Union Government to soon implement many reforms recommended by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said this past Saturday, at an event organized by the Institute of Company Secretaries of India in Mumbai, that the government is keenly studying the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) report and will implement several of its recommendations in the coming days.

(Arun Jaitley at an event organized by the ICSI in Mumbai on Saturday)

 The Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) headed by Justice (retd.) B.N. Srikrishna was constituted by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India in March 2011 with a mandate to comprehensively review and redraw the legislations governing India’s financial system. According to the FSLRC, the current regulatory architecture is fragmented and is fraught with regulatory gaps, overlaps, inconsistencies and arbitrage. 

To address this, the FSLRC submitted its report to the Ministry of Finance on March 22, 2013, containing an exhaustive analysis of the current regulatory architecture and mooted a draft Indian Financial Code to replace the bulk of the existing financial laws.  The draft Code seeks to move away from the current sector-wise regulation to a system where the RBI regulates the banking and payments system and a Unified Financial Agency subsumes existing regulators like SEBI, IRDA, PFRDA and FMC, to regulate the rest of the financial markets. This was in tune with the Commission’s recommendation of pursuing a non-sectoral, principle-based, legislative architecture for the financial sector through restructuring and upgrade of existing regulatory agencies, and creating new agencies wherever needed for better governance and accountability.

In September this year, the National Democratic Alliance Government had formed task forces to work on the FSLRC recommendations. Jaitley said the four expert groups were currently examining the various aspects of the committee’s suggestions, as many changes to existing laws and regulations might be required. The task forces would lay down the road map for upgrade of existing agencies and establishment of new agencies — the Financial Sector Appellate Tribunal, Resolution Corporation, Public Debt Management Agency and Financial Data Management Centre.  He did not comment on the current status of the work done by these groups. However he said that “Under present circumstances some administrative and legislative changes may be required to the recommendations of the FSLRC report.,”

The FSLRC report has been a bone of contention between the Union Government and the Reserve Bank of India. In June, RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan had called certain recommendations of the report “somewhat schizophrenic” and “faddish and impressionistic rather than based on deep analysis”.

The stiff opposition by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over the financial sector reforms recommended by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Committee (FSLRC) had even prompted President Pranab Mukherjee to make an unusual intervention and take up the issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.  Reports indicate that following the President’s intervention, the Prime Minister’s Office had asked the Finance Ministry to explain the inordinate delay in implementing the recommendations of the committee. 

Report submitted by the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) headed by Justice (retd.) B.N. Srikrishna can be accessed here.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley said on Saturday that the government is keenly studying the Financial Sector Legislative Reforms Commission (FSLRC) report and will implement several of its recommendations in the coming days.

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Former CAG, Vinod Rai publishes his memoir : 'Not Just An Accountant-The Diary of the Nations’ Conscience Keeper'

Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Vinod Rai has published a 268-page memoir, titled 'Not Just An Accountant- The Diary of the Nations’ Conscience Keeper, which inter alia, deals with five different scams: The Commonwealth Games, the coal block allocation, the 2G spectrum scam, the mismanagement of Air India and the Kaveri Godavari basin gas disputes. 

(File Photo: Vinod Rai)

He was recently in conversation with 'The Hindu'. Readers interested in reading the text of his interview may visit the page  here.

Attorney General recommends repeal of the Arbitration & Conciliation Act, 1996

Attorney General of India, Mukul Rohatgi, in a legal opinion to the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India, has recommended the repeal of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 and mooted a new law in tune with the Union Government’s larger push to provide a business-friendly environment for foreign investors.

(File photo: Mukul Rohatgi)

The Attorney General had tendered his legal opinion on the subject after the Ministry of Law and Justice, Government of India had specifically sought his views of the same. In his legal opinion, AG, Mukul Rohatgi has advised the Government to replace the present law with a new one stressing timely settlement of business disputes and fixing greater onus on arbitrators against delay.

