Manipur unrest
31-Jan-2017: Centre to hold tripartite talks with the United Naga Council (UNC) and Manipur government.
United Naga Council (UNC), an umbrella body of Naga groups imposed economic blockade against the Manipur government’s decision to carve out seven new districts. Blockade has disrupted normal life and led to a shortage of essential commodities in the State.
UNC sees the carving of districts as an attempt to curtail the concept of a greater Nagalim. Centre has been accused of turning a blind eye to the activities of the UNC, with which the Union government had signed a framework agreement in 2015 to resolve the decades-old Naga issue.
Constitutionally, no law permits the Centre to interfere in the matter, as law and order is a State subject. Therefore, Home ministry has demanded the chief minister of Manipur to control the situation before the upcoming elections.
Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management (FRBM) committee
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
Sex ratio
8-Apr-2017: Haryana's sex ratio touches 950 mark for the first time in history.
Sex ratio at birth stood at 950 girls to 1,000 boys in March this year.
After the launch of Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao programme by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Haryana accepted the challenge of improving the skewed sex ratio.
It launched a massive campaign in the state by strictly implementing Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act, 1994 and Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act, 1971 and running sensitisation-cum awareness campaigns promoting girl child.
An official release quoting Khattar said more than 430 FIRs have been lodged in the state under the PC-PNDT Act and the MTP Act in the last about two years.
Out of these, more than 80 FIRs were registered after inter-state raids in the neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Delhi and Punjab.
5-Jan-2017: Haryana achieves sex ratio of 900 girls per 1000 boys
As per Civil Registration System (CRS) data, Haryana has achieved a sex ratio of 900 girls as against 1000 boys in 2016. According to the statistics of 2011, Haryana had the worst sex ratio of 834:1000 among all states in the country.
State government had been making concerted efforts to improve the sex ratio, and now it has taken a leap forward by achieving marked improvement in the Sex Ratio at Birth (SRB). State had launched a massive drive against sex selection, selective abortion and female foeticide, said the CM.
None of the districts is below 850 mark and 12 districts in the state have recorded sex ratio of 900 or 900 plus in 2016. As many as 15 districts had SRB of more than 900 during December 2016.