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1. CCEA approves selling 51% stake in HPCL to ONGC.

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The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved sale of government’s 51.11% stake along with management control in HPCL (Hindustan Petroleum) to ONGC. HPCL will continue as PSU after the acquisition.

HPCL will add 23.8 million tonnes of annual oil refining capacity to ONGC’s portfolio, making it the third-largest refiner in the country after Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) and Reliance Industries.

Prior to the merger, HPCL will take over Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd (MRPL) to bring all the refining assets of ONGC under one unit. ONGC currently owns 71.63% of MRPL while HPCL has 16.96% stake in it. MRPL will be the third refinery of HPCL, which already has units at Mumbai and Visakhapatnam.

2. India witnessed third highest terror attacks in 2016: US

According to the Country Report on Terrorism released by the US State Department, India witnessed third highest number of terrorist attacks in 2016, more than Pakistan.

The six countries that faced highest number of terrorist attacks in 2016 are Iraq (2,965 terrorist attacks), Afghanistan (1,340), India (927), Pakistan (734), Philippines (482), Nigeria (466).

Several countries that have routinely experienced large numbers of terrorist attacks in recent years observed considerable decreases in total attacks in 2016, compared to 2015. In 2015, Iraq (2418 attacks) and Afghanistan (1708) were ranked first and second respectively, while Pakistan took the third spot (1009 attacks).

The number of terrorist attacks in India in 2016 has increased by 16% and total number of deaths also has increased by 17%. More than half of the terrorist attacks in India in 2016 took place in four states: Jammu and Kashmir (19%), Chhattisgarh (18%), Manipur (12%) and Jharkhand (10%).

This geographic pattern of attacks was relatively stable compared to 2015, with the exception of J&K which experienced an increase of 93% in attacks in 2016. Though India ranked 3rd, the lethality of these terrorists attacks were relatively low compared to other countries that have experienced great deal of terror violence.

On average, terror attacks in India led to 0.4 deaths per attack in 2016, compared to 2.4 deaths per attack worldwide. Nearly three-quarters of attacks at 73% were non-lethal in India in 2016. The majority of attacks in India either involved explosions/bombings at 47% or armed assaults at 18%.

In addition, kidnappings at 15% of all attacks were particularly prevalent in India, compared to 10% worldwide, while facility/infrastructure attacks were at 12% of all attacks, compared to 6% worldwide. The deadliest attack in India in 2016 took place in July 2016, when the Communist Party of India – Maoist (left wing extremists) detonated explosives and opened fire on CRPF personnel in Bihar, killing 16 people including six assailants.

3. Former ISRO Chairman U R Rao passes away.

Internationally-renowned space scientist and former chairman of ISRO (Indian Space Research Organization), Udupi Ramachandra Rao passed away in Bengaluru. He was 85. Prof Rao is credited with having played an instrumental role in building up Indian satellite programmes right from nation’s first satellite Aryabhatta.

He was born on 10 March 1932 in Adamaru, Karnataka. He is alumni of Madras University, Gujarat University, Banaras Hindu University. He had served as Chairman of ISRO from 1984 to 1994. Under his guidance, ISRO had designed more than 20 satellites including India’s first satellite Aryabhatta. Under his leadership, India had initiated the development of the geostationary launch vehicle GSLV and the development of cryogenic technology in 1991.

He was also responsible for successful launch of INSAT satellites during his stint at ISRO. He had played pivotal role in promoting the use of space technology for broadcasting, education, meteorology, disaster warning and remote sensing. He also had served as the first Chairman of Antrix Corporation, the commercial arm of the ISRO.

He has published more than 350 scientific and technical papers in various journals covering topics like cosmic rays, high energy astronomy, interplanetary physics, space applications and satellite and rocket technology and also authored many books. He was serving many reputed scientific research institutions and Universities as a member of their academic councils and panels. He was chancellor of Indian Institute for Space Science and Technology (IIST) at Thiruvananthapuram, Chairman of the Governing Council of the Physical Research Laboratory at Ahmedabad and Nehru Planetarium at Bengaluru.

