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Daily News Notes

15AUGUST 2014

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NATIONAL

NDA managers carry the day with Rajya Sabha approving NJACBill

Winning the Rajya Sabha‟s approval for the National Judicial AppointmentsCommission (NJAC) Bill on Thursday capped the nearly seven-week Budget session ofthe Narendra Modi government.

Barring the Insurance Bill to raise the ceiling on foreign direct investment in the sectorto 49 per cent, official business, among them the Union and the Railway Budgets, waspushed through by the National Democratic Alliance government, while allowing theOpposition to raise issues of concern to them.

The Modi government was eager to get Parliament‟s approval for the Insurance Bill andthe changes in labour laws to signal to domestic and foreign investors its intent to speedup economic reforms. Managers of the ruling combine had hoped that since theInsurance Bill was mooted by the UPA government, they would face no hurdle in gettingit through the Rajya Sabha, where it is in a minority.

At a press meet, Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu regretted theCongress stance on the Bill.

On the NJAC Bill, Mr. Naidu said, “One of the landmark achievements of this sessionhas been that the government has shown unmatched unanimity in passing theConstitution Amendment Bill and the Judicial Appointments Bill. We have achieved what has been debated for 24-odd years.” Citing statistics about the first Budget sessionof the UPA government in 2004 and of UPA-II in 2009, the Minister said productivity ofParliament had improved now. The minority status of the NDA in the Rajya Sabhaoffered both an opportunity and challenge.

“For the ruling coalition, it offered a challenge of working with the majority Oppositionand for the Opposition, the opportunity of joining hands with the government risingabove political considerations for the nation.”



Constitution vulnerable to rash excess: Pranab

President Pranab Mukherjee addressing the nation on the eve of 68th Independence Day in NewDelhi on Thursday.— PHOTO: PTI

The Constitution is becoming “increasingly vulnerable” to rash excess while institutionaldysfunction led to the “phenomenon of overreach,” President Pranab Mukherjee warned onThursday.

His comments came on a day when Parliament passed two key Bills that allow for fundamentalchanges in the method of appointing judges to the higher judiciary.

In his customary address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day, Mr. Mukherjee wondered whether Indian democracy had become too noisy and should not Parliament again become the great hall for sombre thought.

Pointing to institutional decay, he said, “Should not our courts of law become temples of justice?

This calls for collective action by all the stakeholders.”

Welcoming the emergence of a stable government with a majority after three decades, thePresident said the country demanded fast-track development with social harmony. ThePresident felt the economy was all set to grow at seven to eight per cent as signs of revival were

visible. “However, food prices still remain a matter of serious concern.”

Insurance Bill sent to RS Select Committee

Bowing to pressure from a united Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, the governmentreferred the controversial Insurance Bill on Thursday to the House Select Committee.

The government‟s move stalled the Opposition parties‟ plan to move a motion to referthe Bill to a Select Committee of the House for consideration of official amendments.The Opposition motion would have entailed a vote in a House where the ruling NDA isin a minority.

Moving the government motion, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said the Bill to amendthe Insurance Act, 1938, the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972 andthe Insurance Regulatory and Developm-ent Authority Act, 1999, as introduced in theRajya Sabha, be referred to a Select Committee. He announced an all-party list of 15members who would form the committee.

Officer from Tambaram gets Ashok Chakra

Major Mukund Varadarajan of Tambaram, 32, who died while fighting militants inShopian, Kashmir, in April, was on Thursday posthumously bestowed with the AshokChakra, the nation‟s highest peacetime gallantry award.



For Major Varadarajan‟s parents, it was both a proud moment and a sad one at the sametime.

Inflation based on the wholesale price index dipped to a five-

month low of 5.19 per cent in July. — Yuthika Bhargava

NJAC Bill now goes to State Legislatures

The Rajya Sabha on Thursday unanimously passed the Constitution Amendment Bill forsetting up the National Judicial Appointments Commission and the National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill 2014, which sets the procedure for appointment and

transfers of judges in higher courts.

The Constitution Amendment Bill, which required passage by a two-thirds majority ofmembers present and voting, was adopted by 179 votes. It will now have to be ratified by50 per cent of the State Legislatures before it is sent for the President‟s assent.

Amendments moved by P. Rajeeve and K.N. Balagopal of the CPI(M) and D. Raja of theCPI, one for expansion of the six-member commission, were defeated.

Moving the Bill, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it was not being broughtin haste as several committees in the past had recommended bringing in a change to the

collegium system in which the executive and the legislature had no role.

Mr. Prasad said, to the thumping of desks, “This House respects the independence of the judiciary and also the supremacy of Parliament.”

Agreeing with the concern expressed by Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Mayawati (BSP), Ramdas Athavale (RPI-A), Mr. Raja (CPI) and Mr. Rajeeve on the disparity faced by members ofthe Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes and women in theappointment of judges, Mr. Prasad said a “data bank” would be created of judges belonging to these sections who were performing well for consideration by thecommission.

