General Awareness

GOVERNMENT POLICIES AND SCHEMES - July 2019

Jul 2019

Aug 10, 2019

Top Court Keeps Creditor Status For Homebuyers

The Supreme Court upheld the validity of an amendment to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), giving homebuyers the right to take legal recourse against developers under three key laws.
A bench headed by justice Rohinton Fali Nariman upheld the amendment that treats homebuyers as financial creditors. The bench said the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, or RERA, has to be read "harmoniously with the Consumer Protection Act and IBC" and, in case of any conflict, IBC will prevail.
This means that an aggrieved homebuyer has the option to seek relief under three laws— RERA, Consumer Act and IBC.
The apex court verdict empowers homebuyers to initiate bankruptcy proceedings against a developer, by expanding the scope of the IBC, treating them on a par with banks and institutional creditors, besides protecting their rights.

Pilot Project To Save Rainwater On Plains Of Yamuna Launched

The Delhi government on August 9, 2019 launched a pilot project of its ambitious plan to conserve rainwater on the floodplains of the River Yamuna in a bid to meet the capital's drinking water needs.
Union Jalshakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the project, which aims to solve the national capital's water crisis in the coming years, could become a model for the entire world.
This is a first-of-its-kind project in the country, which aims to conserve water in the Yamuna floodplains by creating a mega reservoir between Palla and Wazirabad.
The project was launched jointly by Shekhawat and Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of Delhi.

OBC Quota: MP HC Notice To State Government

The Madhya Pradesh high court's principal bench at Jabalpur issued notices to the state government and four other respondents on a petition filed to challenge enhanced reservation in government jobs in Madhya Pradesh for other backward classes from 14% to 27%.
A bill to enhance the reservation was passed in the state assembly on July 8,2019.
Aditya Sanghi, the counsel for the petitioners said the increase in the quota was a violation of provisions of the Constitution's articles 14, 15 and 16.
The Supreme Court had delivered a clear judgment that reservation should not exceed the limit of 50%.

Centre Launches Pension Plan For Small Farmers

The Modi government launched the Pradhan Mantri Kisan Maan Dhan Yojana, a pension scheme for small farmers of the country.
The social-security programme is aimed at 120 million cultivators categorised as "small and marginal" because they mostly own less than two hectares of land.
Under the scheme, eligible farmers between 18 and 40 years of age can register themselves for the pension scheme by visiting the nearest common service centre, digital facilities spread across states where beneficiaries can enrol for a clutch of welfare programmes known as centrally sponsored schemes.
Once enrolled they will start paying a monthly premium.
On completion of 20 years, a farmer will be eligible for a monthly pension of Rs. 3000.
In contrast, industrial workers in the country, who are enrolled under the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation, qualify for a minimum monthly pension of ₹1000 depending on their category and contribution. Participation for qualifying industrial workers is compulsory.
The government has announced plans to raise it to a minimum of Rs. 3,000

'One Nation, One Ration Card' Pilot Launched

Beneficiaries under the National Food Security Act in four adjoining clusters of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well as Gujarat and Maharashtra will now be able to get their monthly quota of subsidized ration from their neighbouring state, a major policy change aimed at ensuring migrant households don't lose out on their food allocations.
Food minister Ram Vilas Paswan launched the trials, dubbed "One Nation One Ration Card", in these chosen districts, where beneficiary ration cards will essentially have inter-state validity.
The food security law, an antihunger legislation passed by the United Progressive Alliance government in 2013, grants the poor a legal right to cheap food. Beneficiaries receive 5kg of foodgrain per person per month at a subsidized rate of Rs 2-3 a kg.
The government is pushing states to link all ration cards across the country with Aadhaar, the 12-digit biometric identity number, and states are switching to grain distribution.
"One Nation, One Ration Card" envisages linking data of all ration cards to a single server such that any beneficiary anywhere in the country will be able to draw their quota of foodgrains from any public distribution outlet of their choice.
Paswan said 11 states (Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana and Tripura) have already moved to a digital system where ration card holders within these states can get their ration quota from any of the designated fair price shops within their state.
This means that if a beneficiary moves out of his home district to another, he or she will still be able to withdraw his or her quota of grains.
The major policy reform has come on the back of the country's public food distribution system shifting to handheld point-of sale devices at nearly 400,000 fair price shops.
These devices record transactions in real time.

