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Lok Sabha passes Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill

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Nasheman News :  The Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Bill, 2018 which seeks constitution of a Board of Governors that will exercise the powers of the Medical Council of India (MCI) was passed in the Lok Sabha on Monday.

The Bill was introduced on December 14 in the Lok Sabha by Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda which was earlier brought in as an ordinance on September 26 this year when the Parliament was not in session.

Under the new amendment, the Bill provides for the supersession of the MCI for a period of one year. 

“In the interim period, the Central government will constitute a Board of Governors, which will exercise the powers of the MCI. The Bill allows for eminent administrators to be selected on the Board. Further, the Bill provides for the Board of Governors to be assisted by a Secretary-General appointed by the Central government,” the bill says.

“Reputed doctors from pioneer institutions of the country have been brought for the constitution of the Board and it has been working under the Board’s guidance,” Nadda said in the Lok Sabha.

NITI Aayog member Dr V. K. Paul has been appointed the chairman of the board, which also includes AIIMS director Dr Randeep Guleria; PGIMER director Dr Jagat Ram; NIMHANS director Dr B.N. Gangadhar; Dr Nikhil Tandon, professor, department of endocrinology and metabolism, AIIMS; Dr S. Venkatesh, director general of health services, Health Ministry and Balram Bhargava, Secretary, department of health research and director general of Indian Council of Medical Research.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Health and Family Welfare in its 92nd report in March 2016 had severely indicted the MCI.

The Committee recommended that the government should bring a new comprehensive Bill in Parliament at the earliest so as to restructure and revamp the regulatory system of medical education and medical practice and to reform the MCI.

Don’t need RBI’s reserves to meet fiscal deficit: Jaitley

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Nasheman News : Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday made it clear that the government does not need RBI’s reserves to bridge the widening fiscal deficit as the Lok Sabha voted the Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2018-19 to the tune of Rs 85,948.86 crore, including Rs.41,000 crore for bank recapitalisation.

“This government’s fiscal deficit track record has been better than any other government in history. We do not need RBI’s reserves for (meeting the) fiscal deficit,” he said, replying to a brief debate on the demands.

India’s fiscal deficit for the eight months till November stood at Rs 7.17 lakh crore, which is 114.8 per cent of the budgeted Rs 6.24 lakh crore.

The Minister’s assertion comes against the backdrop of a raging debate over the government’s reported moves for securing the surplus reserves with the RBI, estimated to be around a few lakh crore of rupees, to fund government’s social welfare schemes ahead of elections.

Jaitley said the global standard for economic capital framework for central banks was to have around 8 per cent of their assets as reserves with even the most conservative nations having it at 14 per cent.

“Does India need to have 27-28 per cent (as risk capital)… The money can be used for recapitalisation of banks or for poverty alleviation measures,” he said, adding the government only wanted to have a committee to review the matter.

The second Supplementary Demands for Grants for 2018-19 includes Rs 41,000 crore for recapitalisation of the public sector banks that have been hit hard by non-performing assets.

Jaitley said the government’s initiatives including the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) were bearing fruits and money stuck as NPA was now back into the banking system.

“The balance sheets of public sector banks are improving due to the IBC as money is coming back into the system. Rs 3 lakh crore has already been recovered through IBC. Banks’ ability to lend is also increasing,” he said.

Attacking the Congress, the Finance Minister said the asset quality review by the RBI initiated after this government took charge revealed the NPAs during the UPA regime were as high as Rs 8.5 lakh crore as opposed to the UPA’s claim of Rs 2.5 lakh crore.

Countering charges of a slowdown in the growth rate of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), he said: “India is growing at 7.5 per cent when the world is growing at 3 per cent. We are also growing faster than China.”

Jaitley also said that the government would continue to take all necessary steps to ensure that farmers get adequate minimum support price for their produce – 50 per cent higher than their input cost as promised.

The demands for grants contain proposals involving a net cash outgo aggregating to Rs 15,069.49 crore and gross additional expenditure, matched by savings of the ministries and departments or by enhanced receipts and recoveries, aggregating to Rs 70,882.21 crore.

Both treasury benches and the opposition members attacked each other during discussion over the supplementary demand.

Taking part in the debate, most opposition members raised farmer’s distress issue and took a dig at the government over implementation of Goods and Services Tax (GST) and demonetisation reforms.

Bhartruhari Mahtab of BJD sought to know from the government the steps being taken to improve the governance in the banks.

TMC MP Saugata Roy said the economy was in “doldrums” and asked the Centre about the resignation of RBI Governor Urjit Patel.