To doubts expressed by some members on the appointment of eminent persons on theJudicial Appointments Commission, he said the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice ofIndia and the leader of the largest Opposition party in the Lok Sabha would appointthem. “Should we not trust their collective wisdom? If they can govern the country well,they can select eminent persons as well,” Mr. Prasad said.



Earlier in his intervention, Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, an eminent lawyerhimself, said, “Today the process of appointment of judges has virtually boiled down to asystem of judicial exclusivity and the role of other institutions is almost negligible. Weare restoring the spirit of the Constitution while maintaining the primacy of the judiciary. In the six-member commission, no other group is as powerful as the judges

group,” he said.

Both the Bills were passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Rajni Razdan is UPSC chairman

Rajni Razdan has been appointed Union Public Service Commission chairman.

She will take the oath of office on Saturday, replacing Professor D.P. Agrawal.

Ms. Razdan, a 64-year-old former Indian Administrative Service officer from theHaryana cadre, has been a UPSC member since April 19, 2010.

She has held several important posts in her home cadre, including Secretary,Cooperation and Public Health; Principal Secretary, Housing; and Haryana HousingBoard chairman.

She worked as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Food, and Additional Secretary, Ministry ofPersonnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. She retired as Secretary, Department ofPension and Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances in 2007.

Two Anglo-Indians for LS soon?

The Narendra Modi is expected to nominate, as mandated by the law, two members ofthe Anglo-Indian community to the Lok Sabha in the next few days. They need to benominated within six months after the constitution of the new Lok Sabha. It is the onlyIndian community that has its own representatives nominated to the Lok Sabha.

This is done because the community has no native State of its own. States such as Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, West Bengal, Karnataka, Uttarakhand, Jharkandand Kerala also have a nominated member each in their respective State Legislatures.

Judicial Appointments Bill likely to be challenged: lawyers

The National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill and its constitutional amendmentapproved by Parliament would not stand judicial scrutiny, senior members of the Bartold The Hindu on Thursday.



The Bill replaced the collegium system with the setting up of the National Judicial Appointments Commission. The Rajya Sabha cleared the 121st Constitutional Amendment Bill to provide constitutional status to the Commission.

But senior Supreme Court lawyers said the Bill was defective with “weak spots” that

could be ripped apart under judicial review. They said the government was in too muchof a hurry to “politicise the courts”.

Stating that the government did not make efforts to have a dialogue with the judiciary before moving ahead with the Bill, they said this would have prevented a loomingavoidable conflict future between the Executive and the highest judiciary.

Hints that the judiciary would not take this lying down came on August 11 when a visiblyangry Chief Justice of India R.M. Lodha condemned the “campaign to defame judiciary”.

A PIL petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday by advocate Manohar LalSharma to quash the Constitutional Amendment Bill of 2014 and National Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, 2014.

Senior Supreme Court advocate P.P. Rao said the Bill “is an exercise for the Executive toget a handle on judicial appointments”.

“This is part of the party in power‟s attempts to politicise constitutional offices. Wecannot afford to have politics in court. The judicial collegium has its defects, but this Billis not the solution,” Mr. Rao said.

Mr. Rao questioned the “concept” of having two eminent persons as members of theCommission.

“What is this concept of eminent persons in the Bill? The Bill does not explain the term„eminent‟ in the context of their proved ability to select the able candidates as judges tothe highest courts. What is this reservation for one of the eminent persons?” he asked.

Senior advocate Anil Divan said the government “hurried too much, leaving weak spotsin the Bill”.“But the former Chief Justice of India V.N. Khare, who was part of the high-level consultations held on the Bill, said there was no such requirement of taking an“advisory opinion” from the judiciary.

Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran agreed, saying that “it is not the job of the judiciary to advice the Legislature on how to draft a Bill”.

He said the Bill indeed saw long discussions and a consensus. “The dialogue over judicial appointment law has been going on since last year. It was started by theprevious government and was renewed by the new one. Eminent lawyers wereconsulted. There has been consensus across the political spectrum,” he said.



Say ‘weak spots’ in Bill could be ripped apart under judicial review

Apprentices Bill passed

Despite the Opposition‟s demand for sending the Apprentices (Amendment) Bill to a

standing committee for further discussion, the Bill was passed by a voice vote in the LokSabha on the concluding day of the monsoon session on Thursday.

Opposition members initially wanted discussion on the Bill deferred to the next session.But the government pushed for a discussion and passage, citing the “importance” of thelegislation. Labour Minister Narender Singh Tomar said the Bill affected a large numberof workers and if passed in the current session, it would be implemented to offer betterconditions to lakhs of workers.

