The monsoon session of parliament begins on July 18, 2016. While going through the questions asked during the budget session, and the responses from Ministers, one cannot stop thinking that nothing has changed in between, or is it? While the top issues like the Pathankot terror attack has now been relegated to a footnote, things like the Vijay Mallya saga continue to play out. Meanwhile, Narendra Modi has > inducted several junior Ministers in his team, while > elevating Prakash Javadekar to Cabinet rank. Ministers including > Smriti Irani and > Jayant Sinha have been moved to other departments, while five Ministers of State have been summarily asked to go.
Here are some select questions from the budget session of Parliament. Click on the date to read the full compilation.
SFIO probe of Kingfisher Airlines is on, says govt
The Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO), the agency with a mandate to probe white-collar crimes, is investigating the long-grounded Kingfisher Airlines for alleged financial irregularities, Parliament was informed.
“SFIO is currently investigating Kingfisher Airlines. Since investigation is in progress, no comments are offered at this stage,” Corporate Affairs Minister Arun Jaitley said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
He said this in response to a query whether lapses by the auditing firms handling the UB Group case have been raised by lenders to Kingfisher/UB Group and being probed by SFIO.
Between the sessions, Mr. Mallya has been > declared a proclaimed offender , > courted controversy with his public appearances in the U.K. and an SBI-led banking > consortium has moved the Supreme Court against him.
Polio only disease to be eradicated in last 3 years in India
The only disease to be eradicated in the last three years in India is polio, the government informed.
“In the last three years, only disease to be eradicated from India was Polio, in 2014,” Union Health Minister J.P. Nadda said, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
He said the government has noted that there has been recurrence of existing diseases and emergence of new ones like Drug Resistant Tuberculosis, Leprosy, Influenza A (H1N1), Crimean-Congo Haemorrhagic Fever (CCHF) and Kyasanur Forest Disease (KFD).
Mr. Nadda, however, said there has been no recurrence of any diseases which was eradicated in India.
Replying to another question, he said that regulatory norms for organic foods have not been finalised as yet.
“The draft standards for alcoholic beverages were approved by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India in its meeting held on September 4, 2015 and have been notified to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Technical Barriers to Trade and WTO Sanitary and Phytosanitary members countries on October 29, 2016 and December 1, 2015, respectively,” he said.
Amid reports of > polio scare in Uttar Pradesh and > Telangana , the > Centre and the WHO have reiterated that India continued to be polio-free.
No confirmed case of whistleblowers’ harassment in past three years: Govt.
The Central Vigilance Commission has not come across during the last three years any confirmed incident of victimisation, harassment or life threat to whistleblowers exposing corruption in government departments, Union minister Jitendra Singh said.
The CVC, from time to time, receives complaints or representations alleging harassment and life threat for making disclosure under Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers (PIDPI) resolutions, also known as whistleblower resolution, regarding irregularities in various ministries.
“However, the CVC as designated agency under PIDPI resolution, 2004 has not come across any confirmed incident of victimisation, harassment or life threat to the complainant during the last three years,” Minister of State for Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions said in a written reply in the Rajya Sabha.
The Whistleblowers Protection (Amendment) Bill 2015, aimed at ensuring safety of those exposing corruption, is expected to be taken up during the monsoon session. > Read more
India ratifies TFA pact of WTO
The government said it has ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the WTO and the pact aims to expedite the movement, release and clearance of goods, including goods in transit.
“India has ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) of the World Trade Agreement (WTO) and the instrument of Acceptance for Trade Facilitation Agreement was handed over to WTO Director General by India on April 22, 2016,” Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
The Trade Facilitation Agreement will enter into force once two-thirds of WTO members have completed their domestic ratification process, Ms. Sitharaman added.
India is the 76th WTO member to accept the TFA.
TFA sets out measures for effective cooperation between customs and other appropriate authorities on trade facilitation and customs compliance issues.