“The biggest blunder of the Modi government was to hurriedly implement GST and demonetisation. These were the cruel steps of the government. Many businessmen like Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi and Vijay Mallya have fled after defrauding banks,” Roy said.

He said the government has not come out with the figures on the number of people who have lost jobs due to demonetisation and asked the Finance Minister to state the number of small businesses that had closed due to implementation of the GST. 

Opposing the supplementary demand, Samajwadi Party MP Dharmendra Yadav said: “I am against it because the problems are increasing day by day though five budgets have passed. Over 60,000 farmers have committed suicide in NDA regime. Potato is being thrown on roads and farmers are not getting proper cost of their sugarcane crops.”

BJP MP Anurag Thakur, however, supported the draft, saying “the fiscal deficit is now 3.8 per cent which never came below 6.8 per cent during UPA government”.

Labelling MGNREGA as the “mother” of corruption, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said that it was due to MGNREGA that the fiscal management of the Central government was affected.

After the implementation of Aadhar and Biometric, around Rs 60,000-70,000 crore had been saved, he said.

Battle of Agusta’ intensifies between BJP, Congress

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Nasheman News : The political slugfest over the VVIP chopper deal case on Monday intensified with BJP chief Amit Shah accusing the Gandhi family of having “deep friendship” with arrested AgustaWestland middleman Christian Michel, while the Congress accused the Narendra Modi government of misusing central agencies to pursue its “vendetta politics”.

The last day of the year witnessed the Centre’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) launching a frontal attack on UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi after the Enforcement Directorate (ED), which is probing the multi-crore rupees AgustaWestland choppers deal case, told a special court that Michel referred to one “Mrs Gandhi” and “big man ‘R'”, perceived as being Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. 

Taking to Twitter, Shah alleged that “the friendship between Michel and one family in India is time-tested and deep”.

“Does anyone know why Christian Michel passed on the details of questioning on Mrs Gandhi to his lawyer? Did he want them to be passed on to Mrs Gandhi herself? Why?” asked Shah.

The BJP President demanded Michel’s lawyer Aljo Joseph — a former Youth Congress leader — to “reveal about the existence of documents of 2008, which make a reference to Mrs Gandhi”. 

Shah called Joseph a “conduit between Michel and Mrs Gandhi” and said his expulsion by the Congress was a “sham”.

“Michel’s lawyer has admitted that the paper was indeed passed on to him. He thought that it was a list of medicines, which could have been transparently given in any case,” said Shah and took a swipe at the Gandhi family saying people have heard of the Zandu Balm and Tiger Balm — medicines used to relieve pain — but what is this “family balm”.

Countering the Congress’ onslaught on the Modi government over alleged irregularities in the Rafale fights jets deal, the BJP also fielded its Chief Ministers to launch a multi-pronged attack. 

If Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis demanded the Congress and the Gandhi family to reply to the corruption charges made against them, his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath sought to know “Who is this Mrs Gandhi that Michel is talking about”.

“The Congress has benefited from Michel, which has been brought forth by the ED. The Congress and the Gandhi family must clarify,” said Fadnavis wondering why the name of “only one family” keeps recurring in all defence deals involving corruption charges.

Retaliating to the BJP’s charges, former Defence Minister and Congress veteran A.K. Antony accused the Modi government and the BJP of “manufacturing lies” to malign the Gandhi family and asserted that neither Sonia nor Rahul ever interfered in any defence deals.

“Lies, lies and lies… the Modi government and the BJP are trying to manufacture something out of nothing, they are misusing the agencies to manufacture lies. I want to say categorically that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi never interfered in defence deals,” Antony told the media here. 

“Without any iota of truth, they are pursuing a politics of vendetta. At no point either Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi interfered in my functioning as the Defence Minister,” said Antony who was at the helm of the Defence Ministry from 2006 to 2014.

Antony also attacked the Modi government for “favouring” the AgustaWestland, which was blacklisted by the earlier Congress-led UPA government.

“As soon as we came to know about corruption in the deal, we ordered a CBI inquiry. We fought against Agusta in Italy courts and blacklisted the company. 

“But after we left, the present government has done nothing against Agusta. Instead, they are favouring the company by making them a partner in ‘Make in India’. Instead of following up on the action by the UPA and punishing Agusta, the present government is favouring them,” alleged Antony. 

Following Michel’s extradition from the the United Arab Emirates earlier this month, the BJP has been on the offensive against the Congress and the Gandhi family with Prime Minister Modi himself alleging that the British national has taken Sonia Gandhi’s name and will “spill the beans” about the deal. 

Minors tortured: Sisodia asks DM to take over Delhi shelter home

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Nasheman News : Following an adverse report about a national capital-based shelter home by the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Monday directed the District Magistrate to immediately take over the shelter home and asked DCW chief Swati Maliwal to conduct an inquiry into the matter and submit a report within 15 days.

