.

Jaipur Metro has added three unique features in its service, and they are

• Passenger will enjoy jerk free journey because of Wheel Mounted Disk Braking System.
• Each Coach is equipped with LCD which will continuously display information for the passengers. 
• It also carries facilities for special challenged people and senior citizens.

The Jaipur metro work is publicized as one of the fastest-built metros in the country as it has been developed in a time period of four-and-a-half years.

One most important fact of Jaipur metro service is that six out of 24 Metro train operators, that is, 25 percent of metro drivers, are women.

Jaipur Metro Rail Project has been developed by Jaipur Metro Rail Corporation Ltd (JMRCL) which was set up as a wholly owned subsidiary by the Government of Rajasthan.

4 june

Scientists at CIMAP succeeded in whole genome sequencing of Holy basil or Tulsi

Scientists at Central Institute of Medicinal & Aromatic Plants (CIMAP), Lucknow succeeded in whole genome sequencing of Holy basilor Tulsi(Ocimum sanctum). CIMAP is a frontier plant research laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

Scientists published the whole genome sequence of Tulsi on 28 May 2015 in BMC Genomics.

This is the first report of complete genome sequence of Tulsi, which is both used as an essential medicinal plant and revered as Vishnupriya and worshipped for over 3000 years in India.

The availability of whole genome sequence is the first step to understand and unravel the secrets of this mother of all herbs and to provide scientific validity to the traditional claims of its utility in diverse medicinal usage.

Tulsi is rich in phenylpropanoids, terpenoids and their derivatives, and many of these are implicated for different therapeutic activities. The availability of the genome sequence now opens the possibility to identify genes involved in producing therapeutic molecules and to produce them in vitro.

The nuclear genome of Holy basil is the smallest (386 Mb) in the family Lamiaceae while the chloroplast genome (142,245 bp) is the smallest in the order Lamiales. According to the chloroplast genome similarity, O. sanctum shows maximum evolutionary closeness to Salvia miltiorrhiza, a plant of Chinese system of traditional medicine

This will also facilitate identification of not yet identified genes involved in the synthesis of important secondary metabolites in this plant. Specific pathway related genes identified or mined in this genome could be used for the production of secondary metabolites following synthetic biology approaches. The development of molecular tools and genomic resources will accelerate molecular breeding and ultimately the utility of Holy basil in medical community.

Inderjeet won gold in shot put at 21st Asian Athletics Championships

Inderjeet Singh won gold medal in men's shot put event in the 21st Asian Athletics Championships on 3 June 2015. The 21st Asian Athletics Championships is being held from 3 June to 7 June 2015 at Wuhan, China.

The 27-year-old Up and coming track and field star Inderjeet heaved the iron ball to a new championship record of 20.41meter, which he achieved in his fourth attempt. With this, he became the eighth Indian shot putter to win a gold medal in the history of Asian championships. 

Chang Ming-Huang of Chinese Taipei won the silver with a throw of 19.56meter, while Tian Zizhong of the home country bagged the bronze with a throw of 1925meter.

Syed Asif Ibrahim appointed as PM’s Special Envoy on Countering Terrorism and Extremism

Syed Asif Ibrahim was on 3 June 2015 appointed as the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy on Countering Terrorism and Extremism. He is a former Director of Intelligence Bureau (DIB).

In this new capacity, he will liaise with governments in West Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and South East Asia, among others, in setting up channels for the exchange of intelligence and information on terror groups.

The appointment took place in the back drop of growing concern over probable poaching of some Indian youth by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS) and other militant groups operating in Syria and Iraq.

He will report to National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and work out of the National Security Council (NSC) Secretariat in New Delhi.

Syed Asif Ibrahim was a 1977 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre and retired in December 2014.

He held the position of DIB from 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2014

Northern Railway rolled out India’s first rail coach lit by solar panels

The Delhi division of the Northern Railway on 3 June 2015 rolled out a non-AC coach lit by solar panels mounted on its roof.