4. Ram Nath Kovind sworn in as 14th President of India.

Ram Nath Kovind (71) sworn in as the 14th President of India. He was administered oath to the office by Chief Justice of India J.S. Khehar in Parliament’s Central Hall.

Mr Kovind was born on 1st October 1945 in Paraukh village in the Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh. He had completed graduation in law from a Kanpur college. Before starting his career as a lawyer, he cleared the civil services examination but did not join as he was selected for an allied. He had joined the BJP in 1991. He was President of the BJP Dalit Morcha between 1998 and 2002. He also served as Member of Rajya Sabha from 1994 to 2006. Prior to getting elected as President, Mr. Kovind had served as the 35th Governor of Bihar.

President of India is top constitutional post as he is head of the Indian state, first citizen of India and supreme commander of the Indian armed forces. He is elected indirectly for a term of 5 years by an electoral college consisting of elected members of parliament (MPs from Lok Sabha as well as Rajya Sabha) and elected members of State legislative members, including that if NCT of Delhi and Pondicherry. He is eligible to re-elect for the same office for unlimited times.

According to Article 60 of the Constitution of India, every President and every person acting as President or discharging the functions of the President before entering upon office shall make and subscribe oath to the office. The oath inter alia includes the oath to preserve, protect and defend the constitution. In this sense, President takes oath as guardian of Indian Constitution. The oath is administered by Chief Justice of India or in his absence by the senior-most Judge of the Supreme Court available.

5. FSSAI bans stapler pins in tea bags from January 2018.

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has banned the use of stapler pins in tea bags from January 2018. FSSAI ban order issued under Section (15) FSS Act, 2006 has deemed that any loose staple pin consumed inadvertently with tea may cause a serious health hazard.

Currently, tea bags are either stapled or knotted. According to industry estimates, the tea bag segment contributes 3-4% by value of total tea sales but it is one of the fastest growing segments at 50-60% year-on-year.

The FSSAI order directs the concerned food business operators to discontinue the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale and import of stapled tea bags by 1 January 2018. It also directs all food safety commissioners to take action to prevent the use of unsafe packaging materials by companies and take up measures for enforcement of its order.

FSSAI is a nodal statutory agency responsible for protecting and promoting public health in India through the regulation and supervision of food safety. FSSAI was established under the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006 and operates under aegis of Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.

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6. Parliament passes The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016.

Parliament has passed The Admiralty (Jurisdiction and Settlement of Maritime Claims) Bill, 2016. Admiralty laws deal with cases of accidents in navigable waters or involve contracts related to commerce on such waters.

The Bill seeks to upgrade existing laws related to civil matters of admiralty jurisdiction of courts, maritime claims, arrest and detention of ships. It repeals laws such as the Admiralty Court Act, 1861, Colonial Courts of Admiralty Act, 1890.

The bill confers admiralty jurisdiction on High Courts located in coastal states of India, thus extending their upto territorial waters. It empowers central government to extend the jurisdiction of these High Courts. Under the earlier laws enacted during the colonial era, the admiralty was only by the High Courts of Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.

The bill now extends the provisions of admiralty jurisdiction to every vessel irrespective of place of domicile or residence of owner. It does not apply to naval auxiliary, warships and vessels used for non-commercial purposes.

It empowers High Courts to exercise jurisdiction on maritime claims arising out of conditions such as disputes regarding ownership of a vessel, mortgage on a vessel, construction, repair, or conversion of the vessel, disputes between co-owners of a vessel regarding employment or earnings of the vessel, disputes arising out of the sale of a vessel, and environmental damage caused by the vessel, etc.

India is a leading maritime nation and maritime transportation caters to about 95% of its merchandise trade volume. However, the admiralty jurisdiction of Indian courts under the present statutory framework flow from laws enacted in the British era. The repealing of five archaic admiralty statutes is in line with the Union Government’s commitment to do away with archaic laws which are hindering efficient governance.

7. Cabinet approves new wage code bill to ensure minimum wage across all sectors.

The Union Cabinet has approved the Labour Code on Wages Bill which will ensure a minimum wage across all sectors by integrating existing labour related laws. The Labour Code on Wages Bill consolidates the Minimum Wages Act, 1948, the Payment of Bonus Act, 1965, the Payment of Wages Act, 1936 and the Equal Remuneration Act, 1976.

