20th Law Commission of India

Justice D. K. Jain, who would take up the assignment after his retirement on January 24, will have a three-year tenure and has been saddled with a wide terms of reference including one to examine existing laws from the gender equality perspective and suggest necessary amendments. The 12th Law Commission was constituted through a Government Order with effect from September 1, 2012, with the term ending on August 31, 2015. It was asked to identify obsolete laws for their repeal and also suggest suitable measures for quick grievance redressal of citizens grievances in the field of law. The new Law Commission would also examine the Laws which affect the poor and carry out post-audit for socio-economic legislations and take all necessary measures to harness law and the legal process in the service of the poor.

Ravindra H. Dholakia committee

A committee was set up to suggest measures to lower the high costs of Air India’s operations and improve utilisation of resources in line with best global practices to help the state-run carrier achieve the goals of its turnaround and financial restructuring plans. A five-member committee, headed by IIM- Ahmedabad’s Prof Ravindra H Dholakia, was set up by Civil Aviation Minister Ajit Singh after a review meeting of the ailing national carrier’s functioning. Though the panel has been given two months to submit its report, it has been asked to give interim recommendations without waiting for its final report so that these could be implemented by Air India immediately.

14th Finance Commission

The government announced the constitution of the 14th Finance Commission under the chairmanship of former RBI Governor Y. V. Reddy. The five- member panel is to submit its report by October 31, 2014. Apart from its recommendations on the sharing of tax proceeds between the Centre and the States which will apply for a five-year period beginning April 1, 2015, the Commission has been asked to suggest steps for pricing of public utilities such as electricity and water in an independent manner and also look into issues like disinvestment, GST compensation, sale of non-priority PSUs and subsidies.

Rangarajan panel

The panel, headed by Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council Chairman C Rangarajan, was tasked to suggest design of future contracts for exploration and production of oil and gas. The Rangarajan committee is believed to have suggested a complex pricing formula that will lead to near- doubling of the natural gas price to about $8 (Rs 439). However, it is unclear if this will override the price discovery mechanism set out in current oil and gas contracts. The six-member panel, which gave its report to the Prime Minister’s Office on December 20, is believed to have suggested pricing of natural gas based on the weighted average of the fuel in North America, Europe and Japan as well as imported liquefied natural gas ( LNG). Sources said the panel had suggested bringing gas-on-gas competition in five years. That will essentially means deregulation of the sector.

Rangarajan heads expert panel on sugar sector

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has constituted an Expert Committee to look into all the issues relating to ‘de-regulation' of the sugar sector.

Headed by C. Rangarajan, Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister, the Committee has been requested to complete its task as early as possible and give its recommendations to the Prime Minister.

The sugar industry has been demanding de-control of the sector on the plea that the mandatory requirement of selling 10 per cent of production at below-cost rates for supply to the ration shops is crippling it.

Another key demand is to do away with the system under which the Food Ministry decides on the quantity of the sugar that can be sold in the open market every month. According to industry estimates, mills incur a loss of about Rs. 2,500-3,000 crore on account of the levy obligation.

Anand committee to examine experts' reports on dam safety

The five-member Empowered Committee, headed by the former Chief Justice of India A.S. Anand, at its meeting  on December 05, will examine the reports it has received from various agencies it constituted to go into the safety of the Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala.

In December last, the committee conducted a spot inspection of the dam. It also heard the views of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the Centre on the issues framed by it. Subsequently, it entrusted studies in the dam, including marine and naval diving tests to reputed institutes. On receiving their reports, the committee sought some clarifications and a reply is awaited.

The tests and studies undertaken are: scanning the upstream face of the dam using a remote-operated vehicle and digital camera by the Central Soil and Materials Research Station (CSMRS), Delhi; a non-destructive test by the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS), Pune; a cable anchor stress test; a study by the Geological Survey of India; a bathymetric survey by the CWPRS; material testing by the CSMRS and the CWPRS; a seepage study by the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC); a flood study by the Central Water Commission (CWC); taking cores and testing them by the CWPRS/CSMRS; in situ tests by the CWPRS; a stability check by the CWPRS and checking of measuring instruments used in the dam.

