Here is today’s dose of current affairs!
Parliament passes Aadhaar Bill
The Parliament passed the Aadhaar Bill, 2016 amid major arguments by the opposition. The opposition passed five amendments to the bill in Rajya Sabha which were rejected by the Lok Sabha completely.
The opposition has sighted concerns regarding mass surveillance mid other fears regarding the Aadhar bill. Arguing that privacy was not a fundamental right, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley told the Lok Sabha that the legislation’s primary objective was delivery of benefits, subsidies and services to the people. He sought to reassure the House that any gaps in the law could be improved with the passage of time, but the Opposition remained unconvinced.
Analysis
How was the bill passed even after rejecting Rajya Sabha amendments? – The bill was introduced in Lok Sabha as a money bill. All money bills are Government bills and are introduced in the Parliament with the previous sanction of the President. Only ministers are entitled to introduce money bills in the Parliament.
Money bills are introduced only in the Lok Sabha. They cannot be introduced in the Rajya Sabha. After a money bill is introduced in the House of People, it has to pass through the same stages as an ordinary bill has to i.e. it has to pass through the First Reading, the Second Reading, the Committee and the Report stage and finally the Third Reading, successively.
The bill is transmitted to the Council of States after it is passed by the House of People. The Council of States must return the bill to the Lower House with or without amendments within 14 days. The Council of States cannot reject a money bill nor can it detain a money bill for more than 14 days.
If the Rajya Sabha accepts the money bill, it is deemed to have been passed by both Houses of Parliament. If the Rajya Sabha suggests amendments, and the amendments are accepted by the Lok Sabha, the amended bill is deemed to have been passed by both the Houses. If the Lok Sabha does not accept any amendment suggested by the Rajya Sabha. The bill is deemed to have been passed by both the Houses of the Parliament in its original form. Thus the Rajya Sabha can at best delay a money bill by 14 days.
What were the amendments proposed?
1) An individual who does not wish to continue as a holder of Aadhaar number should be permitted to have his number deleted from the Central Identities Data Repository. A certificate shall be issued within fifteen days of the request.
2) If an Aadhaar number is not assigned to or if an individual chooses not to opt for enrolment, the person shall be offered alternate and viable means of identification for delivery of the subsidy, benefits, or service.
3) For the words “national securityâ€, the words “public emergency or in the interest of public safety†be substituted.Opposition argued that “national security†was a “loose†term liable to be misused in interpretation by the government of the day.
4) The Oversight Committee (which will take a decision on whether to agree to a request to share biometric data of an individual for national security) should also include the central vigilance commissioner or the ‘comptroller and auditor general’.
5) This clause be deleted Clause 57: states that “nothing contained in this Act shall prevent the use of the Aadhaar number for establishing the identity of an individual for any purpose, whether by the state or any body, company or person.â€
Source: The Hindu, Indian Express
New UK Immigration law to impact Indians
In a change in UK’s immigration law thousands of Indians could get hit. The changes will affect professionals living and working in Britain on a Tier-2 visa who earn less than 35,000 pounds a year at the end of five years of their stay in the country.
Indian professionals have formed the largest category of individuals issued such visas over the years.
According to the UK’s Office of National Statistics (ONS), of the 55,589 Tier-2 sponsored visa applications cleared in 2014-2015, nearly 78 per cent were for Indians (31,058).
The exact figure of those affected by the salary threshold requirements remains uncertain but it is estimated to be between 30,000 and 40,000 workers.
The visa is issued based on a “certificate of sponsorship” issued to UK-based firms to hire such professionals from outside the EU and allows them a maximum of six years’ stay.
At the end of five years, these workers were able to apply for permanent residency or “Indefinite Leave to Remain” (ILR) in the UK.
But from next month, those qualifying for ILR under the five-year category must also prove they earn at least 35,000 pounds a year or face the prospect of a rejection, which means they would have to return to their home country or ultimately be deported if they refuse to leave voluntarily.
Analysis
Why Immigration is been seen as a problem? – High levels of net migration to the UK are a relatively recent phenomenon. The UK has always experienced periods of immigration but never on the current scale.