Trade Union ire

Saugata Roy (Trinamool Congress) accused the government of being in a “hurry” to passa Bill that has significant ramifications for the labour sector. “It should be sent to astanding committee. Let‟s discuss it there and then bring it in the next session,” he said.Pushing for more apprentices in the country, he said, “The percentage of skilled workersin India is just 6.7 per cent as compared to China‟s 50 per cent.” Congress MP AdhirRanjan Chowdhury, also opposing the Bill, said there were certain clauses that did notsafeguard workers‟ interests. But the government managed to override the objectionsand said the Bill would help meet the growing requirement of skilled people which couldrise to 23.75 lakh from the current 4.29 lakh.

In the Bill, new trades, including IT-enabled services, would be included in the schemeof apprenticeship and employers can formulate their own recruitment policies. TheUnion government would also be empowered to make rules with regard to qualification..

AIADMK faux pas

Even as the House was debating the Apprentice Bill, AIADMK‟s Thanjavur MP, K.Parasuraman, read out his speech on the communal violence issue, which was scheduledfor discussion later in the day.

As the AIADMK MP was reading out his speech in Tamil, some BJP MPs, listening to aHindi translation, complained that the speech was not about the Bill being discussed.Deputy Speaker M. Thambidurai who was in the Chair, then asked the MP to read outthe speech on the Apprentices (Amendment) Bill, but Mr. Parasuraman continued tospeak on communal violence.

After he finished and the other AIADMK MPs pointed his error, Mr. Parasuramanrealised he had read out the wrong speech.



In spite of Opposition parties demand for a discussion, it was passed by avoice vote

Low fuel, food prices push down WPI inflation

Inflation based on the wholesale price index (WPI) dipped to a five-month low of 5.19per cent in July, mainly on the back of a drop in prices of fuel and food items such ascereals and vegetables.

The rate was 5.43 per cent the previous month and 5.84 per cent in July 2013, accordingto data released by the government on Thursday. Retail inflation, based on consumerprice index, has however, been a cause for concern, rising to 7.96 per cent in July from7.46 per cent in June.

Inflation in the overall food basket, which accounts for 14 per cent of the WPI, stood at8.43 per cent. The rate was 8.14 per cent in June. However, inflation in vegetables as agroup declined by 1.27 per cent. Onion prices fell by 8.13 per cent year-on-year in July.Potato prices shot up by 46.41 per cent and fruits by 31.71 per cent. Milk prices rose by10.46 per cent.

Inflation for the eggs, meat and fish category stood at 2.71 per cent in July as against10.27 per cent in June.

“While risks on account of the monsoon and volatility in crude oil prices have recededfor the time being, some degree of ambiguity remains. Inflation continues to be aconcern as prices of food articles are still elevated ... It needs to be assured that theindustrial growth is not stifled and recent momentum seen in the IIP numbers is keptpace with,” Siddharth Birla, president, Federation of the Indian Chambers of Commerceand Industry, said.

“It is anticipated that food inflation would come down in the coming monthsconsidering that the monsoon has started picking up pace and the rain deficiency hascome down significantly,” the Confederation of Indian Industry said in a statement.

The recent initiatives taken by the government to contain inflation would act as a leverto tackle inflation and curb inflationary expectations, the CII added.

Sharad Jaipuria, president of PHD Chamber, said, “Decline in WPI inflation to a fivemonths‟ low is really encouraging and would pave the way for growth to pick up pace inthe coming times.”

He said that as the monsoon scenario was not that much promising in the current year,the government should take measures to mitigate the impact of the deficient monsoonon prices of agricultural commodities.



According to the data, the rate of price rise in pulses was 3.31 per cent. It was at 4.46 percent for cereals. For rice, it was 6.85 per cent and for wheat 1.02 per cent in July.

Inflation in manufactured products was 3.67 per cent and non-food articles, whichinclude fibre, oil seeds and minerals, at 3.32 per cent. Inflation in the fuel and power

category, meanwhile, was down at 7.4 per cent from the previous month.

The WPI data was revised upwards for May to 6.18 per cent from 6.01 per cent, as perprovisional estimates.

Rising retail inflation has been a cause

for concern

Spain’s La Tomatina festival shows solidarity with Dalit women

The world-famous La Tomatina festival in the Spanish town of Bunol has expressedsolidarity with a cause that will brighten the lives of underprivileged Indian women.

Owing to overcrowding in the Valencian town during the festival, authorities havedecided to limit attendance to 20,000 ticket holders, Xinhua reported.

The move led to Bunol town hall making an announcement on Thursday that profitsfrom ticket sales this year will be donated to a social project to help Dalit women inIndia.

The Sahell association, which works with the charity organisation Lokpanchayat,

maintains safe houses for Dalit women who have either been abandoned and mistreatedor are suffering social exclusion.

The project aims to provide a safe environment for the women and help them becomeeconomically independent.

Meanwhile, a campaign has been launched in Bunol to make people aware about theatrocities faced by Dalit women. A photograpy exhibition titled „The Odyssey of being a woman in India‟ will be displayed in the town from Thursday.

The Fountain of Women , a film set on traditional roles and exploitation of women in India, will be screened ahead of the festival.