To strengthen the arbitration mechanism framework, the AG has suggested to the Government, the introduction of  statutory measures like a “strict” time limit of probably six months for giving the arbitration award in a dispute. The AG also recommended the imposition of penalty on arbitrators who delay matters.

Mr. Rohatgi has further suggested a ceiling for arbitration fee and expenses. In case of challenge to an arbitration award, a provision should be introduced in the statute, whereby a stay is granted after hearing both parties. 

 

The AG's legal opinion on repeal of the Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996 which has been on the statute books for 18 years now, comes close on the heels of the Union Law Minister D.V. Sadananda Gowda's Law Day speech at the Supreme Court, wherein he had said that changing the 1996 law was a top priority for the government’s ‘Make in India’ policy to attract foreign investments.

T.S.R. Subramanian Committee strikes a cautious note on introduction of Genetically Modified food crops

The Union government-appointed High Level Committee (HLC) headed by former Cabinet Secretary, T.S.R. Subramanian to review environmental laws, while proposing a near complete overhaul of the regulatory system,  has however struck a cautious note when it comes to the issue of introduction of introduction of Genetically Modified food crops, and stated that the role of the Environment Ministry may have to be one of being a 'Devil’s Advocate to advise due caution'.

(File Photo: T.S.R Subramanian)

In a report submitted recently to the Government on its review of six laws, the High Level Committee headed by former Cabinet Secretary T.S.R. Subramanian, said the potential consequences of mindless use of science and technology could possibly be illustrated by referring to the potential for medium/ long-term adverse affects through unprepared introduction of GM food crops. 

It said that Europe does not permit field trials, and that the average Indian farm is of very small size (which could lead to severe adverse impact on biodiversity through gene-flow) and also noted that there are no independent expert agencies in the country, and perhaps the Ministry of Environment may ask for greater assurance in respect of potential adverse effects in the medium and long run.

More updates to follow...

Crucial UN Climate Change Conference gets underway at Lima, Peru from today

Lima, Peru will host the 20th yearly session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the 10th session of the Meeting of the Parties (CMP) to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol from December 1-12, 2014.

The United Nations Climate Change Conferences are yearly conferences held in the framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). They serve as the formal meeting of the UNFCCC Parties (Conferences of the Parties) (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change, and beginning in the mid-1990s, to negotiate the Kyoto Protocol to establish legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The Kyoto Protocol, it may be recollected, commits State Parties to reduce greenhouse gases emissions, based on the premise that (a) global warming exists and (b) man-made CO2 emissions have caused it. The Kyoto Protocol was adopted in Kyoto, Japan, on 11 December 1997 and entered into force on 16 February 2005. There are 192 Parties to the Protocol. The Kyoto commitment period expired on 31 December 2012. On 8 December 2012, at the end of the 2012 United Nations Climate Change Conference held at Doha, an agreement was reached to extend the Protocol to 2020 and to set a date of 2015 for the development of a successor document, to be implemented from 2020.

The 2014 ministerial-level climate conference takes place one year before the deadline for a new, global deal on curbing global warming. Due to be signed in Paris at the COP 21/CMP 11 in December 2015 and take effect from 2020, the accord, if reached, would roll back carbon emissions and ease the threat of ecosystem damage and species loss for future generations.

The last climate treaty was the Kyoto Protocol, inked in 1997. A bid to follow it up in Copenhagen in 2009 ended in a near fiasco, as it could not achieve a binding agreement for long-term action..At the Conference of parties held in Durban, South Africa in 2011, the conference agreed to a legally binding deal comprising all countries, which will be prepared by 2015, and to take effect in 2020.

It is in this background that the Climate Change Conference assumes significance. 

The overview schedule of the Lima Conference on Climate Change can be accessed here.

Mother of a German woman killed in MH17 plane crash sues Ukranian authorities in the European Court of Human Rights

The mother of a German woman killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was downed over eastern Ukraine in July is suing authorities in Ukraine in the European Court of Human Rights for failing to close their airspace, a German newspaper has reported.

