CURRENT AFFAIRS
01 April 2021
NATIONAL NEWS:
A) Mamata writes to 14 Opposition parties on Delhi NCT Bill, says BJP wants to establish ‘one-party authoritarian rule’
The BJP wants to establish a one-party authoritarian rule in India, reducing state governments to mere municipalities, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said in a letter to heads of 14 opposition parties. She has urged them to come together to counter the BJP after the ongoing assembly polls. She has written to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, DMK President M K Stalin, Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Tackeray, among others. In her three page letter, Banerjee expressed concern about the series of assaults by the BJP and the union government on democracy and Constitutional Federalism in the context of recent passage of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill by the two houses of Parliament. With this law, all policy decisions taken by the elected Delhi government have to be cleared by Lt Governor, who is nominated by the Centre, before implementation. The National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act is a direct attack on the federal structure of the Indian republic as enshrined in the Constitution. It also makes a mockery of the letter and spirit of democracy since it disempowers the people of the national capital,” Banerjee wrote. This legislation, she wrote, also violates the Supreme Court judgement of 2018, which upheld the pre-eminence of Delhi’s elected government in all matters other than police, public order and land.
B) Supreme Court panel on farm laws submits report.
A Supreme Court-appointed panel has submitted its report on the three agricultural reform laws in a closed cover. The report will be revealed during the next hearing of the case. They submitted the report in a sealed envelope to the registrar of the court on March 19. It will be made public on the date of the next hearing of the PIL, said Anil Ghanwat, one of the members of the committee who also heads a farm union and has advocated in favour of the laws. Asked about the stakeholders consulted by the committee and their views on the laws, Ghanwat said that their role is over now. They are not authorised to say anything about it before it is made public. The three laws which were passed by Parliament in September and are being opposed by farmers’ unions are The Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, The Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act and The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act. On January 12, the Supreme Court suspended the implementation of the three laws and appointed a four-member committee of experts to listen to the grievances of the farmers on the farm laws and the views of the government and make recommendations. After one member, farm union leader Bhupinder Singh Mann, recused himself from the panel, the remaining three members met the stakeholders, including farmers’ groups, farmer producer organisations, officials and industry representatives from various States. However, the farm unions refused to meet the panel.
C) Government defers labour codes implementation.
The four labour codes will not come into effect from April 1 as states are yet to finalise the relevant rules, which means that there will be no change in the ‘take home’ pay of employees and provident fund liability of companies for now. Once the wages code comes into force, there will be significant changes in the way basic pay and the provident fund of employees are calculated. Since the states have not finalised the rules under the four codes, the implementation of these laws are deferred for the time being, a source told PTI. Since labour is a concurrent subject under the Constitution of India, both the Centre and the states would have to notify rules under the codes to bring those into force in their respective jurisdictions. Under the new wages code, allowances are capped at 50%. This means half of the gross pay of an employee would be basic wages. Provident fund contribution is calculated as a percentage of basic wage, which includes basic pay and dearness allowance. The employers have been splitting wages into numerous allowances to keep basic wages low to reduce provident fund and income tax outgo. The new wages code provides for provident fund contribution as a prescribed proportion of 50% of gross pay. In case the new codes had come into effect from April 1, the ‘take home’ pay of employees and provident fund liability of employers would have increased in many cases. Now the employer would get some more time to restructure salaries of their employees as per the new code on wages.
D) World Bank projects India’s growth in 2021-22 at 10.1%.
India’s economy is expected to grow at 10.1% for the year starting April 1, 2021, as the vaccine roll-out drives activity in contact-intensive sectors, as per the World Bank’s South Asia Economic Focus South Asia Vaccinates report. However, given the significant uncertainty around epidemiological and policy factors, real GDP growth could range from 7.5% to 12.5%, stabilising at 6-7% in the medium term, it said. It is not normal to talk about these wide ranges in the forecast, Hans Timmer, Chief Economist for the World Bank’s South Asia region, said on a briefing call with reporters. The reason is that we are really in unprecedented circumstances, he said. GDP had been difficult to forecast due to the size of the hit and also its nature. The normal rules of extrapolation were not usable at the moment, Timmer said. The fiscal year ending March 31 2021, is expected to register the worst economic damage due to the pandemic, the report says (the economy contracted 8.5% in FY20-21 as per the World Bank’s estimate).