On the last Wednesday of August every year tens of thousands of tourists join the9,000 inhabitants of the town to throw tonnes of tomatoes at each other in what canbe called as one of the “messiest events of the year.” — IANS



INS Vikramaditya set to undergo safety checks

The newly-inducted aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, which has been fullyoperationalised with Indian naval pilots carrying out flying operations from its flightdeck, is set to undergo a series of safety checks in a month or so,The Hindu has learnt.

The safety work-up will be of „shorter duration‟ lasting about a week‟s time, as trainingof pilots to operate the MiG29 K fighters from the carrier is still under way. Therefurbished Soviet-era carrier, which was commissioned after years of delay into theIndian Navy at Severodvinsk in Russia in November last, and its crew will be tested fornavigation, bridge controls, machinery interface, damage control and firefighting, forceprotection measures and flight safety.

With the guarantee period of Vikramaditya getting over in a few months time, the Navyis contemplating equipping its Dockyard in Mumbai for periodic maintenance andrepair of the 44,500 tonne behemoth. A new dry-dock strong and long enough to take

on the carrier is under construction at the dockyard.

Officials of the Nevskoe Design Bureau, which designed Vikramaditya and the shore- based test facility (SBTF) in Goa for training Indian naval pilots in take-off and landingoperations on the MiG-29 K, have ruled out Indian shipyards for repair of Vikramaditya. While the aged carrier INS Viraat has its routine maintenance done at Cochin Shipyard(CSL), the Nevskoe team that visited the yard was apprehensive of the strength of CSL‟sdry-dock floor to take on Vikramaditya.

INTERNATIONAL

Ceasefire extended by five days

.

The great divide:Israeli soldiers stand in front of the graffiti-covered separation barrier between Ramallah and Jerusalem during clashes with Palestinians, at the IsraeliQalandiya checkpoint, on Wednesday.— PHOTO: AFP

Israel and militants in Gaza were holding their fire on Thursday after a new truce got offto a shaky start with overnight Palestinian rocket fire followed by Israeli air strikes.

Late on Wednesday, negotiators in Cairo brokered an eleventh-hour extension to anexisting truce, with the warring sides agreeing to lower their guns for another five daysto allow for continued negotiations over a long-term ceasefire.



Lifting the blockade

Chief Palestinian negotiator Azzam al-Ahmed said the delegations had reached“agreement on many points” over lifting Israel‟s eight-year blockade on Gaza, althoughthey needed more time to settle a number of remaining disputes.

Israel also confirmed its acceptance of the Egyptian proposal.

Israeli negotiators returned from Cairo late on Wednesday, and the various members ofthe Palestinian delegation also left on Thursday morning for consultations in theirrespective bases in Ramallah, Doha and Gaza City, delegation leader Ahmed said. They were only expected to return to Cairo on Saturday night, a delegation source told AFP.

Since the conflict began on July 8, 1,962 Palestinians and 67 on the Israeli side have been killed.

If observed, the latest truce should herald potentially the longest period of calm in thefive-week conflict and allow more time for talks on the thorniest issues separating thetwo sides. — AFP

Gaza’s cultural heritage lies in ruins

One direct hit by an Israeli missile destroyed the Omari mosque in Jabaliya and dealtanother blow to Gaza‟s beleaguered heritage.

The site is believed to have housed a mosque since the seventh century and parts of themosque were said to date back to the 14th century.

Gaza has been home to settled communities since at least 3,300 BC, historians say,governed by the Canaanites, pharaohs, Greeks, Romans and Byzantines before thearrival of Islam in the seventh century AD.

It was ruled by the Mamluk dynasty in the 13th century, and three centuries later joinedthe Ottoman Empire, which held sway until the British took the area in 1917.

Centuries of conquest and conflict, and rapid population growth since the creation of thestate of Israel in 1948 have hit the enclave‟s cultural heritage badly. Squat apartment blocks built line many of the city‟s streets.

Israeli authorities restrict the entry to Gaza of key construction materials, includingcement and steel, on grounds Hamas could use them to build bunkers and otherfortifications, making renovations difficult. — AFP



Evacuation mission ‘far less likely’

An American assessment team found “far fewer” Yazidis trapped in northern Iraq thanexpected, making an evacuation mission less likely, as the flight of minority groups fromadvancing jihadists showed no let-up on Thursday.

The U.N. refugee agency had said tens of thousands of civilians, many of them from the Yazidi religious minority, were trapped on Mount Sinjar by jihadists of the Islamic State(IS) militant group, which has overrun swathes of Iraq and Syria.

Not as bad as feared

But the Pentagon said that — based on a firsthand assessment by a small party of U.S.military personnel — the plight of those on the mountain was not as bad as had beenfeared, and an evacuation mission was therefore “far less likely”.

A U.S. military official said the special forces personnel had returned safely to Arbil, thecapital of Iraq‟s autonomous Kurdish region.

