In this issue we shall study
1.Opposition to FDI
Government has decided to allow 51& FDI in Retail allowing foreign companies to open shop in India. This has been done without Parliamentary consultation. An angry Sharad Yadav declared ” This decision of government will render crores of small business and vendors unemployed and destroy the unique village economy of the country,” he said.
2. Japan Peace Prize
3. PM’s Visit to Sikkim
4. MPLADS
5. Composition of EC
Commencemebt of IDEM
6.Binayak Sen
7. Salwa Judum
8. Phalke Award
9. Mercy Killing Arun Shanbagh
10. Rs 150 denomination coin
11. RTE Act
12. Kirit Parekh Commmittee
13. India and Denmark Social security pact
14. Saudi Arabia, largest supplier of Petroleum
15.Amendmenet 111 of the Constitution
16. Gujarat makes voting compulsory in local bodies elections
17. National Green tribunal
In a rare show of unity, opposition parties have rallied behind Sushma Swaraj demanding that thus decision be revoked. “We appeal to all political parties, irrespective of ideology, to unite under one umbrella in opposing the entry of FDI in the retail sector, because this will deal a blow to 96 per cent of traders in the country,” CPI(M) Central Committee member Shyamal Chakraborty said.
Observing that many opposition parties and even some UPA constituents were opposed to the entry of FDI in retail, Chakraborty said, “We hear even some Congress ministers at the Centre are opposed to it. This is a good indication.”
Chakraborty said the CPI(M) and its trade union wing CITU will support the nation-wide traders’ strike on Dec 1.
Dismissing Union commerce minister Anand Sharma’s statement that the move will help create employment, he said while it was being claimed that entry of FDI in retail will help farmers, they will actually be victimised as procurement prices will be decided by MNCs.
Not only this the MNCs will force farmers to grow only what want and thus will affect the poor man’s food supply. MNCs will not buy Ragi, bajra etc, and tus will harm the poor.
Ultimately India will lose its food diversity and move into a dangerous mono-culture. MNCs will be least bothered about Indian agricutlure. They will come in for making profits.
The ordinary street corner shop and the vendor who delivers door to door what people want will vanish and become unemployed.
Fashion foods and soft drinks will dominate the market and make our people become more obese increasing the incidence of diabetes and other disorders
“It is being said that China has allowed FDI in its retail sector. It can, as it has a very strong manufacturing sector. In our country, contribution of manufacturing sector to the GDP is low. Contribution of the service sector is more. Therefore, we are bound to suffer, as some South Asian countries are now realising,” Chakraborty said.
Mayawati bluntly said hat the decision has been taken to help Rahul Gandhi;s foreign friends.
MS Jayalalithaa has warned that the MNCs will not be allowed in TN.
Emani Krishna Rao, Doordarshan Kendra Hyderabad Senior news correspondent was honoured by the coveted “Japan prize 2011” at the Tokyo city . Mr. Rao was strongly advocatng the right to education and environment protection. This is the 6th major international ward for Mr. Krishna Rao, who had earlier won prestigious awards like DD national awards four times.
Dr. Manmohan Singh vising Sikkim after the recent disastrous earth quake pointed out that India reacted quickly and a relief grant of Rs 1000 crores was being released/.
MPLADS scheme: MPs are allowed to spend Rs 5 crore per year on their constituencies but guide lines are prescribed. Till recently it was limited to rs 2 crores per year. (MP Local read Development Scheme)
The ECI (Election Commission of India) commenced the IIDEM (India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management) – a higher center of learning, study, guidance and addition so as to involve people in democratic practice and election organization. Th El3ction Commission consists of Dr. S. Y. Quraishi, Shri H. S. Brahma and Shri V.S. Sampath
Dr Binayak Sen who was earlier sentenced to life imprisonment on charges of sedition and having links with the Maoists by the Chhattisgarh sessions court on 24/12/2011 was released by a bench of the SC comprising Justices HS Bedi and CK Prasad. The Apex court had declared that the evidence on record proved no sedition charge against Sen and at worst termed him a Naxal sympathizer. The court further observed that mere possession of Naxal Literature doe not make the person a Naxalite or guilty of sedition.