( Pic courtesy: Economic Times)

The mother of the victim, was seeking $US1 million in compensation from Kiev for manslaughter by negligence, Bild am Sonntag newspaper said on Sunday.

According to the indictment, Ukraine should have closed its airspace to civil air traffic because of fighting with pro-Russian separatists.

It accuses Ukraine of failing to do so because it wanted to continue to profit from the fees paid by transit flights, which at the time numbered 700 per day and would have earned it several million dollars a month, the newspaper reported.

This is an extract of the report published in the online edition of the Canberra Times.

Calcutta High Court gives the go-ahead for conduct of BJP Rally in Kolkata; Amit Shah hails HC order as 'a victory of the masses'

President of the Bharatiya Janata Party, Amit Shah has today said that the permission given by Calcutta High Court for the conduct of his rally in Kolkata is "a victory of the masses". 

The rally assumes significance in view of the significant rise in the support base of the BJP in West Bengal recently. The BJP since the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year has been trying to make headway in the State. Of the 42 seats, it managed to win two – SS Ahluwalia (Darjeeling) and Babul Supriyo (Asansol). Supriyo has since been elevated as Minister of State for Urban Development in the recent expansion of the Union Council of Ministers. Significantly, BJP after a long gap has also been able to win an Assembly seat (in West Bengal) from Basirhat Dakshin constituency. Samik Bhattacharya is the only MLA of the party in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly.

(File Picture: Amit Shah, BJP President)

Earlier, the Trinamool Congress-run city civic body, Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and other emergency services like the Fire Department, apart from the police, had initially declined permission for the Uthan rally planned to be held by the party outside Victoria House in central Kolkata citing certain 'deficiencies'. Reasons of traffic inconvenience and width of the staircase leading to the dais were stated. The authorities also reasoned that Shah couldn’t hold a public rally outside Victoria House on Sunday because the sketch of the podium that the BJP had submitted for permission does not exactly show the width of the staircase and the site plan was not according to scale. The certificate of the decorator hired was also not submitted. While rejecting BJP's plea, the fire department had said there must be "minimum 20 feet clear open space" between the boundary wall and the proposed stage. 

This had prompted the party (BJP) to move the Calcutta High Court challenging the non-issuance of the NOC by the authorities on the ground of discrimination by the administration. The Party had contended that the technical objections raised may be on valid grounds, but then these objections could be rectified after a dialogue with the civic authorities. In Court, Counsel for the BJP, Mr. S K Kapoor said the government's argument followed neither fact nor law. The court said BJP's applications to KMC and fire department were not in order. Kapoor assured that his client will comply with rules to ensure the rally is held on November 30.

The Calcutta High Court passed an order on Friday appointing two special officers – director general of state fire services Sanjoy Mukherjee and KMC joint commissioner (development) S Santra, to ensure the compliance of fire services and municipal rules in the public meeting, while observing that the government should not be rigid in the compliance of these rules while granting permission. The court asked officers to take a reasonable call on the "20-feet space rule".


On the same day, Counsel for the fire services Department, Pranab Dutta sought a stay on the Single Judge’s order following an oral appeal to Chief Justice Dr. Manjula Chellur. She however refused to pass an order based on verbal petition and asked Dutta to file a formal application. 

Following the High Court directive, the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and the state fire services department were left with no choice but to give the green signal for the conduct of Amit Shah's rally.

State BJP vice president Tathagata Roy said the ruling Trinamool Congress’s “conspiracy” to scuttle the rally stood exposed. Observers point out that he Victoria House venue has a great symbolic importance in the BJP-TMC face off. This has been favoured venue of TMC leader and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee over the years, from where she would make a show of her strength in the month of July, year after year.

The stage is now literally set for a grand face-off with the BJP all set to take on the ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal ahead of the Assembly elections in 2016. BJP leader and National Secretary of the party, Siddharth Nath Singh hinted as much when he said “Amit Shah-ji will sound the bugle for the 2016 Assembly polls in order to make West Bengal TMC free after 2016 polls."