At present, laws on wages do not cover workers getting monthly wage of more than Rs 18,000. Moreover, these laws are only applicable for scheduled industries or establishments. Event there are about half a dozen definitions of wages in various acts across the Centre and states, which employers have to grapple with. The Second National Commission on Labour has recommended that the existing labour laws should be broadly grouped into four or five labour codes on Wages; Industrial Relations; Social Security & Welfare and Safety and Working Conditions on functional basis.

Under the Labour Code on Wages Bill, the Union Labour Ministry is planning to streamline the definition of wages by amalgamating four wage-related statutes. The code empowers the Centre to set a minimum wage across sectors, and states will have to maintain that. However, states will be able to provide higher minimum wage in their jurisdiction than fixed by the Centre since labour is subject in the concurrent list.

The Labour Code on Wages Bill also marks the first major initiative of Union Government in amalgamating labour laws for improving the ease of doing business as well as ensuring universal minimum wage to all. The minimum wage will be applicable on all classes of workers, even workers getting monthly pay of higher than Rs 18,000 will be legally entitled to a minimum wage. The proposed legislation is expected to benefit over 4 crore employees across the country.

8. CAC adopts Codex standards for three spices.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) has adopted three Codex standards for black, white and green pepper, cumin and thyme. It is for first time pepper, cumin and thyme, spices will have such universal standards.

These standards were adopted at 40th session of CAC held in Geneva. The adoption of Codex standards paves the way for universal agreement on identifying quality spices in various countries. It also set reference points and benchmarks for member-nations to align their national standards for spices with Codex.

With the approval of the Central government, the Spices Board India (SBI) had submitted a proposal to CAC for harmonizing the standards for spices and culinary herbs. SBI is the flagship organization of the Commerce Ministry for export and promotion of spices from the country.

The adoption of Codex standards for the three spices will help evolve a common standardisation process for their global trade and availability. It will bring harmony to the global spice trade and ensure availability of high quality, clean and safe spices to the world. It is also considered as major recognition of India’s efforts to benchmark global spices trade.

The Codex Alimentarius (Food Code) is a collection of standards, guidelines and codes of practice adopted by the CAC. The Commission is the central part of the joint FAO (Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations)/WHO (World Health Organisation) Food Standards Programme. Its mandate is to prepare an international codex alimentations, based on principles outlined by itself.

The Codex alimentarius is a collection of internationally adopted food standards presented in a uniform manner. These food standards aim at protecting consumer’s health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade. It includes standards for all the principal foods, whether processed, semi-processed or raw for distribution to the consumer. It is also include standardised provisions in respect of food additives, contaminants, pesticides residues, labelling and presentation, methods of analysis and sampling.

9. Cabinet approves new wage code bill to ensure minimum wage across all sectors.

At present, laws on wages do not cover workers getting monthly wage of more than Rs 18,000. Moreover, these laws are only applicable for scheduled industries or establishments. Even there are about half a dozen definitions of wages in various acts across the Centre and states, which employers have to grapple with. The Second National Commission on Labour has recommended that the existing labour laws should be broadly grouped into four or five labour codes on Wages; Industrial Relations; Social Security & Welfare and Safety and Working Conditions on functional basis.

10. NITI Aayog clears six proposals for high-tech public transport.

The NITI (National Institution for Transforming India) Aayog has approved 6 transport proposals of the transport ministry exploring options to improve public transport. It includes high-tech mass rapid transportation technologies such as metrino, hyperloop, pod taxis, stadler buses, hybrid buses and freight rail road.

The proposals of the transport ministry were approved with a condition that the transport ministry conducts trial run of all these technologies and puts in place safety measures before starting operations commercially.

Following the go-ahead from NITI Aayog, the transport ministry has formed a six member committee, headed by former top official of Railways, to study safety parameters associated with these technologies and their best global practices.

The ministry of road transport and highways had sought the approval of NITI Aayog to experiment and introduce six latest mass rapid transportation technologies. The new technologies are being explored by the Government as current public transportation is unable to resolve the increasing traffic crisis in the country.