Internal session

Informed sources told The Hindu that the committee on Monday was expected to examine the various reports and come to a conclusion so that it could submit its report to the Supreme Court in the middle of January next. As it is only an internal meeting, the session is not open to lawyers, though Kerala filed an application insisting that the parties be given an opportunity of oral hearing again.

The other members on the panel are Justice K.T. Thomas, retired Supreme Court Judge representing Kerala; Justice A.R. Lakshmanan, retired Supreme Court Judge representing Tamil Nadu; C.D. Thatte, former Secretary to the Ministry of Water Resources; and D.K. Mehta, retired Chief Engineer, CWC.

Meanwhile, Kerala also urged the panel to review its order rejecting permission to produce additional evidence on safety of the dam based on the evidence of two experts, Dr. D.K. Paul and Dr. M.L. Sharma. The panel on August 31 rejected Kerala's application on the ground that the Supreme Court in 2009 had not taken these reports on record.

In its review application, Kerala said the committee ought not to have relied on the court order as there was no bar on its receiving evidence which related to the issues of seismic threat to the dam.

By another application, Kerala wanted the committee to provide the State full opportunity to address it orally on all the five issues framed and six additional issues suggested. The State sought supply of photocopies of the study reports and test results to be finalised by experts/agencies on the directions of the committee.

However, Tamil Nadu has strongly opposed Kerala's application saying, “It is wholly untenable and is only an attempt to delay the submission of the final report by the Empowered Committee. There is no merit and the same deserves to be rejected. The application, in effect, amounts to seeking a retrial of the suit before the Empowered Committee which is wholly impermissible.” Further, Kerala was mixing up the issue of adversarial/investigatory powers and submitting that this committee should follow the same before presenting the report to the Supreme Court. The entire attempt by Kerala was “to erroneously interpret” the order of the Constitution Bench as though it had directed the committee to adopt both the adversarial and investigative methods before rendering its report, Tamil Nadu said.

Arun Maira Committee Recommendations

Arun Maira Committee was constituted to suggest options and modalities to take care of disadvantages suffered by the domestic industry relating to power sector keeping all factors in view. The factors, inter alia, included the concern relating to supply of power equipment from China. The Committee submitted its report in February 2010.

Recommendations of the Arun Maira Committee are:

• Immediate notification of standards/ regulations for power generation equipment to be installed in the country to ensure efficiency as well as environmental protection.

• The extent of disadvantage that needs to be bridged is about 14% and this should be for both the projects covered under mega power projects/ Ultra Mega Power Projects (UMPPs). This can be achieved by the levy of Custom duty @ 10%, additional custom duty-`Nil’ and (Special additional duty) SAD @ 4%. Consequential adjustments in duty rates applicable for brownfield (expansion) projects to bring duty structure at par to Mega Power projects will also apply. • If and when the general remedy proposed at item 2 above is applied, the prevalent price preference policy can be withdrawn.

• The actions for safeguards/anti-dumping protection may be initiated by Indian manufacturers themselves who are affected by the trade practices of the Chinese.

The recommendations of the Maira Committee were considered by the Committee of Secretaries (COS) in their meeting held on 12.07.2010. Accordingly, Ministry of Power circulated a draft Note for the Cabinet on 13.08.2010 for implementing the COS recommendations with suitable exemptions to mega certified and other eligible projects to the concerned Departments/organizations. On the opinion of Ministry of Finance that the proposal should be deliberated upon only after the XI Five Year Plan, Ministry of Power decided not to move any proposal for changing the duty structure for mega power projects till the end of the 11th Plan. Ministry of Power has recently circulated a draft Note for Cabinet on altering the duty structure on power plant equipment for inter-ministerial consultation.

