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INDIAN AFFAIRS
Cabinet Approvals On January 10, 2018
In a bid to liberalise and simplify the Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) policy and to provide ease of doing
business in India, Union Cabinet has approved a number of amendments in the
existing policy.
i. Cabinet approves MoU
between India and Canada for
cooperation in Science &
Technology
ii. Cabinet approves
implementation of CCEA decision on closure of Tungabhadra Steel Products Limited
iii. Cabinet approves
continuation of Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme till
the term of the 14th Finance
Commission i.e. till March 31, 2020.
iv. Cabinet has approved
proposal to amend Section 4(1) and Section 5(1) of the National Trust for the Welfare of Person with
Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Mental Retardation and Multiple Disabilities Act, 1999.
India, Indonesia hold 1st security
dialogue, vow to combat terrorism
On January 9, 2018, India and Indonesia held their first bilateral security
dialogue in NewDelhi
i. During the dialogue,
India and Indonesia agreed on operational cooperation in security and
counter-terrorism.
ii. Indian side was led by National
Security Adviser Ajit Doval while Indonesian side was led
by H Wiranto, Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and
Security Affairs.
iii. At the 5th Indonesia-India joint commission meeting in
Jakarta, held in first week of January 2018 during Union External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj’s
Indonesia visit, both countries had agreed to strengthen strategic partnerships
across various key areas, including defence, security, maritime and economy.
Quick
Facts about Indonesia:
♦ Capital – Jakarta
♦ Currency – Indonesia rupiah
♦ Current President – Joko Widodo
♦ Important Rivers – Mahakam, Citarum
Supreme Court stays High Court verdict
against 85% pictorial warning on tobacco
On January 8, 2018, Supreme Court
of India stayed a Karnataka High Court orderquashing 85% pictorial
warnings on packets of cigarettes and other tobacco products.
Information about Pictorial Warning on packets of
cigarettes and other tobacco products:
i. On December 15, 2017,
Karnataka High Court had struck down the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products
(Packaging and Labelling) Amendment Rules, 2014 which mandated 85%
pictorial warning on tobacco products packaging space.
ii .A Supreme Court bench
comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices AM Khanwilkar and DY
Chandrachud stated that it was “unimpressed” with the submissions of the
Tobacco Institute of India (TII) asserting that the stay would infringe tobacco
manufacturers’ fundamental right to do business.
iii .The bench is of the
opinion that health of citizens should be accorded highest priority.
iv. In context of this
news, it is to be noted that as per a report by World Health Organisation
(WHO), pictorial warnings prove to be very effective especially in creating
awareness among illiterate consumers.
Panel under B.R. Sharma to take a call on
national anthem in cinema halls
Union Home Ministry has
appointed a 12-member inter-ministerial committee to recommend changes in the
existing law of playing of the national anthem in cinema halls and public
places.
Details
of the inter-ministerial committee:
i. The committee is headed by B.R. Sharma, Additional
Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
ii. Other members of this
committee include officers of the Joint Secretary rank representing Ministries
of Home Affairs, Defence, Culture, External Affairs, Women and Child
Development, Parliamentary Affairs, Human Resource Development, Law and
Information and Broadcasting, Minority Affairs and the Department of
Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities.
iii. First meeting of this
committee will be held on January 19, 2018 and it will submit its final report
within six months.
iv. This committee has
been formed in wake of Supreme Courts observation – ‘it could not be assumed
that if a person did not stand up for the national anthem, he or she was “less
patriotic.”
v. The committee will make
recommendations in context of existing Acts and orders relating to the Prevention of Insults to National Honour Act,
1971.