Dec/19/2011

Cabinet clears Food Bill, hopes to approve Lokpal Bill draft today

Government determined that CBI should retain its independence

After months of debate within the government and in the public domain — and a nudge from Congress president Sonia Gandhi — the Union Cabinet cleared the draft of the Food Security Bill on Sunday evening. The Bill, which seeks to provide subsidised food grains to 75 per cent of the rural population and about 50 per cent of urban households, is likely to be introduced in Parliament on Monday and will thereafter be sent to a Standing Committee.

Showing a new sense of urgency, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who returned on Saturday from Russia, convened a high-level meeting shortly after his Cabinet cleared the Food Security Bill draft to finalise a fresh draft of the controversial Lokpal Bill. This is expected to be taken up by the Cabinet, which is to meet again on Monday. The plan, top government sources said, was to introduce the Lokpal Bill on Tuesday and try and pass it before this Parliament session ends — if the Opposition is in a cooperative frame of mind.

For the last few days, officials of the Ministries concerned have been working overtime to frame the Lokpal Bill. In the evenings, an informal ministerial group has been putting the final touches. This group includes Pranab Mukherjee, P. Chidambaram, Kapil Sibal, Salman Khurshid and V. Narayanasamy.

The government, the sources told The Hindu , was determined that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should retain its independence.

In the government note on the Lokpal legislation, the Lokpal is to refer corruption cases to the CBI, and then monitor the progress of these investigations, but the agency does not come under it. With Team Anna insistent that the CBI be placed under the Lokpal, another clash can be anticipated.

The Lokpal's workings would be also be come under the Right to Information Act, the sources said, adding that the appointment of the chairperson/members of the Lokpal committee would have to be cleared by the Central Vigilance Commission.

While the government has agreed to place the Prime Minister and the lower bureaucracy within the ambit of the Bill — the first with safeguards and the second through a mechanism that will see the CVC conducting the enquiries and reporting periodically its progress to the Lokpal — it is in no mood to yield to Team Anna's demand to place the CBI under the Lokpal, or to include the Citizens' Charter in it; the government has drafted a separate Citizens' Grievance Redress Bill. In this, it may not have Team Anna's support but it has the backing of the National Campaign for the Right to Information (NCPRI). Indeed, the NCPRI, which had organised citizens' camps in the capital over the last few days, culminating in a day long workshop, is also pitching for two separate Bills — the Lokpal for corruption in high places, and the Citizens' Grievance Redress Bill for aam aadmi complaints.

Dow to drop its logo from London Olympic stadium

Dow Chemical has agreed to drop its logo from London's Olympic stadium, but the Indian Olympic Association has said it is not satisfied and wants the U.S. firm to remove its sponsorship for the 2012 Games. Dow said it agreed to the “vision” of the Games by waiving its sponsorship rights to place its brand on a controversial fabric wrap for the stadium, after campaigners protested, furious as they were at the company's links to the Bhopal gas disaster.

Dow was made a sponsor of the London Games by Lord Coe's organising committee (Locog) in August.

“The agreement between Dow and Locog was limited to branding of five ‘test panels' that were to be removed in the months before the Games and were not part of the final design,” Dow spokesman Scott Wheeler was quoted as saying by Sunday Express , a British newspaper.

“In mid-summer, Locog and Dow discussed Dow deferring the rights to these five panels to allow free and full execution of the design as determined by Locog. Dow agreed to this to support Locog's and London 2012's vision for the stadium wrap,” he said.

IOA acting president V.K. Malhotra said the body would continue to press for total removal of Dow Chemical as a sponsor. “I have also heard about Dow Chemical withdrawing its logo from the decorative wrap but I don't know what it means,” he told PTI.

“Our demand is that Dow be removed as a sponsor and we have lodged strong reservations [about it] with the Olympics. We are sending our communication to Dow as well as the International Olympic Committee in this regard.” — PTI

Agni-V shows India's ambitions, says CPC paper

A commentary in the Chinese Communist Party's official newspaper this weekend called on India to cooperate more with its neighbours “instead of being hostile to them,” suggesting that India's rising military expenditure reflected its growing regional “strategic ambitions.”

The article published on the People's Daily 's website, whose author was identified as Zi Mo, pointed to the development of the 5,000 km-range Agni-V, expected to be unveiled in February 2012, as showing India's “intention of seeking regional balance of power.”