According to the Delhi Commission for Women (DCW), Sisodia has also directed to ensure that the present staff members of the home are replaced with a new set of staff, and that the girls are kept together and not separated.

During an inspection of the private shelter home located in Dwarka here last week, the DCW had found that the home staff used to apply chilli powder in the private parts of girl inmates as a form of punishment.

“Other forms of punishment included beating with measuring scales for not keeping the rooms clean and for not listening to the staff. The girls were also forced to perform domestic chores of the home. This abuse had been going on for several months,” DCW said in a statement.

A police case has been registered in the matter and Maliwal had tweeted that four of the accused staff members were arrested as well. 

The Commission had requested the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) concerned to ensure removal of the present staff of the home. 

However, the Commission has learnt that the two girls who were subjected to extreme physical abuse were singled out and shifted out of the home while other girls remain in the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) shelter home. 

“In our view, this shall create further stress on the girls who may continue to feel as though punishment is being meted out to them for speaking up as they were separated from their friends and taken to an unknown place,” it said.

House panel on citizenship bill to table its report by January 7

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Nasheman News : The Joint Committee of Parliament constituted to look into the various aspects of the contentious Citizens (Amendment) Bill, 2016 is likely to submit its report by January 7, 2019 during the present session.

The Committee headed by BJP’s Lok Sabha member Rajendra Agarwal met on Monday and discussed clause by clause the Bill that seeks to grant easy Indian citizenship to non-Muslim minorities from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

“Today we had a clause by clause discussion on the Bill. Some of the proposed amendments were considered, some were rejected. We are aiming to table the report by January 7,” Agarwal told IANS after the meet.

However, he refused to go into the specifics.

The joint committee has members from both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha including members from Assam.

Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba also deposed before the panel on Monday.

Sources close to the development said the ruling party tried to fervently push for most of its points even inside the Committee, but the government is unlikely to bring the Bill immediately in Parliament.

The All Assam Students Union (AASU) and various other groups in Assam and even the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ally in Assam state government, Assom Gana Parishad (AGP), have been vociferously protesting against the Bill and have warned the government against it.

The Assamese groups see the Bill as violative of the Assam Accord of 1985 and feel that if the Bill is brought, it would bring the whole National Register of Citizens (NRC) exercise being undertaken in the state to a nought.

Meanwhile, the Narendra Modi government has already issued two gazette notifications — Foreigners (Amendment) Order, 2015 and the Passport (Entry into India) Amendment Rules, 2015, to exempt from the application of Foreigners Act, 1946 six minority communities from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan who were compelled to seek shelter in India due to religious persecution and entered the country on or before December 31, 2014.

The exempted communities include the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and the Christians. Notably, the notifications exclude the Muslims.

The notifications have exempted members of these communities who came with or without valid travel documents.

Legal experts have also pointed out that the Bill seeks to discriminate on religious lines and hence its provisions are unconstitutional.

The Assamese groups are already preparing to move the Supreme Court on the Bill.


Kovind, Modi greet nation on New Year

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New Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS) President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday extended their greetings to the people on the occasion of New Year 2019.

“Wishing all of you a very Happy New Year. May 2019 bring joy, peace and prosperity to our families, to our country, and to our beautiful planet,” the President tweeted. 

The Prime Minister also took to Twitter to wish everyone a happy 2019. 

“Wishing everyone a joyous 2019! May everyone be happy and healthy. I pray that all your wishes are fulfilled in 2019,” he tweeted. 

Congress President Rahul Gandhi also wished the nation on New Year. Gandhi took to Twitter and wrote: “I wish you all a Happy New Year!”


Cosmopolitan Bengaluru heralds New Year in grand style

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Nasheman News :Thousands of revellers, including women and teens heralded the New Year on Tuesday in this cosmopolitan tech hub in grand style, dancing, cheering, screaming, greeting each other and partying hard well past midnight.

Undeterred by the presence of hundreds of stern policemen and women constables, drone cameras, giant screens and watch towers, revellers flocked to the city’s downtown by 9:00 pm to say goodbye to 2018 and usher in 2019, wishing all a happy New Year.

With vehicular traffic and parking banned in the central business district (CBD), revellers invaded the illuminated MG Road, Brigade Road, Church Street, Lavell Road, St Mark’s Road, Richmond Road, Residence Road and Commercial Street to make merry and dance their way into the New Year on a cool night.

Those who could not go it to the CBD, thronged other localities across the city, including upscale Indiranagar, posh Koramangala, Jayanagar, Whitefield, Basavangudi, Malleshwaram, Rajajinagar and Majestic to name a few.

