1- Haryana Government passes bill banning cow slaughter

Haryana Government

Haryana Government has passed Haryana Gauvansh Sanrakshan and Gausamvardhan Bill, 2015 that bans cow slaughter.  It was unanimously passed in budget session of state with voice vote.

Key provisions of Bill

• Objective-the Bill seeks to conserve and develop indigenous breeds of cows in the State. It also seeks to establish institutions for the purpose of sheltering and taking care of infirm, injured, stray and uneconomic cows.
• Cow slaughter Banned–Cow slaughter is completely banned in the state and anyone found guilty would be liable for imprisonment for 3 to 10 years, along with fines from Rs. 30 thousand to Rs. 1 lakh.
• While, the killing of a cow in an accident or for self-defence will not be considered slaughter.
• Ban on sale of beef– It is completely banned in the state. Violation of the ban will entail person 3 to 5 years of rigorous imprisonment with fine of up to Rs. 50 thousand.
• Export of cow-Exporting a cow for the purpose of slaughter either directly or indirectly through agent or servant or any person is banned. If any person found guilty he will be imprisoned for 3 to 7 years with fine from Rs. 30 thousand to Rs. 70 thousand.
• In case of exporting a cow out of the State, permit for export and declaration that cow will not be slaughtered will be required. However, in case of exporting cow to state where cow slaughter is not banned, permit will be not issued.

2- Veteran singer Bombay S Kamal passes away

Bombay S. Kamal

Veteran singer and music composer Bombay S. Kamal passed away on 17 March 2015 in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala at the age of 85. He was suffering from respiratory ailments.

In past six decades, he had active presence in the field of music especially in Malayalam film music.

About Bombay S. Kamal

• He was born in Mumbai. Kamal had received attention as singer since the age of 7 by singing Mohammed Rafi hits.
• In 1950’s, he moved to Kerala and settled in Kozhikode district after an acquaintance with iconic composer and director M.S. Baburaj.
• In his career he had composed songs for 13 films. His debut as music composer was in the filmNilavilakku in 1986. He also had composed songs for films including Aksharathram (1991), Sheershakam (1991), Police Diary (1992) and Shanthi Nilayam.
• Kamal was also active in the world of music by singing for albums and gana melas.
• He is recipient of inaugural Swaralaya Guruvandanam Award in 2012.

3- Supreme Court rejects reservation to Jats under OBC quota

Supreme Court of India

Supreme Court (SC) has rejected the notification issued by Union Government to include Jats in the Central list of Other Backward Classes (OBC) for the benefit of reservation.

The Supreme Court (SC) held that

• Union Government took this decision by overlooking the findings of the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). In its report NCBC had stated that Jats do not deserve to be included in the Central list of OBC as they don’t form a socio-economic backward class.
• Inclusion of a politically organised class like Jat would adversely impact the welfare of the other backward classes.
• Though the Union Government has powers under the Constitutional scheme to provide reservation to a particular class but it cannot provide reservation on the basis of a decade-old-finding about the backwardness of a caste.

SC gave this decision on Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by the OBC Reservation Raksha Samiti which had challenged Union Governments notification of including Jats in the Central list of OBC.

4- Ashu Suyash appointed as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of CRISIL

Ashu Suyash

Ashu Suyash has been appointed as Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Credit Rating Information Services of India Limited (CRISIL).

She will succeed Roopa Kudva, who had been the MD & CEO at Crisil since 2007. Suyash’s appointment was confirmed by the Board of Directors of the Company and will assume charge from 1st June 2015.

Prior to this appointment, she was CEO at L&T Investment Management. She was appointed to this post after the L&T Investment Management had acquired Fidelity Worldwide Investment’s India Asset Management business. Ashu Suyash has rich experience of 26 years in the Indian financial services industry. She had also worked with the Citigroup.

5- Indian researcher Minoti Apate named as woman of the year 2015 in New South Wales

Minoti Apate

Indian researcher Minoti Apate has been named as New South Wales (NSW) Woman of the year 2015.

Apate was named for the award for her contributions to the field of medical research, Indian community and the tertiary education.

About Minoti Apate

• At present she is Professor of Medicine at the South Western Sydney Clinical School of the University of New South Wales.
• Apate was the first researcher in the world to develop a method to isolate pancreatic stellate cells, a technique which provided a research tool for studying the path that pancreatic fibrosis (scarring of the pancreas) takes.
• At present, Apate is director of the Pancreatic Research Group based Based at Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Australia.
• She is leading pre-clinical studies that are primed to suggest new treatments for pancreatic cancer.
• She is also an acknowledged world-leader in alcohol-induced pancreatic injury and pancreatic cancer.
• Apate was awarded the Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in 2014 for her services to medical research, Indian community and the tertiary education.
• Apart from scientific research work, she is also an active member of the Marathi Association of Sydney, an organisation that serves Sydney’s Indian population.

6- Parliament passes Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2015

Parliament has passed Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Orders Amendment Bill, 2015. The bill was first passed in Rajya Sabha on February 24, 2015 and later in Lok Sabha on March 17, 2015. It was unanimously passed by a voice vote in both the houses.

The bill seeks to modify the list of Scheduled Castes in three states- Haryana, Karnataka, Odisha and one Union Territory- Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Key Amendments

The Bill amends the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Dadra and Nagar Haveli) Scheduled Castes Order, 1962.

The Bill adds the following communities to the list of Scheduled Castes:

• Haryana:Kabirpanthi, Julaha.
• Karnataka:Bhovi, od, odde, Vaddar, Waddar.
• Odisha:Dhoba, Dhobi, Dom, Dombo, Duria Dom, Katia, Kela, Nalua Kela, Khadala and Turi.
• Dadra and Nagar Haveli: Chamar.

Background

The bill was introduced in Parliament as per the provisions of Article 341 of the Constitution. Article 341 empowers Parliament to include or exclude castes from the list of Scheduled Castes in the notification. It also empowers the President to specify castes which will be deemed as Scheduled Castes through a notification.

7- India, Kyrgyzstan ink MoU for cooperation on textile, clothing

India and Kyrgyzstan on 17 March 2015 signed MoU to strengthen bilateral cooperation on textile and clothing.

The MoU was signed by Minister of State (MoS) for Textiles Santosh Kumar Gangwar and his counterpart Minister of Energy and Industry of Kyrgyzstan Kubanychbek Turdubaev in New Delhi.

The MoU seeks to strengthen bilateral cooperation between both nations in the three fields including Textiles and Clothing, Silk and Sericulture and Fashion.

The MoU also aims to achieve enhance cooperation between both nations in

• Development of trade and economic & investment relations.
• Collaboration in techno-commercial and joint trade missions.
• Investment cooperation.
• Mutual assistance in R&D.
• Technical collaboration in the field of product development and manufacturing, testing and certification.

Apart from signing MoU, both nations also agreed to set up a joint working group (JWG) in order to explore areas of cooperation within the scope of the MoU and the steps required to facilitate bilateral trade and investment.

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