The eco-friendly solar panels will save fossil fuel as it needs reduced external charging of battery, thus reducing carbon foot print. The panels also require less maintenance in comparison to existing equipments.

This is the first time in the history of Indian Railways, that a solar photovoltaic system has been used for power requirements of light and fan in a broad gauge coach.

The coach, on an experimental basis, was attached to a high speed Self Propelled-Accident Relief Unit (SPART) that travelled from Delhi Cantonment to New Delhi railway station.

President Pranab Mukherjee concluded two-nation visit to Sweden and Belarus

The President of India Pranab Mukherjee concluded his two-nation visit to Sweden and Belarus.

He visited Sweden from 31 May to 2 June and Belarus from 2 June to 4 June 2015 and these visits were first ever by an Indian President to either country.

During the visit, the President held discussions with his counterparts of both the countries, admistrators and business leaders and concluded many agreements.

Takeaways from Sweden visit

• The focus of the visit was to strengthen bilateral economic ties and to provide impetus to cooperation in specific areas of priority.
• Six intergovernmental agreements were concluded, covering cooperation in the fields of urban development, medium and small-scale enterprises, polar research, civil nuclear research and medicine. 
• Seventeen Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) were signed between educational institutions, think tanks and the Chambers of Commerce of the two countries.
• Sweden expressed its support for India’s claim for permanent membership of the UN Security Council (UNSC). 
• Sweden expressed its support to India’s membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). 
• India formally conveyed its decision to grant Swedish nationals e-tourist visa. This, along with signature of an Agreement on Diplomatic visa waiver took place.
• Sweden expressed its support to India’s membership of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). 
• Both the countries agreed to enhance bilateral trade to 5 billion US dollars by 2018. 
• The President delivered a public lecture on the contemporary relevance to global peace of Tagore and Mahatma Gandhi at Uppsala University, one of the oldest universities of Europe founded in 1477.

Takeaways from Belarus visit

• Both the countries agreed to engage on a four-fold framework for enhanced cooperation comprising regular political and institutional dialogue, rapid increase in commercial and economic interaction, a paradigm shift in defence cooperation towards joint research, design and manufacturing as well as wide-ranging expansion of our S&T, educational, cultural and people-to-people exchanges. 
• Belarus expressed its support for India’s claim for permanent membership of the UN Security Council (UNSC). 
• Five agreements and MOUs were signed, covering cooperation in textiles, standardization, capital markets and broadcasting. A focused and substantive Roadmap for India-Belarus Cooperation was also agreed, which identifies specific areas for closer interaction in future. 
• The President formally conveyed the decision of Government of India to grant Market Economy Status to Belarus, which had been a long-standing request of the Belarus side. This decision would open up new avenues for bilateral trade as well as facilitate the integration of Belarus in international trade structures. 
• Agricultural machinery, mining equipment, heavy construction equipment and defence were identified as potential areas for manufacturing ventures in India. 
• Both countries agreed to increase the bilateral trade 1 billion US dollars by 2020. 
• India agreed to extend a new Line of Credit of 100 million US dollars to Belarus for implementation of mutually agreed joint projects, thereby further deepening the economic ties. 
• Seven MOUs were signed between Indian and Belarusian Universities and Institutes. 
• The President, unveiled a bust of Mahatma Gandhi at the prestigious Belarus State University campus. The University conferred upon him Professor Honoris Causa.

Chinese cruise ship Eastern Star capsized in the Yangtze River

Chinese cruise ship Eastern Star or Dongfangzhixing capsized in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River in Hubei province on 1 June 2015.

The four-storey and 76-metre ship carrying 405 passengers, five tour guides, and 46 crew members capsized after it got caught in a cyclone.

The ship was headed from the eastern city of Nanjing to the southwestern city of Chongqing. Most of the passengers had retired for the night when the incident happened.

More than 30 boats have been pressed into rescue operations and more than 10 relief ships have also been dispatched to the area.

