India, Myanmar to build bridges, sign pact for 69
In a wide-ranging discussion with the Myanmarese President U. Htin Kyaw, who chose India as the first foreign destination after coming to power in March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India would stand with Myanmar at every step.
Chief among the MoUs signed by the two sides was the agreement on construction of 69 bridges, including approach roads in the Tamu-Kyigone-Kalewa section of the Trilateral Highway, which will establish better connectivity between India and Southeast Asia. The other significant agreement was on the upgrade of the Kalewa-Yagyi road section.
Parliament may shift to a new calendar
The Centre is all set to propose a new Parliamentary calendar as it moves to end the system of securing a vote on account for expenses undertaken in the weeks pending the completion of the approvals process for the Union Budget every year. Completion of the budget exercise in Parliament on or before March 31 can eliminate the need for securing the vote on account, a constitutional necessity.
Normally, the pre-budget preparatory cycle starts towards the end of September of the current year and lasts till May of the next financial year. Since Parliament is not able to vote the entire budget before the commencement of the new financial year (April 1), the necessity to keep enough finance at the disposal of the government in order to allow it to run the administration of the country remains. A special provision is, therefore, made for “Vote on Account” under Article 116 by which government obtains the Vote of Parliament for a sum sufficient to incur expenditure for a part of the year. It is normally taken for two months but during election years or when it is anticipated that the main Demands and Appropriation Bill will take longer than two months, the vote on account is for a period exceeding two months.
Finance Ministry is planning to seek the Cabinet’s approval for advancing by a few weeks the budget session for which Parliament is generally convened around the third week of February and also a new date for presenting the Union Budget to Parliament. The Ministry will also write to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan as well as to the Estimates Committee of the House headed by Dr. Murli Manohar Joshi in this regard. The change in the calendar could in turn necessitate moving back the Winter Session, which normally ends in the last week of December.
The need for pushing back the budget session arose after several States — in a committee headed by the Union Finance Secretary — and some Ministries demanded that the annual budget exercise should be completed before the beginning of the new fiscal year on April 1 for streamlined allocation of funds.
The realignment of the Parliamentary calendar is also partly triggered by this year’s one-time need for speedy approvals and subsequent implementation of the Goods & Services Tax (GST). The next budget, likely to contain the tax rates, must be approved before the roll-out by the Centre and States of the new tax that will subsume indirect taxes on the target deadline of April 1, 2017.
By convention, the Union Budget is presented each year on the last working day of February by the Finance Minister to Parliament. It is presented in two parts i.e. the Railway Budget pertaining to Railway Finance and General Budget which gives an overall picture of the financial position of the Centre including the effect of the Railway Budget. The Centre is also mulling if the practice of the separate Railway Budget should be discontinued.
The ‘budget system’ was introduced in India on 7 April, 1860. The first Indian Finance Member James Wilson delivered the budget speech expounding the Indian financial policy as an integral whole for the first time. Post-Independence, the first Budget was presented on November 26, 1947 by India’s first Finance Minister R.K. Shanmugham Chetty. Although the Constitution does not mention the term ‘Budget’, Article 112 provides: “the President shall in respect of every financial year cause to be laid before both the Houses of Parliament, the House of People (Lok Sabha) and the Council of States (Rajya Sabha), a statement of the estimated receipts and expenditure of the government for that year.”
Separately, a government committee headed by former Chief Economic Adviser Shankar Acharya is examining if the financial year should be changed to coincide with the calendar year.
India invites U.S. to invest in infra fund
Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley urged U.S.-based insurance funds, pension funds, and endowment funds to invest in India’s National Investment and Infrastructure Fund and said that trade interactions between Indian States and U.S. investors could boost bilateral trade.
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund
National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) is a fund created by the Government of India for enhancing infrastructure financing in the country. This is different from the National Investment Fund.
NIIF was proposed to be set up as a Trust, to raise debt to invest in the equity of infrastructure finance companies such as Indian Rail Finance Corporation (IRFC) and National Housing Bank (NHB). The idea is that these infrastructure finance companies can then leverage this extra equity, manifold.
Its creation was announced in the Union Budget 2015-16. The operational framework was approved on 20 August 2015. NIIF got registered with SEBI as Category II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) on December 28, 2015.
Financial Times (London) had adjudged NIIF as the Most Innovative structure in Asia Pacific under Finance category.
Objective
The objective of NIIF would be to maximize economic impact mainly through infrastructure development in commercially viable projects, both greenfield and brownfield, including stalled projects. It could also consider other nationally important projects, for example, in manufacturing, if commercially viable.
The functions of NIIF are as follows:
- Fund raising through suitable instruments including off-shore credit enhanced bonds, and attracting anchor investors to participate as partners in NIIF;
- Servicing of the investors of NIIF.