Pentagon press secretary Rear Admiral John Kirby said the fewer than 20 troops did notengage in any combat. “The team has assessed that there are far fewer Yazidis on MountSinjar than previously feared, in part because of the success of humanitarian air drops,air strikes on [IS] targets, the efforts of the [Kurdish forces] and the ability of thousandsof Yazidis to evacuate from the mountain each night over the last several days,” he said.

“The Yazidis who remain are in better condition than previously believed and continueto have access to the food and water that we have dropped.” — AFP

Liberia gets ‘last known doses’ of Ebola drug

Liberia faced an excruciating choice on Thursday- deciding which handful of Ebolapatients will receive an experimental drug that could prove either life-saving or life-threatening.

ZMapp, the untested Ebola drug, arrived in the West African country late Wednesday. Assistant Health Minister Tolbert Nyenswah said three or four people would begingetting it on Thursday. The government had previously said two doctors would receivethe treatment, but it was unclear who else would.

These are the last known doses of ZMapp left in the world. The San Diego-basedcompany that developed it has said it will take months to build up even a modest supply.

An Ebola outbreak that began in Guinea and spread to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeriahas killed more than 1,060 of the 1,970 people sickened since it was detected in March,according to the World Health Organization (WHO). — AP



Egypt: one year since crackdown

Sporadic skirmishes erupted in Egypt on Thursday as police quashed attempts by

supporters of ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsy to stage rallies marking thefirst anniversary of a brutal Cairo crackdown.

On August 14, 2013, after then army chief and now President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi hadremoved Egypt‟s first freely elected President, the security forces cracked down onthousands of Morsy supporters at protest camps in Rabaa al-Adawiya and Nahdasquares.

In Rabaa al-Adawiya alone, at least 817 people were killed, said the New York-basedHuman Rights Watch.

The assault was “one of the largest killings of demonstrators in a single day in recenthistory”, it said in a report released ahead of Thursday‟s anniversary.

(File photo from AP shows a Morsy supporter holding his poster, which reads „peoplesupport the President!‟, in Cairo last month) — AFP

BUSINESS

Gold demand in India down 39 % in Q2

WGC re-calibrates its demand projection for 2014 to 850-950 tonnes

Continuing restrictions on gold imports into India have led the World Gold Council (WGC) tore-calibrate its projected demand for the year 2014 to 850-950 tonnes from the earlier 900-1,000 tonnes.

In its report „India demand statistics‟ for the April-June 2014 quarter, WGC, on Thursday,announced that India‟s demand for gold was down 39 per cent at 204.1 tonnes and in valueterms, it had come down by 41 per cent to Rs.50,564.3 crore.

Of this, WGC said, jewellery demand was down 18 per cent at 154.5 tonnes while in value terms,it was down 20 per cent at Rs.38,269.5 crore. Investment demand was down a significant 67 percent in volume and value terms at 49.6 tonnes and Rs.12,294.8 crore.

Recycled gold in India during the quarter was up at 16.4 tonnes (9.5 tonnes).

Somasundaram P. R., Managing Director, India, WGC, said, “Restrictions played a part in thedrop in demand but there are also expectations of a price drop. Inflation cut into the wallet of



the buyer and savings were lower. Besides, it comes against a backdrop of huge jump in demandin 2013.”

For the first-half of calendar 2014, Indian gold demand was lower by 34 per cent in volumeterms at 394.4 tonnes and 37 per cent in value terms at Rs.99,417.3 crore. Further, Mr.Somasundaram said the huge negative sentiment which was there in the second-half of 2013,

when restrictions were imposed, had been overcome.

Considering that the policy squeeze and other economic factors had affected savings in generalin the first-half, for the second-half, monsoon looked near normal and there was a generalpositive sentiment in the economy, he said.

“With the impending wedding season and favourable monsoons, it is likely that the demand inthe second-half of the year will be near normal. We, therefore, expect annual demand to be inthe region of 850-900 tonnes with over 200 tonnes flowing through the grey market,” he said.

Export growth slows to 7.33 %

Exports growth slipped to 7.33 per cent in July after witnessing a double-digit expansion in theprevious two months, pushing up the trade deficit to one-year high of $12.22 billion.

Exports stood at $27.73 billion in July as compared to $25.84 billion in the same month last year. In June and May, the growth was 10.22 per cent and 12.4 per cent, respectively.

The sectors that put up a good show include textiles (13.3 per cent), petroleum products (28 percent), engineering (23.9 per cent), leather (17.23 per cent), marine products (25 per cent), oilseeds (19.25 per cent), chemicals (16.67 per cent) and pharmaceuticals (10.78 per cent).

Imports increased by 4.25 per cent year-on-year to $39.95 billion in July. This is the secondconsecutive growth in the inbound shipments after remaining in the negative for the past severalmonths.

Deficit at $12.22 billion

The trade deficit of $12.22 billion is one-year high as the previous high was $12.49 billion in July2013.

According to exporters‟ body FIEO, gems and jewellery and electronics continue to be a cause ofconcern as their negative growth is pulling down the overall exports growth. It wants thegovernment to announce some major initiatives in the forthcoming Foreign Trade Policy to

boost exports.