These new technologies are path breaking and can alter the way of intercity travel in the country. The new technologies are being explored as current public transportation is unable to resolve the increasing traffic crisis in the country. Besides, some of them are more cost effective than the existing ones.

Hyperloop transportation mechanism:

It is a pod-like vehicle is propelled through a near-vacuum tube connecting cities at speeds matching that of an aircraft.

Freight rail road:

Under it elevated corridors will be built with rail lines where freight trucks can be placed and then they would move on rails at high speed, increasing freight quantity and reducing freight time.

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11. Lok Sabha passes Indian Institutes of Management Bill, 2017.

The Lok Sabha passed the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM) Bill, 2017 by voice vote. The Bill declares the IIMs as institutions of national importance.

The bill seeks to empower these institutions to attain standards of global excellence in management, management research and allied areas of knowledge. It also promises to grant administrative, academic and financial autonomy to these B-Schools and allow them to grant degrees.

Key Highlights of Bill

The bill allows IIMs to grant degrees to their students. It also grants them complete autonomy, combined with adequate accountability. It establishes coordination Forum of IIMs as an advisory body. It empowers board of an IIM to drive the management of the institution. It will select Chairperson and Director of IIM.

The board will have greater participation of experts and alumni. It will also include women and members from Scheduled Castes/Tribes. Besides, it adds provisions for periodic review of the performance of IIM by independent agencies and their results will be placed in public domain. Besides, it also has provision to place the Annual Report of the IIMs in the Parliament and CAG (Comptroller and auditor general of India) auditing their accounts.

IIMs are the country’s premier institutions imparting best quality education in management and are recognized as world-class management Institutions and Centres of Excellence. India has 20 IIMs now. All IIMs are separate autonomous bodies registered under the Societies Act. Earlier they were not authorized to award degrees. These awards were treated as equivalent to MBAs and Ph.D, respectively, but their equivalence was not universally acceptable, especially for the Fellow Programme.

12. Supreme Court puts end to immediate arrests in dowry cases.

The Supreme Court has ruled that the police cannot arrest the accused without conducting a preliminary inquiry under dowry harassment cases. The ruling was made by a SC bench of Justices A K Goel and UU Lalit.

With this, apex court put an end to immediate arrest of the husband and his family members in the dowry harassment cases filed under Section 498A of Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The Supreme Court passed the order keeping in view the fact of suspected misuse of the anti-dowry harassment law framed in 1983.

Highlights of SC order

Now cases under Section 498A of IPC will be referred to Family Welfare Committees (FWC) must be constituted at every district and no arrest will be effected till the committee’s report is received. Such report may be then considered by the investigating officer or the magistrate on its own merit.

FWC must comprise 3 members who may be social workers, retired persons, para-legal volunteers, wives of working officers and other citizens who are found suitable and willing. However, these committee members will not be considered as witnesses.

There must be adequate material to show that the arrest is necessary to prevent the accused from committing any further offence. Moreover, designated police officer should be appointed to deal with such complaints.

These directions will not apply to the offences involving tangible physical injuries or death. There will be also no routine impounding of passports or issuance of Red Corner Notice for the accused NRI. The personal appearance of all family members and particularly outstation members will be also not be required.

13. Punjab launches flagship ‘care companion programme’ scheme.

The Punjab health minister Brahm Mohindra launched a flagship care companion health scheme.

The main aim is to improve patient outcomes through better family engagement and education.

The state department of health and family welfare signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Noora Health India Trust, a healthcare-profit organisation, for implementation of the ‘Care Companion Programme’ (CCP).

The objective is to reduce the number of infant deaths and complications like infections in the first 30 days post discharge and ensure adoption of long-term health pro-motive behaviours. The innovative programme includes teaching the family of patient’s high-impact medical skills to take care of the patients in the hospital and at home.

14. Reserve Bank of India sets up Supervisory Colleges for six Scheduled Commercial Banks.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has set up Supervisory Colleges for six Scheduled Commercial Banks which have a sizeable international presence: - State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd., Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Axis Bank Ltd. and Punjab National Bank.

The main objectives of the colleges to enhance information exchange and cooperation among supervisors, to improve understanding of the risk profile of the banking group and thereby facilitate more effective supervision of internationally active banks.