Central Advisory Committee Meeting on PMAGY

The first Central Advisory Committee (CAC ) on Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY)) met here today under the Chairpersonship of Shri Mukul Wasnik ,Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment to review the functioning of the PMAGY. The meeting was Co-chaired by Shri Jairam Ramesh, Minister Rural Development and was attended by the Chairman National Commission for Scheduled Castes Shri P.L Punia, Shri Badri Ram Jakhar, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha and the Ministers in-charge of SC Development from the States of Bihar, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan. Representative of various central Ministries were also present in the meeting.

The Minister, SJ&E while reviewing the implementation of the Scheme urged upon the States to accelerate the pace of implementation in the States and the gap between the socio –economic parameters of SCs and others should be bridged within the stipulated time period . The Minister, Rural Development said that the selected villages must fulfill the ‘Nirmal Gram Puruskar’ under the Total Sanitation Campaign.

The Finance Minister, in his Budget Speech, 2009-10, delivered on 6.7.2009, announced launching of a new Scheme, namely “Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana”, on pilot basis, to cover 1000 villages with more than 50% SC population.

In pursuance of above, Government of India have, in March, 2010, approved a pilot Centrally Sponsored Scheme called, "Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana (PMAGY)" for integrated development of 1,000 SC-majority villages. The Scheme is presently being implemented in five states viz. Assam (100 villages), Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu (225 villages each).

The Scheme intends to achieve these objectives primarily through convergent implementation of existing schemes of Central and State Governments in the selected villages, and by providing Gap-filling funds from PMAGY in which Central Government’s contribution will be at the average rate of Rs. 20.0 lakh per village (revised recently from the earlier Rs. 10 lakh per village), with State Government making a suitable, preferably matching, contribution, for meeting specifically identified developmental requirements of the selected villages which cannot be met under the existing schemes of the Central and State Governments.

The Scheme also has a provision for financial support for strengthening of administrative machinery for its planning and implementation, capability building of key personnel, developing a proper management information system etc.

Full admissible Central assistance of Rs. 101 crore, under the Scheme, was released to the 5 States till last year. The central component for the ‘gap-filling’ has been recently revised upwardly to Rs. 20 per village. The Ministry has already released the additional amount to the PMAGY States, except Assam, to which Rs. 3.00 crore out of Rs. 10.00 crore has already been released.

The CAC, for PMAGY was constituted on 23.8.2011 with the Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment and Minister Rural Development as Chairman and Co-chair of the Committee.

An Expert Group for Modernization of Indian Railways Set Up

In a major move to give further impetus to Railways’ modernization plans, an Expert Group has been constituted under the Chairmanship of Mr. Sam Pitroda to recommend ways and means to modernize Indian Railways to meet the challenges of economic growth, the aspirations of the common man, the needs of changing technology and the expanding market while at the same time ensuring adequate focus on addressing social and strategic requirements of the country in consonance with Indian Railways’ national aspirations. The formation of this significant committee was announced by the Union Railway Minister, Shri Dinesh Trivedi at a Press Conference here today. Shri Sam Pitroda, Adviser to the Prime Minister of India, Shri M. S. Verma, former Chairman, SBI and a Member of this new Committee, the Chairman, Railway Board, Shri Vinay Mittal and the Board Members were among those present on the occasion.

The terms of Reference of the Committee would involve outlining strategies for modernization of Railways with a focus on track, signaling, rolling stock, stations and terminals; using ICT for improving efficiency and safety; augmenting existing capacities of Railways through indigenous development; reviewing projects and addressing PPP issues.

The Committee will inter alia address issues connected with organization, management and resource mobilization and professionalization of manpower on Indian Railways. The other eminent members of the Committee are –

  Deepak Parekh, Chairman, HDFC Bank

  M.S. Verma, former Chairman, State Bank of India

  G. Raghuram, Professor, IIM, Ahmedabad

  Dr. Rajiv Lall, MD, IDFC

  Vinayak Chatterjee, Chairman, Feedback, Infrastructure Services Limited

  Ranjan Jain, Adviser (Infrastructure), Railway Board

The committee will function at Delhi and is expected to submit its report in December 2011.