The FIEO expressed hope that exports would cross $350 billion by the end of the fiscal.

In the April-July period, exports grew by 8.62 per cent to $107.8 billion. Imports, however,dipped by 3.8 per cent to $153.15 billion during the first four months of this financial year.



The trade deficit during the period stood at $45.31 billion as against $59.91 billion in the sameperiod last year.

Oil imports

Oil imports increased by 12.75 per cent to $14.35 billion in July. Non-oil imports during the

month under review were up 0.03 per cent to $25.6 billion.

Gold imports dipped by 26.39 per cent to $1.81 billion in July from $2.46 billion in the samemonth last year.

Sectors which registered negative growth include tea (8.72 per cent), rice (21.68 per cent),tobacco (12.64 per cent), oil meals (47.73 per cent), iron ore (72 per cent), gems and jewellery(17.42 per cent), electronic goods (20.14 per cent) and cotton textiles (4.38 per cent).

Import sectors which recorded negative growth are fertiliser (27.38 per cent), machine tools (10per cent), transport equipment (47.86 per cent) and project goods (50 per cent).

Oil imports during April-July 2014 grew by 6.65 per cent $55.14 billion. However, non-oilimports dipped by 8.82 per cent to $98.01 billion during the same period. — PTI

This is the second consecutive growth in inbound shipments after remaining in

the negative for the past several months.

RBI proposes COO post in Deputy Governor rank

The Reserve Bank of India, on Thursday, said its board has approved HR (human resources)restructuring by creating an additional post of Chief Operating Officer (COO) in the rank ofDeputy Governor, and will approach the government for required legislative changes.

The RBI is headed by a Governor and assisted by four deputy governors looking after differentfunctions. The central bank now wants to create a post of COO and re-allocate work among thefive.

The RBI said it has been deliberating on a broad HR restructuring exercise to alignorganisational resources and structures with the needs of the domestic economy and changes inthe external environment.

The restructuring proposals and the grouping of departments into five functional clusters have been widely discussed at various levels in the RBI.

“One of the proposals envisaged the creation of an additional position of a COO of the rank ofDeputy Governor to head one of the five functional clusters.

“The proposals were discussed in the Reserve Bank‟s board meeting. The board approved the broad contours of the proposals,” the RBI said in a statement.



The statement further said the board advised the RBI to operationalise the restructuring, andasked it to “initiate a dialogue with the government on the additional post of Deputy Governorand the legislative changes that will be needed.‟‟

When asked about RBI‟s proposal regarding COO, Financial Services Secretary G. S. Sandhusaid the proposal would be discussed with the Finance Minister once the RBI sends it.

“They (RBI) are also re-organising internally. After that if they think that there is requirement ofCOO, then they will send proposal and the Finance Ministry would take a view,” he added.

Mr. Sandhu further said: As per the present norm, the RBI can have four deputy governors. Ifthe fifth Deputy Governor has to be appointed, then the Act has to be amended.‟‟ — PTI

If the fifth Deputy Governor has to be appointed, then the RBI Act has to beamended, says Sandhu

EDITORIAL

For a judicial search committee

The Modi government has got down to business pretty quickly to insert itself into theappointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the High Courts. Parliament hasspeedily passed the 99th Constitutional Amendment to create a National Judicial Appointments Commission, and another Bill mandating its procedures. Thecommission consists of the Chief Justice of India, his two seniormost colleagues, theLaw Minister and two eminent persons. The persons last mentioned are to be chosen bythe Prime Minister, the Chief Justice and the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

The commission is to recommend persons for appointment as Chief Justice and other judges of the Supreme Court and the High Courts. The Bills as enacted were notcirculated for public discussion and comment, although discussion on the broadcontours of such a body has been going on for several years.

The collegium

These enactments will replace the system which has held sway since 1992. In that year,the Supreme Court virtually rewrote the constitutional provisions which gave primacy tothe government in such appointments, obliging consultation with the judiciary but notmore. By a rather extensive use of its powers of interpretation, the court equated “in

consultation with” to “concurrence of,” and thereby secured to itself the last word. Itsolidified this constitutional coup by vesting this power with its seniormost justices, thuscreating the collegium which has held centre stage in controlling appointments to thehigher judiciary viz. the Supreme Court and High Courts. In a remarkable interchangeof roles, the court ruled that it would consult the government but not require itsconcurrence. For 22 years the heads of the Indian judiciary have enjoyed a power whichis unparalleled the world over — that of having the first and last word in determining who joins its ranks. This has rankled successive governments, who could do little since



public opinion seemed to be in favour of trusting the court rather than the politicalexecutive which had never quite got over the taint of wanting a committed judiciary,from the days of Indira Gandhi and Mohan Kumaramangalam.