PM Modi advocates SMART Policing at a conference of top Cops and Intelligence officials in Guwahati

Advocating the concept of 'SMART' policing, while addressing a national conference of Directors General of Police in Guwahati., Prime Minister Narendra Modi today laid out a plan for SMART policing.

(File picture: PM Modi. Picture courtesy: India Today)

He said, by 'SMART' policing, he meant 'S for strict but sensitive, M for modern and mobile, A for alert and accountable, R for reliable and responsive and T for techno-savvy and trained.'

Stressing on the importance of good intelligence, he said "Good intelligence negates the need for weapons or conflict."

PM Modi also claimed that the media keeps "projecting only negative picture of the police", who do a lot of good work which is often not highlighted.

Extolling the role played by India's policemen, he said, "Since independence, 33000 police men have died in the line of duty". Police welfare is another issue which needs to be given importance, added PM Modi. "It was imperative to "change the perception about policemen in the country" said PM Modi, and expressed his "gratitude to all those police officers who are serving the nation".

News Link here

Winter Session of the Kerala Assembly to commence on Monday; Opposition likely to corner Government on a host of issues

The twelfth session of the thirteenth Kerala Legislative Assembly will commence on December 1, Monday. 

Kerala Legislative Assembly

Earlier, Speaker G. Karthikeyan, on Wednesday, had called a meeting of the leaders of all political parties represented in the Assembly to solicit their cooperation for the smooth conduct of the upcoming session of the House starting on December 1.

The 14-day-long winter session beginning on December 1 is likely to be a stormy affair with the CPI-M led LDF Opposition all set to take on the UDF Government on a host of issues, including the alleged bar licence bribery involving Finance Minister K M Mani. Pouncing on the issue, the LDF had demanded Mani's resignation and had warned the government that it would launch a series of agitations if he did not quit the post. CPI Legislature Party leader C Divakaran on Friday had said that Finance Minister K M Mani, who is under a cloud of suspicion following the revelation by Biju Ramesh, Bar Owners’ Association leader that Mani had accepted bribes, should keep away from attending the Assembly session.

The outbreak of avian flu leading to mass deaths of ducks, causing huge losses to farmers in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanmthitta districts would be another major topic of debate in the Assembly, which has been convened primarily to take up legislative business.

The long drawn-out students' agitation at the University of Calicut, which has virtually stalled the administration in the University is also likely to be raised on the floor of the House. CPI(M) politburo member and Deputy leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Kodiyeri Balakrishnan has been quoted in the media as making a statement to that effect.

The session is scheduled to devote 11 days for transacting legislative business, Speaker G. Karthekeyan said. As many as 18 ordinances issued by the government when the House was not in session has to be replaced. The same has been accorded top priority, and placed at the top of the list of the legislative business to be transacted. Earlier, CPI Legislature Party leader C Divakaran on Friday had criticized that what has been going on in the state is an ‘’ordinance raj". Some of these ordinances are anti-people and government was seeking the approval of the Assembly, Divakaran said.The CPI leader added that Rs 3000 crore worth additional taxes were imposed on the people by enhancing the fair value of land, stamp duty and registration fee.

The Bills to be introduced to replace the Ordinances issued by the Government when the House was not in session, include, inter alia, the Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, the Kerala Maritime Board Ordinance, 2014, Kerala Devaswom Recruitment Board Ordinance, 2014, Kerala Land Tax (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, Kerala Taxation Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, Kerala Tolls (Amendment) Ordinance, 2014, and the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (Passenger Group Personal Accident Insurance, Improved Passenger Amenities, Employees' Social Security and Cess on Ticket) Ordinaance, 2014. 

The University Laws (Third Amendment) Bill and the Kerala Panchayat Raj (Second Amendment) Bill are  the two Bills reported by the Subject Committee of the Assembly that is also scheduled to be taken up in the upcoming session.