Maharashtra Government invoked MCOCA against ration mafia

MCOCA: Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act
The abbreviation MCOCA was in news in first week of June 2015. It came in news after the state government of Maharashtra on 3 June 2015 invoked its stringent provisions against five persons from Nashik for allegedly being part of ration mafia.

This ration mafia was involved in the pilferage (theft of part of the contents of a package) of foodgrains meant for public distribution.

This is the first time that MCOCA was applied against ration mafia and was done with an aim of weeding out the widespread corruption in public distribution system. 

Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) was enacted in 1999 to combat organised crime and terrorism. It is a special law with stringent and deterrent provisions including certain circumstances power to intercept wire, electronic or oral communication to control the menace of organised crimes.

WJP Rule of Law Index 2015 released; India placed 59th out of 102 countries

The US-based World Justice Project (WJP) on 2 June 2015 released the Rule of Law Index 2015. The 2015 index, fifth in the series, provides data on how the rule of law is experienced in 102 countries around the globe.

The index has been topped by Denmark followed by Norway, Sweden and Finland at second, third and fourth place respectively. All the four countries have score above 0.85.

On the other hand, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Venezuela are placed at bottom of the index with 100, 101 and 102 rank respectively. All these countries have score of less than 0.37.

India with a score of 0.51 has been placed at 59th position and is ranked at third place out of six countries in the South Asian region.

Main highlights of the Rule of Law Index 2015

• Denmark tops the index overall and also in the categories Constraints on Government Power and Absence of Corruption.
• In Open Government category, the index is topped by Sweden
• Finland tops the index in the categories Fundamental Rights and Criminal Justice
• In the category Order and Security, the index is topped by Japan
• When it comes to category Regulatory Enforcement and Civil Justice, it has been topped by Singapore and the Netherlands

Position of India in the Index

• India with a score of 0.51 has been placed at 59th position
• It is placed at 10th place out of 25 lower middle income countries.
• India’s performance for criminal justice places it at 44th rank globally, top performer in South Asia and at Number 4 among lower middle income countries.
• In Civil Justice category, India is placed at 88th rank globally, third in South Asia and 19th among lower middle income countries.
• India is placed at 37th place in the category Open Government and at third place among lower middle income countries
• In the category Order and Security, India is placed at 90th position worldwide, fourth in South Asia and 20 among lower middle income countries.
• It is ranked at third place out of six countries in the South Asian region which is topped by Nepal (48) followed by Sri Lanka (58), Bangladesh (92), Pakistan (98) and Afghanistan (101).
• India is placed at third place among the BRICS countries, which has been topped by South Africa (36) followed by Brazil (46), China (71) and Russia (75).

About Rule of Law Index 2015

The Index is based on survey of over a 1000 respondents from three big cities, along with local legal experts, in each country. The data, collected in 2013, measures how the rule of law is experienced in practical, everyday situations using 47 indicators across eight categories.

These eight categories are: constraints on government powers, absence of corruption, open government, fundamental rights, order and security, regulatory enforcement, civil justice, and criminal justice.

The index ranks countries on a scale of 0 to 1 (with 1 indicating strongest adherence to the Rule of Law).

Jharkhand Cabinet approved Jharkhand Special Courts Ordinance, 2015

Jharkhand Cabinet on 3 June 2015 approved Jharkhand Special Courts Ordinance, 2015. The decision was taken during a Cabinet meet chaired by Chief Minister Raghubar Das.

These Special Courts will be established for speedy trail of corruption cases and will help in creating a corruption-free state.

Further these courts will enable prosecution of individuals responsible for hoarding black money and confiscate the illegal acquired property of the guilty.

The step to create such Special Courts was taken in light of increasing number of corruption cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 which resulted in delay in disposal of cases by the vigilance courts.

In this light, the Cabinet requested the Governor of Jharkhand Draupadi Murmu to provide clearance to the Jharkhand Special Court Ordinance, 2015 under Article 213 of the Constitution of India, which deals with the power of Governor to promulgate ordinances during recess of Legislature.

