Current Affairs 2015

Union Cabinet gives nod to black money bill

Union Cabinet has cleared the black money bill to curb the menace of black money in the country. Decision in this regard was taken at the cabinet meeting in New Delhi.

Union Government is seeking to introduce this bill the current budget session of Parliament.

Some provisions of bill

• The proposed bill gives powers to tax authorities to track and deal with illegal wealth stashed abroad.
• Under the provisions of the new Bill, the offences related to black money will be non-compoundable and the offenders will not be permitted to approach the Settlement Commission.
• The bill also has provision of punishment to deal with the black money cases. It proposes penalty at the rate of 300 per cent of taxes to be levied on the concealed income and assets, in addition to 10 years rigorous imprisonment

Parliament passes Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2015

Parliament has passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2015.

The bill was first passed in Rajya Sabha on February 24, 2015 and later in Lok Sabha on March 17, 2015. It was unanimously passed by a voice vote in both the houses.

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

Key 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.

India, Kyrgyzstan ink MoU for cooperation on textile, clothing

India and Kyrgyzstan on 17 March 2015 signed MoU to strengthen bilateral cooperation on textile and clothing.

The MoU was signed by Minister of State (MoS) for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar and his counterpart Minister of Energy and Industry of Kyrgyzstan Kubanychbek Turdubaev in New Delhi.

The MoU seeks to strengthen bilateral cooperation between both nations in the three fields includingTextiles and Clothing, Silk and Sericulture and Fashion.

The MoU also aims to achieve enhance cooperation between both nations in

• Development of trade and economic & investment relations.
• Collaboration in techno-commercial and joint trade missions.
• Investment cooperation.
• Mutual assistance in R&D.
• Technical collaboration in the field of product development and manufacturing, testing and certification.

Apart from signing MoU, both nations also agreed to set up a joint working group (JWG) in order to explore areas of cooperation within the scope of the MoU and the steps required to facilitate bilateral trade and investment.

Ashu Suyash appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of CRISIL

Ashu Suyash has been appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL).

She will succeed Roopa Kudva, who had been the MD & CEO at Crisil since 2007. Suyash’s appointment was confirmed by the Board of Directors of the Company and will assume charge from 1st June 2015.

Prior to this appointment, she was CEO at L&T Investment Management. She was appointed to this post after the L&T Investment Management had acquired Fidelity Worldwide Investment’s India Asset Management business.

Ashu Suyash has rich experience of 26 years in the Indian financial services industry. She had also worked with the Citigroup.

Supreme Court rejects reservation to Jats under OBC quota

Supreme Court (SC) has rejected the notification issued by Union Government to include Jats in the Central list of

Other Backward Classes (OBC) for the benefit of reservation.

Supreme Court (SC) has rejected the notification issued by Union Government to include Jats in the Central list of

Other Backward Classes (OBC) for the benefit of reservation.

The Supreme Court (SC) held that

• Union Government took this decision by overlooking the findings of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). In its report NCBC had stated that Jats do not deserve to be included in the Central list of OBC as they don’t form a socio-economic backward class.
• Inclusion of a politically organised class like Jat would adversely impact the welfare of the other backward classes.
• Though the Union Government has powers under the Constitutional scheme to provide reservation to a particular class but it cannot provide reservation on the basis of a decade-old-finding about the backwardness of a caste.
• SC gave this decision on Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the OBC Reservation Raksha Samiti which had challenged Union Governments notification of including Jats in the Central list of OBC.

Historic statue of Mahatma Gandhi unveiled at Parliament Square in London

A historic bronze statue of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi was unveiled at the Parliament Square in London. It was unveiled jointly by British Prime Minister David Cameron and Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

M K Gandhi is the first Indian and the only person who had never held a public office to be honoured with a statue at the Parliament Square.

The statue is placed adjacent to the statues of iconic leaders like Britain’s former Prime Minister Winston Churchill and anti-apartheid icon and former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela.

Key features of statue

• It is 9 foot long statue made up of bronze.
• Crafted by British sculptor Philip Jackson.
• It is based on a number of photographs of Mahatma Gandhi and particularly on photograph of him standing outside the London offices of the British prime minister in 1931.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurates the restored North-South Rail link of Sri Lanka

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 14 March 2015 flagged off the first train from Thalaimannar to Madhu Road in North Sri Lanka.

It marks the completion and restoration of the prestigious project of Indian Railways to restore the North-South Rail link of Sri Lanka after decades of civil war. The North-South Rail link was completely destroyed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) militants during the civil war in 1980s.

Key facts

• The rail project connects the Sri Lanka’s Jaffna province to capital Colombo and a branch line connects Thalaimannar to the main rail line.
• The project has been implemented by Indian Railway Construction Company Limited (IRCON) International, a subsidiary of Indian Railways.
• Indian Government had provided line of credit to this project as part of India’s bid to establish better connectivity between SAARC nations.

This project will also play significant role in establishing connectivity between both nations as ferry service soon will be started from north-western Sri Lankan town of Talaimannar (the closest point to India) and Rameshwaram.