Aug 09, 2019

Govt. Approved Setting Of 11,000 Wi-Fi Hotspots Soon In Capital

The Delhi cabinet has approved setting up 11,000 Wi-Fi hotspot zones in the city that would allow smartphone and computer users within 50m radius to avail free internet services.
The project will be implemented by the government's public work's department (PWD).
Free Wi-Fi in public spaces was one of the poll promises of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in the run up to the 2015 assembly elections. The party came to power with a whooping majority but the flagship project never took off despite multiple efforts.
In these Wi-Fi zones, users can access internet at a maximum speed of 200Mbps. Every smartphone and computer user will get a monthly quota of 15 GB free internet data.
Under the first phase of the project, as many as 4,000 of the hotspots will be set up in bus stands in the city and the rest 7,000 will be set up across the 70 assembly constituencies, with 100 for each segment.

Aug 08, 2019

Owner must take action within 12 years or his rights are lost: Supreme Court

According to the Limitation Act 1963, Limitation for possession of immovable property or any interest is 12 years in case of private property, however, it is 30 years for public property.
Key highlights:
If an owner fails to take action to get back possession within 12 years then his or her rights are lost
SC said that no benefit of adverse possession will be given who encroach upon public land
Limitation for possession of immovable property is 30 yrs for public property

The Supreme Court said if a rightful owner of the immovable property fails to take action to get back possession within the limitation period then his or her rights are lost. A person in possession or squatter will acquire an absolute title, but apex court has said that no benefit of adverse possession will be given to people who encroach upon public land.

Best Rajya Sabha session in 17 years with 31 Bills Passed

The budget session of the Rajya Sabha, has scripted a turnaround story and is the best session conducted in the last 17 years.
As many as 31 bills were passed in the budget session alone compared to 33 bills in the last five sessions. With a productivity of 104%, the performance of the 249th session of the Rajya Sabha -- during which the triple talaq and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Bill were passed -- is the fifth best in the last 41 years.

Aug 06, 2019

House Clears Bill to Ban Commercial Surrogacy

The Lok Sabha passed the Surrogacy (Regulation) Bill, 2019 that seeks to ban commercial surrogacy but allows altruistic surrogacy. On July 15, 2019, Union health minister Harsh Vardhan introduced the bill in the Lok Sabha to regulate commercial surrogacy. According to the bill, only infertile Indian couples (between the ages of 23 and 50 years for woman and 26-55 years for man), who have been legally married for at least five years can now opt for altruistic surrogacy. For altruistic surrogacy, the surrogate mother has to be a close relative, who has been married and has had a child of her own, and there is no monetary exchange except for necessary medical expenses.

Transgender Persons Protection of Rights Bill

The Lok Sabha passed a bill which provides a mechanism for social, economic and educational empowerment of transgenders.
The Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Bill 2019 was passed by a voice vote.
The bill was introduced on July 19, 2019.
According to the 2011 census there are more than 4.80 lakh transgenders in the country.

Aug 05, 2019

Delhi MLAs to get tablets as Assembly plans to go paperless

The Delhi Assembly is likely to go "paperless" over the next four months under a project in which all MLAs will be provided with tablets to stay updated about proceedings even if they are not present in the House on a given day.
When present in the House,MLAs will be able to see the list of business, read questions and access documents pertaining to proceedings on screens which will be attached to their seats.
In another two months workshops will be organised to make Vidhan Sabha staff familiar with the paperless process.With this, Delhi will join Himachal Pradesh and Kerala in the e-Vidhan Sabha league.
The Delhi government has sanctioned Rs. 20 crore in the 2019-20 budget to fund the project after the Assembly Secretariat opted out of the Centre's NeVA (National e-Vidhan Application), for all legislatures.

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