1-Aug-2017: Justice BN Srikrishna to head Committee for data protection framework
Justice B N Srikrishna, former judge of the Supreme Court of India will head a Committee of experts which has been formed to deliberate on a data protection framework for the country.
The government led ten-member committee will “identify key data protection issues in India and recommend methods of addressing them.” The terms of reference of the committee include, “To make specific suggestions for consideration of the Central Government on principles to be considered for data protection in India and suggest a draft data protection bill.”
There is a need to ensure growth of the digital economy while keeping personal data of citizens secure and protected. Even though the Information Technology Act contains certain provisions about data protection and handling, experts are of the opinion that India needs a fresh data protection law with the increased digitisation led by Aadhaar, the Goods and Service Tax and the push towards a digital economy. IT Act may also be inadequate to deal with the current requirements since it was drafted almost 17 years ago in 2000 and was amended last in 2008. Also, in the last 5-6 years there has been a quantum leap in the world of technology which has been driven by trends such as proliferation of social media, growth of ecommerce leading to boom in transactions over the Internet and demonetisation, which has pushed more people into the digital economy, so the IT act may have to be obviously reconsidered in the light of these developments.
23-Jan-2017: The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Committee headed by Shri N.K. Singh presents its Report.
The Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Committee headed by Shri N.K. Singh, former Revenue and Expenditure Secretary and former Member of Parliament presented its Report to the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley today in his (FM) office in North Block in the national capital. Other Members of the Committee including Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shri Sumit Bose, former Finance Secretary, Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser and Dr. Rathin Roy, Director, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy (NIPFP) were also present on the occasion. The Government will examine the Report and take appropriate action.
Earlier, the Government had constituted a Committee in May, 2016 to review the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) Act under the Chairmanship of Shri N.K. Singh, former Revenue and Expenditure Secretary and former Member of Parliament. The Committee consisted of Dr. Urjit R. Patel, Governor, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Shri Sumit Bose, former Finance Secretary, Dr. Arvind Subramanian, Chief Economic Adviser and Dr. Rathin Roy, Director, National Institute of Public Finance & Policy (NIPFP) as members.
The Committee had wide ranging Terms of Reference (ToR) to comprehensively review the existing FRBM Act in the light of contemporary changes, past outcomes, global economic developments, best international practices and to recommend the future fiscal framework and roadmap for the country. Subsequently, the Terms of Reference were enlarged to seek the Committee’s views on certain recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission and the Expenditure Management Commission. These primarily related to strengthening the institutional framework on fiscal matters as well as certain issues connected with new capital expenditures in the budget.
The Committee held extensive consultations with a wide range of stakeholders. It also received inputs from eminent national and international organisations and domain experts. The Committee also held interactions with various Ministries of Government of India as well as with the State Governments.
Source: Pib