India joined MCAA on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI)

India on 3 June 2015 joined the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA) on Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information (AEOI).

The declaration to comply with the provisions of the MCAA was signed in Paris by Mohan Kumar, the Indian ambassador to France.

The participation in the agreement will help India in curbing financial crimes especially instances of tax evasion.

Under the agreement, all the signatory countries, including India, are bound to collect and automatically exchange tax information as prescribed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s (OECD) Common Reporting Standard (CRS).

To be able to comply with the agreement, amendments have been made to section 285BA of the Income Tax Act, 1961 as incorporated in the Finance Act, 2014.

Key Features of Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement (MCAA)

• It is based on Article 6 of the OECD’s Multilateral Convention on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters (Multilateral Convention) which states that two or more parties can mutually agree to exchange information automatically.
• It implements the OECD’s Standard for Automatic Exchange of Financial Information (AEOI).
• It requires the Competent Authorities of participating jurisdictions to collect and automatically exchange tax information as prescribed by the OECD’s Common Reporting Standard (CRS). Under the agreement, bulk taxpayer information will periodically be sent by the source country of income to the country of residence of the taxpayer.
• It is very wide in scope and obliges the treaty partners to exchange a wide range of financial information, including that about the ultimate controlling persons and beneficial owners of entities. Previously, information was exchanged between countries on the basis of specific requests only.
• Even though it is signed on a multilateral basis, the actual exchange of information will occur in a bilateral manner.
• It has been developed by the OECD in cooperation with G20 and the European Union (EU).
• So far, 60 countries, including India, joined the agreement and it is set to become operational in 2017, by which about 94 countries are expected to sign it.

Stempeucel, a stem cell drug, received Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) in Europe

Stempeutics Research Pvt Ltd on 1 June 2015 announced that its stem cell drug, Stempeucel, received Orphan Drug Designation (ODD) from the European Medicines Agency (EMA).

By virture of being an ODD, it will have 10 years of market exclusivity from product launch in the European Union (EU), fee reductions and access to the central authorisation procedure.

An orphan drug is a pharmaceutical agent that has been developed specifically to treat a rare medical condition, the condition itself being referred to as an orphan disease.

Stempeucel, will offer new hope to patients suffering from Thromboangiitis Obliterans (also known as Buerger's Disease) a major unmet medical need in Europe.

The Bengaluru-based Stempeutics Research Pvt Ltd was founded by Manipal Education and Medical Group (MEMG) in 2006 and has been jointly owned along with the Cipla Limited since the MEMG entered into a joint venture in 2009.

Cipla Limited is an Indian multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company, headquartered in Mumbai.

Suresh Kalmadi conferred with Asian Athletics Association President’s award

Suresh Kalmadi on 2 June 2015 was conferred with the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) President’s award. He was awarded for his contribution towards the development of athletics in Asian continent.

Adille Sumariwala, the President of Athletics Federation of India received the award on behalf of Kalmadi at the function held in Wuhan, China ahead of the start of Asian Athletics Championships.

He is credited with the introduction of top events like Asian Grand Prix series, Asian Indoor Championships and Asian All Star Meet and others during his tenure as the president of AAA for 13 years from 2000 to 2013. He was defeated by Dahlan Al-Hamad of Qatar in the presidential election of the AAA held in 2013 at Pune. 

Earlier in March 2015, he was named as the Life President of AAA for his contribution for Asian athletics. The decision was taken during the council meet of AAA in Jakarta, Indonesia.

He has served as the President of Indian Olympic Association from 1996 to 2012.

Asian Athletics Association
Asian Athletics Association is the governing body of athletics in Asia. It is headquartered in Singapore. It organises the Asian Championships in Athletics and other continental competitions.