- Considering and approving candidate companies/institutions/ projects (including state entities) for investments and periodic monitoring of investments.
- Investing in the corpus created by Asset Management Companies (AMCs) for investing in private equity.
- Preparing a shelf of infrastructure projects and providing advisory services.
Centre moves on vote totaliser machines
The Union government is working to take a final decision on the issue of introducing “totaliser machines” for mixing of votes from various booth for counting, as recommended by the Election Commission. The Supreme Court, while hearing a writ petition on August 5, had given the government eight weeks’ time to take a final decision.
A team of Union Ministers has been constituted on the direction of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to deliberate on the Election Commission’s proposal in November 2008, which was seconded by the Law Commission. Before the introduction of electronic voting machines, as provided under Rule 59A of the Conduct of Election Rules, counting of votes used to take place by mixing of ballot papers.
The machine is expected to prevent disclosure of voting patterns across polling stations during counting, which will allay the fears of voters against any pre-poll intimidation or post-poll victimisation by any candidate.
The ministerial team, comprising Rajnath Singh, Arun Jaitley, Manohar Parrikar, Nitin Gadkari and Ravi Shankar Prasad, will soon meet and give its recommendations.
In view of the poll panel’s proposal, the Standing Committee in 2009 sought a demonstration of the machine. However, it could not be done for various reasons. The proposal was then referred to the Law Commission in January 2013. In its March 2015 report, the commission backed the use of the machine.
After a demonstration of the machine, three of the six national parties (Bahujan Samaj Party, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party) supported its use. While the Bharatiya Janata Party said booth-wise performance was important for booth management, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) agreed in principle to its use with a rider that there is a need to be careful about the machine’s foolproof functioning and it should be introduced in phases.
Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HISEAS)
HI-SEAS (Hawaii Space Exploration Analog and Simulation) is an analog habitat for human spaceflight to Mars. HI-SEAS is located in an isolated position on the slopes of the Mauna Loa volcano on the island of Hawaii. The area has Mars-like features and an elevation of approximately 8,200 feet above sea level. The first HI-SEAS study was in 2013 and NASA’s Human Research Program continues to fund and sponsor follow-up studies. The missions are of extended duration from four months to a year.
The purpose of the detailed research studies is to determine what is required to keep a space flight crew happy and healthy during an extended mission to Mars and while living on Mars. Research into food, crew dynamics, behaviors, roles and performance, and other aspects of space flight and a mission on Mars itself is the primary focus. The HI-SEAS researchers also carry out studies on a variety of other topics as part of their daily activities.
The Anthropocene is here, propose scientists
The human impact on Earth’s chemistry and climate has cut short the 11,700-year-old geological epoch known as the Holocene and ushered in a new one, called the Anthropocene, or “new age of man,”. The Anthropocene would start from the mid-20th century if the recommendation — submitted to the International Geological Congress in Cape Town, South Africa — is adopted.
Scientists refer to the period starting from 1950 as the “Great Acceleration,” and a glance at graphs tracking a number of chemical and socio-economic changes make it obvious why.
Concentrations in the air of carbon dioxide, methane and stratospheric ozone; surface temperatures, ocean acidification, marine fish harvesting, and tropical forest loss; population growth, construction of large dams — all of them take off from about mid-century.
But the working group is not allowed to take any of these measures into consideration unless they show up in the geological record. If it can’t be measured in rocks, lake sediments or ice cores, it doesn’t count. This is not a problem when it comes to the Anthropocene. Micro-plastics, for example — a synthetic, man-made substance — are now components of sediment around the world, both in land and in the sea.
35th International Geological Congress (27 Aug-4 Sep 2016; Cape Town, South Africa)
The objectives of the IGC are as follows:
- Contribute, in collaboration with and under the auspices of the IUGS, to the advancement of fundamental and applied research in the geological sciences.
- Provide a general assembly of geoscientists, spanning a wide range of geoscience disciplines, where ideas and information can be freely exchanged.
- Emphasise the geological specialities or challenges of the host country or region.
- Provide the opportunity, by way of geological excursions, to examine geological problems and features in the field.
International Union of Geological Sciences
The International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) is an international non-governmental organization devoted to international cooperation in the field of geology.
The IUGS was founded in 1961 and is a Scientific Union member of the International Council for Science (ICSU). Currently geologists from 121 countries (and regions) are represented in IUGS through an 121 Adhering Organization. A broad range of Scientific topics are covered by its Commission, Task Groups, Joint Programmes, Affiliated Organizations. IUGS promotes and encourages the study of geological problems, especially those of world-wide significance, and supports and facilitates international and interdisciplinary cooperation in the earth sciences. The Union’s Secretariat is currently located at the Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences in Beijing, China