The collegium has few supporters today. Jurists, retired judges, Bar leaders, political

commentators and of course politicians seem to have made common cause indemanding that it be replaced with a broad based commission which joins other branches of the State with the judiciary. The collegium has been criticised for beingopaque and secretive, and blamed for several controversial decisions. However, beforethe requiem is sung, fairness requires an ode. By insulating the judiciary from politicalinfluence at all the stages of appointment and further elevation and transfer, thecollegium in effect did secure the independence of the judiciary; this major achievementshould not be lost sight of now. It provided a measure of stability and some comfort byreposing such vital decision-making in the top bracket of the country‟s most respectedinstitution. Many appointments to the Supreme Court came under the seniority flag, with representation for region, minorities and women. It may have left out some of the best, but there was a predictability and foreseeability about most appointments whichreduced lobbying and extraneous influence. Judges to the High Court were pickedthrough a process involving its senior judges, with confirmation by the collegium.Certainly, cases exist of favouritism promoting unsuitable appointments or prejudice blocking deserving candidates — and these have been highlighted — but this has thrustinto the shade the hundreds of cases of sound and deserving persons becoming andperforming well as judges. Unfortunately, the collegium‟s insularity negated theprinciples of transparency and participation, values which, ironically, have beenembedded into our administrative jurisprudence by the judiciary. Names of prospectiveappointees were not shared, nor the criteria for evaluation. The Bar had no role to play.These factors ensured that when the institution came under challenge, it lacked popular backing. Indeed, if the collegium had not distanced its natural allies and given lawyers a

role in its functioning it may not be facing extinction today. Governments may challengea handful of unelected judges, but few politicians want to tangle with the numerousmembers of a vociferous profession.

Bill and procedures

Proponents of the new Judicial Commission have made reassuring statements that the judiciary has the biggest say in its working and that its independence is notcompromised. At first glance, yes; the judges are the largest single block in thecomposition of the body. The devil, however, is in the details, in this case the proceduresmandated in the second Bill. Consider a couple. If any two members express

disagreement on a candidate, the appointment cannot go through. Thus, in anyselection, the unanimity of the three judicial members counts for naught if they cannotcarry two out of the remaining three with them. This provision needs to be reconsidered.It will inevitably lead to an impasse, and since the country desperately needs judges,compromises will be made to secure consensus, leading to the entry of compromisedcandidates. Another serious problem arises with regard to the selection of the twoeminent persons. They hold a crucial, perhaps even the determinative position. They can block an appointment by themselves, and in a disagreement between the judges and the



Law Minister, their vote will swing the matter towards, or away from, the judges. In theall important selection of these members, the Chief Justice can be outvoted by the PrimeMinister and the Leader of the Opposition. It would have been in the fitness of things tohave provided a clause that no person can be appointed in this category to whom theChief Justice is opposed, or at least to provide that there should be consensus. One

hopes that at least a healthy convention will be established— that the Chief Justice hasto concur in the selection of the eminent persons; but in our systems, conventionsusually surrender to expediency.

Choosing candidates

Ultimately, the system will succeed or fail on the one test — has it selected the best judges of capacity and independence? And here lies the basic truth— this will not comeonly from efforts of the chosen six. The judges on the collegium carry tremendous judicial workloads, the Law Minister runs a large ministry, and the eminent persons too will have important activities from which they gained their eminence. None of them canspare much time to attend to the selection of members of the higher judiciary whonumber close to 950, with over 200 vacancies, and an annual entry of about 100. Aproper selection process mandates that every prospective appointee must be carefullyevaluated — for ability, merit and above all, integrity. The names should be disclosedand complaints and objections looked into and evaluated. And every candidate must beinterviewed. These judges deal with questions of life and death, public policy issues of vast import, corporate and property matters, matrimonial and custody claims. Theyhave more powers than heads of corporations and bureaucracies. And yet, currently, theselecting authority does not even meet them before making the appointment; our seniorcollegium judges are too busy. The members of the proposed commission are alsounlikely to find the time. That is why the commission needs to be backed up by a full-time search committee, composed primarily of retired judges along with other reputed

members who will bring the time, the care and the circumspection to this task. In othercountries, there are exacting methods to discard and choose candidates. The UnitedStates has the Judiciary Committee of the Senate comprising 18 members; it has theresources to unearth and examine every aspect of the candidate‟s record. The UnitedKingdom has its Judicial Appointments Commission that comprises 15 judicial and laymembers, with a staff of 70.

The permanent Search Committee proposed here to aid the National Judicial Appointments Commission has to function in a transparent way, involve the Bar andother stakeholders, and then present its evaluation to the commission. And crucially,this record of facts, investigation, examination of complaints and findings must become

public knowledge. The Bill has the necessary preamble of transparency, participationand accountability in its Statement of Reasons; creating such a Search Committee is the way to translate platitude to performance. If we can cure or avoid the legislative snares,and bring in a full-time body to do the groundwork for the commission, we would marryefficiency to the sunshine processes of democracy. And then it will not be easy to rejectthe good names, nor bargain for the undesirable, for a watchful media and an informedpublic will step in.