“These objectives are in consonance with India’s ‘Ease of Doing Business’ initiative,” the Minister said.
Also read: >WTO welcomes TFA proposal, says Sitharaman
No official estimate of black money: Govt.
There is no official estimation of amount of black money that has been sent to foreign countries by Indians, government said.
“Determination of black money sent to foreign countries by Indian persons is subject matter of investigation and other follow-up actions by relevant law enforcement agencies, including Income Tax Department, Enforcement Directorate, CBI etc, which is on-going.
“However, details regarding the amount of money involved in such cases are not maintained centrally,” Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
Asked whether Indian share in black money stashed in tax havens across the world is at $152 billion to $181 billion, as per the recent estimate by economists from Bank of Italy, he said there seems to be no empirical evidence to suggest that the figures arrived at on the basis of certain assumptions and presumptions, necessarily represent Indian’s share in black money stashed in tax havens.
These economists have reportedly analysed data from IMF and the Bank of International Settlement (BIS) and applied certain assumptions to arrive at the estimation, he added.
The Minister pointed out that by applying another set of assumptions, the same economists have reportedly estimated Indian share in black assets at $4 billion to $5 billion.
“In the context of these estimation, they have reportedly put the caveat that these estimations have to be considered with great care and in no way can represent firm data,” Mr. Sinha said.
The Centre’s Income Declaration Scheme 2016 for declaring black money opened on June 1, 2016. And the declarants have been > given more time .
Govt. to use Aadhaar to deliver benefits to unorganised workers
The government is working on a plan to offer benefits like insurance and pension to over 40 crore unorganised workers in India using Aadhaar, Jan Dhan accounts and the existing platform without going for smart cards.
“In view of the near-universal coverage of Aadhaar, the government is now working on a policy on delivery of various public services using Aadhaar, Jan Dhan yojana accounts (JDY) and the existing platform without the issuance of new ’Unorganised Workers Identification Number’ (U-WIN Card),” Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The latest on the ever-controversial Aadhaar is that LPG consumers without the card had been > denied subsidy . Stating that they were acting as per the directive of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, distributors say consumers should provide Aadhaar details before September 30 for subsidy could be credited.
‘Security agencies unable to decrypt some info on WhatsApp’
Indian security agencies are unable to decrypt some of the communication on platforms like WhatsApp to readable formats for various reasons such as technical as well as legal and regulatory policy, the Parliament was informed.
“Security/law enforcement agencies face difficulty while dealing with encrypted communications by various application service providers including end to end encrypted communication message provided by Whatsapp,” Communications and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
He added that such applications make use of encryption technology and proprietary authentication protocols to secure messages.
“However, security agencies are able to intercept these encrypted communication services through the lawful interception facilities provided by the telecom service providers,” he said.
The Supreme Court on June 29, 2016 > dismissed a public interest litigation seeking a complete ban on messaging platform WhatsApp.
Power shortage at lowest ever level of 2.1%
Power shortage was at 2.1 per cent — the lowest level in a single year — in the last financial year, Parliament was told.
“During 2015-16, the energy shortage was 2.1 per cent, which is the lowest ever in a single year,” Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha.
The Minister further stated that India is importing power only from Bhutan at present.
During 2014-15, electricity shortage, when total demand outstrip supply during peak hours, was 3.6 per cent whereas it was slightly higher at 4.2 per cent in 2013-14 and 8.7 per cent in 2012-13.
In another reply, the Minister said that during the 12th Plan period, a target of 88,537 MW excluding 30,000 MW of Renewal Energy source, was fixed for capacity addition.
The government is > planning to make the country energy surplus with a target of generating 1,178 billion units, leading to a 1.1 per cent overall electricity surplus this fiscal. According to the Load Generation Balance Report (LGBR) for 2016-17, the Centre has set a target of generating 1,178 billion units with overall surplus of 1.1 per cent and peak surplus of 2.6 per cent.
