Current affairs- May 5, 2016
Centre may appoint independent regulators for professional services
The government is planning to appoint independent regulators for
services such as medicine, law, chartered accountancy, cost accountancy and
company secretary ship.
- The bodies being referred
to by the commerce ministry include Medical Council of India (MCI), Bar
Council of India (BCI), Institute of Chartered Accountants of India
(ICAI), Institute of Cost Accountants of India and Institute of Company
Secretaries of India (ICSI). All these are statutory bodies under an
Act of Parliament.
Why appoint independent regulators?
It is because the existing structure of a
regulator-cum-professional body for these services has resulted in several
alleged instances of conflict of interest. This has also hurt the credibility
and reputation of these bodies and hampered India’s attempts to secure Mutual
Recognition Agreements (MRA) with other countries to enable easier temporary
movement of skilled workers and professionals across borders.
Way ahead:
- The government will soon initiate discussions in this regard with each of the ministries concerned (health, law and corporate affairs in this case). Then, separate Cabinet notes will be put up by the ministries on the need for independent regulators for these services.
- The independent
regulators will maintain distance from the professional bodies similar to
the situation in developed countries.
Background:
The move comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court recently
citing a Parliamentary panel report to state that the MCI “was repeatedly found
short of fulfilling its mandated responsibilities” and that the “quality of
medical education was at its lowest ebb”. The apex court, noting the instances
of corruption in MCI, had set up an Oversight Committee to supervise the
council’s functions and scrutinise its policy decisions.
SC sends back draft on judges’ appointment
The Supreme Court has raised concerns over two issues in the draft
Memorandum of Procedure (MoP) for appointment of judges including the one
relating to government’s right to reject a recommendation on concerns
of national interest. Other clauses include clauses
on the role of the Attorney-General of India in the appointment of Supreme
Court judges and Advocates-General in the appointment process of High Court
judges. The Supreme Court has asked the government to re-consider these
clauses.
Present scenario:
Presently, the government is bound to comply if the Supreme Court
collegium chooses to override its disapproval of a person recommended for
judicial appointment. If the government returns the candidate’s file to the
collegium, and the latter reiterates its recommendation, the government has no
choice but to comply.
Background:
In December 2015, the supreme court, after restoring the collegium
system, had directed the Centre to frame a new MoP. The court had directed the
government to do this in consultation with the Chief Justice of India, who
would in turn take into confidence his four seniormost puisne judges of the
Supreme Court and who are part of the collegium.
The MoP for appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the
High Courts have “always been prepared” by the executive in consultation with
the President and the CJI in consonance with the judgments of the Second Judges
and Third Judges cases which ushered in and fine-tuned the collegium system.
Five factors were held by Supreme Court’s own
consequential judgment to be very important:
- First, the MoP
may indicate the eligibility criteria, such as minimum age, for the
guidance of the collegium (both at the level of the high court and the
Supreme Court) for appointment of judges, after inviting and taking into
consideration the views of state governments and the Government of India
(as the case may be) from time to time.
- Second, the
eligibility criteria and the procedure as detailed in the MoP for the
appointment of judges ought to be made available on the website of the
court concerned and on the website of the Department of Justice of the
Government of India. The MoP may provide for an appropriate procedure for
minuting the discussions including recording the dissenting opinion of the
judges in the collegium while making provision for the confidentiality of
the minutes consistent with the requirement of transparency in the system
of appointment of judges.
- Third, in the
interest of better management of the system of appointment of judges, the
MoP may provide for the establishment of a secretariat for each high court
and the Supreme Court and prescribe its functions, duties and
responsibilities.
- Fourth, the MoP
may provide for an appropriate mechanism and procedure for dealing with
complaints against anyone who is being considered for appointment as a
judge.
- Fifth, the MoP
may provide for any other matter considered appropriate for ensuring
transparency and accountability including interaction with the recommended
persons by the collegium of the Supreme Court, without sacrificing the
confidentiality of the appointment process.
SC ‘no’ to smaller pictorial warnings on tobacco
packets
The Supreme Court has directed all tobacco companies to implement
the rule mandating 85% pictorial warnings on packets of tobacco products. The
court has also directed all petitions challenging the rule at various courts to
be transferred and heard afresh by the Karnataka high court. The apex court has
set a deadline of eight weeks to dispose of the matter.
- The court also
said in the public interest, tobacco companies should act responsibly,
adding any awareness created on the issue would help curb the ill effects
of tobacco.
Background:
A notification by the health ministry on 24 September 2015 for
implementation of the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Packaging and
Labeling) Amendment Rules, 2014 came into force on 1 April. It prescribed
larger pictorial petitions, covering 85% of the size of the packets of tobacco
products, including cigarettes and beedis.
Food in India untested for diabetes-linked
chemical
A public interest litigation (PIL) moved before the Madras High
Court has alleged that Alloxan – a chemical – is mixed with the white flour or
‘maida’ which induces diabetes.
- In this regard,
the court has directed the Food Safety Commissioner to examine the
allegation within three months and take action if it is found to be
correct.
- Alloxan has been
banned by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI).
What is Alloxan?
It is chemical prepared from barbituric acid. It is used in
laboratories to induce diabetes in rats and to test the efficacy of
anti-diabetic medicines.
- Alloxan’s
structure mimics that of glucose, which allows it to be absorbed by the
pancreas and once inside the organ, it destroys insulin-producing beta
cells.
What’s the concern now?
Global health literature suggests that its presence in flour
implies that consumers are at increased risk of diabetes as well as heart
disease.
Facts
- Reliance Power has won an in-principle approval of the Bangladesh government for the first phase of the 3,000 megawatt LNG-based power plant. This will be the largest foreign direct
investment in Bangladesh with a potential investment of over US$1.3
billion. This project can power the country’s rising demand for
electricity and will provide clean and green power contributing to the
Bangladesh’s goal of energy security.
- Rajya Sabha Chairman Hamid
Ansari has accepted the resignation of Independent member Vijay Mallya. A Member of Rajya
Sabha who intends to resign has to intimate in writing under his hand
addressed to the Chairman, his intention to resign his seat in the Council. Also, as per Rule 213 of Rajya Sabha procedures, the resignation
submitted by a member must be voluntary and genuine.
- The Union Cabinet chaired
by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ex-post
facto approval for the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) signed in February, 2016 between Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) and Central Bank of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on co-operation
concerning currency swap agreement. The MoU
commits that RBI and Central Bank of UAE will consider signing a bilateral
Currency Swap Agreement on mutually agreed terms and conditions, after
undertaking technical deliberations, subject to the concurrence of
respective Governments. The MoU will further strengthen the close economic
relationship and cooperation between India and United Arab Emirates. The
swap agreement is also expected to facilitate invoicing of bilateral trade
in local currencies.