(Sriram Panchu is a senior advocate. E-mail: [email protected] )

By insulating the judiciary from political influence at all the stages ofappointment and further elevation and transfer, the collegium in effect didsecure the independence of the judiciary; this major achievement should

not be lost sight of now.

A proper judicial selection process mandates that every prospectiveappointee must be carefully evaluated — for ability, merit and integrity.Currently, the selecting authority does not even meet them before makingthe appointment and the proposed National Judicial AppointmentsCommission is unlikely to find the time

Doing more on climate

Climate change talks are poised at a critical stage before the Conference of Parties meetsin Paris in 2015 to finalise a new treaty, and India‟s alliances with developing countriesassume significance at this point. Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar has beenstressing on funds from the first world for the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and also onscaling up targets in the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol and its quickratification. In line with this, the recent BASIC (Brazil South Africa India China)ministerial meeting has once again called on the developed countries to walk the talk onfunding and emission cuts, but going by past experience some advanced countries arenot going to abide by this. Already Japan and Australia have scaled back their promiseson emission cuts, and funds for technology transfer, adaptation and mitigation arenowhere in sight. The BASIC meet did not throw up any new thought or action plan and

reiterated what the developing countries have tried to do for the last 20 years. As apressure bloc, BASIC despite its cloak of togetherness seems a divided house, and it isperceived by some to be losing its significance in terms of climate talks. Differences inBASIC on various issues have prompted India to side more strongly with yet anothergroup called the Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDCs), which is expected to meetsoon.

While countries such as the United States are not even signatories to the Kyoto Protocol,there is a real danger that more first world nations will renege on their historicalresponsibility to fund capacity-building and other critical measures in the developingcountries vis-à-vis climate change. Now more than ever, there is a need for India to

emphasise along with other countries the need for strong commitments on emissionreduction and operationalising the GCF. India has already announced a voluntarymitigation goal of reducing the emissions intensity of its GDP by 20-25 per cent over2005 levels by 2020, but it also needs to review its commitments and, like the rest of the world, do more. The BASIC meet stressed that the 2015 outcome in Paris should becomprehensive, balanced, equitable and fair — but so far nothing has been fair in theclimate negotiations. One of the BASIC countries, China, has emerged as a majoremitter, and despite its emphasis on alternative energy and mitigation it still relies



heavily on coal for energy. With little commitment to emission cuts or fundingadaptation and technology transfer in the poorer countries, the world is moving towardsa new climate treaty which seems fraught with contention already. In this light, India‟srole and alliances, and its emphasis on equity and common but differentiatedresponsibilities, could be a game-changer

Tentative recovery

The economic data released this week send out mixed signals. While wholesale priceinflation showed a decline at 5.19 per cent in July, consumer price inflation, which is theReserve Bank of India‟s benchmark, inched up to 7.96 per cent. Industrial grow thslowed down in June compared to May. The rise in retail inflation was driven by higherfood prices, mainly of vegetables and fruits. With the monsoon having made a weakstart, vegetable prices shot up by 16.88 per cent in July, biting into the wallets ofconsumers. The present level of retail inflation is very close to the RBI‟s target of 8 percent by January 2015. The good news, though, is that it is not expected to increasefurther from here — an assessment based on the monsoon‟s revival over the last few weeks, and the measures that the Centre has taken to combat rising food prices. Thelatest update from the India Meteorological Department predicts a normal monsoon inthe remaining days of August and September with the possibility of a drought ruled out.Steps taken by the Centre, such as raising the minimum export prices of onions andpotatoes, making hoarding a non-bailable offence, releasing foodgrains fromoverflowing granaries, and urging States to make changes in the APMC Act to determiddlemen, are expected to ease supply-side constraints.

Meanwhile, industrial output slid to 3.4 per cent in June from 4.7 per cent in May but ithas to be seen in context. Despite the lower June figures, industrial growth in the firstquarter at 3.4 per cent is a large improvement over the 1 per cent fall seen in the same

period last year and the minus-0.7 per cent growth in the January-March quarter.Besides, the important segment of capital goods has rebounded in June indicating thatthe investment cycle has possibly begun. Only the other day, RBI Governor RaghuramRajan had expressed worries on this count, pointing out how despite two reductions inthe statutory liquidity ratio commercial lending by banks had failed to pick up,indicating a lack of appetite for investment by the corporate sector. It is possible thatcompanies are unwilling to commit investments in fresh capacity until the existing slackis fully accounted for. The RBI‟s Industrial Outlook Survey of 1,293 manufacturingcompanies, done in May-June 2014, shows an increase in optimism and an expectationof improvement in business conditions in the second quarter of this fiscal. Similarly, thelatest Consumer Confidence Survey done by the central bank shows that there are

higher expectations of an increase in employment and wages. These are all clearlypositive signals, but for growth to get on the fast lane we need to await the return of the“animal spirits” in the corporate sector — which seems to be absent at this point in time.

Jai Hind.

daily news notes 15aug

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