High net migration has resulted in rapid population growth. The UK population has increased by an average of around 400,000 people a year since 2000 and currently stands at nearly 65 million. The UK (and especially England) is already densely populated by international standards and has a chronic shortage of housing.
To cope with this population increase huge amounts will have to be spent on the expansion of school places, roads, rail, health and other infrastructure. This is at a time of budget deficit when public spending is being scaled back rather than increased.
Source: Economic Times, Migration Watch UK
New Civil Aviation Policy soon
The Union government will come out with a new civil aviation policy by next month, according to Minister for Civil Aviation P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju. It would have several measures that would be helpful in boosting the aircraft Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) business and also increase the regional air travel connectivity.
Apart from this, fiscal concession would be given on customs duty, VAT and service tax. Towards encouraging airlines, it would waive service tax, excise duty on aviation turbine fuel, VAT and landing and parking charges.
The Centre would like to add 50 such airports every year for the next three to four years. At present, scheduled aircrafts are being operated to and from 75 airports in the country.
Analysis
What is the state of air travel in India? – In a speech at India Aviation 2016, fifth in the biennial series of international exhibition and conference on civil aviation President Pranab Mukherjee emphasized the need for improved air connectivity to small cities and the north-eastern States.
Several Tier II and III cities “remain unconnected or inadequately connected†and the northeast faced a paucity of civil aviation infrastructure despite the aviation industry growing rapidly.
The passenger traffic in India was likely to touch 421 million by 2020 — it was 190 million in 2015. India is one of the least penetrated air-markets in the world with 0.04 trips per capita per annum as compared to 0.3 of China and over 2 in the U.S.
India would require at least 800 aircraft by 2020 to cater to the phenomenal increase of passenger and freight traffic. Supporting infrastructure has to be suitably upgraded by building new Greenfield airports, expanding the existing airports and upgrading facilities for maintenance, repair and operations.
Preparing for BRICS Summit
A meeting of the Contact Group on Economic and Trade Issues (CGETI) is soon going to be held for discussing important issue concerning BRICS nations. The CGETI meeting, which will be attended by high-level government officials, sets the agenda for the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) trade and economy ministers’ meeting.
The government is preparing a list of priority projects for which investments could be sought from other BRICS nations.
India is chairing the influential bloc BRICS for an 11-month term till December 2016 with a BRICS summit slated for October 2016.
India will seek cooperation between BRICS countries on standards and technical regulations in goods and services trade. Russia and China are pitching for measures easing of norms to boost e-commerce trade. In another initiative, Russia and Brazil are demanding a mechanism to link the single window clearance mechanisms in the BRICS countries for better trade facilitation.
Russia had also sought a mechanism to regularly discuss issues related to micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in BRICS countries as well as the creation of a BRICS MSME Internet portal. China is keen on improved cooperation in intellectual property rights.
In addition a proposal to set up a mechanism to expeditiously resolve non-tariff barriers (NTBs) that are hurting goods trade between BRICS member countries, will be taken up for discussion.
Analysis
What is BRICS? – The term “BRIC” was coined in 2001 by then-chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Jim O’Neill, in his publication Building Better Global Economic BRICs.
The foreign ministers of the initial four BRIC states (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) met in New York City in September 2006 at the margins of the General Debate of the UN General Assembly, beginning a series of high-level meetings. A full-scale diplomatic meeting was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on 16 June 2009.
South Africa was included in 2011 and the grouping was named as BRICS. In late March 2013, during the fifth BRICS summit in Durban, South Africa, the member countries agreed to create a global financial institution which they intended to rival the western-dominated IMF and World Bank. This came to be known as New Development Bank.
On 15 July,2014 the first day of the BRICS 6th summit in Fortaleza, Brazil, the group of emerging economies signed the long-anticipated document to create the US$100 billion New Development Bank (formerly known as the “BRICS Development Bank”) and a reserve currency pool worth over another US$100 billion.
Source: TheHindu, Wikipedia
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