Current Affairs 2015

Himachal Pradesh to present India’s first paperless budget

Himachal Pradesh is set to become the country’s first state to present a ‘paperless’ budget on March 11.

All documents related to budget estimates would be made available online and only around 10 budget copies would be printed for record.

Running the proceedings on e-Vidhan would save the state exchequer Rs 15 crore annually.

PSU bank employee unions withdraw strike call, settle wages

Employee unions of public sector banks today withdrew their strike call following an agreement with the management on 15 per cent wage hike.

The bank employees will now also get holidays on two Saturdays in a month.

“Long pending demand of holiday on second and fourth Saturdays for the bank employees have also been reached,” AIBEA General Secretary C H Venkatachalam said.

The wage revision of public sector bank employees has been due since November 2012.

There are 27 public sector banks in the country with a combined employee strength of about 8 lakh. There are about 50,000 branches of these banks across the country.

Rajya Sabha has passed the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2014. It was unanimously passed by a voice vote.

The bill seeks to modify the list of Scheduled Castes in three states- Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and one Union Territory- Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Amendments 
The Bill amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes Order, 1962.
The Bill adds the following communities to the list of Scheduled Castes: Haryana: Kabirpanthi, Julaha. Karnataka: Bhovi, od, odde, Vaddar, Waddar. Odisha: Dhoba, Dhobi, Dom, Dombo, Duria Dom, Katia, Kela, Nalua Kela, Khadala and Turi. Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Chamar.

Background 
The bill was first tabled in 2014 but lapsed after the previous 15th Lok Sabha was dissolved. It was again introduced by the NDA government to end all kinds of atrocities against the Scheduled Castes in these states. The bill was introduced in Parliament as per the provisions of Article 341 of the Constitution.

Article 341- It empowers the President to specify castes which will be deemed as Scheduled Castes through a notification. It also empowers Parliament to include or exclude castes from the list of Scheduled Castes in the notification.