E) Covid Watch: Numbers and Developments.
The number of reported coronavirus cases from India stood at 1,22,13,561 with the death toll at 1,64,291. India on Wednesday reported 354 deaths in the last 24 hours, the highest since December 17 when 355 Covid-19 fatalities were reported in a single day. This is also the highest single-day spike in casualties this year. According to the Health Ministry, six States account for 82.20% of the new deaths with Maharashtra registering the highest (139) followed by Punjab (64 daily deaths). Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government, which extended the Covid-19 lockdown across the state with existing restrictions and relaxations till April 30, has allowed local authorities to impose fresh restrictions to contain the spread of the pandemic in their respective areas. “Based on their assessment of the situation, local restrictions at district/sub-district and city/ward level, with a view to contain the spread of Covid-19 shall be imposed,” Chief Secretary Rajeev Ranjan said in a G.O. issued in this regard on Wednesday. All the District Collectors are to strictly enforce various measures spelt out by the State government, he said and added, For the enforcement of physical distancing, the District Administrations, as far as possible, use the provisions of Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) of 1973.
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
A) Pakistan allows import of cotton, sugar from India.
Partially reversing a two-year old decision to suspend all trade with India, Pakistan announced on Monday that it would allow the import of cotton and sugar from across the border. The decision follows the Line of Control (LoC) ceasefire announced by India and Pakistan in February, and a number of moves seen as part of a larger dialogue process to de-freeze ties. Addressing the media at the end of a Cabinet meeting that cleared the two proposals from Pakistan’s Commerce Ministry, Pakistan’s newly appointed Finance Minister Hammad Azhar said, however, that the decision was driven by rising prices and Pakistani industry’s need for the specific products. The decision to cancel trade was taken by the Imran Khan government on August 9, 2019, days after the government amended Article 370 and reorganised Jammu and Kashmir. India’s Ministry of External Affairs did not respond to the development, nor did it respond to questions on whether it was considering any complimentary steps. While India had not banned trade with Pakistan, it suspended cross-LoC trade and withdrew Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to Pakistan in the wake of the amended Article 370 and reorganised Jammu and Kashmir. Experts said that the move by Pakistan, which follows the granting of sports-related visas by India after a gap of three years, scheduling a much-delayed meeting of the Indus Water Commissioners in Delhi in March, peace at the LoC after more than 5,000 ceasefire violations last year, as well as the exchange of salutary messages between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and PM Khan, has raised hopes for further measures.
B) Brazil military chiefs quit after Bolsonaro fires Defence Minister.
The leaders of all three branches of Brazil’s armed forces jointly resigned on Tuesday following President Jair Bolsonaro’s replacement of the Defence Minister, causing widespread apprehension of a military shakeup to serve the President’s political interests. The Defence Ministry reported the resignations apparently unprecedented since at least the end of military rule 36 years ago. Replacements were not named. But analysts exe pressed fears the President, increasingly under pressure, was moving to assert greater control over the military. Since 1985, they haven’t had news of such clear intervention of the President with regard to the armed forces, said Carlos Melo, a political science professor at Insper University in Sao Paulo. Mr. Bolsonaro, a conservative former Army captain who has often praised Brazil’s former military dictatorship, has relied heavily on current and former soldiers to staff key Cabinet positions since taking office in January 2019, but Mr. Melo said the military itself has so far refrained from politics. The announcement came after the heads of the Army, Navy and Air force met with the new Defence Minister, General Walter Souza Braga Netto, on Tuesday morning. Gen. Braga Netto’s first statement on the new job showed he is aligned with Mr. Bolsonaro’s views for the armed forces. The incoming Defence Minister, unlike his predecessor Fernando Azevedoe Silva, celebrated the 1964-1985 military dictatorship that killed and tortured thousands of Brazilians. The 1964 movement is part of Brazil’s historic trajectory. And as such the events of that March 31st must be understood and celebrated. Mr. Bolsonaro on Monday carried out a shake-up of top Cabinet positions that was initially seen as a response to demands for a course correction over his handling of the pandemic that has caused over deaths.
