February 2010 National Affairs

February 2010 National Affairs

Women Entrepreneurs 2010, a platform to promote Indian heritage weavers and women entrepreneurs was held in Delhi. The Department of posts released a commemorative stamp in honour of P.C. Sorcar (Senior), the Man who "took the magic of India to the rest of the world. The Union Cabinet approved the Women's Reservation Bill, 2008 that seeks to reserve 33 percent seats for women in Lok Sabha and State Assemblies. The 108th Constitutional Amendment Bill was tabled in the Rajya Sabha in 2008 and was subsequently referred to the Parliamentary standing committee on Law, Justice and Personnel, which in its report submitted in December last year had recommended its early passage in the present form. Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram laid the foundation for the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari on the India-Pakistan Border, one of the 13 planned for eight states at a cost of Rs. 635 crore along various land routes to Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and Myanmar. Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh presented a Rs. 1.13 lakh crore budget for 2010-11.This is the 16th budget presented by him and 1st one as a chief minister. The budget outlay is Rs. 8,516 crore higher than that of the current fiscal (Rs.1.05 lakh crore). The plan outlay is Rs. 40,313 crore and non plan outlay is Rs. 73,347 crore. There was the revival of the Constituency Development Fund with allotment of Rs. one crore each to members of the Assembly and the Legislative Council. The Full Court, comprising 27 judges and headed by Chief Justice of India K.G. Balakrishnan rejected the Law Commission's suggestion that the Supreme Court be split into Constitution Bench in Delhi and Cassation Benches in the four regions. Perambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary, Kerala was declared the country's 38th tiger reserve. Seethampeta, located in the north - western part of Srikakulam district in Andhra Pradesh and home to the Konda Savaras has now become part of the Food and Agricultural Organisation's (FAO) Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS). GIAHS has begun identifying and then documenting unique agricultural systems across the world to create 'agricultural heritage'. The Cabinet Committee on security has approved the opening of an Officers Training Academy at Gaya in Bihar in addition to the one in Chennai. A five-judge constitution Bench of the Supreme Court held that "The Supreme Court and the High Courts have the power to order a CBI probe without a state's consent into a cognizable offence allegedly committed within the state's territory". Palakkad district in kerala is the first fully electrified district in the country. The Union Minister for Environment and Forests JaiRam Ramesh had allocated all Rs. 12 crore of his MPLADS share from 2004 on "Giripragathi'', a programme for sustainable development of tribals in remote /hilly areas in Andhra Pradesh. Giripragathi covers eight mandals, three each in Adilabad and khammam and two in warangal districts. Its total allocation over six years is Rs. 88 Crore. The World Bank has agreed in principle to extend Rs.1, 000 crore assistance to self-help groups under the third phase of Poverty Alleviation Programme in Andhra Pradesh. Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal took the decision to notify the Right of children to free and compulsory education Act, 2009. The date for it is fixed for April 1, 2010. From that date children in the 6 -14 age group will finally get their right to education. The Union Government announced the seven - point terms of reference of the five - member B.N.Srikrishna committee on the telangana issue. The 58th meeting of the North Eastern Council (NEC) was held in Gauwhati. The two - member committee comprising former Director of Special Protection Group (SPG) M.R.Reddy and former Director General of Civil Aviation H.S.Khola Submitted a 110 - page report to the Government of Andhra Pradesh on the cause of the Bell helicopter crash that killed former Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y.S.Rajasekhara Reddy and four others. For the first time, the Union Government has agreed to formulate a general amnesty plan for kashmiri youth undergoing training in terrorist camps in Pakistan - Occupied Kashmir (POK) The Indian Navy's Multilateral Milan 2010 exercise was held in Port Blair. The conference of the Chief Ministers on internal Security was held in Delhi. The West Bengal government announced a 10 per cent quota in jobs for the weaker sections among Muslims under the OBC category. The Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the four per cent reservation provided by the State government to selected sections of Muslims in education and public employment. The Sustainable Development Summit, organised by the Energy and Research Institute was held in Delhi. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh addressed All the judges of the Delhi High Court led by Chief Justice A.P. Shah made their assets and investments public by uploading the details on the court's website. The Ministries of Health and Family Welfare and Railways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for developing health care infrastructure along the railway network across the country. The Government of India constituted a five - member committee headed by the former Supreme Court Judge, Justice B.N. Sri Krishna to hold wide ranging consultations with all sections of the people and all political parties and groups in Andhra Pradesh. The other members of the committee are: Professor (Dr.) Ranbir Singh, Vice.Chancellor, National Law University, Delhi; Dr. Abusaleh Shariff, Senior Research fellow, International Food Policy research institute, Delhi; Dr (Ms.) Ravinder kaur, Professor, Departmentof Humanities and social sciences. IIT Delhi; and Vinod K.Duggal, former home secretary. The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, MNREGS Sammelan 2010 was held in New Delhi. Defence Minister A.K.Antony announced that The Indian Air Force has decided to procure 750 Akash missile systems fromBharat Electronics Limited (BEL) at a cost of about Rs 4,000 crore. The cabinet committee on security had cleared a proposal to sanction Rs. 8,000 crore for further development of the indigenously built Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)