While Indian military officials had said India's weapons would not pose a threat to any country, the newspaper said claims from other officials and scientists suggested that the development of the missile was aimed at China, whose cities would fall within its range.

The paper pointed to India's rising military spending — which is, however, only a little more than one-third that of China's, according to estimates — as evidence of Indian strategic ambitions.

Indian goal

“It is the Indian goal to continue to strengthen the military and possess a military clout that matches its status as a major power,” the article said. “However, how many missiles is enough is a question for all governments in the missile era.”

India was beginning “to get close to America” following Washington's growing strategic focus on the Asia-Pacific, but “thinking this move will contain its imaginary enemy would be naive.”

“India should cooperate with the neighbouring countries instead of being hostile to them and should reduce its own ‘persecution mania' to play a role on the world stage in the future,” the article said.

“There is no real winner in wars and peace opportunities must not be wasted. This is the wise judgment.”

Architect receives Goa's highest civilian award

Noted architect Charles Correa was on Sunday conferred Goa's highest civilian award, the Gomant Vibhushan, by Governor K. Sankaranarayanan at a public function held here on the eve of the culmination of the year-long golden jubilee celebrations of Goa's liberation.

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, Monica Correa and others were present.

Felicitating Mr. Correa, the Governor described him as one of the greatest sons of India and appealed to architects, planners and developers to come up with innovative solutions to reduce the negative impact of development on environment.

Emphasising that affordable and eco-friendly construction was the need of the hour, he called for a human touch from architects like Mr. Correa for “our physical as well as environmental planning.”

Expressing gratitude to the State and Goans for honouring him with their highest award at the end of a day-long programme which highlighted various facets of his life and works, an overwhelmed Mr. Correa appealed to Goa's decision-makers to show will and determination to retain its age-old decentralised pattern of towns and villages.

Earlier in the day, speaking about success and the passion of architects, Mr. Correa said if a client believed an architect could change his life then an architect rises to the occasion. Goa must produce such architects and have clients who are willing to take risks.

Land use plan

Referring to the controversy over the Goa Regional Plan 2021 for land use prepared by a State Level Committee (SLC), of which he was the vice-chairman, Mr. Correa said a lot of things in the plan needed to be corrected but at the same time a lot of misinformation was also being spread.

He said the SLC had worked with total commitment and dedication with the sole objective of making Goa a better place to live in.

Several village groups and activists have been accusing the government of formulating a “builders' plan” and demanding that it be scrapped.

Mr. Correa reiterated the urgent need for Goa to stop the huge flow of money from other States, as it was merely generating a lot of second and third homes which are kept unoccupied.

“I don't think Goa has enough landscape to absorb idle money and speculation,” he remarked, but hastened to add that it did not mean he was against outsiders.

Thanking Mr. Correa for joining the team to formulate a State land use plan without taking a single rupee, Mr. Kamat said he was saddened by the slanderous remarks by some people against SLC members who had worked wholeheartedly to give Goa a futuristic landscape.

He said the government was open to rectifying any mistakes in the plan through dialogue with all stakeholders.

Maharashtra plans to use MGNREGS labour for agriculture: Ajit Pawar

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Ajit Pawar revealed on Sunday that the State was in talks about utilising the labour under the Mahatma Gandhi Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for agriculture, to bridge the shortage of supply of farm labour.

“The State government is discussing whether it will be possible to divert the labour available under the MGNREGS to agriculture in the State, which is losing out on the labour supply,” Mr. Pawar said, at a public programme here. He was of the opinion that because of the MGNREGS, farm labour was being diverted from agriculture towards developmental work.

Earlier this month, NCP Chief Sharad Pawar was reported to have written to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh about “freezing” the MGNREGS for three months of the year, to ensure that the necessary amount of labour is provided for agriculture. Mr. Pawar had also suggested subsidising wages being paid by farmers to the labourers in agriculture by 50 percent of the wages being paid through the MGNREGS. He had cited increasing agricultural wage rates, as a result of the labour diversion to the MGNREGS.

Mr. Pawar had also suggested a consultation with the State governments to discuss the issue.

By echoing the senior Pawar's statement, Mr. Ajit Pawar gave an indication of a possible policy decision in Maharashtra.