Second Bi-monthly Monetary Policy Statement 2015-16 announced; Repo rate cut by 0.25 percent

Second bi-monthly monetary policy statement 2015-16 was announced on 2 June 2015 by Raghuram Rajan, the Governor of Reserve Bank of India.

The monetary policy cut the repo rate, the rate at which RBI lends to commercial bank, by 0.25 percent from 7.5 percent to 7.25 percent with immediate effect.

As a result, the reverse repo rate, the rate at which RBI borrows from commercial banks, stands adjusted to 6.25 percent, and the marginal standing facility (MSF) rate and the Bank Rate to 8.25 per cent.

However, the cash reserve ratio (CRR) of scheduled banks was kept unchanged at 4 percent of net demand and time liabilities (NDTL).

Further, RBI will continue to provide liquidity under overnight repos at 0.25 percent of bank-wise NDTL at the LAF repo rate and liquidity under 14-day term repos as well as longer term repos of up to 0.75 percent of NDTL of the banking system through auctions; and continue with overnight/term variable rate repos and reverse repos to smooth liquidity.

Comment

The cut in repo rate by RBI suggests that all is not well with the Indian economy and on a serious note it highlights that growth numbers brought out by Central Statistics Office (CSO) is not trustworthy. This is because if Indian economy is predicted to grow at 7.3 percent in 2014-15 (provisional estimate) and is expected to surpass the China’s growth, then what is the need for a rate cut?

The very fact RBI chose to cut rates, while simultaneously raising the retail inflation forecast from 5.8 percent to 6 percent by January 2016 (highlighting the risk factors from a deficient monsoon), proves that from the RBI’s point of view, the growth is faltering and is certainly a bigger risk than inflation at this stage.

India and Belarus signed six Agreements during the visit of President to Belarus

India and Belarus on 3 June 2015 inked six agreements to boost ties and relationship based on friendship and mutual benefit. The agreements were inked in presence of President Pranab Mukherjee, who is on a two-day state visit to Belarus, viz., from 3 June – 4 June 2015.

The two-day visit to Belarus is part of Mukherjee’s five-day visit to Belarus and Sweden that started on 31 May 2015.

List of agreements and MoUs
• Agreement on roadmap for India-Belarus Cooperation
• Agreement on Protocol amending the agreement between the India and Belarus for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income and on Property (Capital) of the 27 September 1997
• MoU on Cooperation in the field of Standardization and Information Support signed between Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) and the State Committee for Standardization, Belarus 
• MoU for cooperation on Broadcasting between Prasar Bharati (PB) and the National State Television and Radio Company, Belarus (Belteleradiocompany) 
• MoU on Bilateral Cooperation between the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and the Ministry of Finance, Belarus
• MoU for Manufacturing and Marketing of Light Industry Goods (concern "Bellegprom”) between the Ministry of Textiles of India and the Belarusian State concern.

India and the US signed 2015 Framework for the India-US Defence Relationship

India and the United States (US) on 3 June 2015 signed the 2015 Framework for the India-US Defence Relationship. The framework was signed by the Manohar Parrikar, India’s Defence Minister and Ashton Carter, US Secretary of Defence.

The framework was signed during the three-day official visit of the Dr. Carter to India from 2 June to 4 June 2015.

Main highlights of the 2015 India-US Defence Framework

• It builds upon the previous framework and successes to guide the bilateral defence and strategic partnership for the next ten years.
• It provides avenues for high level strategic discussions, continued exchanges between armed forces of both countries, and strengthening of defence capabilities.
• It also recognises the transformative nature of the Defence Technology and Trade Initiative (DTTI).

Apart from this, both India and the United States also finalized two project agreements for joint development of Mobile Electric Hybrid Power Sources and the Next Generation Protective Ensembles.

Further, both the leaders also agreed to expedite discussions to take forward cooperation on jet engines, aircraft carrier design and construction, and other areas.

The two also agreed to pursue co-development and co-production projects that will offer tangible opportunities for American defence industries to build defence partnership with the Indian industries including in manufacturing under ‘Make in India’.

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