Star hotels, restaurants, eateries, cafes, food joints, bars, pubs and clubs were crowded cheek-by-jowl with revellers to ring out the old and ring in the New Year, drinking and eating to their heart’s content.

As the clock struck midnight, fire crackers were burst in several areas that lit up the night sky and disrupted the deafening sound of rock music by several bands in open areas, hotels, restaurants, pubs and clubs.

Though about 12,000 police personnel were deployed across the city to ensure peace celebrations of the New Year eve, many of them had tough time in dispersing the revellers from the downtown well after the New Year unfolded in the wee hours.

“The celebrations were peaceful as no untoward incident was reported during the New Year eve and after midnight, as the security was tightened and vigil heightened to prevent mischief or trouble making,” Bengaluru Additional Commissioner of Police P Harishekaran told reporters at the city centre.

Flyovers and elevated roads across the city were shut from 9:00 pm to 6:00 am to prevent drunken driving and vehicular mishaps as a result.

State Home Minister MB Patil went around the CBD on Monday night to check the security arrangements and deployment of police personnel for the safety of the people, especially women and children.

According to reports from across Karnataka, people have celebrated the advent of New Year with joy and gaiety in cities and towns, including Mysuru, Mangaluru, Hassan, Hubballi, Belagavi, Bidar and Kalaburgi.


Bulandshahr policeman’s killing: Another accused arrested

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Nasheman News : One of the prime accused in the killing of police Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh during a mob violence in December in Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr was arrested on Tuesday, police said.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Prabhakar Chowdhary told IANS the accused — Kalua, was arrested from a far-flung village of Bulandshahr in the early hours of Tuesday after the police received information about his presence there. 

Kalua, who is being interrogated, is accused of hitting Singh with an axe on the head. The police Inspector was later shot by Prashant Nat, who is already in police custody.

IS module case: NIA conducts fresh searches in Amroha

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Nasheman News : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Tuesday conducted “follow up” searches here in connection with the busting of a new Islamic State (IS) module — Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam — last month, an official said.

Ten people, including the group leader, who were allegedly planning to attack some political personalities, security establishments as well as crowded places in Delhi and National Capital Region were arrested by the NIA on December 26. 

“Follow up searches are being carried out today at five locations in Amroha,” an NIA spokesperson said.

Earlier in December, the NIA had carried out searches at 17 places — six in East Delhi’s Jafarabad area, six in Amroha, two each in Lucknow and Hapur and one place in Meerut, leading it to seize a country-made rocket launcher, 12 pistols, 112 alarm clocks, 100 mobile phones, 135 SIM cards, several laptops and various electronic gadgets, besides 150 rounds of ammunition.

The NIA also seized 25 kg of explosive material, such as potassium nitrate, ammonium nitrate, sulphur, sugar material paste, mobile phone circuits, batteries, 51 pipes, remote control car triggering switch, wireless digital doorbell for remote switch, steel containers, electric wires, knife, sword, IS-related literature and Rs 7.5 lakh in cash.

All the arrested members of “Harkat-ul-Harb-e-Islam” are in NIA custody. 

The agency had registered a case on December 20 under several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.


Ailing Parrikar gives Goa New Year surprise, visits Secretariat

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Nasheman News :  In a move which caught Goa by surprise on the first day of 2019, ailing Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday visited the state Secretariat for the first time in months, where he was welcomed by ministers, party MLAs and several BJP workers.

Parrikar was accompanied by a team of medical professionals and staff from the Chief Minister’s Office when he entered the Secretariat at 10.30 a.m.

This is the 63-year-old Chief Minister’s second appearance in public in the last few months, since his visit to an under-construction bridge near Panaji last month, but his first visit to the Secretariat, since his return from Delhi’s All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in October last year.

In a trademark half-sleeve shirt, Parrikar, wearing medical paraphernelia — a nasogastrict tube running from the nasal passage into the stomach — was helped up the stairs of the Secretariat by his aides, in the presence of Speaker Pramod Sawant and other BJP leaders, including the party’s state general secretary Sadanand Shet Tanavde.

Tanavade told IANS that the visit will boost the enthusiasm of Goa Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cadre as well as the people of Goa.

“This is a good development. Seeing our Chief Minister will boost our cadre,” Tanavade said.

Parrikar is suffering from advanced pancreatic cancer and has been in and out of hospitals in Goa, Mumbai, New York and Delhi since February 2018.

Over the last few months, the Opposition has been demanding his resignation, claiming that the administration had come to a standstill due to his prolonged absence from office, on account of his illness.

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