15. India’s first unmanned tank rolled out by DRDO.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has rolled out Muntra, India’s first unmanned, remotely operated tank at its Chennai lab.

It has been launched in three variants Muntra-S, Muntra-M and Muntra-N for surveillance, mine detection and reconnaissance in areas with nuclear and biological threats. It is also likely to be used in Naxal-hit areas.

Muntra-S is the country’s first tracked unmanned ground vehicle (tank) developed for unmanned surveillance missions. Muntra-M is for detecting mines and Muntra-N is for operation in areas where there is nuclear radiation or biological weapon risk.

The Muntra variants have surveillance radar, an integrated camera along with laser range finder which can be used to spy on ground target 15km away – heavy vehicles or crawling men. This unmanned, remotely tele-operated tank has been successfully tested and validated at Mahajan field firing range in Rajasthan under dusty desert conditions.

16. Operational Guidelines for Planning and Implementation of Family Participatory Care released.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has released Operational Guidelines for Planning and Implementation of Family Participatory Care (FPC) for improving newborn health.

The guidelines are for all stakeholders involved in the process of planning and delivering newborn care. They will serve as a guiding document for those intending to introduce FPC in their facility as an integral part of facility based newborn care.

Family Participatory Care (FPC)

FPC has emerged as an important concept of health care as it provides partnership between health care staff and families in care of sick newborns admitted in the Special Newborn Care Units (SNCU). Under it, the capacities of parents-attendants are built in newborn care through a structured training programme (training guide and audio-visual module).

Need for FPC

Sick and newborn are highly vulnerable and require careful nurturing in order to survive the neonatal period and first year of life. Under National Health Mission (NHM), more than 700 state of the art SNCU have been established across the country to provide 24 X 7 comprehensive care to the newborns by dedicated trained staff.

In the recent years, it was realized that if parents are trained, during the stay of their babies in the hospital, to provide supportive care to their newborns, it will help in not only to improve survival of the babies after discharge but also cater psycho-social and developmental needs of the newborn.

Key Operational Guidelines

The Operational Guidelines provides details of infrastructure, training, role of health care providers and steps in the operationalization of FPC in the newborn care unit. It also addresses various aspects of attitudes, infrastructural modifications and practice that will help in establishing FPC at SNCU.

It also includes sensitization of State and District Managers on FPC, prioritization of SNCUs for initiating FPC, making required infrastructural enhancement in SNCU, creating family participatory care environment in SNCU. It also seeks to ensure availability of supplies for parents-attendants, role of healthcare providers for FPC implementation, training of SNCU staff for SNCU and institutional support for FPC.

The guidelines will be shared with the states for implementation to further improve the quality of care provided in the SNCUs across the country.

17. Delhi Metro becomes world’s first completely ‘green’ Metro system.

The Delhi Metro Railway Corporation (DMRC) has become the world’s first completely ‘green’ Metro system for adhering to green building norms for its residential colonies. In this regard, Delhi Metro has secured the platinum rating for adherence to green building norms for its 10 residential colonies from the Indian Green Building Council (IGBC).

About Delhi Metro

The Delhi Metro is a metro system serving Delhi and its satellite cities of Gurugram, Faridabad, Noida and Ghaziabad in National Capital Region (NCR). It is the world’s 12th longest metro system in length and 16th largest in ridership. It is built and operated by DMRC, a state-owned company with equal equity participation from Union Government and Government of Delhi. Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has financed 60% of the project cost in the form of soft loan under Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

Other Achievements

In 2008, DMRC was the first railway project in the world to be registered by the United Nations under the CDM, enabling it to claim carbon credits. In 2015, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) had registered DMRC as the world’s first transport sector project under the Program of Activities (PoA), making it the managing entity for all other Metros of India.

Indian Green Building Council (IGBC)

The IGBC is part of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) formed in 2001. It offers a wide array of services including developing new green building rating programmes, green building training programmes and certification services. It also organises Green Building Congress, its annual flagship event on green buildings. It closely works with several State Governments, Central Government, World Green Building Council, bilateral multi-lateral agencies in promoting green building concepts in the country.

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