Salwa Judum is a group started by the Chhattisgarh state government to counter Maoist insurgents. This an attempt to divide the tribals.
K. Balachander, one of India’s most acclaimed and influential filmmakers received the Daba Saheb Phalke award for 2010 on 29/4/2011. The award consists of a Swarn Kamal, a cash prize of Rs 10 lakh and a shawl, given for outstanding contribution to the growth and development of Indian cinema. He has made many classics that are well received and appreciated to this day. He was a bold director who always tried to explore new themes and many of his movies had strong female characters. Some of the director’s famous works in Tamil include Apoorva Raganagal, Thaneer Thaneer, Varumayin Niram Sigappu, Server Sundaram, Sinthu Bairavi etc while the hindi film Ek Duuje Ke Liye won him applause in the northern parts of the country as well. K. Balachander has spotted and groomed several artists in the industry the likes of which include Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan.
There is no law relating to mercy killing of terminally ill patients (Euthanasia) but the SC had on occasion permitted it. Recently the case of Aruna Shanbaugh cane up. She has been lying in a vegetative stage after being sexually assaulted by a ward boy some 38 years ago. A Bench of Justices Markandey Katju and Gyan Sudha Misra rejected on 7/3/2011 the euthanasia plea filed by Aruna’s friend Pinky Virani declaring ‘the petition stands cancelled’. They also added Pinky was not allowed to appeal for the mercy killing of Aruna as she was not the staff of KEM hospital. The bench in its 110-page judgement saw the nursing staff of KEM hospital who have been looking after Aruna for the past 38 years as the real next friend of Aruna and declared the patient didn’t have a single bed sore during the period. The SC clarified unless Parliament drafts a law, its stand on active and passive euthanasia will stay enforced. on
• With the Income Tax Department celebrating 150 years of taxation in the country the government will issue coins of Rs. 150 in denomination. The special coins which also includes Rs 5 denomination would be released by the Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee ahead of his budget speech. The Rs 150 coin is prepared from an alloy of copper, nickel, silver and zinc. ‘Sathyameva Jayathe’ and ‘India’ would be engraved on the front side of the coin while the back side will feature a portrait of portrait of ‘Chanakya and lotus with honeybee’. The Rs 5 coins will also be minted in a similar fashion. This is a special occasion with the IT department having completed 150 years of taxation from 1860 to 2010.
Right To Education Act : Key features of RTE Act are : All children in 6-14 age group must get free and compulsory eduction; No child shall be held back,expelled or required to pass a board examination till Class VIII; There must be 25 % reservation for poor children even in private & minority schools; There must be one teacher for every 30 students; A child rights commission will look into violations of the RTE law.
Kirit Parikh committee: set up to review petro pricing regime, submit its recommendation. Its major recommendation are to deregulate the prices of petrol & diesel as per market prices, reduce the subsidy on LPG.
Govt set up a panel under the Chairmanship of former Justice B N Srikrishna which would consider the demand for splitting Andhra Pradesh.
India and Denmark signed a social security pact which will relieve their workers from double taxation and provide for cooperation in areas of labour market expansion and orderly migration.
Saudi Arabia is India’s largest supplier of crude oil ( 23 %) followed by Iran ( 17 %) and Nigeria ( 11 %). India is offering upto 10 % equity to Saudi petroleum firm Saudi Aramco in a refinery being built in Orissa. PM addressed the Shoura council of Saudi Arabia.
Constitution 111th Amendment – Proposes to incorporate a new Part ( Part IX B) in the Constitution so as to provide for legal framework to regulate the functioning of cooperative societies. A new Article ( Article 43 B) is also proposed to be inserted in Part IV of the Constitution (Directive Principles of State Policy) for the States to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning of cooperative societies.
Gujarat Local Authorities Law (amendment) Bill 2009- The Bill makes it the duty of a qualified voter to vote during elections to local bodies. Voting is compulsory, but the Bill allows voters to cast their vote in favour of none of the candidates. Election officers will declare those who fail to vote defaulter, and serve them a notice
Govt plans to set up a National Green Tribunal to control Carbon Emissions and pollution. It will be responsible for implementing the low carbon roadmap to be set forth in the 12th Five Year Plan.